Yeah transfers arrived yesterday and…. Nothing has changed! DuVall and I are gonna be working here another 6 weeks! I think we will be seeing a baptism or two in the next month! We have an investigator named Veronica! She came to the ward party on Saturday and Church the next day and kept telling everyone that we were gonna baptize her! Its awesome to see her excitement!
We also have an awesome new family that wants to learn the gospel and english! It is so fun teaching them! The mom wants to take the family to live in Canada but they need to learn english first!
Okay super funny experience, we always run stairs in the mornings and this week we witnessed the water bottle massacre! There are two sets of stairs on either side of a bridge, I was running one side and Duvall the other. When I got to the bottom of my side I saw a water bottle fly off the bridge and explode on the train tracks. Confused I run up there and I guy passes me. I get up there only to find our water bottles missing. DuValls exploded on the tracks and mine in the arms of the guy cruising away. First robbery hahaha.
View from our apartment windowToo many carbs = ripped pantsWhere my water bottle was stolen
I hope all is running smoothly without me and you all aren’t missing me too much! I can’t believe I am already a little over 3 months in. I feel like I have only been here a few weeks. Over the last few weeks we have made some serious progress with our investigators and are seeing just how much the Gospel can change people for the better. We have one investigator named Isabel and in our last lesson she asked if the Gospel could “really change her children and strengthen their relationship.” When we got to bear testimony of the power of the Gospel in the family, her whole attitude changed and she is now much more willing to follow the doctrine of Christ.
As I sit here writing this letter in my one-room apartment with no hot water, freezing, and eating rotten cereal, I can see why people think we are crazy for leaving everything behind for two years. But during the little time I have had here, I have seen so many miracles both in my life and in the lives of the investigators that I know is only possible through the power of God and His true and only Church. I know its true and I love the opportunity to share this knowledge with others!
Love and miss you all. Please send emails with updates! I want to know how everyone is doing!!!
The one thing you can always count on in the mission is change. Braden received his first transfer and moved back into the city. He’s in the area of La Quebrada in Northern Mexico City. Here is a google maps link for a view down the street he lives on.
He has a new companion, Elder Martinez from Mexico.
Elder Martinez- has 21 months on his mission, from Mexico basically on the border of Texas, he speaks about 10 words of english and can’t understand much but I am teaching him some stuff because he wants to move to Texas after he gets married. He is an awesome dude! He is a super sincere guy and all he wants to do is baptize a few more people before he heads out of here, and we have one baptism scheduled for his last day in the area. He has already been in this area for 6 months which is nuts! He said he would be okay if he stayed with me for the last two transfers because we click really well!
Braden with new Comp Elder Martinez
It looks like this area is a bit more modern than Jilotepec:
We have got some nice amenities here, Walmart, McDonalds, Dominos, Krispy Kreme, a mall. You name it and we got it!
My new comp and I work very well together. He is ready to head home but also wants to give it all he’s got for the next two months he is here. He is super funny and is finally teaching me all the slang and common words that people use here. I am feeling more comfortable with the language and I already got assigned to give another talk in Sacrament Meeting.
Oh cool experience this week we got to head to the temple and participate in a temple sealing of one of Elder Martinez´s converts! It was super cool to watch and a lot more simple than I was thinking. Afterwards we headed to Little Cesars pizza and that was amazing, much needed for sure. After that we walked for like an hour and ended up in the Basilica for the Saint Guadalupe. Super pretty area and the buildings were awesome!
Basilica of Our Lady of GuadalupeInside the Basilica
Braden with new Comp Elder Martinez
