Into the Belly of the Beast...

Hey guys!!! WOW crazy week i must say. crazy week indeed. hahhaa. Like wow. But this new area is awesome and im not gonna lie... a little sketchy haha but thats expected in this great change from small Lebaron to Juarez. So for sure it has been interesting but soooooo much has happened!!! Wow haha i dont even know where to begin. Well obviously ill begin from the start hahha. But first of all with the skype. You guys need to create an account for me and from what i heard from my companion its pretty imformal. I think we are gonna go to the church and use their internet and basically we just start whenever we want and like go for it. Whatever time you guys can and stuff. We can arrange more of this next week but yea. Its looks like we have a place that is quiet and what not and we should be good!!! Im excited!! 

Sounds like all is going well there. I hope you guys are getting psyched for christmas cause i sure am!!!  Anyways. Well Ill do my best to include everything haha this week so much went down for sure. haha. Well first of all my new area is called Tierra Nueva 2 and its one of the biggest in the whole mission. haha we dont even live in our area... we live in Tierra Nueva 1 and we have to walk there so thats always fun haha. but it has been really good!

 

well last tuesday I finished packing (which i absolutely hate. elder Mora was laughing as i was secretly stressing trying to pack the christmas stuff haha) and left at 5:30. We took a bus to Casas Grandes. and there i parted ways with Elder Mora and i took the 4 hour ride to juarez by myself which was actually kind of terrifying haha but its all good. Im officially no longer a new elder. I got there and then went to the mission chapel and offices and met up with......ELDER CASTLETON. What a beast. My new companion. Haha hes so cool. Hes from Alpine, Utah!! He went to Lone Peak and has 15 months in the mish. But hes of mexican descent but when he was born his mom couldnt take care of him so he was adopted by a family in utah. So he said it was funny in the beginning when he looked mexican but couldnt speak spanish haha but he speaks it really well now and his english is of course perfect but hes hilarious and he knows a lot of scrips. He gets along with the people great and we have really hit it off and have bonded SUPER quick. Its awesome. We love listening to the Piano Guys and the MoTab hahaha and having our morning hot chocolate lol

 

But yea we started off to work. The area is huge like i said... its really dirty too... Juarez is kind of gross.. and like i said sketchy. A lot of stuff goes down and theres not a whole lot of trust between people in general but I love the people though. You find out that the people are genuine once you get to them. Lots of dogs too haha and grafitti. 

 

We work really often with these other two Elders in our area. Elder Heard and Elder Gomez. They are pretty cool too. But its awesome in a week we have the reputation of being the cool fun elders!!! haha he told me its really important here because there are a lot of deliquent kids here so us being good and fun examples encourages the young men and women and their parents to attend church. And through this i have been able to love the people and this has led to me being to express myself MUCH better in the language. Like wow. Haha i feel a whole lot more comfortable. Its still hard to understand people but im definitely better at it and still working on teh accent but its gone well. I still have so much to work on and improve. But imagine my nervousness when i was asked on tuesday to give a talk in church on sunday...like the one from my farewell..15 minutes but in spanish...oh gosh. BUT IT WAS AWESOME. I actually felt really really comfortable up there talking. I talked on the life of Christ and was able to tie it in to Christmas and share an experience. I noticed a couple mistakes but it went well. Also when i said i was excited to be here in this area... I said the name wrong. I said Nueva Tierra.. then i thought about that for a sec.. then i said. Wait a second im in Tierra Nueva my bad guys hahhaha i got a good laugh from that. But people have complimented my spanish and say i talk alot and that i sound good so i feel encouraged. I still mess up though! haha know that.

 

ALSO the main thing this week that we did was this HUGE Christmas presentation by the mission. On Friday we sung in a big choir. Christmas songs and other hymns and presented the He Is The Gift video as well as Because of Him and what not. But it was in this HUGE theater called El Paso del Norte. It was for members and investiagtors and it was huge. It was televised and everything and i must say it was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life haha. It was a big deal and it was all the missionaries from Juarez and we practiced everyday this week up until the performance. So it took up most of our time but yea. As a whole because of this we got over ONE THOUSAND references. This week is going to be crazy busy with visiting people!! We are hoping for lots of baptisms in january. haha But wow the power we felt as we sang of the Savior and watched the videos was amazing. But as usual i have a soft spot for the beauty of the Restoration. We sang La Oracion del Profeta (Joseph Smiths First Prayer) to the tune of Come of Thou Fount of Every Blessing while behind us it was showing paintings of the First Vision and clips from the movie.Wow we packed quite teh punch but i felt the spirit in a way i never had before. I wasnt like emotional or was warm or anything.. I was inexplicalby happy and proud to be a member of this church. So cool.

 

I LOVE THIS AREA so far!!! Gunfights aside we are safe and obedient and love my comp!! We are gonna kill it this week!! LOVE YOU GUYS!!

My bus buddy to Juarez….no one…ha, ha!

La Nueva Casa 

LOOVE NUTELLAA!!!

Cool family in our ward…love meeting new peeps!

I LOVE TO SEE DAT TEMPLE!!

El Paso del Norte where we performed…also my
new companion, Elder Castleton! 

First Transfer!

Hey guys!!!! Wow crazycrazy week. thats all I can say.Im glad to hear its all going well there as per usual. :) Its weird that its so warm there. Just like here hahaha it hasnt been super cold yet but we will see haha. Love hearing about everything!! Go Steelers and Celts! hahaha 

 WEll first off as you can tell from the title is i have transfers...bleh. Wasnt too excited to find out especially considering Elder Mora and the other elders in our district are staying put. But anyways i dont know much right now but im off to Juarez. The ol city. Yep haha dont know my companion yet but i leave tommorrow i believe. Im gonna miss Elder Mora. He was a great trainer and im going to miss Lebaron. Kind of scared and nervous because my training is over and im no longer considered new but im excited for the challenge and we will see what happens...hahahhaa. 

Anyways. I got all the packages!!! wow i was so happy hahah i got alot. I defs dont deserve it and im so so so so so thankful for all the support of you guys in my life. I really couldnt be more thankful and it is like my energy source here. Haha really cant wait to open them! ITs gonna be hard to bring the stuff to my next area though.. haha oh well ill have to make do. 

Well Ill share a couple experiences from this week! Well first of all last monday we had our family home evenings and what not. As i mentioned last week is the Dádiva or He Is The Gift initiative by the church. So we started showing the video to members and to investigators for family home evenings. On monday we did THREE in one night. Which FYI is crazy haha. thats indeed quite alot. haha. But if you havent seen the video watch it. Wow i can definitely say i felt one of the stronger physical manifestations of the spirit. I felt... i dont even know but as we watched it and then testified of the Gift of the Savior...I felt.. Idk this gospel is true guys. I also got to play piano and do I Believe and Christ and I know That My Redeemer Lives!! Such a cool night. 

On wednesday we went into it with the mindset of CONTACT EVERYONE about this intiative. Usually our goal for contacts everyday is 2. For this week specifically it was 10 everyday. Wednesday we GOT 30. Crazy. We had some of the young men help us and it defnitiely felt like an army of servants going forth to preach the word. I took 3 of the young with me and Elder Mora another few and we contacted for an hour and a half. Wow what an experience and really good for me to practice my confidence with spanish. haha cool stuff. I have also had the chance to share our traditions of Christmas Eve with people and they all love them 

One other good thing is taht we finally got our hands on some nutella this week and ive basically just been drinking the stuff. So yea i havent changed one bit haha.

Another thing i have really been enjoying this week is reading the words of the latter day prophets through the ensign. I have been able to get my hands on a few copies and i must say they are quite refreshing and powerful. 

One more cool thing this week was me and my comp really got along. We sensed transfers and we have been able to get along really well and what not and he was so happy to get his package from you guys!!! You are all the best. But This week i was having a hrad time recognizing the spirit and how i feel it specifically and how i can sift through my feelings and determine promptings and what not and i felt pretty terrible saturday. Saturday morning i refound one of my favorite scriputures ever. Moroni 7:41. It didnt have to do with the Spirit but the plainness and power of that verse hit me so hard that i teared up and that never happens. It was awesome. And of course we fasted and I bore my testimony in church and i felt really good and im gonna kill it today and leave this area on a AMAZING NOTE. So thankful for being sent here...and we will see what hpapens next. 

Tell everyone i Love them!!!! Thanks for the prayers and tell andrew good job and continuar a seguir en mis pasos ;) Follow in my steps! good job with the piano!! PICS TO COME

TEAM MEDEIROS!!

Elder Joshua Chad Medeiros

I like to ride my bicycle, I like to ride my bike...

Teaching the dog a discussion….

Doesn't seem too interested….

December Already?!

WOW. Almost four months out on the mission! Crazy how time flies right?? I LOVE hearing about home!! You guys had me laughing this week with the stories of the 80s story and the beer can and everything. I miss you guys!! Im also very happy to hear of the success of the thanksgiving dinner!! Very glad to hear that. That was always one of my favorite things the big family gatherings. AND love the Christus!! Beautiful for sure. 

Anyways. Crazy but im glad to hear all is well :) Here are answers to your questions!

How is Esmerelda? Any progress there? How about Alma? Do you think he will be able to stay active?

We arent any closer to a baptismal date but we had a REALLLY powerful lesson with her on friday night. We taught her with one of the Brothers in our ward. We went super off what we planned but im grateful for it. Its crazy. We encouraged and helped her to know how to pray more effectively and at the end we all bore our testimonies super powerfully. I testified to her that the Lord desires that none of his children be lost. We then all kneeled and she offered the prayer and in me i felt a sincere love and yearning that one of my spiritual sisters receive an answer. After the prayer she declared she could feel the spirit and felt good. I know she has received an answer but again i believe its still difficult because of the pressure from family. Also Alma is doing good!!! I think he will stay active. He has a neighbor who is basiclly his grandma and she gives him rides and also he got the priesthood last week so that was good. obviously haha

When are your next transfers?

They are suppossed to be next week... i hope i dont get transferred. I want to stay here at least through Christmas but we will see what happens. Mainly nervous because after the first 12 weeks in the field im no longer considered new and itll be much harder especially considering spanish is hard..haha

Tell us more about Pres. Derbez….what's he like? Are you able to understand him pretty good?

hes really cool and funny!! Hes kind of stickler on rules but i havent had any problems. He speaks english too pretty well and I can understand him pretty good. But I really like him. He wrote me back this week and said he is happy for me to hear all is going along and that im progressing!! 

When are you playing the piano for the Christmas meeting Pres. Derbez asked you to play at?

I dont know when that is yet... im sure ill be notified soon after the transfer.

Have you gotten any packages yet? 

The packages are here in the mission!!! I should get them soon!! Im very excited to see them! Thank you for everything!!!

You mentioned you have been cold. What can I send you to help? Let me know anything specific that you might like or need. 

Uhm.. Idk i wish i brough a sweatshirt but i have lots of blankets so im warm during the night so no worries. 

So you mentioned that your ZL was sleeping in until 9 when you did splits, right? I hope you don't get lax like that. I am thinking you will have leadership opportunities in the future and really make sure you are the kind of leader that sets a good example in ALL areas. KWIM? 

YES i totally KWIM haha. But I will defnitely be sure of that. Im pretty sure i would feel too bad or guilty no matter how bad i want to sleep in. Ill always be sure to be a good example. No worries here.

What was the worst thing you ate last week….and the best? Did you have any kind of Thanksgiving meal?

Worst thing.. Idk we had this soup yesterday that was used from the leftovers of thanksgiving and im not exactly sure what it was called and im definitely sure i dont care to find out because it did not taste good. I got through the first serving then filed up on tortillas. #ProblemSolver

We ate an americans house for thanksgiving!!! It was really good and people gave us pie. People here are so kind to the missionaries! Definitely really thankful for it. Mashed potatoes are my fav and i ate some that were straight money and took me on a trip to flavor town-Guy Fieri haha

What was the weirdest/scariest thing that happened last week…..what was the best?

Well last night was really tough. We basically went on a big walk. We didnt have an appointment for like 5 hours cause no one was home or couldnt meet. haha we were joking that Lebaron was falling into apostasy and that no one wants to talk with us and when we were joking about that i tripped on a big rock and totally ate it and then 5 seconds after he fell too hahahhaa. Even the rocks. It was funny. Still there are times where i feel a bit discouraged because it is really really hard to understand spanish haha like when they talk. I can understand the scriptures  and other text well and i feel ok speaking it but yea. Also alot of people comment on how im young out here and yea. I dont knwo im trying to teach with power and authority but sometimes its hard. But this week was really good!! Definitely one of the best!! Had lots of opporutnity to play piano. Played my O My Father on thanksgiving and a lot of people said they wanted cds and stuff and that they love listening to that and stuff. So nice. Also got to play basketball last monday with the other elders!! Safe to say i was the best haha. I showed them whats up. It was nice to play. haha 

but quick question have you guys heard of the new intiative of teh church?

Ok I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! PICS TO FOLLOW!!

Elder Joshua Chad Medeiros

Got to ball it up last week. Straight up!

View of Lebaron

Got creative with my planner!

Thanksgiving already?!! Well almost...

 But im so glad to hear you guys taking on the challenge of the Joseph Smith story!!! thats awesome! It really is just breathtaking every time isnt it?  so cool and really is just a perfect example of how we ourselves can receive answers too. Perfect formula. haha And haha dad sounds like you get to do some arranging! ;) haha i wish i could hear you play it!!! Good times fun times indeed. haha.

But as for thanksgiving i think we are going to eat at a members house which im obviously excited for hahaha love eating all the food here. But hey i hope you feel better dad!!! dont feel bad for your letter. I love all the letters i get from you guys!!  Colds suck. Im glad i havent gotten sick yet. haha

but sounds like the lessons went well for the teachers!! Again thank you so much for all the support and love you guys give me. YOU guys are the examples. Ill share more about this in a second.

Here is a day by day of my week along with some hashtags for the day haha I think they should answer some of the questions you sent me as well. But as for the photo ops i will try to be more "mom-esque" with the photos haha. I also have some videos so if you wanted to do a dropbox that would be cool! 

Monday- nothing really happened. Just a normal p day.. in all honesty nothing much happened. We just did our pday business. haha But i did buy cinamon rolls for myself and they were amazing. #ILoveCinamonRolls #DiosDemeFuerzalol (God give me strength)

Tuesday- Well Esmeralda wasnt baptized this week but we had another couple planned just for the kids in the ward and it seems like whenever we are preparing for baptisms Satan works really hard on us. So tuesday wsa rough and frustrating. Kind of hard to explain. Also we tried to help an Hermana that is having family problems.. so that was sad #GodWeWantYourLovePorFavor 

wednesday- Well wednesday was much better!! It was sad because i finished my cinamon rolls haha. But we taught esmeralda that night. We taught lesson3 which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, holy ghost, and endure to the end) and it was really powerful. Her boy friend who is a RM was there as well and gave testimony. Again at the end we were able to relate it to her main concern which is which church has authority. I took it in a slightly different direction and shared D&C 50:40-42. Its amazing one of my new favorites. I explained to her that the answer for her MAY be baptism itself. I explained how we receive a testiomony after the trial of our faith and that baptism may be the answer and how even if every soul was saved except one God would be incredibly sad. So that was awesome. Also her bf shared a boss testimony haha kind of layed down the law. #LayDownThatTestimonyBigBoy #TimeForLaundry

Thursday- I got to play a little bit of basketball today! haha that was fun shot around with a young man haha but its difficult to ball in my mish clothes but i still taught a few lessons haha. then after the young man (frankie) who looks up to us accompanied us on some appts. ·#ElderThorpeSaysHeLovesMe #Weirdo

Friday- We read 1 Nephi 1 with a less active. She meets with us even though i can tell she would prefer not too. But we read that chapter and emhpasized the good examples of Lehi and his wife on Nephi and related it to her. it really touched her because her father died  2 years ago so she was able to relate and rekindled her love for the book of Mormon. 

saturday- baptism of a member!! that was fun but nothing much happend other than that! Fun day and we got to eat pizza haha #TimeForPizza #thatseverytime

sunda- As you can see from the pictures i got to baptize on sunday!ª!!! His name is Diego Bustillos! haha they already attend but it was so empowering and spiritual to once again be able to excercise my priesthood and perform this sacred ordinance!! So cool!!! I also gave a talk for the baptismal service about the holy ghost. yes in spanish ;) but it was emotionalfor me after cause i recounted my baptism 11 years ago then shared that im here today because of the good example in my life of my family and then shared the words to "Teach Me To Walk In The Light" 

Well that was my week!!! Again this week is thanksgiving and im so thankful for all that you guys have done for me in everything. I know we may not have agreed all the time but it was whats the best for me. I love you guys so much and couldnt be more grateful for this amazing gospel. I dont have too much time this week. But I love you guys and I cant even beging to express my gratitude for all i have and for what God and the Savior have given me. I love you guys!!! I hope you got the pics!!! :)

Elder Joshua Chad Medeiros 

Pizza with the District!

Diego's Baptism

It's really cold in our house!!!

Halfway through November!

What was your favorite experience last week? 

Well I had a couple. Uhm we are continuing to teach Esmeralda who is still trying to get an answer. Her baptism is supposed to be next week.. but we are hoping she is ready...we will see. But instead of focusing on authority and prophets so much we just went to the basics and taught the Plan of Salvation and that. At the end i bore my testimony on my family. Like super powerful. I felt super great the whole time and i was able to tie it in with how i have the assurance that im on the right path to live with my family forever because i know we have performed proper ordinances by proper authority which is only found in this church. BUT above all my fav experience was the ward activity on saturday!!!! Noche Mexicana!! You will see in the photos but it was super super fun. Me and Elder Mora helped an Hermano in a skit which was funny. I played the gringo tourist hahaha it was funny. But I also got to play piano!! I played Come Thou Fount and ive gotten alot of compliments hahahaha. One member said i should declare repentance with my piano hahahahahhaha it was super nice. And some people want cds. Super nice people. Still difficult to understand sometimes but im getting better and really am loving these people. haha i dont want to leave this areaa!!! lol

What was your hardest experience last week?

Again in general understanding people. But it is gettting better for sure. At least i think so. Im getting a little bit nervous about transfers. We dont know if they are even going to happen or what. I dont know but i want to satay but then again i will do whatever i need to do!! haha

What was the funniest thing that happened last week?

Hahhahaha well elder mora and the members like it when i say different spanish sayings. Its really funny because im american so i do different mexican accents for them and everyone loves it. Also for the ward activity a member dressed up as a clown and he looked absolutely terrifying hahahahahhahaha it was hilarious. Also we had divisions with the Zone Leaders. hahah they are rascals... one slept in till like 9...

What was the best thing you ate?

ENCHILADAS: But they are different than in utah. They ARE so so so so so so so good. They either use rojo sauce or verde. Verde is better but all the food has been good. Also haha what else... hmmm... I actually had a really good burger this week as weird as that sounds but it was delish. 

What was the worst/weirdest thing you ate? 

SO I FINALLY tried Menudo... the cow stomach hahahahahhaa. Last night a member gave us soup and i just gobbled it down and it tasted fine... i thought it was some pasta in the broth but after they told me what it was hahahhahahahaha. I told them im just pretending i dont know what it is.. haha it was actually not to bad... hahaha definitely my culturual experience of the week.

Start asking about how the calling on Christmas works….how long will you have? Can you Skype? 

Im sure we can skype...l I HOPE SO!!!!! I REALLY WANT TO. I will be sure to ask around and see whats up with that. I think its like 45 min to an hour.... so how does it work? Like immediate fam only? or gpas or friends? idk what do you guys want?

do you write in your journal? every night ;)

How was zone conference last week?

It was actually good! Mainly cause i could understand more! hahahahah but it was about the Book of Mormon and how very very very very very important it is. so cool

So have you had any interesting experiences? Anything scary at all???  uhhmmmmm.....

hahaha no its been pretty safe.. When we are walking at night some times its sketchy and we have seen some fights but im all good haha no worries.

Scripture of the week. 

Or i guess challenge. As a family this week read Joseph Smith History if you can. Its amazing the power that is in there. And then after read the introduction to the Book of Mormon. There is so much power and really almost every time i read with the spirit i get goosebumps. then after. PRAY about it. It WILL strengthen your testimony. So grateful for this gospel and for all of you.

I can tell im making progress here when i try to talk english and its hard because i almost use spanish a bunch. like a couple spanish words will slip in hahahahaha. BUT HERE COME THE PICS I LOVE YOU ALL

Elder Joshua Chad Medeiros

A member gave us a pink lamp because ours stopped working….we are eternally grateful!

Hermano like a clown…he is terrifying!

Me playing the piano at the ward acitivity 

Funny pictures from the ward activity!

This is my gringo tourist get up….ha ha! 

Cold…or hot….haha who knows but BAPTISM!

Hey!! So sorry im late this week!! We have zone conferencesagain today and we are in Casas Grandes so we couldnt write until now....and i dont have to much time and the key boards are really sticky....:( groosss but ill do my best with what i got!! Anyways packages! Awesome!! Cant wait! Sounds perfect!! And my comps name is Pablo! But yea all is going well...still really hard but im trying and im super obedient and i study like a beast. ahaha. But all the food sounds geat!! haha I love nutella and its really expensive here so thats perfect. haha. And dont worry im being safe and what not haha. But I love hearing abut all the stuff from home! I cant believe a year ago was ragnar! Wow!! And yea i have had the chance to annoint a couple times..haha just the first easy pat hahaha nothingtoo cool. But this week was our first baptism!!!!!!! ill tell mre later :) anyways sounds like the Steelers are beasting!! 12 in two games?? WOW hahaa. Haha go bron bron...no one like Gordon Hayward. Thats awesome whenever i think of te celtics i think of the trip to boston this summer!! Haha anyways here is a day by day of my week!!

Monday- after writing you guys we went as a district to lunch and it was k hahaha i had a burger and it was k. It was calleed Chicken Country and it definitely wasnt realy sooo...that was weird haha. But that night we had a cool FHE with the Relief Society President!! We had a really profound discussion on the Second Coming and The Millenium. I wasnt able to understand so much and contribute all the knowledge i could on the subject but it was still way awesome!! In Daniel 7:9-10 13-14 it talks about the gathering of the saints in Adam Ondi Ahman with Jesus and all the leaders of every dispensation!! Pretty cool!! 

Tuesday- IT WAS ACTUALLY REALLY COOLD. Haha it came out of nowhere too. But i had my coat so its all good. Haha but we had divisions that day so i was able to go to Buenaventura and chill with Elder Rodriguez for a day. He is also in my district. We watched the restoration movie in his house and hahhaha everytime i watch that i get chills. Ive seen it 10s of times but i will NEVER get tired of the beauty of the Restoration. Awesome. Haha at the end me and him were crying like grown men watching a chick flick hahhahahahaha. It definitely inspired me.  I know im not perfect (especially with spanish) but i really want to teach, exhort, help, heal, etc. 

Wednesday- We finished off divisions! Elder Rodriguez is really funny hahaha we shared "planchadore" scriptures which are like scrips that are really blunt and too the point about repentance. like he was laughing at Helaman 7:17 which basically says " Repent repent why do you desire to die?" hahahah repentance is his fav word in english haha. But we taught one of their investigators lesson 1 and it went really well!! I was able to share alot! When i returned with Elder Mora we ate dinner with a family they are bosses. Give me the goods please nd thank you

Thursday- Thursday was super super cold too haha. But we are teaching the Dominguez family and they are awesome. The dad used to be a drinker but we challenged him and he hasnt taken for like 3 weeks!! And we committed the whole family to baptism!! AWESOME. Also they gave us coke so that was good haha. 

We also taught Esmeralda who is the investigator with her whole family is of the church of Lebaron so she is having a hard time knowing which church is true and what not. So we met with her and we are trying to help her progress.

Friday- Today Elder Mora was sick all day so werent able to do to much. I had awesome enchiladas for lunch so thats awesome..duh..haha. But we went to Casas Grandes because we had training with the president on saturday so we had to sleep on the floor in another companionships house and that was teh worst night of sleep every. haha

Saturday- We had training!! It was hard because again its really hard for my mind to keep up but after the training and talking to the other elders i was able to have my personal interview with Pres Derbez!! He is so cool.  I did part of the interview in spanish and he says im doing great and invited me to Juarez in December to play piano in the Christmas concert!!! I also let him know that im doing my best and am willing to do what ever it takes to be a great missionary. It was a good visit. WE also had our baptismal interview with Alma back in Lebaron and it went well! And we taught esmeralda again and read Ether 12 with her. POWER CHAPTER. Totally about faith. Funny thing is that i needed to hear that chapter too. In verse 6 it says "we receive no testimony until after the trial of our faith." Nothing in this life is easy but NOTHING is more rewarding than the blessing of the gospel. During the end of the lesson i testified and promised that she would receive an answer before the 23rd of November and that if she does she will be baptized on that day....gulp. Praying to the Lord to Justify my words!! So cool. 

Sunday- FIRST BAPTISM!!!!!! SO AWESOME! Alma was able to do it! Thanks for the prayers!!!! But really i was so happy and as Joseph Smith said " oh waht rapture filled my bosom" hahahah. SO amazing. And his little grandpa came who NEVER comes to church or even is religious. So cool. I cant even begin how amazing the feeling is. Im struggling and growing and its still hard to understand and speak but when you see the fruits of your labors in the form of A CHILD OF GOD returning to the truth and love of our Savior..undescriable. The final hymn was How Great Thou Art. Too cool. Also I was asked to play piano for the primary program next week! Cool! hahahah and also funny story this morning we were waiting for the bus and these girls were selling banana bread and we said "No probar no comprar" which means haha we dont try it we dont buy it hahahahahah so they gave us bread hahahahahhaaha. Too awesome.

BUT CRAZY WEEK. thanks for the prayers!!!! :) Here are the pics!! TEAM MEDEIROS

Elder Joshua Chad Medeiros

P-day with the district!

Chili harvest 

Cool views

Joseph Smith collar returns...

The Call Has Arrived!

The call has arrived! In our parts, the calls typically arrive on Wednesdays, so we were pretty sure today would be the day. We invited family and friends to come over for the big reveal. Poor Josh was so nervous, at one point he literally looked like he was about to pass out. I can hardly blame him. I can't even imagine the emotions he must have been feeling, knowing that few things would affect the direction of his life than what was contained inside that envelope. 

Cuidad Juarez, Mexico, 

reporting to the Provo MTC on August 6!!

Q-uidad Juarez!! That is how sweet, overwhelmed Josh pronounced his call. Hugs, laughter and a few tears then….yes, our minds went there…yes, THAT Juarez. Sarah was very upset in her room upon reading about where Josh would be serving. We know all will be well…it will. 

Papers Are In!

The time is here! Doctor appointments are completed, photos done, 

PAPERS ARE IN…now the wait begins!