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...