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!