¿Almost JULY?

Monday, June 27, 2011 2:58 PM

Hello family and friends,

It was a good week. Thanks for the emails and all of the updates on life. Sounds like things are going good as usual, except for the fact that USA lost to Mexico (more on that later). Yes, the Jimmer Jersey fits fine...thanks to the fact that I have lost all of my muscles haha. And no, the shower does not have a curtain, you kinda just close the door and the whole room turns into the shower...it´s an interesting design to say the least haha....but don`t worry mom the hot water is heated iron free.  As for the box you are putting together I have a few requests - some ties (I´m starting to get bored with the ones that I have) and food that they don´t have here - E.L. Fudge, Skittles, Starbursts, Reese`s and some home made brownies and cookies....don´t have to include all of them, but I´m just giving you some ideas. And can you believe it`s July this week??? The year mark is coming up fast. My shirt has already been picked out, it has a big dirt stain on my shoulder from this wall Ieaned on that was pretty dirty...so it`s the clear choice.

As for this week, work wise it went great. I feel like I have to clarify something. In the mission we work with numbers and people...we set goals with both of them. The numbers help us see and measure how effective we are being in helping people come unto Christ. That doesn´t by any means mean that we care only about the numbers, it is simply a way to help us become better. Ultimately, our goal as a missionary is to help a person come unto Christ by helping them receive the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ through faith in Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice, repentance, baptism for the remission of sins, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. That is our goal. We have received counsel from our Inspired leaders here in Mexico that the people here in Mexico are ready. There is somebody that is ready to do these things every week. So my sadness last week was not because I had a 0 in the baptism column. It was because I felt like maybe we could have done more to help or maybe even find that person that was ready to put the Gospel  of Jesus Christ into practice. So understand that it isn`t about the numbers, but the numbers help us improve and fix things that we can improve on, so that we can help more PEOPLE come unto Christ, because in the end that`s what it is all about.

As for the week, we were able to help a couple in many different ways. their names are Claudia and Justo. They have been to the church many times, 2 of their kids have already been baptized and they wanted to as well but they weren`t married. We helped them get married on Wednesday, the problem was the money, so Elder Torres and I gladly helped out because that was all that was stopping them from following the commandments of God. They got married on Thursday, baptized on Saturday and then received the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 19:6) in Church on Sunday. I was extremely grateful for the opportunity that we had to help unite their family and bring them one step closer to becoming an eternal family.

As for the weather, not hot at all, actually this is the rainy season here in Mexico as opposed to it being hot. It has been raining off and on all week. luckily I have my rain jacket that I found in the house in Salt Lake and my umbrella so we´re all good there. Haha so as for the soccer game, when Mexico plays soccer, EVERYONE and their mom watches. ESPECIALLY if they´re playing against the stupid gabachos (Americans). The game started at 8 here, and it was deserted in the street. As we we´re still working out in the street (we go home at 9) we heard the moans and groans as America took the lead. As we were planning back in our house at 9, we still knew what was going on based on the screaming of people outside or even in the same building as us. I felt pretty good that the US was up 2-0....but then I proceeded to hear:

GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!

5 minutes later....

GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!

then I´m guessing it was halftime, and then a little after that, 2 more eruptions of cheers accompanied with the ridiculous screaming of Goal for about 5 minutes straight.....Dangit. So we lost and that was that....too bad they don`t televise when the US plays Mexico in basketball haha.

That´s pretty much it for the week. Thank you for all the love and support each and every one of you give me. I know this Gospel is true and I am so grateful for the short time I have to share it with the people here in Mexico. Hope you have a good 4th of July...I don´t think it´ll be the same here haha. Love you all and miss you.

And this is my joy (Alma 29:9)

Elder Peacock

Happy Father’s Day/ 11 Months!!

Email Dated June 20, 2011

So Today is Monday...

Yesterday was Father´s Day and tomorrow I complete 11 months as a missionary...so I guess we´ll just have to celebrate both today haha. Thanks for the emails and the love and support as usual. Sounds like Dad had a good Father´s Day, which is good to hear....too bad we don´t get to call home on Father´s Day as well haha. The NBA better not get locked out too! Kobe´s gotta win another ring! haha. I´ve heard rumors from a few unnamed sources that Dwight Howard may be going to the Lakers in a trade for Andrew Bynum...any truth in these rumors?? .

As for the week....it was going well and then came crashing down. Here in our mission it is a goal to baptize every week. The 70 of the area here in Mexico has said that for Mexico the time is now...the people are ready to receive the Gospel, and as a result we need to be doing everything we can to baptize at least one person every week. Going into this week we had 3 different people we were focusing on for a baptism on Sunday. As the week went on....each and every one of them fell off date for baptism for a different reason. It was rough. I didn´t like it. I really was planning on baptizing every week this change, because I really feel like it´s possible here in this area. So Sunday I was a little disappointed to say the least. I felt like I had let somebody down and that I didn´t do all I could have done during the week. But now, it´s in the past, and it´s time to move on. We have to focus on this week coming up and make up for the week that we just had. I know that if we do all we can do, and work even harder, the Lord will make us instruments in his hands. I know that the people here in Mexico are ready to receive the Gospel...we just have to do our part as missionaries and help them in every way possible. 

I´ll be honest, I´m not completely sure what to talk about...it feels like it was just a normal week and that nothing out of the ordinary happened. The change is already HALF way done! can you believe it. At the end of this change I will be 10 days short of 1 year in the mission. Crazy. The time really is going by fast and I know it´s gonna keep going by even faster. I look at missionaries that seemed like they just completed a year the other day....and now they have 6 or 7 months left before they go home. It goes fast. I´ll admit it, sometimes a day or a week can drag on and be difficult, but thinking that I have 11 months in the mission already is surreal. 

This week I was reading the Ensign with all of the conference talks, and I love the talk that President Uchtdorf gave. It’s called, “Waiting On the Road to Damascus”. He talks about how many people need a sign or a huge answer to their prayers to know that something is true...instead he said...we need to press forward with diligence and faith, serving others, and if we can do that, our testimony will grow line upon line precept upon precept and will be very strong. I know that if we do the little things - reading the scriptures, praying, keeping the commandments, going to church -  the Lord will bless us with a large and strong testimony. I know that my Savior lives and loves each and everyone of us. If we follow His example we can return and live with Him again someday. 

I love you and miss you all Happy Father´s Day Dad, just think, by the next time Father´s Day rolls around I´ll be one month away from finishing my mission. Love you all and miss you a lot.

And this is my Joy (Alma 29:9)

Elder Peacock

Chamapa Apartment

 

 

 

We live on the third floor, this is the view of the door where we enter. 

 

 

 

 

Next is our front room, which includes our kitchen sink, microwave and fridge.

We have a couch and two desks...mine is the neater one...and we have a couple of white board kind of things to organize our investigators and stuff like that for when we plan.

 

 

To the left of my desk (if you{re sitting in it) is the bathroom which was even dirtier before if you can believe it. It doesn´t smell very good either.  [Note, there is no shower curtain.  Jeff asked him about it and he says they just close the door and the whole room is the shower.  FORTUNATELY, no irons are used to heat water here so it looks good to me!]

 

 

Then if you go to the next big room you have our two beds...mine is the one next to the fan. We have clothes lines to hang and dry our clothes and also to hang them up like in a closet.

 

And then outside we have our balcony...where you can see DF off in the distance and you can see all of the beautiful plain concrete houses....

And that´s our apartment....enjoy.

Elder Peacock

Rocky Week

[Email dated 6/13/11]

Dear family and friends,

Sounds like you had quite the week and quite the experience on the trek. Wish I could have been there for real. Would have been a blast. So, I have good news...I got the package!! haha. I don´t think it´s totally the fault of the Mexican mail service that it took so long, with transfers and everything the mail kind of goes on a little pause as everybody gets rearranged. But I got it finally!! and thank you so much. I wore my Jimmer jersey to sleep for a few nights haha...and I loved all the pictures. Also my Lakers key chain is now being used in my pocket haha. Speaking of basketball...in your face LeBron!! sorry just had to say it. That´s what he gets. Congrats to the German.

So this week was a rough one...was a little bit sick like the whole week. It all started, I think, last Monday, when a cold sore developed on my lip...I don´t know if that´s what started everything but it definitely didn´t help. From Tuesday or Wednesday on, every afternoon I would just start getting fever symptoms...super big headache, body aching and really really hot and then really cold 5 minutes later. Thursday and Friday the sickness got worse because the stomach for some reason decided to get involved and pretty much nothing seemed to sit well with me...then you add the fact that we were either walking up or down hills all day....and my stomach really never got completely settled. It made me sweat profusely at times even if I wasn’t doing anything...Luckily, on Sunday it seemed to fade away a little bit..and today I feel fine (still have the stupid cold sore though). But let´s just say it made the days seem a lot longer and tougher...physically challenging I guess you could say as well as mentally....Luckily Dad´s handy dandy first aid kit arrived at the beginning of the week so I was able to use the Advil to get through the day. But it´s all good...the week has passed as well as the sickness and now I´m here ready to start a new week, healthy and ready to go.

I will get pictures of the apartment to you all next week, I promise, I keep forgetting. But between last week and this week I have done a lot of cleaning [he CAN do it!!!] ...it was pretty gross when I got here. I especially had to give the bathroom a little clean up....smelled just absolutely terrible...but the house really is pretty good...considering the other houses I have seen...but yeah I´ll get pictures to you next week. The great part about it all is that we have a washer...so I have again avoided the whole hand washing clothes thing...hopefully I´ll go my whole mission without having to do it hahaha. One can only hope.

As for the work this week...it was good. We had this one girl named Leslie set up for baptism the whole week. She actually had a date for the week before but she didn´t go to church and we couldn´t find her the whole day....so this week we passed by everyday that we could and it almost seemed obnoxious...but EVERY TIME we talked about where we were meeting on Sunday, at what time, what she needed to bring, and that she would be baptized after the services etc. She was like, “ I know, I KNOW already, you don´t have to discuss it everytime”....Well wouldn´t you know, Sunday came around and she wasnt there at our meeting spot to got to the church. We went to her house...knocked, knocked, knocked, and knocked again....nobody answered. I was not gonna let Satan win this one. Knocked harder and harder until finally her little sister answered, woke up Leslie and she told us she would get ready. We finally got to the baptismal service and everything went great. We were able to feel the spirit and Leslie was warmly accepted by the members of the ward.

I guess the whole thing I really noticed from this experience is this : Satan works harder and attacks us stronger RIGHT before we are about to do something that will bring us Blessings. The more blessings and happiness we will receive the harder he will work...he wants us to be miserable like him and will do anything he can to stop us from making the right decisions. Think about Joseph Smith (see especially verses 15-17 HERE) ...Right before he received his answer to his prayer...and answer that would bless the world for centuries to come....he was overcome by the power of Satan...but what did he do? He kept working or in this case praying. If we would have been content with the fact that Leslie didn´t show up...Satan would have won. But because we were persistent and fought against everything Satan threw at us that morning, the Lord was able to help us overcome those things. The Lord can only help us if we keep working and do EVERYTHING we can do and then some, and then the Lord will provide the rest. If we give up, Satan wins and gets what he wants. It was a very eye opening experience for me that morning. It made me happy to know that one more soul came closer to Christ, despite the best efforts of Satan.

I know that this church is true, and that this work is real, if it wasn´t true, why would Satan be so opposed to it? I know that it is the work of God and that through Joseph Smith all of the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ were restored. I love preaching this message to others and seeing the change it brings in their lives.

I hope you all have a good week. I love you and miss you lots.

And this is my joy (Alma 29:9)

Elder Peacock

It’s A Lot Different Here Fo Sho

Monday, June 6, 2011 2:03 PM

Hey family and friends,

Another week has gone by again. Can you believe it´s June already!! The week has been a good learning opportunity and I´m grateful for the opportunities and experiences that our Heavenly Father is blessing me with.

First off, the area...man. It´s confusing. Another Elder in the zone described the layouts of the cities in our zone like this- they took a big sheet of paper and decided to make a layout of where they would make the roads, houses etc, they took a big spoon full of spaghetti, flung it on the paper....and there´s your layout......Absolutely no order to it at all haha. And yes, it is very hilly. It is rare to be walking on flat ground here. We´re either going up a hill or going down it. We had to go up about 200 stairs one day to get to where we were going....made me feel like Sam and Frodo going up those crazy steep stairs in Lord of the Rings haha. That being said, every night I arrive to the apartment exhausted and ready for bed. In this picture, I´m in the area of Los Arcos there, and after we walked up a big hill you could see EVERYTHING. the big buildings behind me in the distance to the right is Chapultapec I think....DF is to the left of the picture and you can´t see it there in the pic....but we could see all the big buildings from DF off in the distance as well.

 

As for transportation here it is a little different as well. In Metepec,we always took buses everywhere we needed to go. Here we take what are called conveys...They work the same as buses- you pay and it goes on a route and drops you off where you want to be dropped off, just smaller. It´s like one of those 14-seater vans.  But the work here is great...tons of people who are willing to listen and tons who are ready to accept the gospel and be baptized. This week we were able to help Porfirio be baptized (see picture). Our ward has 4 missionaries here, just like we did in Metepec. The other two missionaries are in my District as well as the two in Los Arcos. The other two in our ward had a baptism (see picture) as well and Los Arcos had 2! so 4 in the District...not too bad. I was able to go on exchanges (I go in there area and one of them works with my comp in my area) to do some interviews....A little nervous my first time...but really it´s basically just like teaching a lesson, just without your companion...kinda cool. I did 4 interviews this week.

This is Elder Torres and I with the other 2 Elders in our ward and the person they helped get baptized. And the other picture was something I saw that was just too funny. Look at the house...how do you get in? looks like you have to jump or get a ladder or something because the door is pretty high up there haha. Poor planning on that one for sure.

As for the package...who knows if its gotten here yet because we haven’t gotten mail in our zone yet. Tomorrow at the district meeting we should get mail and on Wednesday I think that I´m going to be over at the office for a training for all the District Leaders so I´ll be able to check there as well. Hopefully it comes...the suspense is killing me cuz I don’t even know what´s in it yet. [mmm, ya, maybe he shouldn’t get it after all…except for the Jimmer jersey, it wasn’t all that exciting!]

Oh...new food experience. Had some gorditas today....they’re wonderful. It´s like a fried tortilla that’s split open in the middle (like the fajita pita thing from Jack in the Box kinda) and they stuff it with whatever you want. Mine was stuffed with pork, salsa, onions and cilantro...it was great. I´ll add that to the list of foods that you guys definitely need to try haha.

Well, thank you for the emails and for letting me know how things are going back home (Go Mavericks!). I know that this gospel is true and I´m so grateful for the opportunity that I am having to learn and grow in this new area with new responsibilities...I am finding myself getting lost in the work more than ever. I love it. I love preaching the Gospel and seeing people´s lives change in the process. It makes everything worth it..all the hills, sweat and being constantly tired. It´s what moves me keep working and keep focusing. It´s what makes me get up at 6:20 every morning...knowing that the message that I share with others truly can change their life, because the message that we share as missionaries is not our message, it´s the message of our Heavenly Father. I love this work and I love and miss you all.

Have a great week.

And this is my joy.

Elder Peacock

Changes

Monday, May 30, 2011 1:57 PM

Hey Family and Friends,

Well the changes are in and....I´m not staying in Metepec. I have been moved to a new area. It is in the Culturas zone and my area is called Chamapa. And that´s not the only news...I have also been given the opportunity to serve as District Leader! My new companion´s name is Elder Torres. He is from Mexico and it is his 3rd change here in this area. Elder Diaz got moved to Michaocan (even farther from DF) and now Metepec is only going to have 2 missionaries instead of 4.

So as for the area, It is very hilly and FULL of houses, like little shack like houses and I am super excited to get to work here. There are TONS of people here. The area is still in the Estado de Mexico but its like right on the border. The church where we will have all the meetings and stuff as missionaries is in DF. Í have heard that the zone here baptizes a lot. Speaking of which, as a mission we baptized 319 in May!! before that we had baptized 215 and 218. So the work is definitely coming along here in Mexico and moving fast.

Ok, so as for the whole District Leader thing, one might ask what do you do? That´s a good question, and I´m not totally sure the length of my responsibilities yet. But we have district meetings every week which I will be teaching, and I am also in charge of my district which is my area and 2 others. Also my district reports the weekly numbers (lessons, new investigators, baptisms etc.) to me on Wednesdays Fridays and Sundays. Also, before a person is baptized, they have to have an interview to make sure that they are ready and that they understand what a baptism is...as a District Leader I am responsible for doing the interviews for all the people in my District (except for in my own area, the zone leaders do those ones).

Umm, but yeah, don´t know too much about my new area. I´ll probably lose some weight here just because of how hilly and steep it is, and it´s starting to get hot here, summer´s here. But I am very excited to get to work and let you guys know how everything is going.

Leaving Metepec was surprisingly difficult. I had grown to love many of the people there and it was hard to say goodbye to them. I feel privileged to have shared the Gospel with them and I hope they can remain faithful in the Gospel and receive all of the blessings that Our Heavenly Father has for us.

 

As for things back home, Congratulations Tyler [on his graduation]!! and thanks for the letter. Loved seeing the pictures as well. Also, I haven’t got the package yet....maybe this week but who knows how the mail works here it might be a different schedule so I might not get mail until next week.

I am very humbled and extremely excited to get to work in my new area. I know that it is the work of our Lord and that as we are faithful and obedient to His commandments He will bless us in all things. I am excited to learn more and more each and every day, especially in my new position, I will be praying to the Lord for help because I know that without His support I will not be able to do it on my own. I love you and miss you all and I hope that you enjoy the pictures and I hope to hear back from you all soon.

And this is my joy.

Elder Peacock