No Worries, Just Anxiously Engaged

Hello everyone,

I´m still here, don´t worry nothing happened to me.  We just had a zone leader conference with President and the assistants on Monday, so our P-day got taken up and got moved to today. More on that conference later...it was really amazing. But good to see pictures of everyone....Everyone looks different! Daniel is huge, Tyler has a beard coming in, Bryce looks bigger and older.....weird weird weird. It doesn´t seem like I´ve been gone that long, but then I see pictures like that and it reminds that I have haha. Glad you guys had a fun Thanksgiving. Mine was pretty normal. One of the Elders in the zone made pumpkin pie for me and Elder Rowley , so we bought some ice cream and ate that after planning at night.  That was as much Thanksgiving as we got haha. For our food that day we ate some super spicy enchiladas and some flan....yeah....pretty Mexican haha. Feliz Cumpleaños Dad!! Oh, I also got the package you sent me, and the lights are now hung up in the house and the chocolate is being devoured [that was quick!  Less than 2 weeks!].

So this past week went pretty well. Still getting used to the whole bike thing, but I did finally get the seat raised so its going a little better now. We definitely do work a whole lot more effectively with them--we just fly from house to house. We were able to baptize 2 more people this week. It was the son and grandson of the Sister we baptized last week. They were happy and it was good to see the family together and united through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel really does bless families. 

Elder Rowley and I are getting along great, it´s fun being his companion. He goes to BYU and everything as well, so we´ll get to hang out for sure after the mission as well. One of the perks of being a zone leader is that you get to do interchanges and work in other areas of the zone as well. So, this past week I worked in Lerma again, and I also worked in a little pueblo called Tenancingo...it has about 10 Catholic churches every 100 yards you walk and it has a huge Jesus statue on a hill overlooking the city. Cool place...kind of hard to work there though.

Another perk of being a ZL is going to the monthly zone leader conferences. All the zone leaders in the mission get together and with President and the Assistants we talk about things we can do better as a mission and we analyze the past month. In November we baptized 253 in the mission. It´s a really good number, but it´s a little low compared to the past couple of months that we have had. But the Spirit was really strong in the meeting and you could just feel the power that President Villarreal has as he taught us things. One of the things that he went over is Malachi 3:8-18 in the Old Testament. It´s something that we have read hundreds of times, almost every time that we teach tithing to somebody. But he applied it to the mission. The mission is a tithe of our life to God. As we waste our time and don´t work hard we rob God...BUT if we pay these 2 years full, God will pour out blessings upon us that we won´t have room to receive it. Sometimes we think that the disobedient missionaries seem to have more success and get along just fine...but as it explains, the obedient missionaries will be rewarded for their dedication, even if they didn´t have that much success.

It was so powerful as President read over those things and applied them the way that he did. It is something I have read over and over again but I had never thought of it in that way. Really Amazing.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to tithe my life and give these 2 years to my Heavenly Father. It is my prayer that I will take advantage of every moment and serve with the dedication that my Heavenly Father expects of me. I love being a missionary and I love my Savior Jesus Christ.

Love you and miss you all, have a great week.

And this is my joy.

Love Elder Peacock.

P.S.  We’re trying all the popcorn flavors.

[Note all the HAIR ties in these pictures…]

Happy Thanksgiving

[email dated 11/21/11]

Hello Everyone,

Happy Thanksgiving...even though they don`t celebrate it down here in Mexico. I do have an American comp this time around though, so we were thinking we would do something for Thanksgiving...maybe buy a Turkey leg or something...but it still won`t be the same. It`s ok..I`ll be back for the next one! Zorrita is getting bigger. It still looks like Sparky could swallow her though haha.

Also thank you for the letter Tyler. You asked about the difference between a District Leader and Zone Leader. A District Leader is in charge of a District which usually consists of 2-4 areas or 4-8 missionaries. A zone leader is in charge of usually about 4 districts and the DLs which usually consists of 10 or 11 companionships of missionaries. So the order of leadership in the mission is this: President, Assistants, Zone Leaders, District Leaders, Trainers, Senior Companions and Junior Companions. Everything has it`s order.

Ok, so as for the week...I do have some pictures but the computer is not working with my camera for some reason, so I guess that you`ll just have to wait for next week for that. Being a Zone Leader is fun. I`m learning a lot from my companion Elder Rowley. He`s a great missionary and we get along really well--really nice guy. As zone leaders, we are always running around to other areas, trying to help our missionaries out in their areas, which is really fun because I`ll get to know the whole zone wherever I serve. In our area we have bikes!! haha. We get around a whole lot faster...although my legs were pretty sore the first couple days...its been 16 months since I rode a bike.  But, I`m getting used to it. My butt was pretty sore for a couple of days, let’s just say that the seat on the bike is not the softest thing in the world.  But don`t worry Mom. We do wear helmets. So yeah, I feel like a real Mormon missionary now rolling around on my bike haha.

Happy 16 months! almost forgot...man it`s going by fast. 5 more weeks and we`ll be talking again!

So, just like Saugus won league on a technicality, We kind of had a baptism in the same way. We got a referral this week for an 8 year old kid this week from other Elders in our zone. We went by and the kid lives with his Dad and Grandma. They both said that they were already baptized and everything. Just to make sure, we checked with the offices to see if they had records in the church and it turns out that they do not. SO, so that they could get the records back in the church they would have to be rebaptized...its kind of a weird situation. The grandma expressed the  desire to go to the temple with us...and to enter into the temple you need records in the church. SO, we baptized the Grandma yesterday and we are planning for the baptism for the Dad and his son next week. It really was a miracle that we had a baptism this week...The Lord blessed us by helping us find that family and we were able to help them progress in getting closer to entering into the temple.

I know that Christ lives, and I know that this is His work. I`m so grateful for the chance to serve a mission and help His children here in Mexico for this short time. I know that this is His work and there is nowhere else I would rather be.

And this is my Joy

Elder Peacock

A Change…Kind of

Hey everyone,

Thanks for all the emails and the pics. Good to hear that Sparky is getting used to Zoey a little bit. I can´t wait to meet her....too bad she´ll already be all grown up by the time I get home. Dang. But good to hear how everything is going as usual. Grandpa Bruce and Marri, know that my prayers are with you. 

As for the week. The changes are in....and my time in Lerma has come and gone. 6 weeks and done. BUT, I wouldn´t call it much of a change. I´m going to an area that I am actually pretty familiar with...yup, that´s right...I´m back to Metepec, Metepec Zone. My first area in Mexico. Weird huh? The only thing that is different this time around is that I will be there serving as a zone leader! I have been moved up, and I am extremely excited about the opportunity to learn. My companion is Elder Rowley, who is from Washington (my 3rd companion from Washington) and this is his 3rd change as zone leader. He has one transfer more than me in the mission...so he goes home in June and has 17 months in the mission. I am very excited to learn from him and to have a lot of success this time around in Metepec...my only hope is that I get to know DF before the mission is over haha. Sooo, at the end of this change will be Christmas so I will be here. [Yikes!  Christmas already!  I’m not ready!]

As for the past week, it went very well. We had a baptism on Thursday. The lady´s name is Lourdes, and she was going to have some problems with her schedule on Sunday and Saturday...so we decided to have her baptism during the week. She is someone that is really struggling with her family, and really wanted to put an example for her kids...we helped her to understand that following the example of Jesus Christ was the best example that anyone could ever follow and it would be a perfect example to give to her kids. She made the decision to be baptized, and had some doubts and struggles, but she pushed through it all and was able to make that covenant with our Heavenly Father. 

On Friday, I went on exchanges with Santiago and did my own version of man versus food. A member there has a sandwich stand, and about a week ago, he made a bet with me that I could not eat the biggest sandwich that he makes....I obviously told him that I could. So here was the bet. I had 25 minutes to eat the sandwich...if i did it...it was free. If not...I pay double the price. The sandwich was HUGE....like GIGANTICLY HUGE. It had everything. Breaded steak, ham, turkey, american cheese, white cheese, like 3 other cheeses, sausage, tomatoes, onions, and lots of chili.....I started off strong....ate the first half in like 5 minutes. But I just hit a wall after that...I kept chewing and chewing but it just wouldn’t go down and it actually started to make me want to throw up. I failed....so I ended up paying him 125 pesos (about 10 bucks) which really isn’t that bad when you look at the size of that sandwich. So, my conclusion is that the man vs food guy´s job wouldn’t be that fun sometimes haha. 

That´s about it for the news for this past week. I am very excited for the opportunity to be ZL...it will be a great learning experience and I am excited about the opportunity to serve all the missionaries here in the Metepec zone. I feel that I will learn so much and really develop a Christ like love for each and every missionary in the zone as I pray and worry about their success each and everyday.

 

Hope you all have a good week...love you and miss you. 

And this is my joy,

Elder Peacock

There Are No Words.

Elder Trevor Reinhold Strong, 21, of Taylorsville, Utah and Elder Derek Jason Walker, 20, of Fairfield, Idaho, died on Tuesday night in Texas of injuries sustained in a hit and run incident.  A third missionary, Elder Zachary Todd Harris, 19, of Huntsville, Alabama, was injured, but was treated at a nearby hospital and released.  Read HERE for more.

Elder Harris is the good friend of our cute cousin Makena.

Our hearts are broken for those families.  I think every missionary family feels a special kinship as we share our prayers EVERY SINGLE NIGHT for the missionaries serving all over the world.   

Life of a Misionary

 

This is called contacting somebody that really does not want to talk to you.

Last Week of This Change Already!

Hey everyone,

So while I am anxiously waiting for Mom to resend me her email with the puppy pictures, I will start my email. Thanks for all the emails, love and support as usual. I always knew Rober would make it big haha [see Halloween costume—now with over 2.5 million hits on YouTube]. Also, as you can probably see from the pictures....I did in fact get the other package...and am enjoying the candy and shoes.  

So this week was a good one. We were able to have another baptism. The lady´s name is Evangelina. She is older and lives by herself. She has been through a lot in her life. In 1985 there was an earthquake here, and her husband and her 9 month year old child were killed in the quake. She is without work now as well, and is really struggling just to get by. Last Saturday (9 days ago) she contacted us on the street and asked us when the services were in the church. We told her at 10 and planned to pass by for her at 930 the following morning. We had actually met her about 3 weeks before that, we helped her carry some boxes to her house, but she told us she didn’t have time to meet with us so we really didn’t think twice about her after that until she talked to us last Saturday. She went to church with us, and during the week we met with her everyday, teaching the lessons, and helping her progress towards baptism. She is a very intelligent person. She would always read the things we left with her...the pamphlets and chapters from the Book of Mormon. By the time she had her interview on Thursday and then more teaching on Friday and Saturday, she was super excited for her baptism. After her service, she bore her testimony and expressed her thankfulness towards us missionaries and how she really considered us a blessing in her life. It was amazing to see the testimony that she had gained in just a week and a day!!!

This week, it started to rain again as well...really lame. I´m not a fan of the rain when I have to walk outside in it. I like it more when I can just sit inside on a couch with some blankets next to the fireplace. That´s my kind of rain. But, what can you do. So I have been getting more use out of my umbrella and rain jacket this past week. And yes, it is getting colder here. But only at night and in the morning, during the day the sun is still pretty strong. But, we can´t use sweaters without a suit coat, and I don´t really like wearing my suit around all day. President said that if we are cold then we should buy a coat...haha.

(So I just got the email...Zoey is such a little thing!! She look so innocent haha....I´m glad that Sparky hasn´t eaten her yet, also hopefully you get to meet Elder Coulston and his WIFE, he is the man)

[Elder Coulston was his first companion in SLC, having since been released and now married.  He was planning to be in our town on Monday.  Alas, it didn’t work out but he called today and had very sweet words for Elder Peacock—music to a mom’s ears.  We still hope to meet him someday!]

Well not much more to report from this week, next Monday we have changes, who know´s what will happen. only 6 more changes left!! crazy.

We played soccer verse Toluca today...hence the pictures. Elder Juker is the zone leader of Toluca now, so we got to see each other again. and Elder Jacobs [MTC companion] is in Toluca as well so we had a tiny little reunion.

Love you and miss you all

And this is my joy (alma 29:9)

Elder Peacock

Let Me Take You on a Tour

Justin sent pictures of the apartment where he has been living for the last four weeks.

   

He said it was really dirty when he got there so he couldn’t send pictures right away.  He said “Don’t worry.  I haven’t gotten any diseases yet.  Haha”  The kitchen actually looks pretty clean.  I am wondering why they have a ginormous ladder in against the back wall however. 

Truly, Truly, Truly a Miracle

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for all the emails and letters. So, while Zoey really isn’t a Spanish name [for our new puppy], at least it is short for a Spanish name [Zorrita]...so I am satisfied with that.  Good to hear that everything is going good back home and that you had a fun Halloween.  Any pics of the costumes you can send me? [I think I’ll have to send him this:  our very own rocket scientist YM President is now famous for his Halloween costume that has gone viral, see it here:

 

They don’t really celebrate Halloween here.   They celebrate the Day of the Dead. where they honor the dead family members, or in other words they go to the cemetery and spend a little time with them..some people leave them their favorite food and drink and a lot of people spend the whole day there kind of like a party.  I just thought you would be interested in that. It is celebrated the 1st and 2nd of November.

And yes, it is less than 2 months before we get to skype again...about 8 weeks now. So that´ll be fun. Also, good to hear from you as well Tyler. Any pics from BYU?  Too bad for BYU and the NBA. Hopefully theyll get back on track. And no, I do not get to see my blog. We can only go on [our mail account] and that´s it. We can´t even go to LDS.org. However, numerous new missionaries recognize me as the ¨guy with the blog¨. Because, just as I did, as soon as they get their mission call, they google the mission. And apparently my blog is the first thing that comes up...so I am pretty famous among the new missionaries haha.

As for the week. It was a challenging one. Made me stretch, made me trust in the Lord and it humbled me a bit...but very rewarding in the end.

I´ll first tell you about an interview that I did that went REALLY well. and then I´ll tell you about one that I did right after that went REALLY badly.

So I went to Santiago to do interviews on Thursday. I did 5 of them. The 3rd one I did was with a 14 year old girl named Carla. She knew that baptism was important but she just didn´t want to do it for one reason or the other. If I´ve learned one thing as I´ve done interviews for baptism it is this : rely on the Spirit, and help them to feel the Spirit, if I don´t do that, They will NEVER get baptized, no matter how many scriptures I read to them. So after testifying to her, we prayed together. She was able to recognize the spirit as she prayed and asked if she should get baptized on Sunday. At first she was reluctant to get baptized but, after talking about the answer that she received, she knew that it was something that she needed to do. She got baptized on Sunday and joined her Mom as a member of the church.

Now for the bad one. It started off easy. An older guy. He wanted to get baptized. Started the interview, everything was going smoothly. We got to the question that is a little more awkward than the other ones. It talks about more serious sins such as abortion, serious crimes etc. I have to ask them about those serious sins and if they have committed them before because the President has to interview them if they have. Well, he committed one of them...a long time ago. And he didn´t want to talk to me about it. I explained repentance and that we only want to help him. He just needed to tell me a little bit more about the circumstances so that I could tell President about it. He kept telling me to move on to something else. I told him again that to fully repent, he would need to let us help him with it, so that he could be baptized on Sunday. He then promptly told me to get out of the house...and after a little more talking he kicked me out of the house and told me he would just search another church. It hurt. Really broke my heart that night. It was the only thing on my mind, I pondered the situation over and over again, desperately thinking of something I could have done better in the interview. I prayed a lot, asking for forgiveness and asking for him, hoping that he would know that we were just trying to help him out with something that was obviously a tender subject. The missionaries have not been able to find him since, hopefully they can find him this week.

Ok, so on Sunday morning I woke up, and everything was looking good. But as we were about to go out the door to pass by for investigators to go to church we get a text. The person that was going to get baptized, told us that he wouldn´t be able to, so that we shouldn´t pass by his house to go to church. Another thing that I´ve learned on the mission: You have to be stubborn. We had already arranged that I was going to pass by for all the people going to church with a priest, and that Elder Laguna would go for Abraham...who was going to get baptized. I put my trust in Elder Laguna to go and get the kid to church so he could get baptized. Do whatever it takes. I went and brought a new family to church (We had 5 at church) and there I waited for Elder Laguna to arrive with our baptism. The meeting started. No sign of him yet. The sacrament got passed. Still no. All of the people gave there talks and still...nothing. The whole time I was praying, asking Heavenly Father to bless Elder Laguna and Abraham. After the closing prayer I sent the investigators off to class and I found Elder Laguna in the hall....with Abraham!!!!! I found a room in the church to say a prayer thanking Heavenly Father for the help and for huge blessing. Elder Laguna told me afterwards that Abraham´s dad and brother really did not want him to get baptized and wouldn´t let him go (his older sisters are both members however). Elder Laguna said that after talking with the brother and the dad for like an hour...they still weren´t gonna let Abraham go...and just when Elder Laguna was about to leave without Abraham...Abraham left his room, went up to his dad and told him ´Dad, I want to get baptized¨ His Dad was taken back a little bit, went to the room and talked with Abraham for bout 10 minutes, and Abraham left and went with Elder Laguna and got baptized. It was a miracle. Abraham, a 14 year old quiet, shy kid stood up for his belief and for his desire to follow Christ. I have no doubt that the Lord heard our prayers and blessed Abraham with the strength and courage to do what was right. One more person has entered into the sacred covenant of baptism with our Heavenly Father.

I love being a missionary.

And this is my joy.

Elder Peacock