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

It WAS a Pretty Good Week

Monday, May 23, 2011 3:04 PM

Hello family and friends.

Well, I have bad news...unfortunately, the package has not arrived yet, or if it has it’s in the office and I haven´t received it in the weekly mail yet. But it´s ok don´t worrry about it. Hopefully it will be getting here this week. [UGH!  I sent it so early!  It’s full of birthday décor that will now be all USELESS!]  But it´s all good cuz we had a lot going on this week for sure...so I almost forgot about it completely. So I´ll give you a rundown of the week.

Tuesday...We had interviews with President. It went well, we talked about our numbers and stuff like that. But don´t know anything about the transfers (they are next Monday, so who knows this might be my last Monday here in Metepec).

Wednesday. Elder Dallin H. Oaks came and spoke to our mission. The devotional started at 8 in the morning and President wanted us seated and ready, studying the scriptures an hour before. and Since it was in DF, we had to leave at like 5 in the morning. We rented a bus for the 2 zones that are out here in Metepec and Toluca, and it left at 5 am from the chapel right by our house. Since there aren´t buses and stuff like that early in the morning all the missionaries that live far away from our chapel had to sleep here in our house, the zone leaders´ house and in the chapel. So we had about 8 other missionaries sleeping in our house on Tuesday night. We got up at like 3 in the morning to get all ready and then we went were at the church at 430 and the bus left at 5. We got there like at 645 and studied our scriptures until Elder Oaks arrived at 8.

I don´t know why I´ve never noticed it before, but his voice is awesome haha. [Listen to him HERE] He could be a background voice in movies or something. He talked about how we can become better instruments in the hands of the Lord. He used the example of a pen. A pen should always be ready to write, and shouldn’t say ¨we can´t work today because its Pday¨ and when we use a pen we want it to write OUR message not its own, so we should always be preaching the Gospel of the Lord and not our own message or things of the world, and also that a pen needs to be in working order in order to function properly, so we as missionaries need to take care of our bodies so we can continue working throughout our missions (maybe kran tacos aren´t the best haha). But Elder Oaks was great...really powerful speaker and I could feel the Spirit very strongly throughout the talk. He doesn´t know any Spanish, so the whole talk was with a translator by his side...so if he said jokes all the Americans would laugh and then 10 seconds later all the Mexicans would laugh after the translator said it in Spanish....it was a great experience that I will remember for the rest of my life.

This is me and Elder Aguilar.  He was AP when I arrived.  Now, he’s a zone leader and he goes home in a week.

My MTC District (or, at least all of us from the Mexico City West Mission), reunited at last!

Thursday, normal day nothing too special haha.

Friday, My Birthday! the Hermana Galindo (the one who lives where I skyped) bought me a pie and we ate it, I also got a call from the Hermana Villarreal wishing me Happy Birthday...it was a good day.

Saturday...normal day as well.

Sunday...unexpectedly the Hermano Ariel Cruz Martinez (that we baptized a month ago, the guy who listens to Enya and is a huge Pumas soccer fan) bought me a cake as well for my birthday and made me Milkshakes....it was good. He´s the best haha. [At least he’s getting LOVE for his birthday, even if his pkg didn’t arrive!!]

Today, we played soccer as a zone against the Toluca zone. (see picture) I played a little bit of goalie....it´s hard, I think I´ll just stick with Defender...Goalie I think takes a lot more practice just knowing where to be and what to do and stuff like that. I played it my new kicks (its all about the Black Nikes) and they worked great haha. (585 pesos...on sale it was a good deal). Unfortunately we lost the game...they are just better than us...a lot more people that play soccer, we only have a few and they aren´t that fantastic. But its all good we were just playing for fun haha....I wish we could play some basketball....

And yeah, that was pretty much my week this week. I hope you enjoy the pictures and that you all have a great week. I´m anxious to get the changes on Saturday, and I´ll be sure to let you know what´s going down on Monday. I miss you all so much and I can´t wait to get the package. I know that this church is true...and this is my joy (Alma 29:9)

Love you all

Elder Peacock

This Week Should be a Good One

Monday, May 16, 2011 2:41 PM

Hello family and friends....

Thanks for the emails and thanks in advance for the shoes Dad...got your email today...like Booby Miles said, “It´s all about the Black Nikes” haha. But I am very happy that you guys received the package...pretty quickly considering it finally got sent last week. So that is good. And yes...the Hermana that sent it for me told me that they took out the tortillas. Who knows why? [He sent us a package and the accompanying tape that described the contents said that he put in some fresh tortillas.  Only, no tortillas arrived!]  They don’t want America stealing their tortilla recipe or something. But I´m glad that the rest got there safely. I thought those maps would be perfect since you guys said you haven´t found a detailed map of Mexico  [Jeff has a map fetish.  Justin marked his locations on the VERY detailed maps he bought in a gas station.  Jeff was in heaven!]. Those are about as detailed as they come. As for my package...didn´t get it this week. I did get Cassandra´s however...she beat you guys haha. But hopefully it´ll come this week. No worries. And congrats Tyler on all the scholarships...try not to one up me tooo much haha. And ok Mom, as for the Spanish phrases...I´ll give you a new one every week, sounds good. Try to find out where she´s from so I can give you some slang haha. For this week this is what I got:

"Me encanta tu falda (skirt or if she´s wearing a dress ¨vestida¨), se ve muy bonita¨

¨ I love your skirt/dress, it looks very pretty¨

Try that one on for size haha. [I have a friend from Mexico and she has challenged me to say something new in Spanish to her every time I see her!]

Ok, so as for the week, it was a pretty good one. We had another zone conference, I don´t really know why but we had two this change. We went over the importance of the area books and agendas and how we need to use them more effectively. Luckily we have been updating our area books quite regularly so we don’t have to much work to do in that aspect. After we watched a talk from Elder Holland that he gave in the MTC in January. Man, that guy is amazing. Luckily, we watched it in English with Spanish subtitles so we were able to hear his voice. It was an hour of just amazing powerful stuff. He closed talking about Peter the Apostle and when Jesus appeared to the apostles after His resurrection while they were fishing (John 21).  He explained that this was the moment that Peter became the great apostle.  As the apostles noticed that it was Jesus on the shore Peter dove in the water and went to greet the Master. As they ate and talked with Jesus, Jesus asked Peter ¨Do you love me?¨ Peter was a little bit flustered by the question and responded that of course he did. ¨Then Feed my sheep¨ responded the Savior. The Savior asked him if he loved him again and Peter responded in the same fashion. ¨Then feed my sheep¨.   A third time Jesus asked ¨Do you love me Peter?¨ Peter, responded without a doubt that he loved him. ¨Then feed my sheep.¨ Just as Peter had before denied the Savior 3 times, he was given equal opportunity to confess his love for him 3 times.  Elder Holland explained that it was in this moment that he became the great apostle, the leader of the 12. Peter and the apostles were fishing, but the Lord wanted them to leave their nets and their former lives behind and feed his sheep--preach the gospel and bring his word to all of His children. Elder Holland explained that if we truly love the Savior, we will leave the things of the world aside and feed His sheep just like Peter did.

Elder Holland is the man.

Anyway, that was zone conference for you. On Sunday we had another baptism, which is always a special experience...hopefully we´ll be able to finish these last two weeks out with another one...this change is going pretty good work wise.

But yeah I am super excited for this week...Tomorrow we have interviews with President Villarreal which is always great. and on Wednesday Elder Oaks from the Quorum of the Twelve as well as Elder Rasband from the Seventy are coming to talk to our mission...so the whole mission will be together and it will be a pretty exciting experience...so more on that next week. Friday is my Birthday so I´m hoping to get your package this week...and then on Saturday I hit double digits....10 months in the mission!!! so it´s a pretty eventful week for sure.

Well that´s pretty much it for this week. I know this gospel is true and I love and miss you all.

And this is my joy.

Elder Peacock

[sorry so slow to post!  Things have been a little CRAZY!]

It Was a GOOOOOD Sunday

Hello family and friends,

Normally a Sunday where the Lakers get swept would NEVER EVER be a good day. But yesterday was the exception. It was great to see all of your faces and talk to you for a while. [Missionaries get to call home twice a year—Mother’s Day and Christmas—while they’re on their mission.  As an unexpected bonus, we got to SKYPE, which is a video call.  Truly a marvelous invention!]  I truly did enjoy it. It was hard to hang up...but we had to eventually haha. I´m glad you guys think that my Spanish is so good ....because it really still is a work in progress.  I´m excited to receive my package soon [for his upcoming birthday—he tried to get us to tell him what was in it!]. Thanks for the emails and all of your love and support as usual.

This week (we talked about it yesterday I think haha) went well. We got our numbers up from the week before and we were able to have a baptism on Sunday which is always something special. Elder Diaz and I are cool now...no more fights. We are getting along better and are having more fun together. It has been rainy all week...but hot and sunny during the day.

Today for P-day we played soccer (surprise) as a zone against the zone of Toluca. We lost....but whatever....I still wanna play basketball haha. We played on a giant dirt field...there seems to be a lot of them here. I´m thinking about buying some soccer shoes though since its pretty obvious that I will be playing for my entire mission...but we´ll see. Apparently, since I´m a bargain hunter now, I´ll have to shop around haha.

Anyways, I know that this church is true. I do miss you guys more a little bit more now, just cuz I felt so close to you for a few hours, but I love my mission so much as well, because I know that it is the work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and I love Him with all of my heart. He died for me, as well as for everyone else. I know that through Him and His sacrifice we can all be clean from sin and live with God again with all the people that we love....forever. He can take our burdens for us and help us with everything in our lives. That is why I am serving my mission....because His gospel blesses and changes lives.

Well Happy Mother´s Day again Mom. I was reading the story of the stripling warriors this week (Alma 56, see especially verses 45-48)...and they had such strong faith in the Lord Jesus Christ because their mothers taught them that if they did not doubt, the Lord would save them from their struggles. Thank you for teaching me wisdom in my youth Mom, because through those teachings I am here fighting for my Savior each and everyday, in full time service of Him.

Love you and miss you all. Have a great week!

And this is my Joy (Alma 29:9)

Elder Peacock

When we were SKYPEing with Justin, at one point, he pulled his namebadge off to show Bryce something and I noticed that he had a card attached to it that just sits in his pocket.  On one side is:

And on the other side is:

Melt my heart!

Ya Estamos en Mayo!

Hello family and Friends,

Another week has gone by here in Metepec. Now, its starting to feel like I´ve been out a while not gonna lie. Everyone getting married, Pat almost being out a year, and Tyler graduating soon. Weird.  And High fives all around. Lakers won and Spurs lost. President won’t be happy about that one, haha. And as for the call....I´ll be calling on Sunday! I´m just gonna use a phone here, they have phones here I can use for like 7 or 8 pesos for half hour to the US. As for now, I´m planning on calling at around 8:00 here, which would make it 6:00 in California. So expect it right around then, but don´t be surprised if its later or earlier by an hour or so. We will have an hour to talk, so hopefully that will all work out. Super stoked to talk to you guys!!! 

As for this week, it was a little bit of both. The good and the bad. On Tuesday we had Zone Conference, which is always great. President Villarreal is the best. I always feel so spiritually uplifted and reanimated when he talks. Afterwards, the APs and Secretaries ate with us at an Hermana´s house.

The work was a little rough this week however, not a lotta people at home. This week was vacation for the schools here, so a lot of families were out of town since there was no school. Also, me and my comp had a couple rough days together....I think when you´re with someone 24 hours a day 7 days a week you´re bound to argue a little, right? But this is how it went down. In Spanish there are 2 words to say the word “you”. Tú and usted. Here in Mexico, you use the word tú for people that are younger than you (like kids) as well as close friends, family, and when you pray you use tú as well. Usted is for people that hold leadership over you or people you don’t know very well. Apparently in Peru, they NEVER use tú and it’s disrespectful if you talk to somebody like that. I have been talking to Elder Diaz in tú since day one..and he has never said anything about it...and that’s just how it works here in Mexico. It came up that he gets offended when people talk to him in tú and I told him that’s a cultural difference that he´ll have to get used to, because its not due to a lack of respect here. Well, to make a long story short, we argued about it for a while and we were a little tense with each other for a day or two. We´ve settled it now and we´re back to normal so its all good. I´m pretty sure every companionship has their moments...some more than others...but everyone is bound to get in an argument every once in a while. But we´re good now no worries.

Today, P-day, has been pretty fun so far. We did our usual shopping in the morning and then we played some soccer with the zone. Afterwards, we went and Ate Hamberguesas Gigantes!!! (see the picture). Add a liter of Coke on top of that and I AM stuffed, and have eaten enough calories for the whole week haha. Good thing I walk all day so it shouldn´t effect me too much haha. 

Hopefully we can find some new investigators this week. Our teaching pool seems to have disintegrated again...but we´ll just keep working hard, and I know that the Lord will bless us with success if we continue to be diligent and obedient. I´m so glad to hear that you guys are hosting missionary discussions!! There´s nothing better than having a family in the ward that helps with the work...it helps with the fellowshipping, learning and conversion so so much. Don´t be afraid to bear your testimony and share personal experiences to help the missionaries out. I´m so glad you get to hear you are experiencing the joy of missionary work first hand. I am so grateful each and everyday for the opportunities I have to share the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ with others. It truly does bless families...every problem can be solved by applying the Gospel to it, and only through the Gospel of Jesus Christ can families truly be eternal and live together forever. I know that this Gospel is true and I can´t wait to talk to you guys on Sunday. I hope you have a great week!! Love you so much!!

And this is my joy!! (Alma 29:9)

Elder Peacock

[Lisa:  Is it me, or does his nose seem perpetually sunburned?  Hmmm.  I’ll have to speak to him about sunscreen on SUNDAY! Once a mom, always a mom!]