I'm Going To Have My First Changes Tomorrow

Well the day is finally here!!  I am going to have my first changes tomorrow!!  The good news is I am staying in the stake and so I will be relatively close!!  Things are going great!

Alright so this week I had a really cool slash funny experience!  It was Saturday and I was not feeling good at all!!  Needless to say I had diarria, what else would I have? I am in Mexico!  Well I took my pills and then after that I am usually good!  Well I look at the bottle of pills and I am like yeah I am going to take these to the baptism because we were going to Elder Hammond's baptism.  My comp was like why are you taking those that doesn't make sense!  You already took yours and now you willl be good! I was like I don't know I just feel like I should!  Well we get there and what happens?  One of the investigators was like will you take me to the closest store I was like yeah of course!  Why what do you need!  Well I need diarria pills I feel terrible. I was like no way I have those here take some haha It was just a really cool experience for me!!  

The rest of the week went really really good!!  We had a ton to eat on Dia de Los Niños Saturday and a huge party as a ward!!  Patrick is still progressing really really good and he will for sure get baptized on the 9th I think! The sad thing is I won't be here but I will be able to go since I am close!  Gerardo, Javier's brother, also wants to get baptized that day and so that will be really really good to see all of that in the same day!!  I am super excited to see all of that happen!!  

I am kind of sad to finally be leaving but it will be good to move on! I hope that it goes good!!

This weeks word is Traslados  It means changes  Vamos a tener traslados mañana.  Tomorrow we are going to have changes.

I love you guys have a good week!!

Elder Orchard

Today I Hit the 8 Month Mark

Alright so to start off yes Javier got confirmed this week!!  Kind of cool!! He was so happy and to answer the other question he already has the priesthood so that is good!! We like to move fast!! That also brings me to a really funny story!!  So I went and had the bishop sign everything he needed to sign and i was like yeah thanks for your help can I do anything to help you? And he was like actually yes (they never say yes) and I was like oh crap haha.  He was like will you input them into the system after you baptize them because if the missionaries don't then they never will get put in!  So not only are we the missionaries we are the secretaries here!

Alright so last week we had someone show up to church just by himself! Well needless to say is that if they show up they usually are super super chosen!  Well this guy is no exception! He is progressing sooooo good and he just wants to learn!  We pass with him like four or five times a week and it is awesome!!  He is soooo cool!!  He is explaining to his dad everything and he just really understands!!  IT is awesome! He is 18 and he is one of the cooolest people I have met! And I am hoping we can teach him good and then he can go on a misison! That would be cool!!  

Well this week we had another guy show up by himself and so that is awesome! Hopefully we can do the same thing and he can progress like a champ too!!  We are also trying to baptize this week and so that will be awesome! It would be Gerardo, Javiers brother!!  We are really starting to get a lot of help from The Lord in our work and we are just getting a lot of cool people! The goal this week is that we can find a family!  So we are going to work really hard with that! Sorry, I know my thoughts are everywhere and I am probably making no sense!!  

Well one thing that I have started to learn is that if we listen to our president and work our hardest to fulfill with what he asks us to do we will be blessed!  These last few weeks we have really tried to work on working really close with the area plan and set goals that are in agreement with what the president thinks we can complete!  Well we have had a ton ton ton of success!!

This might be my last week here in Paraiso!  We will have changes next Tuesday and I should know for sure if we will have changes or not but it is just kind of weird! Today I hit the 8 month mark and that is crazy to me! The time has flown by honestly!!  I can't believe how fast this thing is going!!  It helps when you teach 40 lessons a week!!  I will be kind of sad if I get changed but I know that it will be my time to go and work hard somewhere else!

Now, a funny story we had this week! We were contacting and it was the day after USA played Mexico and won in soccer! Well we were talking and someone is like the Americans won us!!  I was like yeah I know I can't believe they won us and I looked at my comp and was like your country man and the guy totally went with it and it was so funny!! 

This weeks word will be aguas.  Now agua means water but aguas is like be careful!!!  Aguas viene un carro!  Careful here comes a car!!

Alright the last little spiritual thought of the week is that I spoke on Sunday about the body of Christ which is us as members!  I based my talk in 1 Corinthions chapter 12 and so go read that chapter and it will leave you guys wondering what more can I do to be a better member!! 

I love you guys and have a good week!!

Les Quiero,

Elder Orchard

This Week Was Full of Miracles

Wow this week was absolutly full of miracles!!  I don't even know where to begin!!

Well Tuesday we did divisions and I went to another ward and needless to say I had a terrible experience with the misisonary I was with!  We just don't agree with the way we teach!  He was here with the old President and so he is trying to live in a different era than what we are in now!  I like to promise blessings and do what Preach My Gospel suggests and he likes to planch?  (I don't know in English sorry) but like to bash or to give someone an earfull!  So it was terrible and I finished divisions feeling like crap!!  Well then Wednesday I did divisions again!!!  But I went with Elder Hammond (old Assistant)  and wow that was a completly different day!!  We had awesome lessons and we were actually on the same page accomplishing what we wanted!  It was one of the coolest days on my mission!  We had so much success and it was exactly what I needed after a terrible day!! 

Wednesday we also went to visit Javier and Elder Hammond was impressed!!  Well we started talking to Javier´s mom and she basically told us that the grandpa was the guardian!  So we called the Assistants and got permission from them to get the grandpas signature!  Well still there was a lot to get done and everything had to be perfect!!  Well it was absolutely perfect!  We baptized him after church on Sunday and he was the happiest kid in the world!

Javier's baptism

I almost cried with him in the font and I just remember talking to him and hearing his testimony about how he has been waiting for a year and a half and finally today has happened!!  It was definitely one of the coolest experiences of my mission!! I started to wonder if it was going to happen or not!! And finally it does!!

Me and Elder Hammond cleaning the font.

I am a huge believer in The Fast!  This week my testimony has increased sooo much about Fasting and Prayer!  We taught all about fasting this week to the members and we are already seeing soooooo many miracles in the work!! Things are awesome!! I am sad though I think that this will be my last two weeks in this area!  It is sad because we are finally getting help from the ward and I love being here!  But who knows what will happen!! 

Me in a micro (bus).  We took Alvaro (my first baptism) to the Visitor's Center with us.

Tortas and Coke after the temple

Just a quick update on Jonathan from last week...he won't come to church.  We just need one visit to the church and we have him.   We also had two different people just show up at church and they want to know more about the church!  Well one guy already has a fecha to be baptized and everything is going great!!  Which is good because if Elder Preciado trains then he will have people when my grandkid gets here!  Who knows what will happen though!  I should find out this week because we have interviews with the President and so I am excited for that time. I love interviews with him!!  

This weeks word is Milagro!  Esta semana fue llena de milagros!  This week was full of miracles!

Me and Renaldo in Javier's room

A little mom commentary: Douglas always writes "This Week in Mexico" in the subject line for his emails.  This week he wrote, "This Wonderful Week In Mexico".  I knew before I even started reading that great things had happened and I am so grateful for the opportunity Douglas has to serve. I know it will shape him into an amazing man.  I also want to add my testimony of fasting and prayer.  We started praying as a family for Javier as soon as Elder Orchard told us about him.  Russell and I have added his name to the prayer roll at the temple and we have fasted as a family for him.  It's amazing what God will do when we demonstrate a little bit of faith and show him we are willing to sacrifice a little for what we are asking him for.  It really was a week of miracles!

This Week We Found A Really Cool Guy

Krispy Kreme donuts!  I bought a dozen today. They are sitting at home!

Wow quite a week!  Well now I only have two conference sessions left in the mission!!  Crazy to think about!!  It was a really good conference and I was glad that I could watch it in English!!  I also thought it was really weird that President Monson didn't speak very much!  Hmm interesting!!  It was all really fun though!  We made waffles for the morning sessions and we had brownies and basically just pigged out during conference!!  It was basically a big American Party!!  It was awesome!  Conference seemed to fly by!  And I didn't even fall asleep!! So that was good!!  

We made brownies in between the sessions

General Conference

Hmm This week we found a really cool guy! His name is Jonathan and he is a stud!!  He was going to get baptized when he was 8 (like 20 years ago) but the only reason he didn't get baptized is that he didn't get his dads permission!! He is a good guy and we are really excited to see what  happens from him!!

Spiritual wise the whole conference is always cool!!  When we sang I Know That My Redeemer Lives as missionaries in the conference was cool!  Because it was only the English speakers in the room and it was powerful!!  But how about the opposing votes!  Wow that was suprising we were all like wow did that really just happen!!  I liked all the talks I don't know that I could just pick one to pull out!  I thought that they all did a good job!!   

Funny thing of the week? There was nothing really too funny except for the fact that we went with a old investigator that we had and we decided to teach the restoration to see if we could convince her to come to church!  Well we taught her really really good!  And then she was like If God calls me I will come to church and  my comp was like look he has been calling you for six years are you going to answer or not!  And she was like I just feel like my church is good!  I said you can feel good in all churches but is it the same church that Christ started with prophets apostles and the priesthood!  She said no and then we left her!  IT was funny because she admitted we were right. I don't know... mission humor... maybe you guys don't find that funny! 

Anything else from this week?  Hmmm not really anything good!  Except I feel pretty sick in the stomach!  I think it is time for some parasite pills again!!

We went to Sams Club today and that was awesome! It felt like I was back in America kind of! I spent like 500 pesos (about $33) which is kind of a lot but I think it will be worth it!!  I bought just a little bit of stuff but they didn't have to much good stuff!!  I at least have some snack food now to eat!!  

Sam's Club

A fullish fridge at the beginning of the month

This weeks word is alacran! It is a small scorpion Esta semana tuvimos unos alacrans en la casa!  This week we had scorpions in the house.

I love you have a good week!

Elder Orchard

(I asked Douglas if he emails from an internet cafe.  He said it is called a cyber and it costs 8 pesos per hour.  That is about .50)

Cockroach

me cooking