Tule

Well I've had an interesting week. This week we had our transfers and I am in an area that's called Tule 1. It´s awesome! I love being outside Puebla! We´re here in a little town by a little highway and its just so much more open. It is very different, especially because my last area in Puebla was pretty small. Also my new companion is named Elder Breceda. We are actually from the same generation and we will be going home together in about a year. He is from el Distrito Federal (by Mexico City) so he´s not that far away from home haha. Everyone tells him that he doesn't have an excuse not to come back and visit because his house is literally about 2 hours away in bus. He also has a accent that is pretty funny sometimes. He sings his words a little more at times.

Final Adios to President and Hermana Christensen

OK, I also forgot my agenda, so we´ll see how much I can remember. On Tuesday we had the changes meeting with the whole mission and it was packed in the chapel! We also sang and it was great! It was really sad to have to say goodbye to President Christensen, but they stood up front and we made a line to say goodbye and take a last picture with them. It was sad, but we´re excited to work with our new president who we will meet this week. 

Then after the meeting in place of the 20 minute bus ride to my area, we took a bus for about an hour, and then a combi (public transport van) for another 30 or so (with my luggage) to our house. It´s so cool to be outside Puebla! Also our house is probably literally the best house in the mission! Its the perfect size, in great conditions with a washing machine and a little yard/garden. I´m so happy to have a washing machine, I saved about 2 hours for not washing by hand. Also the house comes with a dog named Jack who lives in our garden. He's funny and crazy. He also follows us around when we leave. He´s actually waiting for us outside this internet cafe haha.

(Not Jack) - Saying goodbye to a dog in Puebla before transfers

During the week we worked, I got to know the area a little better and met the investigators. We have a good amount of investiagators who have all attended church a good amount of times. They just need baptismal dates :). We have one investigator with a baptismal date that we put and she is super pumped for it. Her name is Teresa and her kids are super funny. Also the people here are a little more laid back and friendly. In Puebla there are a lot of people that won´t stop to talk to you, but it has only happened to me once here so far. Also we had a really cool experience on Friday, where a member took us to a town a little farther away to give her cousin a blessing, be we ended up teaching her other cousin. It was a really good lesson, and the town where we went was really pretty! The member told us that there aren't any members that live there but many of her family members have asked for the missionaries. The only bummer was that we found out later that the town is in the other area or the Hermanas. Its alright though.

Sunday was really boring because we stayed in the house all day. My companion got sick from eating some spicy food on Saturday so we didn't even go to church. It was a bummer because I wanted to get to know more members and get a feel of the ward. It was alright though, I read a lot and took a nap.

Yup, It´s been a week full of new experiences. I hope that you´re all enjoying the summer heat! Have a good week!

-Elder Hartvigsen

Transfers Week

Heyo everyone. Another week just went right by didn`t it. I can`t believe that this transfer is ending as well. Its crazy, because in a week we`ll have a new president as well. I also have changes and will be leaving Aquiles Serdan. Its always a bittersweet experience leaving an area and a companion. It has been sad to say goodbye to all of the members and investigators here and it`ll be sad to have to leave Elder Estrada here in the area but it`s exciting to be able to have new experiences and discover a new area.

Final week before changes

We had a good week this week. We found another ton of new investigators. On Tuesday we had a lot of lessons with contacts and found 7 new investigators. We always have great Tuesdays here! This transfer every Tuesday we've had a lot of work. We had a great lesson with one new investigator, we taught him the restauration and he was really into it. He just had his bible there in front of him, and you could just see the wheels turning in his mind. It was a cool experience.

Reflection of taking a picture

On Wednesday we had the district meetings which went well. In the afternoon not too much, and a few appointments in the evening. We met with the Mejia Solar Family who we`d been teaching. It was a good lesson but they aren't progressing much. It`s pretty sad to see people who have such great potential not realize it, or choose not to do the things to realize it. 

Thursday we our weekly planning which was riveting as always, and we visited a lot of members that day. We've been really trying hard to get the members involved and to visit their neighbors and friends. On Friday we did some mini exchanges with the Elders in Independence to be able to do a baptismal interview with their investigators. I did the interviews and man, those two were super prepared. It`s such a spiritual experience to see the growth and changes of people that have prepared for baptism.

Preparing the font for a baptism

Saturday and Sunday were pretty normal. On Saturday we found out who has changes and there is a fair amount of people leaving the zone which will be exciting, but I won`t be here for it haha. It will be interesting to see where everyone goes. Also this changes meeting will be packed! President invited to whole mission to come if they want to, which means that everyone will be there! It will be exciting.

Yup, that was our week. I really can`t believe that another transfer went by and I`m leaving. Crazy. Well, have a great week everyone!

-Elder Hartvigsen

Changes are coming

Good week we had here in Aquiles Serdan. We might not have had a million lessons but we`re seeing some progress which is good. Pretty busy week, we were running around a lot for meetings and exchanges with the assistants. 

So this week we started off on Tuesday with a great day. We found 6 new investigators and had a lot of help from members that day. In the afternoon we finally ran into a family that we had contacted about 3 months ago and had a great lesson where they accepted baptism. Today we are going to try and put a baptismal date to make it real haha. We ran into another contact, and in a lesson with a old catholic investigator we invited her daughter and granddaughter to listen. It was a really great day! As a companionship we been really working on how we teach the first lesson, how we can keep things moving to teach the entire lesson and be able to give our investigators a bigger vision and keep them from getting bored. Sometimes it happens when we teach a new investigators we get hung up talking about God and a thousand little details, but we've seen that it helps to teach the whole thing. 

Wednesday was a day when we were running around all day. We had the district meetings, after that we went to lunch, then to the offices for my companion to take an english test, then we worked for about an hour and a half, then we went to ward council. Not a super productive day in a proselyting sense but it was good. Thursday we had exchanges with the assistants. I went with Elder Hammer to their area, in the ward Alpha. It was a fun day, we ate Domino's pizza in the offices for lunch, went out to teach, went to clean the font for a baptism that they had Saturday, and talked to some people in the street.

Friday the next day we that the leadership council meeting with President Christensen which as always was awesome. We talked about a lot of things, about the state of the mission, how we can help President Nelson when he gets here, how we need to work with the members more to raise the level of the mission and many other things. The food was great as always, and it was kind of strange because it was the last meeting that we will have with Pres. Christensen. He`s such a great president. It will be strange to have this change in two weeks.

Saturday we had some really cool lessons. With Andrea and Renato we had a really cool lesson where they figured out what our message really means. They started off saying they believe the Book of Mormon is true, but that it doesn't necessarily mean that our church is true, but we turned that thought around haha. The spirit was really strong in the lesson, and they were really feeling a receiving a lot of things.

Sunday was stake conference, and we had it in our chapel broadcasted from the stake. Kind of weird to be honest, but it was good. Pres. and Sister Christensen spoke which was awesome. Sister Christensen looked pretty sad that they are about to go home.

Yup, a pretty full week as always but it was a really spiritual one. This is also the last week of the transfer and I think my time is about up here in Aquiles Serdan, so we`re going to work really hard this week to put a lot of baptismal dates. Everyone have a good week!

-Elder Hartvigsen

La Temporada de Iluvia (The Rainy Season)

Hello everyone, I hope that you are all doing well as always. We had a good week overall, a few really great days, and a few not so great ones but that's fine. 

Cleaning?

On Tuesday, we had a really great day. We had 4 lessons with investigators and found 2 new people. We had some interesting lessons as well. Our first lesson was with a new investigator that had attended church last week, and we taught her a part of the restoration and put a baptismal date! The prayer she said at the end of the lesson was really powerful! She asked God to help her make the necessary changes in her life. Cool lesson, but she didn't attend church yesterday because she went to house with her parents for the weekend in a little pueblo. 

Rain every day

Later in the day we had a lesson with Renato and Andrea who are two newer investigators that are really solid but we had a member accompany us and he told them some really strange stories. It was an alright lesson but not really productive. The next day we had a day where everything fell through except our lunch appointment :), so at least we ate haha. But we also ran into a less active who has a really great testimony and stopped attending church because of his divorce. We`re excited to work with him more.

Smoke coming from El Popo

Thursday we had our last Zone Conference with Pres. Christensen and it was great! It was a little different because he talked about things that might apply more after the mission about marriage and things like that. It was different but really good. We`re going to miss him a lot but excited to work with our new President. 

The last Zone Conference - Estaca Libertad

Friday we had another day where everything fell through. Saturday as well, so we talked with a lot of people in the street. On Sunday we had a really great sacrament meeting, all of the ward council shared their testimonies about missionary work and it was powerful. The spirit was really strong in the meeting. We only had one investigator show up be she told us that her husband will marry her! Well, not her husband yet, but one of the problems that we have a lot is getting people to get married. So we`re super excited to get her progressing finally!

Un gatito

Yup, good week and we`re going to be working even harder in this one. Everyone have a good one!

-Elder Hartvigsen

Another Week Gone

Saludos de Mexico, we had an alright week. Not the best but not the worst. I can`t believe that it`s already June, it just blows my mind to think about it. 

The Zone Leaders

In church we found out that an apostle died but someone just mentioned it in the sacrament meeting prayer so we were guessing all throughout sacrament. In the class the ward mission leader sat next to me and we read the article on LDS.org on his iPad haha. [About the death of Elder L. Tom Perry]

So this week we had some more lessons with our new investigators, but a lot of them either fell through or were canceled. We were hoping for more but it`s alright. Tuesday was a day where almost everything fell through so we were in the street for a long time. On Wednesday we had exchanges with one of District Leaders Elder Jarmon and his companion Elder Pineda, I went to Elder Jarmon's area and its a really sweet area. It`s like a hybrid of city with some areas with fields. They also have a lot of work right now which is great. They've been working over there really hard! It was a really good interchange where I learned a lot. On Thursday we had a few lessons with our investigators, one with Hipolito who's a really funny guy.

Friday we found a few new investigators with potential and one who had attended church a few times in a town outside of Puebla. On Friday we also went to a baptism that the Hermanas of our ward had with two of their investigators. It was a really great baptismal service. Saturday all of our appointments fell through and we contacted a ton of people in the street. It was a good day. It has also been raining a lot. So we`ll be seeing rain for the next several months almost every day.

Sunday was a good day, we passed for about 10 investigators and we got a new one to come with us! Her name is Angeles and she really liked church. We have an appointment to teach her this Tuesday and we`re going to try and put a baptismal date! But this week we haven`t seen the family that we`ve been teaching at all and they weren`t there for our appointment either so we`re worried about them. Yup, so this week we will be seeing how our investigators are doing, and if they`re going to progress and we will be also working really hard to get them to attend church.

Well, I hope that you all have a good week!

-Elder Hartvigsen