2 Timothy 4:7

Hey everyone. So it´s pretty early in the morning right now, but I couldn't leave without writing another letter. Last week's was pretty pathetic. So we came to the house of prayer so I could write one last email before I left. It feels strange that this is it.

So this last week went very well. Monday in the evening we worked in Chignahuapan with Elder Prieto and Elder Page and had a really good night. Elder Page and I taught a great family that they have that are going to be baptized in a few weeks. Monday night we stayed in Chignahuapan so that Elder Page and I could go to our final interviews together in Puebla. They went really well, the interview was actually a lot more simple than I thought. Wednesday we had our last district meeting which also went well. Thursday was pretty normal. Friday we had a cool activity for Mothers Day and a ton of people came. We had about 30 people in the house of prayer. President Tolentino shared a good thought and then we ate carnitas! Saturday was a good day, and Sunday was awesome! There were so many people that came to church! We had 6 investigators there and in total we were 28 people! Last week we just had 14! The investigators that we had in church were Desiderio and his family, Aurelia, Fany, Cristina, and Areseli. We also had Gloria and Jaime. It was so cool to see the room filled! It's also been a tough week saying goodbye to everyone. It was especially tough saying goodbye to the members and those investigators that are starting to progress. Saying goodbye to Desiderio and his family was almost like saying goodbye to converts. That man is very sincere and humble.

So I can't believe how fast these last months have gone by. I've just tried to stay focused on the work and everything has flown by. It's hard for me to think that I've been here for two years almost. I feel so grateful to God that he allowed me to come to this part of the world and to this mission, Puebla North. I know that I was supposed to come here to meet the people I've met, to have the companions I've had and to serve to people here. I have come to cement my testimony that I know that Jesus Christ lives and knows each one of us no matter where we come from, what language we speak, or what traditions we have. He has an infinite love for everyone. I know that he came to save us all, and that in our days his true church exists on the earth with Apostles and Prophets. I know that the church is guided by revelation, and that Jesus is at the helm. This work will advance, and is advancing. I thank you all for all your support and for reading these emails. I'm sad to end my service, but happy to move into the next phase of my life. May god bless us all, that we may stay true until the end.

Sincerely,
Elder Samuel Hartvigsen

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.

Super Short Email

Hey everyone, 

I hope that everyone is well. Today I'm going to write an email that is way short because we ran out of time here. We're in Zacatlan and have to get back to Chignahuapan. However this week was a good tough week. We had a ton of appointments fall though but we were very happy to have an investigator family of 5 in Sacrament Meeting! It was sweet! 

I'll write a bigger email next week (my last week, crazy). Everyone have a great week!

-Elder Hartvigsen

Just a little dessert!

Quick Email

Hey everyone,

So this email is going to be quick. Right now we're in Apizaco and we need to get back to our area. Today we went to visit a bunch of converts that I taught. We went to Tlaxcala where Pablo and Cristina are living right now and we saw Pablo. It was awesome seeing him. He's doing well. He´s been going to church infrequently but at least he's goes more or less regularly. We also visited here in Apizaco Noemi, Hno. Serrano, Geraldine, and Carmen Guadelupe and Angel. We were also here with Elder Dixon visiting because we had a lot of people we taught in common. 

Everyone have a great week!
-Elder Hartvigsen

Puebla, Puebla

Hey Everyone. I hope that you`re all doing well. I`m good but It`s pretty hot outside haha. I forgot to put on sunscreen one day and I got roasted. It`s been a pretty hot week in terms of weather. 

Things went really well this week, we worked a lot and were able to have a good amount of success. I`ll start from Tuesday because that was the day I wrote last week haha. On Tuesday we had a good day. We honestly didn't have too many lessons, but it felt like a productive day. We were able to visit Silvia, who's an awesome investigator, we also visited Fernando, a contact from forever ago who's brother is in a bishopric in Mexico City. We had a sweet lesson with him. On Wednesday we had the district meeting, and this time I did get a little car sick in the combi. I think it was because I ate some cookies with milk right before we left. After we got back, we had a good day. We visited Desiderio, a new investigator who lives in the middle of one of the hills literally. To get there we climb up to a water tank and then follow the irrigation aqueduct for about 1 km. He was doing well and excited to talk to us but his wife was pretty turned off to the lesson.

On Thursday we had a bunch of other lessons, we visited Hector and Raquel, a less active and his wife, we saw Silvia again, and we taught some other investigators too. It felt like a rough day during the day, but in the evening when we saw what we had done the whole day it was actually pretty good. Friday was a tougher day, we had almost all the appointments fell through, but the appointments that we did have were awesome. We found two new investigators who are really sharp and are ready to learn and accept. Their names are Lizbet and Cristina. Saturday was packed. We had 7 lessons with investigators and were able to also work with the Tolentino family. They took us with two of their neighbors who are also great investigators. On Sunday we had Silvia in church, and it was great to have investigators in church again after a long dry spell. We also visited Desiderio again and we ate with the Tolentino family which is always really fun. President Tolentin was telling some funny tradicional stories.

Today we are in Puebla. Since these are my last weeks, I have the opportunity to visit some of the people that I visited, and right now I'm in Resurgimiento and we visited Emma, who was baptized when I was here. It was awesome to see her and it's strange to be in one of my old areas. I'm also now a town person because now I feel weird in the city haha. We got lost a few times on the buses haha. Well, everyone have a great week. Love you all!

-Elder Hartvigsen

Faulty Internet

Hey everyone! How´re you all doing? I know what you´re thinking, and I also know that today is Tuesday. I also know that P-day ends Monday haha. No, but yesterday there wasn't internet in Tetela, so we asked for permission from president to email today, and that is the reason that I´m writing today on Tuesday.

Friends at Final Zone Conference

So we had a good week. On Monday after we went to the caves we taught a few lessons to some new people. We had an interesting lesson with a woman that we found that was super interested in the church, but stopped investigating because her husband's family told her that she couldn't listen :(. On Tuesday we had intercambios with Elder Prieto and I was with Elder Page in Chignahuapan. We had a great day, even though it rained super hard. There was also a ton of lightning that was striking super close. When one of the bolts fell some electricity jumped from the umbrella I was holding, kind of scary haha. After that I put the umbrella down and we just got soaked haha. We also taught a ton of lessons, In Chignahauapan they have a bunch of great investigators that are progressing.

Rainy days

On Wednesday we met up in Chignahuapan and then went back to Tetela, had a few lessons in the afternoon and in the evening we went to Apizaco to be able to go to a zone conference the next day in Tlaxcala in the morning. It was also dumping in Apizaco haha. We stayed in the zone leaders house but while we were waiting for them to come to the church to pick us up there was a ward activity of Xicotencatl where I was before. I was able to see Noemi and Steve among other members there. It was awesome! Steve gave me the biggest hug! It was awesome to see them!

On Thursday we had a zone conference, which was the last one I´ll have. Kind of crazy. It was great, I learned a lot and the spirit was there very strongly. President talked about working with the members and miracles. It was also great to see many familiar faces. I saw Elder Dominguez who's a ZL in Tlaxcala, Elder Pantoja who's a DL in Zacatelco. Elder Estrada was also there. It was awesome, and also strange because it was the last time I´ll see many of the those people. On Friday we had weekly planning and a ton of lessons in the afternoon. On Saturday we also taught many lessons. We went to a town called San Nicolas with Pres. Tolentino and taught the husband of a member. It was alright lesson, the guy was kind of stiff. Sunday was normal. We still couldn't get people to church but we got even closer this time! One investigator was on route until her boss saw her and held her up. Next week! And Monday was plain, we just hung out around here and I started to do some of the plans for when I go home that the missions asks for. That was pretty weird. Everyone have a great week!

-Elder Hartvigsen

Mission Picture from Elder Oaks visit in February

Grutas de Carreragco (Carreragco Caves)

Hey everyone. Hope that you´re all well as always. We´re doing well here. It was a good week but a challenging one. That´s alright though, because if there weren't tough weeks, there wouldn't be better weeks! So on Monday we had an alright evening in which we found a new investigator that´s really passing through some tough circumstances, she's just barely scraping by, it was humbling to see, and made me realize how blessed I've been in my life. On Tuesday we had a good productive day. We also had interchanges with Elder Prieto and we had a good day. I taught a sweet English class and taught everyone the alphabet song. We taught a bunch of lessons with some new investigators that weren't that open and we taught Joaquin and his family. It's tough to teach with their two little babies sometimes and they seem to be getting a little cold towards what we're teaching which is sad to see.

On Wednesday we had an alright day, we had the district meeting, and had a few appointments. The combis as always are great haha. However depending on the driver I can sleep a bit. On Thursday we had weekly planning and only had a few appointments that didn't fall through in the afternoon. Friday was about the same but in the evening we had a family home evening with the Ojeda family which was actually really good where I learned about how to be a better parent. Just got to keep focused on the mission right now haha.

Saturday was a lot better day, we had 6 lessons with investigators and committed some people to go to church. We were pretty excited that day. Sunday nobody showed up to church, but we had better attendance then last week which was nice. Today we had our district activity where we went to some caves in our area and it was awesome. We also bought carne asada and ate there after we got back out. It was a sweet activity that we enjoyed a bunch! It's also cool to have us 4 Elders from our generation that are leaving. It´s kind of weird to me that I only have a few more weeks left. Anyways, everyone have a great week!

-Elder Hartvigsen

El fin se acerca (The end is near)

Hey everyone whats up? We´re doing well here in Tetela. It´s pretty hot out right now, and I got kind of burnt today haha. We had a good week though, also today is the first day of my last change. It´s crazy to think that I'm almost at the end. It's a bitter-sweet feeling, I really like being a missionary but it'll also be great to be home. Also a shout out for my sister Kathryn who got her mission call to the Ohio Cincinnati mission! She'll be a great missionary!

Monday in the evening we had a good night. We were able to find a few new investigators and visit the Cruz family. It is also awesome right now because we had the time change so it doesn't get dark until 8 which is awesome to be working with more light. On Tuesday we also had a bunch of lessons, gave an English class (my companion is a better English teacher than I am) and ate a bunch of bread. Wednesday was the district meeting which means 3 hours of combi rides and we had a ton of appointments that fell through. It was one of those days where we had a really busy day scheduled and almost everything fell through. Thursday was weekly planning, and as far as I can remember we had a normal day, taught a few lessons and things.

Friday was another normal day, we did have a pretty intense lesson with one of our investigators Joaquin. When we got there he was kind of trying to drop us, saying that he didn't have a ton of time to listen to us for his two newborns, and he didn't really want to change religions anyway. At the end we got him to ask in the prayer if what we were teaching him was true, and after the prayer he just knelt there with his eyes closed for about 7 minutes straight. He said he felt a really peaceful feeling. Cool lesson. On Saturday we found a great investigator that felt the spirit strongly when we taught her the plan of salvation and told us "This is so clear that I can understand it. I would never hear this in my church." She accepted a baptismal date and said she was going to go to church!

Sunday was rough. This last week we worked super hard to commit everyone to go to church and help them all understand the blessing of going, and the consequences of not going, but no-one showed up. It was a pretty big bummer, we were sure at least someone was going to show. Next week. Today we went to a waterfall near a town called Aquixtla and it was super pretty. A member named Alejandro took us and it was awesome! It made me want to go camping haha. Everyone have a great week!

-Elder Hartvigsen

General Conference (Christmas for missionaries)

Hey everyone. Today I´m writing early because we are going to a zone activity in Apizaco and we´re not going to have time to write in the afternoon due to the time it takes to get back to Tetela. We´re doing well. We had a pretty good week and an awesome general conference.

Out in the country

So on Tuesday we had interchanges and I was with Elder Page in Chingahuapan. We had a really good exchange, Elder Page is a really good worker. It was also fun because it was the first exchange I'd had with him and he´s in my generation. He also got me up early on Wednesday to go to the gym haha. He has a football scholarship to Idaho state so he´s trying to bulk up. When we got there some lady asked me what I wanted to do and made me do arm exercises. I guess I looked kind of lost haha. So on Wednesday we had the district meeting which was good as always. We had a strong district with really good missionaries. After we went back to Tetela and the combi ride was pretty bad that time. In the afternoon we had a few appointments with investigators, had a pretty rough lesson at the end of the day. We dropped a few investigators after they finally came out to tell us they didn't want us to visit them.

Thursday was a good day, we had weekly planning and then ate with the Tolentino family in their field because President Tolentino was up there watching their sheep. So we went up there on the mountain to eat with them. We also saw their sheep, they have a bunch of newborns that are pretty sweet. In the afternoon we had a few appointments with some new investigators that are alright. On Friday we had a few other lessons and we found a cool family that lives on a really steep hill. We had a good lesson with them and they even committed to go to a session of general conference. We also passed by with Joaquin and his family to read with them. Their twin babies are super tiny. Saturday was awesome! We saw all of the general conference in the house of prayer and I was able to see it in English in the office. Kind of crazy even though we´re in a town way out in the mountains, there is good enough internet to stream general conference on 2 devices. The Saturday morning session was awesome, and I also really liked the priesthood session.

On Sunday we also saw the other sessions, and ate with the Tolentino family. It was also cool because the daughter of the branch president leaves today to go to the MTC so it was her last day with her family. We ate super good carnitas. In the evening we also had 3 appointments that went well. We were also a bit disappointed because none of the investigators showed up to general conference. :(

We had a good week, and we´re hoping for a even better one this week. Also it´s April already! That blows my mind! Everyone enjoy your week!

-Elder Hartvigsen

La Semana Santa

Hello everybody. Hope that you all had a good spring break. This last week was also a week of vacations here in mexico. They call it the semana santa (holy week) remembering the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We actually had a good week and were able to work better than we thought we were going to be able to. 

Good Friday procession

On Monday in the evening we had a good night. President Tolentino accompanied us and we were able to visit a few investigators, Samantha and the Cruz family. We had found these people but it was funny because Pres. Tolentino already knew them haha. Everybody knows everybody in this town. On Tuesday we had an average day, a bunch of appointments fell through but we were able to find some new people, and some that lived way up on a hill that were more or less interested haha. On Wednesday we went to the district meeting in Chignahuapan which was good. Long combi rides however. In the afternoon we went to a tiny town called Talican to contact a reference that an investigator had given us. We took one of the taxis that goes there and found him, his name is Gregorio. It was a good lesson, but difficult because the guys pretty old and doesn't´t understand too well. It was really pretty out there though, with a little bit of rain in the mountains.

On Thursday we did weekly planning, and had a really good day. We found an investigator that we had lost contact with and put a baptismal date for the 7th of may with him and in the afternoon we found an awesome family that lives in a solitary place near the cemetery of the solidad which is a town leaving Tetela. The fathers name is Joaquin and his wife is Maria. They have a 11 year old daughter and two new born twins. They´re an awesome little family. Also on Thursday a bunch of tourists came to town, as well as family members of people that live here. From Thursday to Sunday there was a ton of people here for all of the festivities. On Friday, the catholic church did a recreation of basically the crucifixion of Jesus, where they actually had an actor that they whipped and put up on the cross. We saw the procession when we were headed home that night.

On Saturday we had a slower day, there weren't many people in their houses. There was a concert in the town square in the evening, and we live basically right in front of the square, so we got to listen to that all night haha. Sunday was a pretty big bummer, we didn't have any investigators in church and we were expecting about 8. Only 10 members showed up as well. Yup, and today we've just been hanging out here in Tetela doing the normal things of p-day. Everyone have a great week!

Elder Hartvigsen

Revenge of the Cold

Hey everyone. How're you all today? Today has been really cold and it came out of nowhere. There is also a lot of fog today. It's strange because it has been really warm and awesome. Hopefully it'll be gone in a few days. Yup.

So Monday was good in the evening. We came back to Tetela and had a few appointments. We visited Alejandro who is one of the few members here. We also visited a new investigator, Francisco. On Tuesday we had a tougher day. It was one of those days that we had full of appointments but then literally every one falls through. It was rough, but we managed to get a few lessons out of it. We also gave an English class. It´s kind of funny, my companion can teach English better than me haha. It's hard trying to teach something that you just know naturally, I feel like I could teach Spanish way easier.

Tetela

On Wednesday we had a lot better day. We were able to find a lot more of our investigators that we had lost contact with and had some good lessons. We also ran into Hector, a less active that's been working outside of town. On Thursday we had a zone conference and it was super powerful. We did have to get up super early to go however. Usually we would go to Apizaco and sleep there in another house of Elders to be closer, but we had scheduled appointments Wednesday night so we weren't able to do that. So we got up at 2:45 and left in the 4:00 bus to Apizaco to get to Tlaxcala on time at 9. I was less tired then I thought I was going to be. But the conference was great. President got pretty serious for a bit because some bad things had happened in the mission and some people got sent home but I learned a lot. So basically the whole day was going to, having and coming back from the conference. I realized that day just how far away we are.

On Friday we had a good day. Not a day with a ton of lessons but we felt good with the work we did. We also had a lesson in the night that was kind of heavy with Ismael and Patricia, they said they really just let us visit them out of respect, but aren't really interested. On Saturday we also had a few lessons in the farther away parts of Tetela, in Zoyatitla and the Eden. We also had a family home evening with the Tolentine family which was good. I really enjoy the company of the members here.

Meeting place in Tetela

Sunday we had the services and had a lower attendance then we had had. There were a few people that didn't show up and some others that were sick. We had two investigators there, Francisco and Maria Lourdes. We weren't expecting Francisco, but we were expecting the whole family of Maria, her parents and her brothers and sisters. In all they're like 8. It was good, but were shooting for more!

Yup, and today we went to Zacatlán with the district to play soccer. It was fun, we played in a indoor place where it wasn't so cold. But it was kind of a long trip. Everyone have a great week!

-Elder Hartvigsen

Nuevos

Hello everybody. How´re you? I'm doing well. We had an interesting week this week. We found a ton of new people to teach. 22 to be exact. We were working pretty hard haha. A lot of walking.

So Monday was normal. Did normal things in our area. Cleaned the house. Bought food. In the evening we had a good lesson with a family that was a reference from another investigator. Ismael and his wife Patricia. It also suprises me how many people we meet that have lived in the US from Tetela. It seems like half of the men have lived there. On Tuesday we had a slower day. Only 3 lessons but we ate with the Ojeda family. That was cool. So in Tetala to eat everyday the mission gives us an amount of money to eat in a little restaurant. So we eat in a little cocina economica (economic kitchen). It's pretty good, simple but they give us enough food so that we're full which is the important part haha. On Wednesday we had our district meeting which was really good, to go to the meeting we had to go to 

Chinaguapan which is an hour and a half away in combi. We´re in a district of 8 elders, us two, Elder Prieto and Page from Chinaguapan, Elder Law and Cruz in Zacatlan 1, and Elder Rivera and Pastor in Zacatlan 2. It´s a pretty powerful district. The meeting was great, I learned some new things. Also that day I had interchanges with Elder Prieto in Chinaguapan which I really enjoyed. He's a great Elder, he's also from the generation of Elder Dominguez which is cool. We had a good day, but there was a huge wind storm and the electricity went away a few times. The next day when we went to Tetela, there were a few trees that had fallen in the road to the town. Pretty crazy.

Wind damage in the region

So due to that huge wind storm things have been kind of different in Tetela, the electricity has been going on and off, there hasn't been any internet (we´re writing from Chinaguapan right now), and there were even some houses that were damaged. Pretty crazy. Thursday we had weekly planning, and we visited Adolfo and Teresa, two investigators that live pretty far away. The Ojeda family always takes us to them. On Friday we had a super busy day. We found 6 new investigators and visited other people as well. It was pretty sweet. We walked a fair amount. Saturday was interesting. My companion is branch secretary and the auditor from the area came to do an audit on the branch. So we did divisions with the audito (Hermano Leiba, ex stake president from La Libertad, really good guy) and I went with the Ojeda family to visit Alejandro and Teresa and their kids. We had a good lesson and had a little birthday party for one of thier kids. However the electricity went away in the middle of the lesson, but we were outside and so we make a little fire. Adolfo is like a mountain man, he made the fire in like 3 minutes flat.

On Sunday we had good services. President Nelson came to set apart the new branch president, Pres. Tolentino. Adolfo and Teresa also came to church! We were waiting for a ton of other people though :(. My companion and I are also the counselors to the branch president, so it was fun trying to figure out how to do the tithing without internet and figuring out how to use the church global help desk.

All in all we had a great week. It flew by. Everyone have a great week!

-Elder Hartvigsen

The land of many hills

Hey Everyone. I hope that everyone is doing well. I've had a good week that has been full of many things. I´m in Tetela de Ocampo right now. It´s a really pretty place. We´re in the middle of the mountains, pretty far away from everything. My new companion is Elder Arce, from Carretero, MX. He has about 4 or 5 months in the mission as is a great missionary.

Tetela de Ocampo - The missionaries live near this large Catholic Church

So on Monday we had a good evening. We went to visit Carmen and Angel. It was a good lesson, but it´s always hard to say goodbye. On Tuesday we had the actual changes. Elder Arce and Elder Arriagada arrived at Apizaco abound 11 so that I could go to Tetela with Elder Arce. They had come to Apizaco with some members from Zacatlán, Hno. Jorge and Hna. Ambar. That was great to see them. So from there we took the bus to Tetela from Apizaco which takes about 2 and a half hours to arrive. It´s a very scenic route through the mountains to get to a town in the middle of the mountains. So here we are in a branch of the church that consists of about two active families and a few individuals. Elder Arriagada had actually been the branch president here, however thankfully nor my companion or I are branch president haha.

So on Wednesday in the morning we received a call from Elder Arriagada who was going home that day that he had left his hard drive that had all of his pictures in the church here. He asked if we could go to Puebla to give that to him before he left to go to the airport. So we went to Pueba. We made really good time and the trip took 3.5 hours. We also saw President Nelson and he told us about his plan for Tetela. He told us that he wasn´t going to put another missionary as Branch president. For the time being he's going to put one of the fathers of the families that has already been branch president, and our job is to find and baptize new leaders. Also when we said goodbye he told us he would see us and the branch presidency on Sunday. We asked him which branch presidency? Then he said, the branch presidency you're going to find. Haha, we were kind of a little stunned. So that´s what we've been working on, is finding potential priesthood with their families.

On Thursday we had a good day. We found 5 new investigators, taught an English class, and did a lot of contact. On Friday we also had a good day, we taught a few people, and a few members. President also assigned us to invite all of the Elders of the branch that are less active to church so that he could interview them so we tracked down a few less active members. On Saturday we visited a few other Elders, and met a new family that one of the member families (the Ojeda family) brought us to. That was a good lesson, the only thing is that they live far away and can only meet with us in the evening. There also is no public transport at that hour, so that member family has to take us there if we are to teach them. The good thing is that they are willing to do that.

Sunday was interesting. We didn't get any investigators to come, and in total we were 19 people in Sacrament meeting. Also President Nelson was there to preside. After the services we had branch council and President explained the situation to the branch members. The members are really good here, they are few but are quality members. Yup. Today we´ve just done normal things. We didn´t play sports because we´re an hour and a half away from the nearest elders. We did play ping pong in our house. Oh, by the way, our house is the best house in the mission! We had a clothes dryer! It´s the best thing ever! I´m pretty happy out here and glad to have the opportunity to work hard out here. My companion is great, the area has potencial and I really enjoy the town and where we live (which is right behind the huge catholic church haha). Everyone have a great week!

-Elder Hartvigsen

Tetela de Ocampo

New custom-made suit

Hello everyone. How are you? It´s kind of strange that it's the 29th of February. If someone is born today, next year when do they count their birthday? Anyways, I´m doing well. Today is technically the first day of another transfer. This is my penultimate transfer. That's crazy. Also yesterday the assistants called and I have changes. Tomorrow I go to and area called Tetela de Ocampo, which is a little town pretty far away and there's only a little branch with a few members. It's the most remote area in the mission haha. It´ll be good though, I'm really looking forward to serving there for my last two transfers.

So on Monday we had a good day, we went to Huamantla, and visited a few members in the evening. On Tuesday we had our weekly planning session, and we visited Edgar and Vicky. Also a youth from the ward named Alan accompanied us who got his mission call to! We´re pumped for him! We also did divisions with Alan and his brother David who's an ex-missionary. On Wednesday we had our district meeting, ate with the Lopez Ponce family (awesome senior couple), visited Melissa (the deaf recient convert) and we had an activity in the evening for recient converts. It was a good night.

On Thursday we visited a fair amount of people, Friday as well. Pretty uneventful days. We did see a dead dog though. On Saturday we also visited a lot of people as well as Carmen. Sunday we has stake conference. It was great, President and sister nelson spoke, also a councilor from the temple, and President Reyes. We were a little upset because no investigator or recient convert showed up after they said they would. Oh well. Así es la vida. We also ate with the Landeros family who very graciously offered us food because our lunch appointment fell though.

Final days together

All in all it was a good week. I´m sad to say goodbye to the area but also happy to be able to go to Tetela. It will be a one of a kind experience. I´m also sad to say goodbye to Elder Cornejo, we've enjoyed working together here. Well, everyone have a great week!

-Elder Hartvigsen

Last week's conference with Elder Oaks

Elder Oaks

Hey everyone, how's it going? I hope that everyone is well. We had a pretty normal week other than Elder Oaks was here! It was awesome! Elder Clayton, Elder Valenzuela (Presidency of Area), and Elder Walker (Area 70) also were there. I'll get to that in a bit.

Monday was a tough night, we had almost all of our appointments fall through. Tuesday was good, we found a bunch of new investigators, however we also dropped most of them later on in the week because they liked that we visited them but didn't want anything other than that. That evening we also visited Carmen and Guadelupe who were doing great as normal. On Wednesday we had exchanges with Elder Ramos, our district leader. I was in Xicotencatl with him and we had a good day. We ate with a member who works on the train, that was interesting to talk with him about trains. We also had the ward mission correlation meeting which went well, not a whole bunch of members showed up but oh well.

On Thursday in the morning we went to Tlaxcala to donate blood because there was a member that needed it, but I had a little cold so they sent me away :(. After that we went to eat and then ended the exchanges. That day we visited a good amount of people. On Friday we visited a bunch of members and a fair amount of investigators. Also for the meeting we had with Elder Oaks, the elders from Zacatlán came to our house to stay the night so that they could be on time to the meeting in Puebla. They sent us Elder Dominguez and Elder Pastor. It was really cool to be with him again. I had my two mission sons in my house haha! So Friday in the morning we left at 5 to get to Puebla at 7 to take a bus to a stake center in the other mission. So like I said, we were the two missions in Puebla, and Elder Oaks, Elder Whitney Clayton of the presidency of the 70, Elder Valenzuela of the seventy, and Elder Walker an area 70. It was a pretty sweet meeting. We learned a lot. Elder Oaks and his wife are amazing. They taught us a bunch about how to teach, about how to work with members, Elder Clayton taught about commitments. Elder Oaks also took questions. It was a great morning to be a missionary in Puebla.

On Sunday we had a good day. I always enjoy playing piano in church even if I don't play perfectly. We didn't have any investigators in church though. It was a bummer especially because we were expecting quite a few. We're going to be working on that this week. Well, I hope that everyone has a great week! Adiós!

-Elder Hartvigsen

3 Nephi 27:20

Hello everyone. Good afternoon. I hope that everyone is doing well. We had a good week this week. Pretty normal apart from the baptism of Carmen, Guadelupe and Angel which was great! However I'll get to that right now. 

So Monday was good, we visited Carmen and her family with Hno. Serrano. It was a pretty powerful lesson, we talked about the Temple and passed over some of the baptism interview questions. On Tuesday we went to Puebla so that I could renew my temple recommend with President Nelson. In Puebla it was warmer than here in Apizaco. That evening we came back to Apizaco, saw the other Elders from Xicotencatl, and then we went and taught Carmen and them. It was also Angel´s birthday! He turned 12 and we brought him a cake. It was a good time. On Wednesday I went to Huamantla with Elder Dansie in exchanges. It was super cold. I´m pretty sure it hit freezing but Í´m not sure. It was a good exchange, I enjoyed the company of Elder Dansie, he´s a funny guy. Also I got a cold from being there that´s stuck with me haha.

Happy Birthday!

On Thursday we visited Juana and Fernanda, some recient converts who are going strong. We also saw Edgar and Vicky in the evening. That night Carmen and Guadelupe had their baptismal interviews which went great. However Carmen told us that her work had asked her to work until 9 in the evening and her baptism was planned at 7, she was going to ask her boss for permission to leave early. That night and next day we prayed pretty hard that she´d have permission to get out early. That was also the only day that her work asked her to stay late. There are always obstacles at the last minute with baptisms. However, apart from that everything went smoothly for the baptism. Carmen did get permission and just got there late, but a bunch of members showed up and it was a very spiritual service. One of the best of my mission.

On Saturday we passed by with Angel and Carmen to read the Book of Mormon a bit, we also passed by with some other investigators and visited Steve and Noemi. They´re doing well as well. Sunday was good, however we almost didn´t have time to proselyte due to church and studies. Angel, Guadelupe, and Carmen were confirmed at church, We also had Edgar there, Vicky was at home with their sick daughter. That day we also ate with Carmen. We´ve really seen a huge change in their lives and it has been great to be able to witness it. Today we played some sports, soccer, and ultimate. We´re also looking forward to this week. On Saturday we're going to have a conference with Elder Oaks! It´ll be sweet! Have a great week!

-Elder Hartvigsen

3 Nephi 27:20  Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.

Moroni 8:3

Hello everyone. I hope that you are all well and that it´s not too cold where you are. It´s been warm here during the day which has been awesome! We had a good week. I can´t believe that it already went by.

On Monday we went to Teltla and visited Carmen with Hno David. It was a good lesson. On Tuesday we visited a bunch of of investigators and had our weekly planning. Weekly planning is pretty rough on Tuesday morning. We visited Edgar and Vicky who are doing great, we found two new investigators, and in the evening we visited Noemi and Steve. It´s always the best to visit them, they're super excited to be in the church. They have interview with the bishop this week to receive callings as well!

Wednesday we had interviews with President Nelson. It went well, I learned a fair amount. That would be tough to have to interview the whole mission in just a couple of weeks. Wednesday night we also had the correlation meeting with the ward. It was interesting, everyone showed up except the ward mission leader so we ended up directing the meeting. On Thursdaywe visited a bunch of less actives and also Carmen again. In the moring we also had district meeting as well with Elder Ramos. Friday we visited Edgar, and also found a great new family of investigators! They´re really awesome, but the sad thing is that they didn't go to church after committing to go. Saturday was a normal day. We visited some members and some recient converts. Sunday was good but we were expecting more people in church. We had 9 people committed but just had Carmen, Guadelupe, and Angel. It was a bummer, but we had a good time with them.

Also today in the morning when we were studying there was a lot of music. We thought it was the neighbors but when we went outside the street was blocked off and there was a bunch of people in tribal type costumes with feathers dancing. It was surreal. Well, everyone have a great week!

-Elder Hartvigsen

Moroni 8:3  I am mindful of you always in my prayers, continually praying unto God the Father in the name of his Holy Child, Jesus, that he, through his infinite goodness and grace, will keep you through the endurance of faith on his name to the end.

Febrero

Hola. Como están todos? Espero que bien. I can´t believe that it´s already February. I didn't even feel January. This was a good week. We worked pretty hard. 

Volcano always in view

So on Monday we did some visits. We had a family home evening with Geraldine which was great. A bunch of members from the ward came so that was really fun. Jesus wasn't there because he was working at his job in the Coca-cola factory.Tuesday we visited a bunch of people. We saw Carmen, Guadelupe and Angel, we also had a family home evening with Noemi and Steve. They're doing awesome! They're both really happy! The Relief Society president also gave them a picture of the temple and they already have it up on their wall. 

On Wednesday we had our first district meeting of the transfer and the first one with Elder Ramos. It was good, the Zone leaders were also there. Also took a Spanish test thing, which I crushed. That evening we also had our ward missionary correlacion meeting with our ward mission leader, Hno. Adán Chamorro. He's a good guy. He owns a bunch of cows and sells milk. He started passing by our house give us milk and it's super good.

On Thursday we visited a bunch of less actives and recient converts. That morning we also started an exercise program that Elder Dansie lent us because my comp has been gaining a fair amount of weight. It´s called tapout and we started with legs. It wasn't the greatest decision haha. Our legs were dead for two or three days! It´s alright now however. On Friday we taught Edgar and Vicky and put a baptismal date with them. They're doing great, and are a lot more constant now. On Saturday we found a bunch of new investigators. Many are really good, but almost all are active in their respective churches. They have a lot of potential but it'll be hard to get them to attend church because their churches all start at the same time as our ward.

Sunday was good. We only had Edgar and Vicky in church. We have no idea what happened with Carmen and her family. They told us on Saturday that they were going to be there. However Steve blessed the sacrament in a shirt and tie we gave him. It was awesome. Yup, also they announced in church that an apostle is coming to Puebla in three weeks or so and it´s going to be Elder Oaks! We're way excited for that! Well, everyone have a great week!

-Elder Hartvigsen

In the water

Hey all, I hope you're doing well. We're doing well and we had another good week. It's strange to think that we are starting another transfer. Time goes by very quickly. Yup. I feel like that's a pretty cliche start to one of my emails haha. 

So on Monday we had a normal day. We played soccer and basketball, cleaned the house and in the evening taught a new guy named Luis and also Steve and Noemi. Luis is cool, he sells tamales and lives in the rural part of our area. On Tuesday we had a busy day. In the morning we taught Genoveva and then went to the other Elder´s area to eat. Oh, I'm not sure if I mentioned it last week, but Elder Carreon had changes and now Elder Sarver is here with Elder Cifuentes in Xicotencatl with us. In the afternoon we were running around San. Bartolome and then we went to Tetla in the evening. We had a good lesson with Carmen and her family and we also contacted a few references that are awesome. The only thing is that the guy is a truck driver and is never home :(.

On Wednesday we went to Tlaxcala and had a transmission [broadcast] from Salt Lake about missionary work. Apostles and Seventies talked about the 8 Fundamentals of Preach my Gospel. It was a really good transmission and I learned a bunch. They didn't make any big changes however. That evening we did splits and my companion went to teach a less active guy named Ethan and we taught Noemi and Steve and repassed the baptismal interview questions with Noemi. Thursday we did weekly planning, ate really far away in Tetla and taught some lessons. Noemi had her baptismal interview and passed as well! Also when we were in the chapel for her interview some students came in and asked if they could interview us in English for their University. It was kind of strange to talk in English to them haha.

Friday was normal. We did splits again in the evening, and a guy named Ricardo accompanied me to visit Jesus and Geraldine who are recient converts. I found out that Ricardo trained 5 times on his mission. That's crazy. Saturday was a good day. We taught a bunch of lessons in the morning and in the afternoon Noemi was baptized! It was a great service and Steve was able to baptize her. We also got the Bishop to come which was good, because he's always in his taqueria haha. We also went and visited Edgar and Vicky, some investigators that we hadn't seen in forever. Edgar also told me he's thinking about going to Salt Lake. Kind of a weird conversation. On Sunday we had a fair amount of investigators in the church. We had Carmen, Guadelupe, Angel, Edgar and Vicky. Oh also Cristina was there. Geneveva and her kids didn't go. We´re going to see if we can find her but she kind of got disappointed after we taught her about the law of chastity and that she would have to get married.

Yup, it was another good week. This next one should be pretty normal. Also we heard that in a few weeks an apostle is going to come to Puebla! It´ll be awesome! They haven´t told us who it will be yet. Maybe one of the new ones. Who knows. I´m rooting for Elder Holland! Anyways, have a great week everyone!

-Elder Hartvigsen

Cold (Relatively)

Hello everyone. Hope you all had a good week. We did well here in Xicotencatl, ending the transfer. Strange that another transfer has already passed by. Time goes by way too fast. I've also said that many times. Cool. 

Staying together

So on Monday we had a good evening. We dropped an investigator that didn't want to change for her family, and we visited Noemi and Steve. On Tuesday it also went well, we found a new investigator who was really interested. However the next day when we went to look for him he wasn't there because he had gotten a job in Puebla. Oh well. Wednesday we had a zone meeting in Tlaxcala. It was very cold that day. This whole week it got pretty cold, I know it´s not Utah cold but from what I've been used to here it was really chilly and rainy. It also doesn´t help that there is no heating in any houses. The zone meeting was pretty normal but spiritual, and the President showed up at the end to give us the flu shot and give us an announcement. So the missionary department made a change to some rules and changes meetings are no longer allowed. So in the mission when we have changes [transfers] they will advise us to which area we are going to and on Monday we´ll have to go directly there. It's a little sad but also a good thing as well. We'll lose less time in changing areas and be able to be more focused on the work.

On Thursday we helped a less active member move down the street. I was very grateful that almost everything was packed up when we got there. It's the worst to have to help pack as well haha. After that we ate, went home and did weekly planning. Went to two appointments, one with Genoveva and one with Melissa (the deaf recient convert). Friday we had a normal day, powled around our area and visited some people. We also found a new investigator that lived in Michigan. The same thing happened with him, he found work and we haven't been able to find him haha. On Saturday we visited some recient converts, Fernanda and Juana who are really powerful! We also visited Guadalupe with Hno. Serrano and had a really powerful lesson with her about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We also taught a less active and his family who own a bar. His family is pretty receptive but he's pretty closed.

Sunday was alright, not as good as last Sunday. We only had Noemi, Steve, Carmen and Angel in sacrament meeting. Genoveva, her kids and Guadelupe didn't show up. It was sad, but we'll get them to church this week! Yup, so tomorrow there are changes. Elder Carreon, from our ward is going to Amalucan and Elder Lopez our district leader is going to Aquiles Serdan to be a zone leader! We're excited to be working this change. Oh, today we also made a typical food from El Salvador with a family and I saw Hno. Checa Lara who was my first mission leader in the mission. It was great to be able to talk to him. Everyone have a great week!

-Elder Hartvigsen

Milagros (Miracles)

¡Hola a todos! I hope that everyone is doing well. Time just keeps on ticking into the future, doesn't it.

This week we had an awesome week! On Monday in the evening we had 3 lessons which was sweet. We taught Noemi and Steve who are doing well, also we found another recient convert that we didn't know named Adrian. He's and elderly guy who lives alone. On Tuesday we visited a lot of people as well. We saw Carmen with her family. We also were able to find some less actives at home. On Wednesday we had district meeting which went well. Also we went on exchanges with Elder Lopez, our district leader. This time I went with his comp, Elder Dansie to Huamantla. I always like going to new areas. Huamantla is actually a big town, I thought it was going to be a lot smaller because there is only a branch out there. We had a good day, and it was fun to just follow Elder Dansie around.

On Thursday, we had a bunch of lessons. We also taught one of our investigators, Genoveva who is awesome. She is an awesome investigator, she told us in that lesson that God put the words into our mouth to answer her questions. We also taught Jesus and Geraldine, two recient converts. They´re doing well. On Friday we had a fair amount of lessons as well. We ate with a cool older couple in the ward. The Lopez Ponce family. The brother and sister were some of the first converts here, and the brother worked in the railroad for a long time. Whenever we see him and ask him how he is, he tells us "I'm older!" (it works better in Spanish).

Saturday was also good, we were just running around a lot. We planned a bunch of appointments kind of far apart from each other. Sunday was great! We had 7 investigators in church and they all have baptismal dates. It was really cool to see as well, because they all had spiritual experiences. That was a really good day. Today we´ve just kind of hung out. We played basketball a little bit. Well, everyone have a great week!

-Elder Hartvigsen