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