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

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

Happy New Year everyone! As every year, it is hard to believe that another one has gone by. Now we have to pick up the habit of writing 2016 haha. That´s always hard. We had a good week. Not jammed packed but we got by. It´s kind of hard to work around the holidays because everyone is out of town, many of the people that were here weren't from here, and everyone was in a rush. We did find some work though.

Great way to begin 2016

On Monday we had a lesson with Balsaltar, a new investigator that we had found and also found 3 new people. A mom and her two kids. They are really open and the mother really loves when we visit her especially when her kids are there. We actually found her when we went with a member to give Christmas gifts to her neighbors. That was a cool experience. Tuesday was a good day. I turned 21 which was pretty weird. I can now buy alcohol in the US and own a pistol. What power I now possess haha. We had a pretty low key day, Jesus, one of our investigators had his baptismal interview which he passed. The other Elders had a baptism and an Elder that is now in Zacatlán actually came to preform the ordinance, which almost never happens. I´m not sure if he asked permission, but I also saw Elder Pantoja which was awesome. That stayed in our house that night because Zacatlán is far away. On Wednesday we had a fair amount of appointments and also did splits for the first time with my companion. He did great. We also dropped Baltasar that day because he couldn't accept the Book of Mormon.

On Thursday it was New Years Eve and we only had lessons with members that day. We ate dinner with the Salado family and the food was awesome. That night is was hard to sleep for all of the fireworks and music. It was pretty crazy in our street. It´s funny because we live right next to two liquor stores. There were a lot of drunk people around. On the first of January, we taught a few lessons, one with Jesus the day before his baptism, and we also found Carmen and her family who had gotten back from their trip. On Saturday we had the baptism of Jesus which was great. We honestly did all the preparation for it in the morning because the mission leader didn't help us out. The service was really good. My companion was able to do the baptism and it was very spiritual. On Sunday we went to church, had a few investigators there. Jesus was confirmed. In the evening we also visited Carmen and Guadalupe again. They´re really solid investigators. They have a date for the 6th of February.

Also today we had a fun zone activity. We played a volleyball with water balloons and towels. Two people were on both sides of the towel and you had to toss the balloon back and forth. The only thing is that they didn´t tell us to bring an extra change of clothes and today has been a little raining in the afternoon haha. Well, everyone have a great week!

-Elder Hartvigsen