Thanksgiving - Él es la Dádiva (He is the Gift)

Hey all. I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving and didn't eat too much. It is crazy that it is already December. It has started to get a little colder, but today it was warm again so it doesn't really feel too much like December. There have been a few mornings and evenings where it has been pretty chilly in a short sleeve camisa blanca, but once I throw on a jacket it feels nice.

This week was pretty good, we didn't do a ton in terms of lessons or finding a bunch of people. We did have a zone conference with an area Seventy (I think), Elder Toris, President Christensen and their wives. It was really good, and the spirit was also very strong. I learned a lot, even though it seemed a little scattered at times. It was also really good to see some of the new missionaries in the zone and other zones that attended. There is also a new missionary that is 6 foot 7 in. That might not be super super tall in the US, but that's huge for Mexico. I can't imagine how he crams himself into the combis (public transit vans). I also saw a Hermana that I knew from my first ward and area which was pretty neat. Every time we have a meeting with missionaries, and especially with the President or other leaders its great! I always learn a lot and the spirit is also there.

Some rides near the missionary apartment

The work has been a little slow with the Investigators. We really don´t have anyone progressing which is pretty frustrating. Also it seems like every Sunday we have a ton of people committed to come to church and then no one shows up! It doesn't help that our church starts at 8 am either... Oh well, we can´t take away peoples agency. We have been working with a lot of Less Actives and our Recent Convert of about two weeks, Emma. It has been good to see them progress and attend meetings. We also had a good-interesting lesson with Emma and her family. So her son is the returned missionary and he´s great. He´s a work horse and he´s pretty bold. We finally got the spouse of Emma to sit down with us, and his son grilled him pretty hard. It was pretty interesting. Also there is cool story that Hna. Emma told us. When she was baptized when she came up out of the water she came up really fast and pretty hard then started crying. She told us this week that when she was baptized and came up out of the water she felt like a weight just fell off of her, and was just overwhelmed. Pretty cool. Baptism really is the start of a new life.

So today we also had a little Thanksgiving activity in our district. We played fútbol this morning and then we all brought food and watched the movie Forever Strong. It was a good thanksgiving little meal, we had chicken, mashed potatos, vegetables, rolls, soda. It was a good little Mexican thanksgiving. It was pretty fun and kind of weird to watch Forever Strong in Spanish but good. I can now understand about everything which is good. Oh, we also have a new sister in our district, named Hermana Meek. She just finished her training and is with Hna. Ramirez.

So we are also starting this initiative called Él es la Dádiva (He is the gift). There is a really good video up about it.

Watch Video Here 

The greatest gift that we can ever receive is the gift of Christ. The joy that he can give is immeasurable. I´m so thankful for everything that he has given me and continuous to give me. This is a time of the year to remember him and to give thanks to him. It is also a really great time to share this with people we care about. We are going to be working with this throughout December and I´m really excited to start contacting and teaching with it.

So good week. Good Thanksgiving. Hard to believe Christmas is just around the corner. It will be strange not to have any snow this Christmas, but that's alright. Well, everyone enjoy your week!

-Elder Hartvigsen