17 August 2015 - Baptism and Beatles

Dear Family and Friends,

It is the last week of the change, so that means that next week you get to see if we go or stay. Personally, I think it will be the same, or at least that's what I hope. Elder Mendoza and I have too much going on right now in this area for either of us to leave.

That being said, we did have a very special time yesterday...

And I was totally going to attach a picture of it right there, but this computer is stupid.

Anyway, we baptized Don Abel yesterday. I promise I will try to get photos sent ASAP.

It was a great time, especially considering we only had one week to teach him all the lessons. He had attended for a full month and wanted to join the church, but we assumed he lived in the area of the other Elders in the ward and that they had brought him. Turns out he lived in our area the whole time and their investigator (that got baptized the same day) had invited him and he just kept coming. He is a great fella, even if he can't hear too well.

Sé que el Señor nos quiere bendecir cuando estamos obedientes a su mandamientos. Sé que este realmente es la Iglesia de Él. 

Los Amo,

Elder Lambert

10 August - People Love Missionaries

Dearest friends and family,

This weeks has been...normal...

Things are always enjoyable in this new area. The people just LOVE the missionaries. It feels good to be in a position of service that affects so many people. I am happy that in this new area, I have the opportunity to gain the trust of, and work with the members. I hope all my member friends back home are doing their part. I think about that sometimes.

I did go on divisions this Friday with the companion of our district leader. It was quite a good time. I discovered that Elder Payan (as he is called) plays the guitar and has an electric guitar that he bought at one of the markets here. He has been learning to play by ear since bought the thing about 5 months ago, and can already play a number of different songs. I don't know how he does it. It's not like we have a lot of time to practice as missionaries.

We also went out that day with a disabled young man, Pepe,  to help him learn how to be a missionary. It was a lot of fun, but it did make me miss my old job a little. Pepe has all the plans in the world to go on a mission, and I am really glad that the Church has programs in which he can serve in the capacity of a missionary calling. 

Sé que el Señor dirige este obra, y que Él es la cabeza de este Iglesia. Sé que nuestro servicio en la Iglesia es el trabajo mas importante que tenemos y que podemos recibir grandes bendiciones por medio de este servicio.

Los amo,

Elder Lambert

3 August 2015 - El Campo de Sion

Dear family and friends,

The work continues on here in San Bernabé. 

This week was interesting for a number of reasons. The first of which being the fact that our zone leaders decided that they would go on surprise divisions with the various companionships during these last few weeks of he transfer. They chose us this last Friday. 

It should be noted that my companion was only in this area for one change before I arrived, and so we are both learning the (enormous) area together. So, I was a little worried when one of the Zone Leaders told me that he would be staying with me in our area. I felt like I would be more or less OK as long as I had he two maps on me (our area has two different areas that were recently combined). This feeling left when I reached in my pocket after our first lesson and discovered that the first map...had disappeared. I'll be darned if the Lord didn't help me out on this one, because I managed to find every other place we needed to go, the whole rest of he day. Granted half of he places were in the area of the second map, but you know.

The second thing happened yesterday in fast and testimony meeting. 

This last week was EFY here in Nuevo Leon, and I am pretty sure that the youth from the entire mission all congregated upon "El Campo de Sión" to do EFY things. I never did EFY (Terrible youth that I was) so I have no idea what they do there, but whatever it was....it worked.

Some of the most powerful testimonies I have ever seen borne were borne yesterday by the youth of this ward. Youth that only recently started going back to church, youth that are still no baptized because their parents won't let them, and everything in between got up and shared their newly strengthened testimonies. It was incredible really. EFY in Mexico rocked the house.

Fun thing: about half of the people here wear clothes brought over from thrift shops in the States that they buy at the markets here. Because of this, you will often see people in T shirts from American high school basketball programs and the like. Yesterday, I just happened to see a man wearing an old Park City tourist shirt. It brought me joy.

Sé que las escrituras contienen la verdad, y que el Libro de Mormon es el libro mas importante en el mundo. Sé que podemos vivir con nuestro Padre Celestial y nuestras familias para siempre por medio del Evangelio de Jesucristo.

Los amo,

Elder Lambert

Selfie of Sean and his companion.

Painting done by local member. Sean loves it. 

27 July 2015 - the magic of exfoliating

Dearest Darlingest Friends and Family,

So, life goes on in San Bernabé. We have been doing a lot of good work and having a lot of success in all areas. It is very different here than in Los Andes.

San Bernabé is somewhere around four times the size of my first area. It is located in the same Municipio as the City center of Monterrey (I think) and it consists mainly of old industrial...stuff. The people here are a mixed bag, but it is mostly fairly humble circumstance. This is not ALWAYS the best of things because, well, you know Mexico and her cerveza.....

We are officially into the middle of the hottest part of the year, and I am in a constant state of....gross....but that's OK because the work continues to progress really well. We have to walk a LOT more than I used to, but that is also OK because Elder Mendoza is the first companion that I have had that actually shares similar interests and with whom I can talk very openly. We spend a good amount of our time walking talking about church history and gospel subjects and then the other half of the time about video games and movies and comics and stuff(and then trying to relate them to said gospel subjects). Elder Mendoza is fun guy.

Last night (I'm sorry I didn't get a photo) he taught me the magic of exfoliating. A sister in another ward taught him the art one day and now my face feels smoother than I thought was possible....and all we needed was some sugar and a lemon. It was great.

Sé que el Libro de Mormon es un tesoro preciosa, y que podemos cercarnos mas a Dios por medio de él que por cualquier otro fuente. Sé que la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias realmente es el reino de Dios en la Tierra.

Los amo,

Elder Lambert

20 July 2015 - Canicula

Dearest Friends and Family,

Week two in the new area. And week one of what we call the "Canicula." This basically means that it is the 40 hottest days of the year. IT'S HOT......and the area is HUGE. 

I love it.

the members of my CCM district at changes

Today's Breakfast with the zone. Poorly taken Selfie.

Expected opposition is the best kind of opposition. I have been hearing horror stories of canicula my entire mission, so I knew more or less what to expect. Thest next 40 days will totally be an excellent adventure.

From what I have heard, the push to get us to keep the law of the Sabbath is pretty much universal. Because of this, I would like to share a parable that my trainer shared with me, and that I personally use in order to teach this important principle to investigators. 

There was a wealthy man on his way to the market with 7 gold coins. As he approached the market he saw a beggar on the side of the path. Knowing that he only needed one of the seven coins, he gave the other six to the beggar. As he entered the market, however, the beggar came up behind him and demanded the seventh coin. 

Don't be like this beggar. God has given us six days to do our work, and all the things that we want to do in this world each week. All he expects of us is at the very least that we dedicate Sabbath to him. 

Christ was the Lord of Sabbath and he showed us by example how we should santify the Lord's holy day. This day of rest should be a charge to our spiritual batteries for the week. Keep these things in mind.

Sé que el Señor nos dio todo, y que Él nos ama. Sé que hay muchos bendiciones que viene por medio de el santificar el dia de Reposo.

Los Amo,

Elder Lambert