28 September 2015 - Mission Logistics

Dear friends and family,

So, another change has come and gone and we still don't know where we are going yet.

The mission is receiving 23 new missionaries and sending home 25 this change. 6 of those going home are zone leaders and a good portion of the rest are district leaders (and one of the assistants to the prez). In case you don't know what that implies, 7 district leaders will be called as zone leaders and probably a few as trainers. Therefore, the more experienced missionaries will be called as district leaders and trainers as well. Therefore, it is necessary that the mission close one area and change BOTH missionaries out of 15 different areas. It is looking pretty likely that both Elder Mendoza and I will be leaving this area ='( And also somewhat likely that one of us will be called as a trainer  (pray for me).

But anyway, now that you have all had your lesson on mission logistics let's get on to things that happened this week. Last P day, when we went out to work at 6, we discovered that one of our most hopeful investigators had a car accident and is in the hospital. We have been trying to get a hold of them all week, and changes are coming soon. We are considerably worried. 

It is experiences like these, I have found that make the mission what it is. We learn how to deal with opposition and to rely on the lord. Also, we learn to love people for their divine nature. Building the kingdom of God is a tough work, but we have the greatest power there is on our side.

Sé que este es la obra del Señor y que El la dirige. Sé que El nos ama y nos ha bendecido en cada momento.

Los Amo, 

Elder Lambert

21 September 2015 - Monterrey West Mission has a blog!

Dear friends and family,

It is the last week of the change. I am not terribly excited about that.

There is pretty much zero percent chance that Elder Mendoza and I will be together again this next change, and it isn't even a one hundred percent chance that I will be staying in this area. It also looks like there are 25 new missionaries coming in to the mission, so everyone is joking that I am going to end up training one of them.....I don't know how I feel about that.

Long story short, things are kind of stressful, but all is well for the most part. For instance, this next Thursday is our Zone Conference. Yaaaaay! It is literally on the last possible day, but its happening. I always enjoy zone conferences. The trainings from the president are always very spiritual. I am excited to see how this new prez does his thing. 

Speaking of that, the mission prez and his wife have a blog now. monterreywest.weebly.com

Sé que este es la obra del Señor. Sé que este Evangelio es el unico manera de ser completamente feliz en este vida y recibir la vida eterna.

Los amo,

Elder Lambert

13 September 2015 - An Excellent Experiment

This week has been an excellent experiment in following the promptings of the spirit.

For the past little while, Elder Mendoza and I have been working with a less active family. The family is really nice and are great friends, but they seem nearly incapable of getting over some kind of offence that happened in the Church a little less than a year ago. This family has a daughter that turned 8 this year and we have been doing everything in our power to get her and her older sibs to come to church so that she can get baptized. Finally, we put down a date for the baptism and then.....things started feeling wrong.

The girl had an interview with the Bishop and things started feeling more wrong.

She asked me to baptize her and things started feeling completely wrong.

Nevertheless, brilliant missionaries that we are, we spent an entire day and a half stressing ourselves to the bone trying to set up a good baptismal service (and with each invitation, things just felt more and more wrong). All of our work culminated in a phone call with the Bishop and the girl’s father in which the father stated that he wanted to work towards being worthy to baptize his daughter and setting up an interview. Then, all of a sudden, everything felt right again. Long story short, the baptism didn't happen and a few phone calls and two visits cleaned up the entire mess we had made. 

What did we learn: If you work against the will of the Lord, you will end up running yourself into a wall (be it immediately or in the eternities). Remember to listen to the spirit and DO what he tells you.

Also, it was a great privilege, as all your Mexican missionaries will tell you, to see the rededication of the Mexico City temple yesterday. We were not able to bring anyone to church, but it was great to get to see our recent convert Abel do the Hosana Shout. I just love temples.

Sé que el Espiritu nos puede guiar por todo la vida si lo escuchamos. Sé que somos todos hijos de Dios. Sé que los templos realmente son la casa del Señor.

Los amo, Elder Lambert

6 September 2015 - Naked Fish Man Gets a Book of Mormon

 Dearest family and friends,

This week has been Fun stuff.

We got to planning session on Thursday and discovered that the numbers showed that we had barely done anything all week (it sure didn't feel like it, but you know how that goes). We hadn't been able to visit our recent convert, nor had we been able to contact any of the references that we had received. Thusly we didn't have anyone new to teach. We were super worried. SO........we prayed about it. And the next day, when we went out with a member to teach, we found two new families to teach and were finally able to talk to our recent convert. Saturday was equally productive. Sometimes you just have to wait for the Lord to lead people to their own doorsteps.

Fun fact about Misión Monterrey Oeste: Our new president (according to my current ward's Bishop) has decided that all new converts should be placed in the genealogy class WITH one of their missionaries present to help them out. For those of you that know me and my family, you will know that our favorite form of church service is Temple and Family History work. And the best part: Our bishop asked if the missionaries could attend the temple with their converts to help them do baptisms! Woooooo! 

Sé que el Señor nos ama y quiere responder a nuestros oraciones. Sé que los familias pueden ser eternas. Sé que La Iglesia es el reino de Dios aqui en la Tierra. 

Los amo, 

Elder Lambert

Elder Lambert says this about photos:

Meet....Naked Fish Man!

He is the statue that we see every day when we pass by the magic desert between our two areas. We gave him a Book of Mormon.

This one is with me in it.

30 August 2015 - Missionaries are kind of like aliens

Dear Family and Friends,

So......It's only been a few days. I am not 100% sure what to write about. 

Like seriously....I am at a loss....

Ok, I figured something out: This week we made it a goal to get 8 lessons with a member present. Back in Utah, I imagine that almost all lessons are with a member present, but here...they are a little more rare. But, they are absolutely essential. 

The missionaries are kind of like aliens. They come from a different part of the world, wear a shirt n' tie, and black badge and just expect people to listen to them talk about Jesus. But, when they bring along a real living breathing person in to talk to them about Jesus, it seems a lot more....normal. That aside, the addition of a member's testimony and insight are incredibly powerful in a regular missionary lesson. Therefore, to all my member friends, go work with the missionaries, it'll be a great experience. And to my non member friends, I dunno, go to tell your friends to bring the missionaries over. It'll be great, I promise.

Sé que este es la Iglesia verdadera de Jesucristo y que tenemos la revelación para vivir en este mundo mejor que es posible normalmente. Sé que tenemos la oportunidad de vivir con nuestras familias y Padre Celestial para siempre, si acemptamos y vivimos el Evangelio.

Los amo,

Elder Lambert

26 August 2015 - 1/3 Done

Dear Friends and Family,

So, I am one third done with my service (which scares me), and time is officially irrelevant. First off, my Walmart watch finally broke, and then I completely forgot if I had the opportunity to tell you all that I am staying here in San Bernabe for another change with Elder Mendoza! YAAAAAY!!!!

Anyway, on to the important part: we went to the temple today!!!!! Yes, that is why the email is late, don't worry. 

As always, it was an amazing experience that I greatly treasured. The mission president and his wife attended as well, which made it all the better. Having been deprived of my temple visit this last change, I enjoyed it all the more. We don't get many opportunities to attend during the mission, so each time is a blessing for us. It is always a great experience and I am grateful that I have the ability to live in a place where I am no more than 45 minutes from at least four different houses of the Lord.

Sé que los templos son la casa del Señor. Sé que las ordenanzas que hacemos ahí son sagradas y importantes por la salvación. Es un gran bendición para nosotros tener la oportunidad de hacer obras vicarios para nuestros antepasados que ya han fallecido.

Los amo,

Elder Lambert