6 April 2016 - It Was Conference Weekend!

Dear friends and family,

Happy General Conference weekend!!!.....awhile ago.

So, this week has been full of spiritual experiences, mainly focusing on the words of living prophets and the temple.

I was able to watch the majority of the conference, but we had to leave and go work after the sustaining and statistical reports. I was especially fond the announcement of four new temples including another one in Africa. It is always exciting to find out where new temples will be built. 

My favorite talk that I was able to watch was from Sister Oscarson. It is a message that I will always try to remember and that I hope that this whole church remembers: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is not just a christian social club and parent training center. The fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was restored to the earth by a prophet. There are prophets and apostles today that lead and direct this Church under the authority and direction of Jesus Christ himself. The Church is the organization by which the true authority of God, the Aaronic and Melchizedek  Priesthood, is used and operated with the purpose of helping us come to Eternal Life. The Book of Mormon is the true word of God and the most correct book that exists. If we do not believe all these things, we need to take a step back and seriously consider what the Church means to us. If we do not, and I testify of this, we are in serious danger of apostasy. 

The messages of this conference in general were fabulous and spiritually fulfilling. I learned how to be a better disciple of Christ.

Then, Today we went to the temple. Therefore, I am tired. Here are some pictures.

My companion and I

The zone selfie

PS: Elder Fuentes also does color art. He has many different techniques. He mainly uses colored pencils and Sharpies.

This is his makeshift airbrush technique

The finished Product: The restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood. Commissioned by the Bishop. 

28 March 2016 - Not Much Happening But Miracles

Dear friends and family,

This week has been good. Let me tell you why:

In reality, not a lot happened this week, BUT Elder Fuentes finished my wood burning of Captain Moroni!!! Woooooooo!! 

I am very happy with it. 

Not a TON more happened this week, but it was nice. I started doing exercise more regularly in the mornings. I have discovered that doing so helps me feel better during the day. Surprise Surprise.

My companion was not feeling so well. He got sick and we had to go see a doctor. One of the things that I like about Mexico is that you can get medical counsel and a check up for free at almost any pharmacy. We went this week and discovered that my companion had a pretty serious sinus infection. He has had to take four different kinds of medicine all week to keep the symptoms down and kill the infection.

We had a lot of success this week. It is the first week of the change and we have seen the miracles. We have a few investigators that look really good. One was a contact that wee never thought would progress....ever. She came to church this week and she told us that she has rejected all other missionaries from all other religious groups, but that we have "something different." I hope that means the Holy Ghost. The mission is awesome.

I hope you all had a great Easter and that you all enjoy Conference!

Se que Dios es nuestro Padre Celestial y que nos ama tanto que siempre esta preparandonos para recibir so Evangelio. Se que Cristo vive y que Resucito el tercer dia. Se que tenemos profetas quien nos guie en este mundo.

Los amo,

Elder Lambert

21 March 2016 - Cha Cha Cha Changes

Dear Friends and family,

Changes have come, and......everything is the same! Yaaaay!

I am in the same area with the same companion. I am pretty happy with the situation. I had a feeling that this would be the case, but now it is just confirmed. This change should be a successful one.

That being said, not a lot happened this week. The assistants finally found themselves a house and we have had the advantage of having the whole house to ourselves. That is always a nice feeling.

Fun things that happened this week: 

1. We lost our phone. We looked for a solid hour and we had to spend almost all week without it. It was very stressful.

2. We went to the pizza buffet Josephino's for our food appointment on Saturday and our taxi lightly crashed into a car in front of us because the taxista was messing with his phone. The other car was not damaged.

That's about it for this week. Have some pictures.

This is our zone -- Why is Sean the only one "gesturing?"

This is the kitty that lives near our meetinghouse and comes to play with the children when there are ward activities. His name is Botas (boots)

A scripture that caught my attention this week. In the final chapter of Mosiah. Brown is my color to mark references to apostasy. In light of the little that I have heard about the current campaign season.

14 March 2016 - An Odd Week

Dear Friends and Family,

This week was a bit odd, Let me tell you why.

First off, last Monday, we got two new residents in our house.....the Assistants.

For those that are not aware of how missions work, every mission president chooses to two Elders to be his assistants and take care of the major affairs of the mission and train the missionaries. On the rare occasions that the assistants are not doing....that.....they work like normal ol missionaries. Because of that fact, they need an area in which to work, so for some unknown, and un-understood, reason, they came to our ward to work. Because they have not been able to sign a contract with another landlord, they have moved all their stuff into our house and are sleeping in our study room........-_-  The best part is that they only sleep there very rarely and usually wind up sleeping in their old house near the mission offices. 

To make things even more fun.....the power went out. 

On Thursday, while I was making Breakfast, the power decided that it would be super funny to just...go away for a while. So it did. We just barely got it fixed today after living in darkness for three days. I would make a joke about the great apostasy, but I am too tired for that.

Se que los milagros existen y que que Dios es nuestro padre. Se que Cristo nos ama y que el Espiritu nos habla pacíficamente.

Los amo,

Elder Lambert 

7 March 2016 - Very First Baptism Interview

Dearest Friends and Family,

This week was really good. Let me tell you why:

First off, I got to do my very first baptismal interviews!!! Wooooo!

For those unaware, District and Zone Leaders are in charge of convert baptismal interviews and records. Therefore, I am now a part of the process of my whole district's baptismal process. A good baptismal interview is a lot like a missionary lesson: it starts and ends with a prayer, and the spirit guides what the interviewer says. It was a fascinating spiritual experience. 

Not much else happened, but it felt good. We had six people in Church and my district is pushing through the mud of illness and discouragement to see the miracles that come from the work.

Not a very long letter this week, but it will suffice.

Se que siempre podemos ser mejores que ayer por medio del evangelio. Se que Cristo nos ama y si lo seguimos, podemos llegar a ser como Nuestro Padre Celestial. 

Los amo,

Elder Lambert

29 Februrary 2016 Walmart and Train Tracks and Joseph Smith

We went to Walmart a couple weeks ago. It was very satisfying. Never thought I would be so excited to go to Walmart.

There are train tracks in my area.

Wood burning of Joseph Smith - Praise to the Man, in Spanish

29 February More Amazing Photos

These were drawn by Emmanuel...with his mouth. Christ and the Prophet Joseph. The wording on the second is the final line of Praise to the Man in Spanish.

Captain Moroni - Sean's 

Elder Fuentes, sister and nephew.

This is a Mexical style Egg McMuffin. It has refried beans and peppers in the eggs.

29 February Fast Food, Fuentes, and Fotos

We went to subway today. There are a BUNCH of cool restaurants in our area.

Last week we went to Pizza hut with the zone. The zone leaders are the ones that are playing with the ketchup bottle.

This is Emmanuel and his his sister and her children and his nephew. The nephew is also a member. NOTE: Elder Fuentes is the elder that does the wood burning. 

29 February 2016 - My district got bigger...

Dear Friends and Family,

Short letter, BUT, there will be pictures, so don't worry.

The main news is this: My district got bigger.....

One of the other DL's (my former companion Elder Berryhill) was training a new missionary, but that particular missionary came on the mission without telling anyone that he had dental trouble. He had been struggling with said health issues for pretty much the whole three weeks he was in the field and they finally sent him home last week. Consequently, Elder Berryhill became Zone Leader 3 because there was noone else to be his companion. After a few days of that, they sent him off to the farthest away zone in the mission and dropped his district on my head......So that is fun.

I almost had my first baptismal interview on Friday, but I was going on divisions with my elders so I couldn't. Speaking of that, divisions were fun. As I have mentioned, there are some areas in the mission that are bigger than others. The other elder's area is much smaller than mine, and I LOVED it. It felt so nice not to have to take buses and run-walk everywhere you go.

In other news, the assistants to the president are changing areas.....to our ward. I am not 100 percent sure why...but they are. The AP's need to travel the entire mission and especially to the offices, so it is a little weird that they are going to be working so far from the offices...our ward is in a completely different municipalitie. But whatever. They move in on Teusday.

We have some pretty cool investigators right now, and i think they will be able to progress, as long as they come to church... But beyond that, I have found that the Lord is blessing us in a multitude of ways. Always remember that there are people waiting for this gospel all over the place. Even in the places you least expect it.

Se que el Señor prepara las personas a recibir este mensaje. Se que Dios nos ama y es nuestro padre. Se que Jesucristo vive y que no ama.

Los amo,

Elder Lambert