9 May 2016 - This week has been very....new.

Dear Friends and Family,

This week has been very....new.

I got a new companion, Elder Shelley, and we have been working very well together. He is quiet, but I am really enjoying our time together. We work well together and we share many similar interests. He plays the guitar and has been practicing hymn arrangements on the daily. It's kinda cool.

This week we met a kid (like 16 years old) who, supposedly, was atheist before, but had a vision of a bright light telling him to get to know God more....and the number 27. He was cool, but he liked to talk a lot. 

We also started teaching a family that lives up on the side of Topo Chico. In Mexico, it's the opposite of the US: The poorer people live up on the hill, and the rich people in the valley. The house is not really a house, but a shack built of random scrap materials. The people have come to church twice, but we have been unable to teach them because we couldn't find their house. 

Things are pretty interesting here. I am digging it.

Se que este es la Obra del Señor. Se que El nos ama y que podemos regresar a la presencia de nuestro Padre Celestial si vivimos su Evangelio. Se que no hay otra verdad plena en este mundo y que este verdad fue restaurada por conducto de Jose Smith el profeta. 

Los amo, 

Elder Lambert

2 May 2016 - Diary of a Missionary

Dearest Darlingest Friends and Family,

Week 6 of the Change!!! Wooooo!!!!

So, they gave us the changes last night: Elder Guerrero will be leaving the area to train a new missionary in a whitewashed area and I will be sticking around here in Felipe Carrillo C with one Elder Shelley. Supposedly he is from Taylorsville, but I am not sure. I have never really met the guy before, so I cannot be sure. Will report next week.

This week was very interesting. Here's a list of stuff that happened:

-Monday: We filled out Maria Ines's Baptismal record

-Tuesday: The new Assistant joined the current two for his training week and we finished the night with our Ward Mission leader's meeting. But that's not all, after the meeting, we got special permission to stay out a little later to have Dinner with the Bishopric and their families. Elder Treviño (the other Assistant) made Campechanas (those giant tacos I told you about a long time ago). It was great.

-Wednesday: Nothing of import happened.

-Thursday: We Finished the work day at the meetinghouse for the "Dia del Niño" (Children's day) Party. We had two investigators attend.....but we barely got to talk to them. There was a dude there, obviously high as a kite, in a very poor clown costume that wanted to put on a free clown show for the kids. Supposedly the dude had gotten beat down the night before because he was mistaken for someone else and in that moment promised God that he would go to church. The closest church to his house....you guessed it. So, because it was the celebration for the kids, he decided to put on a show. The bishop put me and my comp in charge of the dude for a solid hour and a half. It was super uncomfortable. We had to try and chat him up, but the dude was somewhat unresponsive. The idea was to try and get him to go home and come back on Sunday. In the end, he wound up doing the show anyway. Everyone that saw it was confused and vaguely afraid......luckily we didn't get to see it.

-Friday: Nothing of great note happened

-Saturday: We finished the work day talking to two drunk dudes. One kept talking about the crazy occult stuff going on in NASA and the other was absolutely convinced that "Lambert" could be translated into "Mexican." My companion got frustrated at the end. We then went to the house to change into sport clothes so we could play football at the meetinghouse. I'm getting better at soccer. I'm not good at it....but I am better. 

-Sunday: We confirmed Maria Ines. She Cried after she was presented to the congregation. It was a touching experience. 

Good Week.

Se que el Señor nos ama y que por su expiacion, nos conoce perfectamente. Se que por este mismo, podemos ser perfeccionados. Se que este es la Obra del Señor.

Los amo,

Elder Lambert

25 April 2016 - We Had a Baptism Yesterday!

Dear Friends and Family,

So, first off, let's get to the good part: We had a baptism yesterday!

Maria Ines is an interesting story. When we originally found her, she was sitting on the curb waiting for the tortilla vender to drive by. We decided to contact her quickly and just give her a card. We assumed off hand that she was not going to progress, but when we started talking to her the situation turned into a small lesson right there on the curb outside her house. She has had trouble with her family and decided to let us come and teach her because she thought we might be able to help her with that. She told us later on that many other preachers had come to try and see her, but she always rejected them. When we came, she originally wanted to get up and leave, but she physically could not. Then, when we started talking, she felt at peace with the idea. She progressed very rapidly and was baptized yesterday.

Her family, being as they are, did not attend her service, but we will see what we can do with them.

It is also notable that, because we had to have her baptismal interview, we did divisions again this week. I found something cool. Check it:

Here in Nuevo Leon, two of the largest non Catholic christian groups are called "Cristo Vive (Christ Lives)" and "Clamor en el Barrio (Noise in the Hood)" Both of which are basically addiction recovery centers with a Jesus theme. What you see here is the front of one of the Cristo Vive centers. Because the grand majority of the people that are part of these centers cannot pay their own way and they have noone to support them financially, part of their recovery is going around selling stuff for the church. In this particular center, they specialize in making and selling low quality burritos that they pack in blue coolers. I, for one, think it's pretty dang cool.

Anyway, it was a good week. Very spiritually edifying for many reasons.

Se que el Señor nos ama y que El realmente vive. Se que podemos recibir el plenitud de sus bendiciones solo por medio de el Evangelio coma ha sido restaurado en estos ultimos dias. 

Los amo,

Elder Lambert

18 April 2016 - It Ended Well

This week interesting and ended really well.

We did divisions with this week. I went to a nearby area and walked......a lot. Our are is really hilly, but everything is close together. This other area was the opposite. I have blisters that developed under caluses....it was not terribly fun. The day was not very productive either. Nobody was home :( The cool part (literally) was that these elders have climate control in their room. It was the best I have slept in weeks.  

The week was kind of a roller coaster. We had days where we found lots of new people to teach and all of our appointments were at home, and then we had days like Saturday where we didn't teach a single normal lessons. Sunday made it all worth it, though. Before church, we called the fellowshipper of the investigator that are gonna baptize this Sunday and she told us that she was not going to church and would not be able to take the investigator either......ugh. We already had plans to go and get another investigator that we have been working with and trying to get to go to church for like a month and a half, so long story short, things were difficult, tired, and sweaty. The investigator with whom we had plans didn't answer the door, and the progressing investigator was just barely prepping to take a shower. In the end, we got to church in a taxi tired and uncomfortable for the entire service, but when it ended, things started looking up.

My Comp got up after the final prayer and looked behind us and smiled from ear to ear. The other investigator and her son had shown up by themselves! I think only a missionary can truly understand the joy of something like that.

After the services the assitents had a baptismal service. It was the second one that our investigator had attended and it was one of the most spiritually edifying services I have attended. One of the women that was baptized bore a very powerful testimony after which a teary eyed first counselor did the same. You had to be there. It was one of those experiences that really testifies that this is the kingdom of God on the Earth. I don't need to see any worldly evidence. These experiences are the only evidence I need to know that Christ leads this church.

Se que este es la Iglesia de Jesucristo. Se que es dirigida por revelacion y NO la moda y pensamientos del mundo. Se que Cristo nos ama. 

Los amo,

Elder Lambert

Se que este realmente

11 April 2016 - Weird Short Week

So, another one of those weird weeks with three fewer days.....we'll what I can squeeze out of it.

First thing, I have been doing a lot more exercise lately. Thought I should mention that.

Second thing, the Assistants recently decided that it was a good idea to start playing football (soccer for you gringos) on Saturday night (live). A few months ago, not long after Pres. McArthur got to the mission, there was some very serious trouble with the Elders in this ward and the members have had a hard time trusting the Elders ever since. The idea of playing on Saturdays is to gain more confidence and unity within the ward and the missionaries. I was originally against the idea because Saturday is one of the most important work days because it's our last chance to commit people to go to church. I have had very few weeks without people in Church, so I like Saturday alot. But, it was fun. I had more fun playing this Saturday than I have playing football in a long while.

Today we had a zone activity. We borrowed the grill of a nearby member and had carne asada. I did most of the grilling, but we also played volleyball and football. It was a good time.

That is all. here is a Spanish testimony for two weeks since I totally forgot on Wednesday:

Se que el señor nos llama por medio de profetas vivientes. Se que Thomas S. Monson es un Profeta vidente y revelador y que cada uno de los miembros del cuorum de los Doce son lo mismo. Se que las llaves del Sacerdocio han sido restaurados en este tierra por conducto de Jose Smith y que podeos gozar en la esperanza de una familia feliz Y eterna por medio de estas llaves. Se que este es la Iglesia de Jesucristo. La unica verdadera sobre la faz de la tierra. Se que el evangelio como fue restaurado por Jose Smith y como esta enseñado por los profetas vivientes es la unica manera de llegar a la vida eterna. 

Los amo, 

Elder Lambert