Zoo pictures and finding answers

Buenos tardes todos! Esta lluviendo orita entoces, no es bueno para la obra misional! Pero, un poco mas divertido! Tuvimos tacos otra vez por almuerzo con muchisimo pollo y tortillas de la tortillaria!(Editors note: Can anyone that speaks Spanish translate that?) But yeah everything is good. It's raining which is no bueno because we don't want to wear jackets because it's hot haha. So I have to go buy an umbrella next week! It was a fast week, went by really quick! I dont have much time to talk today, my companion is making donuts so he wants to go haha. 

The mission is going well. It's hard but it's going well. One thing that I am definitely learning is having a good relationship with God and relying on Him throughout the day. I was thinking about getting an answer to a prayer and something big that I realized is that in my prayers, when I really want to know something or need help, I end up saying what I need to do. When you pour out your heart to God and take the time to do so, he helps you figure out what your need is. For example, when I have a problem in the mission, at night I pray on my knees and literally just talk to God. I tell him my problem and I just say I don't know what to do. As I do so, I find that I start talking of different possibilities as to what I can do to solve that problem. I know that everyone has trials in life, you don't have to be a genius to know that. You don't have to be a genius to have a conversation with God either! Talk with him, ask him for help, but always give thanks as well. I love my mission. It is hard, but what would be the benefit and what would I learn if it was easy? Hard times we have, but with faith in God and his guidance, trials will you overcome. Thank you everyone for all your prayers. Our water works now but we are down a broom, don't ask...haha. I love you all. 

Oh and my Birthday was good. We bought Domino's and a Coke haha, but yeah that's about it! Love ya! Smile. 

Oh and the pictures I sent are two at the Zoo! One of them was funny cause it had a monkey in the claws of a hawk haha that's just funny. The other one I think is of me and my first Dr. Pepper in Mexico...still taste the same no worries Mike, and the last one is my companion taking water out of this well thing so we could have water to shower...but yeah! smile

 

I ate a whole fish!

hola! buenos...tardes? I'll go with that one just to be safe, it's 5 o'clock somewhere so it applies. First is the great news then the bad news,

Great news: I found Mountain Dew! It is at the Wal-mart but they only sell it in a 12 pack and it's 100 pesos haha if I am smart with my money...I might do it next month, but I did end up finding my second favorite, Dr. Pepper and they sell that by the can which is 6 pesos, like 50 cents. It's in the refrigerator waiting for me as I write!

Somewhat good news: For lunch today...we had a fish. strait up, whole thing thrown on the grill and fed to us...Fish haha it looked raunchy! The one time I don't bring my camera I miss a oportunity like this...It's okay, some other time. I contemplated eating the eye ball just to say I did it...but I'm not going to lie, I definitely backed out of that one! haha It looked way too gross.

Not bad news but not the best haha: The guy who fills our water tank didn't come by. So we don't have water to shower with or wash dishes. I'll send pictures next week. Basically there is a hole in the ground (a tank) that is filled with water in every house. Sooo we had to get a bucket and wash ourselves like that for the past couple days...I'm not sure when I will get water back. We have water to drink so no worries there it's just a pain washing yourself with a bucket haha.

bad news: I didn't get sick but I got a crazy good amount of what I think is Poison Oak on my hands, arms, and head. I woke up Saturday morning and couldn't open my left eye because my eye lid was so swollen! It was really funny after I got better, but in the moment not so funny. The doctor I talked to in the US said to take this medicine so I did, and along with a blessing, I was back to normal Sunday! I still have a little on my hands but that's not too big of a deal! haha Still don't consider that sick, but it was bad!

I was thinking about that though. I was thinking that there are a lot of people in the world in a lot more PERMANENT situations and some of those people are completely happy! Small things that we know are temporary, and even if they may be permanent, need to be taken as best as possible! Smile and laugh. I think it's funny now that it's over haha. But even in the moment I laughed a little. It's an amazing thing to have the ability to affect your level of happiness in this life. People that live in cement blocks look to us missionaries as Angels, some little kids called the other missionaries that. How fortunate we are to have the things in this life! A new shirt goes a long way for a lot of these kids here. New shoes...unimaginable for some kids. Some people that desire to go to church sooo bad cannot afford the 10 pesos (90 cents) to go to church one day out of the week! I feel blessed! I love you and miss you. Thanks for all your prayers! 

se que jesus vive. se que esta oportunidad a servir un mision por mi redentor y salvador jesucristo es un gran bendicion! mediante la expiacion de jesucristo, recebimos perdon por nuestros pecados, SI arrepentirnos y perseverar hasta el fin! les amo!

Elder Braden M. Spence

Temple Pictures

Elder Cook came!

Well this week was good and bad week. I'll start with the bad news, I forgot my memory card for my camera in the computer last week and now who knows where it is. haha I was soooo mad. Okay well I laughed after a couple seconds. But it was one of those laughs that could turn into a cry if no one is a around, but I have a companion so I just kicked a small pebble to take out my frustration haha. I went to Wal-mart to buy another card and the lady said it was 500 pesos! It's like 50 bucks, reluctantly I bought it only to find out it didn't fit my fricken camera! haha We went back inside and got the right one and it was 200 pesos (20 bucks) and got  my other 300 pesos back haha.

I  washed my clothes by hand for the first time...I hated that! haha Took me two hours to wash my clothes and they aren't nearly as clean haha but its a cool...experience haha. Definitely don't want to do that again but I know I will have to so oh well, haha enjoy washing machines!

Today we went and listened to Quintin L. Cook! It was awesome! He had a tanslater so everytime he said a joke, the Americans would laugh, and then about five seconds later, so would the Mexicans haha it reminded me of those Asian films where the mouth and the words are way off haha but it made it twice as funny! Some of the things he said and the look that he had in his eyes when he talked about Christ...no words can describe it. For those of you who dont know who Elder Cook is, he is one of the twelve apostles on the earth today. In the times of Moses, Abraham and Noah they were called of God to lead and guide the church. Elder Cook has that same calling! But it was amazing hearing from him. We also heard from one of the First Quorum of the Seventy, Benjamin De Hoyos (well Kay Bragg, are you going to hear from him too?!? haha that's a one up if I ever saw one) but yeah I couldn't understand him becuse he was speaking Spanish, apparently that's what I am suppose to be learning here haha it's coming along though. I shook their hands and we said Hola, we are basically family now. I was invited to teach them the lessons but I politely declined saying there are other sheep of whom I must feed. haha That's funny right there, I don't care who you are. What's even funnier is that I actually laughed at that and the Mexican next to me just looked at me...

Neri Gomez:

This week we went knocking on doors shortly after leaving the house. We came to an older lady that let us in. From the start I could feel her love for the Savior, and midway through a lesson, (standing up) she slowly starts to sit down. Calling for her daughter who is in her mid twenties, she starts to breathe heavy and put her hands to her chest. Not knowing what was happening, thinking she was having a heart attack, I started to say a prayer hoping what ever this pain was, would pass from her. In agony, she takes her hands slowly from her chest, puts them together, and bows her head. With no words coming out, but lips moving, she called out to her Father in Heaven in what I can only imagine is her asking for His help. Shortly after, the pain is released, and she started to breathe normal again. Her daughter was going to get her check out, so we left with a word of prayer, asking our loving Heavenly Father for her health to be okay.

An email from my brother Nathan, took me to the scriptures to read about Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. Christ is our redeemer and Savior, and he himself, prayed unto God asking for his help. This is in Luke 22 I think, But an angel appeared to him giving him strength. in our time of trials, physical or mental, it is amazing what the power of prayer can really do. We need trials in life to progress and learn, but we are not expected to go through them alone. We can call on God at any time and any place for his help and guidance. With faith and obedience to his counsel, he WILL give it to us. I love this gospel. I love my Savior. We must all try our faith in order to gain faith. Faith is believing in things which you can't see. As we can't see air, we can feel it. As we cant see God or Christ, we can feel their spirit. I ask each of you to try your faith, and trust in Him, and ask God for help. With a sincere heart and a willingness to obey what ever it is he tells us, he will answer your prayers. As a witness of his miracles, I challenge you to do this very thing and know what I know. I love you all. I pray for you and I feel your prayers. Thank you for everything!

Things I learned:

1-Feelings bottled up with a rapid release, doesn't invite the spirit or resolve the problem.

2-God is willing to help us with anything any time, but we must have reason why he should help us.

3-My heart breaks when someone I love doesn't accept His gospel when they know it's true. I never want to know how God feels with some people in the world.

4- The love in ones eyes can show more expression than any word or phrase.

5-As small and insignificant of a person I am compared to Christ or God, he still created this world for me...why? Because he loves me that much.

6-Once I become President of Mexico, I am buying everyone washing machines haha


Elder Braden M. Spence


P.S. This week we get to go to the ZOO! I will send pictures next week. 

Pictures and e-mail from last Monday

So everything is going good here! I still haven't gotten sick so thank you for your prayers haha. Everyone else has gotten sick sooo I know I'm next but I'm hoping that wont come till I am back in the states at least haha. I wanted to start of by saying if you're going to send something to me as a package, don't send clothes or anything from china for some reason hah they said something about tax, I don't know, but yeah. Packages of candy and random stuff are always welcome! haha. It was a little hotter this week. But it's really just about the same as Texas. The food is amazing as always. I have had like 500 tortillas since I have been here and that's not an exaggeration, haha well maybe a little give or take a couple. They are delicious. The people are really nice and they give us a lot of water (clean don't worry) haha. Well I hope its clean. I am not sure how this whole pictures things are going to work out haha I keep trying but I dont know if they are working or not. If you get them and there is a tall building in one of them, that is the only building over like 5 stories in all Tuxtla haha soooo that's downtown haha one single building thats like 25 or 30 stories high. the others are of Tuxtla. If you want to look at my area and what its about, basically if you go to google maps, it's in Tuxtla, if you type in Los Torres, or La Florest that is my area. I live on a street called Tapachula. there is a Wal-mart close so you can also look for that.

Things I learned:

1-Charity is an investment of blessings that have not yet been received, and also an act of gratitude to God for the the blessings already came to pass.

2- The things you want most in life are the things you have to work hardest for, sacrifices must be made to obtain your pirates treasure.

3- God gave us talents so that we can use them to help others. He can easily take them away if they aren't being used to fulfill this same purpose.

4-You never know when some people just aren't doing okay with their life, but it's always your responsibility to help if you know they could use it.

5-The intentions of your heart dictate your actions. A true desire for righteousness brings the mercy of God

6- Striving for something you have always wanted and then helping someone in their time of need, and being able to do so, satisfies the heart knowing Christ is proud of you for pushing through the hard times.

7- Once you find out for yourself why you do something, it makes it so much more enjoyable.

I love you and miss you all. Just real quick, I found out you can do dearelders.com still, and I will get them! I will get letters too so feel free to do either. dearelders are a little more safe and quicker to do I think haha. but all is well. I love and miss you all. Take care! Smile, Pray and have Faith!

Love Elder Braden M. Spence

Editors Note: Sorry all, I moved 2 states over and just got the internet hooked up a few days ago. I don't think he has checked his e-mail today though so get the comments or e-mails to him in really quickly so he hopefully will respond today :)

Thankful

I wanted to start off by saying, my prayers go out to all the families who lost a loved one in the tornadoes this last week. I heard something like two hundred people died in seven states. Maybe that was a rumor but I don't know. That's really hard. If anyone is reading this that lost someone, from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry. The words of comfort are slow to come to my mind, but I say with all the conviction in my heart, you will see that person again. This life is not the end. I know of this for a surety. 

This last week I looked around a lot. I looked at the scenery and the peoples houses and way of living. It is really really poor. I think about what I had in my life and I am so grateful. I thank my Father in Heaven every night for the things I have and had in my life. Some of the people here can't buy their kids shoes much less a shirt that doesn't have holes all over it. As you read this, think about the things you have in this life. The blessings you have. Now think about how you got those things. No matter the car, the house, the clothes, the family, the friends, they all come from one person. That person is God. He wants us to be happy and so he blesses us. That doesn't mean that we don't have trials in this life or tragedies, but he wants the best for us. But we need to remember to give thanks to him for everything and everyone we have. I love my life, but I know that it's by faith in Christ and obedience that I have received anything that I have. When we eat here, I have to fight off the ants on the table, swat off the flies, ...squash the cockroaches in the shower haha (there were two of them and they were fricken huge), but I am happy because I know I am giving back to the Lord for the things that I have in my life.

This week something amazing happened. We were knocking on the doors and came to a 80 year old woman alone in her house. Asking if we could come in to share a message with her, she said she has bad memory and wont even remember what we have to talk about the next day. Her name is Maria Sanchez. Trying to share this message with her, we ended up just giving her pamphlet about what we know is the plan God has for us in this life and what happens after. We hand her this pamphlet with a picture of Christ on the front page and the first thing she does...is kiss Christ. That hit my heart like you wouldn't believe. This old woman, living alone in such a ... I don't know the words to describe her house. Her living standards were not anywhere close to what is bad in the United States. But the first thing she does is kiss Christ. I love that simple action because it showed me how much I want to love Christ like she does. Should we not all kiss a photo of Christ or take a small second out of your day to pray to God to think him for the infinite sacrifice his Son, Jesus Christ, made so that we may live? It was amazing.

On the fifteenth of May, Quinten L. Cook, a member of the 12 Apostles, is coming to Tuxtla to talk to all the missionaries in Chiapas. I am so excited haha it will be such an honor to hear his Apostolic testimony.

I finally brought my journal of the things I learned haha

1-when you're tired and want to give up, you have two choices, quit and comfort yourself or push on and feel the blessings of sacrifice.

2- goals mean absolutely nothing if you don't make an effort to accomplish them.

3- before you ask God for more, think about what he has given you and see if you really need it. you wont...

4- repentance without action or confession, is not repentance in the eyes of God. We must have faith in his love that we can be forgiven.

5- your happiness in this life depends on your positive attitude. Your glass must be half full

6- having no money to buy the luxuries but having Christ in your life makes you richer than in a mansion on a hill without Christ with you.

7- there are only so many things you can blame on other things before you have to admit there is something you need to change about yourself.

I love you and you're in my prayers. I feel yours every day. My challenge for everyone today is to pray tonight and thank God for as many things as you can think of. He has given you life, you can give him a prayer every night and morning.

Elder Braden M. Spence