Week 50 - Miracles on Miracles

 Holy Cow!!! 

It is amazing. Just crazy. How many miracles the Lord placed in our way during this week. I cant even explain to you all of them. It was such an awesome week!! We were able to meet tons of new people in this area, which is awesome, cause just ten days ago, when I was just starting to serve in this area, there was literally no one here receiving the missionaries. 

About a month ago, an Hna named Veron. got baptized, and her son, Fran., saw a huge difference in her, and we went to see him last Sunday, and holy cow! It is wonderful how the Lord prepared him for us. He literally does everything we invite him to do! He even said he wanted to go visit people with us some time! We invited him to be baptized on Tuesday, and he said..this is a super important decision for me, but maybe with three more lessons Ill get baptized (while I was thinking, haha, maybe a little more than that...but awesome!!!) And on Friday we invited him to be baptized on September 17, and he said he would tell us on Sunday at church. The sad thing is he got a new job working as security guard, and he worked the night shift on Saturday night...He didn’t sleep one minute after working, but got home and got ready for church and came!! He loved it so so much, and brought his wife! And after, he came up to us and said...Its a yes! He is super excited to get baptized already. SO MANY MIRACLES! 

SO MANY. I can’t even write them all. Elder Ramirez and I are working our behinds off here. Actually, literally as well! We started going to the gym here, and they have treadmills! Not my preferred form of running, but I was able to run 4 times last week!! It felt so liberating. And also painful. Wow, shocking how fast I got out of shape haha. But anyway. MIRACLES! Yesterday it was miracle after miracle. We found several incredible people that the Lord prepared for us to teach! They are all so great! One young guy is named Luis, and we asked him if he knew where a street was, and he whipped out his phone, looked it up, couldn’t find it, kept looking, went walking around the entire neighborhood with us looking for it, and then showed us where it was, and he also sat us down to have us explain our basic beliefs! It was honestly one of the most unbelievable and strangely incredible things of the mission! He is a great man and I am super excited to teach him this week! 

OTHER awesome miracle. We had Stake Conference this week where all the members of La Paz get together, and I got to see a ton of members from Garzas! It was so great. Even greater was to see the S. Torres family again. They beat us there, and they were seated in the front row, Ang. in a dress, and Ale. in a suit coat and tie! He was just ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood this week!! It was so so so cool! I love them so much and it makes me overwhelmingly happy to see they continue so active and converted to the Church. 

Love you so much! I love this work! I AM SO HAPPY!
-- 

Elder Daines

"Cloudy Days"

"Stairs for Days"

"Mexican Fortune"

"Taught them Pat-a-Cake"

Week 49 - Living on a Mountain + I'm a Father?

Howdy all!

Super great, super busy, super tiring, but super exciting week! 

It has been super crazy this week with all of the changes in the mission and the areas and all. I have been in contact several days with the new missionaries in my area from San Jose, helping them get to know their way around and all. And my area is super hilly, people legit live on a mountain side here. Correction: several mountain sides--we are going up and down in the hot sun all day (at least its a good quads workout). Also, Elder Ramirez, who only has 6 weeks in the mission, has had to guide us pretty much this whole week, and so it has been a little tough, but we are excited and up for the challenge. 

Elder Ramirez is super good! I cant remember if I explained much about him, but he is from Acapulco, he is the only member of the church in his family, and he is super good at soccer. He is super excited to work hard and see miracles here in the mission, and it has been really uplifting and exciting to be able to train him and show him how it´s done here in the Mexico Culiacan mission. (I am a father because in the first three months of the mission, the new missionary has a trainer, and here in the mission we call the trainers Fathers)

I got here in this area, and there really was hardly anyone listening to the missionaries, so we started from the bottom....(and now we´re here, haha...) But really, we pretty much got rid of everything, and started with a blank slate. So we did lots of talking in the street, I got to meet lots of members, tried to serve them in any way we could, asked them for references of people that may want to listen to us, and we have been able to see some pretty cool successes, honestly.

We have heard our prayers answered and have been able to really touch 

people´s hearts with the work we are doing. I know God prepares His children to receive us in their own time. I love being a missionary, and a dad! 

-- 

Elder Daines

"Indian food in Mexico?"

"My old enemy...Stairs."

"My Child (Elder Ramirez) feat. Ocean View"

"The Setup"

Week 48 - Whitewash Half the Mission?

Howdy all!

This was such a crazy and unexpected week. First of all, now instead of having 2 hours to write to our families and all, President has told us we will now have half an hour, so my letters will probably be smaller, more rushed, and I may not be able to respond to all of you each week. But I have so much to tell!

First of all...I am no longer in San Jose. ): Elder Wright and I both got changed! He got sent back to Culiacan again, and I am back in La Paz! Haha. It was super super unexpected, and kind of degrading at first, but I know that it is part of Gods plan for me and that everything will be okay in my area in San Jose. 2 other elders came in our place. I am now in the Pioneros ward. 

We basically spent the whole weekend preparing the house, packing, taking people to the airport and bus stop and all, and leaving all the records and map updated for the new missionaries! It was so crazy you would not believe it. But we had some super super cool experiences this week! Serg., and a friend of his, were able to go to a youth conference this week, with all the young men and women in San Jose and San Lucas. It was a three day event. They are still not members, but were permitted to go, and they came back SO different! It was crazy. Serg. hadn't listened to us much before (he was always playing soccer haha) but he came back totally changed. He said he wants to be a missionary, he wanted to share his testimony of the truth of the gospel, and he said he really wants to learn more now! It was so cool! He and Ad. are planning on being baptized on August 27th. 

I am now here in La Paz, with a new companion named Elder Ramirez. He is from Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico. He only has 2 months in the mission, so I will finish training him! I am super excited for that and hope I will be able to do a good job. I love you all and hope you are all doing super awesome! I know God will protect us and that He loves us and is aware of us in each moment. 

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10. "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."

-- 

Elder Daines