Primero Cambios

Bottom of huge hill they had to walk up

 

View from the top... it's way steeper than it looks

Eating Tlayuda on their rooftop balcony

Elder Torres

HOLA TODOS 

I've been here in Oaxaca for six weeks which is so crazy!  It has absolutely flown by.  Every six weeks we have cambios (transfers in English) which is when you could possibly be moved to a new area or get a new companion.  I pretty much knew I was staying because you usually stay with your trainer for at least two cambios but half my district is getting transferred   The only people staying are Elder Torres, Elder Yepez, and Me.  Which means all my good times eating with Elder Sullivan are over But at least I still have my mejor amigo elder Yepez and my awesome companion.

Nothing too crazy happened this week but I was checking the weather this morning and it might rain from like Wednesday to Sunday so don't you worry I will be prepared with my floaties.  Speaking of water the bishop of our ward put this water jug thing that makes water cold in the church SO LIFE IS GOOD.  If there was carpet I would be basically in paradise.  

So we aren't allowed to eat a members houses so when they want to feed us we just bring Tupperware and they fill it up with delicious food and we thank them, ask if they need anything, and then we leave  I am looking forward to when we can eat with them because the members are so cool! I've met some of them at church because I spoke again which was actually pretty fun!!

Anyway some members live in this neighborhood called Colonia Monte Alban.  And this neighborhood is straight up built into a mountain.  Like I have absolutely no idea how they built some of these houses.  Everyone who lives there has insanely strong calves because all of the streets are just hills.  AND LET ME TELL YA GOING UP HILLS IN HUMID HOT WEATHER WITH A MASK ON, isn't the most pleasant.  But Elder Torres and I have a good time with it and it's always a lot of fun!  I tried taking a picture of the hill but it doesn't really look that bad BUT TRUST ME IT WAS STEEP.  

A super cool testimony builder this week was the missionary devocional!  This truly is the Lord's work and he is leading it!  They shared with us that in January 2020 they approved smartphones for every mission in the world which was right before covid!  Smartphones are such a blessing to missionary work because finding and teaching people is so much better!  In the devocional they also shared a super cool statistic, in the month of March 2020, 2,000 people were found and taught all over the world through digital finding.  In March 2021 52,000 were found and taught!! Isn't that so cool!?  I know that the Lord cares about his children and the work is hastening!  We have some Baptisms coming up and I'm so excited for those!  I love you all!  Stay safe!

Incredible Week!

 

Sunrise from on top of their apartment

Rain and floods

Elders Torres and Lacey

He and Elder Sullivan... always eating

Hello everyone!!

I hope you are all doing so well!  This week didn't have any crazy flooding which was a bummer because I was prepared with floaties now but I found no use for them:(

This week was so amazing and I feel like I learned so much!  We had another exchange this week so I was with Elder Sullivan again!  It was a ton of fun and we decided that we were going to be as busy as possible that day.  I LOVED IT.  It was probably one of the fastest days of my life we were constantly contacting or teaching.  I know with all my heart the Lord loves diligence and we were blessed so much because of it.  I felt the spirit so much as we taught and I feel like my Spanish was better than it every has been! (Not necessarily good Spanish but I got my point across with too many confused looks haha.)

There was a worldwide missionary devocional (devotional) this week with Elder Holland and IT WAS SO GOOD.  It was all about the Spirit and it was exactly what I needed to hear.  I have been trying to teach and contact and well do everything with the Spirit more and we've had a lot of success! I would pray before almost every person we contacted and 90% of the time they answered!!  It was ao amazing!  People who have never answered before answered and we were able to teach them! Prayer works!  It was truly an amazing experience and my testimony of prayer has grown so much!  

I have also gained a better appreciation and understanding of prayer.  Before the mission I feel like I took communication for granted.  I could talk to whoever whenever.  Now it's difficult to talk to people because of the language and I can only speak with my family and friends back home one day a week.  It brings me joy to hear from family and friends that I'm separated from for a time.  It puts into perspective how our Heavenly Father must feel whenever we pray to him.  He is truly our Father and we our his children.  I cannot imagine how much he wants us to talk to Him and the joy He feels when we do.  Even when I can't communicate well because of the language we can always communicate with our Father in Heaven and He is always listening and will always answer in His own perfect timing.  What a blessing prayer is!

While being here in Oaxaca I have truly seen how much our Heavenly Father truly loves each of us!  It is so amazing that He has given us the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to share the gospel with people who desperately need it.  I have seen simple Gospel truths bring light and hope to people's lives who were seeking for truth.  The mission is the best!!

Also funny story,  Elder Sullivan and I were teaching a man about Prophets.  We asked him if he thought it would be important to have prophets on the earth today.  He basically said, "Of course!  Good thing we have prophets like you two!"  We then had to explain to him that we were not in fact prophets but that there is one on the earth today! It was pretty funny haha.

I love you all and I hope you all stay safe!  Email me and let me know how you're doing!

Rivers Y Tlayudas

Zone Conference

 

The way home

Where they are moving to

A street they need to cross

Loving the Tlauyudas

New favorite juice!

Que Tal!?

This week absolutely flew by!  Being on the mission is the best.  You feel the spirit so much and you feel so much closer to the Savior.  I love teaching people so much because the spirit is so strong.  This is truly the Lord's work and I'm so grateful to be apart of it.

Buzón de Voz

People like to ask me what my favorite Spanish word is.  I'm not quite sure what my favorite is but I DEFINITELY know what my least favorite is.  "Buzón de Voz" Which means voicemail.  Whenever we hear that when we call someone it means our appointment has fallen and we get sad:( 

Santa Clara

So last week I said I loved the juice Jugo de Valle BUT I have found a new love.  It's this milk you can get at little convenience stores for like 10 pesos AND ITS DELICIOUS.  They come in ice cream flavors and they taste like milkshakes.  I love them so much.  My companion says they're just whatever but that Americans always like them for some reason.  So I have to call the Santa Clara people when I get home and tell them they're selling to the wrong country 

Rivers

So Oaxaca lacks proper drainage in some areas so when it rains the streets become rivers.  We were walking home from the church and found that the street we cross to get home had become a river!  My companion was about to go through the river but I didn't happen to have my floaties with me at the time so I voted against it.  We searched for awhile and took random roads but we finally found a spot to cross.  One part we had to jump to cross a section onto some rocks and I helped a later across which was fun!  

New House and Tlayudas 

The food here is so good!!!  Tlayudas are kinda like Mexican pizzas but it's easiest to eat them like a giant taco and they're delicious.  Also our house is kinda gross so we've been looking for a new place to live.  A member in our ward and her husband just built new apartments that they could rent out to Airbnb but they haven't been able to yet with covid so she offered one of the rooms to us!  They're so nice and we will be the first ones to live there!  It just got approved today so I'm so excited!!

Elder Holland 

So Elder Holland is speaking to our mission soon so we were told to prepare by watching some of his talks.  ITS BEEN SO AMAZING.  Every talk helps me in a different way and you can feel his love of the Savior!  Some good ones I watched recently are "The Laborers of the vineyard" and "The First Great Commandment" check then out they're so amazing!

Love you all! 

Amazing Week!!

 

Kevin's Baptism

 

Tortas

With Elder Sullivan, his District Leader

With Elder Yepez

With Elder Yepez

Hamburgers with Elder Torres

Que Tal everybody!  

This was an absolutely incredible week!  I hope the rest of yours were just as great!

Exchanges

On Tuesday I worked with my district leader Elder Sullivan.  It was a ton of fun and we worked hard.  It was nice to have some things explained to me by an American so I could understand better haha.  He also showed me this juice called Jugo De Valle  and oh my goodness I love it.  We also got some Tortas which were delicious.  Also I tried a burger here and they're actually very good so that's great!  

I love Oaxaca 

Ok so I love Oaxaca so very much.  Every single thing and person here is so unique and has so much life.  I love it.  I handwashed my clothes for the first time today and it was actually kinda nice and relaxing!  I'm definitely gonna stick with the laundromat though Mi mejor amigo here is Elder Yepez. He's in my district and he's the best.  He doesn't know any English so the extent of our communication is my Spanish knowledge (which isn't much) and sound affects haha it's so much fun!  He joined the church a year and a half ago and decided to serve a mission as soon as he was baptized because he wanted to serve the Lord!  He's definitely an inspiration to me.  Also he's from Querétaro which is where a temple got announced yesterday!  So he's excited.

Zone Conference 

We had zone Conference on Friday and I absolutely loved it!!  Elder Sullivan translated a lot of it which was nice so I knew what was going on.  It got me pumped up to keep on serving and to just lose myself in the work!  I'm so grateful to be here.  I absolutely love President and Hermana Martinez, they're the best!  Also all the missionaries ask about my hair haha, but they all really like it from what I understand so that's good! We had some absolutely delicious food at Zone Conference... no clue what it was but I ate all of it

Kevin's Baptism

Right after Zone Conference we rushed over to our Baptism!  There were some problems getting started that will make me never forget my first Baptism as a missionary but it all turned out fine and it was great to meet more members of the ward!

GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!

OH MY General Conference was so incredible.  Being on a mission and watching Conference just brings the spirit so strong.  I absolutely love to hear the apostles and prophet speak because you can feel their absolutely genuine and great love for the Savior.  I loved all the testimonies about Christ because I feel so much closer to Him as I serve Him.  This is truly His work.  I feel his love for all the people of Oaxaca, it's easy to get caught up with the little things but once I teach someone who just lost a son that she will see him again, or when I testify that there are indeed prophets and apostles on the Earth, all of my doubts and fears go away and I feel so close to the Savior.  It's truly an incredible experience you can't really describe with words.

Miracles

In Elder Rasband's talk he spoke about miracles, specifically with the young adult broadcast.  That was a super amazing talk for me personally because that Broadcast helped me immensely!  I don't know exactly why but I felt the spirit so much during that broadcast and I needed to hear what was said.  Right after is when I decided to start my mission papers.  It was a really special and tender moment for me because it was like the miracle of the broadcast working was for me specifically.  

I love this gospel so much.  I love all the hope and peace it brings to people's lives.  I know that it's true and this is where I'm supposed to be. I love you all!

Elder Lacey