November 28, 2016 Uncle Nick

This week was a very special week! I was able to get a hold of the number of one of the converts of my uncle Nick. I let the president of the mission know that I had her number and what he told me was that I had to go and look for her. He gave me special permission to leave my area whenever I needed to to go and find her. I called her up and we put up an appointment and we went out to look for her. We were able to meet up with her at a store and she then took us to her house. It was an amazing experience! They shared a bunch of stories of when Nick was teaching them and how he tried crickets for the first time with them. We also ate some coconuts from Veracruz. They opened them up and everything and we drank the water and ate the meat inside. I showed her the list of all the converts that my uncle had in this area and she knew half of them. She called one of them up and I was able to talk to her. I told her I would go to her church services on Sunday to get to know her. On Sunday I did divisions with the Elders in her ward and went to the services and was able to get to know them. It was such a special experience! They shared their experiences with me as well. We took some pictures and she also told me she went on the mission!!! She went to the Chiapas Mexico Mission.
The rest of the week went alright. We weren't able to get any of the investigators we have to come to church! We are going to have to work twice as hard this week to get them to come. We are super close to having a couple baptisms. I hope they come through! Hope everyone else had a great week as well!
Love Elder Ivie
***If some of you don't know Colton's Uncle Nick was killed on the Boarder Patrol 10/2/12. And Colton went to the same mission that his uncle went to.  We feel very blessed that Nick is watching over and protecting Colton.

Nick 2002

Nick 2002

November 21, 2016 Hit by a car with the Holy Ghost

We had a pretty interesting experience this week with feeling the promptings of the Holy Ghost. A couple weeks ago we ran into a lady in the street and she told us she was a member of the church and she just moved here a couple weeks or months ago. She gave her us her direction and so we could pass by one day. This week we decided to go and visit her. I gave her a call and she told us she was up on the mountain but would come down to her house right at that moment to meet us at her house. We got to her street and we saw some guy in the street that kept looking at us and so we just walked by and called the sister again to see where her house was exactly. She said it was the house with the wooden doors. It was the house where the guy was standing. We started walking over there and the guy went inside. I heard him say´They are coming.´ He then came out and asked if we were from the church or something like that and we were like yes. He let us in and told us that they had been waiting for us. As I walked in I saw a shed on the right of me that was made of wood and there was a dim light inside. He told us to enter the house on the other side. When we got passed him he turned to the door to lock it. My companion at that moment told him that we had to make a phone call and that we forgot something. He didn't feel like we should be there right then. Then the guy turned to the door to open it but he took forever. I heard someone inside the shed talking and they said I am in here. It was the old lady we contacted in the street.... I think. Then she started talking more saying she was not feeling good and she was really bad and kept saying it. Right at that moment was when a feeling came over me that was super strong. It is like when you almost get hit by a car and your heart is pounding like crazy. It was a feeling that I will never forget. I knew we needed to get out right then. We left and went to a members house that was close by and didn't go back.  I asked myself what would have happened if we stayed there... but after thinking for a second, I realized that it doesn't matter. What matters is that we responded to the feeling that came to us. It was a crazy and powerful experience we had.
We were planning on having a baptism yesterday but the sister we are teaching got  off work late and wasn't able to make it to church. Also the other investigators we have weren't able to make it either. It is way different to work with three people. We had to move all the other Elders stuff to our house and that took a whole day. It was a really long week. He is actually going to be getting moved to a new area again this Wednesday. It was a good week all in all with some great experiences. Oh yeah we had our interviews with President. I really enjoy them and being able to share the experiences we have and he is able to give us a lot of advice! I hope you all had a great week!
Love Elder Ivie

November 7, 2016

It was Halloween here this week. The people here in Mexico celebrate Halloween pretty much the same way that we do in the United States. They dress up and go around asking for candy. The only difference here is that they do it for the 31st and the 1st and 2nd. It is a three day celebration.
We had our Stake Conference this week. A member of the Seventy Elder Ulises Chavez came and talked to the Stake Los Reyes. It was a great meeting. He talked really directly to the members. It was crazy some of the things that he said. He told a story about a cow that was dying or something like that, and they had to puncture a hole in it so that it would live. He then took out a knife and said that sometimes we need to be hurt to get better. Then all the things that he said to the members that were hard to hear he held up the knife. It was a crazy Stake Conference hah!
After the Stake Conference we had a baptism. It was a 75 year old lady. We had some food before her baptism. It was Tostadas de pata. They are chips and feet or something like that. It is pretty much pure fat that tastes really good hahaha. Her baptism went really well, one of the best baptisms that I have ever had. We asked the bishop to perform the ordinance. We had one of the other Elders do a special number and it was great!
We had a great week and not much else happend. I hope everyone else had a great week!
Love Elder Ivie

October 31, 2016

It was a pretty great week this week! I got asked to do some interviews for some little kids that the other Elders in the ward were teaching... and actually I taught them too. There were three of them and two of them wanted me to baptize them. I accepted and Elder J which is the companion of Elder P would baptize the other. When the day for the baptism came around Elder J went first and it was his first baptism. He was super nervous and had been practicing a lot before. When he was about to walk into the water he asked me... What do I do then...? He was really nervous. He did it the first time and the kids head didn't even go under water. He did it again and the foot came out... so on so on. He did it 8 times and he couldn't do it. The little kid was even on his knees and he still couldn't do it. They then asked me if I could go in and baptize the kid to show him how to do it. I walked in and did it and then the next kid and the last one that I was going to baptize was baptized by Elder J. The little kid didn't want to be baptized by him because of what happened with his brother... and the same thing happened hahaha. He had to do it 5 times with him and the worst part was the water was cold. The dad of the little boys was not very happy after the baptism. It was not a very good baptism haha.
Today I went to center with one of the zone leaders and I was able to buy a mask for Halloween that was pretty cool! I also bought a watch and some ties. We went and ate a torta de pastor. It is like a taco de pastor but it is just a sandwich. It was really good! We came back to our area and we went to a birthday party and then we went home. We were supposed to be home at 5 but I never got a chance to write home so they gave us permission to write right now to you guys and cause it is right outside the house.

Love Elder Ivie

October 24, 2016

This week we had another baptism! It was a young man that came up to us in the street saying he wanted to be baptized and he had already gone to church a bunch of times. We passed by his house one day and taught him all the lessons really quick and asked him all the baptism questions and he was ready. We set up a interview with our zone leaders and he passed. He said that he has family that are members and he invited his uncle over to his baptism. He came and was able to perform the ordinance. It was a great experience.

I had to go to the offices on Wednesday night and stayed the night there so that Thursday in the morning we could go to get my visa renewed. It was in a part of the city called Polanco. It is really nice and really expensive there! If you want a drink of something it costs like 30 pesos when it costs like 9 where we live. Anyways they have a store there run by a Jew and he sells stuff from the United States. I bought a bunch of soda and candy that was from the United States like Mt Dew and Vanilla Coke! It was a great day! They also had Twizzlers but they were pretty expensive! It was a fun trip there.




We had been planning the whole week to go to the temple for a cultural dance of folklore. The only requirments were that you had to bring investigators and a member. We talked to the bishop and he got a van rented out so that we could bring all our investigators. He said I hope it is worth the 600 pesos we have to pay and you guys can fill up the van completely. We got it all worked out and on Saturday right after the baptism we had we got a bunch of calls from the investigators that were going to come and they all canceled. Even the investigators from the other Elders canceled on them! It was terrible! Not one investigator came! They had already paid for the van and there was one member with us.... so we ended up going by ourselves because the ward had already paid for the van! It was terrible. All the dancers there were falling down and there hats fell of and I am pretty sure one of them was drunk haha.
Today we played some soccer at the church and went to eat some quesadillas afterwards. Not much! It was a pretty good week in all except for Sunday. Not one of our investigators came to church and the three baptism dates that we had will have to be placed again but for a different day. Hope everyone has a great week! Love Elder Ivie

October 17, 2016

This week we were really blessed! We had a lot of success with all the goals we had placed and had success with things we hadn't even planned for. I was able to do divisions two times this week. Normally district leaders do divisions once a week to know the investigators of the other Elders in their district but I felt like I was a little behind so I did it with two companionships. It went pretty well even though a lot of the appointments we had weren't home. I was able to help some of the Elders with problems that they had and they were able to strengthen their trust in me.
We had a meeting, all the district leaders, with the President and his assistants. He talked about all the things the leaders in the mission need to do to help out their districts. After we had the meeting he ordered little cesars pizza for everyone which was pretty cool! We then headed back to our area and ate more food haha!
Last Monday we had put a couple goals as a district that we would have a family night with an investigator, recent convert, less active, and active member all in the same family night. We were able to invite one of our investigators to a family night and she liked it a lot. We will be baptizing her next Saturday. The message we shared was based on the Sabbath day but it quickly got off topic with so many members haha. One of the ladies asked about bringing skirts to church because she doesn't use them. One of the members answered her and started talking about things really uncomfortable and about lady parts and a bunch of other stuff and we just sat there and had no idea what to say haha. It was pretty funny!
We were going to have another family night another day but the family wasn't home and the member we had brought had to go back home. So we were walking her back to the taxi base so she could go home. As we were walking we heard something. We didn't really pay attention but then we heard it again and I turned around and some teenager was calling us. He said he had been studying with us and just moved into this area. He said he already had 5 Sundays and had already received his answer that it was the true church. His family still lives in the old house he lived in but he lives with his grandma now. We told him to come to church on Sunday.. and he did. We talked to him there and we placed a baptism date with him for this Saturday! We have a free baptism, the only thing we have to do is check to see if he is ready. This was a pretty big blessing for us.
While I was in divisions this week with some Elders, we went to find one of their investigators but she wasn't home. She lived on the border of our area and the area of the other elders. Later we found out that it was the house of her mom. When we were working later in the week. Some lady ran into us in the street and asked if we were the Elders in Los Olivos. We said yes. And she told me her name, and I remembered we were looking for her the day before. She was the investigator of the other Elders. She showed us where she lived and it was in our area! We invited her to come to our church, because she had been assisting another church that wasn't the one she should've been assisting. We passed by for her Sunday morning and came to church with us. She said she has been investigating the church for 5 years and still hasn't been baptized! We tried to place a baptism date with her on Sunday but she didn't want to accept it. We could baptize her whenever she wants. This was another one of the blessings we received! Pretty much we received two free baptisms!
We had 5 investigators in the church on Sunday and have 3 people with a baptism date. One for this Saturday, another for the one that follows and another for the following. For the next three weeks we should be baptizing every week! I am really excited for the next cycle here... if I stay here. We aren't sure yet who has transfers.... I hope i don't It was a really great week! We got a call from the assistants and they congratulated us for our work in the week. When they called I thought we did something wrong, but no they said we are carrying the zone this week! It was a great feeling and great motivation for the week to come! For the other elders in the district not so much because all of their baptism dates fell through. But week will be a lot better! Hope everyone else had a great week!
Love Elder Ivie

October 10, 2016

This last week I got a little sick, but now I am feeling a lot better. Just a few stomach problems I am sure. Not much has happened. On Wednesday we ended up going to the center of the city with the Mission President so that my companion could buy some glasses. While we waited for his glasses to get done we went and walked through one of the cathedrals that is there in the center. It was pretty big

and they do some pretty strange things there haha. We took a tour where they let us climb up into the bell towers and onto the roof and see all our over the city. From the very top of the cathedral you can see the top of the temple in the distance. Then on Thursday we got to go to the temple. It was an awesome experience, the only thing was I didn't feel very great.
These last couple weeks I have really learned about the blessings and consequences of listening to the spirit. During the week a couple times I kept saying to myself, I need to pull this Elder aside and talk to him. I never did because we were either in a meeting or eating or something like that. I had that feeling a couple times. Then one day I was talking to the zone leaders and they told me they got a call from this Elder and he wanted to go home... I realized that I should have pulled him aside when I had the chance and talk to him a bit earlier. Thankfully he hasn't gone home and I have been able to talk to him and work with him in his area. But now that I didn't act upon these promptings in time, I have to work harder with him than before. I realized that these impressions that we receive everyday are just little things that seem like nothing but really make the difference in everything. I am now learning to listen to this promptings and act upon them and not look for an excuse of why I should postpone them. We had a good week all in all, and I hope you all have a great upcoming week!
Love Elder Ivie

October 6, 2016

Yesterday we went with president to center to buy some glasses for my companion and then he bought us some pizza. It was really good. We had to wait two hours before the glasses were ready so he gave us some money and we went on a tour of the cathedral in Zócalo. We went up in the towers and walked on the roof and it was really neat. It was really dirty inside and had a lot of graffiti. They had people confessing their sins there and we saw them do some kind of ordinance. It was pretty strange. I talked to president about some of the problems we have in our district and with some of the elders and he told me I need to talk to them our they will be having an interview with the pres. He also told me he wants me to work in the area of Nick so I can continue his legacy. Pretty neat.
We watched conference in Spanish at the church and we had two investigators come. They are going to progress really well. Oh yeah I did divisions with an elder and his area flooded with the rain.
Sorry I am just dead right now.
Love you all.
Love Elder Ivie

September 26

We had a lot more success this week than we did in that last week. We found a lot of new investigators and we were able to recieve a lot of references from members and other people that we met. This Sunday we had a member help us by bringing one of our investigators to the church. She was also able to sit by her during the services and it was a big help. If only we can find members like her for all our investigators haha.
We just had our district meeting that I was in charge of and I was not as prepared as I should have been, but it turned out really great! We talked about how we help the less active members and how to ask them for references, we talked about a topic called, How to begin teaching, and we talked about attributes of Christ. It was really neat. I have to leave a compromise or a challenge for all the Elders at the end of the meeting. I shared a scripture that I found in the week in Doctrine and Covenants 112. It talks about the 12 apostals . I changed it up so it talked about missionaries. It talks about a lot of the attributes of Christ and at the end it said that if we work with these attributes an effective door will be opened up for them from that moment and on. It was a really neat meeting and I hope that all the Elders in my district can try and find the effective doors in their areas.
Today we went to the center of the city and we didn't really do much. We walked around and my companion wanted to buy a watch. I just went and bought some churros and thats all I bought. It was a good week in all. I did divisions with some Elders in my district this week also to help them out with the way they teach and with things they need help on. It is a really fun job I have. Hope everyone else had a great week!
Love Elder Ivie

September 19

I am now in a new area and have a new companion! My companion is from Cancun, Mexico. His name is Elder May. We get along pretty well which is good. We had a pretty good week. We worked really hard trying to get to know the area and there were two days this week were we were not allowed to leave the house. We just stayed in and slept and studied and stuff like that. I am about to finish to book of 1 Samuel. I already finished the Book of Mormon in Spanish. It helped me out a lot with my Spanish! I am still working as the District Leader. It is a lot of work but it keeps me busy. I have to make sure everyone gets home on time and is doing what they should. If their are Elders that want to go home I have to help them with whatever is going on.
We had a bunch of investigators that we were waiting on this Sunday and not one came! I was pretty upset because we had a couple members that were going to pass by for them and they told us that they called them and they didn't answer so they didn't even bother to pass by for them. It is pretty frustrating that they don't want to help us out or finish what they told us they would do. We are doing a lot of things in this ward to help them out. I don't know how well it is working out. We will have to see in time. We had a pretty good week in all. My companion showed me a new snack we always are eating now. They are called pesqueses. they are the necks of the chickens. They are soo good! It seems nasty but it is roasted and tastes super good! Well I hope everyone is doing good, and have a great week!
Love Elder Ivie

September 12, 2016

We are looking at a pretty slow week ahead of us! On the 15th we have to return home after the food and can't leave the house until the 17th! It is the independence day here in Mexico and they do fireworks like crazy! They are already starting to do them! I have found a bunch in our house and I don't even know how they get there! Some people have told me that you leave your house and you have to have a helmet or something because you will get hit with a bottle rocket or some kind of firework! haha it is pretty crazy! We had interviews with the president this week and they were really neat! President took me and my companion with him afterwards and we went to burger king and bought some food!
Yesterday after church we had a member come up to us and said she wanted us to visit her friend. She took us there and she told us that her son has gotten into drugs and when we got there he stayed up on the balcony because he thought we were going to take him with us. He stayed up on the balcony the whole lesson. It was a very special lesson that we had. We felt the spirit very strong. The testimonies of the members that came with us helped out so much! We were teaching about how the Holy Ghost feels like, peace and comfort and right then the sister started crying! It was amazing to see the spirit working through her and through the members! It was an amazing lesson!
We were able to get 5 of our investigators to church yesterday and they are all getting pretty close to their baptism dates. The only thing is, I am going to be getting moved to a new area tomorrow. It is the same area but they are dividing it into two again. I will be getting moved to a new house and have a new companion. It will be a neat experience. I am pretty excited to see who my companion is. I hope everyone had a great week!
Love Elder Ivie!

September 5, 2016

Picture emailed from Pres. Stutznegger

We were planning on having a baptism last Saturday. We had the interview with the zone leaders and all and she passed the interview. She had quite a few questions. Like what would happen with her marriage with her husband and stuff like that. Later that day after we had made a bunch of plans for her baptism she called us and said she felt too much pressure and she didn't want to get baptized yet. She doesn't want us to visit her for a while also! It is pretty difficult when things like this happen! We wanted to go talk to her to see what was going through her head, because her family can put ideas into her head that are not correct. Hopefully we can visit her this week and baptize her this week!
My companion is going to be training a new Elder next week in the changes! That means that one of us will be having changes. If he has changes he will have to open up an area so it is pretty rare when they do that. So it is very likely that I will have changes next week! I am pretty excited to see where I will get sent.
We were going to have interviews with the President last week but he got sick so we will be having them tomorrow morning. I am pretty excited to see him! It is always fun to have the interviews with him. It has been really neat to be the Disrtict leader here in Los Reyes. I get to learn all about the other investiagators that the other Elders have and help them out with problems they have. I am learning a lot of new things. I hope everyone is having a great week!
Love Elder Ivie

August 29, 2016

Not much happened this week. The carnival that was in our area right outside the house finally left... but now it is just down the road in the new part of our area hahah! They sell some bread there that is really good!

In the week we were walking down the street and we couldn't find any of our investigators so I decided to knock on the door of this bright yellow house. When they answered the door it was some guy that seemed like he was drunk or something. He let us in and we started talking to him. He told us that he was a Jehovah witness. My companion and I looked at each other and we were just like no! We had a lot of fun with him. Missionaries always hope for moments when you can teach a member of the Jehovah witness`s. We started talking to him about how Jesus is Jehovah. He started to think we were crazy. We shared a bunch of scriptures that were super clear that Jesus is Jehovah but he didn't want to accept the fact that we were right. We asked him why their bible isn't called bible. It is called the New World Translation or something like that. They say it is because they have it in modern day words. We asked if they took any scriptures out and he said no. Then I pulled out a couple scriptures that they don't have and when he searched for them he stared to freak out because they don't have it. It was hilarious. My companion couldn't stop laughing. He started trembling because we caught them lying haha. I don't think he will want us to come back again. It was a pretty fun experience. There was not that much stuff that happened in the week. We are hoping for 2 baptisms this Saturday we just need to see if they are ready. Hopefully they are. I hope everyone else is doing good and has a great week!
Love Elder Ivie

August 22, 2016 Break in

We had a pretty busy week this week! We had to open up an area. It was pretty difficult because the Elders that were there left the directions to the houses but the streets were not on the map! We had to call them like two times a day. They are going to send two Elders over here again they told us but we don't know when. This week we will also be having interviews with the President! I am pretty excited for them!
One day we went to a house where we contacted a couple people outside. They said we could pass by another day. We went back the day they said we could and her husband said she was sick. So we asked him if he was interested. We talked to him but it was outside. We started teaching the restoration and then some kids drove by on their bikes and stopped by to see what was going on. They started to listen and we put an appointment to visit with them the next week. Then the parents of the husband came out and listened to us and we were able to get 5 new investiagators right there in the street! It was a neat experience!
The church got broken into during the week! They cut through the chain link fence and went in through the window of the bishops office and overturned his desk and broke through the wood to find whatever they could. But there was nothing there. They broke through a couple other doors but nothing real bad. It is a pretty sketchy area I am in but we usually go home pretty early.
It was a good week all in all. We had 3 investiagators in the church and are pretty close to be getting baptized! Hope everyone else is doing great!
Love Elder Ivie

August 15, 2016 Craziest Experience So Far

Sorry that I wasn't able to write the last week! We didn't have much time to write. I am now in an area called Los Olivos. It is in Chimalhuacán. I am also now the District Leader. The other areas in my District are Atlicpac and La Paz. Atlicpac was one of the areas that Nick had in his mission. It is pretty neat because I have met a couple people in my ward that knew him!
We had a crazy week! One of the craziest experiences so far on my mission I think. My companion and I put an appointment with a guy that said he had a group of guys that he wanted us to preach to. We passed by that day and he let us in the front door. When we entered he shut the door and put like 5 locks on the door. There were like 4 guys outside working. We shook hands with them all and walked into the house, it was a little room where they washed dishes and there were four guys in there. When we entered they shut the door and locked it again! I was starting to freak out a little bit. We entered into another room which was the kitchen and we met two other guys in there. When they shut the door... the same. They put a padlock on the door. Then there were some wooden doors and the guy took off the lock and opened it and told us Be careful!  When we walked in I saw a guy dressed in white kneeling down like he was worshiping us. The first thing I thought was I am going to get killed or abused or something bad! hahah We walked in and there were three rows of seats and guys sitting in them. They were all just waiting for us to come in and teach them. We said a prayer and taught them all. It went pretty well. It was a group of drug addicts. They were locked in because they are in rehab and can't leave. We passed around a paper so they could put their names on it for us to pray for them. When we got he paper back they had written their entire families and wanted us to pray that they were more united! It was an amazing experience. I don't know if we will go back or what. It was pretty uncomfortable.
We had two companionships in our ward, but our President decided to take one out and now we are in charge of the whole ward. It will be a pretty busy week for us! Right now is the carnival in our area and it is crazy! The rides that they have here are super cool! Too bad we cant get on them. They look so dangerous! It was a pretty good week all in all. I am excited to see how this week goes!
Right now we are headed to the church where I will be giving my first capacitation to the other Elders! Hope all goes well! Hope everyone had a great week!
Love Elder Ivie