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!