Week one in Ixtapaluca January 11, 2016

Had an awesome week here in Mexico! I am now serving in the new area that got opened up in our mission. It is called Ixtapaluca. A lot of people call it Bautisaluca because of all the baptisms they have here. And it is true... they have a ton! I am serving in an area called Ayotla. It is split up into 3

areas and we are in Ayotla 3. It is a mountain, and we have the upper part. The street are literally like 45 degrees. I don't know how they have cars driving on the streets here.

My companion is a Poly from Springs, Colorado. He has been in the mission for a year this week. He speaks English and also Spanish pretty fluently. We get along really good! He has a ukulele that he plays all the time and he sings really good! So that's usually what he does in the apartment. Our apartment is a lot smaller that my last one. This one is just one big room. My last house had like 4 different rooms. On Tuesday when we got to our new area we met with the missionaries that were in that area before. They stayed with us until Thursday to teach us a little bit about the area. Where all their investigators were and the members. We actually don't have any members in our area. There are a bunch of less actives but no active members. That means that whenever we have food we have to walk 30 minutes to the bottom of the mountain to go to members houses to eat. Then we have to walk all the way back up which is like 40 minutes.

We have been working really hard this week! We actually already had another baptism! Sort of... The Elders before us baptized a lady on Monday, then on Sunday we confirmed her. That means that she is our convert. We do all the paper work and all that stuff. When we report to the zone leaders they said that the baptism counts for our mission. Not only have we had one baptism but we have had a ton of other things happen. In the first two days we were able to set two baptism dates. In the first 5 days we got 8 new investigators. In my last area we couldn't do that in 6 weeks. We contacted 79 people and got 9 references from other missionaries and members. That is more than I think I have ever had before. Every night we reported our numbers to the zone leader.. because our district leaders phone doesn't have a signal, but every night we reported he said that our numbers were the best in the entire zone. The other night he reported to the assistants that we were the best companionship in the zone! It is a pretty great feeling to know how much they appreciate our work.

We had a meeting with the president before we left for our area and he told us that him and his wife had prayed for weeks on who to send to Ixtapaluca. He told us that he chose the missionaries that he believes he can trust and will be able to work under these hard circumstances. It is amazing that the president has that much trust in us, to send us to a new area that is really far away from him and an area that nobody knows.

In this new area there are so many kind people. There are some that will actually walk up to us and ask if we can come and talk to them. One day I wanted a drink so I walked into a store and bought a coke and some m&ms. When I was checking out we contacted the lady and she said we could share a message with her right there. So we shared the restoration. It was amazing! She kept rubbing her arms like she was cold and kept looking up like she was looking at someone. When I shared the first vision with her she started to cry and my companion was baring his testimony about Joseph Smith and he started to cry a little bit too! It was amazing how much you could feel the spirit! We got her to commit to baptism but haven't set a date yet. I am so excited to be in this area and meet all the new people.
I hope everyone is having a great new year so far!
Love Elder Ivie

Week 12- January 4th 2016

Photo sent through Facebook thanks Carmen Gayoso

The past week here in the mission has been really slow. All our numbers are really low. All of our investigators were either with family or on vacation and that's how it was with almost everyone here. We had a pretty good week though. On the 31st of December we went and ate at Dominos with our district leader and then went and had a lesson in a small town, then went and ate at the bishops house and watched them light off fireworks! It was really fun. The next day we couldn't leave the house until 12:00 for safety purposes and we only had three lessons and it was already 6:00. We then got a call from the zone leaders while we were in a lesson, and they said that we needed to return to the house because something happened in the mission. We still don't know what happened but I hope it wasn't anything really bad. We had permission from the President to watch a Disney movie until 12:00 so I bought Home on the Range at a store. It was nice to have a little break and watch a movie.

On Saturday we had a really crazy experience in a combi (van). We were just walking back to the main road after a lesson we had and we got into a combi. The back was all full so my companion sat up front with the driver and I was in the back. When the driver went to leave the shoulder of the road another combi came by and hit us. I didn't even feel it cause it was just a scrape but apparently it broke the mirror on the other van. The other driver stopped right in front of us so we couldn't drive around him and there were cars behind us. The guy walked up to the van we were in and started screaming and swearing and punching the van. He kept screaming saying ´´Your going to pay for a new mirror!´´ The driver of the combi we were in had rolled the window up and didn't say anything to him. The guy was trying to open the door to pull him out but it was locked. He then started to walk around to the side my companion was on and the driver was like ´´ Hurry lock the door!´´ My companion didn't know how so he just leaned forward and the driver reached over and locked it just in time before the guy could open the door and yank my companion out. He then came to the door that I was in and opened it up and started screaming. A lot of the people in the back started to get out and I just sat there. The guy couldn't do anything from the back because they have walls up between the back and the front compartment. You could smell alcohol and tell he was all drugged up. He walked back around to the drivers door and started punching the windows and pulled the mirror off the van and threw it on top of the car. The driver finally paid the guy 50 pesos which is like 3 or 4 dollars and the guy finally left. The whole time he had people waiting in his van too. It was a really crazy night. You never know what could happen cause at any moment he could pull out a gun or something.
Later that night we found out if we would be having changes or not. They told us that we both would be getting changed to a new area. My companion got a call from the President earlier in the week and told him that he would be the zone leader of Los Reyes. So he would be leaving but he still doesnt know what area. He just knows he is going to be staying in Los Reyes. I am going to have to take all my luggage to the Neza stake center which is where they have the changes. I have no idea where I am going to be moved to but I just know I am going to be moved to a new area. The area I am in right is going to be combined with the other area of Chapingo. The other Chapingo is huge. They told us that you could take a van for 1 hour and a half and then walk another 30 minutes and you are still in their area, and now that area is going to be combined with ours. It could be a mission all by itself because it is so big.
Sunday was a really neat day. It was a day to say goodbye to all the members. It was also testimony meeting so my companion and another Elder bore their testimonies. The last Elder that bore his, did a little bit in english. A lady sitting by me leaned over and asked, ´´Are you going to go up there and bare your testimony in engligh?´´ I told her that I probably would. So I walked up there and I told everyone that I also was going to be leaving to a new area. I could see a bunch of peoples faces go from a smile to a sad frown. I then told them that I would like to share a little of my testimony in english. As soon as I started speaking english the whole room got silent. My companion afterwards told me that a little boy in front of him said that it was the coolest thing ever. That Sunday was one to remember.
Hope everyone had a great Christmas and an amazing New Year.
Love Elder Ivie

Week 11- December 27, 2015 Christmas

Christmas in the mission was pretty great! We had a lot of stuff planned to do but didn't do any of them. I was sick the entire week. It started on Monday and I still am. We went to a doctor on Saturday and I have a Stomach Infection and a fever. He gave me a bunch of pills and I have been feeling a lot better. On Christmas Eve Eve we got a call from the offices saying that I had a package in the offices. The President had given us permision to go get it if we wanted to. So the next day, Christmas Eve we went to the offices bright and early and ended up finding two packages there. The President was there with a bunch of his family and a bunch of other Elders that had packages in the offices also. It was like a second little reunion! After we went through the tiangis that were right outside the offices. They are huge on Thursdays! We bought four pairs of socks each. Two of them were matching and were holiday socks. We matched on Christmas and on the following Sunday. Christmas Eve we had a big dinner and ate turkey and pork and lasagna and a bunch of other good food. I wasn't able to eat a bunch but it was still really good.

On Christmas morning we got to sleep in and we opened up all our packages in our bed. I got so much candy that I filled up a entire box! I don´t know what I am going to do with it all. I got some ties and a lot of beef jerky which they don't have here in mexico! We went and got to talk to our families on skype for an hour and it was amazing! We then went back to our apartment and I slept the entire day because I didn't feel very good.

We are going to have changes next week. We are also going to be opening up a new area called, Ixtapaluka (Estapaluka). Because of this area they have to cut the missionaries in other areas. Our area is Chapingo 2. The president said that all the areas that are split into 2 areas, like ours, are going to be put toghether into one area. So that means our area would be twice as big as it already is. All the areas would get a little bit bigger. They are going to be sending 34 Elders and Sisters to this area and it is supposed to be a really good baptizing area. I am hoping that I will get sent to the new area! It would be a really cool experience.

Not much happened this week because of the holidays and people being on vacation and with family. But this is all the exciting stuff that happened!
I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Love Elder Ivie

Week 10- December 21, 2015 First Baptism

I had my first baptism this week! It was amazing!

 The day before we went to the temple with her and a bunch of other people from the ward. It was neat cause we rented a combi or a van and rode to the temple together.

 The temple is beautiful here in Mexico! The lights are everywhere. They have palm trees with lights all the way up them and the nativity scene. It was a cool experience for the day before the baptism.

On the ride home I remembered in my bag I had some sour candy that I brought here to Mexico from Utah. I gave some to a few people and we had so much fun with it! I don't think they know what sour candy is here haha cause most of their candy is chili powder and spicy.
The day of the baptism was way busy! We got to the church 1 hour and a half before it started to fill up the tank. When we opened it up it still had water in there that was like brown and had huge spiders and bugs in it! We had to drain as much as we could and clean it out and then fill it back up in time for the baptism. We were not able to drain it all but we got it pretty clean, but is was cold! The baptism went really well. Then we had the confirmation the next day in the sacrament meeting.

Oh not the last Sunday but the one before was the dedication of the Tijuana temple and we got to go to the stake center and watch. It was really neat to hear it in Spanish! President Uchtdorf spoke and the president of the temple is the son of Gordon B Hinckley. Uchtdorf spoke English and paused every once in a while to have a guy translate it into Spanish. My Spanish has gotten a lot better in the last couple weeks. I am probably going to get a native Spanish speaker for my next companion so I am kind of enjoying the last couple weeks I have with my companion to speak English haha!

We had the ward Christmas party this week too but we left once they started eating because my companion was having a lot of pain in his stomach. We had drank some horchata earlier and it had milk in it and he cant drink a lot of milk. So we gave him a blessing and came home an hour earlier than we were supposed to. Oh on the day of the baptism we ate the best food ever! Hermana Gayosso fixed us up some Tostadas de tinga and... some tacos de suadero. It is part of a cow and the meat is really red and tastes amazing! You have these tortillas with some ground beef and onions then you put the other suadero meat in and then cilantro and salsa and more onions and ooooh it is amazing!!
For Christmas here in mexico we don't have to work like we usually do. We can if we want. We will probably go out to eat later in the day at a restaurant and then go bowling or something fun with the other members of our district.

I hope everyone has a great Christmas!
Love Elder Ivie


 

Week 9 In Mexico- December 15, 2015

We had an awesome week here in the mission! Half way through the week me and my companion ate some small meat patties with this gravy and beans, but the thing was that it was all freezing cold. It was pretty nasty. At the end of the day my companion didn't feel very good and at our last appointment he threw up. I didn't luckily. The next day he felt really weak so we didn't work and we went to the doctor. He had an infection in his stomach. That was Thursday so we didn't work that day but Friday morning we worked and came home after the food and Saturday we couldn't leave. We played a lot of games and ordered pizza with Jaritos pinapple flavored! It is amazing!

This Saturday is my first baptism! She asked which one of us was going to perform the baptism and we said it is up to you, then she said I want Elder Ivie because it is his first baptism! I am super excited! I think it will be a turning point in my mission. We just barley got out of a lesson with her and she is struggling a lot with stuff. I shared with her the story of Joseph Smith in the sacred grove when he was about to pray and a darkness came over him. I told her that Satan is going to try everything he can to keep you from getting baptized because it is what God wants. I then bore my testimony and I think it helped her out a bunch. We are going to go to the temple on Friday night with her to see the lights. It is going to be amazing one day before her baptism.

Today we got a call while we were studying from one of our investigators husbands. He had an accident with a horse and hurt his leg and couldn't feed his animals. So we got all dressed up and went to help. It ended up taking a lot longer than we thought. We started at 10 and finished at 4! We missed a lot of appointments but it was worth it. We made the feed for the animals and looked at all his animals. It was really cool! He was a cowboy that participates in the Mexican rodeos. He does the bareback riding and sometimes bulls! Pretty cool!

We had the Christmas activity with the whole mission yesterday and that is why I wasn't able to write. We don't have much time right now to write either but I will try and hurry! At the activity we had a devotional and sang, then it was a talent show. Then we went and ate food and did sports. They had arm wrestling, which my companion participated in and took second.... he kind of hurt his elbow though. I got pulled into doing the stick pull like in the Joseph Smith movie. It was weird cause the stick was a really thick piece of wood covered in duct tape and was slippery. I went against a kid 2 times my size and we started going and I snapped the stick in half! It was crazy! We then got another one and he started before they said go and my hands slipped so he won but it was super fun! We then went and watched a movie... but in Spanish... it was Big Hero 6. I liked it a ton! It was a really fun activity. I don't have much more time and I cant remember everything that happened this week. Hope everyone is having a good week! And enjoying the snow! It is actually pretty cold here.

Love Elder Ivie

Week 8 December 7, 2015

We had a really great first week of December! Last week we found a gym that was really close to our house and we went and talked to the people to see how much it would cost. It was quite a bit so they said they would call us back later if they could make us a deal. This week we called them back and said that we could come for a certain amount of money that was a lot less than they had previously told us. So the next morning we went to the gym! It isnt that nice of a gym but it is a 3 minute run from our house and they have all the equipment you could need. So for the past week everymorning we have been going to the gym!

We have three investigators with baptism dates right now. One of them, Gloria is for the 19 of December which is coming up really fast and she has progressed really fast. The other one, is a less actives girlfriend. She came to church this sunday for the first time and we think she will progress really good. It is hard to have lessons with her though because it is at her work. And the third is with a guy that has been taught by other missionaries before. He just disappeared from off the map for a couple months but he called us the other week saying he needs our help. He just got separated from his wife and all this other stuff and so we started teaching him all the lessons again. He knows a lot about the gospel. It is hard to have lessons with him though cause he is never at his house. 

On Saturday we had a missionary activity at the church playing soccer and volleyball with the ward. We got there early and it was just the missionaries there. We waited a while and nobody came so we just played basketball, and I showed the other missionaries how to play some really fun games with the basketball. Even though no one came, it was really fun. 

Last night we dropped off our clothes at a members house so that they could wash them for us and we went with them to another members house to watch the Christmas Devotional. It was really good but kind of hard to understand in spanish haha. After we were walking down the street and there was a guy riding a motor cycle towards us in the dark. He started to go around us really close and then all of the sudden he lunged his arm towards my stomach and screamed ´´HUETO!!!´´(which means white boy or something haha) Me and my companion freaked out! He didnt touch us but the way he moved his arm, I thought he stabbed me in the stomach hahah. My companion gets scared really easy and he was laughing so hard after it happened. 

This week on friday we have to come home after we eat and have to stay in the house the rest of the night, then the next day we cant leave the house at all. It is the day of the virgin and it is really crazy! So we have to stay inside all day for security, so we went and bought a board game today. We also have to stay in all day on the 1st of january. 

I am getting really excited for the baptisms coming up and for all the activities we have with christmas. The spanish is still pretty hard to understand but it will get easier! Hope everything is going great in Utah! 

Love Elder Ivie

Week 7 November 30, 2015

Sorry I was not able to write a letter to people last week. Me and my companion went to Teotihuacan and visited the temples and got back with like 15 mins to write and eat before going back to work. I don't know if any of you have looked at the blog that my mom has set up, but there are a bunch of pictures of Teotihuacan.

We had a crazy crazy week this week. On Thursday we had an appointment with one of our investigators that is almost ready to get baptized, Gloria. She is about 32 and has a 2 year old daughter. When we got to the appointment we saw her sitting on the curb outside the house. We went and talked to her and I didn't know really what was going on but she was crying and stuff. After the lesson my companion explained what had happened. Her mom had kicked her out of the house and she had no place to stay that night. My companion forgot the cell phone at our house so after the lesson we went back to the house and then came back to Texcoco, which is like 15 mins away in car, and had lunch then met Gloria at the church afterwards. We had tried calling the bishop and a bunch of other people but nobody had an answer for us. We had also missed a bunch of calls from the zone leaders, they wanted us to try and find our district leader in his area because they lost their phone and had a meeting in the morning. We had so much work to do. We waited at the church with Gloria from 3:00 to 5:30 and finally one of the members of the bishopric drove up and said she could stay with him. The ward was going to the temple that night so Gloria had to wait at the church all the way till 9:00! It was a crazy day. We never got a hold of the district leader so we had to go to their house at 9:00 at night and give them a message. We were really late getting home. We do have a baptism date for Gloria on the 19 of December! That is pretty exciting!
We have been walking so much that I already had to get one of my shoes resoled! I took it to a shoe repair shop by our house and they stitched the sole back on for like 2 dollars! It is crazy how cheap everything here is.
We had my favorite food yesterday after church, TOSTADA DE TINGA!! It is a big round tortilla chip with crema (sour cream) this really good shredded chicken with a bunch of things in it, and then cheese on top. It is so good! On Tuesday we ate with a chef, well we do every Tuesday, but this time he made Nopales soup, which is cactus. It was kind of weird. Every time you chew it makes a squeaking noise on your teeth and is slimey. I just imagined they were pickles or something. Then he gave us a huge bowl of rice and after two huge quesadillas! He had this really fancy cheese inside that was like dripping out and it did not agree with my stomach at all. This week has been pretty fun with that... haha.
My spanish is getting a lot better. All of our investigators and the members say that I have never once sounded like a gringo. Even random people on the street say that I have perfect spanish... I dont know how much I believe them but that must be a good sign. I just need to broaden my vocabulary and be able to understand people better.
Here in Mexico they don't celebrate thanksgiving. At the end of the day I was sitting at  my desk and looked up at the calendar and saw it was thanksgiving and turned to my companion and was like, ¨Hey did you know it is thanksgiving... HAPPY THANKSGIVING!´´ It was pretty funny.
Hope everyone had a good thanksgiving and is having a good start to their winter.
Love Elder Ivie