This one's in Spanish!

Nick sent his letter all in Spanish.  Don't panic!  Thanks to Ryan Henrie, the translation is below.  Google translate just doesn't cut it.  

Familia!

Primero, feliz día de los padres! 

Sobre mi semana... 

Por el tercer semana no hemos encontrado a nadie (de hecho hemos logrado el opuesto y dejado más personas). Es bien difícil la verdad... pero creo que poco a poco estoy aprendiendo realmente que significa para contactar a todos. 

Muchos veces es en el camión. Es algo muy diferente para sentar al lado de alguien y preguntarles sobre su vida y sus hijos. Una mama me dijo esta semana que muchos veces pensamos que toda esta bien, pero no lo es. Me platicó de su hijo que esta perdido. y como sentía que no hizo su parte, y que falló. Vamos a hablar con ella mas mañana. 

También una otra contacto, me sentí al lado de esta abuela. 

 *awkward silence for 5 mins*

"entonces tiene mucho tiempo viviendo aquí?"

"no." 

"okay." 

Y ya, nada mas. 

Maria de Jesus. Uno de nuestros investigadores. He pensado mucho en como algunas personas que encontramos son cien por ciento preparados para nosotros. y solamente falta la enseñanza y ya! Pero con algunas personas... creo que es nosotros que necesitamos llegar a ser cien por ciento preparados por ellos. Ella, es uno de estas personas.

Encontramos ella hace como 2 meces. y ha sido bien difícil a enseñarla, y aunque nuestros reglas dicen a dejarla, hemos sentido que debemos regresar. Y por fin, después de 2 meces se fue a la iglesia. fue un milagro. 

Ya no tengo nada. Espero que la próxima semana algo pase. Vamos a trabajar por eso. 

Solamente quiero terminar con que yo sé. Yo sé que a veces tenemos estos desafíos en vida, donde nuestros pilas son muy bajos. Pero estaba leyendo el discurso por Uchtdorf, sobre la gratitud. y nosotros debemos desarrollar una actitud de gratitud. que solamente porque no nos gusta nuestro circunstancias no significa que no podemos ser agradecido por ellas. Que siempre debemos tener la mira puesto adelante, por los días mejores. 

Es algo que he aprendido muy fuerte en estas semanas. Nuestros números son muy malos la verdad, pero se que es importante que recuerda que un día va a ser mejor. Es importante que nunca pierda esta esperanza. y se que si hago todo con mi compañero, que nuestro área va a mejorar... un día. 

Muchos gracias por todo la apoya. Con mucho amor, 

Elder Arvanitas

Family!

First, Happy Fathers Day!

Review of my week ... 

For the third week in a row now, we have not found anyone (in fact we have achieved the opposite and dropped more people). The truth is that it is very difficult ... but I think that little by little, I'm learning what it really means to contact all people.

Many times it is on the bus. It's something entirely different to sit next to someone and ask them about their life and their children. A mom told me this week that many times we think that all is well, but it is not. She told me that her son is lost. and she felt she did not do her part, and that she failed. We are going to talk to her more tomorrow.

Also, another time, an old lady sat next to me. 

Awkward silence for 5 minutes, then, 

"Have you lived here long?"

"No."

"Okay."

And then nothing more.

Maria de Jesus is one of our investigators. I've thought a lot about how some people that we find are a hundred percent ready for us, and only lack the discussions and then yep! But with some people ... I think it is us who need to get to the point that we are a hundred percent ready for them. She is one of those people.

We found her about 2 months ago, and it has been very difficult to teach her, and even though our rules say to drop her, we felt that we should keep going back. Then finally, after 2 months, she went to church. It was a miracle.

I don't have anything else. I hope something happens next week. We are going to work for that. 

I just want to finish with what I know. I know that sometimes we have these challenges in life, where we feel down (our batteries are low). But I was reading the talk by President Uchtdorf about gratitude, that we should develop an attitude of gratitude, that just because we do not like our circumstances, that does not mean we can not be grateful for them. We should always be looking forward to better days.

It's something I have learned a lot these past few weeks. Our numbers are really bad, to tell the truth, but it is important to remember that some day, they will get better. It is important to never lose this hope, and I know that if I do everything with my companion, that our area will get better...some day.

Many thanks for all the support. With lots of love,

Elder Arvanitas

Water & Neighbors

I'm sorry but I'm afraid this week was no more exciting than last week. Maybe a little bit though... 

To start off... we haven't had water for 5 days... the worst experience of my life... What happened is we just started to rent the house where we've been at. And for the past 3 months, we haven't received anything about our water bill. ( They just put all your bills and important mail hanging out of your gate for everyone to see. Mailboxes probably wont exist for another 30 years here...) 

Anyway, so we call our house owner and are like "hey whats up with our water? "

"oh.. just keep waiting I'm sure it will come" ...optimistic house lady... 

     Until one day I go to shower and there's no water.. and they didn't fix it until today. It was a week full of traveling to shower, and stealing water from our neighbor's faucet to flush the toilet :) 

Speaking of neighbors though, we decided to contact ours. (the ones on the other side :p) This one day we just arrived at our house and this one lady came to my mind that cut down our tree. (We used to have this nice tree outside our house, until one day we came home and it was just gone. This lady walking by was like oh yeah I chopped it down because it was dry... by the way I'm your neighbor.... thanks.....)  But anyway, she came to my mind. So we went and talked to our neighbor, and this guy named Andres came out. He was sweet, invited us to come in and just talk. He ended up talking about how he was divorced before so now every time he goes to his church, the people just look at him like an outcast and the leaders forbid him from taking of their sacrament. 

So we talked with him, told him about how after Jesus died, all these churches popped up and how over time the things that these churches taught changed.   We talked about how being divorced, he shouldn't receive that kind of punishment. etc etc. He's a good guy. 

Had this guy get on our bus with a saxophone and start playing the most soothing sax music in the world. I thought that was noteworthy... 

We had an orientation with our President, Tuesday. He just got up and bore his testimony and talked about how much our parents loved us and are proud of us. In the 2 minutes he talked, you could feel the spirit so strong that everyone started to cry. I dont know how he does it. 

But that's about it. 

Solamente quiero expresar mi amor por cada uno de ustedes. No puedo decir que tan agradecido soy por todo la apoya y amor he recibido mientras he estado aqui en Mexico por estos 3 meces. Es algo que nunca voy a olvidar. Yo sé que voy a verles otra vez, y aunque se parece como mucho tiempo a veces. No lo es. Yo sé que estoy aquí por un razón. Siempre permanecen fieles en que saben es verdadero. Les amo, con todo mi corazon. 

This is from google translate, so forgive me if it's wrong.  I don't speak Spanish. 

I just want to express my love for each of you. I can not tell you how grateful I am for all the love and support I received while I've been here in(San Juan del Rio) Mexico for these 3 months,   It's something I'll never forget. I know I'll see them again, and although it seems like a long time sometimes. It's not. I know I'm here for a reason. Always stay true to what you know is true. I love you with all my heart.

Elder Arvanitas

I want to be a fish

We've been having trouble teaching this one lady lately. She's really nice, it's just that she lives in straight poverty, and her comprehension level is pretty low. 

   

 So we asked her one day if she believed she lived with God before she came here and she said happier than ever 

"YES! and I'll tell you why. Because sometimes I go to these places and I feel like I just recognize them. So I think before I was a bird and I just flew over the entire earth, and when I die! I really wanna be a fish and explore the ocean!"

"Okay... yeah that's awesome!"

So then we go on to explain how before this life,  we lived with God as spirits and how when we die it's just when our spirit leaves our body until we're resurrected... but really really in depth, so we wouldn't completely crush her dreams of being a bird and a fish, but just so she'd understand... 

Next day... "Hey do you remember anything you liked that we talked about yesterday?" 

Just that I really want to be a fish!"...

We'll work on that... 

She also brought her neighbor who is this 70 year old grandma that's completely crazy and obsessed with her dog. 

I started collecting World Cup stamps with players on them!  It's fun and all till I realize I don't have money for carnitas cause I spent it all on cards... 

Speaking of food though..... This member told our investigator that they help the Elders with their food and stuff. But she misunderstood and one day when we showed up, she gave us 6 Liters of Milk, 6 of water, soap, shampoo, toilet paper, yogurt etc... oh well :) 

That's all I have got. I was thinking a lot this week about why I'm all the way out here.  I know this stuff is true though and I'm so thankful for it. 

Elder Arvanitas

A Wonderful Baptism

Nick told us he is not getting transferred this week.  He said probably next transfer.  

I guess I'll  talk about Margarita this week. 

We found her like 2 months ago, at least. Ever since we started talking to her we knew she was  "prepared" in a way. 

For the past 25 years shes been going around from church to church (5 different ones like the Jehovah witness, and the Cristiana, etc..) but the first day we met her she said she was just lacking something. She didn't feel complete. She knew a lot about the bible and everything but it didn't serve for anything cause she wasn't happy. 

So we started talking to her. It was kinda crazy to be honest because we'd mention things that we believed in and shed be like "Oh that's what it's talking about here (then she'd quote off some random bible scripture and verse and be right... The Cristianas know everything so well, but they never listen to us.)

And then we taught her about Joseph Smith, and told her "Hey look, either this story is true, and this book that he translated is from God. Or we're liars and it was just some story that he made up. The only way you can know is if you pray and ask God. "

We saw her change so much in those weeks... It's my favorite part of this whole missionary thing.  It's is getting to watch that.  It's really a miracle to see that. 

Let me tell you, Margarita was one of the happiest people when we first met her. She was always just excited and smiling. But after someone takes that step and kneels down and asks God if what we teach them is true, everything changes... It's a different kind of happy. Something I can't really explain. 

So, she got baptized on Saturday with her 10 year old daughter. She's definitely someone I'll never forget.  And in the end, she told us that she found that something that she was looking for... 

Love you guys, 

Elder Arvanitas

Making Pizza with the Sulmas

Making tamales at ?

That would be a rat outside Nick's window.  ACK!

Magarita's baptism

The Ward Building in San Juan del Rio

A really short letter....Sorry

So this week... 

Honestly there was nothing exciting that happened at all. It was just a normal week. 

The only thing tha'ts worth mentioning is that we had a meeting with Pres. He just talked about how we have to contact everybody that we see or else we'll never have enough people to teach. So I've been trying to do that lately. I don't mind it, it's fun to just sit on a bus and talk to someone random, about their life. 

Oh! Also were allowed to watch "approved" movies now? Something no one was expecting... You know what that means? Frozen. Sydney will be so jealous

Also, even more unheard of is that were allowed to watch select games from the World Cup as long as we work really hard after. It's kind of a big deal here... 

But yeah, that was basically it. Magaritas going to be baptized next Sunday, with her little daughter. I'll take pictures. She was definitely prepared by god for us to find her. She just accepted everything we said. 

"Oh the Word of Wisdom says we can't drink coffee. I'll just drop that then." 

Until next week. love you guys. 

Elder Arvanitas

Sympathy and Empathy

Hey quick message this week. 

So yesterday at the end of the week we were going over our numbers, and I came to the realization that I suck at this stuff. 

It's hard being a missionary. Sure it's fun, and I love it. But, it's hard... 

And people expect a lot of you too. You're expected to be this and this and this, and never be late to appointments, and always know what you're doing, and to get up at 6:30 and sleep by 10:30, and never be grumpy or tired or fight with your companion, even if he's an idiot, cause if you fight with him, game over, people are gonna notice you are not happy and then no one will want to listen to you.(no he didn't fight with his companion)

And I think it's just a little bit of all that that's stressing me out.. 

And what just came to my mind was about Sympathy  and Empathy. 

Sympathy being like "oh hey, I've never had something like that happen, but stick with it and it'll all be alright!" 

and Empathy being like "I know exactly what that's like. I've been there before. I know it'll be okay." 

Here in the mission. Having that sympathy and love is key for the people. If you don't they'll never listen to you. 

But the moment when you can empathize with someone, it's a completely different level. There's a new tone in your voice, something else in your eyes. And the people can feel that difference. 

Now for us, obviously we can't empathize with all the people. But for these 2 short years we're supposed to be representatives of the Savior, who suffered every single pain imaginable on this earth. 

And with that we can tell the people that even though we have no idea what kind of hell is passing through their lives,  there's someone who does, and through that weird bond we can empathize with the people. 

So that's my goal for this week,  to Empathize more with the people. 

Just wanted to end by saying how much I love you all. I'll see you soon. (Well, not until Christmas when we Skype again)

Elder Arvanitas

Part of the weird parade Nick talked about last week

Top of the Pena.  

Just another day in Mexico

Nick went and climbed Pena de Bernal again this week and so he was really  late writing.   He didn't have time to send all his pictures, so I hope he can send them next week.   I really want to see the parade pictures.  We get to talk to him this weekend . Yay!




A few things that happened this week. 

The weirdest parade ever... 

So we were on this bus, and we turned a corner and ended up getting stuck behind like 50 horses. We follow them for 5 mins going like 5km/hr. When we realized that they weren't going to move, we just decided it'd be faster to walk. And thats when we found it... 

    It was a truck, with a giant picture of a saint in the back, being followed by another truck, that was just filled with a mexican band, being followed by a bunch of people dressed up like demons dancing, being followed by a crowd of little kids, being followed by a lady dressed up like a clown on an ATV yelling at people, being followed by 50 horses.... 

    If you dont believe me I have pictures... 

    But I must admit, as far as Mexico goes, it's pretty normal. 

Luz Alegria 

So two weeks ago were walking on the street one day, when this lady comes up to us and asks

"what do you guys teach?" 

So we told her, and ended up getting her house number. But we could never find her when she was home... 

Until this week, when we went one day and she was there! She told us to come in. She complimented me a bunch on my Spanish (I love old people), and we ended up teaching her. 

But instead of teaching what we normally teach, we decided to go with something different, and taught that we can be forgiven of our sins, and Faith. 

She started crying, told us all about her kids and how she was lonely. We ended up giving her a blessing. 

She cried more, but it was happy tears this time. 

Just something special that happened this week. We'll keep stopping by to check up on her. 

I'm sure there was more, but I don't have time. 

Love you all, see you guys soon. 

Elder Arvanitas

Heading up the Pena again with Elder M....,this is not his companion.  I'm pretty sure he walked by himself.  ha ha