04/24/2018 - Raul´s Carnicería

Whats up my babies how's it going? How's your week been? I'm good thanks for asking. Just been out here sweating my sweet old banana republic fulton chino skinnies off, but other than that things are good down here in Mexico. Besides the drugs, killings and kidnappings. haha just kidding its really not that bad mom. But actually a family we have taught before, the mom got taken and they haven't been able to find her for the past few days so it has been pretty nerve racking to see what God will bring to pass. It's really not that dangerous here for men, mostly just for women so don't worry about me mama, your baby is fine. Plus I got the Angels on my side. The best part about where we live is sometimesI get woken up in the middle of the night to two drunk guys fighting outside, its pretty funny just to lay in my bed and listen to their fighting.

The bright side is we found two amazing families this week. One of them own a carnicería in the project we live in and he told us he will hook it up with some free longaniza.(a tip for all the missionaries in the field: the number one key indicator for investigators is food) Another family is a reference from the ward and this family is so prepared to hear the gospel. The father of the family just passed away and the teenage daughter was distraught. I had en extremely spiritual experience with them that I will never be able to forget.

You'll never guess what happened. Elder Koford (my trainer) is now my zone leader. We had divisions with them the other day and I had the opportunity to work with Elder Koford again. Wow have things changed. We have both repented of our pride and stubbornness and we worked extremely well together. I learned a lot by working with him and am happy to have him in my ward again. Oh yea here in Tulpetlac there are also 4 companionship's the area is so packed with human beings that it is necessary to have so many missionaries in a single ward. The crazy part is the wards boundaries are not very big. Our boundaries in salt lake are about the same sizes as the ward boundaries here. #mexicoisloco

Well that is pretty much all for this week. Go to the temple, read the Book of Mormon and pray please. love you prayers out to A.V. p.s. dad is sill lowkey soft

my friend Guillermo

my little bagpiper bib

my light skinned jimmy look

La Familia Tajimaroa (sorry for the picture quality it was a 75 year old oaxacan that took the pic)

i have grown to love pineapple these last few months

me with the asistants. elder sweetin y elder guerrero

04/17/2018 - Brooklyn boys

This week went by pretty well. The weeks are flying by out here, it is insane. I really do not remember much of it but I know that it was good.

We were able to go to the temple today and it was litty as always.  We went with a recent convert family in the ward who were receiving their endowments. So get this, we planned it all out to be there for the 11 o'clock session. We show up on time because you know we are missionaries, but I tend to forget everyone else here runs off of Mexican standard time.  So they showed up late and were unable to make the 11 o'clock session so we couldn't go through with them, but oh well. Mexico right?  I was able to go through for one of President Naumanns ancestors so that was cool.

We probably dropped 8 investigators this week so that is hard, but for real it is cool because now we don't have to lose a bunch of time with people who don't want to progress.

Can I just say something about the heat? We are baking out here, my face is toasted, and I mean toasted. I would like to buy sunscreen but it is so dang expensive. It's hard out here for a Elder of the Lord. "milk was a bad choice..." In this internet cafe/casino I am blazing up in here right now fam. There is no such thing as air conditioning here so inside houses and businesses you just get absolutely tanked with heat during the day. But hey we got new mattresses so Uncle Kade is going to sleep like a baby.

Sorry I don't have much time, but to answer your question right quick, yes I feel super comfortable now with the language. Obviously I'm not fluent but my accent is pretty good.  I tell people I'm from Guadalajara all the time and they buy it. "works every time!" I just got to work on the vocabulary. You don't really realize how many words a language has until you have to learn it. And no I don't have Facebook so I cannot see the pictures, but send them porfa.

Love you, have a good week, stay humble.

i title this one " you trynna ball fam"

we got some sketchy apartments in our area, so i took a pic like im from the projects

"i  love to see the temple"

April Zone Conference

Conferencia de estaca en Ecatepec - Aquí están los misioneros sirviendo en esta estaca (Zona Norte) afuera de la capilla de Tulpetlac. Los misioneros de esta estaca tuvieron casi tres veces más bautismos este trimestre pasado comparado con el año pasado. El campo está blanco en Ecatepec, y los misioneros se han dado cuenta!

Ecatepec Stake Conference today - Here are the missionaries serving in that stake (North Zone) outside of the Tulpetlac chapel. The Ecatepec missionaries came close to tripling the number of people baptized in that stake as compared to last year in the same quarter. The field is white in Ecatepec and the missionaries are figuring that out! — at Tulpetlac Ecatepec, Estado de México.

Here is a map of the mission and the wards and stakes within the mission for parents to know where their missionary is currently serving. There are 9 stakes and 68 wards within the mission.

Aquí hay un mapa de la misión con los barrios y estacas para que los padres sepan donde están sirviendo sus misioneros actualmente. Hay 9 estacas y 68 barrios adentro de los límites de la misión.

04/10/2018 - The Legend of San Juan Diego

Hey! Fun fact: did you know Juan Diego (catholic school in Sandy) is an actual person and is 100% responsible for the corruption in Mexico. I guess he is the guy who founded the Virgin of Guadalupe and for that we have to drop 80% of our investigators every week because they have "tanta fe en la virgin altísima." So If I hated Juan Diego (the school) before, now they are below Olympus to me.

On the other hand, this week went really well. We are still having success but have dropped a little. It is really hard getting investigators to get to church at 8 in the morning but if they are not getting up on time to come it means they don't understand the doctrine and I have to repent and teach better. It is crazy though how people can just straight deny the spirit because they want to live in wickedness. We have had investigators tell us that they know that the Book of Mormon is true but would rather live the way they live than to be converted unto the Lord. Or they believe the church is true but they refuse to stop worshiping the virgin, or they know the church is true but their tradiciones are dripping in iniquity and think that if they get baptized their ancestors will curse them. We might find a lot of new investigators every week but we usually end up dropping most of them, but whatever it takes to find the Elect of God right? There are people out here who are so prepared to receive the Gospel of Christ, but there are also others who are not, and it is our job as missionaries to find those elect and help them gain their salvation.

It rained pretty good down here this week for the first time in a little while and all the rat colonies in the sewers were slaughtered by the drainage. There were rats floating in the streets it was absolutely disgusting. I felt like I was literally behind the scenes of the filming of Ratatouille. That is awesome that Taylor is out in the field now. "I'm feeling skinny Tony" my dude is looking thin. What happened did he get a worm or something? Just kidding, just wanted to scare Stacie. O.k. Don't worry, if I know Taylor it is probably just because he hates the food so he refuses to eat it.

I'm doing good out here in Ecaptepec  Just the same old same old. The days are the same it feels like, you know the feeling when you just get into missionary mode and its just like a big blur. Ya that's what's happening to me now. Sorry I did not take many pictures this week, and none with me in them but I will try to work on it. Love ya stay classy.

Love Elder McKade Erickson Adams

they crucified Christ here. (not joking they actually did a reenactment of his Crucifixion with a real person)

throw back of me and the boy peyt the night before i left. i was looking through my pictures and found this gem. i was huge 

04/03/2018 - Temple in Layton, what a surprise

What is good? This week was good. Conference was insane. Unfortunately, the Ecatepec Stake has a rule that all the missionaries have to watch conference in Spanish, so we were unable to watch conference in English.  I still learned a ton and got a ton of revelation, but they speak English in conference for a reason and we all know that man can learn better through the spirit in their own language, but it's all good. President Nelson hittin' us with these changes outchea. Next thing you know they are going to start calling missionaries for only one-year missions.  And a temple in Layton are you kidding me? There are more temples in Utah than all of Central America casi. President Nelson is a champ, he still has another 8 years left in him minimum, but Christ will likely come before then so who knows hahaha.

Dad out here throwin' boxes around like Paul Bunion. Of course he's got some wear down on his ligaments but A.V. is lowkey soft so don't worry about it. I probably need surgery on my rotator cuffs too but you don't see me whining about it ahah. JK dad's way tougher than I am.

Everything in the package fits perfect - thank you! The shoes are super comfortable. Yes, the debit card works. I actually went to the mall and bought a new suit today for like 80 bucks so it wasn't a bad deal.  I love you and sorry I don't have much to report for this week but not much happened.

Since we are in the Easter spirit I want to share a scripture in 2 Nephi 2

6 Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.

7 Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.

8 Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.

9 Wherefore, he is the firstfruits unto God, inasmuch as he shall make intercession for all the children of men; and they that believe in him shall be saved.

I know they don't look happy but we took the picture right after I told them the boiler was broken and the water was cold. 

03/27/2018

Shout out for the new wardrobe. The pants fit perfectly. I haven't tried the shirts or shoes yet but I'm sure they will be fine too. Shout out to Theo - The Mailman delivers!! I got everything in the package that was supposed to be in the package.

It's crazy I'm already in the last week of the cycle. These last 6 weeks have zoomed by. That's awesome that Taylor is doing good, but I'm sorry he had to spend 2 hours bible bashing with TJ´s (based on the emails that is what I assume they are).

I am super stoked about conference. There is going to be a solemn assembly so that will be cool.  I have heard through a little bird that it will be one of the most memorable conferences of all time. I guess president Nelson has been waking up nightly in the middle of the night receiving revelation for the saints, but I'm just telling you what I heard.

My boy Txus got baptized this week, and his dad came down all the way from Monterrey to support him so that was an awesome experience. And we have a lesson with his dad on Thursday. We are going to try to get him baptized before he goes back up to Monterey #faith.

It has been hot down here. My nose looks like Larry the lobster's right now. The sun is oh s´spicy.  My comp is good, he is just kind of boring. I love the kid but he doesn't really have a sense of humor.  He is just kind of robotic and really pretty awkward, but he is a good guy and we are having success so I can't complain too much.

Peace out my babies. Love y'all.

03/20/2018

This week was good. I'm going to start off with the coolest experience I have had so far. So remember when I was in El Mirador and we did a contacting activity in the tianguis (market thing) during my training and contacted like 1000 people. So I got some digits, sent some referrals, and 6 months later I'm on divisions with Elder Cabrera. We go to start teaching a recent convert family. I was talking about the priesthood because Rafael got the priesthood Sunday. He stops me and says "yo te conozco" (i know you) and I was like what? How? And he told me I was the one who contacted him in the street in the tianguis and I sent the referral to the elders and they ended up getting baptized. It was an awesome experience so I got a picture with them. His name is Rafael and she is Maria De La Paz. And their grand kids too. Maybe we did not have a ton of success in that area but now I have seen the fruits of my labors. Other than that this week has been really good and we are starting to have a lot of success, just praying that it keeps on rolling.

That is crazy everyone is getting married. I'm not surprised Andrew got bagged and tagged. I still think that kid is Iceman from Top Gun. and Nate Rose too? What, that is insane! But hey people need to gain their salvation. #eternalmarriage Now me on the other hand, it's going to have to be someone really special to get me to settle down.... jk I'll just be lucky if I find someone who would be willing to live with me for eternity.

We have a baptism on Saturday of a young man named Txus Francisco (Txus means man who thinks under the light of the moon or something like that). He is so awesome and prepared, it is not even funny. It's crazy to see the progression in investigators,  but also see others not progress at all is equally frustrating.

Not much else to say. Love y'all. And I'm happy Theo is getting down here with my stuff. It's too bad I wont be able to see him even though he will literally drive right through my area to get to the pyramids. Love y'all! Have a good week!

fat guy in a llittle coaaaat...

the family i contacted

part of my old area of el mirador

p day chillin. p.s. I'm going blonde thanks to the sun and bleach in the water

part of the new area in Tulpetlac

03/13/2018

How are things going up there in the SLC? That is awesome that Taylor is off and about to preach to them South Africans. He will be great. He might struggle without his phone for a while but he will be fine haha. I don't know if he has a email list for weekly mail but will you make sure that I am on that thing?

This week was crazy good for our area, so I am happy with that. We are working well together out here in fuentes y tulpetlac. The hermana Mary Cruz, who I told you about last week, did get baptized so that's good. We have a lot of investigators with baptismal dates that are looking very promising so hopefully with faith in the big guy upstairs we will be able to have success in these next few weeks.

There was like a 75 year old lady that started to hit on me the other day. It was super fun. She asked me how many quesadillas I was going to invite her to. When I told her I didn't have any money she got pretty mad with me and went away.

Sorr, I know my emails are all over the place but I really like Taylor's suit, it is a very good looking suit. And I see that Court has a new wardrobe... again. How surprising. Just kidding, but I like his suit too. And his tie. And tell Stace that her new living room/kitchen area is looking good.

I found a lady that is fixing my pants on my suit for really cheap so we will see how that works out when I get those bad boys back but I would still like to purchase a new one.  I completely walked out of my brown shoes I came with. I took them in to get the soles replaced so we will see how that goes.

I don't know what else to say except it is hotter than a southern Tennessee Tim McGraw concert outchea. It is difficult to sleep sometimes from the heat but that's just stuff you got to deal with in life.

Love you, have a great week, and God be with you til we meet again.

me just being the baddest cat in the whole dang town

on divisions elder vasques y elder cabrera stole my camera

eating a gordita (one of the best things that god has permitted mankind to create). it was excellent

Hermana Mary Cruz

Our land lady went to Cuba and brought us these magnets

03/06/2018

This week was pretty good. Everything is pretty much the same, just like everyday It is a blur basically. We had a baptism scheduled for this past Saturday but the hermana that was supposed to get baptized was jumped late Thursday night. They beat her and threw oil in her eyes and she didn't leave the hospital until late Friday night, and physically was unable to be baptized. She has her date for this Saturday, so prayers out to Mary Cruz.

I am going to see if someone can fix my suit for me for cheap.To be honest this area is a little bit more boring than my other area. There is not as many crazy things that happen here, like all the music and partying and everything. But it is still mexico so it is still crazy.

The work is a lot faster here. We are having a lot more success in this area so that is the good part. I just hope we can keep it this way for however long I am in this area. The Tulpetlac ward is giant though. We had to open the overflow in church Sunday. I think that is the first time in Mexico history that has happened. El Mirador was a bigger ward with more members but there are a lot more active members here.

The sun has been terrible this last week, it is so intense. But on the bright side I am getting an awesome tan down here.

Love you! Sorry, nothing fun this week

A giant tank thing 

Elder Dahle and I have Tommy Hilfiger suits even though you cant see the tag

The insole of my shoe

02/27/2018

This week was good! It is really different in the new area but it is good. The house is a lot bigger so that is nice. All of my shirts are really big now and my pants, so I walk around looking like a true cold blooded Vato down here in Ecatepec.

We have some investigators who are elect and a half right now.  Just praying that the angels of God will minister unto them in their needs to get baptized by water and fire. The nice thing in this area is that we have a lot more actual lessons, we don't just walk around all day looking for people to teach. The only problem is the attitude of the people here in Mexico, they are living in the fullest level of iniquity, it's not even funny. Everyone worships the virgin Guadalupe and I just can't even wrap my head around the concept because Christ is just a secondary figure to the virgin. It is inconceivable to me. So down here you just have to be cut throat savage while teaching and not hold anything back because there are so many false doctrines here. They are living in the false traditions of their fathers.

Cool story: this week a drunk guy ran us down and yelled at me because he thought I was discriminating against him because he was drunk. I explained we wanted to help him but I told him hermano, we want to help you but we can't teach you while you are like this because you cannot feel the spirit and will not be able to learn anything, so he just kept walking with us and yelling at me and when we got to the main street all the normal people were trying to help us calm him down. When we turned and walked away he just kicked me in the butt and ran the other way. It was pretty funny. Luckily I got buns of titanium so it didn't hurt or anything.

We went to the visitors center this week with a couple who needs to get married before she can get baptized. The guy is a returned missionary and is just breaking the law of chastity and living with this girl but is 100 percent active..I don't understand. He is awesome and from New Jersey and speaks perfect English so he is my favorite member in the ward so far, but I'm trying to help him gain his salvation. We will see what happens.

Love you!  Have a good week!

the visitors center

me with my big ol' shirt