Leadership and stake conferences

We had changes this past Sunday and lots of stuff happened during the week. Overall it was awesome! One of the first things we had this past week was a conference with a member of the Seventy, Elder Falabella. All I have to say about that was it was amazing. The spirit was so strong and I know he is a man called of God. He had nothing but love and the spirit radiating from him the entire time. Our mission is now focusing on teaching fathers of the family. Our goal is to have between 5 and 7 families progressing at any given time. That's a really tough goal, but we know that a Seventy wouldn't give us a goal if it wasn't possible.


After this conference we had our stake conference this Sunday. Yet another member of the Seventy showed up to the stake conference (how lucky are we right?) and gave some really powerful talks. But this is were everything got super cool for me. Right before we started the conference my mission president came up to me and asked me to translate the talks for a brother who doesn't speak Spanish. I got to spend the two hours translating and sharing conversation with a really amazing man. I feel bad as I never got his name. He's a recent convert of just about a year. He was going to receive the priesthood that day and is the coolest guy you'll ever meet. He's 85 and has lived in Mexico for the past year and a half. A lot of the talks were about genealogy and temples, he told me that he has gone to the temple once and never tried family history, but he said he's going to talk with his sister about starting it up and go to the temple more often. What a blessing it was for me to not only listen to the conference, but get to translate what was being said. Afterwards he gave me a huge hug and asked me to go with him to be set apart as elder. The experience was amazing. I love being a missionary.


Here comes the other awesome thing about the week was that we had changes!! Sadly it's time for Elder Rangel to leave...I'm gonna miss my buddy from Monterrey, but he's going to do awesome in Xalapa. My new comp is named Elder Guzman (I think that's how you spell it... hahaha) he's chilango (from Mexico City) and we are going to have an awesome change. In these 6 weeks I'm going to complete 11 months in the mission. Time flies, no? They closed an area in Tezuitlan that was of another district leader so my district is going to be growing by two! With another set of elders and also hermanas. Expect to see pics of some activities as a district cause we are finally big enough to do stuff! hahaha.


I love you all so much and I love this church. This mission is amazing and I love every second. I don't ever want it to end! I want to end with a quick thought that Elder Falabela gave us. He said as missionaries we have lots of rules. More that him in fact! (he can kiss his wife is what he said is different hahaha) but he asked us to think about why we have so many rules. And he said well it's so that we can be blessed, we know that with more obedience we are more blessed. But then he said being obedient is the way we show our faith. We know that faith without works is dead. He encouraged us to be more obedient in everything so that our faith will grow and with that faith we will find more miracles in our missions.


I love love love a scripture about faith. It's in the Bible in Matthew 21:21. (be ready for rough translation hahaha) basically with our faith we can move mountains. Now I'm pretty sure not really move mountains but we will have more miracles in our lives when he have more faith. And that all comes from our obedience to our Heavenly Father.


Love,


Elder Babcock

Mother's Day

I feel bad to do this but I don't really have a letter for this week. Had an amazing time talking with the family and although it was sad to say bye I know what I'm doing is right and in the end I'll be blessed. I love this place, EVERYTHING is perfect and I couldn't be more happy. Huge props to the bro for getting married and welcome Jenna to the family! This next week I'll have more to write as a member of the Seventy is coming to visit this Friday!!! It'll be a blast and I'm super excited!! I love you all and hope you passed your Mothers Day well. #staysweet Mosiah 4:8-9


Love,


Elder Babcock

P.S. We have had tons of fog lately so its like really creepy outside. hahahah

Normas de excelencia

It feels cliche to say that the weeks keep going by faster but it's true hahaha. This week was amazing and filled with some pretty awesome things. One of the first things is that our neighbor (who is a member of the church) turned 14 and my companion and I made he and his family an American breakfast of french toast and bacon. We also started this week with the goal to complete these things we have called "normas de excelencia". Basically they are the [norms or goals] that we should strive to complete every week. Some are more difficult than others and so we thought it would be a good goal to complete the new investigators number which is 12 new people. This was a real challenge for us. We normally ranged from 7 to 9 a week but we were firm with this goal. We ended up talking to EVERYBODY in the streets during the day and visiting every member for references. And who would've thunk that we were able to reach 16 new investigators this week?

Last letter I talked a lot about my awesome companion Elder Rangel and well he continues to be awesome. I give the majority of the credit to the news to him as he works like a machine (here in our mission all the locals call the missionaries who work really hard "toros"... i guess you could say my comp is a toro). I want to share a cool experience we had with contacting in the street the other day. We were looking for a family and were asking all the houses on the street if they knew where we could find them. One of the houses we knocked at a girl answered and said she had no idea. We started to talk about the restoration and about how important a living prophet is. She got super excited and actually asked us to talk more inside. We talked about church with her and she said she would love to go. Fast forward to Sunday morning and we called asking if she was going to come. She told us yes but not alone. Her mom is best friends with some members. The family brought her and her family to church this week. It was amazing to see that the family that never went when we invited them was willing not just to go but bring their friends to come learn about the church.

I love what this gospel does to people and how it changes their lives. I've seen it first hand bless and change lives, together with the Book of Mormon. We had a busy Monday so we weren't able to go to these really cool waterfalls in Altotonga a little town close by. But maybe in the coming weeks!!! I love you all and you'll probably see my face on the social media of my family this coming Sunday and we get to chat. Last but not least super props to my bro for being "almost" married. Only like 5 more days. It feels like yesterday I chucked the butterknife in his forehead and now he's getting married! Alma 38:5.

Love,

Elder Babcock

 

Nine months

Well the week came and passed by like the career of Max Hall. Everything is amazing here in San Juan. I am coming to love the members here as well as my super amazing companion. He is always looking to serve people, whether it's other missionaries or the members or even the niños. He's an amazing example and I really look up to him.


We played some basketball with some members today and also were able to try a food called "green mole" o "mole verde". We spent the morning cleaning the house 'cause we recently moved! Still living in suitcases and it's swell. This week we went to visit a reference that we had. Expecting him to reject us like the majority of the people here in San Juan we asked if we could share a small message about Christ and his restored church. And it was crazy, he not only said yes, but brought all the people of his family to listen and we are now teaching all of them. It's sad 'cause I was the one saying he's not gonna answer or let us in but my awesome comp insisted and insisted until we went. And now they are doing great!


I've been working since then to have more faith with the people I visit. I don't know their lives or what they need, but our Heavenly Father does. And if we don't visit they won't have the chance to feel his love. The Book of Mormon is true and I love love love reading it every day! I know the church is true and that I'm truly happy because of it. I love preaching the gospel and helping people to come unto Christ and feel his love.


This past week I hit 9 months in the mission, and I'm sad that it's passing so fast and I don't want it to end. It's truly the best 2 years (or 9 months right now hahaha). Go share the gospel with someone new!!!! The Lord is preparing his people.


Love,


Elder Babcock

Getting to work in San Juan

This week was a dandy. A lot of things happened. Like Elder Rangel and I were visited by our president for interviews as well as he came to join us at church this Sunday. We also recently changed houses and now we have a third story suite..and it's pretty sweet. Hahahaha we also found quite a few new people to teach and constantly looking for new people.

Here in San Juan everything is dirt cheap. Like an order of tacos is only 12 pesos..that's like less than a dollar. Yeah it's amazing. Also there's a type of quesadilla that they sell here called "gringas locas" and they are absolutely perfection. We also did a lot of service this week. First was cleaning the church building with all the youngsters here in San Juan. Cutting a lawn with a machete and getting bit by a bunch of angry ant-mosquito things were the highlights. We also helped with cutting another family's lawn, this time with a weed-whacker. And the last thing we did was buying tacos for a poorer family and helping them clean the house up (including the dishes).

We had a really awesome experience with a joven in the ward. He came with us while we went teaching and there's this family that we have gone lots of times but don't really wanna hear us. But this day they opened up and were touched when this young man shared his testimony and invited them to family home evening with this family. It's funny because his mom made him go with us, and in the end he helped us out more than we could thank him. Everyone in this world is being prepared in different ways and all the members of the church need to do their part to invite others to come unto Christ. Without this joven on that day I'm sure they wouldn't have opened up. Don't be scared to share your testimony and invite a friend or family member to come to church or an activity. They could accept and not giving them chance would be holding back blessings from this person.

I think of the story of Abinadi and that he had no fear in preaching the gospel. Now none of you have to worry as the outcome will not be the same. I promise you that. (death by fire) BUT I promise you that someone will be touched and changed. (like Alma) I challenge you all to go out and invite someone new to come to church or maybe go visit a family with the missionaries. I know you'll feel amazing. Sorry for the small letter the words just aren't flowing today. It's been a busy past week. I love you all and hope everything is a sweet as the soda is here.

Love,

Elder Babcock

 

 

New area, new companion, new state, new responsibilities

How goes life there in the states? I recently have moved states as I'm now in Puebla! (it's still the same mission but there's one part that's in Puebla). My new companion is Elder Rangel! He's generation buddies with Elder Aviña and he's amazing. He's the only member of his family and he has a super strong testimony. I love the guy to death and we only have one week together.

My new area like I said before is San Juan Xiutetelco (shoo-teh-tell-co). It's lots bigger than Espinal and I really like it here. The majority of the people are [of another religion] and the people aren't too open to hearing us. BUT that didn't get us down as we are still working hard and trying our best. The next biggest town close by is Jalacingo. It's literally the same big city just separated by the state line of Veracruz and Puebla. There's a little river that divides the states as well as the towns. We joke around that we walk long ways as we teach in two states almost every day hahahaha. With this change I have the chance to be a district leader and with that comes interviewing people who are ready for baptism within your district. Lucky me with day number three of district leader it was my turn. I was super nervous and scared about how I would do or if I could even do it. Let's just say the three interviews were amazing. You could truly feel the spirit enter the room as they began to share their desires and all they have done to be baptized. It was a super cool experience and I'm really happy I'll get to do more of them.

Besides that not much more happened this week. I'm still getting to know the area and the members. It's a ward and the church building is a sight for sore eyes... hahahaha (; i love you all and enjoy the weather. Here in San Juan it's actually almost the same as Utah. It's really cold in the mornings and then more or less warm in the afternoon. It's also dry here with mountains. So it's almost like Utah. My one challenge would be to dedicate a little more time of your day to reading the scriptures. Something as small as 10 minutes and you could've read two chapters of the Book of Mormon and find the answer to what you're facing right now. They say we talk to our Heavenly Father through prayers, and the way he talks to us is through the scriptures. Give him the chance to show you something new.

Love,

Elder Babcock

Transfer to Teziutlan

Well this week went by super fast and ended the most amazing way that it could've. First off we had transfers and I'm going to a place called Teziutlan that actually is in the state of Puebla. It's super cold so it'll be just like Utah...minus the snow. Nevertheless I'm stoked! With these transfers I got moved to finish the training of an elder of the same generation as my [current companion] and also as the new district leader! I'm super excited for what more things I'm going to learn and serve more people.




Now with all that said we also had a baptism this week!!! Woooooo it was super amazing. Conference and a baptism is like perfect Sunday if you ask me. The girl we baptized has been waiting over a year for permission to do it. We spent the past week talking with her parents a lot and well they gave us the green light and we all went to the river. How powerful and beautiful with the branch and her family. The truth is I dont want to leave this place. So many amazing people and memories. When I first learned I was going to Espinal I thought oh great.. the goma (which is slang for like middle of nowhere) I don't wanna go.. There's no stores and it's a small branch. There's no chapel... BUT after more than four months of my time as a missionary here I have come to love love love love this place. It's 100% because of the people.




Now for conference. Wooooow was it amazing. Super powerful and also planching all the get married (minus my brother, props to him *applaud emoji*) also how often do we get to hear the words Chewbacca or selfie said in the same talk? One of my favorite talks was Pres. Uchtdorf in the priesthood session (sorry i listened in Spanish so I'll try to translate...) he said build bridges, don't destroy them, even when you're not at fault, ESPECIALLY when you're not at fault. How easy is it to say well he made me mad or she did this or that and try to justify our actions. We know that every person will be judged for HIS OR HER actions in the day of judgment. Show your love for someone who did you wrong and you will find it easier to forgive and love this person. Another amazing talk (also in the priesthood session) by Stephen W. Owen who talked about leaders and followers. He asked who is the best leader... obviously our Savior Jesus Christ. And then he said well who is the best follower... the same answer. our beloved Redeemer. I loved how he connected being a leader and being a follower and how the two go hand in hand.




I love this gospel and I love missionary work. I love this church and I hope I can bring more people unto Christ through his church. Goodbye to the warm weather of Espinal and hello to the super cold weather of Teziutlan.




Love,




Elder Babcock