¿Comò le va fam?                                                                                      November 26, 2012

Wow you`re right mom the weeks are just blowing by! I`ve already been out here for one whole change (6 weeks). I will have for sure another whole change with my trainer Elder Tinoco, and then who knows? We would stay with eachother in this same area, he could leave and I could stay or vice versa. Mom that`s CRAZY that Nic is almost already home! Now I know why the time just flys by. I can`t belive Steve is alreay hit his half-way mark too. I`ll have to try and get ahold of him someone one of these days. Man, Tyler was right P-day are busy. I have time to write you guys and that`s about it other than a email to a missionary of something. Sounds like Thanksgiving was good for everybody. I`m glad. Dad I got a kick of you Kit watching TV haha that`s funny. As for my Thanksgiving it was obviously different, but actually really good and a lot like a Thanksgiving should be! It was Elder Betts (in my district) birthday on Thanksgiving, so they invited us to go to their comida appt. because they were making something really good for his birthday. It was WAY good and there was a ton of it. They also had a legit Mexican piñata that we all took turns wacking at. So that was at about 2:00 pm. Then again the same day we were invited to a zone activity in Nealtican to eat a thanksgiving dinner with the whole zone. Those pictures are of the dinner we had. It was really goood. The house we went to was the President of Nealican`s house and it was the nicest house I`ve been to here in Mexico. They are really rich. So yeah Thanksgiving was pretty awesome for me too! Oh and the other picture is of the basketball court behind our Chapel here in Atexcac. Elder Tinoco and I had been planning a missionary/ward activity for a while now. It was a fubòl tournament with the whole ward with food and music and stuff. It took a lot of planning on behalf and Elder Tinoco and I. The goal was to have members bring non-member friends which didn`t really work out that well. We did have a TON  of less-active members show up though so that was good. Well it sounds like everyone is doing great. Tell Tyler good luck with all the packing and everything and let me know how all that goes. Thanks mom for all the encouraging words, and Dad for the words about patience. It`s definetly true. And hey dad look at Either 12:27 and think about patience...anything is possible that`s all I`m sayin` haha :) I hope Jami had fun snowboarding and Kaylee is doing good too. I was actually happy to hear that the snow isn`t very good yet haha sorry for you guys but it makes me happy over here! 

 

Anyway this week went really good. There was slow times, and some busy times too. Something really cool happened yesterday. I swear Sundays are the best days ever. Especially here because it`s the only day that everybody is home. We had some teaching appt. fall through so we went contacting for some people that were references from members. We made 5 contacts and we have appt. with all of them to teach the 1st lesson to! That`s huge for us right now. We`re hoping for 5 new investigators! So that was cool. Also, we went to go teach Hermana Cristina the Plan of Salvation, but she wasn`t there today. Bummer. We only get one chance a week to teach her because she is only here on weekends. Anyway the work is going really great. We are excited for all the work we have to do next week. It`s an answer to my prayers.

Anyway I better get off now. Oh one question you guys have been asking, but I keep forgetting to answer is the weather here. Well in the mornings and the nights it`s actually kind of cold, but in the afternoons it`s warm enough to wear a short sleeved shirt. I`m fine though I have a little jacket I wear when its cold. Compared to Utah it`s not cold at all! Well I love you guys and miss you. I`m glad to hear you are all doing well. Keep it up with scriptures and prayers, you`re right it makes a huge difference in our lives. Oh I wanted to tell you Mom and Dad when you want to read another book read Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage. It is an amazing book!! I`m about half way and I have learned so much more about Jesus Christ and his life. I highly recommend it. It`s mind blowing really. I hope you all have an amazing week!!

 

Until next week

Siempre Fuerte

Con Amor

 

Elder Kitchen

¿Que onda mì familia?                                                                             November 19, 2012
Hey everybody! ¡Buenos tardes from Huejotzingo! (Huejo) I enjoyed hearing about your week mom and dad. Just a quick heads up I only have about 20 minutes to write today sorry! It might be a little short. We have an appointment right at 6:00 and we still have to take a combie up to Atexcac. Dad those pictures were really cool thanks for sending them. I really like that one of Kit. I miss that dog you guys should tell her Hi for me haha. Anyway Mom I hope you get feeling better, Dad told me that you weren`t feeling all that great. Also, good luck with submitting all your grades and everything. I`m proud of you Mom, being a school teacher and all. It`s really cool how you went back to school and got your degree. That`s something else I´ve already really learned to appreciate here: a good education. Man I am so grateful for my education. I can just see now what a huge blessing it is. At one point in my life I would have laughed if you told me that I`d be saying this someday, but it really is true. A lot of people in our area do not have a very good education at all. Some don`t even know how to read. We visit a less active Hermana that is probably in her 60`s and she doesn´t know how to read or write. We come over and read the Book of Mormon to her sometimes. Anyway sounds like all is well with the Kitchen family. Tyler I`m way excited for you and BYU Hawaii!! That will be an awesome experience for you man. You`ll have to tell me all about it when you get out there. Happy thanksgiving everybody!! I hope you have a good holiday. As for me I don`t know if we`ll do anything or not. There has been talk about our zone doing something fun, but I´m not exactly sure. Oh and no I haven`t received the shoes yet. I don´t know if there is any way to track it and see where it is, but my companion says it usually takes about 2 weeks or more for a package and then you have to get if from your zone leaders at some kind of reunion with them, so hopefully it will come soon. 

Man the work this week was really slow! We had a trainer/new missionary meeting on Tuesday with Pres. in downtown Puebla that took most of the day, and then the very next day we had interviews with Pres. in our zone leader`s area, which by the time we traveled there, did the interviews, and traveled but, it was most of the day too. The rest of the week went slow also, but we had opportunities to serve and to teach/visit members/less active members. As for investigators Margarita really isn`t progressing anymore until her and Hector finally get married. They want to they just don`t have the money right now. Most people are really poor here in Atexcac. I won`t lie, I got a little disappointed one night because I just really want to teach investigators and to be a little busier then we are. I`m fine though. We have been praying long and hard to have more investigators and more work and guess what?? Ours prayers were answered last night! We vistied Hermano Bentura the recent convert with the 97 yrs old abuealita haha she is funny I`m not sure I`ve mentioned her yet. Anyway we visited them and came to find out that one of his sisters Hermana Christina that visits on weekends is not a member. She was interested and we got the chance to teach the Restoration to her! New investigator! Wooh! Here in Atexcac that is exciting for us. Something funny real quick about that 97 year old grandma. She is super Catholic, and so one time when we were there we showed her a picture of Jesus from my pic book. She was like "ohhh mì Senor and mì Dios" and she started to pray to the pictures and do the cross thing and then she kissed it. It was quite the scene. Anyway me and Elder Tinoco were saying if she could actually hear what we were teaching about the Restoration she would probably freak out and say it was wrong, but she can`t hear hardly anything ahah. We have all kinds of funny experiences here in Atexcac mixed in with the spiritual ones too. It`s great.

Anyway I`ve probably got to go now. We`ve gotta fill up our girafon pure water jug and head back up to good ol` Atexcac. I love each and every one of you. I pray for your happiness and success. Being out here living amongst these poor humble people has made me appreciate what we have so much more. Never forget how blessed we are. It`s mind-blowing to me how blessed we are. The thing is though, these people are blessed too. Material things don`t matter in life. They are happy and content with the way that they live. It is so inspiring to see the way the Gospel of Jesus Christ uplifts and blesses the lives of the people here and people everywhere. I love coming to church and seeing all the people dressed all nice and worshiping the Lord. There are literally only a few things in this life with eternal significance. Your strength in the Gospel of Jesus Christ: relationship with your Father in Heaven, scriptures, etc. And your family. I´ve realized that these people have both, and I can see the way the Gospel blesses their families. Don`t ever loose sight of what matters most. We are blessed with a lot, but the biggest blessings of all are the ones of eternal significance. Everybody no matter how much they might have materialistically speaking can have the opportunity to enjoy these blessing. Anyway I love you guys. Thank you for all the continued prayers and support!

Until next week, y siempre fuerte,
Con Amor
Elder Kitchen

¡Hola Familia!                                                                                                  November 12, 2012

Before I forget I think that it is best to have this added to my address:

Elder Ryan Ellsworth Kitchen

Misión México Puebla Sur

31 Poniente 109 int. 201

Colonia Chula Vista

Puebla, Puebla México 72420

So I would start giving this one to people and using it. The other one without the extras should work just fine as long as my name is on it. This one is just more specific.

Anyway how has everybody been this week? Man, looks like Dad is working hard haha just kidding Dad looks like you´re having a good time. You work hard, so you deserve it. I really enjoyed the pictures that you sent me! Looks like an awesome place to go Pheasant hunting. Kit is looking good. Tell Rick, Kate, and the guys from work hi for me. I actually just got that second picture and dang you´re right it looks like it should go on a hunting magazine! Anyway I hope all is well with the family, and that you are all happy and well. Mom you mentioned how it is almost Christmas and how it´s nuts how fast the year has gone by and I would have to agree. Can you all believe that it was a year ago since we went to New Zealand and when Tyler got home from his mission?! I can´t. Time goes by fast. That´s why it´s important to make the best of it. Well I´m pretty bummed that Mit didn´t win the election. Oh well. I guess you´re right mom we gotta pray Obama does a little better this time around haha. Okay so a bit more about my companion: He has 2 sisters and 1 brother who is leaving on his mission in Dec 5th to Guatemala. He has a sense of humor like me, but he is a great trainer and missionary too. We get along really well. We´ve had a lot of fun already so far, and that´s important to have fun on the mission.

Yeah those changes are pretty big huh? Like you all said it´s an effective way to do missionary work. Mom you´re right it is amazing because the church will be able to be stronger and the wards will be a lot stronger too. Something else cool that bishop told us in ward council this Sunday. He went to a meeting with our mission Pres. with all the bishops in the stake and discussed the new changes. He said that as we begin to teach the 5 lessons to less active members, for example, if the family has a the two parents, a young men/young women aged child, and a kid in primary, then the first lesson we would go with lets say someone from the ward representing the Elders Quorum. Then the second someone from the Relief Society. Then the third with someone from the young mens/young women's program. You get the picture. It´s going to really help the work and the wards here in México.

Anyway this week we have like 8 lessons with less active families and 9 lessons with members teaching the restoration. We plan to make another appt. with the members to teach the 1st lesson again, but this time they will invite a non-member friend. Also we will continue to teach less actives all the lessons with visitors from the ward. It´s going to be cool. As for work with investigators this week, it was really slow. Our only progressing invest. is Hermana Margarita. We are still working on a marriage with her. So we hope to be able to teach more invest. in the next upcoming weeks throught the members. In the mean-time we will continue to teach members and less-actives in efforts to strengthen the church here in our area.

One experience and then I´ve got to wrap it up. I still need to write Tyler and my mission Pres. Yesterday we visited a family that is almost completely inactive. Familia Torres. We came to teach the whole family, but it only ended up being the parents. We talked a lot first and got to know them better (BTW language is coming along good, gift of tongues is real. I´m starting to understand most of the time now, and I´m able to say a lot...at least when it comes to lessons and the gospel). Anyway we then asked him why he doesn´t come to church anymore with his family. He actually opened up to us and told us of some struggles that he has been having with the commandments and other things. He said that he used to be a bishop and that he knows the church is true. He knows the scriptures really well too. I felt prompted to share Either 12:27 with him and share in broken Spanish how what is in this verse has happened to me. I shared with him my testimony and I felt the spirit really strongly. He wanted us to come visit again next week, so that will be good. Anyway I have had a good time teaching a whole lot this week. I´ve been able to bare testimony many times. I know I´m doing the work that the Lord wants me to. We have like 50 or more less active families in our ward, so we got a lot of work to do, and hopefully along the way we can teach investigators too.

May God continue to bless our family. Stay strong and do the simple things. Everyday :)

Siempre Fuerte

Con Amor

Elder Kitchen

¡Hola!                                                                                                          November 5, 2012
Hey everybody how`s it going? I can`t believe it`s already P-day again it`s crazy how time is flying. Tomorrow I will have been out on my mission for almost 3 months total...weird. Well I`ll first try and answer the questions that you had. Okay so no my comp. and I probably speak more English together because its just hard to communicate in Spanish still. It`s not good I know. One of my goals is to start speaking Spanish with him more. I`ll work on that. Yes we walk everywhere we go, but our area is really not big at all, so It`s not a big deal. We have a couple of out-lying houses that are a pretty far walk, but other than that and how everywhere is steep hills its fine. There is only little tiny stores here in Atexcac, so on P-days we take a taxi, bus, or combie to the nearest city called Huejo. We actually decided to write here in Huejo that`s why I`m writing earlier than normal. Huejo is pretty big and a lot crazier than our nice calm little town up in Atexcac, but its fun to come out here. We just ate some really really good tacos at this restaurant mmm. There is a pretty big grocery store here that we like to do our shopping at. As for bugs we do have spiders, but there aren´t very many not a big deal. Flies are everywhere and I hate them haha, but we control them in our house. There are bugs called chinches which are like bed bugs, but worse. Elder Tinoco and I pretty well got ride of them with bug spray, so no problems anymore. As for zone conference and zone leaders I have only seen my zone leaders once at a meeting we had last Tuesday, other than that I don`t even know who is in my zone yet ha. We actually have a 4 person District up here in Atexcac. Elder Shipley (DL from Cali) Elder Betts Elder Tinoco and I. They have a bigger area just below us. We see them all the time, and they actually live pretty close to us. And yes Dad, I`m writing in my journal every night. I never want to forget the experiences I`m having. Yes Mom Popo is active and it puffs smoke or whatever every day, but just a little like in the picture. It doesn`t reach here or anything its not that bad.

That`s cool to hear about all that is going on at home. I`m happy to hear about Micheal Wells and Dave Clarke! We have so many missionaries from our ward its nuts. Tell Brother Harris congrats and thanks again for being a great teacher and leader over the years. He is an awesome guy. Also hearing about Krissy makes me so pumped! First girl of the Ellsworth family, that's cool. Tell her good luck and that I`m proud of her for me. Mom/Dad thank you for all the uplifting and kind things you always send me in the emails. Mom it`s cool to hear about your class and all the things you`re learning from the scriptures. The learning is endless. I`m always learning from the scriptures and I`m confident that I will my whole life. I love all of you guys so much. Keep up the good work. Oh and yes mom I know what siempre fuerte means :) Good phrase. Oh and Dad I just read your email! That`s awesome! Now I can just use the Eccos on my mission and save the Johnston and Murphey`s for when I get home. Cool news. Thanks for doing that for me.

Okay so a little bit about my week and the work. First of all I`ll try and tell you about the big changes we had in the meeting I was talking about on Tuesday. It was with 2 zones, the APs, and the Mission Pres. I`m sure he did the meeting with all the mission over time. So it is a big change that came from the Area Pres. of Mexico and stuff and it is effective for every mission in Mexico. I`ll start with the biggest thing first: No more tracking, and only contact when the spirit directs. We are going to be working along side of members a lot more. There is a lot of work to be done with members, and there is a ton of less active members in Mexico too. Another reason could be the danger I don`t know. Other changes: We will be teaching active members the Restoration and then setting up appt. to teach it again with a non-member friend. Also, we are going to be teaching less actives all 5 lessons! We`re about to get a lot busier. We`ll be able to strengthen member and less actives through teaching, and we will be able to get more referrals through the members. There was a couple other changes, but they weren`t big and I can`t remember them right now. I know that this is the way the Lord wants his work to be done here in Mexico. I lot of the other missionaries said after the meeting that this is the way it should have been for a while now, so it`s a good change. Also Elder Tinoco and I have some referals and potential new investigators on the horizon. The work is really starting to pick up it seems like. As for this week, we did a lot of helping members, and teaching less active/members. I actually have some sad news about our investigator family. We visited them on Wednesday to set up an appt. and long story short we won`t be teaching them lessons anymore. It was a sad day for us. They are really having a hard time with the idea of changing their religion. Their whole family in Puebla is Catholic. Also another and probably bigger reason is they have had a few bad experience with members not treating them very good and stuff. hmmp. That`s why we need to work with some members haha. It`s too bad when that happens though. Obviously they didn`t read the Book of Mormon with real intent and pray with real intent we could tell. We will be able to visit them still, so we are still hopeful. Also, Margarita and Hector (her member husband) still haven`t made a wedding date, so we`re working on that still. I`m excited for the work coming up.

Well I wish I had more time to tell you about my Sunday yesterday, but I don`t. Next week maybe. We ate a soup with Chile De Arbòl and it was the hottest spicy-est thing I`ve ever had and same with E. Tinoco. We were both sweating and crying hahaha. I had to pray my way through that one too. Anyway I love all of you!! May God be with you and continue to bless our family. May the Gospel light and the love of our Heavenly Father continue to uplift and enlighten your lives.

Until next week
Siempre Fuerte :)
Elder Kitchen