October 24th

¡Hola!

 

Everything is going good down here and things changed this week for the better i think.

 

On saturday we had special transfers. Elder Garcia changed with another elder that was DL in a different area. Elder Cruz is my new comp. and he only has 3 weeks left in his mission before he heads home. He is from Tijuana also and is the oldest of 4 brothers, he is 20 and his brothers 18,17, and 5. Big gap in the last ones no! He was DL for 1 yr and now he is with me but they put him as Junior comp and me as senior. Werid no?

Elder Templin and Elder Cruz 

This week I got to see the other part of the funerals here in mexico. One of the Sister's husband died and she wanted us to go because none of her family wanted a catholic funeral and she wanted to have us come. We went to the viewing for about an 1hr and then to the cemetery. They are different here, they are above the ground and are stacked 4 high by about 50 long and there are a lot of rows in the cemetery. We went and the put the casket in one of the boxes and we all waited until they closed it up with bricks and cement. We sang a few hymns with some of the people form the ward and then that was all. It's a lot different then back home.

 

Pizza and a Movie 

 

That was my week and today we had an activity with the zone. We all went to the stake and played some Bball for an hr and then went to play soccer. I got 2 goals in. We played for a while then went back to the stake and had pizza and watched Prince of Egypt. That took all day and then we had to clean our cloths fast and come to write.

 

With this change in companions i might be here another cycle after this who knows.

 

Thanks for everything and hope all is good. Love you all.

 

Love you all,

Elder Templin

October 17th

¡Hola!

 

Sorry I didn't send the week letter last week. With Elder Garcia my new companion some of the things changed this 1st week.

 

Things are going  good down here and I'm still having a good time teaching and being down here.

 

Elder Garcia-

The 1st pic is of him and me on the 1st day after the tranfer meeting.

He is from Tijuana, Mexico and is the oldest in his family of 3 siblings.

He has had 19 months in the field, and is ready to be done. ( He isn't wanting to follow all the rules)

We get along good and have fun.

Elder Garcia and Elder Templin 

 

Angelica's Baptism 

About last week-

 

Last week was good.

 

It rained one night really had and there were floodings in some of the streets. 2 on the members in the ward had water enter into their houses and the ward house got some water also. Everything is good with them and the building is fine. It was different to have that problem with the rain but good.

 

We had a baptism last week also, that is the 2nd pic. Her name is Angelica and we taught her once before but stopped for a time but this time the teachings stuck and she followed through.

Eating Food!! 

This week-

 

This week we had divisions with the new DL. I went to their area with E. Rivas and He(E. Salamanca) come here with E. Garcia. It was fun and we worked and had lots of citas for them for the next day. The 3rd pic is us eating tacos that night in the area of the DL.

 

The baptisms that we had for this week fell through, but we are working on them for the next week.

 

Today we went to the center of the city and went to the big open market that is there everyday. I bought some ties that were cheap (6 for 200 or about 18 dollors). The thing is the markets are really cheep. Send me a list if you all want me to look for stuff later on in the mission. It was really fun and good to get away and do something else then just the normal day to day stuff.

 

Everything is good and I hope it is with everyone up there. Let me know if you all want to know anything and How things are going for each of you. Thanks for everything and I love you all.

  

Love you all,

Elder Templin

October 3rd

Hola!

Things are going good down here. Big new for the week yesterday was the day that we found out if we had transfers or not and it ended up with I'm staying in the area and Elder Medina is getting transferred. This will be a big change for me and everything in my mission. I will be facing new and more experiences with the new comp. and they are going to be taking away the ward La Perla so i will just be in Refoma

This week we had divisions with our DL. I worked with him on Tuesday and he worked with E. Medina on Friday. We spent the whole day looking for people and putting citas for the week. We had citas but all fell through that day so we just had to look for more. We ended up with one and a whole lot more for the other days. At the end of the day he told me that i need to speak more because i have the language but don't use it. That's something that i need to work on.

This week we had to look for a house for the elders that will be coming to La Perla so we spent our time in the week looking for a house. We found several but our DL had to pass it off. In the ended they found a different one that is really ugly and not good, but it works for what will be done there. 

Conference was really good there were several talks that i liked. With being in the field and having different experiences brings the talks to a different understanding.

Pres. Packer-

Hno Cook of the 70-

Elder Holland- He grilled everyone!

Hno Waddell of the 70-

Elder Hales-

Hno Carnish of the 70-

Hno Callister of the 70- This was good about the BofM.

Hno Bennet of the 70-

And an experience that is similar to the one that Hno Yanshite talked about the son and his dads jacket. We have the tie that you (dad) used on your mission and that i'm using now.

All the talks were good. we had to go the the stake and watch but we got to watch in English, all the Americans in the zone watched in a small room. It was cool. Hope that you all enjoyed it as while.

We got a baptism this week, she passed her interview easily and we did it between the Sunday session's. She was livving the gospel before we taught her.

The other photos are of my shoes that are almost dead and have a little hole that lets in the dirt of the street.

Thanks for everything and keep up doing what you doing and enjoy life. I love you all and hope all is good.

Love,

Elder Templin

September 26th

Hola!

Everything is good down here. We had a zone activity today so it might be a little short because we are running on time.

This week we were a little stressed. We had a goal for the month that we had to try and reach. We didn't make it. our goal for the month in baptisms was 7 and we ended only with 2. This week we needed to shot for 5 but all the people that we had in teaching and others all had problems or didn't pass their interviews. We taught a bunch of lessons this week trying to work with everyone. We got back to the house everyday tired and ready for bed.

The week was normal but all the lessons. We had a party in La Perla for the 15th of Sept. on Saturday. It was really fun to see and hear some Mexican songs and dances. The members sang 5 or 6 songs and the RS dances and number. We had lots of references from that night and some of them came the next day to church. I forgot my camera that night so i will have to send some photos next week of that.

It was Elder Medina's b-day this week on Thursday. We had some member parties on Sunday for him one in La Perla and the other with the Family Bautista. The cake is a little different down here but good.

For the activity today we sent to the center and got on a tour bus and went around the city seeing all the statues and everything.  The steets are cool and have a lot of history to them. It's fun to see another county and their history.

Thanks for being my family and supporting me. I love this work and hope that everyone loves the message it bring. Love you all.

Elder Templin 

September 19th

¡Hola!

 

Everything is going good down here.

 

My new DL Elder Villagómez say Hi. Elder Hawkes got transferred to zone leader this last transfer.

 

This week we had a zone conference on Wednesday. We talked a lot about working with the members and how to get them involved in sharing the Gospel and helping us with investigators. If we can get them involved more things will be easier in teaching and keeping investigators.

 

This week was the independence of Mexico the 15th. We had to be in the house at 6pm so that we were not in the street in the party. We were in the house and get some pizzas and had a party Elder Medina and I. There are pics of that. We could not leave the house until 2pm the next day because of all the party in the street from the night before until 8am the next morning. The fireworks aren't the same but it's the same felling, while with out the family.

 

While the first pair of my shoes is getting ready to die. they are thin in the ball and the heal is smaller. it's only been 5 months in the field working but that shows the work.

 

This week i got to experience more of the Mexican culture. The member that we rent from her husband has been in the hospital for 2 months and was brought home this week on Tuesday. He had problems with his heart. Thursday in the night the hermana asked if we would come and give him a blessing. I had the opportunity to give it to him. When we came home form working on Friday we were told by the other renters of the house that he passed away. We got to help clean and get ready for the viewing that was in the house from Saturday at 2 or 3am to Sunday at 11am. Everything was done in the house and was really different from home. This was a different experience for me. because when I was giving the blessing this is what i felt. But i know that we have the plan of salvation and it covers all parts of life.

 

The end of the week ended up good. we had a baptism of one of the daughter-in-laws of a member. Elder Medina did this one. Of the 14 that we have I have done 9. We found out that day of the baptism that she is pregnant so it was a 2x1 baptism. haha. The service was good.

 

Thanks for all the support.

Elder Templin

September 12th

¡Hola!

 

This week has been good and everything is going good down here.

 

This week we had our baptism for last week. Her name is Jessica and we have been teaching here for the past month. I got the opportunity to baptize her. After the ordinance she gave her testimony and it was really powerful. All in the room cried but Elder Medina and I. It was really nice to finally have someone that wanted to take the steps and enter in the path to return to our family in Heaven.

 

Things this week were good. On Sunday we had some nice experiences. The converts that we have in the ward "La Perla" took part in the meeting. Alicia and Gloria both gave talks. Gloria is getting a calling in Sunday school as a teacher. Jesus blessed the sacrament. Its cool to see them all strong and in the gospel receiving the blessings in their lives.

 

When we were going to get some of the investigators on Sunday we passed through a Tiangis and was a Book of Mormon in one of the stands. We didn't have time to see how much they were selling it for, but it was one of the older ones.

 

The time down here is fun and going fast this week is 7 months and 5 in Mexico. The time goes by fast when we have people in teaching and they are listening and receiving the blessing. The gospel is were we can receive all the Lord has for us when listen and do the things. I know that these blessings are real.

 

I love you all.

 

Thanks for all the loving words and letter. Love you all.

 

Love,

Elder Templin

September 5 th

¡Hola!

 

Everything is going down here in Mexico.

 

Nothing really happened this week that was exciting .

 

On Wednesday we were teaching a family and when we entered into there house and started to teach we saw 2 photos on the wall that were really interesting. They were both church pictures. One of the 2nd coming and the other of Jesus in the Americas. They bought them both in a tiangis, the outside market. The pics let us start teaching about the BOM because it has the same photo of Jesus in the Americas.

 

Our baptism that we had for this week fell through, but she still wants to do it and it is set for this week. She is really strong and comes to church on her own, this week she brought her family.

 

This week in church we had lots of people just come to church and we were able to teach them in the 3rd hour and all 4 of them became new investigators that accepted their baptism date with out problems. The church saved the week, we were having a not so good week until Sunday and it all came together. This just shows that with work and patience all is possible with God.

 

At the end of sacrament of La Perla our new DL called(Elder Villagómez) and said that we had to be in the area of the ZLs to report at 5 our numbers for the week. We finished the meeting and were running after that. We ran home changed and ran to eat. we then went to catch the "Smurf" it's a big blue bus that took us the the area. When we got there we had to wait for everyone and then report. some of the elders had a baptism so there were about 20 elders for the service. After the baptismal service we had our zone meeting and we had to come up with goals for baptism for the rest of the cycle. We were some of the last elders to leave the room so we got to the cleaning closet to talk and pray about the numbers and what they should be for the cycle. That was different in the closet. After we all had our numbers we practiced some teaching things. The whole time after the baptismal service it was raining and it didn't stop until we were about home. It rained a lot and when we got to our street it was full of water and there was no other way. So we got our legs wet.

 

Thanks for all the support that you all give me. Hope everything is going good in your lives in all parts. Love you all.

Thanks for everything. Love you all so much.

 

Love,

Elder Templin