PUERTO

So transfers came! I was sent from the forestry Tuxtlas, to the port, in an area called Tecnologico, we are pretty close to the coast. I love it! There is a nice breeze that is always blowing here to save us from the intense heat. I'm with Elder Kirkham, from North Ogden Utah. He has about six months on the mission, so we are both fairly new (even though I don't feel that new anymore) but we are doing super well. We cover three wards, which is quite the work load, and our area is massive. We really have to plan our days well so we don't end up running from one side of the area to the other... However, I really like it here. The members here are very willing to accompany us, so we have been able to get a lot done in our area.

This week we had some awesome experiences with following God´s guidance. For example; Elder Kirkham and I were walking down this one street, going door to door contacting, and we came to a split off street and I said that we should go left. As we were walking down the street, I just felt like it was the wrong way so we turned around and went the other way instead. In that other street lived a less active family that we decided to visit. The mom of the family is pregnant and is super close to her due date, and the father had recently taken a nasty spill working and has to walk around with crutches.  The mom was feeling very worried about the baby coming and told us that that morning she had decided that she was going to talk with the Bishop to send us to her house to give her a blessing, but our visit saved her the call!  It was a great testimony builder of how God is aware of each and every one of our needs, and how he can guide each and every one of us.

Another amazing experience we had was when we were going contacting down this one street and we stopped to write an address down. We stopped in front of a house that looked like nobody was home so I started walking again and Elder Kirkham said that we should try the house, and so we went and knocked the door. A couple peeked their heads out of the second floor window and the man said he was coming. He opened the door and invited us in, we sat down and started explaining who we were, and he said, "Oh I know! I'm a member, just I haven't gone in a few years." He had moved here recently and his job doesn't give him a lot of days off. So, we started sharing a message with him and as we were towards the end of our message, his girlfriend and her mom came downstairs to listen too. It turns out his girlfriend and her mom were listening to the missionaries before but then the mom´s husband was kidnapped two years ago, and since that day she has just shut herself in. So we talked more about God´s plan for us and how He is always there for us. She agreed to have us come back to visit, and she even promised to come to church again cause she really liked it the last time she went.  Well, I'm out of time. I know God lives and is guiding each and every one of us. I'm loving it here in Veracruz! Have an amazing week!


Elder Gurney

Ultima semana en san andres

So the trio has officially been broken up... early this morning Elder Rueda left to the offices to go pick up his new companion, a new missionary straight out of the training center. He and his trainee are going to stay here in San Andres. Elder Spencer and I are leaving but we don't know where quite yet. I'm kinda sad to leave San Andres. It is super gorgeous and the people are amazing. I also feel like I just barely got here! However, our house is super tiny so it's all good haha. I am excited to get to know more people and more areas in Veracruz, so I am pretty excited too.

The TRIO!

A wonderful family in San Andres ... they had a cake for me to celebrate my birthday early

since I will be moving!

As for this week, we were able to get quite a lot done in spite of a few challenges. Elder Rueda got really sick at the beginning of the week so we weren't quite able to accomplish all of our goals... but we were able to utilize the members to go on divisions so we could go visit a lot of our investigators. This week we also were able to see a few miracles.


This week we went to a little community place nearby San Andres to visit an investigator, but she wasnt there. We decided to go knock door to door so we wouldn't waste the money we used to get there. The first door we knocked a kid about our age answered and we presented ourselves as missionaries and asked if we could share our message. He just said sure come on in! We just turned to each other in surprise, shrugged and walked in. It is extremely rare that people actually let us in, normally before we can say anything the people just shout out, I am Catholic, and walk away.... Or they just stand there and let us share a message outside of the house which is always super uncomfortable. However, this kid, Adam, let us right in and we were able to share a message with him and then the next day we passed by and his mom answered and let us in as well. Adam said he would pray to see if this church is true and he said if he gets an answer he will be baptized! His mom, Nora, said she doesn't feel quite ready for baptism but hopefully Elder Rueda and his new comp can help her along.


Another highlight of the week was last Monday, after the district reunion, we had a family home evening with a few families in the ward and we had two investigators show up! We played a bunch of minute to win it games and it was quite the hit! Especially the game where you put the oreo on the forehead and try to eat it without using your hands hahah. I got some good pics of that one. But yeah that was my week! I'm doing great, enjoying everyday! I love being a missionary and I love seeing miracles every day!

Miss you all! Have a great week!


Elder Gurney

TRIO!!!

Hey everyone!!! So these past couple weeks have flown by!! The most interesting part of the week was definitely when we got a call Wednesday night that we were going to get a new companion... Elder Spencer and I thought our zone leaders were joking with us because we have literally the smallest apartment in the mission.... BUT, nope it was true, we got a new comp! Elder Rueda, from Mexico city! He was the Assistant to our Mission President when I arrived here.  He is a great missionary and we are learning a lot from him! He is super funny too so we are all getting along really well!!

With Hermana Rosa Torres and my new companion, Elder Rueda!

The most exciting part of the week was definitely the baptism of Hermana Rosa Torres!!!! Wahoooo! I had the opportunity to perform the ordinance and everything went well! She is super amazing! Her granddaughter, who is not a member, was able to come watch her get baptized and afterwards she asked Hermana Rosa if the water was cold.... Hermana Rosa told her,  "You will see when you get baptized!" ha!! So yeah, we are definitely going to see what the granddaughter thought about the baptism! It was also cool because on Sunday, Hermana Rosa went up and bore her testimony.  It was very powerful!!  Her testimony is super strong, she is an amazing person!

With Hermana Rosa and her granddaughter!

Another fun part of the week was all of the missionaries serving in the Tuxtlas, like 16 of us, got together on Saturday in this one area that the zone leaders cover called Santiago, Tuxtlas. It is beautiful. Anyways, we all got together and went out door to door contacting, visiting less active members, and even investigators! It was quite fun and awesome to hear how much success we ended up having in this awesome area!

Fun in day working in Santiago!

Friday we were able to go contact a reference that we received and they are an awesome family! Hermana Mayra and her two sons, Kevin and Jesús! The lesson we had with her went really well, the spirit was strong and we were able to show her a few scriptures about authority and how it was lost on the earth. She just would sit there and say, wow, it says it so clearly right here! She accepted to be baptized on March 24! But, she wasn't able to come to church this Sunday so we are going to have to push her baptismal date back. However, we are super excited to be teaching her and to start teaching her kids too, they are amazing too!

One more waterfall picture from last week!!

I think that is everything really noteworthy for this week... I hope you are all doing well!! Have a great week this week!!!!

Elder Gurney