January 5th Happy New Years!

Happy New Years everyone-

Well New years was like every other day here in the mission, just preaching the gospel and all that good stuff :) We didn't get to do anything special so we just worked and then slept and then it was the new year, just like that :) it is definitely weird being in the mission sometimes but it is all good :) we did have tamales that's for sure :)

Well a little bit about my companion, he is doing all right. The first couple days right after that he was thinking about it a lot and would talk to me about it but he has kinda let it go at least for now, I don't know if he is blocking it out or just not talking to me about it but he has been working like normal. I don't really know how I can comfort him more, it is something that I don't really understand but I tried the best I could to be there for him and all that.

Sunday was pretty good :) we had Anatolio, Marisol, and Maria de la Rosa there with us and it was great :) and now we have ward mission leader :)... :/ it is good that we have one but it is sad why we needed a new one... the old one (he is actually quite young) was going to serve a mission and all that, he had his call and was getting everything ready (we hadn't been working with him because he was out of town for a long time and just got back) but then the church that his sister now goes to shared some false information about the church with his parents and they shared it with him and now he can't come to church (or won't, I'm not sure) and isn't going to serve a mission, and another joven that was getting ready to serve and has his call has also said that he isn't going to go.... I was so sad when I heard about all this... ugh.... why do liars exist in the world.... sigh... we just have to work harder to strengthen our testimonies so that doesn't happen to us. They were all excited and getting ready but now they have thrown all their good decisions out the window and have abandoned their faith... I hope we can all be prepared with a strong testimony so that never happens to us. We have to confide in what we know and pray always and study the scriptures all the time so that doesn't happen. I know we can all withstand the lies and temptations of Satan if we have faith in Jesus Christ and trust in his word. I have been faced with doubts but I have always been able to find peace and the knowledge I need as I have read the scriptures and prayed. I honestly didn't do much of that before the mission but here I have learned and gained a testimony of the scriptures that has helped me stay strong even when Satan is sending doubts at me from all sides. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was restored through Joseph Smith and that he was a true prophet of God and that we are in the true church.

Wow I ran out of time but anyways,  I love you all :) stay strong in the Gospel! bye

-Elder Sampson

Dec 29th Christmas in the Mission field

Well... it was really great to talk to you all on Christmas :) it was kinda hard to talk in English as you all noticed... ha ha I don't know, I can still write in English but I am really struggling with the speaking it right now... but I don't have to worry about that for about a year... I am glad you all were there and that even though I couldn't be there the whole time with you, for an hour we got to be together and I had a good experience anyways and I hope you all did too :)

After we talked, we went and played volleyball and it is obvious that I haven't had any practice doing anything sporty for a while... but I can still touch a 10 foot rim so that is a little comforting... but it was still fun :) then my companion talked with his family on the phone because skype wasn't working... We missed some of the activities they did like the piñata and the dinner because he was kinda talking for a long time... I let him keep talking because he found out about something that had happened in his family and I felt like he needed a little more time... he found out that his sister had been kidnapped in February and that they later found a body and had a funeral and everything... and they hadn't even told him..... I couldn't find it in me to make him end the call... that is a lot to take in... I feel really bad for him.... well anyways.... it's kind of a long story and so I will just leave it there. 

 

While he was talking they ate and had some activity but I don't really know what they were doing.... but it sounded fun. Then after that we watched How to Train Your Dragon 2! I thought I would have to wait until I got home to see it! but I got to watch it early but in Spanish :) it is pretty good but I still plan on watching it when I get home :)

Well what we did on Christmas was just go to an investigators house to teach and then when we were leaving... They invited us to eat a bowl of soup. It is called Posole and it was pretty good. Then we got to the house and  our neighbor that is a member brought us some beans and carne asada that was also very good :) but we kinda just were there in the house eating and stuff... but I did really enjoy it :) it was a little weird to be honest... like different but it was still a good experience :)

This week we did get someone to come to church with us! And a member brought a friend so there were two new people there! It was good :) we set up an appointment with the one that came with her friend and we are going to visit her this week and we are going to keep on visiting Anatolio, he is the guy that came with us :) We didn't teach as many lessons this week because we were trying to find a lot of people because we were leaving the investigators that aren't progressing.  

 

We had a Noche de Hogar in the ward and it was fun because we played telephone to introduce the topic of "La Apostasía." I thought that they would be able to successfully pass the frase "necesitamos tener fe en Jesucristo" but we ended up with "Jesucristo.... no sé que" so it is quite easy to see how big a problem apostasy can be ;) but the activity was pretty good and I think the members enjoyed it although not very many showed up...  we are trying to get the ward excited because right now they aren't helping us and aren't very willing to do anything but we will see what we can do :)

Well that is all I've got for you right now... but I will send some pictures of my Christmas!!! ;) it looks like you are all having a great time there at the homecoming! Tell Lizzie "hola" for me :) 

 

I love you all and hope you have a great new year! :)

-Elder Sampson :)

Dec 15th Transfers...Got a New Companion

Hey! algo loco está pasando ahorita... ¡Tuvimos cambios ya! Elder Porter se fue y me dejó aquí en Morelos B... que triste... apenas tengo 5 semanas de conocerle y ya está en otro área... Todavía no sé quien sea mi compañero... es de Bolivia o algo así pero no sé su nombre ni nada porque no entendí lo que dijo mi líder de distrito  pero va a llegar más a rato como las seis o siete más o menos...

So ya, we had transfers... and just before Christmas too... Well this last week it was a little bit of a disappointment because Mari didn't come to church... She went to buy the stuff for her "restaurant" and didn't have anyone to help her so... she didn't show up :/ we will have to put another baptismal date with her... and nobody else showed up either... investigators that is. So that was a little sad... But this last week was good because we found some new investigators that I think have some pretty good potential so we will see what happens with them :) that girl that went to the activity wasn't home when we went to the appointment we set with her but we did talk to her dad and he's a good guy, he accepted another visit from us and a Book of Mormon and said he would read it so we will see how it goes.

This week we had a Noche de Hogar in the ward but it was Christmas themed so every organization put on a little show for everyone and it was pretty fun. We, the missionaries, also did a little show... ;) we acted out "a Christmas in the Mission" with sock puppets and everything so it was pretty funny :) unfortunately I don't have the video of it but I can assure you that there are some pretty funny parts in it ;)

Anyways,   I don't really know what else to tell you... oh... We set up the Christmas tree! with lights and ornaments and everything! I was going to send a picture but I don't have my camera with me so I will have to do that next week... I also got a package... but not from you mom, actually it is from Ashley's parents... How great is that!? it had some presents and a stocking so the tree also has presents under it and the stocking is on the wall behind it! it is great :) but no, your packages have not arrived.

Well that's all I've got this week, I will let you know who my new companion is and all that good stuff next week and by the way, I am not going to write on Monday but on Christmas because that is going to be our p-day so I don't know if I will really write much or anything but it's just a heads up :) Well I love you all very much and we won't be in contact until Christmas:)

 

-Elder Sampson

Dec 8th Christmas Devotional

Well, hello everyone!

We only had one investigator at church this week... but there is no reason to complain because she is great! It is the lady with "cancer." Her name is Mari and she found out that she actually doesn't have cancer... one doctor said that she did and then later she went and had some tests done and they said that it isn't cancer just a sore (probably an ulcer or something) in her intestines. Well that, I would say, is a lot better than cancer don't you think? I do! so anyways, she totally came to church and is really excited for her baptismal date and all that good stuff. She told us that she talked to her "husband" (they aren't married) and he said that if she gets baptized they would separate and he would leave her... and she basically said  "Ok well if you think that's what you want to do, go ahead, you are an adult and can make your own decisions." Wow... that for me is a ton of faith... we talked a little bit about the law of chastity (we hadn't gotten to that part yet) and informed her that she wouldn't be able to get baptized if she was living with someone that she isn't married to but it isn't much of a problem in this case...

Anyways... We got to go to the Christmas devotional if we took an investigator and we were looking and inviting and looking and inviting but we couldn't find anyone... Luckily the other elders in the ward had a reference to pass us of an investigator in our area that had gone to a mutual activity on Saturday and said she would go to the devotional :) We got to go and meet our new investigator and now we have an appointment to teach her and her family! We will see how it goes :) and we totally got to go to the devotional! It was great wasn't it? I really liked all the stories they shared about examples of how we should live and how we can bring joy into the lives of others through service and giving of our time and attention to the people that really need it, and we all know that everyone needs it so we can confidently share those things with everyone and try to show our thanks to God for the wonderful gift He gave us when he gave us His Son. 

 

I don't know if you have all heard about the campaign the church is doing (you probably have) of (well in Spanish it's "Él es la Dádiva") He is the Gift. It is really great and it is a video that helps us realize how blessed we are to have received Christ as the first Christmas present and what this whole season is all about :) Our Heavenly Father gave us the gift of a Redeemer, someone that can help us achieve eternal life, all we have to do is accept Him, have faith in Him, love Him, and obey Him. Even though we have so many sins and mistakes and defects, he can cleanse us and make us pure, all we have to do is follow Him. I hope that we can all keep in mind this truly amazing Gift that God has given us and do all we can to change and become more like Him.

Elder Sampson's new home

I love you all and hope you have a great week! :)

-Elder Sampson

 

Dec. 1st Having A Little Fun While Serving

So a little bit about this week... we went to Xicotencatl! How crazy is that name huh? Everyone says Xico (hee-ko). Xico is a little town like an hour away from Mante and it is one of the areas in the zone, we went there to do a service project as a district and then I stayed there in companion exchanges with Elder Arizmendi. The service we did was clean up the yard of a sister from the ward there. We "mowed" the "lawn" with machetes and cut some big trees down and it was a lot of fun :) I kinda have some mad skills with a machete ;) the sister has a lemon tree and a bunch of lemons had fallen to the ground so some one would throw me a lemon and I would cut it in half with a machete! How cool is that?! but don't worry, I wasn't goofing around very much, but we did have a little fun as we worked :) I haven't done much hard physical work with my hands for a while so I got a few blisters but it's all good :)

We only had one investigator show up at church so a few baptisms fell through which is disappointing but I am sure that one of the people that had a date that fell through is going to get baptized because she really has a desire to follow the Savior's example and also she wants to set the example for her whole family. She is the person who kinda runs her home and so it would help the others there to start taking an interest and be a good influence on them. The sad thing about the story is that she has a tumor and hasn't been feeling that great, well she was feeling better the last time we talked to her but she didn't show up at church so we are going to see how she is. She has been struggling a lot but has so much faith and really a strong determination to do what is right and it is really great to see that, she is really a great lady and I hope we will be able to help her get baptized soon because that really is her wish.

About thanksgiving, yes I knew it was thanksgiving because of the family calender I have :) and my comp wouldn't listen to Christmas music until after that day so I kinda had it all in mind but now we are listening to Christmas music and in the house there is a Christmas tree we are going to set up :) ha ha actually, yesterday we helped a less-active family set up their Christmas tree... it was funny :) but anyways, random acts of service are great :)

Mom I haven't gotten any of those packages yet, I don't know if I will soon or not but it is going to take longer than normal because I am not so close to the offices so they will only make it out to me when someone from there comes over here... but it's all good, they will show up sometime :)

Well we are going to keep on working here, there are plenty of things to do in this area, we just have to work on them all effectively and it will all work out alright :) I love you all :)

-Elder Sampson

Nov. 24th Always Improving

Hey everybody, 

I don't know if it is as strange to you as it is to me but Christmas is in a month!!! I kinda just realized that as I was typing the date up there at the top but wow... the time goes by so fast! Oh, and I will actually be writing on Monday (today) this week because we didn't have anything else come up :) Well a little about the people we have been teaching.

The older couple we have been teaching weren't able to make it this week because the husband wasn't feeling good and the wife, like I think I already might have said but I'm not sure, doesn't have the use of her legs and is in a wheelchair and can't really get to church by herself. We thought they would be able to make it because they have a car but the husband, like I said wasn't feeling good, but the good news is that they really wanted to come and so this week we are going to find someone that can help them get there because they kinda have to carry the lady at least a little bit and the man has back problems or something like that, but they were really happy when we told them we would find someone to help them because the lady was upset that she wasn't able to make it... she has been through a lot these past couple years and is pretty sad about all that... I feel bad for her, but that is why we teach them the Gospel, because that is what is going to bring them happiness even with all the problems they may have. Right now we are teaching them about el Plan de Salvación and I know that it will help them a lot. We have also been teaching their granddaughter because she lives there with them. She is about 30 years old and has two little girls. She is always interested in what we have to say and all that but isn't as willing to accept a baptismal date or go to church, but we know that she is hiding something from us and is kinda struggling right now, but as we have been teaching them leccion 2 she has been very attentive and I believe that what she is going through has to do with a loss of some sort and I know that she is going to find a lot of hope and peace as she learns more about the Plan that God has for all of us.

Well, with Alexandra... we still haven't been able to find her... so we will keep looking.... 

We had exchanges this last week and the elder that came to our area and my comp found a new investigator and yesterday we went to teach him and I got to meet him. He is pretty great, he is very interested and had been reading the Book of Mormon. He had a few doubts but we helped clear them up and I think he will have some really great progress this week but we will see how it goes :)

Well, I had an interesting experience this week with contacting... I can't lie and say that I am contacting all the time or talking with everyone but I have been improving... and well I have found that if I really make the effort even if I am really bad at it, the Lord will bless me for my efforts. Before I was contacting but only kinda halfheartedly because it is something that is against my nature and I kinda only did it if we were already out talking to someone, but as I put my trust in the Lord and was looking for the opportunity to talk to someone and then just going up to someone to talk to them about the gospel I found that we had a lot more success finding people interested in our message and they wanted to hear more... I am sure you are all kinda thinking " what the heck, he already has like 9 months out there and is barely figuring that out?" but hey... I am far from perfect and I have a lot to learn but I am thankful for the help of the Lord and that I know that if I do my part he will do His. We can always trust in Him because He can't lie and has the power to fulfill his promises. I am grateful to have Him with me to make up for all that I lack so I can at least help a few of his children make it back to him. I have a testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ and I know that He atoned for our sins, and that is what I am here to share.

I love you all and hope that you have an amazing week!

-Elder Sampson

Nov. 18 3 Investigators at Church

Hola!

Well this week was pretty good, I am learning to talk even more! haha with all my other companions, they were always the person that spoke more because they knew Spanish better and like to talk more than I did (I´m not saying that I didn't talk and teach and stuff like that, it's just that my companions usually did a little more) but now, with Elder Porter I get to talk a lot more :) ha ha, he doesn't like to talk all that much... he is already pretty good at Spanish but he isn't much of a talker :) he teaches and all that but now I do a lot more talking :) it's all good,  I can learn even more! Elder Porter es muy tranquilo :) he does like to work and we get along pretty well :)

The members here are great :) the bishop has randomly brought us dinner twice and his whole family is great. There are several families that live here in our area and we are going to work on getting them all involved :)

Well it was good, this Sunday we had 3 investigators in church, one of them is the father of 3 recent converts and the other two are an older couple. The dad of the recent converts is really interested in the church and has a lot of questions but he is willing to progress, also his wife (whom I still haven't met) is really excited and said that she wants to be the next baptism in the ward (she said that at the baptism of her three sons like 3 weeks ago I think) at least that is what my comp told me. The only problem is that she is working like all the time! 

 

The elderly couple are pretty interested as well, they were listening to the missionaries in a different area three years ago but moved and lost contact but now we are visiting them and we had a really great lesson with them last night about the Restoration and everything was perfect(or almost)... until the wife, Maria, says " I have an experience I want to share with you" then she started to rattle off about something that happened to her in the hospital like 5 years ago and she didn't want to stop talking about it... it was an interesting story put the Spirit left and so it didn't help all that much. That was right at the end so it didn't like ruin the lesson or anything but we did want to leave the Spirit with them so they could just think about what we taught and gain testimonies through the presence of the Spirit but it just didn't work out that way... ha ha oh well, we'll get 'em with it next time :)

We weren't able to teach Alexandra because we weren't able to find her all week which was rather disappointing but we will see if we can teach her this week because I feel like she has some real potential.

Ha ha funny story, all the "guerros" that got here with me, the ones that were with me in the MTC are all here in this Zone, it was a little crazy when I found out(at least to me) but it's all good :)

Surprisingly enough it has been pretty cold here... and although the temperature isn't super low or anything, it still feels cold... The house we live in is really small and I don't think we have a boiler so sometimes in the morning it is a nice (freezing) cold shower ;)

Well that's all I've got for this week, I hope you are all quite well and that you all have a great week :) Love you all :)

-Elder Sampson