Hola Familia,
Well another great week. Lots of changes and lots of awesome experiences. I am now emailing you from Atotonilco, Mexico which is like 20 minutes from where I just was. I have a new companion Elder Stirland from Alpine, Utah. He is short and a red head, but he seems pretty cool. I dont really know Ive only been with him for like 2 hours. Im all settled in to my new apartment. Its way bigger, but not quite as cute. haha Its above a lil tienda and it has a great view of the huge catholic church out the window. So yea, ill let you know how i like Atotonilco next week when i know some of the members and all that good stuff.
So, we got to go to the estadio azteca to watch the cultural event for the rededication. It was pretty much sweet, we were way up close and it was amazing. Im glad you got to watch it! It was also cool to see Elder Curtis Porter and all my buddies from the MTC. Also, Elder Austin McNeil ( i dont know if you know him ) Lots of other people as well. Its always nice to see familiar faces down here in Mexico. We didnt get to see a lot of the dances because we had to wait below the stadium so we could go on the field and sing Called to Serve. I think that all the missionaries are going to get DVDs of the Cultural Event thing so you can watch it with me in 19 short months, ok?
Lets see, then SUnday morning we went to the rededication and it was amazing as well. It really reaffirmed my testimony that President Thomas S. Monson is a Profet of God and also strengthened my testimony of temples. They really are Casas del Senor.
We turned out only having one baptism to end our run in Apaxco with Elder Obregon. We had it last night at like 9. It was sweet. We baptized Ivon Resendiz Ramirez. She is the mother of that lil girl in the pictures last week. She is way tight. Elder Obregon and I sang Para Siempre Dios Este Con Voz. (God Be With you Til We Meet Again) IT was awesome with all of the branch there. A lot of people were crying because they knew that Elder Obregon and I were leaving. It was a really spiritual experience. Elder O and I also gave our testimonies and it was really really cool. The Spirit was really strong. Ill send pics.
Mother, I really appreciate hearing about the same funny Alyssa story 2 weeks in a row..... It wasnt quite as funny reading it the second time, but i still enjoyed it hahaha. (Alyssa, you can use that to put in moms book, i think mom might be getting up there in age) No se crea madre!
Ive seen a ridiculous improvement in my Spanish skills this last week. I dont know what happened really. Everything just started clicking and I gave a couple lessons all by myself (while Elder Obregon was playing with some kids) I think that this cambio it will improve a lot also because Elder Stirland is kinda quiet and Im more of the friendly get to know ya misionero. (I get it from you Mother) Oh im also excited cause my new zone leader is awesome. His name is Elder Bautista (Like Juan el Bautista/ John the Baptist.......kinda ironic) He is way cool and has over 200 baptisms in his mission so i plan on learning a lot from him. He is also in my district so ill see him a couple times a week.
Answers to your questions....
1. Yes, i have more pics, but not very many, i usually send the ones i like
2. I probably couldnt watch Brads games if you sent them to me cause that is against the rules.
3. I dont think they really celebrate Thanksgiving mom, its sorta an American Holiday, but usually members ask us what we like to eat and ill be sure to eat Turkey on Thanksgiving.
4. We had a bus with a bunch of other missionaries. We didnt get back til like 3 in the morning. Then we had to wake up at 7 to go to the Rededicacion. I was really tired.....
Well, thats about it. Thanks for all your love and support. The Church is true, there is absolutely no doubt about it. Im so thankful to know that familias can be together forever. I love you all!
Until next week......
Con amor,
Elder Greg Heap
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Last week in Apaxco
Hola familia, November 10, 2008
Another great week here in Apaxco. We´re working hard and should see some baptisms this last week that we are here. Yep, This is going to be my last week in Apaxco! Loco! Also, my last week with my trainer Elder Obregon. I´m like 99% sure that im going to be going to Atotonilco which is like 10 minutes from where im at. It is supposed to be a really hard area and since I´ve been in the field, there have only been 3 baptisms there. Should be a challenge, but Im ready for it. I don’t know who is going to be my next companion, but I do know that my apartment is going to be like 4 times the size. I´ve already seen it because our zone leaders are living there now. I´m pretty excited for the change, but we will see how everything turns out!
We had zone conference last Thursday and it was awesome! I love zone conferences, Pres. Nancollas is awesome! We talked about a lot of topics in the conference, but my favorite part is when he showed clips of when Michael Phelps won the gold in 100 M Butterfly and the 400x100M relay. I was just thrilled to watch sports for once, the first time in almost 5 months! Haha President Nancollas did a really good job of relating it to missionary work though. He related Michael Phelps butterfly race to missionary work saying that we need to finish until the end and how we need to be working hard through out all of our mission and keep enduring to the end. He also talked about the trainer of Michael Phelps and in the clip it showed him cheering for Phelps. He compared himself to the coach, and he said that he is cheering us on as we baptize and are obedient. Finally, he talked about how before the 2x100 M race the Frenchies were talking smack and he related them to Satan. It was pretty funny, everyone was dying laughing. He said that Satan is always going to be there telling you that you can´t win, you can´t baptize, you can´t speak Spanish, you cant do it. BUT, with hard work and with the Spirit you can conquer any challenge that you have in the mission. I´ve been thinking about that a lot lately and it gives me so much strength to KNOW that we are in the truth and that I am a disciple of Christ. I know that there is nothing that I can´t do with the help of the Lord.
Lets see, this next week should be pretty sweet with the re-dedication of the Mexico City Temple. We don’t get to go to it on Sunday, but It will be broadcast in our stake center. What we do get to go to is an event Saturday in the Estadio Azteca. It should be really cool. Like a cultural dance and singing and speakers and all that good stuff, im excited. We are also going with all the missionaries in our mission so that should be cool to see some familiar faces.
This morning was fun, we played soccer with some Elders here in Apaxco. My team beat Elder Romney´s team so you can talk trash to his mom if you would like! Haha No se crea!
Oh, also I received letters from Ali and my buddy K.C. at the zone conference and a dearelder thing that you sent me of one of Elder Scurrs letters! In one of Ali´s letters she said that you started me a blog…..What?! I didn’t know you knew how to do that mother? I guess that’s cool!
Oh one more thing, Dad, my mission leader in the branch said that he´s coming up to work for you. He says he´s really good with his hands and he will do whatever you want. Hé also wants me to add that he feeds me really good (which is true!) and that if you want to come visit you always have a place to sleep here in Apaxco. He´s a stud, his name is Hno Ciro. He helps us pick up investigadores for church and he is hilarious. He´s kidding about going up to the states, not that he would be able to, legally, but he likes to joke about it.
Oh and i just read a lil bit of dads letter and he said todd cauge 2 TD´s.... awwww yea! Go Ravens! Tell Todd i´ve been praying for him a lot lately!
Well that’s it for today, I love you all so much and I thank you for your love and support. I know this church is true and that God lives and loves us and wants us to be happy. I know that we will receive so many amazing blessings as we are obedient to the commandments of God. I also know that we can receive revelation and answers to our prayers if we have the Spirit with us. Thanks again for everything!
Con amor,
Elder Greg Heap
Another great week here in Apaxco. We´re working hard and should see some baptisms this last week that we are here. Yep, This is going to be my last week in Apaxco! Loco! Also, my last week with my trainer Elder Obregon. I´m like 99% sure that im going to be going to Atotonilco which is like 10 minutes from where im at. It is supposed to be a really hard area and since I´ve been in the field, there have only been 3 baptisms there. Should be a challenge, but Im ready for it. I don’t know who is going to be my next companion, but I do know that my apartment is going to be like 4 times the size. I´ve already seen it because our zone leaders are living there now. I´m pretty excited for the change, but we will see how everything turns out!
We had zone conference last Thursday and it was awesome! I love zone conferences, Pres. Nancollas is awesome! We talked about a lot of topics in the conference, but my favorite part is when he showed clips of when Michael Phelps won the gold in 100 M Butterfly and the 400x100M relay. I was just thrilled to watch sports for once, the first time in almost 5 months! Haha President Nancollas did a really good job of relating it to missionary work though. He related Michael Phelps butterfly race to missionary work saying that we need to finish until the end and how we need to be working hard through out all of our mission and keep enduring to the end. He also talked about the trainer of Michael Phelps and in the clip it showed him cheering for Phelps. He compared himself to the coach, and he said that he is cheering us on as we baptize and are obedient. Finally, he talked about how before the 2x100 M race the Frenchies were talking smack and he related them to Satan. It was pretty funny, everyone was dying laughing. He said that Satan is always going to be there telling you that you can´t win, you can´t baptize, you can´t speak Spanish, you cant do it. BUT, with hard work and with the Spirit you can conquer any challenge that you have in the mission. I´ve been thinking about that a lot lately and it gives me so much strength to KNOW that we are in the truth and that I am a disciple of Christ. I know that there is nothing that I can´t do with the help of the Lord.
Lets see, this next week should be pretty sweet with the re-dedication of the Mexico City Temple. We don’t get to go to it on Sunday, but It will be broadcast in our stake center. What we do get to go to is an event Saturday in the Estadio Azteca. It should be really cool. Like a cultural dance and singing and speakers and all that good stuff, im excited. We are also going with all the missionaries in our mission so that should be cool to see some familiar faces.
This morning was fun, we played soccer with some Elders here in Apaxco. My team beat Elder Romney´s team so you can talk trash to his mom if you would like! Haha No se crea!
Oh, also I received letters from Ali and my buddy K.C. at the zone conference and a dearelder thing that you sent me of one of Elder Scurrs letters! In one of Ali´s letters she said that you started me a blog…..What?! I didn’t know you knew how to do that mother? I guess that’s cool!
Oh one more thing, Dad, my mission leader in the branch said that he´s coming up to work for you. He says he´s really good with his hands and he will do whatever you want. Hé also wants me to add that he feeds me really good (which is true!) and that if you want to come visit you always have a place to sleep here in Apaxco. He´s a stud, his name is Hno Ciro. He helps us pick up investigadores for church and he is hilarious. He´s kidding about going up to the states, not that he would be able to, legally, but he likes to joke about it.
Oh and i just read a lil bit of dads letter and he said todd cauge 2 TD´s.... awwww yea! Go Ravens! Tell Todd i´ve been praying for him a lot lately!
Well that’s it for today, I love you all so much and I thank you for your love and support. I know this church is true and that God lives and loves us and wants us to be happy. I know that we will receive so many amazing blessings as we are obedient to the commandments of God. I also know that we can receive revelation and answers to our prayers if we have the Spirit with us. Thanks again for everything!
Con amor,
Elder Greg Heap
Yes....the gospel has all the answers
Hola Familia,
November 3, 2008
I gotta make this email short this week because I have absolutely no time today. I gotta get a haircut and we have an appointment with an investigador soon. haha (yes we are working on Pday today) To answer your question about not working 2 hours because of the siesta hours.... No, we dont get that break. We work from 10 a.m. to about 9 p.m. just about everyday sometimes we get in a little late ´cause of appointments, but those are our working hours.
Ooooook, not a whole lot of exciting news as far as investigadores and baptisms this week, but we should have 1 or 2 next week.
Saturday morning that old man that i brought sacrament to a few weeks ago passed away, so yesterday we had his funeral service. It was pretty sad for the branch. The funeral services went really well yesterday. Elder Obregon and I sang his favorite hymn as a musical number Grande Eres Tu (How Great Thou Art) It was neat to be a part of the servicios. I dont think i´ve ever been to the part of a funeral when they put the casket in the ground and offer the blessing. It was sad cause a lot of people were crying, but it was a good missionary experience for us because a lot of people were asking us questions about what happens after this life. It is such a comforting feeling to know that we the Church of Jesus Christ has all the answers and it is perfect in everyway.
Lets see, on a much happier note, it sounds like everyone had a great Happy Halloween! Your pics were great! haha i have the cutest nieces and nephews! Here we had Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. The kids here (trick or treat) 2 days!! No fair haha! And they ask for money instead of candy! its ridiculous. Elder Obregon and I bought a bag of candy to give out while we were out and about walking the streets. All the kids would run up to me and say, (in spanish of course) Hey its a white person, lets go ask him for lots of money! haha they were dissappointed to only receive candy, but as missionaries we dont get payed very well ; ) haha
I received letters from Grandma and Grandpa Heap tell them thank you and that I´ll be praying for Uncle Verl and his family too! Also received a letter from Car! Tell her thanks and that i love her! Oh and I sent Todd and Ash an email last week, let me know if they received it.
Oh and Bradley you´re a stud, 9-0, Go Toros!
Love you all! Until next week
Con amor,
Elder Greg Heap
November 3, 2008
I gotta make this email short this week because I have absolutely no time today. I gotta get a haircut and we have an appointment with an investigador soon. haha (yes we are working on Pday today) To answer your question about not working 2 hours because of the siesta hours.... No, we dont get that break. We work from 10 a.m. to about 9 p.m. just about everyday sometimes we get in a little late ´cause of appointments, but those are our working hours.
Ooooook, not a whole lot of exciting news as far as investigadores and baptisms this week, but we should have 1 or 2 next week.
Saturday morning that old man that i brought sacrament to a few weeks ago passed away, so yesterday we had his funeral service. It was pretty sad for the branch. The funeral services went really well yesterday. Elder Obregon and I sang his favorite hymn as a musical number Grande Eres Tu (How Great Thou Art) It was neat to be a part of the servicios. I dont think i´ve ever been to the part of a funeral when they put the casket in the ground and offer the blessing. It was sad cause a lot of people were crying, but it was a good missionary experience for us because a lot of people were asking us questions about what happens after this life. It is such a comforting feeling to know that we the Church of Jesus Christ has all the answers and it is perfect in everyway.
Lets see, on a much happier note, it sounds like everyone had a great Happy Halloween! Your pics were great! haha i have the cutest nieces and nephews! Here we had Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. The kids here (trick or treat) 2 days!! No fair haha! And they ask for money instead of candy! its ridiculous. Elder Obregon and I bought a bag of candy to give out while we were out and about walking the streets. All the kids would run up to me and say, (in spanish of course) Hey its a white person, lets go ask him for lots of money! haha they were dissappointed to only receive candy, but as missionaries we dont get payed very well ; ) haha
I received letters from Grandma and Grandpa Heap tell them thank you and that I´ll be praying for Uncle Verl and his family too! Also received a letter from Car! Tell her thanks and that i love her! Oh and I sent Todd and Ash an email last week, let me know if they received it.
Oh and Bradley you´re a stud, 9-0, Go Toros!
Love you all! Until next week
Con amor,
Elder Greg Heap
Mexico City Temple Open House
What up Fam...or (to whom it may concern)
This week was so busy and so awesome and amazing at the same time. Wednesday we went to the temple as a branch and it was awesome! The Mexico City Temple is sweet! You can always feel the Spirit so strong in the Temple, dedicated or not! I think there is a video on YouTube that an Elder told me about that is the same movie that everyone watches before they went in the temple. Kinda a prep for all the non members that dont know what the temple is. Check it out.... ask Johnny or Carli how to use YouTube aight mom! haha After the temple we had a bar b que with the branch across the street of the temple, it was delicious. I love our branch.
Then, on Thursday morning we had interviews with PRes. Nancollas and he said that Elder Obregon is goin to be leaving me this next cambio (Nov 16) and im goin to get another companion and be here in Apaxco still. Im pretty excited and sad at the same time. Sad cause Elder Obregon is awesome and i might get a lame comp, but excited cause im going to be able to grow so much in my teaching and speaking and everything so im pumped about that!
Saturday we went to the temple as a zone to help direct traffic and answer questions. There was seriously a million people there. When we went on Wed there wasnt that many people but Saturday was a ton! I mostly directed buses and answered questions at a booth thing, it was pretty tight! The Mexican people are awesome! I also got to see Elder Farmer one of my buds from the MTC there so that was cool. On the bus ride there and back I got to talking with Elder Romney about when we played bball together, specifically when I hit that buzzer beater to beat them my J.V. year.... good times good times.
Lets see, we got back late Saturday and we had a bunch of appointments so we were literally sprinting around town. Great fun!
Then the highlight of the week, as if there werent many, was on Sunday! We had 5 baptisms, a grandma (Rosa) and 4 of her grandkids, Moises, Noe, Mariella, and Ernesto. They are tight! Hermana Rosa had 18 kids (7 died before they were born) but 18!!!! Can you imagine, we did the math and she was pregnant for about 12 years of her life. She is so sweet and says (gracias a dios) (thanks to god) after about everything we say. We´re are teaching here other kids and grandkids, but we´re having a hard time getting them to church. There are like 25 people living in these 3 little houses all next to each other. Its sweet.
We were supposed to have 6 baptisms, but the other Hermana didn´t show up.... Anyways it was a great experience to have that many baptisms in 1 day. Im just loving the work and trying to do all that I can to improve my Spanish and TEaching and siempre working to have the Spirit with me.
Oh, something tragic happened yesterday in the afternoon, I accidentally deleted all my pics on my camera! Tragic i know, hopefully you´ve been saving my emails (what do you do with my emails by the way?) and saving my pics that i send! Elder Obregon is going to send me the pics from the baptism and some other pictures that he had on his camera that i wanted to send, so i can send them to you, but i have 0 pictures on my camera...... So dont worry mom, my memory card isnt quite full yet! haha
Thats about it from your favorite missionary! I love you all!
I know the church is true and It is the most important thing in the world to me. It brings me so much happiness and so much joy and it is so awesome to be able to focus on bringing others that happiness!
Well.... until next week!
Con Amor,
Elder Greg Hea
This week was so busy and so awesome and amazing at the same time. Wednesday we went to the temple as a branch and it was awesome! The Mexico City Temple is sweet! You can always feel the Spirit so strong in the Temple, dedicated or not! I think there is a video on YouTube that an Elder told me about that is the same movie that everyone watches before they went in the temple. Kinda a prep for all the non members that dont know what the temple is. Check it out.... ask Johnny or Carli how to use YouTube aight mom! haha After the temple we had a bar b que with the branch across the street of the temple, it was delicious. I love our branch.
Then, on Thursday morning we had interviews with PRes. Nancollas and he said that Elder Obregon is goin to be leaving me this next cambio (Nov 16) and im goin to get another companion and be here in Apaxco still. Im pretty excited and sad at the same time. Sad cause Elder Obregon is awesome and i might get a lame comp, but excited cause im going to be able to grow so much in my teaching and speaking and everything so im pumped about that!
Saturday we went to the temple as a zone to help direct traffic and answer questions. There was seriously a million people there. When we went on Wed there wasnt that many people but Saturday was a ton! I mostly directed buses and answered questions at a booth thing, it was pretty tight! The Mexican people are awesome! I also got to see Elder Farmer one of my buds from the MTC there so that was cool. On the bus ride there and back I got to talking with Elder Romney about when we played bball together, specifically when I hit that buzzer beater to beat them my J.V. year.... good times good times.
Lets see, we got back late Saturday and we had a bunch of appointments so we were literally sprinting around town. Great fun!
Then the highlight of the week, as if there werent many, was on Sunday! We had 5 baptisms, a grandma (Rosa) and 4 of her grandkids, Moises, Noe, Mariella, and Ernesto. They are tight! Hermana Rosa had 18 kids (7 died before they were born) but 18!!!! Can you imagine, we did the math and she was pregnant for about 12 years of her life. She is so sweet and says (gracias a dios) (thanks to god) after about everything we say. We´re are teaching here other kids and grandkids, but we´re having a hard time getting them to church. There are like 25 people living in these 3 little houses all next to each other. Its sweet.
We were supposed to have 6 baptisms, but the other Hermana didn´t show up.... Anyways it was a great experience to have that many baptisms in 1 day. Im just loving the work and trying to do all that I can to improve my Spanish and TEaching and siempre working to have the Spirit with me.
Oh, something tragic happened yesterday in the afternoon, I accidentally deleted all my pics on my camera! Tragic i know, hopefully you´ve been saving my emails (what do you do with my emails by the way?) and saving my pics that i send! Elder Obregon is going to send me the pics from the baptism and some other pictures that he had on his camera that i wanted to send, so i can send them to you, but i have 0 pictures on my camera...... So dont worry mom, my memory card isnt quite full yet! haha
Thats about it from your favorite missionary! I love you all!
I know the church is true and It is the most important thing in the world to me. It brings me so much happiness and so much joy and it is so awesome to be able to focus on bringing others that happiness!
Well.... until next week!
Con Amor,
Elder Greg Hea
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