Tuesday, October 27, 2009

....Lightening Storms and Lost Sheep

Heeeeeeey family....

Sorry for not writing yesterday, there is an excellent reason why i did not. I think im going to go backwards in my week to get the explaining done and then go on with the rest of the week.

Yesterday was one of the most perfect days to do our lil zone activity of climbing to the tallest mountain in our mission. We prayed way hard for good weather and we got it. Lately it has been cold and rainy and lightning storms, but I´ll talk about that later. Yesterday was not one of those days. Yesterday there was perfect blue skies with lots of clouds. We started off on our trail at about 6 a.m. It was a fun hike and although it was long, everyone made it. (even the hermanas) We took a TON of pics which ill have to send some day. They are awesome pics. We had a devotional/testimony meeting on top of the clouds when we got to the top with a lot of the Elders talking about the symbolism between hiking the mountain and the mission. (Example: It´s not the mountain before us that stops us from getting to the top, but the pebble in the shoe) That might sound better in spanish, but I personally liked that one.
So everything was great. We thought it went perfectly until it took a terrible twist. Elder Francis and I were the last ones to go back down after saying some prayers on top of the mountain. A fourth of the way down we hear ´´help, Elderes, we´re lost´´ SOMEHOW, some of the Elders and one of the Hermanas got WAY off the camino on the way down. We went to a high rock and they were in a valley and were yelling to us that they cant get out and they can´t turn around to the way that they went down cause it was too high to get back up. (among the group was Elder Golledge so I felt a personaly responsability to go get em out. We had to have a rescue team of Elder Ficachi, Elder Palomec and I. We went down to where they were and had to drag them up from the bottom of the valley to the top of the mountain again. The hermana broke her shoes so we had to help her a ton and she used some Elders shoes.
Yea..... Its a long story. To make a long story short, we all got out safe. (but 5 hours later than planned) That didnt give us much time to do anything else. Especially because we had to come to the offices last night to sleep here. It was fun last night because there are a lot of tight zone leaders. A lot of really good friends. Elder Arnett, Elder Romney, Elder Slade, Elder Francis, Elder Allen, etc. We played games all night and didnt get much sleep. Fun stuff. Its been a while since ive stayed up late. Today (in like 10 minutes) is the zone leader council meeting with President Nancollas. Im doing a presentacion on ORGANIZATION and gaining confidence of the investigators. Im super pumped. Usually missionaries (except the assistants) dont really give presentations so I am really excited about it.

So i dont have much time so ill just give a recap of the week.
One of the days walking through the graveyard on the way to church there was a thunderbolt storm all around us. We literally saw lightning hit close 4 times.

This week the hermana Perla and the hermana Amalia are getting baptized. They are way excited to follow Jesus.

My new wards (especially Bishops) are AWESOME. They gave me the ´´welcome to the ward´´ and I gave my testimony in sacrament meeting. It went well. Im way happy to be in this area. My last wards Bishop was a power hungry freak that didnt help us. (I forgive him though)

We set a record in the mission as a zone for finding new investigators in a week. With 12 companionships we had over 200. Theres a lot of people to teach. I love it.

I cant really think of what else. Ill just answer a couple questions. Im not getting gram and gramps emails..... Im excited to see Halloween pics.... This year Elder Francis and I have some ideas to dress up. We´ll see what happens.

Sorry i gotta cut it short. Next week we arent going to have a zone activity. I promise to write more. I love the work. Wouldnt trade this for anything. Its the work of the Lord. The church is true. Have a great week.

Con amor,
Elder Heap

Monday, October 19, 2009

..i love the mish like a fat kid loves cake

Im going to make this a quick one cause I have like 10 minutes to write.
Changes came.... I got a really sweet noticia. I got changed AGAIN. Things are crazy and I already have 8 areas in my 16 short months. That means that out of the 14 months that i have in Mexico, i have been in a LOT of places. I can get around the mish pretty easy now cause I`ve been in almost every place except Queretaro.

AND I was really happy to see where I got called to. It`s a zone that i have wanted to be in my whole mission because it is famous for baptizing a lot. Its Ecatepec. AND I got bumped up as a zone leader so it is going to be the best opportunity ever. I have 22 Elders and 2 Hermanas in my zone and it should be a blast. My comp is Elder Francis from Oregon. He`s tight and probably hung out with him before the mish. He was in Helaman halls at BYU when i was and he knows Sarah Hall and Kelcie Beck. He`s a stud and goes home in February. Im stoked.

Not only that but the District leaders in my zone are Elder Christiansen and Elder Farmer (they were in my district in the MTC) AND Elder Graham and Elder Ashcraft are also in my zone (they were also in my district in the MTC) It is crazy and way fun to be together. It will be fun also cause Farmer Christiansen and I are like tight buds in the mish. Next week we are going to climb a huge mountain together. Its going to be a fun change. Oh and Elder Golledge is in my zone too. Its the sweetest zone ever.

My new area has 2 wards. San Cristobal, and Izcalli. We are probably going to baptize like 10 people this next month ``and thats A LOT`` because Elder Francis has a ton of people in teaching. So I was so excited about that.

Also, President called me yesterday and thanked me for what i did with my last district so that gave me a little boost to keep working as hard as possible. In my last district, 2 of the Elders went up as District Leaders and Elder Carrillo and another Elder in my District went up as seƱor companions. We pretty much all got awesome changes. I was so excited.

We had a lot of people in church as well and had a baptism. Her name is Bertha. I haven`t really mentioned her in my last letters because we never really thought she would progress, but she asked us last week if she could get baptized and asked us what she had to do. We taught her what she needed to know and she had already been to church a bunch so we baptized her yesterday before i left. It was great and next week Elder Carrillo is going to have 5 more baptisms. Im sad i wont be there to see them get baptized (Olga and her 2 kids) (another lady named Rebecca and her son Juan Antonio) Its all good though. I was ready for a change.

Since i have started my mission i have had 2 streaks. 1. I have never been in an area more than 2 changes. and 2. I have gone Mexican, American, Mexican, American with my comps since Elder Memmott in the MTC. I keep the streaks alive.

I was so pumped to hear about Brad too. He is tearin it up. Todd`s team has had some heartbreakers, but I have faith that they will go to the Superbowl (my faith depends on the faith i have in Todd and the Ravens and of the dream of Elder Milham last change)

I loved the pictures that you sent me. I have such a cute fam. I love you all. Tell Brad Copple that the purple California surfer dude shirt is sick. (or you can tell him that it would look better on Talli) haha

Oh and I bought a few new ties with the money that you sent me to buy new shoes. I promise to use the money to buy new shoes, but im going to wait a lil so i can wear my shoes out more. They`re way comfy now that they are all worn in.

Thats all the news for today. Its a lot and i love it. The mission is the best. The church is true. God lives and loves us. Jesus Christ is our Savior and the Redeemer of the world. Families can be together forever. I love my family! Have a great week!

Con amor,
Elder Greg Heap

Monday, October 12, 2009

....Rollercoaster week

This was one of the craziest weeks of my mission. Lots of ups and lots of downs. I guess thats how it usually goes, but the highs were really high and the lows were really low. Everything turned out perfect though and I think all of your prayers are helping me out a bunch.

(oh just a side note: i didnt write about conference talks last week because someone stole my lil black notebook that i have all of my notes in..... I hope that someone finds it and gets it to me, but im in MExico....the chances of that is pretty slim.... The SUnday afternoon session i got to watch in English so I got to see Elder Holland bear his testimony about the Book of Mormon..... I think that was my favorite one that i remember There were also a bunch of awesome ones on Saturday.... I even put stars next to the talks that i was going to write home about, but now i dont have my notebook)

So anyways, we had a really good first few days last week. Tuesday and Wednesday we found 11 new investigators to teach and usually we find that in 3 or 4 days. They are pretty sweet. We are contacting EVERYONE in the street and on buses and EVERYWHERE. This week we contacted more than 200 people just in the streets and counting big families as 1 person. CRAZY.... I know that the hard work pays off and God blesses us according to our efforts.

Then Thursday we went to visit the zone leaders area to help them out in the Tianguis. (I dont know how to explain what that is, but its like an outdoor market that they sell EVERYTHING there and it feels up a whole avenue) It was fun. We set up a table and handed out pamphlets and pictures of JEsus and we got a ton of appointments for our Zone Leaders out of it. It went really well. At first it didnt really go very well, but then we started yelling to get people to come talk to us. (The people that sell fruits always yell at the people to sell them there stuff and yell out the deals of the day) We were yelling ``Bring Jesus to your home for free`` ``Have a happier home and family`` etc. etc. That worked a lil better. We brought it up another level though when we started singing hymns while all the people were passing by. That had the most success and the zone leaders now have appointments with a bunch of families. We are going to try it in my area if we have time this week.

Friday and Saturday we visited a lot of the investigators that we have and just about everyone told us that they didnt want to listen to us. It was just a complete rejection. We went to like 7 houses in a row and all of the families either hid from us, werent there for the appointments, or just flat out told us that they werent interested in listening to us any more. Some of them said that they would show up by themselves to church...(a.k.a. IM NOT GOING) Even Pablo said that he feels good that we go visit him and that we are friends and everything, but that he is to busy to go to church and we dont think he will progress.

So we had previously decided to fast and pray from Saturday after the food appointment until Sunday so we did. Right after starting the fast a lot of the previous paragraph stuff happened. We were bummed. I got home Saturday night and we planned. My zone leader Elder Allen called me and asked how many people we were going to take to church and I didnt really know what to tell him. I told him that if everything goes perfect that we would have 3 or 4 in church. I finished talking to him and then my comp and I both went to our beds and prayed. I dont know how long i prayed for, but I know that I woke up like an hour and a half later on the ground and I had fallen asleep.

Sunday morning we went to pass for Bertha and Emilio. They are pretty cool. They were hardcore catholics, but they went to the general confernce and enjoyed it. They came with us to church. We got to sacrament meeting and like we thought NO OTHER INVESTIGATORS) I sat there listening to the talks and praying trying to figure out what we are doing wrong and how we could do better. A few minutes later shows up Alberto, Dora Luz, and Carlos. One of the families that we didnt believe when they said ``we will see ya there`` We were so pumped. I looked at my comp who was sitting by Emilio and Bertha and we just smiled. Like 5 minutes later Olga (Pablos wife) walks in with her sister Carolina and her 3 kids. Brayan Daniela and Julisa. My smile went from ear to ear i was so happy. Saturday they basically said that they couldnt go and they showed up. Afterwards talking to Olga she said that she was laying in bed last night at about 10:30 and felt the need that they should go. (That was the exact time that i was on my knees praying) On top of all that another guy named Ricardo showed up to church and said that he wants to get baptized. He said that he doesnt have much money, but that he wants to be a part of the church and learn about Jesus. I told him that money isn`t a requirement to join the church and we had a quick lesson with him. Sooooo..... lots of blessings. We ended up have 6 people in church for the first time and 10 investigators in total. It was definately a huge blessing. Oh, AND we found out that there was a lady and her son that was going to the other ward that lives in our ward and they arent members and they want us to go teach them. They also want to get baptized. Basically we have about 8 baptisms lined up for the next 2 weeks and everything got turned around so quick. We went from having nothing and almost no more investigators to feeling the song of redeeming love and having a lot of people interested in learning more and coming unto Christ.

I know without a doubt that my Father in Heaven answers my prayers and wants me to be happy. The mission is a funny experience because in one moment you are crying on your knees pleading for help with a blanket over your head feeling like you cant do anything and the next moment you feel like everything clicks you just want to keep giving your comp high fives until our hands hurt because of so much happiness. It brings a whole new meaning to the phrase ``an instrument in the Lords hands`` It reminds me of the scripture in Alma 26. Ammon is full of joy and happiness, but at the same time realizes his own weaknesses. I dont remember how it goes exactly in english, but in spanish i have it memorized so just read in Alma 26: 11 and 12. Ammon says how as to his own wisdom and own efforts he is nothing and he rejoices in his God. He knows that he is nothing, but with God he can to all thins and can do many miracles in the earth adn that he will praise his name forever. Something like that.

This weekend i have also gained a great testimony of the power of fasting. I have always fasted and had a testimony of it, but i have never received a testimony as i did Sunday. Sunday after our meeting with the ward leaders Elder Carrillo and I went to the back room and got on our knees to thank Our Heavenly Father for the many blessings that we received.

There is no doubt in my mind that this is the work of the Lord that we will be victorious against the work of the devil. I know that Jesus is the Christ. He paid for my sins and loves each and every one of us. I know that because of His sacrifice I will be able to be exalted and live with my family forever according to my obedience to the principles and ordinances of His gospel. The work is true. I know it. There are no doubts.

Well thats it for this week. I tried to write a little bit more for you all. I thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Have a great week!

Con amor,
Elder Heap

Monday, October 5, 2009

..intense ride to leadership meeting!

hola familia,

This was a week with lots of ups and downs. On Tuesday we had a crazy day.
5 Elders in our zone (not including the zls) we had a sleep over last monday night to go together to a leadership training meeting. everything in the world went wrong tuesday morning. We almost crashed like 4 times in the bus on the way to the metro. The metro was PACKED. we could hardly breathe. We got to the suburbano (which is a new metro that takes us from the DF to the other side of the mish) we got tickets to go and some how my comp elder Carrillo got stuck behind a bunch of people. I saw him so i went and grabbed him and pulled him through the huge crowd. We missed the first go around of the suburbano which made us even more late. then when we finally got on and to our stop. i quickly hopped off with elder anaya and the door shut behind me, leaving the other 3 elders on the metro going to the next stop 15 minutes away. Luckily me and another elder on the metro had cell phones so we could communicate and find each other. if not if would have been a show. we finally got to the meeting and we sprinted from the bus stop to the church by the mission offices. it was a pretty intense morning. The meeting went well and they had me give an example of how to put a baptismal date for an investigator in front of all the leaders of the mission and PResident nancollas. It went well.

As for my area. The work is pretty rough. We are praying and doing all we can to bring people to Christ, but the work is hard in this part of the vineyard. Pray for Elder Carrillo and I so that we can find more people that arent lazy and want to go to church and get baptized. Pablo finally gets back from his work trip so we are hoping they will get baptized soon. Pray for Pablo and his family.

Today we had a fun activity as well. We got the whole zone together to make carne asada and play pool. it was tight. ill send pics next week. Oh and i didnt lose in pool the whole day. i still got it.

Well family thats about it. i have so much happiness hearing about the success that all of you are having in your lifes. i love you all! keep praying for the missionaries and the people here in San Andres, Xalostoc.

Con amor,
Elder Heap