Monday, May 20, 2013 - "WOW"!

Hola Mi Familia! Another week gone, and here we are starting the last week of the transfer. That is super crazy! I can't believe that we have almost completed another transfer already! It has gone by so fast! It was quite saddening to hear of the passing of Sister Monson. She was a special wife for the Prophet and he always talked of her so sweetly. Well, I have a lot to tell I feel like, so let's just get right to it! Starting with the investigators. This week has been kind of crazy and short, but good! We luckily were able to receive a few references this week to add to our teaching pool and we have renewed our desires to get references like crazy and to have more people to teach. We had changes with the zone leaders one day this week which also helped us a ton to get help and council for our area. Our funny lady has just been a hoot this week! We always look forward to our visits with her and we are always anxiously awaiting what crazy thing she will say next. She continues to tell everyone she knows that "the Mormons" are visiting her and she has been a good little missionary and has even given us names of people we can visit. She is quite hilarious! She brought her boss to the Mother's Day activity we had in the church (yes, we had a Mother's Day activity a week late... ) just so she could see everything everything she was learning! Haha! She is too funny! Our lady made friends with a member last week in church and so we brought that same sister with us to a lesson this week. Man, did she not take a breath! Haha! She just loved it! Talked nonstop! I'm sure she gets a little lonely sometimes and so when she has someone over it is just so exciting! She kept telling us that she was going to make us food for the next time we come and she has given us homemade bread and goodies like that. She made a little joke this week. She told the sister that went with us to the lesson that she liked her a lot and she wanted her to be her "Godmother" or "Madrina" for her baptism (for anyone who doesn't know, the godmother or madrina in the catholic church is a big deal for baby baptisms. Apparently they help in the baptism or something...). She just had us laughing nonstop! We taught her The Word Of Wisdom this week and she happily gave us her coffee container at the end of the lesson. We all went outside afterward and we dug a little hole and she poured her coffee in the hole and buried her coffee grains as a similitude of the Anti-Nephi Lehis burring their weapons of war. She is progressing quite well and is always sending us text messages to ask when we will be coming again. I think this week we will put a baptism date! The boy we are teaching kind of spooked us this week. In the changes we were having with the zone leaders I stayed in my area and Elder Hardison (who is in my generation and we traveled to Mexico together) came with me. We began talking and Elder Hardison began asking him how he has felt with us teaching him, etc. Then we arrive at the questions of baptism. He asks him and he then tells Elder Hardison his fight he had with his mom. He says that his mom has now calmed down and has given him her approval for baptism, but.......she wants him to wait 1 YEAR.....1 YEAR! That just kind of took us by surprise. We will be praying a lot for him that his mom will change her mind and we will also try and have a lesson for her to talk with her. So let's just hope for a miracle! That is all that is worth explaining about investigators...now on to the other events...!!! Friday, we left Agua Prieta at 12 noon to be in Hermosillo by 6PM to be able to practice and rehearse with the other Elders in Hermosillo for our number! We arrived and BOY is it a lot hotter in Hermosillo than it is here. And I complain about the heat of Agua Prieta....haha! We took taxis to the chapel and when we got there the church's maintenance department is just going crazy! Haha! They are painting the exterior of the chapel and doing repairs and cleaning to get the building looking all nice and presentable for an Apostle. We practiced our number and man did it sound good! I loved being director! It was fun! Pres. and Hermana Hernandez came in and listened to our last rehearsal and liked it! Our zone went and stayed the night with the Assistants in their big house with one other zone. Saturday morning we had to all wake up at 5:30AM to get showered and ready to leave at 7AM. We arrived and the whole mission was there! It was crazy! The first and last time the whole mission will be together! It was neat to see old friends and companions and to talk with and see everyone! We practiced getting everyone into place for the picture and then we had like 20 minutes of down time to practice our song one last time. We got back into place for the arrival of Elder Christofferson and waited. When he arrived and entered the room, it was very special! The atmosphere changed. Elder Christofferson was accompanied by his wife, Elder Donald Hallstrom of the Seventy and his wife, as well as Benjamin De Hoyos of the Seventy (and part of the area seventy of Mexico) and his wife and Elder Torris of the Seventy as well. It was neat! So many General Authorities! After the picture, we formed a line and shook hands with all of them. Shaking hands with Elder Christofferson was something rather special. It happened so quick that I don't think I was able to enjoy it and take it in enough, but I just remember looking into his eyes--so blue! I felt like I was looking into the eyes of the Savior. When I shook hands with Sister Christofferson, she recognized my name and made the connection with Grandad. We went to our seats and as we started the meeting, we were the first ones to sing after the prayer. There were 8 of us in total and the spirit was quite strong with our song! It went quite well! Afterwards each General Authority and his wife took a few minutes talking to us. It was rather special. Elder and Sister Hallstrom were the only ones who didn't speak English so they had to have a translator there. They would say a few sentences in Spanish and they later the translator would translate. It was interesting. Even Sister Christofferson spoke a little bit of Spanish which was neat! But Elder Christofferson spoke like practically perfect Spanish! It was really an amazing conference! We learned a ton! A few things I liked that they told us: - If we all make small changes in ourselves and personally, the mission will change dramatically. -Strive to change and be better and do better than the day before. -More important than what we do, is who we are and who we become. It was truly an amazing conference. Elder Christofferson said he loved the number we did and it was one of his favorite hymns ("Hark All Ye Nations") and that he had never heard it sung with such spirit. That was kind of special because I was the one who choose the song! :) The highlight was the end when Elder Christofferson bore his testimony. He did it with such power and he bore witness and told us that he wanted us to know that when we pass through the veil, that in that moment he told us that Christ lives. When he gave his testimony a special spirit filled my heart. It was not like any other feeling of the spirit I had ever felt before. It was a completely different feeling, but I knew it was the spirit. The thing is, that this feeling has been lingering with me for a few days now ever since the conference! It was fantastic and a once in a life time opportunity that I will never forget! After the conference we stayed so that my comp could have his "mid-way" training meeting. It was also a good meeting with Hermana Hernandez and the Assistants. It gave us even more desires and encouragement to press on. Then the time came for us to leave and I unfortunately had to say goodbye to my "papa" Elder Melchor because he finishes in 1 week! Oh, that was so hard! He has truly made my mission experience the best! He started me off right and just taught me everything that I am as a missionary. I love him a lot and it will not be the same with him not here in the mission. It was hard saying goodbye knowing that we would probs never see each other again in this life. But who knows....hopefully so.... This weekend really gave me a testimony of the Restoration of the Church and the Apostle. I have truly felt that the Apostles really are special witnesses of Jesus Christ and have the same power and authority as the original 12. What a fantastic weekend I will NEVER forget! Well, I hope you all have a fantastic Week! Here's to the last week of this change. I only have about 6 changes left of my mish! That is nuts! Time is flying, but I am enjoying! Miss and love you all tons! ¡Yo sé que vive mi Señor! Con Mucho Amor, Elder Joyner

Elder Joyner finally got his Easter tie. Baptism - Agua Prieta

Monday, May 13, 2013 - "Mother I Love You, Mother I Do..."

Hola Mi Familia! It was super duper fantastic to be able to talk to you all this past Friday, and not only talk, but to SEE you all as well! Why wasn't Skype approved sooner in my mission? Glad to hear that everything went well with Mother's day. How spoiled mom was! I am so very thankful to my Father in Heaven for the wonderful mother that he has given me. I will never to able to repay her for the countless sacrifices she has made and makes for me. I am so blessed to have learned from her all that I have learned. Thanks for everything mom! I got my package Saturday! Thanks so much mom! I absolutely LOVE my tie!!!! It is seriously the most beautiful thing I have ever seen and have made quite a few people jeally! Well, I'm not too sure how long this will be since I just talked to you all like 3 days ago, but we will see if I've got anything to say... So this week we have been working on preparing a lady for her baptism for this past Saturday. We really haven't had to do much but just plan and carry out a baptismal service. Her kids were baptized back in like September and she has been going to church with them almost every Sunday since then, so she was more than ready and basically knew everything. We just reviewed with her what baptism was and why it was important. We were kind of worried because we have been attending the baptisms of the other Elders in our district and there aren’t any members that go to support. So we made an extra effort to invite everyone to this baptism to make sure that there would be attendance to support her. Saturday came and everything seemed to be going well. When we arrived at the church to clean the font we open everything up and there are cockroaches all over the font! Oh, that was disgusting! So we had to do some cleaning up...haha! We got everything cleaned and began filling the font. The baptism was supposed to start at 6 PM so we told her to arrive at 5:30 PM to make sure everything was set. Well, 5:30 passed...as well as 5:45, 6, 6:15....the lady had not arrived yet. We were starting to get really worried and freaking out. Most of the members had already arrived and we had a good crowd. Well, she finally arrived at 6:20 and we were able to get the baptismal service underway. It was really a nice service. Elder Carver, Elder Gutierrez, and myself did our "Nearer My God To Thee rendition that we did a few weeks ago in the zone conference and the spirit was so strong! The ordinance (sp? I don't know English anymore...) was performed by a brother in the branch and we ended. It was really lovely and I was very blessed to be able to participate in this baptism. This was really a blessing from the Lord how this sister just came into our hands and we were able to help her participate in this saving ordinance of baptism. Now the other investigators.... The boyfriend of a member is on hold right now. We are just chillin with him...I'm not sure when we will be able to put another date but we will just have to see. He seems to still like our lessons I think. I don't know...he kind of confuses me sometimes. I can't really understand what he wants or what he needs. We will just have to keep on keepin on with him I guess... The other boy is also kind of on hold too. We are just waiting for him to turn 18 so that he doesn’t have to have family permission to be baptized. We watched with him the Joseph Smith movie this week and it was quite special. The spirit is always strong when we teach and testify of Joseph Smith. He is a nice young chap, but we just need a baptismal date so that he can progress a little more. Our funny lady is quite a hoot! She just keeps us going every lesson! We find ourselves holding in the laughter. She is absolutely obsessed with "The Mormons" and everything about us. She tells everyone she meets that "The Mormons" are visiting her and that she is going with "The Mormons" and she plans to be baptized. We can't get in a single word talking with her. She just keeps talking and talking and talking. She has received a few answers to her prayers. She works Sundays so she has been praying that she will get a chance to go to church to be able to be baptized. Her prayer was answered. She was talking to her boss one day the things she is learning with us and she commented that she has to go to church 4 Sundays to be baptized. He told her to just tell him when and he will cover her those Sundays. So that was special. We had a really nice lesson with her this week about the Plan of Salvation and we were able to tell her that she could be sealed Time and All Eternity with her husband who died a few years ago. She really liked that and is really striving to reach her goal of baptism. She was able to attend the baptism this past Saturday and she just seemed like she was having herself such a good little time. She was telling all the members she couldn't wait for her own baptism and to be baptized in the true church! She is so presh! She also went to church this past Sunday, but left before we could ask her how it went. We will visit her this week to see how she felt. This week my testimony has also been strengthened in the power of personal revelation. I can testify that God hears all of our needs and helps us understand and know the things that we need. I firmly believe in the saying: "When we want to talk to God, we pray. When we want God to talk to us, we read the scriptures" Really those two go hand in hand. I love the scriptures and the wonderful messages that they contain for each and every one of us! Well, that is about all I've got for this week! Here is to a week of spiritually preparing to receive instruction from an Apostle of the Lord! How fantastic this opportunity will be! I hope you all have a good last week of school! I love and miss you all tons and hope you are well! ¡Yo sé que vive mi Señor! Con Mucho Amor, Elder Joyner

Monday, May 6, 2013 -

Hola Mi Familia! My this week has just flown by! I seriously feel like I just wrote you all! How crazy! Yeah, 5 de Mayo came and went. It really isn't anything big here like I said before, but in the state of Puebla it is and since my comp is from Puebla he kind of made a big deal about the day. Apparently Cinco de Mayo is when Puebla won a battle against the French. So that is why it is so big, but really whatevs. This week has had quite a few events. We are really starting to pick up work now and it feels quite good! This week, 3 of us have been getting together to rehearse for a musical number we were going to do in Nogales Thursday. So we have been hard working on that. The older lady that I told you we found that was really interested, basically obsessed, with the church. She always loves us to visit and is talking quite seriously about becoming apart of the church. She is an older lady in her late 50s. Her husband was killed and she lives alone. She says her father was baptized towards the end of his life and she went to church sometimes with him. And then the friend I told you about that she lives in Hermosillo that she always went with the church and Family Home Evenings. She is so funny. She really is obsessed with the Mormons and the Church. We can't go a single lesson without her mentioning at LEAST 10 times....if not more....just how organized the church is and that we are very organized people, etc. She is funny. However, she works Sundays and that keeps her from going to church, but she says her co-workers are willing to trade some Sundays with her so that she can go one Sunday yes, the other no--or every other one. Another thing she is obsessed with the Joseph Smith Story. Haha! So we did a little bit of pleasing her obsession and we watched the Joseph Smith Movie with her....my how she just LOVED that! Just told us that she believes everything is true and just wants to be a part of the church. Well, she is like really basically ready to be thrown into the water...we just have to get her to church 4 times before putting a date. The boyfriend of the member, kind of fell this week! We went with him for our lesson Wednesday and before starting he told us that he wasn't going to be baptized on the 11th, this Saturday. He said that problems with his mom are just too strong right now and he needs to wait till things cool down a bit and that she can be more accepting. I think it was good that we called of the 11th actually. I don't think he is really ready anyway. But, we will keep visiting him and try to see when we will be able to put another date. This week, we really received a blessing! Apparently last week when we didn't go to church because we left for Hermosillo, this lady arrived at church. Her kids were baptized back in September and she wanted to get baptized, but couldn't because she was going through a few problems, but apparently went to church last week saying that she was ready to be baptized. We received this reference and went to visit her. Apparently she has been going to church since her kids were baptized in September. So we invited her to be baptized this upcoming Saturday the 11th and she accepted! So we are going to be visiting her like crazy this week-basically everyday- to review the lessons and make sure she is ready. But it is so fantastic, because the other date for the 11th fell through, but we were able to pick up another one quite quickly! Let's hope everything works out well. We had our multi-zone conference in Nogales this Thursday. There was only one bus that leaves for Nogales a day and it was at 4AM, so I freaking had to wake up at 2AM! It was HORRIBLE! It was a really nice conference though! Like I said, 3 of us did a musical number of "Nearer My God To Thee" and it turned out quite beautifully! Well, this week we sort of had a lot of desires to use bikes since all the Elders here have them, but us, and so....we went on a hunt and bought bikes on Saturday! Let me just tell you....Saturday was SO PAINFUL!!!! Oh my bum was in so much pain as well as my knees and legs! Oh! I do hope I can adjust quickly or I may have to return to walking! OH I haven't ridden a bike in so much time! I am not really used to it. It is fun and we get around fast, but oh how my body is not used to it..... One last thing...I received in my email today a few pictures....the Family in Hermosillo was baptized this past Saturday! AH! That just made my day! How fantastic! I am so happy for them! Well, that is about all I got for this week. I hope you all have a super fantastic week and I am SUPER DUPER excited that we will be able to SKYPE in just a few short 4 DAYS!!!!! AHH!!!! Until then... ¡Yo sé que vive mi Señor! Con Mucho Amor, Elder Joyner

Monday, April 29, 2013 - Miracles Happen Once In A While When You Believe...

Hola Mi Familia! Well, Thankfully this week seemed to go by a lot faster than the first and it is hard to believe that it is Monday already. I am super thrilled that you all will be having a missionary lesson at the house this week! That makes me so happy that my family is participating in missionary work! Keep it up! Make friends with them, be a support system for them, help them feel comfortable, and share your testimonies! Well, like I said, this week has gone by a ton quicker than the last and thank Heavens! Looks like we are really starting to pick up work which is really nice. It is fantastic to pull out the agenda and look at this week and see various appointments already made with people. The sun has not been my friend lately....Although Agua Prieta is higher up and "cooler" than Hermosillo, just the fact that it is higher up in altitude is a killer, so we are closer to the sun. It is cooler, but the UV rays are SO STRONG! It is basically almost impossible to not get burned if you don't put on sun block. Even if you are out in the sun for only like 3 minutes, you can burn the rays are so bad. I found that out with my head the first day we arrived. I got burned pretty badly! So it is cooler, but also more suffering for the rays. The boyfriend of a member is progressing well! But he sort have had a big family problem come his way this week. We had a really nice lesson with some members Wednesday and talked about the Plan Of Salvation and it was nice to hear the testimonies of the member! When we went for our lesson Friday we arrived with him and he was quite upset. He was crying a lot and excused himself from the room. His girlfriend's mom said that he had told his mom that he was going to be baptized and the mom apparently got really mad and upset and is quite an explosive person, so that didn't end well. He says that he will continue with the baptism because he is 18 and doesn't have to have his parent's permission, but it still tore him apart how unaccepting his mom was. We just have basically a week and a half left till his baptism so we need to get moving to get him well prepared. The other member’s boyfriend is still going... we were talking with the family about him as well and they were saying that his family is quite strict and quite catholic and so they may not accept the thought of him being baptized. However, they told us that he has a birthday in June and will turn 18, so we may just have to wait until then to really put a date and progress too much further. But he is really loving our lessons and is a great guy and will get baptized one day I think. We also found a few new investigators this week. A guy who is 19 years old and is from the south but is here trying to get into the army. We taught him only once, but he seems pretty positive. This week we also had a little miracle. Friday before leaving the house we said a prayer asking God to put us in the path of someone that day so we could find more people to teach. Well we went and were going to our 6PM appointment that night, but it fell through and so we went to look for our back up plan, but that also fell through. We were thinking of who else we could visit and so we planned to go contact a reference that we received. We were walking down the street and this older lady in her 50s, flagged us down and asked what time the church services were. We began talking to her and apparently she lived in Hermosillo before and had a really close friend who was a member of the church and she would always go with this friend to church and go to the Family Home Evenings and such, but she never got baptized. She also said that when her father was older he got baptized and she also went with him to church. She knew a lot about the Church, but never got baptized. She told us that she was going to a church here, but doesn't really like how they have bands and "praise music" in their church and she decided not to go. We offered to share a message with her and we taught her the Restoration. She loved the message and accepted to read The Book Of Mormon and get baptized. We didn't put a date because she has a difficult work schedule, but I know that in the near future we can. This was really an answer to our prayer. I feel like those 2 appointments we and fell through for a reason and God put us in the path of someone who needed to hear our message. Just another little testimony that God hears and answers prayers. This week I also had 2 sweet experiences with families. We went to a baptism of a little girl in the branch that turned 8. Before she was baptized, her whole family got up and sang a special musical number. It was sweet because the little girl and her dad were dressed in white and her brothers had on their white Sunday shirts and also the mom had a while blouse and so all were dressed in white. It was quite a tender moment to see this family dressed in white singing together. It made me think of the temple and a family being in the celestial kingdom together. I also thought of my own family and how I can't wait for the day when we can all be in the temple together, dressed in white in the celestial room, getting a glimpse of what heaven will be like. We also taught this family who only has a year or so in the church about temple and the importance or temples and how their goal is to go and get sealed. It was really a sweet lesson and the spirit was there quite strong. Another little moment about families and temples! I LOVE the temple! Well, yesterday we didn't go to church. They called us early and said that we had to go to Hermosillo to get my Visa renewed. So we traveled all day Sunday and arrived in Hermosillo in the evening. This morning we went to the immigration office and got everything squared away so that I am legal and can stay another 9 months. Afterwards, I had the lovely opportunity of getting together with those who are in Hermosillo who will be apart of our small choir or octet for the Apostle that is coming in a few weeks. We found out it will be Elder Christofferson. How neat will that be! The octet is coming along really nicely and it should be quite a powerful little number! We then returned for a 5 hour bus ride back to AP and here I am. That is why I am writing so late! Sorry! :( Well, here is to another week! I am stoked because we are having a multi-zone conference with Nogales and so we will be going to Nogales! I have always wanted to go there so we will see what it is like! Hope you all have a fantastic week! Love and miss you all tons! ¡Yo sé que vive mi Señor! Con Mucho Amor, Elder Joyner

Monday, April 22, 2013

Hola Mi Famila! Whew! What a crazy, LONG week this has been! I don't even know where to begin....it has been quite rough. Although it has been quite hard this week, the Lord has really been with us and I have been able to see little miracles and blessings that he has given us each and every day. Even something as little as a member passing by offering a ride to a far away street, the Lord really has helped us. The missionaries before us didn't really leave any work for us. No investigators or anything to work with, so that has been rough not knowing where to begin. We have just been using the directory to try and find members to visit to introduce ourselves and get to know them and try to see if they have anyone we can visit or teach. A few have given us a couple of names and have been really helpful. I am so surprised and happy with our branch. There are 3 branches here in Agua Prieta and we are in Branch 1. It is bigger the WARD I was in Hermosillo and it is only a branch! They have like 120 attendances. It is pretty neat! And all of the organizations have their presidencies and are very well organized. Our Branch pres. is a young fellow. Only 27 or so years old, but he is really good! All of the members are so nice and seem to want to help us, so that is good. Agua Prieta is one of the highest baptizing zones in the mission. That is because they are so close to going from a District to a Stake and I think these members really want a stake and so everyone is working hard and doing their part to make that happen. This branch doesn't have a piano player, so I am back at my old calling! Yes! I feel like the Lord has really helped me improve and advance in Piano in the mission! Just another little blessing from serving a mission! We have found 2 new investigators this week that are really quite awesome and they are both Boyfriends of 2 members. A boy who is a miracle! He is 18 and the Sunday before we arrived, he apparently went to church for the first time and went up and bore his testimony in Fast and Testimony meeting! Apparently he said that he knew the church was true, and even without talking to missionaries first! We met with him and taught him the Restoration and the spirit was so strong and he began to cry. He said he knew that the church was true. We invited him to be baptized May 11th and he accepted the date! So we have one date so far! :) We also later on taught Lesson 3 "The Gospel" and he just loved it! Once again he cried, but a lot more this time. He gave such a wonderful prayer and the spirit was really strong. He is so willing and loves meeting with us. He is truly one of those "already prepared" and will progress really well! There is another boy that is also the boyfriend of another member and we found him just going around looking for members to meet. He is 17 and had heard the missionaries one time before and they gave him a Book Of Mormon and he has been reading it and really loves it! As we were getting to know him a bit, we asked him what he most desired in this life and he said to have a family centered in the Gospel and to be able to be a good example to his kids when he has kids. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and about families and he really enjoyed it! We also invited him to baptism, but he said he wanted to wait because he doesn't want to be in a different religion than his family. We have been trying to get him to understand that he doesn't have to wait, but we are just not sure how to get to him. We will still work on it though. He has felt the spirit and has received answers to his prayers, so I think we may be able to help him! It has kind of been sort of fun being a trainer! It is weird being with someone who knows completely nothing about being a missionary and you have to teach him everything, but it is going well. This Elder is a good guy. He is obedient and likes to work. He is sort of like me and kind of quiet and "serious" as they like to say down here. I don't like serious, I just say I'm tranquil and peaceful. But with us both being the same in a way, it is has been kind of interesting and quiet! Ha! I am used to comps that don't shut up, but now that I have one that is like me and doesn't converse much it is kind of killing and awkward and times! We will get through it though! I told mom before transfers that someone in a high place told me what they were thinking of for me in this transfer. The options were Zone Leader or Trainer. I told her that I didn't feel ready for either, especially Zone Leader, but I have found this week that he Lord really knows us and knows what we need and what is best for our lives. I know that this assignment as trainer is exactly what I need at this point in my mission and already I am learning and growing so much in so many ways and so many skills. I am truly thankful for this time and know it will most likely help me prepare for other assignments in the mission later on. This week Hermana Hernandez called me and told me that she wanted me to put together a small group a missionaries to do a special musical number for a special conference in May. Apparently 1 or 2 Apostles will be coming to our mission and I am putting together a number for them! We have a group of about 8 Elders and I have chose " Hark All Ye Nations" as the piece. I have been doing an arrangement and it is coming together well. We practiced for the first time today and I am super excited! It should come together nicely! I know I am leaving out a bunch of things to say, but nothing is really coming to mind at the moment. I hope you all have a fantastic week! I will be talking to you all in a short 2 and a half or 3 weeks! How crazy, huh? Till Next Week! ¡Yo sé que vive mi Señor! Con Mucho Amor, Elder Joyner

Monday, April 15, 2013 - "Oh, Whatever Are We Going To Do...."

Hola Mi Familia! Well, this has just been quite the craziest week ever! I don't even know where to begin. So much happened. So many good experiences and memories. But we'll get to that in a minute. I know you are just dying to know what happened with transfers and everything, but you will just have to wait and be patient while I explain my beautiful week chronologically. Tuesday, we arrived with the lady that got baptized and she broke the news to us that the bishop had asked her to speak the coming Sunday in Sacrament meeting! Ha! Imagine that! She doesn't even have 1 month since her baptism and now they are asking her to give a talk! She was kind of freaking out and nervous, but we helped her. She was asked to speak on Obedience and so it wasn't too hard of a topic. Later that day we went with the Family that we are teaching. When we arrived, the sister told us that she was thinking about us and hoping that we would pass by that day and we did! She said that in the last couple of days her family was experiencing quite a few problems and was in the middle of a crisis and her mom had stopped talking to her for days. She was upset and was looking for some words of comfort and she knew that we would be able to give her that comfort. We went on a scripture rant for a good bit sharing our favorite scriptures about adversity and trails. I shared one that I have always liked that is Lindsey's Harris's favorite scripture as well. It says something along the lines of "fear not little flock, though heaven and hell combine against you if you are built upon the rock, you cannot fail." She was comforted and we proceeded on with the scheduled lesson. At the end of the lesson her mom miraculously called and they recon ciliated. She said that this happened because we were there and what a blessing it was for us to be. That same day I heard word from a sister in our ward that used to live in Nacozari, that the Nacozari branch would be going to the temple that following weekend. I basically flipped! Pres. had told us that if we have more than a year of not going to the temple we could go if our ward had a ward day or something. I heard this and called the zone leaders asking them to ask permission to be able to go to the temple to complete with my one year of not going and also to see Nacozari! :) They called Pres. and he told them to make the decision and one of them had not gone to the temple either, so they said yes so that we could both go together! It was lovely! Thursday, the zone leaders called me saying that Pres. wanted to put another companionship of missionaries in the zone and they asked if I thought that my district could use more missionaries. I told them that the sisters in the other ward could really use more and that they needed help. The assistants approved and we spent a good half of the day look for another house to rent to move missionaries in. It was quite difficult and a long day, but we finally found something that will work. Friday night we went to sleep at the zone leaders' house, so that me and one of them could go that next morning to the temple. The first session was early at 7AM and so we were up about 5 getting ready and all. We arrived a little late to the temple, but just in time to make the 7AM Session. It was great! Upon arriving in the session, there were quite a few wards doing sessions that day and so it was a full session. We were there and another pair of missionaries as well, but unfortunately none from Nacozari made it into the 7AM session. That was disappointing. The session was so wonderful and it felt so fantastic to be back in the temple after not going for a whole year-this past week marked 1 year in Mexico (1 whole year outside of my country) and 1 year not going to the temple. I loved every moment of it! Afterwards we got dressed and were heading out and I saw 2 sisters from Nacozari that we entering the next session! It made me really happy to see them. Upon exiting the temple, we went to greet some member that the missionary that was with me that I knew. One sister say my badge and asked me my first name and I told her, and she said that she was Carmen's mom! That was super exciting to be able to meet her! Ever since I arrived in the mission, I was hoping to meet someone in her family and I finally did! That was super awesome! We later went to the distribution store to buy a few things and saw a few youth from Nacozari and a few more sisters! It was so fun to see them and we took pictures. Unfortunately, I never got to see my Mexican parents, the branch pres. and his wife, and a few other members, but it was really fun to see those that I saw! Saturday night, we went with the teaching family to watch a movie with them, "The Testaments" and they really enjoyed that. Then I broke the news to them that I had heard rumors that I was going to be transferred (because I had heard rumors from quite a few.).They basically freaked out and began to cry and be all sad. They had really come to love me quite a bit and thought of me as one of their family. They said I was the only Elder that really understood them and what they needed and how to teach so that they could understand. They began asking what they could do to get me to stay and I said there was basically nothing. They said they wanted to do something special before I left and all of a sudden they decided to make a carne asada! We went to the store with them to buy the meat and stuff. We bought flour and I made the tortillas! We grilled the steak and had our carne asada tacos! It was quite delicious! The mom and daughter had left for a good 20 minutes and came back with present. They went and bought me a few ties! That was really nice of them. We had a good time together! I will miss them! They had a baptism date for the 4th of May and they wanted to know if I would be able to be there. I'm not really sure if it will happen, but I told them I wanted to be there in one year from now when they get sealed as a family in the temple. They said they want to go to Salt Lake, but if that doesn't happen I just may have to make a trip back out here....parents...mission tour? :) Sunday came and we received the call that I would be going to Agua Prieta (US connections again!!!) and that I would be training! Woah! What a hit that was! I spent Sunday saying my goodbyes and packing! Monday morning, I headed to the offices to receive my "son". There were about 10 missionaries that had arrived and all from Mexico....no gringos....We were all waiting around while they had interview with the Pres. and Hermana Hernandez asked me to sing while we waited and so I sang a hymn and other started to get up and do little solos as well...although they weren't that good! ;) Pres. then assigned us our companions and I have been placed with an Elder from Puebla Mexico. He is 19 years old and is a greenie! I love him a lot though! He is pretty cool and we seem to be similar in personality a little. We left for the 5 hour bus ride to Agua Prieta and arrived around 5:30PM. We took a taxi to the house and not too long after our district leaders showed up with the keys. We have a nice little place with a boiler (HOT WATER!!!) and a stove and oven! It was quite trashed from the other missionaries and so we had to clean it up a bit. Today, Tuesday, has been quite a rough one! We are, as they call it, opening the area. Basically that means that other missionaries are new to the area and they we start from scratch, from nothing, nada, zip! That has been rough! We don't even know where to begin! We don't know any members, the elders before us didn't leave us and investigators and so we are having a rough start. This week will probs be the hardest one of my mission! I am already starting to feel the weight of being a trainer and will have to basically teach him how to do everything and upon that having to find people to teach. I think he is a little home sick and is kind of freaking out. I can relate to that and I know how he feels. But we will get to working and knowing each other and will work on that. So that was my week! Well, I hope you all have a fantastic week. Here's to the longest and hardest one of my life! Love you all! ¡Yo sé que vive mi Señor! Con Mucho Amor, Elder Joyner