November 19th-26th, 2012

dear family,

 

first off thanks for all of the updates, the thanksgiving woes. sounds like you had a good time with the family. we had a good time here last p day and enjoyed a mostly american thanksgiving dinner, it was really good. i realized how much i miss american food haha. that sucks you got sick mom, but it sounds like you`re getting better. i got a little sick as well this week, actually i still am a little sick. i threw up quite a few times and continue with a pretty good round of mexican diareaha. i had to go to the dr for the first time in the mission. not too bad for having ten months. and i use the term ´doctor´ very lightly haha. i learned that in mexico, instead of giving you the shots, they just give you the medicine and then you have to buy a syringe and give yourself the shots haha. so i have now learned how to give myself shots. i got a good laugh out of the santa clause letters you guys did haha. some classic lines. i had actually forgot about my birthday and i`m sure i will forget about it again by friday but thanks for the birthday wishes. the only time i remember about it is when someone asks me how old i am haha.

 

well before telling you about the activity, i guess the big news is that i`m getting transfered and that i`m going to be zone leader. i`m going to the zone villa rica, area vulcanes (i think, i`m not too sure about the area) i`ll be in a trio (companionship of three) for two weeks and then one of my companions will be ending his mission and i will be with an elder from argentina. i`m a little nervous to be zone lider but i`m sure i`ll be fine. i was expecting another transfer here en camino real, and i couldn`t even finish training e. garcia (the training program is two transfers long) but i`ll go where the lord calls me and do what he asks me to do.

 

yeah we had the activity on saturday and it was a huge bummer. i`ve done two activities en my mission so far and they have both been huge bummers. we had done everything we could and we fulfilled with our part (what the bishop asked us to do) which was have a few baptisms alreadly scheduled for that day. which we did and we baptized both of them (cesar and silvia). the members really let us down though and hardly any showed up and even less brought their friends. we had invited our old investigatores that fulfilled with the baptismal requirments, and a few of them did show up, but they didn`t choose to follow the example of the savior and be baptized. i don`t see myself doing another activity anytime in the near future. i feel that my time and energy is better spent in other things if the dang members won`t support us. but in the long run i did learn a lot of things from the bishops activity. bishop was pretty bummed too.

 

well i feel proud of the work i`ve done here and i feel that i left the district better than i found it so i`m happy with that. i am going to leave my companion with several baptisms scheduled in the next upcoming weeks here and i can say i did my best in this area and am ready to continue working in another.

 

hey tara, sorry i didn`t get back to you in time about the sermon on the mont but i`m sure your talk was great. i did study it and learned a lot i just forgot to write you about it last week. alot of key doctrine is taught in the sermon on the mount and i would`ve loved to be there and listen to it haha.

 

well it looks like we`ve gotta get going, i`ve still gotta pack, play turista con los lideres de zona, and say goodbye to my conversos tonight.

 

i love you all very much and pray to the lord day and night in your behalf. keep being great people

 

love elder broadhead

 

 

November 12th-19th, 2012

hey guys,

 

sounds like mom had a good b day, thats good. glad to hear you got some relief en your back dad, keep going to this chirporacter eh? mom i can just use the skype account of some member so it`s not a problem. i`m just not sure how good the connection will be and it could me more of a hassle than just a phone call. we`ll have to see i guess haha.

 

sounds like thanks giving should be pretty classic again. the other ward in my district, cardel, has a member that is from canada, crazy i know, but she has offered to prepare us a thanksgiving meal for all the missionaries in the zone, so we`ll be going to that at two o clock today! aquí en méxico, se le llama thanksgiving, día de gracias.

 

well this saturday we are going to have our long awaited activity we had three people that were going to get baptized this weekend in the activity, but now we are down to one because silvia, one of the others, didn`t come to church today, and just now in the morning the other fecha, alicia, i called her to set up an appointment for today and she told me that she needed to wait longer before she could be baptized, so now we are down to one fecha aaahhh! it`s a good thing he is really escogido, his name is cesar and is really great. he`ll for sure be baptized this weekend and we are hoping for a few more en addition as well. we have yet to deliver una tarjeta navideña but i think this week we should do some. thats where we sing to the neighbors of the members in case you forgot.

 

i`m not gonna lie it was a huge bummer when alicia just canceled on us this morning. a lot of crazy stuff happened to us this week and it was the last straw and i got a little bummed out and frustrated with our heavenly father. there is a scripture that i alwasy share with investigatores en third nephi that talks about the power of prayer and it says that if we ask god for something, in the name of jesus christ, and the thing that we ask for is just, and if we have faith enough to recieve it, god gives it to us. and after having prayed so much for alicia and done everything possible so that she could get baptized this weekend, and now she doesn`t want to? it made me a little angry for a minute. but shortly after i realized that is was probably because i didn`t have enough faith, and if i continued having faith, she`ll probably get baptized this weekend anyway if she goes to the activity. i`ve learned a lot about faith on my mission and that it is the force that powers the universe and one of the christlike attributes most important that we can have. i`ve read the little book lectures on faith, and now this week i have started to read jesus the christ and i can see that my faith has grown a lot on my mission and that in these ten short months i have changed alot. i am no longer the same person that i was when i started my mission and i know i wont be the same person i am right now when i finish. the gospel of jesus christ, really deciding to accept it and live it, has changed me. which reminds me, i had an interview with president this week and i asked him again if i could extend and he told me that the church is making it really difficult to extend these days, so we`ll just see what happens. but either way i know that up to this point my mission has been the single most important thing that has happened to me. it will affect the rest of my life. i am happy for the chance to serve other people, espeically my companions. i`ve become good friends with elder garcia and he continues to progress and is becoming a great missionary. he helps me out a lot as well, keeps me excited.

 

the family we baptized last week got confirmed yesterday and i am really happy with them and can`t wait until they get sealed in the temple. it will be a very special day for them and me and my companion.

 

well looks like i`ve gotta get going, thanks for being a great family and look for chances to share your powerful testimonies with everyone. your testimonies strengthen even me and i`m glad i have the chance to read them every once in awhile in the back of my journal.

 

talk to ya next week!

love elder broadhead

 

 

November 5th-12th, 2012

fam,

 

thanks for the e mails. first off happy birthday to grama, and to mom! i hope you lovely gals have a great b day and know that i appreciate you both very much. especially for the example that you´ve given me and all of the support. any birthday gift requests from mexico?? hey tara sounds like everthing is good. that`s pretty awesome you got a missionary specialist and president brown to come and speak to you guys. good luck on your talk i`ll get back to you with some classic sermon on the mont comments. or maybe you could ask dad, he gives a pretty good sermon on the pot jajajaja. ash, i`ll keep a lookout for the family of your friend, but the city is pretty big haha. maybe it would be easier if your friend told them to keep a lookout for a pudgy sunburned redhead. i stick out pretty nicely here haha. mom, classic volleyball tourney, wish i could`ve seen it. cool story about that crook dad, enjoyed it. that`s cool about andrew and ben`s mission calls.

 

about the whole skype thing for christmas, yes we can do it and there are members here that will offer me the computer. so if you want to we can, or we can just do a call. think about it and then let me know in advance.

 

this week we baptized the family of hugo y ana and there two kids. they have another little girl but she is under the age of baptism still. now we are just waiting for a year so they can be sealed in the temple! it was a really special bauptismal service. this week we found three people that will for sure be baptized no the 24th of nobember so that the rest of the people in the activity can follow their example. we are still inviting all the old investigadores, theres a ton. we are trusting in the members a lot that they bring their friends. i called presidente treviño and invited him too so he is going to be there to supports us in the actividad. we are also doing another activity, i can`t remember if i already told you, but in this activity we are going around with the members and inviting people to a christmas activity. our part of the invitation is sing one verse of a christmas hymn and read two scriptures about christmas from the libro de mormon. yesterday in sacrament meeting the bishop was explaining the activity to the members, and then he called us up to demonstrate how in the invitation would be. so we sang and read the scriptures. i`m just glad my companions a decent singer cause i definitely couldn`t be worse haha. afterwards the bishop is like, well even if they can`t sing that good, it`s the feeling that counts haha.

 

of the three people we are going to baptize on the 24th, all of them are escogidos. i was so worrried for finding someone solid to be baptized for the activity and prayed so much and the lord blessed us with three escogidos. i feel a lot more relieved cause now the bishop isn`t pressuring us so much but i`m still stressed out for the success of the activity. i know that if i do everything possible the lord will make up the rest and it will be a success.

 

my elderes in cardel also baptized and we had another bautistrito. i`m happy with them. i did divisiones this week and their area looks to be in good shape. one of my favorite parts about being district leader is that in the clases of district we do fisical competitions halfway through the class to see who will go first when we do the teaching practices. we do wall sqwats and pushups and things like that for the competitions. this last week the competition was to see who could hold their scriptures above their head for the longest.it was soooo funny the elders were trying so hard to win and yelling and screaming in pain hahhaa i was dying laughing it was soo funny. i`m still thinking about the work out we`ll do for the class tomorrow hahaha.

 

the coolest part of being a missionary is when your converts accompany you to a lesson and bear their testimony. this week one of my recent converts jose manuel went out with us to teach and it was one of the best experiences i`ve had on my mission, listening to him bear his testimony and talk about the changes he has experience in his life thanks to the gospel. i`ll definitely never forget these moments and i feel grateful to be a tool in the lords hands.

 

we are continuing to work hard here in camino real and expect the same from you guys back home. i love you!! thanks for everything.

love -elder broadhead

October 29th - November 5th, 2012

 

 

 

hey guys,

thanks for the e mails and especially the package! haha i got the package last week, thanks so much, we really enjoyed it! the only thing is that the shirt neck is a little to big. i`ve gotten a bit skinny here haha. it`s ok though i still wear it and it works great. just for the next one, like a sixteen or sixteen and a half would be about right on the neck. we enjoyed the treats and cards, thanks very much! reading the ward news letter was weird. it was funny reading my very strongly over-edited (dad) e mails. haha. and reading about the other missionaries of the ward was cool. sounds like they are doing good. i realized my emails are a little dull and undetailed so i`ll try and do better.

tomorrow is ashley`s birthday!! happy birthday ash!! i love you and hope you have a great b day. if you wan`t anything from mexico, tell me and i`ll get it for you ok?? 18 years old that`s pretty crazy. now you can vote and smoke tobacco right?? haha. enjoy your birthday party! when i get back i`ll sing you las mañanitas. it`s the birthday song in mexico.

this week was a little bit rough for us. we only found two new investigatores and we spent a lot of time looking for old investigatores to invite to the activity we are going to have on the 24th. we are really worried about it and are hoping for a lot of success. it all depends on if the old investigadores show up and if the members bring people. we are working hard inviting everyone though.

this week we didn`t baptize but we are going to baptize a family of four this week. the mom and her two kids are really awesome and willing to get baptized, it`s just the dad we`re having trouble with because we haven`t been able to teach him yet. he works in the ocean on oil platforms. he finally got back last week, so tomorrow we are going to go teach him and show him the blessings of getting baptized together with his family. we hope he accepts so we can baptize the whole family and then they can go to the temple later. it would be pretty cool. we are recieving a lot of references from the members but it is kind of tough learning how to work without knocking doors or contacting. its definitely a process and we are visiting a lot of inactives but it should bring some decent results. the bishop here in camino real is really good. he really supports us and he is a great bishop. he never questiones us or what we do like i`ve seen other bishops do. it feels nice having his full support. in the mission i am learning a lot about leadership in the church. mostly just through watching and seeing the results of the tactics of different church leaders. i`m learning a lot from pres. treviño, couldn`t have asked for a better mission pres. i`m learning about how important it is to prepare the church, the members, and the earth for the second coming of the savior. it is going to be us that hands the church over to the savior and for that very reason we have to prepare it good so we can be proud of it when the moment arrives. i`ve been thinking a lot about the purpose of life and how simple everything really is. we just tend to overcomplicate things as people in general, when all we really have to do is be obedient and we will be happy. obedience is the key, that is all heavenly father expects of us.

we have recieved several good references that we are going to work with this week. we are putting all of the baptismal dates for the 24th so we can have a successfull activity. everything is going well and i`m very happy serving here in mexico.

 

well looks like we gotta go, we are going to have a second round of "el turista" later today with the zone leaders.it`s a game similair to monopoly haha. i won last week and they want a re match haha!

 

keep trying to do everything possible to get rid of your back pain dad, more relief will come soon!

 

i love you guys a lot and hey, navidad is not to far away and then we can talk in person woohoo!

 

-lover elder broadhead (ahora no tan gordito)

forgot to tell you that this week our i tried to fix our kitchen sink because it had a leak. i touched one of the hoses and it broke off from the wall and started nailing me with water in the face haha, so my companion had to climb up on top of the house to turn off the water and then we went to the store, bought the pìece to fix it and some tephlon tape fixed it, and then we could finally turn the water back on and shower haha. it was funny.

pics of a meeting we had last night with the district leaders and zone leaders. after the meeting we did some armwrestling haha. one of me and elder figeuroa when we did divisiones and one of me washing the dishes.

 

 

October 22nd-29th, 2012

hey guys!

 

thank you all for the letters and news. first off ash don`t stress out to bad about the whole mission thing. there`s no pressure for the girls. just pray about it, think it out, and do what ever you think is right! the key is just don`t worry ok! tara sounds like your doing a great job in your new calling, whose in charge of the missionary work in your relief society presidency? is it you? dad, classic costume, i wish i coulda seen it! keep workin hard to relieve the pain eh. mom sounds like your rockin your new calling to! do the young women invite non members to play with them? the young men play here three times a week and they work hard to get non members there. we have had some decent success with it.

 

to answer your halloween questions. it is called dia de los muertos o algo así on the first and second of november here in mexico. we don`t really pay attention to holidays, or days of the week for that matter as missionarys, the only reminder of halloween we have is the decorations in walmart haha. to answer your questions dad, we didn`t baptize this week, but my elderes en cardel did, they have seven weeks in a row and are going to have eight this week. i`m proud of em. we have dos probables this week and a family of four para el 11 de nov. me and my companion are working good together and he is progressing and learning well. we are going to do a christmas activity that is called tarjetas de navidad en vivo. we are going to go around with the members and invite their friends to a christmas party. we are going to sing a verse of a christmas song and then read two christmas scriptures from the book of mormon. and then the member invites them to the party. it should be interesting. you guys know how i sing haha. to answer your other questoin dad, no we`re not in the rainy season anymore. yesterday arrived something called los nortes. it is strong winds from the north. it makes the weather cool down a little bit and we get covered in sand haha. these next two months will be the coolest of the year and then it gets hot again.

 

this week we had a meeting with all of the leaders in the mission because our president had just gone to a meeting of mission presidents of mexico last week and then he relayed us all the information from the area presidency. according to some dangerous situations that have occured in other missions we now cannot contact people in the street. we can now only contact the people we feel inspired to contact by the wholy ghost. we now only have to work through references from the members. it is interesting and we are working hard to motivate the members to look for people for us to teach.

 

the week has gone well and we are really working hard. the time passes so fast i can`t believe it. sometimes i get frustrated and i feel alone but the savior is always there to comfort me. i will never forget these lessons i am learning in the mission. thank you for everything you guys do for me. tara commented to me en her e mail that we should really be grateful to have such great parents, that we really couldn`t have asked for better ones. its so true. thanks for everything you guys have taught me and that you raised me in the church. i really am truly grateful for it. love ya mucho! i hope you have a great week,

 

xoxoxox

 

love elder broadhead

 

 

ps today we are going to eat at sams club with the zone leaders and after we are going to play monopoly haha. i really love the missionaries that i serve with. i`ve made some life long friends here.