16 Nov 2015 - Loving Mission Life- One Year Done!!

Hi Family,

The mission is so great right now!

We're struggling with a few families, trying to get them married but they're doing good!

We celebrated the year mark of both Elder Reyes and I and it was HOT! (if you know what I mean ;).. haha no, you'll understand when you see the video

He turned one on the 11th and I still got until the other week but we're both very happy to have completed the first year.

So Matt's home or what?

I guess I'll be able to see him in the video chat that we have on Christmas,

But yeah about the car wash, it was super successful! We only washed one car but we had a lot of fun!!

I didn't remember what type of soap to use or if it even mattered so we mixed hand soap with tap water and we made that baby shine. It was a bit crazy, the guy just gave us his keys and took off. haha 

That's cool that Tim is campin' out with you guys, tell him I say hi!!

I saw the picture of my new nephew, what a card.

Well we're doin' great and enjoying the weather! 

Love you guys,

Elder Padilla

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OsNJDhN_9k&feature=youtu.be

( This link may not work as it is restricted to family only)

1 Year down, 1 to go...

9 Nov 2015 - Photos Week

Only Photos This Week.

Partners in Crime. We went on splits with the home teachers.

 (This is the brother that is running for Bishop. Don't forget to cast in your votes)

Hammacas!! 

Hammacas!! 

2 Nov 2015 - Busy November Planned

Dear Family, 

I'm so pumped for Ricky, that's so cool that he was able to be baptized by the famous Bishop Padilla. Tell him I said Congrats!!

Thanks for the Halloween pictures, I'll be sure to send one as well.

Luke thinks I'm soft?...''Hey Luke, how's having to wake up for seminary each morning going?'' hahaha Poor guy.

Well this week, was super nuts but super fun!

We're working hard but having fun a lot of fun. Elder Reyes and I are finding a ton of new people to teach and the families that we're with right now are progressing really fast.

Man the other night we were with a family and when we got there they had just finished yelling at each other and they were talking about separating so we thought the best thing we could do was pull a ''Doctor Phil'', and sit down with them and have a chat. We started with a prayer and then asked a few questions to understand what the problem was. We talked about how important it is to have good, healthy, communication between husband and spouse and that there is a level of trust needed as well. In the beginning they didn't want to speak to each other but towards the end they were more open and understanding towards one another. We ended the visit talking about the blessings that the families receive when they endure (together) to the end. and then to finish the husband gave the closing prayer and he said ''thank you heavenly father that we're not mad at each other like we were before'' it reminded of how a kid would say a prayer but that's exactly what Heavenly Father wants of us, to return as a ''little child'' in humility. 

We really learn so many things as missionaries where if we hadn't come out we could've never had these experiences.

We threw a little party for Elder Vallejo. He's in our district and he's been in the mission field for about 2 months. haha So the tradition, and I think I've mentioned it before, but the tradition is that when its someones birthday and they go to take a bite of their cake, you shove their face into the cake hahaha so that's what one of the other elders did and man he got cake up the nose hahah I'll send a picture, poor guy.

But yeah, we're so excited for November because we have a ton of things planned (activities, baptisms, car washes) 

Yes, we can do car washes in November, Mexico rocks!!

Love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Padilla

The last district meeting from last transfer.

There he is, the birthday boy.

Halloween day with the neighbors. 

We got lost in a grocery store so we took pictures to remember where we'd already been. 

In Angostura, of the only areas that has a beach! 

26 Oct 2015 - 11 months

Dear family,

Today we had transfers, I'm still here with Elder Reyes and we're so pysched!!!

We're teaching a family of four and yesterday we watched Meet The Mormons in a family home evening that we had with them and we felt the spirit so strong and were about to challenge them to be baptized but the drunken father in law showed up and ruined the spirit that was there.

He asked if I could help him recieve ''benefits'' from the United States. I understood the words he was saying but at the same time I had no clue what he was trying to tell me. But we're going to return tomorrow with them! They're so great. The dad, Martin, reminds me of Collin.

So we had stake conference this past saturday and sunday and there was some good parts and funny parts. One funny part was one lady that got up and spoke and the first thing that she said/read was the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 58:26-28 hahaha and then she was like ''Home teachers I'm talking to you, clean up your act and magnify your calling or God's hand will not be held back to smite you.'' hahaha I just about laughed out loud when she said that. 

There was another funny part where a young couple of the stake was getting on the case of every young single adult that wasn't excited about marriage. The girl talked about how there's ''many fish in the sea.'' And her husband talked about how when Laman, Lemuel, Nefi, and Sam were sent to take the daughters of Ishmael to wife there's no record of them murmuring about this commandment. They murmur about almost every other commandment that they were given but this one they went and ''murmured not'' hahaha

I feel really good to be a missionary and I'm doing really well!

I love you guys!

11 MONTHS!!! WOO!

Elder Padilla

Our trip to MOCORITO!

Our trip to MOCORITO!

19 Oct 2015 - Bishop Campaign?

haha Luke had pink eye?

Didn't Matt say something about pink eye one time when we played the spray bottle game in family home evening. 

poor guy.

Dear family,

this week was so killer.

we're working by force now with the members and we've been doing pretty good. 

there was only one day that we didn't have a member with us and it was because we had interviews with the president and had to take an hour ride bus trip to get there. 

Our investigator this week was struggling a little bit to believe that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.

He lives with his sister, whose a member, and he told us the other day that he believes that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God but he just hasn't received his answer yet. So we've been praying a ton for him and I think our prayers were answered in the Gospels principles class that we had. The Bishop taught the class and the topic was ''The Scriptures''. it was perfect.

There was a bunch of new members that bore there testimonies of The Book of Mormon and the power that it has and the change it has made in their lives! BOOM!

We have an appointment with him tomorrow so we'll see what happens but my comp and I both feel like he's ready. WOOHOO!

These weeks are flying. Someone once told me that the first year is pretty slow but the second is really fast. But man if the first year is slow? I'll be coming home next week. 

So the sisters in our district are having trouble finding new investigators because their Bishop has been less active for 3 years, haha not sure why they haven't called a new one, and so our district went to their area and contacted the people in the street for a couple hours. haha We found some guy fixing his motorcycle and he said we could share something with him. Haha we was so funny.

He said ''look I've read the catholic bible, the Jewish bible, the Mormon bible and the Jehovah's witnesses' bible..and you know what? Tithing is a lie. If you guys study a little harder you guys can know for yourselves as well.'' hahaha. He was really funny but it was not a minute later that he had opened his mouth to tells us that than we were up and out of there. Bless his heart.

Hahaha there's a brother in our ward named Julio and he's super short but super funny. And since our Bishop is going to move he's started a ''campaign'' to run for Bishop. I don't think he understands how it really works, someone should probably tell him. 

I'm enjoying the mission but the weather still isn't cooling down too much. We've got our fingers crossed for this next week.  

Love you guys mucho

Elder Padilla

 

12 Oct 2015 - I'm doing really well and learning lots of good knowledge.

Dear Family,

This week and month we've been really focused on how we can work better with the members. We've tried planing activities and encouraging them to have the ward counsels but if an area 70 comes i'm not going to be surprised. 

Some of the members still have this crazy idea that the missionaries do everything. 

We watched a video this past week in our zone conference that talked about how the missionaries are here to help the members fulfill their responsibilities to activate, baptize and find, not the other way around.

So this week its our job to show this video to all the members and let it cut where it cuts. I'm not bashing because there are those who are super excited to help us but what we're learning right now is that if we're not 100 percent with all the members working together, the work can not move forward.

We're teaching this lady and she's super funny and super ready to be baptized, she just doesn't know it yet. 

When we asked her if she'd ever prayed to God to know what is the truth she said ''No, and you wanna know why? Its because if I do, he'll send me trials of my faith and I don't want that.'' hahaha

shes super hilarious and super honest with us but we just need to help her find a beginning to learn to trust in God. Because we explained that no matter if we ask God or not, we're going to have challenges in our life, the only thing we're inviting her to do is accept God's Holy Ghost in her life to help you through these difficulties.

It was a little sad this zone conference because a few of my good buddies are heading home for mission impossible 2 ''Temple Marriage''.  One is Elder Ramos, one of my comps and the other is Elder Juarez, my second district leader.

I'm doing really well and learning lots of good knowledge.

I've started to read the Jesus the Christ book again. It's pretty cool the few sentences that I've understood. 

Oh man hahaha almost forgot,

So we were eating lunch at a members house yesterday and her husband isn't member. They're both 25 or 30 years old, not really sure, but we start to talk about the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them and she leaves because the baby starts to cry and so we continue. When we get to Endure to the end, he asks ''Endure to the end? Does this include if, for example: one person who is married goes off to dance with another man or woman who his or her wife or husband doesn't know and returns like nothing happened..is this enduring to the end?'' and I said ''I think there should be unity, communication and understanding in every relationship.'' nothing more. And he yelled ''I knew it!!! HONEY (yelling to his wife) Get in here! You need to hear this!!!'' So without knowing I'd started a family feud and he thought that I was siding with him and wow was that uncomfortable hahaha. but we explained everything and I guess we'll see if we have food to eat this next Sunday. pray for us. haha

I love  you all And I hope you are ''milking it for all its worth'' to have a temple close by. :'(

Elder Padilla

They both leave 24 of Oct

We had a birthday party/zone conference. Woo!

The baptism from a few weeks back. RICHARD!!! aka Ricardo

 

5 Oct 2015- Loved Conference!

Dear Family,

This week was crazy. We are working a ton. we are changing a lot of things to have better results.

I loved the conference. I watched about half of it in Spanish and then when Russell M. Nelson started talking about girls I think was when I started to watch in English.

Elder Padilla

I love you all.

28 Sep 2015 - Short and sweet

This week went super well,

We had an entire family and a half in the church.

That's crazy about Brandon's Farewell talk but I'm glad to hear that there's another missionary out in the field.

This week we had a ton of success and was super awesome to see our convert, Ricardo, and his son, receive the priesthood.

I don't have  a ton to say this week and the computer I'm using is super slow so that'll be all for this week.

I love you all.

Elder Padilla

21 Sep 2015 - Be happy, Be Mormon!

Dear family, 

These days are flying, can't believe that I'm going to hit my 10 month mark this week. Mexico is so great. Recently we've been finding people of pure gold, they're really excited about our message. My comp Elder Reyes and I work really well together and he's so great!! Whenever we get down about an appointment that gets canceled or something like that we're able to keep the energy and try as hard as we can to find someone new. What we're doing right now is finding and leaving. If the people we teach don't progress within a 2 week period, we leave them because we're wasting our time and there are people that are waiting for us today, not in two or three weeks. 

We had a baptism this past Saturday his name is Ricardo. His wife and son were baptized and now all three plus the 2 year old daughter can prepare one year to be sealed as an eternal family. There is nothing better in this life and nothing better in this work than to see those who are willing and ready to make these sacred covenants with our Heavenly Father. I know that God loves us. I know that the greatest prophet who ever lived is Jesus Christ and that through him all mankind will be saved if we come unto Him with our broken hearts and our spirits contrite. 

Luke, if you haven't started to prepare for your mission now, start. Make a goal. Pray for the opportunity to share the gospel with a friend and then be ready to do so. Read the Book of Mormon and gain a testimony of the divinity and power of it. Study, if nothing more, chapter 3 of Preach my gospel and share the lessons with mom and dad in family home evening. I hear Matt will be home soon, he can help you practice. Be a light little brother. I miss you and hope that by the time I get home we can go on a double date or something. ;)

Before my mission I didn't realize how much the members are truly evolved in the work of salvation. I thought it was the work of the missionaries and when they called I'd help out for an hour or so and that'd be it but now as a missionary my point of view has flipped and we really depend on them as much as they do on us. The hastening of the work has already started and Heavenly Father is counting on us to minister to those who don't have what we have. I hope that everyone whose last name is Padilla can offer a prayer this week in specific to ask for opportunities to share the gospel whether it be in New York, Canada, Spanish Fork, Farmington, Idaho, Osbourn Park or with our friends at work. We pray with faith and real intent, He gives with confidence. Be happy, Be Mormon!

I love you guys mucho!

Elder Padilla

14 Sep 2015 - re-dedication of the Temple in Mexico City

Dear Family, 

This week was so great! 

As a mission we were able to see the re-dedication of the temple in Mexico City and also the cultural session beforehand. It was transmitted to our various buildings so we were able to invite our investigators. Haha so you know how before you iron a shirt its all wrinkley, well ''to iron'' in Spanish,well here in my area, the people say planchar. And they people use it to say, for example, ''Oh he planched you'' to mean ''Oh he yelled at you or corrected your behavior''. Its like when the president has ''Special interviews'' with those missionaries that are doing  things that they shouldn't. So I tell you this because when our investigators went to the cultural meeting, they received the ''planch'' of a lifetime. hahaa because in the cultural meeting there was a part where it talked about the importance of attending the church and they felt really bad because in the past they were a little lazy about attending..hahha oh well.

Today I received my new companion, his name is Elder Reyes and he has one month more than me in the mission and he's from Puebla, Mexico. Hahaha he reminds me of Matt because you'll ask him for example, ''Can you bring me a fork please?'' and he'll look you right in the eyes and say ''no''. hahah but then he'll leave and return with the fork laughing and then he'll say in his English '' Elder Padilla, why are you crying?'' hahaha This guy..

We're super super psyched for this family that we're teaching right now. This Saturday we're going to baptize the father, Richard, and as a family they'll wait a year to prepare to enter the temple to be sealed. He's so spiritual, he just has a bit of trouble expressing himself.

Ha the people here are so nuts sometimes. The other day we went to the house of the sister whose husband died a few weeks ago. She's doing really well and also is preparing to enter the temple by the way, WHOO! But we entered the house to give some service and we receive a message. The message says'' Hey, I'd like to receive a Book of Mormon and visits to learn about how I can know God.'' We were like, ''NO WAY!!!!!'' so Elder Guardado calls him up and hahahahha my comp's face expressed everything hahaa. At first he was all happy and then he looked puzzled and then he looked sad hahaha

So this guy starts to talk and to my comp and tells him when we can visit and if it'd be possible if the ''handsome young man can visit'' haha oh man and then he tells my comp that he has problems and my comp says ''thats okay, we can help you '' and then he says ''I'm gay'' and then my comp says ''ok, when would you be free for us to visit'' and the he says ''can I be in my underwear when you guys visit?'' hahahaha my comp hung up and told me to erase the address he gave us hahahaha, we were sooooo bummed..

This week we were able to talk with a lot of new people and we found many that are ready to swim.

I'm loving mexico and can't believe Elder Smatt will be home in these next few months.

I love you all.

Elder Padilla

Ps. Ms. Cabello? I heard she really likes it when you talk when she's trying to talk. haha ;)

7 Sep 2015 - All Spanish all the time...

Querida Familia,

Hahaha se pasa con los elderes que andan por bici. Hay un Elder aqui que nos dijo que lo mismo pasó con él pero todos sabemos que él estaba mirando una muchacha y por eso chocó con un camión. haha

Me canse escribir en inlges. En verdad estoy olvidando muchas cosas de ingles. Y ahora español, no sé, es mas facil. Cada vez en cuando encontramos alguien que sabe un poco de ingles como ''Oh yes, very good'' o ''Hello, my friend'' pero hasta allí. Con mi compa, Elder Guardado, hablamos ingles en la casa pero es mas difícil que antes.  

Esta semana aprendí una lección de la vida. Había un desafio en nuestra zona que no estábamos encontrando tantos nuevos investigadores. Entonces hicimos un compromiso, como un distrito,  que ibamos a hablar con toda la gente en la calle que vimos e ibamos a contactar y compartir  algo con ellos. Tenía que marcar todos los compañerismos cada noche para dar suficiente seguimiento para que ellos pudieron trabajar con todo en respecto de este compromiso.  Y vi por la primera vez, el animo que nuestro presidente de misión y nuestro Padre Celestial tienen para la obra y para nosotros como misioneros y vimos como un distrito que podemos lograr muchas cosas cuando nos fijamos metas, pedimos la ayuda del Señor y trabajamos diligentemente a cumplir estas metas. En serio, esta semana pasada fue un otro nivel!! Y ahora todos tenemos investigadores progresando a bautismo. 

Algunas fotos de la semana.

 

p.s. Lucas, disfrute seminario. hahaha

Google Translate:

Dear family,

Hahaha he spent with elders who go by bike. There is an Elder here who told us the same thing happened to him but we all know he was watching a girl and so collided with a truck. haha

I get tired writing inlges. In truth I'm forgetting a lot of English. Spanish And now I do not know, it's easier. Every once in a while we find someone who knows a bit of English as '' Oh yes, very good '' or '' Hello, my friend, '' but there. With my companion, Elder Guardado, speak English at home but is more difficult than before.

This week I learned a life lesson. There was a challenge in our area we were not finding as many new investigators. Then we made a commitment, as a district, we were going to talk with all the people on the street we saw and we were going to contact and share something with them. I had to check all fellowships each night to give sufficient follow so they could work with all in respect of this commitment. And I saw for the first time, the encouragement that our mission president and Heavenly Father have for the work and for us as missionaries and we saw a district that can achieve many things when we set goals, we ask the Lord's help and work diligently to meet these goals. Seriously, this past week was another level !! And now we all have progressed to baptism investigators.

Some photos of the week.

 

P.S. Lucas, enjoy seminar. hahaha

31 Aug 2015 - A ton happened this week

Dear family,

First of all just want to say how proud I am of my only little brother who almost earned himself two tickets this past week. Luke you are the man. 

A ton happened this week. On Tuesday we got a call while we were studying in the morning that one of the recent converts that my comp baptized with his last companion was hit by a semi on his motorcycle. Elder Guardado spoke at him funeral and it was really sad, but to cheer us up the Bishop took us out to eat some pizza. 

The wife was super sad but it's times like these when we realize how blessed we are to have the knowledge that we have of the Plan of Salvation. 

The sisters in the ward had a baptism and it was so great. All the missionaries in the two wards that congregate in the Guamuchil building gathered to sing a special musical number at the baptism.

It went really well.

This past week, the elders in our ward found a woman that lives in our area that is super interested and they gave us her address and number. We went, We saw, We conquered. haha no, but she and her 13 hundred children like to listen and we're going to ask them to be baptized this Wednesday, fingers crossed. 

I'm really loving my mission and I'm learning how to be a better leader.

I love you guys so much,

Elder Padilla. 

  

24 Aug 2015 - On Bike for one day

Dear Family,

This week was super great, we had intercambios with the leaders of the zone and it was super great. I got to ride a bike so I was super psyched but then I had forgotten how long it had been since the last I'd ridden a bike and my back side was very hurt. I walked funny the next day but I'm better now. The bishop here just got back from his vacation to Utah, his wife has family there and he's an English teacher here in Guamuchil. One of the recent converts that the elders before us baptized, recently got a job at a Chinese restaurant and she works on Sunday now. Its not very helpful because we're teaching her husband but he went to church this past Sunday with his son and daughter. 

Not have much time with the computer but I'll speak with you guys soon.

Many love!

Elder Padilla

16 Aug 2015 - Satan's valley

Dear Family,

How are you guys? Luke, word on the street is you're taller than Robert Parry. Nice. 

So my comp is super funny. Turns out that he's seen just about every episode of Regular Show, so when we're walking in the street we're always quoting from episodes we've seen. haha oh yeah and when we found that family of 7 we were walking home and Elder Guardado said, ''hey man, guess what?'' and I said ''what?'' he said, '' we're gonna slam dunk 7 at the same time'' and then we both said OOOOHHHHHHHH. (like mordikai and rigby) hahaha

But yeah this week tambien was super nuts because we found another family that wants to go for a swim. This Thursday we'll set the date but my comp and I are super psyched because the joven tiene 15 años y estaba preguntando los requisitos para ir a un misión.

Ah man, I feel like a mailman. So there's a colony in our area named beautiful valley. It should be called, ''We let our dogs loose and then they bite missionaries in the leg because of no good reason.'' 

I was super bummed. We were looking for an address and out of no where this dog bolts out from under the car and barks once and then goes in for my calf. It was super weird because normally they bark a few times to warn you that ''hey I live here and would you please get off my property'', but it barked once and said '' well, goodbye Elder Padilla.'' 

Every time we head for this colony now , we call it Satan's valley. haha. 

Well, this week was super great and I hope for more.

Hope all is well in Virginia.

Luke, stay short.

Mom, stay sweet.

Dad, stay bishop. 

Mexico rocks.

Love you guys a ton.

Elder Padilla

Dog Bite

P-Day

10 Aug 2015 - Crazy week...

Dearest Family,

This was the craziest week!

Maybe it wasn´t crazy but it was a really great week. 

Yesterday was one of those, ''trial of your faith, type of days. 

We'd walked a ton and appointment after appointment got canceled and no one showed up to church. I'm still learning the area but I could tell that my comp was running out of ideas. 

We went to the house of the counselor of the stake president and he drove us to some of his neighbors that he thought would be interested but, still nothing.

So it was 8:45ish and our house is a good 30min walk away, so we started to head back when we saw one of our investigators sitting outside her house with her friend. So we walk up and asked if we can share a mensaje. They said yes, we walked in the house and inside was another 5 or 6 people sitting down, talking to one another.

So we entered and the room gets super quiet. We put our bags down and begin to talk about baptism. the spirit was so strong and all 7 of them accepted to be baptized. It was so awesome!!

I think one of the hardest things is learning to trust in the Lord. You can read and study all day long, but if you don't practice in the field the things you learn in your studies there's no value in the studies. And its sad because in our studies the Lord reveals to us Exactly what pure investigators need to hear, we just need to have the faith and confidence in the Lord that He'll be there testifying of our words.

I really enjoy teaching people and its now becoming something that I want to do instead of looking at it as something i have to do. 

My area has a ton of potential and I think that this week we just barely cracked the surface!

Love you guys!

Elder Padilla 

4 Aug 2015 - Too much bus... Guamúchil

Hey family,

Sorry for not writing, I as in a bus for 6 hours yesterday because we had transfers. I got shipped to the lowest area in the mission, Guamúchil!!! 

I´m district leader down here and my comp is so great!! The people here have a lot of money and I saw like 10 challengers, 10 mustangs and a few chargers. My companion, Elder Guardado said that its pretty normal to see Ferrari's here. Our house is on the second floor of this mansion type house and its pretty cool. We have a baptism today at 11am so we're pretty psyched. 

I heard that the members here really love to work with the missionaries so I'm pretty pumped for that.

haha so we were in the baptismal font yesterday cleaning with the secretary of the ward when he got a call from one of the counselors of the bishop saying that neither one of the counselors will be there in the ward this Sunday because they'll be gone for vacciones and the bishop is in Utah visiting family. sweet. 

All is good and I'm loving the mission!!! 

Sé que vive mi Señor.

Elder Padilla

27 Jul 2015 - Dads Wisdom...

Hey Family,

This week was so great but a little tough. We didn't have a ton of success with finding new investigators but the ones we have are doing good! More than half of the lessons that we had planned this week fell through but I'm hopeful for the week to come. This is the week before the transfers so we're going to buckle down a bit more. 

I'm not sure why but all of sudden the drunk men have been very interested in us and they love to talk. It was funny in the beginning but now not really. Every time we see them, we book it. 

This week was really great to reflect on my progress as a missionary and to see the things that I need to change or make better. It was awesome because yesterday I was able to give a talk in Sacrament meeting about the Atonement and it may not have been the best talk ever written but I thought a ton about what Jesus Christ has done for me, but not only what he's done, but what he's made possible for me to become. I spoke about the enabling power of the Atonement and how we literally receive strength when we learn how to ''apply the Atonement.'' (Mosiah 4:2)

I feel great and pretty much the worst thing that you can do, talking to you Luke, on your mission is become discouraged. Because when we choose to give less of ourselves, when we're already promised to give everything that we have, we start wasting time that isn't ours. Be ye anxiously engaged in a good cause and learn to love it because you already know dad's going to make you do it weather you like it or not. ''You can go on a mission and be happy about it or go on a mission and be sad about it. Pick your poison.'' (dad)

But seriously all is good. I feel the opposition sometimes but I chose a long time ago for whose team I wanted to play. 

I'm still here in my first area so we'll have to see if I'm gonna stay here another transfer or what. Elder Rivera says hi. And haha one of our neighbors asked if you, mom, know how to beat-box. I was going to respond with a no but then I realized that its been a while since I saw you and hey, you never know. so let me know. 

Thanks for the pictures, I'll try to send more. 

Love you guys,

Elder Padilla

Our future missionary.