Green Fried Guineos...[June 30, 2014]

This week was fairly uneventful. We had zone conference on Tuesday which went pretty well. We learned a bit more about planning and working with the ward.

My companion made some strange dish from his country (Ecuador) that is made by boiling green bananas until you can squash them and making it into a paste where you put cheese in the middle and fry them. They were okay. My companion said that they usually turn out better.

Yesterday, I got another round of my favorite thing here - tacos árabes. I ate so much that I was pretty sure I was going to explode in a horrible way and make it home in a coffin. However, I am still alive and well.

I also caught a cold which kinda stinks, but the work goes on.

I recently realized that almost every aspect of missionary life prepares you later for life afterwards, especially for marriage and dating. You learn budgeting, making plans, resolving differences with someone else, how to be humble, how to work hard, how to talk with people easily, and so much more. From living with a companion to contacting in the street, missionary work prepares you for life. Also you learn how to separate someone in a group; because we have to do that with members to ask them to go on visits with us.

Have a great week, think about great things.

Élder Seymour.

P.S. Sorry I missed you birthday Dad... Happy belated birthday!

My Companion adding cheese to the green banana

Frying the Guineos

Graffiti

My Companion and I 

Big one is Pitallla and small one is Lichi

Member making us Birria de Res

First Baptisms...[June 23, 2014]

Hola todo,

So... we had our first baptisms this week! Josefina, Samuel, and Arlett. We first found Josefina on the street and made an appointment with her later in the week. At first, she was a little reluctant to listen to us and we were almost to the point of dropping her, but we invited her to a fireside with our mission president and later to church. When she went, she said that she felt something different that she had never before felt when going to any other church. She gained a huge desire to learn more and we started to teach her frequently. It was a little difficult because she never attended the equivalent of middle and high school, but we taught simply and little by little, she and her children understood.

One of the greatest differences we noticed first in her was that she not only went to church, she did it of her own will and was always early. Whenever we taught about a commandment, she followed it immediately and didn't make excuses. We have never had someone as prepared as she is.

Samuel and Arlett are great as well. They have been super excited about all of it and reading the Book of Mormon along with their mom. Sometimes it was easier to teach them of a principle even though Samuel is only 11 and Arlett is only 9. I really hope that by seeing their example, others will want to follow the Savior.

Although we experience disappointments still in the work, I am reminded that it all becomes worth it in the end.

Have a great week!

Élder Seymour.

Baptismal Font...those black dots are bugs!

Duty Calls

Mural at a school

My Companion with Samuel

Us and Family

Us and Family before Baptism

Us and Family in Baptism Whites

My flip-flops have leprosy...[June 16, 2014]

So this week we had a lot of rain.

One of our investigators, who has a baptismal date this Saturday along with her children, had her house flood. My companion and I made a heroic effort to keep the water out, and we eventually succeeded. However, it took a while and we only had a squeegee and a broom to do the job. That was fun!

I also tried out another fruit that only exists here in México called pitaya. It was just about the weirdest fruit I have seen yet and it looks like a crime scene after you eat it...but it also tastes pretty good.

We also almost got robbed this week, but I didn't notice until after my companion told me...like usual. We walked to a street corner where a miscellaneous store was and waited for a combi to come by. A group of young adults were talking and one of them said -no, son cuates- meaning no they are friends. Apparently, we have friends who rob people... I guess that's cool.

Also in a weird turn of events, I am still with my companion, even though that almost never happens after training. However, he is now the district leader, so that's pretty great as well.

Also, because we now can't do district or zone activities, we decided to get creative and now we spend an hour each week with a panadero and learn of his ways. Now I will be able to make Mexican bread!

Have an excellent week everyone!

Élder Seymour.

My flip-flops have leprosy

My companion and I making conchas

Elder Tonks making cream tacos

Placing the tacos

My companion making pastries

The finished product

Thank goodness for flu shots...[June 9, 2014]

Buenas tardes mis cuates,

I have finally completed 4 months... as well as my training. I am now an actual missionary. Actually, I was before, but now it's different...

Anyways, this week we had some good experiences even though we had a few investigators say that they don't want to be baptized anymore. 

First thing, we had a plethora of rain this past week. For two days it didn't stop raining... just like home. We are starting to go into the rainy season, which is very exciting to me even though it gets a bit harder to contact people on the streets. Unfortunately, it was pretty rough on my companion who caught the flu. Which makes me grateful that I had to get the flu shot before going to the MTC because I still haven't caught it, unlike some of our investigators. I guess it really did have a purpose.

We also went to a Mercado. It was amazing how cheap everything was. You could buy a good quality knife for 20 pesos. My companion also bought a piggy bank that is a minion from despicable me for 30 pesos, but expected it to be more like 250 pesos.

We also have been teaching an english class for the past few weeks every saturday. We like to have a lot of fun with it, but it is difficult to get any of our investigators to come.

The missionary work is also going very well here right now. We have a good number of baptismal dates lined up and are working hard to find new people constantly. The family in the photo that I sent last week has a baptismal date for two weeks and we are very certain that it won't fall through. The best part of the mission is seeing how people change their lives when they make the decision to follow Christ. It makes it all worth it in the end.

We also played pool today for our district activity, but it will be the last district activity because the area presidency put a stop to those. We also can't really play soccer anymore, which is really hard on the Latin missionaries. Oh well.

I also learned that Guayaba juice and tacos árabes are the best.

Have a great week!

Élder Seymour.

4 months down

Chapel we attend church

Minion Bank

Me playing pool

Companion playing pool

Companion resting from flu

La prueba de Lichi...[June 2, 2014]

 Buenas tardes,

I had a great week this week if not too eventful.

I tried Lichi for the first time this week. It is one of the weirdest things to eat because it has a spiny shell on the outside and is filled with water/juice on the inside. I imagine it is some kind of fruit, or perhaps a berry. Sadly I do not have a picture of it, but you could probably look it up on the internet. It tastes pretty good though.

The work is also progressing nicely here, but I won't be too specific about that.

I also got torn up in the soccer game we played today. I could send a picture, but it is probably better if I don't. I find it sufficient to just say that it is incredibly painful to shake hands now. However, it was still a lot of fun.

Have a great week,

Élder Seymour.

I feel sorry for this clown pop

Some sort of church. I heard that there are around 60 different churches here in Puebla, but I wouldn't know... I just live here.

My companion and some of our investigators.

Church Activity 1 of 2

Church Activity 2 of 2

My favorite sticker is the canine drug inspection... I guess it passed. (My deepest thanks for the package. My companion loves the sees chocolate and all. Also a huge thanks for the photos)

Puebla Soccer Team

Injury from soccer game