La Malinche...[Jan. 18, 2016]

Today we got to the top of La Malinche. It is the 4th tallest mountain in México and the only one that we are allowed to climb as missionaries. One of the cool things about it (apart from the snow) was that you can see the other 3 tallest mountains from the top of it (see attached pictures). It was honestly my favorite p-day activity in my entire mission. The only bad thing is that I now feel kind of sore. Plus, it was the only time I have seen snow close up in my whole mission. As we were going up, we ran into some Austrians, Canadians, A Brazilian, and lot of Mexicans. The moral of the story is, that was completely worth it.

I also had my last interview with president on Thursday. I think the worst part of the interview is at the end when he said, "on behalf of the church, president Christensen and his wife, and my wife and myself, I thank you for your service." I just sat there thinking, "but I still have this week left... oh well."

I have to take a bus to México at 2:30am from Puebla to wait at the airport until my flight at 10am. Later I have to wait in LAX for 4 hours until I get in the plane to get home. I guess I will be waiting quite a bit.

Well, not much else to say... I guess I'll be seeing you on Wednesday.
Have an excellent week!
élder Seymour.
Pics:
1)last picture with élder Armenta, who I trained
2)a picture from my area of La Malinche
3)the first part of the trail

4) Another section of the first part of the trail with everyone there.

5)The last 2 sections of the climb to get to the summit

6)I can see my area from here.

7)Popocatépetl and Ixtaccihuatl the 2 and 3 highest mountains in México

8) El Pico de Orizaba, the tallest mountain in México

9)A view from the summit

10) where we were at last week, Tepatlaxco

11) My companion and a friend we met going down the mountain

12) My tie after it got cut... it's a tradition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tepatlaxco round 2...[Jan 10, 2016]

This week we found some new investigators. They went to a different ward in the same chapel and the elders passed their address on to us, but they gave us the wrong address, so we had to wait until the following week to get the address from them. We finally started teaching them and they are quite excellent. They are a brother and a sister and a mom. The mom is only there every once in a while. The brother even asked how he could be a missionary as well. They seem like they will progress quite a bit.

I also returned to Tepatlaxco today. It was awesome, but also sad to see the family we started teaching there. I missed them a lot and it was so good to see them, but it was a bit sad because I really don't know when I will see them again. I promised them that I would come back though.

That's about it, have an excellent week!
élder Seymour.

Pics:
1) A sunset in our area
2) My agendas over the past 2 years.
3) In Tepatlaxco, half of the family. Some of the other children were still in school.
4) The other half of the family.

 

 

 

Roma Round 2 (or maybe 3)...[Jan. 4, 2016]

So this Monday I went to visit my first area Roma and Xonacatepec. I met up with a family that I was teaching when I was there that later got baptized. Well, the father was just less active, but his wife and daughter later got baptized. In some ways, it was a small miracle seeing them because I am so far away from everything.

Apart from that, we also had new year's eve which we had to go home early because of all the fireworks and drunk people. At least with the end of the holidays, it signals a new era where missionary work won't be quite as difficult.

Speaking of which, we have a family that we are teaching that seem like they are going to progress. The father works at the nearby coke factory and they have 2 children. Both are boys and they are 9 and 10 years old. We just have to help them get to church next week and they will be progressing just fine. We were actually about to drop them because they kept cancelling appointments, but we just kept going at it and now they are doing great. Every lesson they have a bunch of questions from something they read in the pamphlets or in the Book of Mormon.

Anyways, Hope you have a great week!
élder Seymour.

Pic:
1)The family I visited in Roma.

Pero mire como baila Santa Claus...[Dec. 28, 2015]

Hello,
This week I set up a bet with some recent converts here (they are 8 and 9 years old) that I could learn the 13 articles of faith in Spanish before they could. I have them memorized now, but we haven't seen them for a few days, so I have no clue if I actually won or not...

We had an investigator come to church for the first time since I got here. We just started teaching her this last week, so she seems to be progressing really well. We contacted her in the street and she said that she had listened to the missionaries before. When we invited her to be baptized, she said that she wanted to, so that made us quite excited.

Christmas Eve was good because we had the Christmas conference in Puebla. It basically took up all day and it was a lot of fun. The president and his wife also gave us new socks as a gift. Actually, I am not sure what they gave to the sister missionaries, but I hope it was good too.

Christmas we spent, at least the morning, cleaning up a school that some members own that live in our area. It was honestly a lot of fun and a lot of work as well. We had to seperate plastics that were all put together in a bag as tall as I am. Also we cleaned up a part of the school that had a lot of dust because it was under construction.

After that I talked to my family and we tried to visit some people that weren't home. What a weird experience talking to the family when I will see them in almost 3 weeks.

Anyways, hope you have a great week!
élder Seymour.
Pics:
1)My companion and I during the Christmas Conference
2) The missionaries in our stake during the christmas conference.

 

La Posada...[Dec. 21, 2015]

So this week was a fair amount of activities in the church. Thursday we had a stake activity that was called 'viaje a Hawai' or Trip to Hawaii. It talked about the different kingdoms of glory. You know the type. It went pretty well even though none of our investigators could come with us. They obviously put a lot of effort into it.


The next day we had a sort of 'cena navideña' in the chapel. They had a piñata that the children destroyed. The bishop also made some carnitas. It is basically pig meat cut up and boiled in its own fat until it is cooked... it tastes better than it sounds. So, we ate together as a ward and I spent a lot of time trying to learn their names and everything. In all, it was quite fun.


Apart from that, it was a very difficult week as far as finding investigators in their houses. It seems like the building village that we live in just went on vacation. Probably about half just aren't here now because they went somewhere else. We didn't have a single lesson with an investigator and much less any new investigators. However, this week is a lot better because we just had a lesson with a new investigator. Promising stuff going on.


Plus, I forgot to mention that I went to the temple dedication of Tijuana last week. It was an amazing experience going to 2 different temple dedications. I feel really blessed.


Anyways, have an excellent week!
élder Seymour.

Pics:
Las Pinatas
Other Elders in our ward
La Carnitas

Tetla...[Dec. 14, 2015]

New area, new companion.

Right now I am in a town next to a big city. The town is called Tetla and we are the only 2 missionaries here. Lotd of buildings, but not lots of people on the streets during the day, but we steadily find new investigators and there is a lot of potential here.

My companion is Elder Zamora. He is from California which makes him my first American companion. However, both his parents are from México and most members just assume he is Mexican until they get to know him. He came to the mission speaking Spanish, so he already knows it pretty well. Honestly, it is super fun being with him.

This week we found 3 new investigators. One of them was slightly drunk when we taught him, but he seemed largely in control of himself and very sincere, so we will see where it goes.

Anyways, I have a lot of hope for this area. Just gotta work, as they say.


Have a great week!
élder Seymour.
1)study room of the last house.

Made in Oregon...[Dec. 7, 2015]

So, as it would turn out, I have transfers yet again. My companion also has transfers, but they are going to send two other elders when we leave. It will honestly be sad not being here for Christmas and enjoying the prescence of members that I already know, but that's life for you.

This week we set a baptismal date with an investigator who we found through a member reference. She and her mom came to church this past Sunday and she is progressing quite well. She said in the last lesson that she knows the church is true because when she was in the hospital (she is going through kidney trouble) a man she didn't know came to her with a book and told her she had great faith. We were like "Um, but your still going to pray to know if it's true right." She said yes and we set the baptismal date. She also has read almost all of the book of mormon in the short 2 weeks we have been teaching her. And now we both have to leave...


In other news, things are going pretty well in the house. I feel slightly jealous for the elders that are going to come here after.


Also, I have decided to start ponderizing here on the mission. I feel it useful for those moments when you have nothing else to do. I also feel it allows to keep our minds focused on what's most important all day.


Well, I hope all goes well for each one of you, Have an excellent week!
élder Seymour.


1) I didn't think it was possible either
2) A photo of my companion and I with some members of the ward