¡Feliz Navidad!

Hola

¡Feliz Navidad! I hope everyone is having a good Christmas back home. This week has been filled with lots of things. This week though was my first week with Elder May. We are working hard and spent a lot of time contacting this week looking for new investigadores. This week I had an experience that really showed me how much this Gospel brings us happiness and I don´t think my testimony has ever been as strong as it is right now. This week I was contacting with Elder Romero from Peru (my zone leader) and I stopped to talk to an older man in the calle that was standing by himself. We began to talk to him and shared a pequeño mensaje about Jesus Christ. As he listened to us and his first response was I am catholic. We told him that we were not here to challenge his religion solo to lift others faiths and beliefs. All of a sudden his face changed and he begin to cry. His wife had passed away recently and lived solo. My heart was filled with love for this man has he began to try to talk about it but couldn´t. We then shared with him the Plan of Salvation and promised him that he will see his wife again with this Plan that Heavenly Father has for him. I could tell that when he heard our message that he was filled with happiness. He hugged both of us and asked us to come back. I seriously have developed a love for these people. They are like my family and I try to see all of them as the potential they have to become. We are all Children of a Loving God. 

This week something happened that I would have never thought would of happened on my mission. On Wednesday night we got a call from the Zone Leaders telling us that we had permission to go to the Cine and watch Coco. We were all excited and it was such a good movie. I am glad we went later on in my mission haha because I could understand the movie. It was a great movie that has a great story to it. There were so many Elders that thought the Zone Leaders were lying to us but no it was the truth and we went Thursday. It felt like I was at home at the movies with my friends haha. After the movies I had divisiones with Elder Baldridge who just completed his first week in the mission field. It was really good and we found and taught a family that are members but are menos activos. We shared a message with them and they told us that they have been inactive for 2 years. Yesterday they came to church! It is so awesome to see your investigators and menos activos in the capilla. 

The work is going great. We had a baptism this past Saturday, Kaylin. Another Elder did the baptism but it was an awesome experience. It is so awesome to watch these ordinances and see your investigators enter the water. The decision that they are making is such an important step in our Father´s plan. The Spanish is coming in a lot better. I can answer questions on my own and can pretty much understand everything. It is so awesome to see the progress and all the help that the Lord has given me. The gift of tongues is real for sure. There is no way that I could learn Spanish this fast without the gift and the help of the Lord. I am so grateful that I chose to serve the Lord and yes it is hard to be away from family during this time but Christmas is more than just receiving. To give to the people of Mexico and the Lord is what I am grateful for. I hope that everyone has a fantastic Navidad and Año Nuevo! ¡Feliz Navidad de Mexico!

Elder McCain

The photos are of the baptism, divisiones with Elder Baldridge, and Fam Espeja (the nicest people in the world)

Cambios y Fiesta de Navidad

Hola-

Well this week flew by I am not going to lie. I felt like I was just here in this same spot writing an email. Well today we had changes and Elder Peña left to another area so I got a new compañero. It is hard to see Peña go, we only had two weeks together and we got along great and had goals for this next cycle but Presidente Mann is basically changing the whole mission around. His name is Elder May. He is from Cancun. I will attach a picture of us.

This week was busy looking for new people to teach and finding menos activos. We have a baptism this Saturday that I am looking forward to. Her name is Kaylin and is 9 years old. Her family is so cool and her Dad is católico but treats us like his sons. I love the people here in this barrio. They are so kind and welcoming. I hope that I stay here in Polanco for a good while because there is potential in this area and the members are awesome. This work is so amazing because I get to teach other people and promise them that they can live with their families forever. Something that is very important is that our investigators have a testimony for themselves, it is so cool to see change and testimonies grow in this work. The mission is very hard at times but something that I have really tried to do is just work harder. When I forget about myself and focus on those that we teach I love the mission. I love seeing others happy and to feel the love that I feel from the Savior and Heavenly Father. This week in my studies I found a scripture that really stuck out to me. It was Proverbs 17:17, it says

17. A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.

Yes there are times here on the mission when I feel alone or that I can´t do it but this scripture I love. The Savior is our brother and he suffered for everyone of our sins and desafios in this life. There are others here that are facing more adversity than I am and I want to be that friend that loves at all times. We found a old investigator this week that was really struggling because she felt that she was not good enough. I shared with her Mormon 9:31. We are going to have imperfections in this life and yes it is going to be hard but Heavenly Father gives us these challenges to become stronger and increase our faith. We are not going to have faith without a trial of our faith, that is how it is strengthened! I love this scripture because we are going to face adversity but we always have a loving Heavenly Father and brother Jesus Christ to help us and that care and want the best for us. 

This Thursday we had our Christmas Party for half the mission. It was so much fun! We were in the Estaca Neza pretty much the whole day! In the morning we had a devocional with Presidente and then after was the presentations for each zone. They were so funny! Each zone performed a skit or something like it and it was hilarious. The best part was Presidente Mann and Hermana Mann skit. Presidente Mann dressed as superman, I have a whole video of it, it is so funny haha! After the presentations we ate and they put on the movie Cars 3. I didn´t watch it, I went to play basketball with other Elders. I saw all the Elders from La Perla and played basketball with them. It was such a good time! It is crazy that Christmas is one week away! It was a good week and hope everyone has a good week! I will have pictures of our baptism this Saturday! Échale ganas!

Elder McCain

The photos are of the fiesta, Elder Carrizales a good friend that is going home this week, and Elder May my new companion

Special Changes

Hola

This week has been crazy. On Tuesday of this week I had special changes and was sent to another area within an hour. I had special changes because my first area was not safe for me. Tuesday was super hard, I am not going to lie. Within an hour I left Arboleda and didn´t get to say goodbye to anyone which was difficult because I was finally settling in there and was really close with the investigators and members. Yes, it was difficult but I know that it was necessary. My new area is Polanco in Estaca Neza. Leaving my zone La Perla was hard too. My new companion is Elder Peña, he is from Bolivia. When I arrived here in Polanco, Elder Peña and his companion before only had one investigator and one appointment for the whole week. That was hard to see especially because Elder Ayala and I were having so much success in Arboleda. We had 10 dates for baptism there in Arboleda which was hard to leave. But when I got here I was just shocked at how much of a difference it is here. But instead of getting down and just giving up, I asked for help from the Lord and told Elder Peña that we can bring this ward back up. I know that it will not be easy but I have slowly seen progress in this week. 

Wednesday was my first full day here and it was tough because Elder Peña and I went through the area book and pulled out names of investigators and direccions of Inactive Members to visit. We made a list and had spent the whole day Wednesday walking and findind people but no one would recieve us. It was that way for most of the week because they had no appointments so we walked around searching and contacting. Something that has kept me going though is knowing that the Lord has someone prepared for us and we need to find them. Yesterday and my birthday Saturday we had more and more success. We found a family that is interested in our lesson and we already put a baptismal date with a girl that we found. This work is impossible without the help of the Lord. We have another investigator that we found that was so glad to see us because the previous missionaries stopped visiting him for some reason. We have a baptism this Saturday that was set before I got here which I am excited for! Yes the change was hard especially because I felt so close to the members and loved the area there in Arboleda but I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for us and there was a reason for it. 

I would like to share an experience I had this week. This week as we were walking down the street in my new area we heard someone yelling "Elder.....Elder!" As we looked to see who was saying our name it was a homeless man that was sitting on the sidewalk with only a blanket and nothing else. We went up to him and he asked for help multiple times and said that he needed Dios. As we listened to him, we wanted to help him and gave him a folleto and the next day we passed by in the same spot where we found him to teach him. We had told him that we wanted to help him, but only if he stopped drinking. When we showed up the next day he had the same bottle of alcohol but none of it had been dranken. He asked us for help again and was in tears and asked for food. As he was crying and seeing the conditions that he was in all that I could think of was how much love and desire I had to help him. I did not like seeing him sleeping on the sidewalk in the cold and I saw him as a brother not as a homeless person on the street. If only we could see people as the potential they have to become instead of how they are in that moment, that is how the Savior sees us. We are all children of God and he cares for each and everyone of us. This man was sleeping on the sidewalk we tried everything for him, we called his family that lived far away but they didn´t want anything to do with him, we brought food to him everyday this week, and just showed the love that the Savior has for us. As we passed by yesterday to see him, he was gone and Elder Peña and I thought that he had left but no this morning we saw him inside the house of a family that had accepted him and let him shower and lend him a place to sleep. This morning we talked to him and he told us that he is the happiest he has ever been and wants to come to church with us and be a part of our church. He even tried to kiss me on the cheek he was so happy haha. Something that I have learned here on the mission so far is to see people as children as my family. That is charity and is an attribute that could make the world a better place!

Yes the changes have been hard this week but the work is still the same and I know that I am being watched over. On my birthday on Saturday no one knew since I don´t know anyone very well here yet but the family that we had comida with found out and went and bought me a tiny cake and sang to me. The members here have been so welcoming and loving. I love the people here, they are so humble and loving. Saturday night Elder Peña and I went to KFC haha and had my "birthday dinner" you could say. This next week will be same just getting the area back up and meeting the members. We have a baptism this Saturday too which I am pretty stoked for! Hope you guys have a good week and it is close to Christmas!

Elder McCain

Pictures are of the cake on my birthday, KFC with Peña, and Elder Peña and I at the capilla

Dogs and #Ilumina el Mundo

Hola

Hey Everyone this week was filled with a lot of contacting. This week we had a lot of appointments that were dropped so we spent a good amount of time looking for people to teach. This week we found an inactive family with five children that we are teaching right now. Let me tell you, the first time we taught them was very hard because they do not like to answer and teaching simply was surprisingly hard. Also this week we have continued to teach Maria Carmen and they are progressing really well. We have a baptismal date for December 30th with Maria and her daughter. It is so awesome to see the gospel touch these people´s hearts and to see change in their lives. One of our investigator smokes a lot and everytime we walk into her house you can tell because the smoke is so strong. This last visit that we had with her we could tell that she was completing her goals and is trying to stop smoking because it smelt a lot better in the house and she looked so much better. She had a testimony as soon as we walked in her house it seemed like. It is so awesome to see the change and happiness the gospel brings into our lives. I left my home for 2 years to allow people to have the light of Christ in their lives. This week Elder Ayala and I have worked with a program that the Church is doing for Navidad this year called #Ilumina el Mundo. There are 25 videos that build up to Christmas and they are so awesome to watch and bring the Spirit of Christmas into so many homes. We have challenged each member to leave these cards with investigators and their friends. We want to spread the light of Christ throughout the world.

You are probably wondering why the subject says dogs but if you didn´t know this already there are 2 dogs at least on every corner here in Mexico. So far I haven´t had a problems with the dogs but this week they decided to turn on the Guerro here in Mexico. This week we were walking to our lunch for the day and there was this dog on a chain but it was hidden under a truck. As we walked by this truck I did not see this dog and it jumped out to bite my leg. Luckily I saw it in time and was able to get out of the way or else I would of had a pretty nasty bite on my leg. Another incidence this week was as we were walking to another cita this week, Elder Ayala and I looked ahead to see a Pitbull running full speed towards us..... It had gotten away from it´s owner and was headed straight for us. There are so many Pitbulls here. Well this Pitbull since I stand out here to the dogs here too I guess was headed straight for me. I got so lucky again because luckily the Pitbull just wanted to play even though it jumped up on top of me and Ayala. We left with some pretty nice scratches. Haha Mexico wouldn´t be the same without un monton de perros haha. 

Today was a pretty good day for Pday. Some Elders from the zone and I went to a Plaza here in Mexico to bowl. It was so nice and I had no idea that it existed. It was a good time. I took home the crown but barely haha. My Spanish is finally starting to feel like I can fit in. I can finally communicate with people decently and understand. I still have more to learn but it is nice to finally feel this way. It is starting to feel like Christmas here! It is pretty cold in the maldrugada but in the day the sun is blazing hot haha. We get all kinds of weathers here. I wish it would snow here, I miss the snow. Some people have lights up but very few. I am excited for Christmas to come! Have a good week!

Elder McCain

The pictures are of bowling and the plaza with Elder Northrup