Adventures With Elder Evs: 6 More Months

It's crazy to think that Elder Grossman has less than 6 months until he is back in the states!! We are all super excited for his return :) In the meantime, here's an update! He has been transferred to the big city of Villahermosa and is training his new companion Elder Galindo from Monterrey who he says is "willing to learn and really fun to talk to." 

He absolutely loves his new apartment and area because "THERES AN AIR CONDITIONING UNIT" (a direct quote, yes in all caps) in his room. Elder G has reported to sleeping way better at night with it, and he is extremely content. Plus they have fun stores and restaurants such as: Dominos, Pizza Hut, Subway, and Dairy Queen nearby. Hooray! Anyways, the pictures and stories in this post are from the last few weeks in his previous area of Reyes Aztecas! :)

The above pictures are from a ward activity Elder G and his companion put together in his previous area. "We started up activities in the ward here. We played volleyball and had water balloons, and with these activities we are getting attention from people who aren't members which is really cool."

These are pictures of their investigator Zamyra and her family at her baptism! 

"We had some birthdays this past week: first, our new convert! She turned 16. It was small, but an awesome party! Singing mañanitas and cakes in peoples faces. After her 'mordita' her brother splashed her with a bucket of water. It was funny, but she didn't think it was funny. We also got her a cake, which was super good!! We found out the following day that it was made with a tiny bit of alcohol :(" 

(We all wrote to Evan that when cooking with alcohol, it eventually burns off so he shouldn't feel as bad)

"We had an Elder that had a birthday too! We got him a different cake, so not to repeat our previous mistake. We even asked the person to make sure it wasn't made with any alcohol or coffee. A member told us later that the cake we bought was made with a little bit of coffee. I now officially hate all cakes in Mexico :(" 

"I have my whole district here! Me, Elder Ortiz, Elder Rivera, Hermana Sanchez, and the Holy Ghost in between Hermana Wyndham and Elder Florido :)" 

With the holidays coming up soon, make sure to write an Elder! If you want Elder Grossman's email address, leave a comment below and I can send it to you. He loves emails! :)

Adventures With Elder Evs: Fiery Tabasco Heat

Evan only has 9 and a half months until he is back here in the good ole USA. The time has flown by! We talked to him on Mothers Day and he could barely speak English, which is a good sign because that means he is immersed in the Spanish language. Which also means I need to get crackin' on mine...eek!

"Get this. Patricia has been attending church for almost 7 years before we came. It was at this moment, that we helped her see the importance of baptism, and took the decision to be baptized."

He transferred from Agua Dulce to his new area Cunduacan, Tabasco during the hottest month of the year. Meaning that all the pictures we are sent features Elder Grossman with a constant red sunburnt face, no matter how much sunscreen he puts on! He is currently training his new companion Elder Ortiz and is also teaching him some English. They are teaching the non-member parts of families in the ward and baptizing them. They are having some awesome success in Cunduacan despite the crazy heat!

"Sooo our toilet got clogged, and we used a Mexican invention to unclog. You're not going to believe what we did. Note: broomstick + empty bottle of clorox = toilet plunger."

"The four missionaries of the ward sang in the ward talent show for Mother's Day here in Mexico. We sang "He Sent His Son" and "El Cristo Es" This is the Christ. Then I did a solo singing "Mother, I Love You," too bad I can't send the videos I have in my emails. Just want to let you know mom, Happy Mothers Day!" 

Finally, Evan's story of a cute little guitarist at the ward talent show: "Ponchito, el guitarist little poncho the guitarist. This is the son of the ward mission leader in our ward. He sang for a minute, but I recorded it all. It's freaking hilarious, he sang: 

'Y tu te vas, y yo me voy...and you're going, and I'm going' 

He repeated that phrase for a minute, and then ended:

'Y tu te vas y yo me voy, y se queda, con los perros and you're going, and I'm going, with the dogs' Ahhh it was hilarious! Wish I could send the video!"

Adventures With Elders Evs: One Year Down!

As of March 6th, Elder Evan Grossman has been out for a whole year! I've heard that the second year just flies by, which is good cause I'm excited to see my brother as soon as possible :) He is still in Agua Dulce with his same companion Elder Angeles, and transfers won't happen for another few weeks.

He was excited that they were able to contact some couples at the beginning of February to teach them, because in Mexico on Valentines they do weddings for free! Since it is so expensive a lot of couples down there don't end up getting married, but at least this gives them the opportunity to do so which helps out the missionaries out when teaching that it's important to actually be married!

As you will see in these pictures, Elder Grossman was spoiled rotten for his birthday 21st on February 3rd...he had not one, but TWO cakes and a pizza lunch. Lucky duck! The past few weeks he has sent short emails to the family, so I razzed him last week saying that I needed an email more than 3 dang sentences long, and he obliged :) 

"So, this week because of complaints of a certain person, I have to explain a little more about my life this week. Well...good news! I have something new to talk about."

"This past week, Elder Arnulfo Valenzuela, 2nd Counselor of the Area Presidency of Mexico came and talked to us in Minatitlan. I learned a lot from him...one thing that caught my attention is that he said 'The time that we used to use to prepare our family and friends to hear the gospel has passed.' Meaning that if you have someone in mind that could benefit form the message of the Restored Gospel, you should call the missionaries up now, let them know that you want them to visit this person, and set a time when you can pass by this person with them."

Anyone who knows my family, knows that we are all super white. Although, some of us can tan or at least get golden...Evan on the other hand just burns. I jokingly refer to him as Elder Langosta (Elder Lobster) because in most of the pictures he sends to us, he is flaming red! This is what he had to say about it:

"Other thing, the redness in my pics...yeah. I think it's going to be a thing for awhile. The hot season is just started up in February and people tell me and my companion that May is a nightmare compared to the heat I'm feeling right now. I still have the 6 bottles of sunscreen that you all sent me, used them today to play basketball (por fin!), and I still came back sunburnt, and I even used the super strong stuff. From the amount I'm sweating and constantly wiping off sweat, it's horrible. Air conditioning is a rare commodity here, an I always enjoy meetings because of it."

"So, happy certain person? I practically spilled out my life story from this past week, and had to look at my agenda a few times to remind me what I even did (seriously, it's a part of my life; I always have it). Love y'all!"

Hmmmm, ya I'm happy ;)

Adventures With Elder Evs: Feliz Navidad

Every Christmas and Mother's Day, families are able to Skype or call their missionary out in the field to catch up and visit with them. This was our first Skype call with Evan & it did not disappoint! Although, the complete dork told us to be waiting by the computer at 4pm instead of 5pm because he didn't calculate the hour difference between Mexico & California correctly! These are some pictures in emails he has sent the past couple of weeks with some funny stories. Plus, at the bottom of the post there is a video of Evan wishing his friends & family a Merry Christmas!

"Yeah, today, went with a member to her ranchito today, and starting whistling to the parrot there. We got along so well, it climbed on my shoulder, and chilled there for a good 20 mins. One of the members said it fell asleep on my shoulder!"

My mom sent 2 packages for Christmas over a month ago to ensure it would be there by the end of December, and because the last decorated box we sent got held in customs for 2 months she sent small & plain boxes. Evan got one box well over a month before Christmas and ripped it open not knowing it was his present! He luckily received the other one box later & saved it for Christmas day. And above is one of his favorite breakfast meals, pancakes with peanut butter & syrup! 

"One of the members in our ward has a real Christmas tree, like a real pine tree. When we entered her house to eat, it smelled really good and we wondered what potpourri she bought to make the house smell so good. No, it was too good to be true. He had a real Christmas tree! I enjoyed the moment with a few pics :) For the record, pine trees are not found so easily in the Villahermosa, Mexico mission."

"This is the Santos Family (o la familia Santos en español), and they are awesome! We're going to baptize the father when he comes back from working in Ciudad de Carmen."

We had a nice & long Skype chat with our favorite missionary, which was honestly the highlight of my Christmas day! We got to meet his companion, Elder Angeles, for a quick minute; and we got to hear Evan's pretty awesome accent. Definitely made my stomach drop because I have got a lot of work to do..the goal is to be semi-fluent by Christmas next year so I can surprise him on our Skype call. Evan sang a little Christmas song here for his friends & family, hope you enjoy it! 

Adventures With Elder Ev's: Transfer to Agua Dulce, Veracruz

Latest Update {he has been in his new area for 2 weeks now}:

"With the start of the new transfer, I got a call...I'm going to Veracruz! I'm going to be training in the area of Agua Dulce, Cuatzacoalcos zone. This is crazy, because of the huge change (I'm traveling from Chiapas all the way to Veracruz!). My new companion's name is Elder Angeles, who is from Mexico City."

Baptism of Rafael in Palenque {pictured above, from 3 weeks ago}:

"The best experience from this past week was the appointment that Elder Peterson and I had with his investigator, who was getting ready for his baptism that Saturday. Elder Peterson and his companion were going to move Rafael's baptism date a week back, but Rafael said he was ready for that Saturday. He told me that he went from smoking everyday and having no purpose whatsoever, to changing little by little because of the time he spent with another member and came to a full conversion experience. He was the ideal convert! From the scripture D&C 4: 'Behold, the field is white, already to harvest...' he was personally prepared by the Lord, and was more than ready to be baptized. My heart was filled with indescribable joy, despite him not being my investigator. This is testimony building for me, there are people out there being prepared by the Lord."

"It was an awesome baptism, I played I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus on the piano while the Elders sang. It was really fun!"

{Eating dinner with a member family in Palenque, pictured above from 3 weeks ago}

On his new companion, Elder Angeles:

"My companion is awesome! I'm really blessed to have him as my companion. Elder Angeles is very nice, talkative, open, and happy to be on a mission. I am so glad to have him as a companion, and even more happy to be training. He helps to clarify things when people don't understand me, we have a great relationship."

On his new are, Agua Dulce {pictured above, he has now been there for 2 weeks}:

"This past week, I will forever be grateful for the members here and for their help. The ward here {yes, it's a ward!}, is actively engaged in missionary work! I've accompanied the Bishop to a few lessons already. It makes me excited to work in this area!"

"Agua Dulce has been raining on and off here. And mental note, the agua here is not dulce. It's pretty dang disgusting. We are pretty lucky to have such an awesome apartment right next to some pretty awesome members. And also...it doesn't get flooded in our apartment like some of the other elder apartments."

On the pizza dinner {pictured above}:

"Had family home evening with Gustavo and his family. Had pizza {pay de queso}, and a lot of fun! That is rebanada {leftovers} de pizza with Habanero sauce...yeah, I ate that. Soy patron {I'm the man}!

*Read more from the Adventures With Elder Evs series!*

Adventures With Elder Ev's: Transfers + Snakes

I bring to you another installment of Adventures With Elder Ev's! They are updates of Evan in the mission field in Palenque, Mexico along with some fun stories. We just got word that his companion is being transferred to a different part of the mission after being in Palenque for 6 months, which now makes Elder Evs the resident expert on everything Palenque and Pakal-Na. He has been promoted to senior companion and will be paired up with a native companion named Elder Barerra. Elder Evs will be showing his companion along with another missionary companionship how to navigate the two areas.

About the above picture of Elder Evs reading scriptures by candlelight:
"A rainstorm that we had took down the electricity in our apartment. So, that night we had no electricity, and did daily planning with candles and sleep without fans. Meaning it was a blazing hot night!"

About running into some Americans:

"Elder Love and I ran into Mormons from Utah!!!! Holy crap!!! We left the chapel after movie night and was making our way to our apartment when out of the darkness we hear "Hey look, it's the Elders!" in an American accent!!! It was a Mormon family visiting Palenque! Their son served in the Villahermosa mission and returned this past January. He was there with his family and we got to talk to him. Man, it was so weird talking in English again." {And yes, he really did put that many exclamation marks in there}

About this nasty snake picture:

"One morning the Relief Society President calls us to come over to the capilla {chapel} for a surprise. We come to see a python in a cage with a dead chicken. She told us her story: She wakes up at one or two in the morning to hear her chickens flipping out. She gets up, thinking that a rat or some other pest was just getting the chickens flustered. She opens the door, almost takes a step outside with a python by the door with the dead chicken next to it. She screamed and called someone over to take care of it. She works at a tourist shop right next to the ruins in Palenque, so she released it there. She told us a lot of the tourists were taking pics of her releasing the snakes." GROSS. SICK NASTINESS. 

And why did she release it in the tourist-y part of town?! Questions that will forever go unanswered...

About me...

"And Bri, start practicing your Spanish"

Oops.

Adventures With Elder Ev's: First Month in Mexico

If you are new to this blog, then let me introduce to you my brother Evan, one of my bestest friends! He is currently serving a 2-year LDS mission in Villahermosa, Mexico and I thought it would be fun to share his pictures, adventures, and mission updates! March 6th he went into the MTC {missionary training center} in Provo, UT...then was in McAllen, Texas for about a month and a half waiting for his Visa to go through...and has now been in Mexico for a little over a month.

He is currently in Palenque which is in the state of Tabasco, only a 2 hour bus ride away from the capital Villahermosa. It is completely surrounded by jungle, rains on & off, and is humid {which means he sweats pretty much all day every day}. They are not allowed to knock doors and they teach those who are referred by church members. 

About the pizza pictured above:

"Amazing enough, there's actually pizza in Palenque. 50 pesos each for a jumbo pizza and 3 litres of orange refresco. Also, awesome fact to know, I'm not allowed to have any form of a dark colored soda, especially coke. So, I won't have coke for 2 years...funstuff."

About the baptism of their newest convert Juan:

"We have a son of a member, about 16 years old, he works everyday but really wants to be baptized. He came to church yesterday, but had to leave right after sacrament for work. I'm looking forward to his baptism at the end of this transfer on July 6th."

"Elder Love and I had a great end to our transfer. After all our efforts we baptized one joven {youngster}, se llama Juan."

How he feels about his mission so far:

"It truly is the best 2 years. Looking back on the 4 months I've had so far on my mission, I can't think of a bad moment on my mission, because they are so many fun and great experiences that I've had."

About the weather/sleeping arrangements in Villahermosa:
"And as far as your bed situation...don't even get me started. Two words that make the difference between your situation and mine: aire condicionado {air conditioning}. I bet Ryan truly appreciates it after serving in Honduras for 2 years. Not to mention, since my apartment is made of stone and is on the top floor, it gets all the sunlight, and therefore feels like a sauna. Heat plus humidity equals a freaking sauna. I am in the habit of sleeping with a fan on me all night. I sweat pretty much constantly here."

About his companion Elder Love:

"He had long hair before his mission. Like, mega long! He showed a picture of his hair to some members at comida {food} on Sunday and she compared him to Justin Bieber. I laughed my head off and said to him: "Tiene la fiebre Bieber?" {Do you have Biber-fever?}"

Biggest hurdle to overcome with investigators:

"The main issue really here is marriage. About 3-4 of our investigators are not married and it's really difficult because 2 of the husbands are borrachos {drunk}. So, it's not our investigators holding up on us, it's their husbands and we have asked if we can talk to them. One of the spouses said he didn't see the point, although he's been living with her for 13 years."

About the Mayan ruins in Palenque:

"I'm going to start out with the ruins...it was fun! It was kind of like the ruins at Chitzanitza (however you spell it...freaking native american word that isn't completely Spanish). We had a member from the church who works at one of the tiendas show us around. It was awesome."

"Side note: heard the howler monkey today, but didn't see it. I'll try to get a pic next time I go to the ruins."

"And patience Bri, you will have your howler monkey pic. I just have to find one first."

{Howler monkeys are found throughout the jungle surrounding Palenque, I have requested that Evan track one down and take a picture with it}

About learning Spanish:

"Time feels a little longer for me cause I still can't understand people thoroughly yet, but I have a feeling that once I know how to speak and understand the language, time is going to fly. Seriously, this past friday at la noche de cine {movie night} we watched "The Best 2 Years". My gosh, freaking hilarious movie. Too bad it was all in Spanish dub. You know that part when Elder Calhoun and Elder Vampelt go and buy bread and Elder Calhoun tries to ask for bread in Dutch? The expression on his face when the lady asks him a question is how I feel almost 80% of the time in Spanish, especially when they speak really fast."

This is our first package we have sent to Evan now that he is in Mexico. We stuffed the package with: peanut butter, nutella, starburst, snickers, twix, gum, 6 cds filled with music {Skyrim soundtrack, LOTR, Zelda with a surprise song from Go West}, cd player, 4 white shirts, Axe hair gel, and 5 ties. We topped it off with a picture drawn by my mom of Evan in the jungle with his new howler monkey friend :)