The baptism of Julio 8-21-10

Me on my bed all ready for the day 8-28-10

 Me and my comp, Elder Lopez,  in the rain 9-4-10

Picture of me and a lady in my ward, Hermana Maricela, she gave me that stuff and painted my face for the Independecia.  We were at the church playing football because the mission didn't want us on the streets because of all the parties and stuff, but she came and made hot cakes for the zone and gave me that stuff.  I think she wants me to be a Mexican, that's why she gave it to me.  9-16-10

Next is a picture of me burning my tie for 6 months.  That paper says 6 meses! 9-17-10

 

 Me and Elder Lopez on his birthday eating some cake! 9-20-10

A picture of me and Elder Lopez, my comp, haha   9-20-10

Another picture of me and my comp 9-20-10

30 Agosto 2010

Hey family!
This week has been very good.   It was my companion's birthday this week, so that was cool. We went and ate cake with a lot of members and stuff and it was good.  It is funny, as of today he has the same amount of days that I have months left in the mission, haha.  We didn't have a baptism this week but we have one investigator, Elizabeth, who accepted baptism for next week on Jueves (Thursday), so I'm super excited for that.   It will be great.   She is the mom of Hugo, who is a member, and it is the same Hugo that we baptized his sister like 3 weeks ago.  It is really great to see his family slowly join the church one by one!  I have a testimony that this church is true and that through living the gospel, the gospel unites families and brings true happiness.  People search their whole life for happiness and never find it because they look to the world and to money, but I know and have a testimony that with those things you can only find temporary happiness.  The real, true lasting happiness is in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I'm so blessed to have the knowledge of this gospel and I am so grateful that I am here and have the opportunity to bring it to others and to unite families!  This past week, I had the opportunity to give my first blessing in Spanish.  I have always just anointed and my comp gives the blessing, but this past Lunes, Monday, we were asked to give blessings to three little kids before they started school again.  One of them asked me to give him the blessing, so I did.  It was a little hard because the Spanish is different than just normal talking but the Lord blessed me to have the words to say and it was a really great experience!  I also, this past week, had the opportunity to do some service for a member.  He wanted to start tiling his house but didn't know how.  He asked if I knew how and I said that I did and so I helped him to start the tile in his house and showed him how to do it, haha. I never thought that would be a skill I would use on my mission, but I did, haha, and it was great to be able to help.  It is also very funny because being an American, everyone here thinks I have never worked a day in my life and when I showed them how to do this they were all shocked I knew how to work, haha.  Their image of Americans is a lot different then it actually is but I just find it funny!  I was thinking the other day, this will be the first time I miss the big dirty (family reunion) and it feels a little weird.  I hope that you all have a great time! And know that I am in the right place and I'm so happy to be here and everything is going great!  Let the whole family know that I am doing good and that I am staying safe.  Tell everyone up at the big dirty that I love them and am thinking about them and praying for them all!  This past Domingo (Sunday) was the Primary program in the ward here and it was really great to see all the little kids get up and bare their testimonies and little parts in the program.  Their Spirits are so sweet and sincere.  I love to watch the Primary programs and it was just as great here in Mexico!  I love you all and I miss you all!  I hope you all are doing great.  Thanks for all the letters.  They are great, thank you!  I love you all!

Love,

Elder Despain

Agosto 23, 2010

Hey family!
Thank you for all the letters, they were great!  Thanks for all the letters in the pouch too.  It is always great to get those, so thank you so much!  It is great to hear that you got a new bishopric.  I'm sure they will be great!  Everything is going great here.   We had one baptism this week.  I got to baptize Julio.  It was really great.   He was the one that the bishop didn't want to get baptized but it ended up working out.   Patience always pays off and the Lord always provides a way and a time for every person.  I love this work so much.  It is so amazing.  I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be here and to share this gospel.   It is truly amazing to see the happiness it brings people.  About Cole, I would love to get one of his emails in the pouch but I also write him a short letter every week from email and he writes back, so we are staying in touch.   He says hi to all of you back at home.   Also, would you please get Josh´s email for me that would be great to get to send him an email.  About the Elders coming out, tell them the raincoat is nice but sometimes the rain is too hard and it doesn't do anything.  Also a small umbrella would be nice so tell them that.  You asked if I knew some Elders from Arizona and the names that I think I have met are Elder Davis, Wagstaff, Mar, Sanders.   The others no, but also Elder Decker.  I went to school with him and he is in my zone.   Well everything is going good for me.  I love it here and I love serving the Lord.  I love you all and miss you.
Love,
Elder Despain

A picture of me signing the marriage papers as a witness for the marriage of Elia y Federico. 7-30-11

 A picture of the zone waiting outside the capilla right before a meeting.  This is the old zone in the last combio. 8-2-10

 This is a picture of the baptism of Iseil. She got baptized on the 8th. Also, I'm in the picture and Elder Higuera and the bishop. 8-8-10

A picture of us in the capilla (chapel) waiting for the call for combios (transfers).  We were eating some food a member brought to us. 8-8-10

A picture of us as we waited for the call for combios we were playing volleyball slash soccer, haha.  It was fun.  You could only use your feet or head like soccer but you had to get it over the chairs like volleyball and it could only bounce once, haha.  It was fun. 8-8-10

 

 This is a photo of me and Elder Higuera with the family Zurita.  The dad is the first counselor in the bishopric.  They are a great family. 8-9-10

Agosto 17, 2010

Hey family!
So my new companion is great!   He is really awesome and he is a great teacher as well.  We are working hard and I am hoping to learn a lot from him and become a better teacher and a better missionary.  Sorry that you didn't get my email yesterday.  We had two zone meetings and they were both about an hour and a half from our area and so we didn't have time to email.  We get to email today.  Sorry, I hope you didn't worry because you didn't get an email.  Please wish Emily and Grandma Despain Happy Birthday for me.  It is their birthdays this week and I want them to know that I love them and that I was thinking about them and wanted to wish them a happy birthday!  That is so awesome about Colton getting his mission call.  Tell him that I wish him luck and tell him to be studying Preach My Gospel and the scriptures.  It will help him so much on his mission.  Tell him that the mission is great and that he should be so excited to go because it is truly amazing!  Things in my area are great.  We are working hard.  We have a lot of investigators progressing and although we didn't get any baptisms last week, we are hoping to have a lot this week.  I know if we keep working hard the Lord will bless us.  Elder Decker is in my zone this change.  He went to Mountain View High School with me and he is super cool.  It has been cool to get to talk to him and have someone I knew from home in my zone.  So this week I just realized that I know and speak two languages.  It was really weird because I just hadn't thought about it before.  This week I went to talk to my district leader, Elder Petterson and he is a gringo and it was weird.  I went to speak in English and it came out half in Spanish, so I just spoke the rest all in Spanish because it is just easier.  I kinda have forgotten English, it is all the same language in my head.  It's weird, haha.  It is kinda weird this change because I am the one that knows the area and the people.  I kinda have to lead and it's different.  I was a little nervous about it at first but it has been good.  We haven't had any problems, although I don't like talking on the phone with people, just like at home, haha.  I am having to a lot because I am the one that knows the people so that has been interesting, but its all good.  Things for me are great and I am staying safe.  I love you all so, so much.  Thank you for all your letters and emails.  Mom, I got a long letter from you yesterday, but I haven't read it yet so I will read it and get back to you next week.  I love you all so much and I miss you all.  Know that I am praying for you and that I am grateful for such a great family.  You are all great and I love you all!
Love,
Elder Despain

The baptism last week with Elia, Federico and Liset.  I baptized Elia.  7-31-10

 

The baptism this week of Iseil and Hugo is the guy in all white because he baptized her and the other girl in the picture is the wife of Hugo and then in white is Iseil and then me and my comp and the bishop.  8-8-10

The whole zone playing a game of kind of soccer kinda volleyball, haha.  It was fun.  This was when we were waiting to find out about who was getting changed and then after we slept in the church, haha.  It wasn't very comfortable but, haha, its all good.  8-8-10

Aug 9, 2010

Hey Family

Thank you for all your letters and emails, they are great! Mom and Dad Happy Anniversary today!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for all that you have done for me! Thank you for being such wonderful parents. I couldn't ask for better parents! Also Happy Anniversary Julie and Bret tomorrow! Well I love you! You all are great! Well this week was a great week. We had one baptism, her name is Iseil and her brother Hugo is a member. It was great. Hugo was able to baptize her and it was such a great experience for both of them. It was Hugo's first baptism and it was just great! I love this gospel and for the opportunity I have to bring people the happiness of this gospel. It is truly amazing! Well we finished this combio or this 6 weeks and we went to a church in Molino like 20 min from our area last night and we waited there as a zone to find out who would get changed and stuff. We found out that we got a new zone leader it is my district leader Elder Agular so now he is the zone leader and then also my companion got moved to a different zone and different area. I will stay in my area constituyentes and I will get a new companion his name is Elder Lopez. I don't know him but I will meet him tomorrow, other elders said that he is a pretty cool Elder! I am a little nervous because it is his last combio in the mission. I am worried he won't want to work because a lot of missionaries don't want to work their last combio but I am hoping that he will want to work. I am here to work and if he likes it or not we are going to work, but it will be a lot easier if he wants to work. I am a little nervous for that but I think it will all be good. Well this week was good and everything is going good with me. Still having a little trouble with our Bishop. We have a investigator who is ready for baptism and everything and has had an interview by our district leader and everything, but the bishop says he isn't ready for baptism. The mission president said that if this next week he doesn't let us baptize him, that we can do it anyway because we hold the keys to determine who is ready and not the Bishop. So ya, that is a little interesting but we will see what happens this next week. Everything else is great with me. I love you all. Thanks for all you do for me. Love you all.

love

Elder Despain

The family of Elia and Federico right after their marriage.  I don't know if this picture will send or not because my camera died half way through loading it and also I will have to send the pictures of the baptism next week because my camera is dead.  Sorry. 7-30-10

Happy Birthday Mom

Hey Mom,
Thanks for the email. I loved it! Happy Birthday this week on the 3rd. I hope you have a great day! Felicidades!! You are one year older and wiser too! I love you so much and I am so grateful to have you as a mom. I am very very lucky. I couldn't ask for a better mom! Thanks for all you do for me. You're amazing!

Love your son,
Elder Despain

p.s. please get yourself something for me for your birthday! I love you!

Aug 2, 2010

Hey Family!
Everything here is great! This week we got two couples married and 3 people baptized Elia, Federico, and Liset!!! The husband of Liset is already a member from when he was a kid so we didn't baptize him but we did reactivate him along with baptizing his wife. He has been inactive since he was ten and he is now 25 and his wife is 19 and they have 2 kids and another one the way. This baptism was really great because I felt like it really completed a family with the marriage and helped them on the path of righteousness by her baptism and his reactivation and also started a good path for their kids to be strong in the church and it was just great. Also, Elia and Federico it was great because they have kids and it really brought their family closer together. It was great.

Mom to answer some of your questions from your letter. First, it is crazy that Tate is already done and please tell him hi for me. My companion is great and we are working hard. Combios (transfers) are this week on Sunday but I don't think that there will be many changes. We had a zone conference with the president this Jueves (Thurs.) and he said that he didn't think there would be many changes. He wants us to have more time in each area, so I think I will keep my comp. My Spanish is okay but I wish it was better. It is a million times better then when I got here so that's good, haha. About your Spanish, my advise for you mom is use it and get the practice. For me the books don't help much, it's the practice. When you use it, you learn and when you make mistakes you learn faster. I want you to know that I am praying for grandma and I hope that she will be able to have the strength to finish out their mission. Also, please tell Randa thank you for the post card. I loved it and tell her I love her and thank you. The weather here is good. It was rainy all last week and half this week. I used my sweater, haha, but the second half of this week has been way hot. It's weird. The weather changes so much every day. It's hot then it's cold then it's hot and rainy and then it's cold and rainy. It's weird. I have never been in weather that changed so much, like it changes within the day from cold to super hot. It's weird but it's all good. The food here is great. I love it. My favorite things so far would have to be chili rellenos, or I really love tacos de pastor*, they are amazing. I couldn't tell you what kind of meat the pastor is but I like it and it is good. I will have to send a picture some day of what it looks like. It's kinda crazy. It is like a big hanging thing of meat and they just cut some off when you order it and then they grill it and then put it in a taco with pineapple or onion or sometimes both but its great. I love it. The tap water is not good here. The people don't even use the tap water because it is so bad. There are people that drive up and down the streets daily and they sell big things of water so everyone buys those for their houses. My daily schedule - I don't know what to say because it is different every day. One thing that is always the same is lots of walking but its good, I don't mind it. Yes. Satan works very, very hard on those that are about to be baptized. I have seen that with like every investigator. A problem always comes up right before baptism, but the Lord has His ways of always helping it to work out when we have faith and patience. Mom just so you know I might have to use my card this week to get money out or sometime soon because me and my companion helped pay for one of the marriages so I might not have enough mission money so if I use it, that is why. We are having a little trouble with the Bishop again but I know that if we bear it with patience that it will all work out. It can be hard because we don't understand why, but sometimes I think the Lord tests us to see if we will turn to Him and do what He wants even when we don't know why. So that is a little trial right now but with the Lord's help, we will get through it and the people will be able to be baptized. The Lord has prepared a specific time for every person. Oh ya, this week it hailed once that was weird and crazy. The street was all white and it looked kinda like it snowed but it was just hail, weird haha. Well, I love you all and I thank you all for everything that you do for me and for your prayers. I can testify to you that the Lord hears and answers prayers. He wants to hear from us and when we ask, He answers. I have a testimony of this and also that this church is true. Do all that you can to live this gospel and you will be blessed. I love you all and I miss you all.
Love
Elder Despain

*Note from Kimi - I looked up tacos de pastor.  It is actually tacos al pastor (Shepherd Tacos) which is the Mexican version of a Shawarma or Gyro. It is made of pork that is marinated and then cooked on a stick. It sounds yummy! Here is a picture I found.