Zane's Letter and Randall's Reply

Dear Uncle Randall,
10-29-10

I am making my mommy type you a letter from me so I can say hi!  I miss you!  How is Mexico?  Daddy traded the jet ski yesterday for a motorcycle that goes on dirt.  I like to sit on it with Nate and pretend I am driving it with all the sound effects too.  I wish you were here to ride it with us.  Daddy says we are going to take it to Arizona to the reunion.  I am exited to go camping.  On Tuesday, I am starting preschool.  I am so excited.  In a few weeks, I will be starting soccer.  I love soccer.  I pray for you in Mexico every day!  I love you!

Love,
Zane Michael Gifford

 The picture is me waving at you!

10-30-10

Thank you Zane for the letter.  I love you too!  That is pretty cool your dad got a dirt bike, I mean a bike that goes on dirt, haha, and I love soccer, too.  I get to play it with Mexicans every Monday. I'm glad you like it too.  When I get home I will play soccer with you!!!  Because soccer is really fun!  Well, have fun at the big dirty.  I love you!  I love you too, Nate and also you Kimi and Mike even.  Well Mike, a little, haha no just kidding I love you too Mike!  Well good luck in preschool! Love you all!  And miss you too and I am praying for you all daily as well!

Love Tu,

Tio (uncle) y Hermano,

Elder Despain

E-mail back to Kimi 10-25-10

Hola Mi Hermana!

 Gracias por tu carta!  Haha, no, but really thanks for your letter.  It was great to hear from you!  Thank you for calling mom about the email. I'm sorry I made her worry but thanks for ending that worry as soon as possible, haha, thanks.  Ya, I heard about nick  Ferrin.  That has to be so hard for his family.  I knew him in high school, not really well, but i still knew him.  But I feel bad for his family and I am making sure to remember them in my prayers!  I am also praying for all of you.  Thank you for your prayers and for your letters!  And about what to feed the missionaries.  You could feed them grasshoppers, if you want to give them something they won't eat anywhere else, haha.  Mom said you all were grossed out by that, but really they are super good!  Well, I love you and good luck with your projects and with your girls at church and your boys at home.  Tell the boys I love them!  I love you thanks for all you do! 

Elder Despain

I wrote Randall back:

Mike says we will consider the grasshopper for dinner.  We might have trouble finding some with the rain though!

He replied:
Haha, true.  That might be hard to find them, but if you do just fry them up with some lemon juice and salt and you're ready to eat them! Haha, I love you thanks for the email!

Me catching grasshoppers!  Yes Jayden, they taste good.  So just tell Grandma to cook them up for you!  And yes, that big bag is all full of grass hoppers, haha, yummmmm! 10-24-10

 

 

The baptism of John!  He is super cool! 10-24-10

The fish I eat last week head and all! it was really good! 10-22-10

*Note From Kimi - I was on my e-mail when Randall sent these pictures.  Nate was watching Nemo when I received this picture and when he saw it, he thought Randall ate Nemo.  Randall's letter back said "No, not Nemo, just one of his friends!"

Carta Por La Familia!!!!!!!!! Octubre 25, 2010

Hola Familia!
This week has been really good!  We had one baptism!  And it was really great!  Oh ya, and about the CD's mom, you asked if I used them and yes, so when you send a package if you want you can throw in some CD's like church music or EFY, but I like the songs with words the most.  I don't really like just piano music because if I listen to it when I'm studying, then I want to fall asleep but when there are words I don't want to fall asleep, so words are better!  And I also said those other things in my other letters that you can send whenever you send a package, but there is no rush.  I don't really need anything, haha, thanks!  We have been working hard here in my area and everything is going really good!  I ate grasshoppers again and I sent some pics as well, haha, they really are good!  Tell Jayden he can tell Grandma to cook some up and that they are really good!  I also ate some really good fish the other day.  They just cook it up with the head and everything and then you just eat it and just suck the meat off the head and all.  It was really, really good!  I went on divisions (splits) with another Elder for like half this week and that was pretty cool.  I got to work in his area with him.  Elder Martinez and Elder Holm worked in my area with my comp so that was cool, but I like my area better!  Well, how are all of you doing back at home?  I don't know what is going on but I haven't gotten the pouch in like 3 weeks, so I hope I get some soon because I know you have been sending them.  I think I will get them soon!  Well, let me know how everything is going for you all back at home!  I miss you all and I love you too!  You're in my prayers!  Stay safe!  I know the church is true and as we live it we receive the blessing of the Lord!  Keep going strong and I know that you will have happiness and receive blessings!  I love you all!
Love,
Elder Despain

Carta de Elder Despain Octubre 19, 2010

Hola Familia!

 Sorry I didn't write yesterday.  We have been working super hard.  Normally in a good week we get about 7 new investigators and that is a good number, but this past week me and my companion worked super hard and ended up getting 21 new investigators, which is super good.  And really exciting because we will be able to teach a lot more because we have people to teach and most of them are super good investigators and really have a desire to learn and progress!  This week, I gained a strong testimony in patience and diligence.  The first 3 days of the week we were working really hard, but just everything was falling through.  No one was home and it just was really hard to keep going because everything just was falling through.  But me and my companion just kept pushing through and really just tried to be diligent and then about Jueves (Thursday) in the night we finally started having some success.  That night we found a family of 6 and started teaching them and they are just awesome, the family Martinez Moralez!  They are really great and from that point on in the week we really started having success.  In the scriptures it talks about not getting blessings until AFTER the trial of your faith.  Well, it is very true.  We had our faith tried, but as we kept working and prayed hard for patience and for help to keep pressing forward, we finally received the blessings.  I know that my Heavenly Father loves me and that He knows me and that at times we are tried, but as we put our trust in Him and keep pushing forward with diligence we are blessed.  He will never try us more then we can take.  Also, this week we found a family of 10 that is really awesome and we had the chance to start teaching them.  That was another blessing, but also I got a stronger testimony that your Father in Heaven knows every person and cares about every person and sends people to help us in times of need.  I got this stronger testimony from this family, the family Satina.  When we found them, we were actually looking for a reference but couldn't find it.  But we felt that we should go ask at this house, the house of the family Satina.  When we asked, they didn't know where the reference was either but we were able to start teaching them because they let us in when we said we were missionaries.  But this is where the testimony came from.  When we entered this families' house, we started teaching them.  We didn't teach anything about the priesthood or that we could give blessings but after the lesson, one of the members of the family asked, "Can you give me a blessing?"  And we said, "Yes!"  I am not sure how she knew we could give her a blessing, but we were glad to be able to do it!  She wanted a blessing because just the day before we came to their house she had gotten news that she had cancer.  She is a younger lady and has kids, so as you can tell that would be very hard news to get.  But I know that the Lord knows her and I know that He led us to them because she needed the power of the priesthood in her life at that moment.  I was very glad to be able to be an instrument in the hand of the Lord to help her through this hard time.  Also, the mom of this family, she is kind of old and has been feeling very sick and we were able to give her a blessing as well!  I know that our Father in Heaven loves every one of us and wants the best for us.  I'm grateful to be able to hold the priesthood and be able to help the people I am here serving through the priesthood!  And I know that there is nothing that could bless families more then this gospel.  It is truly amazing and when we live its principles we are happy and receive blessings in this life and blessing for eternity.  So ya, we have been working hard this week and we have seen the fruits of our labor and it is really rewarding to see these people progress.  But that is why I didn't email yesterday is because we had appointments to go to and ended up not having time.  So I'm sorry and I hope you didn't worry to much!   Tell Jayden happy birthday!  I know I am two days late, but I hope he will forgive me and know that I was thinking about him on Sunday!  So I had an interesting experience this week.  I ate grasshoppers!  We went and caught them with a family and then they cooked them up and we ate them, little legs and all.  I thought it would be really weird and at first it was.  But it actually tasted really good, haha! Yummm, grasshoppers, haha.  I love you all so much.  Know that I am safe and doing good.  I am working hard and receiving blessings.  I love this gospel and I know it is true.  I miss you all, but I'm glad I get to be here serving these people!  I love you all.  Thanks for all you do! 

Love,

Elder Despain

Me and Esperanza 9-17-10

The family of the girl that we baptized not last week but the week before, Jazmin Liliana. 9-25-10

Us white people watching conference in English, haha. 10-3-10

I have gotten bigger, haha.  That is my belt and as you can see, there is only one hole more, so if I get bigger I will have to buy a new belt. 10-3-10

Me and my comp, Elder Reyna, and my new jacket, haha!  Mom I'm wearing the fish tie that you sent me in the MTC, haha, love it! 10-5-10

 

Esperanza and the member, ex-missionary of about 2 weeks baptized her! 10-6-10

 The Baptism of Esperanza 10-6-10

A really big pig that an hermana has in our ward, haha.  Its big! 10-9-10

A cool rainbow 10-10-10

  A picture of the city! 9-27-10

 

Me and the Mexicans, we are on our way to Arizona.  We are crossing the border, haha.  No but really its part of the zone in a van on the way to a baptism. 10-2-10

Octubre 11, 2010

Hey Family!!!
Well, I'm doing great!  Everything here is just great!  This past week was great.  We worked hard and the Lord blessed us for that.  We had one baptism and it was so awesome!  We baptized Esperanza.  We have been teaching her for a long time, but ya she was finally baptized.  It was a really big testimony builder to me because she got baptized even though it was not what a lot of people wanted.   She is so awesome. She has a tienda, a little store, and she is about 60 years old. As we taught her, a lot of her neighbors and people that buy stuff from her like were calling her names and saying she was a traitor because she was listening to us and thinking about baptism. They all said these things because they are all catholic and Esperanza was catholic, but even though all this was going on Esperanza fought through it and showed her faith and got baptized! She got baptized Martes, so Tuesday, and she is doing good!  She also had opposition from her family but from her good example since her baptism, we were able to start teaching her husband who has never wanted anything to do with religion and that has been great.  I don't know if he will be baptized but just the fact he is listening to us is amazing!  It was just amazing to see her show real faith in the Lord and I know that she will get blessings for it in this life and into eternity and also, her family will get blessings and learn from her great example!  Oh one question, Mom you said Alexa is getting married?  That's great!   Tell her hi for me!  But my question is who is she marring?  Well, if you know who let me know.  Tell her congratulations for me!  You also asked me about if I get conference Liahona and the answer is yes, so you don't have to send me it.  All of us missionaries get the Liahona every month!  And you also asked if I was getting enough to eat and if I eat more then once a day and the answer is yes!  Last week I sent a pic of my belt and so as you can tell I am getting bigger and getting enough to eat, haha.  I eat way more then once a day!  People here are great.  They are always asking if we want food and also there are tons of places to buy food when I get hungry.  I just buy something so you don't have to worry about that!  The tacos here are so amazing!   Tacos with sheep in it is super good.  It's weird because I had never really eaten a lot of sheep, haha, but they are good tacos and the Gringas!  That's the name of a taco and it is just amazing!!!!!!!!!!!  So ya no worries.  I'm eating good! Haha.  Well, this next week should be great.  We have at least 2 baptisms, but maybe more.  We have just started teaching a family of 5 and they are really awesome and came to church and everything so I think they will be baptized soon as well!   I am truly seeing the blessings of the Lord as I work hard to serve Him.  The Lord truly prepares people to hear this message of the restored gospel and when they have their hearts prepared by the Lord before we teach them, they just accept it like they have know it their whole life!  It is a testimony that the Lord knows every person on the earth personally and can touch our hearts!   I know that this church is true and I love it so much.  I'm so grateful to be here and have the opportunity to serve the Lord.   I am learning and growing daily and it is such and awesome experience to be here.  I love you all so much.   Thank you for all you do for me and thank you for your prayers and letters!   I love you all and miss you all!  Know that I am doing good and staying safe!   I am in the Lord's hands and he will always watch over and protect me!  I love you all!
Love,
Elder Despain

Letter to Kimi Octubre 4, 2010

I know the feeling of weird weather in the middle of the day.  Here it is like Arizona hot then in the mornings and nights it is super cold, haha.  It is weird, but that is Mexico City for you, haha.  It was funny the other day me and my comp got lost in the DF (Distrito Federal), like actual Mexico City.  We live in the Estado de Mexico and Constituyentes is in the Estado.  But Loma Hermosa, our other ward, it has part in the D. F. and we were over working in that part and got lost, haha.  That was kinda funny, haha.  It's great to hear the kids loved conference.  I did as well.  It was really amazing.  The Spirit is so great in Spanish or in English.  The Spirit is the same, although I like it more in English, haha, because it is their real voice, haha.  I'm a little jealous of Mike in the dunes, but at the same time I wouldn't want to be any other place but here.  The mission is so great!  I love it!  Well, tell the boys I love them and I'm thinking of them.  Thanks for your prayers and I love you and Mike, too, haha.  Love you.  Thanks for the letter.
Love your little bro,
Elder Despain

Octubre 4, 2010

Hey Family.
Yes, General Conference was way great!  My favorite talk was by the prophet.  I don't know if it was in the priesthood session or not, I don't remember, but it was on choices and it was so great!  I loved it because choices make up this life and we need to make good choices, right choices to follow the gospel.  The way to make good choices is through prayer and through the guidance of the Holy Ghost!  But ya, I loved all the talks.  I watched part in Spanish and part in English and it is way better in English.  It is weird not to hear their real voice, haha.  But ya, I loved all the talks.  The spirit was so strong and amazing!  This week I used 282 pesos this week from my credit card.  I hope that was okay.  I found a store that had my contact solution, so I bought 3 big bottles so I hope that was okay.  I'm going to need to by another blanket and a bigger coat soon.  My comp said that the sooner I buy it is better because blankets and coats are cheaper right now.  In like a month, he said they will be a lot more money so I will need to buy those soon.  Just so you know that will be why money will go out of my account soon, haha.  Tell Andrea "Happy Birthday" and tell her that I am thinking about her and I love her! and that I hope she has a great Birthday.  Also, give Becca a hug for me for her birthday!!!!  This week has been really great and we worked really hard.  We didn't have any baptisms, but the people we are teaching are getting closer to baptism!  I love being here and getting to teach this wonderful gospel!  I love this gospel so much.  It is truly amazing!  It is really and truly what brings happiness in this life.  It is the way that God prepared for us to have happiness in this life!  I have really seen in this last month how hard the Devil works on those close to baptism.  Right before someone is going to take the step of baptism there is always something big that happens.  I know that it is the Devil working as hard as he can to stop them from coming into the gospel, but I have also seen the power of God.  As we share the gospel with the people, the power of God through the Holy Ghost is always stronger than the devil and always makes an impression over the people we are teaching.  I also feel like at times life is the same way.  When we are about to make a good decision, any good decision not just for baptism but any decision, when we are about to make it there is always the devil there trying to stop us.  As we put our faith in the Lord and pray and read the scriptures, we always have the ability to throw the devil aside and make that good choice.  So I just encourage all of you to read the scriptures and pray and always have the spirit with you so that you can resist temptation and push the devil aside.  He is working very hard to lead us away but we have to work just as hard to be prepared to face temptations and overcome them.  I love you all so much and I'm so thankful for all you do!  You are in my prayers and I thank you for your prayers for me.  They really do help a ton.  Know that I am staying safe and that all is good here in Mexico, haha.  Stay strong and always be praying and reading the scriptures!  I love you all!  Thanks for the letters and everything else you do for me!
Love,
Elder Despain