A Statue In Our Area 4-20-11

 Me and Elder Martinez 4-17-11

Me driving a bus that is just the frame, haha. 4-15-11

 

Hope you like these random pictures!

 4-4-11

 4-4-11

 4-11-11

4-23-11

Hola 4-25-11

Hola Familia!

  Everything is going great for me here and I'm glad to hear that all is going good back at home. Thanks for sending the package again. I still haven't got it but I'm sure that I will get it soon!  So this week has been a really weird week, haha. It went good, but was very hard, haha. It was Semana Santa (Holy Week) and so like no one was home and ya it was a little slow for us, but we got through it and had quite a bit of success! Friday it was like we were in a deserted land, haha. There was no one outside and no cars and no stores were open, haha. It was weird. And then Saturday, everyone like throws water. It's a weird tradition here. So all day people were trying to get us wet, but no one got us good because we were on high alert, haha. Although, at the end of the day, I went with my zone leader, Elder Wagstaff, on divisions so he could interview a person for us. He told me that they got so, so, so wet, haha. They were on their bikes and like 8 people each with a 5 gallon bucket just soaked them, haha. We had a baptism all ready for Sunday but then at the last second, the guy had to work so he couldn't go to church. That was sad but he will for sure get baptized this week. He is like one of the coolest guys I have ever met. His name is Marcos and he lives in like a little shack, like there is just room enough for his bed nothing else, so we teach him outside his house. He is just super cool. He was living in the states for a couple years in Texas and he came back to help out his family and now he is trying to go back to the states, but wants to do it legally so he is saving up money and working on his papers. But ya, he is like the humblest guy ever. He is so cool and even though he has like no money, he always buys a bottle of water so that we can have water to drink while we teach him. But the last time we taught him, we took the water so he didn't have to buy it. He is such a awesome guy and I have loved seeing him progress. When we found him, he said he felt like he had an emptiness inside him and we told him that our message could help to fill that space up and he let us teach him. And every time we go, he just is so happy and is like, "You guys were right. It is filling that space up!" He is just sweet and progressing so well! I love this gospel and I love getting to share it with others and see them receive the happiness that comes along with this gospel! Thanks for all you do for me and for all your prayers, they really do help! Know that I'm doing good and that I'm staying safe! I love you all and miss you all a ton. I will let you know about the call for Mother's Day next week because they still haven't told us when we can call! I love you all and miss you all! Stay safe!

Love,

Elder Despain

Hola Familia! 4-18-11

Hola Familia!
   Well, I'm doing really good! I hope that all of you are good! This week has been full of changes, haha, but it has been good! Last Monday at about 6:30, the president called and told my comp., Elder Lindstrom, he would be leaving in about 2 hours and that I would be getting a new comp., Elder Martinez. I had the opportunity to work with Elder Martinez for a week! He had been struggling a little with his old comp and some other things. I was able to help him out a little in this last week and I was also able to learn a lot from him. I love having the opportunity to grow and become a better teacher and better missionary! Then, on Saturday, I got another call from the president and he told me I would be getting another new comp. today. I now have Elder Salazar as a companion! He is also an elder that has had a little bit of trouble in the past and the president is asking me to help him! I'm very excited for this change and I'm really grateful I have the opportunity to be here serving the Lord! I know that the Lord sometimes sends us things that are hard to do, but I know that with everything He sends us He gives us a way to do them and overcome the hardships. I know that I will have the opportunity to grow a lot this change and I'm so grateful I have this opportunity but I also know that it will be a very hard change with lots of obstacles I will have to overcome. I know the Lord is always here with me and will help me to overcome everything that comes my way! Please pray for me and please make sure to pray for my companion! Please pray that we can be obedient and accomplish all that the Lord has in store for us! I love you all so much I'm so truly grateful to have such great friends and family! I know that I couldn't ask for a better family. I love you all and I'm so grateful to have such a great family! I know the Lord loves us all and is always there to help us through our hardships! Remember the Lord always and always have confidence in Him and put your lives in His hands. I know that as we all do that we will receive blessings and be able to overcome all that is put in our path! I know that this church is true. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that He loves us and for that He died for us. His love was so great that He gave His life for each and everyone of us all we must do is accept Him and do the things He has asked of us. I know that God lives and loves us and is always here for us. We just have to ask for His help and do our part! I know that this church is true and that it truly is the church of Jesus Christ. I know that I am a representative of Him and I know that this truly is His work. I'm so grateful to get to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to bring to pass this great work! I love this work and I'm so grateful for all the blessings it has brought to my life! It is true and this gospel does truly change lives! I love you all thank you so much for all you do for me! I love you all, stay safe! Know that I'm in the Lords hands and safe and doing great!

Love,
Elder Despain

Letter to Zane and Kimi 4-18-11

Hey!

Thank you so much Zane for your letter! I liked it a lot and you did do a very good job writing it and typing your name! Mexico is awesome! I like it a lot here, but I do miss you all back at home a lot! I loved your pictures. They are very cool and I'm sure that you are very good at playing t-ball! I love you a ton and I hope that some day you will be a missionary like me! Because it is awesome but you have to start right now so you will be ready when the time comes okay! Make sure you read your scriptures with your brother and mom and dad, so that you will be all ready to be a missionary like me! I love you lots stay safe and have fun!

Thanks for the letter, I loved it! I got on to print out the letters I have so I can read them while I'm waiting for my new comp to get here! I'm waiting in the bus station for him to get here! This is going to be a good change, but it is going to be a little hard! I have a big task ahead of me and I will need to be strong so that I can help my new companion. But ya, I'm here waiting for him and when I was printing off my letters I decided to write you back really quick! Make sure to let your boys know I love them and that I miss them a ton! They are getting really big! It's crazy! I don't feel like I have been gone too long, but I guess in a year and a month they change a lot! Haha. Well, I love you a ton. Thanks for all you do for me! You're an amazing sister. I couldn't ask for any better of a family or better sisters. I am so blessed to have you all in my life! Stay safe and tell everyone I love them and miss them!

Love your little bro!

Elder Despain

Me eating an Elote. That is like in the movie Nacho Libre, where the guy throws his elote and it hits the guy in the eye, haha, and he is running around screaming. It's funny! 4-4-11

 More pics from the pyramids 4-4-11

 

Letter Home! 4-11-11

Hola Familia!

  Hey everyone! Hope all of you are doing well! This week was a good week but it was a hard one as well. We didn't end up baptizing this week and that was sad, because we were working really hard to try and get the goal and baptize every week. But we worked hard and did all we could but it didn't work out, but we know that we will recieve blessings for our work. This week we did divisions for about half the week. I had to go with a missionary that has been struggling a little so that I could help him work. It went good and I was able to help him have a little more desire to work. I'm so grateful to be here serving the Lord. I love it more and more every day! We seemed to run into a lot of people this last week that just wanted to bash with us and tell us why we are wrong. I don't really like doing that because you show them in their own Bible that what we teach is the truth but they still won't accept it. I have come to find out that they just don't want to learn the things so that kinda stinks because it's just a waste of our time and the Lords time because they don't want to learn. Although, every time it makes my testimony grow more that this is the truth and as hard as Satan tries, he still can't stop this work from going forth! I know that this church is true and that it truly is the church of Jesus Christ! And I'm so grateful I get to bring this wonderful truth to the lives of so many!  I bought an elote this week. I like them a lot. They are super good. It's corn, with mayo, and chili powder! It's good. So it's starting to get really hot every day here so I'm sure it is already super duper hot there, haha. But the good thing is that in the evenings it cools down a lot, so then we get to walk around in the cool air at the end of the day! The heat reminds me of being at home, even though I know it isn't as hot here, haha. I don't know if I told you last week but me and my comp cut each others hair, haha. That was funny. It turned out pretty good. My side burns are a little short, haha, but they will grow back. So it's really crazy how fast the time is flying by. Next week we have changes and I feel like we are just starting this change, even though its already been 5 weeks. This has been a really awesome change! We have never fought and we have worked our butts off and I love it! But the time has flown by! Well, I hope that all is well back at home, that you're all staying safe! I love you all and thanks for all you do for me! I have the best family ever! Mom just wondering if you have tried sending my package through normal mail? The office missionaries said that it never has problems. Well, I love you and I hope that you can try that and that it will work! Thanks for all you do. Love you all! Stay safe and know that I'm doing great!

 

Love,

Elder Despain

 

Funny thing, my whole ward calls me El Español or The Spaniard, haha. I think it's funny!

Baptism of Jair 4-3-11

 Baptism of Mary Carmen 4-3-11

 We went to the pyramids today. They were super sweet! 4-4-11

 Me and Elder Lindstrom 4-4-11

Hola 4-4-11

Hola Familia,
  Hope everything is well back at home! All is going good here. Me and my comp had a kinda hard week! But we kept working hard and got through it! I hope you all loved conference. I enjoyed the parts I got to see a lot! Ya I got really let down this week because the president told us we couldn't watch conference on Saturday. He told us we had to work and that made me really sad because I love conference and we weren't aloud to go to priesthood session either, which really stunk because that's always my favorite! But I knew we needed to be obedient and not go and just work but I'm not going to lie, the day stunk. We had no success at all. It kinda felt like a waste of a day, but I know that we will get blessings for obeying! But we did get to go to it on Sunday. That was cool, although the first session they didn't have anywhere for us to watch it in English, so we had to watch it in Spanish. I hate it in Spanish because it's not their voice and the translators don't put any emotion in their voices. But during the prophets talk, I could feel the spirit so, so strong and that was really cool for me. That even though I couldn't hear his voice, I could still feel the spirit testifying that he is the prophet! Then, we watched the second session on Sunday in English!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so awesome!!!!!!!!!! I loved it so much and I got so much out of it!! I love English! and I love hearing their voices and all the emotion they put into their talks! I loved C. Scott Grow´s talk about the atonement that was really great! I loved Jeffrey R. Holland´s talk. That was just super powerful and I just love hearing him talk! and I loved Richard G. Scott´s talk on marriage. That was an awesome talk and he just spoke with such love. I loved it! and I also loved D. Todd Christofferson's talk about how the Lord chastises us to make us better!  I'm really thankful to have a prophet on earth today and also apostles! They help us so much to know where to go and what to do! They truly are called of God! I loved Holland´s talk about how there is a message for every one in conference and its true, there is always a talk that really hits us at heart and really lets us know what we need personally in our lives. Thanks for all your letters and all your help! O ya mom, the secretary of the mission said to try just normal post office mail to send the package. He said they never stop packages. It's just other companies that he always has been asked for like permits and stuff. So just try sending it with regular U.S. postal mail! I love you all so much. Thanks for all you do for me! Know that I am doing good and working harder then I ever have and I love doing it! I love this work and I'm so, so grateful to be here! Love you all, stay safe!
Love,
Elder Despain