First Baptism Pic and Armor of God

Jan 28th Weekly Challenge

This week I want you to read Alma 50, I want you to tell me what it is I am challenging you to do.

Jan 28th, 2013

Okay so another week survived in Mercedes Texas, there was some really awesome stuff as well as some not so awesome stuff. I got your package on Friday Morning thank you very much for sending that stuff especially the Pistachios they are something I really didn't have the means to by out here because they are quite pricey. The pencil set didn't really survive though which was sad for me but I can just pick up a few more it's no big deal. I also realized this week that although Batman is really cool, when you have a coloring book devoted to him you color him an awful lot and there just isn't a lot of variety. So feel free to find a sweet coloring book if you want I will keep on the lookout here. The comics are here as well I will send you a picture of my planner when it is done.

So this week I will start with the Guerrero Family. Mayra has a debt to a lawyer of around 200 dollars for a divorce that her current "Husband" David needs to finish paying before they can get married. Then on top of that she needs 72 dollars to pay for the marriage at the courthouse. So we have a bit of a problem, but luckily there is always a solution. We sat down with Mayra and made plans to cut certain things out of the spending for this next month so that she will be able to save enough to get married before the 24th of February. Elder Marble and I decided that what we were going to do to help was to buy from her homemade tortillas de harina. The reason being we can't just give her money, however we can use our money to buy food and so if she made tortillas we can buy them from her. So, what we did was we took a tall oatmeal can and put a picture of Jesus on one side and a big heart with Mayra and David on the other and made her a bank. Now, we thought we were just being a bit funny but it was something that really touched her heart as she realized that we really do care about her. She is progressing really well and I feel like she understands that the Gospel is really important. However, Josue and Regina are beginning to flake out on commitments and we are beginning to worry a bit about that. Josue the other day went and used some money his biological father had given him to buy some shirts. Well when he went to show us the shirts we saw that they were a bunch of saint T-shirts and one of the Santisima Muerte and the worst of all was one of Christ in his crown of thorns bleeding and it read, "Not my will, but thine be done". When we told him that he really couldn't wear those shirts I think it bothered him and on Sunday he wasn't at church so we will be addressing that tonight. Regina the 11 year old daughter doesn't like the idea of having to give up her short shorts and on top of that she is really chiflada and that needs to also change. I don't worry too terribly much only because I know that with this month we can help this family out, and I know Mayra wants it.

Mayra sent us to talk to her friend Melissa who then sent us to talk with a woman named Chela, or Icela. Now we contacted Icela late one evening and she asked us to come back a different day and we agreed and as planned we returned. Icela is a woman with a few piercings, three kids, no husband and a few tattoos. Now, I am not saying I judged her but I will be honest and say I didn't really expect a lot from her. As we sat down to teach her we had every intention of inviting her to be baptized as is the first lesson custom in the TMM (Texas McAllen Mission). First thing she told us is that back in Mexico she had been baptized in her grandparents church. That we expected...what we didn't expect was that her Grandparents were Mormon so Icela is a member of our church. So now instead of baptizing her we have a mission to re-activate her. So far she read in the book of Mormon and agreed to pray. She is a testimony to me that people can change, that no matter how far you stray you can always come home and that the savior is waiting.

Juan, I don't know he didn't come to church like he promised and so I don't have a lot to say about him.

Okay, so now to tell you about the most stressful day of my life. Saturday. Saturday we got a call from Norma saying that she wasn't going to be home for our Family Home Evening lesson that we had planned and that she would talk to us later, so we called her to see what was going on. She had errands to run but also a woman from her other church called her and told her a whole mess of horrible lies. That we believe Joseph Smith is a God, that we force women into marriage, that we have tons of wives, that we don't believe in God, That the Church sends out handsome young men on missions to convince vulnerable women to join, and that we wear black unicorn rings...that one was new for me. So as you can imagine this being the day before Normas baptism we were really freaked out. After that the whole day just started falling apart. Dropped appointments, avoided by refferals it was super hot...the list goes on. So finally 7 p.m. rolls around and we are prompted to go and visit Norma even though she hadn't called us. We prayed as we locked our bikes up for the thousandth time that day for help with Norma and as we knocked on the door she answered. As we talked with her she bore us her testimony that she knew the church was true and that it was the right thing to do but that she was very nervous. After talking more and answering what questions we could we as missionaries did what we do best. We left it between her and our Father in Heaven, we told her to ask him and that we hoped to see her at the church the next day. I don't think I have ever prayed harder in my life but as he always does, Our Heavenly Father came through and Norma came and we got to witness one of God's children enter into a very special covenant and step onto that strait and Narrow path. Norma is an amazing person, she had every reason not to be baptized. She had trials beyond belief, she got anti-mormoned, she was tempted by satan all over the place but she stood strong even till the last few moments before her baptism. That night we got to have our Family Home Evening with her and we taught the armor of God. As we left her home I thanked my Father in Heaven for letting me be part of bringing such a powerful spirit back to him.

This church is true, and a marvelous work truly is coming forth. I love you all so much and miss you but I know that I am doing what I need to be doing. This week I want you to read Alma 50, I want you to tell me what it is I am challenging you to do.

Stay strong and support each other, the family is the most important social unit in our lives and without unity they collapse.

I love you all,

Elder Bassett

Clothes burning

Jan 22nd, Weekly Challenge

This week I want you all to devote one prayer in the day to just pure gratitude, I promise as you do this you will begin to see how lucky we are as Saints.

Jan 22nd, 2013

Hope that starting this new email helps, I just replied cause it was easier to get it out to all of you what with it already being addressed to you.  

Anyways this week has been a pretty good one, some very exciting things have happened and some very scary things have also happened. Nothing life threatening though so don't sweat it. First off we have Norma. Norma just had her Baptisimal interview on Sunday and she passed. She is a bit shaky on Thomas S. Monson and chastity so we have to brush up on that stuff this week. We are actually going by her today at 4 and that should go well. She is super great, she was really nervous about baptism and this past week we invited her to pray about being baptized on the 27th because we didn't want her to do it for us, we want her to do it for herself and for our Father in Heaven. She had a dream, a dream in which she was in the shower and she just laid back and was immersed in water...and that was the answer she needed I guess. She told us that was God telling her to just do it and so she is going to be baptized this Sunday. She will be my first baptism and I can't tell you how happy I am, this is going to be great for her as well as her two children. During the week she called us because she was having a really rough time with her separation from her husband and she didn't know where else to turn, we got to sit down and share Alma 7:11-13 with her and I know it helped her out. This is what Missionary work is about.

The Guerrero family is still going strong, Myra has struggles with Coffee so we took her some hot cocoa and she gave her cigarettes away and hasn't drank since Christmas. We got to talk to her about her San Judas Obsession and that we can't worship anyone but God. I know that has been hard for her because she loves her San Judas so much she named her son after him. But, the night after our lesson she had her San Judas Chain in a pocket and when she went to remove it that chain had broken. She called us Sorcerers and we just told her that God has our backs. Her and her "husband" still need to get married but she promises us that she will work on it, the just have a debt to pay off at the court or something. Also, she and her daughter Regina have a hard time getting along and yesterday our member that we took with us to a lesson with them told Myra that Regina is spoiled and needs a good beating. Good ol' Mercedes. Karina, Myras Sobrina I think that's what she is, is progressing towards baptism as well and last night we visited a friend of Myras and got a return appointment. She gives us more refferals than our members do...

Melissa is another of Myras friends who really wants to have lessons with us but when she tries to come over for a lesson at the Guerrero home something always comes up. I am certain it is her "husband", he mistreats her a lot and we really want to help her but we aren't sure how just yet, but we will get there.

Dalia and her family locked all her gates yesterday so we couldn't go and see them and that really hurt Elder Marbles feelings and he was pretty upset. She has no testimony and it is super weird for me to think someone would get baptized without truly being committed.

Sister Basadlua is a woman who I met this last week who is inactive because she hates church. She grew up in Utah and had some rough times with the members and stuff and went inactive. I guess she doesn't set return appointments normally but we got her to set one with us which means she is already changing. I can't wait to see if we can help her.

Friday we had a Recent Convert activity where all the people who got baptized last year came and a few from each area bore their testimonies. I was worried for ours because I didn't know how well they were gonna do at bearing testimony but they did amazingly. To hear their testimonies as well as all the others was really wonderful, and it brought the spirit so strongly it was nuts. There truly are people being helped out here by the gospel and until Friday I won't lie, I was a bit skeptical about it. It was refreshing for me to see that the work has been paying off.

Now Sunday was the craziest day of my life. First off Elder Marble hit his sister mark or 18 months as a missionary. As missionaries there is a tradition to burn something of clothing every six months. 6 a tie 12 a shirt and 18 pants. He hadn't done any so he decided to do all three. We tried to find a secluded place but for fear of looking suspicious he just did it in the parking lot in front of our apartment. I told him it was a bad idea but he didn't listen. Well, next day we get a call from Aurora, our landlady and had to go and scrub the parking lot of the melted pants and stuff.

That however, is not the crazy part of Sunday, the crazy part was attending a pentecostal church...with Juan Arriaga. During a lesson with Juan this week we felt prompted to tell him that we were going to go to church with him. Juan had received a vision or a dream and so did his wife and if I had more time I would share those with you in detail but we went to church with him. 9 hours of church on Sunday just a heads up. Anyways, they had a live band and sang and danced and then took turns singing Cantos or what I have decided to call, Karaoke Testimonies. It was nuts...then the lady-preacher came out and just started weeping at the pulpit before words could come out. A woman in the congregation started, not crying, not weeping, not sobbing but WAILING and flailing as if she were possessed. Then she vomitted, violently on the floor. Everyone cheered because the "Demon" left her and clapped and cheered and spoke in tongues. It was horrifying and it bore witness to me the truthfulness of our church. The spirit wasn't there and it felt so empty. I realized how lost our brethren are and why we are so important as Saints in the church. We have to go find the lost and help them. I felt so strange there I won't lie to you.

This week I want you all to devote one prayer in the day to just pure gratitude, I promise as you do this you will begin to see how lucky we are as Saints. Keep praying about Missionary experiences, I haven't heard from anyone about them yet so it is still on the table. I love you so much my family and miss you. I carry a picture of you with my scriptures. I used it in a lesson yesterday, apparently I babbled about nothing but they got the point. I love you.

Elder Bassett

Jan 14th Weekly Challenge

I want to challenge you all to pray for a missionary experience. Pray with the intention of acting on it. You don't need a black nametag to share the gospel so pray and act. Bear a testimony share a scripture, I don't care just open your mouth and share it. Angels are preparing people all over and the missionaries aren't enough. Every Member a Missionary

Jan 14th, 2013

Okay, so yesterday was my 4th Sunday out here in Mercedes and it was actually a good week! Not that the others haven't been it was just nice to look at my goals set for the week and seeing that Elder Marble and I had actually hit most of our Numbers. I did in fact get that package finally thank you for the stuff I was happy to see the letters as well as those freaking awesome candy canes.

So, like I said this week was very good because we were able to hit what we call our key indicators, it's how we keep track of goals and such. Our District is the smallest in the Zone, it is just 2 companionships and we led the Zone in BD's at Church or investigators with baptisimal dates at church. I think that is in no small part due to our awesome family the Guerrero family and Norma. They all came and actually one of the Sobrinas of Myra came with her and told us she wants to be baptized. Woohoo!

Juan, Juan is not going very good for us. He got so close but then threw all of these doubts at us and told us that if he didn't receive a sign then he couldn't be baptized with us. This is hard for Elder Marble because Juan is his white whale and he cares a lot for him and to hear him take steps backwards isn't easy. I think that as a result we are going to have to drop him because if he isn't willing to progress then there just isn't anything we can do for him and we can't be wasting our time with him. Just so you know, it sucks knowing that.

Norma, now I think Norma is understanding a bit more about the importance of what we teach and baptism but on Sunday we got some less than good news. She has doubts herself about baptism. She feels as though we are pressuring her and that she isn't ready for the 27th. The worst part about all of these doubts is the fact that it wasn't us she told about them it was a member of the ward that gave her a ride to church. This week it is our goal to not only teach her the things she still needs to learn but to try and get her to be more comfortable with us, comfortable enough that she will tell us these things herself because they are questions we have asked her and never gotten a response like that. I am not terribly worried because she knows what we teach is true she is just scared.

Daniel is MIA, we set an awesome BD after a great lesson where the spirit just had our backs and we think his family got to him and told him not to talk with us. I am worried because he was such a strong spirit and we know he was excited and he knew that God wanted him to do it. More on him as I find out.

Nele is a girl we ran into a while back and have only taught her once but we stopped by to visit her and her husband, just got locked up so she is having a rough time so we are hoping she lets us come by and teach her. Humbling experiences are the best for us.

Ollie is a woman we set a BD with but only taught once while I was on an exchange and am hoping she gets solid here soon. More on her next week I hope.

Now the Guerrero family, I love them so much. The kids are super great and are loving the gospel and it has been magnificent to see them grow into it so fast. Myra is doing very well too and has stopped drinking and smoking and now has plans to be married to David next month so we can get her baptized on the 24th. When we go over to visit they fight over who gets to pray or who gets to read and they were fighting over the Book of Mormon so we had to bring them each individually one. Josue the son had a flat tire on his bike and a rusty chain so we got the chance to got help him fix it because he and his family want to come out with us once they get baptized. Music to my earholes. Myra this week brought her friend Melissa over for a lesson because Melissa is in an abusive relationship and Myra thinks she too needs the gospel. Melissa is a great lady with a very young daughter and we want to help her out a lot but she went back to the man and apparently he doesn't want to hear our noise. But we will get her, and David, Myras husband or novio. He says he doesn't feel anything when he is at church or whatever so doesn't wanna get baptized but that is gonna change soon.

So, other highlights of the week. I went on an exchange with Elder Guilette my next door neighbor and fellow greenie and we stayed in my area. So like getting thrown into the deep end the two greenies had to figure out how to have an effective day. Well, we set a BD, contacted a few people, and only got lost once which surprised me because there are no mountains here so I never know where I am going. I still don't know what I am going to do if they swap Elder Marble out but I feel a bit more comfortable. I had to give a testimony in Sacrament in the Spanish Ward which sucked because everyone thought that I was supposed to give a talk and so they all asked me why it was so short. Luckily Elder Marble really did have to give a talk and it was good so everyone forgot about my testimony. However, I do feel like my testimony made sense which is an improvement.

My family I am happy to hear that aside from the Flu all is going pretty well, Dad I don't know what EVE is but painting and stuff is sweet so do that if you want. Mom, keep pwning newbs in sales. Tell Papito I am so happy for him, and that I love him and Mamita. Girls...behave, with all the boys and stuff I don't wanna hear that noise and drive carefully with defrosted windows and such. Janelle, I haven't heard from you but I hope all is going well. I love you, and I love you all very much. I miss you and am happy to hear that you have taken me up on my challenges. I will send pictures because there is one that is super sweet in front of some super cool graffiti (SP?).

This week, I want to challenge you all to pray for a missionary experience. Pray with the intention of acting on it. You don't need a black nametag to share the gospel so pray and act. Bear a testimony share a scripture, I don't care just open your mouth and share it. Angels are preparing people all over and the missionaries aren't enough. Every Member a Missionary, I want to hear how it goes. you know my address.

Les quiero,

Elder Bassett