12.15.14 - Una pastorela magnifica

I'm so happy to be in the Round Rock East Zone! we have 11 companionship covering the northeastern corner of the mission. I am serving in the Palm Valley Spanish Branch which encompasses the whole stake.We and a sister championship split the area and we take the eastern half while they cover they west. The inter-workings of our companionship right now intertwine me back to the beginning of my mission. I'm serving with.... Elder Warren!! Again!! He introduced me to Eagle Pass, and now he's spending the last 3 weeks of his mission with me in Palm Valley.

 

Finally, after 5 months of English areas i'm back in the Spanish grind. Even better than that, my more permanent companion is Elder Gonzales from Salt Lake City. He grew up speaking spanish at home, so he's helping us sound less like a textbook when we talk. Elder Warren is giving us a 3 week crash course so we can take over the zone when he goes home for the spring semester first week of January. Elder Gonzales has served with Elder Olsen, and was the one I switched places with when I was ET'd to be with Elder Dewitt.

To wrap up the Anderson Mill area, we had 3 people with baptismal dates when I left, so I feel good I left it better than I found it.

La Pastorela was saturday night and I don't know how to translate that word, but it was basically a nativity party. The latino Christmas food is too good, i love tres leches cake. They had a pretty sweet program they reenacted produced by the Ward Mission Leaders wife sister gonzales. It was the Nativity, as seen by Nephi in the Book of Mormon. There were about 30 non members there and Elder Gonzales and I were just scrambling the whole time not only trying to memorize all of the members names we met, but then try and distinguish the members we didn't know from the non-members we also didn't know so we could figure who brought friends we'd need to visit this week.

The only other things we've had to do as Zone Leaders so far is organize the transportation of our zone to Christmas Conference this Wednesday and meet with a high council representative yesterday to see how well the JustServe program is being implemented in the Zone. We also talk with him about the efficiency of the missionary meetings held by the wards, so he can train the ward leaders on how to correctly hold missionary coordination meetings and focus the wards efforts on the most effective activities.

I'm loving the Spanish culture right now. Compared to the people we talked to in the upper class Anderson Mill ward, the vast majority of people here are open to talking to us, many will set an appointment for us to come back or will let us share a quick message with them. Having already had most of those set appointments fall through, I'm remembering the flaky nature of the culture too. The trick is not to teach lessons, it's to find people committed enough to come out to church. They'll talk about God all day, they won't necessarily live what they say. The religious strain that's spreading is the "creyentes" or believers. Instead of going to catholic mass they just know the believe in God and that's sufficient. A white person if they set an appointment will almost always follow through, the hardest part is just finding the one who's ready and will say yes. The Hispanics will tell you yes, but that rarely means they'll do it.

I'm just copying here a part from President Slaughter's email to us this week.
GIFTS TO GOD

Many “gifts” are given and received during Christmas. Ironically very few of these gifts are for Him whose birth we celebrate. After all, what could Christ possibly desire from us? I will let you be the judge of that. What gift will you offer Christ this year? What could he possibly want? What do you have to offer? Are you willing to pay the price to give the gift?

A few ideas to start you thinking: “Without faith it is impossible to please him” (Heb. 11:6). “Come unto him, and offer your whole souls unto him” (Omni 1:26). “All he requires of you is to keep his commandments” (Mosiah 2:22). “They did lay down their weapons of rebellion” (Alma 23:7).

I love you!

Stay Salty!

Elder Tyler Meidell