2015-6-8 Quick Change!

Ok, so here's a story. Sunday afternoon, I get a call from our leader, who tells me that I'm leaving for Los Tuxtlas the next day. NO, just kidding, I'm actually staying.

Seriously, Elder? You're sure this time?
Nope, he's still kidding, he still doesn't have that information. So we wait. Later that afternoon, I get another call. Yeah, I'm leaving. For sure. To a different zone that's still in the port. Area that's called Las Palmas, Reforma, close to the temple in Mocambo. I get his promise that this time he's telling the truth. And everything's good, when we get to the house I pack up my stuff and say my goodbyes. Fast forward to this morning. Here I am, at the bus station where we all meet for the companion exchange, thinking I'm just going to have to take a ten, fifteen-minute taxi ride to my new area.
Oh, oops, actually Elder, you're going to Tuxtepec.
Oh, haha Elder, very funny.
No, really, here's your bus ticket. 

So there I am, an hour later, riding alone on a three-hour bus trip to Tuxtepec, Oaxaca. Area called Moctezuma. Really hot, and humid, and very "pueblo." But I like it, and I'm excited to work. We're neighbors with the bishop, and live about a thirty-second walk from the church. 

Well. Today's been a little unexpected, to say the least. My new companion's name is Elder Tirado; he's from Tijuana and has just finished his training. We're going to work hard, and I'm going to see if the "oaxaqueños" are anything like the "jarochos."

Elder Rob Weatherford

2015-6-1 Ugh...:)

Well, things have been heating up here in 5 de Mayo ever since I learned the Spanish equivalent of "Slug Bug." And the fists began to fly. Seriously, there are A LOT of Volkswagon Beetles here. We started on Wednesday, just on the way to lessons and in between contacts, and here's where the score stands:

Elder González: 35

Elder Weatherford: 68... Nope, I literally just saw another one after I wrote that. 69.

But we talked about it, and after P-day finishes we're going to stop taking count. It wasn't detracting from our work or anything, but it's better to not even have a chance of distraction from finding the people the Lord's prepared for us. 

70.

Transfers are coming in a week, so I don't know if I'll still be here next Monday. Honestly, I think it's unlikely... so I guess we'll see! We've seen some results with our work with less active members, but we're fighting hard so that progress doesn't stagnate. 

71.

I love you all, a lot, and hope everything's going well. I could use your prayers in my personal efforts to change, to become a better missionary. I guess I could just use some strength. Strength of will, strength of character, spiritual strength. Physical strength, I'm still holding out, don't worry :)

Thanks, and with love,

Élder Rob Weatherford

2015-5-25 More Q & A

Dad asked, "What's the best and worst meal you've eaten there with members?"

The best and the worst meal...that's a hard one.  I think the one that stuck out the most to me in a good way was really simple... A fifteen-year-old member that runs his own hot dog stand in Cuidad Mendoza made us pork tacos one time when his mom invited us to eat with them.  I don't know what he did, but they were DELICIOUS.  Just meat, pico de gallo, lime juice, and green salsa.  But amazing.

The worst meal... It's not that it was bad or anything, but it was the most difficult meal, definitely, also in Ciudad Mendoza. I've never been a huge fan of Jell-O, but I can enjoy it on occasion. In small quantities. And here, it's super popular, both water- and milk-based. But one time, after eating a large meal, this sister practically wheels in this gigantic cake of Jell-O with fruit chunks. She then proceeds to carve off a slice practically the size of my head (Ok, not THAT big, but literally about the size of both my fists put together) and slaps it down in front of us. AFTER I'm already stuffed. I had some trouble there, I'll freely admit. But I finished it!

Oh, ok, other experience, on New Year's Day, when a family invited us to eat "recalentados" from the night before. The leftovers of New Year's are a big deal here. They served us something they called "romeritos" which has a really strong flavor, like mole ("MOL-ay" a traditional Mexican dish with a similarly strong flavor), and as I mentioned, I think, I was a couple of days in recovering from a stomach virus. That probably ruined that dish for me forever, and I had to politely decline from finishing.

Other favorite foods... We eat everything they give us, so a lot of my taste buds have been converted to the Gospel of Avocado, something they always said they would never do.  Seriously, though, I love it now.  One time a family here made us paella, that was super good, even though it's not exactly a native dish.  I think I mentioned before, I've tried gringas al pastor, even if it was only one time, and they were super good... Every once in awhile, they'll give us carrot soup.  It's like a cream broth, and it's delicious!  What else... Stuffed jalapeño peppers... they scoop out the innards and add in a meat/vegetable combination.  Mmmm...

Matthew wants to know about your fave foods as well.  And he wants to know if everyone there wears sombreros, and if the radio plays Mexican music (insert his vocal imitation of a mariachi band here.)

Well, Matthew, unfortunately not everyone wears sombreros.  But there are a few!  And even more in other areas where it gets even hotter, and the sun even stronger.  As for the radio, yes.  Haha, not that I would really know, because we can't listen to the radio, but there are often people blasting music in their homes, or from their cars, or walking around with their phone and speakers.  there's one house we pass by often (we've already contacted there) and almost every day, in the evening, they're blasting music inside, cumbia, bachata, reggetón, and there are about six kids, most under the age of seven, out dancing on the sidewalk.  It's super funny, and really cute.  Mariachi actually is more popular than I thought, even though we don't hear it often in the street if it's not live.

More experiences to come next week! Stay safe, stay strong, stay spiritual. 

Con amor,

Élder Rob Weatherford

2015-5-18 Q and A

So, as we said last week, Rob thought a little Q and A would be good to send for writing his weekly posts.  Here's the first one!

Q:  What’s up with Edgar and Mary?  (We still pray for them each night during family prayer!)

A:   Edgar and Mari... Well, more or less, to be honest. Mari is doing well. She's been sick recently, so she hasn't been able to come to church, but she seems to have a strong desire to come back (less active member for a long time, had problems with her ex-husband and left the church a while ago). Edgar, her boyfriend, has been working a lot recently, so we haven't been able to see him recently. I think he'll get baptized one day, but I don't think it'll be while I'm here. Thank you for your prayers! It means a lot, and it also helps a lot. We actually heard that he got injured at work, not anything serious, but it might mean that he'll be let go. I'm not saying it's a good thing, but his work's been a large impediment to our teaching him, so maybe this is a blessing in disguise. Much more likely would be a woman named Ángel. Please pray for her to feel that desire to get baptized! She's progressing, but slowly. And that Itzel can have the means to get married. It's super difficult here to get married, and so many couples are living in "uniones libres." That is to say, living together, often with kids (even grandkids) and aren't married.

Q:  Are you learning any Nahuatl? Did I even spell that right?

A:   Náhuatl... A few phrases/words, but not a whole lot. Here in the port there's not many people to practice with. I'll have to wait till I get sent to the "pueblitos" (small towns, villages).

Q:  Have you been staying healthy?  Getting used to the heat? (Somebody else was talking about how their missionary was someplace very hot and humid, and felt like they weren’t taking it very well.)
A:  Yeah, I've been pretty healthy, although I do sweat a lot (although not as much as my companion although he's from a place even hotter than here).  And, I drink a lot of water, and use a lot of sunscreen...most days...I wonder, every so often, what it'll be like to return to Washington (and then Utah) in the fall and winter.  Different.  It'll be different.  It's over ninety degrees right now, and like I told you on Mother's Day, it's gotten up around 105 a few days.  And it's going to get worse.  But we've started to take a vitamin/supplement thing called "complejo B," and it also is supposed to be good for keeping away the mosquitos, so they've been bothering me less.  Almost not at all, actually, so I can't complain.  But no, the heat's fine.  I actually thought it would be a lot worse/more difficult than it is, haha.  We just always ask for water when we enter a house, and we carry around little towels/washcloths for the sweat.

Q:  Did you try David’s suggestion of a sail and a bike when El Nortes blow through on p-day? (kidding. J )
A:  No answer from Rob

Q:   Are you getting any chance at all to use your piano and vocal gifts? 

A:   Piano and vocal "gifts..." Not so much, actually. Not at all, actually. I've touched a piano fewer than five times since I came here, I think. That's probably one of the things I miss the most, actually. In fact, just yesterday after the church service we were in the sacrament hall and I sat down at the piano and played a snatch of a hymn, but then I stopped, closed the piano, and left. I notice how much I miss it when I play, and it's actually easier not to play at all than only have a couple of minutes once in a while. I like having sheet music, though. I can "play" the songs in my head and hear them, and feel them, without having to be at a piano. And, I'm sure that in the future I'll be in an area where they need piano players and have a piano, and I'll get to play a little.

Please keep sending photos.  We LOVE them!!

Q:  Did you know you are a very awesome missionary? 

A:  No answer from Rob.

2015-5-10 Mother's Day...

This is from Rob and Rob's mom:  We spoke with Rob on Mother's Day,  It was great, but I got frustrated because we weren't able to get a video Skype going as usual.  I whined a little after seeing 6 or 8 of my friends with missionaries in the field posting photos of their guys on the computer screen, but I'm still glad we got to talk to him!  Here's what he said in answer to me: 

Mom: 

While talking to you was wonderful, seeing all my friends with their Skype screen shots of smiling missionaries on FB made me…well…jealous.  (I know.  Not a particularly Christ-like emotion, but there it is.) 

Rob: 

I know, I think it's the same emotion I feel when I hear that my friends are getting iPads, or taking Norwegian cruises on their P-days :)

I know, sorry, I tried to find a member with a computer, but the combination of Skype, a computer, and a webcam escaped me. But for Christmas I'll verify better before. Plus, I assume you'll all be together for Christmas, so it's ok.

(I was in Memphis for Rob's Great-Grandmother's 100th Birthday and his Dad and siblings were still here in Washington)

He also said it might be easier for him to write sometimes if we sent him questions we were wondering about.  You are ALL welcome to join that endeavor if you like!  Just write to him at robert.weatherford@myldsmail.net  He'd love that!

2015-5-4: Pictures

The zone and then the district with our t-shirts they made for us after an activity "One day in the life of a missionary." They did everything--the missionaries held "mini-MTCs" where we taught how a missionary acts, how to contact, all that kind of stuff, and where the kids wrote their testimonies in Books of Mormon, and then the whole zone (each missionary with their assigned primary leader, youth preparing for the mission, and group of kids went out street and house contacting. Good times!

A little friend I found on my suitcase one night!

2015-4-27 One Day (Week, Transfer) More‏

Ahhhhh, where to begin...

So, the work's going here. It hasn't exactly been fruitful recently with baptisms, so we've been upping the work we've been doing with less active members. Like, "upping" a lot. As a mission, actually. We have an investigator named Edgar who we're hoping will get baptized in a few weeks, and he pretty much fell out of the sky as a miracle from God. He's progressing extremely well, although there's still a long way to go. 

This week's been one of the most intense weeks of my mission so far, I think. Talking with drunk people is pretty normal here, as we encounter a lot of "borrachos" in the street that want to talk with us, but arriving at a house because we felt prompted to plan to visit a less active family and finding them fighting about the father's alcohol problem is never an easy situation. But, when we get involved, we do so with power and authority. There are many things that we can't do as missionaries, but helping families is the point, so we do what we can. We started working with them much more closely, and it was extremely gratifying when they came to church with us on Sunday. It wasn't without help, but still... 

Actually, funny story... We talked with them on Saturday very seriously, and helped them to understand they if they wanted a change, they needed to fight for it. That fight needs to include God, and so to come together as a family, the way to do it was through the church. We committed them to attend with us on Sunday, and ask them if they want us to call them in the morning to wake them up. "Oh, no, elder, we'll be ready." So we told them we'd pass by for them in the morning so we could all walk down together. It's all good, everybody's happy. Fast forward to Sunday morning: We pass by, knock on the gate, and no one answers. We call the house and hear the phone ringing. Rinse, repeat. So we enter in the gate and knock on the window (kind of hard to explain how the house is structured, but it sounds weirder than it was. It makes sense when you see the house). A few times. The dad then sticks his head out, and it's obvious he was dead asleep moments earlier, along with his entire family. "Oh," he says sleepily, and a little sheepishly, "I don't think we're going to make it." "Don't worry," I tell him, "We'll make it together." And I smile. Not a cruel smile, a smile with power and authority. To let him know that we mean business. And that we weren't leaving that house without them. He looks at me for a sec, and then says, "Ok," and sticks his head back inside. Within fifteen minutes, we're all walking to the chapel together, and we actually meet along the way another less active family that we've been teaching. We haven't been baptizing much, but that really doesn't matter. My heart was light that morning. But it gets better... at least, it made me laugh a little inside. The family decided to attend the class for new members (it's been a LONG time since they've been to church), and while they were there, the bishop told them how happy he was to see them. The lesson was actually on work and personal responsibility, and as an example, he said, "And you, Brother E, I remember passing by a couple of days ago to invite you to the ward conference, and here you are! It gives me a lot of pleasure to see you all here. And you came of your own free will, which is exactly what we're talking about today." 

"Actually, bishop, the elders have been working with us pretty closely, and have fortunately been rather insistent with us--if not for them, we wouldn't be here."

"That's great that the elders have been working with you all, but it's not like they brought you here at gunpoint! If, when they passed by, you'd have yawned [here he mimed for comic effect] and said you couldn't, you were too sleepy, they'd have turned around and kept on going! But you wanted to come, and so you did."

I understand the point the bishop was trying to make, and he's right in the sense that if the family really didn't want to come, they wouldn't have come. But, the fact that he said almost exactly the same words that left Brother E's mouth made me have to hide a smile. At times, we need to be a little more insistent than the bishop thinks. Always within the bounds of reason. But, the family understood that they needed to push, so we gave it to them. And, after forming that habit, they'll be able to keep on progressing, seeing the help and blessings in their life. We've been through some extremely difficult moments with them recently... I'm not going to go into too many details, but we've seen part of the father's problem up close and personal, and with their extended family that lives in the same housing complex it gets even more complicated (illegal drug abuse), so we have our hands full. But, with the Lord's help, we can help His children here, and be His voice and His hands.

One night, after meeting with them, my companion was feeling a little depressed, so I talked with him a little bit about our calling. It's a literal one. It's not something we've "taken upon ourselves," it's not something we're doing because we wanted to and no one else; the Lord has permitted us to be here because it was expedient in him for the salvation of souls. We've been set apart by His servants who directly have His authority, to do this work in this area. No one else in this area has that authority. If I sugarcoated that, if I said something different, I'd be lying. Right now, Elder Weatherford and Elder González are the Lord's representatives as the missionaries assigned to the area called 5 de Mayo. No one else can do this work. So, we've got to. Yeah, we're young. Yeah, maybe we've never encountered this kind of situation before. But, we have the right to revelation for this area, to receive revelation to be able to help the people we teach, and we need to trust that.

This church is true, and the priesthood is real. Jesus Christ is the head of this church, and the head of this work. He watches over His servants, and over their families. An elder who's going home tomorrow (honorably--finished his "dos añitos") shared something with us in a special meeting yesterday. He said that the wife of the previous mission president said something a couple of Christmases ago. She said, "Maybe a few of you feel like there's an empty space in your family right now, a hole where you used to be, especially right now during the holiday season. That's not true. There's no hole. Jesus Christ is there, taking your spot, because right now you're here, taking His." I'm not there right now with my family, but I trust that they're in good hands, and that I'm where I need to be. Two years are a paltry offering when compared with all that He's given me, and still has in store.

Mosiah
21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.

24 And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?

Alma 26
11 But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God.

Saludos, y todo mi amor,

Élder Rob Weatherford