April 28. 2014 Left my wallet on the bus

I mean, I am going to get this whole letter writing business going. I mean, we will see just how long this will go for. I unfortunately will not have pictures to add into this email, but I mean, sometimes words are nice to read to... so it'll all turn out well

Alright, here is one from last week.

I, uh, left my wallet on the bus this week. That just wasn´t okay. I mean, I paid for my passage and then I started calling some missionaries and members to make good use of the time and I forgot to put my wallet back in my pocket! We were sitting there eating with the bishop and his family when I finally figured out that I didnt have my wallet. I was not a happy person, I had already lost my credit card where we got money from the mission each month and I was not ready for that to happen again. But little by little I just started feeling that everything was going to work out well. So, just so you know, the buses just kind of pass as they please, its not easy to find the same bus twice in a day, especially since there are easily at least 15 that are constantly passing through my area in chichicapa. Anyway, when we got back to chichicapa, I told my companion that I just felt like the bus was gonna pass by with my wallet, and he may or may not have told me how nearly impossible that would be... and so we kept walking and I kept looking over my shoulder feeling like the bus was going to pass, and then I saw a bus. And I told my companion that it was the one, and he told me not to get my hopes up, but uh, it was the right one. and I got my wallet back, and it was really just great, I opened it up, and my mission credit card was still in there. The nearly 400 pesos on the other hand..... well they weren't there. But, I am just really glad I got my wallet with the credit card back. It was just almost a bad thing. I mean, I feel like I deserved the losing the money part because it was an amateur hour mistake on my part, but yeah. all is well. 

Anyway, this week we had the opportunity to go out with a couple of members to go visit some of the less active members. We went with Adan and Veronica. They are awesome. I mean, one thing that has been different here is that if somebody moves houses or needs help, there just isnt always that kind of brothership there where the members go and help out, but Adan and Veronica are awesome. They just sincerely wanted to go see some people but they didnt know where they lived so they actually asked us to accompany them. While we were in the house of one of the members, you could see the sincerity of these two as they shared what they could to help the members out and it was really just exactly what the members needed. We had members that had not gone to church in a long time goon sunday and I am fully convinced that it was just from the decision that adan and his wife made to really be a friend to the other members in the ward. It was just a bit of a learning experience for me. I feel like I can't fully explain everything here, and it may not have the same significance for you guys as it did for me, but it made me see a little better the importance of having that kind of unity and love within a ward and the effect that it had on the other members. 

I love this whole mission thing, its just really great. I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to be out here, and I know that God has been helping me out. 

Anyway, I love you guys! Talk to you later! 

Doctrine and Covenants 136:42

                                   137

Love, Elder Kyle Andrew Rios

April 7, 2014

Hey guys. So, ya know, as normal, I hope all is going well for you guys. I mean, I have been doing pretty good. I am not gonna write a whole lot this week, just the simple stuff.

So this week we went on exchanges. I went with my good friend elder Suares again. He's from Honduras, he's a good guy. I really learn a lot from him. He knows a lot about the gospel and the scriptures and its just kind of astounding. I would like to keep learning about the gospel, I feel like I was just crazy negligent with reading my scriptures before, but I have really started to like it. I mean, the day just isn´t the same if I don´t get to start it out with the normal studying.

 Friday was a really cool experience. Every week we have a ward family home evening and one of the families in the ward is assigned each week to share the message or teach the class, however you want to say it. Anyway, this week, one of the recent converts here named Guadalupe, and her son Hernan had the opportunity to give the class. Guadalupe decided to talk about one of the general conference talks from a couple conferences ago called "I know it. I live it. I love it" by Ann M. Dibb. Guadalupe talked about how taking the decision to be baptized was hard for her because of the pressure she received from some of her friends and the judgments that were being passed because of the person she was before and how the gospel had changed her life and made her stronger and proud of the choice that she had made to make a covenant with the Lord. I really just felt like a proud parent or something there as she taught the lesson. She is one of the strongest people I have known, she always surprises me when she shares a story from her life or something that she had to pass through. I know that the Lord doesn´t make mistakes and that He puts us exactly where
we need to be. 

Saturday and sunday were general conference days. I loved it. My favorite quote was "one should not roam through garbage." I just really liked the guys accent. haha, Elder Urbina and I are the only americans here so we went into a seperate room to watch conference in english. It was our little america, and it was great. I love the english language, in case any of you were wondering. I really enjoyed elder Russell M nelsons talk, and elder Hollands talk. Those were probably my two favorite talks. It took me awhile to understand the importance of having a living prophet and apostles in our day, but now that I understand a little better I am incredibly grateful. 

Anyway, I wrote more than I thought I would. Love you guys. 

By the way, I am thirteen months into my mission. time is flying by. 

Love, Elder Rios

March 31, 2014

We played basketball and soccer today and it was really great. I really just have missed playing sports. I sweated a lot, and the sun was just not helping me out. I felt kind of gross to be honest, but I did not suck nearly as bad as I thought I would after all this time. I mean, I never was the best, but I can say that I am still not the worst. So that's a good thing, right?

Anyway, this last week went pretty good. We ate the almost american hamburgers again from one of the members. I even took a picture of them. I just miss a good burger. And try as they might, the people of mexico just haven´t been able to make a Grade-A, top-notch hamburger. I mean, I guess it makes up for the fact that the tacos that we make aren´t like the tacos they sell here in the taco stands... They sell some really great tacos. And cheap. And, its just real nice.

This last week we had a movie in the park. Or, better said, a movie in the park in front of the catholic church. It went pretty good. And only one person was rude and didn't want to talk to us. So that's a good thing. We had a bunch of people show up and so we are planning on doing it again. We were a little disorganized on it though, we could have done it better. So when round 2 come around, we are going to find new investigators left and right with that.

We also started teaching Claudia and Carlos this week. They are pretty cool. Its a single mom and her kid. They don´t have a whole lot and they have kind of had a bit of trouble financially, but you can see that Claudia does all she can to take care of her children. Its really just a humbling experience to be in the homes of some of the people that we teach. I always thought that my mom was joking when she used to tell me that there were people that lived in houses the size of our living room.

I love being here as a missionary. Sometimes there are days that are stressful, but the Lord is always helping us out and I really couldn´t ask for more.

I love you guys, hope all is well.

Love, Elder Kyle Andrew Rios

Side note: I promise I wasn´t trying to kidnap that iguana.