August 25th

So, weird thought, the sister missionaries that started their missions at the same time as me are pretty much done with their missions now.... Tha'ts really strange. I mean it doesn't seem like that long ago that I was in the MTC. And, yeah, time is just flying by. Its weirding me out. I only have like four transfers left. Just strange stuff. Anyway, this week has been good, Elder Narvaez and I have been super busy here. We have a huge area as it is and on top of our area we are still teaching the investigators from my first area, the one that got closed. So yeah, its been pretty great. We have a few investigators that are pretty close to getting baptized but.... we got to get some people married. That means we are going to spend the week trying to get legal documents and stuff so that the couple can get baptized on Saturday. Its pretty awesome though. Its been way fun with my new companion, he is really funny, so there's not many boring moments here. 

Anyway, in other news I, uhm, bought  a king sized hammock. Its in the process of getting made, but I am pretty excited about that. I like hammocks, even though some elders and I nearly broke one last week... theres a video and everything but its too long to send in an email. Its hilarious though. We were kind of using it as a swing and then the thing holding it up just snapped...  I fell onto the mattress that was conveniently placed under the hammock and yeah, I'll show the video sometime. 

Getting onto the more spiritual note, I have been thinking a lot this week about the Book of Mormon and the restoration of the gospel this week. I've been analyzing how easy it was for me to accept these truths because I have learned them since I was young and its been easy for me, but for our investigators its not like that. They are learning new things and changing life long traditions but its truly worth it to follow Christ. Once the Spirit touches their heart, the desire to change and repent is made manifest. I know that the Church was restored by the prophet Joseph Smith and I know that Christ lives and leads His church today. It is a blessing to be a missionary. 

Love you guys. 

Love Elder Rios

Transfer? August 11th & August 18th letter.

Aug 11, 2014
Hey guys, so remember how I told you I was going to get transferred? Well it didn't happen. So I am still here with the other two elders, Elder Roman and Elder Martinez. Its been pretty fun to be here in a trio. The other two elders have the same amount of time in the mission as I do. I mean, its been a good time. This is the third time in my mission that I have been in a trio.

Anyway, this week has been pretty awesome. Last week I was kind of bummed because I didn't want to leave behind all of the investigators that I had before that were progressing, but since I am still here close, we have been able to keep working with them. Actually one of them has a baptismal date so I´m really excited about that! Its awesome because in his family, everyone else are members, and his son just turned 8 and so now he is trying even harder to get baptized so he can baptize his son! His work schedule makes it difficult but he is doing all he can. 

On Thursday we had a sweet activity with president Morales. We had a short conference then it was Volleyball, Soccer, and food. It was awesome. In volleyball I was on the same team as president and a couple of my other little missionary friends here, and we rocked that. I mean, we won again and again, and lost a couple of times.. but we were the overall winners. It was nice..

And then there was soccer... We lost, a lot. But we did win one haha. It was way fun.

 

During the conference part we taught an active member about The First Vision and the Spirit was incredibly strong during the lesson. I know that God the Father and Jesus Christ truly appeared to Joseph Smith that spring morning, and I know that the gospel has been restored over the earth. God's plan is remarkable, and I trust completely in Him. 

I love you guys, I hope all is well! 

Love, Elder Rios

 

Aug 18, 2014

So guys, I am still in Acayucan, BUT, I am in a different area. I am now in Zapata, which is another ward here. I am working with Elder Narvaez. It was pretty cool, I really didn't have to repack my stuff since Elder Narvaez lived right below where I was already at with the other Elders. Anyway, its looking like we are going to have a baptism this week so I am pretty excited! And then the week after also, we just gotta get some people married! Man, lets just all follow God's commandments and get legally married instead of just living together. Can I get an amen? That's one of the biggest problems we run into down here but I mean, when the people come to understand that its a commandment, they usually end up getting married.

Anyway, I really don't have a whole lot to write about today so I will just share with you guys the scripture that really kind of impacted me this week:

 

 35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question,tempting him, and saying,

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

 38 This is the first and great commandment.

 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

I copied and pasted that and that's the format so I promise the letters aren't bigger because I was yelling them at you. But I really liked this scripture because I was trying to analyze where I am at in Loving the Lord with all my heart, soul, and mind. I know that I have changed a lot being here on the mission, and I want nothing more

than to dedicate my time here to the Lord. To me, loving the Lord is as it says in John 14:15, is by keeping the Commandments. All of them. I mean, us as people tend to have a selective obedience. Something's we keep, others we don't, even if we know its wrong. At some point we even give up hope and just say "that's just how I am" or "God made me this way" but that's not true. God didn't make us exempt to His divine laws. They are for our temporal and eternal happiness, and the faster we choose to obey ALL his commandments, the faster we will gain a true testimony of His doctrine, we will repent, change things we've done wrong and begin to understand the potential that we really have as God's beloved children. 

 

 

There's a few more things that I have going through my mind about the scripture, but for now I think I will just keep it simple. I love God. I'm happy to be where I am, and I don't ever want to grow comfortable with the relatively little work that I have done during my time as a missionary.

 I love you guys!

 

 

 

 

Short two months August 4, 2014

Well, guys, its been a short two month run here in Acayucan. That's the least amount of time that I have had in any of my areas. But, they are transferring me. I have emergency transfers due to some unexpected occurrences, but I mean, everything is fine. I have spent the last three days with Elder Roman and Elder Martinez who are in the neighboring area. Its been pretty fun with them. I am going to miss my area though. But, I mean, I gave it my all here, so I feel good about it. I am going to a city called Minatitlan. Its not too far away from Acayucan, its still in the state of Veracruz. I will be taking an hour long bus ride at four o clock to get there. My companions name will be Elder Rivera, I don't know where he is from but I will be cool.

I am sorry I don't have a lot to write guys, but my week has been hectic and its just been one of those things that cant be fully described in an email. so just add it on to the list of things I need to one day tell in person. Well, I love you guys. I am going to throw a few pictures on here!

 

 These are  the two Elders I was with

 and me with the cool cane of the coolest member in the ward. He´s blind. He´s awesome.

 

Love you guys!

New Transfer July 21, 2014

Hey guys, so I am just hitting up here from Villahermosa, Tabasco. I mean, I am nowhere near my area and I am in companion-limbo. I am sitting here with Elder Urbina and Elder Nixon, they are babysitting me until my new companion arrives to the mission tomorrow. Well, actually he will get here tonight, but I don't get to know who until tomorrow. I am pretty excited to train again, its a cool experience. Now we just have to see who it is.... dun dun dun.

Anyway, so not too much new here in my life. We ate this food called Memela. Its super good. Acayucan (where my area is at) is known for them. Its like a thin tortilla covered with cheese, some veggies, a bunch of meat, and some other good stuff... like fried banana. I will throw a picture up on this email. It was probably one of the best things I have eaten here in Mexico.

 

Anyway, this week we went to go see a less active member named Alvino. He is just really awesome. I first visited him with one of the zone leaders and it was just kind of depressing because he didn't really want anything to do with us... but then we went back with one of the members and since then it has just been good. He is a good guy and I am pretty sure he will start coming to church again. I mean, I just like being a missionary. Its a great experience and there are so many people that we have the opportunity to meet each day.

 

I really have respect for two of the youth in our ward, Carlos and Luis that go out visiting with us every week to prepare to be missionaries. They still have like two weeks to go and they are just awesome. I never left with the missionaries, and now that I´m here I kind of wish I would have. I know that when they are missionaries they will be prepared and will be able to bless the lives of many other people. 

 

Anyway, I love you guys. Talk to you next week!

Cake & A baptisim July 14, 2014

Alright family so, I unfortunately will not be writing much this week. I know I say that all of the time. Its great. So long story short, this week we passed through Apostasy Week. (Apostasy, Gospel Term, When individuals or groups of people turn away from the principles of the gospel). so, that was fun or something. We had some very serious lessons with quite a few people and it was truly just difficult. Anyway, story of the week. So we had that happen and then on Saturday, all of our plans fell threw and Elder George and I sat on a curb for a time and we were just like "well, now what?" And so I decided that we would just start walking down a street, even though we didn't really know where we were going, and so we start walking and My comp says, "lets go see Mario" (who has a cake shop.) Anyway, so we keep on the same road and we  get to the cake shop and a lady stops me. My companion didn't hear so I whistled him down but anyway the lady starts telling us about her husband who wants to get baptized that already was going to church a few months back and is practically just waiting for the missionaries to go over. And so we got their info and such, and while we were saying good bye, the lady reaches in her bag and gives me and elder George each a little slice of cake. It was the best cake I´ve had in a long long time. I enjoyed it.

It was just a real cool experience because we were really just down in the dumps and the Lord picked us right back up. Afterwards we got back to work with renewed enthusiasm and we were just catching fire, it was so nice. It made me think a lot about the scripture in alma 26:27. 

This is without a doubt God´s work. I love my Heavenly Father, and I know that He is watching over me. 

 

Thought I would share some photos of our really short hair cuts &  tire swing!

 

 

Elder George

 



Elder Rios Rope Swing

I love you guys. 

Talk to you next week! 



 

Welcome to the good life July &, 2014

So, I mean, this letter will be pretty short. But it will be good and stuff. Right? Right. We had a good week here in Acayucan. I mean, there was some clogged drain problems you don´t want to know the specifics about, I went to do divisions with an elder from Peru, I got a little sick (not a lot, so don´t freak out.) and threw up in the street like a drunk, and celebrated a nice 4th of July. So, sounds pretty good right? It really was. Well, I wont continue too much with the clogged drain thing, but let it be said that Elder George is brave, and what happened there need not be written. However, if one day you would like me to tell you guys in person I will do it. I will tell it vividly, using hand gestures, facial expressions and e´rrythin. But the divisions were pretty fun, I went with Elder Carmen to his area this last week. He is an an Area called Paraíso, which is a solid two hours away from our area but its a pretty cool place. While we were together we walked on some train tracks, preached the gospel, and all that good stuff. I mean, it was also with him where we threw up. We were on a little side street though so no one saw. Later we passed by the puke place and there was a lady walking up and so as I passed I made sure to talk in a really loud voice and express my disgust at the fact that somebody would puke in the street. So ya know, I didnt make it obvious at all. Elder Carmen got a kick out of it. 

I am proud to be an American. I don´t know if you guys know that, but uh, I am. So to show it, I sang the national anthem periodically throughout the fourth of July, my companion and I ate bacon for breakfast,

I made sure to tell people it was independence day, and we went to eat hamburgers with the some more American Elders. I mean, scale of one to ten, I would put it at a solid 8.7, we lacked fireworks, but hey, that will be saved for next year. Oh and I just remembered, I am now sixteen months into this whole mission deal, crazy right? Not very long ago people were telling me that I still had a lot to go and now all of the members tell me that I am almost done. I am not sure when the transition got made but yeah. and time keeps going by faster. its weird. 

This last week we had the opportunity to go teach one of the members that hasn´t been to church for awhile and it was a cool experience. All of our plans had fell through and Elder George felt like we should go visit her even though she lives kind of far, and so we did. It was the first time I had ever met her, so at first we were just talking and then she said something and a scripture came into my head, so I mean, Missionary Mode got kicked in and I just started teaching about Lehi´s dream. Anyway, after a time we ended up talking about why she hadn´t been going to church. She just opened up and told us everything and Elder George and I just started sharing scriptures and talking to her and it definitely was not us that was teaching. The Spirit took control of the lesson and it was just incredibly powerful. During this time it really just made me think of how God had put us in the right place. We had absolutely no intention of going near the part of the area where she lives that day. We had pretty  good plans and everything that I honestly didnt expect to fall through. Truly God had something else planned. I continue to learn of the truthfulness of this work. I do not doubt the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. I love the Lord and I am grateful to be here as His servant. 

I love you guys, I hope you´re all doing well!

Love, Elder Rivers. (Rios)

 

June 30, 2014 Independence week

 

So, Friday is really just getting close guys. I mean, my companion and I already found an american flag to go take a picture by and we decided that we are going to go eat hamburgers with some of the other elders. Its gonna be sweet. I gotta admit, I have become more patriotic here in Mexico. I just love the United States. On Saturday we had a Zone Conference with President Morales, and so he was looking through all of our planners to see if we are using them effectively and so he started leafing through mine and after like two seconds he says "Graffiti" and just hands me my planner back, so I looked through to see what he was talking about and he had looked on the page for July 4th which I had written on just a bit. I will throw a picture in for you guys to see.

 

This week has gone pretty well. I learned something incredibly obvious: that  you can make toast on a frying pan. I mean, its really simple but I hadn´t ever thought about it. Anyway, I am a little wiser now. On Tuesday we did divisions and I was with Elder Nisbet for the day. That was pretty fun. I really am just down with having American companions. I speak a whole lot of English, and Spanish too. And then there's some spanglish that always gets thrown in but its just all great. Anyway, I feel bad because I have hardly taken any pictures in this area.

 

I gotta get some of the house to send you guys and my companion and I havent taken a picture on my camera yet so I dont have one to send you guys.. Well I will try to acquire one right here in the little computer place though. 

 

 

Yesterday we had a really cool experience. We went to teach an investigator named Miriam who has a baptism date for the 19th of July. We taught her about the plan of salvation and she really liked it. Anyway, she had not yet prayed to know if the Book of Mormon is true so we did something I had never done before. I got the impression to invite her to pray and ask right in front of us, and while she said the prayer I was kind of doing my own little mini prayer and pleading the Lord to help her feel the truthfulness through the Holy Ghost, and after a few seconds the Lord just told me pretty much that I need to calm down and trust that He would do His part. So after the prayer I looked up and Miriams face was just beaming. She had a huge smile on her face and I asked her how she had felt during her prayer and she told us that she had received her answer and that an overwhelming feeling of peace just came over her and she just knew. It was a remarkable experience and I know that its not anything that we could have taught, its only something that is made known through the Holy Ghost. I know that the Book of Mormon contains the Word of God, and that Joseph Smith was the prophet of the Lord called to restore the Gospel over the earth. I used to think that was just a cliché mormon saying when they passed to give their testimonies, but now I know with a certainty that it is true, and that that knowledge is to be shared. I am grateful for the oportunity to be here as a missionary. Its fun, its hard, its a definite learning experience,  and I know that its where the Lord would have me be. 

Love you guys, hope all is well. Love, Elder Rios

2 Nephi 2:5-8