Birthday Cake... Turned 21 in Mexico! =}

Sat Oct 11, 2014 Birthday Cake...Turned 21 in Mexico! =}

So, its transfer weekend guys! Which means that on Monday they are going to start moving around missionaries to different areas, some missionaries go home, and some new missionaries arrive to the mission! I am really excited for this one because I get to see the new missionaries get here. I really like seeing how nervous/excited all the new missionaries are. I mean, I am pretty sure I already mentioned it but it makes me think of when I just barely got here to the mission. So yeah, its pretty great. Monday and Tuesday will be pretty busy for us, cause we run around doing all the behind the scenes stuff to make sure the meetings go as planned and stuff. Oh and I get to spend Tuesday as the 'official translator' for the american missionaries that arrive and that's fun.

So this week has been a pretty good one. I turned 21 on Monday and President and Sister Morales bought me a birthday cake and everyone in the office sang happy birthday to me. It was a funny cake it said "Felicidades Elder 'ah bueno' ". I always answer 'ah bueno' whenever someone asks me to do something and so one of the Elders put it on the cake, and since then, all of the people in the office have started saying 'ah bueno' to everything. I´m pretty much a hipster. But not really. 

And something else that was kind of funny this week was that we have a Puerto Rican flag in our mission office now... So heres the story, my friend and zone leader, Elder Urbina, and I are the only two missionaries of Puerto Rican descent here in the mission. In the mission office we have a flag of each country of the missionaries that are here in the mission. So we have some of Nicaragua, Columbia, Mexico, England, and different places. Anyways, Elder Urbina started telling president that we needed a flag from Puerto Rico, to which president initially said no. But after some talking back and forth, he said that we could have a Puerto Rican flag but it had to be a little one because Puerto Rico isn´t its own country, and neither Elder Urbina or myself are fully Puerto Rican... So attached is the picture of the flag we won.. I´m pretty proud of it. 

We have been working to find some new investigators here in our area and its been going pretty well. We have a new one named Miguel. His brother is a member of the church in the United States and invited him to meet the missionaries. We have been teaching him for like two weeks now, and he is way cool. We weren't able to see him this week, so he called me the other day while we were in a meeting and he says ¨hey, when can I see you guys again?" So we set a date and time and he told me "okay, and I already read the part of the Book of Mormon that you left me, is there another part I can read?" I mean, not all of the investigators are like that. He is way cool. Right now we are going to focus on the day of rest with him. He has definitely been prepared to receive the gospel though and I am really excited to keep teaching him. I know that the Lord is going to put more people in our path and I hope that we can find some families that are looking for the gospel. I love you guys and I know I haven´t written as much but I mean, I think you´re all great. and stuff. 

Love you, hope to write you all next week. 

I´m going to send a picture of me and my companion, of my birthday cake, and the little Puerto Rican flag. 

Sept 27, 2014 Almost General Conference time!

Hey guys, so I´m pretty excited for General Conference. I mean, I just want to make sure  you guys know that. 

This week has been pretty alright. I ate little ceasers for the first time in almost nineteen months. I don´t really know how to say this but... I´m pretty sure my pizzas came out better than the one we ate... I mean, I´m just sayin´. It was a good little flashback moment. This week we have focused a bit more on contacting. My companion is really good at it. Like really good. No one tells him no, haha. I don´t know how he does it, so I am trying to learn more from him in that aspect. I mean, I´m not bad at contacting but I haven´t quite learned to do it as natural as he does. So yeah, I´m working on that so that the people don´t give me the "what do you want?" stare when we randomly start talking to them haha. 

Anyway, this week went pretty good. We are teaching two people, they are father and daughter. They are pretty cool investigators. The daughter accepted the invitation to be baptized this week, and we are working with the dad also so that he can be baptized. We are hoping that in October we can have their baptism. They really are awesome though. They both have understood really well what we have taught them and have the desire to keep learning. I am certain that they are two of the many people that the Lord has prepared to receive the gospel. 

During my personal study this week I just had another one of those "the gospel is true" moments. I was reading in Ezekiel, and as I was reading I just found a scripture that I really needed. Later in the same chapter I was awestruck when I found that the Lord talked about how the gospel would be preached and how many people would respond to his call. The scriptures contain the word of God. They are powerful and true. The moment that we start applying the teaching that are taught therein is when we recognize the divine guidance that is received through the sacred writings of God´s chosen servants. He has always called prophets, and He continues to call prophets. I have no doubt of that fact, and I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of the Lord. The Holy Ghost has testified it to me, and I testify the same to all of you. 

I love you guys and I hope you are well.

Love, Elder Kyle Andrew Rios

Ezekiel 34:11-16

Transfers Sept 6, 2014 working in the Mission office

Hey guys, so I hope all is going well! Sorry I wasn´t able to write on Monday, I was a bit busy but for the next little while I will be writing on Saturdays. That's pretty sweet right? Anyway, so I will try to give you a quick recap of whats going on but I don´t really know what I am going to say. So Monday I got transferred, I am in Villahermosa now, which is one of the hottest parts of the mission. I have liked it though. There's also a lot more stuff here in Villahermosa, its the only real city that I have been in during my mission. Well, I guess Acayucan was kind of a city. A very little baby city, but a city nonetheless. 

My last week with Elder Narvaez was pretty fun. I mean, we spent the week trying to do some paperwork to get some people married, but we didn´t get it in time. Hopefully this week they will be married and be able to get baptized. I´m gonna miss working with Elder Narvaez though, he was really good to work with. Here in Villahermosa I am with Elder Becerra, he is my new companion. This week has been pretty fun, and its been super busy. I have been trying to learn some new stuff, but now it looks like I have it all figured out. On Monday all the new missionaries got to the mission so we were helping them out with getting acquainted with the mission and all its rules and such. When the American missionaries got here they slept in our house and they just looked super nervous... I am pretty sure I was exactly the same when I got here ha-ha. Everything is just so new and the people seem to talk super fast and stuff. I remember just being confused when I got here. I just didn´t even know what to think. 

Hey, playing translator isn't as easy as it sounds. Well it doesn't sound easy. But, anyway, on Tuesday we had another meeting for the new missionaries and I spent the meeting translating everything into English. You really have to think about some of the stuff because you can´t just translate it all word for word, you have to do it in a way that makes sense. Anyway, when the president got up to talk he was like "thank you Elder Rios for the official translation" and yeah then the same thing happened in a different meeting. Its just pretty funny. Its been fun to get to work closer to the president, its really been cool to get to know him better and stuff to. 

Anyway, love you guys, talk to you next week. 

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!