Letter from Monday, December 29, 2008

Hello all!

Well, first off, it was so great talking to all of you on
Christmas! Christmas was a bit different here in Texas, but
I've already told you guys that on the phone. Thank you for
all of the gifts, and letters, etc. from all of you. I
really do appreciate it.

We spent quite a bit of time tracting this last week, but
didn't find too much in way of new investigators, but
that's ok. The work has been going really well this last
week. We have investigators that are getting super close
to baptism!

Well, other than that, not a whole lot has been going on,
so I'll tell you a little bit about our investigators.

Isabel Lozano(age 9), Belinda Lozano(age 11), and Victoria
Garcia (age 11)- The first two are sisters, and their dad
is good with then getting baptized. They've been coming to
church with their cousins (the Garcia kids) for several
months straight now. Don Lozano (the dad) has custody of
Victoria Garcia (his niece). They all have a baptismal
date for January 10th. The kids love us. At least someone
here in Texas does :)

Asusena, Yoshio, Gustavo - Well, Yoshio and Gustavo came to
church yesterday, but Asusena had work. We're working with
them for a baptismal date for January 24th. They want to be
baptized! Hooray!

Martha - Well, we're still working with Martha. I'm actually
going to go get my hair cut by her today (she owns a salon).
She came to church again yesterday! We're still trying to
meet with her about the Law of Chastity... She knows it's
wrong, but it'll just be a matter of getting her to do
something about it.

Well, I love you all. Time is short. Make the most of it.
My thoughts and prayers are with you all.

Con amor,

Elder Meservy

Letter from Monday, December 22, 2008

Hello all!

First off, mom and dad, I'm glad to hear you traveled
safely home. It sounds like Paris was quite the trip.

I'm glad to hear people in the home ward haven't
forgotten about me yet :)

It sounds like the Christmas festivities have been well
underway, and a lot of fun. I've definitely missed that
this year.

I'm glad to heard there's a hermit crab with  my  name
now too... Thanks Michael! :)

I'm sorry to hear the Grandma Meservy fell. That's
really too bad! I hope she gets better soon.

The work moves forward. I've gotten discouraged and
homesick a bit this past week, but this too shall pass,
right mom? :)

Well, transfers were last Wednesday, Elder Sandberg got
moved, I got a new companion - Elder Brown. He's an
incredible missionary. He's actually back down in Texas
for the second time. The first time he was down here, he
found out he had a brain tumor, and had to go home and
get it operated on. He had to re-learn to walk, and to
talk, etc., but he's back out. We're working hard though!

Anyway, I'm still at the same place though, so I'll be
waiting loads of mail :)

I will try to call on Christmas at 5 our time...so 4
there, but may call just a little bit later to ensure
people get there.

We're working with some great people.

Asusena, Yoshio, Gustavo - I think I talked about them
in my last email. Yoshio is a member, but his mom and
brother aren't. They all came to church yesterday and
loved it. We have a baptismal date set with them for the
24th of January. Woohoo!

Belinda and Isabel - These are two younger kids. All of
their cousins are members, and they've been coming to
church for months now, so we just need to teach them,
and get permission from their parents for baptism.

Martha - We're still working with her, we're going to be
teaching her the Law of Chastity this week, so that
should be exciting. Hopefully that will go over well.

Well, I need to get going. I love you all and I'm excited
to talk to you on Christmas!

Speaking of calling, can you make sure there's money on
the calling card? Thanks!

Well, I love you all!

Merry Christmas!

Love,
Elder Meservy

Letter from Monday, December 15, 2008

Hello family!

It sounds like mom and dad have been having a great time
in Paris. The rain and cold definitely do sound miserable
however. I hope that you both travel home in safety.

It's been a decent week, nothing too exciting really,
but nothing terrible either.

Martha - We taught her the Word of Wisdom. She accepted
it very willingly, she says she doesn't feel ready for
baptism yet.... We're working on that. This week we'll
be teaching her the law of chastity, which should be
interesting, seeing as she has a live-in boyfriend.

Maria - We found Maria while looking for a referral we
had received. She let us talk to her, and teach her,
and we taught her with the senior couple in our area.
The lesson went well, and we extended a baptismal date
for the middle of January.

Ester - We taught the plan of salvation with her, and
with two of her two kids - Hope, and George. We're
still working on getting her to church. Her boy George
always colors something during the week, and sends it
home with us. We have a few of his pictures hanging on
our fridge.

Asusena, Yosio, Gustavo, and Nicolasa - Well, Yosio and
Gustavo are kids of Asusena. Yosio is 14 and was
baptized several years back, but has since been inactive.
The others had heard the missionaries in Mexico, but
felt they were being pushed to be baptized. However,
yesterday, we had a great lesson with Asusena, Yosio,
and Gustavo (Nicolasa wasn't there). Hermana Cantu (from
the ward) came with her kids, and helped us teach. We
committed Asusena, and Gustavo to baptismal dates for
the 24th of January.

Well, transfers are this week, but I'm pretty confident
that I'll be staying in the area, but who knows. I'll
find out late tomorrow night.

The work continues forward, obviously there are struggles,
but there must needs be opposition in all things.

I've been reading Jesus the Christ, and am at the point
of His betrayal. I've really drawn closer to my Savior. I
don't want to put the book down. Only a couple of hundred
pages left :)

The Christmas season is definitely a bit different down
here in Texas. Sometimes I miss home a lot, but I'm doing
well. I'm excited that I'm down here. Some lessons make
me never want to go home.

Well, the work moves forward.

I appreciate all the thoughts and prayers in my behalf.

Con amor,
Elder Meservy

Letter from Monday, December 8, 2008

Hello family and friends!

I'm glad that the photo came through. I was hoping it
would work.

Already a week into December. Time flies. It's definitely
crazy. I'm excited to hear that Grandma Meservy felt
comfortable enough to drive. That's exciting! Please
express my love to both of my grandmas.

Well. The work hasn't been as discouraging this week. Still
a bit of frustration, but not as bad as the week before.
I've been learning and growing so much here. I'm looking
forward to many more opportunities of growth.

We've found several new potential investigators. Some of
them that seem really good. There was one especially that
sticks out in my mind right now. So, we were looking for a
referral that we had received, and knocked their door. The
referral wasn't there, but her son answered the door. We
talked for a bit, and then before we left we asked if he
knew anyone in the area that would be interested in
learning more about our message. He referred us to a
neighbor across the street that had lost a son a few months
prior to a fatal shooting. We thanked him, and went to this
man's house.

As we were walking up the driveway, we noticed the man in
his car. We explained who we were and what we had come to
share. He gratefully let us into his home. We taught him
the Plan of Salvation. He wanted to learn more and invited
us back to share more. It was an incredible experience, and
I feel that because of my experiences with loved ones dying,
that I was able to offer some form of comfort, and to speak
from personal experience. The Lord knows His work, and what
He's doing. We are excited to continue teaching Him, and
bring the comfort that the gospel brings into His home.

The Christmas season is definitely fast approaching. It will
definitely be a different Christmas this year. Palm trees
decorated with lights,lights hung in random places in homes,
the Virgin Mary shrines all decorated, etc. etc.

I will be sending a package home here in the coming week.
It will have several things in it, and a list of what
things go where. I'm sending home some older things, some
which will be packed away, and a little something from my
mission for the family for Christmas. It probably won't do
you all much good, but it's a good example of what I see
around all the time :). The package will also have my SD
card, which will have pictures, and some videos, etc. After
you've pulled the pictures off, if you wouldn't mind sending
it back, that would be much appreciated.

Well, it's actually been surprisingly cold this last week.
The temperature is like 45 degrees, but with the humidity
as high as it is, it's a bone-chilling cold.

Anyway, I love you all! Thank you for all of your love,
support, and encouragement!

Con amor,
Elder Meservy

Campos Family Picture

“I'm going to try to include a picture of one of the families. It's the Campos family (They're members, and frequently have us over).”

Letter from Monday, December 1, 2008

Well, it sounds like things have been busy at home. Things
have certainly been busy here. It's been decent though.

Happy birthday yesterday dad! I thought of you throughout
the day, and hope you had a great day.

Congratulations to Dan and Laurie! Woohoo!

Congratulations to Monique on her mission call! That's
super exciting!  Woohoo! :) Good time to leave too :P

Well, Thanksgiving was pretty good here, we had three
Thanksgiving dinners. I'm going to try to include a picture
of one of the families. It's the Campos family (They're
members, and frequently have us over).

We had another frustrating/disappointing week. Oh well,
I guess that's part of the work. I'll give an update of
what's going on with our investigators.

Alejos and Esmerelda - Told us that they don't want to
keep listening.  That was frustrating, they said that it
would be fine if we went back when we're in the area.

Nora and Edgar - Well, apparantly Nora didn't want to get
married or baptized... We talked to Olvidio at church on
Sunday, and apparantly she left in the middle of the night
the other night with her kids, and he doesn't know where
they went. That too was frustrating.

Lydia - Still hasn't come to church, lessons fell through
this week.

Ester - Taught about the Book of Mormon. Committed to
coming to church...didn't come.

Griselda - Nothing new with her either. No appointment
this last week.  The work is long, but must go on. I enjoy
myself quite a bit, but it does get frustrating. I guess
that's how it goes.

I really do love all the support and love for me. I
couldn't do it without. I love hearing all about what's
going on at home, so, thank you mom for the blogs! It
was fun to hear.

P-days are the shortest days of the week I think :)

Con amor,
Elder Meservy