Happy Easter

Hello Everyone, I hope you all had a good week! I also want to wish you all a Happy (late) Easter (yesterday)! I hope you all enjoyed the break that you had and that you were able to have a chance to rest and relax! I want you all to know how much I love you and that I think about all of you often! This week was a really good week for us! Last Monday we had our zone activity, then on Friday we had a zone meeting, and also exchanges, then on Saturday and Sunday we had the opportunity to listen to General Conference. We didn't have our baptism though; the reason being that Adrian and Angel's dad couldn't get off work, so it will be on Tuesday night when he can be there. Luz Maria isn't going to be baptized because she says she wants to wait, at this point we are not sure why, so we are trying to figure out what we can do to help her! It is difficult for us because she seemed excited and ready, but hopefully we can figure it all out! Our other investigators are doing well. The Vazquez Family is doing wonderfully. Before we thought that only Elizabeth and her two kids were going to be able to be baptized because Damian (the Dad) works as a taxi driver and works Sundays; so without attending church he can't be baptized; but when we taught about baptism the asked what they needed to do. We told them that they need to go to church and keep their other commitments. He said he would change his work schedule so he could go! He went to the Priesthood Session of Conference with us and next week he will be going to church with us. Elizabeth and her kids went to three out of the four general sessions of Conference, both sessions on Saturday, and the morning session on Sunday! They are great and I am so excited for them and the progress they are making! The Gonzalez Family is doing okay, they have yet to come to church which is challenging, but we are still working with them to teach them and resolve their questions and doubts. The dad has had many different bad experiences with other churches and wants to be sure before he makes any big decisions. He has a true desire to know the truth but he is very confused with everything that has happened in the past so we are trying to help him to be less confused. I hope we can continue to help them learn and grow. Today was a good day for us. Four of us (Elder Ventura and I and Elder Fuentes and Elder Creason (our zone leaders, who are in our ward with us) went to Sirloin Stockade for lunch. It is just like a Golden Corral. It was Elder Fuentes' birthday yesterday and mine on Wednesday so it was a fun little celebration for us! General Conference this last weekend was absolutely wonderful! I loved every session. I listened to all of it in Spanish and really I understood most everything! I feel like I am finally understanding Spanish better just in time for transfers next week (I am afraid I will be getting a new companion, I just hope I can communicate with him as well as I can with Elder Ventura!) I encourage all of you who didn't get to watch or listen to go and watch it online at lds.org it is wonderful and inspired messages for us in this day! I don't know what was my favorite, but I loved all that they talked about the Atonement of Jesus Christ because of it being Easter yesterday! I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world and that through his Atonement we can overcome all things! I am so thankful for the opportunity we have at this time of year to celebrate His Sacrifice of the Atonement and His Resurrection. I know he is mindful of us and through fervent prayer we can find help and solace in all times. I know that His hand is in this work. I know that He is preparing people to receive His Restored Gospel and that He makes the pathway possible for those who have the faith to follow Him. I can see Him touch the lives of those we teach every single day. I love this work and am so thankful to be a part of His holy work! I love all of you and pray for you! I hope you have a wonderful week! Love, Elder Mitchell J Condie

Looking forward to Baptisms this week

Hello Everyone, I hope you guys have all had a good week! I have had a pretty good one. We have been teaching a lot, which is really nice. I hope that all is well with all of you at home and that you are all happy and healthy! This week has been super hot, and it makes me wish for the rain again! The hardest part is that everyone keeps saying this isn't even the hottest it gets. I am praying that somehow I will be able to handle it as it gets hotter! I have been using lots of sunscreen so at least I am not sunburned! I am excited to tell you that this Saturday, April 4th, will finally be our baptism. It has taken us forever I feel like to get Luz Maria, Adrian, and Angel Arredando to be baptized, but it will be this Saturday, finally. It is so exciting for us to finally have them be baptized, because we have been working with them the whole time I have been here! Although it has taken awhile for them to be baptized, I feel like it is probably better because they are more prepared and ready. It is cool too because now they are much more excited as well! I am also excited that it will be the same day as General Conference! Our other investigators are doing well. The Vazquez Family is doing really great. They have so many questions and such a desire to learn about the gospel. We have had some wonderful lessons with them and I love watching them grow in their understanding. I really hope that they are able to find a testimony through prayer and come to the knowledge that this gospel is true! I know that it can bless their lives so much! The Gonzalez Family, our other investigators are doing really good as well. They too have many questions and desires to learn. Yesterday we had a wonderful lesson with them about the Book of Mormon and how to receive and answer about all things through prayer and the power of the Holy Ghost. We taught a lot about how we can recognize our answers with him because he has many doubts. Really it made me think a bit, What do I feel when the Holy Ghost speaks to me? Well really it is kind of hard to explain, but I will try my best. The Holy Spirit can speak to us in many ways but I feel it most commonly as a feeling of tranquility and peace in my heart. I am a worrier and therefore I usually have some amount of stress, but when the Holy Ghost testifies to me of something, I do not have fear of it anymore, I feel a sense of peace and calm that doesn't come in any other way to my mind and my heart. I know that the Lord speaks to us through the Holy Ghost but if we are not living so that we can have his companionship we will not feel or recognize when he is speaking to us. Really this is the work of the Lord and I know it is through Him and His gospel that we find true and everlasting happiness in our lives. I am so excited because last Saturday started our new campaign, Because of Him. This is a worldwide campaign sponsored by the church, that speaks about the great blessings we can have because Jesus Christ was resurrected and lives and guides us today in our lives! I want to invite all of you to go visit the webpage www.helives.mormon.org and watch the beautiful video and explore the web page about his life, atonement, and resurrection. I want to share my testimony of Jesus Christ with all of you. He is our loving brother. Our loving Father in Heaven gave his only begotten to save every single one of us. Really it is the greatest gift we have been given. It is through his teachings and his ministry that he gave a perfect example, and if we follow his commandments and his perfect example that we can receive all that the Father has. Jesus Christ is our loving redeemer. He suffered all pains and afflictions so that we might have the opportunity to repent and become clean, but more than that he suffered all of the same saddnesses that we may feel, he felt the pain of our hearts in hard times and the pain of all of our sicknesses and afflictions. He is here for every single one of us to help comfort and support us. He knows what we feel and he wants to help us in every moment. He is always with us in the good times, the bad times, and the in-between! I know that Jesus Christ lives and that through him we can all have eternal life! I love him and am so thankful that he loves me and every single one of you! I know that my redeemer lives and oh how sweet the joy I feel when I think of him and feel his loving arms around me helping me through everything in my life. I know that many of you are members and that some are not, but my message is the same to you all. Just like at the end of the video I invite you to Find Jesus Christ in your lives. I know that it is through him that we will find the greatest joy in our lives. I love him and his atonement for us. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and I know it is through him that we can become whole and fulfill all of our potential! I love all of you guys and hope you have a wonderful week! Go watch that video it is beautiful!! Love, Elder Mitchell J Condie

I hope you are all doing well!

Hey guys, I hope you are all doing well! This week was a good one for us. I feel good and I am excited to be here teaching the Gospel. I hope you are all doing well and that you had a great week! Well this week was much hotter than last week and the rain pretty much went away after Tuesday with a little tiny bit on Thursday and Friday. I really prefer the rain because it is much cooler, but I am getting used to being hot now. I hope you guys are having good weather! It is officially Spring now, but it feels like summer here almost always! Are you guys still having warm weather or snow again? Well with our investigators we are doing good. The Vazquez Family is a good family (our new investigators), Elizabeth is really interested to learn and I hope they will be baptized. She is pretty accepting of our lessons and invitations which is great! We also found another family, the Gonzalez Family, and the mom (also Elizabeth) has many questions and a desire to find the true church of Jesus Christ. We have only had one lesson with her at this point, but I am excited to teach her. With the Arredando Family it seems like we always run into obstacles. They have not been baptized yet. We are hoping and praying for this Saturday but I am not sure if it will happen because they are facing many financial challenges and we are not sure if Drian and Angel´s dad can come yet or not! I guess we will see! We are still trying to find more people to teach. It is hard to find people who actually can or are willing to progress. It is hard because many people are super laid back here and don´t want to change their lifestyle. Many say they will go to church and never show up even when we have a ride for them, which is frustrating at times. Really the hardest part of this work is that we work so hard to teach and help people understand and the rest is up to them and if they don´t want to do something there isn´t much we can do about it! I just pray every day that we find those who are truly ready to accept this gospel and change their lives! I am doing really well! My Spanish isn´t great but at least the people can usually understand me and I can sometimes understand them! I know with more time I will become better and really I know the Lord has been blessing me! I am so thankful for this opportunity to serve the Lord Jesus Christ! I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week! Love, Elder Mitchell J Condie

Hey everybody, I hope you all had a great week

Hello Everyone, Hey everybody I hope you all had a good week this last week! I hope you are all happy and healthy. This week was a good one for us! It has rained almost every single day this last week, and most of the day, which has been a welcome change to the heat and we have actually has some pretty cool weather. It was pretty cold today and yesterday and I am thankful for my coat. Really though I like this type of weather because it feels a bit more like home and it isn´t as miserable as walking everywhere in the heat. Unfortuneately Luz Maria, Adrian, and Angel weren´t baptized on Saturday because her son, Adrian and Angel´s Dad couldn´t find a replacement for work and they really want him to be able to be there. We are thinking about this Saturday for their baptisms, but at this point I´m not sure about anything. Really they are excited to be baptized but they want to wait for him. I really just hope that they are baptized before long, because I feel like the longer they wait the harder it will be! It was kind of hard because this week we decided to stop visiting two families because they were not progressing. The Moya family asked us to not come anymore, I really just believe that they don´t want to change their religion. I hope someday they will receive this gospel though. We decided to stop visiting another family, the Arellano´s, because we have been teaching them for over a month and a half and they haven´t come to church once and they have quit letting us in their home half of the time. It is hard to stop teaching families, but if they are not progressing there are many others who are more willing to listen and prepared to receive this message. On a bit happier note we found a family of four, the Vazquez Family, that are really great. Elizabeth the Mom is 28 and very great. The dad is Jose unfortunately he drives taxi and works Sundays so can´t come to church which means he can´t be baptized, but he is still listening to the lessons. The kids are Johnathan who is 10 and Yarele (she is 8 and you pronounce it like ya-rel-ee). We taught them2 times last week and Elizabeth and the kids came to all of church yesterday. I am very excited to teach them and I hope that they are baptized! Really this is my favorite part of a mission is when I can see people keep their commitments and how the Gospel can touch and change their lives! I am so thankful to be a missionary of Jesus Christ, to represent him and his gospel, really it is such a blessing. I love this gospel and all of the blessings and happiness that come from living it! I know without a doubt that this is Christ´s church and that he is at the head. I am thankful for our prophet, Thomas S. Monson and I can´t wait to hear from him and our apostles and other leaders in General Conference. I love all of you and hope you are all doing well! You are in my prayers! Take care, I love you! Love, Elder Mitchell J Condie

Hello Everyone, I hope that your week was good and that this letter finds you happy and healthy! I love all of you so much and pray for you every day! I hope that life is all good for you! Our week was pretty good. Last Monday was transfers and our ward changed quite a bit. Before we had six missionaries in our ward, but because less missionaries arrived than left, some areas didn´t recieve new missionaries, we were one of them, so now there are only four missionaries in our ward. That means we now have a bigger area than before and I don´t know how we are going to cover it all, but we will figure it out! We are just going to have to figure out how to work with the members more! It was a pretty good week and we have been trying to focus on finding more investigators to teach because we don´t have very many. Luz Maria and Adrina and Angel Arredando are going to be baptized this Saturday with another person from the other area which makes four baptisms in our ward. I am so excited they are getting baptized because we have been working so hard to help them get to this point! Really they are such a wonderful family and I know this will help them with all of their struggles, trials, and problems! We had another lesson with Ana Moya (the mother of the Moya Family) about the Book of Mormon and that in order to know if this book is ture and if this is Christ´s church the she needs to read and pray about it. We invited her to pray and ask God if she should read the Book of Mormon and she said no. She is extremely Catholic and says she is happy and doesn´t think her family needs more. The hardest part of this work is when we want to hlep someone receive the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and they choose not to accept it. So we may end up not teaching them if they are not going to do the things we ask them to do, but we are not giving up on them just yet! I want for them so badly the blessings that can come from this gospel in their lives and hope that somehow they will receive the desire to know and to ask of God. Yesterday we spoke in Church! Ahh! I´ll bet you can´t guess what we spoke about.... Missionary Work! I was the last speaker and I think it went really well. I think that my talk was actually the longest. I really enjoy speaking in church it is just a bit harder in Spanish, but many people complimented me on it and my Spanish which was cool! Us four missionaries also sang "Called to Serve" for the rest hymn, in Spanish of course, and had the congregation join in on the last verse, and I felt the Spirit very strongly. That was right before my talk so I pretty much started as a blubbering mess! Haha! Really though it was a good opportunity for me. Really everything is going pretty well. My Spanish is getting better, slowly day by day. I am starting to understand people better even though half of the time I still feel like an idiot because I don´t know what´s going on! I think the hardest part of Spanish for me when listening is Spanish has like 1-10 different meanings for every word and somethimes I get confused by that. The hardest thing when speaking is verbs and tenses: every verb is conjugated in six different ways one for I or me, you, you (formal), we or us, you guys (only used in spain), and you guys (formal and used in all other countries). So that is hard to remember; and tenses will be the death of me, in English there are only six different tenses, in Spanish there are fourteen (all with six different conjugations) for every single verb, so that is extremely difficult. I feel like once I have that figured out I will be a master, but I am sure it will be a long time before I get there! Even though it is super hard sometimes I am grateful that I get to learn this language! Really I am doing good here even though I still have a ton to learn! I hope you all have a wonderful week! I hope life is going good for all of you! I am praying for all of you at home! I love you guys and want you to know how grateful I am for each one of you! Love you like crazy, Elder Mitchell J Condie

I am thankful for your love and support

Hello Everyone, I hope that all of you are doing well and that you had a good week! I love all of you and want you to know how thankful I am for your love and support for me! I hope you all have a great week! I had a good week this week. Luz Maria Arredando didn't end up getting baptized again because she isn't ready to be baptized, we are plannin for the 14th of March and I really hope that she is baptized! It was good though because yesterday Adrian and Angel (the grandsons) came to church with their Mom so now they can be baptized with their grandma, Luz Maria, if their Dad gives his permission. I honestly hope they are all baptized because I love this family and I know that it will help them so much! Victoria, who was baptized a week ago is doing so well! I am so excited to see her enthusiasm and excitement for this change in her life! She really has changed so much in the last month, it is a miracle. Yesterday in Fast and Testimony meething she shared her testimony and it sounded as if she has been a member much longer than only one week! I am so excited to see how much more she grows and improves! The Moya family who we found a couple of weeks ago are doing okay, but they are very Catholic. It is hard to teach people who do not much want to change their religion. I really do not know if we will get very far with them. We have had four lessons and I think they are interested to hear what we have to teach, but they haven't attended church yet. The mother Ana is a bit more stubborn on staying Catholic I believe, but Javier the dad is interested to learn more. I just pray that they pray and desire to find the answer of the Lord for themselves. We will continue to work to help them and teach them until they are either baptized or we feel like they are not going anywhere with the lessons and commitments. Yesterday I too shared my testimony in Sacrament Meeting, which was kind of scary. It was the first time that I had bore my testimony in church (outside the CCM) in Spanish, but I think I did a good job and I think what I said made sense! Honestly Spanish is so hard to understand and speak sometime; but I have learned so much in the last six weeks in the field and I can understand it much better now! Today was transfers, but because I am still training I have one more transfer for sure in my same area with Elder Ventura. Honestly I am glad for that because I am just starting to feel like I understand my role here and I finally feel like I know my area better! I actually really like my area and I am thankful to be here to share the Gospel in my little piece of Mexico. It is very different here, but the people are wonderful! Now we just have to keep searching for those who are ready to listen to our message! I truly am so glad that I have this opportunity to share the Gospel. I know with all of my heart that this message is true, that this is where I am supposed to be, and that the Lord is watching over me! I love you all so much and pray for you every single day! Love, Elder Mitchell J Condie