23 September 2013 -- Justin travels the mission and enjoys Mexican culture

Hello Everybody! How is everyone doing? I am doing great! Just working a ton now with everything and it’s been a blast with the work. My ward is super cool and fun and always willing to work with us and I feel very grateful to be with them to work. I am in an area that is fairly small and there is quite a bit of work to do still. We had to leave behind a bunch of investigators this past week because we didn’t see a bunch of progress with them, but we were able to find more people that really do want to progress and teach. But hopefully we can dedicate a good amount of time to them, it’s just we have so many things to do here in the offices and less time to the area, but it’s all good. I found out that 2 people that I was teaching in Rio Bravo were baptized this past weekend and I was super happy to hear that! It was soo sweet and they were both happy so I am happy for that. 

My companion and I went all the way to Nuevo Laredo to have an interchange and it went well. We woke up at 5 in the morning to go on the bus. We went to the bus station to leave at 6pm to Monterrey and the buses were filled until the bus at 7:45... Well that was a good start. But Elder Ropp and I slept a bit at the station and hopped on the bus. Oh I was sooo happy to see mountains again in Monterrey. Here in Reynosa its desert and flat. The only closest mountains are in Monterrey (3 hours away) and oh it was cool being in Monterrey again. I really miss that city and the vibe. I would love to tour the city on day. It’s a fun city. And we left on a bus to Nuevo Laredo and we traveled a total of 7 hours to Nuevo Laredo from Reynosa. Pretty fun trip. I tried to sleep but I don’t do very well in moving vehicles so it was a little difficult, but Elder Ropp was out like a baby pretty much the whole trip. Well we were late to start the interchange but we got there and had a good day. I got to work in a half of my old area and it was great to see a lot of the people that I knew and the progress that there has been. My friends that got baptized while I was there went to the temple this past weekend and it is super cool to see that effort they are giving to live the gospel and they both have planned to go on the mission and bless other people. I was very happy to go and see a couple of my dear friends again and maybe in the future I will see them again. 

This week we are going to Valle Hermoso to do interchanges with the missionaries there and President wants us to do interchanges with my old area as well :) haha. Interchanges are fun! I can visit more dear friends and help the missionaries to learn something new. Interchanges are cool to get to know many missionaries and people. I have gotten to know so many people and their backgrounds. I always learn a lot from the interchanges and I hope that the missionaries learn from me in the interchanges and they are always a blessing for me. 

This past Friday was the Noche Mexicana (Mexican Night) and like last year, just filled with rich Mexican culture and it was a blast.

 There were so many investigators there as well and that had fun, and they want to know more about the church. But it was very neat to see the ward having fun and I have already made dear friends here in this ward and it was just a fun night. I will include pictures. It was funny because everybody wanted me to participate in a game and I was scared and my companion pushed me to play and I went up with some other brothers and it was pretty funny what happened. So its hot potato with a sombrero (Mexican hat) and you have to put the hat on your head while the music is going on and twirl in a circle and pass the hat off to the guy next to you. I was the first to lose because the people in the circle were dancing to the music and twirling fine and I had to do it slow because we can’t dance... But it was a temptation to dance the Macarena haha.

Playing Mexican Sombrero and dancing

Then we went to the house with tacos and had a good dinner at home because the party went on and we had to be home on time. But it was really neat and culture filled. It made me think about how much I am going to miss Mexico and the culture here. 

Well I think that is all the abnormal for this week because the normal is preach and teach the gospel and everyday is filled with those things. I love the work, it’s awesome and it’s for everyone. Help and serve everyone and be kind to all. We all need to be a light to this dark and ever darkening world. And so shine that light bright! I love you all and God bless

Elder Justino Powell