Mexican Mondays!

Time for a haircut?






My Dear Family,

Wow! It has been a great week end! Conference was amazing! I was glued to the screen the whole time. We watched all 5 sessions in the stake center and they set up a small TV for the missionaries who speak English. It was such an amazing Conference! So many of the talks were about missionary work, strong eternal families, sacrifice, and hope for repentance. We had an investigator come to two sessions with us and I´m so very excited to announce that she will be my first baptism here in Veracruz. Her and her 8 year old son´s date is this Saturday the 9th of October! And I´m going to do the baptism! We are so excited! She was an investigator a few months ago and told the missionaries that she didn´t want to be baptized and didn´t think she ever would. A few days ago we thought we would just drop by to see her. She invited us in and we started to re-teach the lessons. She accepted and prayed that night to know that our message is true. She told us the next day, after two sessions of conference, that her and her son would like to be baptized into our church. We had Zone Conference last Thursday and in my short short interview with President, he promised me that if I brought an investigator to church, they would be baptized. Pres. Hansen is such an awesome guy! He is so in tune with the spirit and really shows that he loves every one of his missionaries. This week we´ve been trying to add tons of people to our teaching pool. To this, we contact EVERY person we see. As messengers of the Lord, we don´t know exactly who are the Lord´s chosen that he has prepared. To find the ones who are ready to receive the gospel, we talk to everyone. I spend about 3 to 4 hours every day, walking in the streets of my favorite place on Earth asking God´s children if they would like to hear a special message about their Father in Heaven. Doing this works. Because of contacting, we have found 7 new people that we are teaching and 5 have dates to be baptized in the month of October. I couldn´t be doing any better right now. Me and my companion are enjoying the bountiful blessings of perfect obedience. We kneel for every prayer we offer before we leave the house. I teach him English grammar, and he teaches me Spanish as we walk down the streets, in between contacts. There is real, tangible power in obedience. It is so so so so so addicting and empowering to work alongside the Lord in helping him find his lost sheep. Your right Mom, their culture is so special. Every day I have more and more Mexican blood! I love preaching the restored gospel to the descendents of the Book of Mormon. There is a ruin here in Veracruz that has the engravings of Lehi´s dream on it. On each side of the huge rock that it is engraved on, are two big wholes called ´´pilas.´´ In English that means ´´font´´ and it is where they suppose they baptized people in the days of the Book of Mormon. There is so much success here because these people´s ancestors were promised that one day they would hear the gospel. And I´m helping fulfill that promise. Michael and Chandler... I´m starting to get tears in my eyes.... THIS is the reason you need to prepare now to serve a mission. When you have your first experience when someone you´re teaching looks and you and tells you that she would like you to baptize her, and you realize you are a part of her eternal progression back to our Father in Heaven, you will feel on top of the world. You will feel like you have saved a soul that Satan has lost from his army. You weaken Satan. I can´t explain how good it feels. Please begin to prepare to serve your Lord. Dad can tell you..... And now I can... that this is the best two years of my life. I know without a doubt that the Lord is pleased with the young man who puts his life on hold for two short years, to leave everything behind, and to save his sheep. Girls... now it’s your turn. Saying all this, I feel like I should express my feelings of hope that you find and marry that man who served a mission. There are things that a mission (if served correctly) will teach a boy that will make him a man. I want with all my heart that you have those blessings. You are special girls and deserve the best! I love you all so much! I love my family more than I can explain. My favorite talk from conference was given I believe in Priesthood by Elder Patrick Kearon. Read it read it read it when it comes out! It is such a good and powerful talk. We are so lucky to sit at the feet of Gods prophets and hear and see what God himself has to tell us. I believe this is why Maria del Rosario Riveria Reyes and her son Jonathon Armando will enter the waters of baptism together this Saturday. They felt something. And now... they know it’s true. I love you all. I am sending pictures right after this email so watch for those! Know that I´m okay and that Veracruz is picking itself up and dusting off. Things are getting better. Until next week!


Elder James Reed Ricks