Week 17: It's Heating Up for David

Que Tal?

Well this week was alright. Went by pretty slow like it has sounded like for you guys too. Nothing really big happened this week. it was really bad not much lessons and stuff but we are still working hard! I dont know really what to say because nothing really happened! just a lot of walking and trying to find old investigators and menos activos. 

We found this one family that lives really close to us that are members but they havent gone to church in 15 years! No one knew them haha they keep telling us that they cant talk with us one day then we make another cita then they say that day they cant. Its pretty gay haha 

Oh and we have been meeting with this one guy that lives in one of the poorest parts of our area!  SO, we are walking back towards our house and this guy stop us and says "Elders! Whats up" so we stop and talk to him. turns out he has been a member for a year but hasnt gone to church in 4 months. then he invites us in his house. 

He is a really cool guy it turns out but he talks a ton!!! Sometimes he is the only one that talks during a lession haha im being serious. 

Then on tuesday we went to tampico because all the new missionaries and trainers had a meeting thing. It was cool. We just practiced lessions and also our president talked to all the new missionaries. We watched this video about setting goals. it was a video about a basketball player that played for a high school in utah, Lone Peak, which is really close to alta. And how he wasnt very good at basketball but he and his dad worked really hard because he wanted to play ball in college. So he made small goals that helped reach the bigger goal. And then he played for BYU for one year and now he is on his mission! the video is on LDS. org i think so go check it out. there was a part in there where it shows his family driving and dropping him off at the MTC....yep I cried! It brought back all those members of that day. and how much I miss every single one of you!!! That day was not a good day haha anyways..

It has started to get REALLY HOT here!  The past couple weeks have been pretty nice and not really hot but on saturday guess how hot it was?...115 degress! I about died on saturday haha my comp told me that its going to be even hotter in the summer and without wind! Oh gosh i might die! 

And today we went to tampico for our P day thats why im writing later than usual! SO here are some pics from today. One (at top of this post) is on the bridge that crosses a lagune well the area of water thats connected to the ocean but is in land..i cant remeber what thats called haha but yeah it was cool. 

Then the other one is me on a broken tour boat! haha i wanted to be in titanic! i dont know what im doing haha just being my wierd self all i need is Katie with me there and it would be the titanic!

Then the other one is in the central of tampico where there is a catholic church. Im standing underneath this dome thing. its was cool.

well sorry for the short letter! I hope you guys have a good week head of you! 

I love you all so much!

Love

David

Week 16: Lights Out in Mexico

Oh BABY!!!

this week has flown by. It really has for me. i dont know about you guys. I dont even know where to begin! Well on tuesday we got our lights turned off because we forgot to pay it! haha it wasnt our fault it was the mission office`s fault haha so we didnt have lights for 3 days. so who ever gave me that really nice flash light thank you so much!! then after the 3 days with no lights guess what happened next? they turned off our water!! haha I was just laughing so hard at the situation because i thought it was funny but my companion didnt think it was that funny. He would give me like death stares everytime i laughed. He needs to learn to just laugh at situation like that because there is really nothing you can do. But dont worry we have water now and im all clean!

Okay so remember our investigator that has a son out on a mission. And how we were going to drop her..well so our cita on thursday we were going to see if she has prayed or read the book of mormon and if she didnt we were going to drop her....but we get there and we start talking then start with a prayer.. then when ask her if she has prayed and she said yes. But thats not the cool thing haha..she then told us that she had a dream that night after she prayed. and this is her dream. She told us that she has never had a dream like this one before. so she said she was in a desert. and in the desert there was broken glass all over the ground and she was to scared to walk because she thought her feet were going to get all cut up. BUt then I come all dressed in white (like the bauptism clothing) and i grab her hand and say (vamanos!) and i guide her through the desert and the broken glass doesnt hurt her then we (her and I) come to a lake that is full of aligators but my companion is in the water dressed in white also..so i guide her to my companion and hand her off to him but she was scared of the aligators that there were going to eat her but nothing happen and my companion baptized her. THen after that we go preaching the gospel, knocking doors and stuff....we asked her how she felt after she woke up and she said she felt happy and content!! but....she doesnt think that was an answer to her prayer! 

WHAT THE HECK!! how is that not a answer to her prayer. SO we just tried to explain the fruits of the spirit and all that. But she still doesnt feel like thats an answer to her prayer. Its so frusterating. BUt she came to church yesterday!! only for an hour but still thats something. SO that was a cool but frusterating experience!

then at one of our lesson my companion said something that i really liked to one of the menos activos...he said something like this because im translating it from spanish..WE must always know in our hearts that all of this (the gospel and what we have learned about it) are true. Always be converted. We may have had experiences in the past and we knew that they were true back then but do you know that the same things are true now? in this time in your life?

I really liked that and i have thought about that a lot this week. SO what im working on is to always be converted. Especially as a missionary because I have the special opportunity to share my testimony everyday, more than once, to other people. And in order for what i say to have power behind it I need to know if all of this is true! It also aplies to all of us as members. Always be converted and always try to look for opportunities to share your testimony even just a small little 10 second one.

Im just so grateful to be here! its hard and it sucks sometimes..like not understanding whats going on, walking all day in the HOT SUN, eating food that is gross,... but at the same time its awesome. There really is nothing better that i can do at this point in my life. I thought about this after a cita we had friday night. I thought about what I would be doing if i was home. Probably going to the movies. at UVU, hanging out with friends, most likely with Katie:) those thing arent bad but instead i was teaching a family and bearing my testimony! Just my spiritual thought this week haha

SO on friday we had divisions and I got to stay in our area so another elder came here. IT was an american!!!! Im so lucky to already have been with 3 americans. I got to kind of be "in charge" not really but i had to know where everything was and what we were going to do. I was with an elder from Vegas. he`s 25 haha but is was so cool. We talked about everything and in english which is the coolest language there is haha nah just kidding. 

BUt with our citas I had to kinda take the lead and my spanish came out and i understood pretty well! Thanks to the gift of tongues! SO my spanish is really inproving a lot. dont get me wrong its still hard and i have those days that i can understand a thing but its getting there! welp i dont really have anything else to say...actually i have a lot but i would write forever! haha 

Im now obsessed with the rubics cube! haha my comp. taught me 2 days ago and now i can do it and finish it all! I bought one today haha 

Love you all thanks for the pictures dad! I love them!  Thank you all for you letters! I laughed and smiled real big at every letter! I love you family and friends!

Love,

David

Email Elder David McNamara at: David.McNamara@myldsmail.net

LDS Mission

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Week 15: "Iron You Out" in Mexico

¿Que paso?

Well this week was really long and difficult.  Last monday i went with my zone leader on a division for 24 hours. SO on teusday we had a lot of things planned and i was all ready for it and we practiced in the morning the lessons and stuff. We head out and our first 3 citas fall through. They weren´t there or they said they couldnt do it today. 

Then we went and ate at a members house. the food was so good!! The family was all fat so maybe thats why the food was so good haha  im excited when we go to a members house that is fat to go eat! kinda mean  but its true haha 

then we went to our other citas.....NO ONE!!! so we honestly walked ALL DAY LONG! I was so dead at the end of the day. BUt it was a fun day because my zone leader is american, he´s from california, so we talked in english while we walked. we talked about like everything. It was a good break from spanish! Cause spanish right now is killing me. Im starting to hate it....anyways 

Wednesday we went to Tampico! I had to go to be made legal in Mexico. so now im Official!  But i got to see all the elders that came here with me from the MTC. we all shared all of the experiences we have had. And they we all spurprised when i told them about all my experiences. Like having a women breast feed during the first vision, getting bite by a dog and some other stuff. We all just laughed it was a good time. 

Then thursday i went with another missionary for most of the day because my comp went to a meeting in tampico for the lideres of the mission. The elder i got put with was new as well but he was a Mexican. He's so cool and funny.  He´s this chubby guy. But he went into the mtc 2 days before i got here in Mexico! thats so crazy. So i had to take the lead in everything. 

We went around looking for some people they had a list. and what do you know?... NO ONE ha one house there was someone but the person we were looking for died 2 years ago and new people moved into the house. then we went to comida. 

Our lunch which is always at 2. But the elder i was with was a shy guy so he didnt really say anything so i had to talk to the members. And what do you know...i can speak spanish! Bad and not all the way correct but i managed to speak with them and understand them. it was awesome. and when we were about to leave they asked me how long i have been in mexico. I told them 4 weeks. then they were all suprised! They said wow your spanish is so good. YOu have a lot of inteligence! (which i dont know if i spelled that word right or not haah) so that made me feel really good and happy!

then on friday. My comp and I had the whole day planned out every hour and we had about 7 lessons planned. WE go out and have our comida. Then every person wasnt there or said they couldnt do it today or some lame excuse! Its so frusterating. they are all pretty much menos activos, less active members or whatever you call them in english, and pretty much what we do is planchar them. 

Which planchar in spanish means to iron. but they use it to mean to correct or tell the people to do better. I cant think of the word in english!! Its making me mad haha well hopefully you know what i mean...so thats the work here in tampico. Its focused on the less active members and not really on investigators. But we focuse on the investigators but not as much. Because the ward we are in has a list of 500 members but only about 95 go to church. 

so yeah...but the rest of the day friday we walked around to areas in our area to places that we haven´t been before! and it was pretty cool! A ton of walking which sucks. but it was cool. WE got to this one place in our area where it seemed like no one went which we found out a little later why. 

SO we come to this street where there are mansions. literally mansions. And then my comp said. we arent going that why. we are turning around. Then he told me that those are the drug lords houses and you dont want to be found near them. then he told me some stories and the reason why we aren´t aloud to teach or talk to anyone that has been with or just talked to the drug lords before. 

There wasn´t a rule about it last year but some things happen that they made that rule. Which im not going to tell you because it freaked me out and scared me. and plus earlier that day we talked to a less active and her friend was there and she was all sad and crying and didnt want to talk to anybody. but we found out that her son had died...im not going to tell you how he died but it freaked me out and i was depressed about it for a while...anyways 

We walked a ton the whole week and i think im going to try out for the American Race walk Olympic team when i get home! haha because if i can walk as much as i do in church shoes and some nice pair of slacks...imagine what i can do in short shorts and sneakers! haha some of my thoughts while i walk all day...about our investigator family..they are progressing at all. the dad doesnt really care and the mom told us she is only doing this for her son to know more about why he is doing what he is doing, she is a hard core catholic and always debates with us.its hard to teach her because she wont really listen. so i think we are going to drop them. 

Its sad. i feel bad for their son. its funny though after each of our lessons while we are walking my companion complains about the mom and says all these funny things in spanish. Like ¨ what the freaki. Su papa triste!¨which means their sad pope. WHY? haha and in spanish the word for the pope is also the same word for potato...haha i thinks that funny. 

Sunday was good. Last week we were hoping that 14 menos activos would come to church and only 2 came but yesterday we were waiting for the same 14 and now 9 came! IT awesome. My spanish is really improving..well just my understand. I can understand a whole lot better about 80 percent but i still speak pretty badly. 

I have been getting pretty annoyed with my comp. because he never really gives me a chance to speak! everytime i try to say something he always finished my thought for me or finished my sentences. its really annoying. so i figured out his least favorite hymn and i sing it all morning...you know what the hymn is¿... Love at Home.. haha its fun to see his reaction. 

Anyways that was my week for you all! Thanks for your emails. I honestly get so excited monday morinings to go read your letters. I get a little nervous too haha lame but its true. I love hearing what you all are doing. But can you guys send me some pictures with your emails! PLEASE! and i can recieve dear elders here so get sending them please!! It takes like 3 weeks but i want some letters to read over the week. 

I love you all as always! have a good week family! dont forget to read and pray (planchar)

love

david

You can send hard copy letters to David, which he has also requested, through www.dearelder.com.  Set up a free account, and send David letters.  He will love it.

And/or, as he requested, you may email him, and add pictures: at david.mcnamara@myldsmail.net

Week 14: David McNamara Mexico Pictures

The following are pictures sent from David today.  

Here are his comments on the photos:

well the first picture is one of the cops that are here. They are all decked out in military gear and just walk into the grocery store with their automatic weapons loaded. its crazy but cool. There are others that are decked out in all black and their face is cover in black clothing and have on black eye paint around thier eyes. Its so sweet. Ill try to get a picture of one of those this week. They dont like to have their picture taken so i have to sneak it in.

The second is me standing by two random horses...they just wandering around our area. we always see them in different places everyday. They are our friends. But i was too scared to get close to them!

The other picture of me standing in the door way.   That was in panuco

Here are other photos David sent without descriptions:

Email Elder David McNamara at: David.McNamara@myldsmail.net

LDS Mission

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Week 14: Pray? Me Pray in Mexico?

Hola familia y amigos!

Como estado? this week was good! a lot happened but i want to tell you about this one family that we found on last saturday and that we got to know them on tuesday and taught them on saturday the first lesson.

So we were looking through the area book to find some people that the last missionaries have taught and we found this one lady named Nora. The last time the missionaries were over there was back in september. SO we deciced to go and stop by. On tuesday we figured out that she was married and had 3 kids. a little girl that is like 6 then a 13 year son. and another son that is 19 and guess what?....He's on a Mission for the Church! He was baptized last year or something like that and deciced to go on mission and he got his call the same time I did and left the same time I did! crazy huh? But he is the only member in their family and the family doesnt really know that much about the church.

on tuesday when we were talking.( my companion was i didnt really talk because you know..spanish) but we set up a cita for saturday. So saturday came and my comp. and I have been practicing the first lesson like crazy every morning. so that we could teach everything to the best of our ability and hit all the points we wanted to.

SO we go to thier house and while we are walking towards the front door we see the dad and nephew working on something in the back yard and the dad was drinking a beer! ha oh gosh...but anyways we get in there and talk for a little bit then we ask if we can start with a prayer and appartenly they asked me to but i was really nervous and thinking about what i was going to say after the prayer because i was going to start the lesson so i wasnt really paying attention.

SO we all sat in awkward silence for like 2 minutes! haha i didnt know what was going on then my companion finally told me that they wanted me to say the prayer! haha so i said it then i started...pues dios es nuestro amoroso padre celestial....and i say all the points really fast and talk about the atonement and stuff and i didnt notice that i was flying through the first point.

Then my companion starts talking and goes over what i said and clarifies each one! I felt retarded and kinda mad at my companion cause he corrected me but later I noticed that he was just making it clear for the family. And during the whole time the dad just didnt seemed interested at all. he wasnt drunk just was kinda bored.

we both keep teaching and then its my turn and i was teaching about joseph smith. But i said everything clear and at the right speed and they understood me and i had them read james 1:5 and then i started the first vision..vi columna de luz.... and i started feeling the spirit so strongly and i almost cried! ha it was awesome.

And after i said it, it was quiet and i look at the dad and he seemed like he was feeling the spirit. During the whole time when i was saying the first vision he seemed all of the sudden focused and interested and after i noticed he was trying not to cry. He was kinda sniffling his nose and trying to wipe his eyes without us noticing!

Then we continued about the book of mormon....I wanted to tell you guys this because i learned that there is so much power in the first vision and the spirit can pierce any heart! And we asked them if when they know that this is true for themselves if they will be bapitzed They said yes but they have already been bapitized. so we have to teach them all about that later. But it was a really good lesson!

I dont know where i heard this but some apostol said that when you are doing what you should be doing and teaching other families by the spirit on your mission that the lord will take care of your family. That is so true! I was thinking about thier son on a mission and how the lord was taking care of his family through us! Well thats what i wanted to share!

oh and and saturday too during our lunch with a member they have this little daughter who is like 5 and I had her teach me spanish! haha she had this little kids toy that teaches little kids the alphabet like A says aaaa. so she was teaching my the spansh alphabet. I acutually learned a lot! Then yesterday at church the same little girl was looking at me during testimony meeting and she started winking and me! haha shes such a cute little girl. She loves both of us. Then i got some completments by some sisters about my eyes! they said su ojos son bontio! that was funny!

Well mom seems like you had some fun at the beach with julie and her friend! Dont worry you'll find a job soon enough just have patience. i know its hard.trust me im trying to learn a second language. patience is hard to have. but the lord will help you! I love you mom

Dad good luck on your speaking tour or whatever it is! haha you'll do awesome and i miss you and love you!

I miss and love all of you family! I got all your letter including tyler and dustins and justins and katies and grandmas and dads and moms! I love reading your guys letters! I really do. Sorry that i dont really responded to them that much. i just dont have enough time to write about my day and respond. But please keep writing me about everything! i love it. I love you guys!

Love
David

Email Elder David McNamara at: David.McNamara@myldsmail.net

Mexico LDS Mission

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints