11.14.11 -- Huatabampo

Hey,

Yeah, Thanksgiving. Eat pumpkin apple pie for me. "Día de Acción de Gracias" doesn´t exist here. But really, enjoy it. I don´t say that bitterly. At least I´ll eat better this Thanksgiving than my last one. Although Elder Holland in the MTC on Thanksgiving Day is pretty hard to beat.

Oh, the pictures. We ate 2 kilos of tortillas one morning as breakfast, and got creative by the end. But that was too much. We were in the chapel planning a family home evening. Also, E. Murphy (he´s in Navojoa) is from Oregon. I wanted the jacket, but he wasn´t going to part from it.

And another thing--we were studying in the chapel because we don´t have electricity right now. For some reason I forgot to say that last week. We haven´t had electricity for 2 weeks. It´s not very fun showering with cold water, or preparing district meetings and planning to the light of a tiny LED flashlight that E. Cruz has, but hey, another weird story that makes the mission interesting.

As for a spiritual experience, we reactivated an older man a few weeks ago. We got to his house (he lives in a tiny neighborhood about 15 minutes away from the main city), and wow, he was happy. We arrived and it was like a light turned on in his eyes. "No one has visited me for almost a year," he said. He immediately began to talk, and wouldn´t stop becuase he was so happy. But we calmed him down with a hymn and shared a message. When we went to district conference, one of the speakers asked all of us to think of the thing that made us the happiest. He was sitting next to me. He leaned over a little bit and whispered, "When missionaries come to visit me, and other people." He is one good person. But he lacks home teachers.

Do your home teaching. You have no idea how important it is.

Well, most people do, but that was directed at those people who don´t.

Do you remember about my story of the first person I baptized? The little girl, the daughter of the primary president of our ward in Hermosillo? (for some reason she wanted a missionary to baptize her) The water was freezing as well. She was shaking because of the cold. But when she came out of the water, it was as if the entire font had warmed up. I was no longer cold. I don´t know if any of the kids that got baptized felt that, but that was one of coolest experiences I´ve had. Among the many.

It´s very different here, like I said. But we´re working, and the results won´t come too fast. More patience in the process.

One more thing. We´re teaching a MASSIVE family right now. Every time we go, a new son, daughter, or grandkid shows up. The matriarch always tells all the kids to, "Come here! Listen to them! They speak nice!" It´s cool, teaching a family. It´s very different. And it´s so cool when I´m in situations that I can see will obviously help me as a father. Being a missionary is like being forcefully taught how to be a better teacher, father, spouse, whatever in the short time of 2 years. But you all already knew that.

Adios

Elder Humbert