Elder Pack has a turkey dinner in Mexico!!

hello family!!

his week was cool i had a few opportunities this week i haven’t had before, but i will explain them a little bit latter.

but falicidades to my sister that is finally going to Argentina!!!! how exiting she will learn how much she needs to learn of Spanish when she gets off the plane... well i hope that this doesn’t happen but it most likely will. i wish her luck and hope she finds a love of following the rules. maybe she will get placed in the same zone or district as elder gifford how cool would that be.

so i hope that everyone had a great thanksgiving and that they had a great time eating all the turkey they could eat. also all that pie!!! hmmm sounds good... but i will be sticking to my tortillas thank you very much.

so this week was cool. we got to take the branch president to a few less active members house. well he is blind so it took forever because we had to walk everywhere. we went to one members house and we talked to them for a few minutes and then we went to the second house on our list. well this house is very far away and so it took forever to get there to start off. (but it was fun to talk to the president) the sister we went to visit is also blind and can’t go to church because there is no one to take her. so when we got to the house we decided to act like the president had walked all the way by himself. it was funny to see the reaction on their faces when we had him knock the door. so we went into the house and started to talk in the kitchen area. but as the discussion went on the president and sister anita decided to change to the other room. we didn’t help them neither did the daughters of the sister. the sister herself lead the president into the other room... it was a literal example of the blind leading the blind. it was very awesome.  then we took him home and started our work for the day. but it was cool. (an experience very strange is to have a blind person sitting right in front of you having them open their eyes looking straight at you and knowing all though they are looking straight at your face they cannot see you) so thursday came up and i didn’t even remember that it was thanksgiving until more than half way through the day. i didn’t do anything for turkey this day. but friday i had a great experience. a non-member (but husband of a member) decided to do something awesome. he went out and found a turkey to cook. we went to his little store and got the produce and made a turkey dinner. it wasn’t as good as mom’s turkey dinners, but it was awesome considering that they put it together last minute. (the turkey was killed especially for the occasion). that man, i will remember throughout my life and i hope that one day he will make the decision to be baptized because he is an awesome person.  sunday was good.  we had a good attendance at church 18 people.  partially due to the fact that during the week, we had had the opportunity to hold a FHE and all the people that were at the FHE felt the spirit. i was supper glad that those people listened to the promptings of the spirit and went to church.

Well, that is all that really happened this week. love you all hope you all have a great week.

LOVE ELDER PACK

A Day of Thanksgiving - Sister Pack

So today is thanksgiving and my P-day a little weird but it’s cool especially when you get to hear an apostle speak! Well I got two this week! cool right!?! On Tuesday we had Todd D Christofferson and this morning we had Elder Russell M Nelson. It was amazing to say the least. When I am in their presence [10 feet away btw] there is no denying that they are special witnesses of Christ. It pierces your soul with verification that the things they are saying are true. So today I want to talk about giving thanks because it is dia de palvo [turkey]! So first off I need to say Elder Nelson wanted me to tell "Thank you for rearing your children to serve their Savior". So that's for you mom and any other parent out there that has a child on a mission or soon to be.

So i have been thinking a lot about what I am grateful for this week and I am really grateful to be going into summer in 4 days but more importantly that I get to go and spread the gospel to all that are willing to hear it. You finally get to a point in the MTC where you are itching to teach people who don't know their father in heaven loves them so much that He has given them a way back. I am so grateful for my mission. Elder Christofferson said last week that while he was on his mission that he was indebted before but after he became greatly indebted to the lord. I testify of this. As much as I try to give back the lord seems to give me more. More confidence more love more of the spirit more of the knowledge. I am grateful for tender mercies in my life also. The times when I just giggle and it fills my whole heart with joy. The swelling in the chest that the lord is pleased with me when I am obedient. Also PAPA's FUDGE! oh my goodness did that save me this week or what. I have the best papa in the world and his fudge is the best too!!! just saying :DD thanks Papa. So I guess this leads me into family. I am so so so grateful for my wonderful family. My grams is a saint, literally, as I have watched her through the years my admiration has grown with my desire to be like her. I am also so grateful for you mom. Without your zeal to be a part of the fold I wouldn't be here, being able to feel the saviors love 24/7. I am grateful for Ty. He has been the biggest help since I have been on the mission. We teach a part in the first discussion called "The Gospel blesses families." I can testify as i have learned more about the gospel my love and ty's and my strength has grown.  This is a personal testimony to me that it is true. Families are strengthened when they work to be like Christ together. I am grateful for confirmations.  I know that this is where I am supposed to be without a doubt in my heart, and as Elder Christofferson said, this is my time to give thanks back to the lord because he has given me all through the mercy of his son. I love you all and hope you all keep an attitude of gratitude through this holiday season and through the year.

Love Hermana Pack

Happy Thanksgiving - Elder Pack

hello my family and friends,  how are you?  we have been having a great week.  so this week i would like to say to all people HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!! i hope someone eats a little for me hahaha

so sister pack is ready to leave the mtc?? how fantastic, no?? i think some people should write her some letters of encouragement because 8 weeks in the mtc is longer than heck. i don’t know how missionaries can be in the mtc for more than that i started going crazy after 5 weeks.

this week we had a conference with the president of the mission, why, who knows but we had to be in torreon at 8:30 in the morning. well we left the house at about 7 and we didn’t get there until 10, so to say the least we didn’t get there on time.  the conference ended at like 4, and we didn’t get out of torreon until after 6.  so taking in account that the bus ride is about 3 hours long, we didn’t get back into out areas until 9:30. needless to say we didn’t get much work done that day. but it was cool, the conference, the president had a great lecture on how to be in-tune with the spirit more. i think he knows more than we do and gave it for a specific reason. the mission possibly is suffering because we aren’t baptizing very much and people are leaving the church faster than we can re-activate them.

so we had a guest of the government in our ranch this week. on friday the governor of durango was here giving a speech and doing a lot of other things. it was very interesting to see so many people in the center of the town listening to him. we thought about contacting the people but thought twice because it might have been a bad idea. then on Sunday, they had their parade for the mexican revolution day. the people were all sorts of crazy in the parades and at night when we came back from out district meeting almost everyone that we came across was drunk. (we don’t have to get very close to the people to know that they have been drinking because you can smell it from more than 3 feet away). but because they had their giant parade we only had 5 members in church (and 2 showed up after the parade so only 3 were in sacrament meeting). everyone used the excuse of the parade too so they couldn’t go to church. but this week everything should be fine and everyone should be able to go to church because there isn’t a holiday! !!! how fun we will have people in church listening to us teach and give talks!!!! i only hope.

so i know i sound depressed most likely and some people might think I’m sad and the truth be told i kind of am sad for these people. they have the message of the gospel in their lives.  some have been to the temple and have been sealed, some have had sons go on missions and yet they don’t see the importance of going to church. I’m not really sad to be in the area I’m more sad for the people over everything. i feel that this area will prepare me for the rest of my life in wanting to go to church and will prepare me for the rest of my mission in trying my hardest to help everyone.

so I’m grateful for a lot of things in this season of great thanks. my family. the opportunity to be here in mexico. the opportunity to learn from these people both the good and the bad. I’m grateful for friends and family that love me and want the best for me . (i just wish they would write me more hahaha) there are more things that i and grateful for like the sacrifice of my personal savior in my life so that i could have the opportunity to return with my father in heaven.  

well my family and friends, i love you all and hope that you all have a great week. and a great thanksgiving!!!!

LOVE ELDER PACK

Hostess Week - Sister Pack

So this week has been really awesome. It hasn't been to cold but it's suppose to get colder this weekend. no fun. It is my 8th week here! so only one more full week and then I take off to summer on the 28th! It is kind of crazy to think I have already been on my mission for 2 months! it does not feel that way. That saying that weeks feel like day and days feel like weeks is so true! We got to be hosts this week and it was so cute seeing all the little newbies come into the MTC. It helped renew my excitement about the MTC a little bit lol. It reminds me of when I came in and how scared I was. Now I am going to be a newbie in the field! crazy!!

So thanksgiving is this next week and I get to eat cafeteria food! yay! lol. It's times like these when you miss home and mom's cooking. I am really excited though to be here because they do really fun service projects so I have been told. Speaking of Holidays. So for those who don't know Christmas is coming around the corner and I know that there is a little brother of mine who would like letters for a Christmas present. They seriously rock a missionary's world! Speaking of letters. I wanted to tell Christie Erickson I loved her letter and that she does have a letter coming her way! I hope you are having fun in Germany! Also thanks Sister VanBuskirk for sending me a pic of Daniel and Sara. A congrats is in order for my good friends Sara and Daniel! There is nothing cooler than to know your friends are starting families! Especially when you are teaching all day about eternal families and eternal purpose! So CONGRATS Mr and Mrs VanBuskirk!
  

 I have realized that I am turning into mom lol. it started getting cold outside and my hot coco censor went off. I have been enjoying hot coco every night because of our amazing Presidency wives! they seriously spoil us! It is kind of crazy to think I only have 10 more days of wearing sweaters and then I will be heading to 115 degree weather! So I am getting my fix in of Hot coco. There are tons of people going to Argentina! I have met 3 other sister that are going to my mission finally! (And 20 elders lol) I saw Elder Jacob Crist, Elder Jake Hansen and Elder Taylor Butta since I have been here. kind of weird how small our world is in the church. It has been fun seeing them though.

Well I did not get my travel plans today. I am hoping that we are being delayed because there were about 18 missionaries who had to stay at the mtc last week for 2 weeks extra because they didn't have their visas! little scary! but I have faith that my visa will come in.

Elder Callister came and spoke to us this week and he showed some wonderful insight on the apostasy and the restoration of the fullness of the gospel. I have quiet a few quotes for Jonathan. My testimony has grown so much since I have been studying about the apostasy and restoration. I think everybody should! it is amazing how much our Heavenly Father loves us that He is giving us all the opportunity to come to Him. I love Him and I love my Savior. He has made me whole when I have been weak. Well love you guys. Have a great week!

                                                                                          Hermana Pack

Warm showers and cooked food - Elder Pack

hello people of the US!! how are you all??

so i have received a few letters 2 from grams 1 from little des 1 from shay 1 from kenyon 1 from hermana pack  and 1 from tasha. thank you all for sending me letters it means alot to me.

sister pack is correct missionaries love letters, every time we receive one it fortifies us and we also feel the love of the person that sent it to us. so please send letters to missionaries in the field it would make there day brighter and happier.

so this week has been a fun we are still fighting the low numbers and getting people to reactivate. but me and my companion are really starting to understand the other and learn to work together more effectively. we have been struggling alot with this for reasons really stupid and i think now we understand the others view of the world more and how the other really works. so hopefully we will get some good work done. 

so this week i have been working on a few things. loving everyone, perfecting my spanish, killing my pride (work in progress), and obtaining confidence in myself. (i know alot of people would probably think that i already have this but the truth is i need to be more confident) they are coming along but they will all take time i think.

well for the information this week. not much happened and I'm sad about that. so in our little ranch we have been looking for good families that will help strengthen the area and make it grow. we have one family, the family torres, that we feel might really strengthen this area. only one problem they are kinda catholic... but no worries we can help them find a love for Jesus Christ through the pages of the Book of Mormon. really that is what they need a testimony of that book. people might be thinking "why try and change there religion don't you think there happy?" ill tell you why, this is the only true church on the face of the earth and there is no other pathway to get back to our father in heaven. then they might say "aren't all churches good and don't they all help?". my answers yes and no yes almost all churches help us draw closer to our father and Christ but not all make it there. we can all read the bible and figure out that Christ actually formed a church when he set apart his 12 apostles.

friday was a sad day because we tried planning a big activity for the branch.  a talent show night, but we had only 5 people there and what makes it sadder is we had a investigator there and basically no members to participate. so we think he might have become a little uninterested about investigating the church because no one was at the church.

so sunday i gave another talk i need to work on giving better talks because i feel as though my talk was very boring. so i will be working on this.

so good news WE JUST GOT A TANK OF GAS!!!! that means no more cold showers it makes us happy hahaha oh also we get to eat food cooked and not just cereal now hahaha.

well that's all for today i don't remember much else to tell you the truth. just that hitch hiking is fun and at night it really gets cold in the back of a moving truck hahaha

love you all and hope that you all have a great week.

love ELDER PACK

The MTC turning into the White House???? - Sister Pack

So some crazy things have been happening at the MTC this past week! First off we saw protesters outside of the gates (ok only two) but it was kind of hilarious. Seriously they are targeting people who have their head in the scriptures all day. nice.lol. Also security has been hyped up here at the mtc. We have to carry our card with us everywhere (not our name tag an ID card) and this card is the only way that you can get into all the buildings. Also they are cracking down on us not wearing our name tags.  Kind of interesting if you ask me...lol  Well, better safe than sorry right!?

     My week has been awesome full of learning spanish and the gospel and spanish... lol. I though I was kind of getting good at my spanish until I listened to a native of Uruguay and I realized I understood like 10% of what he said. SWEET! lol I knew it would happen but most people don't come to that realization till they are in the field. I guess this is the lords way of telling me I need to work harder! I only have 2.5 weeks left!!!  Then I am going to sweet ole' summer!  Let me tell you how excited I am about that.... Well I am pretty excited about it! I can't handle this cold weather and when the snow is not for snowboarding it's not as enticing. lol.

   I wanted to thank mom and Grams for the awesome boxes! We enjoyed them thoroughly! We have pictures in the classes mom, so I will be sending the photos home soon hopefully! I also wanted to thank everyone who writes me.  It seriously helps missionaries to get even a 3 line letter that people are proud of what they are doing. SO THANK YOU! and continue to write all missionaries for the lord will bless you! Sorry that my emails aren't as detailed oriented as Ty's but we do pretty much the same thing everyday. Wake up- study- eat-study- eat- teach- EAT- study -Eat some more- than sleep lol. But I am enjoying it. I love the MTC and how much I have learned here about our savior and Our Father's plan for us. I have been reading a book called "Our search for Happiness" and I would recommend it to everyone! it really is an awesome read and helps answer question very simply. 

  Something I have learned this week that has completely changed my whole view on everything is that the word faith means trust in the scriptures. I know that is probably something I should have learned a long time ago but It astounds me how that one word can change everything. Because I have Trust in Him, I know that everything will be ok. I know that I will learn the language and that I will be able to teach those who are looking for a way to strengthen their trust in the Lord.  I Do trust in my Lord with all my heart and lean not unto my own understanding. Being here has strengthened my testimony so much. Our message (the gospel) is so simple. God is our loving heavenly father, because He loves us He gave us His son, but not only His son but prophets to help us understand our relationship with His son. Then in 1820 He revealed His gospel again to another Prophet Joseph Smith. "THE FATHER AND HIS SON revealed it to a boy so that we can have the most abundant amount of happiness possible through the fullness of His gospel." -Uchtdorf If you are unsure in this I would suggest you to pray to our Father and to read the words for yourself. It is life changing... Well I got to go love you guys!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Hermana Pack

Hitch-hiking isn't that Dangerous?????? - Elder Pack

hello my family and friends!!!!!

i hope that everyone has been having a great week and that everyone got there sweet tooth out of the way.  now we have navidad and dia de gracias in front of us how exciting for all of you... I'm sad that i wont be celebrating Thanksgiving its one of my favorite holidays hahahaha. but alas i will have to wait another 2 years for my next one.

so how was every one's Day of the Dead???? mine was awesome because no one was home... that was sarcasm... everyone went to the giant seminary that isn't even near here so it was really hard to talk to anyone. but it was cool to see people had decorations all around the stores and also in some houses. people told us all about their ancestors and that they were happy to go out and visit them. my companion is from Mexico and he thinks its weird that people celebrate it because they should rather find the truth of the Gospel and help there family out, rather than party with them in the grave yard haha. i thought his comment was funny and very true. funny thing is they also celebrate Halloween here. we heard children walk up to doors and say "¡¡¡¡Quiremos Halloween!!!" which is "we want Halloween!!!!". was cool to see people adopt the American holiday.

well this week was fun.  we were able to teach people, fix a bunch of stuff in the house, almost kill ourselves a few times from fixing things, and running church again. this week we only had 10 people really come to church and that really kinda made me sad. the people here don't understand that this isn't just a half time thing. we need to be going to church every sunday not just when we feel like it. our branch president that isn't in the best of shape and is also blind makes it every sunday. not even his daughters have learned from his example. but I'm grateful for his example, it shows me how much the church really means and that we need to be firm in our beliefs. 

i have been studying in the scriptures about forgiveness. the thing that i learned is that we hold the responsibility to forgive. if we do not and don't have kind thoughts of others, we are held more accountable than the person that had committed the act against us. also i have been listening to old conference talks and i have learned much from them. i love the talk in the last october conference by President Monson " the 3 r´s of choice" it really shows us that no one can chose our paths for us. we are the only ones that can chose that.

well i will try and get more out of this week so that my letter is longer and more detailed.

love you all and hope that everyone that reads this letter has a great week!!!!

love ELDER PACK

ps about the hitch hiking its not that dangerous for us because we trust that the lord will only put people in our paths that will help us and not hurt us. plus it is the only way to get to our district meetings... we use our brains to make sure we are making the right decisions. haha no worries.

I can do hard things.....through the Savior - Sister Pack

So It's been another crazy week in the MTC.  I have seriously learned so much this week it is crazy!  But first off, I hope every one's Halloween was awesome! The hermanas in my district dressed up as "ELDERS" by wearing our nice jackets and ties.  It was hilarious and everyone loved it however we kind of got in trouble for it because we aren't suppose to observe holidays... which we didn't know that included dressing up... lol so we ended up having to take off our ties... sad day but other than that it was a great Halloween.  We did many little pranks and trick or treated on our floor after classes. way fun!

This week we had Sister Dalton come and I talk to her which is way cool because she reminds me so much of my young women years since she has been in the presidency since I was like 13.  She talked about how our job is hard but totally worth it as missionaries and I totally agree with her. All the tears and stretching has been worth it.  I have learned how much my savior loves me through my trials here. One thing she said that really hit me was " In the strength of the Savior I can do all things instead of her old saying "i can do hard things." It is so true. We can go so much further with the aide of the Savior and the Atonement. So how do we find or utilize the strength of the Savior?  Well I have found it through prayer. In Alma 14 ( I think) it talks about prayer and how prayer creates humility. Through humility can we become strong. Elder Zwink (quorum of the 70) talked to us this week also and he talked about when we start to forget to pray we start relying on our own strength and start gaining pride. "The miracle of prayer is creating and maintaining our relationship with god." I know this is true. Because I testify of it everyday to our investigators. Utilize prayer and you can do wondrous things. It has been the only way that I have learned this language and I know that We all can use Christ to build us up in our weaknesses. Love you all.

Hermana Pack

Happy Halloween - Elder Pack

hello family!!!!,

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this week has been pretty crazy. i have experienced a few things for the first time of my life this week and it was a fantastically good time.

i would first like to start out by saying that there is a certain sister that could really use some letters in the mtc and it doesn't matter who sends them its just matters that people write her.

so what has been happening on my rancho!!!!  so first off i found out monday that we didn't have a church building we have a prayer house. well this i found out is some of the differences: the church doesn't own the building here that we meet in, we rent it out from someone and that means the church didn't build it so we don't actually have a good baptismal font to baptize in. we have a membership of about 200 but only about 20 come actively. a lot have left this area because there aren't many jobs around here anymore. my ranch is really small but the area we work in is pretty big so when we get done or "bored" of this small town we can go to one of the other ones to work!!! we live in a house with all the works so that's great. we do have a shower but the problem is we don't have a boiler. so every darn shower is as cold as ice. we also don't have a stove because someone stole the tank of gas the missionaries had so we live off of milk and cereal. its sad to say that or food appts. do fall through and we will have to go eat by our selves. its a cool experience to be in a rancho.  i will be doing my best to get people to go to church and help people into the gospel but who knows its supposed to be harder to work in the ranchos. an experience that i had this week for the first time was HITCH HIKING!!!!!!!!! i plan on doing some more of it to hahaha. its crazy to put your life in the trust of a complete stranger but its necessary to get around because it would be way to expensive to travel by bus everywhere. we have met some cool people while hitch hiking and there are a lot of nice people that actually give us rides. bad thing is that we have to hitch hike in the dark, because the district meetings are so darn far away. i gave my first talk in church.  it was super strange to talk in front of people in a new language and it is way different then teaching people a lesson because in the lesson people can actually respond and it feels like something is going on. but when you are giving a talk everyone seems to be sleeping or not paying very much attention. the weather is about the same as it was in torreon because we aren't to far from torreon. our president of the branch is blind so we do a lot of the things he would normally do and the reason he is still president is because there isn't really anyone else that can do it at the moment. people aren't the most active here. so we are working on baptizing the next president on the branch and darn it we will do it also.

so we also took divisions this week and it seemed forever long and we didn't get the baptism but this week we will. i have learned a lot more spanish and am able to communicate with just about everyone. i just need to perfect my spanish because i don't grammatically make sense sometimes. (having an american companion doesn't help you with your spanish!!!!) so that is all i have at the moment love you all and hope that you all have a great week!!!!!

LOVE ELDER PACK