e-mail 09.20.10

I love my brother. :) Period, the end.

Subject: VIVA MEXICO!!!! VIVA!!!! pero ARRIBA USA!!!

so this has been a veeerry eventful last week. mainly because of the 15th and 16th of sept... Mexican Independance. rediculous how they celebrate here. this town of San Andres uses Tissue Paper to make GIANT air balloons that soar way super high. its amazing what they can do. so the 15th there was a Branch party and we invited our investigaors and got to participate. it was super fun and i am so happy to have had the opportunity to be here this area. also big news is that i got my first tranfer but it is not really too far from here in my first. its 2 hours in a bus to a town called Acayucan. i am excited for a change but i love the heck out of San Andres. it will certainly be one of the hardest things to leave this place. but i also know that i will immediately be filled with work and desires to baptize in my new area. that is the good part about the work is that there is no time to think in other things. just the people you are teaching and how to get them to understand the importance of the everlasting gospel. i am coming up on 8 months and that means in another few transfers i am hitting a year... then it is down hill and counting from there. for you all. haha. for me it is more focus, drive, and baptisms. i love the gifts that i have been given and te opportunity i have had to be here in this area. i love the mission. i love the Gospel. i hear everything went well with the funeral. i was thinking and i wish i could have been a missionary in grandpas mission. come to think of it i am. because he has given me an almost perfect example of how to be a man of righteousness and love. i am honored to be his grandson. i bet it was sweet to get to know some of his missionaries though. i wish i could have known more about him. i printed off his life history and i will be able to read it today. definitely a source of pride in my life to be able to say that i am an Elrey. as far as the work goes i am leaving this area with 4 or 5 on date for baptism this weekend and i hope that there are few waiting for me in acayucan. i know i am sent there for a reason and i have felt the power that is sending me there. its just time to be me and help the people there. our most recent convert Sergio is still awesome and is getting excited about recieving the priesthood and blessing the sacrament. i think in a couple years he will be on a mission. hes just a great kid. it has been a tough few days to think about saying goodbye the area but i know that one day soon i will be coming back to visit. these people are my family and i hop that i have been able to help them. i am out of time and full of love.

i haveto run to the church for my going away party that the relief society is throwing me.

haha.
i always have had a way with the ladies. ;)

love,

Elder Elrey(mex)

email 09.13.10

Sorry it took so long to post this one. And I'm sorry I put the wrong date in the title the first time around. Whoops! :)

hey hey hey.

this last week was a strange one... first things first. WE HAD A BAPTISM! yaaaaay and also it was just a wierd week. we taught a lot of lessons and stuff but it felt like we were getting nothing done. we went from an amazing sunday of having 12 investigators in sacrament meeting to a desolate 0 this past sunday. so strange to have so many people excited about the church and a baptism and in a matter of days everything changes and they are hiding from you. haha. it was almost depressing. i love the people here and when one of them accepts a baptismal date and gets excited it seemes to magnify the love i feel. and when they fall or drop us completely it destroys me. so yesterday was tough for that reason. but also i can feel the change coming up. transfers are in a little more than a week and i am starting to feel nervous. i am still focused on the area and the people here but i dont want to leave. i have almost 6 months here and i love this place. leaving my first area is going to be tooooooouuuuuugh. all because i feel like this is my home and the branch ismy family... they are all soo strong. it is inspiring to see the change in the lives that i have been about to be apart of. the kid we baptized this last week is 16 and was into some pretty normal rebelious teen things and through our words and the testimony of the spirit he completely changed his life in just about 2 weeks. Sergio accepted his baptismal date in the first lession and never looked back. yesterday was his confirmation and i when we got to the church i commented that we forgot to bring him a tie, and he replied to me that "the only thing that matters is that i am here" in spanish of course but he is really excited to sonn recieve the priesthood and start participating in the sacrament. also he has been invited to do some family history work and prepare to go to the temple to do baptisms. he is a great kid and in the picture i look tan. haha. just to see if you are all listening. that was a highlight and i am pretty sure he is already my strongest convert. haha. i am excited for him. i am pretty sure that my companion is going to baptize his family in the next change here. they are all super nice. also all of the people that had dates for this saturday to come have all fallen back to the 25th so i wonk get to see any of them get baptized either. bummer but i knoew that there will be success waiting for me in my next area if i continue working hard here. i know without a doubt that the Lord works through each of us as his children to prepare others to accept the gospel of Christ.The Church is true... it was restored by the power of the priesthood and it is operated by the same. we are blessed to know itand feel it. i admonish all who read this to take into account the importance and power of prayer. to pray daily with all of your might. i am absolutely sure that in time or instantly you will feel, see, and know the blessings that God has instore for you.

i love this Church. i know that some who read this are not sure of its truth but i am positive and i am willing to put my name down to bear witness that the One True God in Heaven has established this His Church for us to live Freely and happily here in the earth

may He love and bless you all,

Elder Elrey

p.s. how funny is that picture of my companion with the G.I. Joe doll... haha.