Seth's companion's birthday was this past week.

Hermana Geni Galvez (on the left) surprised him with a cake. He was pretty excited for it.

The church has launched a new video and encouragement for sharing light leading up to Christmas.

They had a Family Night activity at the church and presented the video and gave some of the cards to everyone to share.

"Us with Hermano Casanova (next to my companion) and Hno. Flores (next to me.) Hermano Casanova is super loving and friendly and does a lot for us. Hno Flores does the same and is the first counselor in the bishopric."

I think the following may be our first photo involving scenery.

"We caught this sunset along the beach. The bridge to the island is in the middle right. You can see it rise up a little right before the tree."

As is typical in missionary service, Seth and his companion had ups and downs this week.  

Here is an up. 

"In the general message to us this past week President Haws really emphasized that we need to meet the goal of 12 new investigators, and to bring one to church... when Saturday came we still lacked 7 to meet the goal. I decided to ask the night before for us to find a family to teach so that we could meet our goal. We were blessed Saturday night to teach Carlos Castillo and his two children, and his reference for us was his wife... We fulfilled our goal with others the next two days for the which I am extremely grateful."

Here is a down.

"With Luis Alfonso we were feeling something odd this week. We knew he wasn't being completely honest with his conversion, and last night we met him as he was walking home. He was very ashamed as he told us that he drank, and quickly ended the conversation with a "we'll talk tomorrow" kind of thing. This saddened us, but I hope that he feels that he can be more open with us now so that he can truly be healed by the Atonement and experience the true joy of conversion."

Seth's testimony was longer than normal this week. I will excerpt.

"Yo sé que Cristo tomó nuestras pecados...Él no tuvo nadie para ayudarle sin un ángel, un compañero, que podía sólo mirar y ofrecer su amor... Pero Él dio gloria al Padre y seguía  adelante hasta Él cumplió con el propósito de nuestro Padre. En este misma manera, estoy intentando para cumplir con las cosas que el Padre me envió para hacer... La mas gran cosa podemos hacer por Él es para recibir con toda de nuestras corazones su don, y ayudar los demás para hacer el mismo."

I know that Christ took our sins... He didn't have anyone to help Him except an angel, a companion, that could only look on and offer his love... But He gave glory to the Father and continued forward until he completed the purposes of our Father. In this same way, I am trying to comply with the things that the Father sent me to do... The greatest thing we can do for Him is to receive with all our hearts His gift and help others to do the same.

The ward in which Seth is serving had a "family night" this past Friday.

It seems the evening began with a lesson as all good family nights should.

The post-lesson activity was a three legged race.  Obviously, the only running mate that would be appropriate for a missionary is his companion.

I took the liberty of inserting a line to highlight the differences in heights. It is interesting to note that Seth's companion is from another part of Mexico. I don't know if he is an anomaly where he lives but the contrast is noteworthy.

Seth's zone gathered on Saturday so that all could be interviewed by President Haws.

Here is an excerpt from what Seth said about that experience. " I loved the interviews that we got to have with President Haws. While we were waiting for our turns we were introduced to the new Christmas Initiative and Video from the Church. It will be rolled out this Friday, so I can't share it till then. It really is special though and I hope you all can participate in it... One scripture that President Haws told me that I liked a lot was that those who forget themselves in the service of God will have the blessings and knowledge poured upon them like the dews of Heaven. It is interesting to think about how dew is formed and what is implied but this scripture."

I liked Seth's report on one of their investigators. "I'd say that our investigator that is truly trying and following up in all things is Luis Alfonso right now. As you may remember he has struggled with almost every major commandment, but he has read more of the Book of Mormon than any of our investigators, and has attended every meeting that he could ever since he started investigating. Last night (Sunday) we gave him a blessing to help him stop his addictions, and the Spirit was very strong in the visit. We brought a young man named Porfilio to the lesson and he shared Isaiah 1:18 to Luis which brought a special spirit of the Atonement. We are trying and trying with Luis in the hopes that we can present him to the Lord to enter into the covenant of baptism to start his life anew.  Every time that we have visits with him my faith builds in the Lord."

Finally, here is his testimony.

"Sé que si podemos seguir el Señor y darnos a Su voluntad, vamos a ser bendecido en todas las cosas. Sé que Él esta bendiciéndonos en todas las cosas y contestará todo que le pedimos en fe. He visto que Él me ha dado cada cosa que le he pedido, y Él hará el mismo con cada uno de sus hijos. Sé que podemos poner todo de nuestra confianza en el Señor, y cuando lo hacemos, seremos mas bendecido que en cualquier otra manera. Los convenios del Templo son poderosos, y son verdaderas. Necesitamos tratar con todo de nuestras corazones a guardarlos. Sé que Cristo vive, y Él sufrió y murió para nosotros, y [digo] estas cosas en Su nombre con todo mi Fe."

(I know that, if we can follow the Lord and give ourselves to His will, we are going to be blessed in all things. I know He is blessing us in all things and will aanswer all that we ask in faith. I have seen that He has given me every thing that I have asked of Him and He will do the same with every on of His children. I know we can put all our confidence in the Lord and, when we do it, we will be bless more than en any other way. The covenants of the temple are powerful and are true. We need to try with all our hears to keep them. I know that Christ lives and He suffered and died for us and I say these thing in His name with all my faith.)

Seth only sent one picture this week - further confirming they are in their rainy season.

Maybe a little more information on Ciudad del Carmen (thanks, Wikipedia)...

Ciudad del Carmen is a city in the southwest of the Mexican state of Campeche on the southwest of Carmen Island, which stands in the Laguna de Términos on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. As of 2010, Ciudad del Carmen had a population of 169,466, up from the 2005 census of 154,197. In July 2006 Ciudad del Carmen celebrated its 150th anniversary as a city.

The vast majority of habitantes in Ciudad del Carmen comes from other places. This extreme immigration displays an incredibly amazing diversity in culture and lifestyle, the petroleum industry is in part responsible of this phenomenon that results into a rich and extraordinary culture mix.

In the mid 1970s Ciudad del Carmen was transformed from a fishing and shrimping city into a hub for oil when Pemex discovered large amounts of petroleum off the coast. Ever since, Carmen has become a home for Mexican and foreign oil workers alike, including many Texans, and now houses many foreign companies 

Here is a view of the city from the Terminos Lagoon.

Here is an excerpt from his most recent letter.

"A miracle this week was that we found an Hermano named Luiz Alfonzo. Luiz has suffered all of his life with homosexuality, alcohol, and drugs. His life changed with the death of the convert of my companion, Nicanor. He acted as a woman before but had talked with Nicanor about the gospel. After Nicanor died, he cut his hair and decided to change, and is trying to come to Christ. It is no doubt that he will have to have a great change and repentance in his life, but we know and are excited to see the great change the Jesus Christ's Atonement can do in his life. I hope you can pray for him, because we sure are."

Seth sent more pictures this time, with an obvious focus on people who are special to him.

This is Bishop Lala, the bishop of the ward where they are serving.  Here is what Seth said about him. "He's a convert and is a great servant of the Lord."

This is the Tello Galvez family. "They are one of our greatest companions in this work. They will stop absolutely anything to serve us and often do."

This is Hermana Marlene and family. "She is the example of who we should be after our mission. She walks with us and assists us with appointments. She has provided her washer to us and is constantly searching for references for us. She often also supplies beverages and foods, and in general is an example of how we as missionaries should serve."

Lupita and Dora "They serve us a lot, and help us with lessons. They are about to move though."

And the highlight of the week...

Elizabeth (obviously dressed in white) was baptized on Saturday. Here are excerpts from Seth's report. "I was privileged to perform the ordinance, and was blessed to not have to do it twice. It's interesting to do a baptism because we did the service, and off we went teaching lessons and serving without delay. I believe this helps us be humble to realize that this is the Lord's work, and really the successes are not ours. Elizabeth was a little nervous to do it, but all is well, and she is continuing onward."

Missions consist of many highs and many lows.  Elizabeth's baptism was a high. Here is Seth's report of a low..  "A sad thing happened yesterday though, and Victor, who suffers with addictions, out of the blue told us that he isn't going to continue lessons, and he offered to give back all the material he had read and everything. We were shocked when he told us this, and we still don't know the reason why. He said he hadn't violated any of the commandments when we asked him, and we are thinking it might be his family or girlfriend. But we are going to visit him more."

Here is one of the testimonies Seth shared. "I am receiving more and more every day a testimony of the covenants in the temple, and I can truly testify that they are from God. I learned that to the degree that we are willing to sacrifice ourselves for the Kingdom of God, God can bless us even more with His power and knowledge."

Sorry I am a little late on this one.

I will start with a cultural update.

This was taken inside a public restroom. What Seth intended to depict here was the fact that you have to pay to use many public restrooms and, as you pay, you are issued your allotment of toilet paper. I don't know how generous that allotment is but I guess one finds a way to make it work.

Seth hasn't reported many P-day activities mostly because doing laundry at member homes consumes the majority of their time.

We aren't sure how it came to be but they received a washing machine for their apartment this week. He considers that to be a great blessing. 

Seth and his companion (the district leader) went on exchanges with the zone leaders this week.

Seth spent a physically demanding day with Elder Herrera, third from the left, in his area. The good news is that the other ZL and Seth's companion had a wonderful finding day in their area.

Here are some excerpts from Seth's letter.

On Tuesday, Seth's companion and the ZL taught Elizabeth. This is what Seth reported.

"What was interesting in their day was the answer that Elizabeth [received as] to whether the Book of Mormon was true. The night before she had started reading the Book of Mormon but because she was so exhausted that she fell asleep while reading. She woke up later and put the book aside and fell back asleep. Then she started to dream, and a person who she couldn't totally describe started reading from the Book of Mormon to her. The passages she heard were not passages she had read or heard before and she started reading the next morning again, and she found the passage exactly as the person in the dream had described it."

Victor is an investigator who lost his family and just about everything else because of an addiction.  Here is an excerpt of what Seth reported regarding him.

"We are working very diligently with a member as well to help him, because his desires to change are so desperate and strong. He reads everything we give him and more and agrees to everything. If there is anyone to pray for it's him, and us also to know what we should do to help him."

Here is his testimony. (His Spanish and spelling are still a work in progress.)

"Yo sé que Dios vive. Yo sé que dependimos sobre la misericordia de Él y Su Hijo, Jesucristo. Necesitamos entintar en cada momento para guardar nuestras promesas y convenios. Sé que tendré el amor de Dios, y conversión en mi corazón porque Él puede hacer todas las cosas."

(I know that God lives. I know that we depend on His mercy and that of His Son, Jesus Christ. We need to try in every moment to keep our promises and covenants. I know I will have the love of God and conversion in my heart because He can do all things.)