Pictures! Mission Prez Interviews NL 3/21/17

Some Bunny loves the Elders!  

The next package pickup is after Easter so we had to get the gifts out a little early. 

The Missionaries all got together for interviews with 

President McArthur March 2017!

Email 3/20/17

Stake Conference in Nuevo Laredo March 11 & 12, 2017

Honestly I really don’t have much to tell you about this week. We had a baptism which is super awesome! this kid Brayan. He’s 12 and he is awesome. he was really quiet when we first started off teaching him, but after a while he opened up and we had some really good lessons with him and he got baptized yesterday. Then we have another investigator named Mirian and she’s is sooo ready for the gospel and to be baptized but she is super nervous, and wants to learn a lot more. But she’s so ready so we are trying to get her to be baptized next week. Hermana Mata showed me the message you sent her! ha-ha I thought it was really cool. I was so excited. She and her husband are so awesome, they help us out so much! And she really wants to learn English so she comes to our English class pretty much every time.  She is like one of 6 people that are in our ward that like actually do stuff. Our ward is really dead, and it’s so hard because we need the ward to help us befriend our investigators but they won’t really do it, so we are working on that.

Today we went to the zoo, it’s literally right in front of our house. It was free today, there is some holiday that’s going on, but I don’t know what. Then we had a lunch appointment with a member and shopped for food. I’m going to try and make curry rice this week. The zoo was really cool! it was super small though. I kinda felt bad for the animals in there. It’s not like San Diego where it is really big. This one was tiny but it was still really fun to go. We went with a family that’s investigating. Actually they are committed to baptism I think this Sunday.  They were super cool.  Other than that I can’t really think of too much, except that I think we are going to play soccer at the church with the ward.  It’s been really slow here in the mission, and it’s starting to get kind of hot. At least the last couple of days have been pretty hot. 

Lots of Pictures from the Mata Family

¡Gracias a la Hermana Mata por las fotos!

We would like to thank Sister Mata, from Nuevo Laredo for sharing these 

great photos of Elder Wilcox!

Email 3/13/17

It is very hard getting information from Elder Wilcox.  Thankfully we can chat a little bit while he is on email, and Nana shares her emails so I can add what he sends her to the blog. I’m glad he tells her different things than he tells me.

This was the email he sent to his Nana. She asked him how he was doing….

I’m doing fine and my health is fine! I got the package you sent yesterday! My Mission President and his wife are the ones who go to Texas to pick up the packages.  They came to our Stake conference so they went up there and I got the guitar and the candies and the sweaters and everything! thank you so much! I love the guitar! It’s perfect for the mission!

She told him about some disappointments our missionaries are having here, and he said that happens to them too

we have that happen where people make appointments and then they aren’t there, it’s just the life of a missionary. You just have to stay positive and keep looking for the people who are prepared to hear our message!

  

And then

It was time for Mom to check in with Brett and ask him what he has learned so far on his mission. 

I have earned a lot about prayer, when we ask for things, Heavenly Father wants to give them to us, but we really need to believe that He can or else we won’t receive them. It’s like if I asked you for something face to face and then just walked away and never came back. I’ll never actually get what you were going to give me. So we need to ask with a sincere desire, then wait and actually have faith. We will get what we asked for. 

I asked him to tell me about the Bishop in his ward………….

His name is Bishop Marchan. I,ve been meaning to ask you if you know any Marchans. He has family that live in Anaheim I think.  He said they live between Beach and Magnolia he said. I he wasn’t completely sure. Anyway, he is super cool. He bought us pizza a couple of times and gives us rides. He is around 35-40, has three kids  (one is 13, one is 7 and the other is like 3. I like him a lot but sometimes I feel like he is a little too relaxed about things. Our ward always starts Sacrament super late. But he is awesome. 

I asked him if he had been able to see much of Nuevo Laredo……….

Honestly we haven’t gone sightseeing. we don’t really have time on P day. There are a bunch of statues around Centro which is like downtown, and those are pretty cool. But other than that there is not much to see. Nuevo Laredo is all desert basically. 

Highs and lows of the mission…………..

Just being with the guys from my district from the CCM is super fun. And I like learning Spanish.  But it’s super hard to get up on time in the morning here. In the CCm I didn’t have a problem but here it’s a little harder. My Spanish is for sure improving. My English is worse. I think I lost a little weight, but we don’t have a scale so I. but I’m not sure.  

Random info………

There was one time that we were biking home and we passed a car and it started to follow us for like 12 blocks. (the blocks are very small here.) But they ended up going away and nothing happened.

The food is nothing crazy or special, I haven’t had anything that is like super amazing either. 

There are some neighborhoods where there are some pretty nice houses. but, not in my area. My area is way random, there will be like a super nice house, and then right next to it is like a little shack where people live, its super crazy. 

Email 3-6-17

Hi!

 I have some things that I would like you to look into. First of all, I need you to ask the eye doctor about my contacts. He said that they could possibly get my same prescription and have you send them to me, but I don’t know if he ever got the okay from the insurance. I have my glasses but they give me a headache if I wear them too long.  I have enough contacts to last me a year. Second, if you could try and find my inhaler and send it to me that would be awesome. Last time I had it, it was in my truck. Yes I said my truck :) third my companion was wondering if you could send him some of the same mini quad scriptures you sent me, he loves them. And those actually weren’t the scriptures I was talking about but I love them a lot! thank you so much. third I was wondering if you could send me some of my sweatshirts (or maybe a new one :)) and some Vans shoes. maybe blue or black in an 8.5 for PDay. OH and the missionary help booklet in ENGLISH please! I somewhat understand the Spanish one but I really want to deepen my knowledge of the Gospel and I think that will help the most. Also please send me instructions on how to cook the Curry Rice like dad and you do.

My week was okay. I have been getting a little home sick. I think it’s because the Mission has been kind of hard lately, no one will really talk to us. We have had a couple people but when we follow up they don’t want to talk or don’t answer the door. But it’s the mission, and I’m in Mexico and its super awesome! It’s hard too sometimes having Texas so close because it’s like I’m almost not in Mexico. I think I just miss the familiarity of home. and I got a random fever on Tuesday which sucked being sick. I feel fine now. I really want to go to Disneyland right when I get home. So if you could make that happen that would be awesome!

The weather here is so random, we had rain again on Saturday. and the streets flooded again but it want as bad I don’t think as the first time!  We got to ride in it again.  It goes from pretty hot one day to decently cold the next and it sucks ha-ha but I’m kind of getting used to it. 

My companion’s birthday was on Friday so we had a party for him! We have 4 cakes in the house right now that we got from members haha, and that was probably the only super interesting thing that happened 

The Spirit guides us every day in the streets on where to go and I have felt the Spirit a lot telling me what to say in lessons, and taking over my language sometimes. It’s awesome because it’s literally Heavenly Father talking through me, or my comp. 

As for candy, either Three Musketeers or Butterfingers for Elder Kirkman and Elizondo said “just chocolate”, and Elder Estevez doesn’t know hahah. But they will love anything you send I would love some red vines! and Elder Kirkman has been wanting pretzels. I can’t ever think of anything that I really want! I’m sorry I’m usually fine. they have a lot of the same candies here but some are way different too.