I'm feeling a lot more comfortable with the customs here than when I got here. I feel like I am fitting in a lot better with the people.
Food update: Still going very well. The food here is really awesome. To pick a favorite would be really hard. Lately, one of our investigators, Victor, has bought us hot dogs here after almost every lesson in the evening. The hot dogs here are like nothing you would believe. Dad would go crazy. In the United States we go: Dog, bun, ketchup, mustard, and (for the really daring ones) relish. Here in Mexico they go: Dog, bun, ketchup, mustard, relish, onion, cheese, quacamole, chiles, bacon, and whatever else they can find in the fridge. It is awesome.
They also have great mini tacos, cooked sandwiches called "tortas", and a plethora of other goodies involving tortillas, beans, rice, and some kind of meat (and to drink, Jamica, which comes from a flower).
Weight update: Surprisingly enough, still very much the same.
Elder Lamm and I are doing very well. He leaves the 11th of November from Los Mochis.
This past week I had the opportunity to attend a special conference with a group of other junion companion missionaries from all around the mission. It was really awesome. The Presidente Munive said that the conference was for future leaders of the Ciudad Obregón Mission so that was really cool! He talked a lot about the rules of the mission and I was very grateful for this because I was able to clarify a bunch where I have recieved less-good information from other missionaries. The assistants talked about bringing the spirit and bringing people to church. We had a practice sesson where we taught the other missionaries and invited them to church and we also practiced with bringing the spirit and perceiving their needs.
We also had a really cool experience with an inactive brother this week. His wife is very strong in the church and they have been members for quite some time but over the years he has let little doubts take apart his testimony to the point where he doesn't really believe or go to church. We knew that they hadn't been to the temple yet to be sealed as well. We got Elder Lamm's pants that the sister sewed up and then we invited her husband in to share a message with them. We had something else planned, but after talking with them for a while we felt like it might be better to take it another direction. He had a lot of thoughts on the life after this one and questions on doctrine. We talked to them for a while and shared a lot of scriptures and our thoughts. We answered a lot of his questions that were pretty standard doubts I think that were easier to explain. He still rested a bit unsure at the end of the lesson and then Elder Lamm and I testified very powerfully that although we don't know everything and every point of doctrine, we do know this, that it is true. We have read the Book of Mormon, we have taken it's promise and prayed to know that it is true, and we have certainly endured to the end in keeping the commandments of the Lord, and we have felt the blessings of it. We told him that doubt will always be hanging over us but because we have our testimonies rooted in Jesus Christ and his gospel, we cannot be moved. We promised him that if he came to church this next week he would feel something that maybe he hasn't felt in some time. We left that house with the spirit and as we left he came out the door behind us and just stood out in front of his house. I think he was thinking. His countenance was a lot different from when we started the lesson.
We also met with Ana Louisa again this last week. She is the investigator with really bad cancer. We thought she had gone in for Chemo therapy but we decided to try to visit her anyway. She was home. She said that they cancelled the therapy because she wasn't feeling well and because they found more cancer in her lungs. She was really devastated. We asked her if she would like another blessing, of comfort and counsel (because we already did a blessing of anointing before) and she said she would love it because she really knows that the first one helped her out. We sang her "Come, come, ye Saints" then we left. She was so grateful and glad that we'd come.
This next week we have three baptisms planned: Victor, 26 years old. Rosario, 11 years old. And Humberto, 9 years old. Humberto's situation is similar to Osman's with his family but we may change his date for when more of his nonmember family are gonna be here in the first of November. Rosario knows that this church is true. She has a good relation with the Relief Society President and she tells us that she really does know that it is true but she is nervous to take the step of baptism, as all people are. Victor knows it is true as well. And he was going to be baptized last Saturday but he said he would like to talk to his family first. He really does want to be baptized and we hope to set the time this week for Friday. He will be the first adult convert that I have had the opportunity to help.
We had a great Sunday as well! Five investigators came to church. The three that are going to be baptized this week as well as Osman. Also, the lady that stopped us in the street last week and told us she was interested in our message (I am still so shocked and feel blessed by that) came with her little girl. It went very well. And guess what? As I was playing some prelude music Elder Lamm came up behind me and said, "The Brother came!" I looked back and there was the husband of the sister that we had taught earlier in the week :) Woo! We didn't get the chance to talk to him before he left but we will be visiting them this week to ask how it went.
Thanks for all of your prayers and love. I feel so blessed to be here at this time. As it says in the mission manual, "How great is [my] calling!" It is an honor to be a representitive of Jesus Christ and I woulnd't be anywhere else in the world. I know that He lives. I know that this is His work on the earth today. The field is white and already to harvest. There has been a challenge proposed by Elder Lamm and I to the members to bring at least one convert to the waters of baptism by the end of the year. I would like to extend the same invitation to you guys in Utah. More now than ever before, is it essential to bring our brothers and sisters in!
Thanks again,
Elder Tanner Clement
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