Week 73: First week in Huajuapan...

Well, this has been a fun week!! First pictures. One is a cool pic that we took as the office staff in our house that I think looks cool. Then Elder Johnson, my new comp and I traveling to Huajuapan.

The view from the road.

MY LANDLORD GRADUATED FROM UT!!!!!

So this week we have had a bunch of work, because this city is huge and we are the only missionaries. Ok, well it is about the size of St. George, but for 2 missionaries that is a LOT. So President calls me on Friday and is like, well I saw the city and realized we need more missionaries so find an apartment in the next few days so I can send you some other missionaries. And so I was happy because it means that we will be able to help the branch out here even more!!! And the missionaries that are coming is a newbie! And Elder Castro! He is one of my great friends, and he goes home with me so it will be a very awesome next few changes. I don't know how long I'll be here for, but for the time that God leaves me here, I will do everything I can to change this branch into a very strong part of a stake!!! WOOHHOO!!! ANIMO!!!

Just to inform y'all, we have a baptism in three weeks! We set the date two days ago and he is super exited! He has a lot to learn but is exited!

Dear Loosle Family:

Through this letter we inform you that your son, Elder Loosle has been called to serve as a Trainer in the México Oaxaca Mission. He’ll have a deep and lasting influence in the development of the attitudes, habits and capabilities of his companion. The instructions the new missionary receives from him will strengthen him during his mission and I trust that your son will be an example to him.

There are high expectations for your son in this new assignment. A Trainer must be an example in every aspect; for example, by helping his companion to understand and to live the missionary principles in a way that he helps many people to come unto Christ.

I’m sure that your son will inspire his companion by following the Lord and rising to the high standards and expectations that He expects from them as his representatives.

I congratulate you for having raised a responsible son and I thank you for sending us a missionary with great attributes. I ask you to continue praying for him so that he can fulfil his new assignment in a manner pleasing to the Lord. Your son has all of my confidence, love and support while he continues his progress as a servant of the Lord.

Warm Regards,

Presidente Félix Conde Beltrán

Mexico Oaxaca Mission

Week 72: HERE COMES THE FRÍO!!!!

So, as many people know, this is my last Pday as secretary! So I'll be writing on Mondays normally after this. But! I will be leaving the offices and going to..... Huajuapan de León! Technically the legit name of the city is Heroica Ciudad de Huajuapan de León, but we just call it Huajuapan for short. I was kinda hoping for the coast, but President wanted me to help out in the other part of the mission that is struggling and that he wants a lot stronger. It is part of the Sierra part of Oaxaca, or part of the mountains. SO IT GETS COLD!!! LIKE 0 DEGREES SOMETIMES! (ok, that is in Celsius, but still, I've been working in like really hot and humid so...)

Anyways, on to the pictures...

The Robins took us out to eat last Saturday to say farewell to me in the offices, IDK if I already sent that picture so sorry if I did.

My district! We have 2 sisters and 8 elders. It is fairly large, but my next district will be of 4 Elders. And my entire zone will have 8... So that will be a big change.

The last two are because the Robins and the other office Elders surprised me with a goodbye cake yesterday in the middle of the day! It was funny because we have a rat that lives here in the offices that is apparently HUGE! And so all of us have been trying to kill it with venom and stuff but I always joke about just hunting it down. So Sister Robins pretended to freak out and say that the rat had just gone into the kitchen, and so I run in with a frying pan to kill it, and then I see a bunch of balloons and a cake and I'm like.... Where's the rat? I was confused for a second. But it was fun.
So my aunt sent me some questions this last week, and I have the answers here to share with y'all!
Who has been your hardest companion and what did you learn from him? Well, I've had a few. Many of my companions have been great! But I've had a couple that I struggled a lot with. Probably the two most were my second companion and my companion that I had 2 months ago. My second companion because he was pretty prideful and didn't want to learn anymore of being a missionary and thought he knew almost everything. So from him I learned how to let people believe that they are right, and just let others win, and go with their way even when I know it won't work, but I have to let them understand it. My other companion that I struggled a lot with was one of my recent companions. We were together for 5 months, and that is a really long time. I mean I really learned how to love all people while I was with him, and see the good in everyone. He didn't like talking to me much and was a lot of times giving me a cold shoulder, but I learned how to see the good in everyone and love them.

Which companions do you think will be lifelong friends (ps. Most of mine are)? The funny thing is it is the missionaries that aren't my companions that I get along with really well! XD But now with 3 companions I get along with them all, and two of them are Americans so I'm definitely seeing them after the mission! One (Elder Hernandez) is even planning on going to Utah State!!! And well, even though Elder Knapp is going to BYU, I'll still go and visit to hang out with him. But also I have had some others from North Mexico, like Tijuana, that have been really cool! (Elder Solano) And I am totally planning on staying in touch with him!

What was your favorite area and why? Oh... That is really hard. Every area is different and has it's own blessings and difficult areas. Rio Grande was awesome just because it is the coast and where I started. Tehuantepec has a lot of culture. In Yagul, I was able to see a lot of big changes in my ward, even though I didn't see many baptisms, but here in La Noria, I have seen lots of progress and many converts! But I am exited for my next area because it will be the first place where it gets COLD!!!!
Was it the people, the geography or both? Well, I kinda just answered that.... And so my favorite is all of the above.

What has been the hardest thing to learn about yourself thus far? Probably self control, as well as self confidence. And a good balance of the both. Trusting in God means that we have to also trust in ourselves because He trusts us to do what is right, which is why we are here. But also, we have to show our self control and not get one, prideful, and two, not get into stuff the easy way. Because we might be able to get out of somethings like that, but it will never be as good as if we do it in God's way.

Well this letter got long... So all in all it was a good week! I'm exited for Huajuapan, and just to let y'all know, my emails may get a bit shorter and I may not respond as much, because I'll be more limited and I'll be paying for my internet time again.... XD

Have a great week!

Week 71: More questions!

Well the Bacon's emailed me some questions so I'll share them with y'all cuz they are fun questions! And if anyone else has questions, feel free to ask them and I can put them in next weeks email.

• How are you and why? Well, I was super sick last Wednesday but now I feel AWESOME!! Just because I am back to normal basically, so I am not sure if that answered the question...
• How do you stay motivated when times are tough?  It is something very hard. Especially when you can't control the situation that you are in, because other people are the reason for he tough times. But what I always fall back on is that I know that I have a God that loves me, and a Savior that gave His life for me. If I can be confident that I am trying my best to please them, then I can be happy while I do it too. 
• How do you stay motivated knowing you're coming home soon? WELL, seeing how I still have a long time left in the mission, we will ignore that question, (Yes, that is how I deal with it, ignoring the fact.) (I'll worry about stuff at home when I get home.)
• What's the weirdest food you've had? Have you ever turned down any food? Well, that is a hard question... Because it could be a lot, from insects called chicatanas and chapolines, to many different types of mole, to some stuff that I honestly don't even know what it was... So they were each weird in their own way. But if we like just finished eating and someone else offers us food, a lot of times we turn it down just because we are already stuffed. But because something was disgusting, no  I have not said no. I have always at least tried all the food that I've been given, and if I don't like it, I finish it and don't ask for more, and then avoid as much as I possibly can to eat it again, but there haven't been a lot of things that I have not like here so that is good!

Anyways, continuing with the pictures... One is of a cool hill. But if you look closely it looks like Groot is there! The other is of the Secretary who trained me, and then me with the new secretary I am training! Woohoo!

So, this week has been a bit hard with working 3 areas, but we are getting the hang of it and it is actually kind of fun! But, we will be only working one in just over a week so it'll be good. And by we I mean the secretaries, because I'll be going too....!!! *cue drum rool...* *dramatic pause* Who knows where. I figure out Monday, because President couldn't finish the changes with Elder Knapp on Thursday so on Monday they will finish, because then President goes out of town for a week until changes so he won't have another time to do them. BUT! It will be fun wherever I go.

Anyways, even though I will be leaving my area, I know it is the best, and I will be going to where God needs me. Once we can really trust God, He will  show us what we need to do and show us that He can trust us with many things! Remember, with small things, great things shall come to pass!

Week 70: Well I've heard of trios...

Well, special changes happened on Monday, and on Tuesday Elder Vasquez, the assistant to President, got moved to the zone leader in the coast, so the other AP is in a quartet with me, my comp Elder Mares, my comp and replacement Elder Hernandez. So it is very fun. I don't know of other missionaries who have a companionship of 4, and we'll be like this for 3 weeks with one assistant. It'll be interesting. BUT SUPER FUN!!!!

Also, I'd like to thank my family for the package and the stuff they sent me! I didn't attach a picture of the package but I did attach a lot of pictures this week! So, to describe them I'll put the number that is the last 2 digits of the attachment.

29 & 32 - My 3 comps and I eating lunch on the roof of a members house. It was like a tuna salad thing but I don't have a picture of that...

33 - Just a random cool church we found in Etla searching for the Nacho Libre church.

64 & 65 - WE FOUND THE CHURCH FROM NACHO LIBRE!!! And there were a few random toilets outside so we had to take pictures! But that is a trail that lead to the church. I'm pretty sure it was used in a running scene but I haven't seen the movie in a while....

71 & 73 - We went to a place called "pasillo de carne asada" for Elder Knapp's birthday! They sang to him to, a very Mexican birthday song! It was fun!

Then we went shopping and stuff and it was and it was a good pday.

Anyways, this week has been really interesting and hard but my time in the offices is coming to an end and I'm gonna end it with a good finish. I'll finish strong and I'll make sure my replacement feels better then I did when I came in, as well as has a better ward than when I got here. I hope that he can have a lot of success in this area, because really I have come to love these people over the last 6 months. And so I want them all to have all the blessings that God has prepared for them!

So, with that, remember that God loves y'all, and that Jesus Christ is going to always help us reach our divine potential. Doesn't matter if we mess up, He will love us and want us to come back. So with that, until next week! :)

Week 69: Well, the office life is coming to a close...

So this week president did special changes, because my replacement is going to be coming up on Tuesday! Fun stuff! Also I had my first interviews with President Conde, and he is a really good president. He didn't tell me where I am going, but he did let me know that he has lots of plans for the mission and has high hopes for me to help him reach those plans.

Anyways, the picture I sent is the back of a shirt that I put an Elder Loosle logo thingy on! But yeah, we have a member that is a graphic designer in our ward and so he made us some prints to put on shirts and stuff!

But that was basically the only stuff that was interesting that happened this week..... I have to end my pday early because we are doing visits with the young men so I'll talk to y'all next week! Sorry it is short... Not much to say this week.