Week 77: Well, lots of stuff has happened...

Ok, so first off, last Tuesday we had another EARTHQUAKE!!!! But this one hit hard. So before I tell the story I'll tell you the pics. Many are of the damage from the earquake....
231 - That  is a catholic church that is about to fall... They closed the street off because they think it will fall.


























232 - That is a what happens when you get on the member's bad side... They try to shove you into the car... Just kiding, that was today we went to play basketball.

















235 - We shoved 4 missionaries in the backseat of the car and that is how Elder Castro and Elder Ellsworth ended up...
















180 - Our church had some damage too... But they fixed it so we are good!

196- THAT IS A CRACK IN MY WALL IN MY HOUSE!!! One of like 17, but it's cool, it's completely safe. Even if the roof just stays up for faith. There isn't damage to the foundation so the president says that it is ok that we stay there.











223 - Well even the internet place where I write got damage... XD

225 - An investigators garage... The roof completely broke and we helped clean up.

227 - THERE ARE LIKE 50 MILLION OF THESE PHARMACIES. And it is funn because they are San Jorge. (Or in English, St. George XD)











179 - A house that we took a picture in front of a while ago, just completely fell down.

Well. So with the earthquake first. I was in divisions with Elder Ellsworth, and we were planning in their house. (Their house in the third story of an apartment building) and I said that if there is an earthquake, I meant like at night, I was gonna run, and hope he was behind me. Then we plan and after about 20 minutes I hear a very low, very loud grumbling sound and I look out the window and what do I see? Well not popcorn popping, but a light pole that starts to shake along with all of the houses. So I bust out of that apartment, running full speed and don't even notice how strong the earthquake even was. I look back to make sure Elder Ellsworth was following me, and he was but he couldn't run as quick because the ground was moving FROM UNDERNEATH HIS LEGS!!! So we get down to the bottom and I'm like telling him to run in English and Spanish, and we get out and look up and see the building wobbling back and forth. But it didn't fall. So after it ended, some specialists checked their house and our house and said that the damage was minor and nothing will happen. But I don't really think that there are any problems either.

Thanks to the earthquake, we've been able to help our Branch President do some cleaning, and he will have to tear down his business and put it back up again, because it was very damaged... We also helped other with the damage. As you can see there was damage, but I don't think anyone died in Huajuapan.  In Puebla and Mexico there was more da








mage.

Anyways, with all this stuff that has been going on I AM SOOO EXITED TO HEAR THE APOSTOLS IN GENERAL CONFERENCE! I mean I don't expect them to be like, "Hey, prepare yourselves for the second coming" But I know that they will say inspired words. So you all need to listen!!! TO ALL OF THE SESSIONS! WOOHOO!! 10 hours of church! (Ok, only the men have to see the priesthood session. But the women already should've seen the women's conference!) And so have a great day!!!

Elder Loosle

Misión Mexico Oaxaca

ANOTHER EARTHQUAKE!!!

Well first off we are fine. This one hit puebla so Puebla and Mexico City got hit hard, and us in Huajuapan, being one of the bigger cities closest to Puebla also got hit pretty hard. Some houses fell down completely. A lot had parts that fell. My house and the other missionaries house has cracks, but it's all good, small cracks are just decorations! But when it happened I was in the other house of the missionaries because we had started divisions and we were planning and I was like FREAK!!! EARTHQUAKE! AND WE ARE ON THE 3RD STORY! And so I ran down those stairs VERY quick. It was strong here. I was with Elder Ellsworth and he had a hard time running because we were on the 3rd floor trying to get down, and he could feel the ground moving out of place under his feet. But the house didn't fall so we are fine. We got to the street and it kept quaking, but then it stopped and we found the other missionaries and did some service, and tried writing yesterday but we were COMPLETELY full of appointments. So I hope that no one was worried. I mean, I'm sure y'all all knew that I'm safe as a missionary and well even though it hit Puebla, the only part of Oaxaca where there was damage was here in Huajuapan. But I don't think anyone died here. Many fainted, but they are all fine! Lots of service opportunities now!!!
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Elder Loosle
Misión Mexico Oaxaca

Week 76: BAPTISMS AND MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!!

I have a big flag!!! Woohoo!! So with the pictures, two are of the Mexican night we had at church! And one is of Ismael's baptism!!!

So, I'll start off talking about Ismael a bit! He is a really good kid. He is 9 years old and for the past 3 years, him and his mom have been inactive because they had a problem with some other members, but they were really missing the blessings of church. So after the ward mission leader visited them once they said they would try and come back. Then we got here in Huajuapan, after there hadn't been missionaries for about a month, and we visited them. The first visit Ismael told us he wanted to get baptized and so we said, awesome! We'll put the date for the 16th! Because that is Mexican Independance day and HOW COOL IS THAT TO GET BAPTIZED ON YOUR COUNTRY'S BIRTHDAY!!!! AWESOME!!! So we had a decent amount of people show of to the baptism, but we had a HUGE turnout for the activity! It wasn't the best planned but we had 6 investigators that went and they all had fun so it is cool!

Anyways, I hope that everyone is having a great time! I know that the gospel that I am sharing with the world is really the gospel of Jesus Christ and the church that houses it is His church. We are all here in the earth for a purpose and God wants every single one of us to get back to his presence.

Something we have noticed here in Huajuapan is we have very few active members but we have a lot that haven't gone in a long time. So we are going to fix that and make this small little branch of Huajuapan a strong Stake in Zion!!!
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Elder Loosle
Misión Mexico Oaxaca

Week 75: One interesting week....

So this week has been a lot of well a lot of stuff and I have a few pictures first!
(Sorry none of earthquakes, no damage in huajuapan)

30 - (the last 2 digits of the picture number) RAINBOW! It was cool, and super huge so I took a picture of part of it!

31 - Mac and cheese! But homemade! Super tasty!

39 - Hot chocolate with the companion

41 - My comp's first tlayuda!

46 - When you ask your comp to take a picture of you and this is what shows up on your camera

48 & 59- I bought a flag! But I wanted a bigger one.... Also my comp didn't realize it was in black and white...

So, back to the serious stuff. This week has been a rough week for many people. With hurricanes and earthquakes and fires, one may think where is God in all of this destruction? Some people will say that he is not anywhere to be found, but I can testify that amist all of the darkness that we can see, there is a light. And there are miracles that are plain and clear to anyone who goes towards the light of Christ. If we trust in the Lord with all our heart, He will lead us to what we need to do, and we will be able to help others and ourselves if we just follow His teachings. I know that if we try our best, God will always confort us and we will always be able to make it back to Him. I hope the best for everyone out there and I want y'all to know that even though Mexican Independance day is coming up and I've got some hardcore Mexican pride going on, I'm not forgetting about the US and I am praying that everything goes well for everyone with all of the disasters that we have been seeing.

Keep up the good attitudes!
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Elder Loosle
Misión Mexico Oaxaca

Misión México Oaxaca

Buenos días, sabemos que ustedes están muy preocupados por el terremoto que paso en México anoche. Si, nos afectó aquí en Oaxaca, pero ya nos comunicamos con todos los Misioneros y todos están bien y en lugares seguros. Cuando los misioneros tengan tiempo, enviarán un correo electrónico a ustedes para verificar que están seguros.

Good morning, I know that you are all worried about the earthquake that hit Mexico last night. Yes we were affect by it here in Oaxaca, but we have talked with all of the missionaries and they are safe, and in safe places. When the missionaries get a chance they will email you to verify that they are safe.

Elder Hernandez
Secretario de Misión
Misión México Oaxaca
Oficina 951 514 2017
Cel. 951 109 8192
E-Mail 2012820@ldschurch.org

Just in case you heard

Just in case your heard about the quake... It was bad, but all the missionaries are safe. :)
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Elder Loosle
Misión Mexico Oaxaca

Week 74: Really short week!!!

So, this last week, on Saturday the other 2 missionaries came to Huajuapan to start working in their area! So now we are sharing the area, and it is AWESOME! The branch is very ready to work, and give us references! We received like 7 at least this last week! And we had 8 new investigators! That may not be that much, but we are trying to get even more this week. We fasted yesterday and I fasted especially for my companion so that he can learn spanish quicker, and for our area. So that we can find 5 families that can progress to baptism before Elder Johnson and I are out of here. We have already found one family that is progressing decently, and we just received 2 families from references!

Anyways, with the picture... Yesterday was my companion Elder Johnsons birthday!!! So some members made him a cake!!! And so here is a picture! Then we sang him "las mañanitas" which is the longest and 2nd best birthday song ever. So, then he did the "mordida" which is a mexican tradition where you just take a big huge bit out of your cake! It is awesome!!! But yeah, that is about it this week. We are planning on finding a lot of new people this week, and president showed us a new way to contact people that I haven't tried and I am very anxious to try it! But for now that is about it. I'll keep y'all informed on how we are doing down here in Huajuapan, we have had a lot of rain from the hurricane, but nothing compared to Houston, so keep praying for them. And remember that God won't leave us alone. We just have to trust him.

Till next week!