Hi everybody,

So I didn't email last week because there were transfers and it kind of threw off our day... But I did not get transferred and will be here for my 5th transfer in Hidalgo, and I am super stoked. The people in this area are the best people in the world.

These last two weeks have been full of miracles. We have been working on setting more specific goals and actually accomplishing them. A lot of times as missionaries we just kind of put goals because we have to and we don't really think about them too much. Well, Elder Grimshaw and I are working on making real goals and putting real plans to be able to accomplish them. President Mecham always says "If you don't have a plan, you don't have a vision. and If you don't have a vision, you don't have a plan." That is going to stay with me for the rest of my life. I never really realized how much a difference plans and goals can make in our lives.

We met a guy named Daniel a few weeks ago. He is super golden. He is also from minnesota and was taking the missionary lessons over there. He wasn't baptized because he wanted to be baptized here where his wife lives. Her name is Caroline. She is a member and gave us the referral to teach him. It has actually been kind of weird teaching a guy in english. I feel so much more comfortable talking about the gospel in spanish. It is just easier to me now. Caroline and Daniel have one of the coolest relationships though. He talks to her in english and she replies in Spanish and they understand each other perfectly. So we do the same with her. We just talk to her in English and she replies in Spanish, it is kind of fun. they have come to be really good friends of ours and they decided to take us to a sushi buffet today for lunch. I feel like Andy Dwire who said "I think I have a sushi allergy. Every time I eat more than 88 I puke"  (for those of you who have seen The Office). I didn't puke, but I did eat a lot of sushi and feel a little uneasy. But it was really good.

We are also working with another family who are amazing. The moms name is Emilia and she has three kids named David (13), Kimberly (9), Ian (7) and their pet duck, Lucas. This family is amazing. We were on exchanges when we found her and I was with Elder Low. It was about 8:00 and pretty dark and I pointed out a street to him and told him it was pretty dangerous and that their are a lot of drunks and drug addicts down there at that hour. I told him that and we kept walking and later we saw  a lady (Emilia) carrying all of her clothes from having just washed them and offered to help her carry them home. Well she accepted and it turned out that she lives down that "dangerous street" (its really not that dangerous, mom, don't worry). Elder Low just looking at me scared out of his mind that we were going to follow her into that dark street. It was just kind of funny but now their family is going to be baptized on February 3rd! We don't visit them any later than 6:00.

That is about all of the exciting news for this week. Daniel should be getting baptized this week so hopefully that goes through and I have some good pictures for you all next week. Hasta Luego!

--
Elder May

Daniel and Caroline and us at the sushi buffet

Elder Vargas with Elder Grimshaw and me

Hola todos, sorry for not writing last week, we didn't have much time. But these past two weeks have been pretty great.

We have been finding and teaching a lot of new people. The Lord really does help us out so much. Just this past week we found 4 people that speak perfect english and want us to teaching them in English. One of them, named Daniel, came to church on his own and asked us to teach him. He is from Minnesota or something, but he has sincere desires to learn about the church and we are really excited about him. The other 3 are a family that lived in Chicago for 8 years and they are really funny. We found them because when we were walking down the street one day, I said to my companion "I'm thirsty, lets go to this tienda and by some water." (that is also another bonus about mexico city, they have tiendas like every 10 feet so you never have to travel far for food.) I asked the guy if he had any water and said he didn't, so we were about to go on our way. Then he offered us just a glass of water because the tienda was also his house. We accepted and got talking with them. His wife came out and was super excited to see us and speak english. It turns out that they are all baptists and believe almost everything that we believe. They invited us to their church on Saturday and said if we go to theirs, they will come with us to our church on Sunday. We have to see if it is allowed to go to other churches first, but it sounds like a fun trade. They are an awesome family. 

Apart from that, it has been a little slower this last week with el Dia de los Reyes (day of the kings). It is like an extension to Christmas. The kids just get all their presents on the 6th of january. One lady we teach told her kids that neither Santa or the Reyes were going to bring them presents because Santa got in an accident in his workshop and died, and that the Reyes also had an accident and are in a coma. Her daughters were pretty upset.

The work is still going along though. This is the last week of the transfer, so it is possible that I finally get transferred out of Hidalgo. I really hope that doesn't happen though, this has to be the best area in the mission. 

Have a great week!

-- 

Elder May

We took a "family photo" with Fernanda and Naomi. Their family is basically like our family. The mom calls us her Hijos