April 18, 2016

I think I finally found out my future job career. jajaja We will have to see how it goes though. Well I am planning to work with electronics so it is a good thing that I messed around with them so much.

Well this week for me was freaking crazy. hahaha I went to Xalapa not only once but twice in 4 days. On Monday, we left because Pres wanted all the District Leaders to go to consejo which is the meeting of the Zone Leaders that they have every month. It was great and I really learned like a ton. Then I went back to Papantla for our district class and left again to Xalapa for my Visa! It was a little boring and I felt a waste of time but yeah I had 20 hours in a bus in 4 days.... So I was only in my area for 2 days working. But we saw the miracles of that because we found 8 news! It was pretty crazy and I can see when I apply the things Pres. tells me I can really find success. 

But Sunday was a bit harsh because a teenager died in an accident on Friday and they held the services on Sunday morning and it seemed like the whole pueblo went and so none of our news made it to church. That just means that they delayed their baptism again... It has been really tough here in Agua Dulce because they are really entrenched in their traditions, but we are almost there. I am hoping to baptize a 9 year old less active niño (boy) this Sunday but we will have to see how it goes. Then we have some solid people progressing for the beginning of May. 

Other than that I just went rat hunting with my zone leaders in their house for a couple hours and that thing was huge. hahaha It ended up escaping though... :( Then we played capture the flag all morning with the zone!

Being a DL is way different and really hard to be honest! It is like training a huge group of people not just my most recent kid! Way more responsibility and things I have to do and remember. But I really like the challenge and I think it helps me keep focused on my mission. I really enjoy it and I have always been comfy in leadership positions because of football and things. I like it to be honest. 

And I think I never liked those kinds of clubs and things that make you feel good because I am just fine with who I am and I will be successful how I like to. I never needed a toilet bowl around my head to make me feel accomplished :)

But yeah I am way excited to get back to normal work this week!

Love,

Elder Bigelow

April 11, 2016

Well yeah I love changes because they are pretty interesting and always revamp you to get working hard again. I mean I never stopped working I just felt that I was dragging around a bag of dead fish with my other comp because he was pretty ready to go home. hahahaha. 

But yeah I have another newbie and he is like way cool be be honest! I think he might be my favorite hijo! We have just been really working so hard these past few days and I have seen the little miracles that come from giving it your all. We had people get to church that I just didn't expect to ever progress. 

Sometimes I have to admit that I forget this is like the Lord's work and it just turns into work in general. I have to remind myself or God reminds me that this is his work and that I should be focused on him. I love the mission so much and now I have served half of it and am looking at a down hill slope that is going to go by way to fast....

I have to go back to Xalapa this week twice... today I am heading down there for consejo (advice) because we are going to do something together with the ZL and DL. So me a new DL gets to go and receive the love and food and planches from President... woo.... hahaha. Then on Wed I have to get my Visa because I have been in Mexico for almost one year and that means I am almost illegal hahahaha. 

We are happy and healthy and just doing really good!

Love you!

Elder Bigelow

 The New Companion - The New Kid

 He cooks! He made Molotes that is meat between fried masa.

April 4, 2015

4-2-16
Hey I am writing really fast in between sessions because I will not be writing this Monday...

Guess why? I am going to train again hahahaha 4th kid! Woo! So I will be in Xalapa on Monday and will be returning to my area on Tuesday and try to write then. 

Craziness!

Elder Bigelow

 

4-5-16

I loved, loved, loved the talk that Elder Uchdorf gave in the priesthood session. Super awesome about all our callings in the priesthood and what we should be doing right now to be furthering the work of the Lord, even if we are not exactly full time missionaries. I loved it and kind of planched me a bit about what I was thinking about in my future when I get home, thinking of postponing marriage and all that funny business. I guess we will see what happens. 

We do watch conference in Spanish but they have really good translators and everything. The gringos watch it in English when possible because it really has another spirit to it in English. We cannot get planched that much by Holland in Spanish because it just is not his voice. This conference I did watch in Spanish because I was here in Agua Dulce with a few investigators and I am the only white guy hahahaha. 

So not only am I training again but also they bumped me up to a Distirct Leader too. hahaha I found that out Sunday when the transfers came in. To be honest it was a surprise and I really did not think I would get assigned to do this. I was really comfy with the whole training and being a senior companion because to be honest I was good at it and it was not very stressful. But now I have more responsibility and I have to study a little harder and work just a little better so that my district can do well. 

My district will be really awesome though! First it is my son Elder Chiñas and my grandkid that he is also training right now. Then my other kid Elder Aguilar just got moved to mayor and will be with another elder in my district. Then my brother Elder Felix will be in the other area hahaha. Plus a companionship of hermanas. It is like a Bigelow family reunion. 

My new kid is really cool! He is from Chihuahua Mexico. He is 18 and just way cool. He is going to study to make video games so we get along pretty well. I am really excited to have this next change here with Elder Alcalá to help him out. It is such a change from ending the mission of someone and beginning another one. Really got me animated again because now all we talk about is the mission and not so much of home and all that jazz. 

Super happy Elder Bigelow!

Love you guys!

March 28, 2016

Freaking marriage hahahaha. This is a super weird time in my life that my friends are starting to get engaged and such... Don't worry you don't have to worry about that with me! 

I put in a toilet recently! Like in December so maybe not that recently but it was fun to see that all that fighting with dad and my toilet paid off hahaha. I mostly knew what I was doing and the plumbing part helped with working at my pool store! Weird how I have always been prepared for the little things here in Mexico jaja.

Easter is strangely awesome but weird in Mexico. Awesome because it is so focused on Jesus and his sacrifice and how much he has helped us and tries to really focus on that. For me that makes it way more special than you know the Easter bunny and eggs. Weird because they have crazy traditions. One is they do a thing called the cross. They take a teen or kid and like basically crucify him and have the whole shabang. He gets like beat and spit on and everything. They have people dressed as Mary and Romans and everything. They go just right through the city doing this. It is a super Catholic tradition and I thought pretty weird. 

Other than that the week weather wise was like super weird! It went from raining super hard and freezing cold to hot to cold to hot all in like 4 days. I could not figure out what to wear to bed because if I didn't put on enough I would get super cold in the night or I would put too much on and burn to death.... Made the days interesting though because we would get wet from the rain or sweat or just feel really nice in the frisk cool air. Everyday something different.

Also we found some sweet investigators finally. We have been working so hard with the members and trying to find people that are chosen. I mean we found plenty of people that want to listen but no one really has progressed this whole time. We have 3 people progressing right now that seem to be pretty chosen people that want to progress. I have high hopes to be baptizing again the middle of April!

This is week 7 of this change. Which is really weird because changes are usually 6 weeks... So it has been strange and weird to not have our changes yet and have to live another week with our comps. I have to try and survive this last week with my comp that should be going home today. He seems to be trying but really, really wants to go home and that is weighing on me a bit. 

I wrote Landen at his email so I hope he got it last week. Crazy that he is like a grown up teen age dude now. I still picture him as like this little 14 year old.... Has he changed much?

This week is your spring break right?

Love you!

Elder Bigelow

 

March 21, 2016

I did not get an email from any of them? idk the email is kind of weird sometimes, i guess, i just looked in my spam and didn't get anything sooo idk. 

It kinda got hot here in Papantala but the whole weekend it has been raining and really, really cold. I am not sure what happened to the weather. I was dying in the humidity and heat and then sleeping in a hoodie below 2 blankets, all in about 2 days. 

This week was pretty average just working a ton with the members to find news. We had some good success finding people but then with the rain and cold, no one went to church. Most of the members didn't make it. Kind of stinks when a whole week of successful work ends in a bad Sunday. Those 3 hours of coming to church for us is so important because it is the only way someone can progress to be baptized. 

I am doing really good though so yay! Happy and my toe has healed so I can like walk around in shoes now and my feet do not hurt all day long. 

This transfer has been so so so fast it is crazy. Like I am not even sure what happened and suddenly we are in week 6. This transfer is 7 weeks and all but still, it is almost over and I feel like we just got here! 

I miss things Arizona that are a little crazy and redneck. Can't wait to get back and start messing around with my guns, my bow and go fishing and things that make me happy. I do not know why either but I am like way pumped to go to college. Should be fun I think. My comp has me thinking a ton about my future and what home life will be like and I hope that I can go back to normal missionary when I am done with him jaja. We work hard and all it is just that he talks so much about home and such.

It is super weird to think about this next 10 years of my life though, like you said time flies and suddenly I will have a wife and then kids and then idk what the heck to do..... strange things right?

I seriously did not take a single picture this week, to the point that I realized I didn't even take my camera with me. I usually take quite a few so I don't know what happened hahaha.

Love you guys so much!

Elder Bigelow

March 14, 2016

Oh gosh NASCAR sounds so freaking cool right now hahaha. That would be so sweet. I am glad you guys are still close with Mike.

We had a rather great week to be honest. Lots of divisions with other people. It has been cool because my kid, Elder Chiñas, is now my district leader. It has been pretty crazy getting to know him better and to talk again. We talk a ton about our old area and the stunts we pulled and fun things we did. 

But because he does not know his area for anything we went on divisions so that my comp could show him around and I got to hang out with Elder Valdez. He is just starting his mission but is 24 and super awesome. We had a ton of fun together and had a blast working. Then 2 days later we had divisions with the zone leaders. I went with an Elder Roberts from Utah who is almost finishing his mission. He is way cool and we had lots of fun too. My zone leader, Elder Villa, is also one of my best friends in the mission we got to the mission together. We have a ton of fun messing around in zone class and such ajaja. 

Crazy that it is Holden's bday. I mean it hardly matters anymore because he is married and can't get cool toys like remote control helicopters or anything. Just like maybe spoons. How boring. But like happy bday buddy!

We were hoping to have a baptism this week but it seems to have fallen through. But I hope to have one before my comp leaves so we will continue to work. 

Miss you guys a ton!

Elder Bigelow 

March 7, 2016

For me it has been pretty good. To be honest nothing really to report from the week. A rather average week to be honest. We were working and having fun and some more work, I guess. I have been learning a ton from my comp because he is leaving and an ex-assistant and just a great, great missionary. I am learning more scriptures and ways to contact and just everything seems to be improving. We are having a ton of fun working with the members because they are so willing to work with us. It helps out the missionaries so much when you guys just meet people with them or talk casually about the church. 

So yeah, that was basically my week, a rather normal work week with working with the members to try and open the area. Then today was super interesting. We went to play soccer at the church and then we realized that they were having some kind of glasses drive at the church. There was a bunch of doctors and workers that were American and they didn't speak Spanish. So we asked if they could use some help translating. We helped them out for like 3 or 4 hours in the morning translating for the doctors and helping the people get glasses for super cheap to help them read and stuff. 

Then we had a call to do special changes. My district leader left to another city and also another American left to another city. So now my kid, Elder Chiñas, is coming to be the new district leader. It is going to be so fun to be in his district and everything but to be honest kind of hurt my pride a bit. I don't know why president promoted him before me. Like I understand the whole do your calling thing but I was kind of hoping to get a new calling because I am kind of bored just being mayor. You get used to things and it seems like the same thing everyday. I am still happy but just a little confused why. 

It must be like super weird not to have Holden in the house, like that will be straight weird getting home and that he doesn't live with us haha. Hope he is enjoying my PS3. Has Braden like destroyed the 3DS I gave him yet? Is Landen still using my laptop? hahaha It is so weird to think about home and what you guys are doing.

Love you guys! 

Elder Bigelow

I did not take pics this week sorry...