Dec 17th

 

Hey Family how is everything going at home? Things here are going well, still really hot and doesn’t look anything like it should be a week from Christmas but yeah that’s alright. This last week went pretty well for us, most importantly this last week we had a stake activity that went really well. It was probably one of the best activates that I have been to in my mission. It was a really cool Christmas program where there were probably almost 200 people who aren’t members and who were invited so that was really cool. So now these next couple weeks we should have a lot of work with teaching the people from the activity and such so that should help us out a lot, so that was really cool from this week. Then also we were able to have pretty much all of our investigators that went to the activity go to church yesterday so that was awesome as well. So we are pretty excited to be here working now so hopefully this week goes really well and our investigators can keep progressing. To answer your question dad they do tithing settlement pretty much the same as at home a meeting with the bishop but our bishop was telling us yesterday that no one has really gone to their appointments so that kind of problem for him but besides that it is the same. Oh yeah so I was thinking of using Skype again to call next week but I am not sure what time but I will let you know next week when I right. I hope that everyone has a good week at home and everything goes well there, with all the Christmas stuff and snow. Have a great week and I will write you next week more.

 

Love Elder bird

Dec 10th

 

Hey Family how is everything going at home? Things here are going pretty well, it is still really hot here so it doesn’t feel like it is almost Christmas. This last week we had a little trouble finding people to teach, but hopefully that all changes this week. This week we are going to have a stake activity for Christmas where the leaders are hoping to have 200 investigators there so we will have to see how things work out. So if all works out well we should be able to find quite a few new people to teach and they should all be people that are somewhat interested in the gospel if they go to activity. Then we have gotten a couple other references of part member families so that should be helpfully of finding new people to teach. It has been kind of different to be back again, it feels kind of like I never left I still remember the area so that was not a hard change at all to get used to and the members I know as well, so the new system of working only with members hasn’t been that big of a change since I already know the members and just now need to work with them again. The new system of not tracking is going pretty well for us it is a little slower and different that I think many missionaries are used to so that is kind of hard but I feel that is will be something really good when everyone is used to it.

 

That is cool to hear that Elder Perry came to a special stake conference, what did he talk about? Well I hope that everyone has a good week at home, thanks for the updates on everything it is cool to hear about some stuff from home especially in this time of year. I just want to end with a reminder I was given this week when I was reading in the book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 4 verse 15 to the end, right when Nephi is talking after Lehi dies, and It was just a nice reminder of the feelings of peace that always come from the Holy Ghost in the times of trouble, that we can always remember that Christ has felt everything that we pass through and when we put out trust in him we can overcome all the problems that we have. In this time of year we have been studying more about Christ and that was something I really like from this week and wanted to share. We’ll have a great week at home and I will write more next week

 

Love Elder Bird

 

Dec 3rd

 

Hey Family how is everything going at home? Sounds like everyone is getting ready for Christmas and the holidays now, things here are going well, not much has changed in the weather to say that it is almost Christmas but oh well, I guess it is a littler cooler than usual so that is good. This last week went well, it was pretty exciting getting to see all the members again here in Iguala and it was fun to see all their reactions thinking that I just came to visit. So it was a good week for us. We found quite a few people that are super excited about the gospel so that was awesome. First is a couple that have been going to another ward with one of their family members then we got a couple references and the three we were able to talk to this week were all really cool and one came to church yesterday alone even when the member that invited her couldn’t come because he son got sick. So this last week we had some pretty cool experiences. Things here in the last year haven’t changed too much, pretty much all the little kids from a year ago are now all a lot bigger so that was different, I didn’t recognize a lot of them. But yeah not much has changed here the ward is still doing well and hopefully in these next week our investigators we have can get baptized, hopefully everything goes well. And to answer your questions about Christmas whatever you want to send is fine but just not quite so much candy, for my birthday I think I got the candy needed but one candy I will ask for is Swedish fish that would be fun, then besides that whatever you want. Oh yeah is Greg still waiting for his visa or has he got to Spain yet? Well I hope that everyone has a good week at home.

 

Love Elder Bird

Nov 26th

 

 

Hey Family, how is everything going at home? This last week went by really fast for us, and pretty crazy and now I am not is Cuautla. So first off I am now back in Iguala where I was before and I am actually in the same ward that I was in before, in other words I am back in Insurgentes. Pretty crazy last week and transfers. So yeah this last week went by really fast because Friday and Saturday I had another leadership training so I was in Cuernvaca those days, so there wasn’t much time to work at the end of the week then, we got transfers. It is weird to think that I was in Casasano for almost 5 months and how fast the time has gone. Now it is even crazier to think that I am back in the same ward where I was a year ago, and that I will have Christmas both years on my mission in this same place. My new companion is Elder Flores he is from California, I don’t know too much about him but next week I will let you know a little more. For thanksgiving this last week we didn’t get to do anything super special just a normal day for us, sounds like thinks went well at home for everyone and that everyone had a good time golfing that’s fun. Well I hope that everyone has a good week, and I will write more next week...

 

Elder Bird

 

Here are some more pictures to make up for the lack of pictures lately. First here is the mexico city temple, second here i am in front of the temple and then third here is my district in from of the temple. Well here are some pictures I will try and send some more next week.

Nov 19th

 

Hey Family how is everything going at home? Things here are going well. This last week went by really fast with my P-day being on Wednesday this last week. So to answer your questions dad. We got to go so the temple as a new system that Pres. Kusch has put in that once a year a district can go to the temple on a Pday, so with the temple just being opened again, we took advantage of the new system and went to the temple as a district but the same day we went there were two other districts there as well so that was kind of cool. We took a bus up there then from the bus stop to the temple we went on the subway and then on a public bus so that was kind of fun going on the subway in Mexico. We got to see little more of the city but not much. Mexico city is a huge city it is crazy, and the thing is that it is not like huge city in other parts of the world but a huge city without really any tall buildings just a few and then the rest are just like houses and apartment buildings that are just a couple stories so it was really different from like New York or Chicago like the big cities in the US. So yeah that was our trip to the temple it was super cool, the temple there is awesome it is really big as well. so yeah that was exciting from this last week, then yesterday we had the confirmation of out baptism from last week so that was good as well. Things here in the mission are starting to change a lot and we were talking without bishop a couple days ago and we are starting to plan out the way we are going to work better with them members to put new goals and to be able to work with the new programs as well. He also explained a little more of how the new programs for the young men and women are going to be and how they are going to be applied to the whole ward, so things are going pretty well here. This is also the last week of the change so we will see what happens next week if I will be staying here more time or if I will be going to another area to finish. Also for thanksgiving here it is not a holiday here so it will be just a normal day for us, we are going to eat with some members who do things a little more like the US so we will see if anything exciting happens or not, but hope that everyone has a good thanks giving and if you see the cousins and such tell them hi from me. Here are some pictures since I haven’t sent them in a while. First is just a cool picture that I liked from when we went to the little town Taxco for the wedding and the old church on the hill. Then the second is the city of Taxco where everything is old style white and black writing it is a cool place from the little I saw. Then last are my companion and I in front of the big old church in this city. I will send some more in another email

 

Elder bird

 

Nov 14th

 

Hey Family how is everything going at home? Sounds like it is starting to be winter now there and here it is cooler but still not like home. Well like I assume you figured out we got to go to the temple today and we are still in Mexico City and we are heading back in about an hour. But the temple here is really cool but I will talk about it a little later. First off for last week, we had a pretty good week that went by really fast. last week we had a multimode conference in Cuernavaca with 4 zones from the mission so that was fun we talked more about the program of not knocking doors, and then how things are changing so much in the missionary work here in Mexico. Here in Mexico they are going to start off trying and working more with the members then move to other places but here in Mexico is where they are saying that it is being tried out. also all the information you told me dad they also told us there as well and then also something else really cool, well at least for me is that they are going to change the time of the transfers here in the mission and now I will get too more weeks in the mission, instead of going home in February like when I started I will now be getting home the first week of march, two weeks more in the mission, something for which I am super excited. then the next day we were able to go with one of our investigators to get married at a little town about two hours away called Taxco where they sell a lot of silver they have silver mines there so we went with them and they got married and then Usiel finally got baptized on Saturday after about 4 months that I have been working with him he finally got baptized so that was really cool. Then this week the most exciting is that today we are at the temple and it is really cool to go back to the temple after 17 months so that was fun. It was different doing everything is Spanish but that’s alright I understood everything and so that was super cool. Another cool thing was that in the temple I saw the bishop from my first ward in Zapata, and he talked a little with me the little he could and told me that he was released as bishop and now he and his wife are on a mission in the temple. it was even better because I didn’t think he would remember me but he talked to me and also something else cool was that in the multizone conference the elders that are in Zapata right now went and ate with Bernice my first baptism in the mission that day so that was fun to hear a little about here and that she is doing good she is going to church and that she had a baby so that was really fun to hear about her a little. So yeah this last week a lot of things happened so my letter is kind of all over the place next week I think I can explain a little better if you have questions. I also wanted to send pictures today but the computer didn’t let me so next week you can count on pictures. And dad I didn’t get the picture you sent this week maybe next week. Well I hope that everyone has a good week at home and I will write more next week

 

Elder Bird

 

Nov 5th

 

 

Hey Family, how is everything going at home? Things here are going well this last week went by really fast and I am sure this week will also. We had a pretty good week last week, we were able to receive quite a few referrals from the members these last two weeks so hopefully things go well with them and we can start teaching them about the gospel. We are also working with our investigators who aren’t married and hopefully this week or next week they will be getting married so they can get baptized soon after. Other than that nothing too exciting for this past week, the weather is starting to change and it is actually getting pretty cool here lately, and then to answer your question dad, they do have day light savings here in Mexico so it gets dark early as well then it gets cool as well so walking around in the dark it is pretty cold but oh well. Oh yeah something else exciting is that next week my district and I might being going to the temple on the 14th of November and so my P Day will be most likely Wends day next week. So we are pretty excited for that so if I don’t write on Monday don’t worry I will write on Wednesday but if you want to be sure you can still write me on Monday and I will respond later. Other things pretty exciting this week is that we are going to have a multi zone conference on Wednesday so we will be in Cuernavaca pretty much all day for a special conference to along with the changes we are having in the mission. That is also super cool to hear about Josh's mission call tell him congratulations for me and I will have little time at home before he leaves to tell him a little about Mexico even though it will be a different mission. Too bad to hear that Greg still doesn’t have his visa hopefully he can receive it soon and everything goes well for him. Well I hope that everyone has a good week at home and next week I will write more.

 

Love Elder Bird

 

Oct 22^nd

 

Hey family, sounds like things are going pretty much the same at home getting ready for winter. It is kind of weird not having the change to winter like at home. But here in Cuautla is actually cooler in the winter so after being in all the other parts of the mission it feels cool. Things this last week went pretty well. My new companion has a year in the mission so it is nice to have a companion who has a little more time and knows what to do. He started his mission here in the same zone then left to another area and now he is back so now he sees a lot of the same people that he saw before. Something cool this week was that we were able to go and talk with a guy who isn’t member but goes to church pretty much every week but couldn’t get baptized because he had to get married but now he is getting closer so we can work with him more to make it so he can get baptized soon so that was exciting. Now this week we are just going to have to work harder on finding more new investigators to teach that is our main goal now is find people. Besides that not too is changing here just the time flying by.

Oh yeah I still haven’t gotten my package yet, I am sure that it is in the offices but I have to wait till someone goes to Cuernavaca to get it but oh well soon I should have it. My birthday went pretty well but nothing too exciting just pretty much another day in the mission, but that’s alright being in the mission makes it worth it. I hope that everyone has a good week at home and I will write more next week.

 

Love Elder Bird

 

Oct 15th

 

Hey Family,

 

Thanks for all of the birthday wishes, it is nice to have my birthday on a P-Day but kind of lame because it was changes today and my companion was changed, so now I have a new companion here in Casasano, Elder Ayala. He is from a state called Gunajuato or something like that it is like in the middle of Mexico. So today has been kind of laid back day getting him to the area and then just getting settled. It is also crazy to think that tomorrow I will have 20 months in the mission, really weird to think about just more reason to work as hard as I can. Well this last week was kind of crazy I had another training meeting on Friday so that was kind of cool hearing more from President Kusch especially about the transfers and to remind us that the changes are made by the Lord and that it is exactly where we need to be. That was pretty much it for last week not too many things exciting but things are going pretty well. Oh yeah I got a letter from Leslie today so that was cool if you see here tell her thanks for the letter to hear how things are going. Then also tell grandma I got here letter and to tell her thank you as well. So I hope that everyone has a great week and I will write more next week.

 

Love Elder Bird

 

Oct 8th

Hey Family,

 

How is everything going at home? Sounds like everyone had a fun time at home this last week. Sounds like dads birthday was fun and the family is doing well. This last week was pretty good for us here. Especially with General Conference, I love General Conference. This general conference was good, the new about missionaries is cool, here in Mexico all the young men already leave at 18 so that is not anything new but the girls being able to leave at 19 that is new so that is cool. We will just have to see how much it changes things now. I was able to watch all of the session, I got to see them in English (it just isn’t the same in Spanish even though I understand) so that was fun. I really like pretty much all of the talks but on that I think I might have like the most of Elder Holland’s talk. His talk was pretty much the same as one he gave in the MTC about a month before I started the mission and we have watched it a couple of times here in the mission and I love he relates our conversion to the early apostles. That when we started in the gospel it wasn’t just a for a little time or it wasn’t just for my mission but it was forever that we choose to follow the Lord and it is forever not for just three years of till we are tired but forever and that was one of my favorites. Also the talk by President Uchtdorf in the Saturday Morning session about choosing to be happy and it is our choice and when we choose to be happy everything goes better. I have come to know and love the principle here in the mission, when I choose to be happy things go better but when I don’t and just am kind of sad, the days just go long and nothing seems to go right but with that attitude change, pretty much everything changes. So those were two talks I like a lot but I really enjoyed all of conference. This last week we were also able to find a couple of cool people to teach thy both seem really ready to accept the Gospel so hopefully things everything goes well with them. Also this is the last week of the transfer so we will see what happens we will have to see if I stay here or if I will go, I think that I will stay one more transfer then get changed to another area but will see. It will also be interesting to see if I get changed on my Birthday with the 15th falling on next Monday we will just have to wait and see. Well I hope everyone has a great week at home and I will write again next week.

 

Love Elder Bird

Oct 1st

 

Hey family how is everything going at home? This last week things went a little tough for us since on Thursday I got sick and well I am still sick, I got a stomach infection so yeah it was kind of lame but I am getting better so that is good. The worst part was that we started off the week working really well and finding more people to teach and it was looking like a really good week but oh well this week we will just have to work a little harder. Also this last week I also finally got my visa renewed after it expired in April so that was good, I am legally here in Mexico again, yaya. So, yeah that is pretty much all for this last week, not much work and a lot of rest. I am super excited for this week though since we have General Conference, the opportunity to listen to the prophet again and see what everyone has to say. It is also crazy to think that this will be my 4th general conference in the mission, time sure flies. Oh yeah and happy birthday dad on Wednesday hope you have a great day and everything goes well. Well sorry it is kind of small letter but I hope that everyone has a good week at home and I will write more next week.

 

Love Elder Bird

 

September 24th

 

Hey family how is everything going at home? Things here are a little slow with the new changes we are making it is different so it takes a little getting used to. This last week we worked a lot more with less active members, and we have plans for doing the same this week. This week we are also going to have to focus a lot more again on finding new investigators. Most of the investigators that we have had have pretty much all fallen and we are having to start pretty much over again, but oh well it happens. There are a lot of people that are ready to hear the gospel here in our area we just have to go find them and that is our task now. Hopefully with the new programs we can find more of the people prepared and that they can then stay closer to the church since they will already have a friend inside the church. So yeah that is pretty much all for around here but that is cool that the Brigham City Temple was dedicated. I am also super excited to have General Conference coming up soon. I love hearing for the prophet and the apostles. The good thing too is that our church is the stake center so our investigators can to go like normal and see the conference. I also heard that they are making pretty much all the church here in Mexico available for General Conference through internet so that will be interesting to see if that all works out. It is crazy to think that next week is already October time just keeps on flying just means that I have to work harder than, so I hope everyone has a good week at home and I will write more next week.

 

Love Elder Bird

Hey Family, how is everything going at home? Sounds like things are going well nothing too exciting. Things here are going pretty good. Last week we had a conference with President Kusch with two zones and now things are starting to change here in the mission, but a change for good. First is we are changing when we are going to do our planning for the week, right now we do it Sunday night but we are changing to plan on Thursday morning so that will be different more time to work Sundays and this will help with us complete more of our goals. Then also we are going to start working only with members and so it is a goal starting in October of not knocking doors anymore but work just with members and references so that will be different. I am excited for the changes to work more with the members and have more references. So now we are getting used to the changes and hopefully it will help us have more success here in the mission. That is pretty much the most interesting thing from last week and so hopefully everything goes well with that and we can work better with the members.

 

That is cool that Taylor talked in church yesterday, I was actually going to ask about him and see how he is doing. That is awesome that he had a successfull mission. Oh yeah have you heard anything about Brian Orr from his dad or nothing just wondering about that. It is also crazy to think that another month has passed since I started the mission now I am at 19 months crazy to think. I love the mission and when I go home I will miss it so much so now I am just trying to not think of how much time I have left and just use it the best I can. I want to continue getting better and working harder. So that is my focus now is just apply the new programs that we have work harder and focus more on the people to help them receive the blessing of the gosple.

 

Well that’s all for this week hope that everyone has a good we at home and I will write more next week.

 

Love Elder Bird

 

PS for my birthday whatever you want to send is well received, some cool pictures of church stuff would be cool, like a picture of the Mexico City Temple that I can use to show the people here about what is the temple and then like whatever else you want. Thanks

 

Hey Family,

How is everything going at home? How is everyone enjoying Labor Day at home? Things here are going pretty well, today was transfers but neither of got transferred so it is kind of easier day for us. Things last week were kind of slow for us we weren’t able to find too many new investigators but this week we are going to focus a lot more on finding that is what we are lacking in our area right now and especially finding through members so that is what we are going to focus on this week is using the members better asking for more referrals and all that kind of stuff. This week with the new transfer starting we are starting new as well we didn’t have too much success this last change but this next we are planning on doing a lot better and working more with the ward. Our ward is pretty big and there are a lot of members that I am sure have people that want to hear about the gospel so we just have to start using the members more and finding the people that the Lord is preparing for us to teach here. It is crazy to think that is already September and that school has already started and it just makes me want to keep working harder and harder to finish the best I can and to keep improving as a missionary and as a person. I am going to start taking more pictures and then I will send them to you guys. Also in what part of Mexico did John Marshall serve as mission president? I think that only thing that I can think of that I would maybe need would be some more Cetaphil so that hopefully I won’t run out before I get home and if I think of anything else I will let you, and anything else you want to send if well received here. Well I hope that everyone has a good week at home and I will write more next week.

 

Love Elder Bird

Hey Family,

Sounds like everyone had a good time in Disneyland so that is good. Things here are doing about the same as last week, we just seem to keep finding people that are interested in the Gosple but arent married. It kind of feels like all of our investigators right now need to get married so thatis kind of a bummer but oh well, we can work through that. This last week we went to a little town that is part of the other ward that we cover called Tetla del Volcan, it is a little town that is right up by the Volcano of which i sent a couple pictures before. It is a little town that is about a hour away from where we live and it is a town where there arent really members of the church except a couple and we recieved the name of a member to visit there and when we got there she was super excited to see us. It is a town that is pretty big and it was pretty weird to think that there are so many people there that have never heard of the Gospel that have never heard of the blessings that they can recieve from living the gospel. The problem is that it is a town that is really far away from the church and to go you have to take a conbi (a little bus) which coast 20 pesos to get to church and 20 to get back so 40 pesos for each person to go, so the problem is that is far and then the people there dont really have much work to gain the money to go each week so sadly the member we visited hasnt gone for a while to church. It just reminds me of just how blessed we are to live in an area where the gospel is, where we are able to have the true church so close to where we live. Seeing that little town just remindes me of how much I want to share this message with the people that surround me. Another cool thing that happened last week was that we went and visited a former investigator who my companion taught when he frist got here to the area, and she had know the missionaries for a long time. One of the reasons is that she isnt married (yet again) but the other is she says she just hasnt taken the decision to work towards getting married and then baptised. So my companion told me that when he first went to visit here that she didnt take everything very seriously but when we went back to visit her she told us that she felt that the church was true and they they had decided that her and her husband were going to get married so that was really cool to hear. It is just an example that everyone has there time to accept the gosple and that our work never is in vain that even if it is years later that the people can accept the gospel. Thats pretty much it for last week, time just keeps on flying this is the last week of the transfer I assume that I wont get changed the next week but who knows after the last transfers. Well I hope that everyone has a good week at home and I will write more next week.

Love Elder Bird

Hey Family, how is everything going at home? Are you still in Disneyland? or have you gotten home? Well this last week I completed a year and a half in the mission so that is crazy to think about, it doesn’t feel like it has been that long. This last week went pretty well for us we were able to find a couple people that seem interested so hopefully we can work with them in the next couple weeks and they can progress. The one problem that we have with quite a few of our investigators is that they need to get married to be able to get baptized so hopefully in this week we can set up everything with a member here that is a judge and marries people so we can get them so that they can get baptized in the next couple weeks so that is pretty much mostly who we are working with right now. Not too much happened this last week but I hope that everyone has a good week this week and I will write more next week.

Love Elder Bird

Hey Family, sounds like things were kind of exciting for the family at home this week with Sarah getting hit and such. Hope that everything is alright now at home and such. Well this last week was kind of different week mostly because my companion got sick and so I tried working with some members so we could keep working but it was kind of hard to find two members to help us and then we had our zone conference this last week but since my companion was sick we had to stay home and so we weren’t able to go so this week was kind of long and not very exciting at the start but the good thing was that on Saturday we were able to have a baptism of an investigator of the Elders who were in the other ward that we are covering for now so that was cool, I didn’t really know her very well since whenever we went with her I was in divisions or at the leadership training I had so that was different from all my other baptisms but oh well. Then the rest of the week was kind of hard since we were able to work like we wanted to so we found a couple people to teach this week so hopefully they can progress as well and then we have a  others investigators who are progressing but the problem is we have to get them married first, it is kind of weird here but all of our investigators that we have we have to get married pretty much. So hopefully this week my companion get feeling better and we can work harder this week and find the people that are being prepared for the gospel.

Hope that everyone has a good week at home and in Disneyland and I will write more next week

Love Elder Bird

 Hey Family,

Sounds like everything is going well at home doesn’t sound like too much is changing. So after kind of tough first week here in the area this last week went much better for us. This was a week full of cool things that happened. First off in this week we were able to find quite a few people that are really prepared to hear the gospel, first was a couple that went to church both yesterday and the week before, so we went to teach them and at the end of the lesson I asked what they would be willing to do if the found out that the church was true and they answer saying they would get baptized without us even having talked really about baptism at all so that was awesome and then yesterday I asked the wife how she felt about everything how she felt in church and she said she felt it was true the she felt she knew it was true so that was really cool to hear the only problem is that they aren’t married so we have to work with them to get them married then they can get baptized. Then we also meet one of the investigators that the other elders were teaching in the other area we are covering and she is really excited and is going to get baptized this Saturday so hopefully everything goes well with her (Cristina) in this week. Another was a reference we also received his name is Alejandro and he is super excited as well he went to church yesterday so that was cool he also accepted a baptismal date for the 25th of this month. Hopefully he can keep progressing and can stop drinking because that is one of the main reasons that he wanted to listen to us.

Another fun thing this week was that I went to another leadership training in cuernavaca the first with President Kusch so that was cool it was a really cool conference one to see all of my friends in the mission and then two to learn. We learned more about the conversion of the people through the Holy Ghost so that was cool and how we help the people to really be converted to the gospel and to receive the testimony they need to progress and to gain the eternal life. So that was super cool and then finally this week I had to do a baptismal interview and that is one of my favorite parts of being District Leader is the interviews to hear the testimonies of the people that are going to get baptized. I did the interview for someone named Bernecie and she has a super strong testimony that she shared with me and it all ways just reminds me of the work that we are doing and how we can help the people to receive the happiness in their lives.

So over all this last week went well so hopefully things go well this week as well. Hope that everyone has a good week at home

Love Elder Bird

PS crazy to think that school is starting up here in this week crazy to think how time is flying

PSS Everyone is watching the Olympics here to answer your question dad

 

Hey Family how is everything going at home? Sounds like a fun week at home for everyone with all the family activates. Things here went pretty well, kind of hard getting to know a new area again and it is kind of the same how Burgos was when Elder Porter and I got there so kind was kind a disappointing having to start over again but oh well that’s how it goes. This week we got to know a lot of the members and there are a lot here it is way different from being in Burgos yesterday in church we filled up the Sacrament Meeting with probably close to two hundred members there so that was cool. Our area is pretty big so hopefully things goes well this week and we can work well and have a good week. I would love to tell you more about the area but I still don’t really know anything about it I just know it is bigger than Burgos and that there are a lot more members. I don’t know our street name but it is right off the highway of Cuernavaca Cuatla by and OXXO but I don’t think that is much help but I will investigate what our street name is and let you know next week.. Well I think that is all for this week I will write more next week. Have a great week

 

 

 

Love Elder Bird

Hey Family how is everything going at home for you all? Sounds like Sun Valley was fun, that house you stayed in sounds super nice and the pictures show that the pool was at least. Well so on Saturday we got the call for transfers and again after just one transfer in Burgos I was changed to an area in called Casasano but the thing is that this area is still in the same zone that I was in and the same city so I am only like twenty minutes from  Burgos so that is kind of weird. It was pretty sad since we were having a lot of success in Burgos and there is still a lot of work left to do there and we had quite a few plans Elder Porter and I to help the branch keep growing and to help out our investigators since all of them are getting close to baptism so that was kind of sad to get changed again. It was kind of sad especially since when we got there we didn’t really have anything and now there are a lot of investigators who are progressing really well but I know that there is a reason that I was there and now I know that there is a reason that I was changed but still it is kind of hard to leave and especially since I will be so close. So anyways yeah my new area I don’t really know anything about it my companion is from Peru so now I have had two companions for South America. His name is Elder Huaman from Trujillo Peru I think but I am not sure I will check and let you know. I kind of know him a little but not much so we will see how things go. I am back to being District Leader again so that will be like in Acapulco and the difference is that my companion only has like 5 months in the mission two transfers here in Mexico and like 2 months in Peru so that is different, a new area and some new challenges, but oh well. So yeah that is pretty much it for last week kind of sad but I know that President Kusch was called to lead our mission and so I know that this is where I am supposed to be. Well I hope that everyone have a good week this week, with the family reunion and with Jacquis wedding. Tell everyone hi from me at the wedding at reunion. Oh yeah I got you packages today thanks for sending them. Hope that everyone has a good week at home.

 

Love Elder Bird

 

Elder Matthew Bird's new Mission President, his wife and his area missionaries

Hey Family,

How is everything going at home? Sounds like fun that you are all up at Sun Valley. Hope that you all have fun there this week. This week here didnt go as well as we wanted we had a little bit of a tough time finding people to teach this week and then the ones we found still havent gone to church so that was kind of a bummer but oh well little by little. Things here in the branch are doing well, our branch president is starting to call more members to callings and this last week we got a Ward  Mission Leader so that was cool he is a convert from about a year ago and is really cool he has a super strong testimony so that is pretty awesome that we will now get to work with him more. For a lot of this change we have mostly been working with less active members and we have had quite a bit of success there a couple of the families we have visited have started come back to church so that is cool. We still have quite a few investigators that can get baptised in the next couple weeks they pretty much have everything they just have to decide that they want to get baptized so that is what we are working on now. We have like 4 investigators that all have quite a few times coming to church so we are just working with them on that now to recognize there answer that this is true and make the decision to get baptized so hopefully we can work with them in these next week and get them to be baptized. So this last transfer has gone by really fast we are already in the last week of the transfer so that is pretty crazy that it has gone so fast. Oh yeah dad my area is two branches so we dont cover a ward but are working on it so that we can go some times to the other branch but is kind of hard since it is a little town far away so hopefully things goes well and we can start working more there and having success there too. Well I think that is all for this week, have a good week in Sun Valley and Katie Happy Birthday have a good day with the family.


Love Elder Bird

Hey Family,

How is everything going at home? How was the 4th of July anything exciting happen or just the same like the other years. Well things here are going well as usual. This last week we had our first conference with President Kusch it went well, he seems really cool, he learned Spanish almost 40 years ago in his mission to Guatemala and El Salvador, so he is working on remembering all his Spanish. Then his wife doesn't speak really any Spanish at all, she can introduce her self and then bear here testimony so that will be work for her to learn but oh well she will get there just like all the rest of us here in the mission. The conference was here in Cuatla so that was nice it was just the two zones here in the city so that was fun and it was here close in the church were we attend. In this conference I was also able to see Elder Rodriguez again so that was fun. But anyways this week went well we learned about being diligent this week with working hard even things weren't going the best for us. We started out the week with out finding anyone new to teach until Friday we found one person but on Saturday we were able to work really hard and we were able to find 9 new investigators this day so that was really good and quite a few of them seem really interested so that was awesome, hopefully they can progress well and feel that this is the true church. We also were able to work with quite a few of our investigators and quite a few accepted a baptismal date so that was cool we have three investigators this week that could get baptised so we will have to see, we are going to check with them tomorrow and they figure out if this week they will get baptised or the next so hopefully everything goes well. So things here are going well but the crazy thing is that we are already in the 5th week of this transfer oh well just got to keep working hard as i can. Well hope that everyone has a good week at home.

                                                        Cutting a tree down with a machete

                                         A volcano in the state north of Elder Bird's mission

Love Elder Bird

Hey Family,

How is everything going at home? Seems like everything is pretty much the same as before. Things here are going well. On Thursday President Kusch got here and President Spannaus went home, and tomorrow we are going to have a conference with President Kusch to get to know him but what we have heard so far is that he is really excited and should be really good. Other than that we have just been working like normal again, we had a pretty good week last week the problem yet again was getting our investigators to come to church we have found a couple families in the past couple weeks but we are just working on getting them to come to church now. The thing here that we have to work with is that we have quite a few investigators that have quite a few times in church but just havent committed to be baptised yet so that is what we are focusing on now. We have a couple that we are working with Javier and Isabel and we are going to go with them to tonight so hopefully everything goes well and they can accept to be baptised and recieve there answer that this is the true church. We are doing a lot better now we know the area and most the members cause there arent that many members here so that is what we are working with hopefully this week we can keep up with finding new investigators and having succes. This last week we did spend quite a bit of time working with less acitve members and we were able to have a couple of the families that we are visiting come to church so that was really cool, it seems that in my mission I havent worked all that much with less active members and that is something that i want to change for my last months here and so yesterday was something exciting to see those families come back and so hopefully we can keep working with them so that they get active in the church again. Other than that we are working with some people that are interested so hopefully that goes well with them in this week and we can have a successful week and everything. Well i hope that everything goes week at home this week and everyone has a happy 4th of July.

Love Elder Bird

Hey Family,

How is everything going at home things here are going good. This last week went pretty well for us. We worked hard this last week and had quite a bit of success. Our first week we were able to get a lot of refferals from the members and this last week we were able to teach quite a few of those referrals so this last week went well in that aspect we were able to find two families and then a couple other people. One of the new investigators that we found is really cool he lives in the other branch that we have to cover and has apperently been going to church for like two months and has read a lot of the Book of Mormon so that was cool to talk to him. The only thing is that he has a lot of questions about everything so we are trying to work with him on that the only problem is that he lives pretty far away but oh well. In these two weeks it seems that we have gotten to know our area pretty well since it is really small so that is good. We are also working a lot with less active members that live in our area because our branch is super small but there are a lot of members that are less active so we want to work with them to help the branch get stronger and then also bringing in new members. Also we are working to get the members excited because most arent the most excited to help us and such so that is what we are working with now. This week is also pretty sad since it is last week of President Spannaus and Presidente Kusch will get here the 28th I am pretty sure so this week will be different but i am excited. I learned a lot from President Spannaus but the good thing is that he will visit Utah some times so hopefully I will be able to see him again after. Well i think that is pretty much all for this week, I hope that everyone has a good week at home and I will write again next week.


Love Elder Bird


PS my belt is just kind of big not really becasue i have lost that much weight, mostly i have lost weight to make my neck smaller i think. But i am getting enough food, they feed us alot here.

Elder Bird & his new comp. Elder Porter from Spanish Fork!

Hey Family how is everything going at home this last week? Nothing too new or exciting? Jonathan sounds like your trip was awesome. Things here are going well, it is deffinatly a change from acapulco. There are no hills here in my area, the area we can cross walking in like 15 minutes it is super small, and to answer  you question it is deffinatly not hotter than acapulco. All this last week it was raining so that was awesome and it was good that there was an umbrella in our house that i could use so i didnt get wet. but the weather here is super nice it kind of feels like spring in utah here kind of, so it is nice. The city is not really big but there are a lot of members here there are 3 stakes here so that is awesome. we are in the stake zapata in the brach burgos. The branch is really small so we have a lot of work to do. Yesterday at church to start the services there was only like ten people there so that was a change from all the wards i have been in the mission where they have all been strong large wards so my companion and i am excited to be here. My companion is Elder Porter he is from Spanish Fork so pretty close to home, he is really cool he has a year in the mission, we have been friends for a while now becasue we both got to acapulco at the same time and now we are companions so that is cool. This last week was pretty much just getting to know all of the members and investigators so that was fun it was a pretty good week not so good number wise but we worked really hard this week and hopefully in this next week we can have more sucess and use more time to teach we didnt teach too much this last week with just getting to know everyone. We do have a couple that we are teaching so hopefully everything goes well with them in the next couple weeks and that they can get baptised soon. Thats about it for this week just a lot of getting to know the people and then also a lot of rain. Well hope that everyone has a good week at home and Happy Fathers day dad.

Love elder Bird

Hey family

how is everything going at home this week hope things are all going well. well the big news from this week is that i was changed to a new area back up by cuernavaca in a city called cuatla. i am now very far away from the ocean and back closer to my first area. my new companion is an elder that i have know for a while now he was the other district leader in acapulco and now we are companions opening up our area. our area is called burgos it is a branch here and the area is really small and flat so that is change from a lot of hills and a big area. we also have another branch that we can also cover so that will be interesting to see how everything goes i am excited to be here and one of the elders before was my compaions elder fernandez so that is kind of fun. this last week in acapulco went pretty well for us we had quite a few really cool lessons and it is sad that i wont be there to see quite a few of our investigators get baptized but oh well the most important things is they get baptized so hopefully everything goes well for them in the next couple weeks. it was pretty sad to leave acapulco after all the experiences that i was able to experience there all the people that i meet and the people i was able to teach. well i hope that everyone has a good week and i will write more next week to tell you a little more about the area and how the frist week here went.


Love Elder Bird

Here are some pictures of Elder Bird's new area Cuatla, Mexico

Hey Family how is everything going at home this last week? Nothing too new or exciting? Jonathan sounds like your trip was awesome. Things here are going well, it is deffinatly a change from acapulco. There are no hills here in my area, the area we can cross walking in like 15 minutes it is super small, and to answer  you question it is deffinatly not hotter than acapulco. All this last week it was raining so that was awesome and it was good that there was an umbrella in our house that i could use so i didnt get wet. but the weather here is super nice it kind of feels like spring in utah here kind of, so it is nice. The city is not really big but there are a lot of members here there are 3 stakes here so that is awesome. we are in the stake zapata in the brach burgos. The branch is really small so we have a lot of work to do. Yesterday at church to start the services there was only like ten people there so that was a change from all the wards i have been in the mission where they have all been strong large wards so my companion and i am excited to be here. My companion is Elder Porter he is from Spanish Fork so pretty close to home, he is really cool he has a year in the mission, we have been friends for a while now becasue we both got to acapulco at the same time and now we are companions so that is cool. This last week was pretty much just getting to know all of the members and investigators so that was fun it was a pretty good week not so good number wise but we worked really hard this week and hopefully in this next week we can have more sucess and use more time to teach we didnt teach too much this last week with just getting to know everyone. We do have a couple that we are teaching so hopefully everything goes well with them in the next couple weeks and that they can get baptised soon. Thats about it for this week just a lot of getting to know the people and then also a lot of rain. Well hope that everyone has a good week at home and Happy Fathers day dad.

Love elder Bird

Hey family

how is everything going at home this week hope things are all going well. well the big news from this week is that i was changed to a new area back up by cuernavaca in a city called cuatla. i am now very far away from the ocean and back closer to my first area. my new companion is an elder that i have know for a while now he was the other district leader in acapulco and now we are companions opening up our area. our area is called burgos it is a branch here and the area is really small and flat so that is change from a lot of hills and a big area. we also have another branch that we can also cover so that will be interesting to see how everything goes i am excited to be here and one of the elders before was my compaions elder fernandez so that is kind of fun. this last week in acapulco went pretty well for us we had quite a few really cool lessons and it is sad that i wont be there to see quite a few of our investigators get baptized but oh well the most important things is they get baptized so hopefully everything goes well for them in the next couple weeks. it was pretty sad to leave acapulco after all the experiences that i was able to experience there all the people that i meet and the people i was able to teach. well i hope that everyone has a good week and i will write more next week to tell you a little more about the area and how the frist week here went.


Love Elder Bird

Hey Family,

How is everything going at home? Sounds like a interesting week for everyone especially Katie and Reed with the Jeep blowing up. This week here was pretty good, like you said Dad really hot you can tell it is getting to be summer but even so there isnt too much of a difference from when i got here but it is still hot.  This last week we had the baptism of Genar, it was way cool we had it wendesday in the night so there were a lot of members there because there are always activites that day in the night so  yeah that was the hightlight of the week. then also this week we were also able to find some pretty cool new investigatros hopefully everything goes well with them. Then one of  our investigators Aurora who we have  been working with for a while to stop smoking is progessing really well right now hopefully she can stop smoking this week like put the goal to do so hopefully everything goes well with her and then she can get baptised in the next couple weeks, then also her son Roberto hopefully he can get baptised in this week  and everything goes well with him in this week, he is also really excited so hopefully there are no problems in this week. Well yet again this is the last week of the change so we will see what happens next week if I stay here for another transfer or if I will get changed to another area we sill just have  to see. It is super weird to think that I have six months here in Acapulco the time just keeps flying by it seems like just yesterday I was getting here to Acapulco but oh well I just have to use the time that I have left the best I can. Well hope that everyone has a good week at home and I will write again next week


Love Elder Bird

Hey Family,

How is everything going at home this week for everyone? Things here are going well this last week went better than the week before. This last week we had our last zone conference with President Spannaus so that was kind of sad but it was a really good conference I really enjoyed it. I feel really blessed that I was able to have President Spannaus for my mission president at least for the time that I have had him as my president. I have learned a lot from him and sister Spannaus in the time that I have been in the mission and there help has helped me so much in my mission so far and will keep helping me and even after. Kind of sad that they live so far away but the good thing is that Presidente Spannaus will go to Utah every so often so that would be cool to see him when he is there. So yeah we had our conference and then we had some more success finding more new investigators so that was good. Also in this week we should have the baptism of one of our investigators Genaro so that will be cool an then hopefully we can find some more new investigators for this month. It is crazy to think that it is almost June and in two week we have changes so I am pretty sure that I will be changed in this next change but we will just have to wait and see what happenes. To answer you question dad no nothing happened with the hurrican that came close to here. It is still hot and hasnt really rained so yeah nothing too exciting here. well hope that everyone has a good week and I will write again next week.


Love Elder Bird

Hey Family,

How is everything going at home, how was the busy week for the family? How did Graces birthday go? Addies dance performance? This last week was kind of tough week for us, we had trouble finding most of our investigators this week so that was kind of disappointing but oh well hopefully this week goes better, This week we are hoping to get a couple referrals from the family that got baptised a couple weeks ago so that is what we are hoping for this week. We have a couple of investigators that are progressing pretty well hopefully in the next couple weeks they can get baptised. Not too much happened in this last week so not too much to write but I hope that everyone has a good week at home and that everything goes well. Oh yeah what happened with the new Stake President?


Love Elder Bird

Hey Family,

It was fun seeing everyone yesterday and seeing that pretty much everything is the same. Well things here are going good we had a pretty good week last week we were able to find some investigators that are really excited about the gospel and so hopefully everything goes well with them in the next couple weeks It just seems weird to me to think that it is alreay May and how fast time has gone. Well I hope that everyone has a good week this week, and I will write more next week.


Love Elder Bird

hey Family,

 how is everything going at home? Crazy to think that it is May already, and that this week is mothers day. Well this last week went really fast for us since most of this week we were in Cuernavaca for a leadership training with President Spannaus and his wife, so this last week was really cool. We left Wednesday in the afternoon and were in Cuernavaca until Friday in the night. The meetings that we had were really cool it was way fun to hear from President Spannaus for one of the last times before he goes home. We focused alot on our purpose as missionaries  why we are here and what we want to make of our missions, I really enjoyed it. One of the coolest parts I think was that we watched a video for the District the dvds for Preach my Gospel of a family that got baptised and there impressions of missionaries and then we watched it again but with a part added on to the ending where it showed that after that time they went and got sealed in the temple and we focused on that is our real purpose as missionaries is not only to get the people to be baptised but to make it so that they can make it to the temple and keep receiving the blessings of the gospel for there whole life so that was really cool, the whole conference was really good, it was also cool to see quite a few of my friends that where there so that was fun also. This next week we are going to work alot on what we learned to make our area even better so I am excited for that, hopefully this week goes really well for us and we can apply all of the things that we learned in this last week. So mostly last week we werent here in Acapulco so not too much went on here but oh well. Also this week since it is mothers day on Sunday I was thinking of hopefully using Skype this time if I can get it too work but I was thinking at like in between like 2-3 at home if that would work for everyone at home if not hopefully you can let me know today before we finish so like if Dad has meetings or anything we can plan something different. Well thats pretty much it for this week and I will see or talk to you this Sunday.

Love Elder Bird

Hey Family,

How is everything going this week sounds like the weather is still like the crazy Utah weather that I am used to just like last year when it was hot on the first day of conference then snowed on Sunday when I was in the MTC. Crazy to think that I have had 3 of my 4 General Conferences in the mission. The General Conference was awesome I watched the first session in Spanish then the rest in English so that was fun to hear the vocies of all of them this time instead of the translator but either way I enjoyed everything that I heard. I like a lot of the talkes yet again I took a lot of notes to study during the next couple weeks till I get a copy of the Liahona with them. This last week went well were were able to get quite a few of our investigators to go to the conference so that was really cool we are hopefully going to be able to baptize a family this week they are all really cool the wife has had her answer for a couple weeks but we started teaching her husband later so we have been trying to get them all to baptised together so hopefully this weeks is the week if not the next and then we also have investigators that can be baptised hopefully the rest of the month hopefully they all keep progressing and everything goes well. This week was a good week except we werent able to find too many new investigators so hopefully we can find some more this week. Well thats about it for the last week hopefully everything goes well this week at home for everyone.


Love Elder Bird


PS President Spannaus was called to be an Area Seventy in the confernce saturday crazy, and he hasnt even finished his time a mission president. Dont know if you noticed

I have been behind with Elder Bird's letters, so here are the letters from the last month and some of his pictures he sent home.

He is still in Acapulco for another transfer, he will have been there for 6 months after this transfer is over.

Hey Family,

Well I am still here in Acapulco so that is cool, I am excited hopefully everything goes well for this change here. It is werid to think that I am going to be here in Acapulco for 6 months after this change so yeah I am excited. Well Sounds like everything is going well at home. Things here are good. This last week went by really fast for us we used a lot of time doing service this week so that took alot of our time. Then the rest of the week was kind of slow a lot of our investigators we couldnt find this week so that was kind of disappointing, but oh well hopefully this week we can find them again. Also this week we were able to find a couple new investigators so that was cool one of them is a guy named Diego he seems really cool he has an interesting story that we are finding out at as the time goes on, and then also we are excited to hopefully be able to start teaching some of the family of Ernestina and  Juan who were just baptized, so that would be cool if we can teach them as well. Weird to think that it is pretty much May, oh speaking of which we are pretty sure that we can talk for mothers day through skype but I have no Idea how to use it so if you want to set up my an account and then explain to me how to use it next week we can make the plans for Mothers day in two weeks. Well that is pretty much if for this last week, hope that everything goes well at home this week.


Love Elder Bird

                                               Elder Bird with Elders from the MTC

                                                 Elder Bird and Moises' baptism - top
                                                   Baptism of Juan Ernestina & Angel