¡Hola!
Thank you guys so much for all the birthday wishes! It was an amazing day. Mom was worried that I wasn't going to get my package in time because it was moving a little slower than the last. Little did she know we had mission council perfectly on the 26th. My comp also surprised me with a cake and everyone sang. It was a joyous occasion that even ended with a face-full of cake. Yesterday we ate MORE cake with an awesome family as we celebrated both Elder Torres and I's birthday. It was a great day to turn 21. ''One year older and more or less wiser, too,'' as my son Elder Johnson would say. Now we finally begin the last week of the cycle and Elder Turnbull and I's last week as comps before he heads back to good 'ole Canada. Lots of cliffhangers this week. Like, who will be my next comp? Will I get to see Elder Turnbull cry? Will I cry? How many days/hours will it take for me to finish all the candy my family sent me? So many questions and so many answers to said questions to be given at a later day (if I remember). For lack of time and concentration, I will end this update with an invitation. ¡ILUMINA EL MUNDO! LIGHT THE WORLD!! ''Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.'' 3 Nephi 27:27 Find out how you can be more like Christ and light the world with His love this December here: mormon.org Love, Now 21-year-old Elder Foust
0 Comments
Cooling down a bit, baptisms for the Sisters and building a house on top of a mountain...11/23/2016 ¡Hola!
¡Feliz Día de Acción de Gracias! Holy Gatos! How in the world are we near the end of November? Can time just like, chill for a second. It has finally cooled down here in Mexico. I actually wake up pretty cold and have to turn on the heater every once in a while. It worries Elder Turnbull a bit because the Great White North in December might just be a little colder. I'm so glad that I'm returning in the Summer. We still walk around without jackets and hats and people think we are insane. At least I'm wearing shoes in the cold now, right Mom? No, but I am loving resting my red hot chili pepper face from the burning sun for a tad bit. It was unfortunate that the only day it was actually hot was on Friday when we had a zone service project planned. We helped build part of a house that a part member family has on top of the mountain. It is literally on the last street. Basically our work consisted of digging out several ditches, laying out the ground work for part of the foundation to the house. It was hot and there was a LOT of dirt. Luckily, there was a lot of us and delcious tacos waiting for us after. Ooohh, and this hermana knows how to make delicious steak tacos. They are cooked so perfectly over a fire and served with fried onions, nopales, and an amazing habanero salsa. Worth it. It was also a ton of fun to do it as a zone. Great experience. Saturday was full of baptisms. Not ours, the hermanas'. We still helped get everything organized for the service. They were 5 little kids from 9-14 years old. Elder Lynch did the baptisms and Elder Turnbull and I did the confirmations in church on Sunday. They are pretty awesome kids and it was great to be a part of that experience. I of course have more to say but such little time. Things have been just going to fast and everyday there is something new and exciting. I am super grateful for every experience I have had and every experience I will have here in Mexico. Just the other night as we were coming down the mountain on our way home I just looked out into the sea of lights down in the valley. Sometimes there are interesting days and I forget just how blessed I am to be here. However, in that moment I just felt so grateful. I'm in Mexico, I'm a missionary and I'm so happy to be able to say that. Have an amazing week, coman bien! Love, Elder Foust A visit by an Area Authority, learning of the attributes of Christ and playing in the forest...11/16/2016 ¡Hola!
Writing bright and early today because we have an awesome zone activity planned. (9:00 AM) The church has some property in the Iztaccíhuatl-Popocatépetl National Park. It's a forested area near the mountains and I've heard it's incredible. We're heading over there for the day to have our missionary meetings then obviously to play and eat hamburgers after. I'm pretty excited and will definitely have pictures ready for next week. This week we were visited by an Area Seventy, Elder Jesus Alfonso Ortiz Tirado and his wife. It was an amazing experience! We had a zone conference on Thursday with half the mission. President and Sister Stutznegger focused on the attributes of a disciple of Christ what we must do in order to become one. After, Elder Ortiz and his wife focused on a similiar subject, what are our goals in life and the importance of being contiually faithful. I definitely felt the conference's focus helped me more as an individual follower of Christ and what I must do to fulfill the plan that God has for me. I have concentrated a lot who I am and who I want to become and what are the changes necessary to make it happen. On Saturday, we had another meeting with them as Zone Leaders. It pretty much was the same theme but with an emphasis on leadership and how Christ's example can help us become greater leaders. Basically, my heart and mind has been full of ideas and overwhelming feelings for the past few days! I probably would have exploded but luckily was able to work out a lot of ideas in my journal and with my comp. Elder and Sister Ortiz are awesome and incredible examples of faith, love, and dedication. Definitely grateful for their wonderful visit. I have of course some more crazy, awesome news to share with everyone but no time because I'm going to spend the day with crazy, awesome people doing crazy, awesome things. So, have an crazy, awesome week. Love, Elder Foust ¡Hola!
Hopefully you all had a wonderful Halloween! I sure enjoyed Halloween and Dia de los Muertos here. We had to go in on Monday and Wednesday night early because people were getting a little bit too crazy, but all is well and my stomach is happily filled with Pan de Muerto. Because of all the festivities work was a bit harder. We contacted, but couldn't meet with a lot of our investigators due to holiday plans and vacations. For November 2nd we used the theme of family history to contact which was fun despite not having as much success as we would have wanted from it. I did realize thought that I am going to start a tradition of celebrating Day of the Dead by doing family history and sharing stories with my family about our ancestors. I´m even going to have 'ofrendas' of my ancestors favorite things and such. I think it will be an awesome tradition. Things have been pretty good here in Ixtapaluca. We have been working really hard and have been finding new people to teach every week. The only problem is getting them to church. We have some awesome investigators that have an incredible desire to be baptize. They are even fulfilling their other commitments of reading and praying. For the past couple weeks we have committed them to attend church but somehow end up with few or no investigators in church. It's definitely hard. Yesterday I was just praying and praying that they could make the sacrifice and take this step of faith. At the end of sacrament meeting I realized they weren't going ot come and felt heartbroken. However, I did realize that our little House of Prayer seemed to be pretty packed with people. I was praying and praying for people to come to church and they did! Maybe they weren't investigators but there were a lot of members we haven't seen in a long time and it was the greatest attendance we have had so far in church. The best part is that it was testimony meeting and hearing how most of the less active members bearing their testimonies bore witness that something was lacking in their lives by not going to church. I felt strengthened and inspired by their words and realized in a very different way, the Lord had answered by prayers. That helped mend my partially broken heart. Well, I love ya'll, it's November (HOW!¿¡?) so have an awesome start to November! Love, Elder Foust ¡Hola!
I am so sorry that I haven't updated you all on what has been happening here in good ole Mexico City. Life has just been so crazy! We went to center and a tour bus one week, the next Teotihuacan and last week we went souvenir shopping. Pure maddness. I think in order to bring everyone back up to speed I'll bring back The List. Okay? Okay. 1) It's almost Halloween and Dia de los Muertos. Literally one of my favorite times of year. Especially since they sell Pan del Muerto and I've been craving/eating a ton. Just ask Elder Turnbull. I literally tell him every second that I want Pan del Muerto and I think he wants to kill me. But being the wonderful candadian that he is he has been very patient. I did get my fix today though by eating a delicious, chocolate-filled Pan del Muerto so I'm all smiles and sugar. 2) I can't imagine life without putting salsa Valentina on my chips and popcorn #TrueMexican 3) One of our investigators has an adorable 10-month-old little girl and she is always laughing and playing with us. I call her 'Squirmy' and her parents love it so now they call her Squirmy, too. Probably one of the first successful nicknames I've given. Tears of joy. 4) Our zone has had a crazy amount of health issues. The weirdest one by far is that 3 Hermanas in this zone have had appendicitis and have had surgery. THREE WITHIN THE LAST 2 MONTHS OR SO! Basically, DON'T DRINK THE WATER! 5) Haven't ever mentioned this my entire mission, but sweetened condensed milk here is basically like Mexican syrup. They put it on a lot of stuff and sell it everywhere not as a baking ingredient but a condiment. All those years of begging my mother to lick the can after she made carmel popcorn having finally come to an end. Just another reasons why I might not leave Mexico, the promised land for a sweet tooth like me. 6) I officially have 15 months now...halp. 7) Elder Turnbull is corrupting my mind with the Canandian language. It is now on the record that I have said, 'washroom.' 8) Saturday we went to a folk dance performance at the temple as a ward. It was super cool and I may switch my career interest in being a professional Mexican folk dancers. I think it would suit me well. Plus, I got to see a lot of fellow missionary friends and some converts from my first area! Wins all around. 9) I spoke in church yesterday without using a Disney reference. I was asked to speak on the Plan of Salvation and was tempted to quote 'The Circle of Life' lyrics from the Lion King, but I felt it wasn't the right time. I did use President Uchtdorf´s talk 'O How Great the Plan of Our God' from the Saturday morning session of conference this year ( https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/o-how-great-the-plan-of-our-god?lang=eng ). One part in particular I want you all to think and reflect on is this: ''Think of how you felt when for the first time you believed and understood that you are truly a child of God; that Jesus Christ willingly suffered for yoursins so that you may be clean again; that priesthood power is real and can bind you to your loved ones for time and for all eternity; that there is a living prophet on the earth today.'' It is a reflexive journey that is bound to make you remember and feel the love and light the Lord has brought into your life. If you find that you have never experimented the power of these incredible truth I suggest searching. You have nothing to lose and an eternity of blessing to gain. (Start with the talk). Well, hopefully you feel good and updated. I love you all! Find yourself a good ole can of sweetened condensed milk and drizzle that goodness all over your next batch of pancakes. Okay? Okay. con amor y Lechera, Elder Foust ¡Hola!
Holy changes!!! I'm sorry that I haven't kept you all updated but there has been a dramatic change of events! I'm in Ixtapaluca! Yep, I said goodbye to good 'ole Villada and now I am currently on the side of a mountain on the frontier of our mission. My new area is part of an 'unofficial' branch that was formed about 4 months ago and is currently having its Sunday services in a 'Casa de Oracion' (House of Prayer). It's a member's home that transforms every Sunday into a little church building. It's pretty awesome! The people here are great and my fellow missionaries in this zone are amazing. The only interesting thing that I still have to get used to is that I LIVE ON A MOUNTAIN! (Already mentioned it, and overreacting) BUT I LIVE ON A MOUNTAIN! I mean in comparison to my old areas, which were completely flat, it's a pretty big change. This first day was probably the roughest. My comp, Elder Turnbull from Toronto, Canada (totally cool and awesome and Candadian), helped me wheel my incredibly heavy suitcases up to our house. We were in our suits, the sun was blazing, and we live pretty far up that mountain! There were so many times that I thought we were there, but nope!! Higher and further and sweatier. After a little over a week, I'm getting more accustomed to it. Especially since the majority of our investigators live even higher than we do. Funny how that works right? The views are incredible though. We get to look at a beautiful, green valley and breathtaking mountains/volcanoes everyday. We can also see pretty much our entire mission and downtown. Makes the climb a bit easier. Last week also included all of the craziness of September 15, Mexican Independence Day! I mean, it wasn't too crazy for us since we were inside for that entire time. Stayed in the house from Thursday night to Saturday morning. Made for a great day of studying and cleaning. Plus, we enjoyed all the left over Pozole the days after. Everything is worth it for pozole. The 15th also gave us the opportunity to plan for Zone Conference on Tuesday. We taught a workshop on the talk ''Becoming a Preach My Gospel Missionary'' by Elder David A. Bednar. We felt prepared and it went really well. Overall, the conference was awesome. Focusing on being, ''anxiously engaged'' and staying motivated especially when the going gets tough. Something essential in order to reach our true potential. Pres. Stutz definitely turned into the high-energy highschool football coach that was exactly what we needed to leave the conference inspired (and ready to climb a mountain!). This crazy week of transition ended perfectly with our trip to the temple today. These changes definitely caught me by a bit of a surprise and it definitely has not settled down since then but life is incredible and I know I'm exactly where I am supposed to be. This area is going to give me the perfect opportunity to reach my true potential. I mean I have to give it my all! Yesterday I completed 14 months! Times a 'tickin away! con muchísimo amor y piernas doloridas, Elder Foust ¡Hola!
How's everyone doing? Hopefully good. I´m good. I'm just, you know, here in Mexico livin the dream. This week was super good because we ended it with a baptism! It obviously was an amazing experience but in typical Elder Foust fashion, it wasn't without a bunch of random obstacles. So Saturday, day of the baptism, we run to the church early in the morning to get the baptism font all ready for the service at 11:30. My experience in preparing for a baptism here in the mission has always been interesting so I knew that today probably wouldn't be without it's fair amount of difficulties. We arrive at the scene and within 15 min this is the situation. 1) The font is full of dirty water 2)The pump to get the dirty water out doesn't work properly 3) No one has keyes to open the boiler so that we have warm water. Well to fix problems #1 and 2 we take buckets and slowly and tiringly scoop out all the dirty water. Yes, bucketful by bucketful we drained the entire font. I was beyond exhausted after that. Finally, I start cleaning. However, it was difficult without being able to drain the water. Luckily, Elder Keyes came to help with English classes and brought all his wonderful Canadian wisdom as well. The pump did work, it was just broken in a way that we couldn't prime it properly. However, he reminds us that we can suck on the pipe to provide sufficient pressure to get the water to drain. Not many willing volunteers to suck out disgusting water from a rusty old pipe, so I accepted the role. So I start doing it and I'm scared to get a mouthful of the remaining dirty water from the font but Keyes just tells me to, ¨listen¨ for when the water comes. A few minutes and a mouthful of brown water later, I fail to ¨listen¨ to the water as it comes. Anything for a baptism right? Elder Keyes also found the key to the boiler in the closet so that I could have my first slightly warm baptism. Well started off interestingly, but gracias to Elder Keyes. We were perfectly prepared for our baptism. God bless Canada! The service went amazingly well! Our investigator is the only one from her family that is a member or that was getting to know the church so she came alone to her baptism. Fortunely, we had great support from the ward and ward leaders and they definitely helped her feel loved, special, and welcome in the ward. It's a great blessing to have awesome people who are willing to help and serve their fellow man. Especially in a moment as special as this. The next day she was confirmed and made the newest member of the ward! I can't wait to see her progress and growth in the church. I know that she'll be strong and help a lot of people with her brave example. It was an amazing weekend. So, great experiences and wonderful miracles are happeing here in Mexico! It's awesome to witness the hand of the Lord bless the lives of so many people! I love you guys so much and hope you have an amazing week! con mucho amor, Elder Foust ¡Hola!
Ok, ya les dije que cada semana digo algo de que la misión se va tan rápido y me siento tan extraño y blah blah blah. Pero, ésta semana voy a decirlo in español! La misión se va de volada! Hay estás... This week has been hot, wet, and full work. We still haven't found anyone new to really teach in a while, but we're working hard to fix that. Luckily the zone is having greater success than we are. We did however see a lot of awesome changes in our ward and stake! We've been focusing a lot on making the church services on Sunday a more spiritual and uplifting experience and I have definitely felt the difference these past few weeks. We've also seen a drastic change in the attendance at church. The members have definitely recognized the difference and we've seen a lot of less-active families return to church. Our goal now is to help create more unity in the ward and help the members feel comfortable to invite nonmember friends and family. There's also plenty of activities and things planned to create missionary opportunities for the members. Hopefully these successes in the ward and stake make for future successes in our work and finding more people to teach. So, things are looking good and the future looks bright here in barrio Villada. On Tuesday my comp and I went to the hospital. He's had some back pain that has been bugging him for a few weeks so we went to get some tests done to see what's happening with him. We'll head back this week to go over the results with the doctor. Meanwhile, they gave him several medications to help with the pain. Several medications administered via injection. And an injection requires someone's help and that someone is me. I have always had the interest of stabbing people with needles (sounds weirder than I thought) and have been trained to stab properly. The location of the injections is also what makes it interesting. Let's just say it's an opportunity to bond as a companionship. Other than that, the week has been chill. We had Mission Council on Friday. We also got completely soaked on Friday. When we returned to our area after the meeting we searched for some old investigators and it just poured and poured. It was also pretty cold. The funny thing is that we knocked on a door asking for a particular old investigator in the middle of an all out downpour. He tells us that they moved out shouting, I try to contact him (obviously hopefully for a bit of sympathy). He listens for a while and when we ask to come in he just says, ¨I'm busy¨ and shuts the door. Soaking wet and just rejected, Elder Onofre and I just laugh because we're soaking wet and just got rejected. I love being a missionary. Love, Elder Faustino ¡Hola!
Today is August 22, 2016 and the day that I complete 13 months here on the mission! Technically a year from today I was still in the CCM so the 1st of September will be the one year anniversary of arriving in the actual mission field. It's crazy how we're already heading into September though!!! Also, I really I say ''It's crazy'' and then how fast the time is going every. single. email. But, it really is just that crazy to me how fast the time is going and the first thing I think of everytime I start an email. So, sorry not sorry. Other than the time and my obsession with it. This week truly was amazing for one reason in particular. Interviews!!! President Stutznegger is a pretty amazing person and 5-10 minutes with amazing people makes you pretty happy and loving life! I love interviews, I look forward to them, and I leave them excited, happy, and full of light and love. Many thoughts, many feelings but all of them are good. It's also fun to get together as a zone and learn a lot of new things about missionary work. While the elders were in their interviews, we had a training session given by the assistants. We too taught a small part of the session so we were thinking and planning exactly what we were going to do all week. Changed the plan like 5 times but it ended up turning out pretty well. It was also awesome to see Hermana Stutz doing super well after all her surgeries. She is a pretty amazing and powerful woman so no wonder that she is already full of energy and ready to go. Hopefully, she'll have health problem free last year here in Mexico. So an amazing day with amazing people. It seemed impossible for the week to get any better until the Hermana who we ate with on Sunday pulls out a big 'ole bowl of Pozole. ¡No manches, casi morí! After 3 bowls of what basically is ambrosia from the gods, I knew I finished a great week. Then she promised to give us an entire pot of arroz con leche this Friday. Yes, I am on the brink of tears because God is good. Have a great week everyone! Love, Elder Foust ¡Hola!
Well, this week has been pretty good. Really nothing too exciting. Sorry. We've been working really hard to find new people to teach. Same 'ole, same 'ole. We did find an awesome family of four that want to be baptized and sealed in the temple!!! (I guess that is a little exciting) Yep, they're actually references from a family in the ward. They invited them to their son's baptism and then to a family home evening. We came to the family home evening and helped share the message. We also find out the the dad is an inactive member and has always loved and believed in the church but fell away for most of his life. His wife and two sons aren't though and are super excited to learn more and have the desire to be baptized. It's also awesome because the family in the ward is helping us out a lot. After the FHE we made plans to head to the Temple Visitor's Center on Tuesday. We went and it was incredible. The only problem is that they have to be legally married first. However, they have this amazing desire and goal to be an eternal family and are willing to do what it takes to make it a reality. I love teaching entire families and witnessing incredible miracles. Definitely a highlight of the week. So, now you see how easy it is to help an entire family have the desire to be sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. A simple invitation, a follow-up, contact with the missionaries and shazaam!!! It might not work every time. BUT! It is worth the effort to try. One of the greatest blessings we saw out of this experience was the excitement and joy we saw in the family from the ward who started it all. The testimony of every member in that family was strengthened as they truly took part in this missionary experience. Every participant is blessed and a change is made in their heart. So...participate! Take part in the Lord's work and witness the miracles wrought in your life, the life of your family and the lives of those around you. Another great week here in Mexico. Hopefully you guys are enjoying life back home (especially those who head off to school very soon). Time is a'flyin and Elder Foust is dyin...because the olympics are going on and my soul is a'cryin. Record them for me please...Also make amazing, funny/witty, professional-sounding commentaries as I also like to do when I watch them. I mean the olympics do in fact make everyone a professional commentator in anything from gymnastics to synchronized swimming. Uhhh...I love the mission. Love, Elder Foust |
To email Elder Foust, his address is: [email protected] Archives
July 2017
Categories |