March of the Toros

March 3, 2014

Greetings from Sunny Morelia :)

Things just keep on getting better!! This week, the Arredondo family came to church with Julio looking just like a missionary. We gave him a short sleeve white dress shirt and a tie. That guy walked in like he was the prophet. He is always so happy to be there at church. We also had "the niños" come to church with us. They are two brothers Judà and Melchizidec who we found from some of their older siblings who are members who haven`t come for a long time. But the best was that Javier and Javier Jr. came to church. Javier is one strange dude. He recognized one of the members in the congregation and walked over there and grabbed him by the cheeks like a grandmother grabs her grandkids by the cheeks and shook his head back and forth, grabbed his hand and kissed it, bowed to him, and then came back and sat down. Wierdest thing I have ever seen in sacrament meeting. Ruben, the husband of a sister in our ward came with his wife and then when she left after the first hour, he stayed for classes and bore his testimony about how he wants to change and how he just loves coming to church. Best Sunday ever.

This saturday was a celebration of toros!! There were a bunch of people wearing masks of bulls and marching around the streets at night with people following behind playing music and yelling and what not. It felt like the homecoming parade or something!! I asked some kids in the street if I could take a picture with their toro mask. The little punks charged me 5 pesos, but it was an offer I could not refused. They did a little dance after too, so I guess it was worth my 5 pesos. I had never been so proud to be a Del Toro.
Things are going great here with Elder Ormeño and I. Last night I wrote in my journal, "The Lord is working miracles in this ward. I can`t believe I have the oportunity to be apart of it". I am so greatful that I have the chance to serve as a missionary at this time and to serve the people here in Mexico. It`s the best and most important thing I have ever done.

Love,

Elder Del Torito

La Rata

February 24, 2014

Hello friends and family :)

This week was such a great one!!! We are workin real hard and seeing some great progress. So this week our landlord passed by our house to take some of his stuff out from under our stairs. He came with his mom and so we were talking to her while he was taking out his stuff. All of a sudden a fat rat ran out from under the stairs!!! Elder Ormeño and I may be the hope of Israel, but definately not when there are rats involved. Elder Ormeño ran out of the house and I was three feet in the air. But this little old lady took action. She took her purse off of her shoulder and swung that thing down like Thor. The rat was still scurrying so she stomped on its head twice. Holy cow this woman is crazy!!! She picked up the rat by it`s tail and tried to hand it to me. I just put my hands into the air haha. So she walked outside, saw a dump truck and ran over there and threw it in there. What a hero.

As far as the work goes, I don`t think we could ask for more. We have had a lot of people to teach and this week 9 or our investigators were able to come to church! We started teaching a family last week, the family Arredondo, and they were there at church!! It`s the first family I have taught in my mission. I don`t know why I haven`t had the chance yet but I couldn`t be happier. They have three kids, Hasani (16) Joselin (12) and Erika (8). They are so cool!! The mom signed up to feed us next month, they said they are going to feed us tacos de cabeza... I`m a little nervous for that. I had one oportunity to try cow brains in my mission and I turned it down. Everyone gets a second chance though,right? haha. We are a little disappointed because our investigator Angel is having some troubles. He came to church on sunday but when he got home his sister got super mad at him for going to church with us and she told him if he gets baptized in our church he`s got to move out. He is 76 and his sister is the one who takes care of him so he is in a tough situation. His baptism was going to be the first of march but he said that he can`t. We are going to keep working with him and keep praying for him and his sister. This may sound terrible but his sister has cancer... so it could be possible that Angel doesn`t have to make such a tough decision here in the next few years. Everything is going so great here. The weather is getting hotter and hotter :P I`m guessing that mexico didn`t do so well in the winter olympics, it`s never winter here!

Love you all,

Elder Del Toro

Càstulo

February 17, 2014

Hola familia y amigos!!

I`ve got a joke... What do mexicans use to cut their pizza??....... Little Caesars!! Hahaha. Gosh I laugh about that joke every day. So things are pretty good here in Morelia!! Transfers passed over us, Elder Ormeño and I will serve here together for another 6 weeks. This transfer I will be serving as district leader, so I`m pretty excited to get to know the other people in the district better. This week was such a good one!! We went to Guadalajara and had a mission conference combined with the other mission in Guadalajara. We were 500 missionaries between the two missions. It was so cool to be with so many missionaries and listening to a member from the quorum of the seventy, Elder Christianson. He said a lot of good stuff but my favorite thing he said is that we are the hope of israel. I was so tempted to throw my fist into the air and yell "POR ISRAEL!!". I always get way too pumped at conferences.

This week we had such an awesome experience. I think it was my favorite of my whole mission. We were walking in the street and we stopped and started talking to this guy that was sitting on the sidewalk. Long story short, his life is rough. Càstulo has a ton of problems with his wife and kids and he has turned to drinking to get away from it. So we asked the guy, "do you want to change?" and he thought about it for a while and looked up at us and said he did and then he invited us to his house. We sat down and started talking and he poured his alcohol into a soda and started sipping on it. He was sober but said that he had to start drinking. He told us about all his problems and was crying and was saying that his life doesn`t matter anymore. We told him that he`s got to stop drinking if he wants to change but he told us that if he stops he will die because his body depeneds on it so much. I promised him as a representative of Jesus Christ that if he would stop drinking that night the Lord would help him leave his addiction and his body would no longer need alcohol. His wife was there and was saying that he has tried to stop many times before and he would never be able to quit. Càstulo was just crying and trying to tell his wife that he loves her. It was so intense, I swear it could be in one of those mexican television shows! I was like Càstulo, pour out your acohol. And he said he couldn`t. He said the next day would be a better time to quit. He said to his wife that he loves her but he just cant stop. I yelled to him "Càstulo pour out your alcohol if you love her!!!!" I said "You have the Lords promise that he will help you stop!!"... Gosh my adrenaline is pumping just thinking about it! haha... But he looked at us, took the cap off the bottle, and started swearing a ton and poured out the alcohol. he stompped on the bottle and gave us a hug. haha it was awesome. He asked us like five times, "did you see that?!?! I poured it out!!" haha his little grandkids came out of their room and said "look, grandpa isn`t going to drink anymore!". He asked what next and we told him we were going to clean his house and then give him a priesthood blessing. We are so excited for Càstulo. We gave him 3 pamphlets and a book of mormon to keep himself busy and we are going to keep helping him out. He told us that that morning, his wife told him he needed to change or he would have to leave. He said that he left the house looking for someone to help him change his life and when he saw us, he thought we were glowing. He asked us who sent us and the only answer we had was that God had sent us. I know that the Lord put us in the path of that man to help him change. Last night when all that happened was one of the best experiences I have had on the mission. I love this work :) FOR ISRAEL!!

Love,
Elder Del Toro

Heating up

February 10, 2014

Hello Everyone :)

The heat is starting to hit us here in Morelia!! I`m starting to have some nice yellow pit stains!! I really like having the sun though. I don`t remember a day when I have wished for the weather to be different. It`s never too hot and it`s never too cold. Morelia is the best. This week Elder Ormeño and I had some tough times to pass through. Last week we were already looking forward to our March Madness plans and this week it seemed like more of a March Sadness. Not really, because we are always happy as missionaries, but this week we lost 5 investigators with baptism dates. They dropped us like we`re hot!! We also lost our area book, the book with all the people who have ever been taught ever in our area... it`s like the book of life!! so it`s a pretty big deal if you lose it. And we lost it on Friday and this weekend we were soo worried!! but we had a zone activity in the stake center today and there it was!! So we are very relieved to have it back. I was so happy when we found it I almost cried. This week was rough, but I think it`s like riding a bike on a hill, when you ride down a hill and then there is an uphill, you just fly right up it. This week felt like rock bottom so now we are going to head straight for the top :)

We had zone conference this week and we watched a talk by the Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland and he talked about his mission and how it was absolutely the best two years of his life. He said that every good thing that has happened to him in his life is from a result of his mission!! Holy smokes!! That guy loved his mission. But I think I`m right there with him. I love this work. It`s the toughest thing I`ve ever done, but it`s the best thing I have ever done in my whole life. And I know I will look back on these days for the rest of my life.
The best part about this week was that Angel came to church with us!! He`s like seventy somethin years old but this guy is reading his Book of Mormon, saying his prayers, and coming to church. We are super excited for Angel.
This week the whole mission is going to meet in Guadalajara to have a conference with the other mission in Guadalajara. I think we are going to get to go see the temple too!! I am super excited for this week!!!
Thanks for all the support :)
Love,
Elderrrrr Del Torrrro (I`m working on my "rr")

Right back with Dad

February 3, 2014

Hello Everyone!!

First of all, GO HAWKS!! haha. We were walking last night and someone had their door open with the game on... so we decided to talk to them. It was a 21 year old kid who is way cool and I know his grandma because she is a member who lives in my last area. We got to see the score of the 3rd quarter AND we have a new investigator!

I think I could write a script and copy and paste it every week. It would say "Wow, this week flew by" and "I love my mission!!!". That`s what I think every week while I am writing. But this week was pretty special because I got to see my dad, Ed Del Toro!! Ok not really, but this guy Jose Avalos look EXACTLY like my dad. He is one of our investigators and this week I showed his family a picture of the Del Toro family and they couldn`t believe how much my dad looks like Jose!! His 5 year old son was so confused of why his dad was in the picture with my family. Jose and I stand next to eachother and show people the picture of my family to everyone. I feel like I`m right back with my Dad :)

The work is going so great here. We are having more success than I have had in my whole mission. This transfer has been the planting transfer. We have been working so hard and the Lord has put so many people in our path to meet and teach. We are hoping we will both be here the next transfer for the harvest :) We are already planning March Maddness, right now we have 8 people with baptism dates for the month of march. We are working super hard to help them all prepare to make this covenant with their Heavenly Father . Elder Ormeño and I have been seeing so many miracles here in Morelia. The Lord is truly working with us to serve His children. I love the mission :)

Love,

Elder Del Toro

Fanatic

January 27, 2014

Hello Everyone!!

This week went by super fast!! The weather has been hot, our investigators are doing great, and we are staying super busy.
This week we were talking to a guy who called us fanatics.. We were talking to him a little bit and he said yeah he wouldn´t mind hearing our message but he just doesnt want to become a fanatic like us. At first I was kind of offended.. I said no, we really aren´t fanatics, we just love to share the gospel! And he said, "everything about you guys screams fanatic. You leave your houses to do this mission thing for two years! you wear a white shirt, tie, and name tag everyday! and you walk around all of mexico all day every day!!" and then I was like, wow this guy is kind of right.. Who in the world would do all that stuff? I have decided that I am a fanatic afterall. I am a fanatic because I know this message is true and I know that the whole world needs it. I am one happy missionary fanatic :)
This weekend I have been with my two american zone leaders because Elder went to Guadalajara to sign his visa. Its super rare for two americans to be companions together but on top of that, for a third american to be on divisions is crazy talk!! So today has been a pretty sweet p-day. We started of our studies this morning by singing the national anthem. I think I have been speaking more english these last couple days than I have my whole mission!! And we decided to do it right and go out to eat rib eye steaks today. We also went ice skating today. Days like these I just want to say ´Murica!
The work is going great here. We have been finding a lot of new investigators to teach. We have a lot of cool people we are teaching, including a buddist named Eugenia!! It´s pretty cool to talk about what other people believe as well. This lady started hearing from the missionaries in 1992 and said she has heard from over 20 pairs of missionaries and finally this week she said that she would be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints :) It´s crazy because we ran into her by running into her sister in the street who asked us to help her move some heavy stuff in her house. Crazy how things like that work out. We are super excited for Eugenia to continue to prepare for her baptism.
Man, do I love this whole mission thing :)

Love,
Elder Del Toro

Spicy in, Spicy out

January 20, 2014

Hello Friends and Family :)

I am so happy!!!! Sometimes I just stop and think to myself, "self, why are you smiling?" I am just always so happy and I´m loving the mission.
This week was so good. Elder Ormeño and I have figured out our diferences and are working great together. I think there are still things that bother us but we put that aside and get along. Poor guy is facing some serious dificulties with the food here. In Peru, they don´t eat chilis so he has been getting used to that. This week we were eating with the Bishop and the bishop and I were eating jalapeños with our hamburgers. Elder Ormeño decided to do the same and he ended up in the bathroom throwing up for a while. I don´t know if this is already a quoted phase or not but I like to say "spicy in, spicy out". haha. Needless to say, he has been having a terrible time in the bathroom.
We have an investigator named José who we started teaching this week. He is struggling with life right now and has been looking for how he can find greater peace. We taught him a lesson on saturday and invited him to attend the church the next day. He said that he wanted to go but he said that he would only be there if the Lord guided his steps there. We offered to pick him up in a taxi or to call him in the morning and anything we could do to help him but he just refused and said he would leave it up to the Lord. I was so frustrated!!! I thought well there is no way this guy is going to be at church tomorrow. But by golly in walked José Guadalupe Peña on Sunday. My jaw dropped. I didn´t believe it!! He said that he borrowed his brother´s scooter and asked dirrections along the way to find the church building. After that, I couldn´t believe how little faith I had. I learned that the Lord really does work miracles.
I am so grateful for this opportunity I have to be serving the Lord. I know I say it almost every week, but I love being a missionary. It´s the best thing Ive ever done.

Love,
Elder Del Toro