Seek and Ye Shall Find!

Hola!!!

It's hard to describe just how great these past few weeks have been. Dad told me in a letter that these will be the best weeks of my mission and it is so true!

Getting on the bus to go to Leon about 21 months ago, the first thing my trainer told me was, "attitude determines altitude". How true I have found that to be in my life!  Whether it be under the hot sun contacting people or losing missionaries in airports, our attitude as a companionship has made some hard times into unforgettable memories.

After knocking about 30 doors with Elder Zapata (this was the first time in my whole mission that we planned on knocking doors) with little to no success, he looked me in the eye and said, The next guy we talk to will feel the spirit".  Surely enough, we met Ismael sitting in front of his house in deep thought. His wife recently had their first baby girl. We taught him the plan of salvation for about 10 minutes and with a new light in his eyes he invited us to come back so we could talk with his wife too.

A while back I had a companion who found at least one coin in the street EVERY day. I was with him for more then 4 months, and he never went a day without finding money in the street. That's how he paid for transport and food. One day he found 100 pesos in the middle of the road... After a while he found so much that he would start giving the money to me and others, and after a couple months he had given me 250 pesos in pure 50, 20, and 10 cent coins. After a little more time he had almost our whole zone looking for money in the street!

I have learned quite a bit from numerous experiences I have had like these.  Jesus taught, 

7  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

If you look to feel the spirit, I know that you will feel it. If you look for money in the street, my piggy bank tells me you'll find some. If you look to teach repentance like the Savior did and baptize converts every week (that's my goal) I know you can do it too!  Surely one of the greatest secrets I have discovered in Mexico is that happy and successful people choose to be happy and successful!

Love ya!

Elder Minnick

Parques Del Sur

Hola!!

I took a trip down memory lane! I was in Leon last Monday and Tuesday, so I asked for permission to do divisions in my first area! I took the opportunity to go see some converts :) I couldn't find them all, but I did find about 6 of them. Some of them are doing very very well, and some others not so well. With all of them, we talked about the temple. We talked about goals to go for the first time, or to go again. I felt really really happy to see some of my dearest friends share their testimonies! One of the greatest days of my mission. 

So many memories came back to me as I walked those same streets again. I remembered almost perfectly how I felt, thought, and acted when I arrived here. I thought about some of the really hard times and about those life changing experiences that I have had. I felt happy to see how far I've progressed, and understood what the Lord wants me to do before I go home. I felt like 22 months of missionary service hit me right in the gut (Tacos and all)!  I took the opportunity to thank God for bringing me here! For giving me a missionary experience that exceeded my highest expectations. I thank Him every day for my Savior and Redeemer, the Man that gives me hope for a amazing future and gives me a reason to work with every thing I got! 

Right now we are going to play fútbol all day :)  Never thought I'd say that I love soccer!

Love you guys!!!!

Elder Minnick

Judith

Saul y Cristian 

Coming at you LIVE!

Ask and ye shall receive

Hello!

I'm feeling grateful this week. I had some awesome experiences. I'll share a few!

Monday night before we went to work, we offered a sincere prayer asking for a small miracle. We just asked for God to put the prepared in our path, and for His Spirit so we could recognize them. Within the hour we found Gerardo, who was an investigator we had a while back who was preparing for baptism but disappeared. We are teaching him again! The days after that, we found some very amazing people without very much effort on our part, because we were a little busy in our other responsibilities. It was very clear that God hears our prayer and expects us to do our best to invite the Spirit into our lives. A week full of "little" miracles.

Wednesday was a hard day. I did not want to get out of bed. With a million things going on, I just wasn't feeling it... So I rolled out of bed and said another simple prayer asking for help, strength, and just for someone to help me smile. All these things didn't come as quick as I wanted so I repeated the process a couple times. After prayer number three I received the impression, "try being grateful dummy" and switched up my prayer.  Instantly I started to see the blessings... A member brought us a big of cereal, another member hitched us a ride to church, and then a good friend called and made me laugh hard. I also got news that a family I was teaching in another area gets baptized in two weeks. I don't getting these great things were necessary to be happy, I believe the key to happiness is choosing to be happy.

Aaron will be baptized Wednesday! Go Aaron! We are inviting his less active family members to participate in his baptismal program and they are all thrilled!

Conference was awesome! I switched from Spanish to English every session... Feels the same! I didn't take very many notes. Almost every impression I received was about sincerity and integrity. One of the great lessons I learned in conference is that the Spirit has a specific message for any individual that has their Spirit open to repentance!

I love you all family!

Elder Minnick

Elder Mohl

Elder Zapata

Salamantinos

Three future missionaries 

12 Left!

Hello!!!

I had one of those weeks.... One where you sleep in your own bed once and then a night on a random floor and another night in the hospital and then another night in no man's land... and then you finally get back home and it's Sunday again. But I'm good and I wasn't the sick one... Shout out to Elder Erekson...You're a trooper! 

I was in a branch with Elder Marcial for a day and we found a family that was in his home Ward about 10 years ago... Talk about God preparing people to teach! Small world. They have a 10 year-old kid dying to be baptized and a newlywed who is very interested in the church. They had been praying for about 2 months to find the missionaries so that they could reactivate themselves and invite their family to listen too... We found them at a bus stop.   We had nothing to do because all the plans fell through and decided to relax for a moment...and they came to us! 

We had changes yesterday...That meant I was doing phone calls from about 5-11 pm. Wasn't exactly how I wanted to spend my Easter, so we celebrated today! I felt the spirit strongly as I studied my favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 11. He lives!

Elder Minnick 

Love ya mom!

Happy Easter!

Hello!

What a great week I had! We traveled to Celaya and worked there for two days... It was good to see some people there that I met almost 6 months ago!

We had a little time to work in our own area too. Aaron decided that he doesn't want to wait untill April 6 to get baptized, so he will be baptized this Friday!

We knocked a door the other day, and a guy name Daniel opened the door -- he was painting his house. We offered to help, and surprisingly he accepted. While we painted we started talking about music. He was telling us about what he believes is some of the best music of all time... and whips out his laptop and puts on MOTAB!  :0  He has actually been to SLC to see them live, but ironically has never talked to missionaries before. Gotta love MOTAB!

With Easter coming around the corner, I've taken some time to come to know even better my Savior. As I come to understand better who He is and what He did, my heart is filled with gratitude. I love the spirit that we can feel as we come unto Him. I feel His love when I repent. I am very grateful for the opportunity that He has given me to teach his gospel. I know He lives!

Happy Easter!

Elder Minnick

80 years of preparation!

Hola!

Here's a quick letter. Yes momma, I'm happy, healthy and busy! All is well here in the ward. Aaron is going to get baptized on the 6th of April... Its a special day!

Francisco got baptized last Saturday. He's 80 years old! He has been a real hero for me since I met him about 5 weeks ago. It surprised me how quickly such a old guy could progress. From the first visit he kept every commitment, hasn't missed a Sunday, paid his tithing, fasted, and offered the prayers in sacrament meeting. It's been a real blessing getting to know him. He's been a huge example to me!

I've been learning a lot here... How to plan well and use time wisely. :)  I know my Savior lives! He loves us! He died for us! 

Elder Minnick

hi mom!

MOM!

No letter today... SORRY.  I gotta go do divisiones in some pueblo.  We baptized Mildred!  Yeah!  Francisco gets baptized this week! Yeah!  

I'm good, happy, healthy, and I don't care where I live --  just get it done and I trust you.  I can always live off-campus like in the boat on Utah lake would be chill ;) 

Love ya mom!  I'm on my weight loss plan too... its simple... eat less! :) 

BYE! love you, I love you, I LOVE YOU! 

Elder Minnick

Mildred!!!