Extra prayers for Elder Skalla please!!

Hey Mom,
Sounds like you all had an exciting week! I am glad Roo had a good farewell! She will be a great missionary. She is very prepared spiritually and physically. Thanks or letting me stay in Mexico :) I appreciate it lol.

That's crazy that Brittany and Brooke are married/getting married. both or just one? Still, too weird. I'm better off not thinking about that.

Thanks for sending that about Christlike attributes! Virtue is interesting because lots of people interpret it as just chastity but it has a lot more than that. It's definitely a tough one to get down haha. 

I am excited for the next round of babies! A boy and a girl again! Yay! What are the due dates? I need to write them down because I always forget...

I honestly don't have much to say this week... Because we were hardly able to work. I usually don't tell you when I am sick because its just little and I don't want  you to worry, but I think now I could use a few extra prayers ;) Monday morning at 3 AM I woke up with nausea and threw up Sunday dinner.  After that I felt a bit better but I woke up at 6 with diarrhea, but like worse than I have ever had haha. and since Monday until now I have had diarrhea all day. Elder Forbes was also sick but not as bad as me. We went to a doctor and they gave us an antibiotic and something for parasite and we started taking them.  Last Monday in the ciber I was about to pass out or throw up or something haha so that's why I didn't write much and what I wrote probably didn't make much sense haha. But we took the medicine for a while but we didn't start to feel any better. We didn't work on Monday night.  Then on Tuesday we wake up still sick and now Elder Camarena was sick too! So we tried to go out and work Tuesday morning but we were just zombies so we went back and crashed in the bed til lunch at 2.  We ate ( very little) and tried to work the rest of the day but every hour we had to go back home to use the bathroom so it wasn't a very effective day haha. On Wednesday we took a bus to Tampico because we had the leadership council on Friday and elder Forbes had a doctors appointment for his foot on Thursday and its a 4 hours bus ride. We got there and we were all still sick. The next day we talked to sister Jordan and she said to stop taking the meds because they weren't doing anything and the next step is to take a stool sample and find out whats wrong. Fun! So when we got back to Victoria on Saturday we went to the lab and they gave us our little cups and for 3 days we had to poop in cups! This morning we dropped them off at the lab and the results will be ready Thursday. Elder Forbes is already feeling a bit better and Elder Camarena too but I still feel weak all the time and tired and I have diarrhea still. The only thing we can do now is wait til the results come back. I am fine and all but I have lost some weight. You can see it in my face in the pics that I am all pale and skinny! hopefully its not anything bad. Don't worry, just pray for me haha. I will let you know whats up next week.  Just remember no news is good news. 

Apart from that we only worked like 2 days this week and those days I was completely out of it haha. The leadership council was good. It was presidents last formal meeting with missionaries and at the end we sang Army of Helaman in English and sister Jordan cried (of course, she always cries) but President cried too. In the whole time saying goodbye in the zone conferences and all that he hadn't cried but he said he just couldn't hold it back anymore. They leave tomorrow and president Ramirez gets here tomorrow too. Pres Ramirez and family are going to tour the mission starting Wednesday but they wont come to Victoria till next Wednesday. I'm sure this week and coming month will be super interesting. 

Love you lots and I hope everything is great at home! 

Elder Skalla

Elder Skalla with is Trainer who is now AP Elder Flores

 Leadership Training Conference

 Victoria Zone Leaders

Snakes and Dogs....and Zone Conference

Hey mom! 

Sounds like you had a busy week! Us too haha. We had zone conference on Tuesday which was great. It was presidents last zone conference and it was sad to say goodbye but it was a good sendoff. I will see them again this Friday for the leadership council just a few days before they leave. Its going to be really weird having a new president! There are all kinds of rumors flying around about President Ramirez but who knows which are true and which aren't. We will just have to wait till he gets here to see. I sent the pics that we took at zone conference. 

Yesterday we had an activity in the ward and watched meet the mormons... the hope was that people would invite friends but... nope haha. But president said that the first time is so that the members can go and realize that it is a good movie that will help their friends and then the second time around they will invite people haha. So we are planning the next activity.

Unfortunately we don't have any progressing investigators right now :/ we are kinda in a searching stage which is going well but its tough. Our area is a bit giant and we walk a lot haha but its fun. My companions are great and we get along really well. Elder Forbes goes home this transfer so we are helping him not be trunky haha. 

That's nice that you could go and see papas grave for fathers day. And good to ear that Marissa is all ready to go out to the mtc! I'm proud of her! I am excited to hear how she does!

I am excited to hear about Jenn's baby, too! Sorry kind of a boring letter but nothing super crazy happened this week...

I went on divisions to barrio Libertad which was fun. Except the part when I almost stepped on a snake and got freaked out haha.  It was funny though. And then the next day we were walking down the street and all of a sudden I see a huge black dog out of the corned of my eye and then all the sudden its jumping up on me haha. Luckily it didn't touch me and ran away but it was scary.  Looked more like a bear. So there were lots of animals trying to kill us this week haha. 

I like being zone leader and I am learning a bunch. 

Love you!

Elder Skalla

PS I am studying the attributes of Christ... so if you have like a favorite talk or something I would love to read it :) Thanks!

The Victoria Zone

Elder Skalla with President and Sister Jordan

Reap and Sow

Hey mom!

Yay! I am excited to have another niece! Now how long will it be till we know about Jenns? Just a few weeks right? I am excited! I do remember Keenan... actually I remember his farewell talk and that doesn't seem like that long ago haha. How is he? And I remember a bit about Kelsie I think... Not much.. But how great that she is going on a mission! Help her mom out :) Speaking of moms, how is Elder Schoepfle? And Elder Gilbert? Oh guess what my companion Elder Forbes is from Gilbert and knows Elder Gilbert- not super well but a little bit. Weird, huh? Zach Child is 18 already?? man I thought he was like 12 still. And good for Nate that he is going on a mission!

Ya I am doing well and sleeping better haha. Its stressful being a leader! It just happened really fast that's why I am so freaked out haha. But I like it it is just lots of responsibility. We are responsible for the safety and success of all the missionaries in our zone and on top of that our own area. But it has its perks too haha. Since Elder Flore is assistant I get to talk to him a lot because every night we have to call the assistants to talk about how the zone is doing so every 3 nights we talk haha. Actually today he is coming to Victoria and is gonna stay in our house for the zone conference and we are going to have divisions. I don't know If I will be with him or his companion but we will see. Another perk is every month we go to Tampico for a leadership council of all the zone leaders in the mission and after we all eat super good food in the mission home haha so I am excited. This month is going to be the last leadership council with President Jordan so it should be a good one :)I love being a leader and helping out my fellow missionaries and I am learning a ton. I look forward to being able to grow a lot as a leader and missionary. 

Everything is going well here in the area. It was weird seeing all the members and having them all ask me what I was doing back here haha but its fun. I didn't get to know many members from the other side of the ward so I am getting to know them a bit better. We are getting adjusted to being in a trio too haha its weird and we still don't have any idea why. 

Tomorrow we have zone conference, which will be the last one with president Jordan :( I am excited but also sad that we are going to have a new president. President Jordan is awesome, but I have heard good things about President Ramirez too. We will see how it goes.

My companion and I got some good news on Saturday... Elder Camarena took my place in Villa Cuahutemoc when I left there and was Elder Lopez`s companion for that change. Right before I left we had found a new investigator named Freddy. I don't remember if I told you about him but he got baptized on Saturday!!! I am so excited! Its a great feeling when finally all the hard work you have done that seemed unsuccessful finally comes full circle! We worked so hard in that area for those 12 weeks but we never had anybody come to church or progress until the very last week I was there when we had 4 investigators in church haha. But I guess that's how it works. Sometimes we reap, and sometimes we sow. 

Anyway there's nothing you need to worry about :) I am safe and happy any healthy! I love you lots and you are always in my prayers. 

Love you lots!

Elder Skalla

PS   last week my memory card on my camera got a virus in the cyber :( So I lost most of my pics. BUT I sent pretty much all of them to you. the only ones I didn't send are the videos that were too long to send like when I made tortas with Ismael or when we changed houses and I recorded outside the truck window to show you a bit of my area. But thats not a big deal. I can reformat my memory card and keep taking pics Just keep all the pics I have sent you! Thanks! Love you!

You are not going to believe this!!

Hey mom and everyone!

So you aren't going to believe this (I still don't really believe it) BUT I got transferred AGAIN! Elder Camelo is going to stay in Miramar and I am leaving. But that's not the craziest part... I'm going to be zone leader! I am super nervous... I didn't sleep well last night haha. BUT that's still not the craziest part! I am going back to Victoria in the SAME WARD that I was in LAST TRANSFER! Can you believe that??? And even crazier I am in a trio with Elder Forbes (My zone leader here in Victoria) and Elder Camarena. Elder Forbes is from Arizona and Elder Camarena is from Mexico. We don't know why we are in a trio but they told us that we are all zone leaders... I am thinking it's just temporary, but who knows... The weird thing too is that we are going to live in the same house I lived in before. It is more central in the area and bigger, so it will be better but still really wierd! I am here already and I can't really believe it honestly haha. That's why it took so long to write haha sorry. But its gonna be interesting seeing all the members again and all that. Our Ward Mission Leader picked us up from the bus station and was excited to see me haha. But I am excited to be here again, even though I will really miss Miramar... Ester, Maria de Lourdes, Juan de los Reyes, Erik y Sonia, and Aldigunda y Musio are all going to be baptized and I wont be there! But I Made Elder Camelo promise to send me the pictures. We had lots of success there in Miramar and I was shocked to be leaving but I am excited to be here in Flores again. I am nervous about being Zone Leader but my companions have both been zone leaders before so they can show me how its done.  I will let you know how everything goes next week! I am excited to here about the baby! I kinda hope its a boy too... Tate would be a good big brother. And Addie needs a brother too to protect her from all her boyfriends! Crazy that Brittany is getting married, but the kid seems like a nice guy from the picture... and Brittany looks a lot older.

Well I don't have any cool stories to tell this week... the most exciting thing was cambios... I sent you a few pics. I saw Elder Lopez this morning! He is doing well and has grown a lot. It was good to see him because I hadn't seen him since he finished his training. I also saw Elder Arvizu. He is gonna be district leader again in Anahuac, which is the same district as Villa Cuahutemoc my first area.

The time is going by way too fast but I love being a missionary. It is the hardest thing I have ever done and I am probably not the best missionary I should be but I am learning more than I have ever learned and I am learning to know and love the Savior. Thank you for everything you have done for me. At some points in the mission I have felt like a parent with a rebel child and have felt bad for several things I used to do at home haha. Sorry for being such a pain in the butt! I love you lots! Thanks for writing!

Love,

Elder Skalla

Leadership Training

Hello!

This week was pretty eventful....hopefully I can remember everything... So last week the assistants sent a text to all the zone and district leaders of the mission that we were all going to have a training meeting on Thursday. I was excited to see some of my friends in the mission and learn a bit more about how to perform my calling. BUT on Monday in the afternoon the assistants called me and assigned me to give a short little speech/presentation thing about the Area Book to ALL THE LEADERS of the mission. I was super nervous haha, but I studied and prayed and prepared a lot and well Thursday came and I was super nervous and there were a ton of missionaries there,  and missionaries that are like my heroes all there.  I felt so small but I guess it went well. I was so thirsty the whole time but several Elders told me afterward that they liked it and Elder Flores told me it was perfect so.... Big weight off my shoulders. Scary!! I wasn't the only one who had to give a presentation, but man was I nervous haha. 

On Tuesday the Referrals Secretary called us with a referral from a member in their ward that they had taught once and was apparently super great and we put an appointment with her Friday in the chapel. Her boyfriend who is a member came and it was a super cool lesson. She said that she likes how we make covenants in the church. We talked about covenants and baptism as our first covenant and invited her to be baptized and she accepted a date for July 11th :) But then she started getting really emotional and talked about how her whole family has always gone to this christian church for her whole life and all her friends are there and she knows the church is true but is afraid to abandon her family and friends. We talked a bit about having an eternal perspective (Abraham 2:16 is a cool scripture the wife of the old bishop showed us) and read the end of Doctrine and Covenants 6 and she liked that and said she was going to come to church on Sunday. She came and everything was good and we are going to teach her again this week. Her name is Angelica :)

Esther had her baptismal interview on Saturday and everything went really well except that she drank coffee again.... so we are going to wait a few more weeks so she can be a bit more prepared which I think is a good thing. 

We have an investigator named Juan de los Reyes I don't know if I told you about him but he is a friend of a few members who reactivated about a year ago. He is 21 and was in church my first week here and we talked to him and put an appointment... well he is progressing a ton! He can only go to church every other week but he has come 3 times now and is already in 2 Nephi 7 and he remembers and understands everything he reads and is just a pure gold investigator. This week he is going to talk to his boss about having Sundays off. That is really hard here in Mexico but we know that everything will work out one way or another :) He wants to be baptized but just his work is in the way right now...

Maria de Lourdes is progressing a ton too! She didn't go to church on Sunday and we don't know why but we have an appointment with her in a few minutes haha so we will find out. but she is reading and loves the church and she will be baptized soon :) I will try and take more pics with investigators that are progressing... its just that I don't like taking my camera around much... 

Love you lots! tell brad happy birthday!

Oh and my camera is STF150F. I hope I'm not too late :) oops! Love you!

Elder Skalla