Happy Easter!

Hello! Happy Easter! I hope you all had a fun weekend! From the pictures it looks like it! 

Looks like Brad had a crazy week! Lots of "Don't tell mom!" Stories haha.... Don't worry I have plenty of those to tell when I get home :p

I probably had a somewhat similar Easter to brads... Everyone kinda goes crazy here too for Semana Santa and its a whole lot of catholic tradition mixed with Spring Break craziness and the church really doesn't do a whole lot... The sacrament meeting talks were about Consecration and Obedience, The Mexico Area Plan, and the importance of Work. Happy Easter! Kinda sad and we were expecting something different but oh well... Last Easter Sunday was conference so it was double special. 

Bricio got ordained yesterday! It was a super special experience! His dad did a great job :) He probably will wait a while to be ordained an Elder, like 6ish months, but I don't know what they will do about the baby blessing... Maybe they will wait. 

I´m glad you are such great friends with Naxieli! She is really a great member and a great person. One of my favorite families for sure. It's weird because every time we go she says "Your mom said this and that and look at the snow in your house!" haha. She is in love with it as well. They are actually thinking about moving the the US and I think its pretty likely. That will be fun to have a convert family close by :) I told her she is welcome at our house anytime, and Bricio wants to go snowboarding with me :)

I will look into your drug smuggling idea. (I asked him to get me some amoxicillin!)

Have fun in St. George! Elder Tipton said that you should contact his parents and go to lunch or dinner or something. They live in Cedar City but I am sure they would love to meet you. Look them up on Facebook!

Yay, dentist appointment! My teeth are surprisingly doing well! I think this special toothpaste Dr Bart gave me really works haha. I just ran out this week so this will be my first time buying toothpaste in Mexico today! Good thing we have Walmart! My eyes are doing well too. Missionary blessings I guess. I have one pair of contacts left so I will need some as soon as I get home. It's weird starting to run out of stuff I used to have a 2 year supply of! What I really need is a chiropractor appointment! 

Anyway so my week was kinda quiet being Semana Santa and all... Lots of people use this time to go on vacation or go to the beach and stuff other than remember Christ so lots of people weren't home... Francisca went out of town for the weekend and couldn't go to church which was a bummer... Keep her in your prayers. Hopefully she is ready to be baptized by the 9th. 

On Monday we had an FHE with Bricio and his family and 2 other recent converts, Yazmin and Misael. That was really fun. The rest of the week we have spent finding which has gone well but not as well as we would like. The highlight of our finding efforts were Alejandro and Paola. They are a young couple with a 6 month old baby named Sofia. They were a reference from a member in the neighboring ward (Alejandros Uncle) and we have been trying to find them for a while. Finally we were able to find them  yesterday. Paola recently had a surgery and for that reason they hadn't been at home. But they received us really well and we taught the Restoration and they were really interested and are going to read and pray and are excited to go to conference on Sunday. We are hoping they will be able to progress well. They seem to have lots of potential!

We have also been teaching Margarita, the wife of a recent convert who was less active and is now active. At first when we started teaching her she wasn't really into it that much but she has been reading and praying and is a lot more interested. We had 2 really good lessons with her this week about keeping the Sabbath day holy and then we taught the plan of salvation and talked about how our decisions in this life don't just affect this life, but the eternities. Hopefully that will help her make the decision to stop working on Sundays and that will help her receive the answer she is looking for!

We were also able to teach Roberto this week which was a miracle! We found him almost a month ago, it is a coworker of our relief society president and he is so prepared and so ready to receive the gospel but you know who just hasn't let us teach him! We finally got to talk to him after like 2 weeks and he has read almost all of 1 Nephi! Woo! He really likes it and has lots of questions but understands almost everything. He has wanted to come to church but work and family problems haven't given him a chance. he said for sure this week he will be there. He is really interested in seeing the conference. Keep him in your prayers too!

We finished this month with 7 baptisms in the zone! Wooo! We are really excited and hope we can keep this going and make it part of the stakes culture. Our goal is to help the stake in ways that when we leave and new missionaries come, the stake can keep progressing. President Flores is supporting us a ton and we are excited to keep working with the stake.

Hopefully this next week will be even better now that everything is back to normal. It's week 7 of the transfer so next week I will find out if I get transferred or not... I doubt it, but who knows!

Love you!

Elder Skalla

México Tampico Mission

I got this awesome picture from my new friend Nax!  What a fun surprise that was!! Ryan loves this family and that sweet little girl is his "Mexican niece" 

Normal week....

Hello!

This week was pretty much just normal... nothing too exciting.

To answer your questions...

yes, Naxieli is her first name. Its pronounced exactly how it looks haha. We are going to eat with them today in just a few hours...

We are excited for the apostle! We were told this week that it is no longer certain that it will be Elder Rasband, but somebody from the 12! Yes the whole mission is going to come to our stake center. Its going to be pretty crazy but we are excited. I bet I will stay here one more change, and I wouldn´t be surprised if Elder Tipton and I stay together. Who knows though! Next week we will find out!

I´m glad your Sunday school class went well! That's a hard thing to teach! I remember so many times being taught about the atonement and over and over and over and I never really got it til I experienced it for myself haha! I think that is true for almost all gospel principles. At least for me. 

That's fun you got a snow storm! Maybe I´ll get lucky and get to see snow in May :p haha I doubt it. 

This week was pretty normal... We are getting Bricio ready to get the priesthood. He has his interview yesterday and if all goes well, he should be ordained a priest next week. Its Semana Santa (holy week) so Bricios family is in town. His mom and dad are from San Fernando, Tamaulipas. They got baptized about a year ago and are preparing to be sealed. We are hoping they will be here next Sunday so that Bricio's dad can ordain him! 

Francisca is still progressing and this week she confirmed that she will be baptized on the 9th of April! Yay! her original date was the 26th of March but she wants more time, but for sure she said she will do it the 9th. We are excited!

In other big news... In March the zone will have 7 baptisms and confirmations! That's the most the zone has had in one month in the past 2 years! Last July and April 2014 I think they also baptized 7. Next month we are hoping for at least 10! We just have to keep helping the investigators we have to progress and we should make that goal! We are super excited.

In the area we have had to drop lots of investigators and families that just have not been progressing :( Its always sad and hard to drop but its necessary. 

This week will be our week of finding new people to teach, so pray for us! We need all the help we can get!

Thanks for your love and support and prayers! Love you all!

Elder Skalla

México Tampico Mission

"Sigamos el consejo de no sólo 

hacer lo bueno sino esforzarnos 

por ser buenos; no sólo hacer las 

This is what it is all about....

Hello!

This week was awesome :D A reminder of why I am here and why I do what I do every day. Seeing Bricio getting baptized and having the privilege to confirm him on Sunday were some of the best experiences of my mission. Seeing his wife and sister crying tears of joy almost brought me to tears as well. It makes it all worth it. All the long and tiring days and all the rejection and doors in the face and disappointment just doesn't really matter compared to the joy of seeing someone start a new life and embrace the restored gospel and see the potential that they have. Bricio is a really great guy and will be a great asset to the ward and a great servant of the Lord. I am honored to be a small part of his conversion process.

I figured you would like getting to talk to Nax haha. And she speaks English pretty well so you can actually talk to her! She was excited for the chance to practice her English too haha. I'm glad you accepted the message! It wouldn't let her add you as a friend so she had to just send a message. Are you friends now? (YES!  We are!)

That's exciting that Ty and Ali got a minivan haha. I'm glad Delilah (his old car) is still going strong. I think I´m the only one that had any faith in her! Lets just hope she lasts a while after I get home!

That's great that you ran into Sister Best!  That's pretty crazy that they are going to move to St. George. Did she get a job there? I tried convincing Logan to sell pest control with me but he has his job in UPS so he cant really take the summer off. But Ya, I am excited to be close to St. George. I am thinking about going down there 4th of July weekend and seeing Elder Tipton and Logan. That's just an idea though who knows what will happen. 

It hasn't been cold recently, but in December, January and February it was. That's why I opened my Christmas package early, I needed to take advantage of warm clothes while I had them and needed them! But they will still be good for Provo weather. I have taken good care of them. 

(I got the video and some of the pictures from Sis. Nax while Elder Skalla was having dinner with her family!  Love her!! I had no idea Ryan knew that song!  Playing from memory) 

I learned '"Let It Go" at home haha. I only know the first part but Azul loves it. I have been practicing piano a lot in the mission. You will be surprised when I get home :) Not TOO surprised but... A little haha. Maybe I will take a piano class or something at BYU.

Aside from the baptism this week there wasn't anything too monumental. Bricio told his family on Thursday (Wednesday night he got called into work for an emergency.) that he was going to get baptized and it was super cool. They had us over to eat while he was saying the prayer he said thanks for the opportunity to get baptized this Saturday haha and when he said amen the faces of his sister and wife were unforgettable. Mostly excitement, a bit of confusion and a bit of "Why didn't you say anything sooner!" haha. It was a good day and fun to see. Bricio is already talking about getting sealed and already wants to get his patriarchal blessing haha. He is going to be a great member.

On Thursday we had interviews with President so we were in the stake center ALL DAY. It was good to talk to president though. I love knowing him so well. It makes a big difference. On Thursday we found out that Elder Rasband is coming to the mission on April 16th! Its the first apostle to come to Tampico in over 5 years! The conference is going to be in our stake center too which is exciting. I hope I am still here next change... Who knows what will happen...

That's about all the time I have... Love you and I will tell you more next week!

Elder Skalla

Exciting week and PICS!!!

Hey!

So this week was pretty awesome! Lots of great stuff happening in the ward, the area and the zone....

So on Wednesday we had our Zone class, which is like a monthly training the ZLs give to the zone based on the zones needs and stuff. Everyone usually expects a lot out of it. So being home all week we had plenty of time to plan and prepare so it turned out super fun haha. We are trying to help the missionaries be more self-reliant in identifying problems in their area and coming up with solutions and fixing their own problems before the DL or ZL even gets involved. That involves better planning and better goal setting and several other things that we wanted to teach them. We came up with the idea of inventing a fake area and giving the missionaries the opportunity to walk through week by week and day by day how they would plan, set goals, and help the area progress. We put kind of like a 007/FBI/Mission Impossible twist on it and made goofy videos of my companion and I acting like secret agents and made the capilla look like a (sort of) FBI headquarters and it was fun haha. Like in Trek there were different surprises that happened along the way (like the Indians coming and the women's pull, stuff like that) and the decisions they made effected the outcome of the next week. It was fun and everybody enjoyed themselves while learning some often boring and not so fun lessons. So that was fun!

Also, we visited Bricio (just a note: its B-R-I-C-I-O, said like Bree-See-Oh) and got everything planned out for his baptismal interview and his baptism. Elder Tipton is going to baptize him and I will confirm him. We are excited because We were both in the office when the rule changed that we can baptize now if they choose us so we have both never done it. Hopefully I get that opportunity as well but if not... I will always have my children to baptize haha.

So crazy story... Remember a year ago when I was in Miramar? Ok so we were opening up half the area because they closed Miramar 2, and they only had a few investigators but the one that was most progressing we looked for a lot. We unfortunately never found her and eventually we were able to call her and find out she had moved but no longer had time to receive the missionaries or go to church. Oh well, bummer. I had forgotten completely about that. Fast forward to about 2 weeks ago and we were in a micro bus and a young man dressed in a white shirt comes and sits by us and starts talking about how hes a member from Independencia and that he is going on a mission in a few weeks and that his mom isn't a member and wants us to teach her. Cool, a golden reference! We wrote it down and a few days later called her to put an appointment. She said she was busy and had to take care of her mom who is old and needs help but when she had time she would call us. Okay... A few days later we were walking home at night and we walked past a hot dog cart and there was that kid we saw in the bus with his mom! We met her and again she said that when she had time, she would call us. A few days later she called and this week on Friday we went and taught her. She told us about her story with the church and the missionaries and that recently she has felt a need to take the discussions again. She talked about how she used to live in Altamira and that the elders pressured her to be baptized so she stopped going. Long story short I eventually made the connection that SHE was the investigator I was looking for a year ago! Crazy! Its such a small world. Sure enough I went and checked my agenda from that change and her name is on several pages haha. I no longer believe in coincidences... We will see how she progresses. Her name is Ester and her son leaves for the Dominican Republic on Wednesday.

On Saturday Bricio had his baptismal interview and passed :) He is so excited its like a little boy on Christmas haha. He loves the fact that his sister and wife and parents have no idea. They have been waiting for years and have almost given up hope. On Wednesday we eat with them and will make the big announcement. Baptism is Saturday at 6:00. He is a great guy and a lifelong friend. Cant wait to come to their sealing in a year! His younger brother Quintin is now the only one who isn't a member. He is in Wyoming right now working on a ranch. Maybe when I get home I´ll drive up and look for him haha.

Saturday there was 1 baptism in the zone and 4 baptismal interviews! We are hoping to have around 10 this month! The most the zone has ever baptized in the last 2 years is 7, so if there are 10 we will be super excited! We have been really blessed and are seeing tons of miracles. Yesterday we met with President Flores, the Stake President for a few minutes and he told us that a few weeks ago he was in Mexico City with the Mexico area presidency and Elder Oaks and Elder Clayton. He casually mentioned the stuff we are doing in the Stake to help the members and get them excited to work together in the work and to read preach my gospel and be member missionaries. Since then, Elder De Hoyos, the area president, has been asking President Flores more details and to explain exactly what we are doing and how its going and everything. CRAZY, RIGHT! 

On Sunday we got permission to go to the hospital to see Bricio and his wife and his new baby, Luz Dania. She is so tiny and so adorable. His other baby, Azul, who is 2 and a half, is so cute with her and says tat its hers haha. She cried when they took her away to be fed. They invited us to come over which was really special. We are excited for Wednesday and for Saturday! Yay!

Okay so that's all the big crazy news. Francisca is still progressing great and should be baptized this month! Yay!

Thanks for all your prayers and support! 

Love you!

Elder Skalla

Not sure where the pigs are from but this is Bricio's dog Titi.  Ryan has been around since he was a puppy.  

Titi  seems calmer with Elder Tipton

This is Ryan's Home Sweet Home

I wish the chair he sits in at least had a back!!

Boring week full of sickness...

Hello! Sounds like you had a fun week! I bet those 4 are a handful haha I am excited! Bricio´s daughter, Azul, is almost 3 and reminds me of Adalynn. She LOVES Frozen and Elsa and is just super funny haha. On March 6th his wife is due to give birth to another daughter which is super exciting! I cant wait for their sealing in a year!

Sounds like Stake Conference was pretty cool too! And yes I agree we have a super strong Stake. Stronger than any of the stakes I have been in here. 

So... about our week. On Monday we left the ciber and my companion had a huge migraine so we went and ate thinking that would help but it didn't so after shopping and all that we went home and he slept all day haha. We worked that night and found and awesome investigator named Roberto. He works at Office Depot and that's where the RS pres works too and one night she was with us visiting an investigator and we ran into him and she invited him to listen to us and we put the appointment for Monday. Afterwards she told us she had been praying for an opportunity to share the gospel with him and look what happened! I no longer believe in coincidences. So we taught him and he was super receptive to the message of the restoration and he had already read a bit of the Book of Mormon. He accepted a baptism date and everything and he said he was going to go to church next Sunday. So.... we went home and my companion started feeling a bit sick again, took 4 ibuprofen and crashed. He woke up the next morning with a fever and all kinds of other fun stuff. We went to the doctor and they said he had a severe throat infection. They gave him an IV and paracetamol and suero (forgot how to say that in English) and then after a few hours in the hospital we left. but he had to go back the next 2 days and get a shot in the bum. He had to rest for the next 2 days, doctor and Sis Ramirez orders. But on Wednesday I woke up with a headache and we went to our district meeting and started getting super cold and nobody else was cold and I got a fever too. Fun! So we just went home and rested because I still wasn't as bad as my companion was so we didn't go to the hospital. Well the next morning I was feeling a bit better but we had to go to the hospital anyway to get his injections and so I just got checked anyway. Apparently I had the same throat infection but WORSE than my companion! But the fact that I don't have tonsils made my symptoms much much less. So I didn't have to have an IV or anything and the doctor couldn't give me the same antibiotic as my companion so she gave me one that is just pills which was nice. But because my infection was worse and it was cold and rainy out, I had to stay home for 3 days! So Tuesday-Saturday we were stranded at home. It was awful especially because we weren't that sick. But Sister Ramirez got mad at us just for going to district meeting when we were sick so we had to stay home. We convinced her to let us go to leadership council on Friday but that was it. So we couldn't visit any of our investigators :( we ate with Bricio on Friday so we were able to see him, but not Francisca and none of the others. But on Sunday we were hoping for a miracle after calling and texting everyone possible and Bricio and Francisca showed up! That really surprised us that Francisca came because we have only taught her like 3 times and we didn't even see her this week! But she is awesome and will most likely be baptized. We have some other investigators that are just starting to progress that we are excited for. We have kind of semi-dropper Gloria and her family because she has to get divorced and married and that takes a few months and they don't have money to get to church on their own and the member that has been picking them up has a stake calling and can't do it a lot of times. So we are going to keep visiting them but not really that much. Just to keep them progressing a little bit until they are on their feet financially and married. Oscar and Sonia we are going to have to drop because they just don't progress. He doesn't want to leave his job and on the day he had off we were going to go to the self reliance center but he bailed on us. So we are going to let them go for a while. 

Hopefully I will have some more news about investigators next week, Bricio is still going strong, ready to get baptized in 2 weeks! His wife and sister still don't know he has a date and has decided to be baptized haha. They wont know til the bishop announces it next week. Its pretty fun. 

We are hoping for a much more productive week this week. This week in the house has given me way too much time to think and I don't like it. Mostly because my thoughts always go towards the future. I am excited to get home and start the next phase of my life, but I don't like thinking about leaving where I am now and what I am doing. But for now I am here so I will just focus on today and tomorrow and nothing else. 

Thanks for everything! love you!

Elder Skalla