Xalapa here i come – July 27

Hola familia y amigos

Well well well. I’m kinda full of mixed emotions right now….and no its not because i just ate some wicked chiles. hahahahah.

But ya my time has come to an end here in ISLA. I’m excited to leave and start working in a different area and to know more of Gods children and all but i’m scared and sad to leave my investigators here. But i know God will help out the people here.

Well something funny. so yesterday Mexico played against USA in soccer and of course EVERYONE was watching. and we were walking down the street and we all of a sudden heard a bunch of people yell and a bunch of houses yell GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL. hahahahahah. I figured Mexico had gotten a goal. LOVE MEXICO. But ya mexico smoked the USA. hahahahaha YEHHHH MEXICO. I can say that cause i’m mexican. haahahahaha

Well this week we baptized a man named Alfredo and a kid named Miguel. I want to tell you about a hero of mine and an example to all….Alfredo. So when we met him he looked liked he didn’t want anything to do with the church. He went with his wife to church and just looked not interested. But we then went and visited him for
the first time and he told us about an experience he had in the church that first time. There was a girl talking about the families and during this talk he told us he felt
something deep in his heart. And he wanted to cry. In this visit(the first visit) i felt very prompted to but a baptism date with him so i didn’t question the prompting and did and he accepted. He then, little by little, started changing a lot. Changing how he talked, not getting mad so easily and treating people nicer and started paying his
tithing even though he was not a member.

There is really a deep lesson in this, well many lessons we can learn. He did what the scriptures said and became meek like a child, and through that way he changed and let the Lord shape him how he wanted to. He was changed through the Spirit. If we become open to
those whisperings we too can become changed and become more like Him if we just let him.

I will never forget this man and saying goodbye to him was one of the hardest things i have done. He cried and said i know that you leaving is just a trial but the Lord will
help mi. He is a great man and will do many great things for the church.

Well gotta go pack still. but love you all

By the way. i’m going to be the a Zone Leader of Brent Holman. ahhhhhhh, so excited. I bet somebody is a little jealous. hahahahaha katie ken. hahahaha.

Love you all and thanks for all
}
Love you all long time

Elder Minetto

Hola ya’all – July 20

Hola familia y amigos.

Well this has been a crazy week.

This will be short.

So this week we were working with a lot with Alfredo and getting him married and he was not able to but we finally (today) got the papers in and he will be getting baptized and then baptized tomorrow in the night time. I’m sooooooooo excited for that and to see him finally
get baptized. This past week he asked if he could pay his tithing before he got baptized and not wait till after his baptism. What awesomeness is that. He is sooooo willing even though he has nothing.

Then there is this family of three I got to baptize in March and its 2 kids and the aunt. Their dad lives in Yucatan. But while they were getting baptized here. the dad in
Yucatan, whom they didn’t talk to that whole time they were taking the lessons, was getting active in the church and got worthy and got the Melchizedec priesthood. Then
their mom who was never a member got baptized in april. We didnt know about any of this till later in april about may when they called and told us. Then this week they all came up from yucatan and are here for the week. I got to meet the dad and see the happiness he and his family found. And the kids were reunited with their dad again after a long time. Then they all went to church and i walked in on the 3rd hour and saw my convert, Jesus,
12yrs, sitting next to his dad…. both in white shirts and ties. At that moment i felt something indescribable and soooo awesome. The Spirit testified to mi that this is the
true church. And ONLY through the Church of Jesus Christ that families can be together forever. It was a privilige to see that and be apart of that miracle.

Well gotta go. Met a family that is in my district that has a son in uraguay and they showed mi a pic of there son and i saw MAU in that pic. Cool huh.

And just about 1 hour ago Pres. Hansen called mi and told mi i’m leaving next change and going to xalapa and… im going to be a zone leader. ahHHHHH i’m freaking out. I’m scared but i know the Lord will be there helping mi and make my weaknesses into strengths.

Well thanks for all.

Love you all long time
Elder Minetto

Hey Hey – July 13

Hey familia y amigitos

Well this is going to be really short. But this week was good. mi and my comp organized a talent night for the branch and my comp and i put our own words about Isla and the mission to the song of Enrique Iglesias HERO. I played the piano and he the guitar. It rocked.

Well miracles are happening here and i really know that the Lord is answering our prayers cause he is really speeding up things for a family so the parents can get married this week and baptized. im soooo excited. so money might be coming out of my account this
week.

But i love this work and i know the Lord is mindful of his servants and that he Loves us. I know he loves us and i hope that you all dont forget it. if you are not feeling it,
just ask him for it. its always there but we always dont recognize it.

Love you all long time
Elder minetto

p.s i think im getting transfered in 2 weeks. the presidente kinda hinted at it to mi. ahhhhh . im scared

Hey hey hey ya´ll – June 23, 2009

Sorry, I apparently missed posting this one.  SLM

Hola familia y amigos. How are ya all doing. ojala al is going great.

WEll this last week and the one before were pretty crazy. sorry i didnt get to write you all because the house flooded because usually a rat gets in our house through our bathroom drain so we put a little bouncy ball in it all day and in the nights so it doesnt get in. And we did that and we left for about 1 and a half days for a zone activity and our shower is ALWAYS leaking water so our bathroom filled up with water and it all went out into the house too. And on monday we got home at like 4pm and the door was open to our house and our neighbors were in there fixing the water and shoveling out water. hahahaha .silly huh. but all is well. All because of a silly BOUNCY BALL. BOOOOOOO. haha

dont worry we cleaned the bathroom….even though it still looks horrible. we cleaned it. you dont have to call anyone. and that bucket was to shower with to. I never thought i would say this. but i actually like showering out of a bucket rather then a real shower. weird huh. But it saves alot of water and it works. hahahahahahaha.

This week was interesting. so first off we started off almost dieing. because we were coming back from san andres from a district mtg and we hit a line of cars like 300yrds long and the bus driver told us we have to get off and walk the rest of the way to Isla, which was like 7 miles away still. what happened is that a huge group of people were going on strike cause the goverment owed them money and to get to isla you have to go though this little place called the cruzero. So they blocked that and all the cars couldnt pass. like 3 routes. and they all had machetes and sticks and stuff. and if you wanted to pass you had to pay 50 pesos. and if you didnt they we beat you up. hahahah. nuts huh. but then they just stopped letting cars through. And you could only walk
thorugh. It was scary but we did. made it safely. late but all good. Dont you guys even worry. And obviously the police doesnt do anything. one time they tried and the people almost killed all the policemen. hahaha. Crazynesss in MEXICO.

Anyway. we had a baptisim the last week of that girl named perla the sister of janet. The one who her dad finally gave them permiso after 6 years of waiting. the Spirit really work miracles. I love that family. you really find friends for life here in the mission and im soooooo stinking grateful for this opportunity to serve cause i know i will be able to see them in the celestial kingdom like it says in DyC. yayayayaya

Oh hey. .tell sis nomani that a man from my rama here is going to the same mission as mau. montevideo, Uraguay. he leaves here the 23 of julio. he is 25 has 2 years as a member and has already been married in the temple to his wife. but 2 weeks after they got married in the temple she died and now he got permission from the 1st presidencia to go on the mission. cool huh. So tell them. he is from isla, veracruz.

So sunday and yesterday were so bomb. Sunday pres. Grow, the 1st consejero en the area presidencia, came to our district. we are the only one in the whole mission. SO he came here to talk to the people about paying tithing and other awesome subjects. then the coolest part was yesterday we had a multizona conferencia en mina. he came and talked to 3 zones. and it lasted like 7 hours about and it was soooooooooooo money the conference. It was soooo powerful and i could really feel the Spiri teaching mi soooo many things all through the conference. I relized so many thing that i can do to help my personal espirituality and my teaching and how to better my area. It was the
most powerful conference i have ever been to. It was funny. i talked to him for a sec and told him i was from portland OR and he said Tigard huh.??? and i was like you are crazy how did you know that. Pure revelation…hahahahahahaha. funny huh. lucky guess. hahahha. but it was moneys cause i really learned how much i still need to learn and dont know. Its soooo important as missionarys to work side by side with the Spirit and we need to do whatever it takes to do it.

Well all is well.

I gots a cold and all but im still going. its the worst being in the this hot weather with a fever. bpooooooooo. but its alll good. still rocking and rolling. Love you all and thanks for all the love and support.

Love you all long time
Elder Minetto

Punched and baptisms

hey familia y amigos.

Alright dad. dont freak out yet and call someone. And yes it is totally what you are thinking. I totally got punched in the face this week .hahahhahaha. funny huh.

well just to let you know i did get the box with the hardrive. its sweet. thanks.

Well this week was crazy. so we WERE teaching a guy named miguel and his girlfriend blanca and there friend lilianna. they alll went to church last sunday and HAD baptismal dates for this week.

So we went to there house tuesday night at like 8pm and just blanca and liliaana were there.(miguel lived in alabama for 12 years and had bad problems with drinking and drugs) So anyway. we started teaching them 2 all normal and all then miguel comes home. i didnt notice at first but he was DRUNK. So his girlfriend got mad and she started to pack her bags to move out and then he got violent and started hitting her. And i really wanted to stop it but as missionaries we cant get into those things and i felt a strong impression to leave NOW. so got up to leave but my comp wouldnt cause he wanted to stop it. So anyway. the girls ran out of the house and miguel followed her. So they got in front of mi and my comp. and so i called my district leader to ask what i should do and i walked around to where they were while i was was talking. He thought i was calling the police so he came up to mi and said some really nice (hahah kinda) words in english cause he speaks English too. And then he just rocked mi right in the upper cheek. hahahaha. or in other words he punched mi in the face. hahahah. i totally say stars and little twitty birds and all. he hits hard. hahaha. then as i opened my eyes he went to hit my comp but my comp has ninja like reflexes (sorry jamie i failed as a ninja)and blocked his punch. Not gonna lie. i was sooooooo close to just given it right back to him but something told mi im a missionarty and representative of the Lord. so i just turned and walked away and we got out of there.

hahahaha crazy eh. well dont freak out. all is well. Just some good excitement on the mission. hahahaha. But i learned that when the Spirit tells mi to GO NOW. i will go.

Well now one the real excitement of this week. we baptized a girl named maritza. Her mom has a baptism date for this week but we just need to get her married this week to her husband. and her other daughter has a date for the 24th. yaya. this family is soooooo ;MONEY. they love church.

And we are teaching this guy named alfredo and his wife. his wife is a member from puebla and she got here and had been inactive for a while and met alfredo. but one day they just showed up to church and he did not look excited to be there at all. But we put a visit date with them and went to there house. so Last tuesday we starting to talk him and he told us he felt something sooooo strong and powerful in the church when this one young woman was talking about families and he said he just wanted to start crying. So we helped him realize that that was God telling him that this is the true church through the Holy Ghost. And then we taught him the first charla. And at the end of the first charla i felt the Spirit tell mi soooo strong….put a baptismal date with him…. i thought it would be crazy on the first visit… but i did it. and he accepted. And just yesterday he asked us if he could get baptized sooner then the 18th of july. cool huh.

He is so humble and so willing to do what the Lord asks of him. his wife is pregnant and they have been eating tortillas and salt for the past couple days cause they have no food. And he cant read. Now that really hit mi. cause i realized if this man can be so humble and be so willing to pay tithing with the little he doesnt have…….how can we be so hard hearted. We are truly blessed to have the things we do. The spirit really taught mi that we need to be more grateful and more giving as Christ did. I love this gospel and hope you all do to. Its a wonderful blessing we have in our lives.

Thanks for everything family and friends. you all rock.

Love you all long time
Elder Minetto

Hola – June 29

hey family-

Sorry another day where i dont have anytime at all to write because our P-day is ending soon. ahhhhhh.. its because today we went to a beach with the distrito. It was sweet. did i mention i dont fit in anything in this small world. The buses are great. everyone is hot and sweaty and we are all packed in like sardines. hahahaha.

Well this week was great. We had some great miracles this week and the Lord really blessed us. Because we had a lot of great investigators go to church and they all really
felt the spirit vary strong and loved it. I love this work and i wouldnt rather be doing anything else in my life right now. the church is true. Love it for life. hahaha

Thanks for all.

Love you all long time
Elder Minetto

p.s O completed a year in the mission. CRAZZZZZZYYYYYY. time flys. and yes i totally
burnt a shirt. a long sleeve one cause i hate them now. hahahahahhahahha.

the answers to the question

Yes got the jam. i use the fan all the time. it rocks my socks. thanks. pretty high-tech.
the scabies are gone now. thanks goodness.the worst experince of my life. and i still
havent gotten the hardrive yet. the end of this week i should. thanks