Cinco de Mayo!!

Hey Family!

Well this past week was a pretty good one! We have been seeing more and more success here in our area! And the best part is that I am feeling a lot better! Her in Grijalva, we have been working really well with the families that we are teaching and have been trying to find more investigators! The heat wave passed through and pretty much all this past week it has been raining or overcast. So it has been pretty nice to have a break from the heat! The only bad thing is that when it rains... haha the streets here flood! The part of the city that we are in is really low and all of the water rushes in when it rains pretty hard or for a long time! But it felt really good not to be dying of heat at night!

We have been doing really good with our families that we have! Rut and her family are doing really well! They are a family of 3 and have a baptism date for the 17 of May! We are really excited for them and the best part is, is that they are just as excited! This past week we had a Family Night with them and the family of our Bishop. It went really well! We watched a Mormon Message about the Atonement and at the end President Uchtdorf gives an invitation to all to join the church and pray to see if it is true. It went really well! Who better to give the invitation than an Apostle! But this family really has opened up to to us and shared things that let me know that they are really ready to take this step! I have had experiences with them that I will never forget! The daughter of the family has had problems for a long time with feelings of a bad presence and has suffered with depression and sickness. My comp and I have always felt weird walking into the house and especially when we leave. Something I didn't share from our first visits with them, is the first time that we went to that house we knew from the moment that we walked in that there was something wrong. We didn't give just one blessing, but she asked us for multiple blessings. It's crazy the difference that we have seen in her! We blessed the house and she says that she feels it every now and then but she just reads in the Book of Mormon and it goes away! They say that a few years ago, an old lady that lived above them practiced like witch craft stuff...pretty crazy!

We have another investigator that also has a baptism date for the 17 of May! Miguel is getting a lot better. We have seen a true change in him! He told us that he really wants to change and drop all of the things that he is doing! He is young, about 20 years old and has a lot of troubles with girls and things like that. But he believes that there is a better life away from all those things!

This past week, as with everyday, is a challenge. I have told myself that I want to be more obedient. not that I haven't been, but there is always so much more that we can all improve. We will never come to a point of full knowledge in this life, so I'm pretty sure that we call all do more! So crazy that it's already Mother's Day this Sunday!! I feel like Christmas just happened!!! Well I am really excited to see and talk to you all one last time! I miss you all so much! Love all of you!

Elder Liljenquist

April 28, 2014

Hey Family!

Sorry I wasn't able to get off a letter to you guys last week! I'm not sure if my mom wrote something for me or not! But remember how a couple months ago I wasnt feelin too good...well it came back again last week and it hit me pretty hard! So we didnt have that exciting of a week here! haha. Well it kinda sucked, I was hit with a fever and throwing up all of my food. We went to the Doctors on Friday and she told me that I have Gastritis, the same that all the other doctors have been telling me! Well the doctor of the mission gave me a prescription for 2 weeks worth of injections! So each day I have been going into a public doctor and gettin poked in the butt!! It's awesome!! haha.. and yesterday all of the doctors were closed! So last night, I spent around 15 minutes in the bathroom trying to convince myself to just do it! haha.. Ffter 3 or 4 bad attempts I finally got it done! Man I just hope I can finally get rid of this stupid thing! I really just want to get better! 

Besides being sick and not working very much, it has been an alright week haha. The gates of Hell were opened up and Villa was hit with its flames of heat!! Holy cow, It has been out of control! The heat down here is crazy! We were at 43 degress cellcius. That's 110 degrees!! and that was at 11 in the morning!! You can only imagine what the afternoon was like! and thats not the best part, We only have 1 freaking floor fan!!! Our house is ground level and there is another house above us and it's sourrounded by both sides so it is naturaly a cool house, but it's terrible at night!! I dont even bother drying off after I shower. I just put my clothes on and go to sleep! It's the only way to stay cool! 

So this past weekend I got a call from the assistants of the President and they said they needed our help with something. I guess some missionaries had some problems and 1 of them was taken out of his area, and the other was left there alone so we had to go with him and sit and his house and wait for his companion to come back! So Saturday we were planning everything for the baptism of Roberto and we had another Elder tagging along with us. It was around 4 o clock and we still had not heared anything for Roberto, so we started to call him and finally he answered me. He then told me that he was not going to be babtized this day and that he does not feel prepared. He then hung up on me. It was one of the worst feelings that I have felt in a long time. I knew that there was more to it! We then went to where he was working and found him there selling his things! I started to talk to him and it was like he had never talked to us before. He told me a lot of things that I never knew about. He and his family were baptized in the Jehova Witnesses church and I guess made plans to return to this church as a family. I said to him that there was not much more that we could do for him, I then shared a scripture with him and my testimony and let him know that we are here to help with whatever he needs. It sucked really bad! But I know one day he will understand and really see!

Well I had the chance to do alot of thinking in the past week, really refelct on the time that I have in the mission and all of the good and bad things that have happened, all that I have learned, and so many unbelievable people that I have met. I am so greatful for the opportunity that I have to be here, I will do everything that I can in these next months to be the absolute best missionary for my Heavenly Father. I miss and Love all of you soo much!

Elder Liljenquist

Prayers for Elder Liljenquist

Please keep Elder Liljenquist in your prayers!

April 14, 2014

Hey Family

Well it was a interesting week here in Grijalva, We had a pretty good week here. Tuesday we had a special conference with our mission President, it was really good! We learned a lot more things that I think everyone needed to hear. Something interesting happened after the conference, my President wanted to talk to my companion so he pulled him off to the side and told him that he was going to have special transfers this next week and was going to be put into another area! Haha of course that would happen..right! So Wednesday night we got the call to where he was going and who was coming here with me! So my new comp is Elder Chajon, he is from Guatamala, he is a pretty cool elder! We have gotten along really well this past week! 

So with the 3 weeks that I have in this area me and my new comp this past week pretty much went around and got to know the area a little bit better! We have gotten to know our investigators pretty well and we put 2 more baptismal dates this past week! Miguel that I have talked about with you guys is doing really well, he has found a lot of friends in the church and is coming to all of the activities every week! We have another investigator Jorge who went to the church when he was younger but stopped going, he has always had the desire to be baptized but just has never come back to church! So we went and taught him for the first time and he accepted a date for the 3 of may! 

As you all know I said that we were going to be baptizing this past week. There were a lot of things that happened this past week! Haha first this family you guys need to understand they don't even have money to eat, he goes around all day selling remotes for tv.s and other little electronics like that. And every night he goes to the bridge and sets up his public stand to sell. His wife has diabetes and she got really sick this past week and he needs to send her to another state so she can get taken care of! And he has been getting himself in some pretty bad debt! he keeps going to the bank and loan companies to take out money but just keeps falling more and more behind! I have been praying so hard for him and his family, the other night he asked me for money so that he could go and eat...so me and my comp went and bought him some food from the gas station that was close by. He says they have no gas in his house so all the money he makes he has to buy food that's already made and that is always more expensive. And he always tells me, don't worry everything is going to turn around! Its so crazy the faith that this man has! So we are gong to continue to work with him and help in any way that we can! 

I hope that we can all be grateful for how much we have, seeing this all happen and being apart of it has made me see just how blessed we all are! I miss all of you sooo much! I have been baking here in the Mexican heat haha! but time is always going! I love all you so much!

Elder Liljenquist

April 7, 2014

Hey family!!

Well it was another good week here in Grijalva!! We have had some success with our investigators! And the best news is that this weekend Roberto is going to be baptized! We are really excited for him! We have been working with him a lot and have seen such a big change in this guy! He has a pretty ruff situation right now and its so cool to see him trust so much in our Heavenly Father! Him and his family do not have very much money! but he is confident that the blessings will come! It has really been a faith building experience to see him work through! He has asked me and my comp for money for gas for his house so they can cook a lot of times, but he has been really acceptable with trusting in the lord and praying for the help that he needs. He told us what happened to him yesterday when he went out to work, he got assaulted by some punk kid, and he started to talk about it with us and he says he knows why it happened, haha because were not supposed to work on Sundays!! haha it was the coolest thing! He is so ready and I am so happy that he will be able to take this step and be able to receive the blessings that are waiting for him.

During the Hottest week of my life! haha we have also been working with another investigator named Jorge, he has been doing really well! The other day he asked us when we could plan his baptismal date!! haha just out of no where! it was kinda of weird, but he is progressing pretty well, he did not come to conference but he has a date for the end of this month.

We are also working with another investigator named Miguel, he is a great investigator, he is like 22 and loves to listen to us! He has come to church and even goes to all other activities during the week! and the best is that he goes to institute alone every week! We are working with him to get him a baptismal date!

Conference was unreal! I hope that all of you were able to see it! All of the sessions were sooo good! I loved the talk from our Prophet, The true love of our Savior is what is going to take us back in the presence of our Heavenly Father. It was such a good talk, especially because I can do so much better at having more charity for everyone.

I miss all of you soo much! Time is flying here though! The weeks just get faster and faster I could really relate the talk about the 4 minutes that we have here! It really made me see that this time that I have here in the mission is so short and I have heard more than once that its an 1 time thing, that's want to do it the best that I can! I hope all of you can do things to the fullest and make the best of our 4 minutes here! I love all of you!!

Elder Liljenquist

March 31, 2014

Hey family!!

How is everyone doing?? Things here are going pretty good! We have been working pretty good here! I have been getting to know the area! But the ward and the investigators are really good! We still need to find some more, but we have 2 or 3 that are progressing really well! This past week was the beginning of the heat wave that's going to come in! Holy cow! I know that I complain to you guys about the heat all of the time, but if any of you need to lose some weight, come down here to Villa and just walk! haha …You'll be in unreal shape in a week!!! The heat really is not that bad. It's the humidity that kills you! 

 

Our investigator Roberto, is doing really well. He is having some struggles with work. He and his family do not have very much. For work, he buys and resells T.V remotes and little electronic things and goes out to the streets and sells them. There is a big river that divides Villa and Gaviotas (my area) and he is always up on the bridge selling. He is a really cool guy and has a lot of faith! He knows that all the blessings will come if he just keeps working hard! We explained to him about prayer and how he can be sure about his answer. We talked about the fruits of the spirit and how he would feel when he receives his answer. He did not end up attending church this week, but that night we went up to the bridge to see him and it turns out that he was sick and to top it off, he and his wife had not eaten since the day before because they did not have any money to buy food. It was weird because like 5 minutes later, a lady and some guy walked passed us and she dropped an envelope all wadded up. I did not think anything of it. But something told me to go and get it. So I went and got it and opened it up and there inside there was two 500 peso bills!! I thought for a second that this could help Roberto out soo much! But it just wouldn't be right, so me and my comp went bookin it after this lady! We finally caught her and at first, haha.. I think that we scared her because she started to like run away from us!! haha.. But then I asked her if the envelope was hers and then she actually got really mad and grabbed it right out of my hand and didn't even say thank you!! haha. Well at least I know I did it right! 

 

The family that we have been teaching is doing pretty good. There are just some problems. The husband likes to drink....a lot!! And they got kicked out of there house this week so they have been looking for another place to live, The wife is pretty tired of the husband coming home drunk all of the time. She says she wants to get away from him for her kids. She is really great, just its hard with her husband! We are going to focus in more on him! 

 

I am really excited to be able to see conference this week! I can't believe its time again! The clock is flying by! I miss all of you soo much!!

 Elder Liljenquist

March 24, 2014

Hey Family!!

  

The first week down here in my new area, Grijalva! The area is pretty nice and the ward seems to be pretty good! Not as good as the last ward that I was in, but it's up there! My comp, Elder Nevitt is a pretty cool guy and we seem to get along pretty well! Haha.. They didn't send me far at all from my area in Parrilla, like 5 minutes down the road! The day of the transfer, I went to the bus station to meet the leaders and they told me to go back where I came from just stop before you get to Parrilla and you'll be in your area! Haha. So me and my comp got my things and went to the house. Umm.. when we got to the house, you guys need to understand that it's not a house. It's a room. And well, if any of you have seen the size of my mom's closet, that's about the size of the dang place! Our dang suit cases don't even fit in the house. I sleep in my hammok across the room and my comp sleeps in a bed in the corner of the room. Luckily the President told me before I got there to find a new house! Pray that I'm only there for the next week! Oh and we only have 1 fan that works!! haha! It sucks so bad at night!! It has been so hot here! We have been in the high 90s and 100s all week! sS you can only imagine how hot it is at night in that room!

 

In the area the work seems to be pretty good. They had some investigators that they had just found and that were progressing, but there was not much movement in the area. We have some investigators that are pretty good! A family that they had just found before I had gotten there is really great. It's a family of 6 people and 4 of them can be baptized. We get along great with the family, The only problem is that the couple are not married and we will have to marry them before we can baptize them! 

 

There is another investigator named Roberto, I guess he found the missionaries and told them that he wanted to be taught. He has a good desire to progress. We invited him to be baptized this past week and he accepted! We put a date with him for the 12 of April. He came to church on Sunday and said that he is doing good!

 Everything is going good here. We are going to start soccer tournaments here in the ward to start to try and find more investigators, and we are going to get these members to work! I am excited to be working here! I love and miss all of you!!

Elder Liljenquist