March 26 2011

Soooo this week was way interesting. Some of the things included, but are not limite to:

-My comp drinking alcohol

-Me walking around with a pack of cigrattes in my pocket
-My first bike crash in the mish

-One of the best baptismal services followed y}by one of the worst conformations the next day

All in all it was a great week. So I know your all wondering about the alcohol, so I will start with that. No, my comp is not trying to get his booze fix here in the mission. We went to Daisys house on Teusday (the lady who got baptized last week) and she offered us left over lamb her and her famliy had eaten the day before from the celebration from the wedding. As we were earing she offered us Topache, which is a drink that they make here from fermented pineapple. I had heard about it before so i asked her "doesnt that have a little bit of alcohol in it?" And she told me no, as far as she knew. She but the pitcher on the table and then left to go do something, so i grabed it and smelt it. I thought i smelt a little bit but i wasnt sure. So my comp, having a little more experience in that area (past life stuff, dont ask), smelt it and said he couldnt smell any. He took a small sip, his eyes got really big, and then spits it back into his cup. "our convert is drinking a whole 2 days after her baptism" was the general concensus. But she didnt realize and felt way bad after we told her that is has a little bit of alcohol. But the lamb was good...

We inherited possibly the crazziest woman ever as an investigator a week ago. We are convinced she is bi-polar, and possible dual personalities. We got a call monday night from a member that lives above her saying that she tried to kill her son in law, and now she doesnt want anything to do with the church. So we went first thing teusday and she wasnt happy to see us. After getting her calmed down, we talked for a while, and she changed completely from not wanting anything to being like a saint again. She was a big smoker, but had left it for her baptism 2 weeks ago. After everyhting that happened, she wanted to smoke, so she bought a pack but hadnt opened it yet. She came back to her senses and wanted us to take the pack and throw them away. We glady did, so i put them in my pocket and forgot about them. Later that day, in a lesson i reached for the phone in my pocket and pulled out the pack, fogetting they were in there. That was awkward...The lady we were teaching was like "Oh you guys smoke?"

I had to go to Escarsega, the town i used to have to go to every monday when i was in Champoton, to do divisions and a baptismal interview. Its a pretty big area, so they are on bikes. I was going down a small hill on a small road when all of a suden i saw two cars and another biker in between coming. i braked and turned, but to no avail, the front tire lost traction and slid out from underneath me. it was no big crach, but the embarrasment...

The coolest lady ever is getting baptized this week. Her name is Berenice, and she has three small kids that are OUT OF CONTROL. Her littlest is my favorite though. She is like 3 years old, but cant stay on her feet for more than 30 seconds. she runs into everything and falls down constantly. She is so used to it now it doesnt even phase her. On sunday just before the sacrament started she comes sprinting in front of her mom from the bathroom into the sacrament room, and full on face plants/body smalls the closed door. She falls backwards, gets up and shakes her head a little, and continues running. We call her "the wrecking ball"

We also have two other baptims planned for tomorow. It is a 19 year girl named Fabiola and her 8 year sister Lizbeth. They are great, and are going to be the first converts of their family. But now we have already started talking to their mom and she is getting pretty excited too. We just have to get her to take sunays off and stop smoking. The other baptism we have planned will be on Satruday after the second session.

Speaking of general conference, I am beyond stoked. I love conference so so much.

Love,

Elder Kitterman

March 19 2012

It was so cool hearing about Dahlins homecoming! Pretty much the general theme i got from it was that he is taller, his testimony in japanese rocked the house, and he is ripped. Thats pretty cool i have to say. Down here in good ole mexico, i have slowly traded my six pack for a keg. But they say as your tesimony grows, so does your gut. So im doing alright...

No im not fat mom. Just more to love is all.

Well this week was insane. All in all, our investigator Deici (pronounced Daisy) got baptized Saturday after getting married on Thursday. Pretty much everything that could have gone wrong, did. We married them in a small town named Chiná, about 30 minutes outside the city because there is not as many requirments there for marraige. Well we ended up going there 4 different times over the course of 3 days. We had to shovel out a crap load of money to correct a spelling error on one of her important documents, and she had already given us pretty much all she had to pay for the wedding registration and what not. We had to sweet talk sooo many people so that it could get done. But the weeding made it all worth it. They were so happy. It was held right there in the office of one of the city hall workers, and there was about 13 people, 8 of them being our district. But it didnt matter that there was no dress, or fancy dining hall, or lots of food, or any formality really. They were just happy.

Saturday rolled around, and we went to the chapel about 2 hours before the baptism was going to start to start filling up the font. We didnt realize that niether of us knew how long it actually took, and to our horror the bishop was there and told it it takes 4 hours cause the water comes out slowly. So us and two other Elders from our district starting filling up buckets and buckets and dumping in the font to start and speed it up. Everyone startes showing up, and it was only about knee high. We got so desperate as to dump the jugs of drinking water in. Not all of them... but a few. We got it as full as possible, about mid thigh, and started. It was a packed house thankfully, and I got to baptize her. I had to do it three times because her dress kept coming up, but luckily she was a champ and had a smile on the whole time. All in all, it was the most work ive had to do for a baptism, but it was for some reason one of the most fufilling.

We had changes today. our zone got wiped out. Elder Higginson and I are the only companionship that stayed together. Everyone else got a new comp or left. One area got closed, and we are absorbing it. Our area more than doubled, and now we have about 1/4 of the whole city. Its insane.

We have a lot of good things coming up. I hope and pray that all of you do too. Dahlin, write me asap. Nick, have a great homecoming, and then write me asap. that is all.

I love everyone!

Love,

Elder Kitterman

March 12 2012

So this morning we got up at 4:00 to go with a couple to go get their blood drawn and pictures taken to so they could get all the paperwork in order to get married. I have no idea what they ask for in the states when you want to get married, but here they make you jump through hoops. So we go before the butt crack of dawn and we are waiting outside the hospital for forever. Luckily we were one of the first ones in line, but son after we got there, everyone and their uncles starting showing up. it was like amad house. When it got time to open the doors, slowly everyone starting moving closer and closer until all the people in the front could barely move. I thought a brawl was going to break out. These people take their health care very seriously, because to be honest, its more like a first come, first serve type thing in te hospitals. There is little to no organization. It made me grateful to live in america. Sure we have plenty of issues with health care and stuff like that, but i will take that over what they have here anyday.

But all in all, everything got done finally. We have been asking this couple to do this for weeks now, and they always put it off. So we went with them to make sure they did it. The womans name is Daici and she will be gettin baptized with her little 9 year old niece this coming saturday. We are stoked because its the first baptism the ward has had in a while. Then the following week we have a cool 18 yeard old guy named Edgar, who we finally just got to change jobs so he could go to church and get baptized. He is super stoked and we are already teaching and ridicously deep topics in the lessons like endowments and exaltation and all the stuff that converts never even hear off. The crazy part is he justs picks it up himself reading the scriptures and listening in church. In addition, we have a 16 year girl who has a 1 and 1/2 year old son that is extremely anxious to get baptized. She has been waiting for some time, because she isnt married to her boyfriend. She is underaged, so she has to wait till her dad gets back from fishing for 2 months to sign the paper so she can get married and then baptized. Things are moving pretty well here.

I always thought that as I gained more time and wisdom in the mission, I would be able to find more time inbetween everything. But its the exact opposite. Im not only finding, but also looking for more opporunites to work more, do more, help more. Its wake up, do work, sleep, then do it again. Most times, the last person I think about is myself, and thats where true happiness is found. Ive realized that satisfying your own personally desires or needs can be, well, satisfying, but its far from fufilling. The biggest lesson Ive learned on my mission is to be humble. To give up yourself, and give it all to the Lord. It sounds so cliche, but "getting lost in the work" takes on a whole different meaning when it actually happens. The smile is no longer a forced habit. Its genuine.

Sorry the isnt any photos this week, or any really cool stories for that matter. I will pay more attention (i tell myself this every week, but this week its goning to happen) to what goes down during the week. Congrats to Dahlin and Nick for finishing strong. Write me when you get home!! Hope everyone has a great week. Love you!

Love,

Elder Kitterman

March 5 2012

¡Eyyyyyy!

 

So sorry for not writing a letter to everyone last week. It got a little crazy with all the special changes. For those who have no idea what im talking about, two weeks ago I got special changed to the other side of the city of Campeche with Elder Parra, who was already in my zone, and then a week later, last monday, he got special changed out and Elder Higginson arived. Im now in an area called Santa Lucia, and its.... well there arent any other words besides "pretty mexican", which is a really good thing. All my areas have been "pretty mexican", and thats how i like it. There are a few areas in the mission that have a lot of money, but they are all in Merida or Cancun, and speaking of those thats where Elder Higginson is coming from right now. Its my first white companion in like 10 months. He has 15 months in the mission, and has spent his whole time here in Mexico in one area. Well, technically it was 2 areas, but they are right next to eachother and share the same chapel and everything. So he is prety stoked to be here. He is from Hunington Beach and is a machine. He was surfing from the time he could walk, is super duper nice and friendly with EVERYONE (sometimes i dont understand how he does it), and is pretty much the kind of guy you dont introduce your girlfriend to. We are already throwing fire here.

 

We usually have no idea where we are, but amazingly we have rarely gotten lost. We kinda just walk in the direction we think it is, and we get there alright. We have some pretty solid investigators going and we are finding truck loads. We dont have any baptisms line up for this week, but the week after there are two women that are going to get married really soon and we are shooting for the 17th of March. Back in my last area, the family we were teaching in getting baptized this week. Armando and Minerva. I had some of my funnest and most interesting lessons with them, and Im hoping that I will be able to go see their baptism. I dont have a lot of pics from this week, but I hope to take a lot more this week now that everything has calmed down. I just have one of us and the other Elders in our ward. Elder Higgonson is the one on the far left. There are two pairs cause its a big ward. Sorry I dont have too much more, but hopefully next week! I love you guys. Have a great week!

 

Love,

 

Elder Kitterman

February 27 2012

Zack had a crazy week with some emergency changes, so he didn't have time to write a general letter.

February 20 2012

I have no idea what I want to write today. I know right, BIG surprise. I will start with the highlights

The baptism went great. But it was only one. Maria Louisa's mom got really sick and she had to leave town to visit her in Champoton (my last area, go figure). She should be getting baptizing this coming saturday if nothing else comes up. I dont think it will since she has waited long enough. But Monsserrat was baptized by her grandpa and it went great. She was suppppper excited about it. That always helps. But when we got home that night, the lady that lives below up that we rent the house from gave us some interesting news. She has been hearing on the news lately about men that live in the state of Chiapas (South-east of Campeche) and Guatemala(thats right Carlos, im about to rag on your hood) that get young women to fall in love with them over the internet by sweet talking them and sending money. After a short period of time they pay to have to travel to wherever they are at and then pretty much kidnapp them and sell them for prostiution and drugs. Well this was somewhat alarming to all of us because Monsserrat has been internet dating a guy she has never actually met for a few months and already has plans to move to Guatemala towards the end of March to get married and live happily ever after. Supposedly, he is working in New York right now, and for that reason cant come to at least meet her first or anything. The whole situation is very sketchy. I would really rather not have a convert kidnapped. We talked to her after her confirmation and explained that she now has the precious gift of the holy ghost, and if she seeks it out, she will find guidance. We also advised her to talk with the bishop, as she was officially out of our hands. Crazy stuff.

Other than that, it was a quiet week. Just working hard and trying to stay out of the sun as much as possible. Its getting hot again! Today we played baseball. First time in a long time... It was kinda interesting, seeing as they young men we played with didnt have any idea how to do anything, but it all worked out and was fun.

I attached pics from Monsse's baptism as well as the baptism from last week.

Well i hope everyone has a great week and is loving life. Peace

Love,

Elder Kitterman

February 13 2012

Hey everyone!

 

So i decided to write the peeps first today, so im left with pretty much no time to write. The baptisms went great. It was actually one of the better services ive been in. They are going to be fantastic members. We have two more baptisms this saturday. A 20 year muchacha we have been teaching for a while and the lady that was abandoned (sp?) by her husband a few years ago with 3 little kids. Well I will make sure to write a better letter next week! Have a good one. 

 

Love,

 

Elder Kitterman

February 6 2012

Well thats another change. I stayed, and I am very happy to have done so. We have so many people that are so close, I can feel it!

So we have been doing really well. We have 2 baptisms lined up for this Saturday, and then people with baptismal dates from the next month or so. The baptisms we have for this Saturday are a woman and her 9 year daughter, who recentently just remarried with a long time member in our ward. We didnt know them because they just moved into the ward, but when he introduced us to his wife and her daughter it was like "Elders, my wife wants to get baptized with Diana (daughter) as soon as possible. They already know everything and we are in 3 Nephi as a family". So we are pretty much just verifying everything and they will be baptized this Saturday.

One of our investigators didnt come to Church yesterday because she had an emergency with her youngest and had to leave in the morning and was gone all day. When we went to talk to hre that night, we told her that she had to wait another week to be baptized, and she cried. She wants to be baptized so bad. She is the lady I told you we found knocking who was left by her husband 2 years ago with 3 tiny kids. Whe we first talked with her, she wanted to know how she could get rid of all the hate she had for him. Now, every time she prayers, she prays that he is forgiven for what he did, and many times for his safety whever he may be.

We didnt get as many people to church as we were hoping yesterday, buts thats life. As I was sitting there in sacrement, somewhat frustrated, Armando and his wife Minerva walkd through the door. They are a family we have been teaching for about a weel that live 20 minutes outside the city in a town called Lerma. In preisthood, we had a lesson on Family home teaching, and Armando, who had never been to church in his life, raised his hand and began teaching the other 35-40 men in the room what it was really like to be outside the church looking in. Everyone was shocked and left with a new perpesctive not only on home teaching, but on life without the gospel. I had who knows how many members ask me afterwards in private "where did you find him??".

We have another lady that didnt come to church yesterday because of the superbowl. I wasnt expecting that, but her and her husband are avid gamblers and placed some big money and the Patriots. Boo. Anyways, its something I have never come across on my mission before, and I constantly catch myself getting into with her about the NFL. Its frustrating.

Well I coming up short on more information on the week. I will see what I can put together in this coming week so I actually have something to write about next week. I hope everyone has a fantastic week. Read your scriptures! Say your prayers! Love one another! and all that other stuff they teach in the primary. Paz.

Love,

Elder Kitterman

January 30 2012

Mom, Happy Birthday! I totally spaced last week, so sorry for that, but Im hoping it was great. Im glad you guys had a fun time on the cruise.

I have talked with a return missionary who served for some time in Cabo. Its a little bit poorer in that area, and Im sure you werent even in the poorer areas. But what you described sounds like a lot of my areas. The feelings you described are a lot of what I had when I first got here, but as I got used to it, I realized that these people didnt need so much to be truly happy. All they needed was their family and in all cases, the Gospel. It was, and is, a very humbling experience, but one that teaches you whats really important in life.

Soooooo Jaoquin got baptized. It was like the coolest thing Ive ever seen. My comp baptized him on a chair, since he cant really balance with the one leg and all. After his baptism, he wanted to bear his testimony, which was a surprise cause he is more of a shy kinda guy. He made his way up to the front of everyone and bore a short testimony on the truth and how thankful he was for the golden plates. I love this guy. Now we are going to start working on his 5 daughters. They avoid us like the plague, so it should be fun.

Other than that, it was just a normal week. Pretty boring right? We went with one of our progressing investigators, that should be getting baptized the 11th, to her sisters house to give her a blessing cause she was sick and see if she would like to talk to us. She gladly accepted us and launched into how she tried to kill someone one time and how much she hated this person, and then how her husband died about a year ago, and then about how she didnt feel clean, and on and on. When she stopped talking, it was kinda like "well... where should we start?"  The lesson went great and she accepted baptism for one week after her sister. She also has a 16 year old son that sounds golden.

Our baptism planned for this week fell because she got sick and couldnt come to church, but we may pull something off cause we finally talked to the mom of a young man who we have been teaching for months, who wants to get baptized but his mom wants to wait. She seemed cool with it, but she says she will talk to his dad. His name is Manual and prayers on that one would be appreciated. Most youth I see that have to wait as long as he does usually loose interest, but he has remained firm in everything this whole time. He says he wants to serve a mission too.

Well sorry for the shortness, but you know how it is. I had a good week, and hope everyone else did as well. Take care and be good. Paz

Love,

 

Elder Kitterman

January 23 2012

This week was... fufilling.

Firstly, I was dying while reading about the black guy hitting on Sierra. Get at it girl!

Sorry about last week. I wrote the most epic letter of my life, and thus was my rage that much more fueled when it pretty much earsed itself when I finished. Not that big of a deal really. Now I just have some really great stories to tell for when I get home. I guess I could tell you this week, but that would take up my time that I have to write about this week, and then I would be like a week behind...forever. I think I will just hang on to them for now.

We got a lot of people to go to church this week. We have two wards, so instead of it just being game time for like an houre or 2, it was game time for like 5 hours. It was crazy. Oh, I call Sunday mornings game time becuase the progress of our investigators all depends on whether they go to church or not, so its almost like a whole week of hard work comes down to whether they show up to church or not. Its gets intense. Most of my mexican comps even know what "game time" means.

But no that all the pieces are starting to come together here, we should be seeing a lot more cool things happen. We have a baptism planned for this week for Joaquin, the man with one leg. He is super excited for his baptism, and he has already been taught everything, so basically we just sit and talk with him about rndom stuff. He had to drop coffee a few weeks back, so we traded him for herbal tea to drink when it got cold at night. Friday night he invited us over for tea. We just sat there and drank herbal tea and talked. It was the first time in my life i had down that. Not drank herbal tea, but just sat and talked while doing it. There was at one point where he told "dont ever waste one minute over your youthfulness. I would give my other leg to go back and do what you two are doing" It was pretty deep.

We were knocking one morning. Big surprise right? But seriously, we found a women, about as tall as me (she is like the shaq of women here) who has three small kids and no husband. Her husband left them for no reason 2 years ago and went to the states. He continues to call them, but for nothing good. He is always threatning to come and take away the kids from here. All she wanted from us was to know how coul she let go of the hate she has for her husband. She came to church and loved it. She later told us that in the moment that we arrived, she was pleading with God to help her put her life back in order. I cant remember how we even ended up at her house. It was just one of those tender mercies of the Lord.

The pictures attached are kinda old, but better ate than never right? More to come...

Well I have some emails to make up for for last week, so I will leave everyone here. I hope everyone has a fantastic week. Keep on keepin.

Love,

Elder Kitterman

January 16 2012

i just spent the last 45 minutes writing a very long detailed general
> letter, and the internet closed, and it didnt save. I will just have
> to write it next week. We saw a lot of miracles this week.
> 
> Im really mad about the general letter. Im sorry, but i will just have
> to write it next week. I will talk to you guys next week.
>
> --
> Love,
>
> *Elder Kitterman*

January 2 2012

Today is the greatest day ever.

Let me tell you why in this email.

Are you ready?

Becasue I am.

 

Late last night we got a call from the sister of one of our favorite familes here in our ward, and she asked if today we could give a blessing to her brother who is in the hospital. We of course gladly accepted, and they picked us up early in the afternoon today and off we went to the hospital. They filled us in on his condition on the way over. He isnt doing so hot do to drug and alcohol abuse among everything else bad you can think of. He was in the state of Puebla more by the center of Mexico, but somehow someone got him on a cheap bus and dropped him on his mothers doorstep, literally. She wasnt home so they just left him there. He was in critical condition when they found him, and when they finally let us up to see him (we were the only ones allowed to go up), he was not conscious, shaking, and groaning very heavily do to pain and who knows what else. His skin was a tint of orange, and he looked 70 when he is really only 45. We gave him the blessing and in the middle of it his body calmed and he stopped groaning. As we were leaving, the urse, who didnt see us give the blessing asked us what we did, because his heart rate had slowed to more of a normal beat. I said "we blessed him, and he should recover soon". She looked back and forth between ur and him for a second and then said "thank you".

 

On the way home, they told us a little more about him. Him and his family grew up in the church, and he was a great kid. He even went to the church established high school in mexcio city, which is like the byu of mexico. All of his brothers and most of his friends starting serving missions, but for one thing or another, he decided to stay. He hung out with a few of the wrong friends, and from there on out its been downhill.

 

I get to the computer today, and the first thig I read is that Kyle has decided to serve a mission. I would never noramally mention this, but I couldnt help but think about him and how I never wanted to see anything like that happen to him. I know, I know... wheres the box of tisues for Zack, but I couldnt be happier for him or the Truchard family. This one decision, that seems like nothing in the grand scheme of things, will change lives for ever and ever. And ever.

 

Moving on to the second reasopn why this is the greatest day ever. Ever since my first area in Cancun, I have devoloped the habit of checking pay phones on the street for loose pesos. Ive never found any in the hundreds ive always checked, but today i found 4 pesos in one! My comp thought i was crazy, but the chruch is true! Ive had comps tell me I was never going to find anything, and I would alwasy always say "Oh hombre de poco fe". Patience and faith people. Patience and faith.

 

We were eating with the same family that took us to give the blessing and there son who is a return missionary that served in Sinaloa was showing us pics from his mission, when i caught a glimps of a familiar face. It was none other than Logan Brown, along with the Brown crew. They served together! It was cool hearing about how he knew him and how spencer had invited him to move up to Utah to work for him.

 

Wednesday I went on splits with Elder Gutierrrez, and in his ward there are some members that are clowns. Literally. They have thier own tv show and everything. In there backyard they have a few trained monkeys that we gave soda to and they almost killed eachother for it. I walked in and the the father was putting on all his makeup, and it was hard not to laugh just looking at him talk seriously. I couldnt help but ask after he finished putting on all the makeup, "so what line of work are you in?"

 

I taught a really cool lesson from the bible the other day, but the thing is, it wasnt even a legit bible. I dont carry around my bible because ive found they people are still skeptical when im pulling out books left and right they have never seen, so i just use theres. We were teaching a man who had lost a leg, so when i asked if he had a bible he told me he might on his book shelf. I went in and looked around and all i found was a jehovahs witness bible, which isnt even called the holy bible anymore because they have changed a few things and taken out a couple of verses. But it was all he had. It was pretty interesting, but workd all the same.

 

Well Im positive there was more, but time is of the essence. I hope everyone has put some good goals for 2012! I will have a few more for all of you soon enough ;)

 

Take care and spread the love. 

Love,

 

Elder Kitterman

December 26 2011

Well, that was by far the shortest year of my life.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I sure did. We got spoiled by the wards here with plenty of food and ties and stuff. We got some sweet zipper ties, which is the new clip-on. Im pretty stoked to use it... The call home was amazing. I wish we could have talked longer, but the next call will come a lot sooner than we think, or at least thats how it was last year, remember?

Well this is going to be really short, due the to the call and everything, but pretty much the biggest thing we have going right now is the few families we are teaching. They are all coming along great, and are pretty excited about it all. Changes were yesterday, and for the first time in my whole mission that I have ewver seen, nobody in our zone got changed. Everyone stayed the same. We have a small zone to start with, but it just seems weird, like a neverending change. I put some pretty hefty goals for my self for this next year, so we will see whats happens. President has been drilling us with lack of faith in our goals, so I went with the "shoot for the moon, and you´ll land among the stars" type deal. Should be fun.

After the call last night, i remembered I wanted to tell you guys about how i ran into an investigator i was teaching in my last area Champoton, that got baptized soon after I left. He saw me in the street here in Campeche and ran over and grabbed me from behind. Hes 19 and practices karate on a national level, so hes pretty big and it freaked me out. But when i saw it was him, I couldnt have ever imagined how happy it made me to see him, ater knowing he had been baptized just a few weeks before. It made me think about returning to the penisula after the mission, and then eventually made me think about how it will be in the Celestial Kingdom. I cant even imagine what joy there will be seeing others who are there, and i had the oppurtunity to help them get there. It was one of the tender momnets.

Well sorry this is so short, but you know how it is. I attached so pics of things that happened this week. One is of the breakfast we had with all the Elders of Merida and Prsident and his family. It was really fun just seeing everyone. Another is of me and the niño I baptized. He wasnt an investigator becuase his mom is a member and he is 8 years old, but they wanted me to baptize him. It was awesome. Well take care. Have a great new yeras and be safe!

Love,

Elder Kitterman

December 19 2011

Soooooooo, they pulled another fast one on me. I was already to be in a trio with the other disfuncitional (thats what i call our district) elders, when i recieved a call 10 minutes after Elder Jimenez and they told me i was recieving a new comp. His name is Elder Rubio from Chiuahua. He only has 3 months total in the mission, and was having some problems with his trainer so they sent him my way. He is a way cool guy, with an ever cooler accent. Soutern mexicans talk feo, and the northerns talk so freaking cool.

 

We finished up all our trainings we had and now are back to normal weeks just working. Things are starting to pick back up already now that Elder Jimenez is in his casita. We worked hard together, but the last few days we ended up going with all the members so he could say goodbye. Therefore, not too much got done.

 

Well I will be baptizing this wednesday. Its not an investigator, just an 8 year old in the ward that wanted me to baptize him. I was so surprised an excited! I always play this mexican game with him when we go over to his house. His mom is a less active who lives with a nonmember who we are teaching. I might have mentioned it beore, because he wants to get married and baptized, but she doesnt. Its frustrating, but they are one of my favorite families in this area.

 

I cant think of too much else to tell this week, since i will be calling next sunday. I will be calling around 5 my time. I will recheck what dad told me to see if that is too early.

 

We had the ward christmas activity this past week which was delicious, as well as a family home evening that turned out fantasic. There are pics attached. One is the last dinner with elder jimenez, my district, my zone, and my new comp!

 

Other than all that the week was normal, just my comp getting confused and lost a lot. Well sorry this is so short, but i will talk to you guys soon! Love ya

Love,

 

Elder Kitterman

December 12 2011

Its the day of the virgen Mary. Its pretty insane down here. As a celebrated religous holiday by many of the catholics and the numerous catholics sects, they all run around and get drunk to celebrate their "saint". Can i just say im so happy to be a part of the true gospel of Christ? Yes i can...

 

This week was better than they have been lately. Probably because I got to go into merida for a two day training, and there I saw some of my buds from the mtc and friends ive picked up across my mission and the areas ive had. The training was long and it starting hurting sitting down for so long each day, but it went amazing. Like most mission president, ours will embark on a certain topic such as getting investigators to go to church, and then 2 hours later he has covered just two points of the appointed topic and is now talking about our own purification as members of the church and missionaries. Completely inspired, and always what we need to hear.

 

Other than that, we were with the members a lot this week so Elder Jimenez could say goodbye. He will be leaving this Thursday in the morning and it looks like I will probably be in a threesome with the other companionship in my district for the week and a half before regular changes come. Should be interesting. One of the elders was my comp a while back, Elder Gutierrez and the other is a newer Elder from Idaho. He is alergic to chocolate, and when he told me that, i almost cried for him.

 

I did get the other packages! And the pictures too! Holy house Batman! Thats Kim and Nicks first home? I know where im living when i get back. And I also got the package from Grandpa and Candy! Thanks a ton. Its always great to hear how everyone over there in arizona is doing, not to mention the pictures. Grandpa looks happier than ever with snow covering his face, I cant believe how big Emily and Aubrey already are, and Aaron better hang on to that truck till I get back! Mom, I got the christmas package, and was more selfish this time. When i found the salted chocolates, my comp jus got a glimps of it and asked, "whats that?" "Nothing. I dont know" i respond. then for the next few days, and i would sneak a few when he was around the corner, and he would sometimes ask "what are you doing?" when he heard the ruffling. "Nuttin..." I would say, with a mouth full of chocolate. So good.... I included some pictures of my Batman tree. Its no longer called a Christmas tree, because when the Batman factor is added it automatically claims onwership. thats how it works.

 

Im way stoked for the phone call. You guys need to tell me when would be best, and i can work around that. it will have to be after 4 here, because i have my two wards to go to. Thats always interesting, since one is a great, self sufficient ward, and the other is hanging on by a thread and teaches apostasy on a regular basis. It keeps us on our toes.

 

We have training again for two days this week. Pres trained us in Merida, and now we have to train the rest of the zone here. Should be fun. Other than that, I will soon be working between 2 areas and 4 wards. Oh ya! I have here in front of me Kieras and Scotts wedding anouncement! Thank you so much for sending it. ¡Que guapos son! Congrats again.

 

Well i hope everyone has a great week. Its crazy how time is flying. Mom, i do remember last years christmas phone call, like it was yesterday! I cant believe I will be calling again in two weeks. I love you peeps.

Love,

 

Elder Kitterman

December 5 2011

No general letter from Zack this week.

November 28 2011

From all the hills and giant staircases i have in my area, my butt has become somewhat more muscular. dont ask me how i can tell. I know you were all interested.

 

Im sick. I guess I should be thankful that I havent been sick that much in my mission, but a cold front hit here last night and it got pretty chilly (a whopping 65 degrees). And that was enough to get me a nice cold. Anyways, my week was very slow for some reason. We were busy thank goodness, but it just dragged. The highlight would be Jesus´ baptism, which went really well. It was sort of a last minute thing so not too many member made it, but it went great. But he couldnt get his boss to let him off work the next day for his confirmation, so that still pending as of right now...

 

My thanksgiving went alright. I made fried-egg sandwiches for my comp and I, since that all we had in the house. Then i sat around singing christmas hymns cause my comp hates christmas (he also hates disney and hadnt eaten ice cream till his mission. no childhood) By the time he goes home i swear he will love christmas.

 

Not much to tell in terms of devolopments with investigators just yet. they wont come to church, and they cant progress if they dont go! But we are finding new people each week. But we did have one investigator come, who is the long time boyfriend of a less active member. He wants to get married and baptized, and she doesnt. We are starting to get her to budge, but its a slow process. She is afraid because every other marraige around her has failed and she doesnt want to regret anything. We explained that a marraige centered on Christ and the Gospel will still have its problems, but it wont fail. She still wants to wait. But funny enough, the bishop of her ward informed us that her baptismal record is missing, and that happens very rarely. its means she will have to get baptized again, but she cant if she is not living the law of chastity. It was definetly a wake up call for her, so we will see what happens. 

 

Im coming up with nothing here. Maybe its cause my head feels twice as big as normal, but i cant recall too much else that happened this week. We have zone conference this week, and ive never been so excited for one. Mostly because i will be getting my blanket!

 

Well i hope everyone has a fantastic week. Oh ya, i completed a year in mexico this past week, same day as Thanksgiving. Peace everyone.

Love,

 

Elder Kitterman

November 21 2011

Hey everyone,

 

So i have a lot i suppose i should be able to write about this week. lets see if i can remember it all.

 

So changes were strange because we all thought I was staying and elder Matinez was going. pres had pretty much told him he would be going to merida next transfer, but it all worked out great. He as a lot to do back there in Champton and Im moving on looking forward. My new area is really sweet. For the first time I have more than one branch or ward. I have 2 wards, but one is at the point of being absorbed by the other because saddly very little attend each week. when we started the sevices, there was 14 including us. I have no idea how it became a ward in the first place. The area itself, is well, dead. Another one of those "start from scratch" situations. The Elder i replaced went home like i mentioned, and my new comp, Elder Jiminez from Puebla, is going home on the 16th of Dec. He tells me eveyday. Its not too hard to get him to work. He is a grea elder with a lot of expierence and love for the people. We work well together.

 

My last week in Champoton we had a lot of really cool expierences like long time investigators going around church telling members that they were going to be baptized in one or two weeks and just things like makes a missionary float. Im excited for those things to happen here soon. We did a lot a looking this week, which always can get interesting. We taught a lady who only let us in because i said i wanted to play with her puppy. She made the turn around, or where at one point during the lesson she changes her attitude because she felt the spirit, and accepts it all as truth. But when we asked when we come back she said, "I dont know if I will accept you guys when you come back". and obvious "why" was asked, and she started telling us all about how she always lets good things into her life and then just rejects it all later. It was something ive never heard before and it caught us off guard. we launched into like another 30 minute lesson and it fainally all ended when i asked the question "would you let a friend back in" "yes, of course" she says. I reply "and im not your friend?" She laughs and says, "ok, its cool if you come back" It seemed like a lot of work for such a simple resolution. Sometimes we just have to be good friends to these people.

 

Our only investogator that is progresing is named Jesus. he doesnt have much, but does the best with what he has. he works and lives in a cemetary. Its a tiny little room, about 5 by 10 ft, and very dirty. When we teach him, we teach sitting on buckets and he puts down his clothes so our pants and bags dont get dirty. There is no words for the type of humility he has. One night, it was pretty hot and the bulb was right by my head and he sees that im sweating from it, so he reaches over and unscrews the bulb. Keep in mind we are in the middle of a mexican cemetary, at night. It freaked me out. This place is terrifying. But we continued to teach him there in the dark. then something amazing happened as we began teaching about baptism. He expressed to us his desire for baptism, and his face lit up. I could literally see his face as clear as day and all his expressions. It helped a lot because i was able to see by his reactions what it was he needed to hear or learn. It was startling, but very cool.

 

I bought my new camera today. For thos that dont know, the other was stolen a few weeks back. Im sending some pics i took in the cyber where we are at now of my district. The chubby one is my comp. the other two are another companionship, and yes that is Elder Gutierrez my old comp. we are in the same district again. its pretty bomb.

 

Ive learned that if we look back we can too easily loose track of the present, and miss out on the future. I will miss my last area, as i left right when all the fruits from our work were showing through, but i did the best i could there, and now look forward to my time here.

 

Congrats to Omar for his mission call! Atlanta.....hmmm i think ive got a buddy down there. Im sure you will see him! 

 

And lastly, but most importantly, my heart goes out to all the Elders in the McCallen Texas mission for their loss, as well as the family of those Elders. Its hard to think about how something like this would happen, but we are blessed to have the gospel and know that Gods plans are much bigger than anything we could ever come up with. Their blessing will be poured out in innumerables quanties Im sure. They will be missed and honored for their hard work and dedication. 

 

I love you all and hope you have a great week!   

Love,

 

Elder Kitterman

November 14 2011

Shortest letter ever. I got changed. Things are absolutely crazy. E Martinez stayed and i got changed to the city of CFhampeche in an area called universidad. i replaced an elder that just ended his mission today, and my comp is a super dead elder that ends at the end of this change. I will have much more on all that next week.

 

Im good. confused but good. My prayer last night after i got changes started off like this, "Heavenly Father, I trust you but im a little confused by your tactics right now..."

 

The area is dead. not my first rodeo. My comp is well known for being crazy. also not my first rodeo. This is starting to get kinda fun....

 

I love you guys. sorry for the length.

Love,

 

Elder Kitterman

November 7 2011

Hey everyone!

First off, congrats are in order. Way to go Trent!!!! Chicago huh? I will be interested how that spanish turns out with the thick italian mafia accent! But Im one to talk. The Yucateco spanish accent down here is the reckneck equivalent in english. I wont lie, if I could choose one place to serve in the states Chicago would be up there just because of the food. I hear its amazing... Also to Micheal Mazur. I realize he probably doesnt get this email, but thats awesome he is coming on down to Mexico. He is going to the hottet part, where its rumored that the soles of your shoes melt on the street. Should be fun. 

This week was full of unexpected blessings. I suppose no blessings should be expected, but you get what I mean. The biggest one was when we got a phone call from the RM in our branch, and he told us that he had a refrence of gold for us on friday at 3 at his grandmas house. He specifically said "His name is Roberto" which I thought was weird because his cousin that has bee coming to church forever, but just never wanted to get baptized is named Roberto, and I just though he was talking about him. This will make more sense in a sec. So we go on Friday at 3, and there is his cousin Roberto. We asked if he wanted to talk for a few minutes and he agreed. He told us that as long as he has known the missionaries they have wanted to teach him and baptize him, but he has never wanted to. But he said now he feels like its something he wants to do and he accepted to be baptized. We left very happy, thinking that his cousin Jose had talked to him and persuaded him to talk to us. But when we showed up to church two days later, there was Jose with someone else sitting next to him. He introduced us and said "This is Roberto". We talk to him for just a sec and he told us how much he wants to change and this is something he has been searching for for a while. Wait a tick. Are you telling me that there are now two robertos running around this town that both want to get baptized? Yup. And are you telling me that they both have been to church and have a testimony? Yup. 

Did you just see what happened right there? Its called "make Elder Kitterman jump for joy like he just met the real Batman". Im telling you, it doesnt get better than the mish. We have a baptism this saturday. Her name is Thomasa, and she is a firecracker. She is the woman I told you guys about a week or so ago that has a sickness that affects her nerves and bodily control. She is so excited to get baptized and goes around telling everyone! Its fantastic. We also have some extremely solid baptisms lined up for the following weeks as well. 

Things seem as if they couldnt get any better. But then they do. Ive lived tough parts of the mission, but right now makes those times soooo worth it. It goes to show that our testimony really does come AFTER the trial of our faith, and not a second before. All it takes is faith ad trust, and it will be so worth it. 

Well here are some of the photos of the baptism we had two weeks ago. Sorry it took so long for me to send them. One is of us, him and his friend that baptized him, and the two other elders in our district, and the other is of us and him the next day after his confirmation. Have a great week everyone!

Love,

 

Elder Kitterman

October 31 2011

Its halloween today, but Dìa de los Muertos isnt until tomorow technically. I plan on paying close attention to everything I see, like you ask Mom, but honestly I dont think anything will happen until after I have to be in the house. Sad. Nobody here decorates or does anything really. Elder Martinez is from Mexico City and says there they celebrate it big time like back home, but here in the peninsula they must just be party poopers i guess. The branch wont be having aparty anything. Im probably going to buy some candy and eat it all to celebrate by myself... and ice cream too. Every holiday calls for some ice cream.

This is going t be extremely short, due to the fact that E. Mtnz is sick, and could want to go back home at any moment. He woke up this morning with a slight fever and stomach pains. I will just get right down to it then.

We have been teaching some really great people over the past month or so, and they are all getting close to baptism. Its super exciting times for us! Two of them are former Jehovahs witnesses, and its super interesting, kinda sad, to hear them tell us all about it. One is a 30 or so year old women is is currently being disowned for listening to us, but she told us about how she got excommunicated from the JWs and now its a sin for the members to even talk to her. They actually say its OK to judge and condemn her. I was shocked to hear that. The other lady who used to be JW has some kind of  disease that affects her nerves, and she had little bodily control. I can be hard for her to talk, but she always tells us she feels calmer and more capable when we come around. 

Hopefully within the next few weeks, we can get them to the water along with a few others. We are both doing really well (except with the E Mtzn being sick), and are excited to see whats around the corner. Its finally starting to coo off, and a few hurricanes have passed by ver the past weeks so we have been seeing plenty of rain. I love the rain. I would rather be soaking wet from the rain than soaking wet from the humidity. 

How do you feel about your prayers?

Do you fast often for real purposes?

Whens the last time you went to the temple?

What do you take from scripture study?

These are 4 keys to measure how you are doing spiritual. Dont let any one of these falter, and you will see huge improvments. Much love to all.

Love,

 

Elder Kitterman

October 24 2011

We had a baptism! Do you know what that means! Yes of course it means nonstop partying and tons of delicious food, but it also means a happy Elder Kitterman! And who doesnt want that? Actually there was no food afterwards... thats really only a US thing i think. Or at least they dont do it too often here.

Angel Hilberto Martinez Hernandez got baptized. I used to hate how everyone here has four part names instead of just three, but now that im used to it, its pretty sweet. My first born will probably be Ian Zachary Batman Kitterman. Or maybe Connor Bond James Bond Kitterman. Thats 5 i know, but it works. Well back to the important stuff, the baptism went great. We started only 45 minutes late, instead of the normal hour, so that was definetly a highlight. Nothing runs on time here. Angel happens to be one of the most elect that I have had the privelage to teach and baptize. I say that because he never had any problems with anything, ever. He used to drink and smoke sometimes, we taught him the word of wisdom, and he stopped and never went back. We asked him to pray about the Book of Mormon, he did and told us a few days after that he had a very specific, warm feeling in his heart that it was true. It was like this with everything. He didnt take long at all to decide, just one postponement instead of the average 3 or 4. Elect.

His freind Alex, that introduced us to him, baptized him. Afterward, a less active in the branch that came ased Alex "why did you baptize him if your not worthy?" Big mistake. I thought there was going to be a brawl in the church parking lot. They start going at it about hows the unworthy one. It really actaully makes perfect sense because im pretty sure the only that plays on the tv stations here is futbol and novelas, or mexican soap operas. A rational thought is rare, but its more interesting this way. As they take that kind of stuff to one extrme, they also take all the good stuff to the other extrme, which is great. Nobody here really has to worry too often about who is a real friend and who isnt, because they are all genuine about everything.

We were walking down one of the main roads through town, when a guy rode up on his bike to talk to us. Turns out he was taking the lessons from the last missionaries that were there and has already been to church a bunch of times and was wanting to get baptized. His name does not appear one time in our area book. We are now teaching him again and he is preparing for baptism. Im just glad Heavenly Father is really in charge of the work, and not us cause we unfortunetly can have our lazy moments at times during these two years. The trick is to avoid those.

I feel fantastic. Not everything is perfect, but since when is it ever? Thank you everyone who gives me advice. Even if I dont mention it, I do take it to heart and it helps. On a completely unrelated note, Im revamping my letter writing routine from the normal 0 letters a week to a few, so be on the look out. If you show me love, there will be some in return! Take care!

Love,

Elder Kitterman

P.S. I have a few pics from the baptism, but I forgot my camera in the house. Sorry! Next week for sure.

October 17 2011

Hey everyone, 

Things are finally starting to cool off here. I atually have to turn down my fan in the middle of the night. I cant wait till I dont even need it! I seriously regret not fully appreciating walking into a building and it just being air conditioned. Now its a huge deal if a room has it. 

Im racking my brain for anything that might have happened out of the ordinary this past week, but im coming up with not too much. It was pretty normal as far as the weeks go down here. Our mission president put a goal for us to find a new family to teach ad baptize in this month or the next, so we really tried to put some emphasis on that. The family unit is really falling apart here in Mexico and its hard to find complete familes that all are willing to listen and do what you ask like read and pray. But we did find one that turned out really interesting. Rodrigo is about 50 id say, and has two kids, 21 and 19, and of course his wife. They didnt really want to listen at first, but we are just really really, ridiculously good-looking, so they did. No not really, we just made sure they knew we wanted to help.

Rodrigo cant read and knows very little about religon. When we asked him to pray at the end of the first lesson, he wanted to but  didnt know how and wasnt catching on too quickily while we were trying to teach him. after a few minutes of going back and forth, I asked him "If God was here with us right now, what would you tell or ask him him?"  He sat there thinking, and then just starting talking, looking at the ground in between us, with the most revrent tone and sincere simple words you could think of. I looked at the rest of his family and encouraged them to bow their heads and listen. Rodrigo went on, just pouring out his heart to God, as if he was really present in the flesh. He began to weep, and asked for true guidance in his lie and the lives of his family. When he finished I helped him through how we should end and we all just sat there for a second, just kinda basking in the spirit. 

It was a reminder that I had lost, as most of us do, the sincerity and real purpose behind prayer. The level fervor in your prayers is a good sign of your relationship with Heavenly Father. Do we just say our prayers because we know we should, thinking of them as just recorded files that get read and taken note of, or as a personal conversation between us and Heavenly Father that are always heard and always answered? It could very easily be something in between, but we must always strive for something more. Prayer is a very simple but powerful tool we have, and we cannot be saved without it as the Prophet Joseph Smith taught. 

I wish I had more, but believe me when I say things are going well here. I thank everyone for all the emails and prayers. I hope everyone has a great week and that you can find a way to do something for someone else. Remember, love your neighbor!

Love,

 

Elder Kitterman

October 10 2011

Can anyone tell me how that freaking Mr. America or whatever his name is movie was? I swear, the way they talk about it down here it sounds like its their superhero. And I would like my family to know that yes, I do already know about the new Batman movie coming out next summer, but no worries, when it comes out im going to ask Pres to change me to a tiny village as far away as possible from a movie theatre. Dont want to risk it...

Well this week went super slowwwwwwww. Im guessing it was because we had interviews on friday and it took forever to get to them. But they went really well and President taught me a few cool tricks to measure up my spirituality and some other stuff. But honestly most of our interview was about my comp Elder Martinez. Hes been struggling with wanting to go home, not to the surpirise of President and his wife. 

The son of the family Gamboa came home last monday night. The branch had a unofficial welcome home since there arent many rms in the branch. It was a small testimony meeting saturday night and some food after. Jose´s (the RM) mom was one of the first invited to bear her testimony. "I said goodbye to a boy, and welcomed home a man". That will get a missionary homesick as fast as anything haha. But it was a really cool thing to see how he was treated like such a superhero here in this smallish branch. They all really look upto him and admire what he has done. 

Sometimes I can get that feeling, like everything I do is or would be the actions of a hero. I see and hear people thank me  and my companions from their heart for what we have done for them, and its just so gratifying. But as much as i would love to, i cant say its all easy. Even the superheros get knocked down right? 

Our baptism planned for this week fell through, but thankfully it just got pushed back one week. His name is Angel and he is 20 years old. I cant remember if I have talked about him, but he is really one of the humblest young men I have ever met. He lived a rough life growing up, and is ready for it to be better. Should be good stuff. 

We over heard a brother in the branch ragginf on our recent convert Alberto. He was saying that he only got baptized for his girlfriend and will definetly go inactive. We were around the corner eating and he didnt see us. He said when boyfriends and girlfreinds get baptized through their significant others, it never works. This went on for a while until we didnt want to hear it. We came around the corner and he turned redder than me. I shook his hand and with a smile told him "My mom was converted while dating my Dad and then baptized by him, and look where i am. Instead of condeming him you could try helping him" We said thanks to the sister he was talking to for feeding us and left. 5 days later in church, he apologized to me and said he was wrong. Its the small victories =)

Well there are some good things a´brewin here in Champoton. Thats all I have for this week so I guess i talk to everyone next week! ¡Que les vayan bien!

Love,

 

Elder Kitterman

October 3 2011

Changes were yesterday. I got transfered to Playa Del Carmen!!!!

Im just kidding.... Heres to hoping. We both stayed. Its better this way. Everything has been going really great here, and we have some great stuff set up for this month. Speacking of months, september was the quickest month of my life. If they are all that fast from here on out I will be home in no time at all. Im glade we bothed stayed cause Ive finally got it all down here and I can stay with Elder Martinez to keep him focused.

The Gamboa family has a son coming home from his mission today. We eat with them every Sunday and they let us use their washer every P-day and are way awesome. But basically, the mom is one of the reasons why I fear coming home. Sunday when we were eating with them, she would start crying out of nowhere, and then stop and be extremely happy. This happened repeatedly. It wouldnt be so weird if it was a happy cry, but i wouldnt call what she did a happy cry... I dont even wanna know what your going to do Mom.

General Conference was amazing, as usual. All this week, when my comp would tell investigators about conference, he would almost always say "Its completely inspired. They dont even know what they are going to say until they are up there" After the third time, I had to break his heart and tell him they prepared something in advance always, but that didnt mean they didnt go by the spirit sometimes. He was devasted, but enjoyed conferenced just the same haha

We were looking for a refrence earlier this week when we decided to ask a few people sitting outside their house if they knew where he lived. They said no, but we told them who we were and they said we could talk for a little bit. Game on. So we gets to goin with the questions to get a feel for the family. Turns out four of the daughters of the were baptized like 12 years ago at very young ages and are very inactive now. But their mom, who we were mainly talking to was not baptized. She has since remaried to a much younger man, but are happy they say. When we first sat down she told us that "nobody can convince her", pretty much summorizing up all people that preach (us, JW´s, and random preachers from local churches). She seemed like a very firm and down to earth women, that has had a hard time or two. Withing just a few minutes she had pulled a complete 180 and was sharing with us things that were surprising her adult kids. At the end of the lesson, we invitred her to baptize, something we alwasy try to do, and she accepted. Her daughter looked like she was going to pass out from shock. We had her read 2 nephi 31 on the gospel and baptism, and when we asked what she thought about it she answered "magnificent. Its never to late and Im going to do it". You go girl.

Other than that we had some other pretty cool experience just following the spirit and doing the best with what we are given, cause thats what you do in life. There is a saying here in Mexico that goes "he thats gets mad, losses" and that couldnt be truer. Becoming impatient has never helped anybody, and most times, causes more problems. "All you need is love"

Well you know how it is. Peeps to see, busses to catch. Till next week. Adios

Love,

Elder Kitterman

September 26 2011

Not sure what happened this week, but there is no letter from Zack

September 19 2011

Well this week seemed like a serious blur. A lot of good things happened though, such as another baptism! Alberto was baptized by my comp and I confirmed him. It was way sweet. He is the boyfirend of a young women in the ward and had been listening to the Elders before us when they stopped teaching him cause he didnt catch on to a lot of things as fast as they would have liked. Sometimes I wonder if some Edlers understand why they are out here. But it turned out great cause all he needed was some patience and love! He was as excited as a toddler on christmas morning. It was first class.

In other news, I was attacked by an extremely drunk women. We were walking down the sidewalk near a bar (it was the middle of the day saddly) when whe blinded sided me. She could even hold her self up, but managed to slip out of the grasp of her friends who was only slightly drunk and threw herself at me. I pushed her off me and she fell back into er friend. Butthen she kept trying to grap my hand andwhen i walked away she turned to my comp and said "see how they reject me!" He thought it was hilarious and I wanted to take a shower.

We are teaching a cool guy named Aladar. He is a fisherman, but is higher up on the chain so doesnt actually fish, he just waits for his fishers to come in with their haul and he pays them. We teach him on the dock everyday where he waits for them to come in. He used to be into drugs, drinking, and everything else there is, but started to going to rehab and was there for 10 years. Now he is wanting God and progressing very quickily. The other day we finished a lesson and asked if we could come back the next day. He told us of course, and then sternly told us "Dont abandon me". Sometimes we feel like we bother certain people with how much we always want to teach them, but it was great hearing someone tell us otherwise. I feel just as Aladar does sometimes when praying. I plead for Him to be with me.

We are cruising along her in Champoton. We are going to make this branch a ward. Its going to take a little bit of effort and more baptisms, but we feel like its supposed to happen soon. Speaking of growingbranches, I talked to Elder Skeen who is still back in my last area Leona Vicario, and there are rumors of the church building a meeting house for the branch there. They said the attendance rate has picked up enough in the last 6 months to do it. I was transfered there 6 months ago!! They should dedicate that building to Elder Skeen and I, after Chrst of course...

Well nothing more I can think of right now, but im sure I willremember more right after I leave. Oh well, theres always next week i guess. I hope everyone is chillin back home. Much love.

Love,

Elder Kitterman

September 13 2011

Sorry I didnt write yesterday. Our zone leaders called us out of nowhere and we had to leave for district meeting 1 hour early for some stuff. But luckily they let us write quickily today. Yet again, this will be a shorter one, but a lot of good stuff happened this week so I will jump right in.

We had 2 baptisms on Sunday. Cesar and Julisa, 9 and 12 years old respectively, recieved their saving ordinances. Their mom is a less active we have been reactivating and now they all are coming to church each week. Good stuff. The baptism went well, except our mission leader forgot to tell us the font was still filled from a baptism they had a week before we got there. When he remembered there was only an hour before the service started, so we quickily drained it and washed it (stilled water for 4 weeks= bad smell) and refilled it, but we didnt have enough time to fill it all the way. Luckily they are small kids so it wasnt too bad, but it was still interesting dunking them in about a foot and a few inches or so of water.

This week, all our efforts for the past 3 weeks finally paid off. Its as if the Lord just wanted to see for how long we would work as hard as we were before blessing us. Well it happened this week, and now it looks like we will be very busy from here on out, at least for a while. We found one woman that particuarily stuck out to me. She is a single mother of 4 very young children named Brenda, who cant read. So we are teaching her the gospel and how to read. This is like my 5th investigator in my mission that we are teaching how to read, so Im getting pretty good at it. The first time we talked to her, we talked about the doctrine of christ, or faith, reptentance, baptism, holy ghost, and eduring to the end. It went well, but she shared with us her belief of how it doesnt matter which shurch you go to, they all lead to the same God. This is the universal belief among the inhabitants of the penisula, and from what i can tell, most of mexico. It can be the hardest doubt to overcome many times. So the very next day, despite fear of what she might think or say, we taught her the restoration through Joseph Smith. She was smiling from the moment we started, and cried when I recited the first vision. She said she "felt full of joy, and felt a warmth in her heart".

For the past 6 months or so of my mission, I have had to take bus or van rides for at least an hour one way every monday for district meetings. I used to try and read, but that gave me a headache, so now i just think. its sometimes the only time during the whole week I just get to stop and think about everything. They become moments of small impressions and feelings of great joy and love. I cant put into words how unbelievable it is to be here, sharing what God has in store for all of us if we are faithful. Trying to describe it wouldnt do it justice, but trust me, living the gospel the way it was intended to be lived is worth every ounce of effort it requires and much much more.

I should have some more buenas noticias next week. Till then.

Love,

Elder Kitterman

September 5 2011

Every morning when I put on my name badge, I do my best to shine it on my pants because of how worn and stratched it already is. I remember back to when it would take huge beatings, chopping firewood, emptying small pools with nothing but 5 gallon buckets, climbing trees to get down delicious fruits. It all seems like it happen just a few weeks ago and then I look at my name written in white and how yellow it looks from the sun. Its hard to believe Im in the second half of it all.

 

Ive only been in Mexico for 9 months though really. It seems like nothing. But then i think back to my first night in a hammock and realize I cant remeber what laying down in a bed feels like. I love my hammock like it were my own child, but man do i look forward to the day I can lay down in a nice soft bed, without swinging. Enough of that, Im getting bedsick....

 

This is going to be a short one. We are still getting used to our new and improved (not!) P-day, with a now increased travel time of 2 hours to our district meetings. In addition to a 2 hour bus ride, the meeting now starts earlier, so we can get back to the house before 9. Plus there is clothes to be washed, a tiny match box house to be cleaned, groceries to be bought, studies to get in, and people to write. But we are getting it down pretty good.  We had a much better week than last and we finally known the area well enough not to get lost. We looked high and low for new people to teach this week, but with only little sucess. But then Sunday rolls around and we have have people showing up left and right that we have never seen and arent members. They´re not joking when they say the Lord works in mysterious ways.

 

This week I finally tracked down the Elder that was here last before the brought us in. This was his first area and didnt learn it very well so he couldnt explain anything in great detail, but he told me about a teenager that they had taught a few times a while back that had gone to church once. He is the boyfriend of a young women in the branch. For whatever reason he stuck out to me even above the rest he told me about. We found him and taught him within a couple of days and when we asked him if there was anything he wanted to talk about, he answered baptism. We taught him and he says he wants to be baptized soon, so we are hoping we can help make that happen. There are people all over the place that are prepared, but its just so dang hard to find them sometimes!

 

We are in the fish capital of the mission. The members we ate with last night gave us each a whole fish, head and tail and everything included. They dont filet it, they just cook it how it comes from the ocean. It was bomb. Also, on Wednesday we ate shark and that was way good as well. I love fishing communities. I have photos, but the freaking computer isnt letting me attached them. I will send them next week fo sho.

 

Thanks to everyone that gave me a happy one year shout out. Im really loving it out here and im excited to see what the future has in store. Hope everyone has a great week! Take care peeps.

Love,

 

Elder Kitterman

August 29 2011

I could die Im so tired right now. This area back in the day used to support 3 companionships very easily, all with bikes. Now we are the only ones, and for a reason we do not know yet, we have no bikes. So we walk around, lost, all day. As I mentioned last week, we dont have any investigators really, and all the directions for some of the old inves that we decided to visit dont make any sense so we couldnt find them. So it just turned into more walking in the ridiculous sun. And all the water in our area just makes the humidity worse. But I honestly love this branch. They are extremely amazing people here, and from what I can tell, came from very humbly beginings.

And I was just informed that I swore hard core in my last letter. My bad, I will try and type more carefully haha

So this week, I hit my one year mark. Im pretty excited, but like a few of you mentioned in your letters, it seems bitter sweet. I feel like im just getting started, and now its half way over. Time has gone by so fast. I though about what I wanted to write to mark it, and something happened this week that goes right along with what I wanted to talk about.

I try my best not to write negative things home about my comps. No matter who they are, or how we get along, I try and remind myself that I dont know what types of things they have had to deal with and although sometimes the way they are drives me insane, I dont see it as an exuse to complain. But what happened this week with Elder Martinez strengthened us both, so I want to share it. Right from the start Elder Martinez and I got along amazingly well. Hes hilarious and really super outgoing and we gained eachothers trust very quickily. Consequently, he began sharing with me his methods of missionary work, which seemed to be more play and less work. I laughed with about it, but wasnt about to let him start doing any of that. Friday afternoon rolled around, and our only appointment within 4 hours ahad fallen. It was 2:30, and as hot as I have ever felt it get here in my whole mission. We had nothing, and to top it of, we were lost. We sat down for a seond after knocking for a little while to get out of the sun in the shade of a house. He seemingly jonking told me he saw an internet café a few blocks back with AC, and that we could kill some time there. I laughed and didnt say anything. He brought it back up a few minutes later. I told him we werent going to do that. Then he began saying how tired he was, and that going back to the house to take a nap was a good option. I said no. "Arent you tired Elder Kitterman?" I thought for a second and answered "yes, very". "But you dont want to sleep?"...."Nope". He laughed a little then became somewhat annoyed. "Who understands you Elder Kitterman? Your tired but wont sleep. Your burnt red but wont stop walking around in the sun. Why do you do this?". It was a valid question. I sat there thinking for a few seconds. Its almost sensless inst it? I live a tiny house, in a hammock that I cant lay completely flat in because the walls are too cose together. Its usually hotter inside our cramped house at night than outside, and thats hot. Our bathroom is hanging on by a thread, and despite the fact that Im burnt, lost all day with nothing to do, and thoudands of miles away from what I know, I go out everyday to do the same things. Teach the gospel. Why do I support some much adversity? I sat there thinking about Elder Martinez´s question for quite some time. And then it hit me. I finally had my answer. "Because I love the Lord".

There is plenty of reasons why I came out on a mission. Any common reason seems to be one of many reaons why I personally came on a mission. All those reasons are still valid today. But you know what? None of those are why I stay. I stay because I love my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and I know he loves me. I desire to share that love with everybody, no matter where they are. Its why we do what we do as members of His church, even if we dont realize it. It is the greatest commandment and needs to be our motivation for why we keep his commandments, and suffer all things with patience and humility.

I wish I could tell you that when we got up from that shady spot in some random street, we found a family of 6 that was beyond prepared. But we didnt. We didnt find anybody.

Later that night, on our way to our only other appointment, Elder Martinez apologized, and shared his testimony of why we are here. He told me that we represent Christ, His church, and our families, and for that reason we had nothing more to do than work. He told me we were going to do amazing things here in this area, and that it would be because we loved the Lord. I couldnt do anything but smile and tell him that I loved him. He made a turn around that night that, if he continues following, will change his life forever. Its changed mine.

Elder Martinez is in what we could call a "rehabilatation stage". Sometimes it takes a little bit of pushing to get him going again, but once we are moving, man are we moving.

When I left one year ago, I had no idea what was ahead of me. I though that after a long 2 years, I would return and pick up my life, with a new language and a slightly different person. But within this first year I realized that is exaclty what I want to avoid. I have left behind the things of my past, only to enter into the work of God, and its not a 2 two trip. The things I have learned have changed me and will continue to do so for the rest of my life. I am so grateful for everything everyone has done for me back home. Thank you Dad for all your advice and help, even in the roughest parts you helped me find a way through. Thank you Mom, for having patience and a big enough heart to always put up with my many complaints, and especially for your genuine desire to help not only me, but everyone around me. Your charity is surely a testimony to me that it really is "the pure love of Christ". Thank you Kim and Nick for all the many ties and photos, but even more than that, thank you for always sharing your testimony and words of encouragment. I realize I have never told you, but they have served me countless times in my work here. Sorry Nick, that I havent written you more brother, but that will change in this next year. Thank you Sierra for holding true and faithful, even when the path got dark, and you couldnt see the rod. I know the Lord is extremely pleased with the progress you have made, and just know that if I can do, you surely can. And last but not least, thank you everyone that has ever written me, prayed for me, or even thought of me while Ive been away. Your thoughts and prayers have never gone to waste, as I have truly felt guided by the holy ghost, even at times when I was down and couldnt seem to find my way. I wish I could name names, but Im too afraid to miss somebody, or simply run out of time.

I know that Jesus Christ lives, and that he loves us.

Love,

Elder Kitterman

August 23 2011

SOOOO I got changd. Good and bad. Good cause Im now in an amazing area but more on that to come, and bad cause we were throwing fire over there in Leona Vicario! But Elder Skeen is going to train there so that should be some legit fun for him. But im going to be sure to keep myself up to date with how our investigators and converts over there are doing. The scariest part about being a missionary is having your favorite converts, which is basically all of them, fall after you leave. 

We pretty knew i was leaving, and therefore we told the whole branch before hand. No joke, I ate 6 full meals after church on Sunday. And to end the day, we went with Andrea and all her family that we have been teaching since I have been there. I was super tight with this family. They made me a few things to help remember them, one of which was a Hello Kitty card (they call me Kitty). Inside the card was little pieces of paper, each one with a different name on it of each member of thier huge family we have taught or know well. 14 members in all, and although only 5 are members and 4 others are being taught so far, I have every hope and all the faith in the world that one day, they will all be saints. It was tough saying bye to them, but I left with peace in heart knowing I did good for at least a few. 

Ok enough for that stuff for now, on to the good stuff! I have been changed to the state of Campeche, which is the direct oposite side of the penisula from where i was in Quintana Roo. My area is called Champoton, and is an hour south of the state capital, the city of Campeche. Its a small city, and isnt quite yet a ward, but has a very solid, decent sized group of members from what I here. I have a real chapel again! My comp is Elder Martinez from the DF, capital of Mexico. He has 9 months and is as solid as they come. Words cannot describe how stoked I am to be here and with him. 

But we havent even gotten to some of the best parts! We are white washing the area, or in lame non-missionary termanology, we are both brand new to the area and have no clue whats goin down. The Elder that was here before us was super dead and didnt work cause it was his last change before ending his mission. Earlier today we went through our area book that should have all the teaching records of the investigators, and its empty except for some really outdated records from a few months back. You might be thinking, "Why that doesnt sound super fun". Wrong! We get to start over here and wor from the ground up. I had to do it in Leona, so i guess the Lord will have me do it here again. 

Yesterday was fun. I woke up to no power in the house. No biggy, the suns up. But i go to turn on the shower, and the tank above the house that holds the water is empty. In cases such as those, we just turn on the electric pump outside that pumps water up. The key word there was "electric". We had no water, ad no way to get water to where it needed to go. I had to finish packing also, so i did te best i could washing my hair and face with water from our jug of drinking water. Then it was on to the bus station for a 8 hour, 3 bus transfer trip. Most awkward 8 hour of my life. I hate traveling alone as a missionary. 

On my last bus ride that finally took me to Champoton, it was late and already bitch black outside. All i could see out the window was a few bushes on the side of the road and then nothing. All of a sudden, a flash of lightening off in the distance lit up the Gulf of Mexico. Water! You might be surprised to find out that I am so excited to see water on my mission when serving in the yucatan penisula with some of the best beaches in the world. Well dont be, cause they keep us on a short leash from the beaches here. Turns out, my whole area borders the gulf. Its a fishing city. 

When we got back to the house finally, it was a disaster. We spent the whole morning just cleaning it. But now its super clean and I can actually think. Im super stoked for whats ahead. its going to be harder than usual, but with more afflictions comes greater sucess. 

Well its a work day, so I dont really have any time to write anybody personally, but next week i will hit everybody up as best I can! Thanks for everyone that always writes me, and Im sorry if I dont write you back. Have a great week!

Love,

 

Elder Kitterman

August 15 2011

I can never figure out how to start these letters home. I guess most would just say hi or something, but that seems so boring...

 

Howdy from down-under! Thats better

 

So this week was, as they say in mexican speech, mas o menos. Thats so-so, average, or more or less for you only Mmurican speakers (Dad). I will just come right out with the bad. Our best family of 5 dropped us hardcore this week. That was definetly a low-point, but we just kept moving forward and it turned out alright. It was German, the man who had the dream a few weeks ago, and his family. He was in cancun all week trying to find a job, and when we finally talked to him friday night, he started attacking us about how we got him to stop reading the bible and how we dont even believe in the bible. If you ca tell he was big in the bible before. He wouldnt even listen to us was the worst part. His mind had already been made up and he wasnt going back. The saddest part is that he had already recived his own testimony of the Book of Mormon and felt the spirit in church twice. But he claimed that he only liked the Book of Mormon because it was instructive, but to him was nothing more than a book Joseph Smith wrote, and then continued attacking our tiny branch and some of the members. Words that will forever ring in my ears- "I feel good telling you guys no". We still have no idea who he talked to. He says all these doubts came to him on their own, but that just doesnt happen when your feeling the spirit that you had already self identified as he had done in the weeks prior. I felt really good about my english in that last sentance!

 

Although that was a tough blow, we rolled with it as all missionaries must learn to do. We were a little down in numbers this week of people that went to church because of that, but we did have a young man go that we have been trying to bring for a month. And he also brought 2 of his cousins! He is actually the brother of Chopo that got baptized last week. He seemed to like it, and after church we watched the Joseph Smith movie with him and his family. Afterward, he was so taken by the stick pull game that he wanted to play. Its the one where you sit down facing eachother, put your feet up against one anothers, and each grab onto a stick and pull until someone gets pull over by the other. While we were playing around with that, Andreas husband, who were are finally teaching slowly but surely, arrived. Hes a pretty big guy, cause his work is just manual labor. Whats funny is that Elder Skeen and I earlier in the week had talked about the Lord giving certain people physical strength in times when needed in the Book of Mormon and now a days like when something heavy falls on somebody and there is nobody else around. So I told Andreas husband, Jorge, that we will play, and if i win he has to go to church the next week and if he wins we wont ask him again when he is going until he tells us he is ready. he agreed very quickily. I was a litle worried, with a year without any type of heavy lifting. I maintained a prayer in my head pretty much the whole time, hoping that it was something just to ask the Lord, and also that i wouldnt be so embarrased. We broke 3 broom handles each within the first 10-15 seconds, and bent a metal pole that wasnt super thick to start with. Finally they found something strong enough, and we went at it for like a straight 60 seconds. That much pulling, someone is bound to tear something. But we kept going. Like 3 or 4 times, he lifted me just a few inches off the ground, but I came right back down. Finally he came up and over. He stood up saying he just got tired and gave up, and said that he would see if he would go to the church. If he does, it will be a miracle. If i had just played for fun, i would have lost within 10 seconds guaranteed.

 

Today we went bowling again. Well i should say I went bowling again. The last time i went, it was with this same district, just all different people. Im the last one left. Next week is changes, and I think im leaving unfortunetly. We are teaching a lot of great people that will probably all get baptized next change, so thats a bummer. But being changed is always pretty exciting so either way it will be good.

 

Well thats about it for now. Just livin it up, doin it big here as always. Year mark is just around the corner, should be fun! Much love to all, and make sure to do something for somebody else this week.  

Love,

 

Elder Kitterman

August 8 2011

This week went by crazy fast. But none the less, it was solid.

We had another surprise baptism. Chopo, age 11, brother of another convert named Andrea, was baptized on Sunday after church. I love surprise baptisms, but they are a lot more work and stress...

He had been ready for baptism for a while, we were just waiting for his mom to get back from vacation with one of her friends. Nobody was sure when she was getting back, but it wasnt going to be for another week or so. We really wanted to baptize him this wee, so we prayed asking for his Mom to come back sooner. Well, our prayers were answered, but we may have caused a car mugging of 15 different people to get it. She was in the state of Jalisco in a rental car i think when her and her friends were made to stop on a long stretch of highway in the middle of nowhere. They made them get in the back with a gun, and tey drove them to a house a little ways ff the main road. There, they put them in a house with like 15 others, who had also had their cars stolen. they told all the people not to come out for 1 hour, as they all drove off with the cars they had stolen. Nothing bad happened, and they were all alright. But that kinda ruined their vaction buzz, so they came back early, and told us we could proceed with the baptism. She isnt a member, but we are working on her to get her to start going to church with her 2 daughters and now her son who are all recent converts.

We have people no coming out of the woodworks to talk to us. Its a big turn around from not having any investigator beside one lady who refused to accet baptism, Hermana Chuy (btw, she randomly showed up to church this week). We had more investigators attend church this week than we did street contacts, that is, talking to people on the street or knocking doors. Thats good and bad. Its good cause we are working very effecting and finding new people through other members and converts, but bad cause it makes us look freaking lazy... We will be fixing that soon though haha

But on the up side, the Lord isnt having us miss all of his prepared people because we dont talk to everyone we see. We were walking through central, when i remeber looking to my left to cross the street, and when i looked back to the right i noticed a man sitting there with two little kids. Before i realized what happened, i was shaking his hand introducing myself. We set a return appointment, he accepted baptism, then cae to church, loved it, and is now an extremely promising investigator. Im glad the Lord is patient enough with me to still promt me in the right moments.

The man, German, who had the dream last week continues strong in his search for the church. Well its not really a search anymore, cause is pretty much knows he has found it. Now we just have to get them married! Yup, not married, but they want to so thats the good part.

Well thats it for this week! Sorry not alot of pics yet, I will tr and get on that. Love to all

Love,

Elder Kitterman