November 7, 2016 - Happy birthday!!

Birthday breakfast!

Adam Sandler in Mexico??

Hey guys!  I'M 21 NOW!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Well, in 2 more days, however I'm celebrating today cause I won't have time on Wednesday!!!!!

 

This past year has flown by!  So much has happened this past year, but you already know about the past year, so here's a quick update of this last week.

 

Dia de los muertos.......  Its a day of remembrance of those who have passed on.  Its really interesting, even more interesting seeing how much people don't know about whats after this life.  SO, we went to the cemetery Tuesday and Wednesday in the morning (its two days) and we preached all morning long there.  We found a lot of people who want us to pass by again, also were rejected by a lot but hey, thats the mission life!  

 

The branch party was pretty awesome!  Piñata was a ton of fun, everyone got a chance to beat it.  It was a pretty tough piñata!  It still survived after all the children and youth with a couple of parents mixed in had their chance!  So, they passed the stick to me, and I got to open the piñata for everyone!  Super Fun!  Its not a party, if there's no piñata, even for Christmas down here in Mexico.  I'm pretty sure this is going to be one of the traditions that I will carry on when I get back home!

 

2 baptisms lined up for the 19th of this month!  Super Excited!!!!!!   Juan, the guy who found the Book of Mormon in the trash (If you haven't read the Book of Mormon yet, read it, it will change your life), and another youth of 20 years old, whom I've been teaching for 4 months now..... Finally is ready!!!!!! Wooooo!!!!!!

 

Heres a foto of me with Adam Sandler!!!! Yes, he visited Mexico!  Na, jk, I just found a Mexican version of Adam Sandler! 

 

Also shout out to the best family ever!!!!!!  2 packages within a week of each other!  One for Halloween, another for my birthday!  Super awesome!!!!!!! Love them a ton!!!!

Love all you guys back at home, good luck with the elections.  Must be super crazy out there right now.  

 

Elder Pettingill

October 31, 2016 - Happy Halloween!

Abandoned bull fighting stadium

Spider nest in my hair!

So this last week has gone super awesome!  Me and my comp are getting along great, the district is working hard, and the members are happy, and investigators are progressing! What more could you ask for?

Happy Halloween everyone back at home!  If you were all wondering, no, we don't celebrate Halloween out here in Mexico.... Everyone out here thinks Halloween is a day to worship the devil, so they don't celebrate it.  Which is kind of sad....  However they do celebrate day of the dead!  Which is basically the same thing as Thanksgiving here, but more focused in on their family who have passed away.  And there are piñatas!

This week we're going to be having a branch party for the day of the dead, that will basically be like the Halloween parties back at home.  There will be games, a message given about the family history work, food and piñatas!  That's the best part about every holiday here in Mexico, there's always a piñata there! Even for Christmas!

The culture is always something amazing to learn about, their views on everything is a whole lot different than ours! However, the wonderful part about our country is that its made up of tons of different cultures, so we can experience it all!  

This past week I found an old stadium for bull fighting.....  Sadly that's illegal here now.....  Also, this morning I was attacked by a giant spider, it was mostly in my hair...... 

Love you guys!

Elder Pettingill

Oct 24, 2016 - Miracle of the man who found the word of God in a trash can

Road work project

Hola Familia y amigos!!!!

So this week also went by super fast!!!  Elder Merino and I, we're finding a ton of people ready to listen to the gospel!  I don't remember if I already told you guys about the guy who found a Book of Mormon in a trash can? Well, this homeless guy finds us in the street, and starts talking to us about how he found this book in the trash, and how he read all of it in a month.  He wants to know if it really is true, cause in his words "there's no way that it can't be true".

 

Well, he came to church one week, then we lost contact with him cause he lost his phone..... Then he came to church again yesterday!  This time, he had taken a bath and he didn't smell like dumpster and liquor store put together!!!!   This guy is making a ton of changes in his life, and all thanks to the power of the Book of Mormon!!!!  There is no doubt that this book is truly from God!  It has the power to bring Man unto the True God of Abraham and Issac!  If you have not received your testimony of the divinity of this book, it is time to search.  It is time to read, to meditate over the message that it carries, and to ask God!  Then if you do this, as the prophets have promised, you will receive your answer through the power of the Holy Ghost. That is my testimony, that this book is true.  

Also this week we were helping out in making a dirt road for an inactive member!  We were bringing dirt from a huge hole, to the road!  Then we had a great American style BBQ after!  Brought back a lot of nostalgia, but it was great!

Love you guys a ton!
Elder Pettingill

October 17, 1016 - New Companion!

David and new Comp Elder Marino

New District in Jiminez!

Hey guys! Everything in Jimenez is better than ever! I got a new district out here, and a new comp!!!  His name is Elder Merino, also from Peru!!  Its crazy, I was convinced that all Peruvians were like my old comp, but thankfully my new comp has proved me wrong! He's super awesome, and he's ready to work a ton out here, which means we're going to get along super great!  

Sorry, not a lot of time for this email today, but wanted to let you all know, I'm super excited for this transfer, and we'll see a ton of miracles out here!

I don't have a tie in this picture cause I had taken it off before I thought about taking a photo.....

Love you guys!

 Elder Pettingill

October 10, 2016 - Getting lost in Mexico...

Lost at a ranch in the middle of nowhere!

Zone conference

Somewhere in Mexico...

This week has been an awesomely hot week, pushing forward the work of God!  

We´re finding a ton of new people, teaching powerful lessons with the Spirit, and keeping the house clean!  Nothing crazy happened this past week, just another week that flew by helping people come unto Christ.

Whats new is that this week there were transfers.  My comp is getting changed to a different area (Finally! Even though towards the end we started getting along well enough), and I'm getting a new comp, and district!  Sadly I won´t have my amazing district that I were up there in Parral, what they're doing is sending me 2 more Elders to my small city of Jimenez!!!!!  This is exactly what we needed here in Jimenez, an extra pair of Elders ready to work so that we can push forward with amazing speed!

I'm super excited to work with these guys, and help them get things moving in their new area.  We're going to start seeing a lot more miracles in Jimenez very quickly!  Changes are always a good time, they give us a new opportunity to start again, to do things better than we did the last time.  That's the wonderful part about the Atonement of Christ.  If we apply the atonement in our lives every day, every day becomes a new day to overcome our faults and our weaknesses.  A new day to do things right,  according to the Plan of Happiness that our loving Father in Heaven has given us.  Change isn´t something to be scared of, its what gives us the opportunity to grow, to be better, and become more like our Savior.  

A lot of times Change is necessary, for those who aren´t happy with their lives, or for those who wish to receive greater blessings from God.  Change to correct old behaviors, and create new habits that bring you closer to God, and those around you.  Did I mention that another word for Change is Repentance?  Only through Repentance can we make the mistakes of the past into a learning experience to grow, and to rid ourselves of guilt, anger, and regret that came through these mistakes.  How is this possible?  Only through coming unto Christ is this possible, only through following Him, and His Gospel can you repent and find True Happiness.  That's my challenge to each of you today.  Do a small little internal search, and see what you need to change in your life.  If you know how to pray, ask God, and He´l let you know what it is.  

I love you all a ton, and I hope you have a wonderful week.

Oh I also forgot to mention that me and my comp got lost in the wilderness as we were proselyting......

The other photo is of all the Elders in my Zone, we're a pretty serious group of guys.  Well most of us anyway.....

Love,
Elder Pettingill

October 3, 2016 - General Conference in Spanish!

The weather here in Mexico is going bipolar right now!  I dont think it can decide if it wants to be hot, or if it wants to be cold.  It keeps changing every day!

 

This week went great, we're finding a lot of people, and working on finding even more! We have a ton of plans to work well with the members this week, so this week should be super awesome!  Capacitated (?) my district on doing something different if they hope to get different results from their work.  It's good advice if they decide to work act on it..... 

 

This last week we also started on a new service project, we're helping out this one guy to build a new roof for his home! It's a ton of fun! Learning a lot about mixing cement, and building materials. I wish I would've paid more attention to what my dad wanted to teach me before!

 

Conference was amazing! It was my first General Conference where I committed myself to watching fully in Spanish!  In every other session I was always with other missionaries who didn't understand Spanish too well, so we always watched in English.  It was a great accomplishment to do that, however I have to admit I missed the voices of the prophet and apostles!

 

Now, our next step is to apply what we learned in this past conference!  Once you aply the words of the prophets, you will see your lives change completely!

 

Love you a ton,

Elder Pettingill

September 26, 2016

Biggest hill in Parral with David's district!

David in Parral

Alright guys, another week has come and gone out here in the mission...   Everything's going great out here. We've got several investigators on date for baptism, we're out here activating the inactives, and having a blast!  THE SECRET to reactivation is getting them to come to church to feel The Spirit again (which is the key, the more they feel The Spirit, the more they'll want to feel it)!!!  If you can do that, then your on the right track with them!!!!!!

Everything is basically the same as last week, not much change out here in Mexico.  Which isn't good, so I'm brainstorming and looking for revelation to see what I can do to get things moving forward again.  The good thing is that nothings gone for the bad, just got to hope that doesn't change...

 

Today, had an awesome district activity!  We climbed up the biggest hill in Parral (to me its a small hill...) at 5:30 in the morning to get to see the sunrise!  It was super cloudy, so we didn't get to see it.... However, it was still super fun!  My zone leaders hopped in on our activity, and we all had a blast!!!!

 

I love you guys a ton!!!! 

Elder Pettingill

September 19, 2016

So everything this week went super awesome!!!!!

To start off, no I didn't lead the ward in the national anthem, do'nt worry!  I may be in Mexico, however I'm still a loyal AMERICAN!!!!!!!! America!!!!!!!!

 

However, with a member of the 70 coming, we did have a lot of work to do.  We had a competition between the zone here in Parral and another in Delicias, to see who would give the special musical part of the program.  Zona PARRAL won!!! WOOO Mi zona!!!!!!    So, it was super cool, we had a bunch of adjustments on two different primary songs put together, however we needed a director for it.... Guess who they wanted to direct them?  I did! Even though Ive never directed a choir before, I have to admit that I did a super great job in doing it!  

 

With Elder Piper, we learned a lot about how to teach investigators better and focusing in on teaching their need with a commitment in mind to give them.  

 

I also had the opportunity to have an interview with Elder Piper!  Super awesome, gave me some good advice, and now I'm ready to hit these last few months with every ounce of energy I got!

 

This week, lots of work to do, however everything is getting increasingly better!

 

Remember how I told you Jimenez had been destroyed by the last Missioneries?  Well, now we're seeing the efforts of our work!  Assistance in the Church has come up a ton, the leaders are more engaged, and ther'es even a choir in the branch here now!  We've got people preparing for baptism, and have a good base of investigators, so now from here its only going up!!!!!

 

Love you guys a ton!  Hope all is going well!

 

Also!  I want to give a SHOUTOUT to my wonderful Mother!!!!!! Its her birthday on the 20 of September!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!! Love you mom!!!!!!!!!

 

Elder Pettingill

September 12, 2016 - Build a solid foundation!

Baptism of Merced Tovar

This week was fantastic! My district is working hard, and they're getting results now so they're pretty happy.  Also everything out in Jimenez is going great!

The branch members are finally starting to get more active in missionary work, and are starting to get things together in the branch!  Everyone is working hard to have more people come to Church, working super hard to reactivate members, and we're all doing super awesome out here!

Now, there's a lot more heat, however I'm pretty sure its only going to be like this for a week or two....   This week on Saturday is Mexico Independence Day!!! WOOOOOOO!  Everyone here is like, vive Mexico!!! while 'Im here like, Vive America!!!   The ward wants me to lead them in their national anthem..... Aunque tengo el corazon de los Mexicanos, todavía soy Americano (Estado Unidense).   

What's new?  Well we had a baptism this week!!!!  Super awesome!  Her names is Merced Tovar, sh'es like 80 years old.  Her son was baptized almost a year ago.  Super cool family, super humble.  They built their house in a funky way, basically didn't put a raised cement foundation like in all other places, and because of that, whenever it rains they have a river inside their house....  They figured out that putting sandbags at the door keeps the floods out. There's a good spiritual thought in this...Build your foundations on Christ, and according to how Christ has said.  You can't go wrong in building upon his foundation, and that way, once the floods come, your spiritual house will still stand strong, firm, and dry on the inside!

Love You guys a ton!

Elder Pettingill

September 5, 2016 - Love from home!

Another package from the best family in the world! :)

A yummy cookie from the crackers and frosting we sent. :)

Saludos de Jimenez Chihuahua!!!!

So this last week has been a pretty crazy week!  First off, I got two new elders in my district now!!!  The Hermanas are still in the district, my district just got a whole lot bigger!  The best part is, is that the Elders area is the area that I first had when I got here to Mexico in 2014, so I'm able to and check on my converts and old friends in the ward.  I'm out there helping the Elders when I'm there in Parral, so this cycle is going to go great! I'll send pictures of my district next week!  

We found someone super awesome this last week, her name is Mary Cruz.  She's super ready to hear the gospel. She had a lot of bad stuff happen to her recently, and is ready to start the healing process that comes from following the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Everything out here is going pretty good!  Things are going smoothly in the ward. There's a lot of work to do with my district and in Jimenez, and I recently received a package from the best family in the world!!!!   Wooooo!!!!!!!!

Love you guys so much,

Elder Pettingill

August 22, 2016 - FAST CHAIN - very cool idea!

David and new comp

Wahoo!

So this last week me and my comp were able to find some really cool investigators!  The members are really starting to trust us a ton now, and are bringing us lots of their friends and family members!  The really cool one we found is a guy who's come to church for the past 8 months. He's the husband of a member in the ward.  He hasn't baptized yet, mostly just cause hes never had missionaries visit him who have tried to teach him!  So, we're teaching him now, and this guy is super prepared to accept the gospel!  Only has to stop drinking coffee, and receive his own testimony from God!

The members are super excited for missionary work right now, this past week, they started a ´fast chain´.  Basically the whole ward is fasting for the same thing (For the church to be filled with new members and less active members to return) and so what their doing, they all chose one day to fast, and started this last week.  Basically, one person per day will fast for 40 days!  Woooo!!!!!  Super happy for my little branch I'm working in!

This past week wasn't the best week of work though... I got sick....  Yeah, I forgot that stuff like that could still happen to me......  Its ok though, im 90% better now, and ready to work like a boss!!!!!

It's starting to cool down a bit now, we're also still getting a ton of rain!  I know I was telling you guys about how hot it gets here.... Well soon I'll be telling you about how cold it gets!!!!

  

Also, the more I learn about the history of Jimenez, the more I'm starting to realize, how ready Jimenez is to have a ton of members!   All it needed were a couple of good missionaries to animate the members, and I'm hoping that me and my comp are those missionaries!

Nothing else to exciting going on, however lets hope that this next week we'll see some great and exciting things going on!!!

Love you all!  Hoping everything is going great for you guys!

Elder Pettingill

August 15, 2016 - Vultures and Gatorade

Gatorade - a lifesaver!

Vultures??

Sorry I haven't emailed recently!  Haven't had much time to email.....   However, don't worry, I haven't had any run ins with any Narcos recently!!!!

Everything is getting better in Jimenez, the branch is starting to trust me and my comp and we're finally starting to get things rolling here!

 

We've had to leave behind a lot of investigators recently who haven't been progressing, which is super sad, however it leaves us a lot of room to find a ton of new elect people!

 

ME and my comp are getting along great!  We're working together a whole lot better, and my district is beginning to have a ton more success so everything is looking better for the future!

 

Another interesting thing is that now I'm teaching principles of gospel now!

 

Love you guys nos vemos!

 

Elder Pettingill

August 1st

 Hey guys!  Another awesome week has passed!  A lot of work done, and still even more to be done!

Here we're to get to know our area a whole lot better, and we're finding a whole lot of new people every day, sadly we're also leaving behind quite a few people.  Got the whole ward excited this last week to start working a ton with us, and we're seeing a lot of small miracles here and there, so really everything down here in Mexico is going great!

There's really not anything new going this week, however, everybody who I came into the mission with 2 years ago are all going to be gone by the end of this month.  I'm lucky enough to be with one of my buddies from the MTC (My zone leader) and its going to be weird seeing them all leave (except for one who extended his mission 30 days).    

Still working super hard out here, still teaching by the spirit, and helping others to achieve their eternal salvation.

 

Oh, one interesting thing is that me and my comp live right next to an abandoned Mason Temple.  Its like shoved up right next to our house, and its really interesting.....  

 

Until next week my people!!!

Elder Pettingill

July 25, 2016 - Buenas Tardes, from the HOTTEST place in my mission!!!!

New comp Elder Calizaya

Hermanas version of District

Buenas Tardes, from the HOTTEST place in my mission!!!!

Sorry I didn't write you all this past week, had transfers and everything went crazy!  So I got transferred to a city out in the middle of nowhere called Jimenez.  It's the city that's the most far to the south of Chihuahua, near the border of the mission.  Its a beautiful city, and its SUPER FLAT, and SUPER HOT, however its great and I'm already excited for all the new possibilities in this new city!

Still DL, however wha'ts interesting is that my district is an hour away from me in the city of Parral (My first area when I started the mission), so doing divisions and getting everything done in the little time that we have during the week is going to be super fun to figure out.  I'm basically going to be carrying around a small little duffle bag for the first half of every week helping my district out in Parral, then returning to make sure everything is going smoothly in my area in Jimenez.

Jimenez has an interesting story, however to save you guys from the long cheezy rumors, I'll give you the basic run down.  Basically Jimenez is a city about the size of Castle Rock back at home, it's pretty big, and there are a ton that can, and needs to be done! There used to be 8 Elders in Jimenez, a while ago, and Jimenez really has the potential to become its own zone.  The only thing is that the Elders that were here in the transfer before.... Well they weren't the best of Elders. Basically I came into Jimenez finding out that nothing has been done (Missionary Work wise) for a long time.....  So I'm basically opening up the area here, with 2 old investigators who were being taught by different elders 2 cycles ago.  So I'm super excited to opening this area, and me and my comp are going to start seeing some really great fruits pretty soon.

My new comp, his name is Elder Calizaya!  He's from Peru, and he just barely finished his training this last cycle.  Honestly, the only way to describe him is that his just a big goofball.  Hes super awesome and Hilarious, and it seems like hes ready to really ´put his shoulder to the wheel´!!!  Which we're going to have to, cause there's a TON of work to do, and not enough time to do it.

Honestly that's what it really comes down to.  Time is the one thing that we can never have enough of.  It's not something that we can buy, and time is always going by faster than we realize!  I may only have 9 more months in the mission, however that time is going to go by SUPER fast!  How do you use your time? Are you in the pursuit of worthy goals and pursuits? Or are you wasting the time that God has given you in pursuits that really don't matter?  What's the best use of your time?

One of my favorite scriptures can be found in Moroni 9:6,  6 And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease tolabor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God.

We all have been given our time to perform our labors here on Earth.  First off we have to make sure our own souls will be ready for when our time comes to an end, and if we have assured our own Eternal Life, then our duty is to then help our many brothers and sisters come to a knowledge of their state before God, so that they may begin to exercise their work, repent of their sins, baptize and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost as a sign to our Father in Heaven that they are ready to follow His Son, and return to live the rest of Eternity in our Home Celestial.

  

Don't waste your time on things that don't matter, please.  Time goes faster than you think, and someday, we'll have to stand before God to give Him a report of how we used the Time that He gave us.

I love you all, and I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Elder Pettingill

ps. The other foto is a foto of my district that one of the hermans drew! :D

July 11, 2016

Package from home!

Ward in Cuahtemoc

Hey guys!  This past week we had a ton of changes in the aspect missional here in Chihuahua Mexico!!!!   Our new Mission President is super awesome, and he's really turning the mission in the right direction!

Me and my comp have been having a lot more success in our area recently! And we've been finding a ton of people, and working with the members a ton!   Changes are next week though, so we'll see if they send me away from Cuauhtemoc now or no, I've been here for 7 months now.... Its aweosme here though, and I love it a ton!!!!

 

Hope you guys are all doing great!!!! Oh! and a Big shoutout to My Family back at home for sending me a care package with a ton of hilarious jokes, and also to Grandma Frodsham for the Neck towels to keep my nice and cool out here in the Inferno!!!!  Love you guys!

Elder Pettingill

July 4, 2016 - INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Playing in the mud!

Working hard!

AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  LAND OF THE FREE AND THE BRAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy 4th of July everyone!!!!!!!  Hope you all had a blast this past week, and hope you have a crazy night of fireworks and wonders!!!!!  VIVE AMERICA!!!!!!!!

 

Everything here in Mexico is going great!  We'RE seeing a lot of changes with our new Mission President, all of which are great and helping us out a ton!!!!!  The members are helping, and we're seeing many miracles happen because of our obedience to God and his commandments!

 

Its been raining a TON here recently.  There was one day, where the rivers in the streets got so high and fast that there were literal RAPIDS in the streets!!!!  I was in a taxi, going to a baptism, so I was lucky enough to stay dry.  However we did joke about just going out and baptizing people in the streets, literally. 

  

This past week we've been helping out a ton with a bunch of service projects!  We de-weeded a garden of this one guy who could barely walk, and repainted a work building for a member in our building.  Being tall really helps, it means that everyone here in Mexico really needs you cause they can't reach that tall. 

 

We helped out with the Hermanas in my district this week a ton as well.  They are crazy!  After the last visit for the day, they just started jumping in all of the mud puddles they could find!  We obviously joined in with them, and it was pretty fun!

 

This week is looking great!  A lot of people ready to teach, and a lot of people with hearts open to listen to the message of God!

 

I don't have pictures of the baptisms cause I forgot my camera that day......  However, here are some of the Hermanas in my district!

 

Love you guys, have a great week!

 

Elder Pettingill

June 27, 2016

This past week flew by super fast!  Well, really this whole month just didn't even happen. I can't believe we're already in July!   July is going to be a big month with a ton of stuff going on!  We're meeting our new President tomorrow! And I'm still melting from the heat........

We had to hand fill the font again - we've got it down super well.  The converts don't even mind the cold water now cause of all the heat!

Love you guys a ton!  Hope all is well!  Tenga un buena semana!!!!!

Elder Pettingill

June 20, 2016 - New Comp Elder Jiminez

New Comp Elder Jiminez from Mexico City

Hanging in the City

Hey everyone! Another amazing week here in Mission Chihuahua Mexico!

There are a lot of changes going on down here in Mexico now that we got a new President of the Mission coming this next week!   I'm excited to see a lot of these new changes, however I'm going to miss Presidente Chavez a ton!!!!

I've had this mission president for almost 2 years now.  He's been with me, and has helped me through many of the most difficult challenges that I've gone through in this short amount of time.  He's taught me a lot, helped me become a better teacher, and a better representative of Jesus Christ.  He's a great man, who's going to go on to many more great things.

Last week, I forgot to explain the other pic I sent!  We had a baptism that was going to happen in my district in 15 minutes, and when I got there, my zone leader said that there was absolutely no water in the Church.  Even the well right by the font window was completely dry!  So we had a member come by and check to see what was going on, and well, somebody had turned off the water key outside.  So we turned it back on, however until the well fills up, there's no water in the church.  So what I did was I hopped into the well, and would fill these buckets up with water and pass it up so they could fill up the font.  I got soaked!  But it was all good. My comp baptized the dude for the Hermanas, (I didn't get a pic cause I was in the well...) and everybody was happy!

One thing that I've learned a lot out here in Mexico is a lot about hard work, and tenacity.   Tenacity means to keep on going, determined, until you finish.  There will always be problems that come, and a lot of these problems will seem like grande mountains in front of you.  However, if you keep pushing forward diligently, always searching for solution after solution, you will conquer that mountain, and conquer that problem.

There is nothing better than the satisfying feeling of having overcome every obstacle.  So keep on going, or in the words of Dory the Fish. ´Just keep Swimming, just Keep swimming.....´

I love you guys, and I want you to know that everything is getting better and better here in Mexico.

Elder Pettingill

June 13, 2016 - Thank you Plum Creek YW!

Down a well trying to get water for a baptism!

Thank you Plum Creek Ward YW for the awesome package!

I've got a new comp whose name is Elder Jimenez!!!! He's from the city of Mexico, and he has 6 months in the mission!  Sorry that I haven't really sent a long email in a while, I'll make sure to tell you guys more next week!  I just want to give a shoutout to the Young Womens in the Plum Creek Ward who sent a bunch of inspirational notes and candy!!!!!!

Love you guys, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is undeniably true.  I have millions of testimonies of all the Saints throughout the world who support this wonderful fact of mine.  Eneñar Arrepentimiento y Bautizar CONVERSOS!

Elder Pettingill

June 6, 2016 - Changes!

Another week come and gone!  We had a lot more baptisms!  

Also there's going to be cambios! Changes are coming, Elder Loftus (my comp) is heading up to the Sierra now! I'm getting a new comp, still have no idea how it is.  Also two of the Hermanas in my district are getting replaced by two other Elders.  Going to miss them a lot, however I'm also super excited for this next cycle!!!!!  I have almost 6 months here in Cuauhtemoc now!

Elder Pettingill

A MOTHER'S FOOTNOTE :)

In the words of the great apostle John, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth" (3 John 1:4).

I think this might be my favorite picture from his mission. My son has worn through the soles of his shoes in service to the Lord. It doesn't get better than this as a parent, does it? Maybe it does, but I truly can't contain my joy in this moment.

May 30, 2016 - Service project and the path to baptism

This week flew by!!!!!!!   We got some more baptisms this week, also the Hermanas baptized this week as well!

This week we did a service project as well. We had to bring down a huge cement wall, about 20 feet in width, and 13 feet high!  It was a ton of fun, I basically just got to use a 15 pound sledgehammer, and a lever to bring this thing down!!! What we would do is put a couple of weak spots in it, start rocking it back and forth, and then pull certain sections down.  I made sure to always jump out of the way so no need to worry!  After all this time of only reading and writing, my hands have gone super soft!  Its no fun!  By the end of the project had a ton of calluses that had burst on my hands.......

The Hermanas in my district are finally all healthy again, and none of them are sick! So that makes everyone a whole lot happier.  They also have a lot of people lined up for this next month!  We're going into June now! The last month before we get a new president......
  

Hope all is well back at home!  Hope you guys are steadily coming unto Christ.  I promise you, you cant find any other path that will bring you greater happiness than the path that He has laid down for us.  There is only one path that can bring us back home to the Heavens.  Only one door that can allow you into this path. That door, is the door of baptism by Immersion, for the Remission of sins.

There is only one proper way to be baptized.  If you do not choose to be baptized by immersion, by someone who has the Proper Authority of God, you can not into our Celestial Home.  There is only one Lord, One Faith, and One Baptism.  I am always here to answer your questions, if you have anything that you have had difficulty trying to understand, or have no idea what something about God is, ask me.  I would love to help you find your answers.

Love,

Elder Pettingill

May 23, 2016 - Questions for you...

Hey guys!!!

Another week has passed and gone, and this month is almost over......  Only got one more week to finish our goals for this month, so we all got to step it up a notch!

This past week was pretty good, we had two baptisms this past week in my district, one from my area!!!  Shes a lady from the Reservation, the Aunt of one of the kids who recently baptized! Hoping her sisters are coming pretty soon!

So its still pretty hot out here.  Like super hot!  However there's a nice breeze always blowing, and it helps cool things down a lot when we're walking everywhere, except for when we're sitting in a smelly, super hot bus.  

Learning a lot out here about goal setting and having a vision for where your going!  We're working a lot with the ward in re-activation, and the ward is starting to get more excited for Missionary work!

  

Ok, so I want to ask you guys some questions, and yes, I do expect you to answer them! :D  For the members out there.... What are you doing to help build Gods Kingdom?  How many converts are you going to bring to God this next month?  Which Non-Active members are you visiting with consistantly?

Now for those who still need to Baptize......  Why havent you baptized yet?!?!?!  What is of greatest worth here in this world?  What are you doing to to prepare for the future? Why aren't you talking with the missionaries over there in the states?!?

I love you all back at home.  Want you all to know that there is nothing that brings me greater joy than to see my friends come unto Christ, here in Mexico, and back there in the States.  

Love you all,

Elder Pettingill (o mi nombre en español......  Elder Acariciando Escamas)

May 16, 2016 - Testimony

Baptism of 'his kids'

Ok, I'm going to be very direct in this email.  As we learn in Ephesians 4:5, there is only One Lord, One Faith, and One Baptism.

There is only one God, who holds the truth of all things.  He only has one truth, and it is His.  It does not change, it has always been the same, and always will be same.  He will tell this same truth to every single prophet and person that has or will live on Earth.  

 

Because he is the same God for every single person here on Earth, there is only One Faith.  There should only be ONE faith.  Because God tells this same truth, to every prophet that has preached of him throughout the ages, there is only One religion throughout all the Earth, that has the knowledge on how we can return to our home in Heaven.  The fact that there are thousands of different religions in the world is Gods fault, its the fault of Man.  Just because man has changed what God has said, doesnt mean that God conforms to the image that man has portrayed of him, He continues being the same.  

Hebrews 13:8- God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  He has always taught of the same path that leads to Heaven. There is no other path, there will never be another path that leads to Heaven then the one that He has given to every one of his children throughout all of time.  There is only one true religion throughout all the earth.  Only one path leads directly to our Father in Heaven, and he has shown that path through His Son, Jesus Christ, and through all of the prophets.  They all taught the exact same thing, which is that to enter into Heaven, you have to be baptized by His proper Authority.  If you are not baptized by someone that has His Authority, you have never been baptized.  It is as simple as that.  

 

There is only one church here on Earth that has His proper Authority to baptize in his name.  My invitation to you is to make sure that you find that Church, so that you can be enter into His path that He has set for us.  Only on this path can you find true happiness. Only on this path can you find ever-lasting Happiness.  It is possible to find this path out of the thousands of inviting false paths in our world. ´Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you´´If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men Liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.´

 

If you have not found this path of which I speak, search for it.  Ask God for help in finding it, and you will eventually find it.  If you have strayed from this path, diligently strive to come back unto God.  I wish for everyone one of you to have the same fullness of joy that I have here in the Gospel.  Diligently strive to fulfil Gods Will, and you will see that your life will have so much more meaning than it had before. I know for a fact that these things that I have said are true. I have seen it bless many lives here in Mexico, and I continue to see it bless even more.  I love you all, and wish you the best, and I share these things in the sacred name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

May 9, 2016 - Tauramarens

I feel like I'm melting out here in Mexico..... and the worst part is that its only going to get hotter!  Thankfully this will be the last summer that I will have to endure out here in Mexico!!!

This week went really great!  Mis niños se bautizaron!!!!  My kids baptized!!!  Not all of them, only the ones who really wanted to, there were 6 of them (sorry forgot my camera today) and they are all really cool!  All these kids are from an Indian reservation here in Cuauhtemoc, and the circumstances that they live in is really humbling.  Its  just super simple apartments with a futbal field and a place to wash your clothes outside.  These kids are basically growing up in the ghetto of the ghettos, but they're enjoying church more and more every time they go!  Yes we still pile them all into a truck or mini van every time we go to church, its really crazy (and really smelly... Did I forget to mention that tauramarens bathe like 1 a month?)  We are still working on the parents in this small reservation, but its coming along great and everyone seems to love us!!!!!!  We had a huge water fight like 2 weeks ago with all the kids, me and my comp got SOAKED, but it was absolutely worth it.  The kids are opening doors for us to the parents, and its really awesome!

Before I go on, HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to my Wonderful Mother!!!!!!!  She's the best mom any son could ask for, and thank you so much for everything you have done for me mom!!! 

It was great talking with the family over skype yesterday, my sisters are growing up so much!  Mom and Dad still look as young as ever, y mi chiko perrito is still as crazy as ever!!!!  I'm happy with all that's going on here in the mission, and I'm going to keep pressing forward diligently and being the missionary God wants me to be!!!!!!!

Siempre Fuerte, 

Elder Pettingill

May 2, 2016 - Super Hot!

Hanging with Elder Larsen again :)

This past week went super awesome!   The only problems that we're having is that the misionaras in our district are having trouble getting investigators to church!  We're working with them on that, and this next week should be a whole lot better!

In other news, Its SUPER HOT!  And I'm dying out here, but its all good!!!!!!!  Me and my comp are working great with each other, we're a really good team. and we should have a TON of baptisms this week, I hope. We'll see!

Love you all, 

Elder Pettingill

April 25, 2016 - The Light of Christ and Videos

All right guys this week has been another blast out here in the vineyard of the Lord!

This past week, was a lot of lessons, a lot of learning and a lot of walking.  Its been pretty hot out here, however we luckily had a couple of days of rain!  That was super nice, but also surprising! We were just walking out in the middle of nowhere when the rain came down and started to soak us!  By the time we got back to house, we were pretty wet, but it was nice to have a change in weather. 

Everything is pretty much going the same out here.  We´re teaching by the Spirit, and finding new people all the time.  My comp and I are really getting along, and always thinking of new ways to help our district grow and become better!  We´re actually gaining 2 new Hermanas in our district now, and another one is getting changed today!  We´re hoping that with these changes, we're going to start seeing a whole lot more fruits in our branch, cause we've got a whole lot of potential, we just got to start working for it!

So this past week we had a training meeting where we talked about the Light of Christ.  There's a difference between the Light of Christ, and the Holy Ghost.  These 2 influences both lead and guide us to do the right thing, and los dos have different roles. What I want to focus more on is the Light of Christ right now......  The best definition of this is found in DyC 88:11-13 which reads  

11 And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings;

12 Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—

 13 The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.

The Light of Christ is basically the influence of Christ that guides every man women and child to do what is right.  A manifestation of this light is that of our conscience of what is right and wrong.  Our light can grow and change, however it can also diminish, and darken.  I could tell you why its important, I could tell you why we always need to be increasing the light we have in our lives, however you have the scriptures, and I don't want to take away the opportunity for you to find the answer for yourself, to grow and to gain more light in your lives.  I will give you suggestions though, study Dyc 93, DyC 88 Romans 13:12 and Mathew 6:22.

Also go and watch these videos that I put a link to on the bottom, start with the first and finish with the last in the series.

I love you all, and I wish you all the best, and until next week...

Elder Pettingill

http://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/patterns-of-light-the-light-of-christ-1

April 18, 2016 - It's getting hot!

This week has been going great!  We´ve been working on a a lot of new ways to find new investigators, and to get our current ones even more excited for baptism, and we've found a lot!  We´ve recently been helping a lot of new kids start getting ready for baptism, we´ve been teaching them, playing soccer, and just being good friends.  Its actually pretty funny, this last Sunday we just pulled up to their apartment complex, honked our horn 3 times, and all the kids and a couple adults all came running out and started piling into our truck!  I´ll take some photos this week, but it's all going pretty awesome!

We've been having a lot of activities that we've been helping out with, and My comp and I are basically in charge of running all the mission activities that we have every 2 weeks on Wednesday.  This last Wednesday we had a small turnout, but it was a BIG hit!  We basically just had a bunch of small silly little competitions as a branch, and everybody was hooting and hollering and having a great time.  I had to cook 80 hotdogs though.  That wasn't fun.   We used it for a hotdog eating contest. 

 

We're still going around, interviewing the investigators of the hermanas, and they are all getting closer to bautismo!  One of them is getting baptized this week, and then another of ours is baptizing as well.  

 

My comp and are I getting along great, we've finally got everything figured out as new district leaders, and the only thing that's going on is that its getting really HOT here!!!!!!!!  WOW!!!!  No me gusta el calor!  The only good thing about all this is that now that its not so cold in the mornings, I'm working out a whole lot better, and I've lost a ton of weight!  I'm actually skinny now.....  I had to go buy new pants and new shirts!  

 

This is going to be a nice long hot summer, but at least I only have to go through it once ;)  Next week I'll have a year in the mission.......

 

Elder Pettingill

April 11, 2016 - Too busy to write home???

Hey! Sorry no time to write! Baptizms this week, muchos!!!!!   Had to be in the hermanas area for a ton of interviews, but everything's looking great!

Oh and I learned how to make tamales!!!!! 

April 4, 2016 - David giving his mother a heart attack...

Yes, he does own shoe polish...

Beautiful views in Cuauhtémoc

Ustedes quierren una carta en español?  Seria muy fácil para mi a poner lo en español, y decir les como le fue mi semana, y todo de los locos aventuras que hemos tenido acá en México!

But, I don't think any of you would like that, so Ill just stick to english for you!!!

 

Hola mi Familia Y Amigos!!!!

 

Hows it going with everyone at home??  You guys all watch General Conference???  Wow!  That session was a POWERFUL session!!!!  My favorite sessions were in Saturday!  Those two sessions during the day, and especially the Priesthood Session at night!!  I´ve learned a ton about following the Spirit, exercising the Priesthood, and so much more!  If you didn´t get the chance to watch Conference, go and watch it at lds.org, and your mind will be blown!

 

How grateful are we that we have a modern day prophet here on earth, who guides us through the paths of mortality back to our Father in Heaven?

 

So this week has been a crazy week of preparing for this upcoming week!  Me and my comp are effectively super missionaries, going from one area to the next to help the Hermanas get people ready for baptism, and to make sure everything is going smoothly!  We hardly have time to be in our own area, but the amazing thing is that we´re still finding a lot of new people to teach!  There are so many escogidos here in Cuauhtemoc, and honestly, I would love to serve my whole mission here in this small city! 

 

I haven´t had any troubles with dogs for a LONG time now, which is a little sketchy... I'm kinda waiting to see what the next kind of trouble will be.... Guess what??? I'm friends with the Narcos here!!!  We´ve been meeting a lot of Narcos here recently, (No not cholos, or gangsters, Narcos) and they´re actually pretty cool! 

 

Funny story, we met a Narco at his house one night, and he came out to talk to us and everything.  (They have a rule where they always have to wear a handkerchief over their nose and mouth) and he was telling us how he'd like to learn from us, but he was going back to his fields the next day for another 7 month tour over there.  That kinda bummed us all out, and then I had the bright idea to ask why he had to always wear that handkerchief around his mouth all the time.  He said you want to know?  Hang on a sec and I'll be right back (obviously this is the English translation of what he said).  He went inside his house and me and my comp looked at each other and said to the other, ¨he's coming back with a gun isn't he?¨ We were really freaked out, but couldn't run cause we were far from the door, so I was getting ready to use my scriptures as an ¨Iron Rod¨ (Haha get the joke?) and try to get out of there alive.  Thankfully he just comes out with a phone and begins to show us a bunch of pictures on his ¨ranch¨ out in the Sierra.  He had some pretty sick pics of him and his AK47, and a beautiful garden of Marijuana.  It would make many Coloradans very jealous.  We oooed and awwwed, said goodbye, then High tailed it out of there!!!

 

Hope you guys have a great week!

Elder Pettingill