Visa????

A mis seres queridos,

 

This week was a great week here!  Our investigators that we've been working with have encountered a few problems and so they might take some more time to fully accept the gospel, but we found a couple of great young men (19 and 20) who are excited to learn more and both accepted baptismal dates.  Ricardo who is 19, unfortunately did not attend church, but we are hoping to keep working with him and get him to receive the blessings of church next week.  Victor, whose mother is a member, has been really receptive and was almost baptized a few months ago before he left to new york for a year.  We are really excited and happy with what is going on in our area.

 

No news yet on the visa, keep up your prayers and perhaps this is a visa that can only be taken out by fasting!!  Haha.  We'll see, hopefully it gets here soon, next week is transfers in Buenos Aires.  No other news to report...  I love you all!  Keep up the good work and share the gospel with a friend or coworker this week!  Invite them to "come and see," thus giving them the option to receive the blessings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ!  Have a great week!

Visa?

Dear All,

I don't have much time today, but I just wanted to write quickly.  We're still working with a few investigators (Mack and Carlos) and they are slowly progressing, but it looks like we'll probably have to move back their baptisms.  This week we really want to find new investigators and get them progressing towards baptism.  I am also praying my visa comes soon, President Gulbrandsen said that some visa waiters are going to the other BsAs missions next week, so let's hope I sneak into that group.  To be honest the past couple weeks have been pretty hard, but I know I just need to keep my head up and be patient and that with faith everything will come out ok.  I love you all and hope you are all firmly holding onto the iron rod.  Have a good week!

Elder Fullmer arrives, Elder Nielson leaves

Dear everyone,

This past week was a pretty trying week, but we ended up with a few people at church and we have a lot of great people that should convert from potentials to actual investigators this week.  Last Tuesday my companion, Elder Nielson, was transferred up to Corpus Christi, and my new companion, Elder Fullmer arrived.  He as well is from Idaho, but from Pocatello.  He is excited about the work and being back down here in the valley and speaking Spanish.  His Spanish needs some work, but it is definitely a step up from Elder Nielson's.  Haha.  It should be a great week this week.

Other than that, I hope you all are praying daily!  Not just to pray, but to pray for my visa!  haha, we'll have to wait and see if it ever comes.  It's great working in this mission, especially here in Hidalgo, but I am really excited to get to Argentina... Anyways, I love you all and appreciate so much all of your support, not just the support you have given me now, but for all the prayers through the years and the examples you have been to me!  Especially the family :)  Love you all!  Have a great week!

The Baptism of Martin and Alicia Teran!

Dear all,

 

This past Sunday after church we had the baptism of Martin and Alicia Teran!  I have attached a photo of just them and their daughter, as my camera died before we could take more pictures.  Haha.  It was a great service and supposedly we (the missionaries) sang our special number really well and everything seemed to turn out really well and we had decent participation from the ward members as well.  Baptisms are the best.  You can just feel the Spirit so strongly during the ordinance and I love when the converts give their testimonies after (which they did).  It's great to hear how grateful they are for your service as a missionary and also to hear how the Gospel of Jesus Christ has changed their lives.  :)  So yes, it was a great first baptismal service for me as a missionary here in Texas.  I hear that the 2 people I was teaching in Brownsville in preparation for baptism are also doing really well.  The Lord really has blessed me to be able to meet such great and prepared people.

 

Anyways, my comp (Elder Nielson) has already left and I am currently on an exchange with another Elder while I wait for my companion (Elder Fullmer) to come down from Corpus Christi at 6 PM.  It should be interesting seeing if I can get around this area as I've only ever sat in the passenger seat and my comp always knew where he was going.  But it should be a good experience and I'm sure it will help my comp to learn the area quickly as well.  I am hoping that this companion speaks a little more spanish as Elder Nielson really struggled with Spanish, but if not I'm sure he'll progress quickly.

 

I don't have too much else to say!  The work is going great here.  I feel like the members and leaders have a lot of confidence in us as missionaries (at least for my area, and the others are progressing as well), and we are starting to work better together to accomplish the work of the Lord here.  I love being a missionary and being able to help in these small wards.  The people are great, and I think dad was right when he said I probably love the people here as much as I do the people in Argentina.  haha, but don't worry it will all change when I get back there!  Haha.  Anyways, I'm excited to get started with my new comp!  But I'm going to keep praying for my visa to hurry up haha :)  Love you all!  Thanks for your love and support and letters and packages (ok well you could send more packages... haha)  Have a great week!

Hidalgo and El Bautismo

Friends, family, and... conocidos,

 

This week was a pretty solid week down here in Texas.  We found a solid new investigator named Mack Wright, who apparently went by Sonny Wright and was the number 1 golfer in mexico for 3 years.  Haha, he was a member referral and he is pretty old, but he is really excited to learn and to be baptized on the 16th of June.  We have to teach him really slow and allow him time to swear at his dog, molly, and as well to allow him to say how "dang ignorant" he is.  Haha, he's been a hoot so far, but we're excited to help him out and get him to church this week.

 

This Sunday we'll have the baptism of Alicia Teran!  She is super excited and passed her interview on Sunday already.  The interesting part is that we have been waiting for her husband, Martin's, records to come in, but we still have no results so we're going to call in today or tomorrow to find out for sure.  If the church offices can't find anything then it looks like he'll have to be baptized again, because he doesn't have the certificate and he doesn't remember the dates or the names of the people that did the ordinances.  We have an appointment tonight, so we'll see what he says.  We might end up baptizing him Saturday, having him confirmed then or on Sunday, then interviewed and able to receive the priesthood so he can baptize his wife, but we'll see.  Haha- it's always an interesting circumstance.  Anywho, that's pretty much all for me this week.  It was great hearing from all of you and just so you know there is still no word on my visa, we just keep waiting!  Keep praying for it to come if (well those of you who aren't here... haha) you would like to be able to see me again any time soon.  Hahaha.  I love you all!  Thanks for your support!  Don't forget C.P.R!!  Church, prayers, and reading!  haha :)

Hidalgo

Howdy amigos,

 

Another great week has gone by in the life of Elder Zachary Trayner.  I enjoyed my first week in Hidalgo and so far I like it mucho.  It's like Brownsville, but without all the things I didn't like.  Haha.  I prefer the small wards and less missionaries, so I feel a lot better here.  Haha.  The members seem super great and I already knew quite a few of them haha.  So it has been pretty fun and we had a good mothers day activity on Saturday that we enjoyed with the members and with Alicia Teran (our investigator who is preparing for the 27th).  We're still waiting for her husband's records to arrive to the ward so that the bishop can interview him for the priesthood.  Hopefully it will arrive this week so that they can do the interview and get him the priesthood before/on the the 27th.  They're great.

 

Mmmm... I don't have much else to say.  Ask me some questions and I'll be able to write better letters.  haha.  I love you all, thank you for your support!  Don't forget to read your scriptures today!  Hope you enjoy the attached photos!

Transferred

Greetings all acquaintances, friends, and family members,

 

This past week was really great!  We had 9 investigators at church and are set to baptize weekly this month... and then I got picked up last night (Sunday night) and transferred to Hidalgo.  Haha.  So I'm going to miss the baptisms of a couple of amazing people (George and Sister Garza), but I am excited to work here.  There were some issues with disobedience and so an Elder was transferred and that's how I ended up here and now I'm the District Leader, so it should be exciting.  I'm excited to help the missionaries here and to build up the wards (we have an English and a Spanish ward).  So far it seems like we have one solid investigator and a couple that have just been kind of "floating," but hopefully we'll be able to meet with most of them and set expectations of what we really intend to do (help them exercise their faith and repent by starting to read, pray, and go to church, be baptized, etc.).

 

There is still no word on my visa, but they have everything they need from us for a few weeks sooo... hopefully it will be soon.  I have a bunch of pictures I need to send, but I just keep forgetting and I don't have a sd/usb adapter.  But I should be able to borrow one soon.  I showed mom some and she loved them haha.  I don't really have too much to say... I'm excited to work here in Hidalgo!  Oh, and my new comp is Elder Nielson from Boise Idaho.  This is still his first area and he has been here about 8 months, so he should know it pretty well, we'll see how it goes.

 

Anyways I love you all!  I appreciate your letters and emails!  Sorry if I haven't written some of you back, I wasn't in charge of managing time on Pday so I didn't have much time to write (like last week when I didn't even get to send an email...haha)  Anyways, I should be able to write soon. I love you all!  Don't forget to read in the Book of Mormon today!