AND THEY'RE OFF!!!

sick old restored datsun that i guy had driving through from baja california

This week flew by!

I dont even remember in what order things happened.

Here are the things I can remember.

Tuesday : we had a lesson that someone set us up with some jehovas whitnesses in thier house to fight us. We responded with a quick explanation of how they were wrong. They were aastonished. Then the son of family wanted to know more. AWESOME. 

Wednesday : We had our zone meeting and i had to teach a huge chunk of it... Oh well it was good. I taught about why we teach the restauracion. And also why we have to teach each one of the points in each of the lessons.

Saturday : We went to the temple with Braulio and Erick to be thier temple guides. It was kiler. That was an awesome experience. I absolutely LOVE the temple. It is the greatest thing ever and i am super jealous of Madie Osborne and all of her oppurtunities to go to the temple. We also got to sit in on a temple sealing session of two return missionaries. It was absolutely fantastic. I cant wait for that day. 

Sunday : It was the farewell of the two young men that I convinced to go on missions. Erick and Braulio. It was awesome. They did awesome. The farewells here are a little different though. They are after church and the whole family talks. Then we went and visited with the two familes and i played a version of come thou fount that i re-wrote for the guitar. It was killer. Then we said our last goodbyes.

Scripture of the week : Alma 7:10-13 Read it. Ponder it. Pray about it. Act on what you discover.

Thats all I got for you!

I love you all tons!

Also my birthday wish : The biggest gift you could give to me is to invite someone over for missionary lessons on the 19th and write me about it. Also if you arent a member, Invite the missionaries over for a lesson on the 19th and write me what you thought about it. You might be surprised at what you find. This is the greatest gift you could give to me and to the lord and will benifit all of you and your testimonies!

Con Amor,

   Elder Runyan

Some old guys foot

Well that was quick

That was maybe the fastes week i have ever had in the mission. Not much happened. But heres the rundown.

Tuesday : We did service pretty much all day. We built a house out of cement and then put a cement roof on top of it. Then we went to go get food and my comp got bit by a dog. 

Wednesday : we studied and then went out to the doctor to get it looked at and then we went to a members house to take care of him.

Thursday : I went on splits and my comp stayed at thier house. We got quite a few lessons done. And got this new couple who is super interested but it will be really hard to teach them.... they both cant read and one is deaf... They really want to get baptized though...

Friday : Went out and got some work done again on splits to try to make up for lost time. It was one of those days where we just got to walk around for 7 hours getting the doors slammed in our faces. Gotta love them. 

Saturday : We had to go interview this little girl who was getting baptized in a few hours. How precious. Legitimately the cutest thing ever. They had a little old boombox that she had the spanish hymns playing and was reading the scriptures right next to it. Later her dad baptized her and it was the most precious thing ever. We had to run this way and that to get a whole ton of stuff done for this ward activity that is going to happen ina few weeks so we didnt get anything done...

Sunday : We went to church and had 8 investigators there. It was superb. Also the district mission leader came and talked and did a whold bunch of lessons wth us. He is 23 and hasnt been on a mission ut is going to go in a few weeks. He is an awesome dude. .Then we went and taught a menos activo for quite a few years and we made a bet with him that he couldnt go to church 3 times and stay the whole time. If he wins, My comp and i have to give him 2 ties. If we win, He gives us ties.

Scripture of the week : Mosiah 2:23-25 Read it, Ponder it, Pray about it, Act upon what you discover.

Also Happy Birthday Shoutout to Mads Osborne! I hope it rocked your socks!

Thats what ive got for ya this week. Sorry it was so short.

Con amor,

Elder Runyan

Elder Runyan Se va a.... Quedar...

Well whats up!

This week was a blast of fun for a bunch of missioaries that were stuck in the bland land of Oaxaca!

Tuesday : We had Leaders meeting in zanatapec and then we came back and got two lessons in that were references from members and they were crazy. Macaroy. I feel your pain with the people who just kill a bunch of people... 

Wednesday : ACTIVIDAD DE ZONA!!!! SWEETNESS!!! We took a long drive through the jungle and then we ended up at the beach. What a swell day. The beach here is abolutely beautiful. There is nobody for miles and frick it does go on for miles. We got to go into the water up to our knees and wow. Im in love. We took a bunch of cool pics and videos and ate tlayudas on the beach.

Thursday : We were wiped out and the whole zone got to sleep in till 8. What a life. We got up and studied and we both were super sunburned and couldnt put our shirts on for a long time. We got three lessons in at the end of the day, and then we had english classes. Nothing too spectacular.

Friday : We got up and went on splits with Eric and Braulio who are leaving for thier missions on the 17th. It was awesome. We did a whole ton of work. The best part was that we went and taught Osiris. She was timid as usual and didnt want to tell us why she didnt want to pray. Then we got into a huge hour and a half conversation and I successfully answered all of her questions. I told her about how i have fasted and prayed about her specifically and she started to cry. She then asked if she could say the closing prayer at the end. It was awesome. I hope i dont leave so i can baptize her.

Saturday : Left the house at 3 am to head to Tuxtla to see Dallin H Oaks. He was awesome. He talked to us about a lot of things. How we should never assume anything when we are teaching people. We also should live and preach the culture of the gospel. This is the biggest thing that people have problems with as missionaries. Sometimes the missionaries just dont. Then he talked to us and told us that as long as we arent married when we get home from our missions, we are just "medio hombres" or half of a man. That means its gonna be pretty quick for me i guess. i dont wanna be a medio hombre. That means ill have to try really hard 4 weeks after i get home. ;) "meet the mormons" for the first showing in Chiapas. It was dece.

Sunday : Sunday was spent at church in the morning and that was god. After, we went to Hno Temocs house to eat and then Braulio told me that he was feeling really under the weather about his mision. He was just super confused and all of that. Just like i was. So i helped him out with a nice hour and a half pep talk and then i gave him a blessing of comfort. it was a really cool experience. We spent most of the day thinking about the transfers though. 

Today : Got the call this morning. Elder Runyan se va a ....... quedar. Im glad. I am now the oldest person here in the district and the area. Everyone that came with me left. I will be here for 6 months at least. They switched us around though. Elder jones and i have the same amount of time in the mission so we havent been junior or senior comp. Now this transfer, instead of elder Jones being the DL, I am the DL... So thats cool. Now i Have responsibilities.

Scripture of the week : 1 Nefi 10:18 Leerlo. Meditarlo. Ora sobre eso. Haga que siente es nessicario.

Les amo mucho!

Con Amor,

Elder Runyan

Another week but full of sickness.....

This week started off really well!

Monday : Gave a blessing to Hno Juan and it was super long and i used a couple of words that I didnt know... I had to ask my comp what they meant afterwards. Super cool.

Tuesday : Reunion de lidres where we got a new tema for the mission. Oh boy. Its really cool and super long. Then we talked about being more united as a compañerismo when we teach. they used us as an example. It was super good. We absolutely killed it.No more than 40 seconds each one of us. Then we had noche de hogar and eric and braulio opened thier mission calls! Eric is going to ciudad Obregon and Braulio is going to Puebla norte. Sweet. Obregon looks beautiful.

Wednesday : Jones was really sick today so we went on splits and i went out and taught while he stayed inside. It was really quite cool. Braulio has a solid testimony. He is gonna be a sweet missionary. We taught a whole bunch of people, one of which was some old dude named jose who only wears fedoras on his head because he has cancer on his scalp. He is super open and i am excited to keep teaching him.

Thursday : We got up and studying and then we found 2 more scorpions and so we moved everythig out of the house and studied outside while the fumigators came and fumigated and then i just threw up. So that was a fun day. Just throwing up all day. yay. we went out and taught at 6 and got a few lessons in to some of our investigators like osiris. She said that she believes in the book of mormon and JS but she doesnt want to pray for an answer to baptisim...

Friday. We studied about listening to the spirit and then fasting. so we started a consegration fast and we are still going. We are going to break it on monday. We had an absolutely killer day where we talked to all sorts of people. We learned about the church of the cornerstone ( interesting) and then we talked to a psychopath who is gonna kill some stalker that he has. Then we taught some of these people who were going to church for 3 years and never got baptised and they said they want to now. It is a family of 5. We can baptize them.

Saturday : We went to district conference in zanatapec and we learned a lot about our patriarchal blessings. it was super col. I am gonna study taht so much. We took a van to the conference and we were all packed in for 2 hours and no ac. YUM. when we got back it was 8:30 so we just hit the sack.

Sunday : We got Suje to come to Church!!! Suje is a menos activo that we have been talking to and she is super shy but really wants to change her life again. She came and she really liked it. It was the general version of district conference so after we went and took pictures and introduced her to president George and his wife and she really thought they were swell. We got back at 9 this time and had to go straight home, but it was fun.

Scripture of the week : D&C 88:86   

Abide ye in the liberty wherewith ye are made free; entangle not yourselves in sin, but let your hands be clean, until the Lord comes. 

Read it. Ponder it. Pray about it. Act upon what you discover.

Con amor como siempre,

Elder Runyan

Well that was quick.

Didnt I just email you yesterday?

This week flew by. 

Tuesday : We taught and stuff. I was with elder sanchez. He is super terrible at teaching. It frustrates the heck out of me because i cant ever do anything without him contradicting me... Then we got home and I had a missin home kinda night. Gotta love them. 

Wednesday : Well at 1 oclock this morning i woke up to elder sanchez screaming. That was fun. He was yelling and saying "algo mi pico" or something stung me. We blew it off and he slept ing the hammock. Woke up and started cleaning stuff out because it was freaking him out and he couldnt talk right. We found a scorpion. It was about 7 inches long. Quien sabe como entre nuestra casa.... craziness. Then we taught a lil and went out to lunch. that was sweet. Awesome lunch. But heres the thing. I DRANK A TON OF APPLEJUICE. youd think id have learned my lesson. LOL. (Shoutout to Mads, and the rest of rebeleague and for that midnight in paris)

Thursday : Well we were 100% obedient today. It as awesome. A bunch of the investigators that we were about to drop just got super interested and i dont know if i like that or not... But theres that. OBEDIENCE BLESSINGS ARE REAL.

Friday : We had one of our Zone leaders come with us after the district meeting and he just went on splits with me. So theres that. Good ole Elder Rocha. What a guy. He made me teach every part of every lesson because i am going to train a kid who doesnt know anything next transfer. MI PRIMER HIJO!

Saturday : HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO MY VALENTINE! (you know who you are)

Today was pretty good! Elder jones mistaked a lesbian girl for a guy at our lunch sita and that was pretty funny and then we had a couple lessons and then had english class. we were told to come home early so we were messing around and figured out that tang powder is really flammable so we mad a flamethrower. SWEET. #NEVERGROWOLD

Sunday : This day was a tad bit frustrating. We went to church where i helped these two kids in our ward set up thier iphones. They bought the iphone 4 from juchitan. Super used. Its awesome. I love it. I also hooked them up with all of my music. Then we went to go to lunch and there learned all about the freemasons and how im gonna be one. We were reading up on it and there are quite a few missionaries who join a lodge on thier missions or when they get back. SWEET. Maybe Ill look into that. LOL. then we ( I ) taught a few lessons. Jones is in such a downer mood. Idk. Its kinda lame...

Scripture of the week : 3 Nephi 27:27 And know ye that ye shall be judges of this people, according to the judgment which I shall give unto you, which shall be just. Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.Read it. Ponder it. Pray about it. Act upon what you discover.

Thats what Ive got for you this week!

Con amor, and stay gold my children!

Elder Runyan.

Yo

Heyo folks! This week was a quick one like usual so ill get right into it!

Tuesday : We got up and cleaned the crap out of the house which felt awesome!!!! Then we worked on the area book and then we went out and had lunch and then made cement blocks and helped build part of a house. It was solid. Then we taught a couple of our new investigators. it was great.

Wednesday : We had the reunion de lideres and our new zone leader sucks. Apparently Elder Cosigua is gone.... Im gonna miss that guy. The new guy is poop. Then we went and met a guy who makes hammocks. His name is Jehova nad he says he really wants to be baptized. So theres that. He said he wants to make a custom hammock for me! AWESOME!

Thursday : Well we payed the federal police in basketball this morning and absolutely creamed them. So theres that. They were super cool and we invited them to all be baptized. Then we had the district meeting and then i went to Sanfransisco del mar. It was awesome. Other thatn elder sanchez teaches a little weird but we got a lot of work done in 4 hours.

Friday : We had a whole ton of study time and then we went out, taught two lessons and then came back to ixhuatan. We ate lunch and then we blitzed the area. We taught 23 lessons in our area. It was awesome. then we had guitar classes and all three of my students had broken strings.... So we just hung out and we taught them about the book of mormon.

Saturday : We hit the ground running and taught up a storm during the markado where we baught new side bags. They are sick. They are handmade. DOPE. Then we taught until we completed our higher metas for the semana. Then we just went and visited members.

Sunday : Church and sickness. The chinkonguña is kicking in again so we went back and slept because we had already completed everything.

Scripture of the week : 2 Nephi 9:39  

O, my beloved brethren, remember the awfulness in transgressing against that Holy God, and also the awfulness of yielding to the enticings of that cunning one. Remember, to be carnally-minded is death, and to be spiritually-minded is life eternal.

Read it. Pray about it. Ponder it. Act upon what you discover.

Thats what ive got this week and more pics in the other emails!!!

Como siempre,

Con amor,

Elder Runyan.

Finally done with 12 weeks!!!

Hello there outside world! This week was crazy. Very crazy. And very short.

Monday : Well we got together with a bunch of our zone and had a mud soccer tourney which was sweet and super muddy. That was probably the coolest thing all week. HTen we cleaned off and did family history.

Tuesday : We got a good amount of work done and we talked to two people who were baptized and never recieved the holy ghost. Awk. So that was more than 6 months ago so we are gonna re baptize them and that means two free baptisims.

Wednesday. We got a good mount of work done and found a cool kid who was dribbling a soccer ball the entire time during our lesson while paying attentiona dn answering every question. apparently he pays better attention while doing that. Then the elders from the Morro and the elders fromSanfransisco Del Mar came over and slept in our house because Elder Valensuela from the area of the 70 is coming and weneeded to get up at 2 am.

Thursday. Got up at 2 am and headed to the church with a change of clothers and off to tuxtla for the reunion at 9. We got there and it was super cool! I got to see Elder Hansen (My comp from the MTC) and a couple of the other guys that i have met and come to know throught my time here! Then we heard from Elder Valensuela and it was rad. He was very inspiring. THis year we are working on recent convert retention. People dont like to stay in the church here and there are over 90000 members in this mission and less than 1/10th are active. It is crazy. Then we Went to the doctors appointment for Elder Jones and he needed to go get x rays and so we did that and when we came back the place was closed. Well just have to do it another day.

Friday : Well I woke up and felt like crap. Elder jones went to go do his stuff. Apparently after looking at the x rays, his back is crazy deformed from birth and he might very well need surgery on his spine because his obturator foramen is sealing off and if it does then he loses all control of his legs. so we need to get an MRI done to see if there is muscle or nerve damage. so that sucks. Then my crap got worse and worse throught the day and they narrowed it down to chinkonguña. So I felt like i was about to die. So then the Mission president and Elder Valensuela from the Area of the 70 gave me a blessing. Maybe the coolest blessing I will ever recieve in my life. I got better very quickly after that as you can imagine. So thats pretty rad.

Saturday : We got up and headed out to get some last minute stuff done, and then went with a bunch of people to go back to our area but the bus broke down so we had to stay the night in Chahuites with our zone leaders. That was nice. 

Sunday : well we got back just in time for sacrament and then we left and changed out of our dirty clothes and showered and did our weekly planning. Thats all.

This morning. The changes. Nothing. Our whole surounding 2 districs are now one and nobody got moved. Thats all!

Scripture of the week : Psalms 46:10

 “Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.”

 Read it. Pray about it. Ponder it. Act on what you discover.

Much love to you all!!! 

Con Amor

Elder Runyan