April 27, 2009

Friends,First off, thanks for your b-day emails. Yes, I am indeed going to be 20 years old….woa. In case you haven´t heard, the Swine Flu has hit Mexico hard and I heard it has entered the U.S. too. Well the State of Mexico (Ixtapaluca is in it) has been the area hardest hit, but worry not. Our President has assured us that if we follow precautions the Lord will bless us. This week will be hard, especially since yesterday and this Sunday, church was/will be cancelled. However, if all goes well and we are diligent this next week will be an incredible baptismal service because there are 7 people programmed!!! Missionary work is truly incredible and it is awesome to see how families are brought together and are given a hope that they can be together forever. I testify that this is His church and that I KNOW that He lives! Never doubt! Pray to Him every moment and your testimonies shall grow. Sorry if this letter is shorter but we have been cautioned to try and do everything a Little bit more quickly today because of the virus. I love you and thank you for all you do! Until next week…..(finals are over, be happy people)

April 20, 2009

Hey hey hey!Well this week was another great week in Ixtapaluca! The other companionship in my district have really been struggling with working together and because of that, they have not been teaching very much, but after a very good district class on Tuesday, I think they left a little more motivated and I guess it payed off because they baptized two people on Saturday. Needless to say my companion and I were quite happy. We had to sacrifice because they don´t have a baptismal font in their “house of prayer” so we had to stay and be the witnesses for the baptism and we missed all of our morning appointments. It all worked out because we too baptized on Sunday. I believe it was Wednesday that we put the goal of teaching 10 lessons that day. We wanted to rock it. We taught 9, but it was still probably the best day of the mission simply because of how tired we were and how good we felt. That night we ate these awesome pizzas that they make here and some tortas (huge sandwich with lots of meat)…we had canceled the food because we were trying to reach our goal. It was definitely a very satisfying day. The next day I had divisions with the Zone Leaders and I went with the American Elder which I thought was weird because I too am “American.” We had a pretty good time talking all in English and we found 4 new people and two families. We also taught 5 or 6 other lessons, so we were also pretty tired when we got home.It´s quite incredible how when you truly focus on something as incredible as missionary work, you are the happiest you could possibly be.I have been thinking a lot on the fact that these are the last days and that truly the “great and terrible day of the Lord” is closer and closer and closer. It´s surprising how many people are so scared and I try to tell them with all my might that if they do what´s right in the eyes of the Lord, they have nothing to fear. We have been studying the Book of Mormon as a mission and (I don´t remember if I´ve already mentioned this, but I´ll say it again because I think it´s that important) I have been absolutely blown away by how many times I´ve underlined the phrase “keep my commandments” and then the blessing that comes from doing so. As hard as it might be to be perfectly obedient, do it because the “reward” is the greatest gift God can give us.If I´ve learned something on the mission it´s the fact that Heavenly Father has truly given us all the tools we need to make it through this “small moment” of our lives. This earthly life is a blessing and we must keep strong so that we can receive exaltation.Go to church, partake of the sacraments because we are edifying on the rock of Christ (3 Nephi 18: 11-12, Hel 5:12) when we do so. Never forget that you go to church because you´re showing God, and no one else, that you want to follow Him.Read the scriptures because they truly testify of Christ and if we read and ponder we shall never lose our way!I know that Christ lives. I know it. I know that this is His work and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is His church because He guides it through President Thomas S. Monson. I know that if we will do the small and simple things that are asked of us, we can overcome every trial of our lives. Hold on to each other because the times are coming when the world we will be even more against us and we will need each others support. Start now. If you don´t pray every morning and night, do it. If you don´t read the scriptures every day, do it. As a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ I testify that if you do these things, you shall be greatly blessed.I am grateful for all of you that have been my examples and that because of your friendship my testimony has grown and you have helped me stay on the right path. Know that I love you and appreciate you and think of you always. I hope you have an incredible week, good luck with finals (I think they start this week!) and anything else that may be happening in your lives. Until next week….

April 13, 2009

Hey friends! I have very little time today. But all is well in Ixtapaluca. The streets were pretty dead, starting Thursday because it´s Semana Santa…or Holy Week. Since the Catholic church celebrates a lot of the old Easter traditions still (like Good Friday, Saturday of Glory, etc), a lot of people left town and Friday was especially empty because everyone went to another town nearby where they have a reenactment of the crucifixion of Christ (broadcast to the whole country). However we still had a lot of people at church and we have many people on date for the next two weeks. This is the first week I don´t baptize in this area, but we´ll definitely be making up for it these next two weeks, and hopefully these new investigators that went with us to church progress so that we can keep bringing souls unto Christ.That´s all for today everyone! I know it isn´t the most exciting, but I promise next week´s will be! Have an awesome week

April 6, 2009

Hey friends,General Conference was amazing!!! Woo hoo! The last three talks of the Priesthood session were just…bam! Bam! Bam! Uchtdor, Eyring, Monson. Elder Holland´s talk on the lonely path of Christ was also among my favorites. So, sorry you didn´t get an email last week…I sent one, not sure what happened. Anywho, I´ll re-send it or something and hopefully you´ll get it this time.Ixtapaluca is awesome! It was indeed sad leaving Pachuca but being here is really a testimony that the Lord knows whats best for each of us, and that we should indeed accept change, as Elder Snow said and move on.Something I loved about Conference was that, several times they mentioned the scriptures where Christ says….”fear not, I have overcome the world.” Funny enough, about three weeks ago I found it and it really helped me a lot, and I was extremely happy that I heard it so many times from several speakers…it´s true. Christ has indeed gone down that truly lonely road, and because He´s done so, we never have to be alone. In between the Sunday Sessions, we had a baptism of an awesome young girl who came to church last Sunday for the second time and it was then that we found out she was not a member. She is truly incredible because she reads the things we leave her, and she remembers it all with such clarity and underlines and truly studies and contemplates the healing power of the Book of Mormon. Her mom went to the baptism even though she wasn´t very happy about it, but the Sister who gave us the reference was there, and it she bore a pretty emotional testimony and it was something I´ll never forget, and hopefully that Denise, will also never forget.This church is true. I know it with all my heart. I know that Christ guides his Church through President Thomas S. Monson and that holding fast to the rod of iron, “the word of God,” we shall have a sure path to follow. Have a great week, and I´ll write again next Monday!Elder Dan Israel Lopez

March 30, 2009

Hey friends!Don´t have much time because well, we had to do laundry by hand which took about 4 hours, so we have a little more than an hour to do all the things necessary. I did indeed have transfers and it was one of the hardest days of my life having to leave so many people I had come to know and love. The Gospel really creates such a distinct relationship with people and I know that I will one day return to the kind of small city of Pachuca.I am now in Ixtapaluca, also known as Bautizaluca….or in English (even though it doesn´t make much sense) Baptismluca….something like that. Ever since I got here, with my new awesome companion, Elder Hilario, we have had non-stop appointments. There are truly so many more people to be able to contact in the streets and I´m excited that we have such a strong base already. This week, I saw my first transvestite, we taught the “Elder” of the Jehovah´s Witnesses, I have NOT been sick in the stomach, and I rode my first bicycle taxi. It´s been a week full of new things and the fact that I´ve meet a lot of wonderful people, that I have a companion that is a LOT more cooperative and we get along WAAAY better, has made the transition more smooth than I ever thought possible. I hope things are going just as amazingly for you. Another semester is starting to end! Don´t forget to go to General Conference!!! It´s the best! Have an awesome week!Elder Dan Israel Lopez

6 months

Hey everyone,Well, tomorrow I complete 6 months in the mission and I honestly can´t believe that much time has gone by. It´s even weirder to think that some fellow missionary friends will soon be home! I still remember the first farewell, ha ha, unfortunately I won´t be there for anyone´s homecoming, considering they sent me way later than everyone else….however, I expect you all to be at mine. No excuse. :D Unless you´re married, then you´re excused….well, actually you can bring your spouse, but if you have children, then you don´t have to. Ha ha, I hope everything is going well up there and that you´re grabbing hold to the things that really matter. Now, more than ever, is the time to do all the things God and His prophets have asked of us. Pachuca is as windy, hot, cold (yes, both of them), dusty, as ever and this week was not the greatest for finding new…but it was good in terms of making sure that the investigators on date for this week and the following stay strong. This week we have been focusing on a man named, Alejandro. He was a referral of a crazy Sister from one of our wards and it turns out that he met the church in the United States and was almost going to be baptized but he had to come back here because something happened with his family. Also, a crazy part of the story is that one of the Sister missionaries that taught him was also going to be baptized because (I think) her records were lost or something. I don´t know, anywho….now we are teaching him and when we found him the first time he was reading………..the Book of Mormon! We were pretty excited and when we asked him if God had given him a response, he said that he had and that he felt he should continue listening to us and he accepted his date for baptism. The only problem is that he has three problems :D…..….football (soccer). He is pretty good and plays in one of the minor leagues here and the games are almost always on Sundays exactly when church starts. It took a long time to get him to be able to come, but he did and is on date for this next week. Another is that his brothers aren´t supportive at all (kind of like Laman and Lemuel, so we´ve been teaching him a lot about Nephi) and he is pretty timid. The last is that we´re not sure about his wife, and what´s the deal with her. Since he literally only has 30 minutes….2-4 days a week we don´t have much time for more than just the lesson and commitments. The other people we are focusing on is the family of a recently departed missionary. It helps a lot that he is serving a mission because, naturally, they now have more interest in the church and even though they are simple people, they believe that what he is doing is right. The issue here is that his mom has cancer and often feels pretty bad. The dad works 24 hours every other day and so one Sunday he can go, and one Sunday he can´t. We know, however, that thanks to their son….they will come to be an eternal family. Well, I don´t have much time left so I´ll cut it off here. Once again, I hope that all is well and I hope that this week can also be a good one. Thanks for all of your support and your emails/letters. Keep em´coming! Until next week!

Elder Dan Israel Lopez

NEW ADDRESS

I wanted to let everyone know that Dan is no longer in the MTC. He has been temporarily assigned to the Salt Lake City South Mission while he waits for his visa. He would really like to hear from everyone and promises to write back, his address is

Elder Dan Israel Lopez
8060 South 615 East
Sandy, UT 84070

He gets mail delivered every Monday, so, just write and send letters throughout the week and he will be amazingly happy when he gets to read all of them at once!

The following is from Dan's latest e-mail:

I have another update....I will be heading to Mexico on November 17th. So I will be in Utah until then....

I'm just shocked by how confident I am speaking Spanish, I just do it as if it were English now....one time (when I went on a companionship exchange for a few hours while my companions, the zone leaders, went to a training meeting) I was speaking it for so long, and around "Hispanics" that when I started speaking English, I sounded like someone from Miami or LA...I freaked out and have am speaking "proper" English now :).

Well, I started a letter to you, but since I couldn't finish it, I just thought I'd do everything through email for this week and then start writing letters and sending them to you concerning what happens after today, and until next P-Day (once again, Monday the 13th).

Ok, pretty much after we talked on the phone, things were CRAZY! Just throwing everything in the suit cases, going to our last classes and things, and then we were going to be off on Friday at 9AM. Friday morning was a little sad, saying goodbye to my new friends :(. But we're all going to keep in touch and so forth, but it's still sad. I can't imagine how hard it's going to be when you're with someone for three months, as opposed to two weeks!

Friday morning came, and me and one of my companions from the MTC (the other one going to Mexico, Elder Fuentes) were driven up to the mission home in Sandy. We didn't meet the President, we just met the Assistants and a few other workers who were there. They took a picture of us for their "wall" thing, and then had us write down our testimonies on this sheet of paper. Next thing we know, we were meeting our companions. First, Elder Garcia and Elder Nielson arrived, and Elder Nielson turned out to be a good friend from my English class! We talked and catched up a bit, and then the other two Elders came, Elders Aravena (from Chile) and Driggers (from Alabama). I was really hoping to be with my friend, but, as my luck goes....Elder Fuentes went with my friend, Matt, and I went with the other two.

Now I'm happy to be with them, but of course, that first day was a little awkward. Elder Driggers has been out for 21 months and Elder Aravena has been out for 15 months. That intimidated me even more, but now I am thankful because they are both experienced and I've learned a lot of things from them that I will take with me to Mexico.

Also, I met an Elder Torres from the companionship I went on exchanges with, he is basically like me but from Los Angeles, it's funny and I'm excited to go on exchanges with them again next week.

I'm running out of time, so I'll just tell you about Conference! Well, because Elder Driggers will be home before the next one in April, we got tickets to go and see the Priesthood session!!! Everyone was jealous of me and said I was really lucky, because that was my second day here, and you don't get to go, but because I was with two older missionaries, I got to go anyways!! We sat in the 4th row!!! RIGHT by the door where the Prophet and his counselors and the Apostles walk in! They were literally 15-20 feet away from me....Oh man, I almost started crying just being so close to them. Elder Perry even came up to us and shook a few hands (in the first row only) and said "you can teach 20 discussions a week!" Now that is a big number for this mission....and then later on he said "you can do 30!!" And when he was walking out after it was over, he said, pointing to us "30! 30! 30!" It was one of the most amazing experiences ever! The only downside was that I sat next to this HUGE Elder and so I couldn't move my right arm. But it was amazing none the less. I didn't get to take pictures though, so that was kind of sad :(...it's not allowed in the Conference Center, even though a ton of people around us where. Oh well.

Now for some experiences....I've taught about 5-6 lessons (I'm not sure) since Friday.....and frankly only 2 were satisfying. We taught to a few people that were already baptized, so that was a little awkward after they told us they were already members. But there was one last night, Gonzalo, oh man...when I bore my testimony to him at the end ( I taught him about prophets and Joseph Smith) I just started crying because the Spirit was testifying to me of the truthfulness of the things I was teaching. He seemed interested, a little bit hesitant when we invited him to church, and he said he would pray to ask if the things were true, and I'm just praying all day that he'll feel the spirit. I always ask you to pray for them, so that they can know. :) Any who, the work will go on! And there are people everywhere, we just have to look!

Please send letters!!! You don't know how happy they make me...emails are always good too, but letters are just better :). Tell me everything! I want to know it all! You can send pictures through email or create a flickr account and upload a whole bunch there.

I love you all and I'm so thankful for everything you've done for me in my life. Now it's my turn to give everything for you. Have an awesome week, and I hope to hear from you soon! I'll send a letter soon too!

Love,
Elder Dan Israel Lopez