Conoceréis La Verdad, Y La Verdad Os Hará Libres

Mi Familia,

Happy anniversary Mom and Dad! I hope you have a great day tomorrow. 25 years of marriage, 20 fun years of marriage : ) I love you both.

This week was great. On monday (last week) one of the members of the branch told us that one of our investigators (Yamilí) had broken up with her boyfriend. It was really exciting because they were living together and were not married. We had taught her boyfriend and her the first lesson last Saturday, and afterwards they got in a fight, he packed up the 2 Books of Mormon we had given them and left (and also everything but her clothes). On monday when we found out we gave her a new book and she asked us for a blessing. She told Sandra (the member) that she felt peace after. We taught her about the Atonement on Tuesday and on Friday she accepted a baptismal date for June 16. We are so excited for her. She went to church yesterday and the activity on Wednesday. She is painfully shy but she had a lot of fun on Wednesday when we had the Branch Night. We taught about the Apostasy and played telephone to show how simple truths can be changed so easily just by word of mouth. Yami was laughing a lot and has been doing a lot better.

Nocú. The flying ant that they eat in tacos here in Chiapas. His wing was stuck to the window at church.

We are also teaching Diana, the cousin of a member in the branch. She is pregnant and is looking for a church to raise her children, because she already has a little boy. It is awesome because she reads the Book of Mormon everyday and has great questions. She also accepted a baptismal date for June 16. We are so excited for her.

We are also teaching the niece and nephew of a member of the branch. The kids names are Kimberly and José. They are 11. They are so funny and have great questions. They love when we go to teach them and love going to church. Kimberly has a baptismal date also for June 16. José has computer classes on Sundays, so we are praying and seeing what we can do to help him.

The Lord is always preparing His children to hear the truth. We are so happy and are working hard here. I love being here in Chiapas and working in this part of Lord's vineyard.

I hope you are all doing well! I love you and miss you!

Con Amor,

Elder Riley Stevenson

P.S. Sometimes I put pictures on my agendas. But I had to send a picture of my agenda this transfer because it was funny for me to realize that my friend Kim just sticks out of my shirt pocket everyday.

My Agenda this transfer

Kim Katz

Y Descendió La Lluvia, Y Vinieron Ríos

Mi Familia,

This week was really good. We met a lot of people and have some great investigators. It is also great because we are working a lot with the members. We have had lessons with them and also they are giving us a bunch of referrals.

This week we got to work with a young man in the ward named Jonathan. He is half Mexican and half Caucasian. He is a convert to the church. He works and is studying and lives with his grandma, who isn't a member of the church. He worked with us for 6 hours one day this week and he is so great. He's 14. He kept telling me that he wanted to be a missionary, and how before he didn't want to be one. He also said that he was sad because some of the other youth don't want to go on missions. While we worked with him we found 2 great families (that we are really excited about). He told us he would work with us everyday if he could. He is a great example to me. He also invites people from work (adults) to read the Book of Mormon and go to church. But he is cool, too and reminds me of Kristian a bit.

This week it also started to rain almost every day. On thursday we got soaked, and it floods really badly here. (But the worst is that the dirty water comes out of the sewers.) I also fell in a hole in one of the flooded streets and got soaked (haha), but my camera and the cell phone didn't get wet. Only a few people saw but mostly I laughed about it.

I don't have much time but I hope all is well. I miss you and love you all!

Elder Riley Stevenson

Como Si Fuera Un Sueño

Mi Familia,

Hey everyone. It was great to talk to you yesterday even though the time passed by really fast, and it was hard to hang up! But it was good to chat and I am so happy that everyone is doing good.

This week was good, and we are working with a lot of members and everyone is getting more excited about the work. We had a lot of less actives and investigators go to church yesterday and that was really special. We also are starting to have "Branch Night" every Wednesday. This week was awesome. Elder Bernal and I talked about agency and decisions. We had a great conversation. After that, we played a game where everyone writes on a piece of paper what they want someone else in the room to do. Then everyone had to do what they had written on their own paper. It was funny, and a lot of people and to do some silly things. The investigators that were there really seemed to like it.

This week it has also cooled down a bit and rained, but not too much. We have had great weather. Time is going by so fast. I can't believe I have 16 months, and it seems like every month goes by faster! The mission is everything I hoped for and more. Please keep me posted on where Zack and Erik are going to go on the mission. Also have more of my friends gotten married? I feel like it has been a long time since you have told me that one of my friends is getting married. I am sure there are many.

This week we had a special experience. We went to eat with a sister that lives in one of the little towns here. She had her niece and nephew there, so we talked to them (they are 11 years old). We talked to them about the Book of Mormon and invited them to the Branch Night and they went. They are both reading the Book of Mormon and we will see how they progress.

We also met another man named Victor. He is the husband of a less active member, but they went to church on sunday and he seemed interested and participated a lot in the classes. We also taught the brother of the less active woman (Carla) - his name is Alonso. He wanted to go on the mission but had a few problems and now doesn't go to church. We talked about the mission and gave him a Liahona magazine with the story of a youth from South America that went on the mission when a few years before, his family was inactive, and his dad became bishop. He said he wants to go to church and we are going to help him get excited for the mission. Sometimes I think they should make commercials for missions, like they do for exercise machines, with pictures before and after the mission and testimonies of how it helps and stuff like that. It would be funny.

I know this work is true and hope you guys are working too. Ask your friends if they want to talk to the missionaries. Don't worry, they don't bite very hard.

I am doing good here and I am happy. I hope you all have a great week. I love you all!

Elder Riley Stevenson

Todo Árbol Bueno Produce Buen Fruto

Mi Familia,

This week was a very good one! Not too many stories but all went well. It started to rain these last few days but just a little but it has been a little cooler so that is great. Yesterday we had Branch Council and it was great! We made our branch mission plan and all of the members are so excited to work. And I am too. I think we are going to start get things going here. We are going to have weekly activities and every organization promised to give a certain number of referrals. We are teaching a lot of people but I am excited to find others that might be more ready for the gospel.

Rambután (Nephelium lappaceum)

Last Monday there was a shooting in the center of the city (downtown?) It was at 9:30 in the morning and 3 people died: a police man, a guy that changes money (like pesos to dollars or quetzales) and a guy that was going to change his money. The guys that exchange the money always just sit there with stacks of bills on the sidewalk and this time someone wanted the money! But it was sweet because we also contacted the family of the man that was changing his money. We are going to visit them this week. Don't worry mom I am fine. :)

Papausa or Ilama (Annona diversifolia)

Alicia asked about the fruit here so I think I will share with everyone about the fruit. There are a few worth mention that I really like down here. I really like rambután. It looks like strawberry with hairs. But the part you eat is like clear, and is really good. I also love papausa, it tastes like cotton candy and is soft.

Noni (Morinda citrifolia)

The weirdest fruit I have seen is noni. It looks like alien fruit. And also marañón is really gross but the seed tastes so good and is very expensive. I think it is the only fruit that has the seed outside of the actual fruit.

Marañón (Anacardium occidentale) - or the Cashew Apple

Also I am very excited for the phone call! Talk to you on Sunday. I love you all!

Con Amor,

Elder Riley Stevenson