Week 38 in Chihuahua - Leap of Faith

YO YO sorry I haven't emailed a lot for awhile.

 

Life is all good out here in Parral. Today we went to play bball in the morning and I don't really know this area yet but my friend was talking to an investigator and she said there is a gym at a school like 30 minutes away where we could play.

 

So I decided to trust her word and gather up the whole zone and go at 7:00 a.m. in the morning with out really knowing if it exists or where it was haha.

 

We got to the school and we didn't know if it had a gym so we just started walking around when we saw a building that said, "Parral Gym" hahah and it was huge!!

 

I thought there would be no way that they would let us in but they did and we played and a dude there gave us water and the gym was way nice!!  I couldn't believe our luck!

 

I was pretty nervous because I thought what if I had everyone wake up early just for us to get lost! But nope, it turned out to be a great day.

 

I told you last week that we baptized a man that's 85 years old and that way really cool. He's awesome and he came to church yesterday which meant he had to walk pretty far to get there!

 

That's all I got for you all this week. Have a good one and God loves you all !!!

 

 

                                   Holding a lizard.  Jacob has always loved catching lizards!

                                                    A turtle park by their apartment

 

Week 37 in Chihuahua - Doing great in Parral!

Hi Everyone,

So it is really pretty here in Parral and I'm doing great.  I'm a little stressed but everything is good.  My new companion is way cool.

The picture below is of a man we baptized.  He is 85!

I'm getting to know the new city and trying to do my best and just be a friend to all the missionaries as their zone leader.

I'm sorry I can't write more this week, but I have to go.

Have a great week everyone.

Elder Lignell

                   

Week 36 in Chihuahua - August 13, 2018 - Wow, What a Day!

Wow, what a day.  So I had changes today and they moved me to Parral.  It was a two and half hour bus ride on a way nice bus.

My new companion is Elder Tovar.  We were in the ccm (Mexico MTC) at the same time together.  They bumped me up as a zone leader and there are 17 missionaries in my zone which kinda scares me a little but it will be a fun experience.

It's a lot prettier here in Parral with a lot of hills so I will be climbing a lot.

I want to share an experience that I had last week with a member in my ward.  We were walking when I got a text from the neighbor of a member saying that the member was way sick and needs a blessing.  We went over to her house and knocked on the door.  She didn't come out for awhile but then she finally did.

She almost fell as she came out her door.  She had to hold on to a car so she could walk.  Around her eyes were super black and she just looked miserable.

As we entered the house, she sat down and broke down in tears telling us how much her stomach was hurting her.  She is an older lady and really didn't have any strength at all.

We went to the store and bought her a health drink and came back to give her a blessing.  As I put my hands on her head her head began to shake because I don't think she had enough strength to support her head and my hands.

I felt very calm during the blessing.  The words came easier than I thought they would.  I'm surprised I wasn't nervous because the thought did come through my head that she might die because she is pretty old.

I finished the blessing and we began to sign hymns when the member told us that her stomach felt a little tiny bit better.  We finished singing and told her that we would call her later and come back to check on her because she lives alone and her phone didn't have slado.  I don't know what saldo is in English but in Spanish it means she can't make calls but she can receive them.

We left to eat and later I called her that same day and I asked her how she felt and she screamed into the phone saying, "Mucho mejor hermonos (a lot better brothers).  It was literally a miracle.  She had honestly had a full recovery in like 4 hours.  She was able to go to church that Sunday and she has to take 2 buses that take an hour and 15 minutes to get to the church.

I know that priesthood power is real.  I know through faith those that hold the priesthood can bless those that need it with the power of God.  What a blessing God has given us to be instruments in his hands to bless his children.  This really was one of my favorite experiences I have had so far on the mission.

I love you all so much.  Have a great week!

Hidalgo del Parral, is a city and seat of the municipality of Hidalgo del Parral in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is located in the southern part of the state, 220 kilometres from the state capital, the city of Chihuahua.

Week 35 in Chihuahua - August 6, 2018 - Be a Friend to Someone at Church

What's up everyone?!! Life is all good out here in Riberas!

I'm like 99 percent sure I have changes in one week so I'm pumped to see where God needs me for next cycle. 

Today has been cool. Woke up at 5 am to play bball haha I gotta take advantage of a companion that loves it as much as I do!

It rained the other day which was nice, but now it is hot again.

We had a meeting with Elder Montoya who is the mission president's brother and he is a general authority.  He gave a way cool talk and during the talk he asked for a volunteer but said the volunteer had to be tall so he asked all the tall missionaries in the audience to stand up and then he said, "Elder Lignell, come here."  haha so I guess I was the tallest volunteer.

We found a lady this week that is way awesome. Okay so we went to teach a lady called Anna and she had invited  a friend named Carla. We taught them and everything and it was awesome. At the end we invited them to church and Anna said she couldn't go but Carla really wanted to go but she didn't want to go alone. I was upset with Anna for making it hard for Carla haha but I told Carla that we would wait for her outside the church and we would enter together so that she wouldn't feel alone and she accepted and came and loved church!

I bore my testimony and said that I had a testimony before the mission but now that I'm here my testimony is way stronger and every time I have a question or a doubt, I study the scriptures and I ask God and he helps me know I'm on the right path and I know that if everyone here does that as well, they can strengthen or gain a testimony and when I sat down she told me that she had liked what I said. She stayed for all three hours and I think she will come again next week.

I have met soooo many people here who have stopped going to church because they don't feel comfortable in church because people don't reach out to them or say hi.

I want to challenge everyone who reads this to be a friend to someone at church who maybe goes alone or someone less active who just needs a little push or really anyone who needs it because it is  really something so simple like that, that can make a big difference!!

That's all I got this week!!!! love you all!  

Week 34 in Chihuahua - July 30, 2018 - Cave Exploration

Yoooo what's up everyone. It's been a good week. Today we woke up way early to go to some caves. They are called las grutas. It was pretty fun haha but I felt like it was something that I would do to please my parents when we would go a vacation lol. It was just kind of a touristy thing that grown ups get a kick out of haha. But it was way nice to go to like a real activity.

This week at church we were only able to bring one investigator but 2 families that are less active did come that we are visiting and that was way awesome.

This week I feel like I learned the importance of going to church and the peace it brings us. And there is a video that I really like that shows us why and how its important and here is the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQnwWa2TETc      I couldn't find it in English hahah but you can still get the message out of the video.

Life is good out here in Riberas. I hope everyone is good in Utah.

Have a great week everyone. I love you all!