You Can Do It Now

I loved the photo of the anniversary of Grandma and Grandpa you sent.  I can`t believe how big that my cousins are getting.  

Rosario is still really awesome.  It feels like I have been here for a very long time.  In two weeks I am going to have six months in Rosario. Tomorrow is the birthday of my companion.  He is going to turn 19 years old. Most of the missionaries from Mexico enter the field when they are 18 years old. Today I played basketball. It was so much fun but I was exhausted after playing. It was a lot of fun, but I am definitely worse at basketball. 

We had a good amount of people come to church this Sunday. Two white grandparents came to church. They live an hour drive from the church. It was fun talking in English to them, but it was also kind of hard because I was solely thinking in Spanish and trying to translate into English and it didn`t come out perfectly. We had Fast Sunday.  I always love listening to the testimonies of the members of the Branch. It always strengthens my testimony and makes me happy.

 It is still blazing hot and it is the middle of October.  I hope that in November it will cool down a little bit. Everything is great in Rosario and I am really happy to be a missionary. I loved the talk from President Uchtdorf that is titled "You can do it now." It made me motivated and I realized that I need to have more faith and I hope that I can do anything and everything right now this instant. It made me really excited and happy to listen to it. 

Conference Weekend

This week was really special for me, especially General Conference. It hit me hard when they said that the Conference is broadcasted world wide, and it was really special to watch the conference in a different country. I watched it in Spanish.   I am so grateful that I watched General Conference when I had a little bit more time in the field so that I could understand it. I kind of like listening to the actual voices of the prophets and apostles more but it was still really powerful.

We had divisions and I went with a missionary that only has 10 weeks left in the field. We were very excited to work together and we had a very spiritual lession together and we left the lesson with the greatest feeling.  I cannot believe how much time that I already have.  It makes me so sad to think about how much time I that I already have. I have grown and learned a lot but time needs to take a break and just pause. I feel like I am starting to mature more and grow up a little bit more.

Love Elder Cannon

 

Letter to Dad:

I am doing really good and I had a really good week. I feel really comfortable getting around Rosario. We don´t have cars.  The Mexican missionaries think that all of the missions in the United States are cakewalk because they have cars. Sometimes we ride bikes, when they work.  They aren´t the greatest bikes but the still work. On Saturday we watched Conference from the computer in our house of prayer. For the priesthood session  we went to a city that had a church and watched the session there. I feel really good with my Spanish and I was really grateful that I watched conference when I could understand it. I do feel really comfortable with my Spanish, but I still have a lot to learn. After every session of conference I was filled with good feelings and joy, my gratefulness has also grown a lot. I have learned so much and I can´t wait for what the future has to bring for me.    

Better Late than Never

(Note:  This post is a little delayed due to Ryan not able to write on Monday and then our internet was down for a couple days)

I am sorry that I couldn`t write you yesterday.   We had a conference and President Velez came and I was busy all day.  I got a lot of letters from people of our ward.  It made me really happy to read all of the letters. We haven´t been getting as much rain.  

That night with grandma and the whole family sounded really special, and I am sure that it was really special. Wow, Isaac is the Deacons President.  He is going to do a great job as the president.

My companion knows a lot about eyes and glasses and wants to be an optomitrist, or an eye doctor. What was that eye disease or eye condition that I might have?

This week we were waiting at church for two couples that are investigators that said that they would come, but they didn`t come. Someone called Magnolia went.  She is the daughter of a recent convert. Magnolia asked her mom what she needs to go to the temple.  The mom said go to church and talk to the missionaries.   Magnolia asked us what does she need to do to get baptized. There is a new rule that all investigators need to go to church at least 5 times before they can be baptized.  It was only 2 times before. We talked with her and she is really excited to prepare to get baptized.   We are going to teach her more and we are really excited to teach her. This week was really good and I am excited to get back to work.

New Companion

 This week was also really good. It has been raining a lot, but nothing that you need to worry about. My new companion, Elder Hernandez, is really awesome. He is so nice and knows the scriptures really well. We had a Stake Conference and the President of the mission came and spoke to us. We had a lot of the members of Rosario come to the conference. I felt the spirit really strongly and I learned a lot. President Velez spoke to Lourdes (my first baptism)  about going on a mission and it made her more excited to serve a mission.

After the conference we were waiting in a large room until the other conference started. There was a white girl who speaks little Spanish and was singing hymns in English, and people started telling me sing with her. We sang "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" and "Called to Serve" in English. I was a little bit nervous singing in front of a lot of people.  She sings really good and people said that we sounded good.  It was pretty fun.

 I am starting to feel pretty firm with my Spanish.  I am still really far from being fluent and I still lack a lot, but I feel good with my Spanish. The missionary work is good.  We have some couples that need to get married before they can get baptized. It isn´t all that easy for people to get married.  It takes some time and money. Everything is really good in Rosario and I will send a picture of my new companion. Thanks for the letters and love.

Love Elder Cannon

 

My joy is overwhelming

This week was fantastic.  My joy is overwhelming.  Transfers came and I am going to stay in Rosario for another transfer.  At the end of this transfer I will have six months in Rosario, and I love it. This week was really spiritual for me. There is a kid named Jesus.  He comes to church every week with his grandparents and his grandparents really wanted him to be baptized. The mom of Jesus kept telling us that he was too young and that she wants him to be baptized but later. During my personal study I had the impression to just write what I was going to say to Hermana _______ (mom of Jesus). I had the impression to share my experience that I had with my baptism and what I learned and how it helped me, and that is what we want for your son. I was pretty direct in my question if her son could be baptized and she said yes. I baptized her son on Saturday and I have never seen a boy as happy as Jesus was on that day. I know that Hermana ________ felt the spirit after the baptism. I was so overwhelmed with the spirit.   She thanked me and gave me a hug. Me and my new companion are going to try all that we can to get Hermana ________ to go to church and be baptized.  The only problem is that she has to work on Sunday. 

Jesus is the best kid in the world. He is always happy and very helpful for his family. I gave him the football that you sent me for the 4th of July and he really likes it.  We even played catch with it for a little bit. One day he said what day is it? We said it is Thursday, he said oh no, I was hoping it was Saturday so that tomorrow I could go to church. He always wants to say the prayers, when we eat at their house or visit them. 

 On Sunday morning Elder Sumano baptized our investigator Hermano H_____.   He is a really golden investigator. He has read a lot of the Book of Mormon, has a testimony that it is true, and also I think that he could be a great leader in the church. 

Today I will receive a new companion named Elder Hernandez.  I am really excited to meet him and work with him. I will try to send a lot of pictures.

My love for all of you guys has increased so much during the mission, I didn´t realize how good I had it until I left to serve. Thanks for everything, I love you so much and you guys are always in my prayers.

Here are the photos from our baptisms this week.  In case you can't find me, I'm bent over in the suit in the first one.

Jesus Baptism

Meet the Missionaries in my Zone

That pig looks so awesome, and that ward party sounds like it was a lot of fun.

This Saturday we have a man named Herminio who is going to be baptized. He is a really golden investigator.  He has read a lot of the Book of Mormon and has a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. I could see him being a great leader in the church and watching him progress has been priceless. I can´t believe how much that my testimony has grown and how fast time flies. One missionary that is in Rosario, Elder Hernandez, is going to leave after this transfer which ends at this week. I have so much respect for the missionaries that leave and hope that I can be like them.

 I finished reading Our Heritage and cannot believe how much that the early Saints suffered and everything that they went through. It really humbled me and made me realize  how easy I have it and how important that this gospel is and the responsibility that I have as a missionary.  All is well in Rosario and the Christlike Attribute that I feel like I improved was my humility and the importance of being humble. I learned that the more humble that you are the more that God trusts you to do his will, and it is easier to listen to the spirit when we are humble and willing to learn. Thanks for the letter and everything that you have done for me.

Love Elder Cannon

 

This is a picture of my Zone, everyone in my zone is really awesome.  Starting from the top left Elder Morales, Elder Perez, Elder Hernandez, Elder Cannon, Elder Millerberg, Elder Sumano, Elder Canul, Elder Hernandez, Elder Monasterio, and Elder MacDowell.

 P.S.  From Mom--What's the story with all the ankles showing on the front row? :)

A Fantastic Week

 

I am doing really great.   I had another fantastic week. 

 Today I talked to a Mexican in English who lives in Utah.  Right now he is visiting family in Mexico. He asked where I was from and I was suprised that he knew exactly where Tremonton was. He said that his wife is from Tremonton.   I was so surprised, and we talked about Utah and he said that it is the Mormon state. I asked him Are you a Mormon?  He said that he goes to our church and is listening to the missionaries in Spanish in Utah. Then we had to leave, but I love experiences like that.

 I actually feel pretty confident with my Spanish, but I still have a ways to go to be fluent. It is raining like crazy in Mexico, sometimes the thunder is way loud in the nights, and the lightning flashes like every three seconds. It doesn´t happen everyday, but occasionally it is really stormy.  Blaine looks so happy.  Tell him that I said Congratulations.  His wife seems really nice and they look very good together.

We baptized Briceida.  She is the sweetest girl in the world. Yesterday she brought one peso for her tithing. She was baptized on Saturday and received the Holy Ghost yesterday.

Yesterday was fast Sunday and I just love listening to the testimony of the members. I had to buy a new camera because my other camera broke, I can now send photos but only one at a time. Life is really good and lately a lot of people have been trying to talk to me in English, which has been really fun. We had a conference with Elder De Hoyos of the Seventy came and spoke to us. It was really spiritual and I learned a lot from it. All is well here in Rosario. I love you!

Love Elder Cannon

 

This is a picture of me with a boy named Daniel, he is the funnest little kid ever. We were helping some people start to build their house.

 

The other missionaries found this dog in the road and I just had to get a picture with it. I don´t know why but there a lot of dogs in Mexico that don´t like missionaries all that much and that are pretty scary.

This is a picture of our baptismal font