First Baptism

The Perez Family

Meet the Perez Family!  This family was in Sean's first area and one of the first families to be baptized.  The father was already a member and Sean and his companion, Elder Hernandez, were able to teach and baptize the mother and her daughter.

"I will tell you about our baptisms! ya! finally.  So we have been teaching this family, the Perez family.  The dad is a member but the rest are not.  The dad was inactive and wanted to start going to church again and get his family baptized.  They have 3 kids but 2 of the kids aren't 8 so they can't get baptized yet. The other daughter, Cony and the mom, Marium have accepted to get baptized this Saturday! Yeah! So that is great news and I am totally excited!  I don't know if i will be baptizing them or not. It's funny because Marium doesn't really want her husband to baptize her but i don't know why exactly,  so  I might,  but either way its great!!  It was so cool actually hearing the investigators answer that question of "will you be baptized on this date?" and then  to hear them say "yes!" It's a lot different than the MTC haha.  It was a really cool experience and feeling. It really helps boost your confidence and makes you want to work even harder! I love it! I will update you next p day on how the baptism went.


We also brought Sol, our golden investigator, to church yesterday! She is totally set and ready and looks like she will get baptized on June 5th in Utah.  That is really neat for her!  She will be a great member and add a lot to the church with her spirit.  Plus she went to this meeting on Friday and 3 of the Seventies were there. They let the investigators  ask questions about the church and stuff! Cool huh! Anything they wanted to ask they could ask.  Sadly.... I wasn't there. ..yes I got sick. Fun!.... I don't know if it was something I ate because the food was fine but I felt way tired on Thursday and then my stomach just was not acting right.  So that night went to bed and threw up and ya....  anyways! Friday I could not do anything! I had no energy whatsoever! Showering was a big struggle for me! But then we got meds and now I am feeling fine! I am so happy for that too because I realized that you really don't want to be sick on your mission. It sucks! You want to go out and work but you just can't. It sucked but all is well now!"

Sean and Isis Perez

Missionary Bear Kidnapped!

BREAKING NEWS! The missionary bears were on an outing with their newest missionary, Elder Stringham last Thursday, July 22, 2010. When the outing was over, the Guatemalan bear was carelessly left in the back of the van by his mother! It was alleged that the Mexican bear seized the opportunity, kidnapped the bear and is holding him for ransom! (Evidence was found on the scene.) There have been no updates as to whether the ransom is being paid or not, but we will keep you updated with any breaking news!

Alleged kidnapper and Guatemalan bear

Ransom note

Distraught mother and father

Elder Larson, Elder Fadel and Elder Stringham in happier times

The Food...the sports...the people!

Sean really loves Mexico! He loves the food, he loves the people and he loves their enthusiasm for sports, especially soccer. He said that their love for soccer is unsurpassed. It has been particularly fun being there during the World Cup. Even though the missionaries can't watch the games, they always know what is going on because the entire town is "a buzz" with soccer talk. They were heartbroken when Mexico was eliminated. Sean's zone played a lot of soccer on their p days. I'm not sure how well he plays, but the uniforms are awesome!

Sean LOVES the food in Mexico. The members take very good care of the missionaries and feed them well. He said in his last letter that he now weighed 160 pounds! (I think he weighed just under 140 when he left.) Here are some fun shots of some of Sean's favorite things!

I think this is Mexico's soccer jersey.

Uniforms for the zone

One of the only soccer fields that actually has grass!

Same

P day...taking the bus

One of Sean's favorite meals...I can't remember what it's called

Now we know why he weighs 160!

This is his favorite meat for tacos!

Authentic tacos...yummy!

Sean's First Area

After 11 weeks in the MTC, Sean arrived in Mexico. He spent the first night in the Mission Home then was off to his new area and to meet his new companion, Elder Hernandez. He is in an area called Distrito Federal. Sean says it is the "Washington DC of Mexico." View of the city

Sean and "his city"Street MarketsCity streetsChurch in the city

Mexican graffiti

Painting of the temple

Sister Virginia and her artwork

Sean's zone at a Chinese Buffet

Subway's are the main mode of transportation hereRiding the rails

Elder Hernandez and friends

No, it's not what you think...it's a health drink!I did it!

MTC Tie Exchange

As you know, ties are a missionary mainstay. Missionaries usually leave home with about 10 to 12 conservative ties, but during the course of their two year service they rarely come home with the ties they left with. They pick up some at local thrift stores, they exchange some with other missionaries or they have a contest to see who can send the most outrageous ties from home. That's what Sean and Jared did. While in the MTC they asked their families to shop at DI and send them their favorite pick. Here's some of the entries from our family.

Jon gave Sean his favorite tie from his mission. (We've always questioned Jon's taste!)

Chelsea's entry...a clip on tie with pirate skulls.

Nick's...you can't see it, but it's a book shelf with the books of the New Testament on it!

Steele's - "007" and Bry's is the Lord's Prayer in Spanish!

Bre made the perfect t-shirt tie to wear on p-day!

This is the tie that Sean made Steele in Primary when he was 10 years old.

Blake and I forgot to get pictures of our tie entries. Blakes was a cool "Beatles" tie, and I picked out an assortment of holiday ties, including a Disney Christmas Tie. We had a lot of fun picking these out and sending them to Sean. I wish we could have been there to see his face when he opened them.

These are the ties that Sean and Jared exchanged before leaving the MTC!

It will be fun to see what he picks up in Mexico and what he comes home with!

The Bears

With heavy hearts we dropped Sean off at the MTC. It's a heart wrenching day, at best. Feeling pretty blue we walked into our home and there to greet us was our own Mexican Missionary Bear! My dear friend Tammy had gone to "Build A Bear" and made me my own missionary bear! (She also made one for herself because Jared left on his mission the following week.) When I squeezed the bear's hand, we heard Sean's voice saying..."I love you mom and dad, see you soon!" Steele and I just broke down and cried ...but my little "Mexican Missionary Bear" is my favorite thing!

I felt so sad as I started to think about all the places and trips Sean would miss in the next two years, but then I realized... this "Sean" could come! So for the next 2 years Tammy and I are going to take our bears all the places that boys would go if they were here and then document them all! Just thinking about the plethora of places we could take him made me smile. Now that Tammy's on board and we are taking our bears everywhere! (Much to Steele's dismay.) People look at us like we are crazy...but what else is new? At the end of two years we're going to put the pictures together in a book and give it to the boys. I know they will get a good laugh from it, but not near as many laughs as it will bring us along the way! So here's just a few of the early shots of Elder Larson and Elder Fadel...don't be surprised if one day they end up on your doorstep!

Elder Larson and Elder Fadel, along for the ride

The boys and the bears!Golfing with momPicking up their favorite...Mo Bettah

A day at the races!

Sean's Farewell

Now that families don't have to speak at missionary farewells, this day is a lot more fun! Sean of course was dreading it. He was looking forward to seeing all his friends and family, but he was not happy about having write a talk. I don't think he minded giving a talk, he just didn't want to write it. He finally finished it up at about 3 AM on Sunday morning. If he was nervous, you wouldn't have known it. He did a great job. Afterward family and friends gathered at the house.