another earthquake

Hello all,

All is well here after the small earthquake (tremor). It was 5.4 (or 5.6..not sure) and the epicenter was close to Acapulco, a beach resort here in Mexico. It felt like being on an airplane when you hit turbulance. up and down, up and down, only we were sitting in chairs around a table on solid ground. It felt really cool. Luckily nothing was damaged or shaken too much, just a few christmas tree ornaments fell and broke in teh house we were at (having a family home evening). They said that this one was a big one compared to all the others. And it lasted longer too. It happened Saturday night about 7:45 pm and we are still on alert for aftershock, but I don´t think anything will happen. It was a great experience though, crazier than anything else I´ve ever passed.

Well thats about all the exciting news. Still working hard and enjoying it.

Love you all

Elder Bunker

another earthquake

Hello all,

All is well here after the small earthquake (tremor). It was 5.4 (or 5.6..not sure) and the epicenter was close to Acapulco, a beach resort here in Mexico. It felt like being on an airplane when you hit turbulance. up and down, up and down, only we were sitting in chairs around a table on solid ground. It felt really cool. Luckily nothing was damaged or shaken too much, just a few christmas tree ornaments fell and broke in teh house we were at (having a family home evening). They said that this one was a big one compared to all the others. And it lasted longer too. It happened Saturday night about 7:45 pm and we are still on alert for aftershock, but I don´t think anything will happen. It was a great experience though, crazier than anything else I´ve ever passed.

Well thats about all the exciting news. Still working hard and enjoying it.

Love you all

Elder Bunker

Gethsemane

Hello All!

I was thinking this week about the mission and life in general. They say that we must pass through our own Gethsemane in the mission. But I think that the mission IS Gethsemane and life IS Gethsemane. Remember when Christ was in Gethsemane? He was accompanied by 3 of his 12 apostles, Peter, James, and John. So they 4 were there. I think the difference is HOW we pass our time in Gethsemane. How did Peter, James, and John pass the time in Gethsemane? Sleeping. And Christ? In Luke 22:42-44 it tells us that an Angel appeared to him to strengthen him, and, being in agony, prayed MORE INTENSELY. Do we pass through the mission or life sleeping? Do we do our church duties while sleeping spiritually? Or do we really recognize the significance, importance, and reality of them? Elder HOlland said, citing a prophet, in General Conference of April 2011 that the Gospel exists to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. If we really understand this moment in life, then we have the gospel to help. Life is hard, a gethsemane. Do we pray more intensely when in agony? or do we not even have agony because we are asleep and not paying attention?

Just a few thoughts. Strengthen your testimony, stay close to the Lord.

Love you all

Elder Bunker

cell phones!

Hello everyone,

Well the big announcement here is that the church is giving cell phones to every companionship here in Mexico. Right now, only the leaders are permitted to have cellphones (district leaders, zone leaders, Assistants, and Secretaries), but now, every companionship will be permitted. That will certainly help the work to flow a lot smoother. More safety for the missionaries too.

Things have gone OK this week. We had stake conference last Sunday, so we couldn´t ask all of the members to come with us for teaching appointments. That is what we usually do. On Saturday night, while planning, we look at all of our appointments for the next week and plan who would be a good fellowshipper for that investigator. Then we write out a list. Sunday after sacrament meeting, we jump with all of those people and ask for their help. That has helped us to have more lessons with members present than not. But because of conference, we couldn´t do that, so our fellowshipping was down this week. Oh well, we´ll try harder next week.

I had the chance to go with a couple to be married. The missionaries have contact with a judge who gives us a discount for the marriages, so when our investigators have to be married (in order to live the law of chastity and be a candidate for baptism) and we go with them, it´s about half the price that one normally pays. It was a great experience. The following day I was able to interview them for baptism, and it looks like their whole family will be baptized (4).

Happy Halloween! and happy Day of the Dead (Día de los muertos). Day of the Dead here is in about 3 days (not sure exactly of the date). The people place an alter with lots of food, fruit, bread, flowers, and candles for their deceased ancestors, with the idea that God allows their spirits to return to earth with their loved ones this one day each year. They place the deceased´s favorite food on the altar with their picture. It is a false tradition, but it´s an interesting point of the culture anyway.

Well that´s about it. It is already November and still hot hot hot in the day (not too hot, but enough heat to make us look for shade). But it is really cold in the mornings and at night. I suppose that´s to expect being in the desert and all.

Thanks for all the support, prayers, and help.

Love you all,

Elder Bunker

Conversion

Hello all, Sorry for the delay...in my new area, there is a lot more work to do (it´s not so easy to wash cloths, for example). I don´t have so much time on Mondays anymore because of that. This week has been a good one. We have had a lot more success in finding people to teach and having the participation of the members in our teaching appointments. Last Monday we hiked a big hill in our area. Afterward, we ran down the side. It has a bunch of sand-gravel, so it felt like being superman and taking such large leaps down the mountain. We spent about 45 minutes hiking up the mountain and about 2 minutes going back down. It is really cool because at the top, you can see city all the way around the hill for miles and miles. All the houses fade into the smog-sky. It´s pretty crazy how big the city is (and how large our area is). There are so many people here in Mexico City. So many souls to save. I was thinking about being converted. We as missionaries are asked to read the Book of Mormon and repeatedly follow Moroni´s promise throughout our mission. It is super important, even as members, to do this regularly. To ask if the church is true regularly...not that the answer will change, but the importance of having a fresh answer and experience to relate is huge. I don´t want to tell people ´oh yes, I was born in the church, but I wasn´t converted until age 15, which was 5 years ago´. I would much rather tell them ´oh yes, i was born in the church, but I was converted 5 years ago. And 4 years ago. And again 3 years ago. And yesterday, in fact. Yesterday I received my answer that the Book of Mormon is true. Let me tell you the details of my experience that I had last night...´. That way when something happens in the church, or with the members, or someone makes a mistake, or messes up, it doesn´t put in jeopardy my testimony or salvation. My salvation is not dependant on how well member X follows the teachings of the church. My salvation and testimony depend on what God told me through the Holy Spirit last night. I´d much rather depend on God than on human behavior. I invite all to repeatedly test God on his promise in Moroni 10:3-5 in the Book of Mormon. Because God cannot lie. Thanks for all of your support and prayers and letters. They really do help and sustain me (but I´m not too dependant on the letters :) Love, Elder Bunker

Dan overlooking Mexico City

Not much time to write today because I am in charge of the District Meeting in about 20 minutes. As a district leader I have a cell phone to communicate with the other leaders, and I receive text messages with the top news headlines every other day.

Well this first week was pretty crazy. My new area has almost NO organization. At least in my past areas, the roads were north-south, and east-west. Here they curve and change and change names and it´s pretty difficult to orient myself. There are 6 Elders in my district, All with less than 4 months in the mission (my companion has 8 months, and I 13). It´s a rather young district, but that´s OK. We all have stuff to learn from each other.

It´s hard

because we only have about 7 hours of time on Preparation Day (we still have to study and everything in the morning). And we have to wash cloths, hang them to dry, clean the house, etc. This morning we went to climb a mountain in our area. It has a section convered in sand, so we went to the top and jumped (galloped) down the mountain. I felt like Superman taking such big strides. Then we went to a members house to wash cloths, and her water ran out. We had to take a big blue barrel (like the ones we have) down the street, drop buckets down into a cistern below ground, and pull the water up and empty it into the barrel, then take the barrel back to the house (a big pain) and take bucketfulls of water to the 3rd story of the house to wash the cloths. Needless to say, I am EXHAUSTED today. I will sleep excellently tonight. Our boiler doesn´t work here either, so we use a big resistor that plugs in and sits in a bucket of water to heat it up. It takes about 30 minutes to heat up a bucket about the size of 4 or 5 liters. Then we mix it with cold water to get luke warm water and we shower by dumping bucketfulls over our heads. It does help save water.

Love, Elder Bunker

Member involvment

Hello everyone, Yesterday our Mission President came to our ward and shared a message on member involvment, as part of a major push for the help of the members. In the church handbook for Mission presidents, it says that the primary function of the full time missionaries is to TEACH. Missionary work is for the members. The finding, searching, contacting, fellowshipping, baptizing, confirming, and retaining is primarily the responsibility of the members. When they find people to teach, they call the missionaries to their home. Ideally, the members offer their home to be able to control the atmosphere of the lesson, and the members make themselves available to the investigators (phone calls, invitations to ward events, etc) to be able to answer questions in the absence of the missionaries. President shared the message using the new testament story of Zacchæus in Luke 19. He was an investigator who wanted to see Christ. The multitude blocked him out, so he climbed a Sycamore tree and waited the passing of Christ. Christ saw him and told him to get down and that he was to lodge him in his house. Sometimes as members, we are like the multitude, going about our church duties, but never acknowledging that sometimes, people not of our faith watch us, wondering, with a curiosity. Or as members we can be as the tree, which served its purpose in helping others to come unto Christ. Everything we do in the church is to invite and help others to come unto Christ...the meetings, conferences, activites, planning, everything. If it doesn´t serve that purpose, why do it? WE are just wasting time. If a tree, which doesn´t walk, talk, have talents, etc. served its purpose in helping someone come unto Christ, how much more should we, who walk, talk, and have talents, do the same. Let´s hope the tree doesn´t beat us. That´s my invitation today. That everyone of you can find your Zaccheus, someone who is curious, wondering, waiting, wishing, not knowing how to come unto Christ. Talk to him, invite him, and call the missionaries to come and teach your investigator, your convert, your soul with which you will rejoice in the kingdom of God. I love you all. keep serving. elder bunker

1 año

Well, beloved friends and family, I will be recognizing the 1-year mark this thursday. Wow, I know. Even for me, the time has gone terribly fast. Being so focused in the work, we count time by weeks. And stopping to recognize how much time has passed only once a week has caused that the time has passed even more quickly. I have learned many valuable lessons, many of which I have shared with all of you. The mission is a huge resposibility. One area of the mission to which a missionary is assigned has several thousand people. I am resposible for carrying the gospel message to every one of them. It is a huge task, but we are not alone. As the prophet Eliseo (in spanish...not sure of his name in english) said, we have hosts of angels in chariots on our side. And as Paul said, they that be with us are more than they that be with them. It has been like the blink of an eye. I just barely left BYU. I just barely left my cell phone in a lonely box in the basement. I just barely said good bye to my friends. But as Ecclesiastes says, To everything there is a purpose under heaven...a time for everything. And now my time here is half over. I hope and pray that my service is acceptable to God. I am striving to be better everyday. To learn patience, to learn hope, faith, love, charity, and all of the other virtues listed in D&C 4, along with those virtues of Christ. A true man is not one who has advanced in his education, work, social life, or anything of the sort, but rather a true manhood is measured by his dedication to God, his recognition that as a man before the Almighty, he is less than the dust of the earth and that as a child of the same Almighty, he has a potential so great that it is beyond his own understanding. As David pondered his existance before the vast array of stars, planets, and the great heaven, we too should ponder our position before God. Are we living up to his expectations? Are we allowing him to bless us as much as He wants to? I hope so. I love everyone of you, friends, family, and people that I know. I wish you the best, and I will see you in a year.

ISAIAH

Hello all. We have been having really cold weather here. about 45 in the mornings and about 60 in the day. But it is wonderful for when we are out walking all day. I am getting really nostalgic about home right now. I have been thinking of the cool weather, the fall fest in Rockton, the harvest, halloween, and most of all, General Conference, the talks, and MOTAB. We´re almost there! 3 more weeks! woohooo! I have been following the instruction that appears about 4 times in the Book of Mormon to study and search the prophecies of Isaiah. They have always been difficult for me. But I read Nephi´s words in 2 Nephi 25, which say that the people find the words difficult because they don´t understand the manner of prophesying in Israel. I have been reading in the OT, which has been really enlightening. I have learned more about that manner of prophesying. I am searching the differences between the book of Isaiah and the citation of Isaiah on the Brass Plates in 2 Nephi. I have understood that the manner of prophesiying is such that the prophesies can only be correctly understood when studied with the Spirit. The pharisees in Christ´s time did not have the spirit when they studied the books of the law of moses and the prophesies. They completely misunderstood, in fact. That´s why the Jews await a messiah even today. They misunderstood that the prophesies were testifying of Christ. So they crucified him. In a similar manner, Isaiah´s prophesies at first seem to apply only to Babylon and Jerusalem, but when understood correctly and wtih the spirit, they apply to the world concerning the second Coming as well. I´m still studying, but I hope to learn more. Similarly, the Book of Mormon, with the Spirit, is the greatest tool in missionary work. The greatest tool to convince ALL that Christ is the messiah. And when ALL believe that, then the abrahamic convenant will be fulfilled and the gathering of Israel will take place. Some people put the Book of Mormon aside, focusing on teh Bible. But the BIBLE testifies and points to the Book of MOrmon, more specifically, in its role in the gathering of israel. So, the BOM will go to all the world, to all the tribes of Israel, to convince them of Christ, and to carry out the gathering of Israel in preparation for the second Coming. It´s so exciting! Thats about it for this week. Love you all and i wish you success!

FASTING AND PRAYER

That´s great about Maren. When i fasted, I wrote a whole huge list of things that i was fasting for. Apparently there is no limit on how many purposes you can fast for. I was also fasting for an investigator who is living with her boyfriend but can´t get married because the boyfriend´s divorce from his first wife hadn´t come through. She really wants to get baptized, but can´t for that reason. on Tuesday they told us that the divorce was finalized and everything was set. Now they just have to get married. Another purpose was that our recent convert was jobless and was looking for quite awhile. We fasted and a week later he got a job (really miraculous because of his age...50...nobody here wants to hire people that age). Another purpose was for an investigator who does not live in our area, but is attending church here with her boyfriend. She had a doubt about Coffee and wasn´t getting an answer. We fasted and that week she told us that she got an answer that quitting coffee was indeed a commandment and that Joseph Smith is a profet (she had been fasting and praying too...she´s evangelical christian so she already knew most of the gospel pretty well). The sad part is that she decided that she doesn´t want to leave behind coffee. So now we´re not teaching her, but God answered our fast in his own way...she no longer has the doubt about coffee. I was bashing my head for weeks thinking ´why can´t we help her? Why can´t we receive revelation for our investigator? Then it hit me. Hard. Really hard. Such that it hurt. She doesn´t live in our area. We were robbing her from other missionaries (in the states we called that poaching). We don´t have the right to revelation for her. Only for those who live in our area. Well that problem was resolved through fasting. And now you tell me that Maren is doing much better. I testify that fasting really works. The pics below are from the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico. The Aztec Calendar was found in the heart of Mexico City.

Aztec Calendar found in Mexico City

The old testament and the book of mormon

Hello all. I have been studying deeply the old testament and the book of Mormon together. If you have not tried this, I highly recommend it. After all, the Book of Mormon takes place in Old Testament times, and Lehi and his family are an old testament people, keeping the law of moses and performing all of the ordinances of the aaronic priesthood as commanded. Understanding the old testament really helps form the background for the Book of Mormon (and the New Testament too). I am deeply in love with the scriptures right now. There are so many important lessons to life and to the priesthood therein. I am about half-way through the Old Testament right now and loving every minute of it. On Tuesday we also visited the Museum of Anthropology, one of the most renowned museums of the world. We got to see 3 of the 27ish rooms. And spent 2 hours there. Needless to say, there is lots to see. It was interesting to see all the carved rocks and designs and pottery, but I was thinking how much cooler it is to have a record so complete about another similar people, the nephites and lamanites in the Book of Mormon. I have no doubt about the Book of Mormon and its verity. I have heard so many attacks on the book and how it can´t be true, but then I see how little these people know about religion, let alone the bible, that they completely discredit themselves. And one can´t deny an answer from God through the Holy Spirit. It always reminds me to Know what you believe, and believe what you know. Many times we are comfortable with hearing and believing. Or being dragged to church. Or being preached to by friends and family. But I think that every person, many times throughout his life, must stop, examine his life, and decide on what he believes, knows, and does. Distinguish between tradition and truth. That is another important topic. Some traditions are false, others are based on truth. Either one, we must decide which is which and decide if we are to continue it or abandon it. For example, the tradition that there are 3 wise men (here in mexico, they even have names) is a false tradition. We can go to the bible and read that there were wise men who came from the east bearing gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But it never says how many men, and certainly does not give names. On the other hand, traditions such as Family Home Evening are based on truth. Words from the prophets are truth. Celebrating Christmas, although Christ was not born in December, is a way to honor and recognize that most holy event. All must stop and decide if the traditions that they grew up with and learned are true or false. Then act and defend the truth and abandon that which is false. Well those are just a few commentaries based on some of the problems I have faced as a missionary. Let us all be sure of our faith and be able to defend it. God does not like luke-warm disciples. He spits them out, or vomits them. We don´t want that. I love you all. Take care. See you in a year and a month. Elder Bunker

HOLA

Hello everyone. Yes, I feel like the prodigal son, returning to writing you all this email after such a long time of neglecting it. Things are going well here. We had 3 baptisms 2 weeks ago (I think I already told you this and sent pictures). The recent converts are all progressing and doing well. One already received the Aaronic Priesthood. Today we went to the Centro again and visted the National Museum of Athropology, one of the most recognized in the world. It was really amazing, but really big. We spent about 2 hours and got through about 3 rooms out of the 25 different rooms available. We got to see the original Aztec Calendar and a replica of the Maya Calendar (the one that supposedly says the world will end in 2012). It is really really big (the aztec calendar) and really neat. Also we saw some of the huge heads carved in huge stones by the Olmecs. I don´t have my camera with me, but soon I will send some pictures. It was really neat, but you have to go with lots of time to see everything. There were lots of ruins to see and lots of stone sculptures. Quetzacoatl (the ´white´ god that visited) and the feathered serpent were both there. It was amazing. Apart from that, this was a pretty slow week. We had a lot of appointments fall through, but we got to do a lot of exercise and walking, so thats plus. And lots of street contacts. We have a zone conference next Tuesday, which should be good. It´s a new zone and a new area. I´m also hoping for some new exciting announcements. President said a litte while ago that the church is thinking (THINKING) about giving us cell phones here. I really hope they made up their minds already because calling cell phones from public phones is a huge cost to us. Especially when we have to report our numbers and successes. All in due time though. I have really been progressing, learning to be more humble most of all. I never receved in-field training when i got here, so my companion and i are learning together. I know this gospel and church are true without a doubt in my heart or mind. I have a greater understanding of missionary work and this gospel. I could never give it up. It´s the truth. I love you all and wish you the best. Love, Elder Bunker

Below Pictures are of Dan and his companion before becoming a "new father". This companion was transferred out after Dan had been there 3 weeks. The other pics are of newly baptized members. He is doing great, sloshing through rain (daily) but loving the work. He is doing really well with his newbie just fresh from the MTC.

I´m a daddy! (please read whole letter for clarification...)

Hello all,

Sorry I haven´t written in a while. But here it goes.

It has been raining. Still. I think we´re on our 3rd or 4th week straight of rain everyday. It doesn´t rain the whole day. It´s usually sunny and hot (80 degrees) until about 4 or 5pm. then it´s rainy the rest of the day. and it rains HARD. with HAIL. Big hail. that hurts. But on the bright side, there hasn´t been much smog or pollution to bother us. It really cleans things up here. Except when the storm drains on the streets get stopped up and it floods and the cars speed by, splashing us and having wet shoes and dirty pants for the next 3 days. But those are just the wonderful experiences of the mission that keep the tracting from getting monotonous. When it rains, the temperature lowers to about 65 degrees. It{s really wonderful and refreshing.

Well I was in Meyehualco 6 weeks ago. Then my companion, Elder Garcia, was transferred. My new companion was Elder Veloz, and I was with him for 3 weeks. Then I was emergency transferred here in Reforma with Elder Perea halfway through the transfer. Now I just found out that Elder Perea is being transferred tomorrow, and am receiving a new missionary to train/instruct him. It´s a huge reponsibility, but I´m excited to actually have a companion with the fire and zeal of the MTC. I expect great things. In the mission jargon, I´m having my first-born son! I´m a daddy :) I don´t know who it is yet, but I will find out tomorrow where we are having transfer meeting. He will be my 12th companion (that´s a lot), mainly because of emergency transfers and being in threesomes in Utah. Anyhow, I´m really really really excited for the change. It has been really difficult these 3 weeks, because before, the missionaries didn´t work very hard. My new companion and I will be doing a lot of cleaning in the area.

I have sure done a lot of growing in these past 6 weeks. I taught my last area to my companion in 3 weeks, and I learned this area in 3 weeks. It wasn{t too hard because this area was a bit slow when I arrived. But now we are planning on 3 baptisms in the next 2 weeks, and they are pretty sure.

Well that´s about it for this week. One more thing: We eat cactus here. Without the thorns of course,but it has a really weird texture. I dont really like it, but I don´t say anything. The fruit of the cactus is really tasty, especially when frozen. We call it Tuna here. Also, mangos are really good. Sad we don´t have fresh mangos in the states.

Love you all.

Elder Bunker

NEW MISSION ADDRESS:

Mexico Mexico City South Mission

Av. Progreso 106, 3° Piso

Barrio Santa Catarina, Coyoacán

DF, México 04010

México

Still here...

Hello all,

First of all, I want to share an experience we had this last week.

In January, we passed by this one house looking for an old investigator. It turned out to be the wrong address, but we contacted the person that lived there anyway. She accepted a return visit. We passed by various times during the week, ever since January. We couldn´t get a hold of her until this last week. She thanked us for passing by so much and received us in her home. We started to explain our purpose as missionaries and what she can expect and gain by hearing the gospel message. She started to cry, and she told us ´Before you arrived I was about to do something really foolish and bad, but you arrived just in time and I didn´t do it. You are my salvation.´ She has a lot of needs, but the kinds of needs that are satisfied by the gospel. She is a single mother who is struggling to raise her 13-year-old son. That experience made the whole week worth it. Sometimes we are out here tracting and contacting people in the street, with lots of excuses, lies, pretexts, and doors slammed in the face (we had plenty of those this week too). Sometimes it gets pretty depressing, but when we find that one person, it makes to whole week worth it.

I´m grateful to be here. I´m learning so many things, gaining so many valuable experiences, losing weight (lost 48 pounds since leaving home). There is nothing better that I could be doing.

Love you all.
Elder Bunker

Hot hot hot

Hello all,

This week was really really hot here. Some told us that it got up to 44 degrees celcius (about 114 F), and it sure felt like it. Today we only got to 33 (about 96). It was very unusual for this region this time of year, but times and climates are really changing.

I got the package from Jess (thanks mom & Jess!) with the brown sugar, chocolate chips, and peanut butter. We went and made chocolate chip cookies today (they turned out pretty liquidy, but not sure how to change that, so we left them in the oven for another 15 minutes). Not sure what went wrong, but i think i´ll wait till i get back home to enjoy those. Also, we made french toast the other day in the morning. They don´t eat that here either. And I made a peanut butter (which they don´t sell here) and jelly sandwich. mmmmmmmmmmm.

Well tranfers are tomorrow and I´m staying here in Meyehualco another 6 weeks. At the end of these following 6 weeks, I´ll have been here for 6 months, which is really unusual. But I guess I´m still supposed to be here for some reason, so I´m alright with it. My companion is going to another zone, and I will be junior companion to another elder.

Everything went well, but we didn´t baptize anyone this week. It was a little bit slower for some reason. But we´ll see for this next week. We almost baptized every weekend in May, but not quite.

That´s about it this week. I love you all and miss you.
Elder Bunker

Baptism, baptism, the wonderful fruit

Hello once again my wonderful siblings and relatives!

Sorry I haven´t written for a little while. We seem to be really busy and rushed every Preparation Day, but I figure that I should probably write today.

Since I last wrote, I think we´ve baptised 3 more people, and we have 4 more planned for this month. Baptism is really the wonderful fruit of repentance. I am so grateful to be a part of this work in preparing the earth for the second coming of the Savior. Thankfully there were little or no problems with this last baptism yesterday. She offered the closing prayer of her own baptismal service, and the spirit was really strong during the service.

Today we helped a sister in the ward with her house. The brick walls were slightly deteriorating at the bottom, so we mixed up some cement and applied it to the wall. I learned something new that I didn´t know how to do before. It´s pretty different because in the US we mainly use dry wall and lumber and nails and screws, etc. But it´s all concrete and cement and cement bricks and mortar, and sometimes they have laminate roofing, which really heats up the houses in the sun. We spent most of the morning there helping out, and they gave us breakfast.

Last week we went and played basketball with the family of an investigator. I got really really sunburned, but it was fun. Yesterday there was a really strong thunderstorm with hail and lightning and wind, but only for about 1 hour during our weekly planning so we didn´t get wet at all.

That´s about all for this week. I am planning on a talk this next sunday in sacrament meeting, about repentance. I am going to use the example of Peter, who denied Christ 3 times, but later reaffirmed 3 times that he loved Christ more than the nets, boats, and fishing. Christ called him to leave his profession of fishing forever, but he didn´t understand that. When Christ was crucified, all the apostles looked to Peter as the Chief apostle, wondering what to do now that Christ was gone. Peter didn´t know, so he went fishing, back to the world, back to his comforts. Then Christ visited the sea shore and prepared them Breakfast of fish and bread. How thoughtful. When peter saw him on the sea shore, he threw himself into the sea and swam to Christ. Christ asked him, and he reaffirmed his love for Christ 3 times. What a great repentence story.

Gotta run, love you all.

Take care.

Elder Bunker

Semana Santa

Hello everyone,

Not much time today, but here it goes.

This week was Semana Santa (the week before Christ´s crucifixion). On Friday there was a representation of the crucifixion that passed through our area, but I didn´t get to see it. Strangely, but with significance, it stormed with thunder, lightning, and rain on Friday night. Saturday is called Saturday of Glory, and everyone gets wet, such that the city shut off the water and gave out fines of $300 and 36 hours in jail for wasting water (water balloons, throwing buckets of water, etc). Luckily it scared enough people that nobody got us wet. They also burned a giant sculpture of Judas Iscariot in the streets. It gets pretty wild here during the festive days. Sunday wasn´t much of a celebration, which was surprising. In the US Easter Sunday is a pretty huge thing. All in all, many people were gone on vacation, but many were more willing to talk about Christ.

Lots of people have asked us why we don´t use the cross in our church, but I have learned a lot from the Book of Mormon; that the cross is a symbol of the crucifixion and sacrifice of Christ, but Christ himself set the appropriate symbols for those: the bread and the water of the sacrament. I have been thinking a lot about the resurrection lately. How wonderful it was. That Christ died, but more importantly that he lives, with a body. He didn´t take up his body and ascend to the Father just to leave his body somewhere orbiting somewhere out in space. He took up his body because he is going to NEED it. Just like we will need our bodies after the resurrection to inhabit a kingdom of glory. How greatful I am to know that. And to share that. I am trying hard to repent and to become a better person, a better son of God, a better missionary, a better representative of Jesus Christ.

I love you all and wish you a happy Easter.

He lives.

Elder Bunker

Rain

This week was great as well. We baptized two more investigators this weekend. Remember how last week there was no water to fill the font? Well this weekend, on Saturday, there was an overabundance of water, via Rain and Thunder and Lightning. The bad weather prevented most of the people from coming, so there was almost no support from the ward. But she is a strong investigator and has a strong testimony already. Last week I had lent my white pants to the husband of the woman who was baptized, so he could baptize her. He didn´t come until halfway through the baptismal service, right before the baptism. But luckily our investigator had multiple sets of white clothing just in case. I wore the overalls that she was going to wear, and she wore another set of clothing. Everything went well afterall.

They say that the sun is very very strong right now...between 10-12 on the UV scale...and they say that 14 is solar radiation. I´ve started to cake on the sunblock...It really helps. Sometimes I can just feel the sun burning my skin. But it´s nice out right now. Overcast and about 75-80 degrees. It has rained the past 3 days in the night, so it gets really cold in the mornings, but that´s how I like it, when my head is cold and I have nice, warm covers.

Transfers are tomorrow, but both my companion and I are staying here in Meyehualco. I really do like it here, and there is a lot of potential. Speaking of moving around, they say that the mission is going to split in June or July and that they are going to take some missionaries from the Mexico City South and Mexico City East missions to create the Mexico City Southeast mission. We´ll see if I´ll get moved. If so, I´ll have had the opportunity to serve in 3 different missions and have 3 different mission presidents. Pretty whacky.

Well that´s about all for this week. Will write next week. (this week is Semana Santa, or the week leading up to Easter. On Saturday, everyone throws liquids at everyone else on the streets, so we´re expecting to get pretty wet that day...details to follow :)

Love you all.

Elder Bunker

Pyramids & Earthquakes (but thankfully not together)

Dear Beloved Everyone,

Oh, what a great week. We had another baptism, but Satan sure does work hard to prevent those from happening. This time it was that there was hardly any water in the Chapel. The cistern where the city deposits water (drop by drop i might add) had been emptied the day before for maintainance and repairs. In the morning, there was no water still in the cistern. We investigated, and it turns out that the valve had been shut as well, so the city couldn´t deposit water. We opened the valve and started filling the font on Sunday morning at about 9am. The baptism was scheduled for 12:30pm, but the font was only filled up about 1 foot deep. We rescheduled for 5pm and luckily there was barely enough water to perform the ordinance. We have two more baptisms scheduled for this weekend (one Saturday and one Sunday). It´s sure a great joy seeing our investigators progress and come unto Christ.

In other news, there was an earthquake here on Thursday morning of magnitude 6.7. Then on Monday, another one of 7. I didn´t feel either of them, however. Both were at about 8am. On Thursday we were on the bus traveling to a missionary meeting at that time. I don´t know what happened on Monday, but we didn´t feel it either. It makes me wonder, however, if the tectonic plates are just slipping and preparing for a big earthquake. Hopefully not, but it´s possible I think. A massive one occured in 1985 here and devasted the city. But they have put more preventative measures in place.

Speaking of the missionary meeting, it was to audition for the missionary choir that will be singing for the visit of Elder Oaks in the middle of May. Turns out that both my companion and I made it into the choir of 20 (it was open to the whole mission, about 130, but only about 55 or 60 showed up to audition). It´s truly a great opportunity. We will be singing I know that my redeemer lives.

We decided to change our Preparation day from yesterday to today so that we can go to the pyramids in Teotihuacan. It was really a great trip- we got permission to leave the mission and change the day and everything. It was a long ride (about 3 hours in buses, vans, and the metro one way). We spent about 2 hours there. Maybe I´ll send a few pictures later.

Transfers are in one week from today. I think I will get transferred (i´ve been here 3 months), but my companion isn´t too sure because sometimes they leave us in our first area for 6 months. We´ll see. I love it here, but I also wouldn´t mind going to a new area.

That´s about it for today/this week. I love and miss you all. Remember your covenants.
Elder Bunker

Conference, baptism, conference, conference, confere

Hello everyone,

This week has been a pleasant surprise. One of our investigators told us this week that he was ready to be baptized (there were a few pending problems). So we (my companion) baptized him on Saturday between the first and second sessions of General Conference. It was a great service, even though not many people attended (we didn´t have a Sunday in between to announce it). His wife is already a member, but they are not married (not living together either). Their daughter is 7. He´s a great man. Their pictures are attached. We have 4 more on date for baptism this month. We´ll see.

We were just informed by email that Elder Oaks is going to be visiting our mission in May, and that we are going to provide a missionary choir. I think I´ll go audition. That would be a really neat experience. And I miss singing.

General Conference was so great as a missionary. We watched all sessions in the stake center. They put it on in English in the high council office, so we english-speaking elders (6) got to watch conference in style. It was really amazing. I wrote down 8 questions that I needed answers to (some for me, some specific with how to help my investigators). All 8 were answered thoroughly throughout the conference. It´s amazing how that works. Also it seemed to me that there was a large theme of the second coming. One apostle mentioned that difficult days are ahead (and they also talked a lot about the welfare program, being the 75th anniversary). And they talked about how the gospel must go forth upon all the face of the earth, together with the call for more missionaries last conference and this conference. It makes me wonder...

Well if it is really soon, I´m glad. It´s about time.

I love you all, miss you. Keep the faith.

Elder Bunker

Teaching the blind & deaf

Dear family and Friends,

All has been well here in Mexico. All kinds of fruits are starting to appear, along with the strong sun. I love it here.

This week we had an opportunity to teach and talk with a man who does not see, hear, or walk. He has two tumors pressing on his brain stem, which caused these affects. We communicated with him by tracing the letters of the words onto his palm. His left palm acted as the paper and his right index finger, guided by our hand, traced the letters into his palm. It was very neat. He could still speak, so after a few moments of silence when we would write, he would process the words and then answer with his voice. One instance, he asked us to give him a priesthood blessing (he was already a member). We gave him a blessing. Although he couldn´t hear the words, he felt the spirit. After the blessing, tears were streaming down his face. I know that the Spirit talks to the mind and the heart. We learn and receive testimonies spirit-to-spirit. It was a sweet experience.

There have been challenges as well this week, but all overshadowed by the blessings and good experiences. I think that is why it takes some work to adjust to the mission life. There will always be something to complain about, something to make you want to go home, something to make you angry. But as a missionary, you learn to accept those things as part of life, and then you begin to see the good things more often. Even small things. Seeing investigators progress in their lives and understandings is one of those things. Despite all of those other hard and difficult thigs, you really can´t complain because there is so much good to see.

We are teaching one man who, at one point in our visits told us that he just had a dispute with his wife (they´re not married nor live together, but he still calls her his wife). He said that if he could change, she would see his change and accept him again. During this visit, he told us that he was wrong, that she told him things, and that there was no hope in regathering his family, that there was no hope in living without his wife and daughter. We taught him. We helped him. At the end of the visit, he realized that he needs to change for him & God, not for her. He has progressed infinitely since then. Each time we have visited him since then, he has been brimming with happiness, his wife was present in the home, and even she commented to us one time that he has changed dramatically. His family relationship has improved a hundredfold, and he told us that he wants to be baptized this Sunday. It has been a complete change, and even I almost wept. This is why I´m on my mission: to see families progress, to bring them together through the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the only thing that brings longlasting, true happiness.

I love my mission. I´ve learned so much. I wouldn´t trade it for anything. Not the internet, TV, movies, sleeping in, friends, time around my family (i´m giving up a brief amount of time with my family so others can spend eternity with theirs), or anything else. The gospel of Jesus Christ has that affect on people, on me.

I love you all. I miss you, but I´ll see you shortly (relatively). Choose the right, look for opportunities to serve, and love others. Do good.

Love Elder Bunker

RAIN

Hello all,

Sorry I couldn´t write last week. We split our emailing time into 30 minutes and 30 minutes, but we never had time to come back and use the 2nd 30 minutes. The work has been about the same.

I´ll be staying here in Meyehualco for another 6 weeks, which is fine with me. I really like it here and am pretty familiar with the area now.

We almost had another baptism Sunday. We filled the font and everything. But for some reason Satan seems to work hardest the day and night before a baptism. He had a few problems and will have to postpone his baptism. It will probably be in a few weeks.

Well it rained here for the first time since I've been here. There were thunder & lightning and everything that goes with it. It was amazing to be out of the sun for a little while. I am really enjoying it here. The weather is cooperating very well--as long as we have lots of water to drink. The rainy season doesn't start until the end of May, so until then, it's going to keep getting hotter. But that's OK. I'm sure it was hot when Jesus walked more than 110 KM through mountains & desert terrain to get baptized by John the Baptist. I'm sure he was thirsty on the cross too (the vinegar didn't help any), so I can't really complain.

I finally got to make my chocolate chip cookies, except there isn't anywhere nearby where we can get chocolate chips. So we used strawberry flavored chocolate (not really any chocolate, but the same consistancy as chocolate chips). It came out tasting OK but nothing spectacular.

Well with transfers, we got a new district leader. Our old district leader was here for 6 months, so he's glad to be moving on to something different. My companion and I are staying here in Meyehualco, no changes. Transfers are still exciting, because that's when they hand out all the packages and letters that arrived at the mission office. It takes about 1 month for letters to get to us from the US, and about 2 months for packages.

We get to speak in the ward for the first time this Sunday. It should be good, we have lots of support from the members (they sign up to feed us almost every day of the month).

We had a missionary activity in our stake on Saturday. 18 missionaries from the MTC in Mexico City came to our area (130 to our stake) and they contacted lots of people in the street. They were pretty late arriving, and with the time to explain what was going to happen, we only got to contact for about 45 minutes, which is pretty sad. But anyway, they got some experience, and we got a few referrals. We're trying to help the stake and wards understand that missionary work is not an activity, but rather a lifestyle. It's tough, but once we understand that, we understand our role in missionary work as members better.

I'm so grateful for this opportunity of a lifetime to serve a mission. I have met so many people who want help changing their lives. The responsibilities and burdens of other people's problems and necesities is so fulfilling. I'm beginning to realize what it means to love the people that you serve. Understanding their difficulties, talking them through their problems, helping them understand that the Atonement applies personally to them, etc is so fulfilling. There's something about putting all of your personal affairs in second place that helps you to find your true purpose as an individual. It's so rewarding seeing people progress, repent, and turn themselves in to the Lord with full purpose of heart. Sure, it's taxing, but it's so rewarding.

I love you all and hope you understand your purpose in life. It's truly remarkable.

Elder Bunker