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