MORE BAPTISMS, THE KISSING SEA LION AND QUESTION AND ANSWER

We have a couple baptism coming up.
Mari´s sister is this week. I am excited. She has really grabbed onto the rod and is approaching the tree fast.
Isaac is doing the same thing. With him it was amazing. On Saturday he told the story of Adam and Eve almost perfectly. Like word for word. He read in the Book of Mormon and prayed. He said he didn't want to go to church and then he was there yesterday! Yeah!! He is getting baptized in the middle of March. March is going to be an amazing month. I can feel it!
Yesterday was stake conference. It was far from where we live but we had three investigaTors come. Which was awesome! President Spannaus and his wife spoke. President S. was very entertaining.
After waiting a couple hours a member took us out to Chinse. Which is very expensive. My plate was like 84 pesos. Which is alot. It was a huge plate of noodles. I could not eat it all. I felt really bad so I started praying....really hard. And then the blessing came. A counselOr from the Stake presidency came to the rescue and ate the rest of my food. Yeah!!!
On Thursday we ate at the Stake Presidents house. We have all the members of the stake presidency in our ward. We have actually ate at all three of their houses. ha ha.
Spanish is coming along better. I love it. The prayers are working. btw (by the way). My feet don't hurt anymore. I guess I had to trade in my feet for missionary feet and you have to go through this process.
Today we went to the ocean and saw these divers. It was better then the Mayan. Like two hundred feet better then the Mayan. I have a picture I will try to send.
These Mexican divers pray to Mary and then do front flips into what seems like little water. They are crazy. We also saw and played with otters. Here is a funny picture I have with the zone and the otter kissing me. He just jumped up, grabbed my leg and kissed me on the cheek. lol. The world is a beautiful place.
Well, I know it is not much this week but it will get better. I am excited to start a new month.

Love Elder Chadwick


QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Are your living conditions okay?
yeah, they are ok. The shower always cold. We sometimes don't have water so it is hard. We have to go fetch water from the first floor of our apartment. I only sleep with one sheet. I have a comfortable bed. That is always nice. It is always hot here with a ocasional breeze. We do have fans in our apartment.
Do you have a place to cook?
Yes, we have a little plug in stove. I make pancakes every morning. I either have pancakes or cereal for breakfeast.
Do you have a fridge?
Yes we have a small fridge. The milk is different here so it is good outside the refigerator for like a month. ha ha. I put it in the night before I want to use it. I usually spend 130 pesos on food for the week.
Are your shoes holding up okay?
Yes they are doing great so far. When I switch pairs I will tell you
Do I need to send you any other meds?
Sunscreen is expensive here. That is all the meds I need.
Is your money situation okay?
Yes for the most part. I get kind of confused on some things but most things are not that expensive.
How are things with your companion?
Fantastic. He is like my older brother. He helps me alot and is a genius when it comes to the scriptures. We get along great.
Do you hope you stay with your current companion for a while?
Yeah, for a month or two
How about the area? Are you happy there?
I love my area. The people are great here. I will be here for 4-5 months. I am excited to do work and get alot of baptisms. I really want to double the members in the ward before I leave this area. I think there are less then a hundred so it is very possible according too Ammon in the BofM.

ANOTHER WEEK IN HEAVEN

Dear Family and Friends,
Feb. 17, 2011
Today was the start of my third month as a missionary but it feels like I have really only been a missionary for a two weeks.
To start of the day we went contacting or tracting. We started down Acapulco Ave. The second door we hit was a winner. She had been taught by the missionaries before and wants to know more. So we set up an appointment. :)
Off to more houses...for another forty minutes we didn't catch any fish. It is kind of funny because we can see into almost everyones house because they have no door or their window is open. so we tap tap tap with a key or coin and then yell "Buenes Tardes" or "¡Buenes Dias!"
We came to a normal gate thing and knocked. A man in his 60s answered. We just got done telling him we were missionaries when we were basically seated. His name is Jose. He told us that he would listen to our message and ask questions. When he noticed I was kind of struggling to speak Spanish he said " You can speak English boy, it is fine." and so I did.
Actually he told us how he learned English and his adventures in America. (that was kind of long, but good came out of it.) We answered some of his questions about are church pertaining to having multiple wives and stuff. lol. He told a real long story about a prayer he said while working at a gas station in LA. He said he was so excited to tell us this story and that he feels so good when he tells the story of God answering his prayers. After I bore testimony it was true that God had answered his prayers and the feeling he had was the Holy Ghost. (btw, throughout the lesson we taught bits and parts of lesson 1)
He then told a story of how he gave a bag of mangos to another person of a different faith.(He is Catholic) and that when he walked by their house the mangos were under a chair and then two days after that they were in the garbage. He was so mad about this he was almost pulling his hair out. Why? Why would someone do that? He then told us that he does service for everyone that needs it. Right then my companion had to take a phone call so I had the chance to talk more to Jose. "Jose," I said, pointing at the Book of Mormon,"These are my mangos." The man almost started crying he was laughing so hard or he was surprised I would use his own words. "Now, if you throw away my mangos I will be very angry." "No I wont" he said three or four times. "Good, now this is what I want you to do...read 3 Nephi 11. Then after, this is the most important part, pray with all you heart to know if this book is true." He agreed. "Here are my mangos" After setting up another appointment Elder Olvera explained how we pray and then offered a simple prayer. When I opened my eyes it was fantastic. "Pardon, Pardon" he exclaimed. "Esta bien" we both said. "When you started the prayer I had to clench my fists like this and I was feeling...feeling so Happy and amazing." "Esta Bien, these are the feelings of the spirit." Reminding him to take care of my mangos we were out the door.
Feb. 18, 2011
My feet really hurt. But that is okay, because I am so happy to have feet. Today was hard, well most days are hard when we walk far and they are not there to teach. It is not only my feet that hurt but also and mostly my heart and soul. These people cling onto the the truth and the gospel so quickly I love it.
So, life begins early here is Acapulco. There are these men and women that carry baskets on their heads walking around town. "¡Pan!" They yell long and loud for everyone and they dog to hear. Also, these trucks drive up and down the street honking there horns for long periods of times. There are selling gas. Well, people need gas. :)
This week the food got to me Monday/Tuesday. I was on the toilet at almost every members house. It was zone conference on Wednesday and Hermana Spannaus gave me Pepto Bismal. It worked for the most part. And I also took some charcoal and the other green pills the instructions from mom told me to take. I am feeling alot better. I was on a white rice and gatorade diet for three days. Today I was off my diet and Moronis mom made us spaghetti with white sauce. . ( not really Alfredo) Two hamburgers and some french fries. It felt like home. I loved it! Also today, since my companion is district leader we have to walk to other areas and he interviews the people for baptism. It is ok because I get different view of the ocean. Spanish is coming along.....
Feb. 19, 2011
On Wed. we had zone conference. It was hard because I was on a gatorade diet but I feasted on the word so it was fantastic. The conference was mainly on becoming the best missionary we can be. I learned that I am my best creation. It doesn't matter what I wear or what car I drive, I am me. But the question is, who am I when you take all that stuff away and you just have me? So I am making a list of how I want to create myself and who I really want to be and of course I want to be as close to Jesus Christ as possible. I also learned in conference that I can go all in but if I don't put my heart into it I won't be changed and I will basically fail in life. So I am deciding to put everything in....including my heart.
Today we visited Jose. This is the second visit. And he posed the question "Where does the Book of Mormon take place?" Well we know it is somewhere in Central America but we don't know exactly were. So that is what we told him. And I just came up with another answer I could have given him. lol. He said he would pray in private tonight. I am excited to see what happens.
Feb. 20, 2011
Sundays, I love Sunday but they are hard on my mind and on my body because we have to worry about investigators coming to church. I think I will get gray hairs later in life because of this. lol. I play the piano every week in Sacrament meeting. I think this is how it is going to be for the rest of my mission. It is good for me. I need it, I love it. I am also teaching an English and Piano class for anyone who wants to learn more. Hopefully it will bring in some more investigators and references. :)
The part of books my mom gave me about the ultimate missionary companion is great. I have read each chapter twice and it gets me pumped up for the next day etc. Also, Today it was a surprise because Tere came to Church!!!! It was so exciting. It was great to see her come out of Relief Society with a huge smile on her face!! We had spaghetti and chicken for comida. Mmmmmmmmmm....
We also helped a man move some speakers and he gave us a ride home. Service is great. (We just happened to talk about it in Priesthood also)

Today Feb 21, 2011
P day. Regular morning schedule and then to go shopping for food. I usually spend 138.65 pesos on food and then thirty on taxi and bus to and from district meeting down by the ocean. We played basketball today against another zone. It was really alot of fun. I scored five points! ha ha. Now I am here.
Well, I love you all and I will write alot more next week. have a fabulous week.

Love, Elder Chadwick


Zone Conference


A View of the Ocean


For Washing Clothes



Tortilla maker

WEEK ONE IN ACAPULCO MEXICO

Okay, first off I am in Acapulco.
This picture is Aristeo Catalan Cruz.
My first baptism!!!!!!!!! Only four days into the mission field.
I was privileged to perform the baptism.
Here is a day to day update...
Feb. 7
When we got on the plane one of the flight attendants knew President Spannaus. Monday was an easy day because Pres. S and his family mostly spoke English. Very well actually. The food was fantastic. I loved it Later after dinner we went and slept at the mission office.
Feb. 8
Cereal for breakfast....to normal for Mexico. Then to the immigration office so we could get legal. After that we went back to the mission office and waited for Pres. S and our four new companions to get out of the office. When they finally came out President Spannaus said, "ok, this is tradition...you line up here and the old elders line up there.....ok, If you pick your new papa correctly you receive
Exaltation." Good thing I picked right....out of the four of us I am new a new companion to the only native of the four. Elder Olvera. He is soooo cool. Even though I cant understand him most of the time. lol. Then after that a four hour trip to Acapulco!! Yeah!!
Ok, forget about dates now...
Oh the hills in Acapulco!!!
I love them because God gives me the strength to climb and reach the top to every appointment. To answer you question mom...yes my feet hurt. ha ha. I have two blisters from the last week right below my toes.
Our first appointment was with Aristeo. He is a golden investigator. (this was Tuesday night btw) we call them "Escogidos" or "the chosen ones". We taught him twice this last week....and guess what....on Friday he was baptized!!! And I performed the baptism!!!! It was quite the adventure because we had to clean the font the day before and had to basically use the bucket into the font again and again because the font was not draining fast enough.
Friday it was even more interesting...We had to go pick him up at work so he would not forget about his baptism and it was..well and adventure...let just say...(this part is really for Jordan and his friends) it was like "Call of Duty" coming back from his work. Police everywhere and also army guys with huge guns and stuff. But the black name tag we wear basically makes us invisible and we walked right passed everything evil and bad that was going on. (Sorry if I scared you mom but I am
really in the Lords hands lol) Lets just say this is quite the experience..some days I wake up thinking I am at the MTC and well that is not true at all.
But the baptism was great! I got through the baptism prayer with a little...ok alot of sweat on my face but it is all good. After I was sitting next to Artisteo and I shared my favorite scripture with him and 3 Nephi 11 about Christ coming into
America. I knew he already read it but I loved talking about it anyway. I know the Spirit was there because I could understand what he was saying and I was talking in Spanish. He is already half way through Alma.
As for the food here....
One meal a day, around 2 30 or 3 pm. that is how much most of the people here can afford. Basically is is alot of tacos and rice, beans, sauce, and other stuff. I don't really know what half the stuff I eat is but I eat all of it because 1. I am really hungry by 2 30 or 3 and 2. because that is what Jesus would do. No joke. I sometimes have a hard time with some of the deserts they come up with but other then
that I love it because it is food.
The traffic here is soooooooo scary. The bus ride from the church to the members house was more fun the any of the rides at lagoon. It was hilarious. I was putting my hands up in the air. My companion got a real kick out of that. The houses here are really cool. I have only been on one or two carpet floors and most people don't have a car unless you are a taxi driver or rich.
Btw, the J dubs tracked into our apartment too(Elder Robb mentioned this in his email). They are trying to work as hard as we do but they don't have the method or spirit.
Oh!!!!! One day, Feb. 10th, this happened twice in one day,once when tracking and well here is the story... we were teaching Olfelia and Irwin. I was looking at Irwin because he was talking. I went to look over at my companion when all the sudden half of Olfelias shirt was down and I could see her well you know. So of course I started singing a primary song in my head. Btw, she was just feeding her baby. She is
suppose to be baptized on the 26 along with two other of out investigators and the two or three the following week.
So, one of our investigators is almost mute. He is missing alot of teeth and I can only understand him when her says Hi and some other stuff. But my dear companion has the gift of translation.
Oh, and the language is coming along. I will be honest and say that this is really not the language they taught me at the MTC. I can only understand half of what is going on. I love talking to children and grandparents because they are more patient and will help me along with anything. The ward we are in is great. I love the people and members with all my heart and soul. My first time I was at the church on
Wednesday night I met this young man named Moroni. Him and I are really good friends.
Yes, they very much celebrate Valentines Day here. It is a huge deal.
Some schools or grades didn't have school today from what I understand. An elderly lady from the ward gave us a Valentine on Sunday and told us not to tell anyone she gave it to us. ha ha.
hmmm... this is basically like Indiana Jones....Literally. It feels like I am in the movie. There are telephones on most street corner and they have superman on them advertising cable. The picture was put there for me so I could do whatever I need to do to help these people out. (Editors note: Daryl loves Superman and thinks it would be great to be invincible)
On Feb. 9th we tracked into Ema and set up an appointment for Friday I believe. When we taught her she basically went on about how the Catholic Church was sooo wrong and how she is so glad that some one figured it was wrong too. She indeed felt the spirit during our discussion and I know she will pray and receive an answer that this is indeed the path she needs to go on. It was a great experience talking
to her. There are people like her and then there are people who has researched
about everything about our church and are waiting for us to come around the corner so they can throw scriptures and false ideas at us.
Guess what?! It doesn't work. I personally think it builds my testimony
and I am happy to knock on the next door.
hmmm.... Saturday night we passed by five or six fiestas...one happened to be right next to our house. It was defiantly a hard night. The music was playing so loud until about five in the morning. It was great happy dancing music but it was way past my bedtime. lol.
Sunday
I played the piano in Sacrament Meeting and it was interesting....but I enjoyed it. I made mistakes but the members were happy I was playing.
(Editors note: he sent a couple of more short e-mails about the pictures not going through and needing a hard drive. He never really ended this e-mail. I'm sure the tales will go on next week)

ELDER CHADWICK MADE IT TO MEXICO

Dear Chadwick Family:

Attached you will find some pictures we took today that you may enjoy. Dear family, your son is in the best hands he could be, in the hands of our Savior Jesus Christ, and I will be co-worker with him in this part of the vineyard. Thank you for raising this fine young man, he will be a great missionary.

With sincere love!

President & Sister Spannaus
Mexico Cuernavaca Mission


Elder Chadwick, President and Sister Spannaus, and Elders from the MTC. Elder Oswald top row left, his companion in the MTC.

MEXICO ON MONDAY

This is the last email you will receive from the MTC!
I leave Monday at 9:48 am and arrive in Mexico City at 2:50 pm. We are going to the consulate a second time to sign our visas tomorrow. They got some things confused so we were up in Salt Lake today, so we get to go up again. I think I saw dads truck...lol. And JCWS is now taking over Training Table by Julies house. Weird. I will talk to the family all on Monday or at least you and dad. Tell Jordan the the Poster is up on my wall and everyone was taking pictures with Jimmer. It was pretty funny. I have an older sister, her name is Hermana Bate. She is from southern Utah. Anyway, it is just a joke. I am still loving it here.

The story is that I woke up Sunday morning with a cold. Running nose, sore throat and a boil on my chest, I took the meds I had for the cold and I had to get a perscription for the boil. Sorry, I didn't know what to put on a boil ha ha. Btw, tell Stacie Congrats on the Yente part. She is taking this acting things to bigger heights then I did. It runs in the family, what else can I say.

So I saluted the new MTC President last week and then contacted him two days later to see if Elder O and I could go on splits, the answer was no but that is ok because I am going to Mexico.

Kevin R. Duncan of the Seventy talked to us on Tuesday. What a great speaker. He mostly talked about how we will build bridges for our converts/investigators to cross. He said "stand back and ask why." Meaning look at the big picture or eternal perspective.
Sister Duncan talked about how God loves ducks and so He would love us EVEN MORE!!!! How amazing but funny is that...lol.
He talked (E Duncan) about preparing and teaching people what they need not just the lessons. He told a story about a family who were all converted but the father 22 years ago and then the father was finally converted a year ago and Elder Duncan just happened to be down in Chile when the family was being sealed together. How cool is that!!!!! And also...one of his other converts, daughter was going through the temple for the first time that same day. It was an adventurous story.
Well my friends and family....This is it. The last email at the MTC. The next one will be in Mexico!!!! I love you all and will wave goodbye when I pass the exit on the Freeway on Monday. Have a fabulous Fast Sunday. It will be a great one.
Love you all sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!!! Thanks for the support!!

Love, Elder Chadwick