“BASKIN ROBBINS” REMAINING

Yep, 31-derful days is all we have left!

It was 3 years ago this week that Elder Eli headed north, and we haven’t been The Four of Us since. Now there’s The [New] Four of Us (welcome, Hannah!), with Elder Max’s return just around the corner.

3D-printed Elder Max head on Ken body =
Special guest @ Eli & Hannah’s wedding!

6 June 2016 

One Month 

I hope that subject is self-explanatory (look! I still know English!) (sic)

I’m short on time, so check it:

The church is true. If we say our prayers, ask in faith, with righteous desires and real intent, God will answer our prayers. That is a promise from both ancient scripture and modern prophets. God is our father, and he loves us. He wants us to talk to him and express ourselves to him. He also wants us to listen. In very few cultures or religions is prayer considered a two-way communication, but we know that to be true. God will answer your prayers. So chin up! Keep praying! There is power in prayer.

As far as my area goes, we made 2 trips to Reynosa last week, and yesterday was Election Day, so we couldn’t leave (I guess it gets dangerous? I’m excited for that special Tuesday in November :P), so we couldn’t get a lot of work done. I’m trying to work hard and finish strong, but the trials keep coming! So I’m going to keep praying, too.

Love you guys. Keep the faith.

Elder Webb

MAY AT 4 GLANCES:

The countdown is on: about 5 more weeks! (Madre & Padre are a little more focused on it than Hijo, but that’s as it should be...)

He looks so stern!
(The grin-y one also was blur-y.)

May 23, 2016

CONGRATULATIONS!

I need you to read that with the same inflection and tone of voice as the announcer guy who says it on “Super Smash Brothers”. That “congrats” is for my little brother Eli, and his new wife, Hannah! I received lots of pictures today, you guys look great and I’m really happy for you both.

I’ve got a lot of stuff to talk about today! I felt like my letters had gotten kind of lame, so I redoubled my efforts to write all the stuff that happened to me in the week: 

- I was able to describe someone as “Fisher-Price-Adorable” (Elder Adams from Loa, Utah)

- A parrot sitting outside someone’s house said “Hola” to me, and when I didn’t respond, started shouting “HOLAAAAA!! HOLAAAAA!!” and got the dogs barking, too.

- I was chased down by a loosed pit bull (obviously trained for dogfights, which is totally legal here) who didn’t actually want to eat me, despite his very convincing sprint.

- Just today, while in the taxi on the way downtown, a guy passed us on a unicycle, drinking something from a 1-liter styrofoam cup.

- (This one’s my favorite:) A guy named Oscar who went to church for the first time yesterday and has a baptismal date for the 4th of June bore his testimony in the Gospel Principles class that he knew that this was the church for him and that he was going to get baptized on June 4th. So we’re so on top of that. His mom also went, but she’s not super convinced yet. We’re going to visit them tomorrow to try to help with whatever doubts she might have.

I love you guys. The Lord blesses us for being obedient.

Elder Webb

May 16, 2016

MEXICAN MOTHERS DAY

Here in Mexico, Mother’s Day is always on May 10th, so we got to celebrate like 3 times this week! Last Sunday I talked with my mommy, Tuesday we ate dinner with some members, and on Saturday was the ward activity for the Mamas in the area!

This week I was impressed by the importance of the covenants we make. Obviously my focus has been more on baptism for the last 2-ish years, and I haven’t been to the temple in at least the same time, but I’m going to try to speak in general:

A covenant is a sacred promise we make with God that we will obey Him and keep His commandments, and in return, he promises us to bless us with His spirit. Paraphrasing a talk I heard (about) by Elder Bednar, that means we promise to sacrifice our agency, the only thing we can really give to God, the only thing that is truly ours, to be obedient and live the Gospel. We can no longer choose between good and bad, only between good and better. This becomes more and more a commitment as we continue to make more covenants with our Father in Heaven. Let’s remember that and be better every day. We don’t have to be perfect tomorrow, but we have to try.

As for the work, we keep looking for people to teach, and we are finding a few people with success. We’re now looking to invite to baptism in June, so we’re working hard to make that happen. It’s weird to think that when these people we find will get baptized, I’ll only have a month left on the mission.

Anyway, enough of that. I have observed on my mission that few things are funnier than when a Mexican who doesn’t speak English tries all of a sudden. I have also observed that Mexican women are completely blind. It’s the most common thing in the world to see an absolutely gorgeous mexicana with a total dweeb. I asked my companion if he was aware of this fact, and he said, in English, “I have a perfect knowledge.” I don’t know where he picked that up, but it made me laugh for about 2 minutes straight.

Love you guys! See you in a few.

Elder Webb

Una rica chamoyada

May 9, 2016

CUMBRES

That’s what my last/current area is called.

So far, I like it a lot. It’s a really cool part of Reynosa (because all of the roads are paved) and the ward is great. My companion is Elder Cruz, from Veracruz, Mexico. He’s really funny, and we’ve shared the same really difficult companions, so we understand each other.

We currently have 0 investigators! But we’re working really hard to have some baptisms before we both go home (we arrived in Reynosa together almost 2 years ago, but because of my time in the MTC, I’m leaving July 8th and he the 2nd of August).

We’re excited and hopeful, and as a zone we have high goals for May, so we’re going to be working really hard. It’s going to be a solid finish.

Love you guys lots.

See you in less than two months.

Elder Webb

May 3, 2016

THEY GAVE ME A SHOVEL . . .

. . . to dig my grave.

I’m in my last area! Reynosa Cumbres will be my final resting place.

I’m going home on July 8th!

The other day I was walking and saw a bunch of old men eating grilled chicken and listening to “Rock Lobster”.

We had a baptism on Saturday! Denisse and Francisco were baptized. It was excellent. I’ll send pictures.

I’ll send pictures!

I’m writing on Tuesday because I was sick yesterday.

The church is true! See you in two!

Elder Webb

IT’S LATE-APRIL...

...do you know where your missionary is? (Finally, after much procrastination [on our part], we do!)

25 April 2016

Hey! This week I feel really old. I think it’s part of finishing the mission. I’m exhausted all the time. My back hurts, my shoulder hurts, my feet hurt, and I’m complaining a lot. I really feel like a little old man. Maybe it’s just because I’m actually old! I dunno.

Thanks to my awesome mom for sending me my package! It was great. I think all the candy is already gone. It’s weird to think that it’ll be my last package in the mission. Soon you can just buy me stuff and I’ll get it right away! How exciting!

Friends and family, the church is true. God knows and loves each of you personally and wants you to know it. The world is ugly right now and it keeps getting worse, so we have to let our light shine forth and continue obtaining more light to shine brighter. Darkness cannot inhabit a space where there is a light. No amount of darkness can overpower even the smallest source of light, so keep adding to yours, even if you feel like it isn’t very strong. Read your scriptures. Go to church. Develop a strong personal relationship with your Heavenly Father, and increase your personal light. It is the best defense we have against the gathering darkness. But don’t let it worry you, either! We are going to win! We already know that. The scriptures testify that, thanks to Jesus Christ and His Atonement, we’ve actually already won! So endure. Everything will be alright.

Love y’all. Keep saying your prayers.

Elder Webb

18 April 2016

It’s Monday and I don’t know what to write! It really snuck up on me. I normally write down what I want to share, be it a testimony, an experience, or a funny story, but this week, my page is completely blank.

My companion is good, my zone is good.

The church is still true! No doubt about it.

I bought a new watch today...

I don’t even have pictures! This is going to be a lame email, sorry all.

Love you! I guess if you have specific questions, you can send me an email, because really, I don’t know what to say.

Elder Webb

11 April 2016

Today is my half-birthday! I am officially closer to 24 than to 22. I am closer to being able to rent a car than legally drink. I am closer to 30 than 16. Oh crap, that one actually freaked me out.

I have an awesome story this week that a convert shared with me a little while ago:

Do you remember María and Itzel from Valle Hermoso? Well they went to the temple a few weeks ago and to be able to take some family names, María went to the cemetary (I don’t know how to spell that, but “graveyard” sounds scary). Tragically, public records in Mexico are very poorly kept, and she wasn’t able to find her grandmother’s tombstone. After hours of searching, they were unable to find anything. They were on their way out when María offered a prayer and said that if her grandmother wanted her to take her name to the temple, she needed to make it known. As they were walking out, a wreath on one of the graves close by shook like crazy. María went to look, and her grandmother’s grave was right next to the tombstone whose flower arrangement had moved. She was then able to take her family’s names to the temple and give them the opportunity to accept these saving ordinances that are offered in the temple.

Cool, huh?

Briefly, I want to make known my own testimony of Priesthood blessings. If you haven’t received one in a while, ask your dad or your brother or your home teachers to give you a blessing. It’s one of the most personal revelations we can receive pretty much directly from our Father in Heaven. I asked a missionary who lives with us to give me a blessing the other day and he addressed exactly what I was struggling with without my having mentioned it. God is so aware of us. Let’s accept His help through His authorized servants.

I love you! I really mean it.

Elder Webb

4 April 2016

This weekend was my last General Conference on the mission!

My overwhelming impressions were that we need to be better about remembering Jesus Christ and about unifying and strengthening our families.

Speaking about remembering, there is a song playing in the internet café where I am writing you from. The song says “I can’t remember what I did tonight, or even yesterday” and then talks about how it was a great time and how he can’t wait to do it again. That was just a really interesting contrast between what the Lord’s authorized servants say about what a good use of our memory is and how the world sees it. I don’t mean to condemn that song or artist, but it is so obvious which is the better option, no? One purpose I have found to why God gave us memories is so we could repent. So we would remember how we felt when we made a mistake and be able to compare that to how we felt when we made good choices. To remember our Savior Jesus Christ is part of the covenant we make at baptism, so that we can always have His spirit to be with us, another common theme in this last Conference.

Apply what you learned. If you took notes, review them and prepare to receive new insights with the publishing of the May issue of the Liahona when we’ll be able to read and study these talks again.

This week was pretty crazy. I almost forgot to mention that we got transfers! I’m still in Río Bravo, but now I’m with Elder Cuautli from Puebla, México. We’ve known each other basically our whole missions so we already get along and we’re excited to work these last couple months I have left.

Love you guys.

Elder Webb

TRUTH, CONFETTI & PUPPIES

The latest news, notes & pics from Tamaulipas, México:

“We found a very friendly puppy and returned him to his owner.
She gave us zebra cakes as thanks!”

March 28, 2016

98 DAYS

Somebody asked me a question, and I was curious, so I looked up the answer. That’s right, I’m within 100 days. And I’m only going to miss 16 more awesome superhero movies in that time. Just kidding, I’m not really thinking about that! I’m trying to be really focused. But they did give us an only slightly more official return date of July 5th (so un-American). We’ll see if it stays that way.

Just now in the grocery store, I saw a guy who was rocking a sweet Lionel Richie look, with a moustache and a full-blown permed mullet. He was working there placing the oranges on the stand. I was pretty excited.

Also, Happy Happy Birthday to my mom! She’s turning 30-something (I don’t remember) this Saturday! She loves surprises, glitter, and confetti, so go visit her!

This week, not a whole lot happened. We were really focused on making sure our zone was doing well, that we didn’t focus a whole lot on our own area, something we’re going to correct this week. We have been very blessed to have a lot more unity and good communication among our elders, and we’re excited to keep working hard and make April an awesome month.

I read an article in a Liahona about modesty that I really liked: it talked about how modesty is so much more than just dressing to cover up our bodies, it has to do with humility and with the way we speak and represent ourselves. As a missionary, it’s pretty easy because we wear a uniform and only talk about the Church, but I was thinking about how I want to apply it to when I get home. I used to make comments or jokes that may not have been super appropriate, but I’d like to be a better representative of myself in all things (while still being amazingly hilarious).

Love y’all,

Elder Webb

March 21, 2016

THANK YOU, REBECCA S. BUTLER 

I’m going to jump right into it. We met a guy named Eduardo last week. He was a reference some other missionaries had contacted in a different area. He was really excited when we went over and accepted a baptismal date and everything. He has a heavy drinking problem, so we’re working through that, but there are a few AA chapters here in Río Bravo (the first I’ve seen on the mission. Coincidence?) and he already went to church yesterday. The crazy part is what this guy has found in the flea markets. The first time we spoke to him, he came outside with a copy of “The Work and the Glory” on DVD and started asking us about Joseph Smith. Turns out, he had found it for 10 pesos. Then on the next visit, he said “wait here, I want to show you something.” He came back with a square-ish leather thing in his hands and said “I bought this about 3 years ago to learn English”. It was a copy of the Holy Bible, The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. The name inscribed on the cover is “Rebecca S. Butler”. I don’t know how long ago you lost those, Ms. Butler, but we found them.

God watches out for His children.

All smiles, even after a confetti-bomb

I wanted to share a brief testimony about the Book of Mormon. I’m pretty sure I’ve expressed this before, but the Book of Mormon is true. Every story it tells actually happened. All the people it mentions actually lived. Every declaration it makes about the nature of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or the Plan of Salvation is true. Every prophecy and prediction it makes has been or is being brought to pass. If you read it, think about what it’s teaching, and ask God through prayer if it’s true, He will answer your prayer and you will know, KNOW, that the book is true. It will help you in any aspect of your life if you let it.

Love y’all.

Elder Webb