Monday, November 22, 2010

November 22, 2010

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

to celebrate, i have some little big news.
Last night my companion left on a bus, and right now im awaiting my new companion.
and he just flew in from Mexico City!
Im going to be his first companion in the ¨field¨
I feel sorry for him! No actually im really nervous. but in having sent me him God has told me that im ready (or as ready as ever will be) and i know that with faith, my personal lameness is of no importance. Its comforting you know? but if ever faith is tried, it is at times like these when God tells us something we ¨know¨ isn´t true.
Someone named Edgar was just baptized. When we explained to him of baptism a week ago, he said he didn`t feel ready, or worthy of such a large step, of such a covenant with God.
My companion told him that truly, no one is worthy of it. and yet God has told all to partake.

When He tells us we are ready, we are ready. and we know that he gives no commandment unto the children of men save he prepareth the way that they might accomplish the thing that he commanded. He couldnt, being just.

Edgar was being prepared long before we ever arrived. and im am blessed greatly to have been there as the light that he had within him met that of the fulness of truth that is the gospel. and they were and are the same.

I figure it is the same with all challenges that come before us. although we know we can do nothing, when our preparation and personal effort meets that help which is perfect a miracle occurs.
Edgar finds truth and we overcome.

well, i hope everyone has just a dandy thanksgiving,!
thanks for your super coolness! I going to go now!
bye! I love you!
Elder Albano!

Monday, November 1, 2010

November 1, 2010

Hiya mom!

glad to hear everthing is dandy back home, with the homeless people burning down the malls and whatnot.Do i look good? i sure hope so! Do you need my address? no! you actually always send straight to the mission home, its the same address that you had, so dont worry bout that! otherwise who knows, i could be here 7 months or leave in three weeks, but i hope i stick around. theres a sister here in the ward that served her mission in santa rosa, and her last area was woodland, but i guess sacramento and our side were out of her area. o yeah, and the letters i got a few weeks ago...or last week...i dont know, were from when i was still in the mtc, so they resent them here. i thought that was right nice of them.How was Halloween? Im not sure what happened here but there was a lot of drum banging and dancing. Today is the first día de los muertos! day of the dead! I think theres two. and the only thing ive heard about in connection to this holiday is that there is this bread that everybody eats and is only made on this occasion. its called pan de muerto...i tried some too, and was alright with it, shoot! i dont have any complaints.hey mum? can you do me a favor, two? when you send the next package, (whenever you were going to!) could you toss in my harmonica and some finger nail clippers too? i dont know what happened, but i havent been able to find the ones i bought in the mtc since i moved, and and the situation is getting desperate! i could probably buy some here, but....i...dont know mom! i reckon i just dont trust mexico. they´ll arrive just fine! as far as what im doing down here,its not much! our missions president has asked us (as well as the prophets for like 15 years) to work with the members. there is a better way than knocking doors! said president Hinkley. but our mission is like stuck in the past, because you can teach a lot of lessons just by knocking doors, and everyone is accustomed to it. Well, we havent had much success. that is you can teach lessons, but the people dont go anywhere, they dont want to do anything, and so they dont progress.so we´ve been trying to adopt the ¨new¨ form.we put on this activity with games and a spiritual thought, and we even had the baker make us a bunch of sweet bread and another member make this chocolate drink that was super good, and we told everyone to come and bring friends and family and inactive neighbors (there are 700 members i think in our area and we see like 60 in the church every week)and hardly anybody came! it was fun, but also a bummer!but its alright, we´re learning. whats important, is that we all understand that we play a role in this work. an apostle told us that if we worked according to the will of the Lord, if we did his will as his church, the full time missionaries would spend all their time teaching, and not searching. right now we spend almost the whole time searching.So the spiritual thought is a challenge!Something that President Monson said is to think of the people who have recently suffered a loss, who are having difficulties in the home, people who in this moment in their life, need and have been prepared for the gospel. and then have the courage and the love for them, to share what has helped you so much in your life. can you do it? there are people in the life of every single person in this Church. God has put them there, has put us here to help one another! and i know, i dont have to tell you mom, you already know. so, ill leave you alone!
I love you! thanks for everything mom! have a nice week, please!
Elder Albano!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

10/25/10

Nick didn't actually email today, but we received this little note from the zone leader who's family is in my ward...

OK starting out Elder Albano, I love the kid. Of course i knew for like 2 weeks while i was his zone leader and did divisions with him and we figured it all out about his sister in the Smith family. He is a great missionary, he works really hard. He was with an Elder not so obedient but he handled it well and now he has a great companion who is Elder Javier. They are in a beautiful part of San Luis Potosi. It is a branch and they usually have tons of success out there, tell his family he is a great Elder and i love him.

Made my day : )

10/18/10







Guten nachte!
how art thou? i am glad to hear all is well. and mom, i hope you can forgive me!
who knows what happened last week, but i didn´t write and i am dreadfully sorry.
Wait no! i do know what happened!
I was on a bus almost the whole day, because i got changed from Irapuato to my new home in! Matahuala! Its the furthest area north for our mission, and actually, wasn´t even in our mission until about 3 months ago.
So! I have a new companion, Elder Javiere, who has about 8 or 9 months in the mission. he´s a neat guy.
I really like this place, not that i should care. Its really small, theres only one other companionship, and 2 branches. But i like it in the short time i have been here. Today we climbed a mountain, here! i will show you some pictures! in the last one is my companion, on my left hand side! closest to me! yep, thats him! neat huh?
ummmm
i´ll tell you a swell experience i had.
we went to lunch with a member of our branch, and her family.
well, we were about to eat these things that taste pretty good, but i always have a tough time downing, i think they´re called sope, and they´re basically tacos, but flat, and with a really thick tortilla. anyways,
i ate too many of them one time and now they give me this nauseous nostalgia (dont judge me for my spelling)of that occasion.
well, i sat down to eat them, with a little worry, as the hermana brought out more and more.
but then they turned on the tv and we watched this burned dvd of beautiful landscapes with smooth latinny mexican music, and i found myself at peace.
i don´t know why i felt inspired to tell you that. its just something about eating with members, and being in mexico, that i would like to share with you, because it brings me great happiness.
You have to eat what people give you! and its not a problem really, because you´re usually starving. did i tell you about the time the time the lady turned on the techno beats?
anyways, i wont waste more of your time.
PENSAMIENTO ESPIRITUAL!!!
i was talking about something two weeks ago, but i can´t remember what.
But i spoke in church yesterday, i dont think anybody was listening, because i probably didn´t make any sense,
but i´ll share a scripture that i think i shared yesterday, with you!
pablo dijo!
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith: prove your own selves.
Know ye not that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
this makes me think of something i started to learn, and i say started to learn because im still trying, about the scriptures, and about prayer.
really the purpose, and the way we aquire and strengthen our testimonies, our beliefs.
this scripture is in 1 john, 2:21
i have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it...
When i have read the scriptures, when i have read them with faith, really searching for answers, really pondering over what i have read, and praying beforehand to ask for help in this aspect,
I find i don´t learn anything new.
I feel as if i find the words that were already within me. I feel as if i remember something i already knew, or i am given hope in something i had already hoped for.
the testimony, for me, is that that which i find, mirrors the yearning of my soul. in the times when i have questioned everything, fought to find a way out of believing, i have lucked, (or better yet recieved a little help), i have remembered something.
You cannot cheat yourself.
Even though you feel as if you are completely crazy to believe in something or someone like God, shoot! people talking outloud with arms folded and eyes closed and nobody around, and no, they aren´t talking to themselves!!! really, Its crazy! its absolutely ridiculous!
IF you skip out on faith
Its a rule! its a huge rule! one that we like to try to ignore at times! or that we don´t understand.
God has promised each and every one of us, that if we ¨ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you...¨ Moroni 10:4
I have a testimony of Christ, i have a testimony of God, his words in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon, and his words through living prophets today.
Search these things, and your life as well, with a hope to find, and you will. we all have the truth within us. align it with these gifts of God
I love you!
I wish you a nice week!
and have to go!
adiós
Elder Albano






Saturday, October 2, 2010

New Pictures!





9-27-10

Howdy y´all
Hows it going huh? I didn´t find glasses, because i can see close fine, its just distances that i have trouble. but it really doesn´t matter unless im trying to catch a bus and cant read where its going. No its not a big deal.
Horay! for street vibrations and the community show! did you catch a glimpse of grry? im sure he was there, ha!
Im not sure if im going to see much of general conference, i certainly hope so, but if we continue working like we are we won´t have any investigators to bring and we´ll probably be out in the streets!
the weathers dandy, it just started raining out of the blue, just now! I cant imagine having to knock doors in 101 degrees, and i hope it remains that way. Why do you think im discouraged? IM NOT DISCOURAGED!
I would be discouraged if i thought i was capable of this work.
im attaching photos, cause i don´t have anything to say!
the first is me after too many tacos. TOO MANY TACOS! no, this is when my face was swollen, before it started to puss, like a month and a half ago.
the second is called MAKING QUESADILLAS, i was in charge of the quesadillas while my companion created ¨frijoles puercos¨ i guess an authentic meal known only where he´s from...cinaloa, or something like that.Next is TORTA WITH PEOPLE SINGING, from today, when i ate a torta and people started singing.
luego, WALMART! i thought it was funny.
finalmente, a picture of part of CENTRO. where we ate the tortas! and where the mail office is!
PENSAMIENTO ESPIRITUAL
is following! we were walking, and i said to my companion, pointing to a hunched lady on a curb, ¿que le parece si placticamos con esta Señora?
how does it look if we talk to this woman...more or less, who turned out to be a member, selling peanuts and seeds, and whose two daughters were selling chicklets at a stop light. Apparently she had been a member for many many years, was teaching in Relief Society (she proudly noted) but felt as if she was judged by the sisters there, and decided to never return to the church again. She said she had learned much, but felt as if everyones words were beautiful but the actions ugly.
I tried talking to her, asking her why she was baptized, why she let these imperfect people get in the way of her following Christ, why she couldn´t forgive them, and a whole bunch of other things. But all in all, although she told me she had forgiven these people, it was clear she hadn´t, and she let this separate her from God.
i read once that pride is the universal sin. i reckon that means that everyone in the world has to overcome it. really, its the natural man we each have within us. the problem being its so easily seen in others and so difficult to see in ourselves.
but what do we let get in the way of our relationships with others, and what do let get in the way of our relationship with God?
really, this lady because of her pride, let other people choose for her. she let their actions stop her from partaking in the sacrament, from learning, overcoming, and following the Savior. Now her children suffer, and they don´t even know it. President Gordon B. Hinckley taught that we can choose to be offended, or we can choose not to be. It is very much a choice, and one that decides to whom we give our agency, the only thing we truly own. THE MORAL!!! We must never cease to forgive, just look how the Savior forgives us
¨for behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend on the same Being, even God...? Mosiah 4:19
im gunna go, i love you, and forgive you for not sending more swedish fish.
o yeah! i got the package! and the swedish fish! and the stickers! nice work with the stickers! I got a letter from Sister Racconi too! and Riley! Thanks alot!
Let all learn from these good people!
thanks!
ok, im gunna go, i love you! till next time huh!?!

Friday, September 10, 2010

September 9th, 2010

Vaca Santa!
I hope you all enjoyed that good ol´american holiday! Ya know, we´re going to be celebrating 200 years of pure Mexico down here the 15. I think ill be sleeping, but isn´t that neat!
Anywhom
Crazy, sorry for all of this nonsense of late!
Im just now finding the time to write (though i shouldn´t be...) its ok, its a rule that we write home and i was throwing up all monday morning! who knows why, but i humbled myself and took some of the pink stuff for the stomach, you know that pink stuff with the jingle, and im ok again! and the week before, we had changes, and i got a new companion! Hooray! When he pulled up in the bus station with all his luggage he had like a big wooden ship model with a paper mache bird perched atop, and a teddy bear. and i was like, shyeah! Im afraid thats the coolest thing about him...
no! He´s cool, though in my evilness i always find a way to be just annoyed to all heck with my companions, i was hoping it was just with my first, but it appearsas if it is going to be a trial that i have to overcome.
no, all is well, i just have to learn more patience or something.
Other than that, not much is happening.Almost all of the people that we have been helping of late are starting to slip away. when sacrifices enter the scene, or when someone has to make a change in their life, in order to come closer to christ, you find out if they really do belive.
its a bummer, but i guess we just have to find other ones, which isn´t a bummer. entonces, tally ho!

PENSAMIENTO ESPIRITUAL!!!
the spiritual thought today is a quickie (yeah i know, shocker) but a good one!
Why? because nobody wants to talk to us! I first stumbled upon this scripture like a year or two ago, and found great solace in the righteous justification that it brought to the attitude i had had about schooling ( which i don´t expect anyone to understand, because im that smart or something)
but i heard applied again one day when i was on splits with another elder, when a lady told us she was too busy to talk about God.
Lucas 10
María and Marta! because i don´t have my english scriptures!
We find Jesus with these two in their house, Marta busy as all getup and mary sitting listening to the words of the Savior.
Marta, as one of those busy people would do, complains to Christ, desiring to have her sister help sweep or something super important like that,
and Christ says to her
Marta, Marta, afanada y turbada estás con muchas cosas. Pero sólo una cosa es necesaria; y María ha escogido la buena parte, la cual no le será quitada.
Basically (forgive my translation skills)
Martha, you a worried about many things, but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good part, the which will not be taken her.

Weve got alot of junk to do, as people in this world stricken with unnecessary junkpiles, but we should never get caught up in it. Sift the junk, and find the good.
Its all too easy to get caught up in things ya know? no, its hard to know, but know it! even as a missionary, especially as a missionary! but it goes the same for everyone(forgive the deathly general wordage, its with purpose no doubt!)
Real things, lasting things, truth.
I like it.
but have to say goodbye. I LOVE YOU! forgive me!

goodbye!

o yeah! i got the letter! yeah!!!!!
sunday i believe! from July 11th
It was so cool you shouldve been there!
ok thanks mom, and dad, and everyone! ok bye!