Thank you

My Dear Family,

  Thank you so much for all your emails and especially for all your prayers. I felt broken, but I've AGAIN put myself together and I'm moving on. I'm taking mom's advice about companionship relationships because my compy is really hard to get along with, but I'm accepting the blame and am showing a lot of humility. I'm going to do my best to love him and be open with him even though he is really harsh. He only has 3 months in the mission, so he's a kind of rough. But anyway, this week I've been studying patience a ton. Patience with the Lord, patience with my companion, but especially patience with myself. I really just want to be the most successful, but to some only 2 talents are given. This week I've really felt that Heavenly Father IS pleased with me. I read my Patriarchal Blessing, and it gives me such strength to move on past obstacles and learn. I just have to have patience in all my afflictions. After all, they are hardly afflictions in comparison to what early saints had to face. Early church members would gladly change places with me. I just needed to recall the whole reason I'm here. So I'm going to keep working on patience and other Christ-like attributes. I think that is going to be my goal from now on, just become SO Christ-like. Those are the missionaries who make a difference, despite baptizing a ton or completing every week. The ones that are Christ-like are the ones that are impressioning (is that a word?). (impresionante). Impressive. but not exactly. More like make a deep impression. Anyway, thank you for your prayers. I really felt them. This week was a struggle, but I feel like I'm really learning a lot here. An elder in our district today told me that everyone says these are the best two years, but it's not true. He said that these are actually the best two years for you. Do you get that? They're the best two years FOR you because of the great impact they make on the rest of life. I want to wish Max a ton of success and hope and love in Chile. You make me so proud brother! I look forward to going home just so that I can write you everything I want to say and can focus all my attention on you. For now, please forgive me for not being able to write you letters. I'll do my best, but be patient with me. Know that this is the HARDEST thing you've ever done so far, but the Lord calls 19 year olds knowing that they're weak. He expects a lot out of you, but he'll make up for what you can't do. I love you Elder Max Poirier. You're my favorite brother!

i LOVE YOU FAMILY

I hope that the Lord blesses you richly every day!

Love,

 Elder Mitch Poirier

Hola de mexico

Dear Family,

   I got transferred again! But this time I ACTUALLY left Guadalajara. I'm now in Morelia, Michoacan. WHOA, finally! My new companion is Elder Perez from Chihuahua, Mexico, but he lived 7 years in Phoenix and therefore speaks English. He only has 3 months on his mission. He seems pretty happy and strange. I think we'll get along perfectly. I'm feeling really upset though. I really miss home. Sometimes I honestly feel that I'm just enduring the two years, patiently waiting for them to end. Other times I actually feel a love for the mission. I miss Elder Willett a ton! He's my favorite companion and I really just want to talk to him.

  Last night they didn't call us with the transfers until midnight. Then I had to pack up. I went to bed at about 1:30 but then couldn't sleep.  We baptized this week and last week (I have to send the photos).  I've been doing my best to do ALL that President asks of me, and to be consistent in doing so.

  Please keep praying for me. 

   I love you all so much.  

Love,

  Elder Poirier

January 9th!

Supposedly we're going to the mission offices today so I'll finally get the Christmas package!!! I cannot explain how happy I am about that! It's been two weeks since Christmas!!!! I just want to see the Christmas card and read the letters!  I love our family's Christmas traditions. I can't believe that Stephen Bowzer comes home in one week! Weird!! September will be here before we know it. I just want to baptize at least 31 more people before then! I want to improve my accent! And I want a ton of more recipes! I love that Max thinks he loves the mission already, the MTC is WAY different than life in the mission field. But he'll love it as well. I hope that all is well at home, at church, and at work. I love you all!
Love,
  Elder Mitch Poirier

Happy 2012

Dear Family,

  Where to begin?! I don't feel like writing, I just want to read all your emails. I'm sending you all photos of Christmas here in Mexico, but really it doesn't compare to our New Year.  I LOVE the area. It actually feels like Mexico here.

  Now, as for the New Year, we five Elders had a fancy dinner in our house. We took a ton of photos, most of which without smiles. Kind of ridiculous, but it really was a lot of fun. I didn't want to wear my suit though, so after 12AM I changed into that light-blue sweater (the second time I've worn it on my mission because it's drycleanonly). We went on our roof and looked at the view of all the city. It was pretty neat seeing everyone's fireworks. I can't believe it's 2012!!! Time is flying by! This is the year that I come home!! I really love being here in Mexico. I feel like I'm appreciating it a lot more. I'm going to miss it. Elder Leon and I are practicing our accents (his english, my spanish) in the mirror in the mornings. It helps to see how the sounds are made. I look forward still to getting that christmas package!

  Love you all!

Merry Christmas and Happy 2012!

LOVE,

  Elder Mitch Poirier

Merry Christmas

dear family. my companions didn't leave any time to write because they called home last night and it wasn't so important to them. there's no time to even read...

love,

  Elder Poirier

Mexico

Dear Family,

  I love you! Merry Christmas! I don't have time! You're in my prayers!

Love,

  Elder Poirier

My Chilean Companion!

Hey Family!

  What wonderful news I have! I'm TRAINING again!!! And this time it's a Chilean named Elder Olivares from Santiago!!!!!! WHOOOHOOO!!! And he's from Max's generation of missionaries! SO WEIRD! He's 19 and I'm basically training Max. HOW COOL! Elder Willett got transferred. That did make us sad. We said goodbye to all our converts on Sunday because my leaders had told me that I'd probably be going. Well it turns out that Elder Willett left. And I'm TRAINING again!! I can't tell you how excited I am. Also, Elder Silos is training! SO I'M A GRANDPA!!! (when you train, they're considered your sons, so my son's son is my grandpa!). Today I went in the morning to the mission offices to pick my new compy up. Their were a group of seven, but I knew immediately who would be my companion when I saw him. I can't describe how, but then it turned out that he was the one that was from Chile! How cool. But I HAVE SUCH A HARD TIME UNDERSTANDING HIM. He doesn't pronounce his "s" at the end of words. He said that the fruit in Chile is "mas rico" but I understood "marrico" and wondered what word that was.. By the way, my tongue sometimes rolls! So yes! I'm training. And President promised that we'll baptize three this month. I'm going to do all I can. I want to baptize 32 more people in my mission, so I've got to figure this out. They say that training is the greatest honor in the mission because it affects the rest of the mission of the new elder. Elder Woodhouse, who is an assistant, actually told me that they were going to make me be a zone leader, but decided to wait. Oh no..

  So that's the good news. I loved Elder Willett. I'm going to miss him. We had a ton of fun! And have a TON of inside jokes. I wish I could tell you all, but they require acting it out. The Elder (President) Octavio Tenorio came this Friday to see all of us elders. He told us to have vision! We need to put forth an effort, concentrate, and have joy in completing with our dreams. He said that if we want to do something with our life and be really successful--I'll give a pie shop as an example--then we have to first do it for free, observing how others do it, but learn to do it faster, cheaper, and better. So that's my advice for me for later. I can't believe in 10 months I'll be home. But anyway. After that conference an elder came up to me and told me how some of my converts are doing. Not very good. It actually was something that really depressed me. But I'm happy now. I just have to put it in the Lord's hands. He'll take care of them and give them a fair chance to progress.

  Well I love you family!

Love,

My Chilean Companion, Elder Olivares

  Elder Poirier