6 months to go...

Dear Family!

  This week was incredible! My companion and I really saw the miracles of the Lord for being obedient and having a great attitude. Positivity! The goal was to complete the standard of excellence for the second time in a row. Supposedly after completing three times in a row you begin to baptize. Well Sunday came around and we still needed to put baptismal dates with two people and find two new investigators. We had six people in church, all of our lessons, and all 200 contacts. We sat down on a door step to pray that the Lord would have mercy on us. We’d been doing all we could to be obedient, so I felt confident asking the Lord for His help. It was interesting because I wasn’t feeling hopeless or stressed. In fact I was feeling quite excited, anxious to see how the Lord was going to help us. It was like being on a rollercoaster.  A thrill. I was surprised by how I felt. Well, after the prayer, I felt we needed to knock that door where we’d been sitting. Right there we found three new investigators. A cool family that has heard little about our church and was interested. Then we put a plan for the people we were going to invite to baptism. Both accepted as we planned. The Lord really showed us that this is HIS work. We have to do things HIS way. So we are really grateful and really thrilled. There are a few of our investigators that I just love. I love them. And I want them to get baptized!!! By the way, Max says he sang! WHOA. Did you know that I’ve sung BY MYSELF in lessons here?! Can you believe that?! MITCHELL? Yes. So funny. But it was worth it because it brings the spirit!

  As Max says, the Book of Mormon is wonderful! I love it more than I can explain. That’s why it makes me so happy when others we teach really begin to read and enjoy it as well! Our church services are going to start at 8 AM after General Conference. OH MY GOSH. That’s going to be a great challenge for us getting people to come. President Jesperson comes on Wednesday for a Zone Conference. He says he wants to talk to me then. I really am glad that I got everything off my chest because now he really can help me. Family I love you. Mom! I’m so sorry that I forgot to say Happy Birthday! I even wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget! But HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I LOVE YOU! And Dad! Take care of all those quehaceres before I get home.  I don’t want to be a House Elf when I get back. Today we went bowling as a zone. Out of the 18 of us or so, I got second place with a score of 130. WOW. It’s because we haven’t played in so long. PS I HAVE 18 MONTHS IN THE MISSION. Whoa.

I love you all! Always, forever near or far etc. Aleksi got the song stuck in my head.

Love,

  Elder Mitch Poirier

Hola Familia!

My Dear Family,
  From now on I'm only going to be positive. Thank you for all the advice. I hit another low last week, but from now on I'm not going to let myself. I want to finish this mission strong. Elder Perez and I had a wonderful week. We completed the Standard of Excellence without stress. President had called me on Tuesday telling me that the mission really needed me, that I had all the talent and potential, I just have to have confidence in myself and not over-complicate things. Some good things that happened this week:
1) We realized that we need to be a lot more bold in inviting people to get baptized. We need to help them really understand the point in giving them a certain date as a goal. It's so that they actually put in some effort towards being ready. That they read, pray, and actually go to church. If they don't have an effective goal, they will progress way more slowly. So we're going to improve that.
2) One of the best families that we teach FINALLY came to church. It's been a month, but we've only been that patient because they are really struggling with their other family members that are WAY against them meeting with us. Finally the mother of the family had the courage to talk with her parents and tell them that she possibly will be changing religions, depending on if this is really what God has intended for her family. We love them.
3) The weather has been really nice outside. The sun is hot for a few hours, but then it gets behind the distant mountains, and everything cools down. It's breezy. The sky turns pink at sunset because of all the clouds. Occasionally it sprinkles rain. I'm trying to get the feelings stuck in my memory so that when I'm home and wondering if I'll ever get to visit again, I'll remember how great it is here. I'm sure all the world is beautiful. Mexico is not the most beautiful, but it definitely is unique.
4) I didn't get sick! I say that because Elder Perez got really sick. One day he was saying he felt strange, possibly with a fever. Then after a lesson at night, we walked out the door and he said, "Excuse me," and went to go vomit on the other side of the street. Poor guy. But I didn't get sick! Who knows what he ate..
5) We got "special changes" again! It's interesting how many times that happens here for me. I now have companion #15, not including the MTC. Isn't that crazy? In 18 months I've had 15 companions. Wow. Others only have like five. I'm now with and Elder Hernandez from Puebla, Mexico. He's only got 3 weeks in the field. Elder Padgett was just training him, but I get to finish with the next 9 weeks. So according to the mission, he's my "step-son". He seems really cool with a lot of desire and charisma (which is great when working with people obviously). So this should be good. I'm still here in Itzicuaro, Morelia. Elder Perez is going to Guadalajara. He only has 5 months in the mission but as well will be finishing up the training for another elder. I'm proud of him. He's a great missionary. I didn't talk much about him, but we got along well.
   I love you family! Thank you for the package! I LOVED reading Ramon's letter. Ramon, keep doing your best to keep the commandments. It brings such a peace and satisfaction! Thank you for writing me! I can't wait to visit Thatcher and Douglas after I finish the mission.
  I love Florida!
Love,
   Elder Mitch Poirier

Morelia

Tomas, Me and the Hermana.. She's the Stake President's wife. She and Tomas have a torta business (not a cake, it's a HUGE sandwich)

And people have all these stickers on their doors. The catholics. The christians put one that says "We accept everyone" or something. It's funny. And the Mormons have a sticker that says in spanish "Be happy. Be mormon." with a smiley face. Kind of silly

Morelia the Cathedral

Torta

Morelia at night

Elder Pathakis, Elder Petersen, Elder Perez and I

Still in Itzicuaro

Dear Family,

  This is now week 1. I'm still here in Itzicuaro with Elder Perez. We baptized for the third week in a row. Ruben and Laura. It was wonderful! We have many people who I feel really could get baptized in March, but this week we won't be baptizing. I got my TOMS this week. SO COOL. I love them. THANKS! And I don't really know what to write about. Elder Petersen went home today. That was fast. I only have 7 months left. It still feels like a long time. This week I remembered how I fell out of the BOTTOM bunk the night before I started Kindergarten split my eyebrow open, but how the night before Aleksi went to Kindergarten she had a dream that she flew with Jesus to the school. Um.. not fair? This week I've had some pretty interesting dreams that somehow seem to answer my prayers. Or at least they teach me. For example, in one Aleksi and I were on a Mexican bus and she asked me why I should judge certain elders for who they were at one point in their mission instead of who they are now. She asked, "would you want them to judge you for how you were?" True. So I have to develop more charity. And last night I dreamed that Elder Moberg (who already went home) called me to give me some motivation. I feel the desire right now to write in my journal. The mission is so emotionally demanding. But I picture myself at home driving alone and I know that I'm going to miss this great calling that I have. I feel like I'll probably pull over and cry. Or cry underwater. I know I'm still not figuring this out, but I've never felt so important to the Lord before, and it'll be sad to go back to normal life. Don't get me wrong, it'll also be wonderful. I think too much.

  I love you all!

Love,

  Elder Poirier

PS photos next week bc I can't connect anything to these computers..

Happy in Mexico

Dear Family,

  I love you all so much. I had a dream a couple nights ago that I was home again. I have those dreams all the time. They feel so real. This time I was still dressed in my suit and tag, but I went into my room twice, the second time turning on the light, but realizing that Nana was in my bed. She told me how much she had missed me and that she didn't want me to leave again. Aww. I haven't dreamed of Nana this whole time, as far as I can remember. I bet Max has dreams of home too. This week we baptized again! Janette and Yosira. And this coming Saturday we're going to baptize again, Ruben and Laura. And this is already somehow week 6, so next time I email, I'll tell you if there were changes. It's sad because our favorite other companionship, Elder Petersen and Elder Pathakis, is having changes. Elder Pete goes home on Monday. Wow. How fast these 6 weeks flew by, even for me. I can't imagine what it felt like for him.. But I wonder if we'll still play basketball in the mornings.

  I'm going to share the salsa recipe: but I'm not sure how much of each thing... just go by taste I guess.

Tomatoes

Jalapeños or chile verde (those are what makes it spicy)

Fry them in oil until they are soft and a little burnt in certain places.

Then put them in a blender with a little bit of water (the consistancy you want of the salsa) with onion, garlic, and salt.

Add chopped onion and chopped cilantro.

Good luck.

   I love you all family! Everything is well here. I just am content trying to do my best and recognizing what I could do better, but not stressing over it. I just want to be happy.

Love,

  Elder Poirier

21!!! Birthday Pictures

Mi Familia en los EUA

BAD haircut--oh well

Yellow sky means heavy rain ahead

Love the rain

 Dear Fam,

  This week was my birthday!!! I saved that birthday package until the morning of (really difficult, but worth it). Thank you mom for the list of 21 memories. I was cracking up laughing. It's so true how embarrassed I'd be to wear my scout uniform in Publix. It's funny here how all the missionaries eventually ask each other if they got their Eagle. All week it was raining and raining. My birthday was no different, but I take it as Heavenly Father's gift for me. He knows how much I love rain. So all day I wore the grey sweater you got me with one of the ties, my new belt, and my rain jacket a member is lending me. I felt really cool (as cool as a missionary can feel). My companion didn't really do anything for me, so after lunch I came up with an excuse to divide with another set of missionaries and work the rest of the day with Elder Berdejo. He's funny, so I enjoyed myself. The excuse was legitimate, so don't think it was really rude to divide. It's just Elder Perez's personality. He doesn't get cold. He doesn't get hot. He doesn't care when another month has gone by in his mission. And so he doesn't care about birthdays. At night, Elder Petersen and Elder Pathakis (two from Utah, but actually cool.. who we play basketball with) "surprised" me with a chocolate cake and candles to blow out. I say "surprised" because I already knew they were going to do it. When they called Elder Perez that AM to tell him, he didn't hear right and so asked, "un pastel?" When I asked why they'd call he came up with some excuse. So I knew. But I really appreciated it. Elder Petersen is great friends with Elder Parry (who was my compy last bday). So he as well knows how to treat someone on their bday. I just felt happy that day.

  This week we baptized Salomon and Michelle (two boys)! They were so happy. I'm glad we finally baptized! And we're baptizing again this week! I really like it here in Morelia, but mostly for the weather. Today is still cold (though prob not as cold as Chile) and really rainy. We went to eat tortas (which is a sandwich, not a cake like in Chile) with Tomas (a member from Elder Pete's ward). We washed our laundry. We cleaned the house. We're not sure what else to do. There's NO post office here or anywhere close, so who knows when I'll get to send my letter to the Shreeves. Plus I wanted to write Max, Reagan, Eva, and you all. Well, until next week then! Remember that the Lord loves you all!

  Love,

Elder Mitch Poirier

Solomon