Ward mission leader Mike, our convert Yulieth, and I (yo)

The visitor center with Eduardo Andrea and their daughter Luna

Fireworks from the delegation

Fireworks from Delegation

Hola!

Well the mouse story this week was pretty funny! I can just imagine how crazy the house was and that Anna was still in her own world. Haha it made me thing of the time the birds got out and Carter and Cole and I were scared, Anna was sleeping and Jace and Kelsey had to try to put it back in the cage  while Jo just sat on the couch and bossed everyone around. It also reminded me of the rats here and how freaky they are and the stories Ive heard. Thank goodness Ive only seen a few... The last time was last week when we were walking to an appointment at like 7;30 underneath one of the metro lines in our area that is above ground. We were underneath because it was raining and it was also starting to get dark and its a good place to walk because its like a little park. We passed one of the columns and Elder Pardo said look a group of cats...I looked and then they noticed we were there and started to run away. Then we notice their tails and that their hair was different. Aggghhhh their rats! At least they were afraid of us haha. But your story made me laugh.. Im excited for you guys to be at conference, Ill watch for you! Im also so excited to listen to the words of our living prophet and also that our investigators will be able to go and through the spirit I know that they will know he is called of God. The new apostels is cool too!. I hope that one is latino that would be really cool!. 

This week went really fast and everything is going really well. We went to an appointment with Eduardo and Andrea and we had planned to talk to them about the law of chastity and that they need to get married and one of the first things that Eduardo asked before we even started the lesson was what he needed to do to get married in the temple. They are so great!!!!!! I love them so much. Erika has her date for saturday. Shes progressing really well and everything is going good but we dont think shell be baptised this week only because we dont want to rush her and theres still just a little bit more she needs. Arturo and Rodolfo have dates for the 10th so pray for us that we can help them be ready for that and that they will know they are ready and they need to. Arturo is super ready but Rodolfo still feels nervous mostly for his family who are catholic (like everyone) but he says he wants to serve a mission so... he has to get baptised first haha. Darinka and Lupita and doing good too Darinka just needs to go to church and get married...and Lupita went this week but she felt uncomfortable in the relief society so hopefully everything will be good with her. 

Tell Kelsey thanks for praying for me! Shes great I love her.

Its funny when you said sister palmer I thought of the sister palmer here haha we have a sister palmer in the ward wierd right?  There are so many cool stories from missionaries that come from hard backgrounds and whos families arent members. I really am super happy to be here in Mexico and I also know that Im protected. 

I met a kid the other day from BYUI that was here on exchange for a semester and I thought that would be soo cool. Maybe I could do that? 

Everything is really great and I cant really think of anything else to say...I still dont have a way to send my pictures but I have some from the visitor center and from Kevin that Ill send...Speaking of Kevin his mission call came today and hes going to open it tonight and 7 so thats super exciting! Love you all lots! Adios

Elder Inskeep

My zone with the seventy that came

Buenas tardes,

  Compadre is closer than friend but in spanish there are a ton of words for friend like cuate (which also means twins that arent identical) bato, pariente, carnal, ect some are normal and some are how they talk in the rough parts of town haha. Its good that you have a lot of work and everyone is busy. No I didnt get to shake hands with Eyring nor Holland but it was still cool that they were there close. We didnt have any baptisms this week, Rodolfo is scared of his family who are very catholic and Erika needs a little bit more but Erika is October 4th and Rodolfo is october 10th. We`re hoping Eduardo and Andrea will be soon if we can get them married. Darinka is also ready but she needs to get married too and we havent met her husband yet either, she said hes open hes just really busy so hopefully we`ll have a lesson soon. The little kids Tomas and Jose Armando still need to be confirmed but they went to Puebla to visit family a long time ago and still arent back, we also have a guy named Jorge that was baptised in LA but we need to confirm him, hes really busy so weve only talked to him a bunch on the phone so hopefully thatll work out soon too. We have two Guadalupes, Guadalupe Tello and Guadalupe Lugo that are really good, we need permission from Sis. Tellos daughter to teach her because she lives in a Senior citizen home and the people that work there are a little cranky and dont want us there teaching so we`re trying to figure something out with that and Sis. Lugo is the sister of the twins that were baptised recently and shes really great but super busy because she is the head accountant of a grocery store chain here in mexico and soon shes going on vacation for a few weeks to visit her other sister in California. And those are the ones that are close for right now. In this ward the ward mission leader conducts the baptismal serves and takes care of filling the font and everything so thats nice. The counselor trys to come to most of them but sometimes he doesnt but we have permission to baptise without him as long as we have the mission leader sense hes the only one in the bishopric. Yep he has to do all the interviews and everything, imagine how busy he was doing interviews for the temple dedication. He does well though especially for being the only one, all the converts are recieving callings and everything, Jasmin was just called as a counselor in the young womens. The weather here is the same as it has been for almost the whole time, i dont understand because they say that theres a rainy season and a dry season and a cold season but to me its all the same, one things for sure though the weather really is extreme, itll be way hot in the morning until like 4 or 5 and then it rains really cold and hard then in the night it could be hot again or windy and cold. I did see the pictures of the bathroom they look really great, I didnt say anything last time? Maybe its you thats not getting my letters haha? My companion is good... he goes home the 17th of oct so Ill have a temporary again. Things are good. today we had another zone activity, every companionship in the zone except for us and one other had transfers so the zone is half new. Its still cool though, theres a new sister from Rock Springs named sister Beck, she was born in tijuana so she already knows spanish really well. I was telling her my grandma lives in Lyman and another elder, Elder Feller from Las Vegas said that his grandparents live in  Green River and their last name is Rollings haha its so close for a second we thought it was the same last name haha. Theres another hermana that lived in Idaho Falls for a while too. We played some games, and some ultimate frizbee that was fun and then ate burritos and jamaica juice, have you ever heard of that? We drink it a lot here its a juice from a flower, which sounds weird and at first i didnt like it but now I love it, its a super dark red color like polmagranet (I dont know how to spell it...its easier in spanish granada). Kevin the kid that lives bellow us had good new this week, he lives with his aunt who is our landlord because his parents live in California and have lived there sense he was a little kid...its actually kind of sad but while they were there the family here in mexico was all baptised like 5 years ago but on friday after 5 years of telling his family about the church they were baptised and he got to watch it on skype I was super happy for him. also his parents are super nice one day when his dad felt a little pressured about baptism I got to talk to him on the phone which was way cool too to try and help him. hopefully Ill meet them someday and more hopefully someday Kevin and his brother will be able to move with them to California. What else. I really love barrio Mixihuca and Im happy to be here in this crazy part of the city. Ive learned that sometimes we just need to work even if things arent working out and we`re tired because later we`re blessed and if we werent finding anyone the people who are ready find us. the work is going great and Im doing well. Pictures soon....Love you lots and i hope you have a great week and I also hope that the letter is alright...I dont know what else you want me to say...hasta luego

Tu hijo

Elder Inskeep

In the Visitor Center: Elder Pardo, me, Hermano Miguel (or Mike, our ward mission leader), Yulieth (our Colombian convert), and Kevin (the kid thats waiting for his mission call that lives below us)

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Well a lot has happened in the last week and a half. I hope you recieved the message from my neighbor to Anna that I wasnt going to write until today. I forgot to say last week. You can just plan every 6 weeks Ill write on wednesday and not monday. 

Well the re-dedication was awesome. President Eyring and Elder Holand came. It was cool because they dont know spanish so I heard everything twice haha theyd say a paragraph and then their translators (both spanish speaking seventies, one Elder Walker, I met in stake conference in Anahuac) would say it in spanish. I felt bad for Holands translator because he hardly left any space for the translator to translate and then he had to translate a huge chunk all at once so it wasnt as precise. We went to the first two sessions in the stake center they were really good. I loved the messages and I wish you guys could have watched it too. President Eyring had to announce the people who were going to give prayers and stuff and he struggled a lot haha the names here are way hard because almost all of them are Aztec, Mayan, or Mexican or some other ancient language and after a while he just let his translator do it haha the only one he could do was when our stake president gave one of the closing prayers. We´re lucky Moctezuma is way easier than Xalostoc, Nezahaulcoyotl, Tlalnepantla, and Tlaxcalancingo...theres a lot of hard names here haha. At the end of his talks Elder Holand bore his testimony in really simple spanish with a suuuper thick accent but it was so powerful. Then our stake was invited to go to the temple for the last session. The stake center is half way from our ward to the temple but we had to go back to the ward super fast to help a convert in her wheel chair get down from her apartment and then pick up Yulieth (who could only go to the last session) and we only had about an hour and a half. We went back super fast in taxi and helped the sister and she went with another family to the temple. Then we went with the ward mission leader Mike and Kevin our neighbor in Mikes car to get Yuleith. If theres no traffic you can get to the temple from the ward in about 20 minutes. But we had luck and there was a lot of traffic and it took us almost an hour. We really did have luck because sometimes if you get stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time it can be more...traffic is terrible here. So we got to the temple at like 2:50 and the session started at 3 but the doors were already closed and we couldnt get in....it was sad, especially for Yulieth but at least Gaby (the wheel chair sister) made it. Everyone in the stake got to shake hands with President Eyring and some with Elder Holand. One young women in the ward was walking down one of the halls trying to leave and find her parents (there were so many people they got put in different rooms) and there was someone standing in front of the door, she touched his shoulder and said excuse me brother and he turned around and it was Pres. Eyring. Haha she was embarressed but she said it was cool... So sense we couldnt go in we went to the visitor center and I already sent you the picture of us there. I have a lot more pictures but I need to find something else to connect my camera to the computer, my cord doesnt work and the computers Ive been using lately dont have the space to plug in the memory like some others Ive used. 

Also last week we had a zone conference with a seventy from Northern Mexico that was really good too. Yesterday was Independence day in Mexico. There were a ton of fireworks and concerts and parties in the street. There was a concert in Zocalo (the federal government plaza) and the plaza of Venustiano Carranza the delegation that we live in and we live between them both so there was loud music all night. We were invited to eat dinner with two families one lots earlier and one later so we had forgotten that we already had an appointment so we ended up going to both and then we were invited to left overs today for lunch. The food was super good. A soup called posole, homemade tamales, enchiladas, tinga, tostadas, and Mexican flag cupcakes haha. Our neighboors threw eggshells filled with confetti at us and we watched fireworks with them from the roof. 

Im glad your having fun! Sounds like everythings great. It was great to hear about Whitneys mission call and also Claudia got called to Costa Rica West same mission as Caleb and two missionaries from my ward. 

No we really dont have a bishop its soo crazy. I didnt think it was possible but it is. On of his counselors is in charge but theres only one counselor poor guy. Its a really good ward though. 

I also got to go to Eduardos baptism in Muzquiz which was good and it was great to see the ward. Also today we got to go through the temple in the morning. It was so full we waited 4 hours and there werent any lockers for us for a while. But how great is that that it was full!!! Theres 8 endownment session rooms too! crazy! I love the Mexico City temple its so beautiful and it was such a blessing to get to go. 

Im learning lots and everything is great. Love you and I hope you have a great week. Thanks for the prayers

Hasta luego

Elder Inskeep

My branch president from when I was in the CCM. We was volunteering at the temple when I went this week.

Buenas tardes,

Well sounds like you guys are busy as always which is good. Thats exciting you have tickets for conference! Im soooo excited for conference! Especially because this time I can understand it! Also the rededication/cultural celebration this week will be awesome. The only hard thing is that we have to tell our investigators that they cant go. We wont have church services on sunday just the 3 sessions of the temple rededication. The first 2 sessions we´ll be in the stake center but the last our stake is invited to go to the stake center next to the temple so thats cool. We´re focusing on making sure all the recient converts can go to the rededication sense investigators cant. The open house didnt have as much success as they were hoping because the area presidency did a lot of weird stuff so thats disappointing.

This ward is super great. Our ward mission leader is a returned missionary that came back a little less than a year ago so he knows what hes doing. We have coorelation and ward council every week. We actually have ward missionaries too which is rare in the mission. I dont know why but they divide the wards really fast here so all the wards are super small and dont have enough faithful members for all the callings which is stupid and a lot of wards dont function very well for lack of members. Lucky for us it isnt the case with Mixihuca we dont have a bishop but everything still works pretty well and the members help a ton. We take our progress records to ward council and the ward council members all choose an investigator that they want to know and go with us to a lesson. And that is why we have success. This is a really hard area, we dont have a lot of investigators but all of them progress because the members help us find them and fellowship them. The youth and YSA are really great too with fellowshipping. They are all great friends and do stuff together outside of church probably because its a safer environment and they feel more comfortable. Our recient convert Yulieth from colombia who doesnt have a lot of friends here and feels lonely because she is at home every day with her son now has a ton of friends and they all support her in the church. Rodolfo has also been fellowshipped really well (hes 20) the only thing is is he felt nervous and not ready this week and he started school so we didnt have as much time to talk to him. So we didnt push his baptism, he´ll get baptised this week... he wont be able to go to the temple dedication but at least he wont feel pushed. We started teaching the sister of some recient converts that are twins that are super awesome. They are so great to be around and the sister, Guadalupe, will be baptised soon. The twins, Veronica and Monica, have been baptised for 2 months and are already sharing books of mormon with their friends in the hospital where they work together, Monica is secretary in the relief society and Veronica is 2nd councilor in the young womens. They´re cool and Veronica is going to cut my hair today haha. Another investigator named Erika is progressing really we´ll she´ll be baptised soon because she really wants to. Shes super nice but also super serious...shes a grandma but shes only 35! We also found another couple Andrea and Eduardo that have been traveling to Ecatepec every Saturday and staying the night at Andreas moms so they could go to church (her mom is also a recient convert) then the ward told them that there is a church closer to where they live so they came and found us, they´re cool too and they have a 3 year old daughter that is adorable named Luna which means Moon haha. Darinka is also progressing shes just always busy on sundays...

I look forward to seeing the pictures...still...years...later... Haha its nice to know that things havent changed much haha. 

Today we went to Zocalo again which is the plaza where all the government buildings are including the National Palace (office of the president) and the Cathedral of Mexico. It was cool because sept 16th is independence day so everything is all decorated in green, red and white and looks super cool. Im excited because we live so close we will be able to see all the fireworks and all the cool independence day stuff in the capital of Mexico. Its like being in DC on the 4th of July...(Was that cool). We saw a cool building called Bellas Artes which is a really fancy theater for like Broadway plays and a ton of street shopping. Its cool because its like an outdoor mall but with all the old Mexican Buildings. Its had all the stores Anna loves so she would have been in heaven. We also saw a lot of American, British and French tourists. Lots of them pointed at us probably like ´look the Mormons´ haha

Yeah the food here is way different than Mexican food in the US. The reason that its so greasy is because they use so much oil. A LOT OF OIL. Also Im pretty sure the food department does nothing here. They hardly use cheese but the cheese they use is the healthier weird white kind like the Mexican cheese we had a whole bunch of in the freezer for a while or another kind called Oaxaca that is kind of like string cheese but more real and with a stronger taste. Yep Dad we do need to come back some day so you can try the food and learn what spicy really is, so I can visit all the other cool touristic places outside of the mission and so you can meet all my friends. 

Thats sad Neal and Colette arent going to the fair. Have fun though and send me some pictures so I can show my comp. 

Dont be too scared of the dogs mom haha dont you have pepper spray? There shouldnt be dogs on the green belt right?

Well things are great. Hopefully Ill find something to connect my memory to the computer to send all my pictures. 

Love you lots and have a great Labor Day! 

Adios

Elder Jo-Ann Inskeep

Hola,

Well this week has been good. The temple isnt going to be dedicated for another 2 weeks...did I tell you it was going to be dedicated this week? Its always been the 13th. Mom you dont need to worry about my weight haha I feel fine and if I have a bug itll die soon because we will get our shots next month. Im probably just used to eating less too because the lunches are always so big Im never hungry. Marriage isnt that expensive unless they are way poor its just complicated, divorse is super complicated and expensive which is difficult too because sometimes people have to divorse their past wife to marry the one they are with now... We baptised Juliet (Yulieth) this week and we are going to baptise Rodolfo on saturday so we´ve been baptising every week, then we have some other really good investigators they are both Young moms Darinka is 20 and has a 2 year old, shes married so thats good, and Ericka Im not sure how old she is but Young too, theyre both great so hopefully soon for them and then hopefully the family Victoriano or Silvia. Yeah mom there are a TON of dogs here... well in the state a ton, in the city not that much. We never had any problems or anything so thats good. All of my companions have been scared of dogs haha. 

Today we went a taco stand that is pretty famous in Ecatepec that is owned by one of Elder Pardos past Ward misión leaders. It was good but everything here is soooo greasy so I get tired of that. Then on the way back we stopped to visit Salomon and tried to visit Margarita but she wasnt home. It was good to see Salomon though and congradulate him for his baptism, he told me he wanted me to baptise him but I wasnt there (I could have gone but I have to have an invitation and the Elders there are both new so they didnt know) he told me to count him as my convert haha. I might go in a couple week s to Eduardos baptism. Well I have to go right now but Ill write another short letter in a Little bit. Love you!!!

Elder 

Well I said I was going to write another letter better but now I dont know what to say. (we had to leave the internet to talk to someone and now we``re back) Things are great and Im doing good. Love you lots and thanks for the updates.

 Its super smoggy and polluted so you cant see how cool it actually is but its a veiw from a members apartment close to ours. 

Jarin's zone