Week 58 ~ Ciudad Obregon ~ Elder Juarez

So this week we had some kinda sad new for us... 

We went to go visit with Alonso, when one of his neighbors told us that he was drinking with some people, so we went looking for him, but he was NO WHERE TO BE FOUND. So we kept walking around hoping to find him.. and after 2 days of looking for him we found him and he told us everything he did... which is that he had a relapse.  

We explained repentance to him and during the rest of the week we wanted him to feel of our love for him, so we kept visiting him, and Saturday is when he told us that he received his punishment for what he did. He got really sick, and felt horrible, couldn't sleep, and told us that he didn't understand why he had a relapse, right after he got baptized. Then he answered his own question, he said, "everyone told me before I got baptized that afterwards the challenges would get harder and the temptations would come stronger and that I needed to be strong and he knew that Satan doesn't want him to keep walking down the straight and narrow and to Come unto Christ".

I also learned with full knowledge this week that when we take a step forward in the gospel, Satan tries to attack us on our weaknesses to make us take 2 steps backwards. And us as children of God always have to have faith to Be able to feel the spirit with us that will protect us and help us!! We should never lose our FAITH because without FAITH we cannot repent, without FAITH we cannot receive revelation, without faith we cannot keep a strong testimony. 

I know that Faith is the First principle of the Gospel for a reason, because it all begins with FAITH.

They don't celebrate Thanksgiving here, so I had a sandwich for my Thanksgiving dinner. I can't wait to be able to celebrate American Holiday's when I get home, I sure miss them!!! But we did a service project that day with my district. I was very grateful to be able to give service that day. 

Also we have been teaching the family Utires Ochoa and they are still really happy with the church and gospel so far. We invited them to come to a baptism on Saturday and the mom came with us. The baptism started a hour late and she stayed the whole time without one complaint! haha But she told us that everything looks, so far so good with her family, and that we as the missionaries, are doing everything in the right way! haha  They are a great family and kids, they are taking baby steps but they are progressing!! 

20 de December!! is when we are planning their baptism! 

So for Sunday class the bishopric taught about Christmas! The bishop said something that I never thought of. He said, "In English the word Christmas is Spanglish (Spanish and English combined)  He said CHRIST in English...... MAS in Spanish is More, which means MORE CHRIST! That really stuck to me, I really liked that because that is the true reason why we celebrate Christmas, is to remember our Saviors birth! Its the only reason! 

So I invite everybody to invite Christ into your homes for Christmas this year and talk about Christ more so that you have the true spirit of Christmas in your homes! 

I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Elder Horlacher

Week 57 ~ Ciudad Obregon ~ Elder Juarez

So Family, we had a very,very great week this week. We had a lot of meetings as missionaries and ward councils! 

 Elder Horlacher's district

But all in all we are seeing A LOT of progress, for instance, We have found some less actives and one of them is 17 years old, his name is Fernando, and he has had some addiction problems. But when he found him and first taught him, he was very, very excited to see us and had such a strong desire of wanting to be better. So we started sharing the lessons with him and his family! and we invited them to church, which they excepted but more then just excepted, they acted!!! They came to church, and the whole church services the topic was on SERVICE... and in the young men's class they asked if they would like to go on missions and he said yes and now has a bigger desire to change his life!! and that is really cool to see!! honestly!! 

Another man that I am Honestly Amazed is Alonso!! Alonso took the decision this Sunday to be Baptized, and let me just tell you a little about his story. So to start off, he was a drug addict, and one day we were walking down a new street, when we just happened to asked him, "what was the name of the street?", then we asked if we could share a message with him, when he started telling us that we arrived at a very precise moment... later he told us that he was having some very troublesome thoughts in that moment, and that when we came at that moment that was a manifestation from God, saying that "God loves him!" and that was awesome to hear.. But he had a lot of struggles and trials in his transformation. REALLY  I haven't seen a man tried as much as him, and such a strength of the testimony that he has... like a few days before his baptism a friend of his told him that he was once a member of the Church, but he said to Alonso, "I don't want to hurt you but the Mormons don't have the truth".... and that's when Alonso looked at him in the eyes and told him, "Don't worry, It didn't hurt me, I know That its true and I Am going to be baptized with them!!!"  I was amazed at the testimony that he has obtained! Then another obstacle came on the day of his baptism which was Sunday. The cable guy went to his house to put the cable in his house!! (Here in Mexico, CABLE is sooo important and they LOVE their TV, so that usually an excuse for people to brush us off) but lo and behold Alonso arrived at church!! and helped with everything prayers, testimonies, and after church was his baptism! It was great!! He has Progressed so much in the gospel! and is very willing and knowing that he has to endure to the end! He is going to be a great member and strength for others around this area.

Alonso was baptized by a member named Ramon. His mom and sister came to see the baptism, and it was a great experience! 

We also found a family to teach, they're the family Utires Ochoa! and they are a family of 4, the dad is a less active, but the wife and 2 kids aren't members! We taught them and then the next day they came to church! They only came for 2 hours, but it was great to see them there! We put a baptismal date for the 20 de December! and they all accepted! 

Jorge now has the priesthood, and actually I ordained him to the office of a Priest... he asked me if I would ordain him! He is doing really good, he is looking for a job right now, but is staying very excited about everything! 

Well HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! I am very thankful for everyone of you for writing me or even just reading my emails! I truly do love you all for simply that!! I hope you all enjoy the time you have with your families because like they say,"Friends may come and go, But the Family is always there!" Truly I invite everyone to show your love for your family, not just through your words but through your actions, Serve your family.. Truly love them, like the lord truly loves you!! That is where our greatest JOYS are found, with our FAMILIES!!!  Well I'm also grateful for a Savior that was willing to pay the price of my sins. I am forever in debted to him. But like I said about our love for our family, we need to show him that we are really grateful, we need to serve and help, and Repent, Live the gospel, and Keep the commandments! Well I love you all and have a great day of turkey!! 

Elder Horlacher

Week 56 ~ Ciudad Obregon ~ Elder Juarez

HOLA, this week went by amazingly well!!!! de verdad! So Alonzo has been progressing a lot! He has really changed! Like I have said in the emails before but its so true! He has such a great desire to live correctly! Like this Saturday, he woke up and had a strong desire to drink and do drugs again, so he called us to help him, and asked if he could come with us to do visits! Isn't that awesome! He wants to change! and during the visits he actually shared his testimony with members and with investigators! he was a huge help! 

He will be baptized this coming Sunday!! 

This is Alonso on Sunday when we went to pick him up for church wearing one of my ties.

He's such a stud, I love this guy!!!

I gave The class in priesthood this Sunday, about missionary work... and it was awesome. All the members helped me by sharing experiences that they have had and the feeling that they have had in the work! And now they would like to come with us to visit! I asked them "when they could help us and go on visits with us?" Then they started to tell us the hours and days that they would like to go with us. IT WAS SUCH A GREAT LESSON!! And to think that I was a little nervous to teach, the spirit just stepped right in and helped me. (I still am a little shy)

Today I taught a group of little kids how to play football!! haha it was probably one of the hardest things i have done here on the mission ;) haha but really it was hard to explain all the rules. But in the end they understood and we played a great game of football!! Of coarse my team won;) haha but it was awesome! I love teaching this game that I love so much and miss playing so much!!!!

My companion and I rented a washing machine for 200 pesos for a week and boy did I wash EVERYTHING!!! I mean EVERYTHING!!!! I can't believe how clean my clothes are. I can't remember the last time I was able to wash my clothes in a washing machine. It made me so happy, I didn't realize that I could rent one. 

I love this work and What I am doing and seeing come to pass! The work is amazing, help and do it every moment you can! Les Amo Muchísimo! cuídense.
I love you all,

Elder Horlacher!

Week 55 ~ Ciudad Obregon ~ Elder Juarez

Sooooo ~ This week went by so very, very good. We saw many blessings in the work we were doing! This week we have been visiting with Alonso, and he started saying to us that he would like to come with us to visit people and share his testimony with them. So we invited him to an activity that we were going to do, which is talk with people in a flee market, that's what they do here. I carried the table over my head for about a mile ;) to the flee market. Where we set up and started talking with people passing by! I held up a poster that said "ENGLISH CLASSES ¨FREE¨", and you would be surprised at how many people here know a little bit of English but want to know more! So I told them where and when and it was going to  be held, which was actually like an hour later from the activity! We had 4 people come to the Class!!! I was so surprised! But during the activity Alonso was helping us and he was contacting people saying, "these guys are from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and we are sharing a message of jesucristo during this English Class!! It was so awesome to see him doing that and sharing with these people what he thought was important and what we share is important! 

But I had a test FAITH! So Alonso had a job opportunity or interview on the day when we planned to do this activity and he told us that he would come with us! So when we showed up to pick him up, he told us that he couldn't go because he has a job interview, and that's when my companion said, "well you know what, this happened to me also and I choose to go do visits with the Elders, and the next day they gave me the job anyways!" Then he told him that it will happen to him also!! I was like dang!! OK... then Alonso looked at me and said, "what do you think Elder Horlacher?" I looked at him and said, "you know what, if you have faith, God will bless you!" At that moment it hit me hard, and then I questioned myself, "would I have enough faith to make these sacrifices that I'm asking of my investigators?" It's a big question of FAITH. But I know I would in the end of all things! I will,I know the Lord will provide a way, after a test of our faith!! 

We as a mission are going to read the Book of Mormon in 100 days, and I invite everybody who can and is willing to accept the challenge and read the Book of Mormon in 100 days with me!! I know it will help in your lives a ton! And you will have a stronger testimony of why we need to read the Book of Mormon everyday! 

Well I love you all and be safe this week!! 

Love Elder Horlacher

Week 54 ~ Ciudad Obregon ~ Elder Juarez

This week we really struggled with having lessons to teach... we really did a lot of walking and knocking on doors... like we walked from house to house all the week long looking for people to teach!!! Really good exercise!! haha we really didnt have very many cool experiences either to report.. 

But if you guys remember a few weeks ago we contacted a guy that said he had said a prayer asking why he has been abandoned by God... well we went to visit him in the night time and where he lives is so dangerous... but we took the risk to visit him... we went and we didn't find him... but we found his wife!! and his wife is a member!! A less active but a member!!! wow!! I really think that he is supposed to be baptized and we are being directed to him through his prayer!! It was really cool!

You know how much I love dogs and all animals. Well I had a treat this week, A dog came into our house and was a very nice dog. I loved being able to pet it and talk to it.

Well I don't know what else I can say of this week... but thanks love you all..

Elder Horlacher 

We received this picture on Sunday during church.

Wish syd a feliz cumple anos for me please.♥♥you