TOPO CHIDO?‏ March 21, 2016

SOOOO! As always when I get an awesome companion it lasts for only a change. :) But I have had a super great time with him. And I am leaving some families progressing so I feel pretty happy. :) The cool thing is that I am going to have another AWESOME companion. I already know him. His name is Elder Bishop and I have went on divisions with him. So I am super excited. And the other cool thing is that I am going to finish in my first ward. :) It will be cool to be able to understand all the people. That I couldn`t understand when I got here. :) Haha and we will be on bikes so it will be pretty cool. :) It has been really fun to be with Elder garner though. Every easter they give us a new thing of cards. for the video that they release. and it is really funny because this card says #aleluya :) so when we contact people. Well my comp is like a walking musical. and so he just bursts out in song to the people. AAAAALELUYA!!! And So I join and we sing them all of the Aleluya songs that there are. :) And sometimes it is awkward but most of the time the kids start laughing and it breaks the ice. :) Haha We also had a pretty cool experience this week. On wednesday we started out and we were both just feeling super tired. And rejected. and so we were walking and I said a prayer in my heart. I prayed to find someone to get baptized. And we just walked and walked into an area that we don`t work in very much and so it was pretty steep and we were both just hiking up. Then we both at the same time just stopped, and turned to a house. and BOOM! Family waiting for us. She said that she never ever lets people into her house, but this time she felt different and let us in. And well it was just a great experience, we have taught them a couple of times! So I am sad to leave them but I still love finding, just as much as baptizing! :) This is my spiritual experience of the week. Love you all! Elder Sladers

Hey Guys! March 14, 2016

So this week was awesome! We found a ton of new people with a ton of potential! :) It was awesome! There is a new family that went to church and are super interested! I got to give a talk in church which is awesome, and I did it on getting out of our comfort zone #COACHALLEN and it was awesome. I talked about running and I said that I love to run like Forest Gump, and it might have been a bad idea because the ward now calls me Elder Gump... NI MODO!!! Anyways the family loved the church, and then after church we found a kid that is SUPER interested and his dad that I have actually talked about before (The one with a TON OF BOOKS) had a ukulele and I played it! AWESOME! And anyways he wants more peace. So he should progress very well. Then after that we found another family and they are awesome as well. So we have some good investigadors. I can`t complain. It is really hot already and I am dying again but it is worth it. I don`t know. I love missionary work. It is awesome. Anyways I also have a cool story which helped me realize that I have a lot of time in the mission. Do you guys remember the shoes that you sent me? they were pretty good. But they are broken. and it was super funny because we were walking pretty fast trying to get to an appointment., when my broken shoe, it has kind of a hook on it, went right into the hole on my left pant leg and I fell on my face... :) I was like MAN!!! That just should not happen! But I laughed a lot. :) Lovin the mission life! :) Alright so I was going to share an awesome scripture but the computer isn`t working that well so I will just send you to it. (Mosiah 3: 13) Let us all meditate about what we want the Lord to answer us in this conference that is coming. I know that we will all get a lot out of it if we do our part to think about it before hand. I love you guys so much! Elder Slade

WHHHAT a week.‏ February 29, 2016

Happy Leap Day! :) What a wonderful day! So this week was pretty interesting week. Lots of hard work! Lots of oppostition. But NOTHIN NEW!!! haha But I am excited to just keep working! :) Our investigators are still progressing. We have like 5 ready for baptism but ALL of them have 1 thing that is keeping them from doing it!!! AHHH Haha that is ok. Just need to keep working and have LOTs of FAITH!!! So this week we had our Zone Conference. And Elder Garner and I trained the zone. And it turned out awesome I would have to say. We used my slackline in an activity. Showing how if there are members on the side. It is easier to make it to the goal! And so we all helped Elder Zambrano make it. :) It was pretty cool. I had an interesting experience this week, when we knocked on a door. And a guy opened it and in the back he had two HUGE bookshelves, and he let us in. and it turned out that he knew a TON of stuff. And he offered us some tea, and said oh wait you guys can`t right? That is interesting because Tea is something healthy that came all the way from..... and on and on. So I was like oh great, he just wants to prove us wrong. But it was cool. Because we started the lesson off by simply saying. If you remember, Christ called fisherman to preach the gospel. He works through the weak and the simple. The message we bring is something that you can only learn if you are willing to listen to the spirit. And we invited him to listen to the spirit. And put away all of the knowledge of the world. He accepted and it ended up being a cool lesson. The spirit was there and I think we all went away edified. I again realized that the spirit is the teacher. And if we try and do the things without the spirit, then we will just be having a battle with the knowledge of men. Nothing else. I know that we can be ready to speak in the name of the Lord if we can just have the spirit with us. I love you all! Elder Sladers

WEEK AWESOME! In Zona Huasteca!‏ February 22, 2016

So I am super duper excited for the week that went by. We had a bunch of investigators in church. Including Eva!!! WOOT WOOT!!! She is the one that has refused the missionaries since 2012 to go to church! We also found an inactive that came back with his family and his wife isn`t member. they went to church! Familia De la Cruz! We are now teaching them and they are really excited. Ruben is an RM and he wants to repent and get his life back in order. :) So it is a great experience with them. :) We are seeing things go up and up! We found out that Agustin that has a HUGE desire to repent and be baptized will be able to, but needs some special permission from higher up and I won`t be here to see his baptism but it is all good. I can plant seeds all day, it doesn`t bother me. We are still going to work with him. We have some others too but we have to see how things roll out in these days. It is just awesome to be able to teach the Gospel to the WORLD. I makes me happy :) But I am just happy to be with Elder Garner still. He is going to go to BYU after so I will probably be able to see him sometimes. So I would just like to share something that I was pondering this week. Which is a topic that we can never stop pondering or bettering our understanding. The Atonement. First of all we have to understand why it was necesary. I always talk to people that say Jesus Christ died for my sins. Then after a discussion they don`t really know why he had to. They just know that he did. We know that because of the Fall. We are all indebted. Alma 12 22 Now Alma said unto him: This is the thing which I was about to explain. Now we see that Adam did fall by the partaking of the forbidden fruit, according to the word of God; and thus we see, that by his fall, all mankind became a lost and fallen people. Mosiah 2 23 And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him. 24 And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast? 2 Nephi 9 7 Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement—save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more. 8 O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more. I am so thankful for our Saviour. As I come to know his Atonement more, I realize even more the importance of spreading this simple truth. I love the saviour. I know he lives. And Loves us. And I know that if we do his plan. We will be able to return to the presence of our Father in Heaven. I love you all! Elder Slade

WOOOOO! February 15, 2016

Alrighty!!! So I am happy! Working that guts out of me with Elder Garner! We found a ton of families this week! And we have a few that accepted baptism and are progressing towards it. :) They are all pretty awesome! And I am just happy! :) Another cool thing. We made the connection this week that Elder Garner has a cousin that was on the Ogden running team. And I totally know all of them that he knows. He ran with them in the summers. Haha it was pretty cool. And now I am happy to be running with him too. to answer your question mom. Yes running has become a little bit more difficult. HAha BUT!!! I enjoy it still. :) I am not as fast but I feel like with a couple of months and I will be good again. :) But it is fun. We are enjoying the work and the life. So this week I had a couple great experiences teaching. So I have come to find out that I am still not a great teacher. I really don`t have a lot of talent in teaching. But I got to witness the spirit testify to the hearts of the people, that what we were saying is true. Even though it wasn`t with the most eloquence and skill. But it was an old investigator named Eva that is super awesome BUT!!! She has never ever went to church and swore that she never wanted to. And this week we had a simple lesson, and a simple example that we explained, and the spirit was super strong and she just stopped to think and said, I will go. And I was just like... WHAT? Are you serious? Haha it was a cool experience. :) So I am excited. Always listen to the spirit! He knows. :) Welp I don`t have a lot of time, but I love you guys a lot! Have a great week! Elder Slade

The Garner Machine. February 8, 2016

SOOOOO I am extremely happy and relieved to have Elder Garner as my comp. He is a dedicated beast!!! WOOOHOOOO!!!! Hoping to have like the best changes of my life! :) This guy is also a walking musical which makes me happy. He sings really well, so I just sing the melody and he sings the harmony and it makes me feel super awesome. Ya know? Haha We shall have some awesome changes. We also found a new guy named Agustin. He was a guard and we talked to him, and he went to church, and then we visited him after. And he found out that he could have a remission to his sins, and started crying. It was just like a super awesome lesson. And he accepted BAPTISM! Haha So I am pretty excited. :) Haha it just feels pretty good ya know? :) Yup also the other family is doing pretty well. Only the mother could go to church but she loved it. So now I hope that she will drag her whole family! :D But we are finding a lot of people. So things will get evenn better! :) In other news... I don`t know how they got it but the SUU running recruiter sent me an email trying to get me to run for them... I asked him if he could wait a few months and we will talk but. That was kind of weird. Haha I am just hoping to have the kick of my life in my mission! :) So everything is good. And I am sorry if I made someone sad with my story about kicking the dog in the face. It was pure self defense I promise... :) 2 Nefi 9 18 But, behold, the righteous, the saints of the Holy One ofIsrael, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel,they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world, and their joy shall be full forever. I love this scripture because basically if we can just be strong and support the crosses of the world. We shall inherit the Kingdom of God! :) And who doesn`t want that. :) I love you all! Share the Gospel! Elder Slade ELDER GARNER IS A RUNNER!!! I forgot to add that, but we run in the mornings... :D Love ya guys!

Good Week! February 1, 2016

Hello my peoples! SO we got ourselves the transfers. I am staying here and another GRINGO is coming! Loco huh? It will be my second gringo companion! I am happy because I heard he is a good hard worker. Lets just pray huh? So I have many expectations for these changes coming up. :) Woot Woot! SOOO let me see. That is the big news. This week was super interesting. We had some AWESOME lessons with this new family. And they understood EVERYTHING!!! They read the Book of Mormon together and all prayed and got an answer! They were all super excited and us too! And then we challenged them baptism... And they got serious, and the father said, it is just that I have a lot of faith in San Judas... It is one of the many saints for the catholics. Basically we talked to him a little bit. And well he is going to pray about it. But I just couldn`t believe it. He says HE KNOWS that it is all true, but doesn`t understand that this saint doesn`t really do anything or exist... Haha Man sometimes I love the mission. :) But we are going to keep going with them a little because they are awesome! :) We have another awesome family. But they haven`t been able to go to church because they just had a baby, and she is a little sick. But it is very interesting how they transport there baby in a backpack and their other daughter in between the two on a motorcycle. :) But they are doing very well. And their testimonies are growing and that is what matters. But something funny happened this week. I knocked on their door. And they have a dog that is normally really calm. But this day he hadn`t eaten and so he didn`t want us to come and delay his food or something like that. The point is he attacked me! :) And for the first time in my mission I kicked a dog right in the face. :) I didn`t really mean to, it was just a human reflex because the dog was biting me! And I made the dog do like a double backflip in the air. Ya it was like a full swing kick :) And then our investigator came out and grabbed the dog. And I thought that he was going to be mad that I kicked it in the face, but he congradulated me on my reflexes. And said I hope he learned a lesson. Woof what luck! That is a true sign of Golden Investigadors. :) But ya! And in the same day another dog attacked me, but it was like the size of a hamster so I wasn`t as worried you know. But it was a good day! :) So that is the great story of the week. :) So this week I was meditating a great deal about our blessing of having the Book of Mormon. It is really a cornerstone of the church and the cornerstone of my testimony. There have been times in the mission when people have said things to me that really made sense! That might have brought questions to me. But then I can just remember. I KNOW THE BOOK OF MORMON IS TRUE, And right there ends the doubt. It really is a blessing to have it. I know that if we follow it`s teachings, we will grow closer to God, and strengthen our relationship with him. I testify that if we can all make time everyday to study it, we will note the difference. Even if you are focused on another book of scriputure. Make time or listen to the Book of Mormon on your phones. :) And I promise that you will note the difference. I love you all and have a great week!

Living Mexican Life! January 27, 2016

Hello my Peoples! :) So I got my Christmas package from the Steadmans! Woot Woot! It is super awesome! My comp loves the starbursts and the Thompsons Jerky! :) Things that you just can`t find down here ya know? Thank you so much! I love it. Haha Well this week was pretty great we found a new family that are golden! The only problem is that they are super humble. There are four of them but they already recieved their answer about Joseph Smith. The only challenge is getting them to church. But we had a great lesson with them last night and wow the spirit filled the room. Their name is familia De Leon Ivarra. So great people. The interesting thing is even though they don`t have money, they sure are happy. Interesting huh? Haha So today we got a very much needed trip to the temple. There just isn`t any other place where you can feel peace like when you are in the temple. I got to think a lot while I was in the Celestial room. And something came into my mind. It is a talk from Elder Holland to the mission Presidents. And in this talk he said. ¨Mission Presidents. If your missionaries can come to love and appreciate the atonement. It will carry them. Perhaps more than it will carry their investigators.¨ I really love the peace that comes when we use the atonement of Jesus Christ. Even though I don`t understand everything. Even in the moment I don`t understand the why of everything. The moments that I feel peace from the atonement help me know that, it`s all good. I love the gospel. And I love you guys. I hope that everyone has a great week. I love you all!

New Years! January 4, 2016

Man! New Years in Mexico is pretty awesome! The fireworks are AWESOME! All of those huge ones over there, you can buy them here in the street. DANGER!!! haha but They all woke me up at 12. But yup it is pretty awesome. Mexico... I love it. So basically right now everything is normal. Working, and contacting lots of people. We had bikes for a little while, and my comp didn`t have brakes, and well fell in a couple of holes, and I fell off my bike laughing. :) Nothing big. Haha We have a new investigador named Javier. This guy is pretty cool, he just married a member, so we have to verify if he wants to join for his wife or for a testimony. But everything is looking good with him. We have been doing a ton of service! I got to knock down cement walls in a kitchen. It was awesome! haha and I have learned a little bit of construction with Cement. It is a lot harder than with wood. Haha But I am loving the life. :) I am hoping to stay strong! Please help me with encouragement! Remember the church is true.. and that is all that matters. :) Haha 2 nefi 8 Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise. I love our saviour. Only through him can we be saved! And have eternal happiness! ENDURE TO THE END MY PEEPS! Love ya all! Elder Slade

Shake up the Happiness! December 21, 2015

Oh man I love Christmas time! But it is soo wierd, it has been so warm! And I have no idea why! haha last year I was dying of coldness. So who knows. But it is still cool to have Christmas in Mexico, I sure do love it. So I am so excited for Jordan and Makayla! Its crazy! The last time I saw Jordan, he was digging holes and bike ramps, and now he is a FATHER!!! Life comes at ya too fast... Haha But how exciting. And the cruise you guys went on sounds like it was a blast. How fun! Haha. So the news for this week is that there were transfers, but we stayed the same!!! Crazy huh! It is the first time that I have stayed with someone for 3 changes! Haha I hope it will be good! Also another zone opened in the mission! Nuevo Laredos! I wanted to go because it is on the boarder and I wanted to make friends with the Narcos! Or the Drug Cartel but I got to stay. BUT!!! They shut the other area in our ward. So now our area is huge! And Our mission leader lent us his bikes! Cool beans no? So we are working and we found a bunch of families this week! which we took to church yesterday, and they loved it. I also had to give a last minute talk which was AWESOME! And my comp had to give a last minute talk and a class! Haha I love it. But the mission is good. I am so excited to talk to you guys on christmas. Just tell me what hour is good for all of you and I will be able to do it. :) Sounds good? Ok great. Now there was a neat quote that my mission president told us. And it helped. :) I would like to share it. “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt Stumbling isn`t bad! Haha :) that makes me happy! We just need enthusiasm! Nothing more! P.S I am going to be an announcer in the Mission Christmas party and I have a SAWEET ELF Costume. :) Haha Love ya guys!

I love the HG!!!‏ December 14, 2015

So... I am super thankful for the Holy Ghost. This week we were coming back from an appointment with an investigator. And there was a huge parade. So I took some pictures and all. And we felt like we should leave and keep moving. Well that night a little bit after we left. A truck killed four people where we had been standing. Ya it was pretty sad to hear that... But I am pretty sure that feeling that we had to leave was the Holy Ghost. In other news. We baptized a Super cool yound adult named David. He has a tatoo in arabian that says I will live forever. Haha And I was like, YA ya will! :) Haha it was cool. He just married a member and they have temple goals and all. :) HAha makes me happy! :) It would be cool to be able to come to their temple sealing in a year! :) But it was pretty good. It was a week with a lot of opposition as always but its worth it. Gotta love the mission. Even when I am so tired that I just want to fall over and sleep. :) So christmas is coming eh? Cool beans, this week has been super hot, it doesn`t feel like Christmas... But they say that the cold is coming so we shall see. But I am excited to Skype ya family! :) It shall be AWESOME SAUCE!!!! we still don`t know about what time and all but we will have to establish it next week. My scripture of the week is this Moroni 10 32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. How can we be perfected in Christ? What changes can we do in our life to deny all ungodliness and love god with all your might, mind, and strength! I invite all of us to be able to think in one thing to do better and someone that we can help! :) Love the Christmas season! And use it to share the gospel! Because HA NACIDO UN SALVADOR!!! Love ya! Elder Slade