Elder Spencer Tingey: Tatooine 8-6-12

We got lost in a place that looks like Tatooine. Fun Mexico fact! You can see a Maseca brand tortillería in the picture. There's one of those every few blocks, in every neighborhood in every area I've been in so far. Everybody sends their kids out for some corn tortillas for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Hello. I hope everyone is well. We went to Culiacán during the week. This time I really did get to sit in the copilot seat of the Cesna! The pilot didn´t think my jokes about twisting knobs were funny. There are so many knobs. As we were leaving the city, it was pouring, and we took a taxi. We had the windows down, and he was driving super crazy. As other cars raced by, loads of muddy water sprayed into the taxi. It was an adventure.

David is ret-to-go for his baptism next week. He´s a cool kid who is essentially an active member. He lives with the bishop on weekdays and went to EFY in Sinaloa last month. The ward is pretty excited about his baptism as well.

We had a cool lesson with Rosalva and Liliana this week. We brought a young woman from the ward along with us because we had an appointment with Dafne, who is also a young woman. But when we arrived, only Danfe`s mom - Liliana - and Dafne`s grandmother - Rosalva - were there. Basically the first thing that Rosalva said was that she wasn`t going to go to church even if we invited her. Okay... so we started teaching the Restoration, and it was going well. The Spirit was strong in the lesson, and they accepted the doctrine of the First Vision and the Book of Mormon and everything. And we were about to invite them to church, when Rosalva was like, "That´s cool and all, but I´m not going to go to church." Yeah. We did what we could. Liliana, however was much more pumped abuot going, so I think we´ll focus our efforts more on her.

I learned the importance of having good companionship inventories and decided that I´m going to have them weekly with my future spouse.

I´ve been contemplative lately about the importance of working love and charity over working with diligence. A past companion mentioned how, for him, giving 100 percent (this keyboard has no percentage symbol) is more about loving others and having the disposition to share the Gospel at all times instead of running from appointment to appointment and feeling physical gratification for your supposed diligence. I´ve been focusing on loving others: seeking to serve them, identify with them, and help them with the correct motives. In a recent Liahone, President Ucthdorf mentioned that he tells missionaries to consider that they are in the "middle" of their missions, whether it´s their first or final day in the field. I´m applying that perception to my work. I really strive to have faith and be truly excited about what I´m doing in each moment.

There´s a cool recent convert in our ward named Alma (it´s a common woman´s name which means "soul"; people are often confused and think that the Book of Mormon prophet, Alma, is a woman). She always seems to be trying to do her part to share the Gospel, and brought two neighbors to church on Sunday. I can´t imagine if every member were doing the same.

"Come to Zion, Come to Zion"