Elder Zacharee Thomas Draper: Guitars, Temples, and the Hill of Macuitepetl

Hello family and friends! I hope you all had a really good valentines day filled with love and fun and happiest of presidents day! The time is really flying by here I feel like yesterday was christmas and now its february?? Time is nuts in the mission the days go by so quick and the weeks even faster. I feel like before I know it I will be in my last area thinking wow how did it go by this fast!

This week was pretty good we found some really good new investigators and have some baptisms lined up for the next few weeks. I am liking my new companion he only has six weeks left in the mission he is just starting to get trunky but we are working well together. I am really tired lately, we are running every morning on this hill in our area and we are working hard to try to revive the area it is nice to have work to do.

The view from our kitchen to the Cerro (Hill of Macuitepetl nature preserve)

The highlight of the week was last night! I called my converts in perote Gina and Miguel that got baptized back in december and they told me some awesome news, THEY WENT TO THE TEMPLE! Miguel was like we baptized my grandparents and my dad and my wife baptized her older sister that died a few years ago and it was so beautiful the temple is amazing this gospel is such a blessing in our lives! And then I talked with my ex companion and he was like "on sunday miguel got up and bore his testimony on the book of mormon and joseph smith and the temple it was so good" i was just sitting at my desk crying and my comp was like what is wrong with you but it was the coolest thing I have heard in the 4 and a half months I have been here. The church is true and it really changes lives.

Today for our pday we went to the center of the city and I finally bought a guitar this mexican guy tried to con me out of like 500 pesos because he thought I didnt speak spanish so I started speaking spanish and he was like ok I will speak in english and then his english was level 1 cholo so I was like no buddy its ok we can speak spanish and you can sell me the guitar for this much money and he did so that was a cool morning.

Me and Elder Gontes at Lunch today; the hermana made some killlleerrrrrrrr hot dogs!

Spiritual thought of the week is the importance of companionship study. we learn so much better as missionaries how to help our investigators according to their needs when we spend time together studying and practicing and putting goals for our week. I would recomend that as married couples you spend an hour once a week to study scriptures together, search for how you can strengthen your families and set goals as a couple for the week and month and then follow up with them every week, and set daily goals to accomplish weekly and monthly goals as a family. I know that this will be a source of peace in your life as you work together with the lord!

I hope you guys have a great week and remember to say your prayers! Good luck to you niños that are working on your mission papers hit me up when you get your calls!!

Do your homework and dont get senioritis!

Elder Draper