Yeeted 😑

From: Seth Gifford
Date: Mon, Nov 8, 2021, 9:59 AM
Subject: Yeeted 😑

Hey folks,

The last email that was sent from me was written by my companion, Elder Hughes. Today, it will be my privilege to address you. I hope you brought your popcorn. We’ll see where this goes.

Side note: forgive me if anything from last time gets repeated, I don’t remember everything that was written 

As you all know, back in the beginning of October, I got yeeted from Madero and sent to Progreso two weeks into the transfer to open up the area “Progreso 2” with Elder Hughes. It’s cool because we share the area with Elder Pérez, one of my old comps, and his comp. It’s been a party.

I’ve been here for 4 weeks now, and my oh my, I sure do love it. It’s an amazing place, not only because of the beach, but also because of the incredible branch and all of the people to teach who are progressing. I also love the name of this city, because (as you probably guessed), “progreso” in Spanish means “progress”. For my time here I have been really trying to make that name a reality, not just for me, but also for this area and all of the people. We have seen so many miracles! I gotta say, this area might be my favorite area in all of my mission so far 

Now, there’s a LOT I could tell you about, but I will summarize the best I can because I know that more than half of you don’t like to read my long emails (don’t feel guilty about it, I wouldn’t either). 

I will start off by listing some of the happenings of the last few weeks, and I will end by sharing just a few of the miracles we saw.

1. We’ve been attacked by quite a few dogs. They’re a little crazier here than in other areas I’ve been in.
2. It rained a TON as we were walking home a few weeks ago, and walked home in water up to our shins. We were soaked! It was pretty epic, but my notebook suffered the consequences…
3. Saw a car get stolen right in front of us a couple weeks ago.
4. Our area had 2 baptisms! Well, the other elders that also live here in Progreso. But that story also has a really sad ending, or better said, a cliffhanger…
5. A funny thing I noticed is that the only nice areas are the first 3 streets from the beach, but everything else is just normal with trash, and dog poop covering the road. It’s literally like walking through a minefield everyday. You gotta watch every step.
6. We ate some octupus with a member here and I almost threw up, but we good.
7. I lost my USB with all of my mission photos and videos on it, plus a lot of other files. Super sad about it. I hope one day it returns to me, but for now it’s just a hole in my heart.
8. We went swimming at the beach the other week and had a great time!
9. Our mission is now in phase 3 and we can use old ways of finding and contacting again!! Now with technology, and the old ways, missionary work has never been so effective.
10. Number 9 isn’t true, but we did collect some cool shells.
11. We ate way too much cake when it was Elder Wangsgard’s birthday.
12. It was el Día de los Muertos! But we didn’t do much haha.
13. I got a package from home. I love you Mom! 
14. We traveled for a few hours last P-Day just to play chair soccer with our zone. Not sure if it was worth it but it was pretty fun.
15. I’m running out of stuff to talk about…there’s some other somewhat interesting stuff but it didn’t make the cut

Well there’s my “large plates” update. Here’s what I got for my “small plates,” or in other words, the more spiritual stuff :

1. LUIS AND NATALY ACCEPTED A DATE FOR BAPTISM!!! I could not be more happy about it. We have been meeting with them super often since I got here and they have been progressing so much. Literally seeing them brings me so much joy. The last lesson we had with them, I told my self I was not leaving without setting a date with them. Well, it somehow was the perfect time to set that goal and the spirit was super strong. It’s sad because I won’t get to be there when they get baptized, but I’ll see them again one day! 
2. We found a family to teach as we tried street contacting for the first time after it was finally approved. We went back to teach them and they have lots of potential.
3. On the way back from teaching that family, some random guy stopped us and we set up an appointment for another day. He met us at the chapel where we taught him about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. The spirit was so strong and he recounted his story. He’s literally a famous musician! Sadly he didn’t sing us any songs, but he showed us pictures of his life. It was super cool.
4. These past few weeks, we’ve seen the Spirit guiding us and helping us not only find people to teach, but helping us know what to say as well. With each miracle, my testimony has grown and I can say without a doubt that the Lord is guiding this work. Even though there is a ton of opposition, He’s been helping us so much. I am so grateful to Him and I love Him!

Well, my time here in Progreso has come to a close. Today I am being transferred to an area called “Maria Luisa” to be a Zone Leader in the Zone “Kukulcán”. I’m honestly sad to leave this golden area. I enjoyed the 4 weeks I had, but I look forward to what this new experience will bring.

Through all of my experiences so far, I can surely testify that Christ lives! He leads and guides this church, and following His prophet will bring us the safety and security we are seeking for in a chaotic world. Following the Savior will bring more peace and happiness to our lives than ever before.

I love you all! Keep on keeping on.

-Elder Gifford

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