Transfer Day May 25, 2015

Family and Friends,

My time working in Ixtlahuaca has come to an end. I have loved my time here and made a ton of lifelong memories. I am super grateful for the opportunity that I had to work with the Ward and do what I could to help them become stronger. I can honestly say that I left the área better than I found it!

This week in Ixtlahuaca finished up awesome! We baptized a woman named Yosi. She has a pretty cool story. About a month ago we contacted a small family in the Street and they didnt have even a Little bit of intrest in learning about the góspel, but as we always do we asked if they knew anyone that we could visit that might be interested. They sent us with a woman named Ana. When we got to Anas house she basically said that she had no interest in learning either, but she told us to come back the next day and see if her sister in law wanted to learn more. Well, her sister in Law ended up being Yosi. She is great, she goes to church every week, reads her book of mormon, and is going to be a great member of the Church. he family has basically rejected her, and dont want to talk to her for her decisión that she has made to follow our Savior Jesús Christ. Its tough to see how hard satan Works when people try to do the right thing, but all he does is help us become stronger people.

Other awesome thing that happened this week is that Elder Nash from the Quórum of the Seventy came to the mission! He is living in Centerville right now and I actually played basketball with his son Spencer Nash, so it was cool to be able to talk to him. He is super powerful and I learned a lot in the short time that he was here with us!

It was super hard for me to say goodbye to all the wonderful people we are teaching and especially the big family that we are teaching. They are great people and are passing some serious family problems. it was tough to leave but I am grateful for the opportunity that I had to be a part of their conversión. All seven of the kids are great and are going to be terrific missionaries one day!

I just want to share my testimony of the hidden blessings that the Lord sends to us and how everything we go through is so we can become stronger and have the ability to bless the lives of others. I am 100 percent convinced that every single trial that I have passed in my life has only prepared me to be able to help all of the people that I have come in contact with so far in my mission. I have seen so many people that have experienced or are experiencing right now so many things that are similar to the life that I have lived. I know I am here for a reason and that the Lord is allowing me to help others.

The other day I was thinking. "What is a blessing?" and I came to the conclusión that a blessing is something that the Lord has given us that can help us to help other people or allows us to become stronger. Its not something that makes life easier. I have realized that every single trial or difficulty that we have is a blessing from the Lord. It allows us to become stronger and also allows us to help others in the future. I know that my savior lives and loves each and every one of us. Trust in the Lord and he will help you with whatever your problem may be.

I love you all and hope all is well.

Elder Hirsch

 Yosi's Baptism

Family that is getting Baptized next week

Edgars Baptism May 11, 2015

 Baptism of Edgar

 Kelton in front of the church

 The City

Family and Friends,

First of all happy mothers day to all of my mothers in Utah! It was a great experience to hear from the family and a little crazy to see that you guys still live normally. We get lost out here on the mission and it gets harder and harder to remember how easy and comfortable life is back home! I hope you all had a wonderful day with your families!

This week went terrific. My companion and I have been working super hard in the area that we are in and we have been having a ton of success. We have found a lot of great people to teach and a few families that are investigating the church. Yesterday I can honestly say, was one of the best days of my entire time here in Mexico. We brought a huge family to church, (4 parents and 7 children) and they all loved it, and on top of that we had a Baptism of a guy named Edgar, who might be one of the best converts to the church of all time.

Edgars story:

We found Edgar about a month ago while we were contacting in the street. We found him on saturday and he was so good that he came to church with us on sunday with his girlfriend/wife (Its basically the same thing here) well he loved the church and had a ton of motivation to keep learning more, but his wife hated every minute of the time she was at church and didnt want anything to do with it. He was super pacient with her and didnt force her to learn more about the church. Well, the next week Edgar had plans to come to church with us, and we went by his house to pick him up and he told us that he had a couple of things to take care of and that he would come to church if he could. Well he didnt come that day and later told us that his wife gave him an ultimateum. She said that he had to choose between going to church or her. Edgars exact words were - The decision wasnt hard, I know that this is the true church and that its my time to make a change in my life, but they reason that I wasnt at church is because I had to help her carry her stuff to her mothers house--- I honestly couldnt believe the faith that this guy has. He told us that whatever happens in his life happens for a reason he said that if his wife comes back then she comes back, but if not it is all part of the Lords plan for me. 

Since that day he read the entire book of mormon, and completely changed his life around. We told him about the word of wisdom and since that day he hasnt touched a cup of coffee or a ciggarrette. He has done everything the Lord has asked of him and we got to baptize him on Mothers day! 

The Lord has his people ready to receive the gospel. In every moment he is prompting his children to be in the right place at exactly the right time so that they can come in contact with the chruch. I know that the Lord provides a way for every single one of his children to return to his kingdom. I am so grateful to have this time to serve as an instrument in the hands of the Lord. This work is amazing and I am loving every second of it.

Miracles are happening every day. Trust in the Lord and he will bless you. I love you all and hope you all have a great week. Be your best every day.

Elder Hirsch

Mothers Day May 10, 2015

Best Mothers day Ever!!!!