PICTURE THIS!

Sorry but I haven't had time to write very much.  I will catch you up on all of my pictures.  Email me at jason.bandy@myldsmail.net and tell me which one is your favorite.

This was one of my favorite T.V. shows at home.

They have these random paintings.  But I like them.

Great artwork by Mallory and Beckham!

Got a BYU soccer shirt.  Thanks family!

Goodies from the Family!

My mom puts scriptures on my Christmas package.  It is a hint of what is inside.  Sometimes it doesn't make too much sense. 

Love this family!

All the stuff below my Mema and Papa fit into this envelope.

ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! SENOR BANDY

SENOR BANDY

I can't believe its been one year now .  Sometimes it feels longer and other days shorter.

WE TEACH LARGE AND SMALL.  

We had a good week.  We taught our new people and had some success with these investigators.  We didn't find anyone new but we are trying.  The weather was super hot until Thursday when it FINALLY RAINED!  After that, its been around 80  degrees which feels positively cool compared to the 95 degrees we had before hand.  It gets dark around 8:10ish here, but the sun is behind the mountains around 7:30ish which is nice, that thing is so much stronger here in Mexico than it is at home.  We are in at 9:00 PM no matter the time of the year or week. 

I have not seen too much architecture, but that is more because I am not in the center of the city or one of the richer neighborhoods.  I have seen small details I like in architecture but not a lot of actual buildings that I like, even the ones that my comps try to compliment are so-so.   This area is really into the isolationist mindset. The people go to work, come home, eat, sleep, repeat, and might say good morning to someone if they happen to make eye contact.  They have a hard life and it is sad to see how routine their life is.  

Best/Worst Part:   Okay, Best part of the week would probably be when we found an inactive family this week that we didn't even know was here.  And they are super excited to see us so I think we can help them come back..  Worst part, probably that we didn't manage to find anyone new to teach, but that's not that big a problem at the moment, it just means we have to keep working this next week.  

LOTS AND LOTS OF DOGS HERE.

Best/Worst Food:  Probably the best this week was the lentejas, mashed potatoes, spaghetti, and breaded beef.  Don't ask me how to do it or what it is, Justin can supply that much I think.  There normally isn't bad food here.  I haven't had anything I didn't like in the area so I will say no worst parts.

YUMMMMM

FINALLY SOME ICE CREAM

THEY HAVE BIG PIZZA HUT PIZZAS

Thank you to those that email or write.  I got a letter from the Grimms!  It's great hearing from family but it is nice to hear from somebody different too.  

LETTER FROM THE GRIMMS

Just a little lesson:  The principle of free agency is my own ability to make choices.  Free agency is our right to choose between right and wrong.  God will not interfere with our choices or other people's agency.  We need to not ask God why He allowed someone to do something wrong, but we should know they made the choice to do so.  But we also need to remember that our choices always bring consequences.  We have to decide if we want good or bad consequences in our life.  This is called being responsible and it is something so many in the world try to avoid.   Joseph Smith said, "I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves."

Thanks for all the prayers.

THE DISTRICT

THE DISTRICT

MY NEW AREA IS.....

I am now in San Nicolas. It is really far from my other area, about 2 hours away.  It is small as well, I can walk the area in about 35 mins and my other area was over an hour.  My new companion is Elder Ortega.  He is 19 and from Honduras.  He has about 3 months in the mission now.  Which means I am mayor (senior companion).  It is weird being the more experienced one in the area now.  I still don't know anything about the area or the people but I can see that the ward is a lot smaller here than my other ones as well.  Oh well, more work for us I guess.

Before I left, we also Baptized F***a!  After 3 months of teaching she finally decided!  It is mostly thanks to Hma. J***a that she made the decision.  Every week, she would go pick up F***a, take her to the church, help her take care of B***o, take her with her to go shopping so they could spend time together, and a plethora of other activities.  We gave her the knowledge, but the spirit and the Hma´s help gave her the desire.

I am more confident with my Spanish.  I just need to work more on my vocabulary.  Everyone here works 10-12 hour days in Mexico... They are a very hard working bunch of people.  This week we also had a lot of missionaries that finished their 2 years.  My first companion went home.  

OPEN DOOR POLICY

The people here are very friendly.  Even if they don't want to hear what you say, they will invite you in.  People think when they see the white shirts to ignore the door, slam the door, or politely say no.  If people say no, we move on.  We accept their answer.  I love the people that say I'm not interested but still invite us in for water or another beverage and we have a great conversation.  These people are Christlike.  They don't judge, may not agree but are still kind.


We don't harass people.  We are just looking for people that are trying to better their lives.  We look for people that have prayed to God for help and hope that we find them.  But I love the people here and their kindness whether we teach them or not.

These boys wanted to take a picture with a Gringo!

My week consisted of an interview with the President, trying to find new people to teach, cleaning the house a bit, and trying to relearn how to contact people in the street.  My companions idea of helping is to wait until someone is almost right next to us and then say contact him/her!  It doesn't work...  So I am working on that again.

When we sit we sleep.

For pday (personal day) I went to San Nicolas with Elder Hernandez, my first companion in the mission.  I didn't really do anything there as I didn't know anyone, just talked a bit with the family we saw there.  Then we went to Solidaridad, my first area, and visited a few of the families there.  It was fun I found most of my converts. 

Did you have any weird experiences?  

Not that I can think of off the top of my head.

Where do you write your letters and does it cost anything?

We write our letters at a Cyber down the street. It costs 12 pesos an hour.  And yes Justin, that is expensive, but we are in Monterrey, the wealthiest city in Mexico, it's going to be expensive.  To stay cool, we drink a lot of water, hop from shade to shade when we can find it, and otherwise just bear with it and try and teach lessons inside someone's house.   I do not carry a water bottle with me, I can buy a liter of water for 3 pesos if I want.  

What is the weirdest thing that you have seen?

The weirdest thing I have seen is either the guy on top of the truck that I took a picture of or a centipede bigger than my hand.  (See previous blogs for pictures.)

Do they have any weird customs?

I could not even begin to name all of the weird customs that exist here.  They have a fiesta, holiday, every 2 weeks it seems.  They believe in so many versions of the virgin Mary.

Picture of street by my apartment.

I am doing fine, a little burnt but fine.  I plan on making waffles this week if Hma Castañeda agrees to lend me her waffle iron.  Every week I am happy, frustrated, tired, all of the above.  The mission is the single most hardest thing I have done in my life.  Really, it was easier staying up for 3 days working on school work then trying to change my very nature while trying to help others do the same.  

I have a calendar in my room that I occasionally mark off the days.  I forget for about 4-6 days and then remember it's there and cross them off.  I'm not likely going to start doing a day count until my last change or two. 

A***n´s family are baptized, just not his Dad.. A***n was an investigator when I arrived here almost 5 months ago.  We have been working with him the entire time, teaching him, explaining things, re-explaining things.  He was very cautious and curious but wanted to make the right choice.  But he listened and learned for a long time and he said yes and was baptized.  

Have a great week.