Elder Hirsch Mission Emails

   People always say the same thing about their mission. First of all that it was difficult, but also that they treasure it. And even more often than that, they say that it went by very fast. I didn't quite understand that sentiment until a few weeks ago when we were in a car with a member, and she said, "So you've almost completed a fourth of your mission, right?"   This time has undoubtedly been the most incredible and busy six months of my life.    I hope that for the rest of my life I can treasure the moments I will never experience again, and work in accordance with the knowledge that time is always limited.   All this month we've been teaching a 14-year-old girl named Giselle. Her mom was inactive for a very long time. And just like most inactives she's got a great testimony, she just has a difficult situation. So we visited them regularly, and Giselle progressed very quickly. She diligently reads the Book of Mormon, prays, go...

  The last few weeks I didn't find the time to write, but here I am today! A nice big email! I wrote this last week, but did not finish it, so I never sent it: " Rafa is an 11 year old kid whose family was less-active. When I arrived he had already been in teaching for a while, because he's a little bit slow to understand new concepts for his age. He also had expressed in the past a fear of going in the water in order to be baptized. The first lesson with him I didnt really know how to teach him in a way he could understand, but over the course of several lessons with him I found my own simple and clear way to teach and eventually he finished the lessons and was ready for baptism!   We had the baptism on saturday, my companion was going to baptize him, and everything was ready. Rafa found the courage to go into the water, but my companion couldn't get him all the way under the water on the first go. After a few tries he was very dis...

  I don't have much time to write today, so I'll just write some tidbits and share my testimony! A story that I don't believe I ever shared:   This happened when I was in the Morelos ward and Elder Tadeo was my companion. We went to visit someone, but they weren't home so we decided to knock on some doors nearby. So we came to a house a few doors down and Elder Tadeo gave a very friendly "Buenas tardes!" after we knocked the door. The woman who answered turned out to be very open to taking a Book of Mormon and scheduling a time for us to visit her. Our first lesson with her was The Restoration, and she had lots of questions and doctrinal misunderstandings, but she was legitimately interested. Eventually we explained the authority by the laying on of hands, and that Joseph Smith received that authority in modern day. I showed her a photo of when Joseph received the Melchizedek...

    Two weeks ago I was moved over to the other ward in Apizaco, with a new companion and a new area. Elder Ortiz teaches with the spirit. He has a sincere desire to help the people, and he knows his purpose. He's also very helpful with my sub-par spanish.  We're both on our own now without a trainer for the first time and there have been some growing pains. We're learning to do some basic things that our trainers always did for us, but we've still made a lot of progress with the people in the area, and have frequently witnessed the hand of God in the work.   One thing I do know how to do is contact people. We almost always do the same thing when contacting people. It starts with a simple question, "Do you like to read?" Then, we briefly introduce the Book of Mormon and invite them to "borrow" a Book of Mormon and read 3 Nephi 11, and we note down their information to be in contact. Sometimes we knock doors, sometimes we contact in the park or street...

  Hello friends and family! I am loving my mission, and can't imagine doing anything else with my life, but sometimes I just still can't believe that I'm really here in Mexico, doing what all my siblings did before me. I especially love being in lessons, testifying of Jesus Christ and the restored gospel. I can feel the spirit testifying of what I say. It's amazing what the Lord can do through such an imperfect servant. There are many people here ready to accept the gospel, our job is just to search, love, and baptize.   This week we had a zone conference, where President Montejo came to our zone, and we all met together. President taught about the importance of obedience, and that we have increased potential when we diligently work towards goals. I also had the opportunity to sing in an ensemble of missionaries in the conference. But I can't remember the name of the himn we sang right now.  ...

    Elder Haymore was an awesome companion. He speaks really good spanish, I connect with him really well, and he's a super hard worker. Some part of me already knew it was coming when the emergency transfers came in. I'm not totally used to the aspect of frequently changing companions, so I was pretty sad when I found out he was leaving. Nevertheless, I knew that the Lord knows what's best for me, and I looked forward to having a new friend. Little did I know that Elder Tadeo would be an equally awesome dude! He's from Monterrey Mexico, but he speaks english fluently. He's gonna avoid speaking in english though so I can learn even faster. One of the best things about Elder Tadeo is that he can connect to the people very well, and he is very good at teaching the gospel. I was nervous to have a new companion, but I honestly can't imagine having anyone else as my companion. I'm also sure that I'll get more accustomed to having transfers later in my...

    Hello Family and all! I think things are picking up a little bit. In the last week we have had a good amount of success, we are going to have two baptisms next week, we have had two exchanges with other companionships, and we are going to have two baptisms next week.    This week we met a man named Enrique. The other Elders in Apizaco were teaching him, until they realized that he lives in our area. Just like a surprising number of people, the best place for us to meet with him is actually his work, in a mental health clinic. Because it's not in our area, Enrique's work is closer to the center of the city than we normally go. Nevertheless, it was fun to be in the more busy parts and see the cathedral. When we got to the clinic we had to call him to let him know we were there, but he promptly came out and welcomed us into his office. His office was relatively small, but several trinkets and a little ...