Tuesday, November 20, 2012

November 19. 2012 letter

Dear Family,

I`ve been making a list of everything I need to let you know this week.  Here you go. Bring my drivers license, just incase they need it in the airport. Talk to President Smith to find out about my being released on Monday when we get home.

Meet me in the offices between 8 and 9, the sooner the better.  The address is calle 45 entre 70 and 72, num. 527 Q, colonia centro.  It's a little confusing with a lot of one-way streets, and I recommend you check it out with google earth and street views.  The building is a 2 story pink building.   You can park on the curb in front.  If it looks too confusing, you could go in taxi, or go to the temple and walk from there.  Its about 10 blocks north from the entrance of the temple.  You may want to check out Xel Ha or Xcaret while you are in Cancun.

There is a family in Kanasin that has lots of financial difficulties, and if you would like, it would be nice to buy some Christmas presents for the kids.  They have boys ages 3, 5, 6, 9, and 14, and a girl that is 16.  I´d like to give some butterfingers away to my companions for Christmas.  Could you bring 5.  When you are at the beach, don`t go in the water if there are red flags out.  Yellow flags are fine.  Some people ignore them, but stay safe.

Bring 2 packs of Jerky.  Bring 2-4 jellys.  Bring pants, it may get a little chilly.  I wouldn`t worry about a sweat shirt.  I´ll be fine with the suitcases.  I won`t have any extra luggage.  

I´ll see you next Thursday.  I`ll write on monday.

Love,
Elder Gubler

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Visiting with the locals


Elder Gubler with district elders


November 12, 2012 letter


Dear Family,

The big news this week is that I got a new companion.  Elder Moreno went to Merida to get a root canal.  Its a lot cheaper there than in Cancun.  Elder Rivera came in his place.  He´s from Puebla, Mexico, but has been living with his family in England for the last 4 or 5 years, so he speaks English.  I´m sure he and Cuddles would be great friends.  He came over with the same group as Elder Velasco and Elder Moreno.  He was the one that I wanted to train, but its nice that I´ll get to finish with him.  His first area was in Palmas 1, so he already knows the ward. 

This week we will have a baptism.  Our investigator Gabriel showed up to church at the end of the last transfer.  He had listened to the missionaries a while back, but didn´t want to get baptized.  Now he is ready.  Next week we should have 1 or 2 more baptisms. 

It's too bad you can't bring pomegranite jelly.  I´m sure the people would like it.  Could you check on jerky?  They took mine away in the Mexico city airport, but I think they just wanted to eat it.  Can you also find out if I can take my pocket knife on the return flight?  I think it would be fine if we put it in the suitcase and declare it.  Could you also ask if it's o.k. to bring a machete?

A member gave me an interesting talk by Alvin R. Dyer.  Do you know who that is?  Could you let me know?  It was given to missionaries in Norway in 1981.  

Can you set up a dentist appointment for when I get back.  Could you also bring an 8x10 or larger picture frame with you.  I want to put in a couple of pictures of me and Spencer Gubler and give it to President Salinas.  Or, if you can find a set of 3 or 4 stuck together for a 4x6, like what we have at the beach house, that would be better.

Thank you for signing me up for classes.  I´ll just keep them all and make adjustments in my first week.  Can you find out about housing.  I´d like to be an RA, preferably for the new dorms, but I´ll take whatever is available. 

Love,
Elder Gubler

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Elders Hauser, Velasco and Gubler


Elder Gubler with local members


Birthday party


Putting out fires


November 5, 2012 letter


Dear Family,
 
Go ahead and cancel my Costco card.  I can´t believe that they charge that much.  Here, you can get 4 cards for 600 pesos.   Thank you mom for signing me up for classes.  I´d like to take PD Bio this semester.  Can you see if they offer chem 105 for spring or summer?  I sent some pictures.  The picture with the 3 of us is with me, Elder Velasco, and the Elder he is training right now, so you can see the 3 generations of missionaries.  The new Elder is Elder Hauser from Ohio.  Last week we were at a member´s house.  He is a fire fighter, and he let us dress up in his suit.  He even hooked us  up to the oxygen tank.  The other picture is of me at the birthday party we had 2 weeks ago. The last picture is of me and 2 members from the ward. 
The suit I sent home from the MTC had some holes in the elbows.  Could you possibly get that fixed?

There is a new rule in our mission.  We are no longer allowed to knock doors.  They want us to coordinate more with the members and teach their referals. 

Love,
Elder Gubler

Monday, October 29, 2012

October 29, 2012

Dear Family,

The weather here is almost always sunny.  Every once in a while we will get a little bit of clouds and rain, but it passes by really quickly.  Thank you so much for the birthday money.  Today I called in for pizza while the other 2 missionaries in my ward were at our house.  One of them gave me some Doctrine and Covenants DVD's that I wanted.  I `m not sure what I am going to do with the rest of my birthday money yet.  All of our investigators that we found are from street contacting. 
  
This week I went to a little pueblo called El Ideal to do a baptismal interview.  While waiting for the bus, a guy from Switzerland saw my name ´Gubler´and wanted to know if I was from Switzerland.  

I like the school schedule that mom made me, but if possible, could you make volleyball an  hour later?  And get me a swim class also the same day?  Both "beginner".  When you sign me up for classes, please sign up for volleyball first.   It fills up fast.

Love,
Elder Gubler

Monday, October 22, 2012

Elder Gubler's 21st birthday cake


October 22, 2012 letter


Dear Family,
 
My new companion, Elder Moreno, got here the same time as Elder Velasco.  My companion from the MTC was his trainer.  He has been out for 13 months now.  His last area was in Chetumal with my old companion Elder Taylor.  His is from the state of Mexico, near Mexico City. I'm still a district leader.  There are quite a few missionaries from my group that are finishing as district leaders and zone leaders and trainers. 

This month there were quite a few birthdays to be celebrated.  The bishops daughter, me and 3 other missionaries that have been in the ward also have birthdays in October, so we had a little party today.  There were the 4 missionaries in the Palmas ward, and the bishops wife and daughter.  We played the game that we played with the 11 yr. old scouts where you have to eat a doughnut hanging from a string.  Then we ate a very delicious cake.  It was a nice birthday surprise. 

This past week Elder Moreno and I found 9 new investigators.  Things are looking very good for this transfer.  I´ll give you more info on them next week.

I´ll send my school scheduling ideas next week.  If possible, could you go to the professor rating website and find out which are the best.  Also, check out when the volleyball classes are.  I want to take one this semester.  They fill up fast.
 
Love,
Elder Gubler

October 15, 2012 letter


Dear family,

Everything is fine.  I´m here in Cancun still with Elder Moreno.  Due to transfers, I´ll send a longer letter next week.

Love,
Elder Gubler

Monday, October 8, 2012

Baptism of Viridiana and Lefi


Teenah misses the van


October 8, 2012 letter

Dear Family,

I got to see all 5 sessions of conference this past weekend.  I only missed the first hour of the last session.  This was an eventful weekend.  On Saturday we woke up and studied, and then went to conference.  Between sessions we went with our investigator Viridiana that got baptized yesterday.  She made us really delicious Chinese food.  For dessert she gave us jello that is made with milk.  After lunch we went back to the stake center to watch the afternoon session.  When it was over we had the baptismal interview for her.  After that we watched priesthood session.  Viridiana´s baptism was planned for Tuesday, but we changed it to Sunday so that her husband could go.  We also had an investigator named Lefi that had her baptism planned for Sunday, but we couldn´t see her Thursday or Friday, and we didn´t have a chance to teach her on Saturday.  We got there on Sunday not knowing if she was going to show up.  To our surprise, she was the first one there of our investigators, and asked us about her white clothes for her baptism that day.  We had her interview after the first session on Sunday, and in the afternoon she came back for her baptism.  When we first started teaching her, she told us that she didn´t want to get baptized alone.  Fortunately everything worked out and she was baptized together with Viridiana.  About an hour before the final session, we found out that the pump to get the old water out of the font wasn´t working, so we had to scoop it out with buckets.  Most of the zone helped us out, and we had a line on each side of the font to scoop up water and dump it in the bathroom.  We finished and were able to watch the rest of the last session.  They set up a t.v. in the high council room during the last session so that the American Missionaries could watch it in English.  

Love,
Elder Gubler

Monday, October 1, 2012

October 1, 2012 letter


Dear Family,
 
We should finally be having a baptism this week after conference ends.  Its for a Lady named Lefi.  Her sister was baptized about 2 years ago, and she has been going to church from time to time with her, but never really planned on being baptized.  About 3 weeks ago she started reading the Book of Mormon.  She showed up to church without our asking.  Next Tuesday we will have another baptism of the wife of a member.  Her name is Viridiana.  She has been doing great with reading, praying, and keeping the commandments.  If she goes to church this Sunday she will be baptized on Tuesday.  She is really excited.  Other than that, we don´t have anybody that's progressing.  Charlie, a guy that we were teaching about a month ago, recently got back from Veracruz.  His dad was baptized in August, and died this past month.  We´ll start teaching him again and see if he will get baptized.
 
 Thank you mom for finding out about BYU.  I have permission to register for my classes.  Just let me know when to do it.  

Love, Elder Gubler

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Local members


Elders Gubler, Barton and Hoyt


Pizza time


September 24, 2012 letter


Dear Family,
 
I´m still district leader.  It´ll be 1 year in October since I got the assignment.  The little town in my district is called Leona Vicario.  There are only  2 missionaries there.  Its a little branch of about 30-35 active members.  I only went there once for a baptismal interview, but I´m going again this week.  I haven´t done divisions there yet due to lack of time and money, but I will go in October. 

After Elder Alonso talked with the missionaries, he gave a special meeting to all the leaders of most of the stakes in the mission about participating in the work.  The mission recieved almost 1000 referrals.

Love,
Elder Gubler

Monday, September 17, 2012

September 17, 2012 letter


Dear Family,
 
This past Tuesday we had a visit from Elder Alonso of the 70.  I quite enjoyed his talk.  All of the missionaries from 3 zones in Cancun and 1 in Playa del Carmen were there.  On Monday they announced who would be housing the Elders that had to travel.  They told us that we wouldn`t be housing anyone, but at 9:15 p.m. a taxi pulled up to our house with a companionship from Playa del Carmen.  One of them treated us to Pizza Hut.

We didn`t have too much luck with lessons this week like we did last week, but we have more progressing investigators.  There is a family that went to church and has a baptismal date for October 2nd.  There is also an investigator named Lefi that showed up last week and this week to church and is reading and praying, all of which she is doing without us telling her to.  We are also teaching the wife of a less active member.  She`s doing ok, and once she starts making an effort to read The Book of Mormon, she will progress quickly.  This week we might have a baptism of a 10 year old.  Her parents have been canceling the appointments we set up last week, so we haven`t seen them since Tuesday, but we are going to see them tonight. 

My testimony is good.  These last 2 years have been extremely difficult, but extremely rewarding, and I am glad that I went. 

Love,
Elder Gubler

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Sept. 10, 2012 letter


Dear Family,

This week we found 10 new investigators.  Only one of them made it to stake conferene.  Her name is Viridiana.  Her husband is inactive.  His cousin Moroni told us to go visit him.  We also are teaching a nice family with kids ages 6 and 7.  They didn´t make it to church because of some problems the husband is having with some medical papers, but hopefully they will go this week.  The rest were ok, and we´ll see who we will keep and who we will drop this week.  On the 18th will be our next baptism.  Its a girl named Diana.
Can you have Amanda log into my byu.edu account to check if I have a restriction on my account.  When I canceled my winter housing contract 2 years ago, they blocked my account so I couldn´t schedule any classes, and it wasn´t unblocked last time I checked.  Rich Davis sent me an email, but its a rule that we can't read emails from non-family.  Can you please inform him, but let him know that we will talk when I get home. 

Love,
Elder Gubler

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

September 3, 2012 letter


Dear Family,

Elder Asencio got transfered 4 weeks ago. I´m now with Elder Martinez.  The normal transfers were yesterday, but we are still together.  He is going to finish his mission in October.

I sent pictures of me with Elder Germaine (zone leader), Elder Barton and Elder Rowley (In the same ward as us), and my companions.  Elder Barton, the tall guy with the black hair, finishes the same time that I do.  He is 6-3 or 6-4, and his companion is 6-6.  You can see the size difference compared to me. 
Last week I said that things went downhill because we started out really good with lessons, and each day we had less and less.  The wife of the family that we are teaching died, and the husband and son left and we haven´t seen them.

This week was better.  We are teaching a great family, and 10 year old daughter is going to get baptized on the 18th.  She is reading the scriptures and making sure that the family is saying their prayers.  We are going to be looking for more new investigators. 

Happy Birthday mom.  I sent a card in the other email. 

Love,
Elder Gubler

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Elders Germaine, Gubler and Eddy


Elders Barton, Gubler and Rowley


Elders Gubler and Asencio


August 27, 2012 letter


Dear Family,

This week started out well but everything went a little downhill each day.  On Sunday we got to church early, due to the fact that we didn`t have any investigators to pass by.  Church started, and a member showed up with our investigator that she is fellowshipping.  During Sunday School, a member introduced me to a mom and daughter that have been going for several weeks to a different ward in the same building.  They live in our area and yesterday we started teaching them, and we are going to do a F.H.E. with them tonight.  Also, a less active showed up to church with his non-member wife, so hopefully we should start teaching them this week. 

Legal question for Dad: Can your firm send divorce papers here for a couple in Mexico, or would it have to be done by a firm in Mexico?  The wife needs to get divorced from her former spouse so that she can get married and baptized.  I`ve seen it done for a couple that got married in Mexico and then the husband went to the U.S.  and sent the papers from there. 

We only go on splits if we have too many appointments, but we always are glad if a member can go with us to the visits.  Thank you for putting the money on my card. 

Enjoy the pictures.  I`ll send more next week also.

Love,
Elder Gubler

Monday, August 20, 2012

Elders Gubler and Martinez


August 20, 2012 letter


Dear Family,
 
Everything is going well here in Cancun.  Elder Martinez is a great companion.  Last week we went to Costco.  This time my card did work.  I tried some samples, walked around the store, and comtemplated the things I would buy.  In the end I settled with a gallon of 2% milk, a double box of chocolate Cheerios, and a package of M&M´s which I shared in our FHE that night.  The milk was wonderful, especially after drinking boxed milk for the last 1.5 years.  The food stand was closed because they were changing the floor, but we are going back today.  The member that took us last week wants to buy a camera there, and is moving this week, so today was his last chance to go. 

The family that we are teaching is doing great.  They should be getting baptized the following week.  We found a couple more families this week, but they didn´t go to church.  That´s one of the difficulties, getting people to go to church. 

Can you send me the address for my blog so that I can give it to some of the members?  A few weeks ago some random kid that I don´t know sent me an email saying that he is leaving for his mission in Merida in November and that he enjoys reading my blog.  Can you please transfer $70 in my Wells Fargo.  I´ll send another email with pictures. 
 
Love,
Elder Gubler

Monday, August 13, 2012

August 13, 2012 letter


Dear Family,
 
We heard about the hurricane last week.  Everybody here is up to date on the alerts.  Last Monday they started saying that it wasn´t going to hit.  All that we got here was a lot of water, and the wind was really strong one of the nights.  Now they are saying that another one is going to come, but its nice and sunny here again.  Up until Hurricane Ernesto, there wasn´t any rain since I got here.  It makes things a lot easier.  I got rained on quite a bit in Ticul and Champotón.  

On Tuesday night at 10:30, I got a phonecall from the Zone Leaders.  They had special transfers for us again.  Elder Asencio went to Merida, and an Elder that was in Merida came here.  His name is Elder Martinez.  He´s 21.  He´s going to finish in October.  I knew him when I was in Kanasin.  When we didn´t make it back from district meetings on time, we stayed in his house.  I´m really happy to be with him.  He is from Mexico City.  His uncle served as a bishop, and that´s how his family was introduced to the gospel.  His family was baptized when he was 12.  He started his mission in Chetumal, Quintana Roo, and has spent most of his time in Merida.  He took my place after I left Champoton and baptized 3 of the people that I had been teaching.

Elder Ascencio is from San Luis Potosi, in the north eastern part of Mexico.  He´s 20 and has been out for a year.  He spent the first year in Playa del Carmen and Cancun.  He was with Elder Velasco before he came to Palmas 2. 

I´ve heard of the service rule, but here we just look for opportunities throughout the week.  Every once in a while when we find something, we usually wake up to do it early in the morning.  In Visalia, the missionaries would go to ´Make a difference Day´  There is a missionary here that started his mission in Las Vegas.  He got put in the ´dead area´of the mission.  It´s one of the nicer parts, and there the missionaries aren´t allowed to contact.  They can only teach referals.  There they were encouraged to participate in all the community service projects there were.  They even did p-day things during the week, such as washing their clothes, just so that they would have something to do if there weren´t any teaching appointments.  

Here we get a breeze from time to time, but not as much as in Champoton.  I really like working with the people here.  Some of them know a few words in english, but they aren´t anywhere near fluent.  We went to down town this week to drop off the mission mail.  I saw a few tourists there, including a nice couple from Idaho.  They asked me which bus they should take.

I´ll send some pictures next week.

Love,
Elder Gubler

Monday, August 6, 2012

August 6, 2012


Dear Family,

This weeks hasn`t been too great, but yesterday we found a nice family to teach. On Friday we found the mom sitting on a bench and we helped her take her bags to the house. We returned yesterday to teach them. The dad worked in Santa Ana, CA 20 years ago and listened to the missionaries there. The mom was interested to learn more. The son is 15 and is studying to be an airplane mechanic.

Our next baptism should be a guy named Juan Carlos (Charly). He`s a nice, funny guy. If you`d like, we can have dinner with him before we fly out. This week we went to his house and found him putting together a nice patio set like the one at dad`s office. I told him about the time when I put it together, and then found out at the end that I had missed a piece, and had to take it completely apart to put the piece on. I noticed that he forgot the same piece, and corrected the mistake.

We are also teaching a couple that grew up in LA and Orange County. The wife is a member, and the husband was baptized in Tijuana , but didn`t get confirmed, so we are teaching him again and he is going to get baptized once they get married. They have invited us 3 times to dinner since I got here (Carls Jr, BBQ, and Italian food).  I`ll answer the rest of the questions next week.

You can have Amanda check my BYU account to see if there are any emails or instructions. You can find my username and password in my scuba binder, its red and has a white diagonal line. It's in my bedroom bookshelf. Put it back when you're done. Someone said that Mack Wilberg died, is that true?  (Editor's note: I checked on the internet, this appears to just be a rumor!)

Love,
Elder Gubler

Monday, July 30, 2012

July 30, 2012 letter


Dear Family,
 
In Cancun, the beach and resort areas are off limits, but we can see the  rest of down town.  I don´t know why there were special transfers.  It had something to do with the other missionary but I don´t know what.  I left Champoton because the other missionary at that time went home, but here it was just a switching of areas.  This past week were the normal transfers, but I´m  still here with the same companion.  My area in Ticul got closed down, but it should be open again in 6 weeks.  My companion from there came back to his first area in Cancun where he started the mission.  He is in my zone.  The other Elder that I switched with went to Merida.  He has been out for the same time as me.  When we get to 20 months, we get a letter for our return information.  They wanted that information and wanted to know which airport I needed to get to.  I don´t know if Visalia will work, but I put down Fresno.  You should be getting a call some day from the Secretary to make the final plans.  I´m on the opposite end of the resorts.  I haven´t seen any tourists.  Its just the 2 of us in the house.  It has a water heater on the back porch, but it's no good.  I don´t even need it anymore.  I´ll be gone before the cold starts again.  From what I understand, (when my mission is done) we should get to the mission offices on Tuesday, Wednesday we go to the temple and have dinner, and Thursday morning everyone flies out.  Can you check  if my Costco card is still good or if it expired. Morgan Smith's mission got divided into two.  Is he still going to Veracruz? What's the weather like over there (in Visalia?), a few people ask me about it. 

Love,
Elder Gubler

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

July 23, 2012 letter


Dear Family,

Our address is 1709 b on street Ciniega, in Haciendas del Caribe.  The house is smaller than what we had in Ticul, but its got a smart design so there is room for everything.  Some of the missionaries here have some nice houses.  The Zone Leaders have a full leather furniture set with a couch, love seat, and a chair.  They have a nice wood entertainment center (on which they put their portable DVD player) and a full size fridge.  There are tons of people here.  We have probably one of the most concentrated areas of all of Cancun.  All of the houses are pushed together and really small.  My new companion is Elder Asencio from San Luis Potosi, Mexico.  He´s been out for a year.  My district is our area, the ZL´s and a pueblo about 30 minutes away called Leona Vicario.  I´m in a ward called Palmas.  Its the largest in the stake.  There are 3 stakes in Cancun.  About 50 missionaries.  There are us and another companionship in this ward.  It was split a year ago, and some of the members knew Spencer Gubler.  We have some investigators here, but I haven´t seen much progression.  We´ll probably look for more. 

Sorry I didn´t finish the questions.  I ran out of time.  I´ll answer the rest next week.

Love,
Elder Gubler

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

July 16, 2012 letter


Dear Family,

Everything is fine now (with my health).  There are vans that leave from Ticul and go to Merida about every 20 minutes.  We got on one of those to get to the hospital.  I was able to sleep for most of the ride.  I told the Taxi driver where to go and I already knew how to do everything because I had been to the hospital before.  After the hospital we went to the mission offices and I got to sleep there in my hammack.  I got up about 10:30. 

On Wednesday (of this past week) we got back to the house at night.  At 10:13 I got a call from the Zone Leaders with special transfers.  I got sent to Cancun.  I packed for a few hours, and got up early to finish packing.  I got on the bus about 8:30 a.m.  I got to the bus station in Merida and bought a ticket for Cancun.  I got to Cancun at about 3:00 p.m.  I met up with my new companion and we went to the area.  It's in the entrance of Cancun coming from Merida, on the northern half.  It's all new houses and apartments within the last 4 years.

This letter is short.  There were some problems with the computer. 

Love, Elder Gubler 

Monday, July 9, 2012

July 9, 2012 letter


Dear Family,
 
Elder Gonzalez and I get along fine.  He likes to give a lot of advice that he has heard from President Salinas, which I like, because I do the same thing.  He has been out 7 months.  He´s 19.  His family are members.  He has an uncle and the gospel has really helped him in his life. 

The families that we have been waiting to get married never did and won`t be getting married anytime soon.  We`re back to 0 in our area and will be looking for more people.  This area is a branch, Champoton is a branch, and Kanasin is a ward. 

I`m glad to hear that Mark Sumida got his Eagle.  I wish I could have been at the dinner.  He came to my conservative club meetings at Redwood.  I think I might have talked to his dad one time about dentistry, but I can`t remember. 

Last week I helped translate some legal papers for a member.  He has a family member in the United States that is the plaintiff in a case and needed some papers signed.  I organized the papers, separated the copies,papercliped them, and put on post-it notes to help them.  It was fun to play the part of a lawyer.

The letters from the youth in the ward arrived in our pouch last Monday, so they got to the offices the week before.  I had a repeat experience of what happened when I took Elder Gubler to the hospital, except this time it happened to me.  I got a little bit dehydrated.  I got to the house on Tuesday night with a head-ache.  About 10:15 I threw up, and did so for every hour until 8:00 a.m.  I called Sister Salinas and she told me what medicine to buy.  I had the othe missionaries bring it to our house.  I took the medicine, but stayed in my hammack until about 3:00.  I started throwing up again at 1:30.  I went to the pharmacy to get checked out, and they gave me some medicine.  I went to a member that is a dentist so that he could inject me.  He let me rest on his bed for a few hours, but I threw up afterwards, so at 8:15 p.m. we called Sister Salinas and she told us to go to Merida.  We went to the same hospital that I took Elder Gubler to.  They gave me some IV to rehydrate me.  I felt so much better afterward.  We got to the mission offices at 3:00 a.m. and the next day got back to Ticul.  All is well now.  I´m going to drink a lot more water.
 
Love,
Elder Gubler

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Elder Gubler's district in Ticul


Silliness with Elder Calvert


July 2, 2012 letter


Dear Family,

I'll send you some more information next week about Elder Gonzalez.
This past week we found 4 new investigators. Unfortunatley, none of them made it to church. It's the first time in a while that we haven`t had a single investigator show up. One of them was in another town where he is wanted for drug dealing. Someone recognized him in the city hall and now he`s in jail.  Hopefully he`ll be out soon. He wants to change. He lives with some great members. Yesterday were the elections in Mexico. This was the reason for which everyone else didn't go. Hopefully this week we`ll find more good investigators. Sorry this letter is short. Longer one next week.

Love,
Elder Gubler

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

June 25, 2012 letter


Dear Family,

The training went well.  I taught ``Teach people, not lessons´´  I gave a demonstration, and ran a practice for the missionaries in the zone.  The techniques for that principle is the model of teaching (questions, listening, discerning, and teaching), and what to use when you teach (experiences, knowledge, testimony, feelings, and scriptures). Sometimes missionaries fall into the trap of just using knowledge, and not any of the other methods.  I compared that to using ties, and that we shouldn`t use the same tie every day. 

Elder Gonzalez is from the state of Mexico.  He has a Dodger`s hat that 
he got from his cousin that lives in L.A.  I don`t know a whole lot about him.  He seems like a good companion. Today we cleaned our house for almost 3 hours.  I rearranged our shelves of missionary supplies and we dumped cleaner on the floor and scrubbed it with brooms.  I have to cut today a little short. 
Where is Paden Law going on his mission?
 
Love,
Elder Gubler

Monday, June 18, 2012

Elder Gubler with new companion Elder Gonzalez


Old picture from MTC that Elder Gubler found


June 18, 2012 letter


Dear Family,

I can`t believe it has been 2 years since I was at BYU.  Time sure does go by fast.  My suitcases are in OK condition.  They aren`t perfect, but they still work.  I`m glad I saved my other square suitcase at home.  How much is the rent where Kimi is at (at BYU)?  Mine was about $450 I think.  Do you know what is going to happen to the old Heritage Halls buildings?

By the way, happy father´s day.  Do they still pass out the chocolates after sacrament meeting?  I`m sure grandpa Gubler liked your article.  I did.  I read them every month. 

This week didn`t turn out like I had hoped.  We were going to baptize one of the kids from the family we are teaching, but he didn`t pass his interview.  This week it should happen though.  We found a few new investigators.  There is an inactive family that has a few kids that aren`t members.  We`ll see how it goes with them.  The daughter seems really interested.  This week the ZLs, DLs, and trainers are going to give a training meeting to each of their zones.  I did this a few months ago when Elder Gubler was still here.  My training skills are a lot better, and I got assigned to teach the parts that I wanted.  I`ll spend the night in Merida on tuesday with Elder Calvert.  He´ll be home in September, and maybe Kimi can go to visit him.  I think dad will like him.  He `s a good basketball player.  He`s only 5`9``, but he could dunk before his mission.  I sent a picture from the MTC that I found.
 
Love,
Elder Gubler

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Time Flies By


June 12, 2012 letter


Dear Family,

Sorry I didn´t get the email sent yesterday.  We had transfers.  Elder Taylor went to Cancun and I´m here in Ticul with Elder Gonzalez.  We got up at 6:30 on Monday, got dressed, said good bye to Miguel Uitz, the father of the family that we are teaching, and got on the bus to Merida.  I waited in the bus station from 9:45-2:05 for my companion to arrive from Cancun.  While waiting I visited with the other missionaries, bought some ice cream, and an ICEE.  I don´t think I´ve had an ICEE in the last 7-8 years.  Elder Higginson, my companion from the MTC is the new AP.  It was kept really quiet.  The only ones that knew about it were the secretaries, the AP´s and a couple other missionaries.  They called him with the transfers and said that he would be training in a pueblo in Campeche.  He had no idea until he got to the offices and they surprised him with the news. 


Elder Gonzalez is from Mexico state and has been out since December.  He is in the same group as my last companion from Kanasin, Elder Lima.

Miguel and his wife got their blood taken this week.  All they need to do now is make an appointment to get married.  We need to find more new investigators, because nobody else is going to church.  

Love,
Elder Gubler

Monday, June 4, 2012

June 4, 2012 letter


Dear Family,

The Brother that we baptized last week is Jaime David Balam Carrillo.  The couple there is the brother of the wife.  They were being taught by the other missionaries.  The wife invited them to the baptism.  We invite our investigators to the baptisms.  The 2 kids of the mechanic showed up.  There is a statistic that the majority of the people that attend a baptism will eventually get baptized.  I don`t know what the name of the fruit is.  I don`t think it`s bread fruit.  Inside it looks like a pineapple, but its a lot tougher.  The one in the picture is about 1/3 the size of the normal ones.  The missionaries that bought it said that for the full sized ones you have to use your knee also to hold it up.  Elder Taylor is from Georgia.  He went to a few years of college.  He sold pest control.  He played college soccer.  His sister comes home from her mission in Brazil next week.  He is the middle of 5 kids also.  The only thing stopping the investigators from getting baptized is their blood tests.  Hopefully today Miguel and his wife will get it taken.  Other than that we don`t have any investigators that are going to church, so we are going to see if we can find some more this week.  

When we had the baptism last week, we didn`t think that David would be back for another 2-3 weeks.  He showed up to church, so he was able to get confirmed.  That worked out nicely.  Miguel isn`t as much of a mechanic as he is a body worker for the cars.  This week they were painting, and I noticed that they were doing the same things that I was doing when I worked for Valley Pacific.  They were painting a VW bug, and first had to remove the paint with acid goo and scrape it off.  I`m sure glad I`m not doing that anymore.  That was my least favorite part.  

Can you call BYU to find out when I should register for my classes and housing for winter 2013? 

Love,
Elder Gubler

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Baptism of Jaime David Balam Carillo (Marcos' uncle)


Mayan architecture


Breadfruit for lunch again?


Mayan staircase


Polly Want a Cracker?


May 28, 2012 letter


Dear Family,
 
This week went by well.  We didn`t have the 6 baptisms because nobody got their blood tests, but we did have a baptism.  It's the uncle of Marcos that I baptized in Kanasin.  His wife and kids are all members and his daughter is on her mission.  He had been taught by the missionaries before, but he never showed up for his baptismal interview.  He is only here about 1 or 2 days every 3 weeks.  We taught him 3 weeks ago and put a date for the 26th, thinking that he would be coming by on weekends, but he never showed up.  Yesterday after church his daughter came up to us to tell us that he was home.  I talked to the branch president and he went with us to go see him.  We invited him to be baptized that day.  He was planning on leaving again at 6:00 p.m., but he said he could wait.  We made some calls to plan the baptism, and we tried to find some white pants, but nobody had the right size.  The only member in the district with some pants was traveling and couldn`t get back until 9:30.  We borrowed a belt and gave him some pants a size too small.  It worked out.   Hopefully this week the other 6 baptisms should happen. 

The rain here stopped.  It was only a storm that was passing through.  The rain should start again in June. Last Monday we went to a store that sells Maya art.  They have some pretty cool structures outside so we took some pictures and looked around.  I sent some pictures of that.  My group is going home at the scheduled time on Nov. 26th.  They only end early if it's Christmas.  We are all done with the temple, interviews, and dinner on the 29th.  I`ll let you know in the next week or 2 when to meet up with me. 
 
Love,
Elder Gubler

Monday, May 21, 2012

May 21, 2012 letter


Dear Family,

It sounds like everyone had a good weekend at the beach and Disneyland.  Which beach did the orchestra go to?  Last week when we called, I let another Elder use some of my phone calling credit because he called from the other meeting house and his parents didn`t have the number.  Of the video`s you cleaned out, make sure you don`t throw away any of the old pioneer movies.  I want to watch them when I get home.  I have a little collection of church movies here.  I bought the dvds of Doctrine and Covenants and the Book of Mormon segments that they made about 20 years ago.  I also have a video they made in 2000 of the first presidency and the 12. 

Is the Walmart in the old Costco building like the one on 198 or is it just a grocery store? You can find my BYU friends on facebook under my friend group ``BYU``  It has a list of the profiles from BYU. 

This week, if everything works out, we should have 6 baptisms.  The mechanic and his wife, Miguel and Laydi, have to get married this week.  Laydi has 2 sons that will also be baptized.  Also, the other couple, Jorge and Victoria, are going to try again this week to get married. The rainy season is back.  Its been raining pretty hard a few days this week.  We´ll be looking for more investigators this week.

Love,
Elder Gubler

Monday, May 14, 2012

May 14, 2012 letter


Dear Family,
 
It was nice to talk to you last night.  Today I talked to the secretary to find out when we go home.  He is going to ask President Salinas next Monday. 

This last week went by well.  We had another great zone conference on Wednesday.  We ate with some members after we got back to Ticul.  There was way too much salt in the food.  Every bite just tasted like salt.  About 8:00 I started feeling it in my stomach.  I couldn´t sleep because it hurt.  I threw up 4 times between 11:00 and 1:00, and after that I could sleep.  It was during that time that I noticed the blood spot in my eye.  I´ll send a picture in another email. 

When we go to Chapab, we leave our bikes in the house of the other missionaries.  When we got back from Chapab, they decided to play a joke.  There is a window in the door of their house.  If the window is left open, you can open the door.  We got there and they came up to us with a worried look on their face.  They asked us if we had just barely gotten back.  They looked worried.  We got to the house and they said that the window was open when they got there.  I got scared and they opened the door.  Our helmets where thrown on the floor and the bikes were gone.  I felt bad because I thought maybe I had left the window opened and that it was my falt.  I felt a little better when I noticed that their DVD player was still there and was relieved to see that it hadn´t been stolen.  There was a note on the floor.  My companion picked it up and it said ´Ha ha sus bicis estan arriba´´ (your bikes are upstairs) I, however misread it and thought that it said that our visas where expired.  That made me a little upset, thinking that the person that had stolen the bikes was making fun of us.  Then after the other missionaries were laughing I realized that it was a joke.  After that we went to an activity for the branch.  We played a giant version of Shutes and Ladders on the basketball court.  There was a pretty good turnout.  The kids of the mechanic showed up.  Also, an inactive member that we contacted that week and his wife went. 

In the zone conference they told us that starting in August we would be using mormon.org to create a profile and during the week chat to people about the church.  There is and will be a lot of curiosity about Mitt Romney.  Some sister missionaries where on an island by Cancun.  Some Jewish people asked if Mitt was from their church and then wanted to know what we believe.  In addition to this, the missionary discussions are on the site and after we teach an investigator about a principle, we send them to mormon.org to watch related videos (like people that overcame problems with the Word of Wisdom and share their testimony).

When you go on my facebook to put the notice about me having 6 months left, be sure to mention the blog with the same wall post.  Also, can you look at my list of friends from BYU and let me know who is on missions and where?  Thanks.

Love,
Elder Gubler. 

Monday, May 7, 2012


Dear family,

The couple [which we have been teaching] still hasn´t gotten married.  They were going to go Friday morning for their blood samples (the only thing they are missing) , but they woke up and had a flat tire on their trike, so they worked for a few hours to get some money and then took it to get it fixed, but there were other people waiting, and by the time they finished it was too late.  We talked to them and they said they would be going this morning at 6:30, so we´ll see.  On Saturday we contacted a family in a mechanic shop.  As soon as we said "hi" they offered us some of their breakfast.  We taught them and the parents accepted a baptismal date.  In the evening we took the husband and the kids on a church tour.  They didn´t make it to church on time, but we went to look for them after the sacrament.  I went with one of the members to pass by their house.  I found out that this member was a companion with Kavika Marcelino from the Visalia 2nd ward when they served in Tampico, Mexico.  The family made it for the last part of sacrament meeting and stayed till the end of church.  I played the piano for the sacrament hymn and the closing hymn.  In the evening we taught a guy that went to church that day.  His wife is a member but he isn´t.  Marcos, my convert from Kanasin, is his nephew.  His dad and the guy we taught are brothers.  I showed pictures to him and his daughter, who had never seen her cousins. 

Today we played basketball for 2 hours with the other companionship from Ticul. 
Call me at 8:00 my time for Mothers Day.  019979720661.  Do a test call this week.

Love,
Elder Gubler

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Squirtgun art


Cartoon about bathtub


Bathtub picture


April 30, 2012 letter


Dear Family,

The other missionary [in the picture I sent last week] is Elder Schang from Layton.  He came on the mission the same time as me, and we stayed at his house several nights when we couldn`t get back to Kanasin in time after district meetings.  The picture [of the baptism I sent last week] is of Fernando.  His last name is Tun Yah.  I also sent a picture of the motorcycles at church.  On the right side is a moto taxi.  I haven`t heard anything about the couple from Kanasin.  When I left the wife was going to Church, but David hadn`t been for a while because of work.  My half of Kanasin was closed for a few weeks, but its open again.  I`ll send a letter to them someday.  When we got off the bus at Cancun, we were given a sandwhich, cookies, and a juicebox.  We were given explicit instructions to not order any food while in Cancun.  After the conference, we ate Little Cesar`s before getting back on the bus. 

I attached a picture of a campaign add of a guy running for Governor of Mexico.  Thousands of those stickers have been made.  Its the size of the back window of a car.  It has a lot of holes poked in it so that you can see out your mirror.  Maybe you can make some of those if dad gets a lot of donations when he runs again.  I got the sticker from some members to put on the back of the Honda.  We had transfers yesterday.  Elder Taylor and I are still here.  One of the missionaries from the other area [of Ticul] went to Escarcega, so we are with his companion until tomorrow when he gets a new missionary. 

Fernando is doing great.  He went to church yesterday with a white shirt and tie.  We didn`t have any investigators in church yesterday, but we have some good people that we are teaching right now.  On Saturday we found an old guy that knew the first missionaries that arrived in Ticul in the 60`s.  He has some interesting stories.  He was friends with a guy that took over some of Albert Einstein`s projects.  If the couple [we are teaching] gets married this week they will be baptized, but if not we will stop teaching them until they get married.  Their names are Jorge and Victoria.
 
Love,
Elder Gubler

Monday, April 23, 2012

Baptism of Fernando, Elders Gubler and Taylor

Missionary conference

Cancun resort highrises in distance

Sleeping outdoors in Cancun

Moto-taxi at church house

April 23, 2012 letter

Dear Family,

Last week after I finished writing, we went to eat, grab our bags, and left for Mérida.  We cut it a little bit too close to getting there on time, but everything was fine.  On the bus ride over we watched the Doctrine and Covenants DVD which includes the Joseph Smith movie, John Tanner, the guy that worked on the SL temple with a peg-leg, Legacy, and Mountain of the Lord.  The last movie finished up as we were arriving in Cancun.  We got to the stake center, got assigned to a missionary house, and then took a taxi.  There were 10 missionaries in  the house.  There was only enough hooks to have 8 hammacks, so I slept outside on the balcony with a missionary from Utah.  It was nice to have the breeze and see the clouds passing by at night.  It rained a little bit at 1:00, but it wasn`t a lot.  The other missionary didn`t even notice.  We got up early, got ready, and left.  We got there at 7:00 (they asked us to be seated at 8:00), and there was a large line of missionaries waiting.  We were among the last to get in.  Elder Anderson got there at 9:00.  There were also 2 members of the 70.  Everyone went up by rows to shake his hand.  I told him Keith Brimhall said "hi", and he kept hold of my hand and asked me how I knew him.  We talked for about 30-40 seconds while everyone else was lined up behind me.  Afterwards a few other missionaries asked me what he told me.  

He talked about how we shouldn´t baptize if the person isn`t ready.  President Monson had said that we should wait and prepare them better.  He talked about education.  He also talked about repentance and said that sometimes we don`t forget about sins because the Lord doesn`t want us to make mistakes, but with time we remember less and less, then there will come a time when we are praying and will remember a sin.  We will ask if we are forgiven and will feel the spirit when we do. 

On the bus ride back there wasn`t any movie, so a group of us gathered in the back of the bus and started talking.  One of the topics was High School Musical.  One of the Elders went to East High, and another one was actually in the movie (but he never watched it).  They said that Zack and Cordin are really short.  The basket ball hoops were lowered and they had to film about 10 times before they actually made the shot. 
This week we had baptisms.  I sent pictures. 

Love,
Elder Gubler

Monday, April 16, 2012

April 16, 2012 letter

Dear Family,
 
I`ll be leaving for Merida in about an hour, and then on to Cancun.  We won`t be allowed to see anything in Cancun.  When we get off the bus we go directly to the Missionaries house and aren`t allowed to leave from there.  The next day we wake up early and go directly to the Stake Center, and from there back to Merida.
Today, while in the parking lot of the grocery store I saw a lady that, from behind, looked like a member from Champoton.  As we got closer I realized that it was her.  We stopped and said "hi".  She moved in with her son`s family around the corner from us. 

This week we should be having 4 baptisms.  The couple that have known the missionaries for about 2 months are finally going to get married this week.  There is also the boyfriend of a member and a girl from Chapab. 
I`m glad to hear that Mitt Romney is going to win the Republican vote.  These last  4 years have gone by really fast.  Too bad I won't get to vote for him. 
Over here in Ticul we had some hail.  There was also a lot of rain on Wednesday.  I was in divisions in Muna (about 8 miles away) and we traveled back that night.  It was raining really hard, and we walked to downtown to get the bus.  We got off the bus in Ticul and there was a lot of water in the streets.  We got back to the house completely soaked.  A few minutes later my companion and the other missionary got back to the house.  We got into dry clothes, ate my freeze-dried lasagna (that Mom sent me), and the 4 of us slept in Ticul. 

Don`t forget to take to boat out.  Also, you can use the hose hookup to run the engine a little bit to keep it in good condition.  To rev the engine, push the black circle on the throttle and move the throttle forward at the same time.   That will keep the boat in neutral.  Is the honda 90 still working?
Love,
Elder Gubler

Monday, April 9, 2012

Outside of Elder Gubler's Ticul, Mexico house

Inside Ticul, Mexico residence of Elder Gubler

April 9, 2012 letter

Dear Family,

Sorry the email didn`t go through.  The file was too large.  The computer said that it sent last week.  I got a call from President Salinas Wednesday morning telling me that you didn`t get my email.  I sent it again today.  This past week was good.  On Sunday we did divisions so that 1 of us could stay in Ticul and the other go to Chapab for church.  I went with a member in his mototaxi ( like the one from Nacho Libre) to Chapab.  We found the rented house in Chapab where the meetings are held, left our backpacks there, and went out to bring the investigators to church.  An inactive family that we are teaching didn`t want to go, but with a little more talking they agreed to let their daughter (our investigador), and her little sister go with us.  Their aunt also went along.  Across the street from this family lives the other investigators.  The 2 of them went with us also.  We had a total of 5 adults and 2 girls travel in the mototaxi.  The 5 of them rode in the cart in front, and I rode on the back of the motorcycle with the member.  We got them to church, and fortunately the Branch President had moved the services to 10:00 a.m., so we didn`t miss anything.

This month should be good.  We have 4 baptisms planned for the 21st.  Jorge and Victoria are a couple that should be getting married soon.  Once they get married, they can get baptized.  Yesterday we started teaching Fernando, the boyfriend of a member.  He has been going to church the last few weeks, including conference, and accepted a date for the 21st.  The last one is Johanna, the little girl from the family in Chapab. 

Next week the entire mission is going to Cancun.  We are going to see Elder Neil L. Andersen.  We leave Monday at 2:30 p.m. from the Stake Center in Merida.  We spend the night in houses of other missionaries.  We should have about 10 missionaries per house.  I was told 16 but I don`t think it will be that many.  On Tuesday morning we`ll listen to him.

I`ll be writing early next week also.

Love,
Elder Gubler