Seeing lives change

Hey family, Wow that's awesome that Jacosa, Angela and Tawna did a triatholon. Felicidades!  But yeah dad, that would be sweet if we do it next year. 
Sounds like there have been alot of changes in callings.  Katrina congratulations on your new calling.=)
It sounds like you guys had a great week and pretty busy too... that's good then you guys don't have to think about me so much. jk

This week was great, the Rivera family and Rosa Maria were confirmed and they are doing well in the church, really excited.

We also had a baptism. His name is Joel.  He is really cool!  He is a boyfriend of a member in our ward. I really thought he was a member when I first got here cause he always comes to church AND with a white shirt and tie on!  I just found out a few weeks ago that he wasn't a member. Then we started teaching him and he excepted to be baptized. Also good news is that Rosa Maria's son Dwight (11) came to church yesterday to see the confirmation of his mom and he saw the baptism of Joel and now he wants to get baptized next week.  It's such a great experience to see people change their lives and follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The hard part like, dad said, is that they stay firm in the church.  That part is the toughest  It really depends on the ward too, cause if the ward doesn't befriend them or do their visiting teaching recent converts seem to fall away from the church, but this ward that I'm in is great and really friendly!
So tomorrow we have changes, I'm pretty sure my companion, Elder Combe is going to leave. He already has 6 months in this area. Im gonna miss him. We got along really well. But yeah I gotta get going.
Thankyou so much for your love and support.
Love you guys,
Elder Kingston

Old Letters

(Sorry, I'm so behind posting James' letters.  - Mom/Rosanna)
August 11, 2010
Hey Family,

Thanks for the input on things... sounds like you guys had a great week... oh and Katrina thanks so much for the package, I was so excited to see it.=) I loved the pictures, especially the one with everyone and Uncle Pat's guns...haha and thanks for the letters and m&ms.... you're the best!

As for me, my week went well! We have found some pretty good investigators that seem like they're gonna progress, which is good. Yesterday we had some pretty powerful lessons.  One of which was with Jovanna. Jovanna is part of a Christan church and has been baptised by emmersion and everything. So she's a little bit hard to talk with. Yesterday we talked about the apostasy with some pretty good scriptures from the bible, then about the restoration.. When I recited the first vision I could feel the power so strong and I knew she could feel it too.  She had tears in her eyes.  I asked her how she felt and she gave a strong answer. . . .GOOD!   I know she knows this gospel is true, she is just scared to take the next step.  I have faith that she will act on what she knows and join the church.

I'm so excited to be out here on the mission and learn and grow through helping others, it's the best feeling ever when you can see your investigators keeping they're promises and taking steps in their lives to follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I gotta go but before I forget I sent you guys a package last Saturday. I sent it with a family who is going to Utah and they are going to drop the package off at Elder Combe's house and E. Combe's parents are gonna send it to you guys.  Hope you enjoy it.  It's not anything too big.
Well  I gotta go.
I love you guys... have a good week.
Love,
Elder Kingston

August 2, 2010
Hey Fambam,
 =) I'm happy to see everybody is doing great and that dad you have a great class and mom you were able to rocover from camp.
Here in my barrio, Los Andes, everything is going good.  Yesterday we had two confimations.  Alejandro and this girl, Dinorah.  Dinorah came to church last week to see Andres get the spirit conferred upon him and turned out she is somebody that we, along with many other missionaries, have been looking for. She  was baptized 8 months ago but never recieved the Holy Ghost. We started teaching her and we got her confirmed yesterday.  The Lord truly put her in our way.=) I'm just so grateful to be an instrument in the Lord's hands.  Last night me and Elder Combe went over and got them excited about missions.  Dinorah is 20 Alejandro is 17 and Andres is 16 and they all are planning on serving missions. whoo hoo! To see the joy in them when talking about serving missions really filled my heart with love for this beautiful work.  And already they are doing missionary work.  Alejandro told me he has been talking to a bunch of people about the church and he has like 8 that wanna come... its sweet! Mom, thanks for sharing that experience about Brigham Young, it's so true. Well I would love to keep writing, but I gotta go.
Love you guys and hope you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder kingston....
Oh and mom I think it would be better if you send me garments and I can buy the rest here.=)


July 26, 2010
Hey family
wow.... mom it sounded like you guys really made camp a wonderful and spiritual experience. Congratulations!
Well this last week went great. We comfirmed Andres and baptized his brother yesterday. They are both sweet converts. They both are planning on going on missions...=) which I'm way happy about!
Time here on the mission is going by so fast and I'm loving every minute of it, the hard times and the good times! I really wanna use this time so I can grow spiritually and I'm definitely having experiences!  One thing I started to do this change is to really love personal study. Alot of times I found myself head bobbing and falling asleep while studying but I am now keeping track of everything I study in a study journal and it has really been helping me out.  Right now I am studying the enabling power of the atonement and it is really helping keep the spirit through out the day.

I'm so grateful for all of you and everything you do.  I have to go cause im gonna send you guys some pictures but always remember that I love you.=)

Elder Kingston


July  19, 2010
Hey Family....=)
Well thank you all for your wonderful prayers. Even though I can't see you guys I still get comfort knowing that you are all praying for my success here on the mission.  This last week went sweet.  Andres, a 17 year old that came to church last week was baptized yesterday.  His mom is a member but he and his brothers are not. We went to his house last Tuesday to see how he liked church then we sat down and his mom yelled for him saying, "Andres get down here.  The missionaries are here to teach you so you can get baptized'' she said it really bluntly but he didnt argue at all.  He is a great kid with a great future ahead of him and I'm just so happy for the chance to see him start on this eternal path.  This next week we have planned for his brother to get baptized. His name is Alejandro and he's 15. He went to church and really liked what he saw.

Other than the baptism we had, this week has been pretty crazy. On Tuesday we had divisions.  Each elder in our zone was put with a different elder for 2 days.  I got Elder Bearchia and my companion went with Elder Parrera in Salinas which is about an hour away.  It was pretty fun.  I learned alot. I really like divisions cause you get the chance to get new ideas of ways to teach.  Then we changed back on Thursday. Thursday night we got a call from Elder Flynn, our zone leader, that he needed me and my companion to sleep at his house.  Turns out his companion, Elder Bearchia became one of the Presidents Assistants.  So we have been a triple for the last 3 days until tomorrow when we have changes. It's actually pretty hard cause we are having to go back and forth from his area to ours. But it's definitely a fun experience!

Wow mom you sound like your rockin it over there with camp. I know you're going to have a fantastic week. Well I gotta go but I will send pictures of the baptism next week.  Okay, I hope you all have a great week and remember that I love you. =)

Elder Kingston

July 12, 2010
Wow,  what a great surprise to have so many emails!  I feel so special....haha!  Thanks so much.

Happy birthday Kai.  Sounds like you had a great birthday!  And mom I hope you don't get too stressed out with all the camp stuff.  (read D&C 10:4) I know you are doing a great job though.

This last week was great. We have some new great investigators,  Milton and Veronica who are boyfriend and girlfriend.  They are really cool.  They are both really humbled right now,  not only for the hurricane that passed through but also about a month ago Milton was beat up pretty bad by a drug cartel who thought he was someone else.  They left him with 2 broken arms and a broken hip. He and his girlfriend came to church  on sunday and really liked the church... the only thing with them is that they are not married but have 1 child and she is pregnant with a second... but they also don't live together, so today we are going to talk to them about how they can have a family eternal and about marriage.  If you guys can pray for them that they may have a contrite spirit and follow the teachings of the spirit that would be great.  We also had a lady named Lupita come to church with us today.  Her husband is a member but she is Catholic.  They are expecting a baby and she wants the kid to grow up in one religion so she is really leaning toward joining this church.  We had the opportunity to give her a blessing last Saturday because she was having stomach pains... she told us that she felt alot better after and that it was a good experience.  I feel really good about all of them and  I know that if the Lord wants it right now they will take this next step in their lives and be baptized.

It's still been pretty wet here. I'ts been raining off and on but I'm pretty sure its all clearing up now.  The hurricane did alot of damage, in our area not as much, but in my old area which was in the center of Monterrey was hit really hard.  I'ts right by the Rio Santa Caterina.  You should look it up on google or something.  And another area right by us had the church swept away, leaving nothing,  pretty sad.  It might have taken away our material things but the only thing it did spiritually is lift us up.  I'm so grateful for the knowledge I have of this gospel and of the plan God has for us  and for the chance to always be happy. I love you all and I am so grateful for the wonderful and supporting family God has given me. I hope you all have a fantastic week!

LOVE YOU ALL,
Elder Kingston

Prayers Are Answered!

Hey Family,
haha! Sorry my letters keep getting shorter and shorter.  I don't know,  I think I just get sick of typing!
I know that's no excuse. Sorry I'll try and do better.

Well this week was awesome!  We had alot of success thanks to the Lord and much fasting and prayers.  Sunday we had a baptism.  The person's name is Sarah, a really cool girl.  She is 20 and has her own business cutting hair.  She has been through alot in her life.... I mean ALOT!   Friday she had her interview and passed then Saturday we went by and talked with her and she just broke down with a few things. I'm glad we were there to help her in her time of need. We gave her a blessing and she seemed to be very calm after that.  That lesson was probably one of the most spiritually draining lessons I've had on my mission.  But a great experience!  We also had 5 investigators in church, the Rivera family (Maricela, Ruben, Alejandro,and Ruben jr...)  a mother, father and 2 sons.  They are really cool.  The first lesson that we had with them was the Restoration.  They took it very well and it all seemed to make perfect sense to them.  At the end of the lesson we knelt down with them to ask God if the things we taught were true and if Jesus Christ restored His gospel through Joseph Smith.  They all got an answer that it was true.  It was very powerful! I know without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord answers our prayers.  They came to church and really loved it. They all, except the dad, accepted to be baptized next week. I know he will too, he's just a little scared. =) My companion and I are way excited for them.
We also brought a lady to church named Rosa Maria.  She is a widow with 2 sons.  She felt the spirit so strong in church and in the baptism of Sarah.  We saw her last night and asked her how she felt in the church.  She told us she felt such peace and could feel the love that God has for her through each and every member there.  We helped her recognize that this was an answer to her prayer she offered the night before asking if the things we taught were true.  She then had doubts about joining the church because she doesn't know if her children are going to join the church also.  We read the first part of D&C 31 and put her name in it instead of Thomas and that was definitely an answer for her.  She is also going to be baptized next Sunday  =)
Well I gotta go but remember that I love you all. Have a great week!  I'll be thinking of you all.
Love,
Elder Kingston
oh and thanks mom and dad for helping me buy some more socks and pants.... love you guys....

Opportunities to Serve

Hey family,
Sounds like you all had an awesome 4th of July.   Its a bummer sometimes being here in Mexico when it's an American holiday because nobody does anything!!  My companion and I didn't do anything yesterday.
We're party poopers!  We were thinking of what we could do but we didn't come to any conclusions so we just went to bed cause we were exhausted! But throughout the day we were singing the Star Spangled Banner.  I truly am grateful for our country . . . . and Mexico has really helped me see how much I LOVE my country...haha!
This last week was crazy with Hurricane Alex.  On Thursday we couldn't even leave the house unless we had appointments set. We had alot of opportunities though to give service.  Just walking down the street you could find many people in need.  We helped alot of people bucket water out of their house.  Many houses were flooded.  I believe we are going to see alot of people humbled and ready to hear the gospel this week haha!   For the first few hours when the hurricane hit my companion and I were like, "man this is awesome!" Then after about 2 hours we were miserable, walking in rivers of water haha! and nobody wanted to let us in their houses because we were soaken wet.  But we really got a special chance to experience a little bit of what Jesus Christ went through. It was a great opportunity and I'm so grateful for it.  Sorry, I' don't have many crazy stories, but that's how my week went.  I've gotta go but I hope you all have a great week and hope you all know I am always thinking of you and praying for you.
LOVE,
ELDER KINGSTON
Oh mom, is there any way in the next package you send me to send printed photos from the fam reunion, the 4th and whatever other pictures you want?  I would love that. . . and a few more of Davids cds?but there is no rush... just whenever.... thanks mom, love you.

Hurricane Alex

Hey Family, President Romney wanted all of us missionaries here in Monterrey to write and let you know that we are okay.  These last few days were pretty crazy.  We had a hurricane hit here, called hurricane Alex!  Just know that I'm alright and I'll let you know a little bit more about it next Monday.
LOVE YOU GUYS.
Hope you all have a great week!
Elder Kingston


-

"Patience Is a Process of Perfection"

Hey family,
I'm happy to hear the family reunion was a blast. Sounds like alot of people went, which is good.  I would love to have been there but it's all good.  I'll be there next year.=) JAKE'S BAPTISM SOUNDED LIKE AN AWESOME SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE.!  He's going to remember that for the rest of his life..
Everything sounded good until dad told me what happened to him. It really scared me!  I'm just so happy that nothing happened to you, Dad.  The Lord definitely is watching out for you.  That was definitely a little miracle.  I'm glad you're safe!
Everything is going great here.  Combe and I are workin hard and lovin it.  Even if for now we're not seeing many results.  I know the blessings will come and maybe they are here already I just can't see them!  One thing that I have learned this week is from a talk by President Uchtdorf about patience.  There is a quote that says...." patience is a process of perfection" that really has helped me out alot. In D&C it says if we bring but one soul unto God how glorious it will be.  I like to think that that first soul is ourselves.  This opportunity to be a missionary and serve the Lord has really helped me grow and become more like the Savior.  I'm going to take advantage of the good times and the hard times here on my mission as growing experiences.
This last week went well. We found a few good people that look like they're going to progress.
This 4th of July is gonna be a downer...haha!  Nobody celebrates it here obviously, haha!  My companion and I were talking about how we wanna have a little party between us two.... so we'll see how that goes...haha!  Oh and thanks so much for sending that cd player and cds... it got here really fast.  I was very suprised. Oh yeah I gotta ? about my atm card.  How am I supposed to activate it?  Well I really gotta go. But remember that I love you all and I pray for all of you every day.
LOVE,
ELDER KINGSTON

Happy Father's Day

hey family,=)
Happy Fathers Day Dad and Grandpa.... it sounds like you guys had a great Father's day. That's awesome that you guys had it at the farm with Grandpa. It's crazy to think that I'll be home next Father's Day.... How cool is that?
Well, here in my area we are struggling a little. During the week we have lots of investigators and then when it comes Sunday they all suddenly have alot to do around 11 to 2....haha! It gets a little frustrating but I try not to get too discouraged because I know that's just what the adversary wants.  Really, as a missionary, the only thing we can control are our contacts.  The rest is in the Lords hands.  As long as we stay obedient and diligent I will have no regrets.  We had to let Adam and Vicky go.  They just aren't ready yet to make this change in their life but hopefully they will be in the future. We did find a really cool lady who is strong.  We contacted her and before we could say anything she let us in her house.  Turns out her daughter is a member and she knows alot about the church.  She accepted the challenge to be baptized that lesson.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to find her Sunday. But I have alot of faith in her.  It's so great to see how well prepared some people are. As missionaries, we are either planting the seeds or harvesting them.  We just have to remember to have alot of patience.  Well I've gotta go.  I don't have much time but tell all the fambam that I love them and that I wish I could be at the reunion.
Love you guys,
Elder Kingston...

Oh and mom thanks for sending that stuff..... love you....