Pics (21 January 2015)

(Flashback with Elder Segura. Yes it is green haha.)

The BRONX (Week 1) (14 January 2015)

Hi family. Keep sending me emails I love them!

I am so angry right now because I just spent two hours writing an email, got it all ready to go, sent it, and it only sent two lines and deleted all the rest. All is well here (it's way better than Yonkers). All is well. My companion is awesome and so is Elder Lyons and his companion (literally B.J Thomas). Hahaha. it's great. Anyways, have a great week and I will talk to you all next week.

Here are the only lines that went through (more next week):

Greetings from lovely New York! This week has been one of the best weeks in my mission. We have seen many miracles and I have learned so much!  This week I want to start off with a picture that I found graffitied here.

Pics (14 January 2015)

From One Hood to Another (7 January 2015)

Hello all :)! This has been a great week! I'm being transferred out of Yonkers! 

I am leaving Yonkers and going to Kingsbridge in The Bronx (which borders Yonker). I have been to this area before but it is different when you serve there. My companion will be Elder Hausenfluck who will be ending his mission in three cycles. Everyone has been telling me they are very jealous that I get to serve with him because he is so great! He has a gym membership card and he has a membership where he can get someone else in free anytime he goes. My companion (Elder Segura) had him as a companion and he said he is great! He loves playing basketball too. We are both super excited and I can't wait to go to the gym every day now. Sometimes I really miss exercising. I have never realized how much it helps myself function until I've been on the mission and exercising is not available like it was before the mission. I'm very excited to serve with my new companion. We are going to live with two other Spanish elders. Both are awesome! And guess what? I'm going to be living with Elder Lyons again (my MTC companion)! This is going to be a great cycle. It's going to be difficult, but I'm up for the challenge. 

Last preparation day was a great day. Elder Palmer (my now old district leader), Elder Hincapie, Elder Segura and I all went to the Sleepy Hollow Seminary. It was a really cool experience seeing gravestones from the 1700's. After that, we brought Elder Palmer to the mission home (he was going home the following day), and then we went back to the church in Scarsdale and ended up playing basketball. Some of the missionaries were outside playing soccer with some non-members and invited them in to play basketball. They all played on their varsity team so it was really fun to actually play basketball again against some good competition.

I don't have much time today because I need to get everything ready before transfers. Don't wait to change. Start today. Life goes by quickly and you don't want to wait until the day that you are dying to decide to live.

This week has been great. I will let you know how the new area is. 

With love,

Elder Celaya

Happy 2015 family!! (1 January 2015)

This week has been a great week here. Our stake president has sent us on a little mission, along with every other missionary that is serving in our zone. He is calling it the "Search & Rescue," which is where we are supposed to go out and find all the less-active young adults that have ever been on the church records in our area, and find their status (have they moved, if so, what is their new address, if they haven't moved, are they still interested in the church, and then update the list, and give it back to the stake president). It has been quite an interesting experience, but I enjoy it. It is fun because we go all over Yonkers, and we knock on all these different doors and you never know what you are going to get behind each door - I love that feeling now. It used to scare me (knocking on random people’s doors), but now I enjoy it. That is one thing I didn't know we did to the extent we do it (tracting) on the mission. We tract a lot and do a lot of lookups. We were trying to find one person from the search and rescue list and I knocked on the door, and this guy behind the door said "quien es?" which means "who is it?" in Spanish. We told him we were the missionaries and he went and got a lady to come talk to us. We talked for little over a minute and then she asked who we were, and then all of a sudden there was a pause...then she said to me "Um I'm sorry but nobody....is here to talk to you....right now." I looked at Elder Segura and he started busting up laughing and I had to remember at that moment that that lady was a daughter of God, because my natural man within was telling me to talk back. Haha so I stood there for 10 seconds trying to regain my composure and said, "Alright, well you have a wonderful night!" and then we walked away and Elder Segura was laughing at me because right before this occasion, we went to go look up another less active. So on all of these apartments, there are two doors. You walk into the first door and then on the wall there usually is a call box, and you have to get buzzed in to get into the second door. So, Elder Segura pressed the person’s number, and a lady answered, and we told her who we were looking for. We gave her the first name, and she said she had no idea who that was, and then we told her the last name, and she randomly decided to tell us that it was her son. So we asked if he was home, and she said yes, and said she was going to go get him so we could talk to him. So Elder Segura asked if it was him, and he said "yeah that is me," and then once he asked who we were, and we told him we were the missionaries, he said that the guy we were looking for didn't live there, and he starting saying that he has no idea who we were talking about, and then hung up on us. The whole time Elder Segura was trying to keep it cool, but after he hung up on him, he started yelling at the call box in his heavy Spanish European accent. He was very angry and I made fun of him for it. Haha. So of course I got that out right back in my face the next door we knocked.  This is why this is fun, because you never know what you are going to get. You have to have a light heart about it or else you will take everything offensive. That is one thing that truly is amazing about a mission, is that you learn how to not take offense to things when you are rejected in any way. You just keep on moving and try to figure out a better way to do the work. Perhaps that will be a good business skill one day and in relationships. 

Christmas Eve: For Christmas Eve, we went to South Manhattan and spent the day in the city. It was pretty packed, but unfortunately it was raining a lot. We took the subways down (that is always an experience in itself), and then went to wall street, and walked all the way up, seeing different things and touring the city. It was a really fun day. I will attach some photos. We then went to one of my favorite families (the Osorio’s) homes for dinner. We had a big Christmas Eve Dominican dinner which was fun. I am still not too keen on Dominican food. But hey, it's a lot better than what I was eating the first month of my mission (only Raman noodles). Haha. 

Christmas: Christmas was actually really fun. It was one of the most fun days in my mission. We went to the church and played basketball with our entire district. We played for a long time and we would take breaks when people needed to Skype their family. Speaking of skyping, it was awesome to see my family again. One thing that was extremely weird is that I feel like my entire world has changed SO much within the last 6 months, and because of that, I have changed as well. I am not the same person I was when I left for my mission. It felt so weird skyping my family because it felt like home - it felt like I just walked back in my house and I was only gone for a day. It was just like normal, but I feel like a different person - an enhanced version of myself. It feels like I have left earth, and I just got to go back to earth for an hour and everything was still the same. It really was a comforting feeling. It was so fun talking with you guys and seeing your faces. 

Brandon: Veronica ended up breaking up with Brandon because she is leaving on her mission this month. We have not been able to meet with Brandon, and we don't know if it’s just because he has been busy, or if he relates it to Veronica and therefore wants nothing to do with her right now, so he doesn't want to meet with us. I know he wasn't just meeting with us for her, because I personally saw and felt how he was changing. I saw the spirit working in him and in his life. I saw his countenance change. That is something that is very interesting to see as a missionary. You can literally see a new light come into the person when they start to change their life. It is like they completely turn into a new person. You can also see, when someone has then decided to not want to change any longer and follow the gospel, you can see the light in them leave, and you can see they are trying to ignore what they deep down in their hearts know to be true. It is a very sad thing, but it is so easy to see in people. I just wish they could see it in themselves. Anyways, we aren't sure what will end up happening with Brandon. We love him and he is an amazing guy, so hopefully he can value the change he has seen in his life so much so that he will want to meet with us again. 

Roy: We feel as if Roy is holding onto his past, and because of that, he cannot see the hope of his future, and because of that, it is holding him back from progressing. We have had a couple of lessons with him, teaching him about eternal families, temples, and what priesthood is, and they were great lessons, but we feel as if half of his heart is still stuck in the past. We are going to meet with him Friday and teach about disconnecting himself from the past, and aligning himself with the gospel so he can continue to progress. 

Dominican Family: We went on a split the other week with our zone leaders, and during this time, Elder Segura and Elder Gore (our awesome zone leader) tracked into this Dominican family. They are awesome! The dad is super interested and his wife only has three months here in America. Somehow he lost his eye in the DR, but he is an amazing guy. I was on a split with Elder Palmer (my district leader), and we taught them the Plan of Salvation. Elder Palmer is such an amazing teacher, and he truly has inspired me to buckle down and learn Spanish. One thing I have noticed the longer I have been on my mission and the more Spanish I learn, the more I realize I don't know. I still have trouble teaching in Spanish, but I am forcing myself to learn, day by day. We are going to go back Saturday to teach them. They are awesome.

Julian: Julian is a guy that the sisters found. He is currently going to medical school and is working three jobs to pay for school. We had a pass off lesson with them and the sisters, and he is by far the most amazing guy I have been able to be blessed to teach. He is such a nice, deep thinking, and genuine person. He has such a strong and positive desire to know more about truth. He is not from Yonkers (he is from upstate), but he is here for medical school. I have never met someone so ready for the gospel. He is one of the most positive, easy to get along with, people I have met. We taught him the Restoration with the sisters, and there was such an amazing spirit there. I have yet to feel the spirit so strong teaching someone in a lesson. It's during those times when you say to yourself, there is absolutely no way this can't be true, because I have never felt anything this peaceful and exciting in my life. It's during those times I feel as if we get a little peek of what Heaven will be like. I am super excited to see what happens with him, because he has been prepared. 

We had President come into our zone meeting this week, and he surprised us and talked about a principle that has really affected and inspired me. He talked about becoming ONE with Christ and his gospel. He talked about John 15 in the bible. Read it slowly. It will change your life.  In John 15, Jesus gives a parable of a vineyard. Jesus is the vine, we are the branches, and God is the caretaker. He talked about how it's not good enough to be in proximity to the vine - that does nothing. You can't obtain nutrients when you are just around the vine - you have to be connected. He talked about how once a branch has borne fruit, we then have to let God purge the dead branches, because they are not allowing new vines to grow so they can bear fruit. It is not enough for us to be in proximity to the vine, we cannot be close to the vine, we have to be connected to the vine. Don't look back on the past, what could have been. Only look forward to what the Lord has in store for you. If we look back, once we have changed not just our behavior, but rather our nature, we are saying something like this: I want all I had in the past, more than I have hope for in the future. Don't LOOK BACK. 

The gospel is change. It's eternal change. Eternity is now. Don't wait. Become one with the Savior and your life will change beyond your current comprehension - that is something I have seen in myself. But I was not able to see it until I took the leap of faith. I can only see it now, after I have in a sense jumped. During this new year, don't just change your behavior, change your heart. Align yourself with God, and change who you are.

I love you all so very much, and I am so thankful for the many things I am blessed to learn on the mission. 

With love,

- Elder Celaya

P.S. Transfers are on Wednesday next week, and I am most likely going to be going out of Yonkers, so the next time you hear from me, I will be in my new area. I find out Saturday where I will be going. It is a bitter sweet feeling leaving an area.

Pics (1 January 2015)

 Christmas Eve in Manhattan

Christmas with the Rodak Family!

Skyping my family!!

Thanks Eskanders for taking us to lunch!

Merry Christmas! FELIZ NAVIDAD! (24 December 2014)

Sorry for the lack of an email last week. Last week I was sick and didn't have the energy to write an email. Elder Nelson ended up catching the stomach flu and was throwing up a lot a couple of weeks ago. Well, last week somehow I got it as well and was throwing up all night and day Wednesday. Then my companion got it and then he was throwing up. And then just when we thought everything was good, Elder Nelson somehow got it again and was throwing up the entire next day. We call it the Yonkers Plague. Nobody can figure out why so many people get sick here. Haha. Now we are all alive and well, so do not worry. Being sick is no fun.

Brandon: It has been an interesting ride with Brandon. Last time we talked, he was doing great. Things have happened since then. Veronica (his girlfriend in the church) broke up with him because she was going on a mission, and also his friends have been telling him that ever since he has been meeting with us, he has been changing into to "soft" person and they want the old tough Brandon back. Over the last few weeks, each time we meet with him, he gives us less and less time. It's at a point now where he cancels the lessons. We will see what happens. It is just sad to see someone lose the eternal blessings of the gospel because he cares more about what others think. I wish he could have more of an eternal perspective. It doesn't matter what man thinks, if you know you are living your life doing what God asks of you. Living according to what God asks of us is ultimately the right thing to do, and you feel that in your heart. Because you feel that, you never have to justify your actions because you already know they are right and correct. I wish he could see this. Anyway, we are praying for him and hoping he does choose to come back and continue to change. He knows the gospel is true, he sees how it has been changing his life, yet because he is afraid of what others think, he is choosing to deny himself those wonderful blessings, and not accept it. He has so much potential. If only he could see that in himself. Then again, I'm sure this is just how God feels about us as well.

Roy: Roy is such an amazing one! I am a little confused at times with him. He opened up to us and told us some things that happened to him, and because of those things, it is as if he is stuck mentally at the age those things took place in his life. Sometimes it is hard to communicate with him, because it's as if we are talking to a little kid in very large man's body. He keeps telling us of new kids he is finding out he had, and he is constantly losing and obtaining new jobs. Over the past cycle it has been difficult meeting with him, but we met with him twice this week, and plan to do so in the following weeks. Yesterday we had a great lesson with him. We taught about the priesthood, temples, and eternal families, and we asked him how bad he was willing to work to get there one day. He said he really wants it, and he feels like each time he prays and asks God if these things are true, that he gets the feeling and the direct words in his head that say "you already know this is true, you already know what you have to do." It's so amazing to hear that, but he needs a little push. He doesn't commit very well to things, but he told us yesterday that there is just something inside of him telling him to go through with it. If only people could see the worth of the gospel in their lives! His baptism date was December 21st, but unfortunately, we had to cancel the date and move it back because we didn't feel as if he was ready to make that step yet. 

We have been doing a lot of less active look-ups and a lot of tracting. We have spent most of our time in the bad areas because that is where all the hispanic people are. Even though we spend every day in those areas, each day it surprises me how bad some of these people live. It is sad. Apparently, everyone who comes over to America from these Latin countries automatically thinks New York City is the place to go, but they can't afford it, so outside the city is the "next best place" and they end up here all in tight quarters. They don't understand that there are a lot better and cheaper places to live in America. I have grown to love some of the people here, and I just wish I could take them out of their situations here and show them how good life can be. 

We have these events called APF's where we get together with all the missionaries in our zone and do an area proselyting event. For example, our last event we went caroling, handed out free hot chocolate, gave away wrapped scriptures, and during that talked to all the people who came through. We do one every week. Well last week during our APF, I was on a split with Elder Hincapie, and we ran into an elderly lady who was picking up her leaves. We ran over to her and asked her if we could help her and she said she didn't need help, but we didn't listen and started to help her anyways. We got talking with her and chatted with her for about 20 minutes. We ended up showing her He Is the Gift, and let her meet the sister missionaries. They then talked with her for a while, and now they are teaching her! It was a tender miracle to see. 

I love our Zone. Every day we grow closer and they are all like my brothers and sisters now! You get to meet and make so many amazing friends on the mission. Tonight we are going over to one of our favorite family’s house for Christmas Eve, and tomorrow is Christmas! I hope you all have a great week. I am going to the city today, and we are going to go to the Rockefeller Center and Times Square and a few other places. It should be pretty packed on Christmas Eve. We shall see. I'm very excited. It is always so fun going to the city because you see so many new things in such a little amount of time. South Manhattan is a very live place. I love it. 

Have a fantastic week and a wonderful Christmas. Remember as you are opening your presents tomorrow, who really is the gift. :)

With love,

Elder Celaya