December 6, 2017

Hey momma. thanks for the update. I have been telling dad, but idk is he passed the word. can you hook me up with some boxing mits, like the little kind that carry from the gym has, and some tennis shoes for my companion. i was thinking you could bring them on the cruise and send them from inside mexico. My toes are doing good. The light the world thing is going good. The best thing this week...we reactivated a family and they are going to get sealed, and we are going to baptize their daughter, but the daughter was not learning very fast at all, but yesterday she remembered everything and it was a miracle. The worst thing was that we are never in our area and sometimes i feel like im babysitting out here.

November 28, 2017

Hey momma, things are good here. Elder castillo and the person that finished my kids training got here. The missionaries here are good, they arent super obedient with there phones, but its whatever. Tihs week i dont remember what happened, we did a ton of divisions. 5 new missionaries are coming to the zone so were going to have a lot of fun with so many people in there training. The sunday after christmas would probably be ifine. whats the date that day? My old companion is kinda lazy, but my new companion is awesome. we cleaned the whole house and the yard today and he gets up on time and showers fast and its great. This week we taught a crazy old lady but i felt the spirit strong. God always helps me teach good on divisions so i can set a good example, because usually im pretty stupid when we try to teach people. I love you.

November 22, 2017

We talk find while you teach and teach while you find, asking fro references and stuyff. We leave our area probably 3 or 4 days a week in a normal week, depends whats going on though. next transfer the divisions will be in our area so we will get twice the work done. Do you think you could send me some little boxing mits? not the giant ones i have, but maybe little ones like the ones carry from the gym has. and my hand wraps too. I just want to punch things. I was thinking you could send it when you come to mexico, because thats more secure and cheaper. but if not its okay. I Hope you have a good week this week. we didnt do a lot, we did some divisions and taught the restoration and i felt the spirit a lot even though the lady was kinda crazy. the spirit is my favorite. I miss teaching people. i used to teach lesson 1 like 4 times a day and now its like 1 time a week if im lucky because we are so busy. our pdays dont even really exist anymore, we just write when we find time because we are always running all over the place bcause our zone is gigantic. bye momma. have a good thanksgiving. i love you. you going to idaho for turkey day?

November 15, 2017

Hey momma, thanks for the picture and for the email. I think she likes me as a translator, i really like translating for her when she speaks english and i make it spanish, but changing from spanish to english is a lot harder for me. Zone conference was good, i love when sister and president clayton teach, I taught and said 20 minutes worth of words in like 4 minutes, so that was a record. I am not sure how to explain how the church flooded, there are watertanks in the roof that overflowed. it was after church so me and elder castillo got ll the water out and it was fine. It doesnt cool down here at all. in other parts of the mission it does, but where im at no. We baptized the daughter of a recent convert, and now were teaching her mom and her niece thats 17. This week i got sick because i ate some bad food and i also ate a ton of spicy food, so i threw up on the side of the road, then we were walking home because it was night time and i realized i didnt have a tooth, so i had to go back to where i threw up on the side of the road to look for my tooth in my throw up, so that was neat. that whole night i was throwing up the whole night. I had divisions with the assistants for the first time in my mission and we stayed in the house because im sick, that was a bummer. We had district conference this week which was cool and then we had zone conference which was way cooler, they taught us tons of really awesome stuff. the christmas initiative is crazy cool this year its all about service, me and elder castillo are going to organize some sweet things in the zone. Owens a quack, i miss that stinking kid, the district presidents kids are so cute, he has 2 little boys and they're pretty much my best friends.

November 6, 2017

Teaching is good, we baptized the daughter of a recent conver this week. This week we had concilio where all the zone leaders go and learn a ton of dope stuff. It was day of the dead and halloween this week, so we had to stay inside those days because things are crazy. On day of the dead it took like 45 minutes to go 5 blocks on the bus because all the streets are closed for parties and we just drove in circle trying to find open streets. I am studying the new testament, Jesus teaches tons of super cool stuff, the book of mormon and the new testament together equals awesome. the old testament just confuses me a lot still. The thing in our zone is we have a stake and a district, and the district leaders support us a ton and we see tons of miracles working together with the leaders and the wards, but the stake president hates the missionaries or something, we are sposed to meat with him and he always just blows us off. Also, yesterday the church flooded and we got there and water was just flowing out the doors so we had to get all the water out, but here the floor and walls are all tile so it didnt do any damage at all, even though the whole church was under like 3 inches of water. Tell gramma and grandpa carter to record them telling me stories like when i was little, so that i can keep them for my chilluns. 

Pictures

Videos from Tuxpan

Manzanillo video

October 30, 2017

Hey momma, the word for meals and food is the same here so i just mixed it up in my head, i have a ton of money from the mission saved up, i just meant sometimes teh members dont feed us, but i have money to buy food if i need, dont worry momma. My toenails are fine, they pulled them out and they got pretty infected but theyre good now, i didnt send you the pictures til after they were better so you wouldnt worry. My comapanion is...good...slow....relax. I dont think he is lazy, he is just really laid back and doesnt quite get it i think, also he takes like half an hour preparing to do excercise doing who knows what, like an hour in the shower, half an hour drying his feet, half an hour cleaning his razor, half an hour shaving, and half an hour looking in the mirror, which is an issue since we have an hour and a half to get ready, if he showers first i can eat, iron my clothes, shave and brush my teeth while he is in the shower, and if i shower first i get out of the shower and he is still sitting on his bed, he drives me crazy. this morning i told him if he wasnt in the shower at 7:03 i would start hitting him, and it was 7:03 and he was still on his bed, so i just punched him like 45 times, we get along and i have fun with him, he is just so freaking slow it blows my mind, and we go to the oxxo every morning almost so he can take moeny out of his account, he spends tons of money. This week...something funny....im not sure, i cant remember anything that happened, im going to start writing in my agenda things to tell you again. Thats my week

 

October 23, 2017

Hey momma, the wifi crashed so i dont have tons of time to write. Things are good here, some of the investigators came, but not all 8. The district president lives a couple houses down and he is awesome, we are setting it up where he goes on divisions with all the elders in the district one day a week, rotating weeks. He works so hard in the work and helps so much. Being a zone leader is cool, i dont like having to dealing with everyones problems, especially because some people are just really stupid. They feed us alright, sometimes we dont have food, they give us tons of shrimp and its way sweet. I drink agua de garafon. Im glad you had a good week, sorry its short, talk to you next week.

October 16, 2017

Things are good, im pretty hungry right now, but we bought some meat so we are going to make hamburgers and carne asada tonight so that should be cool. The area is super sweet, really really hot. The branch is strong, we had 80 people yesterday with 8 investigators. I am stoked to be here. The zone leaders have to meet with the district president to coordinate the work in all the branches, but the district leader lives like 2 blocks away and is super awesome and is planning a bunch of activities and i cant wait. Im not sure what the main source of income is, but people use horses to get around town so that is cool. 

October 16, 2017 Letter from President Clayton

October 16, 2016 

Dear Koenig Family,
Through this letter we send a warm and special greeting.
We are very grateful for your help in preparing your son, Elder Davis Gregory Koenig, for this great call that he has been magnifying with the Holy Ghost as his guide.
We know that the Lord Jesus Christ knows his heart and his desires to serve Him.
We have seen his potential as a representative of the Savior and the trust that he has obtained from the Redeemer through his loyalty to Him.
We inform you that Elder Davis Gregory Koenig has been called to serve as a Zone Leader in this part of the work. He is an example for many missionaries in the Guadalajara Mexico Mission. He will have the privilege of conducting and announcing the plans that the mission president will declare active in each phase of the work of Salvation.
Many missionaries are under his charge and he has been leading them with diligence, righteousness and zeal to bring many souls unto Christ.
His service has been both significant and successful for the obedience that he has been practicing before the Lord, according to the trust the Savior has placed in him.
He has been called by inspiration and revelation to serve in this new and sacred call. We are witnesses of his dedication and progression.

Sincerely
Robert J. Clayton
President
Mission México Guadalajara 

Transfers October 10, 2017

Hey momma, transfers were this week, im in Tuxpan nayarit now. Sorry i didnt write good last week, we went to the place with internet and there wasnt enough computers for everyone so i got to sit there and stare at the wall for an hour and 40 minutes while everyone else wrote their family and then i only got to write for like 20 minutes. The underwear is gigantic, im not that fat! This week the biggest miracle was teaching the family of 7, they are so good, her husband is a rough dude that puts on a brave face and acts like he doesnt care, but the dude is super interested and its the best, and the brother told us since we have started coming he hasnt smoked, and we didnt even teach them the word of wisdom, he just knew that smoking is bad and feeling the holy ghost gave him the help he needed. This week a bat attacked me, ive seen bats before, but american bats are the size of mice, mexican bats are the size of rabits. I walk into the kirtchen and i felt something hit my back, and i thought elder ronderos threw something at me, but when someone throws something at you it hits you and falls, but something hit me and i felt the weight hanging there, so i look AND THERE IS A FREAKING BAT hanging from my garment, i didnt want to touch it so i was hopping around trying to make it fall, Elder tonderos starts screaming and books it out the front door, and i screamed so loud. It was the most i have panicked in probably my whole life. It felt like a tore a muscle in my abs, from screaming, im not even kidding you. that was wild. In interviews a few weeks ago president told me that me and elder ronderos were going to get transfered together and were going to go to a new area, so i just believed him. But transfer calls come sunday and they tell me im going to be a zone leader. it felt like someone hit me in the face. I am over the biggest zone in the mission, and i have absolutely no idea what i am doing. It was cool to be district leader because i was way more focused on the work and i worried about the people in my district and was more focused and more happy and worked harder, because of all the opportunities i had to serve, so i am excited to be a zone leader because io feel like i will have even more oportunities to serve, but i feel super mega inadecuate. well see how it goes. I am in the middle of nowhere in a tiny little pueblito, our house doesnt have running water, there is a well outside with a garden hose down in it and a pump, the pump has about 45 extension cords going into the bathroom, and the pump has a hose into the bathroom thats taped to the wall and is our shower, so to shower you plug in the pump and dirty water comes out, but if you want to wash clothes or flush the toilet or wash dishes or brush your teeth you have to fill buckets at the stinking well in our yard. It is hotter here than in manzanillo, i didnt think that was possible.

October 2, 2017

about the lady at the store, we were with a member and so we asked him to bare his testimony, he is 86 yearts  old. he said "i know the church is true, i know jiose smith is true, i know thomas s monson is true, i dont remember what else, but its all true." then he said he got baptized 3 times and the lady told him he was going to get punished by god for having 3 baptisms and he said "thats what i thought until i found the truth" and she said "well which church is true" and he said "all the churches". It was going so well but then it all crashed and burned. We took a taxi because there were 4 of us and the cost was the same as 4 bus tickets, plus it was an adventure. I liked the quote from conference "sometimes we are trying to run so fast we forget why we are running and we forget where we are going". think about it. why do you run? i miss your cinamon rolls un buen, homemade baked stuff is what i miss most. I think they robbed my package becasue it had "repackagedf" on it, i got 2 garments, 2 pants, a belt, and 2 pairs of shoelaces. what did they take out? my companion got baptized 2 years ago, i dont think he comes from very much money, his parents got baptized too and are acting, but his 4 brothers no.

Pictures from the mission blog