March 16, 2:01 p.m. sorry i cant write a lot this week. its super hard to write. i got my wart cut out. they couldn’t just burn it or anything because it was so big haha and they said it would just come back unless i got it surgically removed. so yeah. it’s crazy. now i’m missing a whole bunch of skin, it was nasty. but this week was super good. we had tons and tons of success i loved it. but church sunday was funny. there was this little crazy kid running around the whole time in circles. he just wouldn’t stop. the entire time! he was running around the speaker the entire time!! it was so cool. i was laughing so hard. i’m sure that’s how i was as a child. but’yeah. i’m on pain killers for getting a wart removed. how weird is that? it’s ok doesn’t stop us from working! i love ya’ll and everything ya do.
love ya,
elder castleberry

March 23, 6:06 p.m. hey,

so my fingers doing really well. and yes my camera dates are right! duh! and the hour. it’s all right. but yeah my finger’s doing really good. i got the points out or whatever they’re called and it’s really weird looking right now. i’m going to send my sd card home pretty soon so you can look at all my pictures they’re cool. bunches of me on the beach just partying it up like nothing else! haha not really but it’s still fun. i love it out here! i did get a little sick this week. it was a kinda tough week. but i’m all right. haha yeah it was super weird seeing rich’s friends at church it was funny. they’re nice. haha! the mission is doing super good right now im loving it. the lord is blessing us like crazy! the work is awesome i love it to death and i love you all so much, thanks for your prayers. really you have no idea how much it means. i can feel your prayer power all the way in mexico. when times get tough i really can just see my little nieces and nephews praying for me and it strengthens me. i love this church its amazing and i love the blessings and i love you! thanks for everything
love ya,
elder castleberry

3/30/09 4:51 p.m. sup mother so i’ve had a busy day today cause we just had to get some people married again. i´ve married more people in my mission than most do in their whole mission i dont know what’s going on. it’s cool though. we had the sweetest baptism this week. someone named ernesto was baptized and he is so cool! really though. he´s had such a change in his life it was awesome to be able so see him through this process. he’s a doctor with a desire to learn like i’ve never seen. he’s read more of the book of mormon and bible than any other investigator ever. its so cool. we leave just a chapter for him to read and he reads like 16 chapters!! its sweet. he read all the gospels in the bible last week! he’s been super tempted but has over come it. i love it! this really is an amazing work i feel so honored to be here. i’m glad everything is going well with you all. everything is swell in mexico. love ya tons!!
much love,
elder castleberry
p.s. we still haven’t gotten stuff yet. gotta wait till leaders conference to get stuff, should be next week. thanks!

e-mail received Monday April 6, 5:31 p.m. “life is awesome” sup! so where do i even start, ok just to get it out there we went to the beach today and i totally stood under the arch it was super cool, no one can do that but we’re special and know people so we found out how. but yeah i don’t even know where to start with conference i loved it! it was just amazing! and yeah elder holland’s talk, super chill, the sad thing is that probably no one here even understood it here. they lack a lot of knowledge, ok we suffer two deaths that are obstaculos to get back to our father the physical death and spiritual, christ suffered physical when he died and how and when did he suffer the spiritual death? when he was spiritually separated from his father on the cross he says something like my God my God why hast thou forsaken me?.. yeah. i love it. thinking about the atonement just makes me weak, with the little i understand of it, i understand enough to know that it really is the only thing that can heal all wounds, i’m so unbelievably grateful for my saviour and his atoning sacrifice. we are all completely lost without him. and man the talk from the prophet, well talks! he’s cool, we only got to go the sunday sessions, and priesthood session. oh man, priesthood session was off the hook!!! i was like drooling because i was in such awe... but yeah that’s my feelings about that. then, well ok i’m going to stop but yeah that was super awesome. ok i don’t want to tell you about all the baptisms that i have because i think that’s just weird but i just had another really really special one. so when it’s super cool like this and that of ernesto i’ll tell you. dang that might be a lot. never mind just when i want to i’ll tell you. so their names are daniel and olivia, we met them two weeks ago, weren’t married or anything. they just got baptized the 3rd, daniel’s birthday. i don’t know how they dropped all the stuff they were doing and got married in such a short time but the lord blesses us and puts the medios for people to do his will. there weren’t dates to get married until the 15th of april. they got married like last week, i don’t remember the date right now they got married but it was super amazing! i’m super amazed right now. i love love love love love this work! i love this place too. we had to get 17 member registers things i don’t know what they’re called in english, cedulas, but we needed 17 of those to get a stake here in cabo san lucas, and guess what, yeah we did it last month! just started working super super super hard and found all these people that have been inactive forever and got their names and put them in the computer and yeah. cabos will now be a stake, it’s all ready, papers signed and everything. i love this place! love you, thanks for everything. i’m going to try to send you some pictures. love ya tons. keep it real!

hasta lavista baby!

More news from our favorite elder

e-mail received Monday February 23, 2:34 p.m. “it’s sandal weather here on the beach” yeah we went to the beach today it was super cool. hiked up to the arco. it’s so cool. we went to this secret beach called the beach of love. not really secret just costs a lot of money to get there if you’re not local. haha cool stuff. but i always hate writing letters because i never know what to tell. you ask me like a million questions. we eat with the members still for one meal a day. we eat at 2 in the after noon and in the morning before we leave then when we get back to the house. we´ve got some super cool investigators. this one i want to tell you about is ernando. he is like doctor house but in 20 more years. he´s super cool but he´s super addicted to drugs. and yeah bad law of chastity and all that. super sad. he’s a doctor. and he was super famous and super good here but then he just couldn’t cut the drugs. he’s got a lot of problems but we’re helping him through them. he’s been a big miracle to us. its absolutely amazing to see the lord work. this guy is awesome and he wants to be good. that’s the best part is his desires to change. and that’s just another miracle the lord is sending. we´ve got a few more people that are pretty cool but he’s my favorite. everyone is so into the world! i don’t understand it! makes me super upset! i hate how strong of a grip satan has. but that kind of just drives me more. when things are tough that’s when you know there’s a miracle waiting around the corner! oh how i love the sound of them hells bells!!!!
much love,
elder castleberry
a.k.a.
Rey de los cabos!


Monday March 2, 1:34 p.m. well we had changes today and it was super cool! my new companion is elder aquino. he’s super cool. we’re going to have tons of success together i know it. i’m really excited for this change. i’m still in the cabos and in the same area but just a new companion. we’re getting a lot of new people lately who are really potential. we have 3 gringos in our house and just my companion. i feel bad because he doesn’t know any english at all! but he’s going to learn. so i saw mickelle petersen’s parents in church yesterday which was really cool. we’re going to go eat with them today. it’s crazy to hear about stuff from home. i swear every girl i ever dated is getting married! haha how crazy is that! it’s cool. but man it’s so hot here right now! the heat started up and i’m dying! i need new mesh garments! and yeah just send me money for pants that’s perfect. i don’t know how much money i have in my card it’s really expensive here. but send me some garments because i can’t buy mesh and that’s totally what i need. i don’t know what else i can tell you. just that i love my family so much. hope everything is going good. i love being a missionary. oh and i think my new favorite song is there is a green hill far away. oh wow good stuff. oh yeah elder armenta was my good buddy he went home yesterday and we missed his flight! haha how sad is that so he had to wait longer. well he missed his flight to culiacan and the dinner with the president. yeah. i felt super bad. but its ok. everythings good! love ya!
elder castleberry

March 9 4:18 p.m. “you’re awesome” so i don’t have much time to write because i have a busy day but today was sweet. we got some money from some gringos at church the other day and we went to eat at a restaurant and other gringos paid for our meal haha it was awesome. but we had an amazing baptism this week. i just want to tell you a little bit about this miracle. we’ve been teaching her for quite some time now and she just hasn’t felt ready but out of the blue she just got super excited about it. it’s because she watched the other side of heaven. it was on tv! and she’s like just watching that, i knew that was the thing i had to do. that was like wednesday and she got baptized saturday. she’s been going to church for like 6 weeks! it’s crazy. but yeah i loved it. that sucks liz was all messed up this week. i sent her a letter today so that’ll make her feel better i’m sure. when it gets there in a few weeks. but i love the work here. we got new missionaries this change in the baja and i think another one’s going home again soon. super freaking sad. i love this work honestly there’s nothin that makes me more happy. love you and all the support.
peace with love,
elder castleberry
p.s. 6 pairs of mesh tops and bottoms thanks

Cabo P-day February 23rd

More Photos!

e-mail sent Monday February 2 3:37 p.m. “Hola” --well i just gotta tell you i cant wait to go to jesses place to eat! the chinese food here sucks! well it’s actually not that bad but still. i miss american chinese food! but the work here is amazing right now! i cant believe how much i love being a missionary! haha me and my companion made a rule that i have to start speaking in english after 6 at night because he wants to learn english and its weird because it’s super hard sometimes to try to communicate. haha he kinda knows better than me at times. it’s weird. but i don’t know what to tell you about what’s up right now. it’ s perfect weather. we have some super cool investigators. this is my life right now. i teach people about the greatest thing this earth has ever seen. what could be cooler than that! i just talk to people all day. that’s basically my life and i love it! there’s really nothing better than doing what i’m doing right now in this moment! i really can’t tell you how much i love this gospel. i love the guys i’m living with. the other elders that is. they’re super fun. we’re having a blast and at the same time we’re having a lot of success. its awesome! i love it! love you all. i’m sad arizona couldn’t pull through but hey they did good right!
love ya,
elder castillo

e-mail sent February 9, 2009 2:03 p.m. “yello” -- hey,so i’m just loving it here in los cabos! i’m in santa fe right now because we came over to visit a district and make sure they ain’t being lazy or something haha. it’s all going super good. we had some white people visit the ward today. it was cool. they´re always super rich if they’re here. and actually one of the gringo families is from north salt lake. in our stake! the bentlys. i don’t know if you know them. but i do now haha. they’re in bj and coveys ward i guess. they took us to get some food. which was actually pretty sad because it was kinda a waste of time. they took for ever to get us our food. the bentlys felt super bad. they were really upset also but it’s ok haha. i had a super good time kicking it with the rich people. this was kind of a struggle week for us. last week we had a ton of baptism dates and they just are slowly falling through. it’s sad but we´ll recover. we just gotta keep on keepin’ on! thats life right? well glad everything’s so super. i don’t think i answered any of your questions so sorry but i love ya. the church is true and amazing still. have a super time being super awesome!
much love,
elder castleberry

e-mail received February 16, 12:17 p.m. “hello” --hey so glad its all going good. oh i wouldn’t know. ya didn’t write me! its ok. i understand. my family doesn’t love me anymore... no big deal. well this week was pretty cool. we found some amazing new people. i love when they answer the door and are like yeah i gotta make time for you. come i have to listen to this. it’s cool. i found this white guy that kept telling me to call my family. he’s like yeah i call america for free. i told him i can’t and he’s like well i won’t tell. haha super funny. but yeah. i don’t know what to say in these letters. cabos is off the hook. i love it here. i love being a missionary. ya. my english is not doing so good. sorry. but i still love being out here. thanks for everything. if you want you could send me some ties cause i got like 3, and some socks. with a bit of mountain dew. oh and a belt. mine’s busted. and some pants, all mine are ripped and have no color. reeses. dang mexico´s missing out on that. love ya!
peace!
elder castleberry

PHOTOS! "HAHA"

January 26, 2009 3:17 p.m. Oh mama--so you’re the best in the whole world. i hope you know that. i’m pretty sure you do. i’m in el progreso and it’s super cool! i love cabos. i spoke in church sunday. nothing too un- normal, except for the fact that it was in english! haha. it was super hard! they have an english branch here that we go to. haha. they have so many tourists in our area that they have a branch for them. it’s weird. but it’s ok. so when i got here my companion said the coolest thing to me ever. he asked if i took spanish before my mission and i’m like no. he said wow, you speak bien suave. i can’t even translate that because it’s just so much cooler in spanish. haha. yeah i almost started to cry. i think he was lying. he’s cool though. his name is elder ramirez. he’s from mexico. life is awesome. i love it. miss la paz but i’m loving the people here already! haha. i have a recent convert that calls me like every day from la paz. it’s funny. i don’t think he likes the new elder there a lot. oh well. the work will go on! oh i spoke on the atonement in church. it was very difficult. just because, first of all it’s english, and i like always start to cry when i talk about it. yeah mention garden i’m done. i cant express the love i have for my savior. mom you said the whole i love you more thing. well sorry but i love him more than you. that’s the reason i’m here. sorry that’s just how i do. but don’t worry you’re not far behind ma. life is amazing! i love it everyday.


keep it real,


elder castleberry

VAMOS LOS CABOS!

The pictures are: another MTC photo, Somewhere in Progreso :)
E-mail received January 19, 3:43 p.m. VAMOS LOS CABOS!!!
hello,
*yes and yes to both your questions! and yeah i knew that hidgley kid. he was over here in the baja for a change and then randomly went back. that never happens. now i know why. super weird. but i can definitely say this has been one of the best weeks in my mission. my last week in la paz, and the best baptism i think. we had to get them married saturday night and that was a total miracle. his name is gerardo and his wife, isabel. and he hasn’t been able to find work for a long time so they´re struggling super bad right now. i feel really bad so he’s been looking and looking. he goes on little jobs now and then to do like construct or something. just when they need him. so no work all this week and guess what happens saturday. yeah huge job opened up in cabo for the weekend. it’s like jobs in cabo are super good so i got super sad when i found out because like what can you do. this is a good opportunity to get some money for his family. but yeah he is a stud. he´s like, i was at the bus and said i gotta get married and i gotta get baptized! i gotta commitment with the lord! yeah super, super cool! and his wife had been addicted to coffee for a super long time and just dropped that like it was nothing. we baptized his son a while ago and now they´re just a big happy family. their two daughters are still lame and are like oh if you go we’re not gonna listen anymore. super annoying. but yeah i am really grateful to see this change in peoples lives. just another testimony to me that the church has been restored. i love being a missionary so much. i have a few more things that i wanna tell you about that made this week so awesome but don’t have much time. so i gotta go. love ya tons!

bye.

elder castleberry
p.s. im goin to cabos to an area called progreso. i’m living with a kid who was an ap. in a half english ward!
*I asked Paul if he ever received my Christmas Package, and if he was being transferred today, thus the “yes and yes”

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Finally! I am updating Elder Castleberry's blog with his e-mails from the past month and a half. In case you haven't noticed, I don't believe he has capitalization capabilities on the computer he uses. . .

December 1, 4:03 p.m. hello! hey, So thats cool that dad spoke yesterday in church ‘cause quess what? So did I! haha how ironic. but i spoke on family and how much the gospel strengthens the family. and it was super hard trying to stay focused yesterday ‘cause all i could think about is my family! i miss you guys. everyone. really, when things get tough i just think of my family and i get an amazing feeling. i just love the thought that i can be with you all forever, and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever! jaja (haha in espanol) you guys are so cool! i talk about my family tons to everyone that we’re talking to. in lessons, in the street. to the people i live with. its cool. but i don’t know what to tell you in these letters and i never answer your questions so sorry. we have cambios this next monday. changes. ben called them the same thing. maybe its a spanish thing. quien sabe. people say quien sabe all the time here its funny. but yeah. i love ya tons! the church is amazing and i am doing great! thanks for all the prayers in my behalf i feel it everyday!
love ya,
elder castleberry



December 8, 4:23 p.m. que tal hey, so we had transfers today. but i didn´t go anywhere and i didn’t get a new companion. and the other kids in our house didn’t get changed either. its super rare. everything’s the same. usually with transfers everything’s super different. new companion. new people in the house. but no. its just the same. i don’t know why we didn’t change. but yeah. i don’t have anything super amazing to tell you. just the normal stories of a missionary who is extra ordinary hehe. no its amazing to see the guide of the spirit in my life right now. it’s amazing how much the spirit helps without even realizing it. but it’s cool. i love it. being a missionary is fun. people really open up to you. yesterday was off the hook! we got to watch the christmas devotional ‘cause we brought investigators. (we got 5 there!) it was really cool. president uctdoweoirjsf or whatever that guys name is was awesome! i’m like yeah. he´s in my ward. i got chills. he gave an amazingly powerful testimony i loved it! well. they were all amazing. then elder eyring talked about traditions and all that and i couldn’t help think about the roof. then i started to cry. why does my family have to be so perfect! i don’t deserve this at all! it’s crazy how much i love everyone in my family and how much of an example they all are to me. good stuff. well i’m gonna go save some souls now.
much love,
elder castillo!

Dec 8, to Russ 4:26 p.m. hola! oh man i don’t even want to think of that night with our family at the roof right now. its super tough right now. christmas at the roof is the best time of year. i´ll really never forget  that night. it was what i´d like to call a celestial moment. every thing i love most in one room. there are two things about christmas that i will never forget. one of them is that night. crying in front of everyone. thanks a lot! i really love my family. i talk about everyone in all the lessons i teach its funny. i´ll never forget that, thanks dad. and the other moment i wont forget is with this old guy with one eye reading a story of the christ child and his birth. wow. i have had the best life ever!
love you tons!!!!
elder castleberry

December 15, 2:51 p.m. hello i have no idea when i´ll be calling on christmas sorry. we´ll find out this next saturday. president mickleson from the 70 is coming to talk to us and everyone’s super excited. he´s over our mission i guess. but yeah mom i’m geting all your letters. and stuff. i´ll probably get the package when we have this conference saturday. the packages take for ever to get here from culiacan. it’s lame but it’s ok. um... i don’t know what else to say. oh i did both the baptism and confirmation the other day so i felt super bad for my comp ‘cause he hasn´t even got to baptize anyone with me yet. haha it’s not his fault. they choose. i don’t know why she chose me to do both. it’s kinda weird. he´s like oh alright. same priesthood. haha good attitude i guess. but he´s bitter i think. he´s the senior comp he should baptize right haha. i love him he’s great. yeah. la paz is a lot different at christmas. they drink a lot more. they have beer delivery. just like pizza. how sad is that! thanks for the birthday love. you rock! love ya tons., thanks for the prayers and all that jazz. get yourself something nice for my birthday ok haha love ya.
adios!
elder castleberry

December 22, 4:13 p.m. hey call me wednesday at 6 in the night at this number. 01-612-122-7205. that’s just the number that they gave me. it’s to the sister raquels house. have john or ben call or something just to make sure that’s it. i don’t know. if there’s like a special number that you have to call to get to mexico or what. figure it out and give it some tests ok? wednesday. at 6!


December 22, 4:19 p.m. much love hey so yeah this week was super amazing. i baptized a super good looking daughter of god it was off the hook! and it was really the most spiritual baptism ever. we had the president of the mission there and we had president mickleson there and their wives. it was so good! after sister mickleson said it was the best baptism she had ever seen! that just gave me the feel goods like non other! this week really has been a super good learning experience. we have completely changed how we teach. it’s gonna be hard to learn again. i still feel like i’m in that new kid stage. i should get out of that soon don’t ya think! i thought i was then they give us this new thing and i don’t know how to do it very well at all! but i’m typing really slow now and i don’t know why. i love my family so much. i love the examples in my life. i love this church! thanks so much for everything! oh and yes i got the package you sent thanks tons! its awesome! everyone was super jealous. i got to open it in front of all this missionaries in the baja. how cool is that! haha i’m terrible. well i love you. talk to you soon. glad everything is super good!
peace with love,
elder castleberry

December 22, 4:32 p.m. oh yeah i forgot to tell you that i had a super cool experience with a guy that’s way high up in the government. no time for all of it, first of all it was a miracle that we even got in the house. but he is a super super good guy! that’s hard to find in some of the government here. he wants to help the people so much but he can’t give money to everyone. but i learned a great lesson that day. the best thing we can give to anyone is the truth. i’ve heard it before but it just hit me this week as we think a lot about presents and what not. really the best gift is your testimony. it’s super cool. if they get a testimony too they´ve have the best gift of god, eternal life. haha sweet...
te amo,ç
elder castillo


December 22, 4:34 Re: Merry Christmas! christmas eve at 6 don’t forget! have john or ben call tonight or something to make sure its the right name. haha she might not understand my name so say its the super good lookin’ missionary. just kidding. figure it out!


December 29, 2008 2:03 p.m. Re: Holiday greetings! you’re awesome. but you know what is just as awesome? rock band 2. i haven’t played it but i wanted to so bad! these people we’re teachin’ just got it. they´re super rich. their kids were playing it when we went over and i was freaking out. i wanted to throw them off and start playing for myself. but yeah. christmas was a blast. i was a little disappointed cause i only got to talk to my family for like 2 minutes but it’s ok ‘cause i love you guys. it’s just good to listen to y’alls voices. christmas day was awesome. we got up and just hung out cause we couldn’t do anything then at like 2 we went to applebees. it was super good! i had ribs. we were there for a super long time. then after we went and sang on the malicon. that’s just a place that’s a long beach and like the touristy area. they had a huge christmas tree and we sang in front of it. we sang for like 2 hours. it was awesome. people were loving it. i was the conductor which was super funny. it was a really fun time. then we went and hung out at some members house and just ate. a member bought me pants how nice is that! i need socks i’m probably gonna buy some today. i ripped right through these cheap mr. mac socks. they´re terrible! haha life of a missionary right! but i was thinking a lot about the war in heaven the other day and also about pride. it’s weird how bad pride really is. that’s pretty much why we have all these wars and destruction. is because people are too dang prideful! it’s sad. stupid satan is too prideful to think that someone had a better plan then him. and he took away a third of my brothers and sisters. i don’t even know how to describe how that makes me feel. thats another reason i’m here. just to make him mad. thanks for pushing me every step of the way. i don’t go one day without thinking about the incredible examples i have in my life. i testify of my family everyday, lots! i love this amazing gospel. i’m so grateful to be alive in these times and to be here in mexico helping people come unto christ. i just read alma 36 the other day. and i love it! go read it. that’s a reason i’m here. to feel the power of repentance and to bring it to others. they need that joy in their life. it’s simple it’s right here take it! love you tons! have a super good week. and remember who you are and what you stand for!
much love,
elder castleberry

To Russ-Mon, Dec 29, 2008 at 1:49 PM Re: Happy New Year yeah christmas was too sad but its ok i loved talking to you guys. just didn’t like wasting time conferencing people in! super lame! its ok. yeah mom told me he was working with ya thats cool. i heard the economy is not doing so good right now. that’s no good. what was his blessing i love those! haha i got a card from jackson once. its super hard for me to send stuff so i don’t know when i’ll get another thing back from him. sad story.
love ya,
tu hijo favorito, el castillo

January 5, 2009 5:48 p.m. hola! hey so i’m still here in the good old la paz. we have changes in two more weeks and i cant wait! its ok we’re still working super hard! man i love being a missionary! this week was pretty cool. i learned a lot. i learn a lot every week i think that’s one of the things that i like best about being here in the mission is all the things i learn. not just from like studying but from teaching. the people teach me that i’m teaching. it’s like a win win situation! i´ve really learned a lot about all the miracles. i´ve been told i´ll see many on my mission but what i´ve realized is that i´ve kinda had these miracles all my life. i’m just seeing what they are. every day i get up and witness miracles. the air that gives us life, the trees that support it. everything just in god’s plan for us. it’s really humbling in a way to see how we really are nothing in the balance. we owe every little thing to our father in heaven. i feel my chest burn every time i bare testimony about my loving family that i have at home. this is one of the greatest miracles in all my life is that i still have a loving family. we’re all so close, and we owe it all to the restored gospel of jesus christ. we had the testimony meeting this sunday and i was just thinking about you guys the whole time. remembering all your testimonies and the strengths they are to me. i’m serving right now giving my testimony everyday i think thats why the lord’s so close to me right now is because of the amount of times i bear my testimony. you guys should all do it. who ever reads this. bear your testimony to someone new when ever you get the opportunidad. and don’t just wait for that oportunidad go out and get it! haha wow i love this work its amazing!
love you tons!
elder castleberry


January 12, 2009 1:55 p.m. hey so what’s up how’s everything going? good? good.. well the same old here. this is my last week with this companion and it’s been pretty good. it’s ok he’s workin hard. he likes to teach. so that’s good. he got sick this week and we had to stay in the house all day. i don’t know what he had he just went and took a really long nap. he said he was going to the bathroom a lot. but yeah. no. anywho. good news. these people who we have been working with for super long are finally getting married! we baptized their kid awhile ago but now they´re getting married and baptized! i’m really excited for this. it’s amazing to see the gospel work on people. he was just a complete wreck! drinking all the time super mean to everyone but now he’s like a saint. going to church. reading the scriptures. it’s just a strength to my testimony. only the truth could do something like this. i feel so honored to be where i am right now being an instrument in the lord’s hands. this is something much more than i can even comprehend. i love it so much. i love you so much. but more than that i love the lord. congrats to ben and amanda i’m so excited. that’s awesome! i love yáll and i love the gospel!