HOLA!!!
NO ME DIGAS!! Kristin must be so happy!!! (New 1-year-old small corgi/chihuahua mix dog). And that's great that Gordo (With a name like Gordo, I don't know if I'd ever call him Hachi) is already potty-trained! Saves a lot of time and cleaning!! Especially that dark-colored-lump cleaning that we had to do with Phoenix and Apollo...well, I guess more accurately, the dark-colored-lump clean-up that we SHOULD have done, but that you and dad wound up doing sometimes...
(Haha oh, and a side note: Have you seen the gorditas at Taco Bell? Gordita is spanish for little fat girl. Just thought you'd like to know )
Haha I love the camera!! I can't wait to see some of those videos that you have! Those times are so much fun!!! There are some times that I miss it A LOT, and then other times where I'm thinking about all these fun activities that we do out here, or sometimes just about the future...It's really weird to think about. And so in those times, I just try to whistle a song or sing one of my favorite hymns (or songs from the movies we watch: Podemos reunirnos por siempre otra vez - From the video "Together Forever: Espanol." That has to be one of my favorite movies of this current era of my life ).
And Elder Kobayashi just named one of his mail folders "Poop." It's a good day.
In terms of lessons, we have done much better, especially better than last week. But our OYMs are still suffering. So this week, we're trying something different. We're putting lessons as back-up plans, with OYM-ing, talking to people, and building the area as the primary plan. That way, because we really want to be able to sit down and teach the investigators we're already working with, and the investigators that we will be working with, we'll be much more inclined to reach that Standard of Excellence. Once we're reached the OYM goal we have for the day, we can move in to teaching lessons, especially because most of the people we're working with don't even get home until after 6:00. I don't know how much longer I'll be here, or how much longer we'll be together as a companionship, so I really want to make this week count. Today starts Week 6 of the transfer. And there are only...6 weeks in a transfer.
Things have been going well between Elder Kobayashi and I. But the funny thing is, whenever I say something like that, bad things usually happen. Not super bad, just little irritations. But maybe, since I added that line there...well, hopefully things are still grand!
Junior Sanchez was confirmed this past week (Francisco Rodriguez, Junior, but we've been calling him Junior Sanchez). It was an awesome experience! I had the opportunity to confirm him as a member of the Church. He was really nervous about going up to the front, but he did it, and he did very well at church, though he's had problems in the past with being separated from his mom during classes. But he's awesome!
We also had the blessing of having two less-active members at church! One finally got work off, or had vacation for the week, and the other just got a ride! I really hope that they'll be able to continue coming to church, and that the blocks they had in front of them in the past are a little bit smaller. With the member who just got a ride, we had an interesting experience that we might try using in the future: We called a member to give Hna. Gonzales (Less-active) a ride to church. The active member, Hna. Portillo, wanted the phone number of Hna. Gonzales. So we looked it up in our phone and accidently hit a few wrong buttons. In the end, we connected the calls, and they talked right there, right after our appointment, and Hna. Gonzales showed up at church the next day! We were so excited to see her there, and socializing with a few of the other members. What a great Sunday!
And that about sums up the week! There's been a lot more stuff, but I don't have my journal with me, so I can't really e-mail all of that to you right now...
Although, something interesting did happen just the other night. On Saturday, Elder Kobayashi and I were riding our bikes (swiftly) down this road, and Elder Kobayashi took a turn a little quickly. He slipped off his bike and landed on his back. The worst he got from the crash was a little scrape on his elbow, though, so that wasn't bad. But his seat snapped, and he had to buy a new one. At the same exact time (we think), Sister Arnett's brother fell and broke his shoulder in Galveston. And in another location, the other Elders in the branch were waiting to turn when a lady rear-ended them. Their trunk was crushed, the back window smashed in...They're OK. But their bikes were on the back of the car. Those bikes aren't doing too great right now. They're going to be getting a new car and maybe even bikes as well. We'll see!
Well, that's all I have time for right now!! I hope all is well at home, and that there won't be too many poop stains on the flor from Gordo/Hachi!!
I love you!! Have an AWESOME week! (We might be playing Laser Tag for P-day today, so I'll let you know if that goes, and if it goes well!!)
Con mucho amor - a infinidad, y mas alla!!
El Devinator
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Week 35 - Junior's Baptism and Nerf Wars
HOOOOOOOOLA!!!!!
Overall, this week was pretty good. We had the baptism of Junior Sanchez!! It was very awesome! I guess, minus the fact that the water looked freezing when Elder Kobayashi and Junior got in the water, but other than that, it went very well. He's a really great kid. His parents are still working on their divorce, and we're hoping that she can get her papers squared away and set up so that she and Arturo can get married, and then baptized. They invited their family to Junior's baptism, and they showed up! Arturo has even been talking to his son, Geronimo, about being baptized as well. During one of the lessons we had at the Sanchez house, Arturo asked Geronimo if he wanted to be baptized. Geronimo shook his head, but Arturo said, "Don't worry. Give it three months and you'll come around." That just made my day! Santa (yes, her name is Santa) Sanchez has to get divorced from another man before she can marry Arturo Andrade, so we're working on that with them. It seems like a lot of the people we are working with now are people who need to get married. It's weird, but it's definitely been a great experience! It's so cool to see everything coming together!
Oh, and for a report on the Nerf War:
NERF WAR REPORT
LOCATION: Clear Lake Building
PARTICIPANTS: League City Zone
OUTCOME: Victory
We all met up at the Clear Lake building at about 2:00. We had been preparing for this Nerf fight for weeks. We had been playing Nerf for P-days in the weeks leading up to the competition. And then it was the time for the big day.
There were darts flying back and forth across the gym. There was even a member there who brought his paintball gun and would feed darts down the barrel, shooting them clear to the other side of the gym. We played in rounds, where when one dart hit you, you were out. There were some people there with the Vulcan guns (where the belt of darts feeds through the gun and out the other side), others with little 6-shooter Buzzbee guns, and still others with guns with red-dot lazers attached to the underside of the barrel. Overall, it was a very intense competition. We won some, we lost some. But I'll send you the district picture that we took. We've all got our guns, face paint, and war hats. I loved it!
And I have some news: Hold on to your seats and get ready (And I don't know if this is something you send out to everyone. I don't see the harm in sending it out, but she might see otherwise): Kiersten's married. She got married and sealed this past December. And here's the part that really got me: She met him on the 4th of July at a fireworks show. 12 days later...bum bum BUM!...they were engaged! Wowie! And so I decided to stop making fun of Elder Kobayashi because all of his friends who are girls are married. I'm pretty sure that I got that letter from her because I sent her a Christmas card. But it's kind of funny that within a few weeks of asking if you knew if anyone had gotten married, I get a letter saying that she is.
And I think that about sums it up for now. Not too eventful, minus Junior's baptism, which was AWESOME!! He's such a cool and funny kid! And it sounds like this will be one eventful week! Tell me how everything goes (school, Justin's classes, etc.)
I love you! Have a wonderful week! Remember who you are, and what you stand for! And later- we might have an update on something we're wanting to do after we return home.
Con mucho amor, a infinidad - y mas alla!
El Devinator
Overall, this week was pretty good. We had the baptism of Junior Sanchez!! It was very awesome! I guess, minus the fact that the water looked freezing when Elder Kobayashi and Junior got in the water, but other than that, it went very well. He's a really great kid. His parents are still working on their divorce, and we're hoping that she can get her papers squared away and set up so that she and Arturo can get married, and then baptized. They invited their family to Junior's baptism, and they showed up! Arturo has even been talking to his son, Geronimo, about being baptized as well. During one of the lessons we had at the Sanchez house, Arturo asked Geronimo if he wanted to be baptized. Geronimo shook his head, but Arturo said, "Don't worry. Give it three months and you'll come around." That just made my day! Santa (yes, her name is Santa) Sanchez has to get divorced from another man before she can marry Arturo Andrade, so we're working on that with them. It seems like a lot of the people we are working with now are people who need to get married. It's weird, but it's definitely been a great experience! It's so cool to see everything coming together!
Oh, and for a report on the Nerf War:
NERF WAR REPORT
LOCATION: Clear Lake Building
PARTICIPANTS: League City Zone
OUTCOME: Victory
We all met up at the Clear Lake building at about 2:00. We had been preparing for this Nerf fight for weeks. We had been playing Nerf for P-days in the weeks leading up to the competition. And then it was the time for the big day.
There were darts flying back and forth across the gym. There was even a member there who brought his paintball gun and would feed darts down the barrel, shooting them clear to the other side of the gym. We played in rounds, where when one dart hit you, you were out. There were some people there with the Vulcan guns (where the belt of darts feeds through the gun and out the other side), others with little 6-shooter Buzzbee guns, and still others with guns with red-dot lazers attached to the underside of the barrel. Overall, it was a very intense competition. We won some, we lost some. But I'll send you the district picture that we took. We've all got our guns, face paint, and war hats. I loved it!
And I have some news: Hold on to your seats and get ready (And I don't know if this is something you send out to everyone. I don't see the harm in sending it out, but she might see otherwise): Kiersten's married. She got married and sealed this past December. And here's the part that really got me: She met him on the 4th of July at a fireworks show. 12 days later...bum bum BUM!...they were engaged! Wowie! And so I decided to stop making fun of Elder Kobayashi because all of his friends who are girls are married. I'm pretty sure that I got that letter from her because I sent her a Christmas card. But it's kind of funny that within a few weeks of asking if you knew if anyone had gotten married, I get a letter saying that she is.
And I think that about sums it up for now. Not too eventful, minus Junior's baptism, which was AWESOME!! He's such a cool and funny kid! And it sounds like this will be one eventful week! Tell me how everything goes (school, Justin's classes, etc.)
I love you! Have a wonderful week! Remember who you are, and what you stand for! And later- we might have an update on something we're wanting to do after we return home.
Con mucho amor, a infinidad - y mas alla!
El Devinator
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Week 34 - More Families to Teach
Hi Everyone!
With the way this week has gone, things have turned out surprisingly...not quite what I expected, but still good nonetheless.
We're really working with the Sanchez family. They're making some progress on their divorce (We left their number with Bradshaw and Bradshaw, so we're going to follow up to make sure that the Sanchez family did get their call from him). But until then, we're still planning on their son's baptism this Sunday at 6:00. It should be great! His dad, who we thought might have a problem with Junior (his son) getting baptized, but when we talked to him yesterday, he said he's going to talk to his boss today to get work off for Sunday. Please, keep him in your prayers that all goes well in that area!
We're also working with a family who was a referral from another family in our branch. They, too, have to get married, and so we're going to begin working on that with them. It was really awesome to talk to this member family about the 'Year of the Member,' and then have that wonderful sister say, "Well, there's a family who lives in this same complex that I talked to today. I'll invite them over for dinner and a lesson on Wednesday." And just like that, they're investigating the Church with baptismal dates for the 12th of February! We're so excited to be working with them, and it's really neat to see the fruits of this training we've received.
As for the way this week has started out: We're not on-target with lessons right now, but we're both good on OYMs so far. It was such a great feeling to be able to come home at the end of the day, knowing that we talked to a lot of people (unfortunately, not everyone. There were still a few more people we could have talked to) and really tried to invite them to come unto Christ. Not all of them were receptive, but I know that when we find those who are ready to hear the Gospel, we'll forget all about the rejection we experienced in the past. I'm really looking forward to pushing hard each day to stay caught up on OYMs, and to witness the blessings that will be poured out on our companionship and on our district as we are obedient to this aspect of the Standards of Excellence.
It's been interesting. As of late, my mind has been really called up to my inadequacies as a human being as I've been studying and really trying to be better. It's been really tough sometimes. But it's also been amazing to feel such a strong Spirit as I'm striving to be obedient and do all that the Lord commands me. When I've thought of just...well, my millions of imperfections...it's not a great big hopeless feeling. It's kind of like standing at the starting line of a 5k. In the beginning, the trail looks really long. But at the same time, I've got that drive, like, "I can do this. I want to do this." And then, when it gets going, it's great to look back and see just how far I've come. It's great!
And so, to cover some of what you've written in your letter...yup, I've been sick. I actually got better...only to get sick again yesterday. I woke up this morning with the inability to breathe out of my nose. Not the most pleasant feeling in the world. It's just no fun being sick. And to wake up sick today is really lame, because...
TODAY IS OUR NERF WAR!!!! ZONE-WIDE!!!! THAT'S at least 30 PEOPLE!!!! It's going to be pretty intense. We got some really good deals on after-Christmas shopping with guns, and some knock-off Nerf guns that are actually really intense! I'll have to send you some pictures once we're done. We set up the gym this morning, with tables, chalkboards, and pianos everywhere. It's going to be really cool to have everyone there, with Nerf bullets flying back and forth. And you know what? It'd be really cool to design Nerf guns for a living, and maybe even have a warehouse all set up where you could play a bunch of different Nerf games. Double-decker, even. Kind of like Laser Tag, but you can take cover without getting hit 50 times. Today, our district is going to be all in navy-blue, and it sounds like even the sisters, who we thought would be almost against the idea, invested in some pretty big guns themselves.
Let's see, what else...It's been cloudy here, and it's rained a little bit. But fortunately, not too much. During the summer, it rained 5 of 7 days in the week (okay, that's probably an exaggeration, but it rained a lot during the summer).
Your Spanish is coming along really well! A lot of those grammar rules I'm still trying to get down, memorized and incorporated into my vocabulary. There's just one thing...misionero and misionera have two different meanings. Misionero is an Elder, or a male missionary, and misionera is a Sister, or female missionary. I completely passed by it the first time, but then when I read it again, I thought it was kind of funny. Just wanted to point that one out.
I can't wait until I can hear Kaytlin's band performance! Unfortunately, it'll be a little while, but I'm still really looking forward to hearing it! I'll bet it was cool having both Grandparents there. Must have been doubly grand!
And Justin's making a Hamlet movie? Sweet!!! I'll bet it's way better than the ones we put together in High School. Did he have a script that they made up? Did a lot of people in the class participate? How is it going so far?
How's Kristin doing? I haven't heard too much about what she's doing right now, but it's good to hear that things are much better between her and Mr. Martin. That actually kind of reminds me of my own 4th-grade troubles with Ms. Bell. Good times! What's Kristin been up to? Hanging out with friends, playing sports or games?
How have you and Dad been? It sounds like Dad is enjoying working with the youth again. Has it been really atressful with Jury Duty and the Stake Young Men calling? How are you doing with your classes. You're on break for right now, right? And then you go back when Brian gets back? Is that a kind of between-semester break, or just a break during the semester?
Well, I'm going to hit the road. It feels good to write this much and to have this much to write about. Felicidades a me! And could you add one more e-mail to the forward list? That would be great! She's down in Ecuador, working with orphan children, and loving it! She was really excited to go when she last wrote, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it went.
Thanks so much! Les amo mucho -
A infinidad, y mas alla!!
Con mucho amor,
El Devinator
With the way this week has gone, things have turned out surprisingly...not quite what I expected, but still good nonetheless.
We're really working with the Sanchez family. They're making some progress on their divorce (We left their number with Bradshaw and Bradshaw, so we're going to follow up to make sure that the Sanchez family did get their call from him). But until then, we're still planning on their son's baptism this Sunday at 6:00. It should be great! His dad, who we thought might have a problem with Junior (his son) getting baptized, but when we talked to him yesterday, he said he's going to talk to his boss today to get work off for Sunday. Please, keep him in your prayers that all goes well in that area!
We're also working with a family who was a referral from another family in our branch. They, too, have to get married, and so we're going to begin working on that with them. It was really awesome to talk to this member family about the 'Year of the Member,' and then have that wonderful sister say, "Well, there's a family who lives in this same complex that I talked to today. I'll invite them over for dinner and a lesson on Wednesday." And just like that, they're investigating the Church with baptismal dates for the 12th of February! We're so excited to be working with them, and it's really neat to see the fruits of this training we've received.
As for the way this week has started out: We're not on-target with lessons right now, but we're both good on OYMs so far. It was such a great feeling to be able to come home at the end of the day, knowing that we talked to a lot of people (unfortunately, not everyone. There were still a few more people we could have talked to) and really tried to invite them to come unto Christ. Not all of them were receptive, but I know that when we find those who are ready to hear the Gospel, we'll forget all about the rejection we experienced in the past. I'm really looking forward to pushing hard each day to stay caught up on OYMs, and to witness the blessings that will be poured out on our companionship and on our district as we are obedient to this aspect of the Standards of Excellence.
It's been interesting. As of late, my mind has been really called up to my inadequacies as a human being as I've been studying and really trying to be better. It's been really tough sometimes. But it's also been amazing to feel such a strong Spirit as I'm striving to be obedient and do all that the Lord commands me. When I've thought of just...well, my millions of imperfections...it's not a great big hopeless feeling. It's kind of like standing at the starting line of a 5k. In the beginning, the trail looks really long. But at the same time, I've got that drive, like, "I can do this. I want to do this." And then, when it gets going, it's great to look back and see just how far I've come. It's great!
And so, to cover some of what you've written in your letter...yup, I've been sick. I actually got better...only to get sick again yesterday. I woke up this morning with the inability to breathe out of my nose. Not the most pleasant feeling in the world. It's just no fun being sick. And to wake up sick today is really lame, because...
TODAY IS OUR NERF WAR!!!! ZONE-WIDE!!!! THAT'S at least 30 PEOPLE!!!! It's going to be pretty intense. We got some really good deals on after-Christmas shopping with guns, and some knock-off Nerf guns that are actually really intense! I'll have to send you some pictures once we're done. We set up the gym this morning, with tables, chalkboards, and pianos everywhere. It's going to be really cool to have everyone there, with Nerf bullets flying back and forth. And you know what? It'd be really cool to design Nerf guns for a living, and maybe even have a warehouse all set up where you could play a bunch of different Nerf games. Double-decker, even. Kind of like Laser Tag, but you can take cover without getting hit 50 times. Today, our district is going to be all in navy-blue, and it sounds like even the sisters, who we thought would be almost against the idea, invested in some pretty big guns themselves.
Let's see, what else...It's been cloudy here, and it's rained a little bit. But fortunately, not too much. During the summer, it rained 5 of 7 days in the week (okay, that's probably an exaggeration, but it rained a lot during the summer).
Your Spanish is coming along really well! A lot of those grammar rules I'm still trying to get down, memorized and incorporated into my vocabulary. There's just one thing...misionero and misionera have two different meanings. Misionero is an Elder, or a male missionary, and misionera is a Sister, or female missionary. I completely passed by it the first time, but then when I read it again, I thought it was kind of funny. Just wanted to point that one out.
I can't wait until I can hear Kaytlin's band performance! Unfortunately, it'll be a little while, but I'm still really looking forward to hearing it! I'll bet it was cool having both Grandparents there. Must have been doubly grand!
And Justin's making a Hamlet movie? Sweet!!! I'll bet it's way better than the ones we put together in High School. Did he have a script that they made up? Did a lot of people in the class participate? How is it going so far?
How's Kristin doing? I haven't heard too much about what she's doing right now, but it's good to hear that things are much better between her and Mr. Martin. That actually kind of reminds me of my own 4th-grade troubles with Ms. Bell. Good times! What's Kristin been up to? Hanging out with friends, playing sports or games?
How have you and Dad been? It sounds like Dad is enjoying working with the youth again. Has it been really atressful with Jury Duty and the Stake Young Men calling? How are you doing with your classes. You're on break for right now, right? And then you go back when Brian gets back? Is that a kind of between-semester break, or just a break during the semester?
Well, I'm going to hit the road. It feels good to write this much and to have this much to write about. Felicidades a me! And could you add one more e-mail to the forward list? That would be great! She's down in Ecuador, working with orphan children, and loving it! She was really excited to go when she last wrote, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it went.
Thanks so much! Les amo mucho -
A infinidad, y mas alla!!
Con mucho amor,
El Devinator
Monday, January 10, 2011
Week 34 - The Miracle List and the Year of the Member
Hallo!!
We've been working hard, and despite a few setbacks with near-hurricane level wind and rain (actually, I don't know that. I'm still looking forward to eventually pushing through my first hurricane here) and some appointments falling through, but we've really been working hard to expand and grow the area. We've finally begun implementing a plan of exactly where we need to go each day for the week, and then just planning appointments on that day. This is the first day of that plan, so we'll see how things go. Each day, we have planned out where we'll go in the morning, and where we'll go after dinner. A ver!
We've also begun applying the trainings we received at the last Zone Conference. The miracle list and the Year of the Member have been working great (and we're still working on setting up appointments to apply the Gold Mining and meal appointment trainings that we've received.)!
The Miracle List is a list of prayerfully-selected members who may not have been very active in missionary work before. We go and invite them to help us out with the Work of the Lord, and let them know that they have been selected by the Lord at that time. We've already seen some success with this, and are looking forward to a lot more in the future!
With the Year of the Member, we went and visited a family this past Monday. At that appointment, we stressed the importance of the members that were there, and expressed our strong desire for this year to be their year. After the lesson we had with them, they gave us a referral that they felt very strongly about. It was for a woman and her family that this sister works with now and then. And from this powerful training and spiritual lesson that we had with both families, we now have baptismal dates set up for this family. We can see some roadblocks that are going to stand in the way (we've had another encounter of the need-to-be-married kind), but we're looking for those who have been prepared to receive the gospel. This woman's soon-to-be husband has already attended a baptism over the weekend, and told us in our next lesson that he has been to other churches before, even Christian churches, but never before has he felt what he felt at the baptism. We're so excited to work with these people, and thrilled from the many blessings we've had from the Lord, even just during the past week.
We've had some very interesting experences this week! We've been really working with Osiel (haha that's his name!) to bring him to baptism, but his wife isn't very happy with it. We've been praying and working with him so much! And we're going to continue working with him all we can! We're going to try and pass by with Presidente Hernandez (the Branch President) this Tuesday.
We also found someone who has been really down on his luck. He's out of a job, and looking around for work to support his family. He really doesn't like what's happening in the world, what with...well, everything. How religion and God are mocked everywhere, or just not stressed at all. He wants his children to have a strong religious base. His name is Carlos, and he has his baptismal date for the 13th of next month (a Sunday, not a Friday...phew!)!! We're really excited to work with him, and all these people!
There was also someone who we OYM'd, but wouldn't let us talk to him and said he wasn't in the mood. He kept on walking. But then, a couple steps later, he turned around and said, "Hold on, maybe this is a sign." He walked back over. "The wife and I have been having some problems. I get a card, just in case." So we gave him a card, and he walked away. His name is Brent. There's not any more to the story right now, I just thought it was a really cool experience!
I'm doing good. This past week was kind of long, but it's also been such a wonderful week! We're continuing to work with the Cruz family, to help him become ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood and begin to have that great guiding power of God in their house. We've also found another family to work with (thanks to the members!)!! I'm surprised, being out here, just how much we need the members in this work. We can't do it alone, and we're not meant to!
Let's see...So, we have Elder Sheriden here now. He's awesome! We've got so many of the same interests! He loves making movies, even if it's not this big planned-out thing. Plus, he likes Star Wars, NASA, and Stargate. There was one day that we talked about movies that we liked and that he had seen, and he said Inception was one of his favorites. That was on my list before I left, and now I'm looking forward to eventually seeing it. It's really awesome to have someone here with a lot of the same interests and the like. He even made their own Star Wars Saga!!! Way cool!!!
Hmm...Okay, one other thing: Next week is Martin Luthor King Jr. day, so the library will be closed on Monday. We'll come in Tuesday and e-mail...as well as have our Zone-wide Nerf tournament!!! If all goes well...it's going to be SUPER-BOFFO!!!
Well, I'm going to get going. This week should have a lot of good stuff in store for both places, here and there! I hope the birthday was great, Justin!! Party on! And keep up with the awesome Honor Band skills, Kaytlin! Kristin - Don't forget to make your Lego cities the best in the world!
I love you all very much!!! Have a wonderful week, and remember: Haz lo justo!
Con mucho amor - a infinidad, y mas alla!!
El Devinator
We've been working hard, and despite a few setbacks with near-hurricane level wind and rain (actually, I don't know that. I'm still looking forward to eventually pushing through my first hurricane here) and some appointments falling through, but we've really been working hard to expand and grow the area. We've finally begun implementing a plan of exactly where we need to go each day for the week, and then just planning appointments on that day. This is the first day of that plan, so we'll see how things go. Each day, we have planned out where we'll go in the morning, and where we'll go after dinner. A ver!
We've also begun applying the trainings we received at the last Zone Conference. The miracle list and the Year of the Member have been working great (and we're still working on setting up appointments to apply the Gold Mining and meal appointment trainings that we've received.)!
The Miracle List is a list of prayerfully-selected members who may not have been very active in missionary work before. We go and invite them to help us out with the Work of the Lord, and let them know that they have been selected by the Lord at that time. We've already seen some success with this, and are looking forward to a lot more in the future!
With the Year of the Member, we went and visited a family this past Monday. At that appointment, we stressed the importance of the members that were there, and expressed our strong desire for this year to be their year. After the lesson we had with them, they gave us a referral that they felt very strongly about. It was for a woman and her family that this sister works with now and then. And from this powerful training and spiritual lesson that we had with both families, we now have baptismal dates set up for this family. We can see some roadblocks that are going to stand in the way (we've had another encounter of the need-to-be-married kind), but we're looking for those who have been prepared to receive the gospel. This woman's soon-to-be husband has already attended a baptism over the weekend, and told us in our next lesson that he has been to other churches before, even Christian churches, but never before has he felt what he felt at the baptism. We're so excited to work with these people, and thrilled from the many blessings we've had from the Lord, even just during the past week.
We've had some very interesting experences this week! We've been really working with Osiel (haha that's his name!) to bring him to baptism, but his wife isn't very happy with it. We've been praying and working with him so much! And we're going to continue working with him all we can! We're going to try and pass by with Presidente Hernandez (the Branch President) this Tuesday.
We also found someone who has been really down on his luck. He's out of a job, and looking around for work to support his family. He really doesn't like what's happening in the world, what with...well, everything. How religion and God are mocked everywhere, or just not stressed at all. He wants his children to have a strong religious base. His name is Carlos, and he has his baptismal date for the 13th of next month (a Sunday, not a Friday...phew!)!! We're really excited to work with him, and all these people!
There was also someone who we OYM'd, but wouldn't let us talk to him and said he wasn't in the mood. He kept on walking. But then, a couple steps later, he turned around and said, "Hold on, maybe this is a sign." He walked back over. "The wife and I have been having some problems. I get a card, just in case." So we gave him a card, and he walked away. His name is Brent. There's not any more to the story right now, I just thought it was a really cool experience!
I'm doing good. This past week was kind of long, but it's also been such a wonderful week! We're continuing to work with the Cruz family, to help him become ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood and begin to have that great guiding power of God in their house. We've also found another family to work with (thanks to the members!)!! I'm surprised, being out here, just how much we need the members in this work. We can't do it alone, and we're not meant to!
Let's see...So, we have Elder Sheriden here now. He's awesome! We've got so many of the same interests! He loves making movies, even if it's not this big planned-out thing. Plus, he likes Star Wars, NASA, and Stargate. There was one day that we talked about movies that we liked and that he had seen, and he said Inception was one of his favorites. That was on my list before I left, and now I'm looking forward to eventually seeing it. It's really awesome to have someone here with a lot of the same interests and the like. He even made their own Star Wars Saga!!! Way cool!!!
Hmm...Okay, one other thing: Next week is Martin Luthor King Jr. day, so the library will be closed on Monday. We'll come in Tuesday and e-mail...as well as have our Zone-wide Nerf tournament!!! If all goes well...it's going to be SUPER-BOFFO!!!
Well, I'm going to get going. This week should have a lot of good stuff in store for both places, here and there! I hope the birthday was great, Justin!! Party on! And keep up with the awesome Honor Band skills, Kaytlin! Kristin - Don't forget to make your Lego cities the best in the world!
I love you all very much!!! Have a wonderful week, and remember: Haz lo justo!
Con mucho amor - a infinidad, y mas alla!!
El Devinator
Monday, January 3, 2011
Week 33 - Lots of Rain, a Flat, and Teaching Families
Hello hello!!! Como estais? Esta bien aqui!
We've had a very...interesting week. Lot's of rain! I'm pretty sure we dumped out about 6 cups of water from our shoes, combined. That was on Wednesday. Then, on Friday, I had a flat tire on my bike, and so it took almost the entire day to get it fixed. That was sure interesting! I had it fixed for a little while, enough to get a lesson in, and then we got back into the house earlier (because everyone is drinking after that time...not the best time to be riding bikes!) But, overall, we had some good success and saw some great spiritual experiences!
During this past week, we put forth more effort, and even though there were some unforseen circumstances (like, raining so hard that we were unable to talk to anyone until about 7:00), we were still able to get 16 sit-downs and 2 baptismal dates with some people we've been really working with. One particularly memorable event happened in this lesson with Osiel and Millie. We were finally able to get a lesson in with Osiel and Millie, his daughter. We shared the scripture in Mosiah about mourning with those that mourn, and giving comfort to those in need. We also shared with them the blessings that come from living the Gospel, and that the first step is baptism with the proper authority. The lesson was great! The Spirit was there, testifying so strongly and for the first time, we got a really solid 'yes' answer from them that they would pray. When we asked what would be the next step if they received this witness, Osiel responded with "We'll be baptized." It was great! We're going back on Wednesday (hopefully with the Branch President) to follow up. Their date is for the 29th of January, so we'll be pushing and praying that all goes well! Please, keep them in your prayers!
That's one of our highlights of the week. And along with that, the Sanchez familia told us that they want to begin working on her divorce papers! Once those are done, she can get married to Arturo, and they can both be baptized. But we're also going to begin working with their children. Junior is 9, and he really seems to snjoy church (although he does get a little tired when testimony meeting runs 15 minutes overtime. But he's a great and a funny kid!). We want to work with Junior and Geronimo, who is 17 and getting ready to graduate before going into the Marines. If they set the example for their parents, we're hoping that pushes them to move things along more quickly. The Sanchez/Andrede familia is so strong! Last time we went over, she shared her testimony of the Church with us, and this past time, he shared his testimony of the Church as well. It was awesome (and they're not even members yet!) !!!! We're really looking forward to working with them more in these coming weeks, and excited as they enter the waters of baptism and start out on the path back to our father in heaven!
Overall, a very good week. And my time is short! So these are the highlights of the week. It sure is interesting being a missionary. This seems more like ordinary life now, which I've really been working hard to make it. I can't really see myself doing anything else! I love serving here! And the people we work with are so wonderful!!
Thank you for all of your prayers and support! I love you all sooooo much!!
Con mucho amor, a infinidad - y mas alla!!
El Devinator
We've had a very...interesting week. Lot's of rain! I'm pretty sure we dumped out about 6 cups of water from our shoes, combined. That was on Wednesday. Then, on Friday, I had a flat tire on my bike, and so it took almost the entire day to get it fixed. That was sure interesting! I had it fixed for a little while, enough to get a lesson in, and then we got back into the house earlier (because everyone is drinking after that time...not the best time to be riding bikes!) But, overall, we had some good success and saw some great spiritual experiences!
During this past week, we put forth more effort, and even though there were some unforseen circumstances (like, raining so hard that we were unable to talk to anyone until about 7:00), we were still able to get 16 sit-downs and 2 baptismal dates with some people we've been really working with. One particularly memorable event happened in this lesson with Osiel and Millie. We were finally able to get a lesson in with Osiel and Millie, his daughter. We shared the scripture in Mosiah about mourning with those that mourn, and giving comfort to those in need. We also shared with them the blessings that come from living the Gospel, and that the first step is baptism with the proper authority. The lesson was great! The Spirit was there, testifying so strongly and for the first time, we got a really solid 'yes' answer from them that they would pray. When we asked what would be the next step if they received this witness, Osiel responded with "We'll be baptized." It was great! We're going back on Wednesday (hopefully with the Branch President) to follow up. Their date is for the 29th of January, so we'll be pushing and praying that all goes well! Please, keep them in your prayers!
That's one of our highlights of the week. And along with that, the Sanchez familia told us that they want to begin working on her divorce papers! Once those are done, she can get married to Arturo, and they can both be baptized. But we're also going to begin working with their children. Junior is 9, and he really seems to snjoy church (although he does get a little tired when testimony meeting runs 15 minutes overtime. But he's a great and a funny kid!). We want to work with Junior and Geronimo, who is 17 and getting ready to graduate before going into the Marines. If they set the example for their parents, we're hoping that pushes them to move things along more quickly. The Sanchez/Andrede familia is so strong! Last time we went over, she shared her testimony of the Church with us, and this past time, he shared his testimony of the Church as well. It was awesome (and they're not even members yet!) !!!! We're really looking forward to working with them more in these coming weeks, and excited as they enter the waters of baptism and start out on the path back to our father in heaven!
Overall, a very good week. And my time is short! So these are the highlights of the week. It sure is interesting being a missionary. This seems more like ordinary life now, which I've really been working hard to make it. I can't really see myself doing anything else! I love serving here! And the people we work with are so wonderful!!
Thank you for all of your prayers and support! I love you all sooooo much!!
Con mucho amor, a infinidad - y mas alla!!
El Devinator
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