Hola todos!
It's exciting here, because it's finally cooling down!! Last week it was over 100 degrees every day, but it took a massive jump and has been in the 70's the past couple days! People were talking about how cold they were and putting on jackets and I just had to smile and laugh a little bit. People here have absolutely no concept of snow. I asked someone if it has ever snowed here in Yuma and they told me it did once a long time ago, but basically they only know of one time in history. So it looks like I'm in for a weird warm winter...probably about like an Alaskan summer. It's fun though - I enjoy teasing people down here about not being able to handle the weather. It's been a little rainy and cloudy the past couple days - something that doesn't happen terribly often. So I totally loved it! I wanted to stand outside and get drenched in the rain, but I decided I should probably do missionary work instead.
It's been a good week, our first in a while that we haven't had any baptisms, so that's been kind of sad. We did pick up some new investigators which is awesome, and totally what we need right now. We've been hurting for people to teach and we finally have some more so that's exciting. But it's kind of funny because every single one of them was connected to a recent converts. They seriously aer the best missionaries ever. We taught Maria Hernandez's two teenagers, and they both came to Church. They were both open and pretty interested (well for teenagers), and they're just super good kids. Maria has raised them good and they have a definite sense of right and wrong. We'll see what happens, but I'm excited and I love that Maria has this incredible desire to share the Gospel with her family.
It is a little different right now because we're teaching quite a few teenagers. Cesar brought a couple friends to his confirmation whenever that was, and we've talked to them (they're both girls and teaching them is taking a little getting used to). They're both way interested and loved going to Church! So many people that we've met it's so hard to get them to Church so when this happens it's just totally sweet.
One thing that we've been kind of working on and got trained on in a district meeting recently is the importance of opening your mouth to talk to everyone. We discussed D&C 61:3 and talked about how we shouldn't be rushing from appointment to appointment and miss the people on the streets and all around us. It's so true that there are a lot of people that are looking for the truth, but they just don't know where to find it. Well, we have it! There are so many people that are prepared and so many blessings that come from talking to everyone we see. There are missionaries in our district that recently baptized a couple that they found from just walking on the streets a few weeks before. They came up to talk to him and the first thing he said to them literally was, "How long does it take to become a Mormon?" We have no idea how many people are out there ready to here the Gospel and we have no idea who they will be.
So Cesar's parents, Cesar and Maria, are probably going to get baptized this next week! It was funny going over there and talking to Cesar Sr., because he said that now his wife is more convinced and excited to get baptized than he is! He said before that he'll get baptized whenever she does and now she's way into it, and sharing the Gospel with her Catholic family!! It's so incredibly cool, and they are just an awesome family. I talked for a long time with Cesar about the Church and responsibilities as a parent. He loves the emphasis on being good parents and teaching kids responsibilities. He says that we are more mature than most guys our age and he wants that for his son, so he's that much more excited to get him on a mission.
Oh, and it's been kind of crazy having 6 missionaries here in our branch! We're not 100% sure still how exactly it is going to work out with what the area boundaries for each set of missionaries and if the others will go to our Church or the San Luis one (San Luis is seriously halfway in the US and half in Mexico - on the border). We've been going to our dinners with all six of us though, so it's always a big party wherever we go and we feel kind of bad that they have to feed all of us. But the members love it so we do too!One thing that really stuck out to me this week in my personal study was a scripture that I read - Helaman 3:35 - and I liked how it talks about waxing stronger and stronger in humility. It's so incredibly important that as missionaries we are absolutely humble and rely on the Lord for everything we do. We are nothing without Him and cannot teach without His spirit so it's so important that especially when you're having success you acknowledge that everything comes from the Lord and as to ourselves we are nothing. Which is why I want to be an instrument in His hands and make His will my will.
So yeah, I'm doing great here and going on exchanges again tonight so I'm taking the lead again! It can be kind of nerve-racking sometimes but I'm excited. I'm loving the cooler weather and everything about my mission.
Que les vayan bien! (that's what I hear approximately a thousand times every day :)
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
10/13/10 The scoop....
HOLA!!!!
Well I guess it was kind of a false alarm last week. That 5% chance that I wouldn't train is apparently what's going to happen. We just found out a couple days ago that Elder Cuthbertson and I are staying together here and that they're going to do a little swapping in the mission. Apparently they're splitting up a random Spanish companionship and having one stay there to train in that area and one is coming here to train in Somerton (a fairly small town just outside of Yuma). So we are going to have 6 missionaries in our little Spanish branch and in the past few weeks our zone has gone from 10 missionaries and 1 district to 16 missionaries in 2 districts! President Howes said he knows there's a lot of work to do here and that Yuma's ready for some big progress. He said it wasn't that I couldn't train or wouldn't do good, but that there's been so many changes in our zone lately, and that he thinks it would be better if we stayed together. So for now, my address is the same and I'm still with Elder Cuthbertson.
We did have a good week though! Lorena Ruiz got baptized last Friday and it was a super good baptism. Elder Cuthbertson baptized her, and I sang a duet with another spanish elder here. She's way solid, and knows more about religion and the Bible than anyone I've taught so far. She's super perceptive and recognizes how persecuted the Church is and that the true Church of Jesus Christ has always been rejected and persecuted. She said whenever she was going through rough times she would have a dream about her grandma (only member in family) and the Book of Mormon. It was pretty sweet, and we were excited for her baptism. She never once had doubts or second thoughts about it, which definitely isn't common here.
And Sunday was awesome because we had 3 confirmations!! Rene and Nathalie Barraza, and then Lorena were all confirmed and the branch was way excited and kind of surprised to see so many. Nathalie really wanted me to confirm her, and told me I could do it any language I wanted. I told her I was going to do it in Arabic but in the end I decided on Spanish :) It was way cool and I felt the Spirit super strong. My Spanish must not have been terrible because a lot of members were coming up, complimenting me, and asking if my Spanish was getting better or if it was the Spirit. I told them I'm pretty sure my Spanish is getting better but it's always the Spirit. We've really been working with the Barraza parents to get them baptized, because their kids are so strong in the Church and really want it for their parents. They were all at Church, and the dad told us when he gets baptized he wants to be 100%, doing everything, not missing a day of Church, and really give it his all. So apparently he wants to finish his baseball league since he's a coach and they have a couple weeks of games that are on Sunday. We're working hard on the mom is ready whenever he decides to go through with it.
I'm on exchanges with Elder Green right now again, and it's been way cool. It's always funny though, since he's so lost at all these Spanish places we go. He has no idea what's going on and just nods his head and acts like he does. We visited Maria Hernandez last night and she was talking about how excited she was to get her kids to Church and baptized!! These kind of visits are the best, and she brought them to the last baptism so they could see how it would be when they get baptized. Hopefully that can happen way soon! She's also trying to bring friends to Church and wants to talk to anyone who is having doubts or second thoughts about baptism. She is just so awesome, and it was cool to take the lead on the lesson and really talk to her.
Apparently there was a fire the other night and the firemen were banging on our door between 12 and 1 in the morning. I didn't wake up of course, but eventually I got up and saw like 3 fire trucks outside and like all the people who live in the Camelot apartments outside. They had evacuated everyone but I had just barely woken up when they told everyone they could go back inside. I was just ahead of the game... So that was a little bit exciting.
Oh, and it's been pretty sweet - we've been riding bikes all the past couple days and it's been a welcome break. I hate riding in the car everywhere and we get to talk to more people when we're out on bikes as well as get a little bit of a workout. Our white shirts get kind of nasty but we definitely feel like we're doing more work and I love riding bikes! So yeah, we've been really working on finding people, since there's been a lot of people baptized lately and we're needing more people to teach. We'll see how it goes this week. I'm excited and loving it!!
Hasta luego! Nos vemos!
Well I guess it was kind of a false alarm last week. That 5% chance that I wouldn't train is apparently what's going to happen. We just found out a couple days ago that Elder Cuthbertson and I are staying together here and that they're going to do a little swapping in the mission. Apparently they're splitting up a random Spanish companionship and having one stay there to train in that area and one is coming here to train in Somerton (a fairly small town just outside of Yuma). So we are going to have 6 missionaries in our little Spanish branch and in the past few weeks our zone has gone from 10 missionaries and 1 district to 16 missionaries in 2 districts! President Howes said he knows there's a lot of work to do here and that Yuma's ready for some big progress. He said it wasn't that I couldn't train or wouldn't do good, but that there's been so many changes in our zone lately, and that he thinks it would be better if we stayed together. So for now, my address is the same and I'm still with Elder Cuthbertson.
We did have a good week though! Lorena Ruiz got baptized last Friday and it was a super good baptism. Elder Cuthbertson baptized her, and I sang a duet with another spanish elder here. She's way solid, and knows more about religion and the Bible than anyone I've taught so far. She's super perceptive and recognizes how persecuted the Church is and that the true Church of Jesus Christ has always been rejected and persecuted. She said whenever she was going through rough times she would have a dream about her grandma (only member in family) and the Book of Mormon. It was pretty sweet, and we were excited for her baptism. She never once had doubts or second thoughts about it, which definitely isn't common here.
And Sunday was awesome because we had 3 confirmations!! Rene and Nathalie Barraza, and then Lorena were all confirmed and the branch was way excited and kind of surprised to see so many. Nathalie really wanted me to confirm her, and told me I could do it any language I wanted. I told her I was going to do it in Arabic but in the end I decided on Spanish :) It was way cool and I felt the Spirit super strong. My Spanish must not have been terrible because a lot of members were coming up, complimenting me, and asking if my Spanish was getting better or if it was the Spirit. I told them I'm pretty sure my Spanish is getting better but it's always the Spirit. We've really been working with the Barraza parents to get them baptized, because their kids are so strong in the Church and really want it for their parents. They were all at Church, and the dad told us when he gets baptized he wants to be 100%, doing everything, not missing a day of Church, and really give it his all. So apparently he wants to finish his baseball league since he's a coach and they have a couple weeks of games that are on Sunday. We're working hard on the mom is ready whenever he decides to go through with it.
I'm on exchanges with Elder Green right now again, and it's been way cool. It's always funny though, since he's so lost at all these Spanish places we go. He has no idea what's going on and just nods his head and acts like he does. We visited Maria Hernandez last night and she was talking about how excited she was to get her kids to Church and baptized!! These kind of visits are the best, and she brought them to the last baptism so they could see how it would be when they get baptized. Hopefully that can happen way soon! She's also trying to bring friends to Church and wants to talk to anyone who is having doubts or second thoughts about baptism. She is just so awesome, and it was cool to take the lead on the lesson and really talk to her.
Apparently there was a fire the other night and the firemen were banging on our door between 12 and 1 in the morning. I didn't wake up of course, but eventually I got up and saw like 3 fire trucks outside and like all the people who live in the Camelot apartments outside. They had evacuated everyone but I had just barely woken up when they told everyone they could go back inside. I was just ahead of the game... So that was a little bit exciting.
Oh, and it's been pretty sweet - we've been riding bikes all the past couple days and it's been a welcome break. I hate riding in the car everywhere and we get to talk to more people when we're out on bikes as well as get a little bit of a workout. Our white shirts get kind of nasty but we definitely feel like we're doing more work and I love riding bikes! So yeah, we've been really working on finding people, since there's been a lot of people baptized lately and we're needing more people to teach. We'll see how it goes this week. I'm excited and loving it!!
Hasta luego! Nos vemos!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Hola! Que pasa? 10/06/10
Hola! Que pasa?
Holy smokes this last week really was unusually crazy and busy. We had all these trainings and meetings and General Conference so we definitely didn't get as much missionary work done as we wanted to. But that's how we always feel so that's expected, huh?
Conference was AWESOME though!!! I feel like I never really took advantage of it like I should have growing up. It's so much better than holidays for us as missionaries. Because we all talked about it together and decided that it's better than all the holidays put together, because all a holiday really means here is that the post office is closed and we have no chance for mail!! But yes, conference definitely was a spiritual feast and we all learned so incredibly much. What never ceases to amaze me is the nature of the talks that they all deliver. They are simple enough for investigators and new members to understand, yet way deep and profound for members and missionaries. They are all definitely inspired men called of God and are guided in every word they say. We loved how President Monson opened the conference talking about the importance of missionary work, preparing young men for missions, and the fact that we need more missionaries! We really do need more missionaries and the Lord's work is being accomplished all around the world. It really is amazing to think about what gets accomplished daily by missionaries all around the world and what is possible with even more. The field is white and we simply need more harvesters!
It definitely seemed like there were some major themes, and we wish that all of our investigators could have heard all of it! At first there was a lot about following the prophet, and the importance of having a prophet. There were a lot of bold statements about the fact that a living prophet is more important than a dead prophet and more important than the standard works. We know that we are so incredibly blessed to have a prophet to help lead us and guide us and make the Lord's will known to us. It's definitely something that sets us apart from other churches. There was also a lot about agency and using it wisely, in order to avoid or overcome addictions, and choose to do the best things with your time. I loved when President Uchtdorf talked about slowing down and taking time to prioritize your life and spend your time doing the things that are most important, instead of being all stressed out and hectic doing a bunch of things that are ultimately not important. I love the boldness of the general authorities and am consistently amazed at their knowledge of the scriptures! The more I study them, the more I can recognize how much they really use them in their talks. They study them so much and it ultimately becomes a part of how they think. It's definitely amazing.
But yeah, my companion had a big 2-day training last week and I stayed with the other 2 new Spanish elders here. It was wild because they had moved most of their stuff out of their apartment into their new one, but they found out they couldn't move in yet, so we were sleeping on pieces of furniture and things. And then the next day, we moved ALL of their things in, washers and dryers and beds and cabinets and everything. I'm pretty sure I've helped move in at least 10 different people or families the past few days, but it's way cool and I enjoy it. It was fun being with the other elders and it's always cool to just have a break and something new. We talked to a LOT of people out in the streets and things, since they didn't have many scheduled lessons and are working on finding people. We've met some pretty ridiculous crazy people, agnostic people who like to fight, and some guys that seriously love missionaries but refuse to listen to the mission. One guy the other day said that he wasn't sure how right we are. "You are SO right! I love you guys and what you're doing. I don't think you know how right you are! I don't know about the whole Joseph Smith thing, but you are SO right!"
It was pretty funny.
Speaking of that, I went on exchanges with this little Mexican elder for a little bit on Sunday, Elder Martinez (he speaks perfect English - grew up mostly in Utah), and we were out talking to people on the streets. We were walking down the side of this big road and I told him we were going to go about this differently. We were just going to walk and have people pull over and come to us. He said there was no way, and a few minutes later, this guy pulls up to us from the other side of the road and runs out of his car to talk to us. He had heard about our church through his uncle and really needed something in his life - he wanted missionaries over and to get a Book of Mormon. He was this massive bald guy covered in tattoos and honestly a little intimidating. But it was sweet, because we got his address and number and sent some English missionaries over to teach him. It was so crazy, and Elder Martinez kept asking me how i knew that was going to happen. I told him I honestly had no idea, but it was a super cool experience!! We talked to a lot of people that day, crazy drunk guys and old redneck guys, and people that keep saying to come by another day to teach them. It's always "otro dia" or next year or something. But I've definitely noticed I'm not afraid to talk to people, even sketchy people that I would never dream of talking to before.
We did have Nathalie and Rene's baptism on Friday and it was AWESOME!!!! They loved it all and had a HUGE crowd of people there. We didn't even have room to fit everyone. But yeah I got to talk and we sang this sweet a capella version of Be Still My Soul. It was kinda crazy because I've never seen anyone baptized someone as fast as Cesar baptized Nathalie! He put her in and out of that water so incredibly fast! I had to compliment him on his efficiency. He must have been a little nervous. It was also a little funny because he also had torn a hole in his baptismal suit sometime and he was walking around really funny so that people couldn't see it. I was amused. Their dad loved the whole thing and he said he definitely wants to get baptized as soon as we can get his wife to be baptized. He said this coming week! But it looks like it's going to be a week from Saturday so that should be super cool.
We are having one baptism this week that we're super excited for - Lorena Ruiz - and the other one fell through because of issues with her husband. It seriously tears me apart to see people keep postponing baptism and the help that they need in their life. But we're super excited for what we have, and I know they will all get baptized :) So yep, we're working hard at finding new people and loving the work. I had my first interview with the President yesterday and it was way cool because I have an assignment that I'm really excited for. But anyways, life is great and the weather is 100% PERFECT!!!! it's like in the low 80's and just feels like heaven. So hasta luego! Que les vayan bien!
Holy smokes this last week really was unusually crazy and busy. We had all these trainings and meetings and General Conference so we definitely didn't get as much missionary work done as we wanted to. But that's how we always feel so that's expected, huh?
Conference was AWESOME though!!! I feel like I never really took advantage of it like I should have growing up. It's so much better than holidays for us as missionaries. Because we all talked about it together and decided that it's better than all the holidays put together, because all a holiday really means here is that the post office is closed and we have no chance for mail!! But yes, conference definitely was a spiritual feast and we all learned so incredibly much. What never ceases to amaze me is the nature of the talks that they all deliver. They are simple enough for investigators and new members to understand, yet way deep and profound for members and missionaries. They are all definitely inspired men called of God and are guided in every word they say. We loved how President Monson opened the conference talking about the importance of missionary work, preparing young men for missions, and the fact that we need more missionaries! We really do need more missionaries and the Lord's work is being accomplished all around the world. It really is amazing to think about what gets accomplished daily by missionaries all around the world and what is possible with even more. The field is white and we simply need more harvesters!
It definitely seemed like there were some major themes, and we wish that all of our investigators could have heard all of it! At first there was a lot about following the prophet, and the importance of having a prophet. There were a lot of bold statements about the fact that a living prophet is more important than a dead prophet and more important than the standard works. We know that we are so incredibly blessed to have a prophet to help lead us and guide us and make the Lord's will known to us. It's definitely something that sets us apart from other churches. There was also a lot about agency and using it wisely, in order to avoid or overcome addictions, and choose to do the best things with your time. I loved when President Uchtdorf talked about slowing down and taking time to prioritize your life and spend your time doing the things that are most important, instead of being all stressed out and hectic doing a bunch of things that are ultimately not important. I love the boldness of the general authorities and am consistently amazed at their knowledge of the scriptures! The more I study them, the more I can recognize how much they really use them in their talks. They study them so much and it ultimately becomes a part of how they think. It's definitely amazing.
But yeah, my companion had a big 2-day training last week and I stayed with the other 2 new Spanish elders here. It was wild because they had moved most of their stuff out of their apartment into their new one, but they found out they couldn't move in yet, so we were sleeping on pieces of furniture and things. And then the next day, we moved ALL of their things in, washers and dryers and beds and cabinets and everything. I'm pretty sure I've helped move in at least 10 different people or families the past few days, but it's way cool and I enjoy it. It was fun being with the other elders and it's always cool to just have a break and something new. We talked to a LOT of people out in the streets and things, since they didn't have many scheduled lessons and are working on finding people. We've met some pretty ridiculous crazy people, agnostic people who like to fight, and some guys that seriously love missionaries but refuse to listen to the mission. One guy the other day said that he wasn't sure how right we are. "You are SO right! I love you guys and what you're doing. I don't think you know how right you are! I don't know about the whole Joseph Smith thing, but you are SO right!"
It was pretty funny.
Speaking of that, I went on exchanges with this little Mexican elder for a little bit on Sunday, Elder Martinez (he speaks perfect English - grew up mostly in Utah), and we were out talking to people on the streets. We were walking down the side of this big road and I told him we were going to go about this differently. We were just going to walk and have people pull over and come to us. He said there was no way, and a few minutes later, this guy pulls up to us from the other side of the road and runs out of his car to talk to us. He had heard about our church through his uncle and really needed something in his life - he wanted missionaries over and to get a Book of Mormon. He was this massive bald guy covered in tattoos and honestly a little intimidating. But it was sweet, because we got his address and number and sent some English missionaries over to teach him. It was so crazy, and Elder Martinez kept asking me how i knew that was going to happen. I told him I honestly had no idea, but it was a super cool experience!! We talked to a lot of people that day, crazy drunk guys and old redneck guys, and people that keep saying to come by another day to teach them. It's always "otro dia" or next year or something. But I've definitely noticed I'm not afraid to talk to people, even sketchy people that I would never dream of talking to before.
We did have Nathalie and Rene's baptism on Friday and it was AWESOME!!!! They loved it all and had a HUGE crowd of people there. We didn't even have room to fit everyone. But yeah I got to talk and we sang this sweet a capella version of Be Still My Soul. It was kinda crazy because I've never seen anyone baptized someone as fast as Cesar baptized Nathalie! He put her in and out of that water so incredibly fast! I had to compliment him on his efficiency. He must have been a little nervous. It was also a little funny because he also had torn a hole in his baptismal suit sometime and he was walking around really funny so that people couldn't see it. I was amused. Their dad loved the whole thing and he said he definitely wants to get baptized as soon as we can get his wife to be baptized. He said this coming week! But it looks like it's going to be a week from Saturday so that should be super cool.
We are having one baptism this week that we're super excited for - Lorena Ruiz - and the other one fell through because of issues with her husband. It seriously tears me apart to see people keep postponing baptism and the help that they need in their life. But we're super excited for what we have, and I know they will all get baptized :) So yep, we're working hard at finding new people and loving the work. I had my first interview with the President yesterday and it was way cool because I have an assignment that I'm really excited for. But anyways, life is great and the weather is 100% PERFECT!!!! it's like in the low 80's and just feels like heaven. So hasta luego! Que les vayan bien!
9/29/2010 Conference pronto!!
Buenas Tardes!
Wow, there has been a lot going on and I don't think I've ever been so incredibly excited for General Conference before!! We've been talking about it with everyone and really working on getting investigators to watch or listen to it. There's no better way people will be able to feel the Spirit than watching apostles and a prophet of the Lord testify of the truthfulness of the Gospel and the divinity of the Savior.
So the baptism we had on Saturday was awesome, and Maria is so happy to be a member. The members here have really welcomed her in and she is loving it. She got baptized with her friend's little daughter so it was really cool to see the two of them taking this step together. What was way cool was that when we were taking pictures afterwards she kept talking about us being her missionaries and that she would always remember us. That's something that's super special and that makes me so glad I'm here! I had the opportunity to confirm her on Sunday, and although it was a little nerve-racking at first it went really well and I didn't struggle with the words. It's a little tough because we normally talk to people in the "usted" form to be formal and respectful, but we used the "tu" form in baptisms and confirmations and such for closeness and familiarity. But it was great, and investigators were surprised that I was able to do what I did without having it written down. So that's a good sign, right? We had 2 more confirmations there and there were quite a few people at Church. What was awesome was seeing Cesar's entire family at Church, all dressed up and loving being together there as a family. The mom couldn't come to Church until she had a really nice outfit so they were all spiffed up, with the guys in suits and the girls in nice dresses. Speaking of their family, Rene and Nathalie are getting baptized this Friday!! They couldn't wait any longer so we set it up and ordained Cesar a Priest last night so he would be able to baptize his sister. We were hoping the parents would maybe get baptized this weekend or next, but it looks like it might be the 16th or something. The good thing is that I had never heard them so positive about being baptized! They love what the Church has done for their kids and they know they are going to go as a family together to this one, but she wants to be more familiar with it and go to Church 1-2 more times. Cesar Sr. said he was going to get baptized when his wife does and she says she knows she is going to get baptized, but it's just a matter of time.
One thing that was also sweet was that on Sunday we joined another set of elders here in fasting for their investigators. We prayed and fasted specifically for them, and then the Lord definitely answered and the very next day, one of them called the elders up and said she wanted to get baptized ASAP!!! Last transfer they had a baptism set up for this investigator and she just didn't show up, calling later to say she wasn't coming - saying she felt nervous and took it as a sign to not get baptized. But she got baptized last night and it definitely strengthened our testimony of fasting, and we know that it was because of that that it happened.
It's been kind of tough lately to find new investigators as we're getting people ready for baptism. We're busy with appointments and setting all these things up, and we really need to spend more time finding new people to teach. Cesar brought over some friends to Church and it looks like we'll be able to start teaching them this week! They loved Church and said they wanted to come back! That's one of the hardest things to get people to do, so we get way excited when people go to Church and want to keep going.
It's also different having twice the missionaries in our branch but I like it a lot. We go to dinners together and there's definitely enough work to keep all of us busy. They've been finding all kinds of new people to teach and it's cool to just see them on fire, going out and doing lots of finding to teach. It's also nice not being the youngest one here - I'm the oldest greenie in Yuma out of like 5 here, and it's kind of crazy that we have so many new missionaries down here! I guess it's the best way to get missionaries introduced to Spanish though. Elder Matheson and Elder Lindquist here with us are super good missionaries and we work together a lot so it's nice not having quite as big of an area.
It looks like the next couple of days I'm going to be with the other 2 elders since my companion is going to training in Tempe. Teaching is a lot of fun, and it's always exciting to go out and teach with different people to see how they do it and get to know the different people they are teaching. I'm excited!!
Shoot, well I think that's about all that's really happened this week. I'm excited for the baptisms Friday and for General Conference, so it's going to be a SWEET weekend!!
Wow, there has been a lot going on and I don't think I've ever been so incredibly excited for General Conference before!! We've been talking about it with everyone and really working on getting investigators to watch or listen to it. There's no better way people will be able to feel the Spirit than watching apostles and a prophet of the Lord testify of the truthfulness of the Gospel and the divinity of the Savior.
So the baptism we had on Saturday was awesome, and Maria is so happy to be a member. The members here have really welcomed her in and she is loving it. She got baptized with her friend's little daughter so it was really cool to see the two of them taking this step together. What was way cool was that when we were taking pictures afterwards she kept talking about us being her missionaries and that she would always remember us. That's something that's super special and that makes me so glad I'm here! I had the opportunity to confirm her on Sunday, and although it was a little nerve-racking at first it went really well and I didn't struggle with the words. It's a little tough because we normally talk to people in the "usted" form to be formal and respectful, but we used the "tu" form in baptisms and confirmations and such for closeness and familiarity. But it was great, and investigators were surprised that I was able to do what I did without having it written down. So that's a good sign, right? We had 2 more confirmations there and there were quite a few people at Church. What was awesome was seeing Cesar's entire family at Church, all dressed up and loving being together there as a family. The mom couldn't come to Church until she had a really nice outfit so they were all spiffed up, with the guys in suits and the girls in nice dresses. Speaking of their family, Rene and Nathalie are getting baptized this Friday!! They couldn't wait any longer so we set it up and ordained Cesar a Priest last night so he would be able to baptize his sister. We were hoping the parents would maybe get baptized this weekend or next, but it looks like it might be the 16th or something. The good thing is that I had never heard them so positive about being baptized! They love what the Church has done for their kids and they know they are going to go as a family together to this one, but she wants to be more familiar with it and go to Church 1-2 more times. Cesar Sr. said he was going to get baptized when his wife does and she says she knows she is going to get baptized, but it's just a matter of time.
One thing that was also sweet was that on Sunday we joined another set of elders here in fasting for their investigators. We prayed and fasted specifically for them, and then the Lord definitely answered and the very next day, one of them called the elders up and said she wanted to get baptized ASAP!!! Last transfer they had a baptism set up for this investigator and she just didn't show up, calling later to say she wasn't coming - saying she felt nervous and took it as a sign to not get baptized. But she got baptized last night and it definitely strengthened our testimony of fasting, and we know that it was because of that that it happened.
It's been kind of tough lately to find new investigators as we're getting people ready for baptism. We're busy with appointments and setting all these things up, and we really need to spend more time finding new people to teach. Cesar brought over some friends to Church and it looks like we'll be able to start teaching them this week! They loved Church and said they wanted to come back! That's one of the hardest things to get people to do, so we get way excited when people go to Church and want to keep going.
It's also different having twice the missionaries in our branch but I like it a lot. We go to dinners together and there's definitely enough work to keep all of us busy. They've been finding all kinds of new people to teach and it's cool to just see them on fire, going out and doing lots of finding to teach. It's also nice not being the youngest one here - I'm the oldest greenie in Yuma out of like 5 here, and it's kind of crazy that we have so many new missionaries down here! I guess it's the best way to get missionaries introduced to Spanish though. Elder Matheson and Elder Lindquist here with us are super good missionaries and we work together a lot so it's nice not having quite as big of an area.
It looks like the next couple of days I'm going to be with the other 2 elders since my companion is going to training in Tempe. Teaching is a lot of fun, and it's always exciting to go out and teach with different people to see how they do it and get to know the different people they are teaching. I'm excited!!
Shoot, well I think that's about all that's really happened this week. I'm excited for the baptisms Friday and for General Conference, so it's going to be a SWEET weekend!!
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