We baptized ABRAHAM

Mon, March 7, 2011 5:20:13 PM

Hahahaha so this week we baptized Abraham.. isn’t that neat? Yea he is a pretty cool guy, he has overcome a whole lot of obstacles in his life to get where he is now. Hna. Cano and I met him one day when Jairo (remember him? He was baptized in January) took us to introduce us to his family. Abraham is his uncle. Jairo was so happy to have his uncle baptized. Jairo walks with us to help bring people to church on Sunday mornings and this Sunday morning he was so thrilled to have his uncle baptized.. He exclaimed that he was sooo happy that his family would soon all be with him there. He truly does feel the spirit in a profound way I think. Abraham bore his testimony in his baptism and said that he knows that from now until the end of his life he knows that he has an appointment every Sunday, which is pretty awesome for a missionary to hear. I am so happy that he has been able to have this thing grow and bloom within him, as lame as that sounds. There is just no other way to describe it really. Pictures will have to come next week I’m afraid because Hna. Garff has them all on her camera and I didn’t have enough time to get them today.

Just so you know, Martin was not able to be baptized this week due to the fact that he wants to be baptized with his friend but we find out tomorrow when the date will be. I hope that I can be there for it.. ! We celebrated his birthday yesterday. Because he has a room full of Disney action figures and stuff, I thought we should get him something to go with it. One day I noticed a fully functional Buzz Lightyear in the street and bought it for him ($7!) and goodness when he saw it along with all the books that we got him (including a huge big print triple and bible and other gospel library books), he was like a kid--just so happy. Also we have been able to build good relationships with a bunch of inactive folks. A lot of people just need someone to talk to sometimes. I am looking forward to have lifelong friendships with these folks.. they are really special to me.

We have also been able to start up in helping a woman build a house... and that’s mostly what we have been doing all weekend. She probably is not going to join the church but we have really enjoyed her company and helping her out. She has exclaimed to us how blessed she feels and says that God sent us here to her in this time because He knew she needed us. God works through the hands of other people. Let’s be those people!

The Work and Blessings Continue...

Mon, February 28, 2011 5:11:28 PM

To start off - just FYI, some packages of letters got lost in space and so I have to apologize to both sets of grandparents, Erica & Mark Thompson, Steph & Q Thompson, Inga & Dan Slade, Shannon & Zach Bundy, cousins Mindy, Becky and Kerri (& families), as well as Aunt Leah & fam, Jessica Mutz, Lauren Holmes, brothers Ryan & Kyle and other extended family and friends. I wrote you all letters but they are lost. It will take me time to recuperate and rewrite again but know that I love and care for you all and I did write back. You just won’t get them. Because the mail system hates me. BUT please write to me soon--I want to hear from you all! Entonces... on with business....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMMMMMMMA LA QUIERO MUCHO!!!!!!!!!!!!
My mom is the greatest. And I know everyone says that, but it is always true.

We are going to celebrate with a special baptism! Of a man named Martin who has changed my life and perspective of missionary work. He was taught before by elders, but when the elders were taken out of the area for sisters to come in, his paperwork was lost and so the visits suddenly ceased. He wondered what happened and why they didn´t return but we showed up and picked up where the elders left off (they are now in the south mission of Nicaragua). We have been working with him about 2.5 months or something. His wife died a long time ago but he is still in love with her and so you can imagine how the plan of salvation and sealings in the temple have affected him. I am very excited to be able to participate in his miracle.. really in the mission we don´t create or perform miracles or anything like that, we only put hands to the Lord´s work - we are just participants in something much more grand than ourselves. It is amazing.

I am learning a lot right now personally... including how to get my life even more in line the way it needs to be. Tengo que hechar y limpiar y organizar a todo! En cada forma! Pues.. Remember that you can make the difference even if your past was different, even if you didn´t have examples to learn from. We make the difference in every minute. Make changes now in your own life so the future can be better for everyone. If the gospel doesn´t exist to solve problems and become better people then what is it good for?