FOUR BAPTISMS THIS WEEK! Lovin' it!

Hola Padres!   

        29 August 2011

 

This was one very successful and rewarding week! We had a lot of good things happen!

School has started again down here in Utah. This makes it a little tougher for us to continue teaching as much as we used to. During the summer months, we were so busy all day long and could space our lessons out throughout the entire day.  It is a lot harder to cram all of our lessons in from four in the afternoon to nine at night. Just one of the many struggles that we have here in this area, but we are still making it work!

Well Mom, you know how at the beginning of my mission you said that I was going to fall in love with Spanish food (rice and beans or all of that)? Well it absolutely has happened! It took me to not be in a Spanish area to figure this out. In the Spanish areas, I was so surrounded by the native food that I didn’t really think about it. Then this week we went to a little Mexican shop for lunch and it made all the flavors of Spanish food come back. It made me feel comfortable and right at home. So I miss Spanish food a ton! I can’t wait to get back to a Spanish area where I can just have Spanish food all the time. So sorry Mom, you might want to learn how to cook some real Spanish food for me! (Well, the mom has a better idea, HE can learn how to cook it and then cook it for us when he returns!  J )

This week we also had a new challenge, we had a third companion. It was one of our Zone Leaders. His companion got called to be the Assistant to the President, so he left in the middle of the week. Elder Bagley has been with me and Elder Nathan since Wednesday. It has been pretty tough because his style really doesn’t match Elder Nathan's and mine, but we found some common ground and just went forward.

We have had some pretty cool experiences with some investigators and the Word of Wisdom. We thought that some of these investigators were going to take it pretty hard and not be able to go through with it, or put up a fight, but that didn’t happen at all. We just taught them about it and they already knew that they needed to quit and make that change. So we have had four different investigators stop smoking, chewing, and drinking. It is a pretty awesome thing to see that change in people.

Another crazy experience we had was a humongous Slip n Slide! We went to a ward party and they had it at this park where there is a huge hill and they happen to lay out 4 or 5 old billboard signs and set up some sprinklers and hoses. So being the crazy and adventurous missionaries that we are, we decided to spice up life a little and go down the Slip n Slide too. But we didn’t change into shorts, we just walked up to the top, took off our shoes and went down in our white shirts and ties! It was pretty crazy and fun! I have seriously done some of the craziest things on my mission in this area. I mean a parade, racing a ram, and now a huge Slip n Slide! (Our wild and Crazy Chad boy is still alive and well!) 

You mentioned about Steve Wilstead's brother-in-law and that he picked us up. It is a pretty crazy story to be honest. We got a ride to a little town on the edge of our area, but we didn’t have one back, so we just decided to start walking back, hoping that someone will pick us up. So we walked about 5 miles and then Steve Wilstead's brother-in-law picked us up and gave us a ride back into town. We got to talking and it came out that he knew someone up in the Tri-Cities. So I asked the last name and he said Wilstead. I told him that he was our Home Teacher and all of that. It is just crazy to see how small the gospel makes the world.

Now onto the rewarding part of this week. We had four baptisms this weekend! We were super excited and it had been a lot of planning and following through! We baptized a set of twins named Hayden and Kyle. They are 10 years old and are pretty crazy and into Star Wars and Indiana Jones. So we had some interesting times with them! The next baptism was a 9 year old kid named Kayden. Elder Nathan actually knew this family when he was here last year.  Our last baptism was another 9 year old kid named Dominic. We only taught him for about 3 weeks. We met him and instantly he wanted to get baptized. Both sides of his family are members and he has be attending Church for the last 4 months. He just need to get taught and baptized. It was one of the most crazy and stressful days of my mission. We got everything worked out, and everyone was baptized that day. On Sunday I was even able to confirm Kayden and Dominic.

Now it is time for the big news about transfers. I will be staying here in Price, but Elder Nathan will be not. I am pretty bummed about that because we just worked so well together.  My new companion is going to be Elder McCarty. Oh, I will also be District Leader again. So I am excited about! I will get to visit a lot of different places so I will have a few more experiences.  I am still keeping my Spanish, don’t worry about that. My mind doesn’t work as quickly as it did just a month ago, but I am still keeping it down and I try and talk to anyone that speaks Spanish.

I enjoyed the little package that I did get from you. (Elder Chad is approaching the ONE YEAR mark on his mission, so we sent him a WASHINGTON t-shirt and a McD’s gift card.  I also asked if he was still getting lots of mail from the regulars, or if his mail was not as frequent.)  Well my mail that I get is starting to slow down, but that is just what happens when you get farther into the mission. Well I am grateful for all the support and everything you do! Have a great week!

Live it, Love it, Preach it!

siempre estan en mis oraciones!!     les amo!  ELDER D!