68 - My Work is for the Lord

Haha yes mom! She is the smarty, the one we baptized! She's a cutie. 

That's cool about the new Bishopric! And I'm glad you guys are having a good summer! 

But this week was really slow, like really slow! It kinda stunk! But it's just how things go sometimes I guess. Some weeks are better than others. But our investigators are good. We found one that kinda fell off the planet for a while and that was awesome! We gave her a Book of Mormon and she said she would read it. So that was really cool! She works Sundays. so she can't come to church, but we will talk to her about that. But we have found 3 new people to start teaching and it is actually really good. We have 3 people reading the Book of Mormon regularly and they are all enjoying it. But the only problem is getting them to come to church so we will see if that changes! I'm trying my best to be even more obedient. It's hard, but I have noticed some changes so it's good!  

We have changes this week so we will see what happens, but we are expecting to not leave. 

But this week was rough mom. Really rough. It was rough because no one was home. We had problems with our numbers. I work my hardest and I try to do what's best for my area. But the leaders always say it's not enough and our numbers aren't high enough. I kinda got upset and said I'm just going to work my best. My work is for the Lord, not them. It might not have been the right thing to say but it's what I felt! So yeah that's my little rant. 

Today was pretty cool! We went to brisas del golf. I wanted to play soccer or basketball so badly and I took my knee brace. But I decided not to. It would have just made my knee feel worse and that's the last thing I need right now! I had to go to the doctor because I got strep throat. The doctor gave me a shot in the butt!

CH emailed me, and said he goes to church with his girlfriend every week! It's soo cool! I really hope he can change some stuff and figure out what he wants.

 

Things are good. I'm sorry that this week isn't very good on the whole writing thing. Really not much happened this week. it was kind of boring actually. Sorry! Next week will be a lot better. I love you mom. Thank you for everything. I learned a lot from you and from dad. I love you!

66 - Fireworks for the 4th!

Hey mom! Yes we do still have a baptism this weekend.  I'm pretty excited about it. She is really smart! And there are some other people we have been teaching that have changed and showed a lot more interest, so that was really cool! We have 2 more with baptismal dates, and then we have 3 more that we need to put a baptismal date with, so things are good! We are getting a lot more help from the members, more than before! So that's good! Especially R. We are going to see if she can keep progressing. She actually made us food the other day! It was pretty funny actually. We asked her what she was studying in the Bible the other day, and we read a little bit. Then when we shared we were able to also turn it into a lesson about the plan of salvation. It was actually really cool!

But things are good, my knee is doing okay, so I'm not taking Advil now. 

This week we had a big party for 4th of July. We planned it and everything! It was really good! We watched a movie of the church and had some food. It was cool! Yes we did have a fireworks show for the 4th. No it wasn't as good as dad's! But it was pretty awesome! The less active members that we invited all came to church so it was a huge help with that. But we have had some crazy moments. No one has robbed me yet, but I'm waiting! I kinda like my area now, at first it was pretty tough. But now it's good! I like the people, and they like me! They all like talking with me, and they think I'm funny! So that was actually really fun! 

I have learned a lot of things in my time on the mission. One of those is about testimony. A lot of people think that a testimony is to know 100 percent that something is true. And that's wrong. A testimony is a belief of something that we don't know. After years and many experiences it becomes our second nature and we can tell those things without having to think about it. Because the spirit has given us little bits over the course of our lives to help us. I went through that on the mission. Every one says they know the Book of Mormon is true. But I wanted to make sure. Without even thinking about it I know it's true because I did the work. I have studied it almost every single day for the last 15 months. And it was hard. But now it has become something I can rely on. When people come up to us and tell us we are wrong and start yelling and throwing things at us, I know deep down that the things I have been teaching are true things. I know now the reason why I had so many problems growing up was because of my friends. They were a really hard thing to change. But when the Lord tells you something you gotta do it as soon as possible. Like in the mall that one time. me and Brooke were alone and mom was in the other store. We felt like we should leave and go find mom, and we did it right that second. You gotta follow the spirit right when it says something. Just try your best and the Lord will bless you.  

But not much happened this week, just a lot of visits, and a lot of time in service. We actually replaced part of the roof of a school that was built by the US government out here a long time ago. It was pretty fun! It was cool to get my only 4th of July over with in the mission, since I came home last year over the 4th. Not much more time left out here and we will totally party when I get home.

But ya. That's about it! I got a sweat band from a store for 1.25, best buy of the mission! I actually got it more for that box. But then today we had a birthday party for another elder. It was way fun! 
This week was really good. 

I sent some pics to mom, they are pretty good if I do say so myself! But things are good. We will see how things go with the investigators!