Friday, December 25, 2015

Week 48

Hey Mom!
  Yesterday we had the childrens program in our little branch. A stake president councilor, President Salmon came and brought his children so there would be more than 5 kids. And one of our investigators had a kid in it too. But the program was all in English and he only speaks Spanish. His name is Orlando and he is the cutest little 4 year old. Not sure why but whenever we get him to pray he will only whisper it. So he went up first to say his part, "Dios es el Padre de mi Espiritu." God is the father of my spirit. And he whispered it into the mic, we could barely hear it. I laughed super hard. Then during the songs when all the kids were singing he was so lost, my companion and I were dying it was so cute. They did like hand signals and everything and he didn't know what was going on and then they handed out bells, and he was just swinging them around. Then afterwards Pres Salmon asked everyone whose child Orlando was and then Alberto, his dad, raised his hand. And he told him he is doing a good job and we need more children like Orlando, and we all need to be more like him, obedient and humble. 
     Then after church, Orlando's parents, Alberto and Anahi were baptized! Elder Juarez baptized Alberto and I baptized Anahi, it was super great, almost the whole branch stayed after to support them. It was a super great day. Pres. Rhoades is planning on getting Alberto the Aaronic priesthood pretty soon and maybe Anahi will get a calling in the primary to help out our primary president. They should do really well here.
     In the past there has been a huge problem here with all the young women falling in love with the missionaries and lots and lots of gossip and hatred in the branch. And Pres Salmon took us aside and told us that there is a different feeling in the church now, and that we are doing a good job. That was super nice to hear.
     Thanks for the support, I hope all is well in Maine! Welcome home :) I love you, talk to you on Friday!

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Week 47

  Hey mom! 

  You guys are gone! Super weird, I just thought about it and I am going to die! The coldest it has been is like 60's and I've worn a sweater and the biking gloves you got me. I never thought those would come in handy.. a mother always knows :). But yeah and then I'll come home in the middle of the winter to Maine. That'll be interesting. I hope you guys have a good time in Bangor, it seems like a tiny town and it'll be really similar to North Platte. I told the missionaries here and they say that I'm moving from one state with nobody in it to another state with nobody in it. If you're not from California or Utah, people think that there is nothing there.
      Our investigators are doing pretty well. We should have a baptism next week, well two baptisms. A little family will be joining the Rio Branch :). Their names are Alberto y Anahi and they have a little boy named Orlando who is 4. He is super cute, but its hard for me to understand his spanish haha. He still loves me though cause I play with him. They're super great. They quit smoking super easily, we taught them the lesson and they said ok, and then just quit, and they haven't smoked since. We thought that they were maybe lying and so we read a few scriptures and then asked them if they were lying and they said no. And I felt good about their answer so I'm very impressed. Our other investigators are progressing as well, a few speed bumps like always, one has to get married and another feels like he hasn't really received an answer yet, but nothing a good talk with the future spouse and reading the BOM cant fix :).
     I'm super pumped to talk with you guys on Skype too! Maybe this time we'll actually have something to talk about, last time I feel like I had just saw you guys at the airport and nothing was new. I'll keep you guys in my prayers,  I hope the house sells and you guys can find a new nice new house. Thanks for emailing me! I love you!

PS: So I went on an exchange the other day and we decided to go visit the border. So we went on the lookout spot. And we saw some people running across the boarder. Then a boarder patrol car was right around the corner so we told them to leave. I feel like we saved lives. Don't worry I got pictures :)

Week 46

Hey Dad and Mom! 

   Elder Juarez says "Le quiero mucho, espero que todo esta bien con su familia. Y gracias por tenerme en sus oraciones." I don't know what it means either. Haha just kidding. I'll leave you to translate that, you're welcome. 
       This week was pretty good, the branch continues to be small, just to prove it, I received a calling on Sunday. I am now the assistant secretary. Which is kind of weird, I feel like a branch missing so many crucial callings would give me a different calling but it'll be great training !
        The last week was super funny though, well at least for me, not for Elder Juarez. On P-day he twisted his ankle really bad and it swelled up pretty well and then he popped 2 tires and broke both of his pedals in half. So he had to buy a ton of stuff to fix it. Not good.
         I hope to get a haircut today, my hair is getting kind of long, on the top if I pull it down it goes past my eyes, but it doesn't look bad or anything so it's ok. I saw Nathan's mustache and hair, looks super good haha. 
         Lately I have been studying the talk, "The Blueprint" by Tad R Callister. It is really awesome, its about an hour long and 13 pages, but he talks about the primitive church of Jesus Christ and compares it with the church now and how that voids every other church. Which is cool from the view of a missionary in a mostly Catholic environment. But then again I doubt that half of the Catholics here practice their religion. It's more of a hereditary thing down here. Which is how I fear it is in some parts with the LDS church also. Which helps me to realize and plan on teaching my future family so that they can really be converted to the gospel instead of just inheriting it. 
         I'm excited to talk to you guys in a little while, hope everything goes well with the move! Don't throw your back out :P Love you!
       
PS: this is an alligator gar. They are these huge fish that are in the rivers down here. They get like 15ft long and look at the head, super scary. But people aren't afraid of them, I dont know why.. Apparently they taste good.