Que onda

Familia!


Hey so great week. God is truely blessing us. Found some really great people this week and we are teaching some really great people right now with some very rewarding experiences. I extended my first baptismal commit this week to my first family this week! They said yes! Yet, we still have a lot of work to do with them. They are not thrilled at all about leaving the rest of their extended family in the Catholic church to go to some new church yet they really feel good things when we come and can see it is helping their family overcome challenges that they so desperately want to overcome. Their 10 year old son is just about to take his first communion and he has been spending the last 2 years going to expensive classes to prepare for this moment in his life. Yet he reads the picture book of mormon we give him every single day and he loves the stories. The father Javier is doing a great job reading and he has more curiousity than anything which is agood start to lead his family. Kati is the mother and wants more than anything to be a good mom yet has come from a rough background and has a fiery temper and wants more peace to be in the home. It's been really good and I really hope I'm able to help them in the way that God wants. I think it would be awesome to see them baptized this transfer.

Jonathan is doing good. It's people like him that make the work all worth it. He is such a champ. It is so crazy to me to think that for someone that doesn't believe in a real loving god and then to go to knowing the Book of Mormon is true and that this church is true.... wow. He has a very unique set of circumstances and I know we were put in his life for a very specific set of reasons. He has been in new york for about the same amount of time that I've been in the mission. Just about 6 months. Before that he lived in Ecuador. He lived a life in Ecuador I only hear about in horror stories and you think don't happen in real life. To real people. But they do. He ran away from Ecuador in hopes of getting away foHe never prayed much before he met us yet the day before he met him he told us that he had said a pray something around the lines of "God, if your there please give me the means to change my life." The very next day we found him on the train. He learned perfect English here in the states and by the time I met him I didn't even know he felt more comfortable speaking spanish becuase his english was so good and he spoke without an accent. He was able to have his interview with President, President only speaks English keep in mind. Since that interview, his English has progressively decliined and i have to teach him in Spanish. I find it so interesting and I honestly think the Lord has been preparing Jonathan so that he could have that experience with President. God works in Mysterious ways. Jonathan has some time before he can get baptized and this time is going to be crucial for his eternal progression. Got any ideas on how to create real spiritual experiences for him to increase his faith and help him see how much faith he really has developed since he has started receiving the discussions?

Napoleon and Yolanda are good.... Napoleon is not getting it for the purposes that he needs. Yolanda likes all of it but isn't willing to budge without her husband. Even though we keep telling her salvation is personal. Even though she has a good relationship with God in the end she is going to need a little bit more in order to be exalted... of course everyone can be saved. But that 's not the goal people. It's to be exalted and receive all the blessings that God has in the celestial kingdom and la vida eterna.

Found another really cute catholic familiy this week. The father has a member sister in Utah but they don't associate with her he says. He doesnt' believe in god because of all the bad he has seen in the world but he sees what it does to his kids w/o God and he wants us to teach them so that they can choose for themselves. Really backwards I know. The mom is not cool with us there though because she is hard core catholic. Honestly i think the father is just really mad at God and chooses to not acknowledge him to make his life easier. It's hard though sometimes when you have really bad things in your life. Things that you didn't choose but are consequences of other peoples actions or foreces outside your control. I'm praying the parents hearts will be softened. Their children are beautiful and really smart. They are a peruvian family.

My comp and I were very fortunate to be blessed with many appointments this week and our numbers totaled to almost 30 full out lessons which was awesome and about a 1/3 of those were with member presents which always is so much better! I am so eternally grateful for the members that come out with us and help us teach. They really help clarify things and everything that is a language barrier can be cleared up. I love it.

I know this church is true. I know it blesses our lives. We stopped by a less active this week who talked to us about he started coming to church back in the day. His family noticed the difference it made in their home and so they also became interested in the church. His mom was also baptized as a result of that. AFter that lots of his family got baptized in Mexico. It's a chain. This gospel isn't just important for you. But the influence that yo uhave on other people.

I really love the girls in our pad. I'm learning all sorts of things. This morning sister Jasso and I woke up and made a big breakfast for everyone. The zone leaders and the spanish DLs live next door and then we also made breakfast for the sisters. We made Mexican food and man it was delicious! I learned how to make this really good authentic mexican salsa ( man, its spicy) and then mom I've learned how to make hand made tortilla's. It's quite facil actually. You would love to spend a little bit of time in the kitchen with these two mom. They are pro's. We never really have time to cook, which is unfortunate but at the same time I hope that it all works out in the end. Spanish is coming... mas o menos. I think the mission is one of the steepest learning curves I've ever been on but it is so good for me. I had one of those epiphanies yesterday and I just woke up and smelt the fresh air. Wow, I'm in NY on a mission speaking spanish. Weird....

Okay so mom, I have been meaning to email you about these people you tell me about every now and again. Kelsi is engaged!!!!!?????? WHOOT WHOOT! Congrats Kelsi! ;) Love it! I definitley approve think he is one of the very few people that could pass for marrying one of the best people I know :) I'm so happy for her. Can't wait to hear a little about it from her. I know she is always crazy busy. Hopefully I'll be fortunate enough to see the pics.

Mom, I know this could possibly be annoying for you but could you just order or get me some new boots? I just never have time to go looking and once again I'm not going to have time today. The storms here this winter have been terrible but it feels like it is starting to warm up so I'm looking for some boots I can wear more for rain and slush now more than warmth. Rain boots will cut it I think until next winter. I mean if you do that thing you were telling me online you could just send them to the mission office and it's like the same if I ordered them right? If you can't find any that are good just let me know and I can just make do with what I have until I run into better.:)