March 21, 2011

Ha, I just rhymed in Spanish. Yes, I am pretty proud of myself. It only took me 8 months in the mission to do it. :) I won`t let it go to my head though.
The seasons are changing. Its pretty awesome, or sawsome, as I like to say.
It has cooled down a little bit, so now its not quite as terrible to walk the miles that we walk everyday. It also actually rained yesterday. It really just sprinkled, but I am so used to the "magical place where it never rains" that it was pretty awesome.

These last couple weeks have been a little bit hard for us. We aren`t having a lot of success getting any of our investigators to progress. They haven`t been coming to church, and they don`t have a whole lot of desire, but we will keep pushing on and trying to find ways to help them keep their commitments. We had a low for people in the church in a long time. The only people who came were Laura, who is still working with the pills so that she can be baptized, and Florencia, which was actually pretty awesome. Florencia is Dora`s mother. Dora is Davìd Robles` wife. Florencia has had all of the lessons from missionaries in the past, she just didn`t want to be baptized, and she had never come to church, but now she came, so hopefully we can get some progression with her.

This week we found a few new investigators, the problem is that none of the people we have been trying to visit have followed through with their appoinments. We have a list of about 20 investigators, but a lot just like listening a little bit. We are trying to find some new people to teach who will progress a lot more. We are working with members and we are contacting more than I have contacted my whole mission, but it seems to be helping us find some other investigators to teach.

We are still working with Jhonathan and his desire to be baptized. We have talked about baptism and he says the only thing he would like is to attend church a few more times. The problem is that he goes to stay with his grandma every weekend. Which means that he is not here to attend church. But he likes being taught and he is getting closer and closer. We just need a little bit more of a push.

Julia and Tracy are progressing little by little as well. Enrique isn`t, but Julia and Tracy have the desire to be better, they just have little things holding them back, and I am not sure what they are. We are hoping to set baptismal dates for them in the next week for the middle of April. Hopefully they will be able to overcome whatever problems they are having right now.

Betty is just waiting for her husbands health to improve. He isn`t allowed to leave his house, and she wants to attend church with him. We are hoping to get a good lesson with them and set baptismal dates in April for them as well. They have both had witnesses of the power of the spirit and Betty, at least, recognized the spirit in her experience almost before I did. She is awesome, and had Joel not had the problem she could have been baptized in March, but now we hope to be able to see them both be baptized in April.

April is actually going to be really weird. We will only have 1 sunday in the chapel the whole month of April, and it will be after transfers, when I am almost certain I will be transfered. Run down:
First week: General Conference
Second week: Elections. Remember in October when by law we couldn`t proselyte or have organized meetings? Well its happening again. So April 9th and 10th, we won`t be having any meetings. Its a Saturday and Sunday of only studying. No baptisms and no church.
Third week: Stake Conference.
Needless to say, baptisms are going to be hard in the first part of the month. We are trying to plan baptisms for the 15th which is a Friday, so that we can actually have baptisms. But if not they will have to be the 23rd.

And, for why I am pretty certain I am leaving. We had interviews this week and President Tyler mentioned to my companion that I would probably be leaving. he also mention in a letter to me 3 days before interviews, that he feels I have the ability and the experience to take on more responsibility, and he has confidence in me. Great feeling, but nervewracking at the same time. I think I will be seeing a few changes in my mission pretty soon.

Well, to finish up, the church is true. I love this gospel, and am learning to love the scriptures more all of the time that I read them. I have been reading in the bible and the book of mormon and have learned tons. My goal is to have read the entire standard works and as I have read the Acts, and Romans lately, I have learned many things about Jesus Christ and His gospel through the words of Peter and Paul. I know that Jesus Christ lives and he loves all of us. As we approach the time of Easter, we should remember his sacrifice and his resurrection that have made it possible for us to be resurrected and live again with God and our Savior. I love you all.

Tyler