March 21, 2011

Hey family!

We had a pretty good week this week! Up until right now we have had 19

baptizms in the zone! We have 15 more for the 26th we could finish the

month with 34 baptizms! It will be such a huge miracle! Please pray

for the people in the zone, the mission and the world. It's not an easy

thing to be baptized. I have been reflecting a little bit about all of

this. For someone to be baptized they have to usually change many, many

aspects of their lives. It's not an easy thing to do. I'm so proud of

them when they make the choice to leave "babylon" behind and go

forward with faith in Christ, knowing that He will help them with

everything. I find myself awe-inspired at their faith.

This week is the last week that my companion has in the mission. We

are working really hard right now. We have had kinda a rough time

because lots of our investigators have kinda fallen off the edge. Some

have lost their interest or just aren't willing to do what they need

to. BUT! We have found some awesome families! Yesterday I had a

powerful experience. We walked passed a house after our dinner

appointment and through the window I saw a family sitting and talking

together. I'm not sure what it was that I felt, but I needed to talk to

them. I'm sorry to say that I was slow in my response to the prompting. We

walked by the house and got to the corner. We waited for about thirty

seconds for a moto to pick us up. Standing there I felt like someone

had punched me in the gut. I told Elder Campos "tenemos que ir por

allí" "we have to go over there". He followed me back to the house. I

knocked on the door and a woman that to me didn't look super happy came

to the window. We said that we were missionaries and we had a pleasant

conversation with her for a minute or two, then her brother came to

the door as well. We talked to them and her brother shared a lot of

problems that he is going through. He is separated from his wife and

now his son lives with her really far away. He only gets to see him on

Sundays when he takes him to an evangelical church. They were really

nice to us and eager to hear what we have to say. I'm glad that I

listened to the spirit and knocked on that door.

Thanks everyone for your B-day emails! Thanks to Hermano Pollary for

the letters from the youth. The one that told me Zach spilled my

hospital story was pretty funny. I was laughing pretty good. Thanks

for all your support and prayers! I hope that you are all doing

excellent.

Love elder B

Mom,

Still didn't get my package but it should be coming soon. I did get

some jerky from grandma dot though. The best! Tell B happy Bday from
me! Love you tons mom!

March 14, 2011

¡Familia!

I had such a wonderful week! Here in Villa el Salvador we had 9

baptizms in the whole zone! It was a really good week! My companion

and I had two. Claudia and Jose Maria. It was such a great baptizmal

service! Probably one of the best that I have ever had. It was so

reverent and peaceful and it went off without a hitch. Jose Maria is

an awesome kid. He's going to early morning seminary and is actually

the class president haha. Pretty awesome. Claudia is doing really

well. Her mom is getting active in the church again.

About Mala! Awesome! My best friend in the mission is in Mala right

now, Elder Brinton. He told me that Arevalo's daughter and husband were

going to get married and baptized but he didn't tell me when! That's so

cool! I'm so happy for them! I actually taught that couple a couple of

times when I was there. I think that it was Elder Ponciano and I.

Arevalo is so strong and he is sharing the gospel with his whole

family. The only bummer is that I'm not going to be able to make it for

their sealing. They are going to get sealed after I come home...

bummer. But they are going to do it and I'm thrilled for them!

We found a family named the Castros (sorry I can't think how to say

that correctly) They are awesome! We contacted a guy that was sitting

under a tree one day and we went to his house to teach them. They are

awesome. We had a second lesson planned but because of a zone

conference that they made go later than expected we had to cancel. But

after our lesson he went and talked to his neighbor who's a member and told

her he wanted an appointment with us. It's awesome when an investigator

comes to look for you instead of us having to look for him. It shows

their desire. His family is the best, AND THEY´RE MARRIED!! whooo!

everytime that we go he brings his wife and 9 year old son down to

listen to us. They have tons of desires.

I have a stronger testimony of the restoration. Every time that we

teach it something interrupts us. Literally it's almost 100% sure that

something is going to interrupt the first vision. Even in our zone

conference while we were practicing, some guy passed by with a mega

phone buying scrap metal. Something like that always happens. I know

its true because satan doesn't want anyone to hear it.

Well family I love you all! Thanks for your prayers. I'm trying my best!
Love Elder B