Received June 22, 2010
Buenos Dias a Todos! Y Feliz Dia de Padre, Yo espero que el dia fue increible para todos!
Good morning everyone! I hope that you are all having a great day so far and I hope that you had an incredible Fathers Day weekend. I also hope that the sun is shining and you are all living it up. This week has been full of rain, which of course I loved. But yeah, I hope the summer is going great for everyone back home. We literally sprinted for 10 seconds from the car to the email place and we got soaked! I'm loving every minute of it! (hahah)
Anywho, I am glad that the family got the package and I am glad that everything got there. I am also glad that you all liked what was inside. Happy Fathers Day once again dad. I love you! It sounds like the weekend was full of fun parties and celebrations too! I hope that you all had a great time and that you were able to share that time together.
I have had some questions about letters. If you want to write me a letter send it to the mission office. I know I gave you another address at the start of this transfer, but that address doesn't exist. So yeah, if you want to write me, the address to use is the same one that you used to write me in the islands.
Tomorrow we have transfers. I am sad to see Elder Moran leaving. I have grown to love this little Guatemalan. But it will be good for him to get out of his "greenie" area. Anyways, tomorrow we have the big transfer meeting with all of the Elders. It is going to be a really special meeting too because it is President Martineau's last meeting with us as mission president. He leaves next week on the first and President Alvarado takes his seat as the new mission president of the Puerto Rico San Juan Mission. We are all really sad to see President Martineau leaving but we are also really excited to have Puerto Rico joined together and unified once again. What we want more than anything is that these awesome saints can have their own temple here on this blessed island. That's the goal that we have been working towards since day one and I know that this change in the mission is pure inspiration and its going to help. But I will forever be grateful for the chance to serve with President Martineau. He is an incredible man and I hope that one day you guys get to meet him.
Anyways, enough business. I just wanted to let you know why I was writing on Tuesday instead of Monday and I ended up blabbing, lo siento. Anyways . . .
The big news from this week is that we set another baptismal date with Angel Pabon. This is the other angel that we were working with, not the one that was supposed to get baptized last week. We found Angel Pabon my first week here and he is absolutely golden. He loves the Book of Mormon as I have probably told you guys. Time and time again the book has answered his prayers or erased his doubts that he has had for his entire life. He loves church and has now come 3 or 4 times. He told us that one of the ways he knows that the church is true is because of the love and warmth that he felt as he went to church for the first time. The first day he came we were in a meeting but the members welcomed him with open arms. He told us this week that he had the feeling that first day that he had finally made it home. He said he knows that this is the place where God wants him to be. We talked this week about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We had invited him to be baptized before but he wanted to pray about it. This time we invited him and he was set. Without a doubt he said "yes" and he said "he knew it was time." We talked about the 10th of July and he said that would be perfect. Our firework show is just going to be a week later than all of yours! :)
His wife was sitting with us during the lesson and she asked why everything was moving so quickly. Our Ward Mission Leader shared Alma 32:21 and she loved the scripture. It was perfect because it was exactly what she needed to hear. She has a lot of medical problems and the last thing she wants is to be pushed, so she is taking her time with us. But she said that she will support her husband with all her heart and its up to him. He told us he knows that now is the time to be baptized and he is really excited to finally take this next step.
Yesterday we taught him la palabra de sabiduria and he sold us that he was really addicted to coffee. But he told us that quitting would not be a problem because he knows that he needs to quit and he knows that God will give him the strength that he needs to do so, so that he can be baptized. The man is golden and I am so thankful that we have been able to get to know him a little better. His faith is an incredible example to me. I know that he is going to get baptized and not only that, he is going to become a strong priesthood holder and someone who is going to help this ward get to full strength, which is exactly what we need.
The other Angel, came to church this week in a shirt and tie. He apologized for not wearing a white shirt. He said that it was dirty (we've never told him anything about dress in church). I laughed and the smile on my face couldn't have been bigger. Its a big trial to have your baptism taken out from under your feet at the last minute, the day of his interview, but the faith that he has shown has been incredible. He told us on Sunday that he is not going to give up until he is a member of the true church of Jesus Christ. He told us this week that he is looking for an apartment so that he can get out of the situation with the lady in his house and so that he can live closer to the church! He is so awesome and also so prepared.
I know for a fact that we don't deserve these two miracles in our lives but how blessed we are to have them!
On Fathers Day we had a really cool experience. We thought that Fathers Day would be a great day to do some finding because everyone would be at home. But I forgot about how the holidays are in Puerto Rico. It's true that families are at home and they are all together, but yeah. We were getting towards the end of the mountain urb where we were toking and we came upon this one house. It was raining of course and the guy told us to get inside. We ran in under his porch and I looked at him and I thought, where in the world have I seen this guy before. We started talking and then he asked if we remembered him. Two weeks ago we had talked to him at a gas station and he told us that he was baptized into our church. He also told us that he had been baptized in every other church, he just wanted to be covered when the end came.
Since that night I wished we could have talked to him more or approached it better and here the Lord had given us the chance. He started saying the same type of stuff and I asked him about the Book of Mormon. He went on about the Bible and how the Bible says you can't have more bible. We explained that and he was a little baffled. Then he asked why there were so many churches. We taught about the apostasy and he loved it. We ended up teaching him on his porch for 45 minutes about the gospel. By the end he had come fully around and his attitude had totally changed.
We had asked if he had read and prayed about the Book of Mormon and he said that he does not pray. We taught about prayer and how he too can receive the answer that he needs because God is his father and He loves him. We started to wind things down and I had this overwhelming feeling that I needed to share 2 Nephi 33:9-11 with him. He read it and he asked if he could have a Book of Mormon so that he could actually read it and pray about it and know for himself this time.
I'm not really sure why we and he were given second chances to talk to one another, but this much I do know, we were not the ones teaching that lesson. Things went too well to be coming out of our brains and our mouths. I knew there was something special about this man, the first time I talked to him. I was so baffled when that experience turned out as it did. And then we got this second chance. And I knew it was because God knows that he needs this message. It was not an accident that we were led to his house once again. His Heavenly Father wanted him to hear this message again and he had the chance.
This Saturday we have another appointment with him and I am pumped to see where this story goes. Time and time again I am amazed at how perfectly our Heavenly Father knows us and loves us perfectly. And how we are constantly blessed by his hand every single day! I am so thankful that I have such a loving Heavenly Father who loves his children so perfectly.
Thank you to all of you for all that you do! I know that the summer is a busy time but thank you for still taking the time to write me and show me your support!
It sounds like Mckay and Trent have world cup fever. To be honest the Puerto Ricans could care less about the world cup. I think its kind of funny, but my companion and I have been talking about it. I got a tournament bracket when I was in Curacao because they are crazy about it there and its in our room here. He was looking at it today and talking about all of the teams! So don't worry, the fever is here a little bit too, as much as it can be at least!
Anywho, that's not why I am here. Thanks for all of you and for your prayers and love and support. You are all constantly in my prayers. Thanks for all of your love! I hope you can feel mine!
Tomorrow I get a new companion! Que Loco
Have a great week!
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