Happy Easter!!!!!

Received April 20, 2011

Good afternoon everybody!

And Happy Easter to all of you! What a great and beautiful time of year that it is. What a great blessing it is to be able to look back and think upon the most important day and week that has ever passed in history. I love this time of year so much and there is always such a sweet spirit on Easter morning. I hope that you all have a very Happy Easter and that you know how much I love you all! Thank you once again for all of your letters and your packages, you all sound like you are doing great!

Because it is Easter this weekend, our mission is going to be having an Easter conference. We are all going to be together on Friday and Saturday, which is good because that is the day that all of Puerto Rico will be shut inside of their house praying, or out on the beach. So we are going to be taking time together as a mission to remember this special day, but because of that, our Pday ends in about 10 minutes, so I have to be brief. Sorry - but know that I love you!

The Sons of Mosiah project is going fantastic! It has been such a sweet blessing and special privilege to be able to come together with every one of the elders with whom we started the mission. It has been an exciting week. All of us are brand new to the areas where we are assigned and we are all doing a lot of finding and contacting. And although we aren't like the original sons of Mosiah, we are doing what they did and going to the scriptures and putting ourselves to a lot of fasting and prayer.

The area where I am working in is called Rio Piedras. Its the name of the section of the city of San Juan we are in. Its very humble and it has a ton of Dominicans. It feels like I am right smack dab back in the Dominican Republic and I am loving every single minute of it! We take the train every day and its incredible to see all of the prepared people that the Lord is putting in our path. This is truly something that has been being set up for years and we are already seeing so many miracles.

Elder Zenger and I were working in our area on Saturday afternoon and we had been praying for days that we could find some prepared families so that we could try and reach the goal that we have set as a group. That day we found one! Their names are la familia Clase. We found them sitting outside of their house on Saturday. We asked if we could come in and they let us right inside. They gave up their chairs and they all sat scrunched together on the stairs while we sat there teaching them about the family and about the doctrine of Christ. The parents told us that they had been praying and thinking recently about how they could help their children learn more about God and there we were. They admitted that they themselves could be better examples and were looking for how they were going to do that, then we showed up. Well, we didn't just show up. The Lord led us to them. And it is such a blessing. We invited them to be baptized and they said yes but that they wanted to wait to set a date until they learn a little bit more. We left them with a Book of Mormon and both mom and dad were very excited to read it! What a miracle and what a special blessing we received that day. I know that the Lord is watching over us and protecting us and that He is going to help us achieve those miracles that this area of the vineyard needs.

Yesterday i was on a trade-off in Caguas with 2 Hawaiian missionaries. It was great! Both of them are very young in the mission and they are so dedicated to the work that they were doing. Even though they have no investigators they are pushing as hard as they can to find those that the Lord has put in their path. It was really neat to see that fire as I worked alongside them. We had one appointment yesterday and it was with a member and her husband. They told me that the husband was less active. As we began talking about the doctrine of Christ it came out that he was never baptized. After speaking about this for a few minutes we discovered why he had not been baptized and determined that it was something that we would not be able to resolve that night. He talked about how for years his son, who is now on a mission, had always tried to talk to him about the gospel and get him to get baptized. My heart went out to his as I thought about all that he had gone through and the probable heartache that he had felt for his dad. Then it hit me! I told him to write to his son and ask why he was on a mission. He said that he would and then the mom did something unexpected. She asked us why we were on a mission. I want to share with you what I said.

On March 25, 1983 my family became an eternal family in Provo, Utah. My parents were sealed for time and for all eternity. Because of this I know that we are going to be together forever and I want that blessing for all. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that He suffered and died for each and every one of us. I know that during this week we are commemorating and celebrating that He did atone for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane and then He died on the cross on Calvary. I also know that he was resurrected on that Sunday. He lives! I know He lives and I know that He invited each and every one of us, with loving hands to "come unto me, repent and be converted, so that I may heal you."

I love Him! I want that all of His children in this world to receive exactly what He intended for us to receive when He suffered and gave all that He had for us.

Eternal life with my family and my wife and my children.

I love you all and I hope that you have a fantastic Easter weekend!

How great it is to be a part of this great work! How true it is and how true it is that He lives!

The Sons of Mosiah

Received April 13, 2011

Dear family and Friends!

Thank you so much for all of the wonderful emails and letters and packages that you sent for my birthday. I was able to receive all of them today. We had a great Zone Council on Monday getting ready for transfers and everything. It was really sweet because all of the zone leaders and the president's family were there and they sang to me! It was also great because it meant that I got to get all of your letters and packages as well, so thank you so much! I love you!

This past weekend we had a baptism! Brenda Garcia, the miracle that found us three weeks ago entered into the waters of baptism and it was such a great service. The spirit was so strong and she looked so content. The meeting that we had on Sunday was one of the most powerful testimony meetings that I have ever attended in my life. It was strong! We had several events combine to soften the hearts of the members here and lead to a powerful testimony meeting. A dear sister who everyone loved pass away this week. Some of the missionaries were leaving the area. And Brenda told her conversion story to everyone. It was just so special and neat.

Brenda talked about meeting us that day she was ready for everything to be done. She told how she had decided that she needed to end it. That was the only way that she would be happy and that she would be happy with her kids. She told how she didn't know where to turn, but then the Lord led us to her. She said that she put off her planned suicide for a day and when she read in the Book of Mormon the next day she found the answers that she was looking for. It was a bitter-sweet goodbye last night. Reflecting on the story has made me think so much about the talk "Teaching helps Save Lives." She said that the only reason that her kids were still there was because God had led us to her. And it was all Him. God is our Heavenly Father and He lives! And He knows each and every one of us. It was a blessing for me to be able to see that love shown in the life of Brenda, I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to see how the gospel literally saved her life and to see the change that the Savior's love has brought to both her and her family. It truly is the work of angels.

As I mentioned, yesterday was my last day in Ponce . . . THE SPECIAL PROJECT HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN!

On Monday, while the rest of the zone leaders were discussing transfers, President invited the five of us that were there from my group to meet and discuss the big plans. He said. "take off your glasses Elders, and put these ones on." He said a miracle needs to happen. Something that has never happened before. He told us that all 14 of us, every missionary that came with me, will be living in the same apartment. We will be working in the ward of Hato Rey. He said there are 150 people attending Sacrament Meeting right now and we need 100 more, with 46 new priesthood holders. The goal is that by the end of the project the ward will be qualified to have another unit added in the area.

We are also assigned to travel to all of the zones as well. We will be going and ministering to all of the young missionaries. We will also be taking two visits to the islands to the east of the main island to explode them so that the couple missionaries serving on those islands will have people to teach out there as well.

As far as my companion . . . you may have heard of him. His name is Elder Zenger! Yup, the same Elder Zenger that we all love and who was my CCM companion in the Dominican. I don't think there has ever been two more excited missionaries in all of the world. We can't wait to get out and get to work! And our area? We are serving in the biggest University in Puerto Rico. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

God has prepared us for something great! And I know that if we do all that He asks, we are going to see those planned miracles. As we were in the President's office talking about what we were going to call our group, we opened up to Alma 17, and it was there. The Sons of Mosiah! Not to be boastful, but its such a miracle that we are all still her. And after having gone our separate ways, the Lord has prepared each and every one of us so that we could be right here, right now, for this great project.

I love you all so much! I won't be able to write much more because we have a ton to do.

BUT know that I love you and that I know that God Lives! That Jesus is our Savior! And that the families can be together forever!

I hope that you all have a fantastic week and know that you will always be in my prayers!

Families are the Best

Received April 6, 2011

Good Morning Everybody!

Wasn't Conference just amazing? I wish you could've seen all of the missionaries reaction on Sunday morning when all of us realized that the white stuff on the trees were not blossoms, but that, in fact, it was snow. I think my favorite view of the entire conference was when they scanned the huge pine tree, lightly painted with snow, standing next to the beautiful temple towering in the background. What a beautiful conference it was. The spirit was so strong in each and every single talk. How truly inspired it was. I couldn't get enough of it. It flew by! We had been invited to leave church building as quickly as we could between sessions so that we could get on the streets and invite those around the church to come and hear the Prophet of the Lord. With that excitement going on, I'm not sure that I've ever had a more thrilling weekend in my life. We got spiritually stuffed at the rich buffet offered in conference and then we would get out filled with fire as we talked to every single person that we saw. I loved conference! I loved all of the talks. Each and every single one was sent from God to me and I loved all that I felt there. From your emails it sounded you felt the same. So I am thrilled that you enjoyed it and I hope that it continues to bless your lives as it continues to bless mine.

Brenda was able to come to the afternoon sessions on both days. On Saturday afternoon she came with a friend. On Sunday she came with her family. It was interesting. On Saturday afternoon people are always a little confused when we start the sustaining of the officers. But luckily, at that point, we were in the process of changing from the Spanish to English room because her little baby wouldn't hold still. There was such a special feeling during the Saturday afternoon session. Brenda was loving every single minute of it and was eating up every single word. At the close of Elder Nelson's talk, she turned to me and said, "I'm convinced! This is it! This is the truth! This is what I have been looking for." I knew it would happen. There is no way that somebody can attend a conference session and not have the spirit witness to them that what they are seeing is truth sent from heaven for the blessing of His children. She told us a story of her first experience with us after one of the sessions.

She said that the day that we had found her she had decided that she was going to end her life. She said that she was ready to throw her car in front of a semi because she just couldn't take it anymore. She had gone as far as to tell her son that she would be doing that. She said she felt so lost. She said she couldn't feel God in her life anymore. She couldn't see Him. She didn't know what to believe or what to do. She said that as we were talking to the man who was next to her that she felt it. "Something told me that you were talking about, what you were saying, was exactly what I had been looking for." She said that the words that I had said to her when she approached us was exactly what she needed to hear. The spirit had spoken to her since that first day. And as she has exercised her faith, and taken those small steps, as President Uchtdorf talked about, she has come to know that these things are true.

Last night we taught her entire family about the gospel of Jesus Christ. She won't stop about her baptism this Saturday. She is so excited and already has it all planned out. But we wanted to help the rest of the family see why she was going to be baptized. As we talked about the example of Jesus Christ and the things that he invites each and every one of us to do, and as we discussed the baptism of fire and by the Holy Ghost, the spirit was there and it was so strong. Everyone in the room testified that what we had taught was true, including her father and her son. We found out yesterday that her son, Manuel, has decided to move down to Ponce to be with his mom so that he can come to church with her and find the path that God wants for him.

It has been such a miracle to be able to witness how finding the truth about her Heavenly Father has changed Brenda's life. She went some through really hard things on Monday, but I saw a completely different person this time. She went through it with her head held high. She knew that whatever was going to happen would be for her good and that God's hand was in it to lead her and to guide her. The spirit has done that to her. And it has come as Elder Bednar talked about, like a sunrise. It has come little by little. And as she has decided to act upon that it, the knowledge of the truth continues to grow. Now she is so convinced that this is the truth. I am so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who reveals the truth to each and every one of His children. I am so thankful for that love that He has given me. I am also thankful that I have been able to feel it every single day for the past year and half. I know that He lives and I know that He sent His Son to die for us. Every mission requires you to leave something behind, to sacrifice something major in your life. Just as Elder Andersen talked about. Jesus Christ gave that ultimate sacrifice for us. His mission required the ultimate sacrifice. Sometimes I feel pitiful for whining about the kinds of sacrifices that I have gone through. But the miracles that I have seen and the spirit that I have been able to feel has been worth it all. My mission means the world to me and I wouldn't change it for all the treasures of the world. If any of you are doubting about going on a mission, please, kneel and ask your Heavenly Father to guide you and then go to work. You will be amazed at what He will bless you with.

The Galarza family had some real car difficulties this past weekend and they weren't able to make it. I am a little worried about them. Nelly is so sold on going to the temple. Its the only thing that she wants for her family. Last night we passed by and told her to watch the talk given by President Monson about temples and about sacrifice. We are hoping that will help them wake up a little more and that they will start pushing a little harder to that baptism on the 16th. Please keep them in your prayers! We are going to need that help every single step of the way.

We had a really neat experience with the Rivera family. For the past week I have been having the scripture in 3 Nephi 9:13 run through my head over and over. I was searching for when I could use it. For whom were these promptings intended? We went over on Monday night for their Family Home Evening and we sang "Families Can Be Together Forever." We talked about the temple and we talked about how in Spanish the song says that we need to prepare ourselves "desde hoy" to be able to be ready to enter into the temple. We talked about how they had made that goal since the very start. Alexia said that she felt terrible because she had slipped up a bit, then it hit me, that scripture was for her. We read it, and it seemed to turn on a light. She saw how, even though when we mess up, the invitation is the same. Repent and come unto me so that I can heal you. We talked about the conversion process and we invited them to apply the principles that we had learned in the conference to their family so that they would still be able to go to the temple. I had been pleading for weeks to know what was up with the Rivera family. They just felt like they were in a funk. But Alexia understood exactly what she needed to. The spirit taught her. The Savior doesn't require us to never screw up. He requires us to do our best. But when we do screw up, He is there. It was so special to be able to learn that principle along with her and to have the spirit confirm that to me as well.

He lives. I know He lives. I feel His love every single day. I hope that you all have a great week and that you know how much I love you and care for you all.

Thank you so much for all of the birthday wishes. You have no idea how much it means to me to know that, after all of this time, you are still there. That you are still thinking of me. And that you still love me. I love you guys so much!

How much I do I love you too. I just wish I could help you to feel it more than an email. But I know you know that. I love you!

Its beginning to look a lot like conference!

Received March 30, 2011

Buenas Tardes a Todos!

Espero que se encuentran Bien, Todo esta bien aqui!

I hope things are going well with all of you back home. Grandma and Grandpa, thank you so much for the email and the story about President Albrecht. That was a really touching story about them having to feed all of the missionaries and having more than enough food! Wow! I am sure all sorts of miracles are happening over there. I am glad to hear that everyone back home is safe and sound.

This has been a crazy week for Elder Putnam and I. We have a lot on our plate. But God is guiding us through it all and everything is going to turn out just fine. This week we moved apartments. So if you are going to write me for now just send it to the mission office. Anyways, so things are a little crazy right now and because we had to clean out the apartment today and close it things are a little tight, so I apologize if this letter isn't the best. But I hope you know how much I love you and how thankful I am for your love and support.

We are having conference fever right now on the island. I have never seen so many people so excited about conference before. We have been listening to conference for weeks and, we too, are also really excited for whats going to come this weekend. Some of the most excited people would probably be the Garcia family. Brenda and her kids. The first time that we taught Manuel last week we told him about conference and invited him to start on planning to come. It turns out that he has spring break this weekend so he is going to be down here all week with us. On Monday Brenda called us and she told us that she wanted to have a family home evening with her and her parents. When we were there she excitedly told us that Manuel would be here with her the entire week this week and that she wanted us to come by and teach him all of the lessons. I thought "how in the world are we going to keep coming up with creative ideas to be able to teach him and his brothers and sisters?" But we have felt the spirit guiding us as we have been pondering and we have received some great ideas from heaven. We are really excited to get teach all of the lessons to them.

Her father is doing great. He is still reading in the Book of Mormon daily and is really excited for conference. When we taught him the first lesson he told us how he had kind of lost confidence in God and in churches 30 years ago when he saw something awful in his own church. He said that he thought that the truth wasn't on the earth. But when we told him that the prophets and apostles would be speaking to the world he was so excited. Brenda keeps asking about her baptism on the 9th. She is ready to start moving onto the temple. We are hoping to get Manuel on board as well. And soon . . . grandma and Grandpa will be following. The most incredible part about this whole process has been the change that we have seen in this family. When we first found Brenda she just looked lost. She looked like she didn't know what more she could do. She looked like she didn't know where to go. She didn't know what God wanted for her and she was just lost. But as we have been passing by, and as she has been studying the Book of Mormon and praying, I have seen the influence of the spirit in her life. I have seen her situation start to transform right in front of our eyes. She knows who she is. She knows what God wants for her and her family. And she knows what she can become. The restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is on the earth today. And it is true! It changes our lives and I know because it has changed my life. I feel it every single day - changing me as it is changing those around me. I couldn't be more thankful to be a missionary right now and to be able to feel that changes that have happened in my life.

This past week we had a really neat conference with President Alvarado. It was a training meeting for all of the leaders in the southern part of the island. It had a lot to do with the fundamentals of Preach My Gospel. We are really pushing on getting these fundamentals to be a fluid part of our teaching because all of the new missionaries that will be arriving soon in the mission are learning them right now in the MTC. Anyways, we talked a lot about the basic lessons and the doctrine behind the basic lessons. It was an incredible meeting! An incredible opportunity to see just how simple the restored gospel is. But at the same time, how perfect it is. It is so obvious that it has come directly from our Heavenly Father. There could be no other way. The next day we had the opportunity to go out with the district leaders and try it out. I was with one of the companionships and we went to see one of the families that they were teaching. We talked about what we could share with them and the overwhelming feeling came that we needed to teach the plan of salvation and that we needed to have them pray about it at the end. We had one of the most incredible lessons of my entire mission.

The mother on the family was asking questions left and right, citing references to the Bible that I had to write down. But every time we taught another principle, she asked a perfect question, and through the spirit her doubt was resolved. At the end of the lesson we could all feel it in our hearts that what he had just talked about was true. We invited the father to kneel down and pray and he gave a beautiful and humble prayer. The spirit was so strong! We didn't want to leave. But we got out of there quick and left them to feel the warmth of the spirit in their home. My feeble description may not male it sound like that big of a deal, but for this companionship i was really hoping to apply all of the things that we had learned the day before. We learned that we would have faith-building experiences together and that we would be able to become even more converted to the gospel together. I had been praying all day and I was starting to get a little discouraged because nothing was going on. But, at the end, the answer came. God answers the prayers of His children, I have no doubt about that in my mind whatsoever.

On Sunday we were out searching for families and we talked to a young grandmother who said that she had some youth in her home and she thought that they would love to hear what we were sharing. We told her that we would stop by on Tuesday and that was that. We went on Tuesday and I was a little surprised to find that she wasn't home yet. It seemed like such a solid contact. As we started to leave she pulled up with her youngest granddaughter and said, "wait! Don't Go!" We sat down with the family of seven and had such an incredible first lesson. The spirit was there and it was guiding us. We were so focused on the teenagers that there was no way for them to get distracted. It was perfect. At the end of the lesson the grandma commented that she could feel God there with them. She knew that what we had told her about the restoration was true. At the end, when we gave them their copies of the Book of Mormon and we invited them to read, the grandma said that she knew already it was true. "I am going to read it, but I know already that its true. I am so glad that you came over." The youth are all great and they are exactly what we need right now. Hopefully, soon we can get them coming to seminary with us and we can start to get a solid future built up here in the ward.

I love you all. I am sorry that I have to go. But I want you to know that I know that this is the work of our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that He lives and I know that it is only through Him that we will ever have the chance to be truly happy in this life. How blessed we are to be a part of His church today and what strength it will be to hear His words this weekend spoken through His apostles and prophets. I hope that you all have a great conference weekend and that together we can have our faith built even stronger!

I love you all with all my heart. I hope that you have a great day and week . . . and an incredible conference weekend

Pushups

Received March 23, 2011

Family and Friends!

I never thought that I would live to see the day that I could ask any youth on the street in Puerto Rico about a guy named Jimmer Fredette and they would all get a huge smile on their face and say man, that guy is goooooooood! It sounds like things are going well back home. You should just know that the madness has reached all the way down to the Caribbean. Its funny. You can ask them who BYU is and they have no idea but if you ask them about Jimmer, they know everything about them.

Anyways, we aren't here for that. I just thought that I would give you a little update of what is happening here at my home country!

But I hope that everything is going well back at home for you guys. It sounds like things are starting to warm up and that the winter is starting to move out. I hope that Aunt Audrey is doing ok! I wasn't aware that she was going in for surgery so I hope that all went well and that she is well on her way to recovery!

Things here are going great. We are now into the full swing of things with this transfer. We have 3 training sessions scheduled this week with the zone and I am really excited to see how things will go. It has been hard to look back and think of all of the things that weren't done right in the zone on our part but it is more amazing to look back and to see that even though we didn't do everything to 100% perfection, we had done our best. And because of the effort trying our best the Lord made up the difference. I know that this principle is true! All we can do is the best that we can and every time he will make up the difference.

Things are going well with the people that we are teaching. We taught the Galarza family the word of wisdom once again this week. It was rough. It took two nights to commit them to live it. The first night we thought things had gone well but we went back the next night and Nelly was really mad about having to stop drinking coffee. It was an adventure for us. And of course me being from Utah and "never having to deal with that kind of stuff," anything I said just kind of got thrown out the window. But thank goodness we had Elder Putnam there with us. What a blessing that was! Elder Putnam was able to tell his story and about all the things that he went through in order to get ready for his own baptism. He shared how much his life has changed and even though it was hard to give up stuff like coffee, the blessings that he has received in return have been so much greater. I was shocked at the difference that occurred in Nelly. She sat back in the chair and it was like a light bulb had gone off. The spirit touched her and all that we were teaching just made more sense.

She is a little worried about her kids she said that they have agreed to baptism but she just wants them to be a little more excited about it. We were a little stumped on what we could do and so we prayed about it. On Sunday night we got our answer. We were at our Mission President's parent''s house. We asked his mom if there was anything that we could do for her. It turns out that she is the seminary teacher and she said that she would like us to start coming to her seminary class in the morning. She said that when the missionaries are there things just start to go better and she said that it was a great tool in getting youth ready for baptism. She talked about when she had taught the seminary class of our mission president and how that year three or four youth had been baptized just because their friends had invited them to seminary! So there it was! We told her that we would start to attend seminary. So this past Monday we started to attend early morning seminary and its going great! We are so excited about the changes that we are going to see in the youth in our ward. But even better this is the answer to our prayers for the Galarza children that we were looking for!

Brenda Garcia is doing fantastic. We were really nervous this week as she explained to us the situation with her son. She said that she was really worried about her 17 year-old son. She is sad because he is starting to go down a path that she doesn't want him to go down. She asked if we would prepare a really special lesson so that we could capture his attention and get him interested in our message. I was scared. The youth here are so hard to reach with our message. They have everything and just aren't really concerned about what we have to tell them. I knew that this was the chance that we had with Brenda. This was either going to make it or it was going to break it. We began praying really hard so that we would know what to teach the young man. As we thought about what we could teach, the same topic kept coming up in all of our studies and conversations that week. It was to teach about the atonement. And as we thought about the atonement we thought about the push-up lesson.

So on Saturday we set off to Brenda's house to meet Manuel for the first time with 18 doughnuts in hand. We got there and we met him and he seemed like a great kid. We sat down and we told them that we had a really special treat for them that night. We said that we had brought more than enough doughnuts. By this time the visitors who were at the house began to enter the room. Brenda's sister and her mom both kind of turned us off us before . . . they took a seat and we explained what was going on. They handed out the doughnuts and for every doughnut I got to do 10 push-ups. We got to the point were nobody wanted doughnuts anymore because they realized what was going on, but we kept going. It was an incredible experience for me. I know that the Savior did so much more for us than just a few push-ups. As I was struggling to get the push-ups done so that they could have an excess of doughnuts, I thought about all that He had gone through just so that I could have the chance to even be in that room. Just so that I could have the chance to even be alive! He gave everything for me. In that moment I think the mind of every single one of us was opened to just what exactly the Savior did for us. I know that He lives! I know that He suffered for each and every one of the errors that we will ever commit in this life. And not just the errors . . . every thing! Everything we ever felt, feel, or will feel. He knows these feelings and to know that He did this just because He loves me makes me want to follow Him. And that is why I am here. And that is why God has revealed the truth. Because the only way back home is to follow the Savior.

It was a really neat lesson after that. We had a returned missionary with us who gave such a powerful testimony about how the gospel had changed his life and the life of his family. It was one of the sweetest, strongest assistance of the spirit that I have felt in my entire life. And every single one of us could just feel the love of the Savior.

The next day we went back before Manuel left for San Juan again. He was so happy to see us. It felt like seeing an old friend. Brenda talked about how they had talked about what we had taught them and Manuel also wants to get baptized. She said that there are some things that still need to be worked out with his living arrangements but he said that he wanted to come down every weekend to be with his mom so that he could meet with us and talk about the Book of Mormon and about the Savior and so that he could come to church with his mom. We talked about the restoration of the gospel on Sunday and her dad was there. Her dad was absolutely thrilled about what we were telling him. When we told him about the Book of Mormon he said that it was exactly what he had been looking for. He told us "I haven't been to church for 30 years because they all come from man." He said that he thought that God's church wasn't on the earth today and that he would most definitely read the Book of Mormon to know if what we were telling him was true. He agreed to finish our lesson with the prayer and he gave such a humble sincere prayer. He asked to know the truth and for confirmation that this is what he has been looking for for the past 30 years.

On Monday we passed by and he had read 30 pages in the Book of Mormon. He said he will be in church on Sunday and Brenda could not have been any happier.

Out of all the emotions that I feel right now probably the greatest feeling that I feel is complete gratitude for all that our Father has given to us. Brenda is the answer to nights and days worth of prayers. And it is not just her. Her entire family, each and every one of them, are the people that we spend all day looking for. And the thing about them is they found us. God led them to us because He loves us all. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior! I know that He loves me and I love Him with all of my heart. I know that the invitation that He makes to each one of us a simple one. Responding to that invitation will change our lives. He invites each and every one of us to come unto him and follow him. I know that if we do as he asks, our lives will be changed.

I love each and every one of you so much

Trent? A new driver? They are expensive! March 16, 2011

Received March 16, 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

Trent! I hope you had a happy birthday yesterday buddy! I can't believe that you are 16 already. That is so crazy! I hope that things went well and that you were able to have a great birthday!

I hope that you are all doing well and that this week was a great week for you guys! It was really sad to hear about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Everyone here is really worried about it so I hope that everything over there is going OK and that you are all safe and sound! Thanks for all you do for me. I love you all so much!

This past week has been way busy for us. We are doing so many things in the zone right now that I haven't had time to even think about myself! I am loving it so much because that is exactly what I need right now. We are in our area for three days out of each week and the other days of the week we are out working with the other missionaries in the zone. We are seeing so many miracles and I am learning more at this point in my mission than I ever have before. So things are going good and if you are expecting a letter from me and you haven't received it yet, this is the reason and I apologize. I'm not sure if things will calm down before the transfer ends. I hope not because I am loving every single minute of it.

This past week was just incredible. We have been so blessed to have been able to find Brenda Garcia. We passed by on Saturday night to remind her about church on Sunday and we were teaching the plan of salvation. That was one of the doubts that she had. She was worried about her and her childrens beliefs in God. I don't know if I told you this last week but she has been going through some really hard things in her life and she said that lately she has been doubting if God even exists. She said that the day that we were led to her she was ready to just throw herself in front of a bus and call it good. But she said that through the Book of Mormon she has come to receive answers to her prayers and she is coming to know a lot better that, yes, God does exist, and that He loves her.

We were talking about the plan of salvation and there was such a neat spirit. The pre-earth life made so much sense to her and it seemed to build her faith even more. When we started talking about the fall, the reasons we are here, and the purpose and importance of the atonement, it seemed like a light bulb just turned on in her head. After we talked about the atonement we reviewed again the lesson about the gospel that we had taught last Saturday. She said that it was just so clear to her. She said "Wow! So I really do need to get baptized. When will I be ready?" We weren't really expecting that but we hurriedly said the 9th of April would be a good date for her baptismal service. We also told her that we knew that she would be ready by that day. She said yes without even thinking about it. It was so neat to see how simple it was. All she needed to know and feel was that it wasn't the missionaries alone who were inviting her to be baptized. It was the Savior. When she connected the dots and realized that we repent and are baptized because it is what the Savior asks of us, she had all the desire in the world to do it. The spirit touched her heart and it touched our hearts as well.

The next day she was at church and she was a little timid. It was her first time but she liked what was spoken and she seemed to enjoy it. The teacher talked about the word of wisdom in relief society and there were some comments that made her really confused. We were both really worried that somebody had said something and that she was going to be really scared about everything now. But I need to repent because that is the opposite of what happened. We passed by that afternoon to go see what was up and she said that she was a little confused. But her real concern was that she just wanted to know all of the commandments that she needed to live in order to be baptized. We went through every single commandment and it was incredible how strong the spirit was. I have never felt the spirit testifying to all of us so strongly that what we were talking about were in fact commandments from God. We went through them with ease and after every single commandment, including the word of wisdom, she said "Yeah, that's what I already do. That's what I already believe. Of course I will live it." It is an absolute miracle to have this family right now. We have been going through a dry stretch trying to find the people the Lord has prepared for us. And he answered our prayers and hers by leading her to us. She is so chosen and is so ready to go. We still haven't been able to visit with her son because he is living in San Juan studying at school. This week we are going to send the missionaries over and I am sure that he is going to be touched by the spirit as well. God answers the prayers of His children. Brenda and her family are an answer to our prayers and we are so blessed to have them in our lives! We are so excited for the 9th of April because its going to be an incredible day.

We were over visiting the Galarza family on Sunday night as well. Raul was the only one who showed up at church on Sunday and we were a little concerned. It turned out that Nelly had a huge tooth infection in her mouth and she was at home recovering from the pain that she had. Anyways, we sat down and talked a little bit more about their baptism. We talked a little bit about the things that are required from us as members if we are baptized and asked if they felt that they knew that God would help them meet those requirements. Nelly responded with an answer that I wasn't expecting at all. She started talking about the temple. She said the night that we had invited her to be baptized all she could think about was the temple. She talked about how that was the reason why she said yes. She said that "yes, I know that we will be ready to go on the 16th, and you know why? Because I want to be in Salt Lake City at the temple on April 16th of 2012 so that I can be sealed to my family for time and for all eternity." I was really surprised by her answer but it touched me. Her goal isn't just baptism. Her goal is exactly where it needs to be. Her focus is on the temple! That's what we are constantly trying to do with all of our members and investigators. Get them focused and get them to have that goal of the temple. And here is this lady who for months we have been trying to get to feel in her heart that this is what she needs to do. And the thing that got her there is the testimony and the witness that she has received that families can be together forever, That the priesthood has been restored to the earth and that each and every one of us can be together with the ones that we love forever. It has been a crazy road to get to this point but I am absolutely amazed at the effect that the spirit has had on the heart of our dear sister. Her husband has been ready to go for a while but now that she is on board, we are going to see miracles continue to happen for them!

Yesterday I was working with a missionary who is going through some struggles right now. My work with him is part of the "centers of strength" program that we are doing every week. This is when all of the missionaries come to Ponce and we just go nuts in the work. We were working really hard yesterday talking to family after family and nobody would listen to us. We were both getting a little frustrated. We both felt bad because it just seemed like nobody would listen to us. We have been working a lot lately to try and get this missionary's faith built up and all day I had been praying, pleading that we would be able to have a faith building experience and that we would be able to have a testimony building experience together. It was a little frustrating to me that the answer had not come. It was getting late and we saw a family down the road. Neither of felt like we were ready to go and talk to them. I stopped him for a moment and we talked about the day that we had. We talked about faith and we talked about if we were ready to go and talk to that family. We talked about believing that God would bless us and that we would be able to teach the family. He said that he had never been able to teach that family and that they had passed by a few times already and the family had already said they did not want a lesson. I promised him that if we had faith a miracle would happen. We prayed and went for it. And what a miracle happened. They let us teach them about eternal families. I know that God lives and that He answers the prayers of His children. Maybe the lesson didn't have the greatest impact on this family and maybe they aren't a family that is going to get baptized in three weeks. But when we needed it most, when there were two missionaries giving it all they could, our Heavenly Father blessed us with the faith and testimony building experience that we needed. The rest of the night seemed like paradise to us. I know that God lives! I know that He hears our prayers and I know that this is His work. He is mindful of every single one of us and knows our needs. I know He lets us grow. He tries our faith. But in the exact moment that we need Him, He is there. And I know that is true.

I love you all with all the love I have to give. I hope you know how grateful I am for your love and support. Have a fantastic week and know that you always have somebody down here praying for you guys.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRENT! (Finding the Prepared)

Received March 9, 2011

Dear Family and Friends!

I love you guys!

I hope that all is going well for you back home. Brother and Sister Howe I am so sorry for your loss. I love you both so much and know that my prayers are with you!

I am so thankful for each and every one of you and all that you do for me! How blessed I am to have loving family members and friends like you who are always there for me! I love you guys so much and I hope that this week goes great for you!

I apologize if this email is a little short. We are running behind schedule today. We had some business to do with president today and this afternoon we are going to meet up with him and his wife for some tripletas (mmmm Puerto Rican heaven) so I hope that all has been well and you know how much I love you guys.

This past week was just an incredible week for us. Things with Elder Putnam and I are going great. He has so much fire and is so ready to get out there and learn and to be able to become the best zone leader that he can be. Training him to be a zone leader reminds me a lot of when I was training the Elder Martinez. You don't want to screw up and you realize once again just how crucial it is to rely on the Savior for your strength and not upon your own strength. If you rely on yourself you fail. And I have already been reminded of that a couple of times this week. But things are going just great and things are looking incredible for the zone!

This past week we had a great meeting with one of the Seventies in the area presidency. Elder Coleman came and we were able to sit down with him and discuss some of the things that are going on in the mission. But even better than that, we were able to sit down and hear one of the Lord's special witnesses teach the gospel. He talked about some really cool things. I wish that I had my notes with me but I don't. One thing that he said that has really stuck with me is when he talked about Doctrine and Covenants section four. He talked about how this revelation was given to the prophet Joseph Smith and it is intended for his father. He talked about how a lot of times in the church we see this section as a missionary section but in all reality it is for the entire world. Anyone who wants to come unto Christ and participate in His work is invited to come and is invited to serve with all of their heart, might, mind and strength. It was an incredible meeting and we were all so enlightened. What a blessing it is to live in a time when the Lord has living apostles and prophets on the earth!

As we left the meeting and got back to our area we had a huge miracle occur. We had a little extra time before our first cita and we went to a school to try and find some families. We found this couple and began talking to them. As we were talking to them we talked about the families and we read with them a little in the Book of Mormon. We invited them to listen to more of our message and let us come by. They politely said no. As we were ending the contact a lady who had been sitting down next to them started to walk by us. She handed me a business card and told me that she was really interested in what we were saying and would really like to know more. I think my jaw hit the floor. I was so shocked. She was contacting me?! What is this? This never happens. I am glad that I got my act together before she walked away. We stepped aside and I talked to her a little bit more. Her name is Brenda. She said that she has a 17 year-old son that she is worried about. She said that he is not into bad things but she saw us and she said that she knew that two young men like us must have been sent from God to help her out. She wanted to find out what we were all about. I handed her the Book of Mormon and told her that we would be by the next day to talk a little bit more with her.

We were so pumped to find that she lived in a closed urb of one of the strongest families in our ward. She lives right next to them! Every time I pass by the neighborhood I always drool because there are so many families on the inside but we can never get in because it is closed. Now that we have an investigator and a member family that live on the inside we might be able to spend more time there. ANYWAYS, we sat down and things were great.

The first things out her mouth were, "I am shocked, this book is incredible." She told us the story behind it all. She said that things in her life haven't been going that well and lately and she has really been doubting if there even was a God. She talked about how much confusion there is in the world and just how lost she is. "There are so many churches", she said, "God can't be the author of all of this confusion." She said that she prayed to God the morning that we found her and she asked God to show her if He was real and if so what He wanted her to do with what was going on her life. That afternoon we talked to her and gave her the Book of Mormon. She said that as she read it she could just feel God's love for her and she knew that the Book and our contact with her were the answer to her prayers.

We went on to talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ and how it can bless our families. We mentioned baptism and she quickly asked "how should we get baptized?" We turned to 3 Nephi 11 and talked about the story of Joseph Smith and how that authority had been restored. We invited her to be baptized and she quickly said yes. We then moved on to the date and she had some trouble with that. We invited her to kneel and to pray and ask God if what we were teaching her is true and if to be baptized, at the end of the month, is what He wanted for her. She knelt down and offered such a humble prayer. As we left the spirit in the room was just incredible. It was a miracle. We had been praying and working so hard to find another family like her and the only thing that needed to happen was that God needed to lead us to her. She found us. Right when she needed us most. And I have no doubt that the hand of God was in the process the entire time. Tonight we are going to teach her with the rest of the familiy and I couldnt be more excited! I know that Heavenly Father lives. He answers his children's prayers because He answered the both of ours.

And that wasn't the only miracle that happened this week! On Saturday we sat down with the Galarza family and once again talked about the Sabbath Day. I remember the first time that we taught them about that commandment that there was so much opposition. There was such a change this time around. I am so amazed at the humility that has occurred in this family. We taught about the Sabbath Day. It was so simple. The spirit was there and it testified to them of what needed to be done. Raul said that he would have to work, but Nelly said that she would be there with the kids. Raul had always been the driving force behind it all so I was a little doubtful (sorry to say) that she would really show up. But sure enough the next day in church I looked behind towards the back of the chapel at 9:10 and there was Nelly with her kids! We went and sat with them and they were so happy to be there. It was incredible. That afternoon we passed by their house and talked about how they had felt during church. I brought up baptism and asked Nelly if she would get baptized she said yes! She said she knows that its what she needs to do. I invited her for the end of the month and she said no. She said that she wants to quit smoking and stay quit. She wants enough time to make sure that the habit is completely broken. We talked about the 16th of April and she said that would be a perfect day! After so long, after so many lessons, and so many prayers, we finally have a firm date with the Galarza family. There is still a lot to be done. But I know that miracles happen. I know that faith and love changes hard hearts and, more than anything, I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families in their times of need. I have seen a huge change in the Galarza family since we found them in October. I wish you could see it for yourselves. The Gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives. How incredible it is to be able to help people live those changes.

Ramiro and Dalia are doing great. We will be teaching the Word of Wisdom this week and we are hoping that all will go well. They are up and down with the baptismal date. We had an incredible experience last week and we are hoping to try their faith this week to get them even more converted to the message. Keep us in your prayers. We need all the help we can get.

I love you all so much and I hope that you have a great week!

Trent! I hope that you have a happy sweet 16! I can't believe that you are now going to be driving and dating. Whatever happened to that sweet Jr. high kid that was at home when I left? Have a killer birthday bro! I hope you know how much I love you and how blessed I am to be your brother! Don't party too hard!