Time is Flying By!!

Man this is going by way too fast. Now that I am leaving this area and this ward I have been thinking a lot about the time I have spent here. I got here not speaking Spanish at all and not knowing how to teach and just a completely different person. I have grown so much and come to love so many people and learned so much while I have been here. I am sad to leave but I know I will be back one day to visit my family here in Pueblo Viejo. When I got here I never could have imagined loving it so much. I have become a different missionary and a different person thanks to the experiences I have had here. I know that it was divine inspiration starting my mission here and I will never forget the experiences I have had here. This last week I will do everything I can to help as many people as I can and leave this area and this ward better than I found it. I know that God is involved in this work. I have been a part of this ward and the lives of these people for more than 7 months and I have seen how he works in their lives. I will probably never be in any ward or area for longer time than I have been here. Its going to be hard saying goodbye.

This week was a great week. Busy, tiring, a bit discouraging at times, but at the end it always turns out great. We had meetings or something occupying our mornings every day of the week and didn't have as much time as normal to be working in the area but that happens sometimes. I wish I could just tell you everything that has happened but I would have to write a book. We have lots of new investigators and families that have so much potential. I will share about two families in particular.

One day Elder Lopez and I were walking down the street in Las Margaritas, one of the Colonias or neighbourhoods in our area and a woman was outside of her house and yelled "buenas tardes" at us. We responded with the same and kept on walking, then I turned to my companion and said Wait that was weird, usually it's us that say buenas tardes and they respond, not the other way around they hardly ever say it to us first haha so we turned around and contacted that lady and taught her a bit about the plan of salvation there in her yard and she invited us to come over on Saturday to meet her kids. That Saturday we went and taught them Lesson 1 about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon and the daughter, who has a friend who just barely moved into our ward from another ward close by was super interested and was asking a bunch of questions and wanted to go to church and the mom looked a bit skeptical but they committed to read the Book of Mormon and the daughter accepted a baptismal date. They told us to come back the next Saturday but later cancelled on us. We had been trying to put another appointment with them and with the daughters friend but they kept cancelling so Friday we passed by and the mom was outside so we put an appointment for the next day. The next day we went and the mom had gone to the hospital to visit her mom who is sick but we read Alma 32 with the two kids and they loved it and told us that their mom, who can hardly read nor write, was reading the Book of Mormon and wanted to come to church. The only problem is they always visit their grandma on Sundays but the daughter said she was going to come to church and her friend was going to take her. Well later that night apparently her grandma got more sick so they all went to the hospital but we are hoping that she gets better so they can start coming to church because they have lots of potential!

Another family we had found through a reference from a young woman in Anahuac, the branch that is close to our pueblo. We went to teach her and taught a bit about the Book of Mormon on her porch and put an appointment for that Saturday to meet her parents. We went and taught lesson 1 to them and invited them to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about it and to come to church and they accepted but wouldn't accept a baptism date because they are catholic and have always been and always will be catholic. We put an appointment for the next Saturday (the day before yesterday). They later cancelled the appointment because they had forgotten and were going to go to Tampico so we were bummed but invited them to come to church the next day and they said maybe. OH and between the appointment we had passed by to just check their commitments and the mom told us that the dad was reading the Book of Mormon! Which shocked us a bunch because he was super closed and didn't seem super interested. But Saturday night the District Leader called and asked if we had gone and visited them (they are in Anauhuac and the young woman had told them that we had visited them) and we said that no that they cancelled the appointment and then the DL asked me if Gabi, the young woman, had told us what happened to the dad and we just said no, what do you mean what happened and he asked us if we had invited him to say the kneeling prayer after the lesson and we said yes and he said that apparently the family was having financial problems and that they didn't have any money and didn't know what to do, but that after praying, the next day their grandma came and gave them some money and the moms job paid her early and the contributed all that to the prayer! So I am super excited to go and visit that family again. They couldn't come to church but we are going to visit them ASAP. I am excited for the progress of this area and sad I won't be able to see it but I am confident that Elder Lopez and his new companion will do great things here in the ward.

That's crazy about gas! I don't remember it ever being that low! Sounds like you enjoyed yourself in Cayman.

Can you believe its been a year since I got my mission call? Crazy!

Sounds like Brad is really serious about waiting on this girl. And seriously I didn't know she was going Spanish! But is there anyone in Tennessee that speaks Spanish haha? That's cool I am excited to have someone to talk to then. I hope Tate gets better! He is in my prayers!

I wont give my shoes away then haha. My feet still feel fine haha I feel like a cheater because me feet never hurt or anything because these shoes are super comfy.  (He wanted to give his extra pair of new shoes away since he thinks his one pair will last him the whole 2 years!)  I told him it was very hard and expensive to send new shoes to him so to keep them until later in the mission just in case and leave everything there when he comes home) 

Yah the RV thing made me happy I was in Mexico where they are just a bit more receptive. There are still the people that say no thanks I'm catholic, but they are a bit nicer about it.

I am excited to speak Spanish with them too (my cleaning people) haha! I want to speak Spanish lots after my mission so I don't forget it!

I like that question... What gift are we giving to the Savior. But isn't it a bit late to be talking about Christmas haha. We are in the new Ezra Taft Benson book which I LOVE! I am almost done reading it all. In Spanish. I think I have like 2 chapters left. I already told Jenn about it though so ask her haha.

I was going to tell you another story about fasting but I don't have much time so just know that fasting works and I love fasting! Maybe I will tell you next week if you remind me. Love you lots!

Elder "Eskalla"

Pizza!!!