Apr 4: The boy that came

The days only are hard when you think about yourself. Service really is therapeutic; especially being in the service of the Lord. This last Sunday may have been the worse even as far as work going in my area here. Only one kid came to church as opposed to the four or five families we had set up to be picked up by us or other members. The kid was Alvin Estillero, the 12-year-old boy who recognized the spirit the first time he prayed. He sings “Scriptures power” and tries to memorize Book of Mormon scriptures. Unfortunately, the rest of his family is apathetic or lazy. He walked to church only! which made me so happy just to see his strong desire for righteousness. We have resolved to find more families this week rather than holding on to those who are not will to progress towards baptism.

Training is still suck a fun experience. Elder Perry is from Seattle, Washington; went to school at Provo before his mission, and just taught me how to do the Rubik’s Cube while going to our zone activity earlier today (I have now lost my admiration for those that can do it because all it is is memorizing the steps and looking for patterns). I have learned to love each of my companions my service them, and thus never has a bad one, but now with Elder Perry I love him even more. Maybe because I see him taking the same step I took as a new missionary in the struggle to become the missionary the Lord wants. I am having a hard time putting those other reasons to words, but there are more, and I love him.

The Rapada family has now been baptized and they choice Elder Perry to baptize them, which is what I had hoped. It was his very first time to baptize. The service was actually the best service I have seen here. What really made the difference was that it started on time, and the members were also excited about the baptism. The Rapada family has only been taught over two years now. They started being taught again just before I arrived. Alma, one of the daughters, cried the first time we postponed the baptism (the mom missed church and they must come to church four times to be baptized). The father is still opposed the church but just allowed them to be baptized.

Another family that is really giving us a hard time is the Parreno family. The father is a seaman and thus leaves for months at a time, but which on the boat studies the bible and even takes notes. The mother was taught more than a year ago, and would have been baptized if they been able to get permission from the father, however, she still does not have a testimony of Joseph Smith. Last week she was worried about the young men passing the sacrament on account of a lack of maturity (unlike the priest in other religions). We will see if they really are serous. They have read, said that they prayed, but still have not received an answer to their prayers through the spirit.

Last week we had a little problem at our house when our sink decided to spit back out the water we fed it. They is now fixed, but it forced us to eat sandwiches for a few days straight

This then month should me another turning point in the mission if my feelings serve me right. It seems I am still so far from being a skilled effective missionary, but as long as I work with all my might, the Lord helps with the rest. I love this work and I love each one of you. Don’t forget to pray for me on account of this good report. I know I have been blessed by each of your prayer I would hate to see the prospect of being without. Fight a good fight.