Thursday, February 6, 2014

Week 26-February 4, 2014 - Lincoln Hights, East L.A.



Dear everyone,
 So far so good in Arroyo! We (Elder Blanchard, Elder Christensen, and myself) are still in a zone leader trio. They are both from Utah, just in case anyone was wondering. 

Having this calling has made me realize how much goes into missionary work than I had ever imagined. We've had meetings with the stake presidency, we have a bunch this week, making calls, etc.. It's given me an appreciation of all the behind the scenes stuff that goes on in the missionary world. One oft he people we work with often is Hermano C., the stake mission leader. He is a guy from Nicaragua who served a mission in Maryland, Vietnamese speaking. How crazy, right? He is so ambitious to get missionary work done, I love being around him. That drive is contagious. He was telling us about some crazy dreams and visions he's had. I've come to realize that Latinos tend to have prophetic dreams and such. I guess it's just how God works with these kind of people. So I am looking forward to see what I can learn from working with the stake.

This weekend we are to be having a 2 baptisms. M. C with her 11 year old son, R. He is a super polite and smart kid. She is progressing super well! Last night we were having a lesson with her, and next thing you know we hear a knock on the door.... The second that knock was heard, everyone in the room knew exactly who it was... In came the machista ex husband. Things got very tense. He seemed like he was missing his drugs. I wanted to leave so badly when he came in, but elder Christensen was trying to show a video on our new fancy iPads, but it wouldn't load. I started smiling and machista man got mad at me and started trying to argue with me. So that was our cue to leave. And we actually received a death threat from him.... We are really hoping and praying that the family is ok. R. sent us a text off of his moms phone apologizing and saying that he is going to try and get his dad to read the Book of Mormon, so that was pretty cool! 

Other than them, we are finding a lot of awesome prepared people. The week after we are planning to have a baptism of this younger lady who lost her records so she has to get rebaptized. How convenient! But she was inactive for a point, so this is really helping her get back. Very cool stuff!

I can't believe I am going to be hitting 6 months this week... I feel like just yesterday I left on the plane. I have learned a lot these past 6 months and I only plan to continue learning. Something that I love about working with the people here is that they really have a fire and a passion for this gospel. Their example is helping me obtain that fire of my own as well. I know the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true, I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and I know the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ.

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