February 9

Me and an artifact and a picture of my house. I am glad I have a new companion too. But the area is a little rough. We have lost almost all of our investigators and less actives, and I am worried that the Mission President is going to shut down the Area for a little while. Please pray that it will stay open, and that we will have more people to teach. My area is infamous for being the hardest area in the mission, but I am still working hard to change that. Katharine (It is pronounced Katarina)passed her interviews for baptism and will be baptized this Saturday! We asked her who she want to do the baptism and she picked me! I was so happy that after the lesson I almost cried. She was taught all of the lessons just in time for the interviews, and she is soaking in the teachings like a sponge! She has changed so much since the first time I met her and committed her to baptism! When a less active member comes back to church at least three times and has all of the lessons re-taught they can be what we call "rescued". So we had the opportunity to "rescue" a sister and she's doing great. Her son wanted to be baptized but has recently moved away. The place where I live is bigger than our house in SLC! It has 2 levels, and 4 bathrooms, but 2 don't work. It is pretty sweet. But we don't have an oven, so I can't make the brownies you guys sent. When you referred to Elder Nelson's talk when he says, "ask the missionaries, they can help you"... you can also help the missionaries by giving them references and then offer to have lessons with investigators and missionaries. To help the missionaries, place a book of Mormon with your testimony to a friend in the stake that is not a member or is less active, be their friend, and give a reference to the missionaries. The work is tiring but awesome. I'm living my dream! I am loving it here in the Valle, and I hope that this week is Chevere o Vacano para Ustedes!