Happy Bolivian Mother´s Day!

Hey everyone!

Hope eveyone had a good week! This week was awesome for me. It was the best week that Elder Hull and I have had to date. We´re really happy with the people we found, and the number of lessons we´ve taught, but the best part of the week for us was the new baptismal dates that we´ve gotten. We´ve been teaching this 9 year old kid named Angel Gabriel. He lives with his grandma, aunt, uncle(bro of aunt), and cousin. The weird thing is that his mom lives in Cochabamba, but lives in another part with her husband(not the father of our investigator).

So, this kid has been coming to church for months and months, and we´ve been teaching him for the last month. He´s an awesome kid, and has told us many, many times that he wants to be baptized, but our Zone Leaders have told me and my companion that we need permission from his mom since she lives in Cochabamba. That means that we´ve had to wait for his mom to come visit our investigator. So, we talked to the grandma, and found out that she goes over randomly, but usually in the early afternoon. So, two days later we went over to the house....and we found her there, just getting ready to leave. So, Elder Hull and I talked to her and got her to sign the permission! So, we´re planning on baptising him this weekend! We are so stoked, and this kid is really excited to be baptized. He´s the kind of awesome kid that, as his grandma has told us, he´s ready for church on Sundays when the rest are just getting up for church. So, that´s one of my stories. he next involves our family that we´re teaching. They are the familia Arteaga. We´re teaching the dad, Bruno, the mom Shonya, and their two daughters, Primavera and Mayo. They´ve been such a great family to teach! They are super receptive to the Gospel, and are actively reading and praying as a family. The problem with them so far has been getting the chapel on Sundays. Well, on Friday, the ward put together a Mother´s Day party, and asked us to help run it and what not, so we invited the family to go. Well, when Elder Hull and I got to the chapel....they were inside! They were early and stayed for the whole party, and loved it. Hermano Bruno commented to me that he loved how he felt at home inside the capilla, and how everyone was so welcoming and friendly. And on Sunday, yes, they went to church as a family. I am soooo excited for them. They have a baptismal date set for the 18th of June, so keep your fingers crossed! Finally(last cool story for the week, I promise) yesterday we had a district activity called Distrito(District) Blitz. This is where we go and work in someones area if they haven´t reached 12 news for the week. So, this week we went to our District Leader´s area, which is situated on Alto Cochabamba, the highest point in the city. Well, Elder Hull and I were knocking doors and a young man answered. Well, we taught him and his little sister the first lesson, which basically talks about the Restoration of the Church and the First Vision and what not. Well, when we were done teaching, we asked if they had any questions or comments. The young man said to us "Well, I don´t have any questions, but I would like to say that I really like how that José Smith prayed with faith and received an answer. That gives me hope that I´ll receive an answer too." That had to be the cooled reaction that I´ve ever had to the First Vision. I appreciate that the Spirit touches people´s hearts like that. It´s the best part of the mission for me, to see the Spirit testify to people that what we teach is true.

Also, in my scripture reading, still trucking through the Old Testament. It´s really interesting to read the story of David and Solomon and see how spiritually strong people to be(this is me overlooking the fact that they fell pretty hard).

Dad- Congrats on finding a buyer for the house! Plus, they haven´t said that Dr. Pepper is against mission rules or the Word of Wisdom.

Oh, and I´m sorry about your car. Hope you have an awesome week!

Mom-Ditto for the finding the buyer. I hope you had an awesome time in St. George!  BTW, I still have another three weeks until the transfer, so don´t worry yet. Have an amazing week!

Aly-Good luck on the big-girl job search! Have an amazing week!

Emi- Just remember that summer does mean more work, but more work means more money. And that equals less stress when college rolls around. And a tip for Laser Quest- Use the mirrors,

Have a great week everyone!

AEA

Elder Craig