Letter 80

January 21, 2012

Hey Family and Amigos!

It sounds like everyone is still getting married. Tell Riley Hunsaker congratulations for me and lets just keep praying that Chase and Austin will find their eternal companions soon or I might just come home and beat ‘em both to it! haha just kidding I probably wont even be able to look at a girl for at least a month. Luckily I'll have a bunch of RM friends at my disposal to keep me company! And Chris Thurman of course! Have fun with Richie next month bud!

I don’t have any requests for the package haha what else is new... Mom you've known me my whole life. When have I ever known what I wanted for my birthday?! But I'm really sorry I didn’t send my package home... THIS WEEK I PROMISE. TODAY I PLAN TO SEND IT! First Class... it will cost about $100 ok? hahaha jk I'll get the cheapest one. :)

Well now to the work....This week the Elders had the baptism for their investigator Ed and that makes a total of 2 for our goal of 5 this month. Next week they also have a baptism for their Part Member family that they're working with and so that will bring it to 3 and if everything goes well for Elder Williams and I we will be able to baptize Gustavo and Gus as well next week and hit our goal of 5 as a District. I'm really proud of all the efforts that the District has made in the last few weeks and I see real improvement. I know there is still a lot to work on, but we're definitely heading in the right direction!

Elder Williams and I really focused on finding this week and were able to find 6 new investigators. 2 of those new investigators were a referral from Elder Stevens and Elder Wilcox over in Pharr. They have been teaching a couple named Abraham and Ary and it just so happens that they just moved into our area. The Elders gave us a call and we went on over to help them move in. They're really great people and I can see them progressing quickly towards baptism!

Gus and Gustavo are doing well and they actually went to see the baptism yesterday. They both really enjoyed it and I think it helped them not be as nervous. They still have a lot to learn and we couldn’t get them interviewed this weekend, so I'm not sure if they'll be able to hit their date for the 27th. Gustavo works a lot so it’s hard to meet with them to be able to get them ready. But I know they'll be baptized if not this month then next month.

I also went on exchanges with Elder Harris and learned a lot about how diligent we need to be to hit our goals. We worked really hard to hit every single one of our daily goals and at the end of the day we had hit and even surpassed some of the goals we set. We didn't hit all of our goals, but both of us agreed that we had done our very best to reach them and we knew that God was proud.

I've learned a lot this week about making sure that I don’t leave room for confusion when I teach people or as I like to call it "shaking my garments". One day this week Elder Williams and I were walking and talked to this woman that we saw and she told us that she had been a member of the church once but left and went back to the Catholic Church. After talking to her for a while and bearing testimony that she should come to church with us she said,"..no... estoy bein donde estoy" (I'm good where I am) I followed that solid excuse by testifying of the restoration and letting her know that she knew what we said was true and that she knew what God expected her to do. I think my friend Jacob in the Book of Mormon says it best "O, my beloved brethren, remember my words. Behold, I take off my garments, and I shake them before you; I pray the God of my salvation that he view me with his all-searching eye; wherefore, ye shall know at the last day, when all men shall be judged of their works, that the God of Israel did witness that I shook your iniquities from my soul, and that I stand with brightness before him, and am rid of your blood"(2 Nephi 9:44)

ummm... I can’t remember the other questions... Oh yeah transfers are on the 5th! I promise. They have not always been on Mondays they have ALWAYS been on Tuesdays. But it’s really up in the air and either I or Elder Williams could be leaving. But I've gotta go I love you and hope you have a great week!

-Elder Jordan Stewart