Holaaa!

 

I feel like there's not much to write about this week.  Like Derek's week last week, it's been kind of a struggle.  We too have had a lot of contacts and investigators that have been avoiding us and canceling appointments.  It's alright though--a trial of faith is always preparation for a miracle, and we're working for and expecting great things in our area this week.

 

We are teaching a man named Livorio who has been a joy to teach.  He's a very humble man, by nature and because of his experiences.  He's going through a very nasty divorce, but it seems to be producing the change that he needed to be ready to accept the gospel.  He was actually a former investigator years ago, and has gone through several sets of missionaries, but he is in a different situation now and is very humble in learning about the gospel.  He's showing a lot of faith in reading the Book of Mormon and praying very sincerely.  He has a baptismal date for December 2!  We're hoping we can move it up to a little sooner because he's already living the Word of Wisdom.  We're praying he'll be able to come to church and continue preparing himself.

 

We also had an awesome Zone Leader Council this week.  We got to talk about lots of the things that will be happening as the new missionaries come in.  It's such a blessing to be a part of the process of preparing this mission to receive these powerful missionaries who are ready to come and set the work on fire.  It's astounding to see how so many things came together in this last general conference.  The new systems for youth Sunday School, family history work, and missionary work are all preparation for the big leaps that are about to be made in bringing the gospel to all the world.  There Spirit has been so strong as we've thought about these new missionaries that will come to our mission in the next year or so.  The Lord is preparing His servants to do His work, and they will astonish the world as they carry the gospel throughout the earth.  It gives me chills!  We're going to see an increase of about 70 missionaries in the next short while in this mission.  It's so exciting!

 

It sounds like you all had a pretty quiet Halloween.  Ours was quiet too.  We actually had to stay inside after 6pm, and we were given a deep-cleaning checklist to complete during our time in the apartment.  It was pretty fun, and very refreshing. :)  It was a little scary at times too (especially when we cleaned under the oven), so we got our Halloween frights in.