The First Year!

June 3, 2013

Hey All!!

"Pretty crazy I completed a year in my mission this week. Doesn't feel like I've been gone that long. Excited for what the coming year will bring."

Elder Rodriguez and I had a great week here in El Salto! It's great to work with Elder Rodriguez as Zone Leaders because he knows how to work! With the two of us, we are able to get a lot done! It seems lately that we have only been working through the members which has been a ton more effective than knocking on doors. I've seen that the recent converts have stayed active due to the great member fellowshipping and the investigators make tons of friends at the same time. This past month in El Salto Elder Rodriguez and I have been able to help in the activation of less active members. It was so awesome to see the Soto family in church yesterday, a family that hadn't been to church in quite a while. All that was needed was a little visit, love from Elder Rodriguez and I and providing them an opportunity to feel the spirit in a quick lesson and they were there. Elder Rodriguez and I have also been helping a man named Ramon Munoz to reactivate. Ramon now has a calling as a ward missionary! :) That is so awesome as he is always willing to help Elder Rodriguez and I and accompanies us to many of our appointments as well.

LOGOS (ACHIEVEMENTS)

bautismos  0
confirmaciones  0
inv con fecha  5
inv en la reunion sac  5
lecciones con miembro  14
otras lecciones  3
inv que estan progresando  2
ref recibidas  10
ref contactadas  18
nuevos investigators  13
lecciones a cr ma 15
contactos  55


So, basically the miracle of the week happened last night at 910pm....Elder Rodriguez and I hadn't found many people at all in the last two weeks (7 in total) and it was now Sunday night. This past Tuesday, Elder Rodriguez and I fasted and prayed fervently to be able to find more investigators to teach. It seemed like we were still not finding anyone to teach. Elder Rodriguez and I had one appointment left after our family night. Elder Rodriguez and I checked our agendas to see who the last appointment was. The appointment we set was Gabriel, a contact that we had had about 3 days earlier in the week. We went over to Gabriel's house absolutely exhausted from the weeks service but still praying in our minds that this appointment would be fruitful. Elder Rodriguez and I came up to the door and yelled..."Alo!....Gabriel!" We waited for a few seconds and then....Gabriel answered the door! Gabriel told us to hold on a second so he could go tell his family Elder Rodriguez and I were there. He then came back and let us in and we were greeted with smiles by a family of 8! We taught them all the Restoration of the gospel and gave them our last 5 pamphlets and told them to read and pray about it with the steps we wrote down. They are such a great family named the Nunez's. Elder Rodriguez and I are really excited to be able to teach them. I brought some jolly ranchers to give to all of them and they loved the American candy! I also showed them pictures of our family. Without fail they always think Tarryn is my older sister and comment on how tall Tay is! We made a great friendship and are going over to their home this next Tuesday morning to paint a section of their house. Service is awesome!

Here is a sample of an investigator calendar Elder Rodriguez and I put together to help our investigators stay on track with their goals of praying and reading the scriptures daily. Pretty creative! :)

INVESTIGATORS

PALOMA-She didn't come to church this week and we're not sure why???? She can't get baptized this Sunday now, so we'll have to push it back a week :(

VIVIANA-Elder Rodriguez and I had to drop her this week because she doesn't want to progress. She's received so many confirmations.

JOSE- He's progressing really well. Jose's been to church 3 weeks in a row and is preparing to be baptized the 16th of June. Elder Rodriguez and I have our work cut out for us to teach all the lessons and have him prepared by the 16th. It's pretty hard to teach in a little house of 11 people. Elder Rodriguez and I are going to try and teach Jose in a different house or in the church but he lives really far away from members and the church so its pretty tough.

CRISTIAN- He's the brother of some recent converts and is about 40 years old. Cristian is struggling with some bad habits but we set some goals with him so he can quit his habits that damage his body and mind. Christian is open and willing to work on it.

Highlights of the week:

Received Taylor's graduation announcement in the mail. Congrats Tay! I'm excited for you and your future at SUU!

HUGE BBQ with the Parraguez Family.

The Parraguez family had Elder Rodriguez and I over to celebrate their son Joshua's departure for Brazil on his mission tomorrow. Look at all that meat!

 

Received Tal's letter in the mail. Made my day when I read it! Thanks Tal...love you worlds!

Received a ton of dearelders this week. Thanks for the support. I love hearing about what's going on and how you all are doing.

Can't believe my best friend (Cory Calvert) is headed to Boston this week! Unbelievable that he goes in the field already! No doubt he'll be an amazing missionary! Mom, send me his weekly letters!

Well, I hope you all have a great week this week! Que les vaya muy bien y tengan una semana exitosa!

 

Thanks for the awesome HUMP DAY package. I felt loved!:)

 

 

 

Thumbs up to all my favorite treats, the banner and your letters...oh ya....and the camel! :)

 

Jamaica no problem.....being a missionary in Chile no problem!

(Thanks dad for the t-shirt!)



Oh ya...it's pretty crazy that I completed a year in my mission this week....doesn't feel like I've been gone that long. Excited for what the coming year will bring.

Love,
Elder Jenson