WEEK OF MIRACLES

HEYLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO FAMILY!
How are you all doing? From the looks of your email, everything is right on track, crazy as usual - -that story about the yard was awesome, that's exactly what our house is like, haha... man, boat trips, summer plays, girls camp -- it sounds like you all are living the good life. That Outer Banks trip looks amazingly fun, hope everyone has fun and stays safe. I can't say I envy the water though - we've been fairly mojado (wet) for the past week, its just poured and poured, it looks like a tropical area in Columbia right now... but now the heat is coming back, joy...

Tape the play! That sounds so cool, my sisters are going to be little Chinese girls. Heidi, you're really taking the stage lately, huh? what is this, 2 plays this year... so far?? Very cool. Girl's camp will be great. I only went once for an hour or three, but it seemed to be a very fun place :)

Man, this week was really cool. It was a week of miracles. The Lord is blessing us for our faith. Last week, after we'd set that goal of 4 baptisms and everything, Elder Gurrola and I had a lame night on Tuesday. No one was home, we walked like 3 miles for "nothing", he stepped in dog poop, etc. He was talking about how nothing was working out, how there was nothing to do in this area, etc. And I got tired of it, so I said "NO." and shoved him off the curb, and wouldn't let him back until he changed his attitude. Then we decided to try having faith, and trusting the Lord. We'd done all we could. So, we started walking. We wanted to visit a man in Riverdale, and had no car. I decided to try the Lord and see if miracles could happen: I said "we are going to walk to the nearest bus stop and there will be a bus." (there's never a bus. ever.) We walked there, and, as we got there, a bus pulled up. Miracle #1. We got on. Elder Gurrola didn't have his bus pass. They let him on free. (that never happens). Miracle #2. We sat there on the bus kinda with our mouths open. We turned to our side. There was a small Scottish man who had never heard of the LDS missionaries before. "Can we send some English elders to your house?" "Sure, why not, I've got plenty of time!" Miracle #3. Get off. Near our old house, a random man asked if we could use a ride in a bit - why, yes we did need a ride, we needed to move a bunch of stuff (our CLOTHES) to our new apartment. Sure, he said, I can help you after you teach your lesson! Miracle #4. It was amazing. And that was only the beginning. We've seen the Lord pour out blessings. Check this out:


We were kinda bummed because some of our investigators didn't show up for church, but we trusted that the Lord would provide. So, we went out to work. 8:45 pm . 15 minutes left of our day. Instead of heading back to the apartment, we walked down the road. "I've always wanted to knock those 2 doors" E. Gurrola said. So we did. No one home. We stepped away, and heard whistling. A man was walking towards us. "Hey! (in spanish) How're you two young men doing? That's my house, what can I do for you? Come on in..." Turns out Sisnesio was hearing the missionaries a year ago.
"You've probably been invited to be baptized, huh?"
"Oh yes. I wasn't ready a year ago, but you know what, I think I feel a lot more ready now. I don't drink, I don't smoke...."
He mentioned he is a Christian. We randomly decided to ask, do you have a Bible?
He goes to the closet and pulls out... a hardcover Book of Mormon. "Yes! And I also have this, does this work?"
"uh....... YES...."
It was incredible. Definitely one our miracles.

And yesterday morning durning personal study at 8 in the morning... *ahem* (possibly the coolest thing in a missionary's life:) ...we get a call. "Hello! are you the Missionaries?"
"uh.... yes? Who's this...?"
"Rosario Cuadras. When are you having a baptism next?"
"Probably in a week or two..."
"Can you have one sooner? Beacuse I'd be intesested in being baptized..."
The Lord is handing us miracles right and left. It's amazing. We love it. Elder Gurrola is going to finish strong.

You're right mom, I am starting out with a lot of success - but as always, its not us. We're just the tools. The adversary throws all kinds of stuff at us, at the investigators, and sometimes He requieres a sacrifice before He steps in. But He always does step in. Put in the hours. But it works out, its worth it. Thank you for your prayers. Its cool to see people coming to what they've been searching for, telling us that they feel the Spirit more now, feel God's hand in their lives, delivering them from all manner of problems, and coming unto Christ more than ever before. Way cool.

If you could pray for Pati Torres, that would be good - after the baptism, she got pneumonia (not from the water, though she thought so, lol) and she was dying. Literally, she had to go to the hospital, which is way expensive and hard for these people. For 10 days she couldn't move, and was hacking up stuff, really, I've never seen anyone so sick. We thought she died during our blessing. She almost got fired, and she's a single mother. We gave her a powerful blessing, and she's a bit better now, but her boss is making her work still, and the evil boss is making her work Sundays. It's a mess, so just pray for her, and for the other miracles that we need, because we need a lot - there are many that want to be baptized and can't be unless some miracles happen, so miracles! They're possible. With enough faith, its possible.

Well, running out of time here, I just wanted to share those miracles. Real quick, our new apartment is a batcave, its.... special. Can't get attached to things like apartments... sniffle...

My Spanish is way improving, and it has to be the Lord, because I rarely have time to study. I've got a long ways to go, but I can carry on a lesson or a contact or dinner conversation almost without problems. When the members start joking around with me I have more trouble understanding, hah (Tayleen, you;ve got manchas (spots) all over your bright new shirt! Tayleen, you're a rich gringo boy, you;ve got 7 blisters and have only been working 5 minutes!" etc... heheh).

[Girls addition to the story: Heidi viewed the "YUB-YUB" ing creatures suspiciously. A little tiny one seemed to like Amy, and was pleased when she sat down at the campfire with him to cook a hotdog on the beach. Holly, having a way with animals, a sort of "animal whisperer" if you will, spoke to them. "JABBA YABBA DABBA!" she announced. The critters seemed agreeable. "Oh look! They think we are princesses!" Holly exclaimed. But unfortunately, Holly had mixed up her Jabbas and Yabbas, and had actually told the creatures that the girls were "very YUMMY!" before they knew what was happening, Heidi, Holly and Amy were tied to bamboo poles and it looked like they were about to get roasted over the open fire for dinner! Just then...]

Story: Just then Tippy and Tanny ran out of the woods and started barking at the critters. THey started jumping up on them and knocking them down, all in good fun, but all the same the Yub Yubs all ran and climbed up the trees. Tanny knocked over the bamboo stick, and the girls fell safely to the ground. Amy cut everyone loose with her pocket knife. The Yub Yubs were looking at them from above. Maybe they can help us know where to go, Holly thought... she opend her mouth and said... (to be continued...)

Thank you all for your prayers and for being so good to me. I love you all and miss you (dad, ha, I had ribs on Father's day, what a coincidence - a guy was trained to be an American cuisine chef in Mexico, go figure... trained to make authentic hamburgers and ribs and chicken kabobs... lol) I love you all, and I know this gospel is true. This is it! This is what people search for all their lives! I know it is true, beyond any doubt. Come unto Him, every day.

Hasta luego,
Elder Christopher Thelin of Ogden. just for now...



My blisters, poor gringo hands....