el 25 de abril

a new companion, but the same, good ol' san juan! sister vasquez is my new companion, and it's an interesting day in the neighborhood always. sister vasquez is from tegucigalpa, honduras, about thirty minutes from the temple. it's a little hard being with a spanish speaker after being with another greenga for almost five months, but it's good for my spanish and even better for hermana vasquez's english!

hermana sugey and hermana vasquez, my new companion

we are working really hard. i am bound and determined to have success and just blow out the ward this next change. we have a high goal of ten baptisms in may and it's going to be something hard, but something that is worth the pain. it was really disappointing to only have five investigators in church, but the five investigators we did have in church are progressing. please continue to pray that we may have success.

i had the wonderful opportunity that almost every missionary, and almost every convert, wishes to have happen: to be able to go back and teach them after you have left the area. jefri, one of my and sister gomez's converts from last may, has moved recently into the san juan ward's boundaries and i was able to share with him and give him a couple of machetes again. i am praying to know how to help his wife become active and excited about the church as well so that she can be a part of the grand family of God forever.

this week we were focusing a lot with one of our investigators, denis, about the importance of obedience. there are some things that he has been completing lately, namely his prayers about the book of mormon and the restoration. we all know, that if an investigator, a member, or a less active read and pray about the book of mormon and the restoration, that almost every other doubt just goes flying away. it's all based in whether or not the book of mormon is the word of god. and so we read a scripture with him in doctrine and covenants 59:23

::But learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come.::

those that are obedient and do righteously, will gain their reward. 

this week, we didn't eat anything abnormal, but we did eat this really good spaghetti. here, it's something normal to put chicken in their spaghetti sauce made with ketchup. the salad was something divine, and please note the small amount of rice that occupies the plate. i have to find some way to loose weight before i come home!

today was something small and low key. we cleaned the house, washed clothes, and made some ramen noodles with hardboiled eggs, an attempt at a recipe from home. (minus all the vegetables that go with it... there just wasn't enough excitement to go fancy.)

i know that i will have at least another five weeks in this area. i am hoping to finish my mission here in san juan, but we will have to see what the lord has in plan for us. i know that these things are true, and even more than that i know that jesus christ is our savior.

for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, to save us from our sins. there had to be a remission and christ volunteered so that you and i could return to live with our heavenly father. christ had such pure intentions that not even in the darkest hour, when he was completely alone did he revoke his divine call as the savior and redeemer of the the world. the pain was something overwhelming, even so that he didn't realize how hard it was going to be. but he never gave up. not my will, but thine be done. 

what can we do to have a more christ-like attitude this week?

hermana graves