Letter for January 28, 2013

Hey everyone!

First off, I want to wish my brother, Trevor, a feliz cumpleanos!! Happy birthday man! I love you so much and I miss you a ton. I can't believe how fast you are growing up. I hear you are going to get the Aaronic Priesthood soon. I'm so proud of you man! Good work! Keep it up and stay happy.

This week has been a good week. We are really starting to see some progress in this area and this district. We were again unsuccessful in finding Brenda. We found her last week and set up an appointment to talk to her, but then the day we had our appointment she had to cancel and we haven’t been able to find her since. We are not letting that stop us though. We will continue to stop by and search for her until we are able to teach her. We know that we can have a miracle this week. We just need to keep praying and I know that our Heavenly Father will help us find her again. We just have to trust Him and believe that His timing is perfect. Because it is!

Early this week we stopped by one of the first people that Elder Burrup had ever contacted in the mission. His name is Luis. We taught him once and, like Brenda, he has been difficult to find. We were in the area and decided to stop by to see him. We found him and began to talk again. He said that he had been looking for us because he had been reading from the Book of Mormon and he really, really wants to know the truth. So we had a great lesson on how he needs to read it, pray about it, and search his feelings. Because that is how the spirit works through us. Says Boyd K. Packer: It's more of a feeling. Like it says in Helaman 5:30 it's not anything great, but it's soft. We also explained that church was a perfect place to receive an answer from God. He said he had to work. So we invited him to ask his boss for time off. We were unable to find him after that, but we know that he is really seeking for the truth. That's so important because without that real intention to find out the truth they are more likely not to receive an answer.

We are seeing another family that we kind of stopped seeing for awhile, but they let us into their home and let us teach them again. They are a great family of four or five. They have a lot of respect for the missionaries and what we do. It's Alberto, Maria, and their family. They are fun. They love to listen. We are putting a lot of focus on one of the daughters, Ana, because she loves to read from the Book of Mormon. She is doing well. 

Still visiting the familia Villegas. They are doing awesome. They fed us dinner the other day. We stopped by a few times and taught them about church and part of the plan of salvation. They were so focused and attentive. They usually kind of argue with each other over religion. They are reading from the Book of Mormon. They love having us over. One of the fun things we did when we were there was we randomly decided to sing a hymn. We sang "Love One Another" in Spanish, of course. There is nothing like a hymn to bring the spirit into a meeting. It was so great and they loved it. In fact, about half of the family came to church; two of the daughters, and one of the sons. So they are progressing. The Hermana that referred them to us actually came from San Diego and came to church with them. It was way fun and they are doing great. 

We were only able to see Daisy once this week. She is still up for being baptized. Which is totally sweet. We were able to talk to her about some of the commandments that our Heavenly Father has given us. Like praying to Him, reading the scriptures, etc. She was unable to come to church this Sunday, but I believe she is doing well. She is reading and doing very well.

Anita is doing well also. She is reading and doing very well. We were only able to teach her once this week. She didn't come to church because she was very ill. Everyone around here seems to be getting sick. We've had to give a lot of blessings lately. I love to use the priesthood. I know that we have the power to heal. But she is doing well. As are her kids Jose and Anthony.

Someone cool that we met this week is a new young couple named Ricardo and Yvonne. They are in their late 20's and live in the same apartment as some members. They referred them to us. We were able to teach the husband who is very interested in what we have to teach because of the way that his friend (the member) is living. See, examples are so important. We must always be an example to all that we can. His wife, Yvonne, accepted a date to be baptized without a problem. That was so awesome. We are going to do all we can to get them to church.

So many things I want to tell you and so little time. But that is all I can share for this week. Work is going well. We are having a baptism in the district. Everything is awesome. I love this work. Transfers are next week. We'll see if where the Lord wants me to go. I love this area and the people here. Love you all!!

Elder Dallin M. Ollerton