"we like to sing loud and proud"

 written June 11

 

Elder Peck and I had a great week. The work is progressing and we made some great contacts. We get along pretty well and keep each other laughing. Every time we have companionship study or planning we belt out hymns because we like to sing loud and proud.. even though it sounds pretty flat and terrible. There is no word on the visa stuff and there won't be any until I pretty much have it in my hands.

 

On Monday night I got to share the message of the Restoration with a lady in our ward in Spanish. I did it to practice Spanish but also to invite the Spirit into their home; the best way to gain the trust of members is to bring the Spirit into their homes. So I am getting a decent amount of practice with the language along with my hour of language study each morning.

 

Tuesday was my first day on a bike.. it was pretty rough because of the altitude and I don't have much stamina. Also it seemed like the wind was in our faces all day; we'd be going one with the wind in our face and then turn around and it'd start blowing the other way, haha. The heat wasn't too bad (even though it almost hit 100) because it isn't humid here. We made some good contacts and had some good lessons with members. We are working on putting names on the ward roster with faces.

 

On the first Wednesday of every month we get to go to the temple. That was a nice surprise because I wasn't expecting to go to the temple again until after my mission since we wouldn't have one in my area in Mendoza. That day I went on splits with another missionary and I went to his area. We helped address some concerns people had and had some fantastic lessons with some members. That night we went to a members home - the mother had a southern accent. It made me feel like I was back in Virginia; that was kind of refreshing. Also we talked to a man walking his half husky + half wolf around... It definitely looked like a wolf though. It was bigger than the fully grown St. Bernard that another family we are teaching has.

 

On Thursday morning we had a great district meeting with the missionaries in our district. We had lessons on desires, faith, and charity. It was very inspiring to me. The Lord grants unto us according to our desires and our faith. If we desire to for others to hear the word of God and we have faith that God will place those people in our path.. that is exactly what will happen. It's hard to keep that faith and desire when you get an earful from atheists or anti-Mormons but it's important to just move on and carry on with the work. One thing that Elder Peck says after we run into those people is, "that's just an apology we can look forward to on the other side".. we get a good laugh and it lifts our spirits a little.

We also had two dinner appointments on Thursday... We forgot about one of them until we were already 10 minutes late.. to top it off the dinner was a about 30 minutes away. We were a late for that but it was with a super nice member family so we were forgiven. Another thing that Elder Peck likes to say is "it's a great day for America".. It's pretty funny. When we wake up in the morning, when something good happens, when something bad happens, you can count on him saying it. Good times..

 

On Friday I had the biggest snow cone of my life. When the girl was making it I was amazed at how big it was... and she kept on adding more... it was delicious but waaay too much sugar. I definitely overdosed on sugar that day because some members gave us cookies and desserts that we can't deny.. haha. We had a good dinner that night and shared a new member missionary program with two member families. The importance of members in the missionary work is sometimes unrecognized. But when people are introduced to the church through members they already have a social support system. It is important that people are baptized, but it is even more important that they continue coming to be continually nourished by the word. Baptism is not a final decision and an end, it is just the beginning.

 

Saturday was a very solid day. We really have to take advantage of Saturdays because it is when most people are home. We met with a bunch of members for the new member missionary program and made some good contacts for some potential investigators.

 

Church on Sunday was nice and the rest of the day was pretty similar to Saturday.

 

Today is P-day and we have something pretty awesome on the schedule!! The mascot (Rocky) for the Denver Nuggets is LDS and is bringing his trampoline and mats to one of the church buildings in our zone for the missionaries. DUNK FEST!!! I'll have some good videos and pictures of that that I'll send home next week.

 

I'm praying for all of you. Things are great here in Highlands Ranch.. just living the dream.

 

Alma 31: 34-35