Family!
I am writing you from
a library here in the Hamilton/Fairfield area to tell you that I will staying
here for another transfer! That's right, here comes transfer 3 in the
Hammy town. And Elder Elbaba is staying too! That means this will be
our 5th transfer together! Almost every Spanish missionary is staying in
their areas this transfer. Elder Taylor is going home, his last companion
is leaving Dayton 2, and Elder Bradford is leaving Dayton 1. And this
transfer we're getting our first new Spanish missionary in over a year!
Everyone's super excited!
This week was a week
of firsts. I met my first real Cuban. I met my first real
Nicaraguan. I ate my first pupusa. I had my first apartment check
in over a year. (passed with flying colors by the way...) I also learned
how to make Mexican cheesecake, had a birthday party for a 69 year-old
Dominican lady, and got permission from a less active to call him over and over
and over until he woke up and came to church. We gave up when he still
didn't answer after 20 or so calls.
I also met with a few
less actives who were really suffering. It was very difficult to see them
in such stressful situations, but it helped impress upon me that our actions
definitely have consequences. Sometimes we can't see it until it happens,
but choosing to not obey God's laws always brings misery. We can always
trust that we will be the most happy when we follow His commandments.
We had a really good
sacrament meeting yesterday. There was a mix up with the program, so there
ended up being no speakers prepared, so Presidente Maya changed the theme of
the meeting to missionary work and had the 4 Elders, our mission leader and a
Priest who recently decided to serve a mission bear our testimonies about
missionary work. We also had a full house: 108 people in sacrament
meeting! It was packed!
I also had two really
great experiences that impressed on me the importance of following the
direction of priesthood keys. In the stake that I'm serving in the stake
president has asked the missionaries to teach a very specific lesson to all of
the members about how to invite others to increase their faith in Christ by the
Spirit. The lesson is a little complex, and so we were a bit worried that
some of our members wouldn't be able to grasp it very well. But we
decided to do what we were told and teach the lesson. We taught it first
to a less active Guatemalan man who hadn't been to church in over a year.
The Spirit was strong, and it caused him to really think about his goals for
his family, and rekindled his desire to come to church. We next taught it
to a pair of Colombian sisters who are very active. Partway through the
lesson they thought of someone they could invite to the upcoming branch family
home evening, and the rest of the lesson we just watched as they came up with
idea after idea of things that they could do to help this person they wanted to
invite. These experiences helped me realize even more that those who have
priesthood keys really do receive guidance from the Lord. If we will pay
attention to what our Bishops, Stake Presidents, and other leaders counsel us
to do, we will be blessed, even if the things they tell us to do don't make
sense to us at the time.
Well, that's about
it! Hope all is well out there! Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Foote
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| Elder Foote and a Spanish Family |