Conference!

Family!

Not too much to say this week.  We were on the buses a lot this past week, so we had a lot of opportunity to talk to the people of Dayton.  We found a ton of people who were interested in having the missionaries come by, so the English missionaries in the area should have a pretty busy week this coming week!

E----'s mom came back from New Jersey to visit for a few days.  She brought her youngest son and her friend with her.  She has decided that she wants to be baptized here!  When she comes here to stay in a few months, she will be baptized here, as well as her youngest son and most likely her husband and friend as well!

General conference was really good!  I got to watch my first session in Spanish.  I haven't ever had anyone come to Conference before, but this time a bunch of the branch members came to watch the conference at the church with E----'s family.  Conference is much better in English.  Except when the speaker is speaking in his native language of Spanish.  When the Spanish speakers started speaking we went across the hall where the conference was broadcast in Spanish and listened to their talks without the English translation over the top.  That was pretty cool.  I especially enjoyed the talks by Elder Scott, Elder Robbins, Elder Klebingat, and Elder Eyring's talk in the priesthood session.  I received a lot of revelation for myself and for the work here in Dayton.

Hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Foote

Mam and Jalapeno Juice!

Family!

What a week!  It seemed to just fly by!

We met with S------ (the Puerto Rican we're teaching) a couple more times this week.  She's still a little self-conscious about praying with us, but she always does a really good job whenever she does pray.  We met her husband this week as well.  He's a super cool guy, and he seems to have a real desire to be more religious.  He accepted a baptismal invitation without hesitation!  The only thing is that he works a lot, so it will be tough to stay in contact with him...

I learned how to make salsa this week.  I was put in charge of cutting up the jalapeno, so I got the juice all over my hands.  The member that was teaching us told me to make sure I washed my hands before touching my face, so I did.  But it turns out it takes more than just one washing to get it all off...

I did more electrical work for E------- (E----'s dad) this week.  Luckily though, they managed to find a professional to come and do it, so they won't have to rely on our novice skills any longer to install their electricity.  After 3 months of not having electricity, they should finally have it by the end of the week!

I went on another exchange to Fairfield OH!  Day 2 doing missionary work outside of the Dayton area!  There are a lot of Guatemalans in that area, so I learned a lot more about the culture of Guatemala.  I also learned a little bit of one of the dialects in Guatemala called Mam.  One of the members taught us how to say "Would you like to be baptized in water?" in Mam, so that was cool.

The members in the branch just keep getting better!  Yesterday the Elders Quorum president and his family went out after church and visited the majority of the less-actives in the branch!  The branch finally has a mission plan and a baptismal goal for the year, and there is a big focus on reactivation and retention.  We're super excited, because once the members are involved, then the work can really progress how the Lord wants it to.

Well, that's about it for this week!  Let me know how things go with Grandma.  I'm glad I was able to talk to her again.  Have a good week!

Love,

Elder Foote

P.S.  Thanks for the package!

P.S.S.  I sent a package home a few weeks ago.  It just had some stuff in it that I didn't need to be carrying around anymore.  Let me know if you got it.  Thanks!

Elder Foote Leaving Fresh Salsa For a Branch Member

Skyline of Dayton, Ohio

Elder Foote's One in a Melon Package

Mexican Independence and "The International Man of Mystery"

Family!

First off, baptism of M----- this week!  It was amazing!  She gave an amazing testimony after her baptism!  I'm so glad that I got to stay here to be a part of it.  Elder Chandler and I spent all of our time together searching and searching for someone to baptize in our area.  We had been promised that by the end of that month we could find someone to baptize.  We found lots of people in that time, but no one was baptized... until now!

We were spies this week.  A family in our branch moved away about five months ago, and they moved back about 1 month ago.  In that 1 month, they hadn't contacted anyone from the branch.  We were worried about them, so we headed out to find them.  We went to their old neighborhood, contacted one of their friends, and from her learned the general location of their house.  We went to that area and walked around the parking lots until we found their cars.  Because of where their cars were, we were able to narrow down where this family lived to about 10 doors.  As we were trying to decide which it was, someone came out of one of the doors.  She turned out to be a member from the Beavercreek ward, and she told us which apartment they had moved into.  We knocked on their door, but there was no answer.  That day was Mexican Independence day, so we went to a nearby store, bought a piñata, filled it with candy, then left it on their doorstep.  We got a call from them a few hours later, and we were able to go visit them that night!  Contact made!

E----'s mom decided to get baptized out in New Jersey.  She has been meeting with the missionaries out there for a few weeks now, and now that she has read the whole Book of Mormon and 100 pages of the Doctrine and Covenants, they told her that it is time to make a decision.  They told her that she needed to pray to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet and if she should be baptized.  She did just that, and she had a dream that same night.  She dreamed that she was in a church.  She went up to the pastor and told him she had a tough decision to make and that she needed help.  He had her sit down on a chair, then he placed his hands on her head and gave her the gift of the Holy Ghost in the exact way it is done in the church.  Afterwards, she felt very peaceful.  When she woke up, she opened up the bible randomly to see if she could get more of a confirmation.  Of all of the scriptures she could have read in the bible, she read in 2 Chronicles 15:3-4.  I'll let you read it.  She took that as her answer that she had found the truth and that she needed to be baptized!  Miracle!

We got to participate in the branch campout this week.  We went the night before for an hour, then we went in the morning to help with breakfast and play soccer with the members and investigators that went.  I never thought I would go camping on my mission...

This week one of the members gave me the name "The International Man of Mystery."  I'm not really sure why she picked that name.  She says it's because of the talents I showed over the past week that she had never seen before.  I played the piano for the baptism, and I translated for a high councilor in sacrament meeting.  That's all I can think of.

I learned this week that in a small branch there is no escaping choir practice, even for the missionaries...

That's all I've got.  Hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Foote 

Elder Foote and the Pinata

Elder Foote and Elder Taylor at the Branch Camp Out

Our Mexican Independence Day Party

Out Doors at the Branch Camp Out

Sunrise in the Ohio Wilderness

Don't Use Dish Soap in the Dishwasher

The Reds and a Little More Dayton!

Family!

Lots of things happened this week!  First off, last P-day we went as a mission to the Cincinnati Reds game!  It was amazing (mostly because I got to talk with all of my past companions and friends in the mission for a couple of hours)!  The cameras in the stadium would always pan to our section of 250 or so missionaries, so I was on the big jumbo-tron screen for a bit, and some sister missionaries held up a copy of the Book of Mormon when the cameras panned onto them!  Preaching the gospel one baseball game at a time!  I also saw a familiar face at the game... (I'll include a picture)

E---- came with us to teach S------ (our Puerto Rican investigator), and it went really well.  She is progressing really well, and we're really excited for her!

We have been helping Elian's dad put electricity into his house for a few weeks now, so this week I got to apply the things Dad taught me about connecting wires to the outlets when we were finishing the basement.

This week the Elders in my last area put a lady named M----- on date that Elder Chandler and I started teaching while we were up there a few months ago.  She's getting baptized this Saturday!  This will be the first baptism the Dayton Spanish 1 area has seen in 4 years!  I also found out that that kid who came up to Elder Taylor and I on the street and asked to come to church is going to be baptized this Saturday as well!  

We got transfer calls this morning, and I'll be staying in Dayton again.  At the end of this transfer (which is transfer 11 in this branch)  I will have lived here for 15 months straight!  But to be honest, there's nowhere I'd rather be.  I wouldn't mind staying in this branch for the rest of my mission.

This week the importance was re-emphasized to me of teaching people and not lessons.  I had the chance to go to my old area for a few hours with both of the Elders who are serving there now and help them meet a few of the people that I used to teach up there.  When we were teaching those people at the beginning of my mission, they never showed much interest.  Looking back, I can see it was because at that time we didn't know Spanish very well and we were only focused on sharing our message.  We weren't focused as much on getting to know the investigators and growing to love them.  This time when we went by, they completely opened up and were very excited to have us there.  I know that there is a difference felt when love is involved.  We can try to help someone all we want, but if they don't feel that we love them, nothing much will come of our efforts.  I know that as we show others we love them, we will be able help them more as they come to love us in return.

Hope all goes well this week!  Love you all!

Love,

Elder Foote

Spanish District Elders and the Two Newest Branch Members

Elder Foote and Elder Taylor at the Reds Game

Elder Foote's Cincinnati Reds "First Game Certificate"

Elder Taylor, Elder Foote, Elder Wells and Elder Graf

President Porter

Elder Foote's Game Ticket

Cincinnati Reds Stadium

Right Field at Reds Stadium

Elder Foote and Sister Brown

Sister Porter

Entire Cincinnati Mission

Members Join In

Family!

The work is beginning to take off here en la tierra de Dayton!  Let me share with you a few examples of how this is happening:

A lot of Central and South American countries grow lots of coffee, so the people love it... a lot.  Because of this, we were a little worried about E------ dad accepting the Word of Wisdom.  We taught it to him this past week after he told us he believes Joseph Smith is a prophet, and it went great!  He accepted to live it!  One step closer!

E---- got the priesthood yesterday!  He'll help out with the sacrament for his first time next week.  We helped him input 40 or so names onto Family Tree so he'll be ready to go to the temple soon!  He came out to teach with us yesterday as well and bore an awesome testimony to a Puerto Rican we're teaching.

Speaking of Puerto Rico, let me tell you an awesome story.  We got a call from the other Dayton Spanish Elders one evening telling us they had a referral for us.  A lady from Puerto Rico had called the Elders and asked them if they could come by and teach her, then show her where the church is.  We were semi-close to where she lived, so we hurried over there as fast as we could!  This is only the second time in my mission I have got a referral where the person wanting to be taught contacted the missionaries!  Well, we talked to her for a few minutes and found out that she is actually a member!  She is here with her granddaughter for a few months, and she wanted to know where the church was so she could come to the branch.  We visited them a different day and found out that the granddaughter isn't a member, but she went to church for a long time when she was younger and knows a lot of the hymns by heart!  Miracle!  We're super excited to teach this family!

We met with a less active this week that I have never met with before.  She is usually "too busy" to meet with us, but we added incentive this time by inviting her to come to a Mexican restaurant with us.  She accepted, and she also brought along her daughter and her sister: both non-members!  The sister is interested in coming to church as well!

We teach a certain less active sister a few times a week.  She lives alone, so we always teach her outside on her porch.  We passed by one day and she decided she didn't want to have the lesson outside, so she went and got her neighbor and invited him to come join in on the lesson.  He accepted, and we went inside and taught him about the Book of Mormon!

This week I wanted to share my testimony about the importance of member missionaries.  I know that what the prophets have told us is true: that "now is the time for members and missionaries to work together, to come together, to labor in the Lord's vineyard, to bring souls unto him."  The Lord is hastening his work, and he is doing it in part through the increased participation of the members.  I know that as we do our part to share the gospel to those around us, the Lord will open the way for us to help many of our brothers and sisters come to know the truth.

I love you all and hope that you have a super amazing week!  Happy birthday Trevor!

Love,

Elder Foote

P.S.  I got E------ package just before I got to the library.  I'll give it to him when I see him tomorrow. Thanks!     

  

BAPTISM

Family!

Yes, you read it correctly, we had a BAPTISM this past week!  I'm generally too cautious for superlatives, but it might have just been the happiest day of my life!  So let me tell you about it.

We've been planning the baptism for the 30th of August for pretty much the whole month, so we've had tons of time to invite people.  Because of that, we ended up having more than 50 people there!  The room was full!  We started off by singing "El Espiritu de Dios."  Well, about half of us did.  The other half that didn't speak Spanish sang "The Spirit of God" at the same time.  E---- has been going to classes in the English ward and sacrament meeting with us, so there were lots of his friends from the English ward there that didn't speak any Spanish but came to support him anyways.  An 8 year-old boy from a recently activated family we have been working with was also baptized.  The branch Elders Quorum President Hermano Grajeda baptized E----, and President Vilches baptized R------ (AKA Papas).  After he changed, E---- bore his testimony to everyone in Spanish and English.  It was amazing.  He said that he was so glad that he was one of a few out of a the billions of people on the planet that had found the truth and come to know Jesus.  Super powerful!  The next day I got to confirm him in sacrament meeting.  That was a really cool experience.  We went to visit him later on Sunday evening, and when we got to his house he was on the phone with his older brother telling him all about the baptism and the Church!  Not even a member for 8 hours and he's already a member missionary!

I'm so excited for him!  He's got such a great future ahead of him.  He has the goal of serving a mission and getting married in the temple one day, and I know he'll be able to do it.  It's been amazing to see how the gospel of Christ has changed his life over the 3 months I've known him.

So yeah, that was definitely the highlight of the week.

I gave another talk in sacrament meeting this past Sunday.  I've been in the branch for over 13 months now, and somehow I've managed to only speak once until this past Sunday!  It was my second talk in Spanish, and this one went much smoother than the one I gave when I had only been speaking Spanish for 3 months...

I went on another exchange to my last area.  This time I got to see a lot of investigators that I had found and started teaching, and I was glad to see that some of them are doing really well!

One day we were knocking on a potential's door when this kid walked up to us from the street and asked us if we were from a church.  We said we were, and he said "I want to go to church."  We set up an appointment with him for the English Elders, they went by and taught him, he came to church this past Sunday, and now he has a baptismal date for the 20th!

I know that this is the Lord's true church.  I know that the Gospel of Christ changes lives and can help people reach their full potential.  I know this because it has changed me, and I have seen the changes it has made in the lives of people here in Dayton.  I'm so grateful to be able to share this message with the people here!

Hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Foote 

Another Week....

Family!

This week I found out that we will get to go to the temple in September!  I also found out that on the 8th of September we will get to go to a Cincinnati Reds game as a mission!  Stay tuned...

We found an amazing family this week!  The Dad is Guatemalan and learned Spanish as his second language, then learned some English when he came here.  The Mom is a full-blooded Sioux Indian.  Their kids are just about as Lamanite as you can get... =)  But the sad thing is that the kids and the Mom don't speak much Spanish, so we're probably going to have to pass them along to the English Elders...

This week we had a really cool miracle happen.  We had some plans fall through, so we had an hour left in the day with nothing planned.  We decided to pray and ask for help to know what to do.  As soon as we finished our prayer, a truck turned the corner, stopped a few houses away from us, and a Hispanic got out and started to walk to his house.  It was almost as if we had been delivered a Hispanic to talk to!  We went and talked to him, set up a time to meet, then went to say a prayer of thanks.  When we finished that prayer, we saw another Hispanic down the street, so we went to talk with him.  After that, we remembered a potential we had in the GPS, so we went and knocked the door, and a really nice lady answered who invited us back.  It was a really productive hour!

We had an amazing zone conference this week.  President Porter taught us about the Doctrine of Christ and on how to get rid of negative and doubtful thoughts.  It was probably one of the best talks I have ever heard; I wish I could have recorded the whole thing!

As we were walking down the street one day, we passed by a house with a few very obvious signs that Hispanics lived there.  First off, there were tomatillo plants in the front yard.  Second, there were Hispanics out front bathing their Chihuahuas.  I have never seen anyone bathe a Chihuahua until that day.

We had the 1st Semi-annual Batalla de Los Tacos this saturday.  We had a super good turnout, and we ate some of the best Mexican food I have ever eaten.  The branch is really pulling together and working hard to fellowship and help the work here get moving.

We got a new Branch Mission leader.  I'm excited to start working with him.

E---- is all set for baptism!  I'm super excited for him!  

Sorry this email is a little disconnected.  

I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ on the earth and that as we work to spread the message of the gospel, we are helping our brothers and sisters come to knowledge of how they can have more peace and happiness now and eternal life in the life to come.

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Foote  

Preparing For Saturdays Baptism

At Zone Meeting

Elder Foote With One of the Families

Elders Foote, Taylor, Fivas and Martin