Out Came The Sun....

My family,

Hey!  How's it going?  Let me include a few experiences from this week:

It was pouring rain one day, but we had planned some service for an investigator outside, and we really felt like we needed to go do it.  She lived far away, and so if we went out to her house and weren't able to do service, we would have wasted a lot of time and miles in getting there and coming back.  So we said a prayer that everything would work out so that we would be able to go up there and do what we had planned, then we left.  As we were driving there, the rain slowly subsided, and by the time we got there, the sun was out and the weather was perfect.  We started to do some work in her garden as we had planned, but then something unexpected happened: she got home early from work!  So we were able to have a great lesson with her about the Book of Mormon!  That was a miracle that showed to me that the Lord places us places to do certain things, and sometimes those things are different than we are expecting.

We had stake conference this week, and Elder Falabella of the 1st quorum of the Seventy came to speak.  He's from Guatemala, so after the session our Spanish district went up and talked to him in Spanish for a few minutes.  He gave us some very specific counsel for how to help our branch and the work in our areas.  His counsel was the answer to some questions I've had for a long time.  I know that the Lord speaks through his servants to help direct His work.

This week we were caught into the most intense Bible-bashing battle I've experienced on my mission so far.  It was really just a one-sided battle; this guy just kept attacking us, but we refused to bash back.  Anytime we tried to answer a question of his or really just say anything, he just kept talking.  It was pretty crazy.  Always remember that the most important thing regarding gospel truths is not what people teach, but if the Holy Ghost is present when they are teaching.  You can always trust the feelings that come when the Holy Ghost is testifying of the truth.

We have an awesome investigator!  She is super prepared!  When we taught the apostasy, she understood it better than anyone I have ever taught.  Then when we taught her about the Book of Mormon, it made complete sense to her!  She loved the idea that the Lord would provide a second witness of Christ to help stabilize the teachings of the Bible!  We were super excited!  But the best part is an experience she shared with us.  She called her mom to let her know that she was meeting with us, and when we heard that, we were a little nervous.  But her mom only talked about how much she admires the church, how much it focuses on families, and she encouraged her daughter (our investigator) to keep listening to what we had to say!  Yeah!

Not too much else happened.  Elder Chandler is teaching me more about soccer, so I'm getting better bit by bit.  This morning I learned how to do a rainbow kick (I think that's what it's called).  So yeah, preparense...

Love you all!  Have a great week!  Thanks for the pictures!

Love,

Elder Foote 

Elder Foote Waiting

I have now lived here for at least one day in each of the 12 months!!

Family!

Another week has past!  Sounds like all went well with you all this week.  Looks like graduation went well; I'm sad I missed it!  You'll have to let me know how the trip went when you email next week!

As far as Dayton goes, things are pretty normal here.  Last P-day we went to the Dayton Art Insitute and looked at art.  I'll include some pictures of our adventures... 

You know in the Restoration DVD where Joseph Smith and the little boy are planting and Joseph sticks a stick in the ground, moves it forward a bit, then the kid puts the seed in and they close up the hole?  Yeah, we did that this week.  We were helping out in the garden of our Branch President's family, and Elder Chandler and I were given the opportunity to plant the green beans.  So we found a stick, and we acted out that part of the movie!  It was exciting.

We went out with a member who recently returned from his mission in Guatemala.  He is the epitome of becoming Hispanic.  He internalized the culture so well I would dare say he is Guatemalteco.  Anyways, he taught us a new form of speaking that I've heard of before, but never known how to use.  In Spanish there's a formal way of speaking, and informal way of speaking, and this other way called the "vos" form, which I guess they only use in certain countries.  It's basically just a super informal way of speaking.  So that was cool to learn.  Elder Chandler and I are starting to take note of all the words we learn from all of the different countries that are represented here.  Soon I'll be able to speak Spanish from Mexico, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, La Republica Dominicana, Honduras, Costa Rica, etc.!

We had an amazing lesson with a new investigator this week.  She is super prepared; she basically taught us about the apostasy when we started discussing it!  We are super excited for her!

That's it for this week!  Hope all goes well with the cruise!

Love,

Elder Foote   

Elder Foote, Dayton Art Museum

Elder Foote, Dayton Art Museum Sculpture

Elder Foote, Dayton Art Museum Weird Thing

Elder Foote, Blending In

Elder Foote, One Year Package

Elder Foote, Name in Spanish

The Cleanest Car!!!!!

My family!!!!

Please allow me a moment to brag.  For as long as I have been in Dayton, I have been engaged in a silent struggle, a year-long battle, a fight that I have never been able to win.  Until now.  (did you like that build up?)  Every few months we have a zone conference, and at that zone conference they check all of the cars.  Out of 10-15 cars, they pick a winner for cleanest car, and that companionship is given something more precious than gold: they are given a few miles added to their monthly mileage allotment.  Well, I had almost given up hope that I would ever win, but this past week at zone conference my dreams were finally realized.  We won!  So I can now check winning the clean car award off of my missionary bucket list...

Quite a bit happened this week.  I used a garden tiller for the first time, I was offered (and successfully rejected) tequila, and I witnessed a flash flood!

We also found lots of new people this week, all with tons of potential!  I'm super excited for all the amazing lessons we will have this week with all of them!

Our P-day was moved to today because of a miracle!  President Porter was inspired to have P-day on Tuesday this week instead of Monday, and to have a huge focus on finding new investigators.  The whole day our phone went crazy as everyone reported and new investigator that we were able to find.  At the end of the day, as a mission we found 234 new investigators!  That is over half of what our weekly record is: in just one day!  We had a mission-wide conference call and talked about that amazing miracle and about how that was just the beginning of the miracles that will occur in June.  I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for us.  I know that he is behind all that happens out here, and that as we obey, he blesses us and those around us.

Sorry this email isn't too long.  If I had more time I'd go into a bit more detail on some things, but the library is super full today, so I don't have much time.

Thanks for your emails!  It sounds like things are going well at home.  I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Foote

Floating Car During a Flood

View From an Over Pass

Flooding on The Freeway

Flooding in Ohio

And Thus Begins Transfer 8....

Family!!

Hi!  Guess where I'm at?  If you guessed Dayton, then you're right!  Still here!  Yesterday at church the branch president said that he was just going to adopt me since I've been here so long, and a less active member asked if I was going to become the new branch president when Presidente Vilches leaves.  I think he was only half kidding...

My new companion is Elder Chandler.  He came out with me and was in the CCM the same time as I was.  He's from Idaho.  He's a Spanish master.  He is a firm believer in only speaking in Spanish.  My other companions and I talked a lot to each other in Spanish, but over this past week I can honestly say that I have probably talked to Elder Chandler about 95% of the time in Spanish.  I know that my Spanish is going to improve a ton during my time with him.

Not too many exciting things have happened this week.  We've been working extremely hard trying to find those that are ready, as always.  President Porter has promised us that every area in the mission has the potential to baptize a family during the month of June.  We are doing everything we can so that this can happen here in Dayton.  I know that as we throw ourselves into the work and always seek to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost, the Lord will pick up the slack, and there will be a new family in the branch by the end of next month!  Stay tuned!

I want to tell you quickly about the miracle of the throat lozenge.  It might seem kind of cheesy, but it was super important to me, so I'll share it.  I started getting sick last week, and by Wednesday my throat hurt really bad.  It hurt to swallow anything, and I was pretty miserable.  I prayed for help and that I could get better, or at least feel good enough that I would be able to focus on the work.  I went downstairs to try and eat something, and I had the distinct impression to look in the medicine cupboard.  I had looked in there when I first got to the apartment (a long time ago), but it just contained old medicine left behind by other missionaries, so I had never really paid it any attention.  Well, I followed the prompting and went and looked in the cupboard, and right there in the front sat an unopened and unexpired package of throat lozenges.  They didn't take all the pain away from my throat, but they helped enough that I was able to focus on the things we had to do that day.  I know that our Heavenly Father loves us and cares about the things that are important to us, even if they're really small.  I know that he answers prayers.  I am so grateful for the love He has for me and for all of the ways He shows it, especially in the small moments when all I need is a throat lozenge.

I said it last week, but I'll say it again: prepare yourselves for more adventures from Dayton.  Baptisms and miracles are coming.  I know it!

Have an amazing week!

Love,

Elder Foote   

PS  We taught some guys from Honduras how to pray in English, and this is the sheet we used.  We first wrote things out in Spanish, then gave the English translation, then wrote how to pronounce the English in a way that they could read.  At the end of the lesson they asked us how to say, "I want to go to church" in English.  So we taught them, and they repeated it over and over.  It made us super happy to hear people say that. :) 

Elder Foote and Elder Chandler

Praying in English Instructions

1 Year in Dayton?, Elder Foote The Roofer, And My Trip to The Hospital

Family!!!!!!!

Long time no see!  It was great to talk with all of you yesterday.  It sounds like all is going well out there in the great state of Utah! (now when people ask me where I'm from, I say the great state of Utah...)  All of you look great! 

Well, I guess I'll tell you the big news....... I'm staying in Dayton again!!!  That's right, the dream will be realized; yo voy a morar aqui por 1 ano!  The sad part of this news is that Elder Wells will be leaving.  He is an amazing Elder, and I'll be sad to see him go.  But that means tomorrow I'll have a new companion.  This will be my 4th companion in my first area!  Crazy!!

Well, this was a week of adventures.  I'll dive right in and tell you a few things that happened this week.

All my mission I've heard legends of people from Mexico who have red hair.  I never fully believed those rumors, but then one day we saw someone outside of a house that we knew housed someone who spoke Spanish.  We went to talk to him, and sure enough he was from Mexico, but he had RED HAIR!  The legends are true!!!  So now you know.

I went to the hospital this week.  I decided I'd say it like that to give Mom a bit of a scare. =)  We actually went there to give someone a blessing.  A inactive member from the branch that I've only seen 3 times in my year here asked us to come and give his brother a blessing.  His brother overdosed and had a heart attack, then went into a coma.  It was pretty serious.  So we gave him a blessing with probably 20 people crowded around us watching to see what would happen.  It was the first time I've acted as the voice for a blessing in Spanish.

We talked to some people having a carne asada near the house of one of our investigators, and they invited us to eat with them.  That isn't an uncommon thing, but these people had nopales (cactus) which isn't too common.  I've had it before, but Elder Wells hadn't.  As we ate it, this old guy told us a story about Pancho Villa eating cactus in the desert with his army.  So there's some history for you as well as an experience with food...

I am now a professional roofer.  One of our friends needed half of her garage roof replaced, so guess who she called?  Los Elderes!  Her boyfriend (who happens to be from Peru) gave us orders, and we followed with exactness.  We got all the plywood up, but we had to leave before we started the tar paper or the shingles.  As we were leaving, the lady who invited us over tried to come up onto the roof to help her boyfriend.  As she stepped off of the ladder, she stepped on some sawdust, slipped, and went backwards off of the roof!  She landed on her side and hit her head on her neighbor's shed.  Luckily she was alright!  It was pretty scary!

We had a great lesson with one of our less active members this week. She told us that all through the last week she felt like she was being attacked. She was very irritable with everyone, she didn't want to pray or read, and she just all around felt bad. The night before we came over she decided she had better read something so she could tell us she had read. As she read, she felt better. During our visit, we shared with her 3 Nephi 18:18-19, which says that Satan desires to have us, and therefore we must always pray. We talked about a lot of the bad influences in the world, and at the end of the lesson she said that from now on she will read every day to be able to resist the attacks of the Devil. When we asked her if we could come by next week she said "Yes! You have to come!"

That's about it!  Prepare yourselves for another 6 weeks of adventures from Dayton Ohio!  Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Foote

Waiting For The Skype Call

Elder Foote Got a New Name Tag

Worth The Wait, 3 Hours to be Exact

Elder Foote and a Branch Member

Not Too Much This Week...

Family!

Not too much to report this week, so this email will probably be fairly short.

As far as teaching goes, things were pretty normal this week.  We had a really good lesson with a man named A------ who is looking for a way to have better unity in his family.  He said he was praying for a way to help his family, and then we showed up!  Awesome!

A man from Mexico taught us about the Amish a few days ago.  This man was born in Mexico but did a lot of his schooling in California, so our conversation was in Spanglish.  He would say a few words in Spanish, then a few in English, then back to Spanish, and so forth.  It was pretty interesting.

There is a less active in the branch who doesn't like missionaries at all.  We have tried many times to reach out to him, but he is never interested in talking to us, and he will usually only respond to us with very short sentences if he has to talk with us.  Well, this past week we had a great visit with him and talked to him for over half an hour.  It went so well that he offered to let us test drive his BMW around the neighborhood.  If it wasn't for the rule of only driving mission vehicles, I would have been able to drive his BMW!

As far as my vow goes to talk about food each week, this week I learned that you can't make a good carnitas out of turkey, and the same goes for barbacoa out of lengua.  (This is all according to a guy named Elias we talked to on the street, so don't get mad at me if it's wrong =) ).

I think that's about it.  Sounds like the dance concert was a success!  I'm sad I missed it.  I guess I'll just have to go to one in whatever college Katie goes to...  And Trevor better keep that Skyrim song good for when I get home, because I want to hear it!

I'm excited to talk to you guys on Sunday!  I have 40 minutes, and I can Skype this time.  I've been working through the details with Dad, but I should be calling after 2:30 your time, and I'll call Grandma Pat right after, so probably anywhere from 3 to 5 for her.

Oh, and thanks for the package.  I had a pretty good lunch with the stuff that was in there!

Love,

Elder Foote

P.S. The picture you requested is attached...

Elder Foote's Cinco De Mayo Package!

Elder Foote and Elder Wells Grew Mustaches

Elder Foote's District

Greetings From Dayton!!

Family!

If you had told me 1 year ago that I would be on a bus in Dayton Ohio at 10 AM on a Sunday morning, sitting next to a man from the hills of Guatemala who makes his living cutting tree limbs and who speaks Spanish as his second language, I'm not sure I would have believed you.  But that was how I spent my Sunday morning.  This man speaks a Guatemalan dialect named Ay Chi (or something like that) as his first language, and he learned Spanish so that he could come to the US and work.  He speaks Spanish better than I do, but not by much...  Anyway, he wanted to come to church, but didn't have a car.  So we went to his house Sunday morning and taught him how to use the public bus system to get to the church.  He had a great time there.

We got the chance to go on exchanges with our Spanish Zone Leaders this week for the first time ever!  It was super amazing.  They are both amazing teachers, and they helped us a lot with our teaching as well as our skills in connecting with the people.  In an attempt to further change my culture, I have decided to talk more about food, so every email that you receive from me until the end of my mission will have some sort of mention of food.  To start it off: I learned that el estado de Guanajuato is famous for their fresh strawberry jam.  Or at least that's what some guy named Gabriel told us...  but yeah, the Zone leaders taught us a whole lot of things, and I know that as we apply them, we will be able to help the people here even more.

We applied the things we learned the day after the exchanges, and we had one of the most powerful lessons I've ever had.  The lady we taught (D------) felt the Spirit very strongly, especially after we shared the First Vision with her.  She said she felt something in her chest that she just couldn't describe.  She had been visited by missionaries from other faiths before, but she said that there was a big difference between our visits and theirs.  It was a testimony builder for me that the Spirit really is the teacher, and when we allow him to do His job, progress occurs.

Something very sad happened this week.  I went to put on my nametag in the morning, and it broke!  It was my first nametag, the one I got my first day in the MTC...  So now I have to get a new one.

We did a lot of finding this week.  We are finding new Hispanics all over the place, and as we apply the training we received a few weeks ago in our Spanish Training, we're finding that we are able to develop better relationships with the people and help them feel more comfortable with our message.

Oh, I had interviews with President the week.  They went well.  Something memorable that he said to me was "You can either be comfortable, or somebody can have salvation.  It's frank, but that's just how it is."  No pressure, right?  But it's 100% true.  We can either stay in our comfort zones and not talk to people about the gospel, or we can do the uncomfortable thing and change someone's eternity; we can give them the chance to return to live with our Father in Heaven.  I feel like I have improved much in this regard since the beginning of my mission till now, but of course, there is always room for improvement.

That's about all I've got for today.  Oh, you asked about those investigators.  J---- O---- currently isn't progressing.  S----- S------ has only one day off a week, but sometimes he is forced to work on his day off, so there are times where he goes for weeks without a day off.  For this reason we aren't able to meet with him very often, and he can't come to church.  We had a lesson with B---- and her husband in the home of her member friend.  It went well, but now she says that she can't meet with us.  We think her husband isn't too fond of her learning about the church.  There is a lot of opposition to the work.

Hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Foote

picture caption:  greetings from Dayton!!!   

Dayton?

Spanish Zone Leaders Came For a Visit!

The Chihuahua Named Dirty