20 febrero 2012

Well Family this was yet another good week for your boy here in Elko. Monday was just a normal P-day nothing too special. We had dinner with the Marquez family like every week and we taught him how we are always learning to feel the spirit. And it's true. We can feel it and recognize it but I feel as though it is really a lifelong thing learning how to fully comprehend it. But we did get the Valentines package and thank you soooo much. After dinner we went to a members house with 4 other missionaries and she's a Flip! so we had lumpia and some kalua pork kind of stuff and it was alll delicious. It seems like I do a lot of eating and it's cause we do hahah. Tuesday was good. We tried to step out of our comfort zone a bit and pull over the car and talk to a bunch of people. so we did and it was cool we didn't get any return appointments or anything but it was cool to just get out and do it. Then we went to Juans house and one of the last lessons to prep him for his baptism! We taught him everything then went through the questions with him. It was really funny cause when we got to the law of chastity we said Juan will you keep the law of chastity and he said NO hahah and was persistent but it ended up he didn't understand the question so its all good. We then went over to the Sotelos, Nikolas and Felicitas, the family we're teaching and they wanted to feed us dinner and boy did they feed us dinner. They literally brought out almost a bucket worth of Pazole for everyone! It was really good! SOOOO MUCH FOOD THOUGH! They are just super fun though and grasp it but something is just holding them back but they love having us over and feeding us. Wednesday was an interesting morning/day the other Elders truck was broken so we had to go pick them up and they spent the morning with us. It was really hard to focus and get anything done really with four of us believe it or not it is quite intimidating to see 4 guys in suits walking up to your door or down the street. One of the elders likes to give a hard time to leadership just cause so Elder Vega was getting a bit frustrated but we goitta just keep on going. Then we all went ot a lesson and taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that was really cool I ended up leading it for the 4 of us for some reason but it went really well. Then we had dinner with a PMF that we hadn't met but had a really good time and the husband (nonmember) invited us back over after they come back from their cruise so it was really cool! The lesson that really stuck out to me that day was that Dubois' are leaders! We can't let little things bother us although it is easier to act "wo is me" but there are others going through harder things and as we stay positive our effect can be great! Then Thursady came around. We got out haircuts by a member which is awesome! then we went to go help a lady jump her car so we went to a members home to borrow cables and when we came back Hno Mata invited us in then went on to cook for us! hahahha Hispanics love feeding you and eating is one of the best ways to build trust! so we had toast with sweetened condensed milk which was really good then he made us osme bbq chicken wings which were delicious! Then we went out to Carlin, about 30 minutes away from Elko and a town of about maybe 1000? It has only one school it is a combined school with everything but we are teaching a family out there. And it went really well! They love having us over and they're getting married in April so its exciting. Then we went to the Sotelos about an hour before dinner just to visit and see how they are doing. We had a really good time then Felicita wanted to feed us so we said, Solo un medio de la torta. "only half a sandwich" so she went back and brought out 2 huge "halfs" and it was delicious chicken with chile and way good then we finished and she said quieren mas? y dijimos no estamos bien but she brought out another "half" for each of us hahahah so we ate then went to dinner and ate some more! it was really good though and of course I got it all down hahaha. Then just taught a recent convert about the need of Christ from the Fall and it was really neat there is a quote about that by Pres Benson that one of our members shared with us. So we shared that message a lot this week. The lessons are that everyone is different and all we can do is just be us and we can't push that on anyone. And also I really want to cook! hahaha like for real cook.Then friday is just full of weekly planning. Which is good so that was our day and we had the baptismal interview with Juan ans that went really well! We then had dinner with a really cool family and they gave us Girl Scout Cookies! (which are basically all gone already!) ahhaha then we went and taught brother Johnson about Charity. Made me realize that is really the ultimate thing for us to seek after, but also that we are really teaching people so we need to listen to what they say no matter the tangent and bring it back to THEM cause that is who it is all about. The lesson is You're You and there is no changing that so we need to make the most of who we are. Then saturday rolled around the day of Juancitos Baptism! so the morning we spent all getting ready for it. Then we went out to lunch with the other elders and it was so good Carne Asada fries and it's really awesome how great the members are here. We didn't even know the members but they saw we were elders and paid for our meal! Then we went back and just waited for the baptism. The other elders had a lesson at the church before our baptism and asked me to help them and it went super well! then we went to the baptism. Juan was soooo pumped but I could tell he was a little nervous too. But the whole service was cool it was totally bilingual cause his primary class is english but he is part of the spanish branch. Elder Vega did the baptizing and Juan was sooo scared of the water so it toook like 5 times to dunk him but it was cool they got it after he prayed so it was really neat. But as they were getting dry we had a testimony meeting kind of thing and I got to start it off with my spanish and english at the same time. It was kinda cool! Then eventually his dad got up. His dad is catholic but mentioned in his testimony that Juan Carlos is an example and he thinks he'll get baptized soon! IT WAS AWESOM!!! The rest of the night was just good we went around did some visits and we got a talk from our members. We listened to it and it was amazing. It was just this RM sister who talked about how her family is missionary focused and how we can share the gospel with our friends in simple ways! it is sooooo good I'll try and get a copy and send it to yall. Then sunday was cool! I got to confirm Juan and it was sooooo awesome! I did it in Spanish too so I was really nervous but it is amazing to see how the spirit guides. The rest of the day was just like any normal sunday just visiting and soaking in the spirit. I love this work though although it is hard it is soooooo rewarding. I love you all and miss ya'll but I know it'll only be a short time cause time is flying and I can't believe it! As for my health everyone I am doing good. I am getting healthier and stronger day by day. Thank you for your concern and Love you all!!

 

Love,

 

Elder Dubois