Mom,
That
email was incredible! I loved it so much!!! I want you to send the talk please
and whatever else. Tell Dave what a great teacher he is for me. That is so cool
because this week in our zone meeting I hit a tiny bit about Joseph and the
courage he had to choose the right. But my lesson was very superficial compared
to this, wow, so good!
I
still haven’t gotten the package but I got transferred so I will be going to
Campinas tomorrow to see where I will be going. It was quite a week mom; it was
a great time to tell the truth.
We
had our zone meeting on Tuesday and then I went to Albuquerque's area to do a
division with him. It ended up going way long and I stayed there until
Saturday. It was the best week I have had in a long time, and we were able to
talk about past experiences that we had and rekindle our great desires to do
the Lord's work.
Albuquerque
will be a friend through all the eternities and I am so grateful for the
example he is to me. We did a lot of good work there. We went to visit a family
of recent converts that live way out in the boonies on a farm, we had to get a
car ride with members to get there and it was way dark at night. We had to open
up a few cow gates and scare off the cows so they would get out of the way of
the road. It was so much fun. That night Albuquerque had borrowed a guitar and
had the lyrics and chords to "Take me home, Country Roads" by John
Denver and he played and I sang. It was such a fun time.
We
taught a member's daughter in law also, she isn’t married and we talked a lot
with her about the importance of marriage before the Lord, and I was getting
ready to lay down a bunch of scriptures to show the importance but the Spirit
stopped me, and told me just to bare testimony, and I did and it was never
easier because I am so so so grateful for the blessings that the temple has
brought our family. It was the best feeling ever, and the lady started crying I
was having trouble to keep the tears in but we got through ha ha and it was
great. She said she would talk a lot better with her "husband" and
get back with us.
Then
Elder Brayden, my way good buddy who is going home today, came to visit the
area because he started his mission there and he chose to go back to visit it.
So it was a really great time to see him and to be able to say goodbye, he is
such a great buddy and I will for sure be keeping in contact with him. He
taught me so much here on the mission. Such a cool kid, got accepted into
Chicago University for grad school in paleontology. So I might have to visit
Chicago sometime.
When
I got back on Saturday, my comp had introduced a family that they found while I
was gone, and this family is extremely ready to receive the gospel! We had
taught them about the Book of Mormon and they accepted baptism, we do have to
get the parents married first but the daughter who is 20 ish accepted and asked
if she could bring friends with her to church also. It was such a blessing.
We
marked a baptismal date with Mirelle, but her work keeps falling through on her
so she ends up working on Sundays and so we decided to throw her date back a
little, but she is progressing and it is easy to perceive her growing close
with our Savior.
These
last two transfers were really tough here in this area, and all that I did lead
up to finding these people and I hope that they will be baptized in the future.
I learned so much about patience and love here, and I am so grateful for the
opportunity that I had to be here. It was the best week I have had in a long,
long time. I love this work so much, and I am so grateful for the blessings we
have from the gospel, most importantly my eternal family. I love you so much
mom and dad, thanks so much for the blessings you brought to us all! I love
you!
Elder Paynter (Sunsy)
