June 20th, Last P-day

Well this is going to be my last email as a missionary. It's been a good week for us. There was a few problems in the baptisms we were going to have this past week but they will still be getting baptized with my comp and his future companion. Pretty much the ward just wants me to go and visit them and stay the whole day with them eating food. They are a very loving ward. It makes me sad to leave them. 

But I am so grateful for this time that I have had to be in Bolivia to be a missionary and to help all of these people. I'm excited to go back and be with all of my family and friends again but I'm honestly sad to leave behind the missionary life and to leave behind all of the people that I knew here. But everything that has happened to me in these past 2 years has helped me to be a better person. More than anything I have felt that I have come closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ. I have loved being able to teach all of these people here, even if they didn't accept the messages I shared with them. 

I will have today and tomorrow to keep working and then I'll be going to the offices and just be hanging out there waiting until I go home. Not sure what I'm going to do until that day.

But that's about all for this week.

Elder Britt

Like always, the computer doesn't work to send pictures. I'll be sure to send you guys some for next Monday. 

June 13th, No Subject

So this week was a great week for us. One of the 2 marriages and baptisms fell through. I didn't feel like they were as prepared as they should be and so we moved the date to the middle of July. Hopefully with a little bit more time the Almeida family can be a little more prepared. 

But Luis and Lizet are still going strong for their marriage and baptism. They want to have a big party for their marriage but the thing is is that they don't really have the money to do it. They said they would try and get some money and have a party but if not the members will do something small for them. 

Other than that we are just going to keep working like normal. This will be my last week of full work which for me is crazy to think about. But we are just going to visit people normally and we are going to keep looking for new people to teach.

But not too much has happened. 

Elder Britt

Like always this computer can't send pictures so I'll send some next week. 

June 6th, 2 Marriages

So this week was really good for us. More than anything there was three big things that happened with our investigators this week.

First, Luis and Lizet are still really excited about their marriage and their baptism. They are going to be married on the June 17th and baptized June 18th. It was supposed to be this week be they didn't get money that they were waiting for so they had to do it for that date. But Lizet was so worried about it that she decided to fast so that everything would be alright. They are going to do it no matter what.

Second, is with the Almeida family. They are also trying to get married for June 18th and baptized the same day. But they don't really have the money to pay for it. They had a baby that was born a few weeks ago and have had to pay a lot for that. So they talked about it in ward council and the ward decided that we are going to do a service for them to get the money. We are going to make something that's called cuñape and sell them and all the money that we get is going to be for the marriage. So hopefully this Saturday we will have all the money we need and they will be able to get married next week and baptized.

Third, we found an investigator a few weeks ago that we have been teaching a bit and he has been reading a lot of the Book of Mormon. He read in 1 Nephi 14 about that there are only 2 churches. The church of Christ and the church of the devil. He said that he went to the catholic church because one of his family members died and he said he felt really weird and did not like being there at all. He couldn't go to church yesterday but he said that he is going to go to church next week no matter what to see how he feels there.

There's a lot of good stuff going on in our area. We have a lot of work to do.

Elder Britt

We've been also finding a lot of nice parrots in our area. It was biting my button on my shirt and felt really weird.

Also we found a cool souvenir in Trinidad. 

May 30th, No Subject

This week was pretty good for us. We had a lot of weird stuff happen and some funny stories. I guess I'll start off with the funny story. So we were contacting looking for some less actives that the ward wanted us to find and we found this guy who let us into his house. He told us a lot of weird things but I think one of the weirdest things he told us was that Joseph Smith didn't die and is alive in a castle in France. I told him how he died and he was like, well we know that Christ died because that happened 2,000 years ago but we don't know that Joseph Smith died because that only happened 200 years ago. That's usually how visits go when we find people contacting. I thought it was funny because he was trying the entire time to convince us that. 

But the good things that happened was we had a great activity in the ward that we planned called Calle 7. It's a game show here like wipeout but just a little poorer. But there was a ton of people there. There was more people there than there is at church on Sunday. We just did small games like tug of war, 3 legged races, and the water balloon tosses. But it was good because we had some investigators go that we have been trying to help go to church on Sundays. Normally if they go to activity during the week, it's more likely that they go to church on Sunday. But it was really rough controlling all of the little kids. There was a few times that ALL the kids were chasing me because I had a bag of suckers. They were impossible to control but in the end everybody had a good time. 

Right now we are planning a marriage which is going really well. They both are very excited for their marriage and for their baptism. The people in our area are progressing pretty well.

But that's about all for this week,

Elder Britt

May 23rd, No Subject

This week was a good week for us. We had a great zone conference with President Zambrano. There were a lot of missionaries there who are finishing soon so he pretty much focused a lot on working until the end of your mission. It was a great conference.

The investigators that we have right now are progressing really well. There are a few who are really excited to get married and baptized. There are we few that we have to encourage still. But we are doing what we can to help them

This week I had a good experience teaching family history. The lady we were teaching was so happy to hear that her dad will be able to accept the gospel on the other side. She said that she could never say goodbye to her father and she felt like this is something that will help her out a lot.

Something funny that happened this week. We were in the house last night planning an activity we are going to do this Saturday and a huge bat flew in the house and all the missionaries in my house started screaming. An elder grabbed a bat and took it out. 

But that's about all this week. We have a cool activity on Thursday which im looking forward to.

That's about all this week,

Elder Britt

These are all of the pictures I've been wanting to send. I don't have time to explain all of them though....

May 16th, No Subject

This week was full of a lot of good stuff. We have been working with all of the people that are preparing to be baptized this transfer. We have been working a lot with Lizet and Luis trying to get them ready for their marriage on June 10th and their baptism June 11th. They are both really excited for the marriage and its going to happen for sure now. It took a long time to get them excited for it but it looks like they are going to do it. 

Also this week we had a really great activity. A lot of members went and even a few investigators. There is a lady from Japan in our ward that the other elders are teaching. They put together an activity to teach the members about Japan's culture and their food. They told us that the unicycle is a huge sport over there and their son is a national champion that did a 54 kilometer race on a unicycle in like 1 hour and 10 minutes which was crazy. The kid did a cool demonstration. They even brought like 10 unicycles and all the members were trying to ride it. It was a great activity because all of the members and investigators were mixing together really well. 

But everything is going good in our area. We still having a lot of good lessons with our investigators and the members are helping us out a ton in our area. What we are doing in our zone is we made new limits in our area and we are working in an area where we can walk 15 minutes to get from one side of our area to the other side. It's nice because it cuts down on walking time and we can talk to more people. The only time we leave is if we have an important visit. The area we made is where the majority of members are. Our goal is to try and contact that area this transfer. 

But that's about all this week. 

Elder Britt

I have a ton of good pictures but every computer that I use doesn't work. I'll try and send them next week.

May 9th, Last Transfer

So this is the week of transfers and I will be starting my last
transfer. I don't know if ill be staying here in Trinidad or if I'm
going but Id say there's a 90% chance I stay here in this area.

The people that are progressing the best in our area is the Almeida
family. They are progressing really well and will most likely make it
to there new baptism date which in June 11th. They have a few doubts
and have think a few things but we are going to visit them with the
bishop to try and help the understand everything and be ready for
their baptism.

This week we will be trying to visit a lot of members and trying to
get references and hopefully get some new investigators that are good.
Its pretty hard finding good investigators in our area. Knocking doors
doesn't really work because the majority of the people let us in
because they like hearing the "word of God" but then never progress.
We are trying different things to find prepared investigators.

I really liked this message from Elder Craig A. Cardon, "Our Heavenly
Father knows what we are facing, that we all sin and “come short of
the glory of God” again and again. He sent His Son, who “knoweth the
weakness of man and how to succor them who are tempted.” His Son
teaches us to “pray always that [we] enter not into temptation.” We
are told to “cry unto [God] for mercy; for he is mighty to save.” The
Savior commands us to repent and to forgive. And although repentance
is not easy, as we strive with all our hearts to obey His gospel, He
gives this promise: “Verily I say unto you, notwithstanding [your]
sins, my bowels are filled with compassion towards [you]. I will not
utterly cast [you] off; and in the day of wrath I will remember
mercy.” The Savior wants to forgive."

That's about it for this week,
Elder Britt

I had some good pictures this week but this computer is messed up. Ill
have to send them next week.

May 2nd, No Subject

This week was an average week for us in Trinidad.

This week we were able to visit all of the people that had a baptism
dates and all of them were doing really well except for one couple.
One of the couples don't want to get married at all. They have lived
together for 8 years and have had one kid but still don't want to do
it. It's sad to see that but we did everything we could for them.

But this week was a normal week of work for us. We found some people
that are good to teach and everything is still going great in our
area.

Sorry for the small email.  I wrote a bigger one and it got erased...
so this is all I could do.

But today we are going to go eat some crocodile! Its super good.

Elder Britt

Apr. 25th, No Subject

This week was a great week for us in Paititi 3. We have seen a lot of
great things happening in our area. More than anything this week we
found a ton of new people to teach and we have a lot of people who
accepted a baptism date. We have about 16 people who have accepted to
get baptized on the 28th of May and the 11th of June. These 16 people
come from about 2 big familes. 3 couples and a single person. Each of
them are very receptive and have a great potential to make it to their
date. The ward has already made a lot of plans which will help us a
lot with their progression. So everything is going really well in our
area.

This week we had a great conference with Elder Calderon who is an area
70. But it was a great confrence and he focused a lot of the doctrine
of Christ. We did a lot of focus on baptism and how we help people
understand the importance of baptism and how we can resolve their
doubts. It was a great confrence for us.

But that's about all that is happening here. We are just trying really
hard to get these people ready for their baptism dates.

Elder Britt

Apr. 18th, No Subject

This was another good week for us in Trinidad.

Currently we are working with about 10 families in a neighborhood
that's called Virgen de Rosario. This place is super far away. We have
to take a mototaxi for like 20-25 minutes to get to this place. There
are four families who are progressing pretty well over there. We are
going to get all of these four families together in the next week so
we can talk to them about marriage. We are going to try and get all of
them married on May 7th and hopefully baptized the same day. Its going
to be a lot of hard work trying to get them all prepared for that day
but I think we will be able to do it.

We also have some other families in another part of our area that are
progressing pretty well. But we are still trying to know these
families and help them out as we can.

For these next few days I'm going to be with a new companion on
exchanges. We are having a  area 70 come tomorrow so a few elders are
flying to Trinidad today. My comp is going to go with one elder in one
part of our area and Ill be in another area with a different elder. It
should be interesting.

But that's about it.
Elder Britt

One of those pictures is Virgen de Rosario. Its pretty much in the
middle of a farm and its super super small. We are pretty much
visiting everybody that lives there.

Apr. 11th, Contacting

So this week went by really quickly but it was full of a ton of work.
My comp and I are getting along well. I'm having a good time training
him. But its hard to open this area. Our area book is empty. So we
couldn't find almost anybody that the other elders were teaching. Its
just been a week of full contacting and looking for people to teach.
Luckily some members knew where the investigators were living and
showed us their houses. There is a small neighborhood out in the
middle of no where that we are going to visit called Virgen de
Rosario. Its SUPER far but there's like 10 families who are
investigators. So we take like a 30 minute trip to go and visit them.
But they all seem pretty good.

But everything is going well in our new area. We don't get lost now and
we have already gotten the trust of the people we visit and we are
starting to work really well with them now. There is a lot of work and
potential in our area. Hopefully we will be able to start working well
and hard in our new area.

Elder Britt

Mar. 28th, No Subject

This week passed by very quickly. Each day we had really big
activities. We started teaching english classes every Wednesday now
and on Friday we had a big activity for Easter. But this entire week
we were working very hard with the Caldera family. We had to finish a
lot of lessons with them and they had the interviews on Thursday. It
was a really good experience for Hna Lady. She left the interview
crying really hard. She felt very happy to be baptized and that she
would be able to be cleaned from some things she did in the past. The
person that interview her, who is the first counsler in the mission,
told us that she was prepared since the premortal life to be members
of the church and that they will become great leaders in the church.

 They had a great baptism service on Saturday. We did the baptism with
another branch here and there was a ton of people in the baptism
service. They told us that they could feel the love of the members. I
baptized hno victor and my comp baptized hna lady.

But that's about all that happened this week.

Love you guys.

Elder Britt

Mar. 21st, No Subject

So this week has been really good for us. There's been a lot of good
stuff happening.

First off, we were in trio for 3 days. Elder Howard's comp had to
travel to Trinidad to do some paper work for immigrations so we were
working a lot with some people he visited. We normally did half a day
in our area and the other half in his area. But we were able to have a
lot of good lessons in our area.

The biggest thing that happened this week was with the Caldera family.
This week we got to their house and Lady wasn't there, she was working.
Viktor told us that he had good news for us, he told us that his wife
really wanted to get baptized. So we talked about it more and they
wanted to do it for this Saturday. So on Sunday we were waiting for
them in the church (it was the last time that they had to go to church
to get baptized) and Viktor showed up by himself. Lady had to stay
home for something. So that night I called President Zambrano to see
if they could still get baptized and he gave us permission. So this
week we just need to finish teaching them a few commandments and they
can get baptized!

They have progressed so much since we started visiting them. They
told us that Viktor never wanted to go to church and that Lady has no
idea how we got him to start going. They are really looking forward to
a new start. All of the members already love them a ton and always
invite them to the activities and church. We just hope that everything
goes well this week and that they can get baptized. I feel like a lot
of things that happened with them were miracles. They have already had
a lot of experiences that have helped their testimonies grow.

That's about all that's happened this week. We are going to be
focusing on them a lot this week.

Elder Britt

Mar. 14th, No Subject

This week was a really good week for us.

On Thursday afternoon we flew from Riberalta to go to Santa Cruz.
President invited us to go to a meeting there. It was a very rushed
day because they wanted us to pretty much go right to the meeting then
return to our área so we could get back to work. But it was a really
good meeting. We learned more about how to find people to teach and
there was a lot we could apply to our área. I always really enjoy the
meetings that I have with President Zambrano.

Also this week we are still seeing the Caldera family progress a lot.
This week we taught them about the Word of wisdom and they accepted it
pretty well. Lady only drinks coffee to stay awake at work and Viktor
just drinks tea because he likes it. They showed up for church really
early and were excited to be there. They had to go early because one
day earlier she got a wisdom tooth taken out and it was hurting her
prettly badly. It was funny, this week she told us about the first
time we went to visit them. The first lesson we had was just with
Viktor and she was in the back. She was furious with Viktor that he
let the “mormons” in. But he told her to just give us a chance and she
was with us in the second lesson and told us that she really enjoyed
what we shared with them.  They are progressing really well.

But that's about all that's happened.  We are just trying really hard to
work with that family and find more to teach.
Élder Britt

There is a big difference between my plack and a new guys plack.
Riberalta has made my plack become super red from all the dust that's
out here.

Mar. 7th, No Subject

So this week was really good for us. We had a really good lesson with
the Caldera family. They are still progressing really well. We invited
2 members to come with us to a lesson on Wednesday. We watched a
church video and made some food thats called masaco. They already know
a lot of people in the church and have made a few friends already.
Lady is still taking her Book of Mormon to read in her free time at
work and they both love it when we go to teach them. They couldn't go
to church yesterday because Lady was sick but they told us next week
they would go no matter what. I love visiting the Caldera family. My
comp and I are always really happy after every lesson we have with
them.

Also with the Gonzales family, they are still progressing really well.
Juan loves his new calling as secratary and is excited to work. The
family will be rescued as soon as we finish the lessons with them.

President also came this past week and we had a great zone meeting
with him. It was really powerful and talked a lot that we are in our
areas for a reason and we have to find the people who are prepared to
receive the gospel. I had a great interview with him. He also came to
our branch yesterday and bore his testimony. I feel like he really
encouraged the members a lot to participate more in missionary work
which was great.

That's about all that happened this week.
Elder Britt

But one of those pictures is of me making masaco. Masaco is fried
banana and then you smash it with that wooden thing and then you put
cheese in it. Its actually really good but kind of hard to make.

Feb. 29th, No Subject

So this week was really good for us. We taught the Caldera family
about 4 times this past week. They love it when we go there. We have
been doing everything to help them progress in the gospel. On Saturday,
we gave them a tour in the chapel and taught them with some members.
The members gave some strong testimonies and we could tell that they
were more receptive in the chapel. In the lesson we felt like we
should invite them to baptism with a specific date and they accepted
to be baptized the 2nd of April. When we invited them, Lady told us
that she was already baptized as a child but then started to think and
told us that she didn't understand why they baptize children when they
can't make the decision for themselves. On Sunday they showed up for
church and stayed only for 1 hour but really enjoyed it. They are
progressing really well!

We also found a family trying to contact a reference. They told us that
they were about to get baptized and the elders had transfers and never
went back. There wasn't a record of them in our area book. But they
seemed happy to see us return and we will see how they progress.

Everything is going well in the area. I'm glad that I will be here for
another transfer.

Élder Britt

The last picture is the Caldera family. We are going to cook something
called masaco this week with them. Its fried banana with cheese. It's
actually pretty good!

Feb. 22nd, Elections

So this week we were stuck in the house for another 3 days. There were
some elections in Bolivia and Friday morning they told us that we had
to stay in the house until Sunday. So we weren't able to do anything
for those few days. Another weekend we had to stay in the house.

But also we couldn't work too much in my area this week. Elder Casas,
the companion of Elder Howard who we live with, had to go to Trinidad
to do some paperwork for his passport so we were stuck in trio. We
spent half the day working in my area and the other half of the day
working in the area of the other elders.

We were able to have two good family home evenings this past week. We
had it with the Ribas family. Our branch president came with us and we
had a good lesson. We taught about how we can become converted to the
gospel of Jesus Christ trying to help him understand what he needs to
do to have his own testimony. He understands what he has to do, he
just needs to act now.

That's about all that happened in this week. But some funny things
happened this week too. The Ribas family and Gonzales family both got
new dogs and they both named it Britt in my honor. So now there are
going to be 2 little dogs running around in Bolivia with the name
Britt. It made me laugh so hard haha.

Elder Britt

Also this week we went to cut the grass for a retirement home in
the city. It was a good service!

Feb. 15th, No Subject

So this week went alright for us. We are trying really hard to get
everybody to go to church but its been hard. That's our biggest problem
out here. The people work really hard on Sunday and its hard for them
to have time to go to church but we are going to keep trying to help
everybody go to church.

Time in carnaval was alright. It was very hot and it was full of
studying and cleaning. This Sunday there are going to be elections
here in Bolivia and there is a law that there cant be any meetings
when there are elections or something like that. So that means that
this Sunday we also wont be able to go to church.

The biggest thing right now that is happening in our area is with the
Caldera family still. We were able to teach them about Joseph Smith
and the Book of Mormon. They were really open towards everything.
Viktor already started reading a bit and said he liked it a lot. His
wife, Lady, takes her Book of Mormon to work with her so when she has
some free time she can read it. Things are going really well with
them and the next time we visit them we are going to see if they have
prayed and if they have received their answer.

But that's about all for this week.
Élder Britt

I haven't sent pictures in a while but a few weeks ago we did another
service where we washed motos again. Something fell in the tank of
water and everybody told me I had to get it.

Also this week we did a service and we had to take down a tree.
Everybody here just cuts wood with their machetes. I've gotten pretty
good at it but while I was doing it this past week I broke the
machete.

Feb. 6th, Carnaval

Well tonight we start carnaval so we are going to be in the house
until Wednesday of the next week which is going to be fun. We will be
reading a lot of the book of Mormon and I'm looking forward for that.

This week we had a good experience with the Caldera family. We have
been able to find them a lot this week. Sadly, I was on exchanges one
of the time that we had a lesson with them so I wasn't able to visit
him. But last night we had a really good lesson with them. We taught
about when Christ was on the earth and the importance of prophets. We
told him the next time we would talk about a prophet called Joseph
Smith and he was like, I've heard that name before. He told us that he
saw a video about him and he pretty much told us the story of the
restoration perfectly but hes never met with missionaries before. It
was weird but hes prepared for the next time we teach them. We are
going to try and find them this afternoon.

Not too much has happened this week for us. We are just going to be
inside for the next few days.

Élder Britt

Feb. 1st, No Subject

This was a decent week for us in Riberalta.

This week we had some good lessons with the Caldera family. It's pretty
hard to find them because they work so much but when we can actually
find them, we always have really good lessons with them. This Saturday
we did another service as a zone where we washed motorcycles free and
I had to scream at all the people that we were washing. While I
was yelling at the people, I saw Viktor Caldera pass by. He stopped
and we washed his motorcycle for him. He sounded so positive that he
was going to attend on Sunday but he didn't show up. We were really sad
to see that he didn't make it and we went in the afternoon to see what
happened. He was confused about what time the church started. He
thought it was going to start at 8 at night. We told him it was in the
morning but he must have forgotten. The sad thing is he won't be able
to go to church next week because it's going to be carnival.

We also had a really good experience with the Gonzales family. I've
been working with them since I got here. I've been able to see a big
change in him. We have helped him over come an addiction to alcohol
and make some big changes. Yesterday he was called to serve as
secretary (I'm not sure how to spell this anymore, I hope that's right).
It made me really happy to see that big change in his life.

But this week end is going to be a little boring for us. We will be
inside from Saturday until Tuesday because of carnival. Its a huge
party here in Bolivia that they do for 3 days. Everybody will be
throwing paint and dirt and a lot of people here drink so its better
that we just stay in the house. But in those days that we are going to
be in house, we have to read the entire book of Mormon and clean the
house really well. So I'll be writing Saturday morning so you'll have to
write me Friday night.

But that's about it for this week. Its been good.

Élder Britt

I would send some pictures but every time I put my flash in the machine
I'm on, I always get a virus, so I'll be sending pictures next week.

Jan. 25th, No Subject

So this week was really good for us in Riberalta. We had a lot of
really good and powerful lessons this week with a lot of our
investigators and our less actives. We had a good lesson with Angel
Ribas. We taught him 3 times this week and we were able to help him
understand more about his baptism. He told us that he knows he needs
to get baptized but he's scared to take that step. We also taught him
about the word of wisdom. He only drinks on special occasions but he
committed to stop drinking which was really good. The only problem we
have now is to get them married because currently he lives with his
"wife" but they aren't married. He is willing to make these changes but
is just missing a little bit of the action.

We also had a good lesson with a new family we are teaching. The
Caldera Family. They are really dedicated to helping their family and
want to make it better. They are dedicated to helping their family. So
in almost every principle we teach, we are trying to apply it
to how it helps families. They committed to going to church but sadly
didn't go. Hopefully we can help them go this week.

We also went to the missionary conference on Wednesday and there was a
lot that we learned. My comp and I are going to try and apply what
they taught about less actives, part member families, and recent
converts. In the conference they said they are like gold mines and we
liked that part a lot. We are going to try really hard to get
references from those 3 this transfer.

That's about everything that's been going on this week. We are trying
really hard to find prepared investigators.

Élder Britt

Jan. 18th, No Subject

So this week was really good for us in Palmeras 2. This week, Elder
Fernandez got transfered and Im still in riberalta. He was the first
comp that Ive had for more than one transfer. But my new companion is
Elder Urbina. Hes from Honduras. Hes really good from what I can tell
and teaches really well. He has 7 months in the mission but is already
a really good Elder.

So this week we had a good lesson with Angel Ribas. We talked about
his baptism date again and he got nervous. He said if he felt ready
for February 20th he would get baptized which is really good. But
right now, we need to help him with the word of wisdom, the law of
chastity, and going to church every sunday. He told us that he
realizes that if he is going to get baptized that he needs to makes
the changes in his life and that they are important changes. Right now
we are going to focus on those 3 problems that he has and hopefully he
will be ready for that date.

Tonight we are going to have a really good Family Night with one of
our less actives. Joseluis Pinto told us that he is going to invite 2
families to come to this family night. He told us that he wanted us to
teach about Joseph Smith because they have some questions. So
hopefully we will have 2 new families progressing.

But thats about all thats going on here. We are still helping the
branch function. We are doing a lot of the work here. The members are
starting to help us more and more.

Elder Britt

So the picture with the family is probably one of my favorite families
here. They are about the only members here who have gone to the
temple. Theyre the Chuqui family, you say it like chucky. We are
helping the guy on the far right to go back to church.

Jan. 11th, No Subject

So this week was pretty good for us! It flew by. We were able to do a
lot of good things this week.

We found a new less active we started teaching named John. He has a
lot of problems right now, especially with the law of chastity. He
said that he wanted to change and to fix the problems. He asked us how
he could change because he always has wanted to change but hasn't ever
been strong enough to do it. But we shared with him Mosiah 3:19 and
told him that he needs to use the atonement and to follow the
impression of the spirit and we will make small changes over time.

Then we got really close to putting a baptismal date for the Hermano
Angel Ribas. He told us that he wants to get baptized and before he
didn't really care to get baptized. But when we started talking about a
specific date he got nervous and didn't accept the date. Right now we
are just going to try and show him why baptism would be important in
his life and how it will make him better. We hope with that he will be
able to accept a specific date.

We also found a new investigator who has a lot of potential to
progress. The Caldera family. His family is very important to him,
which is pretty rare here. The reason why he wanted to hear from us
was because his family was slowely seperating and he was looking for
something to help them be more united. He has been really receptive to
the teachings and hopefully he will progress a lot. Right now he hasn't
gone to church but I think there's a good chance he will go this week.

We have been seeing a lot of good things in our área. The members are
doing good with their callings and more members are returning to the
church.

That's about all this week.
Elder Britt

One of the pictures was of a new member, Roger. He has been going to
our branch for over a year because he is Friends with the Rivera
family. He finally accepted to get baptized. It was a very spiritual
baptismal service. Hes going to be a great member.

Jan. 4th, No Subject

So this week was a pretty good week in the mission. We are still
seeing a lot of progression with the Gonzales family. This week we
fasted with the majority of the family and also the majority were able
to go to church yesterday. We had a really good visit with them this
week. He expressed his gratitud for my companion and I that we are
always there to help him and that we never get tired of visiting them.
We plan on trying to rescue them at the end of this month.

This week, we also were working a lot with the Pinto family. Right now
they have been going through a lot of problems. Their son about a
month ago went to the city and there he was accused that he killed
somebody and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. This week he was
released because the police realized he didnt do anything. It was
really cool to me to hear that they knew that their prayers and our
prayers helped their son with this problem. We have been doing a lot
of service. We helped them clean out some big weeds with machetes this
week and we are going to keep helping them this next week. Also the
mother right now has cancer and she made a very big sacrifice to go to
church yesterday. Right now she has cancer and has a lot of pains but
she really wanted to go to church yesterday and nothing stopped her.
Its amazing to see this family and their attitud as they go through
these problems. They never complain and tell us that their prayers
help a lot.

Also this week, a lot of our less actives went to church this past
week. Our church changed from 3 in the afternoon to 8 in the morning.
A lot of the members were very glad to have that change and I think
because of that our attendence is going to go up.

This was a scripture that I found this week and I liked it a lot. D&C
101:9 "Verily I say unto you, notwithstanding [your] sins, my bowels
are filled with compassion towards [you]. I will not utterly cast
[you] off; and in the day of wrath I will remember mercy."

Elder Britt