Week 9 - January 9, 2012

Hi everyone!

It's super generic to tell you every single week that "things here are good," but they are. It helps that I'm happy to talk to you guys on P-days, so I think it makes my letters more positive and exciting. Haha. But really, things here are good. Earlier in the week we had a few really cold days where the high was in the upper 20s and low 30s. It really wasn't too bad with a pair of thermals on and a hat and scarf. Just wait for the terrible ice and temperatures in the single digits! Ahh! Haha. But everyone said that so far this winter has been mild and lovely, so I'm thankful for that. On one of those cold days we saw a frozen-over pond on a horse farm where a member family lives. It wasn't super thick (two inches, or so), and Elder S broke a little hole in it pretty easy, but it was still super cool! I don't think I've ever seen something like that before. I thought all of the frozen fountains were amazing last year in Tucson, but the icicles that stick out of rocks and frozen ponds here are pretty impressive. :)

We still don't have tons of work to do. Versailles and Frankfort really are small places. Elder S has been here so long that he's kind of tracted all of the places we know Hispanic people live. We're trying to find new places, and have started going back to all of the places he tracted at the very beginning to see if anyone new is there or anyone has changed their hearts.

I had my first real taste of super disappointing rejection this week. The Zone Leaders came down because they are soooo bored in their area (the singles branch in Lexington -- school was still out so no one is around). So we split up and went tracting. I was with Elder D, and we started knocking doors in an apartment complex. The third door we knocked was a girl named Sarah. She's a student at K-State here in Frankfort, and she seemed interested. She listened to our whole Restoration lesson. It felt so good. We taught. We testified. We asked her questions, she asked us questions, it all felt really good. She said, "Oh, that makes sense!" and "Okay, that's cool." And then at the end she said she wasn't really interested, she said she was happy with her church in Louisville, and that she'd call us if she had questions. What?! After an hour of a great lesson and conversation? So sad. But we gave her a Book of Mormon and a pamphlet anyway. And we didn't have much other success the rest of the day, although we had a few good conversations in doorways where we were clearly planting some seeds. Also, because Elder D doesn't speak Spanish, the one door where a Hispanic man opened forced me to talk the whole time. I understood everything he said, too! The sad thing was that he said he wasn't super interested. Oops. But he was nice enough, and we gave him a card anyway.

It was cold! But super pretty. Now that it's cold all of the grass is turning yellow.

We taught an English class this week, and that was kind of cool. Plus, I already know English, so I can actually help people with that! Haha. We're planning on teaching an English class two nights a week, and Yeny came and brought her brother. She already speaks good basic English, and her brother is good too, but shy. Jubileo, the man I baptized, came too, although he knows basically nothing, so he'll take more time to learn stuff. Since Yeny and her brother Gabriel were both there at the class, we gave them a quick church tour since they had never been before. It was perfect! We saw Yeny and Jorge a time or two this week, but no serious lessons. But they are fun, and have lots of potential, so we'll see how that all goes with them.

January 6th is a Hispanic holiday that commemorates the arrival of the Wise Men to visit baby Jesus (I don't remember what the holiday is actually called). They all discuss the importance of Christ and the gifts the Wise Men gave as a sign of their faith to him. Then they all get a few more presents! I had no idea that Hispanics (maybe just Mexicans?) get presents more than just Christmas! Anyway, it was kind of fun to spend some time with a less-active family, the Garcias. I like the Garcias a lot. They are friends with the Gonzalez family in the ward, and they are soooo coool, so they were there too, along with some  investigator families that they are all friends with. It was cool to see them all together, and it makes me want them all to have success in the church. Come back! Get baptized! You already have fun with these people, come have more fun in the church every Sunday! haha.

I've learned how to do all sorts of fun stuff doing service out here. Jigsaws, drills, drywall, putty stuff you put on drywall, etc. It's awesome!

I read the best article that made me think about all of this in a different way. It's in the January Ensign, and it's by Carl B. Cook. He talked about looking up to God to see that you have done the best you can in his eyes. We don't need to look sideways and compare ourselves to others, because other people aren't what is truly important. I loved that though, because I feel lots of pressure to perform well, have baptisms, etc. Yeah, I want all of that. I want to perform well. But even if that doesn't happen, as long as I have done my best it doesn't matter, because God sees it. That has made me so much more optimistic and feel better about everything that's going on. Y'all should read it, because it's excellent.

Español es bien dificil. La mision es bien dificil. Pero estoy aprendiendo. Yo sé que estoy aqui para que yo pueda ayudar otras personas encontrar la verdad y venir a Cristo.

Les quiero mucho! Gracias por todo, mi familia!

Thanks for everything! I love you guys!

Best wishes from the South,

Zac