7 Months Already!

Thank you to all who continue to send him letters, packages, and DearElders.  I know he appreciates them so much!  We appreciate your love and support - he is doing great!

Hey fam!
This week has been pretty cool. We've found some new investigators that seem to be really prepared for the gospel, and there are quite a few that are already focusing on their baptisms. At the start of the week we had the first lesson with a new investigator named Gabriela. We taught her in the church with two members who are about her age. She actually asked us if we could teach her all the commandments first so she could start obeying them. We're pretty shocked at the progress she's made, and every time we see her she's ready to tell us all about the things she's learned from the Book of Mormon. It's awesome to see people like her that the Lord has prepared so well for the gospel.

So we decided to swing by Marco and Beatriz's house the other day because we haven't talked to them in a while. We talked for a few minutes with them and found out that three of the people in their family have birthdays in the first half of August. We set up an appointment to come by and share a message with them later on in the week. We decided we were going to surprise them with a birthday cake and a happy birthday song before the message. Just before the appointment we had with them we swung by a cake shop and grabbed them a big cake that said happy birthday, and we headed toward their house. We got there about ten minutes early and they hadn't arrived home yet so we decided just to wait for a minute. We talked a little about our current investigators and stuff while we were waiting. As we talked I looked at the time and noticed it was like fifteen or twenty minutes past the time of the appointment we had set. We were a little sad that they hadn't shown up. We decided we'd just leave and have to eat the cake on our own. Just as we were about to head out their next door neighbor came outside and started to talk to us. We found out that he's in Mexico for two years waiting for his papers to come through so he can go back to his wife and daughter in Oregon where he use to live. He said he misses them alot and that it's been pretty tough spending so much time without them. He started telling us about his work and showed us where he had to get screws in his leg when he broke his shin from an accident at work. Later he started to tell us about how his father recently died, and how he's just having a hard time all around with life. We told him a little about the Plan of Salvation and asked if we could share him a message about it and we set an appointment. It was another cool experience to see that even when we thought we had just lost almost a half hour waiting around for Marco and Beatriz to show up, we ended up being there just on time to help that guy who really needs the Savior right now in his life.

Yesterday in church I was sitting there in the congregation after the sacrament when I noticed one of the counsilors was mouthing something to me. I guess one of the speakers hadn't shown up and he was asking me if I could be the concluding speaker and talk on Faith. I know that's usually a common situation for missionaries but that was the first time it ever happened to me! I was scared out of my mind. But I hurried and found some good scriptures and it turned out ok.

Our zone has been doing pretty well lately compared to the rest of the mission so the President is letting us all go to a big buffet today for the last part of P day. It should be pretty sweet!

Anyway, thanks for everything family! Sorry this week wasn't as exciting as many others but there's definitely been alot of work in the area and we're seeing alot of changes in alot of peoples lives. It's Awesome. Love you all!

Mom- It sounds like you've had a pretty busy week. haha. I know that's not unusual. It's true what you were saying, spending your time serving a mission really is the greatest. We heard a talk in the MTC about the couple missionary responsibilities and they talked about a couple who sold their house when their children were all grown up and now they just serve mission after mission and live in the mission field. That's pretty sweet. Maybe someday in the future you and dad will get a call to Cambodia or something. Anyway, thanks for everything mom, Love ya!

Shash- I can't believe you're already going to mill hollow too! It seems like I just went to mill hollow yesterday. That's good your frogs are eating good. Keep feeding them those crickets. Maybe you could take one with you to mill hollow with you and let it ride around on your shoulder when you go on hikes and stuff! haha. Love ya Sloosh!

Dig- That's sweet that the school year is startin up for ya. You're going to love the junior high years. They're totally wicked! Thanks for keeping me updated on Pers. Keep playing with her and keeping her happy till I get home alrighty? Love ya diggy.

Denny- That's sweet that you got to go to a bees game. I hate watching baseball on tv but going to the games in real life is always super fun! That's too bad your yoyo kind of broke. It sounds like the trick to make it work is hard. haha. Love you denny o!

Dad- Thanks for the reminder and advice about taking every missionary opportunity. President Jesperson actually has a motto for the mission that is 24-7. He says that regardless of the time or place we should always be looking for those who are needing the gospel. Thanks for the reminder of the price paid to get the Book of Mormon here in our day. It's changing alot of lives down here. It was definitely written for our day. Love you dad!

Nay- I don't know how to spell fondue (or whatever) either. Haha. But I've always wanted to have it! Sounds like that was a pretty fun date. I liked what you said about Temples. It's awesome because some people here don't want to know anything about our message until they remember a time when they saw one of the temples and then they'll say something like "hey don't you guys have that big chapel downtown with the gold angel on top? I always want to go there, it just looks like a special place." Temples are sweet. Anyway. Love ya nay!

Love you all! have a good week!


Elder Dallas Robert Aguilar