The Field is White...: 16 Months!

Hey Fam!

How is everyone? I'm good. This week has gone pretty well. The Zone Leader thing was pretty fun. We got there in the night on monday, and we made banners for our zones. The idea was to paint the success that we wanted to have, so that was pretty sweet. We ended up getting to bed super late, then we woke up at five thirty in the morning to go play soccer and basketball. I got to be a team captain, our team did pretty good. Then we went bowling, and I was on a lane with Elder Jaen and the President. President beat all of us. Then we went back to the offices and talked about how our zones are doing, and what we are going to do to improve and reach our goals etc. We also watched a super sweet short video as part of the training called "Validation" on youtube. It's a black and white video about a guy who stamps validation cards at a mall, and makes everybody smile by giving them compliments. It was pretty cool.

This week we found a family that is awesome. It's the family of Alejandro and Anarosa (the parents) I've met alot of people on my mission that have been prepared by the Lord, but these are the most prepared people I've meet so far. They're a super happy energetic young family. They have three kids, a nine year old son named Alejandro, an eight year old daughter named Mari, and and a three year old daughter named Perla. They all loved church on sunday, and they already read the Book of Mormon and pray as a family every day. It's going to be awesome to see all the blessings they recieve as the continue to progress in the gospel.

On Saturday we baptized Ana Delia. Her husband and all her children are members, but she hadn't ever been baptized. She said the closing prayer at her baptism. She later told us how good she felt when she came up out of the water. It's awesome to see that family more united, and ready to prepare to become an eternal family.

Our companionship is going well. I'm kind of having a tough time, because up to this point in my mission I've always done almost everything, since I've had almost all green companions. It's making it a little harder to stay focused and energetic, because I feel like I'm on vacation or something, but I've been thinking of ways to fix the problem and overcome the challenge so that I can keep the momentum going in the work I do. I'm just thankful to be here period, and I want to do the best and the most I can in the Lord's work.

Dad- I forgot to mention to you when we talked on the phone that I was thinking the other day about how hard it is to help people understand that the Book of Mormon isn't a new Bible or a revised Bible or anything, but Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Then it hit me. The wood tie you sent to me has a hinge in it, and I figured out it's a perfect object lesson to help people understand the relationship between the Book of Mormon and the Bible. Both halves of the tie are made of wood, they're the same color, they both have lines, but with only one half it's not a tie! haha. Sweet. That stinks about your triathlon bike by the way. Love ya! Have a great week!

Dig- Thanks for your lightning speed typed letter due to your good eating habbits and healthy lifestyle. haha. I got a kick out of that. Love ya! Have a great week!

Den- Sounds like the father son's was sweet! Wish I coulda been there man! Love ya! Have a great week!

Shash- That's awesome about snowball sloosh! Sounds like "El Habanero" had some pretty good food. Love ya! Have a great week!

Nay- You wouldn't believe what happened the other day. Back when I was in the MTC, Elder Tibbits and I use to see Elder Lusty at lunch and stuff sometimes, and Elder Tibbits knew him as the guy who liked my little sister that had a super weird name. haha. Elder Tibbits is an AP now so he's in the offices. The other day, Elder Aguilar 2 got a letter in the mail for a missionary that doesn't belong to this mission, so he gave it to Elder Tibbits. Elder Tibbits looked at it and saw the letter was for Elder Lusty from Shenay Aguilar, and had a flashback of the MTC. He peeked inside, and found that the letter was actually written to me, but that you must've accidentally written Elder Lusty instead of Elder Aguilar. Good thing Elder Tibbits was there or they would have thrown the letter away! Crazy! That's funny that story about Philip. Love ya! Have a great week!

Mom- Sounds like Dad's talk was pretty awesome. I did get my package. I opened it up, and was pretty bummed not to see the Bornes, but my disappointment disappeared after my first day of using those shoes. They're super awesome. haha. I attached pictures of the baptisms of the Juan family, Alejandro, and Ana Delia, as well as the pictures of the Juan family signing their papers at their civil wedding. I recently got a dear elder from you that helped me with a trial I was going through. Thanks for being such a great Mom. Love ya! Have a great week!

Love you all!
Elder Aguilar