Hey Fam! How is everyone? I've been doing well. This week has been one of a kind. Alot of things have happened that hadn't happened to me before.

The secretary job is getting a little tiny bit stressful. I have a TON of visa stuff to take care of, and there's alot of other little projects that I need to work on. But it's ok, I'm learning how to get things done and use my time more wisely. I actually got another super awesome talk from the Stake Presidency of the Hunter Stake. It included a quote by Neal A Maxwell that says: "Our perfect Father does not expect us to be perfect children yet. He had only one such Child. Meanwhile, therefore, sometimes with smudges on our cheeks, dirt on our hands, and shoes untied, stammeringly but smilingly we present God with a dandelion -- as if it were an orchid or a rose! If for now the dandelion is the best we have to offer, He recieves it, knowing what we may later place on the altar. It is good to remember how young we are spiritually." That's a sweet quote. It's a great analogy. It just makes me excited to be more diligent and try harder and harder, there's alot of work to do to one day become what He knows we can become. We actually got into a doctrinal discussion with President Jesperson the other day in the staff meeting about the organization of the Celestial Kingdom, the progress in the eternities, and the prophesied comings to pass of the milenium. It was pretty cool, because I learned a ton about the importance of being sealed as a family, and it was neat to talk about doctrine stuff like that with President Jesperson.

Well, the investigators are doing well. This week we found a single mother named Maricruz. She said she's never listened to anyone from any church before, but for some reason she felt the need to let us in. She has four kids. I don't really know what the situation is in her family, but right now she's raising the four kids on her own. Her kids are pretty young but they're smart, and the oldest of the four enjoyed the first lesson quite a bit. We also found a man named Jesus this week that's a surgeon. He seems to be a sincerely good guy. He's got an awesome family, he makes decent money, but he dedicates alot to helping others with the skills he has as a doctor. It's going to be awesome to have the investigators in General Conference this weekend. It's hard for someone to hear a Prophet speak and not be impacted.

This week I've been working alot on focus. I've been learning that if I don't have a goal, I feel like the things I do don't have a purpose. Preach My Gospel is pretty focused on helping missionaries to keep our purpose in mind, and get better at setting and focusing on goals. I think that when we don't have a long term focus, we start to feel like all the little things that happen throughout the day are really big deals. But when we have that goal in mind of what we're really working for (an eternal family, further repentance, helping others to come unto Christ and be baptized (that's my focus,)) we remember that all those little things really don't hinder our eternal progress, and all the things that usually seem mundane, suddenly start to help us find joy in the journey.

Well I'm pretty stoked for conference. I can't wait really. It's like all I've been thinking about. My alarm to wake up in the morning is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir this week, and I set the desktop of my office computer as a picture of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Sweet.

Oh, something else that happened exciting this week. One of the members in our ward has a sweet hookup for Chihuahua Cheese. He gets giant bricks of it for pretty darn cheap whenever he goes to Chihuahua. I bought a brick from him last night after he helped us with splits. That means I'm gonna have quesadillas like every day this week! haha.

Dig- That 90 sounds harder than a 180 actually. haha. Are you able to keep riding after landing the 90? That's a pretty serious trick man. So, heard you won the contest for the quest logo. Congrats Dig! That's way sweet! I can't wait to see how sweet it must look. Love ya! Have a great week!

Den- That's awesome that you got 8 badges at scouts den! Were they merrit badges? Probably earned them at the weeklong I guess. Good Job denny o. Love ya! Have a great week!

Dad- Thanks for that advice on talking with everyone. I've been really working on following impressions that I get to contact people and stuff. I'm just going to be doing what you said and fitting in as many people per day as time permits. Love ya! Have a great week!

Shash- That Rudolf dance sounds pretty awesome Shash. Maybe when I get home you could give me some dance lessons so I can be cool. haha. Love ya! Have a great week!

Mom- That story of Denny at the temple cafeteria was pretty funny. That denny o. I might be more indecisive about food than him when I get home. All those desserts you were naming are things I haven't even seen for a while. haha. That story about Gracie was way funny too. haha. Thanks for the updates. About the CEU stuff, I'm pretty sure I will want to work until the next semester at CEU, or maybe go to slcc in the summer as well. But I'll let you know for sure next week. Love ya! Have a great week!

Nay- That's sweet about Sam. That's pretty cool that he might just drop everything to be able to leave. He must have alot of desire to serve the Lord. Awesome. So you're bad day was pretty bad! haha. Did you have to just buy a new guitar? That's tough about the exams too. That's too bad about your roommate situation as well. haha. I've never had any comps like that so I can't say I know how you feel. Anyway, hang in there. Love ya! Have a great week!

Love you all!
Elder Aguilar

Hey Fam!

How is everyone? I'm doing well. This week has been pretty crazy. Last Thursday/Friday was the independance day of Mexico. I guess there are a bunch of sweet traditional things in the culture to celebrate, but they all go on in the city center, and after we're back safe at the house haha. But anyway, a new Elder got here from the U.S., and I had to take all his papers and stuff to the federal building downtown. I decided to do it on Friday morning.... The Federal Palace is right in the middle of the city center, and the entire area was shut down for a parade. I should have known, the one day out of the year when for sure the Federal Palace isn't open, was friday. Anyway, so we decided to head over to cosco from there, because we had to take some bikes back that had broken. While Elder Olson was looking for cosco on the GPS, I decided to pull over for a second since I didn't know where we were headed. While I was pulling over (in the gigantic mission van), I nailed the front left fender of a minivan that was parked on the side of the road. The family came running out all stressed out. We called the insurance companies, and they got there and started sorting everything out. I gave the insurance guy the policy number for the van, he looked it up, and let us know that the van wasn't insured.... So we started to make some calls to figure out what the problem was, when we suddenly heard a loud screetching noise. A bus full of fire fighters were going past (now done with the parade,) and they hit the mount of the side view mirror (it was folded into the window, so only the mount of the mirror was sticking out.) It tore a giant line down the side of the bus, but it didn't do anything to the van. We told them that they could just leave, so they took off. Anyway, it was a great day!

Last friday, we went to Guillermo's house for the baptismal interviews. We found out that his sister, Lupe, decided she didn't want to get baptized. She said it was because she wanted to be able to date before she's sixteen, but I think there's a different reason. His little brother Isaac was kidnapped by his aunt, and she refused to let him come back to his house to have his interview. He'll be living with his aunt now. Guillermo, had slept over at his cousin's house, so he wasn't home. AAHHH! So we had to postpone the interview for Saturday morning. We got there, and he still wasn't home. So we kept calling his step mom throughout the day (she's a member) to ask how things were going. Finally he got back in the night, the assistants came to do his interview, and he was baptized Sunday morning. It was a bummer that his brother and sister couldn't be baptized, but maybe it wasn't their time. Guillermo is looking awesome though. He'll be a good example for his family.

The Briceño family is doing great! They all came to church on Sunday. Their whole family came. Members and non members. That's like fifteen people! It was awesome. Their testimonies are getting stronger every day, and they're starting to get more and more excited about scripture study and stuff. So that's great.

This week we had a leadership conference, and I learned alot. We focused on the importance of returning to the basics. President said he wants us to focus on the Doctrine of Christ, following the Spirit, and helping investigators recieve revelation through prayer, the Book of Mormon, and going to church. They're all things we've heard a bunch of times, but it was way helpful to just review it all and refocus on why we're here. During the conference I kept wondering to myself why it is that when we're given such simple commandments from the Lord, we make some excuse or strange reason to not do what He asks. It's all so clear and simple, easy really, but then we just don't do it. I started to ponder about the way it mentions fearing God in the scriptures. It obviously doesn't mean we need to be scared of Heavenly Father, but I thought about how when we don't do what he says, it's often because of our fear of man. God tells us as missionaries to talk with EVERYONE. Sometimes we look at a person and decide not to talk to them for whatever reason, but it all comes down to the fact that we have more fear of that person, or what they'll say or think, than we have of the consequences of not following the loving guidance of our Heavenly Father. Satan's arguments are usually full of "just once won't hurt... everyone else does it... what could happen?" Those are things that keep our focus on what the world thinks and does, and how we appear or fit in. We often forget to worry about how we appear to the Lord! And that's really all that matters. When we're confronted with a situation in which it seems difficult to follow what He wants, we should wake up and remember that what He wants is all that matters! Nothing else. Anyway. I don't know if that makes any sense, it's just something that I've been thinking about lately. I think it applies more to missionaries than it would for not missionaries...

Anyway, that's what's been going on this week.

Dig- You have mrs. Cropper? Did you tell me that already? I had her for two years man! Give it your all in that class. I almost never had to do homework in my high school math classes, because of how much I had learned in Mrs. Croppers class, it was sweet. haha. But you should do your homework in high school... Anyway. Love ya! Have a great week!

Den- Gooooooooooooooooooooal!!!!!!! That's how they say it here in Mexico. haha. Sounds like that goal was killer! Sweet job denny o. Bam tells me you're starting to really tear it up on the piano too. Keep it up, it's an awesome skill to have. Love ya! Have a great week!

Mom- I attached some pictures of me trying to get over my fear of big dogs at a member's house. We have a picture of Elder Olson and me with the sister and her son as well. We're teaching the son's friend right now, she's not progressing very well which kind of stinks, but it's given us some time to get to know that family a little better. They're a part member family, and the mom's the only active one, so there's lots of work to do there. I also attached the pictures of Guillermo's baptism. That's him in white of course, his step mom, his two step brothers (all members,) and Lupe, the one who decided not to get baptized. The younger of the two step brothers (with the grey shirt) reminds me a ton of Denny. I also attached a picture of some of the drawings that Guillermo's done while he's been learning about the gospel. About the Christmas package with stuff for Elder Olson, he ends his mission on the fifth of December, so he won't be here anymore. haha. But he did get a birthday package from his family, and the Jespersons gave him cake and sung him happy birthday. So Braden is marrying Aubrey!!! Holy cow. I never would have seen that coming. That's insane. That's good though, you'll have to congradulate him for me if you get the chance. Anyway, thanks for everything mom. I really enjoyed your comments about that talk from the RM that went innactive then came back to the church. That was a good analogy with the gas explosion emergency thing. Anyway, Love ya! Have a great week!

Dad- So the accident thing all turned out ok more or less. The only problem is that the van is really new, so it's taking them a little while to get the papers in order for the insurance co. Once they get it all figured out, they'll be able to give me all the money back, and I can see if I can deposit it back onto the card or something so you can transfer it back out. That's cool that you saw Brother Hancuff. He's a great guy. That's cool you got to talk to McComber too, that'd be super awesome if I was able to catch the last matches of the year. Anyway, thanks for everything Dad. Love ya! Have a great week!

Shash- Sounds like your solo went great Sloosh! Awesome job. Maybe you could give me some singing lessons when I get home. That'd be sweet! haha. Love ya! Have a great week!

Nay- Studying tips.. hmm. I recommend sleeping enough, and not sleeping in. Just getting to bed early enough to be able to sleep enough, then get up early. haha. Also reading out loud helps me alot. And if you have to memorize anything, they say you can remember it better if you do excercise while you're memorizing. Putting things into songs helps as well of course. Dad probably has some more sweet ideas for ya. I'll be expecting your dear elder! Love ya! Have a great week!

Love you all!
Elder Aguilar

4 Months Left!

So this week has gone well. The departures and arrivals stuff all went over smoothly. I've managed to get enough sleep since then, so that's good. This job is definitely strengthening my testimony of D&C 88:124 haha.

So the baptisms of last week all fell through. Darn. The one for Guillermo and his brothers and sisters was kind of an extreme situation. They had a family emergency and had to leave the city. But their baptisms are reprogrammed for this Saturday, so things should all work out ok in the end. Carlos on the other hand. I was a little nervous when we started to teach him, because he had started coming to church because his girlfriend was a member. So we wanted to make sure what his motives really were as he got interested in the gospel. We were reassured as he grew in knowlege, and once he started teaching family night lessons and stuff. He learned alot about the Restoration, the Plan of Salvation, the Commandments, the importance of Baptism, and all that stuff. So anyway, I guess that he and his girlfriend got in an argument or something, and he decided that he didn't want to get baptized. It was pretty sad to see the change in him. It just goes to show that the testimony is so much more important than just knowing things.

We're currently reactivating a family named the Briceños. The dad (Jose) has been a member for a long time, his kids are all members, but his grandkids are not. His wife passed away years ago, and since then he hasn't had much desire to come to church. He kept going for a little while after the death of his wife, but he said it was just hard, because he know how much she loved the gospel, and everytime he went everything would just remind him of her, and he'd start to miss her. His son in law is up in the U.S. working right now, and I guess he just recently joined the church up there, and he's really strong and active. He comes back in December so that should be a big support for their family. Last night we went there and talked abou the Atonement of Christ, and the importance of going to the church so that we can partake of the Sacrament and show the Lord that we don't want his Sacrifice to have been done in vain. The daughter and the grandkids all committed to be in church on Sunday, and then Jose thought it over for a second, and decided that he'd be there as well. It was a spiritual lesson and it was a pretty great experience.

The companionship is doing well. Elder Olson turned twenty one on the thirteenth. We haven't really been able to do anything for him for his birthday due to lack of time and money, but I'm going to try to find time to get him a cake today. Elder Olson is what's called an extrovert, or in other words, he gains excitement and energy in large groups and big social events and stuff like that. He's really outgoing and everybody loves him after meeting him for the first time. He loves to invite TONS of members to come with us to lessons. I use to think it was overdoing it a little to have a lesson with two or three members acompanying us. The other day Elder Olson formed a group of about ten members, including a guy that's even from a different ward, to go with us to visit the Briceño family. Their house was packed full of people, and we had a little testimony meeting. It was pretty awesome. Then we split up, and I went with about five to some appointments, and he took about five to other appointments. It was a good day.

Anyway, that's about all that's been going on this week.

Mom- Let me know if you didn't get that other e mail I sent you. So on Tuesday, one of the travel people called me from Salt Lake and let me know that a missionary named Elder Young would be coming to stay the night in our offices on his way home from his mission. He was coming from the Culiacan mission, and flew here to Guadalajara first, then home to Seattle. I took advantage of the opportunity to ask him about Brennan. He said that Elder John is an awesome missionary, and that he's training right now. He said that he had got to know Elder John a little bit when they were in the same zone together or something, and that he was pretty impressed by him. You'll have to let Debbie know. Anyway, thanks for everything Mom. Love ya, Have a great week!

Den- Sounds like that U game was intense man! That stinks that they lost at the last second. Oh well. You'll have to keep me updated on how the season goes. Sweet job on getting 100 on all your tests smarty! Love ya, Have a great week!

Dig- HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY!!! Super sorry that I forgot to mention that in the last e mail Dig! Man, I'm a horrible brother. I wrote you a seperate e mail this week, let me know if you got it. Love ya, Have a great week!

Slooshbe- How are ya shash?! Sounds like your class at school is pretty awesome. That's cool that Mrs. Ford ended up being such a great teacher. Soccer's already going strong huh? Sounds fun. I heard you're going to sing a solo on Sunday or something with Mom and Nay. Awesome Shash, you're going to do great! Love ya, Have a great week!

Dad- Thanks for the info on Tanner. Could you maybe get his mission address for me? I'm not sure when he'd be arriving to the field, but I bet if I send him a letter in about a month and a week it'll be getting there right as he's starting in the field. He's going to be a killer missionary. I enjoyed your comments about the good old home teaching days. We were assigned to the best families. Those were good old days. I bet things will be pretty great if you can get yourself that new comp as well. haha. That stinks about Gram's computer. She's had a tough time with that kind of stuff. Hopefully her files can be retreaved somehow. Love ya, Have a great week!

Nay- True Aggie? Come on. I say whoever wants to be a true Aggie should throw that stool away and go do some homework. haha. Maybe you could think of a more wholesome, worth while tradition to start up there. That's cool about the musical therapy social and the swing dance invite. Sounds like it'll probably be a blast. You'll have to let me know how it goes. That and the musical number with mom and shash. I bet it'll be pretty good. Anyway. Love ya, Have a great week!

Love you all!
Elder Aguilar

"Daily scripture study is really just priceless!"...my favorite quote from this email

Hey Fam!

How is everyone? I'm doing well. The zone leader councils were today here in the offices, so we all got to eat pizza which was delicious. Work in the offices has been a little crazy. This weekend there are eleven missionaries going home, and thirteen arriving. The upside is that only one of the elders arriving is from out of the country, so that won't be that much visa work to do. On the 24 of October we'll be getting missionaries from El Salvador, Honduras, Argentina, Peru, Chile, and Ecuador. That'll be a busy day for me.

The work has been going well in the area. It's been interesting working with Elder Olson, because he has a working style that I've never really had any experience with before. It's a lot better than what I'm used to. We've been focusing on "Creating Chains," as President Jesperson says. Or in other words, helping families and friends link together through the gospel. Inviting anyone and everyone to every lesson, and turning the teachinig into more of a group effort to get everyone closer to Christ.

This week, Carlitos should be able to get permission from his mom for his baptism on Saturday, and either on Sunday or next week will be the baptisms of the step children of one of the sisters in the ward. Her husband isn't a member. He knows a ton about the gospel. He comes from a family that's made up of religious leaders in other Christian denominations. He grew up surrounded by teachings and doctrines of the bible. He can quote about any scripture. He doesn't, however, attend any church. The other night we were at their house teaching his kids, when he pulled me to the side and asked if a person can be baptized two times. I explained some things to him about Priesthood Authority, and how it is that if we aren't baptized by the proper authority, it really isn't a baptism. I talked about that example in Acts when Peter arrives with a group of people and asks if they'd been baptized or confirmed. They say that they were baptized by John's baptism, but not confirmed (or something along those lines). Peter then instructs them to be baptized again, and then confirmed. I've thought on various explanations as to why they were instructed to be baptized again, but the point was that it was done, and under the instruction of one of Christ's own apostles. He looked a little relieved as I explained the passage to him, and explained that he had been baptized a long time ago in a different church, but that due to recent mistakes that he had made, and also due to having completely separated himself from the other church, he felt a need to be baptized again. We'll see what happens with that. His kids are progressing really well. The oldest, Guillermo, is flying through the Book of Mormon. He reads a ton every day and remembers every detail. It's amazing the progress that a person makes when they simply take the time to read their scriptures. The investigators that don't read their Book of Mormon always show a huge lack of understanding and progress in the lessons. The Book of Mormon has some serious converting power. I love starting it over again. Every time I start to read the Book of Mormon it's like another great feast of spiritual truths. And every time we read the scriptures we can learn something different. Daily scripture study is really just priceless.

We're teaching a lady named Leonila and her four little daughters. She's about thirty five years old. They're a very humble family. Leonila works cleaning houses, and barely gets paid enough to keep her daughters fed. She went to church last Sunday, and didn't like it that much. She said she doesn't see any need for a church service to last so long. She also explained, however, that she does want to come closer to her Heavenly Father. She wants us to keep teaching her, but it might take a little while until we can convince her to go to church again. The last time we visited her, she gifted us each a tie. It was pretty neat, because she really doesn't have cash to throw around, but it was neat to see that she thought of us when she got the ties. I'll remember that family every time I wear it.

We had a lesson with Jorge Ocampo today. He learns things super fast. Today he was explaining to us the organization of prophets, apostles, and the seventies of the church. We talked with him about the Restoration, and explained how important it is for him to gain a testimony of his own that these things are true through prayer. He works in a restaurant on Sundays, but he's planning on quitting so that he can go to church. Yesterday he said "I work just to get extra cash, but if I went to church every Sunday instead, it would be a better investment, because the extra cash can run out, but the Lord would never leave me behind." I was pretty impressed by his faith.

Nay- So you're a full time college student now, all experienced and everything. Cool. haha. Make sure you eat well. It's easy to eat bad when you live on your own. It's way worth it to eat healthy though, makes a world of difference. haha. I was talking to my buddy Elder Peterson the other day on the phone and I mentioned to him that you started college already. He also goes to Utah State. He said for me that I had to tell you that you shouldn't kiss on the A, because it's not worth it... Haha. I don't really know what that means, but it sounds like good advice. Anyway, that's awesome that all those little problems worked out for you. Love ya! Have a great week!

Den- Sounds like the U game was a blast Denny o! Who was it against? Are the season ticket seats still in the same spot? Sounds like that Bratwurst was pretty good. There aren't any of those here, there's a lot of stuff called chorizo that's pretty similar. It's pretty good too. Love ya! Have a great week!


Dig- Sounds like that soccer tournament was sweet. What position are you playing? Sounds like the capture the flag activity was pretty sweet. You'll have to let me know how the dew tour went. Stay awesome Dig. Love ya! Have a great week!

Shash- Sounds like bowling was super fun. I love bowling even though I'm not very good. haha. I'm glad you had a great birthday week though. You'll have to tell me about the sewing projects you've got going on with your new machine. Love ya! Have a great week!

Mom- The letter I talked about in my last e mail was from the Hunter Stake Presidency. They send a short message with a talk every once in a while to all the missionaries I think. They're always pretty sweet talks. Sounds like that party at the Egans was a blast. How's Kathy doing with her health? Hopefully she's doing well. Part of my responsibility as the executive secretary is that I make the weekly newsletter for the mission. Elder Olson gave me the idea of sending it with my e mails, so that the fam can see the mission news. (It is all in spanish of course). Just thought I'd ask your opinion. Anyway, thanks for everything Mom. Love ya! Have a great week!

Dad- I haven't really heard anything about the hurricane. Was it a pretty serious deal? That's cool that Fui was able to be there helping those in need. It was interesting to read about your interview experience with that lady at cort. I'll be keeping that stuff in mind in my last months of serving the Lord. Love ya! Have a great week!

Bam- Thanks for your e mail Bam. That's kinda cool about your work friends thing. That's awesome that you're having such a huge impact on them. The weather down here is cooling down quite a bit. In the mornings and evenings now I almost need a jacket. In the day time the sun is still pretty strong though. It's sort of like fall time. Love ya! Have a great week!

Love you all!
Elder Aguilar

I hope you're all enjoying these emails as much as I am!  I just love reading them each week!

Hey Fam! How is everyone? Things are going great down here in Guadalajara. This week has been a good week. I love being a missionary for a lot of reasons, one of those reasons is that when we're being obedient and doing what we're supposed to, EVERYTHING works out exactly the way we need it to throughout the day, to do the best we can at fulfilling the will of the Lord. It's just cool to see all the little miracles throughout each day.�

Anyway, things are going well. The ward we're in is awesome. They've been working way hard to get their friends to church, to go with us to meet investigators and help them grow in desire to learn the gospel. All kinds of stuff. On Sunday they brought a few references to church this week that we've been working with. Fernando is doing well. It's been hard to meet with him lately because his daughter is in the hospital and he's been pretty busy making sure everything works out with her, and trying to keep up with his job. Samuel Aguilar is doing really well. We usually teach him in the chapel now, and the last two times he brought his wife with him. She loves the Book of Mormon. Their biggest trial is still going to be getting to church, but Samuel is talking to his boss this week, and giving him an ultimatum. He's going to tell him that from now on he's either only working half days on Sundays, or taking his day off each Sunday. He decided that if they don't want to let him change his schedule he's going to take a different job that a company offered him a while ago. Awesome. that kind of sacrifice will bring a lot of blessings into his life. The Hernandez family is doing alright. The mom is being really difficult, but the kids are still cool. Jorge Ocampo (I can't remember if I had mentioned him before,) is doing great too. We read the chapter of the coming of Christ to the Americas with him the other day and he liked it a lot. He's also making changes in his work schedule to be able to come to church. Sweet.

This week I got a letter from the Stake Presidency that I really liked. It had a quote from C.S. Lewis in it that impacted me. It says: "Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what he is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house that in a way hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is he up to? The explanation is that he is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but he is building up a palace. He intends to come and live in it himself." Awesome. That's such a sweet quote. The letter from the stake presidency also came with a talk that focused on the feeling of fulfillment and happiness that comes when we give our whole selves to the Lord, and just submit to what He's trying to do with us. It also talks about focusing more on the needs of others and less on what we want. It was all pretty uplifting. I think a lot of times when the Lord gives us instructions we're just scared of the outcome. We think to ourselves "But I was building up such a nice little cottage, what's He trying to do? He's ruining all my plans." We have to trust that His plans are going to bring about miraculous results. Progress in leaps and bounds that is beyond what we thought possible. I love the example of Abraham and Isaac. Abraham thought he had finally been able to set up a nice little family after so many years of feeling hopeless. He had his own plans and they were working out pretty well. Then the Lord just tells him to sacrifice Isaac, throw all his own plans out the window and go a different direction. It's incredible that Abraham had the faith to just comply with what the Lord said. At the last moment the Lord intervened and everything turned out fine, and thanks to that decision to obey, I'm sure it taught Abraham and Isaac things they couldn't have learned in any other way, and it continues to teach us in these latter days things that we couldn't learn in any other way. A lot of times the Lord says something like "Just tell your investigator they have to repent, or else they and their families will be miserable forever." And I think to myself "I can't tell them that, they'll think I'm crazy and probably won't want to listen to us anymore." But then when I heed the prompting, I find out that that's just what they needed to hear. Or sometimes in life the Lord says "Stop focusing on this thing and the other thing, and spend more time with your family" and we say "But if I don't practice this, or focus on that then everything will fall apart." But we just need to have faith in ALL the Lord instructs us to do.

Anyway...Today we went and had lunch with Frosty in a little sandwich place downtown. The Frosty that's from Jamaica that I met way back at the start of my mission. It was pretty awesome to see him again. He's doing well. Well, that's all for this week.

Bam- Thanks for your dearelders and the news on the fam. I didn't know you had 18 piano students. That sounds like a ton! It's like a whole music school. Sweet. Love ya. Have a great week!

Dig- You're going to the dew tour man? awesome. I always thought it would've been sweet to go check it out. That's too bad about your popped tire, I guess that's just part of having a good time and really using your bike. haha.�Love ya. Have a great week!

Den- Sounds like school's really rolling now. When does wrestling start? You'll have to let me know how that goes. I can't wait to see you and Dig wrestle in real meets. It'll be awesome. I don't know if I'd be able to beat you both at the same time anymore.�Love ya. Have a great week!

Dad- Sounds like that training trek was a pretty amazing experience. I think I'll be taking advantage of any and every opportunity to be involved on treks for the rest of my life. It's just an awesome experience. There's things you can only learn about the Gospel and the Restoration in that kind of a setting. You'll have to keep me updating as the trek trek unfolds.�Love ya. Have a great week!

Mom- The pictures I'm sending with the e mail are of Elder Olson and I at a member's house for the "Let's work together as a ward" program thing we're doing. The other one is of Frosty and me. I was glad to finally get a picture with someone that I met back in my first area. They pulled me out of there so suddenly that I didn't have time to go around and say bye to anyone. Keep me updated on Nay. I didn't get an e mail from her, but I understand she's probably got a ton on her mind. I want her e mail address though so I can send her e mails when I write the fam. I hope everything works out for her. That stinks that her roommates are kinda lame. They must just not realize that the coolest girl on campus is right there in their own apartment. Anyway, thanks for your dearelders as well mom. It was sweet to hear about Tanner's farewell. He's gonna be a killer missionary. Love ya. Have a great week!

Shash- That's so sweet that you got a sewing machine for your birthday shash! That's a great talent to develop. It'll help you a lot throughout your whole life. From what I hear you're already pretty good at it. And that's awesome that you're starting up with the viola. I think that'd be hard, but you've already learned a song so you must be a natural like Nay.�Love ya. Have a great week!

Nay- I hope you're doing alright Nay! Just stay strong I bet once you get everything in order things will start going real smooth. Just work hard, and don't forget to relax! Joseph Smith said that we're like Bow and Arrows. If we're strung tight all the time, we eventually lose our spring. He was famous for being able to work harder than anyone when things needed to get done, then as soon as the important stuff was in order, he'd naturally switch into his "relax and have joy" kind of mood. Anyway. Keep on keepin on little sis. Sure do love ya.�Have a great week!

Elder Aguilar


Elder Aguilar & Cute Man & Elder Olson




Frosty & Dallas