March 24, 2014

Some photos from this week:

My District

Elder Gentry gave me these glasses

The beautiful sun

This is the "traveling tie" it has been to Ukraine, Romania and will go to New Zealand next

Hermana Dolly gave me this polo shirt

Another week down and we are excited for the next one!

This week has been great. We are seeing some challenges with a few investigators but we continue to find new ones and help them get closer and closer to baptism. Daniel, Marlene and Luciano are soo close right now and they each are just lacking a little bit to get there.  We are working really hard with them and hope to be able to see them get there during these next few weeks.

Monday was good. We met with Daniel and discussed baptism and talked about some of the trials he is going through right now. He knows the church is true and that we have a prophet of God but is passing through a hard time with his wife right now. After we headed to Armando's and had a great lesson with them there too. They are always so grateful for what we do and I can tell that it really comes from their hearts.

Tuesday we had lunch with a less active member named Yolanda and her boyfriend Eduardo with Jose Martinez. It went well and we taught them both. I could really feel the Spirit testifying through me and hopefully we will see some improvement with them. After we had a meeting with a member (Africa) and her friend Lucía who is a Jehova's Witness. It went really well and we were really comfortable with them as we explained a bit of our beliefs. We are going to meet with them this week too and I hope it goes well! She was really nice and very respectful. After we headed to Rigoberto's and had a quick lesson with him about the priesthood authority. He understood pretty well and I think he enjoyed it. He is going through a hard time with one of their children but he has some desires to learn. After we cruised to Irina's and taught Leonardo a bit about missionary work! He enjoyed it and I feel like their family is mine. I have gotten to be so close to this family and their brand new testimonies of the church help strengthen mine each day.

Wednesday we went to our district meeting in A Coruña. It was the last one with all of us together because this week we are having a meeting in Santiago and then transfers are up! It went well though and I learned alot about helping investigators get to church. After we headed back and then went to Hermana Victoria's house and ate with them. We tried to have a lesson with Jose but it didn't really work out because Victoria was kinda yelling at him for half an hour about going outside alone haha. Kind of awkward but thats alright. We came back and had a lesson with Amanda and her dad Julio (recent convert) and it went really well. Julio is awesome and really likes our friendship to him. Amanda just sent in her mission papers and is really excited to go! That night we got bailed on my a good amount of people but we still worked hard and talked to a lot of people in the street. Trying to spread the gospel!

Thursday we planned the week and then headed to Rosa's house for lunch. We had a good lesson with their kids and they all came to church on Sunday which was awesome to see! Then we had a lesson with Gracian which went good and English Class after which was full!! Like 12 or 13 people came and it was awesome. After we went to Irina's and had a great time with Emiel and Leonardo.

Friday was a little more difficult but we had a mini miracle go down.  A lot of people bailed on us so we decided to stop by an old investigator's house named Alex. He's 20 and super cool and was home so he let us in. We shared a scripture with him from the Book of Mormon and he told us that he wants to meet with us more. Recently he had actually started reading the Book of Mormon and said it was new, but he liked it. I am really excited to get on board with him and help him come to the knowledge that it really is the word of God. He is a great guy and we were so happy to meet him again!

Saturday we had an awesome day! We went to Marlene's in the morning with Amanda and had a great lesson about the law of chastity. She is so ready and committed to coming to church, which she did, and was telling Rigoberto to come too haha. He didn't but Marlene is a really good example. After we headed to Ada's and her son had his  girlfriend over! We had a lesson with her and it was amazing to see the parents testifying and teaching basic doctrines of the church. The room was filled with the spirit and I really enjoyed the lesson. Ada started crying and it was really powerful. After medio dia we had a lesson with Manuel which almost went amazing but at the very end he just started doubting everything and trying to show us that we are wrong which was sad to see. After we went to Luciano's to eat and had a great time with him.

Sunday was awesome too. 4 investigators showed up to church and we had a lesson with Luciano right after. He accepts everything we teach him and is so close to getting baptized. After we ate at Irina's and then had another lesson with Gracian. He's doing good but still doesn't want to read or come to church. He said he would pray though and even that is a good start. I hope he feels the answer like we feel it. Then we headed to Hermana Dolly's and had a great lesson with Roger and Soren. Hermanos Wendy, Guillermo and Ada were over too and joined in on the lesson. Their testimonies were soo strong and I think we are making great progress with them. They might be moving back to Cuba soon but they have really liked what we have taught so far. They are amazing people and so strong in their faith!

Overall, an awesome week. Sorry if my English is a little wack or if I make mistakes but I think my spanish is improving at least haha. I love this work and know that it is true. I wouldn't be out here for two years of my life if I hadn't received my own personal testimony of the Church, Jesus Christ, and all of the lessons that we teach. The mission has changed my life and I have seen the Lord change the lives of others through my service. I love you all and just like Paul said, "Salute thine bretheren with an holy kiss!" Haha keep up the good work.

Elder Franklyn