Letter #20

I email from an internet cafe. Actually Elder Toro knows about as much English as I know Spanish. He lived in Texas with his cousins for 4 months and he has studied for almost all his life. Elder Mendez is still around. He's a solid dude.

This week we didn't teach many people either, we did teach Alejandra, her mom Guadalupe, and her sons Juan Manuel (8) and Valentine (5). We didn't teach Jose Luis, but he still went to church, his fecha bautismal is 14 de diciembre. Alejandra and her family also went to church!!! After being taught for 4 months this was the first time. It was perfect to, Elder Toro spoke and it was the homecoming of a missionary in the ward. Then in the class our mission leader taught it. I felt the spirit so strong in the church. The strongest I have ever felt in the church. After church we had a lesson with the brother of our mission leader who is inactive and his wife who isn't a member. He cried almost the whole time. At the end he asked us for a blessing and said he would return to church. I hope he does and that he brings his wife and son.

This week we contacted more in the streets. Little by little I´m not quite as shy. I can feel myself gaining confidence which is crazy. You really can grow in the mission if you try. Some cool things of this week, besides the investigators in the Church, I gave a blessing in English for the first time in 4 months to Elder MacInnes (newbie from Canada).  It was one of the hardest things I have done. I felt what to say by the spirit, but the problem was that it was in Spanish... I had to translate from flipping Spanish to English to talk, and I still had to give some of the blessing in Spanish because I forgot some of the English for it. I can only imagine how my English will be after 2 years. I can still talk in English just fine, just when I feel the spirit its in Spanish. 

I contacted a daughter in law of a person that we have been trying to teach, the other day and found out 2 interesting things. 1st she didn't want to hear us at the start, but we talked about her family and God and what she believed, and at the end she said we could come back some other time and she´d love to hear from us. The other thing is that her 2 daughters 8 and 13 saw Elder Candelario and I one day and told their mom that they wanted a picture with the "white guy and the mexican in white", that was funny. 

That's basically all for right now. Thanks for sending the package!

Love you

Elder Finlinson