Llamas family

Hola familia,

I just realized that I haven't told you about the Llamas family. I remembered to bring my journal this time so I'll copy some of it over:

11-14-09
...After hearing him I feel so much more connected to the spirit. I feel more open to receiving personal revelation.
Elder Garrett and I went out and worked together tonight. I sincerely felt a new sense of urgency. We first attended Tamara's baptism. I shared a testimony after the ordinance. Right after the prayer we congratulated her and then left. We called Felix leaving the church parking lot telling him we needed him for an exchange in five minutes. He was all for it. We visited several different people. At first nobody was there. Then we started to find people left and right: Rolando, Moises, Nancy, Brittany, Ronnie & Brandon, Gabriel, and the Leal family. That was all in an hour and a half. We were truly led by the spirit. One of those visits stands out in my mind. That is Gabriel. Just before heading back to the Leals, Elder Garrett said, "Why don't we go see that family that we ATF'd that were out playing soccer?" So we drove over there and a man, in his 40's, named Gabriel answered the door. I introduced us and began teaching how a prophet and apostles have been called. We talked to him about the grandness of the church throughout the world. That these men just like the men that walked with Christ go throughout the whole world. And that one of them would be here in Pasco tomorrow. He was taken aback. He turned to Elder Garrett and asked him, "Is this true? Is this real?" Elder Garrett responded, "Es la verdad." We committed him to come and he said for sure he would.' It is incredible what happens when the spirit guides. This is God's work. His hand is in our lives everyday.

End of journal entry 11-14-09

11-16-09
Happy B-Day Mom!
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11-17-09
...
We had two really great lessons. We arrived about 20 minutes late to Gabriel's house. They were there waiting for us. And Gabriel had read the pamphlet. All of them seemed to be understanding very well. It was best when we asked questions. I definitely talked too much. The kids participated. And they all sat there quietly and patiently.
At the end of the lesson we gave Gabriel a book of Mormon in Spanish and the four kids books of Mormon in English. I'm very excited for this family...

11-20-09
...
Last thing we did tonight was see the Llamas family. Wow that was spectacular. When we first got there, I heard little Gabriel (junior) say, "Yes!" They immediately turned off the TV and all gathered around to listen to us. Even the mother was there. We reviewed the restoration and the Book of Mormon again. We showed them a lot of pictures from the picture book produced just recently by the church. They hadn't read from their Books of Mormon yet. I think that they will be excited to next time though.
At the end of the lesson Ana, the oldest daughter, offered the prayer. Little Gabriel is really excited to give it the next time. Also next time we're going to watch the Restoration video and the end of the testaments. I noticed also that we need to try to include Karain more often. She seems to be getting left out a little bit.
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I love missionary work!
Elder Ben Arnold

PS I talked to Mayela Poulson again recently. In fact I tracted into her sister in Pasco. Her husband is not a member. It sounded like it was a pretty delicate situation but maybe we could get something going if we talked to Mayela.

That's crazy that dad's using facebook.

I'm pretty sure that I can call you pretty much anytime on Christmas. We'll probably hear more as it gets closer.

(Where is Elder Godinez going home to?) He lives in North Carolina. Then just a couple of weeks after going home he'll be going to Rexburg to go to BYU-I. That means we'll be able to run into him sometime since he'll be so close by.