I love missionary work!

Hola familia,

I don’t think I told you last week but Juan Saldaña is the new Branch Mission Leader. He’s doing awesome. We already worked a lot together when he was just a branch missionary. There was also a high priests group formed! That’s one step closer to becoming a ward. We’ve been working really hard to try and get the Perry Plan up and going with all of the changes that are happening. We think that it will actually go somewhere this time. We’ve been trying to teach Juan everything that we know to help him fulfill his calling.

Recently Leonardo had been struggling spiritually. Something happened in the last week and now he’s on fire. He blessed the sacrament! I almost cried when I saw that. He was up there with Juan Saldana and with Francisco Chavez. It was Francisco’s first time as well! It was fast Sunday and like Amy it was a spiritual outpouring for me. I felt the power of the Atonement. In these last few weeks the gospel has meant so much more to me.

Another story about Leonardo: Elder Hortin and another missionary, Elder Burgin, went over to visit him. Santos, his roommate, was also there. Santos has been doing drugs. And he was high when Elder Hortin and I talked to him the first time. He felt like if he was going to listen to us that he was really going to commit himself and listen. So he threw all of his drugs away that next day and hasn’t used it since. Elder Hortin and Elder Burgin had a great lesson with the two of them. He told me later that night that Leonardo was on fire. He’s eating everything up right now and doing everything he needs to. He also got offered his old job back again. He was looking for a job in Yakima; I’m glad he found one in Pasco.

We started teaching a lady named Angelica. She was taught by the other elders when I was first in Pasco. In fact I taught her while I was in a companionship with Elder Anderson and Elder Dudoich. She’s really excited about coming to church and getting baptized only her husband is really Catholic and appears to love worldly things like alcohol more than God. We have an appointment with them tonight. We are going to be reading out of the Book of Mormon on the topic of “wickedness never was happiness”.

I can’t tell you about all the experiences that I’ve had this week but I’ve felt several times like Heavenly Father was working through me to teach and help his children. That is such a good feeling, when you comfort people and get them back on the right path.

I love missionary work!