Week 41 - Happy Father's Day, Birthday, and treasuring up continually the words of life

Haha!   I'm glad you guys enjoyed my Father's day card! I was hoping you'd get a kick out of it. [He sent Daren a Father's day card in Spanish.  We had fun trying to translate it on google translate and then found the English text written on the very back in small text :) ]   I've grown to love the opportunity to celebrate the lives of my parents. You have both done so much for me and continue to do a lot for me as I am here serving the Lord. I really appreciate you two and I love you both so much.

My birthday was a great one! We ended up working in an area that I didn't really know too well, so as we were biking to our desired destination, we took a wrong turn and turned a 10 minute bike ride into a 45 minute bike ride! It was tiring but soon became worth it as we found some people with a lot of potential in the place where we tracted. We also got to see some beautiful scenery in the country of Indiana. I remember before I left I kept hearing people tell me how beautiful Indiana is, and as I arrived right before winter, I saw the ugly side of Indiana. We are just now seeing how beautiful all of the foliage up here is in the summer. It's crazy how similar it feels to Hawaii sometimes with so much green everywhere and the humidity. 

The Alarcon's invited us for a birthday dinner and we ate my favorite meal milanesa de pollo. After that, a couple more families came over for a bit and we sang happy birthday and Elder Cruz smashed my face in the cake (yes, Hispanic tradition). [Brother Alarcon sent us a fun video with his birthday song.  They sing, then chant "Que le Sople" (Blow it) , then "Que le muerda!" (bite it).  They end up smashing his face in the cake...so funny!]

On Saturday, we had a Father's Day activity in the country and it was great! We had an appointment with M. and his family during the activity, so we were planning on leaving early, but then we just decided to invite them to the party! They came and they seemed to have a great time. The members all made them feel so welcome and made sure they had fun. We invited them to church and they said they'd come! They again invited their neighbor P. who agreed to come, but something came up and he couldn't make it. But M.  and his family came yesterday and they seemed to like it. Their daughter M.  was talking on the phone in the middle of the meeting and as the music stopped right before the Sacrament, everyone could hear her and she seemed to get really embarrassed, so her and her brother both left. But M.  and M.  seemed to really enjoy it. The help of the members really went a long way. 

Father's Day activity in the country with the Branch

So this week was pretty successful. We've really been struggling on getting people to commit to a baptism date. I guess sometimes I hesitate to invite people a lot because I'm afraid it will scare them off. But they encourage us to invite EVERYONE in the first lesson so I'm trying to be better at that.

I've definitely seen my studies in the morning be a huge contribution to my capacity to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost. I find that the days where I'm not as diligent in my studies, things just don't work out quite as well. Lessons aren't smooth and people don't really receive us. But when I diligently study and "treasure up in [my mind] continually the words of live" it seems to help the Lord to be able to work through me better. 

I love you ! Thanks for the birthday package! and I loved all the birthday cards I got! It was so nice to hear from so many ward members and friends. Have a good week!