Hola!

Hello Again!

Well another week has sure flown by and it was a pretty good one! Sounds like you all had a good week too! Josh and Kayla happy anniversary! I remember being all sad in Martin CarrerI a year ago all sad that day that I wasn't there. Cant believe a year has already passed. Hope you had a good one! And Britt and Trevor congrats as well on the 9 years, who da thunk you guys would make it that long. haha jkjk. Dads trip sounded interesting, and the new project sounds pretty cool. I want to see pics! Everything sounds good at home, and I like to hear that :)

This week was really good. Yesterday we had Bianca's baptism which was super great. It has been a little bit difficult with her but we finally got her dunked. Friday they got married so we accompanied them out to the state of Mexico to a super crappy government building where they signed and what not. And Sunday was her baptism. She has a really strong testimony already, and I could feel the spirit very strongly as she shared her testimony after she was baptized. Gotta love those moments. 

Last Monday I had a pretty unforgettable experience. I am going to write it exactly how I wrote it in my journal for the full effect :) 

. . " Today was just a normal pday and all but when we were finishing up before heading out I started feeling really sick. By the time we finished up a family night with a less active family, I was shaking, my head was pounding, and I had a raging fever. When we were just leaving our investigators Jose and Martha who had previously cancelled the appointment we had with them that night miraculously called and said we could come over after all. On the way over I felt so weak that if one of the many drunks we passed on the street would have come after us, I wouldn't have even been able to run. I was thinking: "why do I feel like this if I keep so faithfully the word of wisdom? Where are the blessings?" We eventually made it to their house and I waited slightly impatiently for them to come to the door. We went in, sat down, and began to talk. We talked about how they felt in the General Conference, and how they had been doing. Our investigator Martha commented that she had felt really bad and sick that day. Then she mentioned that she knew she felt weak and sick because she was a smoker. When she said that me and Elder Chacon looked at each other and without words knew that we needed to change our plan and teach the word of wisdom. We began to teach and I could feel little by little the spirit beginning to take over the lesson, our words, and their hearts. As I testified of the importance of the word of wisdom I had tears streaming down my cheeks and they did too. In that moment I received and shared the answer that the spirit put into my heart to my cries that I had expressed moments previous in the street. In that moment I knew that we will never have a perfect body in this life, this is mortality and we are meant to pass through sickness, pain, and fatigue to prepare ourselves to one day be resurrected and return to live with him. But while we are in this mortal state we will never achieve it. However, when we obey as simple of a commandment as the word of wisdom we have the Lords PROMISE that he will bless us. That we will have health in our naval and marrow in our bones, find hidden treasures of knowledge, run and not be weary, walk and not faint, and most of all be protected from the evil powers of the adversary. When Jose read those words of the Lord through the profet Joseph Smith in D&C he said: "I dont know what book this is but when I read those promises I felt like God was speaking in my place." It was an extraordinary moment that I will never forget. That's when it all came together. God prepares us in many ways that we don't even recognize. We need to rely on the Lord and our father that everything that happens is part of his grand plan. My greatest joy was not only seeing them commit their selves to not smoke and repent, but seeing that I was a true representative of Jesus Christ through which the spirit testified to 2 investigators in search for the truth, and changed their lives forever. When we left their house I felt good as new, as if I had never felt sick in the first place. . . "

So that was cool, right? So that was the highlight of the week, the rest of the week was pretty good. Our area is going well, we are teaching lots, and have lots of baptismal dates. There are lots of frustrations each day, and nothing ever goes as planned, but everything always seems to work out pretty well. 

I'm really trying to enjoy every second here in the mission. Sometimes we are always just wishing for the next thing in life. But when the next thing comes, we just wish we could go back. Sometimes I feel like the mission is getting harder, and I just want to give up and rest, but I gotta keep pushing forward and finish strong. Here we go. haha 

I love you all, and hope you have another super great week! 

With Lots of Love, 

Elder Elgan