email on January 12, 2010

This is the first p day of my 6th transfer and I am still in Kent. We are getting one new sister today. I thought that we were going to get three new sisters at the end of this transfer (the end of february) but i guess one of the sisters is coming this time because she is already a fluent spanish speaker. So we should only get two the next time. I am excited to meet her.

Well Carlos got baptized on Saturday! It went really well. But of course something exciting had to happen so we had an exciting sunday. Church starts at 11 and so we show up usually about 10:50 (and when i say that church starts at 11:00 am i really mean that it starts at 11:15 because everyone is always running late.) So we get to church and we expect to see carlos there waiting for us because he is an unusual hispanic and is actually very prompt, but he wasn't there yet. We didn't worry too much. But then it gets to be 11 and he still isn't there... we started to worry and went out into the foyer to call him, but no answer. So then all of the stories i've heard about investigators disappearing right before they get confirmed started coming to my mind. Hna Beukers and i got kind of panicked. But he called us back a few minutes later so we ran out of the chapel and answered the phone... he told us that he stayed up the night before and didn't go to bed until 7 am... so i guess we woke him up. He said he needed to change and he would be there... so we were thinking ok, good only about 15 minutes it should be ok... well he called us again about 15 minutes later (right when everyone was looking at us to find out where he was because they wanted to do the confirmation but he wasn't there) and he told us that he was about to leave... so yeah... needless to say it was a little bit stressful.. but it all turned out ok. He made it right after the sacrament was passed and they just confirmed him then. He told us the reason that he was up so late is because he was talking first with his uncle and then with his dad about how this is the true church. It all worked out and he is amazing.

We are going to have another baptism on the 30th. Luis Pena is doing well, and is doing all of his homework. He should be ready to be baptized. then only problem for him is that he needs to come to church. his wife is a member but is not a very dedicated member. She doesn't make it a point to come to church and so he hasn't really thought it was a big deal either. but yesterday we had a really good lesson on keeping the sabbath day holy so i think that he will make it this week.

We also have one other person on date to be baptized on February 6th. her name is Frida. She just moved here from Idaho and had taken the missionary lessons there, but moved before she could get baptized. She wants to get baptized though. the thing with her is that she is living with her aunt and uncle and they are very catholic. So she doesn't really want to tell them she is investigating the church. well they know, but she doesn't like to talk about it. She really is amazing though.

Hna Beukers and I are still companions. She is a much harder worker than Hna Weston so it is really nice. In fact we have been working so hard that i have been exhausted by the time we get home. It is good though. I feel successful. The only problem is is that i haven't been writing in my journal nearly as much as i should. I need to be better about that.

So last week we met a nice family that are less active. Ok really they are inactive (coming to church wise). but they are really nice. Maria and Dustin Phalen. Dustin is american but served a mission in chili. ( it still gets me how some people can go on missions and then become inactive... i just don't get it). they are really nice and we had a family home evening with them yesterday, and are planning on having another one next monday. The reason they told us that they don't come to church is because they sleep in... but the more i get to know them the more i'm deciding that he wants to come to church, but maria (who is a convert of about 7 years) doesn't really want to. I guess Dustin had a calling that took him out of the house a lot for meetings and such, and she didn't like that. I think she still likes the church and knows it's true she just wants more support at home with her husband and is scared that if they come back to church he'll get another calling like that. I think that i need to talk to president Lopez about that. But we have mentioned that we need a new ward mission leader (yeah, we still don't have one) to them and told them they need to come back to church because Dustin would make a good one (mostly jokingly, partly seriously) and last night it really seemed like he would like having that calling because he basically started trying to convince his wife how it would be an easy calling with fewer meetings. It was great. We'll keep working with them and maybe we'll get her convinced that it would be good for them :)

So we get to go to the temple next week! I am so excited! Especially to go to Deseret Book. I am learning that i get sick of the music that i have really quickly and need more. Luckily other missionaries have some too. but i think i might try to get a cd while i'm at deseret book. Although i wish they had a seagull book because deseret book is so expensive... Oh well. better than nothing.

Well i love you all and hope all is going well. I planned on sharing a scripture that i read this week with you, but i am running out of time and i want to send a couple pics of carlos's baptism so i will write more next week.
Lots and lots of love!!! Les amo mucho!! (I love you all very much!)
Love, hermana Hoskins