September 15, 2009

This last week we went on exchanges with the Assistants to the President. That was a pretty awesome exchange. How it works with them since they are so far away from their own area is that one goes with me and the other goes with my comp and the 4 of us double cover our area for a day. It's great because we get twice as much done! I went with Elder Ale (ah-lay). He is Samoan by decent but from Hawaii. He's a really good missionary with tons of personality! At the end of the exchange Elder Ale had me write "I am... " in my planner and then below it write "1." and below that "2". Then for 1 he had me write "a balanced missionary" and complimented me on my planning because we did a little bit of everything but got a lot done. And for 2 he had me write "Iceman". Haha! I was a little confused at first as well, but let me share his explanation.... He played Basketball at BYU hawaii and there was this guy on his team that everyone called "Iceman". They called him that because whenever he had the ball and going in for a shot, regardless of what was going on around him, he kept his cool and every time he went to shoot it, it was like he was the only one on the court. Nothing distracted him or got him worried. Elder Ale said he noticed that I was always cool, calm, and collected. If something fell through I didn't get upset or frustrated... I just moved onto the next thing with no problem or worry or stress. I really appreciated his comments and compliments.

So we've been visiting a pretty interesting member... Bro Watkins. He's about 50 or 60 years old, ex-marine, and very.... let's say anti-gun-control. Haha! He's kinda crazy and extreme in his ideas. He has tons of weapons of every kind around his house. He would love to see a bloody revolution. Haha! Although his ideas are very... different. He's a good and caring guy with a great testimony of the gospel. His views make sense to me in a very limited sense. I don't know why I'm telling you about him. There's no real significant reason... I just kinda like Bro. Watkins. Haha!

My spanish is improving so much! I love it! I love being able to actually communicate somewhat! Haha! I'm still far from fluent, but I'm still getting better!

He's so busy he forgets to do things, like date his letters.

I am doing well! I think I may have a little cold... or maybe it's the season change. I don't know. But I'm counting my blessings! So being a zone leader is super busy! When I'm not on exchanges with other missionaries (which happens twice a week, every week) I'm preparing for some meeting or training I have to do. So time to write letters is very scarce. My P-day this week was spent moving into another members home to live. The P-day before that was spent driving to Kansas City because the next day we had zone leader's council at the mission home. That was pretty cool. We talked about leadership-type stuff. Haha! What a surprise! Haha! Oh, the night before that we had dinner at the Wittekind's house! That was so awesome to see them all again! I love that family!

So we've been teaching a lot. In the first 2 1/2 days I was in the area we taught 19 lessons! Haha! From Thursday afternoon to Saturday! So that keeps me pretty busy! I've been here 2 weeks and I've gone on 4 exchanges already! I've gone to Newton, Auburn Hills, Wellington and Maize! That really makes the weeks fly by! Every week we meet with the Stake President 1 on 2 and talk about the progress of the zone. That's pretty cool! He's an awesome man!

Sunday I gave a talk in church in Spanish! 15 minute talk! It was about commitments and covenants. I anticipated when I was asked to give a talk the week before that I would be nervous and stressed so I prayed and asked God to give me comfort and calmness when I stood up to speak (because I assumed that it wouldn't come a second before that! haha.) then I left it to the Lord and knew he would grant my request. So because of my faith and looking forward to him blessing me with peace and calmness at that time... the fear and stress and nervousness never came! It was because of my faith and hope in the future blessings that brought the blessings right then! Haha! I love it! God is great! I did very well on my talk. I know God helped me because I spoke better than my skill really is! Haha!

We had zone conference this week. I gave a training on "An Eye Single to the Glory of God." It was short and to the point but pretty powerful. The work is going great here! We have quite a few people that are close to baptism! Hopefully that will happen soon!

What you have heard from my mom is very true! I have been SUPER busy! Although, things have slowed down a bit since the beginning of the transfer! Holy Guacamole! This transfer is already almost half over! Wow! I thought time would slow down for the last 3 months... BUT NO!!! Haha! It's still just truckin' along at the same speed if not faster! Haha!

August 20, 2009

So, today is Thursday August 20th and I'm on the transfer bus on my way to Wichita! ... again! Haha! I'm sure you've gotten the news by now from Sis. Clark. I'm pretty dang excited! It will be a lot of fun. I know as well that the Lord will be expecting a lot more from me. I'll be a zone leader in a true full spanish area. I will be working with the valley center branch. It is pure spanish! My spanish will be improving a lot I'm sure. It has to! Haha! My companion will be Elder Rupper. I don't know him too well, but I'm pretty sure he's pretty cool. Elder Higareda and I were double transfered out of Olathe. He is going to Newton, KS. So I will be his zone leader! Haha! I packed Tuesday night and Wednesday morning then the rest of Wednesday I was getting everything ready for the elders coming into Olathe. Double transfers are always tough on areas. I think they'll be alright. I'll definitely miss Olathe! I'm pretty sure I'm going to be in Wichita for the rest of my mission. Even though I wanted to serve in KC3 again I'm willingly accepting the Lord's will for me. I know this is where I'm supposed to be! Well, writing a letter while riding on a bus is kinda making me sick! haha! So I'm going to finish this up and get it ready to send when I get off the bus.

Update From Emily

Brian is really busy these days. He's working really hard and just doesn't have time to write much, so I don't have a letter to update his blog with, but I just got news from one of the members over there that Brian is being transfered to be a Zone Leader in Wichita, Kansas. That's all I know. I'll be sure to update as soon as I hear more from him. For more detailed updates for now, you can ask his parents. (They still get an email from him every week).

-Emily

July 13, 2009

The past week has been good, but also super crazy! As you know it was transfers last week. The Tuesday before transfers I thought for sure that I was going to KC3! I thought Elder Caceres was going to stay and I was going to go. Well, Tuesday at around 2:00 we got a call from President Van Komen. He first asked to talk to Elder Caceres. He called him to be a district leader in Salina, KS. I think he will do very good there. He is an excellent missionary and a super hard worker! 

Anyway, after President talked to him he asked to talk to me. I was pretty nervous, because I didn't know what he was going to say. Then he asked me to be a trainer. I was assigned to train Elder Edgar Higareda. He was born in Cancun, Mexico then moved to Indiana at age 11. He's completely fluent in English and Spanish. He's a pretty cool guy. He's definitely  going through some "growing pains" as he adjusts to mission life. That's normal though. It makes me realize how accustomed to this form of life I am. Everything is just habit for me. A phrase I've been saying a lot the past week is, "Don't worry, you'll get used to it." Haha! "What? We can't eat in the car?" ... "Don't worry you'll get used to it." "What? We have to stay in our nasty sweaty proselyting clothes while we plan at night?" "Don't worry, you'll get used to it." Haha! It's great! Hahaha! 

So yeah, I was super nervous to train a spanish Elder in a spanish area. I mean, my spanish still isn't spectacular, but he was going to be coming in speaking perfect spanish and probably able to teach in spanish better than me, but I was supposed to teach him things. The Lord definitely always knows how to humble me to new depths! It was one of the few times on my mission that I doubted (somewhat) that I could do something. I know that I know this language. I know grammar. I know vocabulary (fairly well). I can read spanish better than many people I teach. But God knows that for some reason I still have a fear of speaking this language. I don't know why, but I do. And that fear has hindered me a lot. This past week has been very interesting though! We teach a lot of spanish people, and before this week I would teach small parts of the lesson the look at Elder Caceres for him to take over the rest. Well, suddenly I'm the one teaching most of the lesson with my companion looking at me to take over for him. It's amazing how fast the Lord can force fear right out of you! Haha! The thing is . . . I can't afford to be afraid to speak this language anymore. I have to speak because if I don't then there is no one else to pick up my weakness. My companion is a good missionary, but he's still very green and he is looking to me to teach. So yeah. I've realized that I can speak a lot more than I thought I could. 

I've been super tired all week! That has really sucked! We've also been walking everywhere this week because Elder Higareda doesn't have a bike yet. Blah! I hate the heat and humidity here! Haha! Something that was very funny was Elder Higareda's first street contact. It was a guy BBQing in his driveway. A beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other! One of the first things he said was (looking straight at my comp) "In 20 words or less tell me when you believe." My comp was pretty taken back by that but he did a great job! I thought it was pretty funny that he put him so on the spot on his first day. Haha!

Well, Sunday was great! We had 5 investigators at church! Diego is still doing great as well! Still set for July 25th! I'm really excited for that! Well, that's about it for my week. 

I love this country, also! Actually the other day we were walking down a street and we came up to an office building and in the parking lot was laying an American Flag. It had fallen off it's holder on the building and it looked like it had been there at least a few days. It made me really sad. I'm sure other people must have seen it there before me. I love everything that flag stands for. I picked it up and put it back in place. For some people  that wouldn't mean much, but for some reason it meant a lot to me at that time that our flag was waving in the air rather than laying on the dirty ground.

July 4, 2009

Happy 4th of July!

Last Friday we helped out with the Stake Youth Conference. They were doing an "Amazing Race" kind of thing in a giant park in Shawnee. Elder Caceres and I manned one of the stations. We were at the Archery range. No, we didn't get to shoot bows and arrows. That would've been awesome if we did, though! Haha! It was kind of like a pictionary type of deal but with clay. One person from their team had to sculpt a principle and the rest guessed. We were given a quick little lesson to share, but Elder Caceres and I didn't really get it, so we just made one up. Haha! I based it off of a scripture in Jeremiah (18:1-6) saying that we are clay in the Lord's hands. It was pretty hot outside, but we mostly stayed in the shade, so it wasn't too bad.

We had interviews on Tuesday. I told President Van Komen that I want to serve in KC3 again. It's the only area that I haven't baptized in, the area that I got along best with the members, and the area I felt like I was supposed to do more in. But we'll see what happens. I'll find out on Tuesday. Isn't it crazy that transfers are already here!?! July 9th is transfers! I also had district meeting and talked about Obedience. It was a pretty good meeting! 

Wednesday I went on exchanges with one of the zone leaders, Elder Briscoe, in his area. It was really good! We committed a lady named Cindy to live the Word of Wisdom and be baptized on July 18th! She very enthusiastically accepted! The zone leaders live in a very rich member's house. In the morning I accidently set off the security alarm while Elder Briscoe was in the shower and I disarmed it just a few seconds before it was going to call the police! Haha! It was pretty intense! Haha! Well, that's about it for my week. 

June 29, 2009

It has been a pretty crazy week or so. I'm sorry this letter is late. I simply just didn't have time before now. Thank you so much for all of your patience with me! :) So let me get on to updating you on the past week and a half. It has been a pretty crazy time.

First of all, I would like to comment that it has be SO HOT and HUMID here!! Haha! Wednesday the 17th we helped our across the street neighbors paint the outside of their house. They picked a pretty hot and sunny day to do it but it wasn't too bad. It was a great service opportunity! Haha! We got a pretty cool new investigator that day. Diego. He's about 19 or 20. His mom is a member in Mexico. So far he is looking pretty promising! Thursday morning was district meeting. I talked about how to get investigators to church. (It's a lot tougher than you would think!) Haha! After that I went on exchanges with Elder Wiggins in his area. My goodness! Was it hot! We walked around most of the day in 95 degrees and 80% humidity! I just about died! Haha! We didn't really get much done either. Haha! I was soaked in sweat. I really don't like the summers out here. 

Saturday the 20th there was a baptism of an old investigator from Hickory Hills. Lily Reeds was baptized and I was able to go up there for that! It was great to see a few people from up there again! On the way back we stopped at the Capener's house for dinner! That was awesome to see them again!

Thursday the 25th we went to the MO-TAB concert in Kansas City. That was way sweet! We went with Anahy (a recent convert) and her non-member husband, Aldo. I saw SO many people I knew from past areas! I saw so many that I couldn't even stop to talk to many of them because we had to keep going. I saw people from Lee's Summit, KC3, Hickory Hills, Overland Park, Olathe, and even a few from Marshall! There were tons of missionaries there as well that I hadn't seen in a while. It was great to see so many people! And the performance was excellent! 

This past week I also got a few chigger bites up my legs. That's not fun! They were really itchy for a few days. Oh well! That's part of the Kansas experience! Haha! Well, I really want to get this letter out today because you've waited long enough for this one. I'm sorry! It was a crazy and tiring week! I'm going to start your next letter right now. I just want this one out today. I still have things to tell you. 

"After a long day in the sun, and with a beat-up and hole-y shirt. I finished off the shirt. Don't worry. I have another white shirt under the ripped one. I'm not exposing my "G's". Sweet relaxation!"

"Baptism of Lily Reeds. L to R: Me, Sister Reeds, Elder Bevans and Zaugg"

June 15, 2009

We had a pretty good week! 30 lessons and 6 new investigators! Not too bad. Haha! So let's see what else exciting happened. For district meeting I taught how to reach 20 lessons through the ward's help. The other companionships are kinda struggling with lessons. I think it was a good meeting! After that I went on exchanges with Elder Allen in his area (he's the new elder). He's a good missionary. The area is pretty slow right now. Not much teaching going on. We tried contacting a lot of people with not much success. I've definitely been where he is in a tough area. I made sure to give him a lots of pointers and advice that would help him a bit.

Friday afternoon was the Farmstead as usual. Boy, was it busy! It's so funny! Whenever a member of the church goes to the Farmstead and then sees our name badges they always say something to let us know they are members. Like "Hey Elders!" The other main indicator that a person is a member (women especially) is their choice of clothes. Usually it is blaring hot and humid outside and they are wearing very modest clothing while most other women are... well, let's just say that their clothes would NOT cover garments. Haha! It's pretty bad out here in the summer! It's really sad... parent's let their little kids and young teenage daughters dress like skanks. Modest is Hottest... that's what I'm sticking to. Haha.

So Sunday morning we had a great lesson with Kristen. We first had a yummy breakfast with the Ponders and her. German pancakes, bacon, fruit... yum, yum! Then we taught her about the restoration. She said she prayed and I'm pretty sure she got an answer to if she should be baptized, but something is still holding her back. She's still hesitant about something. I don't know what it is. We are hoping to go to the Visitor's Center on Sunday. We'll see how that goes. Well, that's pretty much all the exciting news for this week. 

June 8, 2009

I've had a pretty good week! It went by super fast! We got 24 lessons this past week, so it's coming back up. It also helped that we got 6 new investigators, too! Our teaching pool is growing fast. A lot of the new investigators seem pretty promising as well! I'm excited! The work is going well here and we are staying super busy! I don't think I'll have a whole lot to update on for the week because I don't remember most of it. Haha!

Tuesday afternoon we went to the Independence visitor center with Marina and Mayra and Rosario. Marina is Rosario's sister and Mayra is Marina's daughter. They loved the VC! They cried when they watched the Joseph Smith movie. It was great!

Wednesday was zone conference. That was great as well. It's always a spiritual booster. They talked about a lot of different things. I don't think I could pick out one main theme. It was just very good. So, I cut my hair Monday morning because it was getting way too long. I've gotten a lot of compliments on my work! Haha! I haven't set photos in a while. I need to do that. I will do that! 

So this past Sunday night we had dinner at the Ponder's home. They are a very cool family here. Anyway, the daughter, Katie, has a friend whose name is Kristen. Kristen's mom is a member of the ward here that is just coming back from inactivity. Kristen is a non-member, but was taught by the missionaries about 2 years ago. She has kinda been going through a rebellious stage in life, but she was just accepted to BYU Idaho so she can be with her friend Katie. She has come to church many times and even girls' camp. So she knows a lot of people in the ward and knows a lot about the church. Since she's going to go to BYU-I she will have to make some changes in her life. So Sunday night Katie asked us how long we will be in this area for. We said at least another 4 weeks. (And because the Ponders like us so much) She said that we should have a goal to baptize Kristen before then! So I told her to set up a time that we could come teach her in their home. She told us she'd do that. So she calls us the next morning and told us that Kristen could come to dinner that night and was willing to be taught after! We cancelled our regular dinner that night so we could go teach Kristen. We went and it went really well! We committed her to pray about baptism. I think we'll baptize her! We are going back to the Ponder's Sunday morning before church for breakfast and another lesson! I'm excited!

So I think I know why I've been taking so long with the Spanish language . . . I remember my mom telling me that it took me a long time to speak English! I would just grunt and point at what I wanted instead of verbalize my thoughts. I wish I could just do that for the spanish language . . . *Grunt* *points at investigator* *points at baptismal font* *grunt grunt!* I'm sure that would work great! Haha! Anyway . . . the point is that I'm just slow at learning languages and I've accepted that. Although, I'm working harder than ever to improve my language skills! I was proud of myself yesterday! We were teaching a lesson in english and I couldn't think of a word so it took me a bit of thinking to get it, but when it came to my mind, it came as the spanish word instead of the english one. So I had to translate my vocabulary from spanish to english to talk! I think that's a good sign! Hahaha!

Well, I believe that's about it for this week. It took me until Wednesday night to finish this letter, and that's even with the time I took on Monday to write. Thank you for being so patient with my crazy busy schedule! It's Wednesday and we've already gotten 5 new investigators for the week! Haha!

June 1, 2009

Let me tell you about this past week. As you know, it was transfers week. You also know that I stayed! Elder Caceres stayed as well. We're pretty excited! At transfers 3 of my past companions went home! That's so weird! Elders Seethaler, Wuthrich, and Bartlett. Thursday night at the church there was a polynesian show put on by a hawaiian family that performs world-wide. It was way awesome! They did all kinds of dances. Including a native american hoop dance and flaming knife dance. Elder Caceres got most of the dances on video and I've gotten them from him now. They also brought people up from the audience onto the stage to teach them a hula dance from hawaii. It was a stake activity so it was packed in the gym. They all made a big fool of themselves! Haha! Oh... guess what else added to the fun and hilariousness of that part of the show....... I was one of the people up there making a fool of myself in front of the whole stake!! Hahahaha! They made some of the missionaries come up. My companion and I and Elder Graham and his new companion, Elder Allen. Remember that it was transfers that morning, so it was Elder Allen's first day in the area. Haha! Something else that's funny about Elder Allen having to get up and dance is the fact that it was also his first day IN THE MISSION FIELD! He's a brand new greenie! Hahaha! I'm sure he was thinking something like... "this isn't what I signed up for!" Haha! Nah.. he looked like he handled it well. Haha! We kept hearing comments about it for a few days. They told Elder Caceres how funny he looked and I was complimented on my dancing! Haha! And yes, I have a video of us hula dancing! :)

So.... just a little piece of interesting news... you know crazy Bill from OP? He's got a baptismal date for June 20th! Haha! That's pretty awesome! Haha

May 27, 2009

The past few weeks have been quite a roller coaster ride as far as events go. My morale and faith, though, haven't wavered. There were many things that made me disappointed, but none of those things made me discouraged. There's a big difference between the two! Disappointment is a fact of life, discouragement is a state of being that makes you want to give up or slow down.

One of our investigators, Marino (the husband of a recent convert, Rosario), was taken to prison right after he came home from Anahy's baptism. He had some outstanding warrants for his arrest so they came and got him. We all think it's a blessing that he is in prison, though. He was trying to give up drinking but his "friends" kept dragging him back to it. He couldn't get away from them because they live right by him. Also, unknown to his wife, he had a girlfriend on the side that has been in the picture for about 5, yeah 5!!!, years. He also wanted to break it off with her so he could get baptized. So now the Lord has taken him away from all those things. He could be in there for maybe 2 years! It will be good for him. Rosario has such an amazing optimism! She is way awesome!

As of 2 weeks ago we had 4 people committed for baptism with a date... but as of right now, we don't have any. Jessica was to be baptized May 23rd, but she isn't able to go to church for awhile because she has to work Sundays. We thought it best not to baptize her into inactivity. Haha! She's doing good other than that. She'll be baptized eventually. Another person is Paulina. She had a date for June 6th, but she has to be either married or not living with and not doing certain "acts" with her boyfriend for at least 2 weeks before the baptism. It's now within that 2 week period before the 6th of June so she can't be baptized then because she's still living with her BF. She still really wants to be baptized so she is trying to work things out... either get married or break-up. She's living in a home with many families. One of the families is members of the church. I think she'll still be baptized as well. Horacio is another one that was committed for June 6th, but he didn't come to church... so he won't be baptized on schedule. We're not sure about him... we think he might be wanting to join to use the welfare system. We're being careful, but still working with him. Elba was the other one for June 6th but didn't come to church. I still have hope for all these people and we're still working hard! :)

Last week I went on exchanges with Elder Graham, my MTC companion! That was pretty fun! We went to his area. Last Thursday I went to Independence with the zone leaders at the Mission Home for a mission leadership council. That was pretty cool. Some people from the Missionary Department in Salt Lake came out to talk to us. I really enjoyed it! 

Haha! So get this... you know how Rosario's husband, Marino, went to jail? Well this past week we started teaching Rosario's sister, Marina! Haha! She has a husband Marino, and a sister Marina. She's really awesome! I think she'll get baptized!

I'm sorry my update for the past few weeks was little, but I know you want to hear from me, so I'm going to wrap this letter up so I can send it off. 

May 11, 2009

Things have been so busy here! And I'm still trying to adjust to being here. I'm never good with change. But I'm loving it here! We are just so very busy! I feel very sorry that my letters have been so late recently! I'm going to do better.

So let me tell you about the past two weeks. First, I'll start with the week of Apr. 19-25. Wow, that's a long time ago! I'm so sorry, babe! It feels like it was just yesterday, though! We taught a WHOLE LOT that week! Sunday- 4 lessons, Monday- 4 lessons (that was the day we worked the whole day because of the temple trip), Tuesday- 7 lessons (we also committed Anahy for May 9th!), Thursday (I was off on exchanges) but elder Caceres got 8 lessons, Friday- 2 lessons, and Saturday- 4 lessons.... total of 37 lessons for the week! When the AP's found out about our numbers they called us and told us we broke the mission record for lessons in one week! The last record was 34. Haha! How cool is that! They asked us how we did it, and I told them we blacked out Sunday morning and woke up Saturday night with 37 lessons! Haha! It's probably not too far from the truth! That week was such a big fast blur! Haha! After District Meeting on Thursday I went on exchanges with Elder Hanson in the Olathe 2nd area. We biked a lot and we committed one of their investigators for baptism on May 30th... my birthday! Haha! For district meeting I taught the "I'll try VS I'll do" principle because it's a new set of missionaries! haha! Friday we went to the farmstead and had a good time. It was soooo busy! I was on the Fishing Shack Register pretty much the whole 4 hours! Lots of elementary school fields trips! Haha!

So, I don't really remember much of what went on the next week. I'm sorry. We went to Zone conference on Wednesday in Lee's Summit! I got to see the new stake center there. It was still being built when I was there. Driving through Lee's Summit brought back a lot of memories! Haha! Zone conference was pretty good, as always. It's Elder Seethaler's last transfer. He goes home May 29th! That's crazy! After Zone conference I went on exchanges with one of the zone leaders, elder Peterson. That went alright. And then on Friday we went to the Farmstead again! Haha! That's how fast the weeks go by! I can't keep up! Saturday I interviewed a lady for baptism from the Olathe 2nd ward. Casey Ellis. She's pretty awesome! She 24 and she is joining against the will of her whole family! That takes a lot of courage! But she knows it's true! I love the gospel! We taught 24 lessons that week. Not bad! Oh! We also committed another investigator for baptism that week! Her name is Jessica Velasquez. She's 18, from Guatemala, and she is committed for for May 23rd! She has quit coffee which was her only concern. She's pretty cool!

Well on to the next week. I'm sorry I'm going so fast through the weeks. I'm catching up so I can get back on track with regular letters every week. This past Wednesday we got an awesome new investigator! Heracio Hernandez. He was a headquarter referral to Olathe 3rd ward, but they gave it to us because he's spanish. We went over and he was so excited to see us! I guess when he was 7 his 3 older brothers joined the church. He even remembers the missionary's name.... Elder Thompson. This was 32 years ago, by the way. Well, for one reason or another he didn't end up joining the church, but he loved everything about it. He remembers all about Joseph Smith and the gold plates. And he LOVES the book of mormon! He had left his in Mexico, so we gave him another one. He was SO grateful! He's coming to Church on Sunday! His wife was raised Catholic, so she doesn't have good ideas of the church, but he told us that we will be able to change that! Haha! He started reading the  book of mormon to her and told her about the mormons "Son De Dios" --- "They are of God". Haha! He's golden! I'm excited for him!

Thursday after district meeting I went on exchanges with Elder Wiggins in the Olathe 3rd. He is a sign language Missionary. We go way back  to the KC zone! Haha! We went and did service at a home of a completely deaf couple. 100% deaf! Friday morning I went to the Farmstead with Elder Wiggins. We were in the dairy barn until 12:30 when we switched back up from exchanges... then I went to the fishing shack with Elder Caceres! Haha! I got 2 shifts at the Farmstead! That was awesome!

Saturday was a crazy day! It was a good day, a stressful day, happy day, sad day, and even just a plain weird day! It was quite a rollercoaster! It was Anahy's baptism, which went great! It was very good! Although, 15 minutes before the baptism one of the people giving a talk cancelled. So I had to fill in at the last second and give a talk on baptism in Spanish. That was stressful! Haha! 30 minutes before the baptism Elder Wiggins calls me and tells me that his companion fell 20 ft. out of a tree and fractured his face and was being rushed to a hospital in an ambulance. I guess they were doing service for someone. That night he went into ICU and was operated on. It will take a few days before he can leave and then he is getting sent home. That makes me sad! Especially because it happened right before Mother's day! He will recover, but it's still pretty bad! That was Elder Bradshaw. Poor guy! Also on Saturday before the baptism we were at a spanish members apartment, Angelita. Apparently she bought a live chicken, because she like chicken fresh! Haha! We watched her cut it's head off and de-feather it by boiling it. Weird... just a weird experience. It was a first for me. Haha! Well, I guess I'd better wrap this letter up.