July 8

Buenos Dias!

This week has been a great week for us!

Monday we played at the park as a district. We had a barbecue, and did some slacklining, and Elder Ellsworth, Hna Allen, and I played croquet. It was really fun, and I have some good pictures, but sadly I forgot to bring my camera to the library today so you'll have to wait until next week.

Tuesday was a very full day, but we were able to talk with so many people about the gospel, help the car Hna's with a blitz, and found two new investigators in our own area. We were finally able to meet with E----n again. We taught her about the Doctrine of Jesus Christ, and how it could bless her life. We felt like we should teach that first, but we really need to teach the Restoration now because she doesn't understand the concept of authority yet. The further I get into my mission the more I realize that even though it sounds somewhat arrogant you really do have to just be bold with people. They have to understand that our message isn't just that God loves them and Christ atoned for their sins so all will be happy in the world. Our message really is that we offer joy in this life and happiness in the life to come and no one else can offer that.

Wednesday started out interesting. We went to see one of our potentials, named A----o, and while we were waiting outside the apartment building for the gate to be opened by someone he drove up. Sadly he said he was just going in then leaving right away, but we said we'd wait and talk to him when he came out. After 15 minutes when he still hadn't come out we followed a car in and knocked on his door. He seemed a little chagrined, but the conversation went really well! He is so prepared for the gospel, and I know he needs it, but he works as a clown and so he always has to work on Sundays. We're hoping to be able to meet with him again and teach him how important it is to keep God's commandments so that He can bless us with all the things we truly need. That night we had dinner with a member family (the V-----'s) and, along with learning a lot of new words, we were able to work with them towards finding people that they know who we can teach. We fasted with them this Sunday and we're hoping to be able to talk with them again this week about how they felt, and whom we could start working towards teaching.

Thursday we worked with our district a little bit to combine all the information we have about the ward and also did weekly planning. We are working really hard to help the ward actualizar (not sure what the best translation is for that...) their ward list especially with the less active members. We're also trying to find out who in our area we can work with that is ready to start coming back to church. It was nice to be able to see some of the fireworks for the 4th of July from our balcony after nightly planning was done. Hna Allen and I kept forgetting that it was the 4th all day since we just did normal Thursday missionary things.

Friday we had a Zone Training Meeting with our new zone, and it was wonderful! Elder Garland (he was in my district my first transfer when I came in) and Elder Romero really are great Zone Leaders! Their training was inspiring, and really helped us learn more about how to better set baptismal dates, and help investigators prepare to be baptized.

We actually put that training into use the very next day on Saturday when we set the first baptismal date I've ever set on my mission, with our new investigator, A-----t. We are so excited to help him prepare to be baptized on the 28th of July! That day we had some other success in that we found 5 new investigators in one day. It was funny to us because we'd mentioned during weekly planning the week before that we could absolutely find 5 new investigators that day and we completely forgot about it until we were reviewing the day that night.

Sunday was a little bit of a downer because we didn't have any of our investigators come to church even though they'd promised, but then it got better because we were able to set two more baptismal dates that afternoon. We are SO excited to help J-----n and A-----o prepare to be baptized on the 4th of August! They are so cool because they are so accepting of our message. They really seem to believe when we bear our testimonies.

I absolutely love being a missionary! I think I say that every week, but it's definitely true. In fact, I think it just get's truer every week. I know that this gospel is true, and that the true authority of Christ is again on the earth today. I know that this is the best way to find happiness now, and the only way to find salvation in the life to come!

I love you all!

Hna Marin Hardy