Hey everyone! It was good to talk to everyone last Tuesday! This week has been long since we had 33 lessons this week, it's been super busy!
So Mission Peak ward is more than likely getting another pair of missionaries and they will probably be Sisters... so we'll see! Probably not this transfer but next transfer. My companion thinks he may be getting transferred which is the week of Jan 6, so if he does then I will be taking over this area with another missionary. I know all the Mandarin missionaries and all of them are really good guys so we'll have to see about that.
I got a message from President saying the spanish materials are just to "brush up on your spanish" for contacting. No word on spanish areas at all but we'll see later on down the road. You never know! They put Mandarin speakers in the English program for a bit every once in a while they say.
So we had 33 lessons this weeks, like I said, so that's crazy considering we're suppose to only get 20, we had some amazing experiences with less active members this week!
Experience 1: We had a lesson with a guy named Frank S. he was in the bishopric for years and him and his wife left the church out of nowhere. We have been visiting him about bi-weekly since I got here and we've have had 4 lessons with him to date, he is a really nice guy, but he was offended by people at church (something about hypocrisy within the church) but this lesson was special, he really has softened up a lot and really opened up to us. We shared a message about New Years and how we can move on from our past and having a brighter future, and he shared with us a personal experience and then we ended and asked him who he would like to say the prayer. He said "Well, I should do it then" and he said a wonderful prayer! He asked to bless all the missionaries of the chuch and to watch over them and also to watch over all the members of the Mission Peak ward! It was great!
Experience 2: We have a member in the ward that is an outstanding missionary, she's a single sister in her 30's and she is a school teacher, her name is Aparna. She gives away DVD's and pass along cards like nothing all the time! So she is a very faithful visiting teacher and one of the families that she visit teaches is on our "Do no visit" list because they were hostile towards missionaries before, but Aparna had a visiting teaching lesson with her family and told them "Well the missionaries in our ward now are very nice, and they sing Christmas carols on the guitar, would you want next time I come and visit to see if they would like to come along?" and she said Yes of course. So we went and we found out that her husband Bro Evans is from the same town in Utah (Riverton) and they really connected. My companion plays the guitar and sings very well so he sang "O Holy Night" and she started crying, and we sang both of us an arrangement we whipped up for them of "Brightly Beams, Our Fathers' Mercy" and they loved it, we didn't teach them, we didn't invite them to church, but we felt the spirit, and at the end of our visit she asked that we come back again soon.
Both very good experiences, this mission really focuses on "The Rescue" and helping those people who have already made those convenants with Heavenly Father to come back into his fold once again. So we are asked to visit less actives a lot.
This week really has been a great one, I had to great opportunity to baptize David G. and it was great, David is a combat veteran of the Army, and served in Desert Storm, he has a lot of depression and has PTSD, is on a lot of medications, but when we introduced him to the gospel, he was readily accepting, he even quit smoking! He was well prepared by our Heavenly Father for sure. His countenance has changed from sad to completely happy in the span of one month and now he is a member of Christ's true church, and he couldn't be happier.
On a sadder note, our investigator Paul moved the San Ramon (in another mission; Oakland Mission) so we can't teach him anymore! :(
I've been in the field for 2 months today, and I never want to leave! I hope I am here for the rest of my mission!
I miss you guys a lot, talking to you all was great!
Love you all,
Elder Sanchez
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