I AM REALLY PUMPED FOR THE WORK HERE IN MONTE AGUILA

Hola Hola!!!

Well how's it going everybody? I´m sure that you guys are having a good time down at Havasupi. I loved it when I went so you´ll have to tell me about it when you get back. Anyways this last week here in Monte Águila was pretty good. The first few days or so of the cambio were a little rough but now it's all good and things are looking up for the rest of this cambio. So anyways Elder Hickman is a good guy but I cannot lie, I was really nervous about him the first two days or so. When I picked him up from the bus terminal in Los Ángeles he was stone faced without a smile and didn't really talk at all and kind of made it obvious that he didn't want to talk as well. So that first day we went around visiting some of the members, doing contacts, and teaching a few of the investigators and the whole time he didn't talk and he didn't really smile at all. But when I asked him what was wrong he said that he'd been having sleeping problems so I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

Wednesday went really similar, where he didn't really smile or talk but he seemed a little better than the day before. By the time Thursday came around he started warming up to me and some of the members and started smiling more. He still doesn't really talk in contacts and lessons or to the members all that much but now he jokes around and talks with me so that's good. He´s just a timid kind of guy and if he doesn't know you well he won't talk to you. But the first few days, even though he wasn't talking, I was still talking to him and joking around with him trying to get him to smile so I think he's gotten pretty comfortable with me now. He still doesn't really smile that much, especially when we are out working and teaching and usually has a kind of bored look on his face but we´ve talked about it and are working on it. A lot of times in the work, especially with contacts and first lessons, smiling and being excited and happy and first impressions are everything. So I´m trying to help him to learn to smile and laugh more even if you have to fake it and to enjoy the work. He really is a good guy and has the potential to be a great missionary so I'm excited to help him out with that. He really is a great guy and I am learning a lot from him and I hope that he will be able to learn from me as well.

So basically this cambio has been hugely different from the last one. The last one Leiva did a lot of the contacting and talking. Now it's all me. I do all of the contacts and pretty much all the talking in the lessons. I imagine that training is a lot like this. But it's not because his Spanish is horrible, I mean it needs work but that's just because he's new. It's that he has no confidence in his ability to speak and teach and make contacts. So this last week I let it slide but this next week we're going to work a lot on getting him to do contacts and being a bigger part of the lessons. This is my first time being with a gringo, and a new gringo, so I´m new to this situation but I´m going to do my best to help him out the best I can. One thing that we need to work on is speaking Spanish in our companionship. It's just so natural to speak English with another gringo and he didn't speak Spanish with his last comp. at all and we didn't do so hot with it last week but we are setting goals and are going to work on it a lot this next week because he really needs to develop more confidence in his ability to speak and needs to break out of his shell as well. So it should be fun since I´ve never been in this situation before and it will hopefully be a good learning experience for the both of us.

So as far as the work went last week, it was pretty good. We turned in pretty good numbers and we have two more baptism dates. Pablo got his answer to his prayer about the church and the Book of Mormon last week and so we set the fecha for the fifth of June but he had to help his uncle with work so he couldn't come to church last week. But I think we are still good with his date, we just have to find him during the week to teach him the last few lessons that he needs and to get him pumped for his baptism. He is a great kid and I think that we´ll be fine. With Karina, the Evangelical girl, it's become a bit more complicated. Last week we got more details on the conversation she had with her mom and it turns out that her mom is not happy with her at all and that she gave her permission to go to church but not to be baptized. Her Dad, who doesn't live with them, gave her permission but only according to the conditions that her mom is ok with it. So she really wants to get baptized but she is going to have to get written permission from her mom to do so and the mom refuses to talk to us so it's all on Karina to work it out. She really wants to do it and doesn't want to wait til January when she turns 18 so we will be praying for her and for her Mom this next week that her heart might be softened to give permision to her daughter to be baptized. I know that God can do it so I am just going to pray and have faith that it is his will to do so.

We also found a few other good investigators that have potential to progress and unfortunately we had to let go of an investigador and her kid who don't want to keep taking the lessons after they had an ugly experience with the bipolar unstable wife of the branch president at church. That was a really hard blow to take when a member blew up at an investigator in church for no reason, but it happens. The church is perfect but the members are not. We tried to explain that to the investigator but it looks like she has already made up her mind. They were making a lot of progress too. Sigh.. oh well. And to end the email with some better news we have another baptismal date for the 26th of June with another person I´d never have guessed. This person is the sister of a really strong member and has known the missionaries and the church for like 10 years but has never even been interested in the church or the missionaries. But now it looks like the few months of love and friendliness and smiles and joking around and subtle teaching to her have finally paid off and now she wants to get baptized and has been taught almost all the lessons without her realizing that we were teaching her. That's also another miracle and a pretty good story but it's still not a done deal and she still has almost a month til she gets baptized so I will save that story for next week because I´m just about out of time today. Oh but her name is Raquel jaja. I think I forget to mention the names of my investigators sometimes in the emails.

Well I was really nervous for this cambio and I still am kind of nervous and sketched about this whole district leader thing but I have a feeling that I am going to learn a lot as a district leader and that my comp. and I are going to progress and grow a lot together so I am excited about that. And more than that, I am really pumped for the work here in Monte Águila and for being able to play a part in giving the gift of baptism to these people. The best gift they can receive, to follow our savior, and be baptized in his true church and feel the blessing of his atonement. So we are very optimistic about the work here in Monte Águila for this cambio. Well guys like always I want you to know that I love you very much and I can't wait to hear your Havasupi stories and to see the pictures. Well, until next week CHAO!!!!

Con amor, Élder Harper =)