Hello to you from Guachpita!

Saludos! That's hello here. Another great week this week! We did have another TWO baptisms this week on Saturday. It was great! We felt the Spirit and the kid who has the baptismal date for this coming week was there and we actually didn't think that he was going to make it for this week because he hadn't come to church, but after the baptism he came up to us and just said, so it's me next week, right? Wow, so he had really been torn between us and some friends that he has that attend a different church, but at the Baptism, he felt the spirit and he felt like it was him that was getting baptized! Wow, what a miracle! The Lord has blessed us with so much success! It is truly a miracle that he now wants to get baptized this Saturday. We are really busy!

A little more about my companion and the area. My companion's name is Elder Blake from Boston MA! (Henry served his mission in Boston so we were excited to hear this!) His dad's ward would have been Marlboro or Weston Ward back then. As for lunch food, we usually have some form of rice and beans from the lady that cooks for us for lunch, and it usually comes with some kind of meat. The beans are soooo good! Wow, I never knew rice and beans could taste so good! But now we've got all the stuff for green chili burros too because Grandma sent it to me! That was pretty funny. I guess "burro" is only a word in Arizona, because nobody else knew what a burro was, ha ha! They only know burrito. Poor elders, they haven't had enough Mexican food. We live in Maria Auxiliaora and we don't use American money here, but we can exchange it. My apollo is down to about three hundred pesos, so I'm going to have to start using some of the money I brought with me for travel money. But in a few days I should be getting some more money on my card, and don't worry, I have plenty of money and always have my debit card if I need it, which I believe will work at the ATMs here. The motorcycle we rode on to the baptism was a street bike, but I don't think that that's something that we will commonly do, it's pretty dangerous. We are actually in a ward that meets in a two story church building with a basketball court out in front. It looks like the model for church houses that the Church uses in this country is a two story model. (We asked him a ton of questions and he was trying to answer some of them!)

I'm learning a lot and I've been teaching more and more during our appointments. I had a really great experience this week. I was on an exchange in our area with Elder Almonte (who is in a different area) because both of our companions were at the training meeting for the eight new points of emphasis. We were contacting and we ended up being let into the porch of a man that lives in our area because it was raining. Interestingly enough, this was a man that we had contacted just a few minutes earlier. I began to talk to him and he had actually visited with the missionaries when he was younger. He said that he lived on a different island and had gone to church there as well when he was younger. Elder Almonte let me do almost all of the talking, and I actually set up a return appointment, placed a Restoration pamphlet and invited him to church. Then when we were sitting in church on Sunday, he walked in! I couldn't believe it! What a miracle! This really isn't a huge deal, it was just awesome for me because I did most of the talking while we were there and he actually came to church. When he walked into church on Sunday, I felt like this was The Lord telling me that He trusts me and that He thinks that I'm alright. I'm so grateful for that opportunity that I had and the success The Lord blessed me with! He has blessed me beyond measure! I hope that this man begins to take the steps toward baptism with his family as well!

I'm so grateful that the Lord trusts me and that He has all power! He has conquered the world and He can conquer anything in our lives. Satan works through fear and trys to destroy who we are and get us not to live up to our potential. But this isn't Heavenly Father that puts doubt and fear into our minds, that's what we have to recognize. We have so much potential! Heavenly Father knows our potential and will provide a way for us to live up to it! He has conquered the world and there is nothing that He can´t conquer. He is always watching over us, and He is always there, even when we don't feel it. We all can do so much good! We have a lot of potential, and with Heavenly Father's help, we can live up to that potential. I'm so grateful for His trust and His watchful eye and His power.

I love you all so much! Thanks so much for all that you do for me and for your love for me!

P.S. I really don't have any pictures from the area other than baptisms and those are of the church building, so I will try to take some more and send some to you! I have a lot from the MTC, so I'll try to send some of those too! I love you so much! Please keep me in your prayers!

Elder Jeff DeSpain