Tornado And Earthquake This Week!

Con bai di Aruba!?

Hello! Well, I'm not sure, but I think that the things that are happening here are from the hurricanes, haha. There has been some rain, but the craziest things were the tornado and earthquake. I don't know if word got out to you, but we had an earthquake here on Saturday, I think it was like a 4.6 from what someone told us. But it was not a big deal at all, so don't worry. We were teaching somebody and the couch and walls started to shake, but once we figured out what was happening, it was over. No damage or injury whatsoever, in fact I don't know if there were any damages on the whole island besides one car accident from someone who got scared. There was a tornado earlier in the week, but we didn't even know that it happened, haha. One morning we woke up and it was like raining really hard and we were just going about like normal, and then later that day we passed by a catholic church that is further north on the island and we noticed that all of the tiles were all over the place on the roof and two sections of the roof were completely missing, so we just said, wow, they're doing renovation on the catholic church, and then later, we found out that it had got ripped apart by a tornado!! But we are fine, like I said, we didn't even know that it had happened because it wasn't in our area, but some pretty crazy happenings this week haha!  (Henry found some information and a picture of the tornado damage at this link:  http://www.sxmislandtime.com/component/k2/item/15321-over-fifty-homes-damaged-during-early-morning-tornado-in-aruba.html )

We were able to set a baptismal date with Miriam, and we got her interviewed, so she will be baptized this Saturday, in the ocean!! It will be awesome, her husband is already a member, so in a year they will be able to go to the temple, and I so hope that they do and that I get the chance to see them there! It will be so awesome.

It was raining on Sunday morning, so it was a little bit harder to get some people to church, but we still had a very good day. We are still working with Daniel, and he seems to be progressing, so we are hoping for the best!

We also were able to find a couple of new families because of the reference of a member, and they are awesome, they had questions about Prophets in the Americas, so we were able to explain to them about the Book of Mormon, it was awesome!!

Awesome, I do not have that EFY CD you mentioned, so that will be perfect. With the pants, the waist works, so all I need is a size longer. That will be perfect because this type of pants has an adjustable waist, so that size works fine. It may be that they have just shrunk over time like you said, but I still think that I need a size longer, so that would be great if you could send pants one size longer. Thanks so much!

Well Bob, to be a head athletic trainer at a high school, you just need a bachelor's degree in Athletic Training and you need to pass a certifying exam if I remember right, but to be a trainer at a college or professional level, from what I understand you have to have a masters degree, and take the certifying exam. So I hope that that helps you out.  (Scott needed some information for a scout merit badge and we knew Jeff would know the answer so we asked him in our email this week.  "Big Bob" is Scott's nickname.  We called him "Big Bob" when he was young and actually pretty tiny and the name stuck for some reason.)

Wow, good for Leah, they are recommending that you do Barret? Well, it's a good program from what I understand, but it does sound like a lot more work. I met some people who were in it, and overall, it sounds like a lot of work. In fact, if it was me, I would probably just take normal classes instead of doing honors, but that's probably just because I wouldn't be interested in doing the extra work. I'm sure that it looks really good on a resume, but I would personally still go with the normal route and take normal classes I think. But don't let me pull you down if that's what you want to try to do. You have to do what makes you happy, and what you enjoy.  (He's answering an ASU question for Leah!)

Thanks so much for all that you do for me. I am so grateful for where I came from and the people that I know and the family that I am a part of. I'm so grateful for those who came before me and left a legacy behind for me. I have so many wonderful ancestors who were such wonderful people, and did such wonderful things for the Lord. I just pray that I can leave behind a portion of what they did.

It's amazing to see how simple the Gospel is. Really, when you look at it, the people who progress in life are those who keep the commandments, read their scriptures every day, pray every day, and go to church every week. Those are four simple things, and they probably sound like answers you hear every day in seminary or institute class, but those four things are part of the foundation of a Christ-like life. Those are four keys to our happiness here in this life, and in the next. I can see that with investigators as well as in my own life. Those things are like armor. We need the armor of God, and that is how we put it on every day; reading the scriptures, praying, keeping the commandments. I've learned to look at my scripture reading that way. If I read my scriptures today, then I'm showing to Heavenly Father that I want His protection, and once I have read them, I'm protected for that day. Now, I'm not saying that we should let our guard down or slack off, but I know that The Lord will help us if we make sure to include Him in our day. I am so grateful for His Love, His Mercy, His Guidance, His Peaceful whispers through the Holy Ghost, and for His Gospel. I love you all and thank you so much for the examples that you are to me of living the the Gospel and being disciples of Christ.

I love you!

Elder DeSpain