Filling Eyes with Hope and Joy

Dear Family,

How are all my beloved ones?  Things are great here with Elder Velasquez.  We are looking forward to another great week.

These past few days I’ve really been able to see how the Restored Gospel really fills people’s eyes with hope and joy.  This week we’ve been able to talk with a lot of people about the blessings of eternal families.  I thought it was pretty cool.  (On the Way Home helps a lot)  Jeje. 

Our investigators are all doing great.  José, the husband of our mamita, is eating up the Book of Mormon.  He wants to read it all before he gets baptized in April.  He’s already in Alma.  He said he’s hooked and can’t stop anymore.  His favorite part has been when Alma and Amulek call the "unbelievers" to repentance.  I love it when they love the Book of Mormon.  The other day he went over to his inactive brother’s house to try and get him to come to church.

Joselyn and Marcelo have been reading and praying together every night the past few weeks.  We brought a member, Alain, over to visit with them.  When he heard they were praying and reading together he admitted that he and his wife had not been doing so well with that and was inspired by them to start doing better. 

President Montalti’s last few conferences have been based on the First Presidency’s message at the beginning of PMG where they say that missionary work is the most important and most satisfying work.  I guess I got to see this in the brother we took to visit with us.  Because he was willing to give his time to visit our investigators, he caught a little of their enthusiasm and now has a greater determination to keep the commandments.  Like you said in one of your earlier letters, converts are the life blood of the church.  Alain is actually on fire.  He reactivated a few months ago and is helping us teach all of his family.  He brought all of his cousins and nephews to church yesterday in white shirts and ties.  Pretty Cool.

Elder Velasquez and I have a goal to bring 25 people to general conference.  We cooked up this scheme to try and get a minimum of three members to visit and comprometer (commit) the investigators to come Saturday and Sunday.  We made little lists of the people we wanted each member to visit and handed them out after church and scheduled when we could pass by together to visit the investigators.  We’ll have to see how it turns out.  I think it will work a little better than just running through our phone list of Varones que son Eternamente Desocupados (unemployed males) everyday until we find someone who is willing so spend the day with us like we’ve been doing.  That gets you labeled as an elder fastidioso (annoying).

Anyway, I’m so glad to hear that you are enjoying the freedom of having sold the house.  Now I don’t have to feel so bad about you having to move.  That’s good that you’ll get to go to the reunion.  Is this the first one I’ve ever missed?

Well, take care, Bambino-Dinkers.
Love,

Il Duce

Elder Carnese se fue.  Está en la oficina otra vez.  El nuevo es un italiano-guatemalteco-gringo.  Se llama Élder Sparacino. (Elder Carnese left.  He is in the office again.  The new elder is part Italian/Guatemalan/American.  His name is Elder Sparacino.)