Jan 26th Learning Patience

Hey everybody,

Well, we had a lot of hopes for Sunday with investigators but.... it just didn't happen... We found a new investigator this week, Abraham, and he really needs some happiness in his life... I feel really bad for him, his family kicked him out of the house because he has a drinking problem. He is like... 60 (I think) and was living with his wife and his son (his son is 25 or something like that) and his son kicked him out and beat up on him a little... it's really sad. He says he didn't do anything but drink. He doesn't get violent or rude or gross or anything when he drinks (that's what he says) but something happened and they kicked him out. Now he lives about 5 blocks from his family's house and is renting a little place and it is just a mess.... he feels lonely all the time and "drinks away" his problems. We are really trying to help him out. He came to a baptism that we had in the ward and was really excited and wanted to get baptized but then... didn't show up yesterday... we are going to see what's going on with him. 

We also found an investigator that seemed really ready to get baptized... She listened very closely to everything we were teaching and totally accepted the invitation to get baptized and afterwards asked "so... what do I have to do to prepare myself to get baptized?" That made us really happy :) the only problem is that she got sick and we haven't been able to talk to her again...  

Anatolio didn't show up and so his date fell through... We were really hoping that wouldn't happen because he would have been able to get baptized on Feb 7th but now... he will have to wait a while longer... maybe that is for the best because we haven't been able to teach the lessons to him very fast and so this will be a chance to prepare him better... but I wanted him to get baptized sooner than later... but, it isn't what I want that really matters, we need to do what will help him the most to come unto Christ and maybe rushing him to get baptized isn't what is going to help him at this moment... I am sure he is going to get baptized soon :)

Anyways... That's just a little about what's been going on. Sounds like you all had a lot of fun :) you'll have to let me know how trek goes :) 

Pray for me! I need all the patience I can get... I have been praying a lot for that, maybe I just need to be a little more patient until the patience arrives... ;) But really, praying helps a lot. I really do have a testimony of prayer :) it is great :) and even though we don't see the outcome fast sometimes, it will always get there, like it says in John 16:23 Y en aquel día no me preguntaréis nada. De cierto, de cierto os digo que todo cuanto pidáis al Padre en mi nombre, os lo dará. That's a promise from The Savior so we can trust in it like we trust in Him. We just need to trust in God's wisdom and knowledge of everything and it will all work out for the best.

Love Y'all!

-Elder Sampson

Jan 19th 2 Investigators and 12 Less Actives at Church

Heeeeeey everybody!

Well this week... was better than last week... :) we are definitely improving but we still have a long way to go. We have been able to teach more lessons and the members have started to help us out but we need to improve our teaching. I don't know why but Elder Echeverria and I haven't really found a groove that we can both fit into... I don't know... we just haven't found the best way to work together.

This week was pretty good in the sense that we had 2 investigators in the chapel and like 12 less actives, Anatolio didn't go because the brother that was going to pick him up had to go to ward council... that was a little sad but we will keep working with him. Short story about Anatolio: we were teaching him and his daughter one day at their house and we were kinda focusing more on the daughter because we hadn't been able to talk to her for a while. She knows that the catholic church isn't true and even says that sometimes but she says she wants to stay catholic... I don't really get it but anyways... we were talking about all that and teaching about baptism and then out of the blue Anatolio says to his daughter "¡La iglesia catolica no te va a salvar!" he wasn't yelling or anything but he said it rather firmly so it was interesting.  I think he is already starting to have a testimony :)

Mari came to church! she left right after sacrament but that's a lot better than not going :) We are working with her some more because we had kinda lost contact with her but it is going pretty well.

The family we have been visiting still haven't been able to come to church... They have a baby that was born prematurely and so they have to be very careful with her because she has bronchitis so when it is cold she has to be inside...

This week we had interchanges! I went with Elder Porter (not my last comp.) and Elder Bushman, that's right... TRIO! it was a little weird to be honest... and we are all white so I am sure it was weird for the other people too ;) I don't really know what is going on but the missionaries in this zone but they are dropping like flies! We've already lost 3 in this change and one in the last one... I think they are all from sicknesses... it's been really weird. We were in a trio because some elders had to go to Tampico.

Well mom was saying that I now have 1 year in the mission... and well that is almost true... I still have three days until that happens but... I will already be home in a year from now... how crazy is that?  Well between now and then I have a lot of work to do :)

Well that's all I've got for now.  Have a great week! :) Love you

-Elder Sampson

Jan 12th Our Investigator Came to Church Again!

Bueno,

  Well this week wasn't the best week of all time.... but it wasn't the worst either. Elder Echeverria and I are very different people and so there had kinda been some things that we had kept inside that didn't really let us (at least on my part) get along and have the unity we need to teach but, we talked about it today and we are getting things all worked out. We did have some good lessons but the week would have been a whole lot better if we hadn't had those things going on. This has helped me see how important the whole "love one another" is, especially as companions. I really hope everything will go a lot better this week and that we can get our problems all figured out so we can really focus on the people here.

Anatolio came to church again! :) ha ha he's a great guy.  When my comp. met him for the first time he started asking him if he was the patriarch and I had to tell him that he isn't even a member of the church yet... ha ha :) but I really hope he will keep progressing like he is because that would mean that he will get baptized before too long :) We will do what we can to get him there.   

About the mission leader and the other youth, I don't really know what is going on with them, they say one thing and the bishop and another member says something else. Los jovenes dicen que van a servir todavía pero no sé... están asistiendo a la iglesia pero... no sé que va a pasar con ellos... The family of the one who was the mission leader is all against him and stuff like that... It is pretty hard on him but he says he still is planning on going.

The ward mission leader is excited and wants the ward to progress so it is all good with him, we are working it all out and getting organized so we are going to start seeing some results soon I believe :)

I am almost out of time... We taught this really great family last Sunday and taught them again yesterday. They are all really interested and want to keep learning and they were really excited to come to church this week so I hope we get to see that they really meant it! :) The member that went with us is pretty great and he shared his testimony and some personal experiences.  It was really cool :)

Well that's all I've got time for this week I hope you all have a great week.   Love y'all :)

-Elder Sampson

January 5th Happy New Years!

Happy New Years everyone-

Well New years was like every other day here in the mission, just preaching the gospel and all that good stuff :) We didn't get to do anything special so we just worked and then slept and then it was the new year, just like that :) it is definitely weird being in the mission sometimes but it is all good :) we did have tamales that's for sure :)

Well a little bit about my companion, he is doing all right. The first couple days right after that he was thinking about it a lot and would talk to me about it but he has kinda let it go at least for now, I don't know if he is blocking it out or just not talking to me about it but he has been working like normal. I don't really know how I can comfort him more, it is something that I don't really understand but I tried the best I could to be there for him and all that.

Sunday was pretty good :) we had Anatolio, Marisol, and Maria de la Rosa there with us and it was great :) and now we have ward mission leader :)... :/ it is good that we have one but it is sad why we needed a new one... the old one (he is actually quite young) was going to serve a mission and all that, he had his call and was getting everything ready (we hadn't been working with him because he was out of town for a long time and just got back) but then the church that his sister now goes to shared some false information about the church with his parents and they shared it with him and now he can't come to church (or won't, I'm not sure) and isn't going to serve a mission, and another joven that was getting ready to serve and has his call has also said that he isn't going to go.... I was so sad when I heard about all this... ugh.... why do liars exist in the world.... sigh... we just have to work harder to strengthen our testimonies so that doesn't happen to us. They were all excited and getting ready but now they have thrown all their good decisions out the window and have abandoned their faith... I hope we can all be prepared with a strong testimony so that never happens to us. We have to confide in what we know and pray always and study the scriptures all the time so that doesn't happen. I know we can all withstand the lies and temptations of Satan if we have faith in Jesus Christ and trust in his word. I have been faced with doubts but I have always been able to find peace and the knowledge I need as I have read the scriptures and prayed. I honestly didn't do much of that before the mission but here I have learned and gained a testimony of the scriptures that has helped me stay strong even when Satan is sending doubts at me from all sides. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was restored through Joseph Smith and that he was a true prophet of God and that we are in the true church.

Wow I ran out of time but anyways,  I love you all :) stay strong in the Gospel! bye

-Elder Sampson