Pray for Japan
Tuesday 3-8-11
Today we walked all day long. First we met with Rafaela - Hector came with us to help in the lesson. It went really well - we taught the plan of salvation - again- and she finally understands it. Good news. We had a lesson with Patrice and 2 of her friends on her porch. She says she wants to get baptized - we'll see how much she is willing to change in the next little while. Hopefully alot! We walked a little ways up to 'Pizza Space' to meet with Sister Morffi who just moved here from Henderson, NV. She is a good talker. She has had 2 husbands die, and one devorce her. She's going through a rough time and really needs to get back to church. We're really just trying to figure out her needs and how we can best focus the gospel on her at this time. We walked and tried to visit people from 5:30 to 9 and no one was home. I was really tired tonight.
3-9-11
After studies today we went around to a few places in our area to see if we could offer service. We're really focussing on different ways to help the people here. We went to the huge catholic hospital to find that it is Ash Wednesday... and that there were a ton of people there with crosses on their foreheads. We were reffered to the main priest or father there. He was very nice and put our name on a list of people to call if there is any requested service. We went to an 'old folks home' around the block - the manager lady was super happy to see us and said she'd get in touch with us soon. We had lunch with the Galeas' and talked about the Baptismal Covenant - they're still progressing very well - Brian will receive the Priesthood this Sunday in Sacrament. Ricardo isn't proggressing much - we told him that he has to put in the work- read and pray- or we can't come over anymore. We walked around the huge park in our area and passed out cards to the runners. We ate dinner with Jennifer and Brian and shared about the Atonement - Jennifer has such a strong testimony. We talked with Daryl and Martha - (the Redneck that married a Latina over here) they seem to be having some problems - we shared an object lesson on the foundation of the church and our lives - seeing as how he is a contractor. It went pretty well.. until he pulled out his pepper spray. That was fun - to have my throat blocked and my eyes wattering. He didn't spray anyone - just the wind.
3-10-11
Woke up really early today and went to the temple to do service again. This time I was in the front of the temple pulling weeds and spreading gravel. - I always think of the time Dad and I went there whenever I go there. It was a super nice day and I got sun burnt - finally some color. We got to the apartment at about 4 and then went to see Rosa. She said we were an answer to her prayers - last Monday we ran into her at the grocery store - she said that she had prayed for the missionaries to be put in her path so that she could go back to church. We also taught them on the foundation of the gospel and our lives - hopefully the put in the effort and come back to church after the long absence. We then went to the church for the baptismal interviews for Jose, Norma and Jennifer. But first we had a lesson with them on faith. We brought them seeds and cups of dirt (p.s. the pea plant and chilli plant I have in my apartment arethriving) - we related it to Alma 32 and they all committed to work hard on their faith. They all passed their interviews - sweet! We ate at Carls Jr. and then went to the apartment.
3-11-11
Today we had our district meeting - we learned about talking to everyone and having effective planning sessions. We had an appointment with Rafaela but she wasn't home - so we rode the the old folks home to help with their Mardi Gras celebration - we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. It was a "Red Hatters" convention - dunno if you know that organization, but they're fun. Old and fun. They had us take the tickets at the door - then a drunk lady came and replaced us - so we set up chairs and then served people food. Grandma Exie would have loved this - seriously. I took some video and pictures so you can see. We ate gumbo as well - okra included. After that our night fell through - sister Rodriguez gave us dinner to go and no one else was home - we didn't have a chance to do weekly planning this week so we went back early to get started on that. They called us this morning to let us know about the earthquake in Japan and the tsunami - they said they weren't expecting any big waves over here so to keep working unless we hear otherwise.
3-12-11
Today we had corellation - we are having a big ward F.H.E monday night so we planned for that and practiced a musical number for the baptism tomorrow. We talked with Patrice afterwards- she's still got a way's to go before she can be baptized. We met with Pablo Diaz - the guy that pulled up to us in his car a couple weeks ago- we talked in the park and he said that he's just been searching for the true church. He had some really good questions and ended up committing to be baptized on April 3rd. Awesome. We helped sister Vasquez with the talk she'll be giving at the baptism tomorrow on enduring to the end and visited 2 less-active members. We had dinner with the Ramirez family and talked about the wise man and the foolish man. They're a really good family and very close to the missionaries. Every saturday night this month we pray at 10 pm specifically for the investigators in the Zone - it's a new thing we're doing as a Zone that we know can help our investigators progress towards baptism.
3-13-11
Happy Birthday Brett. Church was pretty good today - Jose, Norma and Jennifer came - good thing since they are being baptized today. We ended up being a little late to the baptism - our ride was behind (not fun losing an hour of sleep last night). Everything worked out - I baptized Jennifer and Elder Watkins baptized Jose and Norma. It was an awesome service and a ton of people showed up. It's always great to have good ward support behind the new members. The musical number also went well - Dennis showed up out of no where - it was awesome to see him there. He's still struggling alot. We went to Jennifers' house to teach him and their family. I really wish he could just ... change. I pray for him every day.
Well that was the week - today - monday- we played soccer in the park with the district and we're just going to get some shopping done. Have a good week - I love you all
Elder Cottrell
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