Up and Down in WA

Hey family....

It sounds like most of the family was busy camping, visiting with family, or on vacation. Good to hear that everyone had a good week.

Honestly, I will say straight up this week that I really don't have too much exciting to write.  This week was a pretty rough one.  As Spanish missionaries we receive about a billion referrals every week from English missionaries from all over the zone and we have to do a lot of following up with them.  Usually, though since the English elders can't talk to them, we don't have anything else besides an address, which is really hard to get ahold of a Spanish person when you have no idea his work schedule.  Since we can't be in all the areas every day though, it is important that we get referrals.  We do a lot of follow up work as Spanish missionaries.  We also have done a lot of tracting.  Not the most effective thing, but I have come to enjoy it.  It is really bazaar because by looking at the number of names of potentials and referrals that we have, we should be swamped with work.  That is unfortunately not the case.  We actually got a call from our district leader wondering if everything was all right and why we hadn't been having the success that we saw at the first of the transfer.  I honestly have been thinking the same thing and didn't know what to tell him.  Elder Henderson and I have done a lot to sacrifice so that we will have more time to be out in the day finding/ contacting potentials, switching up and improving how we contact people, our teaching skills and everything.  Of course, we are not perfect by any means, but I think we have seen improvement in these areas.  We will just have to continue to endure to eventually see the blessings. Either that or we have yet to find out the perfect way to contact these people and get them progressing.

The young couple that we have been working has almost dropped off the deep end. They were golden when we first found them, but then we haven't have a lesson since. They have either canceled or just not been home for our lessons. We even went by 3 hours before a lesson to make sure they would be home that evening, and they said they would, but when we showed up later they were gone.

The young man from Nevada that we found works from early morning to late at night and we have yet to contact him again.

On the up swing, we did have an awesome zone conference this past week. Training was on revelation and planning effectively.  It was a very good zone conference and I learned a lot.

Also we had a non-active member who we have been working with since last time I have here in Renton show up to church this past Sunday!!!  It has been a very long time since he has been to church.  It was good to see him come and a lot of the members were surprised that he came as well.  We went by his house on Saturday, and he said he was definitely coming to church.  We have heard this multiple times from him with no success.  We told him we were going to come by his house before church.  We showed up to his house Sunday morning, and he said he couldn't talk because he was getting in the shower to come to church!  At the start of church he wasn't there, and we were thinking he had just blown us off again. Then about 15 minutes late, he showed up!!! Que milagro!!!  What a miracle!!!  He came to all 3 hours and loved it.  He said now he wants to come every week.  After many visits, it was good to see him take a step of action.

Till next week,

Elder B