100 Weeks Down 1 to Go!

Dear Everyone,

One hundred weeks have passed already. I only hope that this will last the longest. I doubt it though. Felipe was interviewed this last Saturday and will be baptized this coming Saturday. We are very excited for him. When he told us about his experience in gaining his testimony of the Book of Mormon, the Spirit warmed my heart and I felt so much joy. He knows it's true. I know it's true. Knowing that, is there room for doubt or confusion? Absolutely not. I'm just glad that he made the right decisions that led him to his testimony.

We spent most of the week looking for new investigaters and teaching those we found in the last few weeks. A fellow named Ramiro just kind of happened upon the church a few weeks ago and after one visit, he wants to get baptized next week. I don't know if we will be able to prepare him so quickly since we can only visit him at 7:00 in the morning, but we will definitely do our best. He has already read to Mosiah and doesn't show any signs of stopping. We had some good contacts and we hope that they will continue to learn more and continue to accept the missionaries.

I just want to thank you all for your support for the long haul. It's been an adventure, and I'm excited to start the next one with you all next week!

Love,

Élder King

Doors

Dear everyone,

Doors have always been figurative opportunities. For missionaries, they present the opportunity to teach the Gospel to a new family. They also offer much unscertainty, as opportunities often do. After spending a lot of time contacting this week, I can tell you that sometimes, doors can be downright frightening, and the people inside moreso. But if we don't look for opportunities actively, we often miss out. That is one of the great fears of a missionary. Not finding the ones who are ready. Unfortunately, we didn't find anybody that was ready this week.

Not much to report this time around. Felipe is still doing well, he is reading a lot. He didn't wake up to come to church which made us a bit sad, but he does live about an hour away. Ediverto turned forty and went on vacation, so he didn't come either. We didn't find many new people that were interested and the ones we found last week didn't seem to find time for our message.

Despite descouragement, I have learned that faith is the key to moving forward. Faith and hope I guess. On top of that, I have been studying charity lately. Many of the talks this week were also on charity. Charity, I have learned, is important because it is the qualifying characteristic of God and His Son. We can't hope to live in their presence unless we have done our best efforts to develop said attribute. It won't work. That is why without Charity we are nothing. Because our whole purpose here is to become like him, and charity is the way we show that we have put forward that effort.

Keep on loving,

Élder King

ps I wrote late today because we went on an excursion to see/climb a big rock. 

La Piedra del Peñol

me on top of said rock (lots of stairs)

The Plot Thickens

Dear everyone,

Walking hurts if you do it a lot. Just in case you didn't know. Although I guess that's true for almost everything. Ediverto decided he needs some more time to get prepped and we agreed. He is working towards being baptized on the 2nd of September. But we have a surprise baptism that fell out of the sky and gave us a welcome smack on the head. His name is Andres Felipe and he lives with a member family. I met him a while back, but thought he was just a less active member! He has been coming to church for the past couple of weeks and we figured out that he was actually investigating the church. So we visited him yesterday and he asked us when he could get baptized. Why aren't all investigaters like this? He had it all thought out, he even knows who he wants to baptize him! He's a bit sad because he can't go on a mission because he has a year-old son. We will be stopping by a lot this week to make sure he knows what he needs to know and does what he needs to do, but the desire is there and that is all we need to make this happen. He will be baptized on the 26th of this month, if not sooner. We are super excited for him.

On the only downside, we need more investigaters and have spent most of the week knocking doors and running up and down hills to find them. It's been taxing but hopefully the fruits show up this week. We met a nice man who has an adoptive disabled daughter. We will be meeting with him tonight. His relationship with his daughter is super sweet and it makes me kind of melt when I see it. It's good to know that there are still good people in the world.

Love you all,

Élder King