Tuesday, April 12, 2011

I Really Enjoyed Conference


April 4th, 2010
Hola Todas Personas Todo esta bien aqui en Malvinas! This week was awesome because of conference, and the fact that we got to bring lots of people to hear the prophet’s voice. We had some baptismal dates fall through, but we are hopeful that we can put a new date with them, and have even more! This change is going by sooo fast, not even funny. I don’t want to be changed out of Malvinas, I want at least one or two more changes here. So pray that I will not get changed lol jk. But ya some funny things happened this week, well one in particular. There are always these drunk guys that hang out and just chill on this street corner yelling at people. This week they decided to make a band. Every one of them had a part, banging on the sidewalk, or a cardboard box. Their microphone was a rolled up newspaper, Gosh I want to take a video of it soooo bad, but its pretty dangerous in that part of Malvinas. I guess I will always have the mental image. But other than that it was a pretty normal week. We have an awesome investigator, Her name is Magali Espinoza. She is a single mom, but she is really interested in the gospel, she has been to church twice, and she is sooooo close to accepting a date. If you could pray for her I would appreciate it. Also Amado Mosqueda (the guy with one leg who was supposed to be baptized in January) has another baptismal date! It is for the 16 of April, and he seems super excited about it! So make sure to pray for him as well, he will need it. I really enjoyed conference, it was a little different since it was all in Spanish, but it was really good. the thing I missed the most was just hearing their voices, it is a different experience hearing someone elses voice. Me and my companion have a new hobby, bothering dogs! There are soo many here that we just love to bother them, it definitely brings a lot of laughter, we scare them, and it is freaking hilarious. Gosh its the little things that bring lots of laughter. President Montalti changed our goal as a mission from 200 baptisms, to 300 baptisms! woooh, its going to be a big undertaking, but I think we are going to be able to do it. But overall nothing much has changed, everything is smooth sailing. Our goal is to have 3 baptisms this week, We don’t have any secured yet, but we have faith that we will be able to do it. The Lord will definitely help us to meet our goal. But ya other than that everything is good, I don’t have a whole lot to write about this week, but I have more next week

Love 
Elder Tormenta

Monday, April 11, 2011





If They Just Come and Hear The Prophet...





March 28th, 2011
Hey Family
Todo esta bien here in Malvinas, Me and my companion are working hard and we had 4 baptisms this last week. Remember Kevin? well both of his brothers got baptized this last Saturday, along with some grandkids of a member in our ward. Juan and Harrison are the brothers of Kevin, and they were beyond ready to be baptized. Juan had been attending church for over a year and a half. Harrison has been listening to our lessons ever since I have been here and he knew everything. We were having problems with Juan accepting our invitation, he knew the church was true, he knew everything. But with persistence we finally got him to accept the baptism on Thursday night! So that was definitely a blessing from Heavenly Father. So we were super excited to have all four of them get baptized this last Saturday. But everything else has been super good, we are really excited to bring lots of people to general conference this Saturday and Sunday. I know if they just come to hear the prophet’s voice they will want to be baptized, but its always interesting trying to get them all the way to the stake center. Just got to pray for them. Oh and I forgot to tell you, but I got a package from the other storms this last week, it was from Christmas, so if you could tell them that I got it, and tell them thanks for me I would appreciate it. But ya me and my companion are getting along really well, He has a girl waiting for him, so he is probably going to get married, but ya he is going to be leaving with Spencer. I hope I get to stay in my sector for another change that would be awesome. Its like I want to change sectors, but only if its somewhere cool lol. But overall I am very content here in Malvinas, I know this place like the back of my hand, and the members are really good to us. Just randomly yesterday one of the members flagged us down, and gave us some jerseys, Super nice! But ya right now I am living of a steady diet of rice and oatmeal. Gets kinda old sometimes, but it keeps me alive lol. We are thinking about moving houses because our owner of our house is like robbing us. We are like never in our house and we don't use like hardly any power, and we are paying like 24 bucks a month (which is a ton here) so the average missionary is paying like 6 bucks, So pretty much we thing we are paying for him also. So ya we talked to him, and he said that we will only have to pay 12 from now on, and he would pay the rest, which is still a lot, but he is going to put in air conditioning! So we are excited for that, but don’t know if we should stay. But ya with these last four baptisms I have 13 baptisms so far in my mission. So crazy that tanner is coming home in three days, wow it doesn’t seem like he has been gone for very long at all. I am sure the Hickman's are super excited to have him back, tell him I say hi. All right well overall everything is good, I hope all is well with you guys, sounds like everything is bueno. Love you guys a lot
Love
Elder Storm

P-Day at Iguana Park






I am so Grateful to be here


March 14th, 2011
ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! wow that is the best news I have ever heard, I am so excited for her! I am actually not surprised at all because she is absolutely amazingly beautiful, I just wish I could be there to give her a big brother hug! Wow what an excellent opportunity! That emily is definitely going places. Honestly she doesnt need to fret, she is going to win for sure. Wow I still cant believe that she is
going to NYC next week! I have some major butterflies in my stomach right now, I AM SOOO EXCITED! I wish I was there so I could go with her! I know she is going to make us really proud. Geez, how are the guys going to stay away from her while I am gone? Please wait till I get back to get married. Wooh, I dont know if I can talk about my week, because nothing is nearly as exciting as this news. Holy Moly,
alright need to calm down, deep breaths, innnnnn and outtttt. okay I will tell you about my week now:

So me and my companion were working really hard this week so that we can have tons of success for march and april. In our zone our main problem is finding new people to teach, usually our numbers are really low as far as new investigators go. This week the lord has really blessed us. We found 20 new investigators this week, and we had 9 in sacrament meeting. So me and my companion are pretty pumped because
this is definitely the highest amount of investigators in our zone. Some of our baptismal dates fell this week because they didnt attend church, we probably wont have a ton of baptisms for this month, but I know we are going to have tons of success in April. HOLY CRAP MY SISTER WON!! Anyway, me and my companion went to the iguana park this week and also to malecon again. The zone leaders said that we have permission for sure next week to go to the lighthouse. P-days are always so much better when we can leave our sector. I got a haircut today and the guy like totally butchered it, like it is just a wide mowhawk, but like dad always says "the difference between a bad haircut and a good haircut is 2 weeks." so I guess I will just have to bear with it for two weeks, but its all good. So have you guys gotten any updates from Taylor, how is that kid doing? I am assuming Elder Keables is loving Cuenca lol, I miss seeing him every week. Ya we were in a state of emergency this week because of the Tsunami. We had no idea what was going on because our Zone leaders called us in the morning and said to pack up a couple days worth of clothes and get ready to leave. So we were in the dark as to why we had to do this, but apparently the Tsunami even hit here in Ecuador, but with minimal damage. So we all congregated in a church with President Montalti and we had a little training meeting. Apparently Galapogos got hit but not very hard, there was no damage, So that was a relief. I wonder how the Phillipines is doing, Because my roommate in college is serving there, did it get hit at all? Anyways other than that new and exciting news with a family here. Do you guys remember Kevin? He is one of my converts here in Malvinas. Well his mom and all of his family is like super Catholic, like they didnt want anything to do with the church. You will never guess what happened this week, They actually attended
church! The whole family (minus the dad) atttended church with us this week! It was soooo awesome, the Lord definitely softened their hearts. I am not saying they are going to get baptized anytime soon, but little by little we are chipping away the ice. Overall this week was really good. We worked really hard, and it really paid off, even though we are really tired, it is super satisfying to look back and
see the results. We can honestly say that we didnt waste any time this week, we used all the Time for the Lord and he blessed us for it. I am so grateful to be here, I am really starting to love it, the people here are so accepting of the gospel. The Lord has put so many people in our path, we are sooo blessed. Alright I love you all and miss you
a ton.
Love Cody

Testimony to Chico Stake Young Men

Hey Chico Stake Young Men. Elder Storm reporting here from Ecuador. The mission is amazing, definitely loving every minute of it. Anyways I know that all of you are prospective  missionaries right now, which is sooo awesome. We need lots more missionaries in the world and I know you guys will deliver, we are in the Chico California Stake of Zion, probably the best stake in the world as of right now. You guys don't have to wait for your call to be missionaries though. Right now there are tons of young men and women just like you that are ready to receive the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, all that you need to do is open your mouths. I know it is difficult in highschool to open your mouth to your friends about the gospel. All of us fear rejection. Don't worry what other people think about you, just worry about what Heavenly Father thinks of you. Nothing else matters in this life besides the gospel. We all know that it is true, and if you dont know that it is true I would suggest praying about it. I know the gospel is true, The spirit has testified to me of its truthfulness many times to where I cannot deny it. I have witnessed this gospel change the lives of many people, including my own family's life. This gospel is for everyone here on the planet, it is perfect. We need to be steadfast and immovable. If you guys pray for a missionary experience in your life, the Lord will provide you with one, this I promise. One of my recent converts, Kevin, Is 14 years old. All of his family are strong Catholics. When we found him he was a shy and very submissive boy. I think that is the only reason why he accepted us in his home. Over the duration of our lessons, Kevin kept growing in maturity, and also spiritually. The thing he feared most was us asking permission from his parents to be baptized. We told him that the lord would give him strength if he prayed about it. When we came to ask permission, the shy and meek Kevin had left us. He was replaced by a steadfast and immovable young man, ready to bear his testimony to his parents of the divinity of the gospel. We talked to his parents and they asked him why he wanted to get baptized. He spoke with such conviction as he bore his testimony to his parents of the truthfulness of the gospel. It was one of my most spiritual experiences yet on my mission. We saw the gospel change Kevins life, and slowly and surely it will change his whole families lives. We are now teaching his two brothers, and his mom, all because of the testimony of Kevin. Don't worry about saying the right thing, missionaries are not here to convince people, we are here to invite.  Invite your friends to activities in the ward, or invite them to read the Book of Mormon. We have very few Missionaries in the world, and without the help of members, we are not going to be very successful. Remember that the worth of every soul is great in the eyes of the Lord. I promise you will find great joy in one or many of your friends finding the truth in the world through this gospel. En el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen.






I Have a New Companion...Elder Hicks


March 7th, 2011
NOOOOOOOO!!!!
I probably would have had permission to go have fun with spencer but he got changed to Cuenca! Shoot, I didnt get one picture with him, I hope he comes back to Guayaquil, but its possible that he could die in Cuenca (or end his mission). So ya I am pretty bummed about that but its all good. Elder Garcia got changed to somewhere else in Guayaquil, but I have a new companion, his name is Elder Hicks. Yep you guessed right he is a gringo, so I am pretty excited because he will be able to help me with my spanish a ton! But ya he is from Utah, and he has the same amount of time as spencer does on his mission. Ya the mainstream diet down here is a heck of a lot different. We eat a TON of RICE. I am still not used to it, but slowly and slowly I am starting to like it more and more. But ya Elder Hicks seems like a really cool guy, I haven't got to know him a ton, but I think we are going to get along well. Oh ya I think its pretty funny too, I don't realize how much taller I am than them until I look at the pictures on
my camera. The language is coming good, when I read I can understand pretty much anything, and mostly can understand what people are saying when they talk, I am far from fluent, but more and more I am being able to communicate pretty well. My health is really good, that is one thing I am grateful for, is I always seem to have good health (knock on wood). But ya we put a couple more baptismal dates this week, with a family who was investigating the church years ago, but stopped going to church. We found them again and they know the church is true, well the mom and the daughter. We are working with them a lot, because the mom needs to be married, but her husband doesnt want to get married, So please pray for them, Their name is the Fandiño family. But other than that nothing much more too exciting. Right now is Carnaval here in South America, which is pretty much a big water fight, well mostly. People also use paint, mud, and otherthings. Good for missionaries huh? Luckily I havent gotten paint or mud, only water. But ya this carnaval lasts until tomorrow and then it is done. But like everywhere
is closed right now because of it, its like a vacation,  lol. Well that is pretty much it for me right now. hasta proxima semana 
love
Elder Storm

Pics

another thing I forgot to tell you guys was that in order to get
baptized juan had to get married to his wife, so we also witnessed a
marriage this week

all the people that were in the baptism, from left to right
me,kevin, juan, ammy, brother silva, elder garcia, and dany

Me next to river salada. This is a rare opportunity
because I just so happened to bring my camera, but ya cool pics of
this river


As soon as I started praying...


February 28th, 2011

HEY FAM

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD! Crazy you guys have been together 23 years, should be satisfying since you guys have accomplished a lot, and of course have us as amazing children. So ya today we made plans to go to malecon (this big market place) to chill and spend our p-day but sadly we didnt get permission. But we are definitely going to get permission for next week so that is good! This week has been awesome! We had 4 baptisms, and 4 confirmations. It was a night of white here in malvinas this Saturday, dont worry, I will be sending pictures. But on my mission I have 9 baptisms total! Alright well ya I will give you some highlights on my week. Well early on this week we were in a different sector helping out some of the hermanas. Every Tuesday we go around and help other sectors because my companion is district leader. Anyway we were teaching one of their investigators
and he is really good, but would never accept a baptismal date. So me and my companion tag-teamed and gave him lots of doctrine, some 2nd Nephi 31 and all that stuff. But then he said that if he knew that the church was true he would be baptized. So we asked him if he would pray for an answer now. He said he would and we all got down on our knees and prayed. As soon as he started praying I felt the spirit tremendously. He asked, and ended his prayer. I looked up at him and
his head was down, as if he was just thinking. After about 5 seconds he looked up and said "now I know the church is true." Gosh it was soo powerful. My testimony grew sooo much in that moment. I had never witnessed anybody recieve their answer and this was very powerful for me. Gotta love the feeling of the spirit. Anyway Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we had no power this week. We never recieved a bill or anything and they just cut off our power, very annoying. So talk about
the hottest nights of my life, without a fan blowing on my all night, I was sweating soo bad, needless to say I changed my sheets, But we have power now so its all good. So we were teaching one of our investigators last night, and all of the sudden we heard a huge booooom. I thought it was a bomb or something. We looked outside and a car had smashed into a house! craziness. Everyone was flooding the streets, wondering what happened. Then the police showed up. When the
driver heard the sirens, he tried to make a run for it. Everyone was screaming. Talk about chaos, I guess their is never a dull moment here in Ecuador. So one of the people that was baptized, Juan Ortiz, is the last person to be baptized in his family. His family is awesome. When I first got here in Malvinas they were a little disfunctional, went to church, but didnt really have a big testimony. This family has underwent a huuuge change. They are so loving now. Always helping each other out, and you can just feel the love in their home. In one year they are all going to be able to be sealed for time and eternity. This is incredible. I want to be able to see it, who knows possibly might be able to! Oh some interesting food that I have eaten this week was something called Guanta, you can look it up on google, its like a oversized rat. It actually was pretty good. Cow stomach, didnt know it was cow stomach at the time, but actually was pretty good. Also iguana for the first time. Not bad, but I dont really want to have it again lol. Gosh dads canoe looks sooo good, When is its maiden voyage. When are we going to take that thing to bowrun? Anyway keep sending pics Allie, I love them all! Alright well ya this is pretty much what is  new with me, I hope everything is good with you guys, love you
Love
Elder Tormenta

I FOUND PEANUT BUTTER!


February 20th, 2011

HEY Family and Friends!
That is so crazy that Chris Ackerman is already back from his mission.
I forgot that he served in England, that is super cool! Wow I was
talking to Spencer this week, and we both can't believe taylor is
already giving his fairwell talk! Gosh time really flies out here. Can
you believe that I am nearing my 6 month mark? when I realized its
about a month and a half away I was blown away. That is insane. Oh
gosh I kinda had a midlife crisis feeling this week. Spencer got his
Trunkee paper! A trunkee paper is the paper with your date of
departure and flight number and all that stuff for going home. Gosh we
really need to start doing more stuff! I dont think he will get
transferred this change but I dont know for sure. Next week we are for
sure going to do something. The thing is I havent done a lot of
sight-seeing because we need permission to do that kind of stuff, and
we rarely get permission. I am hoping for permission next week, I am
going to talk to spencer about going to Malecon next week with him.
Next p-day is our last before this transfer. I cant believe it but
Spencer is leaving on his birthday! Isnt that crazy? He said he doesnt
even want to think about leaving, he is a really really good
missionary, not that I would expect anything less. Gosh it is so
awesome to hear about Taylor. He is going to be an absolute stud as a
missionary. Make sure that you send me his adress for the mtc. I got a
letter from him this week! Ya I write in my journal fairly often so
these experiences make it in their more or less. Haha so last night we
were going to teach one of our investigators with a baptism for the
26th, Kevin Molina. And recently his Grandma had died. So of course
his mother is a little sad right now, But this last monday we got
permission from his parents to baptize him! freaking sweet, because
had his grandmother not died, I dont think that his mother would have
given permission. The lord works in mysterious ways! But last night we
show up at his house and the "evangelists" were there. Their family is
catholic so idk exactly why they were their, but kevin told us later
that they thought that there was bad spirits in the house, so they
were "stomping" them out. I was holding back laughter as they were
literally stomping around the house, making the bad spirits leave, all
while screaming "IN THE NAME OF JESUS" gosh I wonder sometimes how
people think that this is a good thing to do. When the third
commandment very specifically says "dont take the lords name in vain."
I felt that I was witnessing some kind of cultic ceremony. But after
they left we brought the spirit back in the house by teaching about
sincere prayer. Oh and I didnt know that you sent two packages, but ya
I finally got the second one this week, so all is well. got LOTS of
pez so that should last a while, I want to have a fat collection of
pez before I go home. One of our investigators needs to get married to
be baptized this 26th of February. All of his family are members
except him because money is slim and he hasnt had the 6 dollars that
it takes to get married. But the Lord has blessed him with work so now
he has the money. Friday was going to be the day. We got the whole
family ready and we had to go into central Guayaquil for them to get
married. Well if you didnt know, Latin America is almost never on
time. So we had to be to central at around 330 but ended up showing up
around 4:30 so they didnt get to get married that day. But we have
another appointment for tomorrow around 3 so we are going to show up
at their house around 1 o'clock to make sure that they get there on
time! But ya i will make sure to take pictures to send you guys next
week because we are going to have a marriage and 4 baptisms this week!
So one of our baptisms that fell through last month, Amado mosqueda,
is doing well. We stop by about once a week to see how he is doing, he
still doesnt think that the time is right for him to get baptized. We
found out why this week. His son in law. He is this guy who is
probably the most macho guy I have ever seen. I have seen him before,
but he never ever ever wears a shirt. Always walking around showing
off his beer belly. He is evangelist and doesnt think that amado needs
to be baptized again because the evanglist church "is the correct
church" So long story short he fed amado a bunch of anti-mormon
literature and that is why he isnt going to be baptized. The funny
thing is is amado still attends our church every sunday. Doesnt really
make sense to me but I guess that is still progressing. OH MYGOSH I
FOUND PEANUT BUTTER! It was expensive but I bought it! 5 bucks for one
jar, but I had forgotten how awesome peanut butter and jelly
sandwhiches are. I have been eating a pb&j every chance I get! it is
so good. But ya i am going to have 4 baptisms this month, not 2. Cally
ramirez is 9 years old, Juan Ortiz (marriage), Kevin Molina is 14, and
Dany Silva is 19. Dany was supposed to be baptized last month but it
ended up falling through. But ya we are hoping for more in march. We
should be reactivating and baptizing a family or atleast part of them
in march. And the brothers of Kevin molina are really interested in
the gospel. So this last sunday some of the presidency of the Stake
were in our ward to introduce a new program for the youth. He said
something in english and nobody understood. Then he said "Elder
Tormenta, please translate" haha everyone started laughing and now
everyone calls me Elder Tormenta lol. alright well that is prettty
much all that is new I love you guys and I pray for you always.

 Love
Elder Tormenta

Small and simple things


February 14th, 2011

HEY happy valentines day everyone! We
have three baptismal dates for the 26th, we are hoping to get two more
tonight. We need permission from our investigators parents for him to
be baptized, and he is a little scared to talk to his parents, so keep
his parents and him in your prayers. His name is Kevin Molina and he
is 14 years old. He always reads what we assign him and he knows that
the church is true. We have taught him all the lessons, and have been
trying to convince him to ask his parents, but he is scared because
they are catholic. Well this last sunday his grandma died, (his moms
mom) and so we havent had a chance to ask for permission yet. But on Wednesday we did teach the entire family the plan of salvation, so
they felt a little bit of a relief from that. They asked us lots of
questions, and they seemed really intrigued. I dont know what will
happen with that, but small and simple things are great things brought
to pass. I started reading Jesus the Christ this week, and
it is really good. I am learning so much, I feel smarter when I read
it for some reason, its weird but cool. Also we will be baptizing a
guy named Juan Ortiz. All of his kids and his wife are members. He
would be a member already but he needs to get married. So his marriage
is tomorrow, and then we are going to start teaching him the lessons
and getting him prepared for the 26th. He already knows a ton about
the gospel, goes to church every sunday (even when his family doesnt)
and he is super excited to be baptized. I know that he will be a good
leader in our church. Haha my companion says that if we get 5 baptisms
this month I will be training next change. I told him that if I was to
train then our baptisms would go from 5 to 0 lol. Gosh that would be
sooooo overwhelming. Ammy Ramirez is 9 years old.
She is super shy. When we are teaching her she is always afraid to
answer our questions. All of her family is members also, except her
dad because they need to get married. He said they should be getting
married in April so there is another baptism. Anyway, she understands
the lessons really well, and she told us that she wants to go swimming
in the baptismal font. She seemed pretty dissapointed when we told her
that she couldnt haha. Holy
moly there is sooo much mud here in Malvinas. Like it is almost a
guarantee that my shoes are going to be dead after this sector.
everyday I have to scrub off the mud because their is sooo much. I cant tell you how many times I have stepped, thinking it was solid
ground, and just sink shin deep in mud. haha its sooo funny when it
happens. keeps me and my companion laughing. And last night, whooo
there was soooo much rain, like I think it was the hardest rain I have
ever seen. They shouldn´t call it Hollywood rain, they should call it
Ecuador rain. We were having a family home evening with one of the
families in our ward. and it started pouring. So we tried to wait it
out because we didnt have umbrellas. and it got to be about 8:30 at
night so we decided we had to go to make it back to our apartment on
time. At first we were trying our hardest to stay under patios and
stuff but eventually we had to get wet. We are talking flash flood
status here. So long story short, we were walking in knee deep water
back to our apartment. It was a fun experience. I am sure I will be
having a lot more nights like this in the future lol. Oh kinda sad but I will tell it. So we were walking around our sector, and there are
dogs everywhere, and i see this dog, and i see a car coming. This dog
is not moving at all. So this car just full on hits it. The car just
swallows this dog in its tires. All I heard was a bunch of crunching
and I thought for sure the dog was dead. But as soon as the car left
the dog sprang up and was running in circles in immense pain, yelping.
I felt sick. ahh and then we had to go eat lunch. Needless to say I didnt eat much. Oh I ate Cuey for the first time this week. Cuey is
Guinea Pig. Guess what part I got.... The head. It was an interesting
experience having my food stare at me like that. It is super greasy
but it tasted really good actually. Cuey is like a delacasy down here.
Just looking forward to more interesting food later on, chicken feet,
bull testicals. Stuff like that. So when I was in my zone leaders
sector. There is this river called river salada. And it is disgusting,
it is just the melting pot for everyones trash. So we hadnt gotten
rain in a while so it was kinda low. And it smells like sulfer and
throw up all in one. I looked at this river and it was just solid
black. It looked like tar or something. but it was actually boiling.
Like legitly, I wish I could have taken a picture because it was sooo
sick. Our enviromentalists would have a field day down here lol. But
overall everything is good down here. I am learning more and more
each day and I think I am actually sorta getting used to the heat. We
had Zone conference this last week as well and it was super good. President Montalti is such an inspired man, he knows exactly what
everyones problem is and he knows how to fix it. I am so grateful for
him as a President. He is very direct, but I like it. Lots of
missionaries don't like him because he is always very direct.
Apparently the mission president before him was very relaxed on a lot
of the rules so that is probably why they dont like Pres. Montalti.
Anyway thats pretty much all that is new with me, I hope all is well
with you guys, I pray for you every night. Love you lots. and miss you
even more!

Seriously all we need to do is cling to the gospel





February 8th, 2011
Hey FAM My week went pretty good. We found lots of new investigators, and they are really awesome. Two of them are friends. Davy and Peter are both 19 years old. Its kinda a goldmine actually, because davy wasn’t there one time and we started teaching his mother as well. And peter wasn’t there one time and we started teaching his Brother! So ya I am pretty excited about that. We have an appt with them at six o'clock today and we are going to give them a baptismal date, so I will keep you updated on that next week! Also we found a lady who is evangelist. (evangelists down here are crazy, I am talking about full on rock concerts during their church) and we taught her a lesson, started with a prayer and she insisted that she should pray. So we let her pray and it started out normal, and then out of nowhere she just started screaming bloody murder! I am surprised that I didnt pea my pants, it was the scariest thing of my life. Then she ended her prayer and we taught her a lesson, she acted completely normal, and she told us that that she felt the spirit sooo strongly during her prayer that the spirit told her to scream. talk about freaking weird huh? So I am pretty excited today because I am going to eat lunch with elders, Applegate, Carnese, and Church. They were all my friends in the CCM so that should be pretty sweet. Also Elder Keables mentioned something about going to play basketball but I dont know if that will happen or not, hpefully it does. Also this last Wednesday we had a little division with the Zone leaders and I went over into their Sector. Their Sector is sooo flooded that we had to take off our shoes, roll up our pants, and wade through the water. Needless to say I definitely scrubbed my feet and legs a lot that night, I dont know what we were stepping on but it didnt feel sanitary lol. Oh and tell the dogs thank you for their cards! But if things go right we should be having a lot of baptisms this month so that is awesome, baptisms are always good! That is sooo tight that Aaron Rodgers pulled out the win! Man I am missing a lot of sports while im out here aren't I? The Giants, the packers, whats next? Oh I would soo kill for a sunday, maybe I will try to find one today! When is Braxton's eagle court of honor? Wow that is soo crazy that kyle is already leaving. Seems seriously like it was just yesterday I heard about him getting his call. Time really does fly out here on the mission. I am casi 4 months out, kinda a mid life crisis feeling lol. Speaking of which. Dad you need to stop working on latters! holy moly talk about learning the hard way. That is awesome that it has been sunny there, its so weird but when I think of the states its like a euphoric nostalgic feeling. I love it here, the members are so great and are so willing to help us with missionary work. It truly is like one big family. It rains like everyday now. it isnt really clean rain, but it does keep us cool, so I am not taking that for granted. I did get my packages! The calender is sooooo sweet thanks a ton! To be honest I kinda had forgotten that I actually went skydiving, that was awesome to see those pictures and all the other ones. And thank you for the beef jerky, pez, JOLLY RANCHERS and the other stuff. I am definitely enjoying all of it! gosh I am really anxious to see what this canoe looks like. I am sure it is just awesome though. As of right now we only have 2 baptismal dates. we are hoping to get lots more this week because we have lots of awesome investigators. On a end note; seriously all we need to do is cling to the gospel. God does give us trials, Just read D&C 121:7-8 or D&C 122:7-8 and I promise it will make you feel better about the trials that you are going through, because it has definitely helped me a ton.
Love,
Elder Tormenta