Well how are things going for all of you this week? I am pleased to announce that today is my 8 month mark! I honestly can`t believe how fast the time has flown! It really seems like yesterday I was in the Provo MTC.... Crazy how time flies! The language is constantly getting better and I understand almost everything. The quick questions still confuse me sometimes and I have to say, "como?" but I think that will last the length of my entire mission. One thing I have realized is that my companion Hermana Paasaca talks really fast and she also pronounces some things a little differently but I am getting quicker and quicker at understanding so things are good.
Today has been a great P-day. We woke up, cleaned, and studied and then we went to run errands and then Elder Tibanlombo (our zone leader) called and said that he received pouch during the week and that I had a pile of letters. Pile was no exaggeration either, I haven`t received mail for quite some time now... about four weeks--so it was great to get to read them all. Thank you for taking the time to write me... It really means alot. It sounds like Mitt Romney is doing great! I really hope that America wakes up and realizes that he is the man to vote for. But we will see how things turn out, everyone sees things a little differently. As a missionary there is a rule that we can`t talk about politics... so I am done talking about politics. Haha!
Well this week was really great. We visited Angel, our recent convert, and he told us that he was excited to hear General Conference. He also said that he had an interview with the Bishop and he talked to him about receiving the Priesthood. We really are proud of him he is a great guy and really has a testimony that these things are true. As we were teaching him about the Priesthood he said that he was actually really surprised that he would be able to receive the Aaronic Priesthood so early as a member. We told him that it is a preparatory Priesthood and that he can receive the Melchizedek priesthood in a few months! He then mentioned that all of his friends at his university have started calling him, "El Mormon". He smiled and just laughed and we asked him how everyone knew that he was a Mormon. He then said, "Bueno, yo les dije!!" (Well I told them!) But he said it in a "obviously!" kind of way, it was pretty funny. We also visited him Sunday evening and he informed us that he wanted to serve a mission. (Before he had told us that he was pretty unsure about the whole mission thing and that he didn`t really think that is was the right thing for him because he knows so little about the church and that he wanted to finish his studies.) Well I guess General Conference changed his mind!
Well this week was kind of interesting. We went with the Masias family and we extended a baptismal date to Eduardo the father of the family and he accepted so we have the hope that they all can get baptised as a family the 20th of this month! That will be great for all of them but the second lesson we had with them as a family Hermano Eduardo had "researched" about the church on the internet and he had quite a few questions to ask. It is pretty sad seeing our investigators getting caught up in lies and rumors about the church and seeing it practically destroying what little faith they had to begin will. We challenged him to actually READ the Book of Mormon instead of reading ABOUT the Book of Mormon on line. So we will see how that goes... But the whole family went to the Sunday Morning session of Conference so I really hope that Hermano Eduardo was listening.
I don`t know about you guys... But I thought General Conference was just great! I loved loved loved Elder Hollands talk! I love hearing testimonies that singe your eyebrows and make you want to do something! But the downer for General Conference for me was I had to listen to it in Spanish. Hermana Schlosser (My old BYU-Idaho roommate) and I heard that in the stake center that we were at they had General Conference playing in English... All excited we asked our Zone Leader if we would be able to go into this room and hear it in English... Our Zone Leader quickly told us no, when I asked him why all he told us was that we didn`t get it authorized by the President. I then asked him if we could call the President and ask and he also said no........ Well I was just grumbling a little when Conference started. General Conference is hard enough to keep up with when Elder Oaks is talking... But throw in a different language and I`m gone. I understand the message but it is the details that really get lost... I like details!
I also could not believe that they changed the age of Missionary service for the boys and when President Monson`s "diezinueve" translation hit my ears I wanted to stand up and shout "It isn`t fair!!!!" shaking my fist at the big screen! Sheesh... any one who knows me knows that I have been waiting FOR-EV-ER to serve a stinking mission and now that I am on my mission they tell us that a girl can serve when she is nineteen? All I could think was "Too yate, too yate!" in my mind and I sat there smoldering for a good three minutes. But then I thought to myself... "Geeze Jess, just because you had to suffer and wait till you were 21 doesn`t mean everyone else should." So I enjoyed the rest of the conference. So I am okay... almost... haha
We have quite a few investigators who are progressing and they have baptismal dates coming up. I think that our investigators have a little different opinion about our church now that they were able to attend General Conference. Jon who is 19 and has been off and on with wanting to be baptized seemed more sure than ever as we left the conference. When you listen to those talks you really can`t deny the power and authority that these men have. And that power comes from the Priesthood. I know that this church is true and I am so happy to be a part of it. Times up!!!
Love Hermana Welch #1
**"Too Yate Too Yate" is from Chris when he was just learning to talk. He was sitting on my mom's lap during Sacrament Meeting and wanted a drink of water. She whispered that he would have to wait till after the Sacrament and then she would take him out to get a drink. He was mad and pouting and doing everything a two and a half year old could think of to get out of the Chapel. When the Sacrament was finally passed and the deacons had taken their seats, mom whispered that they could go get a drink now. "Too Yate Too Yate!!!" was the reply she got as if it was going to hurt her feelings if they continued to sit in the meeting! But it was so funny and it is so perfect for so many occasions ...we still use it and probably will--even on the other side!
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