ELDER DREW CARSON: Week 16 in the field!

Ohhh say can you SEEEE, BYY --

Oh, sorry, my good friends, I was just singing the national anthem because I found the English hymn book in the house of a member and it reminded me of how fortunate I am to be American :) For now, though, I feel good soaking up the Mexican culture and working harder than the sun is hot. This week was great. Here's the review.

LECCIÒN DE LA SEMANA: FASTING HAS REAL POWER. If I were to choose a commandment that I have historically minimalized, it would probably be that one. The fast. What's the point? Does it REALLY REALLY make a difference if we fast on top of all our urgent prayers? After this week, I can honestly tell you that yes, it does.

We had a special fast last Sunday for lots of things, and among these things was the plea that one of our beloved less-actives, Hna. Dulce, could find a job to support her and her family. She had been going through a faith-crisis when the hotel she worked for suddenly decided to drop her, but she agreed to fast with us, and we just found out that she got her dream position in one of the most pretigious hotels in Cancùn! She was so happy when she told us (and so proud of her ability to go without her husbands Veracruzano food). Now I just have to teach her a little English to help her stay put in the job X).

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- We had exchanges this week! I stayed in our area and received Elder Reyes, one of the Zone Leaders. We had lots of laughs and worked hard to find new people to teach.

- During exchanges, we were having a language study in the park when a Jehovah's Witness came up to us and started chewing us out about our beliefs (specifically, that Jehovah and Jesus Christ are the same person). Elder Reyes had the ganas to scripture-battle, but together, we managed to defuse the situation and invite her to act on her doubts.

- We had a Stake Conference yesterday where an area seventy spoke! It was cool, and he had some heated words for those who had supposedly been openly rebellious against church leaders. That's the kind of stuff we like to hear, as missionaries ;D.

- We found a young man, Isaac (16 years old) who was living on his own with his brothers for a while, inactive in the church. He has a lot of interest to return and even accompanied us to various appointments!

- I feel more and more confident speaking in our zone conferences each time. We had a conference this week, and I was able to speak out about some issues I had noticed among the missionaries. I heard lots of sounds of agreement, so I know I didn't ONLY say goofball things :)

- We found a young investigator named Leyvi, and she is awesome! She does all her homework, and immediately retains the things we teach. She couldn't attend church this week, but its because she already had plans made for Sunday... This next week, she committed to go.

- One of our investigators, Lizbeth, couldn't attend our ward because she went with her husband to Tizimin to visit family. But, like the dedicated and COMMITTED investigator she is, she attended church in TIZIMIN so that she can keep with her goal of being baptized the 14th of April! Woohoo!

That's all for this week, my wonderful friendlies. Keep your heads up and remember that you've got an omnipotent God to turn to if you need help with the stuff life throws at you.

Much love from the tropics.

Elder Carson

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