ELDER DREW CARSON: Week 25 in the field!!!!!

Hey, week 25! That’s a quarter of 100! And that’s important because..... I said so!

Ahh, friends, what a pleasure it is to write you again this rainy Monday in Cancún. I have loved every second of this hard, hot week because I can see the mission shaping and redefining the man (child-at-heart) that I will be following my return. I hope you have all had such a wonderful experience as I.

LECCIÓN DE LA SEMANA: Work closely with those you can trust. I know, I know, it sounds like a business tip, but I’d say it applies to just about every aspect of life, including the spiritual, so I’m gonna go ahead and share it.

There have been various phases of the work here in Palmas, during the 3.5 transfers that I have spent here, but one of the most impressive things I’ve seen happened this last week in the private-residence area Chacah. We began by visiting the Sandoval family, who we consider to be one of our "anchor" families, because they don’t let anything impede their progress in the Gospel. We trust them, becuase when they say they’re going to do something, they DO IT. We scheduled an appointment with one of their friends, and it went SUPER. We were able to teach about the Restoration, and the sister accepted a baptismal date!

But that’s not where things went nuts. Later, that sister went home and told her neighbors about how great the Mormons are and how excited she is to get to know the church. Those neighbors CAME TO US to ask us to visit them! Among them, there were several new investigators with Mormon family-members, and one family of less-actives that we didn’t know existed! The Sandoval family (like the wonderful angels they are) took it into their own hands to visit these people on their OWN TIME and strengthen them with their testimonies. They brought several people to the Friday-night church activities, and arranged further visits to these families with OTHER sisters.

Wow. My companion and I were blown away by the power of working with the Sandoval family, thinking something like, "Uhhhh.... can we help?"

The truth is, everything is better when we work together.

Everything is awesome.

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The daughter of the Pech family just got home from her mission! It was a ward fiasco!! She served in Temple Square, in Salt Lake City. Maybe some of you guys even saw her without realizing it. I should of let you know beforehand..... aw, well.

We got yelled at by a drunk guy! Normally they don’t get mad - they just try to prove us wrong by grumbling things at us - but this time the dude was enraged. He told us that we were disgracing the name of God and our families by serving (don’t worry, nothing surprises us these days), but my companion pulled out his scriptures and started sharing something from the Book of Mormon about the Atonement. It must have struck a chord, because the man started nodding and agreeing with everything we said.

We finished as friends, with a big, smelly hug. Then, we took the long route home so that he wouldn’t follow us. Good feelings.

We taught a former crack-addict who likes using bad words! He does it jokingly, but it was still disruptive to the Spirit.... anyway, we were able to teach about the Book of Mormon, and he looked like he really believed the words we were saying. He even said, "there I go, believing this (nonsense)!" and invited us back to teach more on a later occasion.

The other night, we arrived home a little early, so we decided to look for an opportunity to teach closeby the house. We came upon a fruit stand that one of our neighbors operates. They were closing down for the night, and we offered to help. It reminded me of my many nights at Day’s Market, stacking crates and putting away fruit. We weren’t able to share a message, but we shared some service, and sometimes that’s what the people really need. Besides, they live close, so the next time we pass by we can schedule the appointment.

Like always, there’s about a billion things I wish I could share with you, but I had to choose. The rest we’ll save for later, don’t worry. Remember: work with those you trust. And when you’re making the hard choices - the ones where you feel alone, like nobody is there with you - you can ALWAYS trust the promptings of the Spirit. Always be sensitive to His influences, and you won’t go astray.

Love,

Elder Carson

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