hey everyone,
happy valentines day to all. hope that it all goes well. i saw that you sent a package to me but i havent gotten it yet (i wasnt at home to receive it), but today if im not there they should be leaving it with the manager so i should be getting it today. thank you lots.
this week flew by. as griseldas baptism gets closer the more shes getting pounded with stuff. there was a flu and shingles outbreak in the prison where she works, and since shes a nurse shes been around it the whole time. so this week she picked up the flu. the prison told her to stay quarantined at home to not spread it (in case she picked up the shingles) so we havent been able to see her at all this week and she didnt make it to church. weve been making phone calls about every other day but really theres only so much you can do over the phone to prepare someone for baptism. she told us to come by wednesday (she should know by then if its safe to have us over or not) and so its going to be a do-or-die day. if she does have shingles then the prison said that she'll have to stay quarantined for 14 additional days and thatll mess everything up haha. so pray that she doesnt have shingles. but if she is good to go, then wed-sun will be non-stop preparation for her baptism. pray for her.
victor manzanares said yes to baptism and we invited him to prepare for the 20th of march. he said no for right now because he wants to stop smoking, drinking, and drinking coffee before that (he told us that, we hadnt even mentioned the word of wisdom haha). but he said that if the 8 day program were going to do with him works, then well see about the 20th of march. hes a stud. he eats up anything we give him to read and understands it quite well. this wednesday were starting his program to help him stop using tobacco, alcohol, and coffee. pray for him too. hes determined to get off of it and understands why (he knows the he has to repent before baptism so hes determined to clean everything up) so im sure that he'll be fine, but it wont be easy so yah, pray for him.
we taught and worked with norma landin and her husband jerry a little bit (literally worked...chopping trees and such). theyre super great people but norma is freakin hard to figure out sometimes. jerry is open to coming to church and activities and such but norma for some reason doesnt feel ready to go to church. shes been to mormon churches a ton in the past. she understands why its important and how it works and that its not a committment to be baptized and such if you go, but she still just 'doesnt feel ready'. i wonder if she realizes that shell get her answer by going and isnt ready for that. whatever it is thats stopping her, its a bugger. were going to invite her to a relief society activity this wednesday (shes cool with that) and then sister ochoa is going to invite her to church while theyre there. hopefully sister ochoas got the power because i think itll be the click for the entire family.
we met yet another super prepared person this week hahah. We definitely havent done anything to be so blessed, but were loving it. her name is sabrina. she had mormon friends while growing up. she always noticed their good example, values, and dedication to God and family and she really likes that. she wanted to learn more so 'researched' a bunch on the computer and luckily she has common sense and went to the source rather than the other stuff. she learned about us from
mormon.org a couple years back and knows all the mormon myths like plural marriage and such and knows the answers to those anti-mormon things. so after seeing her friends example, learning a bit more from the source, she wanted to go to a mormon church to learn more and check it out. but she said she didnt know anyone (her friends left on missions and they havent had contact since) and wasnt sure she was welcome. so she prayed that God would send her two elders to invite her to church. well, turns out that elder mata and i knocked her door and she was stoked about it haha. this tuesday she wants to go to institute with the YSA and wants to come to church this sunday. boo yah. she ate up the pamphlet we left her too. she texted us the next day with questions about stuff and wanting to know more haha. legit. she told us, 'right now my house is all christian, thats how we all grew up. but who knows, maybe soon it could be a christian and mormon house.' hahah. yes. shes the bomb, pray for her too cause she rocks and definitely should be a member. if shes this cool now, i can hardly imagine her with the gift of the Holy Ghost and under the power of the atonement.
also, weve had to go into pep boys a bunch these past few weeks (oil change, nail in a tire, break pads needed to be replaced), and although its a pain its obvious to us why because we met a legit guy there named alejandro. he works there and used to meet with missionaries but lost contact when he moved to mexicali. he loves the church. each time we go by he asks us for new videos and pamphlets that he hasnt read. his wife is super catholic so wont accept missionaries at their home in mexicali, but we talk with him when hes up here for work. he even asked us for stuff about the apostasy and restoration to show to his wife haha. hes going to try to find an excuse to cross the border this coming weekend and come to church haha. well see what happens. even if it doesnt work out that he can come, its still doing good, because hes sharing the videos and pamphlets with his neighbors too hahah. our breaks have been sqeaking this week so i dont think they put the pads on right so well probably go back in and check on him again haha. God works in mysterious ways i guess.
everyone else is kinda on stand-by or going 10 mph so not much to report. we met this other guy named luis hernandez. like most of our teaching pool, hes pretty old. not quite as old as dirt, but hes getting there haha. hes cool and is surprisingly sharp for his age, but you can tell that hes just fighting to stay awake at times haha. we went by at 6:30 and he said it was late and he was getting ready for bed haha. well go by earlier and see if hes more lively i guess haha.
well, thats about all. ill check the email again tomorrow really fast after zone conference. if you have any cool news or questions throw them my way before then and ill get back to you quick. as for now, happy valentines day and love you all. dont go around kissing too many girls ashton. and boys make sure you treat mom and britt really well, especially today. cook for them, do all their work for them, etc. represent the hood yo. love you all and bye.
elder roney
