Need toothpicks for eyelids...

Wow, [we've got] quite the plans [for when I get home]. I was hoping to get home and reelax. haha no! I'm glad Jon [Arnett] is waiting for me; I was worried about not having friends but I'll have to make them all over again. It just keeps sinking in to me little by little that I'm really going home and that this is ending. I only have 2 pdays left!! I've even had a little hard time lately going to sleep, not cuz I'm not tired but cuz I've got a million things going through my heart and mind. This last week was as normal work, I've been trying hard to keep my head out of the water but as I keep telling people, 2 years of this is hard. I fall asleep in lessons and my eyelids are always heavy. I keep telling my comp that I haven’t always been this way, that I used to have a lot of energy. We haven’t had the success desired lately in the area and the zone. I have a district that hasn’t even baptized yet! Please pray for them its Elder Vary and District Arbollilo. Poor Elder Vary; it’s his first change as a district leader and he is trying so hard but is a bit frustrated.

This week will be exciting, we have Zone Leader council which, apart from being my last, will be accompanied by President De Hoyos. The 1st counselor of the Presidency of area Mexico. That’s gonna be intense, with a General Authority up close. There are only 20 Zls, the 2 assistentes and the mission president. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully he doesn’t chew us out too bad. I'm excited to hear some sweet doctrine though.

Other than that I'm out of news. I talked on Sunday and talked of charity and a little about humility. I analyzed the verse in Moroni 7:45. It was a sweet talk and the Bishop asked me to give it 5 minutes before sacrament meeting. Now I'm worried about the homecoming. I'm sure Brighton will leave me like a half hour and I can't talk in English anymore! We'll see how it goes. Ok well that’s all I got. Take care and have a nice week. Love ya!!

-ELDER SOLOMON

Always

What are the plans when I get home and what are we talking about on that Sunday?

Ok. So Elder Lopez finally got his new comp. Its weird seeing newbie’s and thinking about all they have to figure out and go through. But the good thing is the zone is at 100 percent now and we will be going on all gears. I'm praying for a lot of success and my prayers have been heard lately. So when the change started we had very few investigators and the past 2 weeks we have been working pretty hard trying to get some new people. We found some but not the usual golden people I love working with so by the time Sunday came around and we had very few people in sacrament I was a bit out of it, trying to see who we could work on to get baptized at least this next week. I have been praying a lot and pleading for new "Chosen" people but they just weren’t coming around. I've also been praying to be able to work strong to the end and I've been receiving that blessing.

But Sunday, Armando (Brenda’s husband not the other one) and his brother in law Israel came and talked to me and asked what was the plan and the deal with Veronica, Brenda’s mom. She, Veronica, has been coming to church every Sunday since Armando and Brenda got baptized but lives really far away so I never really worked with her. Well, by divine intervention we ate with them. We got there at about 2 and ate with them, Armando, Brenda, Veronica, and Israel and Susana (Veronicas sister and Israel’s wife). So after eating and a cat nap in my chair we started sharing a message and it was all over the place. She asked why we didn’t talk about the virgin and we used that to start talking about what real faith is and went into repentance and baptism and the difference between Catholic baptism and the real baptism. That took us to the message of the restoration. The good thing was that she had been to church so many times she didn’t have a hard time understanding everything. At about 5:30 we were getting ready to wrap it up and Brenda pulled out this precious testimony of all that has happened to her since she got baptized; the prayers that have been answered, etc. It was way cool and then we started talking about some more stuff and Veronica said out of nowhere "I want to gat baptized". It caught me a bit off guard and I started thinking about when. I suggested next Sunday and then Armando and Brenda said the weren’t going to be there and some one suggested the possibility of that same day. After another 5 minutes of " negotiation" it was a done deal. My comp stayed with Armando to do the interview and I ran to the chapel with Israel to start filling the font. The Bishop was a bit bothered but didn’t say anything and we were able to get a few members there. We started at like 9 and I was a simple beautiful service. Elder Tuft and me even sang a special musical number "did you think to pray". He sings really well so it turned out nice. The look on Veronicas face was worth everything as she left. She had been asking for it and so had I.

Sometimes the Lord lets us almost smack right into the wall before saving us. He has such incredible control on everything and really does hear our earnest prayers. He knows exactly what going on. Always. The person that puts his trust in Him will be truly free. I know the Lord was hearing my prayers and her prayers and probably Elder Tufts prayers and her whole family. He waits for the perfect moment to save us, just when he knows we can best learn. I am grateful for His help and to be in His service. There is no greater call and no greater glory than to be at His service. Pray. Trust. Be diligent and patient. That’s my advice. --

-ELDER SOLOMON

Just trucking along

Hi there everyone. Had a good and super busy week. On Tuesday was the changes, got my new comp Elder Tuft from Utah and then we got to go to the temple for a sealing and then to the mission home to play soccer with all the ZLs. we slept there and had the Zl/DL Council getting home at like 6. The next day, Thursday we got to work and Friday we had Zone conference. So a lot of meetings and not too much time for working in the area. The good thing is that it’s all over and it’s just pure work now on out.

We really don’t have a lot of investigators right now. We are working with family members of recent converts but things are a bit sure they’ll pick up we just have to keep looking and working. I've been really trying to read a lot of the Book of Mormon cuz I have the goal of finishing again before the end of the mission. Sunday was a great day. Catching up from General Conference we had 8 confirmations in the ward and 6 ordinations to the Aaronic priesthood. Along with 2 baby blessings there were like 15 minutes for testimonies, which is fine by me. The less apostasy the better. What was even cooler was seeing a few recent converts get callings In the ward.

We are in a threesome right now. We have 2 elders in the zone waiting for new missionaries to come but they still haven’t gotten here! Sounds familiar... poor elder he is so anxious to get to get to work in his area but cant go alone. We sent him with a priest on Sunday so he could go to his ward and baptize someone. Lets hope they get here soon. Well I really don’t have too much news. Just truckin along. Hope all is well with you. Love you and take care.

-ELDER SOLOMON

You've done a good job, Elder

The Familia Basilio

Left to Right: Javier, Elder Cardenas, Armand, Antoniao, Margarita, Luis, Martina, & Me.

Olivia

Brenda and Armando with Augustina and Bairon

Veronica and her son Jair

Elder Cardenas y Solomon with Ivan and Luis Manuel

I don’t want the end to come. This is a weird feeling. When people ask me who much time I have left I ask them, for how long did Jesus fast? And that’s it.

Transfers! And the last ones, Cardenas is taking off and I'm receiving another American!! Elder Tuft. I cant believe I have another white comp especially being a ZL its got to be the first one in the history of this mission. Elder Tuft is a really good guy and I'm excited to be with him, they changed the zone limits around so there will be new challenges and problems but we now have the stake Zarahemla, (an older chapel with an indoor wood court, there are only 2 in the mission) so that’ll be fun. This last week was crazy, 6 baptisms, the family Basilio was a reference from a recent convert and we taught the mom then the kid and invited the dad to church later and went. They are super special, especially the dad, Armando. He is one of the most faithfull people I know. I can’t really explain how I feel that way but when he talks and prays just leaves you (as a missionary) impressed. Walking out of the house we always just look at each other and shake our heads. He understands the doctrine so clearly and perfectly. Most people when they receive a baptismal challenge they look for some way out saying, "I need more time" or "I need to know more" but his reply was" I know I don’t know very much but this is something I want to do cuz we really need this and God will bless us" his wife Margarita had to have a special interview with the mission president so they all showed up to the chapel, while we talked to the kids President Fuentes talked with both of them. After a short time I was outside on the phone and the President came out and said ready to go. He then said, "Who taught them?" I said "well us president" he replied "you’ve done a good job elder, they are a solid family and the three kids will all go on missions, congratulations" that doesn’t happen that much. Cardenas and me were walking with our heads high on that day. I'm so grateful to be able to know them and be a part of their lives. I'm hoping to put on the calendar of 2011, "sealing of the family Basilio"

Conference, wow. I had the opportunity to go to every session this time. I don’t know if it’s just for being a missionary or being more mature but I love it! It hurts to see the "fair-weather members" just go to the morning session on Sunday. There were a lot of awesome themes through the whole conference. The first and foremost being the responsibilities and influences of the parents, not excusing sin or disobedience, not lowering standards even when everyone else is etc. I have pages full of notes. I wish I had one of those magic remotes that I could hit pause and rewind. If I every get my ipod fixed I'm downloading the whole thing right away. Elder Holland, wow lets stop cutting at the branches and get to the root. The difference between love and lust, that makes things a lot clearer. President Uchtdorf and the patience, well I didn’t feel near as bad as dad cuz that is pry my strongest attribute right now but I still realized of what I’ve got left, Elder Carlson and the obedience, Elder Oaks and the blessings, I could go on and on I love it. It seemed that they talked directly but exactly how it needs to be said. I realized how very far I have to go as an individual.

Ok, well that’s all I got for this week. Have a great week, strive to be better. I love you all

-ELDER SOLOMON