Just grateful

-well brigg as darth vader says "impressive" thats an incredible achievement. im proud of you.

-thanks for the pictures

-roller coaster week. hot, cold, rain, hail "yes hail", northern arizona wind.

-we found one new person all week.

-incredibly spritual zone conference.

-15 people in an open house weve been planning for months because of a rain storm.

-7 investigators in the sacrement meeting. some arrive solos

--sister give a chew out talk on tithing nearly shouting "pay it!!"-

-2 investigators leaving almost running

-a golden family of 4 leaving scared/suprised by the talk

-1 incredibly faithful soul baptized, Evangelina, 62 years old, takes care of her 100 year old mom, E villegas found her knocking doors 3 weeks

ago

-awesome numbers in the district but my areas were the lowest...

-suprised that friday is my 20 birthday

-more suprised that i have 9 months in the mission.

-grateful for the love i have felt this whole week.

-more grateful for the One who payed a price so a much less than perfect person can be forgiven of his sins

-grateful that conversion is a process that requires tears, time, blood and sweat

-grateful that someday i can be who i want to be, and that you can too

-i know what im doing in this world -just have to figure out how to do it

-grateful to hear from my friends and their successes in their missions

-glad that a dear friend of mine is on the staight and narrow and progressing just like me

-glad i have the best family ever

- trying to focus on the good and fix the bad

-loving and missing you all

-elder solomon

Comps are not valentines

Well, I'm spoiled by bad Internet again. [He tried to send pics and it didn't work.]

 Valentine’s day does exist here, but it’s a lame day as a missionary. The only one not with someone else. (Companions don’t count).

 I don’t feel like writing my letter again sorry.  In few words. The mission President is inspired. The mission is changing so much for the better. I now leave to work at 8 in the morning and sometimes don’t get back till 10 pm.  Hard work but the results are incredible. Pray so that we can have a baptism this week so we don’t blank out this month. The spirit has just absolutely come out in the mission and we now know how to obtain, maintain and use it. 

Glad to hear you all are doing good. Send me a pic of the rooster, I can’t stop laughing. And some other pictures.

 Love you all, take care,

 Elder Solo

No transfer for me

Ok, so the rooster story made me laugh out loud here in the Internet cafe and I couldn’t stop for about 3 minutes. Southern Virginia who?  11000? Is that dollars or pesos. Holy cow. It’s less for a 2-year mission. That’s so exciting about zack. The church is amazing in Brazil. He will baptize a LOT the only bad thing is Portuguese. Its like speaking Spanish with rocks in your mouth. Brigg good job in wrestling. That’s awesome. You guys had a lot of good stories this week. I love that.

 Well, no changes again. Staying with Elder Villegas in Claveria. Its ok. We’ve got a lot of stuff going on here and a lot of new stuff too. The ward thinks I'm some sort of legend compared with missionaries that were here before but... I've got 6 months here and want to get out of the city. Oh well, guess I've got some unfinished business here. One of the Elders in my district got a kid so I spent a few hours training him. In the district we have an Elders with 9 months (me), 6 months, 23 months, 2 months, 2months and the newbie. Really young, but ready to work which is the main fight. Now we’ve just got to teach them how to teach! We were gonna have two baptisms this last week but as the lady said. "Satan didn’t want us baptized" they both got sick Saturday night.

 Well, not much to report. Hope you are all well. Keep close to the Lord and he’ll keep close to you. 

Elder Solomon

Just trying

Not too much to report this week. Heart breaking Cardinal Super Bowl loss. And one of the hardest working weeks I’ve had! We taught lesson 1 9 times which is sweet. I got home every night just beat and my comp was still wanting to go more. That kid has a bunch of energy and love for the work. He just needs more help teaching and getting people to live the gospel. Despite our efforts this week we had no one in the chapel on Sunday. I almost cried. 6 people sick and two that hurt themselves. How is that possible all at once? The slightest change in temperature and every one is bed ridden. It’s kinda pathetic. But oh well. What more could I have done? I’m just trying to live worthy of the Lords blessings. Hope you are too.    

With love— 

Elder Solomon

An Incredible Peace

Well you’ll have to send me some of the cookies. I've also got a birthday wish list this year. Music. I'm so stinking sick of that ipod I've got. I've got every song memorized. Just some cds like EFY stuff, Kenneth Kope, maybe some easy listening stuff like Hawaiian, classical, just good stuff. Please, gracias. Oh also and little book for learning English easy. I'm struggling in my English classes. Ok I also got that new debit card. Do I have to call to activate it or can you? I don’t want to its a pain in the butt.

 Ok, well I had a really good experience with the sacrament this week. During the sacrament meeting some business came up and I had to leave when I got back they had locked the doors and I couldn’t get in. I felt so bad that I didn’t get to partake and a gloomy spirit came over me. Later that night in our meeting another elder didn’t take the sacrament either. So we asked permission from a bishop and we were able to take it there at 8:30 in the night. When I took it I felt such a load lifted and a refreshing feeling. It was real. If never really realized the importance of the sacrament. Those of us that are in the "endure to the end" phase are living a weekly cycle. We sin, exercise faith and repent all in the week and then we get the opportunity to wash the sins away just like we did at baptism. If you miss one step you are not enduring to the end. Well I did a lot of divisions with my district and we were able to get a few baptisms out of them to end the month. I've been feeling a lot of pressure lately but we went to the temple on Tuesday and I left with such an incredible peace that has kept me calm in those moments of alarm. Something super cool. My companion is Elder Villegas who I am training. His companion in the mtc was Elder Lechuga who went to the east mission and his trainer just happens to be Elder John Reed. Wowser! That’s so cool. Any who I'm gonna go I've got a lot of stuff to do today. Love you all take care and good luck at London’s run. I want a shirt, a cool one. The church is true. 

Elder Solomon

 P.S. go cards!

January 19, 2009

enough said.....

Yvonne and her family. These are the ones I helped get married.

Family Rodriguez.  Hector and Oscar got baptized.

Well, guess what? I got a package from November 16. And with that and the package from Aimee, and Sis. Leopard I've got enough stinkin sunflower seeds to last till the millennium. (Maybe a little more) and thank you SO much for the spice of life stuff. I'm a fan. Overnight here it turned just so stinkin cold and it really got me sick, but that magic potion makes me feel like a new man. Send more. I'm also a fan of mi cardenales, like they’re called here. A little Arizona pride. I love how all the papers are lit up with the emblem here. Good luck with London’s Run. You will be blessed for you charity.

 Three more baptisms last Saturday and I've completed the 5 goal for this month. You guys prayed too hard thanks! Now I need help with the other companionships in my district. I'm gonna go work with them a lot now. This week I had some of the best numbers of my mission and I have been so stinkin tired and a little sick.... but satisfied. I feel I'm moving into the next stage in my mission. That of accepting what and who I am and what can be done. It’s liberating. The best part is the revelation that just flows, it’s so real. I've had ideas that would never happen before. One of my companionships has been having a lot of problems, they went with the zone leaders and the mission president but nothing. This week something happened and they called the Pres. and he said, “I'm busy call your district leader”... well, I talked with them and did divisions the rest of the day, and talked to them again, and haven’t heard of a problem since then. THE LORD IS IN CHARGE, LET HIM WORK THROUGH YOU AND YOU WILL BE MUCH MORE THAN YOU CAN BE BY YOURSELF.  It’s true what they say. To see those who won’t let the Lord in and won’t exercise just a seed of faith just fills me with sadness. Then I think of those of my own family who are straying and it is grief just intense. I feel like crying. Just come home.... 

However, those who are holding on even through the mists of darkness make me want to shout.  "Hurrah for Israel!!!" God lives and he loves us. I know it. Just trust him. I feel like I have so much to say right now. The gospel is simple: live the law and receive the blessings. Repentance normally isn’t big changes. Its just little ones. I love you all. I know God lives the proof is in everything and He is talking to us. We just have to listen.

 Elder Solomon