Hey Everyone!
This week was pretty good. We of course had a few run-ins with drunk guys, bible bashers and people yelling stuff, but maybe those types of stories are getting old. But if you want to hear them, let me know! Maybe that could be something everyone could do... Tell me what kind of story you want to hear, and I'll do that. If not, I could at least try to make some up. This week we had a cool lesson with this apartment full of about 6 people from the Dominican Republic. The DR is known for having really quickly spoken spanish. It was the first time in a while where ive had to struggle a little bit with the language. They also just like to talk alot, so they were pretty hard to teach. But, as soon as we could get focused, we taught them the restoration, and it was interesting to see them react at such different levels. One guy, Fernando, just loved it, and was really excited about the Book of Mormon. His wife, on the other hand was rather the opposite. She had a really hard time accepting anything other than the Bible, as do many people. But, we answered her questions, hopefully resolved some doubts, but I can see that its still going to take some more time with her. We met them one day at a Mexican tienda, where we were doing a thing offering free Finding Faith in Christ DVD's. We met one of their roomates there, got the address, and went to bring it over, and that's how we meet all of them. When we brought the DVD, one of them was super excited about it, and rather than staying in and talking with us, went into the other room halfway through the lesson, and started watching it. Maybe a little too excited... But any ways, we have another appointment with them tonight, and hopefully they will be there and able to meet again. We also found out that Fernando is friends with one of the members of the ward, so were going to try to use that connection as much as we can.
So, being Elder Vails last week, theres bound to be a few perks. Today a nice member family, the Vasquez, took us out to lunch. They called us last night and asked us where we wanted to go, and we mentioned there was a new panda express, or maybe just popeyes, a place kind of like KFC, but apparently better. They said "do you like seafood? How about Red Lobster?" and we were like well... Ok then. So today they took us out to Red Lobster, and we ate bastante. It was excellent. They mentioned that they had thought about moving to Seattle. I told them do it! Its great up there! They are wonderful people, its fun to be in a ward with them.
We've been teaching a guy named Jaime, who is a guy in probably his 50's, who is from Honduras, and said he had some experience with the church when he was down there, about 20 years ago. We talked about it, and he said down there, he had gone to church a few times, and he had gotten to know some members. He met with the missionaries, and he said they were sloppy, not serious about the message and didn't bring the spirit. One of the members there cheated him out of a large sum of money, he didnt say how much, and since then he has been mistrustful and wary of, and maybe somewhat contrary to the mormon church. But, the first time we taught him he was impressed by our example, and that we talked about the spirit, and that we took it seriously. He knows the things that happened before are in the past, and he is willing to listen. He is pretty active in another church, doing some of their technology, so weve had a good conversation about that stuff. :)
But, despite the normal oppositions that come with doing something good, we are pressing forward, and doing the work we can. One of our awesome investigators, Juan Carlos, is doing well, and is going to be baptized on the 30th! Its definitely hard to keep people progressing, but with the help of the lord, its all possible.
-Elder Cardon
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