DAY 370: DECEMBER 5

Well, this week was pretty good, we had four people at church with us! It was great! Also, unfortunately, but fortunately at the same time, Jose Raul moved back to Honduras. Unfortunate because he's not here to help the branch stay strong, but fortunate because he's with his family. At church we had Rolando, Fernando and Brisayda, and William. Rolando I've talked about before a little bit, he's doing pretty well, but needs to quit smoking. Fernando and Brisayda are a really cool young couple, they basically want to be baptized, but arent married (very common problem). They want to get married, the only thing stopping them is she doesnt have an ID, so they cant get a marriage liscence. But, once they do, they will be awesome members! William is a pretty cool guy, he is very analytical and will pick out and examine every detail of something. I always have to be careful about how I'm going to phrase something as to not be misinterpreted and have some crazy tangent. I kind of feel like he'll go for the "try to prove it wrong" approach, and in doing so will realize that you really cant. That doesnt always mean they gain a testimony, which is the most important thing. But, really great to have them all there.

Other than that, a pretty average week, we had some pretty good numbers last week, which was great. President Wall isnt as concerned about numbers. They are of course still important, but shouldnt be the goal. Which has thrown me a little bit for a psychological loop, because its important, but its not- we should work hard... but not because we want numbers. But when we work hard it shows in the numbers... but we shouldnt work hard for that reason. But, we really do have a great and important work to do, so we need to get out there and be finding prepared people... But the people arent numbers. But we write down numbers about them. So they are. Wait, they're not. Are they? I dont even know. Just follow the spirit. =D

I havent told a good drunk guy story in awhile, so heres one: We door contacted this guy, he let us in, and we sat down and started talking just a bit. Just a second later, this oter guy walks in, his roomate, and is super drunk. I could already tell he was going to be a problem. I figured if he would just shut up and sit down we could have some sort of a lesson, but he was just standing right in the middle of us going off on some random tangent. He asked us why bad things happen to people in the world. He then said "We're all basically the same, why does God punish only some of us? I mean we all have a body (holds up his hand) with five hands on each finger, we're all the same! I was trying really hard not to laugh, realizing he might get mad if I did, so just kind of pretend to scratch my mouth in a discreet way to cover that I was laughing. I was sitting next to the guy we were trying to teach and just started explaining a little bit about the plan of salvation, while the drunk guy talked to my companion. The thought came to my mind to maybe just go into another room, so I just asked the non-beligrent guy if he wanted to go to another room. He sort of smiled and laughed because he could see what was going on, and agreed. We went into another room while my companion kept the lesson-ruiner amused, and I shared a 10-minute version of Gods plan for us, and testified of his love for us. He shared a personal experience of when he had seen the hand of God in his life, and even though it was a short lesson, we were still able to feel the spirit. So, even though the adversary tried to spoil our lesson, bullet dodged!!

Well, thats about it! I'd love to hear from some people out in the real world! Whats going on out there?

Love,

Elder Cardon