Good things are still happening in the Mish!

This is last Monday's letter along with the pictures that were sent to me by some members and Alex.  The people that are around him and some that are being taught right now have started sending me pictures and videos on a weekly (sometimes daily) basis AND I LOVE IT!!!  I've been able to see able to see things happening in "real time" for him and I get to see and feel the love they share for him :)  (I got a lot of pictures from the 4th of July holiday but I will wait and post those along with some baptism pictures that were sent when I get his letter from today).  The video of him debating whether or not to eat the pepper really cracks me up!  The look on his face at the end is hilarious and sooooo Alex!

He is enjoying every second of his mission and building relationships that are going to follow him throughout the rest of his life. YAY!!!  He's inspiring to me :) <3

Elder Nye right before he left, chilling in the hammock

Few of my most favorite people. Left is Mari, middle Micaela and Lupe

O.'s baptism in Porterville

Left Elder Winterton, middle Elder Poulsen, right Elder Quintana

Big Al and Charlie :)

Deciding on how short he should cut his hair

Handsome :)

Ummm :/ LOL

Ballin'

Sweaty and Nerdy

Enchiladas :)

This week


Good things are still happening in the mish! I'm going to have to apologize because I don't have my planner on me right now, and normally I use my planner to tell you all the series of events that happens during the week. I'll try to make as much sense of it as possible as well as tell you everything that happened.

I feel like this week consisted of a lot of ball playing! We had a volleyball activity on Friday for our investigators and I remember like 6-7 investigators being there and about 4 or 5 of their friends came too. It was a sweet way to get new investigators or at least fellowship! I don't believe we made any new investigators from it but afterwards we shared a message with them. We shared the mormon message of the prodigal son and talked about how we are to forgive always, and how much of a blessing the atonement can be in our lives if we allow it to. The atonement isn't just a redeeming source but an enabling source too! Last Thursday we went and played ball with one of our investigators J. and a few of other guys. We played outside around 7 30 or 8 but it was super hot still! Cr.'s father was there too playing with us. Like I said before, he's really closed in on us and still is. We cracked a little bit of his shell but not enough for him to talk with us. Later that night we shared a message with the entire family in John 14:21. Then afterwards that video that was sent to you was of me attempting or debating to eat a pepper. I was already sweating from playing ball and my comp Elder Quintana was just saying stuff like, "Yeah do it! You got this! Do it so you can speak faster spanish!" so I was actually going to eat it then they realized that I was actually gonna legitimately do it. So then their faces had a look of "Oh shoot. We were just kidding don't do it!". So I didn't :) I was real close though. Probably was better that I didn't hahaha

We were sooooo close to having Cr. baptized! She was just on the verge and then her little girl got sick and so she had to stay home so she could take care of her. Man we've just been butting heads with Satan trying to fight for her welfare! So we reset her baptismal date for the 3rd of July. Cool thing is, is that S. her Aunt said that she would pray about being baptized with her too. We have so much faith that she will! Cr. wants to be baptized with her so as of right now we are expecting the both of them to be baptized together :) it should be a good experience for the both of them. Our investigator D. didn't attend church this weekend so he can't get baptized this Friday. His wife is about to have labor for their Kid soon. So he stayed home to take care of her and we understand that.

So because our baptism didn't go through Elder Quintana and I went to a couple different baptisms. He went up to Modesto and I went down to Lindsey. Elder Corona, one of my last companions was baptizing an investigator we met while I was there and we taught her. Her name is O. It was powerful and such a great experience for her and her family! I also got to see a few loved ones back in the south of the mission like Charlie, Brother Garcia and his family, basically all those that I served with in Lindsey and Tulare. It's crazy how time just flies! I'm real happy to have been able to go to Lindsey and get to see old faces!

We really did have a great week this week and found some new investigators too! I wish I could tell you all that happened but like I said... I don't have my planner on me so I can't recall a lot. Bummer! I'll keep you updated on more of what happened this upcoming week. We have some new investigators and they're really looking solid. Tomorrow is our zone conference and I'll be giving a training on the role of the holy ghost in conversion. It should be awesome! I'm looking forward to it. Also the 4th of July is gonna be sweet! As missionaries we don't get to proselyte for long on Holidays so we should be hanging out with a member and playing games and stuff!

My spanish is good! I can teach and understand perfectly when it comes to the Gospel. When it comes to making jokes and stuff it becomes a little more difficult though. There's a lot of slang used in that aspect, just like how there's slang in english, except in spanish there could be 4 or 5 words in spanish that could mean 1 thing in english. So there's lots of double meanings. So I guess you could say I'm like 75% at the most fluent. Still got a little less than a year to learn lots of spanish

I got your pictures and stuff! They're awesome! Looks like everyone is doing good. I love bee's games. I love baseball and I just miss not being able to see it or play it. I'm sure the bee's did awesome coming back from a 5 point loss is good! Gotta really enjoy those games. I love hearing about everything else that's happened thus far back home. I wish I could say something about everything, but I don't have lots of time to write more. So let Grandma and the rest of the family know that I love them and that I'll keep them in my prayers!

Well my time has come to an end. I'm going to try and send pictures if at all possible so you can see what happened this week.

Love ya and miss ya!