It was good to hear about Damon and Rafe!! I can´t wait to see them! I can´t believe Damon is talking.. When I left he was only like 10 months old! Crazy.. And I can´t believe that Rafe is gonna be a year old next month!
So you got my travel plans, huh? Haha. I´ve loved my mission, and I´ve learned and grown a ton.. But I´m excited to start my life and use the stuff I´ve learned here. I´m super glad I came on a mission and learned all the stuff that I have. It´s like D&C says, the more we learn in this life, the more it benefits us in the next..
QUESTIONS:
1. How are Cesar and Silvia?
Cesar´s dad is in the hospital and is about to die.. So we haven´t been able to meet with them lately. But as far as we know, they´re doing well.
2. Has church attendance held steady?
Kind of.. We had 24 people at church yesterday. It wasn´t terrible, but it´s a pretty big drop from last week. I don´t know what happened.
3. With increased attendance have you received any member referrals?
Nope.. Still working on that one..
4. Is there any of the members that are coming to church right now that seem like they could be good leaders? Take responsibility? More committed?
Still workin on that one too haha. There are members that could take on leadership, but there´s no leadership training here.. The only church leaders in this city are the district president and his 4 branch presidents.... I´ve seen some weird politics in the church here. Things have been done that shouldn´t have been done. I´ll tell you all about it in a few months when we´re all sittin around in the living room :D
5. Do you know how your Branch President is feeling about the interviews he has been having with the members?
I think he´s felt good about them. They postponed the temple trip until February. Maybe that will give them enough time to get everything done they need to.
6. When do the youth in your Branch get to go to the temple?
They all go with the adults. I think while the adults are doing their temple work, the youth go and do the baptisms.
7. What experience have you had this past week that was the most memorable?
I´ve been teaching the priesthood class for the last few months and I try to share as much stuff from the Book of Mormon as I can. Yesterday I taught from Alma 48. It talks about the preparation of the Nephites and the Lamanites when Captain Moroni was in charge of the Nephites. Amalicki (is that his name? In Spanish its Amalikíah..) was in charge of the Lamanites. It talks about how the 2 captains prepare their people for war. Nephites are the members of the Church and the Lamanites are the wicked.. Amalikíah is Satan and Moroni could be like the prophet or something.. Anyways, its a good chapter!
We had a good week.. We´re ready to see what changes are coming. We both think that I´m going because I´ve already been here for 6 months. And I guess there are some big changes coming to Oviedo on Friday, so we´ll see what happens. Other than that it was a pretty normal week.
Shaunie asked where I´m going to school when I get back.. It looks like BYU-I-Do for now. I´ve been thinking about BYU also. I heard there´s not that many people there so they´re just letting everyone in.. Maybe I´ll transfer over! I heard it´s a more prestigeous school or something..
Well, I´ll let you know next week if there were any changes! I feel like my areas have gotten progressively harder, so I´m hoping my next area will at least be self-reliant.. That would be nice.
Until next week!
I love you!!
Elder Colby Dane Heiner
