Weekly Letter: June 29-July 5

So yeah, my first week in another change. That makes it the third change in the field. Wow! where does the time go?! First of all, my new companion is Elder Childers. He is from Virginia....but, his family moved to Chicago during his mission, so he´s going to return to an unfamiliar home. He´s got 21 months in the mission already, but as far as I can see, he isn´t trunky. In some ways, he has more of a focus than Javier did....that being said, I wouldn´t say either one is better than the other, just with different strengths.

It was funny, I was pretty worried about a gringo companion here in the field. I had learned so much Spanish with Javier and I didn´t want to lose it with my new companion. Basically, when we met, I told him that I didn´t have much time in the mission and needed help with my Spanish. Without hesitation, he told me that it was okay, that he would speak to me in Spanish! When we had an appointment with a member later that day, they asked if we spoke English to each other. He said no, that I had asked him to speak Spanish with me....and that he actually didn´t like to speak English with other gringos in the mission. So that was a relief. Also, because his mother is from Peru, and his father served a mission Spanish speaking, he´s heard a lot of Spanish and has a good accent.(he didn´t, however, learn to speak Spanish before his mission....though he more or less understood it) Anyway, I´ve been blessed profoundly with this companion.

Teaching your companion about an area is a little bit difficult. Even though Elder Childers has a great deal more time in the mission than I do, I felt like a senior companion this entire week. More or less, he now knows the area pretty well, so I feel less like a senior companion, but man, I got a look into the future....and I didn´t like it at all! So many decisions!

We´re working hard here in Plateros, and are being rewarded with some fruits. It´s unfortunate that some of our investigators that we had with Javier have fallen through, but we are encountering a great deal of new investigators, and some of our older investigators that were getting disillusioned with the baptism have renewed the fire and desire to be baptized!

This includes the family Orea Zavaleta. It had been close to two or three weeks since we last contacted them....let alone had an appointment with them. But we were able to pass by on Saturday and have an appointment with them....and it was a good one. We saw that they definitely needed it, that they had been attacked with a great deal of persecution for their decision to listen to us. But we were able to talk through their concerns and I think they´re getting back on the right track....especially Uriel, the father. It´s true what the scriptures say, that there is opposition in all things, and when people are about to take a step in the right direction, the adversary works harder than ever on them.

Anyway, I wish I could write more, but right now time is extremely short. But please know that the work is moving forward, not only in this area of Plateros, but in the world! Please continue praying for all the missionaries. We need the help. We can´t do this alone, but with the Lord, there isn´t anything we can´t do!

¡Cuídense!

Elder Blackham