Perseverar hasta el fin. Es algo muy importante para hacer. ¡Tambien es lo que estoy haciendo aqui en Othello, y estoy disfrutando cada minuto de el! Estamos enseñando a muchas persona chidas, y yo he aprendido mucho del Elder Fordham. Espero que tambien puedo ayudar a el a progresar en el evangelio. ¡Me encanta este area de Othello, y yo pudiera morar aqui casi medio de mi misión!
Endure to the end. It is a very important thing to do. It's also what I'm doing here in Othello, and I'm enjoying every minute of it! We're teaching a lot of people, and I've learned a lot from Elder Fordham. I hope that I can also help him progress in the gospel. I love this area of Othello, and I could live here almost half of my mission!
Man, it's been a cool week. Brenda is doing great! We showed Brenda and Crystal the Family History Library Sunday, and they seemed to really like it. Brenda's son, Christopher, asked her out of nowhere what he had to do to get baptized with her and Crystal. We started teaching him, but we think he got a little overwhelmed by everything. He's a deep, deep thinker. His father was also a Jehovah's Witness, so it's been a bit of a rough transition. He has amazing questions! Unfortunately, since he got a bit overwhelmed, he's backed off a lot and doesn't want to continue, but he has changed his mind quite a lot. Also, his main doubt is how he can know which church out of all of them is right. Hmm, I think some JSH might be in order here... (he has a triple combo that the Bishop gave him). So anyway, it's back to just Brenda and Crystal, but Christopher will come along eventually. He just seems like a deep searcher, which is exactly how he should stay. It will take some time.
We also finally met with Yolie and Nikita again! They are doing pretty well, and are beginning to understand a lot more. Thing is, Yolie's son, Malachi, is going through a bit of a defiant phase. He's outright refusing to go to church, and Yolie doesn't feel comfortable leaving either or both of her kids at home, so that's going to be a bit of a struggle. Other than that, Yolie is doing super awesome! She's studying and keeping all the commandments, and she's begun to understand everything a lot better. Her situation is super, super hopeful.
Finally, we took Danny Z out to a lesson! Daniel Z. is a relatively recent convert and less-active member of the church. He's super awesome, so we call him Danny Z (it sounds cool that way). Anyway, he then showed up at church Sunday! It's awesome! He's been doing a lot better, and is coming out of a bit of a discouraging time for him. We look forward to continuing working with him.
Here's a little story from my letter to President Lewis:
Finally, this week we were knocking doors on an obscure road in the middle of nowhere out in the furthest part of Little Mexico. Everyone there was either simply not interested or even a little rude. We had hoped to meet a lot of really cool people, especially because we hadn't really been down there before (it was that far). We were about out of time, and about to head back to the better traveled part of Little Mexico, and we decided we had enough time to knock just one house. We felt impressed to knock a particular house that had nothing particularly special about it. It just looked a little more humble then some of the others surrounding it.
As it turns out, a less-active Spanish speaker from Quincy, Umberto, and his girlfriend Brenda (different Brenda) lived there! Brenda was super interested, and he had been feeling he should go to church more. He had some holes in his understanding, and he seemed to be under the all-too-common impression that any church is fine, as long as you're hearing the word of God. There's some work to do, and Brenda is super interested in learning about our church and going on Sundays with her son! Apparently, she has seen us at the food bank and it piqued her curiosity about our beliefs and helped her be super interested. It's super exciting. They couldn't go yesterday, because Umberto had to meet his brother and give him money to help out his situation (or something). However, he promised he would go next week!
As it turns out, a less-active Spanish speaker from Quincy, Umberto, and his girlfriend Brenda (different Brenda) lived there! Brenda was super interested, and he had been feeling he should go to church more. He had some holes in his understanding, and he seemed to be under the all-too-common impression that any church is fine, as long as you're hearing the word of God. There's some work to do, and Brenda is super interested in learning about our church and going on Sundays with her son! Apparently, she has seen us at the food bank and it piqued her curiosity about our beliefs and helped her be super interested. It's super exciting. They couldn't go yesterday, because Umberto had to meet his brother and give him money to help out his situation (or something). However, he promised he would go next week!
Everything is going super awesome, and I'm psyched to be here with Elder Fordham! He's awesome. I love you all, and wish you all the best week ever!
Love,
Elder Adams
More Questions from Editor Mom
How many people are in your district? - 8. Currently, that's 6 elders in Othello (we live super close to each other) and 2 sisters in nearby Warden. They are:
Did I accidentally put your birthday card in with your Valentine? (I can't find it.) - I have no idea. I haven't opened my Valentine yet.
Elders Favila and Aguirre - Othello 1st and 4th Wards - Zone Leaders
Elders Fordham and Adams - Othello 2nd and 4th Wards - Elder Fordham is District Leader
Elders Ramirez and Klossner - Othello 3rd and 4th Wards
Hermanas Luevano, Shewell, and Stocking - Warden Ward (covers both English and Spanish)
How are you and Elder Fordham getting along? Tell us about him, please. - We're getting along pretty well, actually. We're both determined to be better missionaries, that's for sure. However, before I tell you about him, he wants me to ask you what you already know. ;-)
Have you gotten any Valentines? From whom? - I got one Valentine from your address, but I haven't opened it yet. Valentine's Day is tomorrow, after all.
Are you staying warm and safe? (Looks like you are having some intense weather!) - It's actually gotten a lot warmer recently! It's now something like 40-50 degrees out. It's quite nice, actually.
How are your investigators doing? - That's something I like to save for the big email, but generally pretty awesome. Brenda and Crystal are just doing fantastically well, they're the bomb(s)! Yolie is having some trouble getting her kids to want to go to church, and so she's been having a little trouble on that front, but we're going to try to help her work through that with her faith.
Anything funny this week? - Not off the top of my head, not really. Little funny things happen all the time, but they're usually pretty small and I forget them.
Insights you'd like to share? - Well, I was reminded Sunday of something Elder Bednar shared during the Worldwide Missionary Broadcast. He told us that we often like to put things into little boxes. He then talked about how we do that with Faith, Repentance, Baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. It's not a bunch of separate things, but one single inexorably connected thing: The Doctrine of Christ. The first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are a lot more like a single principle than we often realize. If we have Faith, we will inevitably repent. Baptism and the sacrament are essential parts of the repentance process. As we continue repenting and following those principles of faith and covenant renewal, we will have the spirit with us. We will continue progressing in the Gospel, we will be worthy of the Holy Ghost, and we will surely Endure to the End. That is the process of sanctification at its essence; as we continue to live the Doctrine of Christ, we will gain in Christlike Attributes such as Faith, Hope, and Charity. That's the key to happiness, honestly. It's a single, beautiful thing. It's the Doctrine of Christ.
How are you and Elder Fordham getting along? Tell us about him, please. - We're getting along pretty well, actually. We're both determined to be better missionaries, that's for sure. However, before I tell you about him, he wants me to ask you what you already know. ;-)
Have you gotten any Valentines? From whom? - I got one Valentine from your address, but I haven't opened it yet. Valentine's Day is tomorrow, after all.
Are you staying warm and safe? (Looks like you are having some intense weather!) - It's actually gotten a lot warmer recently! It's now something like 40-50 degrees out. It's quite nice, actually.
How are your investigators doing? - That's something I like to save for the big email, but generally pretty awesome. Brenda and Crystal are just doing fantastically well, they're the bomb(s)! Yolie is having some trouble getting her kids to want to go to church, and so she's been having a little trouble on that front, but we're going to try to help her work through that with her faith.
Anything funny this week? - Not off the top of my head, not really. Little funny things happen all the time, but they're usually pretty small and I forget them.
Insights you'd like to share? - Well, I was reminded Sunday of something Elder Bednar shared during the Worldwide Missionary Broadcast. He told us that we often like to put things into little boxes. He then talked about how we do that with Faith, Repentance, Baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. It's not a bunch of separate things, but one single inexorably connected thing: The Doctrine of Christ. The first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are a lot more like a single principle than we often realize. If we have Faith, we will inevitably repent. Baptism and the sacrament are essential parts of the repentance process. As we continue repenting and following those principles of faith and covenant renewal, we will have the spirit with us. We will continue progressing in the Gospel, we will be worthy of the Holy Ghost, and we will surely Endure to the End. That is the process of sanctification at its essence; as we continue to live the Doctrine of Christ, we will gain in Christlike Attributes such as Faith, Hope, and Charity. That's the key to happiness, honestly. It's a single, beautiful thing. It's the Doctrine of Christ.
Did I accidentally put your birthday card in with your Valentine? (I can't find it.) - I have no idea. I haven't opened my Valentine yet.
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