Elder Brandon Beck : Week 11 in Porvenir

Week #73
5/25/15

Well, we have had another great week here. We have a bunch of great investigators, were expecting baptisms, and things are really progressing. Something our leaders have made a lot of emphasis on these past few weeks is follow-up. They are encouraging us a lot to have daily contacts with our investigators who are progressing, and always be verifying the commitments we leave. It has gone well for us in our area, and we've seen that the people we are teaching are reading the Book of Mormon more frequently. I'm grateful that God gives us leaders to teach us what we can improve on.

So, this Sunday morning I was sitting in church, and only 1 investigator had gotten there, and she was a new investigator from this last week. Nobody who has progressed had arrived. It was a little stressful considering we had so many people who told us they'd be coming to church. I got a little bummed, but at the end of the meeting, I saw Carol had gotten to the chapel! So she´ll get baptized this Saturday! She has progressed a lot, despite her difficult family situation, and we have seen how much reading from the Book of Mormon helps in investigators´ progress. She had an interview with our branch president after the meetings, and he is now super supportive of her baptism, which was really cool! We are going to have a combined baptismal service with the other areas in our district, so that should be a lot of fun!

Liliana has dropped off the face of the earth. We have called her every day, and she hasn't come to church these last 2 weeks. We finally caught her at home Sunday afternoon, but her granddaughter told us she is very sick, and they are going to take her to the hospital. So that is kind of sad to see, we will have to keep contact with her, hopefully she will answer her phone!

We are teaching a family that the missionaries found about 6 months ago, but for some reason didn't keep visiting. They're a family of 5, and are rather humble. They are the Corredor family. They have really progressed. We have felt the spirit a lot as we have taught them, but it has been really remarkable to see how much they learn when they read the Book of Mormon together. They pray read, and discuss they chapters we leave for them. They asked us last time to read more about baptism, and now really comprehend the subject. The only bummer is that they don't want to accept a date right now. They've told us they want to see some changes in their lives before placing a date, but definitely have the vision of being baptized. They, like many couples aren't married. So we will have to work with them on that as well. Its funny how much you can grow to love someone although you've only visited them a few times in their home for an hour. Well, I thought I would tell you a little about them since we are hoping for more progress with them in these weeks.

I know that the Atonement of Christ is perfect. I know that he can strengthen us, and loves us perfectly (Hebrews 2:18). I know that we can change, and that if we repent, the Spirit can enter into our lives with more force and influence.

Thanks for reading!

Pictures:

we went to the zoo today. and a picture with my companion (im not sure why he is pointing at my camera)