So I have been feeling kind of frustrated lately- ha-ha. I was able to baptize Reyna Zerate within my first four weeks here which was super cool and she is super active. Her husband was inactive for fourteen (maybe even seventeen) years and her children were just baptize approximately a couple weeks before I got here. So we visited her kids my first night here and we decided to teach all of them, not just the kids. It makes me wonder why no one else ever tried to even teach the rest of the family. We gave her a baptismal goal date on the first lesson and she accepted. Since that day she and her husband haven't missed a single week of church. She is first counsellor in the primary and her husband Procy is going to get a calling shortly, I am sure. They have been awesome! I wish I could just visit them everyday ha-ha. Now, I said I was frustrated. The reason I said that is because the key indicator numbers of this ward are not very good, for example home teaching is virtually non-existent and the ward has about 80 active members with 360 inactive. Lately it has been hard because our ward mission leader was just made a service missionary and he has to spend four days a week in Manila. One more thing, I kind of had to re-open this area and now I will probably get transferred next transfer just as a big load of all my investigators are starting to want to get baptized.
I love the quote from President Hinckley that Dad sent me: "I am an optimist!... My plea is that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that as we go through life, we "accentuate the positive"". I have actually been trying to apply that advice in my work lately. This area has a lot of problems, but since I have stopped focusing on those issues and more on what's going good and what I am doing to improve the work, I have found big changes taking place in our ward. Yesterday was the first day that we had over 80 at church in the whole time I have served here. Normally we have about 60 with about 80 active members. So the 86 we got yesterday was awesome!
Despite all the problems I still like the ward and the area. The church has only been here for 50 years so there is lot's of time to mature and get better. We should have a baptism coming up in the next two weeks. His name is Jesse and he is 20. He and his brother are actually being sponsored by a member family in Utah and are living in an en-suite of a member here in San Pablo. They got double referred ha-ha. The rest of the up-coming baptisms (6), I won't be around for because their goal dates are after Aug 28 and I will probably transfer out then.
Everything else is going just fine ha-ha. It isn't that hot here any more. Lots of clouds with on and off showers all day everyday. Still better then the heat. Which reminds me. Tori looks like she has a nice tan in those pictures you sent. She must be spending some time outside.
Yes, things are different with the new mission president but not that different.
Anyways I hope you have a great week. Well anyways I better go. Love you all lot's!
Elder Nielson
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