#19 [Pontezuela - 17] July 22nd, 2013

Hi fam bam!

So obviously, this was a big week for us as J was baptized this past Sunday. It was a really great day, a little stressful since it was my very first baptism ever, but it went well. I am so excited that J got baptized, and I know he's going to be a big blessing for the ward.

Yesterday, after Church, we had a meeting with the ward council, where we presented some of our ideas. Our ward is really struggling. First of all, their ward mission plan is 3 years old, and almost all the baptisms they had within the past year are inactive now. The retention rate in this ward is zero to none, and so we found the root of the problem: we don't have ward missionaries! We don't even have enough active members right now to call any either. All of the active members in the ward have 2 or 3 callings within the ward already. SO we came up with a new home teaching plan, where all the priesthood will be re-teaching lessons to the recent converts so they understand the doctrine. I love the quote in Preach My Gospel which says "True doctrine, when understood, changes behavior." And it's so true. If all the ward members (recent converts, actives, and less active members) truly understood the doctrine, this ward would still be one of the strongest ones on the island. I don't know what changed, because this ward used to have about 90-100 active members weekly, but that was years ago. We've got about 30 members who attend weekly now on average. So we're going to try to fix things. There's lots of work to do here, and I'm excited about the new changes in home teaching. Hopefully all the ward members will be willing to implement them.

Our next baptism will hopefully be with our investigator named R. He's come to Church twice now, but is scared to give up his Church; he still goes to Sunday Mass every Sunday morning before our service. He's committed to a baptismal date, too, but he thinks that being baptized so soon is premature, since he still doesn’t feel like he knows enough yet. Hopefully he can settle his doubts this week.

About Carmen's family: they live outside of my area, BUT I gave all their information to the sisters who live over there in Levittown. I did call Maria, though, and she was super nice. I was sad I wouldn't be able to meet her. Hopefully I'll get transferred over there at some point! Tell Carmen thank you so much!

Speaking of journals: I bought a new one cuz I filled up the one I'd brought from home. So that's one of the reasons I spent so much money last week.

Thanks for keeping me updated with all the Facebook news.

We had a super cool thing happen this week. So J (the guy who got baptized on Sunday) has a son who lives in the area with his mom, and we got a reference from the Carolina Elders last Sunday in his area. We went to the apartment buildings, and right outside our car was J's son, J. He remembered/recognized us, and said he'd help us find the apartment we were looking for. Well, to make a long story short, we had been referred to HIS family, and HIS apartment, because his Mom's uncle or something is a member of the Carolina ward, and they had attended Church there last Sunday and loved it and wanted us to come teach them! There are no coincidences in the Lord's work, and it was cool to know that they were the family we were looking for when we've been teaching J these past few weeks. THE CHURCH IS TRUE! The Lord definitely does work in His vineyard with His servants. (Jacob 5).

Tell Josh that I'm proud that he's working his tail off. Maybe I'll work there with him when I get back. Jokes :) Hope he has fun at EFY this week.

This past week, we had a mini hurricane. It rained ALL day, and the roads were flooded. I took pictures. It was insane! I can't even imagine what it'll be like when a REAL hurricane hits, cuz apparently, this was nothing. Just lots of water, thunder, and intense lightning. It was exciting.
 
I dunno if you ever received a picture message from my Mission President, but we were with him on Friday night because he interviewed Joe for his baptismal interview. He took a picture of us and said he'd send it to you, Mom, and I gave him my old phone number. I almost couldn't remember it. But hopefully you got that. If not, oh well. Someone else probably did. :)

I got to go to a wedding with Hna. Butler (Hna. Esquen's new companion). The wedding was Saturday night, and it was one of Hna. Butler's former investigators getting married, so they could get baptized. It was a lot of fun, and it made me want to get married. Maybe I'll come home...? Hehe jokes. (Mom, Dad, don't have a heart attack.) :) No matter how much I'd like to, I’m not ready (to get married) yet. But wow, the wedding was so cute! I'm so sad I'll be missing Madeline's! You guys need to go and eat lots of food! Take pictures, too, k?

Well anywho, I love you lots, and that's about all I've got to say. Thank you for everything you have done for me and continue to do for me on a daily basis. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for being active members in the Church. I love this Gospel and I know the Church is true. I LOVE YOU!

-Hermana Erickson