#45 [Cidra - 21] Jan. 20th, 2014

Hello, happy Martin Luther King's Day!

This week was good, we've got a lot of new investigators that we're excited about, and I think I mentioned them last week, but we just went back and taught them again this week to find out that none of them had progressed! It's frustrating when we have such great spiritual lessons and the people decide not to act on the invitations we extend to them. But hopefully that'll change.

We have a baptism on Sunday. His name is G__ and he's a members' grandfather. We're excited about him and think it's an absolute miracle that he's getting baptized. He asks a lot of questions, like I mentioned before, but it's amazing to see how the Lord prepares him, because his questions are always related to the things we plan to teach him that day. We taught him the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity, and there are no problems there. We'll be teaching about tithing and the law of the fast sometime this week. 

Hermana Archila's English is great!! We teach G__ in English, since that's his first language, and she speaks SO well! She's nervous, obviously, but I feel that if she has the opportunity to go to an environment that obligates her to speak the language all the time, she'd be even better and gain a lot of confidence. I'm thankful to have her as a companion and for the opportunity I've had to train her. She's a great missionary and makes me proud. I'm proud of all the daughters I've had on my mission so far! :)
 
I rode on the trolley for the first time this week and it was such a fun experience! There were only 3 other people on the trolley, and we talked to all three. None of them were interested, but that didn't get me down at all because I felt like I was at Disneyland riding on that thing!! :) It was probably the highlight of my week. But on a more spiritual note, I've definitely seen the Lord's hand in this work this week because we leave the house, not knowing how we're going to get to where we need to go that day, nor do we know how we'll be getting back, but the Lord ALWAYS provides! It's amazing!

So we got permission from President Smartt to go to church with our landlord (the retired Baptist pastor), and we went yesterday evening. I'd never been to a different church service other than ours before in my life (other than a Catholic Mass, but I couldn't hear anything that was said), and it was an amazing, eye-opening experience for me. It made me realize how very lucky I was to be born into the true church; I've never had to go searching for the truth in my life, or leave a church meeting feeling empty/like I hadn't learned anything. Last night, I experienced what it feels like to NOT feel the Spirit in a church meeting, and it was really so amazing. All the shouting of "hallelujah!" and "praise Jesus!!" was distracting, but it made it interesting as well. I loved all the songs we sang, too! I even played the tambourine!! I could tell the difference from the moment I walked in the door! The people were really nice, and they thought it was cool that we were there visiting them, so that was great because I was nervous that they'd get upset that we had come. But it was a good learning experience for me and made me ever more grateful for the gospel in my life.

Well anyway, I'll reply to your email now.

Mom! That's great that you're motivated to exercise!! We'll have to go walking around together when I get home! I miss doing that with you.

To answer your question, no, we don't have iPads. And yes, today was another holiday in Puerto Rico.

Glad to hear everyone's doing okay and still active in the Church. I miss you sometimes. Just kidding! :) I miss you all the time! Love you!!

-Hermana Erickson

p.s. My hair is loonngg!! :) :)