Rhett

(excerpts)

Elder Esse is doing good, he’s got a really good testimony and we both really want to baptize so we are working hard. Leti and her family didn't come to church againnn...... dangit!! Its been taking so long to get them to commit to baptism, but they are progressing little by little. I feel like it will take some time but they will be baptized at one point for sure. We have a lot of good stuff happening in the branch though. Every Tuesday night we have big family home evening as a branch, and last week 40 people came, so that was sweet! 3 investigators came as well. At church this week 2 less active families and another less active guy came to church, so that was awesome to see, the church is growing back up over here. There are a ton of less active members in the area so we are trying to get them back to strengthen the branch so the work can progress. Yeah I made cinnamon roles and brownies and they turned pretty good! Who knew I could cook! haha, Things are going well here though, Love you! 

Elder Reilly

Trent

(excerpt)

This week was so great! Elder Puig and I get along great and we just started talking to everyone and we invited all our investigators to be baptized and almost all of them accepted! It was so sweet! Irma came to church again and has accepted to be baptized the 13th of October. She loves coming to church and she’s excited to keep coming. We also had another investigator come to church named Jesus Antonio and he accepted to be baptized for the 20th of October! The whole sacrament meeting and Sunday was perfectly set up for him! He felt the spirit a lot and is excited to keep coming! Also Leo and Sole accepted to be baptized the 20th of October and 3 other people accepted to be baptized in October. It’s crazy how many miracles and things we saw in just one week. I love the mish!

Actually we cooked a lot this week. And yes I must say that I have pretty good skills in the kitchen now. That’s sweet that you guys went to the temple! Keep going. People here have to save all year to go for a couple days to the temple. We have it so close. 

Love and miss you! Till next week!

Trent

Rhett

Hola familia!

We just had transfers this week and I found out that I'll be staying here in Ruta for another transfer with Elder Esse. I'm pretty excited about that! Unfortunately Leti and her mom didn't come to church this week. I don't know why but we are going to pass by tomorrow and see what happened with them. We visited them with a member this week and had a great lesson, and they said they were gonna come. But we are going to pass by tomorrow and see how they are doing. 

We are really trying to get the members involved here now that we have found a good group of investigators. We have been trying to get them to come out with us or if not invite some of their friends to church and we have seen some good results because of it. A couple of weeks ago we had lunch with a member family and they had a friend come over for lunch and we were able to talk to her and tell her about the Plan of Salvation. The member family seemed to be pretty happy about it and yesterday there friend came to church! It was so great to see her there and see how the members can have a huge impact on missionary work. There are so many people that really need the gospel in their lives, all they are waiting for is just an invitation to come. I feel like now the members are trying to invite more and they can see that it really is possible to invite their friends to receive the gospel! This next transfer we are going to try and work a lot with them and help grow this branch.

Something else that happened this week, we have been visiting a family of three these past couple of weeks and they have been really open to learn about the gospel and invite us in to teach. Afredo, Mirla, and Mattias are their names. They understand a lot and believe in God but have never really been active in a church or really been that into the gospel. We have been wanting to put a baptismal date with them to help grow their faith but it just hasn't felt right to do it yet. But this week we had a lesson with them and talked about the Plan of Salvation and how when we exercise faith, repent, are baptized, recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end we will be cleansed from sin and be prepared to one day live with God again. We played a little game to help them understand better and after the game were able to invite them to be baptized. We were a little nervous on how they would respond but we had the faith and went for it. They were a little bit unsure at first and didn't know if they wanted to . But then we were able to testify of the blessing they could receive and how they could pray and ask Heavenly Father to help them know and feel it's true so that they could be prepared to follow Jesus Christ and enter the waters of baptism. There was a good feeling in the room and they said they would like to prepare themselves and ask if it's true. It was great to be apart of and I really can see this family following in the gospel. It makes me so grateful to think how lucky we are to have the opportunity to pray and seek direction from a Heavenly Father who is all powerful and knows all things. He has everything and gives us the opportunity to ask Him and get answers. How great is that! I am very grateful for prayer and know that He listens. Have a good week! Much love

Elder Reilly

Rhett

This week we were able to meet with Leti and her family with a member. It has been hard for the whole family to go to church because they have a son named Jesus who is disabled and unable to use his arms much or his legs. Basically if they go to church only the mom or one of the sisters is able to go so that the other one can stay with Jesus. They live pretty far from the church, and have a wheel chair that is broken so it has been really hard to get them to go to church. But we passed by this week with a member and sat down with Carolina(Leti’s Mom), Maria, and some more family that I hadn't ever met and we talked to them about the gospel of Jesus Christ. The lesson went great and we talked about how it can really bless their lives and how we are willing to do whatever it takes to help their whole family follow the gospel and come to church. We told them that at least for one week we could come by with a car that a member has and take them all with us, even Jesus! Carolina was super happy about that and on Sunday we passed by and Carolina, Maria, Jesus and some others in the family were all able to come to church. Jesus was so happy to be there and his mom carried him around the whole time so that he could go to the classes with her. When the members saw that she was carrying him around the whole time without a wheel chair or anything they talked about ways they could get a new wheelchair for her or if everyone could pitch in some money to buy a new one. That was so great to see!! The whole branch pitching in helping one another. They all seemed to love church and Carolina feels good about it. It was so great to see how they are putting forth their efforts to come to church and really want to follow in the gospel. And to see how little acts of service really can make a big impact of someone. The members really looked for ways to help and helped her feel good and now are helping her to get a wheelchair for Jesus. That is really what the gospel is all about! We all have personal needs, but true joy comes when we look outwords and look for opportunities to serve. Through those little acts, we can change others lives and bless our own lives! It was a good week! Love you guys!!

Elder Reilly

Trent

Trent

(excerpts)

This week was great. We found some really good people and 3 investigators came to church...Irma, Carla, and Eric. Leo and Sole didnt come gosh dangit. They disappeared this week we don't know what happened. But Irma is doing really well! She is reading the Book of Mormon and understanding it and she likes it a lot. And a sister in our ward is helping us so much because she comes with us to all the lessons and always takes Irma to church! So she will surely be baptized soon. 

Our prophet is awesome isnt he? They put the youth broadcast in the Liahona this month and it is awesome. We are sharing it with all of the members and telling them they are part of the Dream Team sent to Earth to gather Israel! We hope we can get them all excited to keep sharing the gospel.

I'm doing great and working hard! Till next week!

Elder Reilly

Rhett

(excerpts)

...Leti and her family are doing good. It’s just been hard because the mom was basically a leader of another church and now she hasn't been going to that church anymore and a bunch of people are calling her and texting her and coming to visit her which has been pretty hard on her. She’s getting confused a little bit trying to have the faith to just follow what she feels is true. But, we have been visiting her and she tells us each time about how she really does feel the spirit telling her the things we’re teaching are true and that the Book of Mormon has helped her in her life. We are praying for her that she can just have the faith to take action!! It’s been so great to be able to see her progress though, we really have done all we can to help her now and it’s up to her and the Lord. Man it has been hard getting people to commit to things, but there have been so many times where I just know the Spirit was there and that they felt it. So many times they have even said that they feel something different. That strengthens my testimony so much and helps me understand that Heanvenly Father really does know each of us and wants to help us come to the truth. That always gives me the energy to keep moving forward. I love this work. We are out here fighting!!

Please pray for Leti, Maria and their mom that they can have the faith to be baptized. They are so ready and know its true they just need to have the faith to act. I know Heavenly Father will help them! Thank you Love you guys!

Elder Reilly