New month, new companion, new transfers

Hey Family!

I confirmed Angel yesterday! It was a super cool experience. He is the first person I have ever confirmed. I struggled a little bit with the Spanish in the blessing, but I got everything out that I felt like I needed to say. It was really cool.

So this week was good, a little frustrating but good. I was pretty used to how everything went with Elder Valdes here and how he knows everything about the area. I also know just about everything because I have been here forever, but it is really frustrating explaining to my companion in Spanish who everybody is and where they live. I guess it’s good because I am learning too by explaining how everything works, but never the less super frustrating. My companion is good, he is excited about the work and wants to help everyone. At the same time he is driving me crazy, he is a whiner (I can’t remember how to spell that... he complains a lot). If there is one thing that drives me crazy it’s someone who complains all the time. The other thing is he is so excited sometimes he doesn’t know when to stop.  This week he taught an hour and 20 minute lessons to bunch of little kids... normally we shouldn’t go over 45 for adults, and I think about 20 for kids. So it is taking some patience but we are working hard. We had really good numbers this week.

So we are teaching Pati you all asked about that, and her daughter. The other two in her family are kids also. She has 5 kids, 3 of them can be baptized. She and her oldest have a baptismal date for this Saturday. We will have to see, I am not so sure with Pati, but with her daughter Litzi I think she will get baptized. We do have a couple of other investigators. Two of them are brand new, we have only seen them once, and the other one isn’t really progressing, but she went to church yesterday so we will see all of them this week and hopefully we can put some more baptismal dates.

Well that’s about all I have to say. Oh and we have a weird transfer this time it’s only 3 weeks long, so we have transfers again in two weeks; that’s really weird. But with so many new missionaries arriving I guess they had to do it this way. So everyone in the mission right now will either go home 3 weeks early or 3 weeks late. It’s really weird, but it’s kind of cool.

This week I started the Book of Mormon again. I am reading it with a few different purposes and it’s been really cool. I am using one of the cheap ones we give out. First I am marking all of the references of Christ as I read, to learn more about him. Then with a different color I am marking everything about the atonement. And with another, everything about the Holy Ghost. So I hope to learn more of Christ his atonement, and how to recognize the spirit as I read the Book of Mormon this time. It’s been super cool and I have learned a lot already. Oh and I am writing all the words I don’t know in the margins, which has only been about 4 per page, so I feel good about that.

I challenge you all to start or continue reading the Book of Mormon. But to do it with a purpose, a question or something in mind that you want to learn. I know that by doing that you all will feel the spirit, receive answers to your prayers, and feel closer to God. I learned a cool phrase this week. It says “if you want God to listen: pray, if you want to receive answers: read”. I can testify that that is true and I challenge you all to test it.

I love and miss you all

Elder Utley