Happy February! (almost)

Dear Everyone,

This week was a very busy week. We did a whole lot of stuff and a lot of stuff happened. First off, we lost some time this past week because of zone conference and doctor’s appointments but you know what, we did the best we could with the time. We did some divisions with the priests in the ward and got to find a whole lot of new people. So this past week we passed by all the old investigators and inactive members to see if they had anyone we could teach and baptize. And boy did we hit the gold mine. We found a whole lot of people that want to listen to us. So we were going crazy trying to run to different appointments.

Yesterday (Sunday) we had 9 investigators in sacrament meeting. The most ever in my mission!! I was so freaking excited. We had to work for the 9 though. In the morning, we past by a group of kids that we said we would pass by them. There were four of them, 2 of which counted. Then right after them we passed by a family who the father is not a member. We got to church with three investigators by us working. Three more showed up on their own and that was pretty cool. Then, we get to church and one of the members that we asked to bring someone forgot. So we did divisions because I had to teach the second hour and so my comp took one of the priests and they went booking it fast. They found three more and almost had two more but they didn’t want to come. And so in the end, we had 9 come to church. And also we have 4 baptismal dates. Two of them for this weekend. We are just going really hard right now. I almost don’t have energy to write on the computer.

Also, I have been trying to learn some Spanish sign language. We have a deaf investigator that other missionaries have tried to teach but he never got hooked with them. I have had a good relationship with him the whole time I have been here and little by little I have been trying to win his confidence. So we went by Saturday to try and convince him to go to church because he doesn’t really like church because it’s boring. So in my broken sign language, I said “you go church tomorrow, Sunday” He liked how I tried to speak with him and so he responded and we needed a little help from his sister, who got baptized recently, to translate for us. In the end, I ended up telling him that when I was little, I had a hearing problem. Obviously mine wasn’t even near as bad as his but I nevertheless had a problem. He liked that I told him that and he agreed to go to church with his sister and grandma. And you know what?? He went!!!! It was so cool. So I sat next to him during the first class then I had to do other things but I talked with him during the class. He taught me some more words and so now it’s getting funnier to speak with him. Hopefully we can get a baptismal date with him somewhere in the near future.

So like I said earlier, we brought some kids to church also. The kids are 6, 8, 8, and 11 years old. One of the 8 year-olds has a baptismal date with us because the parent aren’t members but the grandma is and so she will be taking him to church but he has been saying that he wants to be baptized when he turns 8 so we are going to do it. It has been great to see and the tender mercies of the Lord here in the mission. As much as I don’t like to wash my own clothes or walk in the blistering sun everyday, it’s all worth it. So, so worth it.

So that was my week. Not all of it because I don’t have enough time to tell you all everything. Maybe after the mission you all can ask all the questions you want. Happy February tomorrow!! I love you all and be safe this week.

Love always,

Elder Pickett