Semana 32

¡Hola! How are you all doing? I hope everything is going well. Well it´s been almost a year since I got my mission call and I almost have 9 months in the mission. Time has gone by way fast.

Every Monday now we´re baking cookies and brownies for the members to help gain their trust and show that we appreciate them. We don´t get very much support from the members but the cookies are helping. We gave them to the Branch President last week and then he called us the next day just to tell us thanks and now he´s invited us and the sisters to his house for lunch this Saturday. If we can get to the leaders first then the rest of the members will see it.

Well the work is really starting to pick up here. There´s been a Branch here in Pelileo for 40 years and the growth and progress has been slow. But now the work is really picking up. There´s a new excitement in the members and more people are coming back to church and more investigators are coming too. In order to be a Ward, they need 15 men who hold the Melquisedec Priesthood and are faithful and active. Right now we have 14 and there´s a few that are going to get sustained to received the priesthood in the next stake conference this April!! In about a year there should be a Ward here. It´s a really exciting time to be here. There´s a new wave of enthusiasm and the members are starting to help us a lot more now. Yesterday we had 115 people at church which is the most I´ve ever seen it. normally there are about 80 to 90 coming. They´ve been running out of bread and water during the sacrament lately and have to bless more. There´s also not very much room in the classes now. 

Well the Family G came to church yesterday and have their baptismal interviews with the zone leaders this Thursday!! The only problem is that the wife doesn´t think she´s prepared for their baptismal date for this Saturday. Their big fear is getting baptized without preparation because the same thing happened to them in another church a few years ago and they don´t want to do the same thing. We´re going to pray a lot for them and help them feel prepared. They´re prepared, they just don´t realize it. 

Well that´s all for this week. Hope you all have a great week!!!

Élder Gómez

Semana 31

¡Hola! How are you all? I hope you all had a good week. Things are going good here in Pelileo!

Well the Family G didn´t asist church yesterday since a family member of them had a baby so their baptismal date fell through. We were going to have the zone leaders come down yesterday to do the interviews but we´re going to have to do it next week. We have a lesson with them tonight and we´re going to give them a new baptismal date for the 29th. 

The sisters had a baptism Saturday and we invited the Family G to come. Unfortunately they came about 10 mintues after the ordinance was already performed. We were at least able to show them the font and talk about baptism and they are starting to feel a lot of love and support from the members. 

A has a date now for the 5th of April!! She couldn´t come to church because of college classes but yesterday was her last day of classes so now she´ll start being able to come again. It´s been a real miracle!!

Our new zone leader actually in this area so he understands how it is here and the challenges in Pelileo so he´s been helping us a ton. We did exchanges on Friday and he helped us a ton. It´s cool because he´s also one of the few missionaries in this mission that´s not from the Americas. He´s from England. So when he talks in Spanish he has an Enlgish accent so it kind of sounds funny. haha

Other than that not much has happened this week. We´re working hard and tyring to get more support from the members and I think the members are going to start helping us more than they have. All of you back home....Help the missionaries as much as you can. Go on visits with them, give them references. Because missionary work doesn´t work if the members aren´t involved. It means the world to the missionaries when they feel the support of the members.

Well hope you have a great week!! Stay safe have fun!!!

¡¡Cuidense!!

-Élder Gómez

Semana 30

¡Buenas tárdes a todos! Espero que todos ustedes hayan tenido una buena semana. Tuvimos cambios hoy día y Yo y mi compañero Élder Ercanbrack nos quedamos aquí en Pelileo por un otro cambio.

okay now in ingles. haha

We had transfers today and me and Elder Ercanbrack are staying here in Pelileo for together for anotehr transfer. This will be my third transfer here. I´m really excited and happy to stay here since things are finally starting to happen here and want to be here to see it happen. 

Well a lot of people are getting sick and going home. Even the nurse went home for being sick. It´s too bad that so many are getting sick and having to go home. Luckily I haven´t gotten sick in a while and I don´t plan on getting sick anytime soon. I don´t want to go home early over being sick. The Lord is hastening His Work and there´s no time to lose. 

So the Family L didn´t get baptized on Saturday as we planned. Even after having an interview with the zone leaders they´re still saying not yet and that they want to learn more and keep going to church. Since we´ve taught them everything and they know everything we can´t do much anymore. 

Even though we´ve had our difficulties, we´re starting to see the fruits of our labors. We have a family named the Family G who came to church yesterday. They have a baptismal date for next week on the 22nd!! They really are a miracle. They told us that before we came, they´ve never really had much enthusiasm for praying and reading the scriptures. But now they´re reading and praying every day and have a ton of enthusiasm to be baptized and learn more. 

I´m really excited for this transfer. I know that we´re going to be having a lot of success here. The Lord really does bless us if we press forward with faith and humility and dilligence. 

Thanks for all your prayers and support. I hope you all stay safe and have a great week this week. Hope to hear from you all soon!!

-Élder Gómez

Semana 29

Hi everyone! ¡Espero que todos ustedes hayan tenido una buena semana!

We have transfers next week. I get the call from the Zone Leaders this Sunday night telling us what happens. I think I`ll be going and my companion will be staying here. I`ve really loved being here. Even though we`ve had our challenges here and it`s not the most successfull area, I`ve really come to love the people here and this area. If I go, I`m going to miss Pelileo. I say this every transfer, but this transfer has been the fastest one ever.

Well today for P-Day I finally decided to make no-bake cookies. I`m surprised they turned out pretty good. We don`t have any measuring cups so I had to guess everything but they actually taste pretty good. I think we might make a few more and give them to our zone leader this week since this is his last week in the mission before he goes home to Chile.

Well we`ve been working really hard and we`re starting to see the miracles and fruits of our labors. The Zone Leaders came here yesterday to give the Family L a baptismal interview and we have a baptism for them for this Saturday!!!! We`ve pushed through with a lot of faith this transfer and thinkgs are finally starting to happen. It just goes to show you that it doesn`t matter how good or bad an area is, if you have faith and look at it with a positive attitude then everything works out in the end.

This weekend is Carnaval with tomorrow being the last and most crazy day of Carnaval. The peple here do a lot of crazy things. They throw water balloons and flour at people. We`re supposed to be working normal no matter what during Carnaval, we just have to stay away from groups of people. We`ve already gotten wet and gotten hit by flour.

Well I`m really excited for this week. With this being the last week of the transfer I want to finish off this transfer good, especially if I get transfered to a new area.

Tengan una buena semana! Cuidense y nos vemos el pròximo lunes!

-Èlder Gòmez