06/02/2010

Hola!

This past week has been a good week. Francisco and Enrique were both baptized and confirmed on Sunday. It was a great spiritual baptism and we had another investigator named Natalia that was able to attend. We had made some cookies for the baptism and she was joking that she was going to contract us to make them for her baptism as well. She doesn't have a set date yet, but she should hopefully be getting baptized soon. She says that she wants to wait until August when the friend that initially invited her to come to church comes back from vacations. We're hoping though that the spirit will change her heart sooner so that she can recieve the blessings. Many members came to the baptism and like always, the refreshments turned into a fiesta. There was a wedding on Saturday and we ended up with all of the leftovers at the baptism. Another member showed up with tortillas and started frying flautas. Bishop has tried to emphasize that it's not a party, but the members haven't quite caught on yet.

Sunday was stake conference and there was a broadcast from Vancouver for all of Canada. President Uchtdorf, Elder Ballard, and Elder Pace of the seventy all spoke. They covered several different topics a lot was said of the history of Canada with the church adn the great contribution that the members here make to the growth and work. A lot was also addressed to the youth and to parents about preparing and teaching the youth to learn by faith and through the spirit to prepare themselves. My respect and love for this country definitely was strengthened through the messages shared.

I'm really am enjoying serving with Elder Chunn adn Walker. They're great elders and examples to me. We have some other investigators that we're working with and hope that they'll soon be ready for baptism. We extend invitations to everyone in every lesson and we're seeing great success with it in the mission. President has promised us as we do it in love that the investigators will realize that we offer because we love them and know that baptism is what they need for their eternal progression. I know that the Spirit guides us to offer the invitation in ways that won't offend or be overbearing. It has really helped us uncover the true doubts and concerns of investigators. Several investigators have went from no never, to maybe sometime, to probably as we've helped them along. My personal testimony that the Atonement is truly what all of the children of our Heavenly Father need in their lives has grown through this as well.

I have some bad news. We've caught a bed bug in our apartment. There's been a couple apartments in the mission that have had them recently and we probably got them from one of them. Don't worry, Sister Archibald has a son on a mission and is making sure we're taken care of. It's just been a lot of tedious work. Basically everything in the house has the be bagged up and washed at a laundry mat or dry cleaned.

I'm glad to hear that everything is still going well with the adoption adn the baby on the way. I love you all! Thanks for your prayers and support!

Con Amor,

Elder Dunlap