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I am being transferred!!  I'm released as a Zone Leader and going to Odessa to serve in the Spanish Branch there with Elder Heaps!  YAY!  I'm so excited.  I don't want to leave though, things just finally started to pick up!  Odessa will be fun though:)

 

This week we taught a depressed 13 year old kid.  His whole family hates him, basically, and that is why he's depressed.  His parents and g-parents are Less Active members, but they didn't talk to us at all, just him.  It was such a sweet lesson!  We just read Enos 1, the first few verses, he was pretty confused about what it meant so I just explained it in my own words and asked some questions and got him PUMPED about prayer.  He didn't really understand why prayer is important, but now he does!  He asked us what to pray for and we told him to pray to ask God to show him a special gift or talent that he has, then to open up the scriptures and read a page.  We promised him that if he did that every day for a week he would know for sure that he is a son of God and that he has a special, God-given gift.  It was a really fun lesson to teach/

 

We get referrals from time to time from some of the other missionaries in Hobbs, just people who don't speak English, but seem eager to learn.  The sisters sent us to some lady named Lorena.  When we went to contact her we couldn't find the house because of faulty directions, of course, but after a few calls we figured it out.  We went up and contacted this lady and it turns out that she is SUPER PREPARED!  She's just been searching her face off to find truth. At first she though we were JW and she still talked to us...you know it must be an honest search if they are willin to talk to JWs.  After all was said and done it turned out to be the WRONG HOUSE AND THE WRONG WOMAN!!  That is a testimony to me that God has a real perfect plan.  No coincidence.  She'll be baptized soon enough, no doubt.

 

Our branch president called us on Tuesday and asked us to prepare a talk for sunday.  It was just gonna be back up, in case the members didn't show up. That is Spanish culture for ya, members don't show up the day of a talk, it happens all the time.  So anyway, we didn't prepare one....  Come Sunday and the member WASN'T THERE!  We had 3 minutes while the youth speaker spoke to prepare.  We each gave 15 minute talks, with 3 minutes to prepare, IN SPANISH!  Man, it was a miracle.

 

We are teaching a Part Member family right now, well 3 families actually.  One of them is this life long member named Denisse and her husband.  They have been married for only like 2 years, but he has never shown interest.  Finally he agreed to meet with us.  The lesson was killer and then on sunday she basically sprinted up to us and told us that he had been reading and seemed real interested.  She is SO happy and SO excited.  Easily that is one of the most rewarding things I have done on my mission.  We've only taught him once, but already she has so much joy and hope!  We truly are workers of salvation!:) 

 

Anyway, I love y'all so much!  I hope this week goes real good and that y'all are happy:)

 

Love,

Elder Caleb Porter