Derek: Captian’s Log: Este Semana Salio Bien

This week finished pretty well. So Wednesday we have transfers and I don't already know if I'm staying here or leaving yet. I would honestly like to stay because we have not had a very successful transfer baptism-wise, but now all of our investigators are progressing and we got a lot of good references so I would like to see all of that through. But if not, then I am just content with the seeds I helped plant here.

So honestly, Friday night my comp and I were talking and we realized that we had nothing to put in our weekly email. Literally. Other then listening to the "Saints" audio book and doubling our baptismal dates, not much happened. But, Saturday was cool and it gave us stuff to talk about.

So that day we had our second lesson with an 18 year old man named Christen. He is from Venezuela, but is living here for 2 years because of the conditions there. A few weeks ago we contacted his aunt’s house and he came in the lesson for the last part and really liked what we were sharing. So we came back later and taught him the first lesson. It went well and he said that he has been to many different churches and that he saw problems with them all, but he wanted to learn God's will and find the true church and to really stay with it. We left him an invitation to pray if Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and if Russell M. Nelson is a prophet today. When we returned Saturday he said that as he prayed he received a confirmation through the Spirit that those two were indeed prophets of The Lord. It was super cool. So we taught about the Gospel of Jesus Chris and The Book of Mormon; and as we brought up baptism he seemed really interested so we asked him if he would like to be baptized in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Though he was previously baptized in a different church, he understood that the authority of God though the Priesthood was need to validate the baptism, so he obliged. So we asked him if he would like to be baptized on he 23rd of this month ( 2 weeks from then) and he responded with," Wow, that's way to late, but I got nothing to do tomorrow." (Now, planning a baptism 3 weeks after the first lesson is very ambitious and doesn't happen a lot, but now he was saying that that was too far.) Still confused by his responds my comp and I made a compromise that if he went to church that next day that we would baptize him that following Saturday, or one week from that day. We finally asked why he wanted to be baptized so soon and he said it was because next Thursday he would have to return to his home in Venezuela, and that he wanted to be baptized in the true church before he returned home. At first I didn't know if that was ok to do, but then I remembered that that was how our Mission President was baptized. Some missionaries contacted their house 9 days before the moved from Puerto Rico back to America. And within those nine days they finished packing, took all the lessons, and were baptized. So we decide that we weren't going to stop him from being baptized but we will help him find his closest meeting house and give the missionaries in his area his info to contact him. Anyway that was pretty cool.

Then later that night at like 9:30 he heard a loud commotion at the door. As I stood to see what it was I saw the other to missionaries who used to live with us, Elder Palmer and Elder Antuna, burst though the door. They were racing to see who could use the bathroom first because they have been holding it in for a long time and where still a long way from their home. Elder Palmer, being the first one to start running, had a head start and made it first to the bathroom. Elder Antuna, just moments behind, barley losses the race for the first one to the toilet. He stood there panting and a look of agony in his face as he watched his comp relieve himself. But after a second he saw a glimpse of hope in my shower. So I went and grabbed my camera to take this picture of Elder Palmer peeing in my toilet and my wonderful district leader Elder Antuna peeing in my shower. Well that pretty much all for today. Love y'all bye.

exchanges 

pancakes and homemade buttermilk syrup

So long story , I accidently deleted the voice recorders from the past 2 weeks, but I did a short recap though.

Hey I’m preparing to apply to BYU. I already wrote the essays and I'll send them to you later to edit, but can you please get my transcript for me?

Kinda, he hinted at it in the Christnas call and said he would tell me more, but hasn't.

What if you guys made cardboard cutouts of Dylan and me for the wedding?

Sweet, make sure I look good.

Reeses is always good for my package.

Freak. I gotta go. Love you.

Hey, long story, I’m using the computer to download a video for a baptism tonight. But will the boys be a home for Monday for Presidents Day? And what time should I call?

nvm I gotta go, but I’ll be on and call you at like 4 here. Also it would be best if you can download Google Hangouts because then I won’t have to download Skype every week. Caleb can help. Bye, love you.