My Family is the Best, thoughts and Investigators

Hello Friends and Family,

Wow, can I say I'm sooo tired... Not because I've been getting to bed late or waking up early but because of the loads of work we've been doing. I said last week (I think) that we are planning on having 12 baptisms for December. Some issues have come up with this but it's still possible!

Our investigators didn't make it to church (except one) and almost all of the recent converts and less actives didn't come either. I guess, this Sunday and almost every Sunday, the water comes and they claim that their laundry is more important to do on Sunday than their keeping the commandments and commitments.

Kristen (I almost spelled your name with a C! YIKES!) Here's a video I want you to watch. It was dedicated to servicemen and women as it says in the beginning but I think it fits nicely with missionaries too. :D "Bring Him Home (from Les Misérables) - The Piano Guys" on Youtube. Love you tons!

So this week I've had some moments of strong feelings with investigators both good and frustrating that I'd like to share. I wrote in my planner:

We should take time to meditate and think outside of this world, the world of howling noises and hate. We should take care of humility in these moments -- pondering over our actions and consequences of our actions -- so that we don't hinder in any manner the Salvation and progress of the human family. But don't be hesitant or fearful. Follow His counsel and the guidance of the Holy Ghost.

Okay, so now after all those random thoughts, I want to help you get to know Elder Rincon a little better...

E. Rincon is from Columbia, 45 minutes from Cali. It's more advanced than here in Honduras in technology and methods in Columbia. He's been scared of heights recently. This week, he got stuck as we climbed up the mountain because his fear took hold of him. He wouldn't go down or up. Finally, after we got the neighbors help and a members help, we were able to get him up and back to normal but it was really strange. We were stuck there for 15 minutes at least. He said that he's never had that happen in his whole life. I don't think it was because he was scared, he just needed sugar and water so his head wasn't spinning. He is more comfortable in leading positions (I can imagine because he is the oldest child in his family). He's 23, the oldest in the mission I think. He teaches really well and thoroughly. We've had a lot of success and I've learned a lot from watching what he does. He was an answer to my prayers actually so that I could learn more and be better prepared to train soon. Everyone is telling me that I'm going to train soon so I might as well be prepared. He has two younger brothers. His family is active now but before they weren't. They aren't sealed in the Temple yet but are going to do that while he's on his mission so he'll have to take a leave of absence to go do that in the middle of his mission. He has months in the mission, only one change more than me.

A little story now about he and I: we had our weekly planning session on Sunday and got to the end and I said, "time for companion inventory!" He just looked at me and said, "No. I've had bad experiences with that." So instead of arguing I just started telling him that I'd like to have comp inventory to share what I've learned with him that week. He told me that I could tell him anything but he wasn't going to talk about his feelings. So I just told him everything and eventually he opened up and talked to me about himself. At the end I told him, "Look! We just had a great companion inventory with the Spirit present!" And he rolled his eyes at me. I hope he's seeing things a little differently now.

Love you family. I'm running out of time but I hope to write more about investigators next week. Really, we've found some great big and ready fishes and I'll update you next week. Andres and Carolina have accepted a baptism date for December 13th but missed church so we'll have to recommit them this week. And Leonel may have some issues with the Law from his past, but I don't know, so we'll see. He wants to be baptized and so we hope he can. :D

Love,
Elder Tuft

PS - Thanks for all your prayers! I'm doing my best everyday and trying to become better and I can see my progress now. I too, had the same feelings that Kristen and Kyle had while starting their missions and there is nothing like that kind of a struggle. But I haven't felt that way for a while now so I think things are looking up! :D