This week has been quite a race. Many things have happened and many things have changed.
I
have been called away from El Sitio and but placed in the East of the
Mission in a place called Danli. Specifically, I am in Vista Hermosa.
It's hotter there but not bad still. I hope you got the mug shots of my
new Companion, Elder Huff. He just finished his training, so he has 4.5 months
on the mission... I only have 6 months... BUT MIRACLES HAVE AND WILL
HAPPEN to those with willing hearts and open hands. Mom, you are going to
die... He's from SPRINGVILLE!!! He moved to Spanish Fork about a
year ago but he's lived in Springville for a while. I hope you can enjoy that time getting to know
the family of him, if you have the chance. He's a great singer and loves
dancing. He's been accepted to BYU to the MDT (Music, Dance, Theater)
after his mission. We have had a lot of fun harmonizing and singing hymns for people.
The ward here is awesome!
They ask us to tell them when we have lessons with our investigators and give
us times they can go with us to teach. Our church building is really, really nice too!
This past Sunday,
I was invited to bear my testimony and that was awesome. The ward is
really small here so we hope to help it grow huge! (This week we had 80
members and we want to have 150 according to the Stake's expectations).
We also had a fantastic Saturday. We were really in tune with the Spirit all day, and had a really productive day. I wanted to share an experience we had Saturday night. We were walking along the dirty and dusty road in the dark and
Elder Huff said that he had a feeling to stop by a house that he thought
was the house of a member but wasn't certain. We knocked and
immediately an old lady answered and said, "Elderes! Estuve esperando
por alguien de la iglesia!" So we went inside and found out that she
was indeed a member and that the ward had planned a temple trip to leave
this morning and had said they would pick her up at 4:30 in the morning to
go. That was all correct information but the ward had forgotten to pick
her up! So she felt bad and forgotten and wanted to go back to her old
ward. We didn't know what to do, so we brought out "El es la Dádiva"
tarjetas and talked a little bit about that. Just after, the Hna said
she had a daughter that served a mission but wasn't active and lived in
the same house as her. So we invited her daughter and the daughter´s boyfriend to come and listen to our message. As we waited
for them to come, I asked the Hna, "Hna, ¿Cual es su foto favorito de
Cristo que tiene en su pared alli?" She told me her favorite was of
Christ in Gethsemani and the Spirit whispered, "Teach the Atonement." I
looked at Elder Huff and he had his scriptures opened to Alma 7: 11-12
already! So the Spirit led us to this family and then told us what to
teach. It was a great lesson and now the boyfriend (not a member) has
committed to come to church next week with the daughter. We have more
lessons with them this week, so we'll see.
I've
seen so many miracles this week, and I'm trying to write them down.
But, honestly, I'm having a hard time finding time to write in my
journal big paragraphs like before. I still write but it's hard because
I'm a lot busier now. Whish leads me to the next shocker... I'm District
Leader now. It's a bit scary but things have been going good and we
had our first District Meeting and that was another miracle. I shared
everything that has been going through my mind regarding my mission for
the Savior, including D&C 100. That was a really good lesson.
Something that I thought was really good was that we sat in a circle to
have the lesson and had more of a discussion that I led. E. Huff told me
that he felt like the district needed exactly what I taught (Elder Huff
has been here for two cambios already). He told me that the last DLs
just taught boring Preach My Gospel lessons that didn't help unify the
District. I'm grateful that God has given me the capability to see the
necessities of people so I don't just say words, I try and say words that mean
something to them that receive it. Also, Thank you Timberline for
teaching me something useful!
We have four
progressing investigators now: Leydi (pregnant at 8 months and so we
might have to postpone her baptism that is scheduled for the Saturday),
Damaris (who needs to have a few more lessons and interviews before
she's ready but she says she feels ready), and then Adita and Gabriela
(Family: the first girl is 15, and the second is 9 years old. They have
just been absorbed by the ward this Sunday, their first Sunday at church, and I know they will get baptized if God wants it to be so).
That's
all for now folks. But thank you for your support and all the emails
that I received this week. I have been truly blessed, and I have received
my witness that the refiners fire is the place to be! There isn't
anywhere else that we can grow, even though it's not at all comfortable.
HAPPY
BIRTHDAY AUNT KAREN!!! I hope you have a great birthday and a great
Christmas! (And I still feel bad for mowing your lawn so short when I
was visiting 7 months ago! I hope the snow has covered it up by now! ;D )
Mom,
I have the bishop right next door to where we live now and he has a
washer that we can only wash our whites in! So that's a blessing! We
still have to wash our own clothes in the basin though! It's not so bad.
Thank
you all for you thoughts and the video and I love the pictures as
always! I'm making a wall-collage of you guys for Christmas! And I hope
to finish writing letters to you but you might have to wait till New
Years to get them!
Also, could you make me a
Skype account then give me the password and username next week? Just
tell me a time to Skype you and I'll confirm with you next week the
times that we've worked out! I'm thinking around 10 am right now but we'll see.
Keep
smiling and walking on sunshine! Like you guys all have written this
week, we have trials but we can learn to look for the sun in the dark
clouds and smile when it rains. Rain is refreshing anyway! One thing
that helps me in the morning is waking up and smiling as I sing songs
and hymns with Elder Huff - Elder Huff and Tuff! Who thought that two
Springville boys (19 and 18 years old) would find themselves together
teaching the Gospel in Honduras!?!?!
Hurrah por Israel!
Love,
Elder Tuft
PS: You guys need to watch "He is the Gift" or for Kyle, Kristen, and Tom "El es la Dádiva"!!! Just go onto LDS.org and it's the first thing you'll see! It'll be Christman Joy into every heart in the home instantly, it's that powerful. God wants the world to know that HE LIVES and that HE is still there even though they can't see HIM with their eyes.
Elder Tuft
PS then tell me your thoughts
PS: You guys need to watch "He is the Gift" or for Kyle, Kristen, and Tom "El es la Dádiva"!!! Just go onto LDS.org and it's the first thing you'll see! It'll be Christman Joy into every heart in the home instantly, it's that powerful. God wants the world to know that HE LIVES and that HE is still there even though they can't see HIM with their eyes.
Elder Tuft
PS then tell me your thoughts
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