Hey Family THIS WEEK'S LETTER/LAST WEEK'S LETTER! Working with members, finding new people, Elder Henrriquez

25 January 2016
Hello to all mis seres queridos! (my beloved ones!)

This week was a great week and I'm sorry that my letter didn't get to you but I found it in the draft tab on my email and sent it again. I hope you like it.

I just wanted to remind you to keep the letters a little shorter if you can. :D

I pray for every single one of you morning and night. You never leave my prayers.

Speaking of prayers, I was studying one day and I thought, "How can I have more meaningful prayer?" So I asked God and I felt that I needed to pray mouthing the words that I wanted to say instead of just thinking the words in my mind. I have often found that if I don't mouth the words that I want to say in a prayer, then I start drifting in my thoughts. But as I have tried to follow this counsel, my prayers have become far more meaningful, sincere, and heartfelt, and guided by the Spirit. I also was praying one night and I thought of something funny in my head and immediately after I remembered the times that Mom has told me, "Don't be silly, Spencer." So, I felt a little corrected there and I've appreciated more, the time I spend on my knees.

Elder Reinoso is getting better and can walk. I think today we are going to visit all the appointments together.

Jaime and Ana (Lourdes' Family) have a date set for their baptism on the 28th of Feb. Jaime is still a little unsure but he's committed to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. I'm confident that he will receive an answer. Ana wants to be baptized but not without her dad. So they'll have to get baptized together. :D We'll see how it goes. The other day, Jaime went to church and saw the members of the elder's quorum practicing ordinances and he made a comment to Lourdes afterward, "In my church, we don't put our hands on people's heads to bless them." and Lourdes responded, "It's because your church isn't the true church." And Jaime started pondering about that for a while, she told us.

Dad, Franklin and Claudia have disappeared and we're still trying to get in contact with them again. They haven't been in their house nor answered their phones this week. We'll keep trying because I felt, and Elder Henrriquez felt, that they were a very special family for our Heavenly Father right now.

Dad, I also had been asking myself about that scripture the other day and I just feel like missionaries are angels and just generally people who serve others are angels. So I think that the keys of the ministering of angels is talking about the authority of the priesthood to administer to principles and ordinances of the Gospel to others who accept it. It's not a really deeply thought out thought but that's what I thought when I was studying that phrase a week ago.

Mom, Tell Conner that I miss him too! Yeah for the snow and the temple! :D Yeah for money in my account (although I'm planning on not using it at least until the last few weeks of the mission). We sang happy birthday to President Bowler in the Tegucigalpa conference we had.

Just a little about the conference real quick. We talked about how to reach our goals better and one of the things that has stuck out to me was that we should contact first thing in the morning and not stop until we complete a large portion of the daily goal. That's because we have more appointments at night and we can't contact as much. We will always contact wherever we go but I liked the idea of contacting more in the morning. That's all I remember off the top of my head.

I keep smiling and I keep going. Today marks 19 months... :D
Love you family!
Elder Tuft======================================================================
18 January 2016
Hello Mom and Dad and Family,   (This email came today but was supposed to send last week but didn't.)

It's been a hectic week but I'm doing just fine and dandy. Actually, today we went hiking to the Cascades in Valle de Angeles and I enjoyed the time to just relax and be in nature. It helped me to focus and carry the calm. The cascades were just great. They were the same cascades that I visited one year-ish ago.

Elder Henrriquez got his mission call this week and opened it and he's going to Guatemala Cobán Mission starting on Feb 9th speaking Quetchí. He's really excited. He was only here for a few days and  home. His family aren't members, but he's a great missionary. I saw him grow a ton in just a week being here.

We've been motivating the members to get their visiting teaching done. This week we talked to the Elder's Quorum President and asked for him to partner us up with someone and to assign us families to do home teaching. We are also planning a Home Teaching MTC kind of activity. The purpose is to teach the priesthood holders, 14 yrs and up, how to do their visits. This ward is blessed to have 3 missionaries from Mexico City (E. Miranda and E. Quintanar), and Guatemala City (E. Reinoso), two major cities where the church has been for many years now. They all have experience in Home Teaching and I hope the activity goes well. We're planning it for February but it might be in March.

We've been finding a lot of new people and the members have been helping us with divisions. This week we had 26 lessons with members present and 3 other lessons. Almost every lesson was with a member this week. I think that's the greatest miracle. :D The members here are just great and are working hard.

Franklin and Claudia have called and cancelled two appointments this week and so we'll see about our next appointment this week. I hope they don't call to cancel again. They've said that it's cause they've been busy.

I haven't visited Karla and Lourdes this week. Only Elder Reinoso has gone to that sector all week long (splits). He says that it's easier for him to work there because it's flatter and he doesn't have to worry as much for his ankle. Jaime and Ana came to church again this week with Karla and Lourdes and Ana has been saying in the lessons with Elder Reinoso that she wants to be baptized but she won't unless her dad gets baptized, as well. I haven't been there in the lessons to know much more than that.

When people ask me about how much time I've been in the mission I just tell them and smile because I know what they're going to say next, "Ya se va!!!" (Almost going home!)

Family, This week we have a broadcast for missionaries in the whole world and so I'll tell you about it next week as well!

Love you Megan and thanks for the letter and pictures! Keep in there! The tests are the joy of the journey!

Love you all,
Elder Tuft