A Great Week!

Elder Jung, my companion, eating a chicken heart.
A beautiful California sunset.

Wow. Crazy week! Saddly, there weren't any fireworks yesterday. But we had an awesome Sunday!!! It was one of the best Sundays of my whole mission! Our 5 investigators all came to church!!! It was amazing!!! Four of them have baptismal dates for next Sunday!!! That is sooooo exciting! We have been working our tails off out here trying to get these people baptized! We went up to the Visitors' Center with two of them and had a nice time up there. Then afterward they went back home and there was a huge argument!! We were at our dinner appointment with a member, and we got a phonecall from their uncle, and there were people screaming and yelling in the background. Their uncle asked us to come fix things. So we quickly finished eating and asked the member to excuse us, and we rushed over to their house. When we arrived everybody was yelling and people were crying. We sat everybody down and conducted a "family counsel" and shared a message with them. And guess what? It worked! The Spirit was very strong, and God had our back. Then they came to church yesterday, including their mom, who hadn't been to church in over 8 years!! It was a miracle!

We also took two others to the Visitors' Center. It was the answer to our prayers! They had been struggling a lot with opposition and their family. They had read anti-Mormon material, and they had lots of doubts in their heads. Then they felt the Spirit so strong at the VC that they decided to come to church! We went on a walk around the temple, and invited them to be baptized. Then we went over to their house and had a nice lesson with them, and one of their sons came in with the anti-Mormon material. So we took our sword of righteousness and smote them with doctrine. We told them that they can't judge the Book of Mormon until they read it and pray about it with a sincere desire to know the truth of it. It was another intense moment at their home, but it turned out alright. Then afterward, she gave us some delicious Empenadas de carne that she had made. Latinas are great.

Please continue praying for these women who are trying to make the best decision of their lives so far! They are making great changes, and your prayers would really be appreciated. Thank you!

I HAVE AN AWESOME STORY FOR YOU!!! So, remember last year when we baptized "L", from Oaxaca Mexico? She here in LA visiting her husband for about 2 months last year, and we taught and baptized her while her daughters in Mexico were being taught and baptized by the Elders down there. Well, a little after being baptized, she went back to Mexico and remained active with her daughters. Here's the crazy news: She's back up here, and I'm back in my old area! We showed up at her husband's apartment, and she was there with one of their daughters from Mexico! It was like a grand reunion again! I thought I would never see her again! They brought me a couple souvenirs from Oaxaca! It felt like a HUGE blessing! But the happiest part for me was to hear that she was still active in the church with her daughters, and she is planning on getting sealed to her husband when she has been a member for a year and is able to enter the temple!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is nothing sweeter to a missionary's ears than to hear that a convert is planning on going through the temple! I hope I will be able to go with them! She will be up here for a month or two, so I'll get to see her for a while. She came to church yesterday with her family. Her daughter, is also active and going to church here. We started teaching her last year, and she got baptized after I had left the area! There are soooo many crazy blessings I'm seeing a year later. It is good to be back in Jefferson Park.

Well, there is a little slice of what happened this week. hey mom, I had pupusas last night ! Yum! I'm really grateful for all of your prayers and support. I got a nice package from Gma and Gpa Watkins this past week. She makes really good snicker-doodles! Thanks! I love you all very much, and pray for you daily. Have a super week!

Elder Watkins