July 6, 2015 20

July 6, 2015

20

Hello! This has been a pretty great week here in Leticia. And today I have 20 months in the mission! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by; I am starting to feel the need for more time haha; I love the mission. I love being able to give all day every day in service to my Savior. And I know I will continue to serve Him until the end.

On Monday, we played a few hours of soccer and basketball in the church, and got super tired haha. When P-Day ended, we rode our bikes out to the Ahuanari family to watch the short version of the Restoration. That family really has been built on the principles of faith and righteousness.

Tuesday, we had Intercambios! I went with Elder S in his area; he is an excellent worker and missionary, and we had a great time. When we got back to his house, he showed me a fireside with John Bytheway about the Sabbath day; it was a fantastic talk.

On Friday, we passed by a less-active family's house to see if they had gotten back from their vacation, and they had just arrived 3 hours before. They told us that they had brought us a surprise, and they went in the house and brought out Doughnuts! (Donuts? haha) Here in Leticia, there aren't any American restaurants, so there aren't any doughnuts either; it was a great surprise. Then, later that night, we went to the church to celebrate Elder R's birthday, and we say the movie "Meet the Mormons!" It was an excellent movie, I had never seen it before; the Spanish version took a while to come out haha. But if any of you haven't seen it, look it up! It really was an uplifting experience, and it was exciting to see Gail Halvorsen and a little bit of Arizona haha.

Saturday: Happy 4th of July!!! I am so grateful for having been born in a land of liberty and opportunity. Today it rained like crazy! As we were riding to our house at mid-day after an appointment with a less-active future-missionary, G, when it started looking a little cloudy, so we started speeding up, and I just hear a rattling noise from far off and then about 50 feet in front of me on the road I saw GIANT raindrops flying down, and tons of them! We ducked under cover on the side of the road, it was some of the hardest rain I have seen here, and it just came out of nowhere haha. Later, we visited another less-active future-missionary, A. He is a great guy that just got a little on the wrong track. The lessons with him are always a little tough, because he acts like he isn't listening (that's why my companion never wants to go visit him haha), but this time we watched a video about the limits that we need to set and live by to prepare ourselves to go on a mission. It was a great lesson, and he told us that we are the only members that he really trusts: It is really a lesson that though patience, persistence, and love, we can really get through to the people that need us.

On Sunday, we had 106 people in the sacrament meeting! Normally we have like between 70 and 80, and we had never broken 100 in my time here. The other half of the A family came too, and they loved it! Then, in the evening, we went to visit the branch president, Pte. A, and his family. It has always been difficult to get along super well with the president, but this time he really opened up and we laughed and ate pancakes with maple syrup and Hershey's syrup and a red, white, and blue jello that I made! It was a great night, and a great way to finish the week.

I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ, and the only church that He leads and guides. I love being here. I love wearing His name over my heart wherever I go. He is why I am here. I hope that you all will be able to increase your faith in Jesus every day, as I am doing now.

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Toombs