From: Elder Joshua Freeman
Subject: More than ever
Date: 14 February 2005 11:32:00 AM EST

ĮHola!

ĮFeliz D’a de los Enamorados! And Happy Birthday Arizona! And Happy Birthday Jere tomorrow! Whew.

This week went really well, especially since on Sunday we had 103 people in church, which is easily the most people that IÕve ever had, and the most that the branch has ever had. So that was really nice. And we got a whole lot of lessons taught this week.  

On Monday night, we got fallar-ed a couple of times, but that was okay because then we had time to take Books of Mormon to the people we taught when we had no more Books of Mormon last week. Then we went to MartinaÕs house and watched the Restoration DVD with a couple of their friends. So that was good. 

Tuesday morning, we had our Zone Meetings like normal. We were in the new capilla for the first time, so that was nice. Javier came with us in the afternoon, and we went and visited the Flia. Quintana and shared a little with them. Then we went to CatalinaÕs and asked her how church was. She read us her journal entry from Sunday and said that there were a lot of people that she already knew, so she really felt like she belonged, like there was a hole there that only she could fill. So that was neat. She still isnÕt quite sure about baptism though, but sheÕs really doing well. After that, we went by the Flia. VegaÕs and tried talking to a couple other people in that area, but with no luck. Then we went and taught the 1» lesson to the niece of one of the members, The Hna. Yaffar. Her nieceÕs name is Raquel, and sheÕs living with them until she finishes school. And sheÕs already come to church 3 or 4 times. That went well. After that, we went and taught another lesson 1 to a guy, Juli‡n, whoÕs friends with other people we recently met. It went really well. Then we finished the night going to the Flia. MarecosÕ. Their kids went to bed a little earlier, so we were able to review the lesson 1 tranquilly. It went really well. So that was a really good day.

On Wednesday morning, we went out and helped Pte. Silvero hoe their farm for a couple hours, and helped shell beans. It was good, hard work. The hoeing, not the shelling beans. Anyway, after that, we went and ate with the Flia. L—pez for the first time in a long time. Then we came home. In the afternoon, we went out to the G—mezÕ and talked with them about the 10 commandments. That went well. After that, we went and finally talked to Santiago (lesson 1 from a long time ago). That went well as well. After that, we got fallar-ed a few times, then went and met the Grandma and aunts of the Hno. Largosta. The grandma is 99 years old. And she has one of the wheelchairs that the Church/Wheelchair Foundation donated a while ago. Anyway, we taught the lesson 1 to a couple of her kids that were there, and it went well. Then we went to the capilla and had Noche de Rama. There were a lot of people there, so that was good.

On Thursday, we did divisions with Guarambarˇ. I went there with Elder Marshall. In the morning, we talked with a member family and then with one of their investigators that used to be progressing but now isnÕt really. Then we had lunch with their RS president and her family. That went well. In the afternoon, we went and taught the last part of the lesson 2 to another guy, and that went really well. Then we got fallar-ed a few times, visited some inactives, and  also went and got their clothes from their laundry lady. Then we ended the night by going and teaching the lesson 3 to the mom and aunt of a recently returned missionary. They understand more Guaran’, but the 2¼ counselor went with us and helped a lot. Then we came home. 

On Friday, we undivided and I came back. We went in the morning to talk to the Flia. Mart’nez. Then we went and found out that one of our investigators moved to Asunci—n, so we went and talked with Clides and Milciades. Then we went and had lunch with the Flia. Largosta like normal. In the afternoon, we went and talked with the Flia. Quintana to make sure they would be coming to church. Then we went and did a verification with Raquel, which went okay. After that, we got fallar-ed a few times, so we went and visited the Flia. Taboada. After that, we went to Juli‡nÕs and read a little with him. Then we went and got Javier again and went and taught the lesson 2 to the Flia. Marecos. Once again, it went really well. Then we came home.

On Saturday morning, we went and visited the Flia. G—mez and talked with their mom about faith and all sorts of stuff. She came to church for the first time on Sunday, so sheÕs making some progress. After that, we got fallar-ed a few more times before lunch with the Flia. Fern‡ndez. Then we came home. In the afternoon, we had to go get my bike tire fixed. Then we went out to the Flia. AquinoÕs, which is an inactive family that live really far away, but they were out gathering coconut. So then we went to 7 other peopleÕs houses, and none of them were home either. So we went and talked with Catalina. She lives with her husbandÕs family, and they donÕt get along very well, so she gets a lot of opposition from them, but sheÕs still doing okay. After that, we went to MartinaÕs and shared a little with her. Then we passed by a few other peoplesÕ houses before finishing the night visiting the Flia. Arzemendia. HeÕs the 1¼ counselor of the branch and his wife isnÕt very active. They got baptized by Elder Bott and his trainer. I never knew that before. Anyway, they gave us empanadas and juice and we gave them a little spiritual thought and then we came home. 
	
Yesterday, like I said, there were a lot of people in church. And even more investigators than last week. And some people that recently moved here. And some way-inactive people. So that was good. And we gave talks in Sacrament Meeting. Also, Federico got called to teach the Gospel Principles class, so we donÕt have to anymore. Anyway, in the afternoon, we had correlation meeting with Javier. Then we went out and had a good talk with Victor about everything. Then we got fallar-ed a couple times, so we went and talked with the Flia. Garrido about a reference that they gave us. And the Hno. gave us some homemade soy milk, which was much better than the stuff IÕve tasted before. Anyway, we then went to the QuintanaÕs and shared a little with them. Then we met up with Federico at the Flia. TorresÕ house. The wife is the RS president and the husband just got called to be Elders Quorum president. Anyway, we went with Federico to meet a new guy and taught him a few things before coming home.

So that was our week. It sounds like everythingÕs exciting there. We made the national news, huh? Pretty fancy. I would like to see some pictures of the river, since itÕs been a while since it flooded. Yeah. This week is changes, and IÕve been here for 3 changes, so I might go, but I donÕt really have any idea. WeÕll find out Wednesday. So until laterÉ


I Love You Guys!!!

Love,
Josh