2009_05_25 Week 8 Valencia Mom

Hey how are things going? Saturday we had a baptism, Oscar Ante Rodrigo Guanotuña. I baptised him and then the same day we confirmed him a member. Elder Bartolomei interviewed him to see if he was ready to be baptised. It was his first interview. Oscar was definitely ready to be baptised. After his baptism I felt so excited to be there for that special moment in his life, that I could help him come to know his Heavenly Father and his Savior Jesus Christ. It was amazing. The spirit was there so strong and so powerful. These moments are what the mission is all about; helping the people that you know and care about; the people that you meet and love; to know that God has prepared a plan for us; that he loves us and wants us to be happy. I am so glad that I could help Oscar and I look forward to helping more people come to know the plan that God has prepared for us. This is what it is all about. We are starting out right now with just about a whole new program teaching people, so it will be a little bit of time before we will be able to see the fruits of our labors.

Hey Curtis,

That is cool. I am glad your baptism finally worked out. I have prayed all week that it would go well for you. Is Elder Bartolomei now your District Leader? That is cool, but a lot of responsibility for him if he is a new District Leader and training a new missionary. How are things going with your new companion? Tell us about him please. Send some photos if you can.

Elder Bartolomei is not my district leader. Elder Martinez is my district leader, but Elder Martinez couldn´t arrange to be here for the interview, so they asked Elder Bartolomei if he would do it.

So my companion is from Otavalo. He is from a big family. There are 15 in his family including his mom and dad. Most of his family is living in other parts of the world. He has family in New York and in Miami and many other places. I think in Colombia and a few other countries. He lived for a year in Miami selling clothes, but then his Visa ended so he came back to Ecuador.

Yeah that is about it, but yeah I gotta go. I love you very much.

Bye,

Elder Goode

I love you, too. Work really hard this week. I hope to get much more information from you next week.

Love always,

Mom