Now I´m the district leaders of Aguilares and....Nueva Concepcion!!!!

Hello family!

Well, something really cool happened this week. Before there were two sets of missionaries here in Aguilares. I was the district leader. But they closed the area last week due to some safety issues they had been having. So they changed the district. Now I´m the district leaders of Aguilares and....Nueva Concepcion!!!! District leaders in order to train the other missionaries do interchanges with the other companionships. So this week I got to spend a day in Nueva Concepcion. It was amazing. And it won´t be the last time I go.

I went to go work with one of the missionaries that´s there right now, and his companion worked here in Aguilares with Elder P. They basically hadn´t planned the day so that I could show them the area. I introduced them to a whole bunch of less active members they didn´t know and former investigators.

We also had a branch presidency meeting. President M and Hermano T were there. Also Hermano F the Elders quorum president was there. I never thought that I would have the opportunity to be in a branch presidency meeting in Nueva Concepcion again. But I did. And oh am I happy. We talked about the progress of R Ma. R and his family are close to completing a year of being members. We talked about his preparation for the Melquizidec Priesthood and their preparation to enter the temple.

After the Presidency meeting, we did divisions. I went with President M and F. Elder M went with Hermano T. They visited two less active families. We visited R, L and N, and the M family (R and I, M, etc.). R was one of my investigadors that got baptized after I left. L and N aren´t doing so well. They only go to church every now and then. But the branch hasn´t forgoten about them and are still trying to help them. R is doing great. In the lesson with R, I was just thinking of what a blessing it was. To be able to be with my convert, about a year after his baptism, with both the branch President and the Elders quorum president, talking about how he can prepare for the priesthood and temple ordinances. Meetings like that just don´t happen. I feel so blessed. I hope to be there when he recieves the Melchiqudec priesthood. 

We also saw M (M). He´s still active. He cried when he saw me.

I love you all. So much.

Questions/answers:

How do you feel about not having change meetings?  It doesn´t really change much for me. If I were a secretary still it would because not having a change meeting creates all kinds of logistical problems I would have to solve. 

How will you get packages? I have no idea. That´s one of those logistical problems. But don´t worry. Elder N is smart. He´ll figure it out.

Is Elder P still with you? Yes.

Do you still think you will be coming home on April 21? Yes.

Adios!

Elder Hilton  

One of our investigators got baptized.

Hello family!

This was a good week. 

1. One of our investigators, W, got baptized. Attached is a picture. I wrote about her family when I first got here: the H family, but I forgot to keep you guys updated.

2. We were able to find a lot of new investigators. I wrote to President V about it and I want to share it with you guys too but I don´t have enough time left to translate what I wrote. So Dad, if you could help me out here, that be great. 

Quisiera compartir algo que aprendí esta semana. Elder Cook nos pidió que enseñáramos mas. Que aumentemos el número de lecciones que tenemos. Aunque nuestro propósito no es simplemente enseñar, enseñar nos permite cumplir nuestro propósito. Hay poder en la enseñanza. Entre mas frecuentemente visitemos a nuestros investigadores, mas rápido será su progreso. Eso es porque ellos no tienen el don del espíritu santo. Nosotros sí. Nosotros llevamos el espíritu a su hogar. Si pasa una semana sin que les visitemos oque guarden sus compromisos, pasa una semana sin que sientan la influencia del espíritu y no hay progreso, porque el espíritu es el que convierte.

Entonces, si queremos que nuestra área progrese, tenemos que para 100% de nuestro tiempo enseñando por el espíritu. Hay un relato en Predicad Mi Evangelio página 163 donde habla acerca de pescadores. Unos pescadores están ausentes de casa por 12 horas y tienen el sedal de la caña de pescar en el agua 10. Otros están ausentes de casa por 12 pero solo tienen el sedal de la caña en el agua 2 horas. Esos últimos no tienen el mismo éxito. El tiempo que pasamos enseñando es el tiempo que pasamos con el sedal de la caña de pescar en el agua. Si pasamos todo nuestro tiempo a fuera de la casa sin enseñar, de nada nos sirve. Y además, si no enseñamos, nos cansamos y nos desanimamos tan rápido. Pero si enseñamos por el espíritu, no, porque:

1. El espíritu renueva nuestros cuerpos porque magnificamos nuestros llamamientos (DyC 84:33)
2. Obtenemos la bendición que se describe en DyC 50:22.

Esta semana nosotros nos pusimos la meta de no pasar más de 5 minutos sin enseñar. Llevaba mi cronómetro. Si pasaban más de 5 minutos sin enseñar, buscamos alguien con quien hablar. Eso nos permitió mantener el espíritu, ánimo, y encontrar nuevos. Vamos a seguir haciéndolo para que podamos encontrar a los escogidos.

The famila P came to church again! We kind of lost them for a few weeks but they´re really excited to keep learning again.

We´ve had to stop visiting R. He got scared of the Book of Mormon and now refuses to learn more.

I love you all! Thanks for everything!

Elder Hilton