Another one bites the dust!!!

 Well this saturday was my first baptism in the Spokane Washington Mission. It was a pretty cool experience. The best part about it was how it all came about. Well the girl we baptized, Monce, she had been taught for a while now. Her mom knows all of the lessons and is currently trying to change her life so that she can also get baptized. Well when we got the her house the first day we taught her about the Restoration of the Church and we thought she had undertood it all. So the following lesson we go over what we have taught and she does not know what we are talking about. So we are going over everything that we have taught and she just does not understand. So we are in the "pit of dispare" literally wanting to give up on her but we get the idea to start asking how to do the signs for words like teacher and guide. So by the end of the lesson, she knows what a prophet is and what the Word of Wisdom means. That was totally the hand of the Lord that worked through us. We re-taught her everything in broken Sign Language and she undertood it all. She learned everything pretty fast, shes really smart. That was the way this baptism came to pass. This really strengthend my testimony that the Lord is actively engaged in His work. I known that there is no way that my teaching alone could have helped her. I know that the Spirit of the Lord was the one that worked in her for her convertion.

 So that is pretty much the highlight of the week. We are working a lot with other families that we think have a good chance humbling themselves and let the Spirit work in them too.

 Well people, I love yall and hope that the Lord blesses you wit all that you need.
--


Elder Arcia
(pablo.arcia.valdes@myldsmail.net)

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22

People:

 Well this week was definitely the hardest one on my mission. We had a Zone Conference and I just felt out of place. I didn't know anyone. It felt like the beginning of my mission all over again. The actual Conference was really good though. I learned a lot about revelation and testimony and hoe that helps our conversion. It was a really spiritual meeting and I got a lot from it. Then the day after was really bad. I got a package from my old mission with all of the letters that I had written to my old mission president. The package itself was not the bad thing, the bad thing was that I read some of the entries and it just hit me how much I really did enjoy Portland and how much I had left behind. I carried that all day long and it distracted me a bit from the work. But I didn't let that stop us from working. We worked really hard that day and even though we didnt have as much success I felt triumphant because I worked through what seemed a great obstacle. I know that I didnt do it alone. I know that the Lord was there with me 100% and I am gratefull for that.

 Some thing really cool happened to us this week. Other than my Birthday being on saturday, we had a lesson with a girl that has trouble hearing. She can hear you but doesnt understand so we started to learn a bit of Sign Language to help her out a bit. At te beginnig it was horrible. We were trying to teach her but she could not understand anything. We were seriously about to give up and call it a day but we received ispiration to learn some basic signs to talk to her so that she could understand. She understood everything we taught her and she feels ready to get baptized. I know that the Lord helped us all the way with  that one.

--


Elder Arcia
(pablo.arcia.valdes@myldsmail.net)

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1

 Well this week has been a real challenge for me. I got assigned to a new area and neither me nor my companion know this area. We are both starting from zero here and it has been hard. We have worked our butts off. I don't think I have worked this hard on my mission. We got to know most of the people that the other missionaries were teaching and we have been teaching them.

 By the way my new companion's name is Elder Jacobson. He was a Zone Leader right before he got stuck with me. He is a really cool guy that knows how to work really hard. He only has 3 months left on his mish and is starting to get a little trunkie. He denies it but it is becoming too ovious.

 I really like this new place. We live in a valley and mountains look beautiful. It makes it feel like home. There is also a river that goes across and that also adds to the beauty. Its really different than Portland though. Portland is a big city and its really green. East Wenatchee is a small town and not as green. 

 Well this week commemorates the 365th day that I went in to the MTC. It has been a real trip. A lot of areas, investigators, and companions but its all good. I have really learned a bunch from this past year and I am excited to learn a lot more.

 Well this is all for this week but tune in next week!!!

 Love ya!!

 --


Elder Arcia
(pablo.arcia.valdes@myldsmail.net)

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Waaahhhh!!!

 Well this past few weeks have been really tough ones. Most of you don't know this but I was reassigned missions. Now I'm serving in the Washington Spokane Mission. It has been a real rollercoaster ride of different feelings. The first few days were a hard but it is getting better. I really am ganna miss all the other missionaries that I got to know and love, and all of the recent converts that I have helped to come unto Christ. But, I know that this is where the Lord needs me and I will do my best to bring more souls unto Him.

 This change has given me a renewed drive to become the best missionary that I can be. In the past I have let my selfishness distract me from the work, but I intend to fully consecrate my time to the Lord. This has been the most humbling experience that I have had, ever!!! It has taught me the things that I really want out of life and it has taught me what I have to do and give up to get what I want. I didn't know that I could change this much.

 I really enjoyed General Conference. It really helped me to feel a lot better. I can honestly say that this was the best Conference that I have seen. I think that all of the talks were good but my favorite one was one by President Uchtdorf. I can't remember in which session it was in but I felt the Spirit through out all of it. I have learned a lot of new things from it and I am very thankfull.

 Well now for some cool news. I flew from Portland to Spokane!!! That was the first time that I had ever been on a plane. Thats crazy right!! It wasn't anything big. I thought that it was ganna be something a lot more frightning but it was sweet. It only took an hour to get here instead of 8 hours that it would have taken by bus. The only thing I was afriad of was losing my luggage. I did not want to get to Spokane and not have anything to wear. The only bad thing about flying is that I had to leave a lot of stuff back in Portland. I left a lot of books and clothes that I had, but I figured that I can buy those things back. Well, Im sorry for not writting as often as I should but i will get better I promise. 

 I love you all!!!  

--


Elder Arcia
(pablo.arcia.valdes@myldsmail.net)
 

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