Hola!!!!!!!!! 8-1-11

Hola familia!

  Well this week went a lot better, haha, but it's still not very easy here, haha! I love it here in my area, but it's still very slow for us. We are still contacting and knocking doors almost all day. But now we do have a few people with baptism dates and we are starting to get this area up and going again! This area was really dead when we got here but it's picking up for us! It's taking alot of work but it is getting there! The picture I'm sending is out our kitchen window this morrning and we were like pretty much in a cloud, haha! Oh, our bishop said he was living in Arizona for a while before he got married and he said he lived with Gary Flake. So I figured he is propbably related to us but I don't know if you know him or not dad, but you should let me know because the bishop here lived with him, Bishop Esparza, so you should ask him if he knows him! So this week was really cool. We didn't know any members, so on Monday we had to wash all our cloths by hand. It's not the first time I have done it but every time it reminds me of how grateful I am for technology and that we have washers, haha. Because it's not to fun to do by hand and it takes a lot time! Haha! So it's rainning here a ton, like every day at like around 5-5:30, it just pours, haha.  I use like two jackets and an umbrella and I'm still getting wet, haha. It's making my shoes wear out a lot faster, but they are still doing all right! I'm hoping they will make it through these last 8 months! So this week we were still doing a lot of exploring because we don't know all of our area yet! Haha, we went to this pueblo like 2 hours away and then we got so lost trying to find a reference we got, haha. But it was good because when we get lost it makes it easier to contact people because you ask them first how to get where you're going and then contact them to see if they want to listen to us, so it works out good, haha. But there are some really far away pueblos in our area and we still haven't even visited all of them, haha, but we are getting there! I love it here. Even though it is a challenge here, it is helping me grow a lot! I'm loving the ward and the members. They are all really strong and really active. I mean, of course, there are still tons of inactives but the members that go are very, very strong! I admire them a lot because they make a big sacrifice to go to church every week because many have to travel very far to get to church. But, I think that sacrifice has made them into the strong members that they are! In my district meeting this week, i taught about sacrifice and about the story of Abraham and what a sacrifice he had to make to go and sacrifice his son. As we know, he ended up not having to do it. But, just all the desire he had to be obedient and show that he was willing to do whatever the Lord asked of him! I compared that to us as missionaries how the Lord askes us to make sacrifices and some times we don't understand why but what we need to do is to be like Abraham and do whatever the Lord commands us to do and if we do that, the Lord will always provide for us! In the mission, we must make sacrifices to receive blessings! Some times that is working harder than we think our body can take, some times that is fasting and giving up food or many other things that some times we must sacrifice. But, what I have come to find out is that these sacrifices are just us showing our faith so that the Lord can bless us. I know and I have seen the miracles that come from these sacrifices. I know that the Lord loves us and wants His work to go forth but we must first show Him that we are willing to give up everything for Him! I love this work and I know that it is the work of the Lord! I'm glad that I get to sacrifice things because I get to see the blessings in the lives of those we teach and as they accept the gospel, I get to see miracles take place in their lives! I am so glad that I have this great opportunity to serve the Lord! I know that what I do is not much compared to the sacrifice that others have made to help this work go forth or like the sacrifice that our Savior made for each one of us, but I am grateful for the small part I get to do for the Lord! I love you all so much and I thank you all for all that you have done for me to get me here to this point in my life! Thanks for all you have done for me! I hope that all is well back at home! Just know that I'm doing great and that the Lord is watching over me! I love you all and I miss you all, too! Thanks for all you do!

Love,

Elder Despain