Goodbye, President Avila!

Dear Family,
This is the picture of our last zone conference with President Avila. This won't be the last time I see him though because he's coming to the fireside in our ward this June 20th. We're really going to miss him. He gave his testimony in English since he's setting a good example for all of the Latin Elders who are working on their English. It was really amazing. It was interesting at the end of the conference when we had our entire testimony meeting in English because it was hard to share my testimony in English after all this Spanish. I'm sorry I don't have as much time to write today but the computers are running a little slow since a few kids are playing video games on the computers next to me. Our new president, President Lindahl, just appeared in the church news I think. It was really nice to see his picture and read a little bit about him. President Avila's also been telling us about President Lindahl so we won't be too surprised when he comes. Today was also clean-the-room day as Sister Avila called it in order to prepare for Sister Lindahl. Sister Avila didn't have many opportunities to check-up on the missionaries' rooms because she has two kids in school here. Sister Lindahl will have much more time so Sister Avila told us to clean everything really well. In other news for this week, we were making good progress with one of our investigators until we found out he was already a member. He has a few mental problems so I think he forgot, but the High Priests Group Leader told us he knew the guy. It was kind of funny when we found out. How were we supposed to know? Well, I hope everyone has a really amazing week and I'll try and work on my English so my letters don't come out too badly. I love you all!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams

Zone conference picture with the San Martín Zone and the Mendoza Zone

**In case you were wondering, the two really short missionaries sitting next to the mission president are actually his kids :)

A Baptism!

This week's email featured news of a baptism, and a picture of Lawrence's new companion! Congrats on your first baptism, Elder Williams!

Dear Everybody,

We had a baptism last Saturday!!! The couple's names are Maria and Ricardo. I think I told you a little about them already. At the service they brought some of their family, including their daughter who lives in the area of my District Leader. She's less active but the District Leader found her and talked to her the next day. The bishop's wife gave a nice talk about baptism and then I had the opportunity to baptize Ricardo then Maria. It was weird saying the prayer in Spanish but I know that God speaks every language and that it's a powerful prayer in any language. Fortunately neither Ricardo nor Maria had terribly long names so I was able to remember them. The next day in church the Bishop and his first counselor confirmed them into the church! Well I got to go, but I love you all!!! Bye!!!

Love,
Elder Williams

This is a picture of Maria and Ricardo, who I had the amazing opportunity to baptize, and their family.

This picture was also taken right before the ceremony.

A Few Investigators and Recent Converts

Here are a lot of pictures, and not a lot of words. I guess it's a trade-off! These were sent in several separate emails with commentary at the beginning. I divided his words up so that the right commentary is over the right picture, so you don't have to scroll around. I hope that's not confusing!

This was my district before transfers. The Elder two people to the right of me is Elder Vidal. He finished his mission last Wednesday and is back in Buenos Aires.

First is Pablo and Lorena Palacio. She was already a member but Elder Parry and Elder Flake baptized Pablo.

Next is Pedro Gomez. He's really nice and plays the guitar as you might have guessed. He's another recent convert of Elder Parry and Flake.

Last is Maria Farrando and child. Elder Parry and Flake got Maria and Santiago married and they have strong testimonies.

Here's a few of the families we talk to. The first picture is our land-lady with two of her grandchildren.

The second is the Rivas family. He's a policeman and they give us lunch every other Wednesday.

The third is Juan Carlos Diaz who is technically an investigator because he's still waiting for his divorce papers, but as soon as he gets them he'll be baptized. His wife, Norma, isn't interested in the church but she's very kind to us and waves to us whenever we pass by.

The fourth picture is the Alvarado family, a less active family who's on the road to reactivation because they went to church two Sundays in a row. We're building up momentum.

Here's a picture of my new companion Elder Cabrera. Elder Parry left for Guaymayen, closer to Mendoza city. His zone is also one of the few zones that has a Wal-Mart in it :) .

** You may have noticed by now that there is no picture here. Right under the above comment, Lawrence sent a picture from the MTC of two missionaries that had their names prominently displayed on their nametags. Neither one was Elder Cabrera. So I guess we'll have to wait till next week for a picture of him.

This is a picture of my zone before we had all the transfers this past week.


Watch for a picture of Elder Cabrera next week!