Hey! You guys!
On Mon, Nov 28, 2011
Did any of my friends go to church? And Haley, I'll read your talk a bit later, I'll print it out. It sounds like this week was awesome! Don't worry, it didn't make me trunky hearing about all that, but I do miss you guys a lot. Dad, that's funny you fell asleep on the floor before the Settlers game. Haha just an excuse to not risk losing.
The radio went fairly well, we talked about the Plan of Salvation. We should be talking again next week, but I'm not sure how we're going to coordinate that with the First Presidency Christmas devotional.
There were transfers, but very few. I will be here yet another change and it should be a good six weeks. I feel like after that I'll be out of here. And I don't think we can do skype. But that would be so awesome.
So I'm writing a little early today, so I may send this before I get Mom, Brock, and Aubrey's emails, but I love you guys so much! Mom, you would be proud of my cooking this week. And you guys all look great in the pictures!
So this week was wonderful. First of all, on Wednesday we had an appointment scheduled for Jose and his kids. We had a really long day leading up to it, but we met up with our bishop and headed over to their house, a little exhausted. We had planned to teach tithing. Jose was happy to see us. We started the lesson and the bishop taught powerfully about the blessings of tithing. It all went great. As soon as the bishop finished, I felt prompted to challenge Jose (again) to be baptized on Friday with his kids. he responded, 'Of course I will! How can I not? Ever since you guys came to visit me I've felt different, I've noticed a change in my kids, and I just feel better. This is what I need to do. Yes I will do it.' I was stunned. It took us a few moments and I realized that he was sincerely wanting to get baptized! haha thank you soo much for your prayers! It was such a miracle. I am so thankful for the power of the Spirit. The baptism went beautifully! Everyone was so happy. On top of that, Dridmi, a nonmember who has attended church for two years with her RM husband, finally made the decision to get baptized. She got baptized on Saturday! We have been so tremendously blessed. I marvel at the Lord's tender mercies. He is so patient with us and ever ready to reach out and help us with the things we can't do alone. I feel so humbled as I think about all He's done for us.
So those were the biggest highlights. On top of that, we had Thanksgiving. And don't know how, but everything turned out perfectly. We didn't have much to season the turkey, so I rubbed butter and salt all over it and stuck it in a big cake pan and put it in the oven. It only took four hours (13 pound turkey) and it was so tasty. We couldn't find gravy stuff, so we bought beef soup, then we poured the turkey broth in it, and put in some flour to thicken it. It worked perfectly. Then we heated up some canned corn. We bought instant mashed potatoes and Elder Ramos started making those. Haha he poured cold water in and started mixing, poor guy. All the gringos started freaking out. But it was fine, we put it on the stove and heated it up, mixing it the entire time. Then we put a cake in the oven. We bought some bread that kind of resembled rolls. We only lacked stuffing, pie, and sparkling cider. It was sooooooo good and it all turned out so well! Truly a miracle. We were eleven (three elders came into the zone to open an area), and we were afraid that there wouldn't be enough food. But everyone left stuffed to the brim.
I put up some pictures. There are some from way back, of Elder Cartagena. Then Elder Ramos. One of Jose and his three kids. A few from Thanksgiving. A few from the temple open house. One from the radio. One of a boil on my neck (don't worry, it's gone). And a couple of me with Delmis, a recent convert. She's a little princess and wanted a photo shoot. Haha
So that's about it. I love you guys so much! Have an awesome week. I was thinking about you guys a lot of Thanksgiving and I'm glad to hear things are going well. Christmas is so soon!
Lots of love,
Elder Austin Tyler
