Happy 4th of July Weekend!!

HElLo Everyone!!! how was everyones fourth of july weekend? cool story we got to stay out and watch fireworks till 10:30 and talk to people as we watched them! it was the best!! that day we also had a zone BBQ at the apartment  complex we all live at.  here are some pictures: and don't make fun of how much heavier I've gotten





hey sorry I didn't have time to write ya'll but here is what I wrote to our Mission President

the good thing is that it was only 100 degress outside

hey President

this week has been rough. I am not as happy because people keep letting us down. We have been doing our best to bring members out with us to confirmed appointments and we show up and people aren't home. WE had this referral that we contacted and she had a baby who died after being a month old and so we thought of the Canales family who is going through a very difficult trial, their 12 year old daughter has cancer and so we thought they would be the perfect family for them. but they weren't home. and so it has happened a few times this week with different members and potentials. WE have been talking to everyone and even teaching on the spot if they aren't to busy, but when we go back they aren't home. We honestly feel like we are working so hard and yet we aren't seeing any fruits. I know love plus patience will bring about miracles, I don't mean to be a downer President but I just don't want you to think we aren't working as hard because of what our numbers show. I know that Heavenly Father is aware of me and my efforts and I pray that he can let me know what more I can do in his vineyard, I just need a bit more faith and trust in the lords promises. We've also been doing facebook finding, I wish you can be there for some of those getting our members to do it is so hard and we literally have to ask the same question about if we can look at their page several times in less than a minute. Because before they even look at their page they automatically say they don't know anyone, and all you know all the classic excuses. But we are being persistent.

Other than that we had a miracle happen my recent convert Rey Dominguez is being the best member missionary I have met. He has been sharing the gospel with all his friends and acquaintances, he even took us to a family that said would like to learn more and he set up the appointment for us, and he was present for the lesson and bore a sincere humble testimony on how the gospel has changed his perspective on life and is now a much more positive person, and treat others with more kindness and patience especially his own family, he also talks about how The Book of Mormon helps him get nearer to God. They looked fascinated by his testimony. We told you that we fell in love with them. then the elders called us and apparently changed their mind and asked us if they can teach them. I did express my feelings in how I felt that we had put in the work by teaching the importance of sharing the gospel, even though it was natural for him, and how I wanted to be a part of his missionary efforts. and how we felt it was a blessing for us for all the work we've done, to be able to teach this family. But my companion and I talked about it, and since he really wanted to teach them we decided it was better to let them, since all we really do care about is that this family progresses in the gospel and find the joy therein. We know the Lord will bless us for it and continue to help the other members do the same.

Thank you so much for all you both do for all of us! we love you!

 

Church News!

President Sweeney:

this makes me angry, which means I wont be able to use an I-pad  as a missionary. it would've been so much easier. everything else makes me happy tho :)

SALT LAKE CITY — Though the record number of LDS missionaries serving around the world will peak in the fall and then recede somewhat, convert baptisms are increasing and more missionaries soon will be using digital devices to help with their work.

A pilot program has shown that use of iPad Minis by missionaries improved their work and study, and the devices will be used in all missions in North America, Japan and western Europe beginning this fall, the executive director of the LDS Missionary Department said Wednesday in a wide-ranging, videotaped interview released by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Elder David F. Evans, also a member of the faith's First Quorum of the Seventy, said the devices will be used by about 32,000 Mormon missionaries in 162 of the church's 405 missions.

The church will ask missionaries in those areas to pay for their iPads, which will be their property during and after their missions, at a cost of $400 apiece.

Evans said the church, as of Wednesday, had 85,593 missionaries serving, up from the previously publicized record of 85,039 in April.

He said the missionary department anticipates the number to rise to 88,000 this fall before starting to decrease.

LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson precipitated the dramatic two-year surge in missionary numbers when in October 2012 he lowered the age requirement from 19 to 18 years old for male missionaries and from 21 to 19 for women

Elder Evans, who called the surge "one of the greatest faith-inspiring things I've ever seen," said the church expects the number of missionaries will eventually settle somewhere in the high 70,000s, well above the 58,000 serving at the time of President Monson's announcement.

"We don't believe we're ever going back to the 50,000s," Elder Evans said.

About 64 percent of the church's full-time missionaries are young adult men, 28 percent are women and 8 percent are senior missionaries.

"We believe the young people of this church will continue to say yes to missionary service, and they'll continue to choose to become young disciples of Christ," Elder Evans said. "For them it's an absolute free-will offering to the Lord and to their fellow man."

He also spoke about convert baptisms and missionary safety.

"Every month, if you compare month over month, the baptisms are up," Elder Evans said. "Right now for this year, there's about an overall 15 percent increase in the number of convert baptisms this year compared to a comparable period last year."

Elder Evans said missionaries now are being asked to have a "safety moment" at the beginning of each day, an effort to increase their sensitivity to safety issues after several injuries and deaths among missionaries made news, particularly last year.

Those incidents remain few compared to the general U.S. population of 18- to 21-year-olds.

"It is by far the safest place for any young single adult to be that I'm aware of," Elder Evans said. "I've read statistics that suggest being on a mission may be as many as 20 times safer than being generally out in the population."

A pilot program put iPad Minis in the hands of about 6,500 missionaries in 30 missions in the United States and Japan, as well as with sister missionaries in most LDS visitors centers. Elder Evans described four lessons learned by church leaders.

First, missionaries were very comfortable and capable using the devices. Second, the devices increased the reading and studying done by the missionaries. Third, they were effective planning tools. Fourth, they helped missionaries communicate better with local church leaders, mission leaders and investigators.