September 1, 2010

Dear Family,

Well, I am sure that you would love to know about how the week went. Élder Gomez and I will be together for at least 6 weeks more as we found out today that we are not going to be transferred. We are very excited for two reasons. First, because we are teaching a super, amazing investigator named William Lerma Vaca. He is from Cali, Columbia and he is just out of control. He is really funny to start out and we are always laughing and having a good time when we are with him. He is very outgoing which has certainly helped in his conversion.

I have found out that it is a little harder for someone to convert to the church if they are not outgoing. Many of the reasons people have drawn closer to the church is because of the members and their friendly character. Luckily, William has felt this warm member spirit and desires to have that in his life. He is very special and is making leaps and bounds to change his ¨evil¨ life and become a saint through baptism. He has dropped smoking, alcohol, and coffee (everyone knows that coffee in Columbia is almost a necessity to life, and very hard to give up). He also has agreed to live the law of chastity and understands everything.

I feel so blessed to be able to associate myself with him because he is doing so much, reading a ton in the Book of Mormon, he has now read more than 20 pages and is marking as he goes. He has read in the Conference Edition in the Liahona, and he believes everything. He believes that Pres. Monson is a prophet, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that the Book of Mormon is true. He feels the Spirit at church( he has come twice, the first time he stayed all three hours without a single complaint - we even found him running up the stairs to get to the third reunion-, the second time he was not able to stay the whole time but wanted too). He has done all of this because of one faith and one hope that he has, and it is a witness that he has been prepared for many years to receive the restored gospel in his life.

From the first day we taught him, we told him, well, more than that, we promised him that he could see his 3 brothers that have passed away. He has stuck to that bit of hope and it has just fanned a flame in his heart and he really is on fire. Everything that he does in regards to the church just throws another log on the bonfire. We gave him a temple tour and he loved the idea of being able to go there after being baptized to do baptisms for the dead.

After that, we had a lesson in the building al lao y ....uuuuuffff increíble. So anyway, we are very blessed to be teaching him. We have set the goal together us three that he gets baptized the 11th of September. So please pray for him that he can keep going and changing his life. He recognizes this as his only opportunity to change, so it is really neat.

I wanted to tell you about two more people but I think there is only time for one more. So remind me to write you about Zuraima, who is going to get baptized this Saturday. We taught her the first 3 times and set a baptismal date with her and then gave her to the Hermanas. She is awesome and are glad that she has done so well. The Hermanas are really good, so it was better that she was with them.

The last story of the day happened a few days ago, last Friday, when I was on exchanges with Elder Cerro, from Argentina, Uruguay, and the Canary Islands. We were in a bus going to a certain place in his area, and when we entered the bus we began to talk to a young man from the Dominican Republic. He accepted the invitation to hear more and then got off. We started talking with each other and then a women of 30 years old got on and sat next to me. I had to talk to her, because I am trying to talk to everyone in whatever situation.

She told us she was from Honduras and began to tell us that only a few days before she had received a phone call from her 10 year old son, who is in Honduras, who was begging her permission to be baptized in our church. Apparently her son is with some uncles and they are members. She told her son no, despite the begging and said that he would have to wait until she got back so she could learn a little bit more about the church. We told her that we didn´t believe in coincidences and that we wanted to talk to her again so that she would be able to learn more about the church. She was excited to her about the church activities that we have her and was excited to learn more.

I count it a blessing to be able to be found worthy to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord. I can just imagine this 10 year old boy begging permission from his mom thousands of miles away to be baptized in the church, and her saying no. Then this boy would tell the missionaries she had said no, but they wouldn´t let him lose hope. I am certain that they told him to prayer for a miracle and that God would work it out. I know that Heavenly Father guided us to that bus and her also to sit next to me. It was really special to realize how many people there are that are so ready to hear the message of the restoration and be baptized.

I probably didn´t explain that very well. Sorry. I love you all so much and am trying to do my best as a missionary. Time is short and can´t have any regrets. This time is prescious and estoy intentando a aprovechar y apreciar este tiempo tan sagrado. Gracias por sus oraciones y su amor.

¡Que Sigan adelante con fe siempre puesto en el Señor, Jesucristo!

con mucho cariño y amor,

su hijo,

Élder Driggs

un representante de Jesucristo en España Madrid