September 8, 2010

Dear Family,

Well, this week has been great. I am always glad to hear from you and your fun and exciting lives.

Just so you know, I saw the Carr´s on Sunday morning. They had just gotten into Madrid and went straight to church, changed in the bathrooms and were able to assist sacrament meeting. It was nice to see them in person and they were very happy to see Elder Carr. I did receive the cookies and, as usual, they were delicious. Last night I was going to eat more, but I didn´t have cold milk. When we get back, I hope to have a little bit of time to be able to eat some more. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THOSE!!!
love them. It was fun to see the parents of Élder Carr. Apparently they all knew me from Elder Carr's emails as ¨the Driggster.¨ So that was funny to hear. I sure have changed a lot from the time that I was with Elder Carr. I count it as a blessing of being with him for so long. I learned a ton and he definitely is one of the best missionaries in the mission. He is a baptizing machine!

I am glad that you love all of my friends. I love Kenny and my friends too. I am lucky to have such good friends. When times get rough I think of them, dad, granddad, cousins, and other great examples of stalwart missionaries. Thoughts of them and how they are and were as missionaries gives me courage and strength to carry on. I am blessed beyond measure, thus, the Lord requires much of me, many times, beyond my known personal limits.

I hope that Lake Powell goes well. I am glad that you are making lunch for Cami and Mark. You are so nice to have always done that for us and it is great that they can have that opportunity, just like I did. Those memories that I had there will last throughout the ages, and my friends and I will cherish those moments of youth with you mom in our home. You are probably one of the reasons why we always raced well because we ate so well for lunch on Friday. Haha. The team and all my friends will be eternally indebted to you.

I love you too mom and dad!!! Tomorrow I will be close to the temple and will try and get a chance to put your names there on the prayer roll. We always need a little bit of extra help.

Thank you dad for all your spiritual thoughts. I learn a lot from them and they keep me motivated. I really appreciated the one from these last two weeks and from today about Helaman 5: 17.

Sólo una experiencia esta semana que quiero compartir. We were talking to our investigador Carlos from Argentina, and we were talking to him for the third time, and we were reviewing the Restoration, and asking him questions to see if he believed in Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. We asked him if he had prayed to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. We try and ask this question a lot to help them understand that to know the truthfulness of something you have to put forth the effort to pray. A lot of people don´t do it for the first couple of times, I think. But he told us that just a few nights before he had gone into the bathroom and kneeled down to ask God if these things were true. He exlained that he felt of lot of peace and tranquility. We knew and bore testimony that this feeling comes only from the Holy Ghost and he agreed and we invited him to be baptized the 25 of September. He didn´t agree completely but was willing to keep going and changing his life. He has recognized that he feels the spirit with us and that he wants to change his life to live in a more spiritual manner.

Well, hopefully the next time I can tell you about Zuraima Jimenéz from Venezuela that got baptized this last weekend and about Saúl, a 13 year old boy that has a super strong testimony.

I love the mission and hope it never ends. I love the focus and energy that it requires to do all that is required for us. It is hard, but I love the challenge to be diligent with our time and to do the Lord´s will.

I love you all, and yes I have received the package. I still haven´t opened it, as I received it only 5 hours ago at the mission home, where we went today to have a zone activity. It was a lot of fun and the burritos that Hna Watkins made were so scrumptious.

I would love to hear from Cami, Mark, and Cari again. It seems like a while since I have heard from them. I would also like to have the direction of Ryan Hill, if possible. I need to write him.

Thank you very much for your prayers. I hope that you know that I pray for you a lot too.

Have a wonderful week.

Love,

Rob,

P.S. Dad, I loved all of that stuff on the geneology. I have always felt that I was Portuguese. Haha. Well, know I can claim it as a sort of founding for my family. That was very interesting and I hope that the search continues.

Love,

Élder Driggs