Email 11/30/09

This was a really good week. We ended up not being able to do Thanksgiving until Saturday and we had a change of plans. We did like what mom does with the roast: put it in the oven with potatoes, onions and carrots, but we did it with a couple of chicken breasts. It was really good. The hard part was that we had boneless, skinless doesn´t exist in Hernandarias. But it wasn´t that hard to change that fact. It cooked up really nicely and we were able to leave it in the oven as we went out to work for the morning.
We had the experience of a lifetime. We have an investigator named Reynaldo. Cool guy. He´s a missionary for a Pentecostal church. He invited us to go with him to his church Sunday night. We told him we´d need permission to go. I asked President Callen and he said he saw no reason why we shouldn´t go. So we did. I asked if he had any advice. He said that years ago Bruce R. McConkey gave a talk at the MTC and said that we as Mormons don´t bible bash, but when we do, we win. So that was the advice we got. We went to the meeting and, it was CRAZY. They were all screaming at the top of their lungs, dancing and jumping around to bring in the Holy Spirit. Talk about a very cold feeling. One thing to remember that we were 2 big white guys in suits so we REALLY stood out. The preacher went to the mic and said that there were two people there in the congregation that were not members and if they would please come up to help them feel the spirit. So we went up there. I was perfectly prepared to do anything but we both felt pretty impressed on what to do. We asked the congregation to stay quiet and then we sang I Am a Child of God and Teach Me to Walk in the Light. The spirit came in very strong. We then told them that THAT was the spirit and we would love to teach them all more about it. It was AMAZING. We go down and the preacher was COMPLETELY dumbstruck. Couldn´t even make a comment afterwords. We waited about a good 30 minutes in silence. Finally the preacher asked me to pray so that we could leave. Afterwords about 30 people asked if we could come teach them at their homes. It was AMAZING.
For our baptism this week it seemed like we´d have nothing. Saturday morning I was a bit desperate and I told President Callen I didn´t know what we were going to do. He asked me if I had the faith to baptize this week. I said of course. Then he said, "then go fill up the font so you can baptize. Tell me how it went when you call me on Sunday." We got on our knees and prayed to know what we´d have to do to baptize. The first thing that came to my mind was Danny and Ramona. They hadn´t come to church in a while and in my little mind I´d just written them off. They were the couple that did NOT want to get married. We called them up and the first them Danny said was, "Wills, we´ve been thinking and we feel we´re ready to get baptized and married. What do we have to do?" "Get your buns to the church tonight at 6 and we´ll do the rest." "You can do it that easy?" "Just come tonight and we´ll do the rest." So Saturday morning we went running around, trying to find a judge, witnesses, Driver´s Licenses, baptismal clothes and the baptism was AMAZING. The Lord loves his children and he does provide. I love this country.
Thanksgiving sounds so cool. Every once in a while you see a quad here and I gotta admit that I miss them.
Zone conference will be Thursday so I´m excited to see president. It´s funny I talk to him more than I talk to my Branch President in my area.
It´s pretty cool here to see the people getting ready for Christmas. In Republicano, there was almost nothing Christmas-wise and here EVERYBODY has lights and a little fake Christmas tree. It makes it feel like we´re more at home.
I love you all so much.

Elder Frank Wills