Email 03/15/10

It´s crazy how having the same schedule for a year and a half then switching that schedule many times within a six week period will essentially kill you. I think today is the record of how tired I´ve ever been in the mission.


Elder Burley is wonderful. So easy going. It´s funny in most ways he´s the opposite of Elder Skinner. Skinner was very independent, and would usually figure things out on his own. But he would usually ignore my advice, or more accurately what I told him to do. Elder Burley , in contrast, asks me about everything. What kind of yogurt, what he should study, what scripture he should share but he is completely obedient. If I tell him something he does it right then without question. I love them both equally. It´s just funny how from one "kid" to the other it´s completely different. I guess it is true that the mission prepares you for the real life.

This week we´re going to have a baptism. His name is Ariel. And no he´s not a mermaid. He is 17. His older sisters were baptized years ago but he never felt comfortable in our church. A few weeks ago he was sitting outside and saw us and called out the Spanish equivalent of "Come ye hither." So we did. Nothing come from it though. He kinda blew us off. Then the next week his brother in law started a textile factory, or essentially, 8 sewing machines in his house that are used to make "Nike" clothes. His brother in law is a member too so I had gone there to kick him a bit about coming to church. Almost all of the workers are members so I went around the room, "Will you go to church? Will YOU got to church?" And then I saw Ariel working there too so I asked him to come as well. I was SOOOO surprised to see him the next Sunday at church. A member asked him (rather rudely might I add, I could have punched her) why he was there. He said it was because Elder Wills told him to. So we started teaching him after that. He´s amazing. So smart and SOOOO willing to change his life and follow Christ. I´m excited.

One of my favorite things to do when I talk with members is to talk about their missions (for those that apply). It´s funny how much that´s helped us. Familía Espinola is wonderful family but every missionary that´s come through this area has said how prideful and useless they are. They are on the other hand say the same thing about all the missionaries. When I got here and bore my first testimony in this ward, afterwords Brother Espinola told me that he wanted to take a chance again on missionaries and wanted to give us dinner. We went and the whole time I talked about them, asked about them, learned about THEM, (see, I´m learning) and they loved it. They have become our number one help. They give us rides, referrals, come out with us to teach, and feed us, A LOT. It´s so wonderful to ask about Brother Espinola´s mission and to see how strong he still feels about it.

Marian, we get day light savings time here. It´s kinda funny because it takes my body six months to get used to it and then it changes again.

I´ll send pictures of the baptism next week.

I love you all so much.

Elder Frank Wills