Another week in paradise (email dated 8/10/2009)

Hola,
Well what a week it was... Many things went down but it all went so fast it seems. Well to let everyone know i sort of had a change of Areas but not at the same time. My Companion Elder Roseval got sick and had to go to the mission home i beleive and now i'm here in Dorado which is the other 2 Elders that our in our District. We go to the same Ward but its just a different area in our ward. Now we're in a 3sum and my two new companions are Elder Hernandez (my 2nd companion that i had in Utuado, the Mexican) and Elder Pereira who's from Australia... He's from Australia but his parents are origanly from El Salvador so he's pretty much full latino. Anyway its been a blast so far in our 3 sum here in Toa Baja and Dorado. We're covering both the areas together which is cool. Dorado just had their Baptism this Saturday and i had the opportunity to interview her. Her name is Aida and she's a little shy but she was ready for baptism. Also the same day i interviewed Aida i got to do another interview over there in Vega Baja for the sisters over there. It's really a privlege to be able to do interviews for the covenent of Baptism and its really humbling also. Mission work is so gratifying especialy when we get to see one of God's Children enter the waters of Baptism. Speaking of Baptism a very special family was baptised saturday the 10th of August also. I dont know it you remember but when i was back in Utuado we found a great family named the DeJesus family who just seemed to perfect to be true... Well i was informed when we had our Zone conference not to long ago that they all had had their interviews and all were ready to be baptised! When i got the news my heart literaly jumped! This family is so wonderful and are going to bless the area of Utuado so much with so much energy and faith! I still remember the first time that we contacted them and were teaching them and i could just feel how prepared they were! The only thing that held them up while i was there was the whole marriage situation, and the saturday before their baptism they tied the knot and were good to go for baptism! I wrote a letter to them and gave it to the elders who are there now to give to them and the told me they would the day of their baptism! I really can only thank the Lord for the type of experieces that i've been able to have out here on the mission because really there like no other! Man i love this work! I cant believe that now i only have less then a year...
Any how things as you can tell are all going good here in the field of Puerto Rico!
Much love
Elder Lopez

No more a teenager (email dated 8/3/2009)

Well this week was a little roller coaster to say the lest. But i'd just like to give thanks for all the thoughts and prayers from you all this week. Its been a really bit help especially with everything thats happend this week. It all started on tuesday early in the morning when we went running in the morning for excersize. After the excersize Elder Roseval's knee started to hurt him enough to where we ended up having to call the President Martineaus wife and ask for help. To add to the problem he started to have some head achs which also kept us from going out as much as we wanted to. So with all these things that started to happen we we're stuck in the house for way to long and like i told you guys before i'm not the biggest fan of being in the same place for long periods of time any more after having come out here on the mission. I like to be out and about and doing something at all times.

Any way on a little lighter note we were able to have a pretty sweet experience there in church today for fast and testimony meeting. Andres one of our investigators who we've been teaching for a while now gave his testimony in front of everyone. He really gave a great testimony to infront of everyone and said he knew that everything about the church was true. Then right before he was done he asked to entire ward if they'd except him into the ward and said all those in favor please lift the right hand... and everyone got a good laugh from it... and then at the end of the meeting the stake president got up and asked all to raise there right had who would support Andres to be batized and all did so! it was a great experiece for him i think now we're just waiting for him to talk the right decission to stop drinking for good so that we can get him wet. So we'll see with time and a lot of prayers when he finaly can make it to the waters of baptisim.

Other than all of this thank you a million for all of your Birthday Letters! and especially the little ones! :) i Loved them!
Sorry i'm running out of time and we got to head now but your always in my prayers' and i send my love!!
Elder LOpez!

Just one year, that's all (email dated 7/28/2009)

Hello from the Enchanted Island of Puerto Rico! I hope all is going well back home in the Beehive State of Utah. This past week was another transfer meeting and yes i did receive a new companion... He's another foreigner but not a native Spanish speaker. His native tongue is Dutch and he's from South America.Yeah your probably asking yourself where in the world could that be...The answer is Suriname which is located above Brazil and in the middle of French Giana and Giana. His name is Elder Roseval and has about 6 months on the mission and is still pretty green with the language and all but he's work ethic makes up for it all! We've been having a great time together here in Toa Baja our first week together. So this transfer we're starting to do work outs again in the morning because my companion now is willing to get up at six and go hit the streets with a nice little jog. Elder Parodi wasn't all for running but I'm not going to have problem with getting Elder Roseval up to go excursive because I'm pretty sure that excursive is his middle name. He was a trainer back when he was at home i guess and it shows because this guy is chiseled like a rock. Its pretty fun because now i have my own personal trainer basically. Oh yeah and in case you were worried that we couldn't communicate he speaks English too other than his Dutch. He actually was in one of the resent Liahona's (Ensigns) on one of the specials on the Mission work over there in Suriname. He's fun guy and i think we'll have a good time together.

Now was for the work goes all is well also and we're working hard to get some new blood to teach. We found a lady who was taught by the missionaries a year ago but she ended up moving to the states and things just didn't work out with the Elders i guess. But when we past by she was more than happy to see us and invited us right in to teach her. She's really interested and concerned about her well being which is great because she really is sincerely interested and keeps her commitments. Other than that we had a good lesson with Carlos Lopez this week also and he is willing to get back on track and work to be baptized! We have a way's to go and a lot of work to do with him on helping him gain a testimony of Joseph Smith and all but he wants to do what is right and feels good with us. He calls me part of his family now after all we've been through together which is really humbling to say the least. Also our baptism we had last Saturday is staying active which is great and she just keeps being an example for all to follow. So there's no complaints here from the mission field and all keeps on moving forward!

Until next time much Love and keep your head up and Testimony growing.
Love,
Elder Lopez

PS: I almost forgot to tell you the other thing that happened this week that is something important i guess you could say but not really. Well this sunday i was doing my district leader duties and taking in all the numbers from the members of my district and it was a little late and we were riding our bikes home. So there i am riding my bike talking on the phone and trying to put the numbers down at the same time as i start to go down a little hill... Yeah i know what your thinking, to much things to do and ride a bike at the same time right?... Well anyway i thought i was doing a great job of it all and i was going just fine up until there was a little speed bump as i was going down the hill... Yup i hit that little mound of cement and my one finger tapped the front brake and there went elder Lopez over the handle bares... No worries though i wasn't going all that fast and i left with no major injuries just scraps. The thing to note though is that I've been on my mission for almost year and then 4 days before i hit my year mark i have to go down on my bike for the 1st time ever. Yeah pretty sad right? i was hoping to go my whole mission with out one crash but i cant even make a year... ha i guess that's just the way the ball roles some times. Well until next week!
Love,
Elder Lopez

Just another transfer (email dated 7/21/2009)

Well this past week started out really slow because my companion got hit with a bad flew and was basicaly laid out on the bed for 2 day's... yeah it was tough to say the least. Pretty much he was sick and i played "mom" and had to take him to the hospital and bring him his pills and water while he laid down and everything. Yeah you know the drill... It was a little frustrating not to be able to go out and work! I felt so unproductive sitting in the same place during the middle of the day and not doing something. I almost went crazy just sitting there. I'm so used to always being on the go and looking for people to talk to that if i'm not doing it i feel bad, or like i'm lossing time to work for the Lord. But when your companion is sick you got to do what you got to do i guess... Towards the end of the week we started to get going again and on saturday we had the highlight of the week... Yup you guessed it! Baptisim! Lyar Perez is now officialy a "Moromona" as she puts it. She was really excited to finaly have the opportunity to be baptized after having waited for basicaly 2 years. She finaly got permision from her Mother to be baptized when she turned 18 years old so we went through the lessons with her and got her all ready and dunked her into the forgiving waters of baptisim this past saturday! The Baptisimal service was really nice and her best friend who's a member spoke on the Holy Ghost and it was very powerful. The talk was really simple but the spirit that she brought with her sincerity was the key factor! Everything went perfect and i was able to be a witness for the baptisim! Then the next day we had the confirmation in church in sacrament meeting and then we signed the papers and now everything is official. It was a great experience to have a baptisim this transfer and we hope to be able to repeat it again this transfere thats coming! But now with the Transfer thats coming we're going to be having a little change her in Toa Baja... Elder Parodi is leaving and i'm staying which means tomorrow i'll be getting a new companion once again... Also this transfer thats coming up i believe Elder Jonny Oviatte is coming in who i went to HIgh School with which will be pretty cool to see. Its always good to see my graduate budies from good old THS. Its crazy how fast a year can fly by and its even crazier to think that really its only a year and a few days that seperates be and you all back home. I think its time to strap in tight for another roller coaster ride of another year.

Well that about sums up the week... and a big week it was... full of baptisims,and best friends leaving on missions! Lets be real, what more can you ask for?... really nothing.

Thanks for all the prayers and with much love,
Elder Lopez

Baptism Week (email dated 7/13/2009)

Well this past week was good week and a crucial week to help get things set up for at least one baptisim this saturday. Unfortunately i think its only going to be one because Carlos called us up like one hour ago and said he wasn't going to be baptized this week because he doesnt feel worthy to be baptized yet. When he told me on the phone he felt really bad but i told him that we would be coming over as soon as possible to see him and talk about it. so all that is up to date news. But for sure there will be a baptisim this week with a young lady named Liar Perez who is 18 years old. She was a reference from a member in Levitown and is all ready to be baptized. We basicly just have to go over the lessons with her as a review because she's been going to church over in Levitown for like 2 years but lives here in our area. She just turned 18 and now her parents are going to let here make her own choice and be baptized. The couple of times we had to teach her already have gone great and she is definately ready to be baptized. She's basicly what we like to call a dry member. The only challenge we're going to have with her is keeping her coming here to Toa Baja because she lives in our ward. She came to church with us yesterday and liked it a lot so think that she'll be good here. So we are going to have at least one baptisim this saturday. As for Carlos he'll be waiting for another day. He's been struggling to make the decission because still he has some problems with some of the commandments that are big like the law of Chastity which is a little wierd in his specific situation... ha i'm just going to leave it at that to be honest. He'll be able to over come it though i believe and be baptised if not this month the month thats coming.

To be honest everything is going great here in Toa Baja but right now my comp Elder Parodi doesnt feel to good so were going to a Doctor today to see whats up. He's been having a really bad head ach so were going to see what we can do for him with that.But now worries all will be good i think.
Well thats the update for now , and right now its time to close up because our appointment with the doctor is in a little bit so until next week much love!

Thanks for the prayers
Love,
Elder Lopez

Fecha Bautismal‏ (email dated 7/6/2009)

Well another week has flown by like usual and here it is P-day and i'm looking back to try and remember everything that happened. This last week we had a way sweet p-day that they do once every year i believe. It was what we like to call out here in the mission field a supper P-day. So your probably asking yourself right now what is included in a super P-day, so let me tell you what is. First off we cut our studies a little bit short and all headed to a place in Vega Baja with the entire mission. So then while we were all at this place called Tortuga, which is basicly a huge park, we all just played a bunch of games like with everyone. We had some games of basketball going on, some soccer games going on, some volley ball, some dominos, and even Ping Pong.... Yup your thinking right you found me at the Ping Pong table doing the same thing i used to do to Mark at home in our games of ping pong.... that means whipping up on people... hahah but seriously... Oh yeah, and Elder Wells and I ( He's going home this august to play baseball at BYU) played a little catch. Then i hit him some pop fly's to get hime some practice in before he gets back this 18th of August. That was pretty fun to get the ball going around again. The good news is that i haven't forget everything about how to play ball... I can still catch :)

As for the work now, we had a good experience this week with Carlos. We were able to set a baptisimal date up with him for this 18th of july! He was a little timid at first because he actualy wanted to put the date back a little bit so he could have some drinks at his birthday party this 24th of July. When he told us the reason why he wanted to move his fecha back we were a little worried but luckly we were able to help him realize that what is important is making God happy with obeying his commandments. So with a nice talk about why God has revealed the Word of Wisdom to us and how it will be a blessing for Carlos and not a hinderance he excepted the date of July 18th to enter the water of baptisim. We still have a little ways to go with him but i'm pretty sure that he's going to make the goal of baptisim! We're really excited too to be able to have a good baptisim for this Transfer!

So those are the highlights for this week and until next time take it easy, but not to easy...
Much Love,
Elder Lopez

Short and Sweet (email dated 6/30/2009)

Well we made it here to Email really late and i only have like 2 min. because their closing the Library. but this week went good with carlos and Andres in church. We had a sweet p- day. Ill up date you next week with more details.
all and all it was a good Week!
Love Elder Lopez

Just another week in paradise (email dated 6/22/2009)

Hey,
Well this week here on the Island of Puerto Rico we staid busy like always. The only down part is that there just arent enough hours in a day to get done everything we want to get done in one day. But sometimes thats just how it goes.

Carlos Lopez one of our investigators that we're working with was in church this week which is always a good sign to have. Really he has a lot of desire to learn about the gospel which is good but then the other part thats a little tough is that he has a lot of false doctorine running through his mind that he's learning from his preacher and just from other people in general. One of the questions he wants us to bring next time is how will it be when Christ comes to the earth again and whats he going to do. Basicaly he has a lot of desire to hear really profound things but as of right now we're still at the baby feeding stage and not the whole T-bone steak yet, if you know what i'm trying to say? But it's alright because he has the desire to learn everything and with time he'll be able to handle it all. We have some other Potential investigators that are sort of just pending right now but i think that they have some good potential so we'll see next week. Then we have Andres still who we are visting every morning still. So basicaly everything over here keeps on going and at the same time the normal is going on so is the District Leader calling on top of everything. I think i'm going to be learning a lot as a District leader which will be fun with some presure added on top but its just the name of the game right?...

Anyway as for right now my brain is running blank so i think i'm going to wrap it up. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and knows that i send my Love!
signing out,
Elder Lopez

The beginning of a new transfer (email dated 6/15/2009)

Well this transfer got started off really busy especially now that President called me as a District Leader this transfer. He really threw me off when he anounced that i'd be the District leader in the District of Toa Baja because really i'm not that old in the mission yet. I dont even have a year out completely and everyone else in our District at least has 14 months other than me and my new companion. Its a pretty humbling calling that the president gave me for this transfer and i hope that i'm able to do a good job of it. Basicly i'm incharge of 4 pairs of missionary's and am going to be leading a lot of meetings. Just like every other calling i'm really going to learn a lot from this one.

So now in other news my new companions name is Elder Parodi from Spain... Yup pretty cool right, and the great part is he doesnt speak any english so that pretty much means i'm going to be learning a lot this transfer spanish wise also. The couple of days we've had together also have been great and we really do work well together which i'm greatful for. Lets hope that that just keeps up right. We had a good lesson with Andres yesterday where the spirit was felt in abundance! It was great because finaly he came out and admited his problem openly to us infront of every one about the alcohol which means he's finaly starting to take the first steps. His main concern wasn't the alcohol though, it the depresion he has from all the things that are going on in his life. We took what he said in acount and then set a goal with him to start working on.The goal includes certain things we're going to do with him every day. We're going keep on going walking with him every morning which he likes to do anyway and also we're going to do a little scripture study with him every morning to get him started off right. We'll see how it starts to go, but really only time will tell like always... Were excited though and we put a goal on baptisim which will be July 11th if all goes acording to plan!

Well that about wraps up the action here in the mission field so now i'm throwing it back to you... Much love,
Elder Lopez

Another transfer down (email dated 6/9/2009)

Hey every one back in the good old Beehive State. I hope everything is starting to warm up over there for you all.

This week we had a new Investigator come with us to church which is always a good thing to have. His name is Carlos and he´s partialy blind but he does his best to read and he´s a good guy. He lives in some humble circumstances but he´s very willing to learn about the restoration which is the key! He enjoyed church he said, but as for fast and testimony meeting he thought it was a little boring and was little drowsy...(Some times Puerto Ricans can have some interesting fast and testimony meetings)Anyway he loved all the other classes though which was good and he said he´d love to come back. Hopefuly we keep up this progress with him and lead him right into the font. In other news Andres relapsed again this week with his alcohol which is pretty disapointing but we´re still working with him to see if we can keep helping him out. Its tough to see him with such a bad problem with the alcohol, and makes me realize how great of a blessing it is to have the word of wisdom to protect our family´s from worldly traps like those that people get cought in with drugs and alcohol.

Other news is Transfers are tomorrow morning and i´m staying here in Toa Baja but my companion is going...Their sending Elder Bown down to Corocao down south my Venzuela which is part of our mission. I enjoyed having Elder Bown as my companion here though because we had a lot of things in common and had a good time picking up this white wash we had here. so that means next week i´ll let you know who my new companion will be...

Until then,
Peace!
Elder Lopez

What a week... (email dated 06/01/2009)

Well this week was a week full of events with the Elders from Dorado having their house burn up. Yup you read that right, the Elders in our district had their house burn... no one sure in how it started still but while they were out working they got a phone call that their house was on fire. So they ran back thinking it was a joke be sure enough when they got there it was burnt... So the Zone leaders called us up and we headed over there to pick them up and have them stay at our apartment for the night. It was really a ironic thing that 2 missionaries of the Lord had their house burn. We had some fun joking around about it actualy that night but the next day was all business with helping them clean up everything and get it ready to be repared and painted again. Its a good thing here all the housed are made from cement and not wood because if not their house would have been gone... But through all the craziness we were still able to get some work for the Lord done. We had a great lesson with a man named David who we´ve been teaching for the past week or two.( he actualy likes to be taught in english which is sort of hard to do suprisingly because i´m so used to teaching in spanish)As fot the lesson though the spirit through out was amazing! We had just finished up the 2nd lesson with him and i could see what seemed like a vail be lifted from his eyes, and all his confusion about life and our purpose here on earth just left. He was so excited to have learned Gods plan for us here on earth that he pretty much asked us if he could be baptized so he could be saved with God and Christ again. I asked him how he felt after ward and he said that he felt so calm and just full of happiness like nothing could take him down at that moment. I testified to him in that moment that what he was feeling was the spirit testifying to him of the truthfulness of what we had just taught. We then asked him if he would start to prepare now to be baptized by someone holding the power and authority of God here on the earth and he excepted it. After the cita i felt like i was on cloud 9 and Elder Bown and i both just agreed that what we just experieced was a man prepared to hear the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. The 1st day we meet him i wouldn´t have thought he was a man prepared just from looks, but now about 2 weeks later from the 1st time we contacted him my whole perspective has changed. It was a definated testimony builder of how we need to give every one the opportunity to hear this message no matter the way they appear to us at first. What a great lesson it was! Now we just need to find him a new job so that we can stop him from working every sunday morning... but we´ll just take it one step at a time i guess.

Anyway it was a great week you could say. well i thing i´ll wrap it up with that...
so remember your all in my prayers and i love you a ton!
With Love Elder Lopez

Where does the time go? (email dated 05/26/2009)

Well i just realized about this time last year i would of been celebrating a championship still and getting to graduate from High School... It feels like that was just yesterday. Now i just look at how much has happend this past year and im just amazed. Here i am on an island speaking in spanish to others about the Gospel and how it can change there lifes.

This past week our investigator Andres was released from that hospital and even came to church on sunday. It was really good to see him there. Then to make it all even better, he opened up during our gospel doctorins class and practicly bore his testimony. The lesson was on faith which is always a great subject for anyone to hear. Faith is key in the church and thats why its the 1st principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We started talking about how faith is belief with out sight but with a firm conviction of a reality. We talked about how the Spirit can comfort us and confirm our Faith in the Lord and His work. Then Andres shared his thoughts about how the Spirit has touched him the past little bit as us missionary´s have been teaching him and walking with him every moring( Yes we get up every morning at like 540 to go walking with him at 6). He told everyone that as we go walking with him in the moring he feels as if he´s surrounded by a light which makes him feel bigger and better. He then went on to say how we have helped him to strengthen his faith. It was really a humbling experience to hear that come from some one else. It reminded me of how important of a job it is to be a representive of the Lord at all times in all place´s so that all can feel that same feeling Andres felt from the spirit. The lesson ended very well and i was so happy to hear Andres speak in the class and not just sit in the corner all quite. As of right now he´s progressing but still we have to help him get over this drinking problem that he has. To see if we can help a little bit more were trying to find someone in the ward that might be able to talk with him about how they quite drinking and to give him some support with quiting. Andres really is a great guy, and its tough to see how an addiction can hurt someones life so bad but still be hard for them to give up.

Anyway were working hard with him and praying for the best results.
Thank you all for your prayers and support! Keep on keepin on!
With Love,
Elder Lopez

Short and Sweet (email dated 5/11/2009)

Well i hope every mother out there had a wonderful Mothers day because you all really deserve it! I sure was greatful to be able to talk with my mom yesterday and hear her voice, it sure was a boost to have while out here serving to Lord. There´s something about Mothers that is so awesome because they just simple have to talk with you one the phone and they can make you feel their loving presence. Thank you mom for everything.

As for the past week we had some good success with a man named Andreas, Who´s actualy a family member of some members. As far as i know right now he´s staying with his family to get himself in better situation. I guess he´s had some problems with drinking in the past and is trying to get away from all of his bad infuences. But also he is very Catholic and he has some other family members that pull him to the Catholic church; so we´re going to have to see what we can do with this. He really loves to read the BOM though which is perfect because as he keeps on reading it there´s no denying its truthfulness! Other than Andreas we have a couple of other people that might have some potential this week; we´ll just see what happens.

anyway that about sums up the week, keep those prayers up and the Lord will keep on blessg! With much Love,
Elder Lopez

Start feeling better! (email dated 05/04/2009)

We´re actualy taking over an apartment sister missionaries used to have, which means Elder Bown and i have ourselves a "white wash"... Neither of us have been in this area of Toa Baja before and we´re left to find out for ourselves where everything is. Yup its been a pretty adventures week to say the least... Elder Bown my new companion is a good guy from Brigham City, Utah. He was about 5 months on the mission which means he´s just starting his 3 Transfer, and lets just say he´s still pretty green... That means that now i am officialy senor comp in our companionship. i´m not going to lie, at transfers i was sort of blown away that President didn´t put me with a Latino because i thought for sure i´d be having a Latino companion this transfer, but he decided to throw me a curve ball... To add to the weight on my shoulders he threw us into a white wash area... More then ever i´ve been asking the Lord to help me out so that i have the strength enough to be a good instrument in His hands, and like always he has been coming through. The 1st day i kept on asking myself if i really was ready to become the one doing a big load of the work especialy being the one that speaks more spanish in the companionship. But now that almost a week has past i´m starting to see that i can do it and we´ll be just fine. While we were at transfers i thought i might have been a little young in the mission to take on such a big responsibility, but now i know we´ll make it through just fine. Elder Bown is a really cool guy also which makes it even better. We´re going to learn a lot together and i think we´re going to get along just fine. We sort of have the same personality it seems like so far which makes us get a long perfectly so far. We´re both ready to take on this challenge together and i think that we´re going to great. The past few days of work in Toa Baja ( actualy we live and work pretty much in Toa Alta but our area is called Toa Baja) have gone really good i felt and i think we came across a lot of good potentials that we´ll be able to make into investigators with a little bit of time. Also the members here in this ward are great and at fast and testimony meeting yesterday there were a lot of heart felt testimony´s born. I´m very excited to be working in such a great ward here in the city. Yup i said city.. This area is a lot more city then anything i´m used to after having been in Utuado for so long. We still touch a little compo every now and again but mostly its city life. Its been a big change in areas thats for sure but i´m definately looking forward to the adventure !

Sounds like the Lopez home is just full right at the moment also. Tell everyone hi for me and wish them all the best. I hope everyone starts to feel better also. Thanks for all the prayers and support!
With Love,
Elder Lopez

My last day in Utuado (email dated 4/28/2009)

Yup transfers have come around the corner again and this time i got the news that its me being move areas. I guess 6 months of work here in Utuado is what the Lord had planned for me here in this mountaines Pueblo of Utuado. I'll find out where i'm going tomorrow morning at the transfer meeting. So now you can pull out the map or Puerto Rico and start putting in your guesses on my next destination. About this whole transfer thing i have mixed feelings, because i really dont want to leave this family that we are teaching(the DeJesus's). But then again i know its not my choice either its the Lords... Were going to have to move their baptisimal dates back a couple of weeks because they still need to get married before they can be baptised. We have a cita schedualed with them tonight and we're going to be going over all the details with them about setting a marriage date goal and stuff like that. I pray that all goes well, which i'm sure it will. We told them last week that i might be getting transfered this week because i have been here for so long and they were pretty sad to hear it. Now tonight we have to go break the news to them for sure that i'm leaving. I'm pretty sad but at the same time i'm so happy that i was able to come across such a great family to help prepare for this sacred covenent of baptisim. I'm sure that they will keep on working toward baptisim even after i'm gone because i've been able to feel the strength of their faith as we've been teaching them. Missionary work is such a great feeling there really are no words to describe it. I love going into a lesson and leaving it knowing that i've been a tool in the Lords hands to help another gain a testimony of the Restored Gospel of the Lord to the earth. Thank you all for all of your prayers for us missionaries out here in the field because they really are being answered.

My holy shoes

Wet socks are very annoying when tracting.....

From the Enchanted Island (email dated 4/21/2009)

Well the week to be honest sort of went by a little slow all the way up until this past sunday. We ended up having about 6 lessons on the day and one of those was with a member present which isn't the easiest thing to do here in Utuado. It was a great day, it seemed like every time we would walk out side a couple of minutes later someone would invite us in. Those days are always nice to have. The highlight of all the lessons though was the one that we had with De Jesus family which we had a member come with us to. Going into the lesson we were a little ancy because for some reason or another they didnt show up to church, so we were just praying that they hadn't changed their minds about baptisim or anything. So we got in there and the 3 commandments we were planning a teaching were Pray often, Read the Scriptures daily, and Keep the sabbath day holy. The first two that we went over were studying and praying daily and they excepted those commandments like a chubby kid exceptes cake. They love reading all the chapters that we give them from the Book of Mormon and all the little pamphelts we give them also. Also none of them have any fear of giving prayers in public which is usualy always a problem, but not with this family. So everything was going good and then we got to the commandment of keeping the Sabbath day holy... And... they excepted it like the others! Hopefully now we're going to be starting to see them in church every sunday instead of ever other. The great part about the lesson was having a member there with us to make a friendship in the ward and also to give an extra testimony to strengthen them. Hermano Papo really gave a strong testimony about the blessings of being married (which Rolando and Margie have committed to do) and how attending church has been a blessing in his life. The whole situation and lesson just went very well and i feel as though they are right on track to be baptised this up coming month after they get married!... The only problem is i feel sort of torn, because i'm not 100% sure i'm going to be here next transfer to see them be baptised... but as long as they are baptized I'll be happy! We have a couple of more commandments to teach them, but with the way their progressing right now i think they will go smoothly. Missionary work is absolutly just a great experience.

Well i think i'm going to wrap this one up with that, just now all is well and the work goes on! Elder Lopez

I love Easter (email dated 4/13/2009)

Well here on the island of Puerto Rico we had some great success this past week. The De Jesus Family excepted a baptismal date for the second of May and they were to church this sunday. Margie ( the mother) had a great experience during our gospel doctorins class and even during fast and testimony meeting also. During testimony bearing all the little De Jesus children got up to the pulpit fearless and bore their testimony's. It blew me away that they were so willing to participate their first time at church. Lela (11 years old ) went up there first and said she's so greatful that the missionary's found her and her family at her home. She Said it's like the Lord sent to her house 2 angels and that she's so thankful for them and she loves having us over every week to teach them the gospel. As she said all of this the spirit hit me like a hammer and all of the sudden a couple tears fell from my eyes. To be honest i've never felt that great during a meeting out here ever before. I dont know what it was but something made me realize that this is a family i've been looking for my entire time out here in Utuado. They are so prepared and i feel so blessed to have been lead by the Lord to them. I'm so thankful that this gospel blesses family's so much and am so gratefull to be an instrument in taking this gospel to others.

so anyway sorry i'm going to have to cut this email short because we have a zone Activity to go to.
remember i love you all so much and am greatful for your prayers.
Love always,
Elder Lopez

Hola (email dated 04/06/2009)

Well i'm going to have to make this one a little short and sweet because we dont have much time on the computer today. Lets just say the past week was a week full of work like usual, except for this week we had the opportunity to go watch General Conference! I love conference weekend out here on the mission especialy! The spirit was so great i just loved every moment of it. Every time i watch a General conference i just feel my testimony strengthen so much more because of the spirit the prophets words carry. I loved Elder Hollands talk on Christ and all He went through for everyone of us. He litteraly made it possible that we might never be alone ever! When he gave that talk i felt the most powerful spirit ever. I knew with out a shadow of a doubt that Elder Holland is an apostle of the lord and that he spoke the truth! That was probably my favorite talk but to be honest i loved them all. We truely are blessed to be members of Christ Church on the earth, and have no need to fear anything, just have Faith in the Lord no matter the situation!

Well i'm going to have to end it right there, so remember i love you million!
Yours truely
Elder Lopez

A little under the weather (email dated 3/30/2009)

Well for some reason this week my body decided to go sick on me and make me miserable for half the week. Yeah i had "la Monga"(A Cold). It was pretty anoying but i didn't let it hold me up to much. Finaly this past sunday I had my comp. and Elder Ramirez come over and give me a Priesthood Blessing to help me out and i can definately tell today that its starting to kick in. I'm still a little tired but my cough and runny nose are starting to die down.

Well enough about how sick I've been, lets talk about the work right?... Well to be honest this past week was a week where we received some potential. We made a bunch of contacts, and from them all we were able to have about 7 new investigators which is always nice to have. This next week we'll see how firm they really are but we'll pray for the best right? Unfortunately Lidia was sick so she wasn't able to make it to church and the De Jesus Family had a problem or something and we were'nt even able to pass by and see them again. So this last week we had a little disappointment but you never know how fast things can turn around some time.

Last friday, we went on a little trade off for the day, and i went to Arecibo and Elder Ponce came down here to Utuado. It was pretty fun too. I was over there with Elder Atrice, whose from Atlanta Georgia. Man did he ever have that southern accent. He's a big boy too; he played football at Air Force before he came out here on his mission. He's a fresh greeenie also, so i was the one doing all of the talking pretty much for the day. He just barely hit his week mark out in the field. We had a great day though and we even were able to have a lesson with some Investigators over there and set a baptisimal date for them. It was a great experience, and it boosted my spirits up a lot to because i wasn't feeling the greatest the day before. The family was great, especialy as we taught them about the Plan of Salvation. The couple is going to get married here soon also, so that their able to be baptised and except all of the commandments that God has given us. It truely is amazing to see the changes people make in their life's to except this true gospel of Christ. Anyway the whole trade off ended up being great, and it was the highlight of the week i'd have to say.

But that time has come again and i have to say bye because the work is calling my name.
so until next time much love!
Elder Lopez