Hispanics with southern accents

Howdy y'all. I'm fixin to write a good email today. 

Last week, I talked about Carlos and Marcos, and I'm going to do it again. 

Carlos's parents had been thinking about sending him to live with his aunt in Arizona because he was have problems in school and was causing some trouble. Well, we had another little chat with him this week, about being a better kid, and his parents are pleased with the change they're seeing in him. We just have to get them involved in being a good example to him and helping him stay out of trouble. 

Marcos disappeared to Alabama for a couple days this week looking for work, and we lost contact with him for a few days, but he came back and was able to come to church again. We visited last night and taught him about the Gospel. About 10 minutes into the lesson, Elder Neri felt inspired to ask him if he knew that what we were teaching is true, and he said he did! He said he feels good when he goes to church, and thinks about it all the time. We invited him to be baptized the 23rd of February, and he accepted. :) 

The English Elders also found us another amazing investigator named Jose. We've kind of taught a jumble of stuff, not a complete lesson yet, but he's committed to be baptized, and brought it up the second time we came over, talking about how he was ready and willing follow through with it. Jose just got out of jail last week, and he changed a lot in there. He told us about his past life, and about how his time in jail made him search for God, so he's really looking for the truth right now. 

This Saturday, a select few of us had an opportunity to go to Atlanta and hear from Elder Soares (pronounced Suarez), a president of the Quorum of the 70. So yes, it was a big deal. He talked about how we as missionaries are to build up, or edify, the church. That doesn't just mean baptizing people, but rather helping them become converted. We don't just baptize people then throw at the ward and say, "now you can deal with them." We need to help them stay converted, help them prepare for the temple. He also talked about the importance of being obedient and worthy as representatives of Jesus Christ, and talked about the importance of planning. All in all, it was an awesome week. 

Thanks everybody! 

Con amor, 

Elder Clark