Happy Times :)

Family and friends,

This week has been a very tough week with lots of rejection. But I'm here to tell you that the tough times are more than worth the good times and when you look back the happy memories are what stick out to you. This area hasn't had a baptism in over two months but now this week we have three baptisms planned that are solid. The first is called Marcello and he has 13 years and lives with a part member family. He is young but he is very bright and he accomplishes every commitment we give him. We invited him to read the first chapter of Nephi and the next day he had already read four chapters and he had marked several verses and had lots of questions :) it might sound kind of silly to the normal people in the real world right now but let me tell this is the kind of stuff that missionaries get fired up about! He is very humble and really a sweet kid. We've got a great friendship with him and we're always laughing and learning together.

One day he asked us about the verse in the Book of Mormon when Nephi cuts off the head of Laban and my companion said ¨"Oh yeah I have a picture of that one second" and started searching his backpack (the picture isn't violent it just shows Nephi praying with a sword in hand) but the look on Marcello's face was priceless! His eyes got very wide and he said no, no its ok you don't have to show me! It was pretty hilarious but man am I excited for the kid he's great :)

Then we have the Sanchez family. Holy smokes they are amazing as well. The father, Roberto, has read every assignment we give him as well and he always has great points to make about the verses that he liked. He LOVES the Book of Mormon and reads it every single day. He is very intelligent so the lessons with him are very interactive and enriching :) he's still not 100% sure if he's ready for baptism or not but we've been praying and working really hard and I know he's going to do it. In one of our first lessons with him he said a prayer at the end that was so powerful, heartfelt, and sincere. It really touched me and I had a strong feeling of comfort that everything was going to alright. That day had been one of my hardest days of the mission and the Adversary was really working on me with negative thoughts of discouragement and nobody was home so I was feeling pretty down that day but then during Roberto's prayer I distinctly felt that "I'm exactly where I need to be, doing what I need to do, and this people need me... the Lord is pleased with me and I'm happy" it was very powerful and really motivated me. Whenever any of you are feeling down or having a bad day just get on your knees and pray very sincerely. Count every single one of your blessings and thank the Lord for all of them and then get up and do something positive, serve someone and make their day better and I promise your day will be better after that service :) he that loses himself in the service of others, truly does find himself.

My companion is pretty goofy but in a good way and in a lot of ways we're very similar and on the same page which is great :) we both teach very well and walk very fast because we want to be efficient with the Lord's time :) I'm grateful for a great companion.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. Its not just a nice organization that shares positive messages and helps people. It is the Lord's Kingdom on the earth and the only place where we can find salvation for our souls. Through living the gospel of Jesus Christ we can have peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come :) I testify that these things are true. For all of you who have a testimony of these truths already, be grateful for that knowledge and do everything in your power to share that knowledge with others. For those of you who don't have a testimony of these truths or are unsure, pray to our Father in Heaven and ask him. I promise you that He will answer you prayers and you can know these things for yourselves :)

Love,
Elder Remington