ELDER METCALF

Elder Metcalf & Elder Strong

April 6, 2011

   Yesterday was my birthday. I didn’t do anything, because it was also transfers. I guess my present was a brand new companion. His name is Elder Metcalf. He is from North Carolina and has been out for 20 months. He started his mission in Arcadia, Ca., but came here due to health problems. He has been in the mission for four months now and has been in Corpus the whole time. He doesn’t know how to speak too much Spanish, and is a little afraid to talk, so I am going to have to try and fix that. We had three lessons in Spanish yesterday, and it was a good test of my Spanish and I think I did OK. I’m really excited for this transfer. I know Elder Metcalf and I will tear it up and find someone to baptize.

Elder Strong, Elder Argueta, Sister Savas, Angela Savas & Younger Siblings

Apr. 11, 2011

Dear Parents

This week has been hot! It is already gotten up to the 90's almost every day so it is not very fun but there is not much I can do about that. We were supposed to have a baptism this week. The little girl's mom is a less active member but she started coming back and wanted her daughter to get baptized. She told us her daughter was 9 but what she meant was that she was turning 9 this year. Nevertheless we had the baptism and it went really well. My old comp (who is still in the same district) got to baptize her and it was his first one. The bishop decided at the baptism to just give her the Holy Ghost after the baptism but didn't tell me that it was going to be me that would do it. It was the first time I had confirmed someone because I usually just get the bishopric or members to do it. It was a good opportunity though and it was a really good baptism. Things was been rough finding wise here. We have been trying to get some people to church and finally got a new person. His name is Manuel Bueno and I was teaching him while I was here the first time. I think he liked it so hopefully he will progress towards his baptism. My new companion is Elder Metcalf. He is from Kittyhawk, NC. He started his mission in California but came here because he got a concussion. He has been out for about 20 months now so he is a pretty seasoned missionary. We get along very well. He is motivating me to work out in the mornings so I should be getting huge pretty soon. Other than that things are going very well here and I am excited for this new transfer. I hope you have a great week and I love you!

Elder Strong

 

April 14, 2011

   A lot has happened since I wrote in here last. Elder Metcalf and I are getting along pretty well. He has one of those East Coast D accents that kind of bugs me, but I’ll get over it. On Sunday, Odaly’s got baptized! It didn’t count as our baptism, but it still felt good to see our work pay off. We have received many blessings lately. We are now teaching Oscar, who is Zayra’s brother. They both want to get baptized. Angela Savas came to us after Church and said she wanted to be baptized. She is 8, so it wouldn’t count for us but when we went to teach her, she brought us a 9 year old friend, and she wants to be baptized with Angela. Imelda is also super legit. She wasn’t going to be able to come to Church because of her boyfriend who comes over every Sunday to visit. Well, they had a disagreement and she dumped him and said she was going to Church this week. Also, when we were teaching her, some people from a Baptist Church knocked on her door and Imelda said “Sorry, estoy con los Mormones.” It was awesome. She is very excited and so are we. Also, Sister Chamberlin gave us three referrals a couple of weeks ago. She set up a lesson at her house with them and their friend who is a recent convert. It was a super legit lesson about the Book of Mormon. They have so much potential and Sister Chamberlin is going to help them out so much. At Odaly’s baptism, I had the opportunity to confirm her. It was my first confirmation ever, so it was pretty cool. We have seen a ton of good things happen, and we are excited. I thank the Lord for all these blessings. Manuel also came to Church on Sunday, so that was another big blessing.

 

April 19, 2011

   Today we had interviews with Pres. Trayner. It was pretty short, but good. We had some Spanish practice and did well. We had a lesson right after with Jennifer, Aida and Elizabeth. Hector was there and does a really good job helping them out. Jennifer is super legit. She is honestly trying to learn and she was taking notes during the lesson. The other two are going to take a little more work, but they will eventually change. Imelda and Vamilex came to Church this past week and had a great time. Manuel was ready to go, but we couldn’t find him a ride. We felt super bad because he is progressing really well. Zayra and Oscar didn’t come because Natalie slept in, so we need to make sure Natalie is committed. We started teaching her sister also. Her friend came to see if she wanted to go walking and Isabel said no and invited her friend to listen too. We can definitely see some potential in her.

Easter Egg Hunt

April 23, 2011

   This week has been pretty good. Some news about Jennifer. She sent us a text yesterday saying she wasn’t ready to be baptized. We are going to go back next week to talk about it with her, so hopefully we can resolve the doubt or problem she has. We should have a really good day at Church with at least 4 people, so we are pretty excited. Imelda is awesome and so is Edith Lopez even more awesome. She helped Imelda accept a baptismal date and be excited about it. Manuel was mad about last week, but we found him a ride, so hopefully he will forget about last time. We played cards with him, and it was weird but fun. We had an Easter Egg hunt with Angela and Yamilia. It was super fun. We also blindfolded them to talk about prophets, and one of them ran into a pole! It was hilarious.

 

April 29, 2011

   We finally talked to Sister Wiesenberger’s sister on Monday, and it turns out she is awesome. We were worried about her husband bashing with us, but he turned out to be really cool too. He goes to a different church and teaches, but he said he was “hooked” on the Gospel Principles book. Juanita should be at Church, but Miro might take some time, but we are excited for them. Imelda is still very legit and Manuel is good to go for his baptism interview. We are going to bike a lot tomorrow, so it should be fun. We are looking at a pretty good day at Church. Elder Argueta talked to Zayra’s mom on exchanges and found out that she is cool too and said she wants to go to Church. That would give Zayra and Oscar a ride to Church, so we are excited for that.

 

May 2, 2011

   So Imelda and Manuel didn’t end up coming to Church this week. Imelda didn’t have a ride because Sister Lopez couldn’t make it. Manuel had a ride, but his nurse was coming so he couldn’t come. We are moving his baptismal date to the 15^th because the Ward wasn’t excited about a baptismal service on Mother’s Day. Jennifer came with Sister Chamberlin and Sister Moreno came too. Today we played soccer and it was way fun. I was playing goalie and got a big scratch on my leg, and I hurt my hip, so it was intense. It was one of those last point wins things, and we scored the last goal. After, I got a sweet Chelsea jersey at the outlet mall. We had a lesson with Sister Moreno tonight too. Elder Metcalf set a BD for the 29^th while I was talking to Miro. They are both very legit and I hope we can get Miro to Church with his wife.

Donna District