It's been a busy week. Here is part of Andy's letter today.
Alrighty. My first week as a trainer has been wonderful. Elder Klabacka is a work machine. We are basically opening a new area, so what we are having to do is tract. Something that we have decided to do is make Member Areas. A member Area is basically what it is titled. Since we only have so many areas to tract (and those areas mostly have at least one member inside) we are going around and inviting the members to help us. What we do is make an appointment with the member, come over with a binder that's full of information, and explain the binder to them. The binder: 1) An introduction to what we are doing (it is all in Spanish; it was the first essay-type thing I have ever written in Spanish and it's not too shabby [just a couple grammatical errors here and there]);; 2) An area map of that specific member's area; ... This whole project is to help us forward the work here in Birmingham Alabama. The other Elders in our district liked it so much they are gonna do it with us. This will be wonderful. I am very excited. I have been assigned to play the Hymns on Sundays.... I know, right? What I do is just read the top two notes and make up the bottom with chords that I think the top pertains to. It works out for the most part. Before this they were just singing a capella. I've played songs I have never even looked at before (to play). But that's okay. Speaking of Sunday, yesterday something amazing happened. Elder Klabacka and I were blessed. The other elders dropped us off at a member's home so we could talk to them about the Member Area, but they didn't answer the door, so we decided to knock their next door neighbor's door. A short history: their next door neighbor has been taking the lessons for a long time now, but in the passed months there has been no contact at all. So we decide to knock on her door and see how she (Eva) is doing. A man opens the door, we ask him if Eva is home, says yes, a woman comes to the door and talks to us for a sec, invites us in, and (mind you this whole time we thought this was Eva; we were literally talking to her as if she were Eva) we find out she is not Eva at all, but her sister. We get to talking and getting to know each other and eventually start a lesson. We start down the path of Jesus Christ and the things he has done for us. Elder Klabacka, being the wonderful missionary he is, talked about how Jesus Christ was baptized, so we read 2 Nephi 31:5 with them. At that moment, I explained that we were messengers from God in their house that day to invite them to follow that example of Jesus Christ and be baptized- long story short, we invited them, and Adalina (the sister) right away said yes. She says she wants to have a new life, a new beginning; and that is the beauty of this gospel and the reality that it brings. Another miracle: Americo , Marce, Delilah, and Juliann were all baptized on Saturday 25, 2010. This is a family that I love with all my heart. Elder Stephens and I were working with them for this date for a long time, and it has finally come. I have pictures, so hopefully I'll be able to send it to ya. I had the privilege of baptizing the two daughters. I had to baptize Delilah a second time because her hair popped up out of the water! Haha. It was a great baptismal service; they have made many changes in their life to reach this point.... It was a sight to behold. If you could not tell, I am doing great. I feel good, I feel happy, and I feel excited. I'm going to get a haircut today, the weather is cooling wayyyy down, and I have no more money. Meaning I'll probably not eat as much and I'll get skinnier. I've already gained about 15 pounds being out here. (A lot of that is muscle though... hahaaa.) I'm kidding about the not eating part- partially. I think we'll receive some reimbursement or whatever. Alrighty, I guess I've written more than enough. I'm sure there is more on my mind, but y'all will just have to wait til next week.
Love,Elder Chow
