Week 37

well this was my weekly letter to pres. sums up about everything...

 

this week was wild, a spiritual rollercoaster! as you know we had the goal of 90 baptisms here in our zone for the last 3 months, and we all had faith would it be accomplished, just like to share a quick story, sunday morning, the zone leaders called us up and told us aout how we were one short of the goal, 89, and asked if we could find someone prepared to be baptized, which we had previously discussed, and we have had people with dates, just that they were set further ahead in april, for lack of teaching the lessons, and lack of time. but, we prayed that morning that we would be able to do the Lords will, and if it were possible invite someone to be baptized that same day (being the last opportunity of the month) so we left, trusting in the Lord and his revelation to his inspired leaders. if the stake president said there would be 90, there should be 90. we visited the mother of a member/less active, and talked with her, we had only taught one lesson, but we felt that she was prepared, we invited her to be baptized 2 hours later for that afternoon, sunday at 12:30 in la Caleta. then i watched the Lord work miracles. she said yes, that she had decided she wanted to be baptized, and even though it was short notice, she would do it. we called the bishop, the relief society pres, and arranged everything an hour and a half before her baptism. we taught the lessons in the most revised form possible, and headed off to her baptism. the ZLs interviewed her, she changed, and we proceeded with the service. the Caleta also has another miracle side of that story, but i hope they share it with you. i want to testify that revelation is real, this is the Lords work, we are merely instruments in his mighty hands. You must believe there are miracles.

 

thanks pres.

 

being the holy week here, not a lot of people were around to be taught, kinda rough in that aspect, but sunday was awesome, the baptism was the craziest thing ever!!! arranged in 2 hours, then later that day she was confirmed and elder sierra and I talked, he on the atonement, and I on the ressurection, i based it on the talk, sunday with come, by joseph b wirthlen, great talk!

 

then today the stake presidency fed us lunch for accomplishing the goal of 90 baptisms. amazing.

 

then the big news..... IM TRAINING! i dont know who, i will find out tomorrow! but im super excited and nervous, should be a great experience!

 

miracles are true because the savior lives. happy easter, I love you all! :)

 

ELDER AUGER

Week 36

well, another week gone by, crazy how time is flying huh?

to be honest, not a lot happened this week, we had another white night, but my comp and I didnt baptized anyone that day, the zone in total had 31, which was even more than the last, but we only brought investigators to see. it went well, I played the piano for a special musical number and all the missionaries in the stake or zone sang josephs smith first prayer, but to the tune of come thou fount, spirit was strong.

did an interchange with Elder Zamora from Texas, he is a stud, we spent the interchange  going around doing baptismal interviews, this week i interviewed 7 people in total, a cool, yet surprisingly tiring experience... haha

and then to top of the week, i got sick... for the first time in the mish so far, we had to stay in the house :( I wasnt able to even go to church, which straight up stunk, but i would have been sitting in the bathroom for more time than i would have in the chapel, thank goodness i got better, with the help of loving roomates who made soup and sancocho, dominican stew to eat. still a little weak, but at least we can work again!

mom: im pretty sure the bishop said he got that tilapia from his nieghbors sewer pond, maybe thats why I got sick ;) haha all is good with the district, i have to do the baptismal interviews, which is fun and nerve racking at the same time! the language has come along super nicely, i understand basically 99 percent of what people say to me, and I can express myself almost perfectly :) teaching is a rollercoaster, i think i have learned like everything there is to teach and then i get a crazy question from someone, or my comp explains something that i forget to explain in the lesson, so im working more on that right now, studying to teach more effectively, but i think all is going pretty well :)

not to much more to say about the week, sorry its not the most exciting entry, but it is what it is, and the church is still true ;)

love you all!

ELDER AUGER

Week 35

well, the highlight of the week was the baptism of Librada and Chandel, ive already explained most of thier story and the miracle that came from the Lord in thier lives, from rejecting the missionaries, to reading more than half the Book of Mormon, to getting baptized 2 days ago. really couldnt be more happy, I testify that My joy is great, and its all because of the power that God has to work through the spirit of conversion and personal revelation. I testify that this is more than real brothers and sisters, If your not sure about it, do what Librada and Chandel did, Search. Ponder. and Pray. need I say more.

apart from that awesome experience, we also had the opportunity to go to the city this saturday and listen to the Church Historian, Richard Turley, who talked to us and answered controversial questions, including polygamy, the Book of Mormon, and African Americans and the Priesthood, really cool stuff, and most of what He told us can be found on the church web page :) take a looksie if you feel entrigued!

then another cool little thing was that I ate this fish called tilapia with the bishop and his family, i was nervous, as i imagine my sister jaden would have been ;) but i dug in and turned out to be delish! i ate like 5! haha

Then today, Jesus came to our area and gave me a hair cut and we ate lunch together, super cool to see him :) they are doing well, firm in the faith :)

not much more to say folks, other than a  late happy birthday shout out to my mom, which was last tuesday, but I thought about her all that day, she is so strong, and faithful, I pray that my future wife will be as amazing as she is :)

Love you all, be safe, choose the right!

ELDER AUGER

 The Day of the baptism, I had the opportunity to baptize Chandel and the bishop baptized Librada, then after.

My comp and I stopped by the Ole supermarket and Baught tres leches cake to celebrate! haha Elder Sierra is a stud, cracks me up, we have a lot of good laughs!

My comp showed me this shirt they made in one of his zones, too dang funny! haha 

 then for lunch this week, this was the tastey fish we ate with the bishop and his family! haha turned out to be super delish!, looked a little iffy, but we dug in and enjoyed!

 haha a quick reminder to Jaden, if your date for Prom takes you to eat sushi, you had better eat it ;) haha love you girl!

 It rained as well this week, which was awesome because this big huge rainbow came out, God put things like that in the world to testify to us of his divinity :)

 then jesus and I took a pic, he did a great job cutting my hair ;) haha

Week 34

Well, this week a lot happened, sorry for the long letter!

monday, we did a FHE with a family in our ward and invited another family that has shown interest in getting to know the church, so i decided to take care of food, and the mom of the family "Candida" took care of the lesson. I made a whole bunch of french toast and everyone loved it, no one there had ever tried it, so that was super awesome! haha

tuesday, i had to go to the capital to update my passport, to be liscensed as one who can be here legally and share about religion, it was nice to see all my buddies, cuz we all had to do it, but i also saw someone interesting there, the AP from the west mission, KURT BELL, he is from layton Utah, i played indoor soccer with him in high school, really small world! haha

wednesday, we went to the temple as missionaries, got to do a session and talk with president, really is a cool experience every time we get to go, which is every 3 months, i learn tons with president Corbitt, really awesome day there.

thursday, we had a zone conference, and elder De los santos and I gave a little discussion on how to keep faith in Christ through the hard times as well as the easy ones, went really well, we came to the conclusion that it all comes down to humility. that is key, as well as repentance, relying on the atonement, recognizing your mistakes and asking forgiveness, great day!

friday was a normal day, worked hard, had some good lessons, a normal day in the mission, except for in the morning, we happened to see this thing out in the ocean, i got my camera, took a pic, and im 99% sure that it was the cruise ship of my parents that happened to swing by the DR that day, along with the kelseys, im not sure what kind of loving parents taunt there childerent like that, porting on a cruise ship at the island where there son is serving a mission. im just hoping they go again in 2 years or so ;) haha

saturday, we had a sweet activity at the temple with recent converts and investigators, we left here with almost 30 people in total from our ward, a grat turnout, the recent converts got to enter the temple and then share thier testimonies with the investigators on the temple grounds, amazing really! Melibeth entered and loved the temple so much! Librada and Chandel attended and loved hearing the testimonies of those who have recently recieved the gospel, then another surprise happened, JESUS AND KATHERINE showed up with mama castro and papa robert from paraiso oriental! crazy cool, katherine brought me my favorite, "Harina Dulce" and we got to chat for a while, all is going well for them, really a blessing to see them!

then today we had our zone activity, played kickball, baseball, and soccer in the field in our area, then talked about the unity as a zone, really good activity everyone enjoyed it, we sat in the dugout when we finished and realized that we had all gotten super burnt!!! haha so worth it tho ;) haha

great week overall, super fun, spirit filled, the kind of week that every missionary hopes for!

until next week,

ELDER AUGER

 French toast with Candidas family, super fun night!

 seeing jesus y katherine, super huge blessing! love these guys so much!

 the zone activity turned out really nicely, here is everyone in the dugout!

 Elder Sierra with all the people that came with us to the temple, super awesome trip

Week 33

well the 27 of Feb was independance day here, which was a saturday, a special saturday. MELIBETH GOT BAPTIZED!!! :D

honestly was the highlight of the week, to see how far she has come, she has learned so much, grown so far, from dragging her to church to her carrying her little boy, and walking with her daughter to get here every sunday, really a blessing to see. she has definately been one of my good friends on the mission, super enthousiastic about life, wanting to learn, grow, and apply what she learns. she now assists regularly and shares during the gospel principles class, what a miracle, the Lord is mighty like that in the lives of those who are willing to recieve him.

apart from the baptism., we also saw a miniparade in the street, which was pretty cool, i got a little flag thing im keeping for memories. 

We visited some new investigators this week, which we are super excited about, had a lesson with the biship (who is a major stud) who talked to a less active lady and her spouse, we talked about marriage, and they are willing to work to be married leagally in the next month, thats exciting. she is a good friend of melibeth, so that could help strengthen both of them. also visited the mom and grandma of recent convert Christopher, she is getting baptized next month as well, she might not know it yet, but elder Sierra and I sure do ;) haha

great week overall, get to go to the temple this week, should be a major treat, the work is progressing quickly and im seeing mighty changes in people here in la Llave, it just reminds me to do the LORD´S work with the help of the LORD! when we recognize his hand in all things, we glorify our father which is in heaven, instead of taking credit for the things that happen around us, just like the example of Ammon, humble, serving, and doing all things in the name of his mighty god. 

The church is true. Christ lives. we are living in a time of a marvelous work and wonder! 

love you all, prayers for you are given every day, until next month ;)

ELDER AUGER

 Really was an amazing day, the baptism went well, spirit was there, and we even baught ice cream after, guess what flavor? thats right TRES LECHES! how can a day get any better?

 above is the friends of melibeth, including the Bishop, her friend Orianny, who gave us the reference to visit her, and her kids, erick, and milagros!