another san luis transfer

The end of the transfer came today, and we sent some elders back up to "the Valley" to go off to new areas. We hope to welcome some new life into the Yuma Zone, and Elder Snyder and I hope to keep the friendly fun going on, as we will be staying together another six weeks. We really do have a good time together, and work very well as a companionship, and so I am very glad for the chance to have more time with him.

Elder Snyder is from Cleveland, Ohio and apparently has a very very big house. His dad is a corporate defense lawyer, and a very prominent and reputed one. Despite having money, Elder Snyder has zero pride. He played sports a lot in high school, but with a music education mother, he also was very active in the music departments at his school. He was predicted to take the state championship in wrestling his senior year in high school, but a sudden injury stopped all hopes or expectations. Elder Snyder and I talk a lot, about everything, and it is refreshing to have such a good friend here in the mission, especially as my companion.

Last week, I promised to talk a little bit about recent converts and I'll see what I can do. We have various recent converts in our branch with whom we are working. I will start with oldest, I suppose—that is, oldest in the Church. Lorenzo Galindo was one of Elder Wood's baptisms when he served here. He had some different challenges to overcome before he could be baptized, including quitting smoking and gambling, and then just studying. Missionaries had stopped teaching him several times, but for some reason they always came back to start up again. Finally Elder Wood and his companion at that time got Lorenzo to stop smoking, they answered all his questions, and he was baptized, along with his two sons. Just a few months ago his wife decided it was her time to make the commitment as well and she was also baptized. I love the Galindos because you can go to their house and talk and talk and talk. But you'll be lucky if you get in a word in all the talking. They are so funny, especially Lorenzo, who has a very entertaining personality. They are a constant worry to the branch presidency however, with their difficult financial situation and their suspicions that Lorenzo is not living all the standards of the Church. If only they could see what we see in his good heart.

Sylvia Chavez is an older lady who is taking care of her grandchildren while her son and daughter-in-law are in jail. The grandchildren are a huge burden on her, especially the oldest who has followed very well in the example of her parents and is constantly on house arrest or seeing psychologists because of state order. It is a difficult situation, but she loves it when the missionaries come over. She cries every single time we are there, without fail. What a sweet lady; she doesn't deserve all the problems that she is having, but we all know that our problems are almost always self-blamable. The mercy of the Atonement will be able to heal her broken family over time, or at least her broken heart.

Carlos Soto is a funny guy. His wife left him suddenly at some point last year, and he was left a single alcoholic. He still lives in the same small town as his ex-wife, so that he can be close to his three kids. Carlos speaks English so we can be a bit more natural with him. He also lived in Utah for a while, so he'll talk about it every so often. He is a very soft spoken person, and a testimony to me of the need of home teachers. He needs his home teachers, but he would never ask them to come over. We are constantly trying to make sure his home teachers get over to his house, a battle worth fighting.

The Beltrans are a great family. The father and daughters were baptized together and we are still working with Sister Beltran. Brother Beltran is making progress toward becoming a strong priesthood leader, especially in his own home. We always remind him of the blessings of the priesthood, which are his goal, as well as one day being sealed in the temple with his wife. I love their family a lot, and I would do just about anything to see them get sealed as an eternal family Plus, their 8-year-old daughter almost kissed me on the cheek one time. It was very Latin.

Braulio Alvarez is the recent convert of dreams. He just gets everything. He learns new things, and then remembers them. All of them. The progress he has made since his baptism four months ago is remarkable, literally. He made a lot of lifestyle changes to join the Church, though his wife, who has been a member for many years, was already living all the standards of the Church. It was a miracle that he accepted the gospel and now has excelled so rapidly in his testimony and understanding of the doctrines of the gospel, as well as church leadership. With a police and military background, he knows about responsibility and accountability and is already a great example of faithful membership. He also happens to be a gourmet chef who is willing to cook for us at almost any time, and his family owns an awesome taco shop in town, at which we eat for free whenever we want.

Those are the main recent converts that we are working with. We do our best to fortify their testimonies and their understanding of the church, but we always need more help. I know this is the case for missionaries all over the world. We need member support in bringing people into the gospel, and especially in keeping them there. Those members who understand this must do their job! We can't do our work without you. I know sometimes, even more so in our large Utah wards, we don't even know who new members are. It is hard to remember the needs of the missionaries when you hardly ever see them, but we need the help in this.

I love you all, my time is gone. Take care.

-Elder Sam Bostwick