Busiest Week of the Mission & New Companion

Thankfully Luke was feeling better this week. It's a good thing too because this was the busiest week of his mission! It's no joke having the biggest zone of the mission with 24 missionaries! It keeps you on your toes!

Tuesday was transfers and so it was a lot of making sure missionaries got to where they needed to be etc. The office elders wanted Luke to just sit in the bus station for 8 hours to make sure everyone got to where they needed to be. Luke didn't really do that, but things still went smoothly.

Luke's new companion is Elder Reyes from Bakersfield, CA. He is a stud! We got to meet him this morning on the call and he just glows! He seems like the happiest and most loving companion. Luke is so excited to be serving with him. Elder Reyes has an older brother that served here in Atlanta! Luke said he loves how Elder Reyes helps them stay focused on the Savior. When they are planning and working he always asks "Are we doing this because we love Jesus Christ?" And also he and Luke have started asking the people they are teaching "What are your goals?" This has been cool to start conversations and also to help people see how the gospel ties in with their goals.

This week was a great success, they had 12 people at church! That is the most Luke has ever had. And he said there were a couple of families they are working with that were missing, so they could have had 24 people at church! :) Wow! He said it made Sunday crazy running around and making sure everyone had someone to sit with or making sure they were all doing ok. I told Luke I remember my first Sunday off the mission that I couldn't believe the relief of just being able to sit there and enjoy the meeting for myself! :)

Thursday Luke and Elder Reyes had to travel to Resistencia for a leadership training and then they were going to have interviews with President Reber before traveling back to Formosa. But they ran out of time and so they had to skip interviews in order to catch their bus. Well their taxi took too long and so they missed their bus and the next one wasn't coming for 4 hours. So President told them to come back and they got to go up to President and Sister Reber's apartment and have their interviews after all. He said it was such a cool interview because they weren't pressed for time so they really got to spend a lot of time together. While Luke was waiting for his companion in his interview, Luke got to talk to Sister Reber. He was telling her how he and Elder Ramos still write and keep in touch and she said "Let's call him!" So they called Elder Ramos (he's home now) and got to chat with him. That was so fun to catch up with him!!!!

And Luke FINALLY got his wallet back!!!! It's so funny because the mission president from the other mission sent it in a pamphlet about the temple. He took all the cards out and put a different card on different pages of the pamphlet (to keep it safe). So Luke is finally reunited with his ID card, his bank card, etc. So happy he has it in his possession now!

Here's an update on all the people Luke is teaching. This week they met a new guy named Sanchez. He has been taught my the elders before but kind of lost contact. He is a humble guy that has lived out in the country and is still adjusting to living in a bigger city. So they reconnected with him and he came to church! After church they had a lesson with him. They asked him what his goals are and he said to become a member of the church! Wow that is an awesome answer! At the end of their discussion they taught him how to pray. At first it was funny because Luke wrote down the steps to prayer and told him to start addressing Heavenly Father and then Luke wrote "Ask for things you need, Thank him for things you love, and then end in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." So Sanchez started the prayer and read it word for word "Ask for things you need, Thank him for things you love..." ha ha ha! Luke stopped him and told him it's not something you recite, that you actually get to have a conversation with Heavenly Father. So he said the prayer and he was in tears after! He said "Why hasn't anyone ever taught me that before!" There's nothing like hearing someone pray for their first time! The Spirit was so strong!

Then Luke and his companion started teaching their landlord Linfia!!!! I guess she met with the missionaries about 20 years ago but it didn't go anywhere. So they just started teaching her again and she has already come to church 2 times! In fact this Sunday she was supposed to get a ride with their friend Juan but he ended up not being able to pick her up. But she still figured out a way and called her ex and made him take her :)

They had a great lesson/lunch with Ernesto and Ramona so Elder Reyes could get to know them. Sweet Ernesto always stops things to "make an announcement." This time he stood and announced that he is so grateful for the Lord and that he is going to dedicate the rest of his life to Christ. He is going to get married, get baptized, and serve him the rest of his life. What a sweet man! He welcomed Elder Reyes with open arms and told him he is now his adopted grandson too. He had given Luke a tie and on the back he wrote "For my grandson"

Luke and Elder Reyes are still meeting with their friend Juan's son Gustavo. He is progressing so well! He has stopped smoking for 18 days straight! Such a great accomplishment and I hope he can keep going! He is so nervous to get baptized. He is shooting for September 24th but he has so many concerns that he is anxious about. He is scared his won't be able to live up to his commitments, and he is scared he will fail. So they are trying to help him work through some of his concerns. It's cool because they have been teaching him in his shop that he works at. Luke described it as a tool shop that is like a mini Home Depot. While they have been teaching him, his co-worker Cristian, has been listening in. Soon he started to join them. So now they are teaching Cristian too! What a blessing! So Luke asked us to put both Gustavo and Cristian on the temple prayer roll.

What a week! It was so fun to see Luke healthy and happy! He is so excited to serve with Elder Reyes and they both said they know they will see many miracles this transfer! So full of faith and love!!!! Oh and we got to see Elder Camacho! He stayed at their apartment last night because he is opening a new area in Luke's zone. So that was fun to say hi to him! You can tell he has grown so much since Luke was his trainer months ago. So fun!