Mother's Day!

So my Mom is all smiles right now because she just got off the phone with Drake. She was a little nervous that there would be some silences, so she wrote down questions that she wanted to ask before hand. It went really well! I was a little dissappointed as it turned out that he didn't have as much of a problem with English as he had claimed. I only caught a few understandable mistakes, like he didn't know how to say "set up an appointment" in English and he could pronounce Wilford Woodruff's name. Drake was allowed 40 minutes, which went by way too quickly in everyone's opinion. We gave him updates on our lives, heard some stories from him, and had a good time!

On to the letter...

5 May 2009

Dear Family,

I guess I don´t need to tell everything that I have to say now because I get to speak with you Sunday. I thought that mother´s day was later on in this month for some reason, so I didn´t bring it up last week. But I think it will be fine to try to call at 8 my time (7 EST). I can´t be certain as to the exact time that I´ll be calling, but right around there should be fine. My companion, E´Rivas, will probably call home at 7 and when he is done, I´ll call. Remember, I´m only supposed to be on the phone for 40 min. And don´t laugh too much at my failure to speak english. I really am forgetting many things. And saying the R´s in english feels so uncomfortable!

Oh, mom, I completely forgot last time to answer your question about the interviews with President Benton. All of the missionaries absolutely love the interviews because of the love that he expresses for us. I never really feel that he gives too much direction to me. Usually says that I´m doing just great and that I should keep it up. I usually bring him a list of questions that I have throughout the transfer.

Thank you Dad for the letter. I will keep those things in mind. I know that there were a few things which we didn´t handle the best, which we could have done better ourselves. And I know that I will receive a lot more experience in how to handle such situations in the future, whether it be in the church or in work.

Oh, last week I heard something great about an occurance in Villa Amelia. I always ask during transfer meetings what happened and how things are and one of the seeds I helped plant sprouted! Remember when I wrote about Carlos? He was the guy who showed us a leaf of marijuana, but we decided to teach him anyways. Well, E´Spendlove told me that he completely changed his life and was baptized last month. I always felt good about him and knew that he had the potential. The main problem we had was helping him go to church. He never went while I was there. It was also really hard to find him, because he wasn´t home very often when we went. I hope that he´ll remain active and become a strong leader.

This week has been a bit difficult. The major problem we have is that we don´t have very many investigators at this time and as Preach My Gospel says, “Nothing happens in missionary work until you find someone to teach.” (The quote isn´t exact). I´ve been unsure of where to go and what to do to find more investigators. But, we are having a bit of success with what we call “fruta baja” or the fruit that is low on a tree and is easy to pick. These are the family members and friends of members, especially recent converts. Right now we are teaching Sara and Carlos, the parents of Veronica and Vania. Sara especially really likes it, but has some fears of commitment. We also were able to teach Cristian, the spouse of Vania. The main difficulty with him will be his irregular work schedule and helping him go to church.

Ok, I attatched a few more photos. The first is of a pair of socks. As you can see, the outside is pretty grey, but inside out they´re still pretty black. So, I wear them inside out now. The next is of E´Gonzalez and I with our tobagans. He always wears one in the morning and he received more in his package from home, one of which he gave to me. I look like I´m jewish with that tobagan. And the last one is of the zone of Catán.
I hope you get over your flu Mom and that all goes well with the family. Talk to you Sunday!

With love,
Elder Drake Ranquist