11/4/14

Querida Familia,

Well this week has been really awesome! Since we took over the sisters area, things have been going great! We have been going around and meeting all of their investigators, and things are going really well with them! We had a great day at church this last week! We had an attendance of 61 people this past week, which is really good and a lot higher than we have seen in my time here and a lot higher than the branch has seen been in a while. We were blessed to see 10 of our investigators attend and we had quite a few less actives attend! This next week we are actually hoping to see more, because only one person from the new part of our area came, and there are a lot of people who are really receptive and willing to come! But over all things have been going really well and J and her daughters are still on track for baptism, so that is awesome! Well anyway, Sounds like you all had a pretty good week! Gram, I really liked that story you sent, surely enough we don't get anybody asking for signs! And we did get to see Meet the Mormons! We got to see it in one of our Zone Conferences! It was really good! Anyway I love you all!

Elder Lee

10/27/14

Querida Familia, Well another transfer has come and gone. It felt so short. Well just want to let you know that we have our P-day on today, due to transfers tomorrow! Sadly Elder Esplin will be leaving us and we will miss him greatly! In other news, the branch we serve in has 2 companionships (1 elders and 1 sisters) The south area (sisters) will be closing down and we will be covering the whole branch! We are pretty stoked about that! In other news, as you all know we were planning to have a baptism for 3 of our investigators this past week. Due to a series of unfortunate events we were only able to have 1, which is still such a great blessing. One of the investigators who would have been baptized fell back into old habits and after other happenings, left his house and his wife. The wife, J, The other baptismal candidate, we are glad to say is still very prepared and ready for baptism, due to other circumstances she did not pass her baptismal interview, but by the grace of God she was only slightly discouraged, but is very excited to be getting baptized with her 2 daughters the last weekend of November! Anyway, that is about it for me! Sorry I forgot to tell you all it was P-day! I hope you are all doing well! I love you all! Elder Lee

10/21/14

Querida Familia, This week has been pretty good! We have been seeing lots of progress with our investigators! This weekend we will be holding a baptismal service for 3 of our investigators!! J and J M and E G. So we are really excited for that! The daughters of J and J will probably be baptized the last weekend of November. J was the investigator struggling with Word of Wisdom, but after a lot of hard work and support from his wife, He has been clean for 11 days, so he still has 3 more to go, but we know he can make it! We have also been seeing lots of progress with our other investigators too! We have also found a few new investigators, one of which after our first lesson, believes in Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and accepted a baptismal date! Anyway, thats the big news for this week, I am glad you all are doing well! Sounds like you've been having lots of fun! I love you all! Elder Lee

10/14/14

Querida Familia, This week felt kind of slow, but it still turned out to be a good week! We had some really good lessons with some really solid investigators! We had to push a few baptismal dates back a week, because of Word of Wisdom issues, but things are looking really good for them! Our investigator that is struggling the most is J M, but he is doing so good, he is super excited to get baptized, he just has a few issues with drinking and smoking, but he is already inviting people to his baptism, so we are praying that he can stay clean these last two weeks! He has already made so much progress, its amazing to see such great changes! We also saw a few other super solid investigator families! The week was mainly slow because we didn't have much success with finding which takes up a big portion of our time. But other than that it was great! Well Dad, thats cool that you got a new calling, I hope you enjoy that! I know you don't have a whole lot of time to go out with the missionaries, but I would still encourage you to try to get out with them! You never know who could be waiting for you to be their friend! My comps are great, we are still in a trio! They are awesome, we get along great, and they are both hard workers, which I am so grateful for! We have been having a lot of success lately and it has been awesome! Mom, We have not been able to watch meet the Mormons yet, but There are rumors that say we are watching it at Zone Conference this Thursday, so we will see if that is true or not! The high councilman for our branch came to our meetings on Sunday and he was telling us about it, kind of distracting, but I don't really think about it too much. Kyle, I heard you got a new calling too, that is pretty cool! And I am so happy to hear from you! I'm glad you took the time to give me that update even though it could have seemed so silly to others it really meant a lot to me that I got to hear that from you! Anyway, thats about it for me! I love you all! Elder Lee


Our Zone went bowling last
transfer
That was our second place prize!
Elder Doutre is our Zone leader and we started a campaign for him to be the next AP! haha Just kidding we just wanted to pull a prank on him! It was pretty funny and he really got a kick out of it
!

10/7/14

Querida Familia, This week has been pretty good! We had a great General conference week end, with two of our investigators (a couple) who came to 3 of the sessions, so that is awesome, and we are super stoked for them! They are scheduled to be baptized on the 18th, but they may be struggling with word of wisdom problems still, so we might have to push it back. But they will for sure get baptized with their 2 daughters! We also found a really awesome family of 7 who will probably be baptized too, They told us they want to come to church so hopefully we will see them there this week! So they are doing great! Other than that we have been doing a lot of finding, and seeing miracles from it! General Conference was really good! I always like to hear President Uchtdorf speak! I also really liked Christofferson's talk in the first session! Well thats about it for me, We have seen lots of miracles this past week! I am glad everyone is doing well, Thats fun that Ryan, Brittany, and Easton will be spending some time in the Homeland! Haha! Gram, its good to hear how things are going there! I really enjoy the stories you send, they always make me laugh! Anyway, I love you all! Elder Lee

9/30/14

Querida Familia, This week was pretty awesome, we are making a lot of progress with one of our investigator families! They are super awesome, the parents are trying to quit drugs and alcohol, and have made a lot of progress! They have a really awesome friend in the branch, so they are getting a lot of help! They made it to church this past weekend and really liked it! And we are hoping they can make it to General Conference this weekend! They have a baptismal date for the 18th and we think they will make it, so that will be exciting! Also, we got to go to the temple yesterday for our semiannual temple trip! That was really awesome, I heard there was a new video, but I didn't get to see it! Oh well, still awesome! I am so grateful to have a temple in the mission, and I am grateful for the spirit and blessings that the temple brings! I wish we could go more often! Well anyway, thats about it for me, It was a really good week! I love you all! Elder Lee

9/23/14

Querida Familia, This week was really amazing! We have seen so many miracles this week! We got our third companion, his name is Elder Myers, He is from Vermont and has been out for 6 transfers! He is a great missionary! So this last week we found a lot of new investigators! And they are all so great! We have been inviting them all to get baptized and have committed 11 of them to a specific date! I have such a strong testimony that if you pray for miracles and diligently seek them, the Lord will provide them! I can honestly say that this past week, has been the best week on my mission so far! I have such a great love for this area and for my companions! Anyway, I love you all! Elder Lee

9/15/14

Querida Familia, This week was pretty good! We have been getting lots of members out with us recently which is awesome! We had a member out every day last week except for saturday! We have found quite a bit of potential investigators this week too! We actually had a branch party on saturday and about half the people that came were non members, so we are following up with the members that invited them! And the party was really fun! I will send pictures today of that and the Zoo! We also had the primary program on Sunday, so we combined with the english ward for sacrament! Unfortunately we did not have any investigators come to that, but we did have an awesome lesson later that day with our most progressing investigator, and it looks like we will be able to move his date up, hopefully to October! So that will be good! Anyway, I love you all! Elder Lee <

Party!

More Party!! More Party!! District Picture Dirt Road Zoo Time!! Dino Leg Don't Litter! The Polar Bears and Me Us in a cave! The King The Group of Kings Mama and Her Cubs The King has been slain The king and... the Lion! Thought I was gonna say I didn't you? There was even a Unicorn there!

9/9/14

Querida Familia, this week was a pretty slow week. We really struggled with teaching people, but this week is looking up! We had a really good planning session yesterday and we have kicked off the week good! We had a member come out with us yesterday and we were able to teach one of our investigators with him, so that was really good! Other than that not much happened, We are going to go bowling today, so that should be fun! And We are actually running a little behind schedule today, because we went and gave an unexpected blessing to someone, so I won't be sending the zoo pictures this week, but next week for sure! Anyway, not a whole lot to report on this week. The Promise from our mission president is going well, I have been able to keep track of that, but still struggling to do everything, but I am improving so thats good. Anyway, I love you all! Elder Lee

9/2/14

Querida Familia, This week was pretty good! We had a great time at the zoo last week, unfortunately I forgot my camera this week so I will send the pictures next week! So we have been pretty busy here, we've done a lot of finding so hopefully we will start to see some fruits of that, but our investigator who had a baptismal date for this weekend was feeling really pressured and wanted to push it back, unfortunately he doesn't want to do it until December, but we are working with him and hopefully we can get him feeling the spirit and feeling comfortable with baptism. So a few months ago our mission president made us a promise that if we "Purify" ourselves we will be blessed throughout our lives and he gave us a sort of outline to follow. So if we follow this outline for 90 days we will see the fruits of this promise. So this is something that I tried to follow for a little while, but it seemed to have slipped into the back of my mind. So my companion and I have decided to start this promise again, to "Purify" ourselves and our lives. So that is what we are working on right now! Well, that's about it for me. I am glad you all are doing well! Mom, I haven't heard anything about the iPads yet, except for rumors that every mission in the U.S. will have them by the fall, but like I said, rumors! Aunt Robyn, It was good to hear back from you, I'm glad things with the pizza place are coming along! That's crazy to hear that Kevin is already getting ready to put in his papers! Dad, Things are still going great with my companion and I! We were actually running short on miles this last week so we decided to bike! So that was fun! Hopefully when I get back I will be able to keep up with you at fountainhead, but road biking is a lot different than mountain biking! Anyway, I love you all! Elder Lee The Promise: President Miller Hello Missionaries, Spent the day in Santa Fe with great missionaries of Rio Rancho and Santa Fe Zones. How very inspiring it is to be with you missionaries. Sister Miller and I drove back to Albuquerque talking all the way home about the consecrated missionaries we had been with all day, thank you. In our Zone Conference today, I felt prompted to make a promise to the missionaries of this mission. A promise if followed, would enable you to become the worthy instrument God intended for you to be as you serve in this mission. The promise would have everlasting effects in your life. It would empower you to become better students with a greater ability to comprehend, learn and retain knowledge. It will bless you in seeking and finding an eternal companion, and will bless and protect your marriage from storms of the adversary. Your children will feel the effects of this promise in that they will grow to have a greater protection from the same trials you deal with now. You will be blessed in your professional life, and in your abilty to make decisions, as well as being blessed with greater wisdom. The promise is not trial specific, but if kept will allow the keeper to overcome many trials. It will indeed allow your weaknessess to become your strengths. (Ether 12:27) The promise will enable you to have a deeper understanding of the love our Savior has for you. The promise: By following the outline below for 90 days, avoiding sin, inpure thoughts, being fully repentant and obedient, you will have ABSOLUTE POWER to overcome these trials and many more for the rest of your life, contigent upon your worthiness to The Lord. Blessings of great abundance throughout your life will be yours because of your steadfastness in the gospel as you maintain the principles as outlined in the following. Your very nature will change, you will become more Christ like and your love for your Savior will increase significantly. Unwanted behaviors will diminish and you will become the master of your thoughts. I encourage all to embrace and make this apart of who you are.\ How to receive the promise. 1.) Begin by developing a genuine relationship with Our Father in Heaven, through deep and meaningful prayer, where you can express the deepest desires of your heart and acknowledge with gratitude the blessings you have received in your life. Remember, it was the humble prayer of a 14 year old boy that opened the door to the restoration of the gospel. In Alma 34:27 we read "Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those around you." When we are not kneeling in prayer, we should always have a prayer, a desire, in our hearts.....all the time. D&C 19:28, D&C6:16, Remeber also that when we engage in secret prayer Satan cannot interrupt for the Lord has designed this to be "His channel." 2.) Every morning in your prayers, ask for strength to overcome your trials, be specific in describing your trials, be focused on what you are asking for, picturing in your mind your Father in Heaven as if he were there with you, intently listening to your pleas. Do not rush your prayers, stay focused, pausing to ponder and listen during your prayers. Ask to understand how the scriptures you will read this day will lead you to the answers of questions you have and will enlighten your mind with understanding. Express Gratitude for the gifts and blessings you have received. D&C 59:21, D&C 78:19 3.) Everyday as you study the scriptures, read to understand. Seek to find and apply both Spiritual and temporal lessons found in the scriptures into your life. Highlight and read often scriptures that seem to have siginificant meaning to that which you are trying to overcome. Ponder on what you have read and prayed for. Ponder on, and imagine in your mind what type of person you desire to become, example: a righteous mother or father, a succesful business man or woman, a worthy husband or wife, etc... keep those thoughts in the back of your mind. Remembering that if you can think it, you can become it,(Proverbs 23:7) and by following this promise you will achieve it with honor. 2 Nephi 4:15 4.) Consciously ponder every decision you make throughout your day, pondering the prayer you offered that morning and thinking of the prayer you have had in your heart. The knowledge of truth has little value unless we apply it in making correct decisions. Again, I would use the word, "PONDER" allowing the Spirit to influence your senses. Taking time in making decisions and pondering the consequences will in almost every situation be the wise and correct method. Spontaneous decisions, given no thought will in most situations lead to guilt and heartache. Think of President Uchtdorf's conference address "A Matter of a Few Degrees", his opening words were, "The difference between happiness and misery...often comes down to an error of only a few degrees." In our making decisons, the difference between happiness and misery comes down to pondering and thinking about the correct decision or spontaneously making an incorrect one. Approach this promise with the knowledge that our Father in Heaven will help you achieve your goal, if you have a true desire to accomplish it. The blessings you will receive from this promise are everlasting. Your conversion will become immovable and substantial, and you will have great influence on those around you. I pray for your strength in allowing this promise to become a part of you, for the rest of your life. Pres. Miller

8/26/14

Querida familia, Well this week was pretty good, we have been finding lots of new people, and we have a lot of people accepting the baptismal invitation! We were able to set 2 more baptismal dates with some awesome investigators! Their Dad is a less active member who wants to start coming back to church! So things are going good with them! Other than that not much has been going on! We are going to go to the Zoo today so I'll have lots of pictures next week! Thats crazy that everyone is getting married! I am glad that everyone is doing well and staying safe! I love you all! Elder Lee

8/19/14

Querida Familia, This week was pretty good! We have a super solid investigator who is coming super close to baptism! His date is for the 6th of September. He still has a few reservations, but we know that he can make his date! We also have a less active member whose daughter wants to get baptized and they came to church this week so we are super excited for that and will hopefully set a date with her this week! Other than that there is not a whole lot happening, we are mainly focusing on them. We have a lot of really solid potentials that we are gonna stop by this week, so we will see how things go with them! We don't have any cool plans for this P-day, but next we are going to try to go to the Albuquerque Zoo! So we will see if we can do that! Elder Esplin is awesome, he is a great missionaries and one of my favorite companions! That's crazy that everyone is getting married out there! You will have to send pictures of Andrew's wedding! So I also got news from my last companion that one of our investigators down there is super close to baptism! It is N, the lady whose house we painted! I am super stoked about that! That 50 mile bike ride sounds like it was super awesome! I probably would have done pretty well since I'm such a pro biker now! Haha! Anyway! I am glad you are all doing well! That was pretty crazy news this week! Anyway, I love you all!

8/12/14

Querida Familia, Well, big news this week! I am in the Los Lunas stake in New Mexico! I am in the Tome North area and my companion's name is Elder Spencer Esplin. He is from Firth Idaho. I like this area a lot! It is really green. And it is way colder than El Paso. I sleep with a beenie at night because it is so cold! The temperature is only in the 80's too, so thats sad that I get so cold. But anyway, This branch is super awesome, I am really grateful to be in a branch again! But the work here is really good, we were able to set 2 baptismal dates this last week, and we are hoping to set more this week! Well, I hope things are going well for you all there! I love you all! And I will be sending pictures this week too! Elder Lee

Our last district

Elder Smith and I with the Y Family

Me with Jose Luis Urrieta Jr. (Ward Mission Leader)

Me with the Urrieta family

Me Elder Rodriguez and Elder Folsom (we all came out together)

Me and Joealee Borja (Member preparing for his mission)

Us and the R family

Me and the Ru Family

Me and the owner of the house (she was an investigator named N)

The house we Painted! (it was blue before)

Me and the P Family (they were investigators)

Elder Foulk and I (he was my ZL)

Elder Foulk and I again

Elders Folsom, Smith, Lee, and Hurren (we all came out together)

Elder Smith and I

Elder Westover and I (one of my old Comps)

Elder Esplin and I in our area!

Just a glimpse of our area!

Me and our truck! (It rained so there was a lot of mud that we had to drive through)

Elder Esplin grabbing the moon

Elder Lee eating the moon!

8/6/14

We finally received this in August He finally got around to mailing us his Christmas package from last Christmas.

8/4/14

Querido Familia, Well, this week was really good, we had a few awesome lessons this week! Some of our investigators are finally starting to progress! Well the news that you have all been waiting for... I am being transferred tomorrow! I will be somewhere in New Mexico I don't know where yet but it will be in or above Las Cruces! I love this area that I am in, but I am excited to get transferred and experience something new! This transfer there are a lot of changes happening and there are 25 new missionaries coming into the field! Well, sorry there isn't a whole lot to report on this week, but next week you'll find out where I am and who my new companion is! I love you all! Elder Lee

7/29/14

Querido Familia, This last week was really rough at the beginning, but towards the end it became really good! We had a few miracles happen this last week! One of our miracles was on Friday! We had an investigator tell us that her family, who are members, would come from Mexicali! So we went to go meet her family and she let us in! But while we were still getting to know the family she got up to leave to go do something (not sure what). But she also had another brother and his family visiting who are not members, so we talked with him a little bit too, and we actually had a really good lesson with them and they said we could stop by their house and teach them more! That was the first miracle, and the second was on Saturday, when we had an investigator that has been coming to church for months and investigating for a while, Accepted a baptismal date! So it was a really good week over all! And since then I have been praying to see miracles everyday, and it is amazing at how much the Lord does for us when we ask! It is amazing the little miracles that he shows us in our lives! Well that was mainly our week! I am glad you all are doing well! Transfers will be next week so P-day will be on Monday next week! I love you all! Elder Lee

7/22/14

Querido Familia! This week was pretty good! We have been doing a lot of finding and contacting! We have an investigator that is progressing really well! She is reading The Book of Mormon and the pamphlets we give! We are actually painting her house for her, which is quite a big project and is taking longer than we thought. But we also ha another investigator that came to church for the 7th time this past Sunday! He is not really progressing though, he just likes our church services, it is really hard to have a lesson with him, because he talks a lot and it is hard to cut him off! This last week we also had a member bring us In N' Out Burger! He and his family went on vacation and drove through Tucson on his way back and got In N' Out Burger! Its not surprising since he told us that sometimes he will drive all the way over there just to go to In N' Out then drive back! That's about a 4 hour drive! Well I know you all are really concerned about what we do on our P Days so I am pleased to inform you that later today we will be going to El Centro (Down Town)! There are a lot of shops there where thing are really cheap! So we will see how that goes! Well, its good to hear that you all are doing well and had fun on your vacation! I hope that all continues to go well! I love you all! Elder Lee

7/15/14

Querido Familia, This week was pretty good! We were able to teach quite a few lessons this week! We also got an awesome referral from a member of our ward, whose mother wants to be baptized, and the best part is that her mother lives with them and is pretty much free all the time! Everything mainly depends upon the rest of the family being there! This transfer has been flying by, I just hope that I will be able to be here for this baptism! But that's ok if I'm not, as long as she gets there is all that matters! Well we went on exchanges this past week. I was in my area with another Elder (Elder Rodriguez) We had a few good lessons when I was with him! Other than that, not a whole lot happened! We have been doing a lot of finding recently! A lot of our investigators don't seem to be progressing or just can't meet as often as we would like or even often at all. But we have been getting a lot of referrals lately. The English Elders that cover our area do a lot of finding as well so we both work well with each other and get lots of referrals for each other. So we had 2 big rain storms here and they were 2 days in a row! It flooded quite a bit, mainly because the drainage here in El Paso is not good at all! But they were pretty short storms! We got caught right in the middle of them both! We just got completely soaked and it was crazy because we had to navigate around all the giant puddles/rivers. But they only lasted like 15-30 minutes, so afterward we just kept pressing forward! Well that's pretty much it for me, sorry there's not a whole lot to report on, but next week I'll have a good letter for you all! I love you all! Elder Lee

7/8/14

Querido Familia! This last week was pretty good! It wasn't quite as good as we had hoped, but it was way better than the previous week! This last week on the 4th we had Zone Training which was really good! President Miller sat in on it and gave really inspired input! After Zone training President Miller had interviews with a lot of us, including me. Those were really good! That took up a lot of our day, because we were the last ones he interviewed, so we sat around the church and studied until 5ish! then after that we went to have dinner at a less actives house! They are really rich and have a big house and they had a lot of family there too! So that was pretty fun! We didn't see any fireworks or anything, because it turns out that fireworks are illegal in El Paso, because of the huge fire hazard! The weather here has been pretty low the last week or so. It has been in the 90's quite a bit and even one day there was a storm where it drizzled rain a little bit. That day it was really cool, it was in the 80's so that was nice. Tengo confianza en mi espanol, pero no orgullo! Todavia y siempre estoy aprendiendo espanol! Yo se que no voy a tener perfecto espanol, entonces siempre hay espacio para aprender mas, yo no voy a olvidarlo nunca! Its good to hear that everyone is doing well! I hope everyone has a good week this week! I love you all! Elder Lee

7/1/14

Querido Familia, This last week was not a very good one! My companion got sick the first few days, and his bike was in the shop! So we did not get a whole lot done at the beginning! Later I got a little sick, but not enough to keep us from going out, so we went out to teach, but we were so behind in the week that we got super discouraged. But we kept trudging along, because there was no other option, but we just were not at the top of our game! It was a pretty rough week but, this week it is going to be better! In fact, we have already started out the week really well! We had a member come out with us yesterday, and we had an awesome dinner last night where a member brought a friend and we had a really good discussion about the Book of Mormon! Also yesterday since we had weekly planning we made a ton of phone calls for our dinners this week, and for members to come out with us this week! So this week is looking very promising! On another note, our bishop cancelled the last 2 hours of church this past Sunday because, "They just redid the gym floor and the fumes are strong, so we don't want anyone to get sick or pass out!" But we suspect that he just wanted to go home and watch the Mexico v. Netherlands game! Haha! Just kidding. Apparently they redid the floor in another building too and some old lady actually passed out! Crazy huh?! Anyway, I am glad too hear that everyone is doing well! I got the package slip, so I will be going to get the package today, and I will also drop off the package that I have to send! We don't have any big plans for the 4th of July, I actually forgot about that until yesterday! We will probably just go out and meet some crazy people though! Maybe see a few fireworks go off! Who knows! It barely gets dark by the time we go in though, so probably won't see a whole lot! Recently I have been reading in Jesus the Christ and I was reading about the ministry of the twelve apostles. This is when Jesus is still alive and he sends the out on "Missions." Before he sends them out he tells them kind of what he expects of them! He tells them how to go about preaching his gospel. There were a lot of things he told them, but everything he told them applies to us as missionaries and specifically me. But in a brief overview he told them they they are called to preach his gospel and that they are to be bold and to know that they are protected by the power of God! And that is something that really stuck out to me! I am here on a mission to proclaim that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been Restored to the earth! That alone is a bold statement, and therefore should be stated boldly! It does not matter what the circumstance may be, or who I may be talking to! It must be said boldly, with faith that God is there with us and that he is protecting us! And I know that The true Gospel of Jesus Christ has been Restored to the earth and that we again have all of the sacred saving ordinances! I testify of that in the name of Jesus Christ! Love Elder Lee

6/23/14

Querido Familia! Well first I want to apologize, I completely forgot last week to tell you we have transfers this week! That is why I am emailing today! But I will be staying here in this area with Elder Smith! Anyway, This week has been pretty slow, we had a hard time teaching lessons this week. But this week we are going to start picking things up again! We were able to contact quite a few referrals though, which was pretty awesome, a lot of those referrals seem to be pretty interested, so we will see how things go with them! Sorry there is not much to report on this week, but next week I will have a big letter for you all! I hope you are all doing good and all is well! I love you all! Elder Lee

6/17/14

Querido familia, Happy Father's Day Dad, Grandpa, and Ryan! This week was very good! We have been pretty busy! We haven't been able to set those baptismal dates yet, but we are still working on it! There's not a whole lot to report on this week. Just that we have been teaching a lot more than usual, which is good! I feel that with each week that passes I lose myself a little more in the work! Anyway, its good to hear that everyone there is doing well! It sounds like Ryan had an awesome high adventure this past week! I hope one day he can teach me to skin and cook a boar! Easton is so big now! It looks like he enjoyed his cake! Well I hope this week is good for you all! Sorry for the short email, my attention is just not all here today! Well, I love you all! Elder Lee

6/10/14

Querido Familia! Esta semana fue muy bien! Tuvimos muchas buenas lecciones! Todavia no tenemos algunos investigadores que estan progresando o con una fecha bautismal, pero esperamos que manana vamos a tener una familia con una fecha! Queriamos que tuvieron una fecha esta semana pasada, pero ellos quieren que hablaramos con toda su familia antes que se acuerden a una fecha! Y eso es algo que habiamos estado tratando hacer todo el tiempo que habiamos ensenandoles! Pretty much what that said is that we had an very good week, and lots of good lessons! We don't have any investigators progressing or with a baptismal date, but we are hoping for one tomorrow, We wanted them to have one last week but they wanted us to talk with their whole family before they agree to a date, which is what we have been trying to do the whole time we have been teaching them! And if you put all that into google translate, it may say something whack, because I don't have accents in there! Over the last few weeks and over the course of my mission, I have been thinking about the Christ-like attribute of love! I have come to realize that I cannot even comprehend even the tiniest bit of Love! I have thought about the Love that our savior has for each and every person, and it is unfathomable! I also considered the amount of love that a parent has for their child, and it too is unfathomable! This is something that I wish I had realized a long time ago, but as I considered this, I thought back to everything that you guys (Mom and Dad) have said and done with regards to me! And it is amazing to me how even some of the little things that have been said were out of love! For example, the advice that I have gotten the most from Dad, while on my mission is to Be Happy! I had never really thought much about it until yesterday, when my companion and I were walking down a street and he asked me, "What kind of missionary do you want your children to be?" and almost immediately I responded, "Better than me!" and almost at that same moment the thought came into my mind that My very father probably had the same frame of mind! This got me thinking of everything that my parents want for me, and it brought my attention to the advice to Be Happy! And I considered that and thought that that is something that I can really improve on! Not that I am not happy, I love my mission and enjoy it immensely and I would not trade it for anything in the world! But surely I am not perfect, and I thought about it for a while, and thought, just because I am happy doesn't mean that others can tell I am happy! So I decided to work towards being happy and having others be able to tell that I am happy! But, my attention was drawn to yet another aspect! Is this not what every parent wants for their child? Is this not what our Father in heaven wants for all of his children? To be Happy! I am so thoroughly convinced that this is the great desire that our father in heaven has for each and every one of his children! To be happy! To enjoy the fullness of blessings that come from this Gospel, and eventually to have Eternal Happiness in the world to come! I am convinced that it was this that drove the savior when he was suffering for us in the Garden of Gethsemane, and again while on Calvary. It was this love that he had for each of us. The desire he had for each of us to be happy! I am so grateful for the Love that you all have for me and the small things you tell me! Because even the littlest thought or phrase or piece of advice can go a long way! And although I still don't know the immensity of love that you guys have for me I want to express the love that I have for each and every one of you! And the Gratitude that I have for all that you do! Love, Elder Lee

6/3/14

Querido Familia! First things first, Happy Birthday Mom and Easton! I hope you have a fantastic day! Well, this week was pretty good! We had exchanges last week, which was awesome! We tracted into a super solid person and he let us in to teach him right then! We also had Zone Conference yesterday! That was super awesome! I learned so much! We have been focusing a lot on teaching simply. Yesterday's Zone Conference was probably the best one I have been to so far! It definitely rekindled mine and my companions attitude and got us pumped! Then after Zone Conference, we went and tought our best lesson that we have had together. We taught our investigator (J P) about the restoration and invited him to be baptized and he said yes, and we tried to set a date, but he said he would have to talk to his wife, who is also our investigator, she just wasn't at the lesson yesterday! But they are both super solid, and we will be following up with the date tomorrow! Anyway, not much else happened, except at Zone conference we found out that we need to get side bags and Backpacks are no longer allowed! So we will see how that goes! Anyway, I love you all! Elder Lee

5/27/14

Querido Familia, Well this week was really good! We have been getting more and more busy lately! We have been teaching a lot more lessons than before! And we have been slowly getting more members out with us! Members are the Key to doing missionary work! It is extremely difficult to get people to progress and come to church without members! This week we attended a funeral for the man I talked about last week! It was very interesting, because first they had a catholic priest come do a ceremony, then a member of our ward blessed the grave! I think the weirdest part was that the catholic priest started talking and he had an italian accent! But other than that, it was a very morbid experience! And I know you are wondering about dressing the body, and the only thing I am going to say about that is that it was a very sacred experience that I will always hold close to my heart! Well anyway, I know this letter is kind of short, but I don't have a whole lot to talk about! I'll make up for it by sending pictures! I love you all! Elder Lee My last Companion Elder Ramos My last district leader Elder Richards and I when we were on exchanges My Companion Elder Smith and I at the Temple My ward mission leader Jose Luis and Elder Rodriguez (An Elder in my district) and I Me next to the lamborghini that we saw outside of someones house Our ward mission leader when he came out with us on bikes! And me in my goober glasses to keep the dust out of my eyes! The wind has calmed down a bit now so I don't wear them as much, because I look ridiculous in them! Our district last transfer! From left to right: Elders Lee and Smith, Sisters Wilcoxson and Mitchell, Elders Rodriguez and Richards, Elders Blood and Berrett! The ZL's are in our district too but they weren't there for the picture! Elder Rodriguez and I