Monday, February 9, 2009

Monday, February 9, 2009 -- Crisis

Attached is a picture of the baptism of Jeovany and Jorge. You will recognize Jorge from the pictures of his wedding and the baptism of his wife. You will also recognize Eddi, the father of Jeovany from the picture of his baptism. Eddi recieved the Aaronic priesthood a few weeks ago and last week preformed his first ordinances baptizing his nephew and his son.
Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time this week either. After writing, I am going to help another couple of investigators get married. Lucy, the mother of the girl with cancer, and her husband Toño are going to get married today. She has been wanting to get married for a long time so that she can get baptized, but they haven't had the money. Her husband has been without a job for a while (as are many people in the current crisis.) But last week, Toño's uncle, Roberto Carlos, when he found out that the only obstacle was money, pulled 700 pesos out of his wallet and gave them to her. It was a miracle.

Congratulations to the Tyler Twins [who both just received calls to serve as missionaries in Brazil]. That brings my total of friends in Brazil on missions to four. It is incredible to think that I have friends in many different countries all engaged in the same work.

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Everybody is talking about the [financial] crisis these days. It seems like half the people we talk to are unemployed. The dollar is at 15 pesos. And everybody blames President Bush and the United States. I really don't know much about it. But I know that the economic crisis is nothing compared to the spiritual crisis the world is facing today. For some people, the hard economic times will help them remeber God, as happened to the Nephites several times. I don't know what the solution to economic crisis is, but every day I share the solution to the spiritual crisis. And it works. I've seen it again and again. The solution: faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, the gift ofthe Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.

Thanks for the birthday greetings. It is hard to believe that tomorrow I will no longer be a teenager. It is harder to believe that 1/3 of my mission has gone by.

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P.S. Elder Valenzuela is no longer in my zone, but he is still in the city, which means I see him once or twice a transfer. [Thanks to those of you who have been writing to Elder Valenzuela -- Eds.]

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