A New Baptismal Date and Some Sunday Tamales

Well, nothing too crazy happened this week. We had a fairly successful week with our lessons. There is this one guy in particular that came to church two Sundays ago, that we had never seen before. He came and told us "I love this church so much, can I be baptized?" So yeah! We started teaching him and then invited him to be baptized the 28th and he said "Of course! What clothes do I need to wear what do I need to do?" and so on. So yeah he is super cool. He's like 70 or something and full of life. He won't let us go to his house though because he says some thugs wanna do bad stuff to him . . . So yeah we have to teach him in the church twice a week.

We have another teenager that is very similar but its hard for him to go to church because every time that he is ready to go, something happens and his mom or someone changes his plans. He said that he his convinced that it is "the enemy" that is causing that.

Other than that all is well. I gave a talk in my ward the other day, and I decided to speak about commandments and more specifically the day of rest, because a lot of people break that commandment. Mainly in buying stuff. But yeah, I saw the need for it. It's comforting to know that I can make people laugh in a different language. I tried cracking a few jokes in there and it seemed to work, but then right after church we went to a member's house for lunch and they were there working to make tamales to sell . . . So I don't think they understood or listened . . . But all is well here! Have a great week people!

Elder Vaughan

Reaping the Rewards of the Fast

So this week was pretty good! I will start with the worst part. On Tuesday I got a fever of 103F and almost passed out trying to leave the house for the day, so after that I stayed in bed the whole day with a cold rag on my forehead. But all is well now!

We met up with a member in our ward called Sister Estrada. And we asked her if she knows anyone that we could visit. She then gave us 12 references, and helped us to set up appointments with these people. She has given Books of Mormon, videos, and magazines to all of her neighbors and she has it written down everything she has done. Let this be an example to all. To share what we love and we believe in is simple. Go to your neighbors and say "Hey, I go to this church and this book has helped grow my faith in Jesus. Would you like one too?" (obviously with a little more explanation) and like that you are helping to bless the lives of others. Also she cooks really good.

Monday night we went to a guy's house that we havent taught in a month or so and when we met with him he said that he had been thinking that day about us and that he was looking for God more in his life. He said that he sees us as the answer to the difficult times he has had the past little while. He is already reading the BOM and has a baptismal date for Feburary. So he is pretty excited to go and visit. This past Saturday as a zone we had a fast to increase the number of people attending church. Specifically for our investigatores, and none of them came. But a guy we have never seen came and he said "I like the spirit here and I want to be baptized!" So hello there! Then we had other people we have only met in the church that came, and visited with their kids. We had 6 investigators and 4 less active members in sacrament meeting this past Sunday. My testimony on the fast has really been strengthened, and its not just something we should do once a month but more frequently to really help with whatever problems we have and it will be answered, and maybe not in the way that you wanted but in one way or another it will be answered.

Heres a dope scripture as well

"...Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of Life." Rev. 2:20

Be faithful children

New Years, New Legos

Well, happy new years to all! A solid 7 months here in Central America now! Time really does fly by but it has all been great!

Not a whole lot happened this week, but there was one experience that was kind of cool. So we were visiting a couple people with a member and then he was going to take off and me and my comp were debating on where we were going to go next. We had another member set up to leave with us, in another part of town, but then we thought about visiting an investigator that lives in a different part. I was about to call the member to cancel our appointment with him and head out to this investigator. Then at the end of things we decided to go with the member. Not really sure why, but we left. Then later in the night we went to the investigator (after visiting people with the member) and it turns out she wasn't even home when we were going to visit her. Maybe that was a slight impression from someone that knows more than us in all that we do. And from this we had a really good lesson which we would not of had if we would had left early.

Now for the cheesy New Years resolution. Something that me and my comp did with some families was talk about the attributes of Christ and each of us had to pick 1 that we needed to work on for the new year. I picked humilty, because as missionaries we always think that we are so amazing and we are going to change the world based only on our efforts, but that's not how it works. I need to be more humble and realize the role that my Heavenly Father plays in everything I do. So that is my invitation for you all, to pick an attribute of Christ and focus on it this year. Patience, love, humilty, service, . . . (Josh help me with a couple)

"I know, in the strength of the Lord thou canst do all things" Alma 20:4

Elder Vaughan

I bought some legos, family from church, a huge firework bomb thing, and a New Year's Eve party.

Christmas Pupusa Count Update

So I wrote out a whole email then my internet crashed and didn't save the email in my drafts. Here's the important stuff: 44 pupusas in the past 6 weeks. 110 in all. I weigh 156lbs (with shoes and stuff) I've gained a solid 15lbs. Thanks a lot, pupusas. We had a Christmas party as a mission and played water games and what not. Got to talk with the fam, that was aight I guess. JK. I forgot the other stuff that I wrote, but all is well here. People celebrate Christmas like they celebrate the 4th of July.

Love yall

Elder Vaughan

My zone, Christmas breakfast, with Elder Williams at the Christmas party

Too Much Smiling and Sleep Talking

So this week was pretty good, nothing too crazy. We did some service and painted the roof of a member's house which was cool. So they said that normal paint is too expensive, so she bought a big jug of white glue and mixed it with some water. Yeah that was our paint to paint this ladies roof. It was super drippy and we almost painted the floor better than the roof. This day also proved that I should never be trusted with painting. I am pretty terrible at it, but its aight. Apparently I have been talking a lot in my sleep, and a little in Spanish. Last night my comp said I was crying and whining a bit. So yeah thats interesting. My future wife will have some entertaining nights listening to me. Also we have exchanges of companions this week for a day, and I went with an Elder Stout from WASHINGTON! he is from moses lake and goes home like 3 days after Christmas. He was assistant to the president for 6 months and he is super sweet. We had a good day, and he said that I need to smile more. So we were talking to this lady and I was smiling real big (because he told me too) and she was flirting super hard. So yeah we got out of there. Then he told me I need to control my smile or else I will win over too many Salvadoran girls here. So there is my week in a nutshell. 1 week until Christmas kiddos!!

"...I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus" Acts 21:13

Pupusas and my comp, and the street that I live on

Searching for More to Teach

Just my luck, Seattle would win the championship the year I flee the country.

Well another week in the books. Nothing too crazy to report on, just normal stuff really. We've started exploring more in some parts of our area. Like the parts where members gasp because they find out we visit down there. Apparently its dangerous, its all good though. Its hard there because a lot of the doors are closed and a lot of people have already "accepted Jesus.... know his gospel.... set in the path of God" or something like that. So sometimes we walk around for like 3 or 4 hours with nothing happening. its kind of a bummer but we still keep working and doing what we know that we need to do. With time and hard work things will change and get better. We'll find people ready to listen, we just have to keep looking and working hard.

Love ya'll.

Elder Vaughan

Me and my companion in a cyber cafe.

Still Kickin' it in Ilopango

yoooooooo! 6 months and almost Christmas time. To answer the question everyone will have: Yes, time has flown by and at the same time, it hasn't. Time went by normal wich wasn't slow or fast. Sorry if that's not too exciting, but here I am kicking around in Ilopango. Things are going alright, people here are a little more hard and not as accepting. In San Miguel, it was fairly easy to enter a house and teach people, but here they aren't as accepting and don't want to listen, and then when they accept us they say that they accepted us just because they don't want to be punished by God or something. But we're still going. Nothing too exciting to report on this week, and no pictures either. Lo siento.

Tenga una buena semana.

Elder Vaughan