Dear Family,
I received all of your emails. All of them... especially the ones from Dad. Actually, that was all of them. I don't want it to sound like I'm angry about it or anything, but I just thought that now would be as good a time as any to let everyone know how much I enjoy receiving emails. =)
Anyway, I love our new area. It's awesome. I love the missionaries that serve here. They're really inspiring and focused. And President Gelwix is an amazing example.
Today in District Meeting, we talked about the importance of "Talking with Everyone". Then, because we were in the city of Visalia, we decided to go out to this Vietnamese place as a district (which turned out amazing) and Elder Nelson just struck up a conversation with this lady that was sitting next to us. There was nothing embarrassing, nothing awkward about any of it. She was amazed that we would choose to come out here and spend 2 years of our lives working to help other people. He then asked if she would like it if the missionaries came over to her house to which she replied, "Absolutely!"
I am still marveling at the beautiful simplicity of it all. It would seem that the hardest part of talking with everyone is overcoming fear. Because you'll either talk to that lady or you won't. And if you don't, you don't know when it might happen in the future. And she'll either say "yes" or "no". And then at the end of the day, you'll either feel great because you did everything you could, or you'll feel that regret which gnaws away at you. And no one likes to be gnawed at.
So anyway, she'll probably be baptized. It is so simple. Missionary work at its core is simple. Not that it is easy, but it is simple. It turns out that the hardest part is the part where you get over yourself and do it.
We have a baptism projected for this Saturday. It is for Lupe Martinez. She is an awesome person...like, she is just cool. She is getting more and more ready, and I'm sure that it is going to follow through.
My companion, Elder Escobar, is an awesome missionary. He knows what his responsibilities are and he does them to the best of his ability. I'm just excited for this area. It turns out that he is from Miramar, Florida. He knows people that were part of the late Kendall Ward. I think that he is my favorite companion. We just get work done and it is great. Where I fall short, he picks up the slack and runs with it.
I think that every companion that I've had has helped me to become a better missionary... although, some of them have helped me by showing me what to do, and others by what NOT to. Some of them are amazing examples, and for others I feel like whacking them upside the head with Preach My Gospel. There is a reason that obedience is the first law of heaven. It is the law upon which everything is predicated. Ughh... they just don't get it.
Anyway, I'm attaching a couple pictures. One of them is my companion. Another is about a strange dog, named "Sexy". There is a strange story behind why she looks so... so much like she does. It turns out that she was hit by a car and then her owner, Hna. Rocha, kept her dead body in a closet. For three days, the dog was dead, lying there in the closet. When the missionaries came over to her house, she asked them to say a prayer for Sexy. And thus, Sexy was resuscitated. True story.
I'm not sure what the other picture is of.
Well, I can't think of anything else to say.
Love you all.
Elder Ostler
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