Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Ontario, California -September 2, 2014

Hey family!

Well I would assume that dad was writing that last email because there was some of his sense of humor in there.  It made me laugh.  And I did laugh when I heard that story about Elder Nelson, so I thought I would share it with you.  I am glad you enjoyed it too!  

Well I am pretty sure that Doubletree is actually in my area.  I cover most of the hotels right around the airport.  And we do like our air conditioning here in California.  No one likes the heat I have come to find out.  I don't know why so many people live here.  Everyone that has air keeps it cold.  Lots of people in Ontario live in older homes so they don't have air...those are not my favorite homes to visit.  So now twice on my mission, you have been in my area.  And how many times for Cameron?  Oh yeah thats right. None.  So that means I must be the favorite missionary :)

Well on to our week.  Things are going okay here.  Manuel came to church on Sunday! That was good.  Four weeks in a row for him.  He had an interview with President Hobbs right after church so see if he was good with baptism.  Normally our investigators just meet with our district leader, but because Manuel has been to jail a few times, he had to meet with President.  So we were a little afraid to see how that interview was going to go.  

It was about a half an hour interview and at the end, President Hobbs called us into the room with him and Manuel-never a good sign.  So we went in.  Manuel is still struggling with an addiction to smoking.  He has cut down from about a pack a day to 3 or 4 cigarettes, but isn't completely off them.  President told us that he didn't want Manuel to feel rushed and so he wanted to give him just a week or two more before his baptism.  President did say that everything else from the past is good and taken care of though. So as soon as Manuel quits smoking, he is ready for baptism! We are super excited about that.  Everything went fairly well.

Our bishop and President then gave Manuel a blessing to help he over come the addiction.  We walked out of the room and Manuel turned to us and told us he felt like he was glowing! We were so happy! I thought maybe he would feel discouraged or sad, but he didn't! He could feel the spirit! And strong too! We are so excited for him!  We can't wait.  I will keep you updated! :)

We also taught Isaiah, Victoria and Tatiana this week.  They have a baptismal date for the 13th of September!  We taught the Word of Wisdom and tithing and fasting.  It all went over pretty well. Isaiah said he had no problems with any of it.  Tatiana said she would try to remember.  She is 11 so understandable but she understood and said she would try her best.  Victoria on the other hand (12!!) told us she couldn't give up coffee or tea....are you kidding me? haha She is twelve.  So we are going to keep working with her.  I don't know if she will be ready for baptism.  We are hoping if she won't give it up, then at her family's baptism, she will realize it is what she wants as well, and then give it up.  So I will let you know how that goes.  We have 2 lessons set up with them this week.

We weren't able to meet with the Zunigas family.  They didn't come to church either.  So that is 7 weeks without being at church and 2 weeks without lessons.  (they cancelled yesterday)  We are thinking it might be time to drop them or at least put them on the back burner until they are willing to start keeping commitments, which is sad, but they aren't doing their part.  We can't do it all for them.  

Well I hope you have a good week.  Be smart and safe. 
Love you all
Sister Woodward

Sister Woodward and Sister Manumu'a


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