Elder Tucker In Mexico: ¡Un fin de semana lleno de milagros!

Hola Familia!

Another good week out here in Portland and it feels good to be writing again!

On Wednesday we did another exchange with the zone leaders and I worked in Cherry Park with Elder Broadbent this time. Elder Broadbent is 23 and had almost graduated from BYU-Idaho before coming out on his mission so he is very smart and mature. It was a blast working with him and we got some good work done in the area. He's a Spanish speaking elder as well so we talked Spanish throughout the whole exchange. He speaks pretty well.

Then, Thursday evening, we had our regular appointment with our investigator, James, where we finished teaching him the Plan of Salvation and then discussed the importance of making church a priority. I began feeling a little discouraged with James because it didn't seem like he had really been keeping his commitments, but it was a powerful lesson and we definitely got him thinking.

Friday, we met with a 41 year-old member named Roger. He converted to the Church when he was 16, but hasn't been very active since. He also just broke up with his girlfriend of 6 years and he takes care of his 11 year-old stepson and a 2 year-old daughter that he had with the ex-girlfriend. Very polite, humble guy. It always throws me off a little bit, though, when some of these people in Portland tell me their age because Roger, for example, looks and talks like a younger person maybe in their late 20s. Anyway, we had a great visit with him where we talked about the Joseph Smith story and patriarchal blessings actually and about coming back to church and he was loving It! Later, we had Michelle's baptismal interview scheduled with President McAteer, but at 6:45 PM, when we got to the cancer center where she stays, they told us that she had already gone to bed for the night. Pretty embarrassing having President drive down for that hahaha.

Saturday was a miracle day of catching people at home! First, we helped a couple inactive people move into their homes and then we were able to stop by and visit three different investigators, Jeanne, Juston, and Ed which never happens. We're working with Jeanne to accept a baptismal date. With Juston, we gave him the chocolate cream pie that one of the inactive people had given us for helping him move which Juston said made his night. And we got to read in the Book of Mormon with Ed. So awesome to be able to catch people at home!

But now for the best part, fast Sunday! I REALLY wanted people to show up to church yesterday and my prayers were answered when James AND Roger walked in the chapel. I can't describe the rush of joy I felt for seeing mine and Elder Valentine's hard work paying off by seeing those two men at church. What a blessing and faith-builder! What a miracle! I now have even more motivation and hope to continue helping these men and many others in their conversion to the Gosepl!

So things are going great over here. I'm learning so much and feel like a more effective missionary everyday. I also have been so good at doing adult things lately like shining my shoes, cleaning/organizing the apartment, and trying to teach myself how to sow haha. It feels good. Anyway hope you are doing well! Keep hitting me up with the emails. Thanks so much for the love and support.

Love,

Elder Tucker