Elder Jake Welch: 02-03-15 to 02-09-15

This week was a bit slow but had many good moments as well! So Tuesday we met with some new investigators named San and Milt, and the mom of San named Ros. They were super cool, and had a TON of good questions! It was cool how every question they asked during the lesson we could answer super clear in the next section of the lesson! So wooo 3 new investigators! We're up to 38! Granted only about 10 are progressing right now, but that's why we find new investigators so much! To have more progressing. The sucky thing is Milt is going to the military soon for 6 months so we won't get to teach him. But he's been reading the Book of Mormon on his own so if he keeps that up and prays with faith to know if its true or not, his time away shouldn't be a problem! That night we met with H. and his wife M. to teach them lesson L3. (we skipped lesson L2 because they had lots of questions about baptism. This was our 2nd lesson with them.) He understood everything perfectly, including the importance of baptism. He's gonna baptize sooo fast. I feel really bad though, because all his sons are heavy are drugs. When we got there, his son was laying on the bed, and got up punching the air and groaning with super red eyes. And during the end of our lesson, I could smell marijuana. I can tell its super hard on the parents because they know how awful those things are. I hope H. and M. following this path can lead them to help their boys. Wednesday Solorio and I went in divisions with the zone leaders, him with Rodriguez (who happens to be his old comp) and me with Inman. 2 gringos! That morning we made french toast, but the eggs must've been bad because I puked 3 times and had bad diarrhea. Strangely it only lasted about 15 min. But I prayed super hard that I could feel better to go work, so ONCE AGAIN faith has saved me from illness! haha so cool! Sadly enough, that day we had a hard time finding appointments. We met with Viviana, and she asked us to reteach repentance, because she has some things to make right. Its super cool to see her trying to better herself to serve a mission. Now if she'd only come to church dang it! The other was with Antonio. Thursday was alright. We passed by San and Milt, and they couldn't visit but they're reading the Book of Mormon which is great news! The only other really notable lesson was with Ros, and we taught her the Plan of Salvation. We asked to to be baptized but she wouldn't commit until she understands it better. Friday, we only got 2 lessons in. One was with a woman named Carmen and her daughter. They live in a tiny shack with dirt floors and tarp insulation up on a hill. Their home is very very humble. Only 1 room with 2 beds, and a camp stove. We didn't teach a full lesson because we're gonna wait for her Boyfriend I, the father of the little girl. They've lived together for 10 years but haven't married. So we'll work on that haha. We just taught them how our messages can bless her family. (don't worry, since no man was present we taught outside.) She is super interested because she wants to better the life of her little girl. The other lesson we had was with H. and M. on the Plan of Salvation. They understand so dang good. He nearly had 0 questions. But we're working to teach really clear with lots of questions so I guess we're doing a good job as teachers haha. Saturday was super hard. Just because we couldn't find ANY one to teach. But at 6, the other missionaries, Paskett and Ore had a baptism, so we went and brought our investigator Ros with us. She's such a sweet older woman of about 60ish. She said it was really beautiful yet simple. I hope it made an impact on her. We're hoping it will help her wanna be baptized. Sunday was incredibly frustrating. So first off, when sacrament started, we had about 50 people in the congregation. Then after the sacrament, about another 50 came in. The people here in Ipiales do NOT understand punctuality. Also, out of 5 investigators we were SURE would come to church, only H. came. It's okay his wife didn't because she has the flu, but the other investigators don't have much of an excuse. H. loved it though, it was cool to see how receptive he was. GOLD. Saturday night we paid Ros for lunch on Sunday. She has a restaurant and is struggling financially so we wanted to support her. So after sacrament, we ate with Ros as a district. As a result of eating right after church, we had to miss ward counsel. But in Preach my Gospel it says its okay to skip ward counsel if we have an appointment with an investigator. But apparently the leaders of our branch don't understand that because our ward mission leader who was there said the other leaders were talking bad about us because of it. Ipiales has a HUGE problem with gossip within the church. So yeah we're a bit frustrated with our branch right now. The church is honestly so weak here. And we're trying to help, but apparently it's not appreciated. But what ever, we'll still work hard, try and keep a Christlike attitude, and try and move the great work forward. Pray that we can get stuff figured out here because it's honestly a joke here. But yeah, there's my week. A bit slow, but hey, that's the mission. You win some you lose some. Today we found out transfers and I'M STILL IN IPIALES! WOo! so our goal this transfer is to baptize who we found this last transfer. Super excited!! Love you all! Hope this week is great!

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He didn't mention that he has a new American Roommate:

Mom: You haven't mentioned your new roomie! Elder Killpack is one of the blogs I follow so that's how I knew...are you liking him? How's it having a gringo?!?

Jake: hahaha yeah kill pack is great! we were in the CCM together, so we already knew one another! I forgot to mention him! Its nice to speak English in the house now because my comp always asked me to so he could learn but it was hard to remember!!