Circunvalacion 1 - Week No Se Cuantito (#12, I think)

¡Hola Familia Mia!

This has been a pretty laid back week here in the trenches (as Dad puts it). Elder Skidmore is catching on to the work of the Historian very, very quickly... that means that I could have more special changes any minute now! I'm half expecting that my phone rings as I sit here writing you right now... *RING* *RING*

Ok, so I didn't just get a phone call but I've definitely entered into the anxious/nervous mode about what change will happen next. On the bright side, after 2 weeks of training, I've we've now got a new office member who can survive without my help. There will be no sink or swim this time, I've made sure of it!

The work is progressing, slowly but surely, in the vineyard of Circunvalación. We've had quite a bit of extra time this week to work in the sector and we've had a little bit of success in finding. Last Wednesday the father of a young man in our ward died suddenly, Diego wasn't handling it very well at first, and his mother who is not a member of the Church was taking it harder. This tragedy has opened the door of her home again to receiving the missionaries, and we've now had 2 opportunities to share the Gospel with her. So keep Sylvia & Diego in your prayers, they need it and Sylvia needs this gospel.

This last week in our zone class we had a brainstorming session about what we want the mission as a whole to recognize about the office. When I arrived to the office nobody in the mission really had a clue about what we did or really even recognized much that we existed. Now I'm not sure there are many elders who wouldn't like to come to the office. The office as a whole has gained a reputation for being fun and a lot of nonsense, both of which are entirely not true. Yes, we try to have fun in what we do, but we work hard here! So now our goal is that the mission see what it is the office is really all about... we want to show them that we are here to serve the mission, but also to fulfill our purpose as missionaries "To invite others come unto Christ, by helping them receive the restored Gospel...". It's a tough task to fulfill and it puts even more pressure on us, on top of everything we do now... daily office tasks, processes (aka instruction manuals) we are writing, & moving. I'm excited to leave! LOL...

I'm a little envious of the whirlwind trip to So. Cal. I've recently become very used to driving and I could use a road trip... You sure you can't push the trip off until September or so? LOL... It would be great to be able to see some of the family out there, but I'll still be here when you make that little excursion! I'm sure Ryah would do alright driving through the desert if need be, and it also might give Gabe a chance to learn to drive... just make sure he has his license first (he wouldn't even need to know how to drive before that as 30 hours behind the wheel would give him plenty of experience)...

Mom, I'm officially disappointed that you did not get the Golden Retriever puppy "for Dad"! But then again with one dog that already doesn't know me, it might be best that we keep the numbers as low as possible to avoid possible dog bites/attacks when I get home...

Next weekend is General Conference. We'll be able to attend all 5 sessions over the 2 days, so I'm really excited for that! I'm still not entirely sure what will be happening with our P-day on Saturday (as it won't be happening) but I'll let you know as soon as we have some news, we should know something by Monday afternoon. Pay close attention to the theme that is expressed throughout the Conference, it is always interesting to me to be able to see how a lot of the talks tie together in a common pattern.

I think that is about all of the news for this week. Nothing too exciting still, and I'm kinda hoping it stays that way for a while. I'm still hanging in there, and the reminders of how much is left keep coming at every turn...

Love ya'll and miss ya'll bunches! ¡Besitos!

-- Élder Todd