Maria

After playing basketball!  So fun!

Hey fam!

Wow it is getting warm here. So today we don't have much time to write. We are in Melo for a zone activity, and our bus leaves at four o'clock so I will only have like 20 minutes. But if we get back to Rio Branco with time, we might be able to finish our hour. But sounds like things are going great. The Utes are doing awesome. Don't worry, they'll rebound back. 

It is so hot here. We were playing basketball today, man it was soooo fun! It has been so long since Ive played a game of basketball. But I was sweating so bad that it bled through my shirt and made like a face on my chest and stomach. I definitely sweat more than any other missionary here. I'll send a pic. We then made some lunch with the zone, hot dogs and watermelon. We were actually going for "completos Chilenos", but there is a Chileno here and he said that it wasn't the same. I thought they were pretty good though. 

So the Mederos family. Uhhh... where to start. The Mederos family is that part member family that we found last week. Jose the dad, Susana the mom, and Maria, Micaela, Sythia, and Santiago. We visited them like the whole week and had some really great lessons. We gave Maria and Micaela copies of the Book of Mormon and within a day Micaela had read almost all of 1 Nephi. She is so awesome. Maria has been reading and praying everyday as well as Micaela, (she just hasn't read quite as much). The downside is that the family is very disfunctional. They are always yelling and seems to me that the two older girls don't get along too great with Jose. Yesterday was kind of a big bummer, because they didn't make it to church. The mom also doesn't feel that they are going to be ready to be baptised by the 24th, and I feel like that was a reason for why they didn't go to church. Obviously, they will not be baptised on the 24th anymore. But there is a lot of potential. We actually had a really good charla with them last night. We have been really trying to help them recognize the spirit and learn to be reverant so that the spirit can teach us in the lessons. We have got some work to do with them, but I have a good feeling about this new week. 

We also have another family that is super awesome!!! There names are Cristian and Maria. Yeah I know another Maria. I would confidently say that 90 percent of Uruguayan's are named Maria. But we found them at about the same time that we found the Mederos family. They didn't make it to church either, even though they had committed to going. But we also had a great lesson yesterday with them. They mentioned to us that they wanted to go this week and the past, but that things always come up. They also explained that since they started listening to us they have felt something trying to pull the family apart in the house, but then they also said that when we go there is a peaceful and calm spirit that comes. So we helped them to understand what what peace is and how they can have it always. 

I have really seen this past week how the adversary is working against us with our investigators. But the spìrit is too strong to deny.

I'll try and write in Rio Branco but I have to go now.

Love ya!

Elder England  

Sweaty smiley face :)