Letter from Ross - 5/25/2010

Hey all~

Ross had to endure his first set of transfers the week of May 17th. His companion/trainer was taken from their area to another one. It was really hard on both of them because they had gotten close and Elder Nelson had really taken care of getting Ross adjusted to his mission plus they were having a great deal of success and worked well as a team. They begged the President to change his mind but he was firm in saying Elder Nelson was needed elsewhere. Ross's new companion is Elder Gunnell and we haven't learned much about him yet, other than Ross does like him and they get along well. For the first few days Ross had to act as senior companion and make all the decisions for the pair because Elder Gunnell didn't know the area or people. This was hard on Ross and he had a tough week. However, thanks to lots of prayers from family and friends plus kind words of encouragement exchanged between Ross and our dad, he realized how blessed he is and felt the love of our Savior. It was a humbling experience for him to learn that his mission won't be perfect and successful 100% of the time, as much as he would love for that to be the case! Here is his latest letter from this Tuesday, May 25th. The first few paragraphs are answers to my mom's questions in her letter to him. Also, he wrote a letter to my parents this week and let them know he had baptized a lady...he'll tell about that in his letter too, her name is Luz.

May 25, 2010

1. (What Ross got for his birthday...) I got my blanket, t shirt, box of awesomeness from yall and the cds. From Hillary, I got some more cds, giftcards to McDonalds and Subway and money. From mimi and popa I got money. From grandma I got giftcards, candy and money. And I actually got Brooke's package on Friday, the ZLs forgot to get it out and she gave me a shirt, giftcards and I guess the cologne came from yall.

2. My favorite gift definately was the cards from everyone. I liked the cards a lot and it was nice to get them. Espciallly from the one from you and dad. But, my favorite gift was the Gladys Knight and SUV cd (sidenote...this was from ME! YES!! So proud to be the favorite gift!! Of course, he did ask for it....so I can't take all the credit! ~Hillary). It plays loud and proud whenver i am in the apartment.

3. I got to celebrate my b day and it was great. I explain more later.

Well...this week was definately better than last week. I actually feel my spanish getting better. Like Jake said, I can understand what people are saying better, now I just have to come up with a response hahah. Me and my comp, Elder Gunnell, have been getting along. He's different then Nelson, but he is still pretty cool. Me and Nelson call each other probably 3 times a week. Some really good news!! The man that I thought I lost to baptism...We went and talked to him the other day and talked it over with him and he is interested again! He said he is just scared to change his life and is scared he will go back to his old life after he changes. We told him that no one is perfect and then showed the "mormon message" of Elder Holland's talk on the atonement and he really enjoyed that. We left him with Mosiah 18 and are going back on Thursday. Keep him in you prayers. His name is Jesus Alberto Jr.

I guess you want to know about the baptism haha. Luz is a girl that has been going to church for her entire life almost. Her family is all members and we though she was too, until we noticed she was never confirmed after she was baptized, 5 years ago haha (Spanish Branches hahaha) So we had to quuickly run through things with her and then got her interviewed, baptized and she was confirmed on Sunday. Haha it was awesome.

My birthday was so good. It started out like any other day. While I was in the shower, Elder Nelson and a couple of other missionaries called to wish me happy birthday so that was nice. Then we went and ate pancakes at some english missionaries apartment and then went out and worked. Then, for lunch, a family in the ward, the Albertos (Jesus's dad) took me and my comp to a chinese buffet down by the border. It wasn't very good but it was truly the thought that counted. This man would literally give the shirt off his back if it would help the missionaries. Then we went to a church party and went and worked some more and then we went to the Mormon Battalion with some investigators. And then Elder Hanks and Elder Naylor threw a surprise b day party for me at a members house. They made us french toast. I really felt loved! It was one of the best birthdays ever.

Not too much is happening right now. We are working hard and hope to have a baptism on the 6, 13, and 20. I hope everything is going great for yall! I hope to hear from yall soon!

Love

Elder Little