The 4th is gone...

Ah, where does the time go...?

Avast ye swabs, the sun sets on another change. It just goes by so fast doesn't it? Seems like yesterday I just waltzed in through the MTC doors... Well, nostalgia gets us nowhere!

This week was a little on the slow side, but that doesn't mean that it won't pick up speed! Just needs a little elbow grease I suppose... We learned a lesson in Diligence this week! As previously stated in the last letter, we're being a little more "Franke" in our lessons. Not to the extent of REPENT OR PERISH but, firm in the cause of inviting other to come unto Christ by helping them to receive the message of the restored Gospel through, faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. In other words, the entire purpose of missionary work (see Page 1 of Preach my Gospel). Well, back to the diligence story. A few weeks back we met a man who was raking his lawn, with three small childrens watching him in the window. Naturally we talked to him, and he made it known that he did not believe in any sort of organized religion, and did not really have interest. We talked to him a little about the apostasy, and why there's millions of churches in the world today. This piqued his interest, and we set an appointment for later that week (he's a mechanic that works 4 days in a different city up north, and 4 days of rest in his house). Well, he wasn't there. We passed by day after day after day after day, we talked to his wife, his neighbors, people walking by, trying to find this man. Well, we finally had a lesson with him this last week, and it was pretty awesome. He's highly focused in the family, and his kids seem to have a strong attachment to him (his 1 year old son refused to let him be put down, screamin' for Papá 'n' all). We taught the message of the Restoration, and his wife listened to the part about the First Vision. Turns out that his wife had gone to church many moons ago when she was but a lass, and had good impressions of the Church. We'll be teachin them, later! He goes by the name of Elias. But the moral of the story is: Don't give up! Even when things look like they might not go anywhere, don't give up on somebody! I suppose the trick is learning when to persevere, and when to leave behind those who refuse to repent. Well, Keep safe, be good, and Happy Labor day (it's my comps birthday! Happy 20th Birthday Elder Cole!)

e'horspool

So here's some pictures of last P-day. We decided to do a little hike from the Bay to the Cross of the Third Millennium. You can really see how big the cross is in these. Our goal is to take the tour that they have inside of all the Popes, and get some sweet pictures from the view up top. (it's a little cloudy today, so we'll see if it happens).

The Stairs - The climb to the cross consists of about 3 sets of these stairs. From the Bay to the Cross, it took about 15 minutes to walk (missionary speed).

View from the Top of the Hill - It was a tough climb, but we made it! And this was the reward that awaited us.

Me and the kiddies at the Cross - There were some kids playing soccer nearby. Of course, the presence of 2 Gringos was called to their attention and they halted their game to look at us. I used this to my advantage, and in their dazed state had them come over and take some pictures with me. The cross is about 50 yards back, and about 20 feet higher up.