A Long Week

Hola familia,

It's been an especially long time since I have talked with you last. This week has yet again been amazing, but especially long because of our delayed preparation day. We were delayed because we were assigned to attend the temple this day. Fortunately, it is only four short days until I write again. In that time we will be blessed to listen to general conference. I'm looking forward to testing my Spanish comprehension skills.

We have been working furiously to prepare people for baptism. We have already had to make the tough decision to drop investigators that aren't willing to keep commitments. I didn't realize how important small commitments such as reading the Book of Mormon can lead to the larger one of Baptism. Fortunately, we still have a good number of investigators that are on track for their baptismal dates.

President Jackson has taught us to commit to baptism every lesson. This sounds harsh, but it really helps us devote our time to the people who are prepared to hear the gospel. Often we find this sifting process saves hours of time that could have been better used with someone who is ready to follow the Savior. This reminds me of something I learned in my New Testament class. The whole time during the Savior's ministry he brought his disciples through a sifting process. When we read about the bread of life sermon we learn that many of his disciples walked with him no more. This commitment process does this. It also helps these people realize that we are here to help them follow there Savior, not to talk about nice ideas and simply teach. The gospel requires action as demonstration of faith. This is the hardest challenge for most of our investigators.

Once again, I love you all. Happy Easter. I look forward to sharing my thoughts about General Conference.

Con Amor,

Elder Badger