A Pleasant Surprise

Dear family,

We have had an awesome week. The previous week was a little on the slow side, but this week made up for the sluggishness of the previous week. We found four new investigators, taught four member present lessons, set three new baptismal dates, and had all four our baptismal dates at church.

Sunday’s fast and testimony meeting was super spiritual with three baby blessings and perfect testimonies. We even fasted with one our baptismal dates. He told us at the linger longer afterwards that he could really feel the difference that fasting made. The fast was to help him be financially stable and at peace despite his tough financial situation. From what I understand we could all use a little bit of this help with the upcoming double dip.

The other three baptismal dates have a pretty cool story as well. The Fuller family was a referral from President DeSalmones. Denis Fuller, a good friend of a member in the San Jose ward, needed a blessing to help him through a tough situation he was facing in his life. Brother Rivera offered the blessing in which he made mention of some trials that Denis was facing in great detail. Without knowing Denis beforehand, Brother Rivera had explained the entire situation Denis was facing in great detail. We all felt our testimony of the restored priesthood grow as Denis explained what had just happened. As a result we began to teach Denis how this priesthood was restored. The following week, he was waiting for us with his mother and son. As the lesson progressed, the smile on his face grew wider and wider. All three accepted a baptismal date for September 3. They had a great time at church the following Sunday.

Have I mentioned that I love the Gavilan Branch. I honestly have no complaints. I would be perfectly content to finish my mission here.
Saturday I was on exchange with the assistants and had the opportunity to attend a baptism in Redwood City. It’s weird how it felt a little like going home. I was able to talk to Adonay Luna. Since I left Redwood City, his wife was baptized as well. He is preparing to enter the temple as soon as she has been a member for a year so they can enter together. I even talked to my old ward mission leader, David Hansen. He is moving to BYU where he will be teaching economics (he recommended riding out the economy by attending college).

Also, while on exchange, I ran into Alli and her family. We were performing service at a clothing drive held by the San Jose South Stake. It was a pleasant surprise. She says that this next week they will be in southern California and will just miss you by a few days. I was happy to hear that Grandpa Badger quickly adapted to Alli’s iPad (he even licked his fingers to turn the virtual pages).
Love,

Elder Badger