News from Apopa

Hello everyone! It's great to be with you guys, in a figurative sort of way, because I am another country in case you guys forgot. Anyways, This is the first week of a new change! And so you guys know I will be staying here in Apopa with Elder Rodriguez. Elder Rodriquez will be ending his mission after this change, so I will be his last companion. Its easier said than done. But ill make the most of it. This change is actually one of four weeks instead of the normal six weeks because the date fell really close to Christmas and the plane tickets were too much. There is a good chance ill be staying in this area until Late February or March, so Ill probably pass my birthday, Christmas, and my year mark in this area. That's pretty crazy.

Anyways this week as far as the work went there isn't much to say. Quite honestly, we didn't have the chance to do very much because my companion sent the whole week sick. SO I got a lot of extra time of studying. It has been pretty hard as I have seen the affects of ending the mission has on some people, losing their desire to work very hard. But I'm determined to make the most of it. But this week we did have a stake conference and Elder Cordon of the seventy came to talk to us. It was very good, and VERY direct. I can see as these times get harder and the world gets worse, We have to really know where we stand. A big problem here is the Day of Reposo, and he called us out on it. I saw things that i was doing in my personal habits that I wasn't doing exactly right, and I have the desire the change. I finally see the importance of the Sabbath Day. Also he talked a lot about the law of fast, how its a way to train the natural man, and feed the spiritual man. The natural man is an enemy to God, and the fast is how we tame him. I encourage all of you when you have the chance to have a sincere, heartfelt, prayer and a 24 hour fast. I promise God will speak to you and answer the questions or problems you have. Like Christ taught to his Apostles, sometimes the toughest demons we have can only be taken out through "much fasting and prayer". I have seen the blessings of this profoundly in my life. 

Anyways time flies. I cant believe we are already coming up on Christmas here shortly. By the way I got the chance to meet and talk a lot with Temple President and his wife here in the the Temple of San Salvador (see photo). He is from Costa Rica and really nice and really energetic. Anyways that's all I got. Love you guys and am praying for you! Thanks for everything!