Made it through my first transfer!

Hey y’all,

I made it through my first transfer in the field and I just barely got the news that I am staying in Metairie for another transfer, which probably means for 2 more after this one too since you usually are in the same area for about 4 transfers unless craziness happens with new missionaries or other stuff. Oh, and happy Halloween, I hope you all had an awesome night of getting candy last night.

This last week has been pretty dang interesting since I had to give a talk in front of a Spanish congregation last Sunday. It was one of the most stressful things I’ve ever had to do, since I know that I wouldn't be able to talk super fast, or translate the conjugations for verbs very well either. I wrote the whole talk out in Spanish and had my comp proof read it, apparently my translation was pretty good, he only had to change a few things; so I then gave a read instead of a talk (sorry Dad) but it was definitely better than I could have done otherwise.

And then to make the beginning of the week even better we had a surprise MLC, which is when my comp has to go and get info from the mission president to teach the zone and I get to go on splits with another newbie, In fact I had to do splits with him twice this week. But it went a lot better than the first time and I was freaking out for no reason. Actually, we had a lot of success and it showed that we both have grown a lot with Spanish since the first time we went on splits 3ish weeks ago. He told me that my only problem is I try to talk to fast which screws up my head since my thoughts get in the way of my words, so now I’ve got something to work on.

This week has also taught me a lot of things about how there is a reason for everything, even for the hard things in life. I’ve mentioned my investigator Miguel before but I’ll give a quick overview of him again.  He is the 13 year-old kid who wants to be baptized but his dad is very against the church and is super controlling so he won’t let Miguel or his family do anything without his permission. But this week we had a lesson with this family, and the dad was offshore working again so he wasn't there. We talked about how struggles in life, even mistakes and the sometimes hard road through repentance, are there for a reason.  We showed them the refiners fire Mormon Message (it’s awesome so if you haven't seen it watch it) and it really touched them. I then testified that all the trials and problems they are experiencing now are hard but that if they ask God for help he will help them to overcome it; and they will be able to grow in ways that God needs them to so they can help share their light and experiences with others. I told them that God needs them on his side TODAY and that if they all will come to Him, follow His commandments, and pray often they will find success and increased happiness. I want to give this same challenge to all of you; if you are going through some struggles or you aren't being as conscious of God as you should be, pray to Him, repent if you have things you need His forgiveness for, and return to Him since he needs us all on his side so he can move his work forward and so you can find peace and happiness in this life and eternal life in His presence in the life to come. And then share your light with others.

I love you all and hope you have an awesome week and that you will feel Gods love for you every day.

love

Elder Porter

Me, Elder Strand, Elder Adriazola Mendoza

Miguel family at the Trunk or Treat

A member's melted barbie/skeleton  makeup job