Happy 5 Months Paxy

Well hello everyone,

Where to start... This past week I was given lots of good advice to keep moving forward from family members. My companion and I made the challenge to each other to be as exact obedient as possible. It's not like we were chueco (disobedient) before but we were lacking a few things to be exactly obedient. This week was an eye opener... I gained a tremendous testimony of obedience this week. My comp and I were able to set 4 baptismal fechas for the last week of the cambio in 2 weeks... That has never happened to either of us where we set 4 fechas in one week... Blessings from Heaven I'm telling you. Thinking about all the little tiny blessings this week due to our obedience to all the rules just gives me so much joy. The mission is so much more rewarding, fun, and better when you give all you have to the work of the Lord. Like I said before, it's not like we were disobedient before but we focused our minds entirely on the missionary work this week and the days were filled with so much more joy for me. 

Our 4 fechas are 1. Eli, she is the 16 year old girl in the picture I just sent. She has been sharing with the missionaries for about 4 months and never wanted to close her computer to pay attention, but ever since I got here she has changed her attitude about changing her life for the better. She is tired of making her mom cry and wants to change a few things. So we set a baptismal date for her and she is very ready it's just all about her knowing this is the true church. 2. Jessica, she is going to be a little harder. Her daughters were baptized 2 months ago and their living conditions are pretty difficult and her husband died 3 years ago so there are a few problems that she needs to get over. We also need to have her quit smoking which is very hard for her but we got her down to 3 cigarettes a day where it used to be a pack a day. 3 and 4. Max and Nicol. They were Con Vive for a longg time (living together) but they recently got married and Max is a lost registro so he needs to be baptized again and he is sooo excited to be able to be baptized again because he can't remember anything about his baptism. He says he was 6 or 7 when he was baptized hahaha. Silly Max... and his wife wants to be baptized with him so we need to have her get the answer that this is the correct church to do that. But we are working hard with all of them and also a few other potential investigators. 

My soccer- Fútbol skills are getting a little better than I would like... as a baseball player us and the soccer players didn't get along in high school... haha so as of right now, playing soccer every Monday with the other missionaries and every saturday with our investigators and members I'm getting pretty good... Pucha hahaha.. Nah Im gaining a love and a respect for the game. The mission changes people haha. 

This week we as a mission were privelaged to have Elder Viñas from the quorum of the 70 talk to us in a conference. It was such an awesome experience to have such a spiritual and powerful man in our presence talking to us. We talked about the Expíacion (atonement) and how it helps us as missionaries in our everyday lives here on the mission. It was such a great experience. 

So ya... I got to see Elder Joey Sargent today and we hung out for a couple hours playing soccer. I'm so lucky to have my best friend not only in the same mission but also the same zone so we can talk once a week. He's doing super well and has a Latin companion so his Spanish is really well. He is such a stud.

I appreciate all the e-mails to me of encouragement and such. I love you all so much. Remember everyday who you are... and be obedient!! you WILL see blessings like I have. ENJOY LIFE!!! 

Elder Paxman

Elder Paxman and Eli