This week is that ward camping trip and it's on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, so I don't really need an invitation for dinner because I'm told that we're going to go somewhere with a smoker and make ham and turkey and all the trimmings. I feel like really this week is going to be completely wonderful! I'll send you pictures next week.
From what I hear from President Barry we are in the middle of a "Mormon Moment" with all of this publicity from the Broadway play and the presidential candidates and all of the mormon.org campaigning. It's such a wonderful time for everyone to go and talk to everyone about their beliefs. It's crazy how easy it was to connect with people this week in relation to the gospel. You talk to them like just any other person on the earth and just like it says in Preach My Gospel... Something that they say will ALWAYS relate to a fundamental of the gospel. It is so wonderful. We talked to the brother of one of the members yesterday that's visiting from Puerto Rico and just a couple of the things he told us were about how there were people in the bible that spoke with God face to face and that it's really rare that you hear about that today and about how he doesn't understand why God would expect His children to all be placed under different beliefs in Him when in heaven we're all going to be part of the same belief.
Rosalio was offended by something that his daughter said Saturday night and woke up his wife and left for Texas yesterday morning. I still kind of can't believe that I'll probably never see them again, but we're going to call them today to ask them their address to send the missionaries over there in Texas. I honestly think that Emilia would have been baptized 3 months ago if it weren't for Rosalio, and even Rosalio would already be baptized if he just humbled himself and didn't always play devils advocate with us. As missionaries literally all that we do is invite people to ask God if this gospel is true or not. If they understand that God and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and instructed him to construct the church of Jesus Christ again on the earth and then just pray to know if it is true, they will get an answer. It is so incredibly simple and yet it seems the second we go back to ask them how their reading went, they never answer the door again or something ridiculous happens. We just have to press forward and continue to look for the elect because I know that they hear the voice of the spirit and harden not their hearts.
The sister missionaries in our ward taught a 19 year-old named Jeremiah that was baptized yesterday and he was just so ready to act and so ready to hear what they had to say. It really was just so spiritually-boosting to be there and see someone take that step, and he truly wanted it. He is so excited to get out and share the gospel... He has already invited something like 4 friends to church and the ward is just becoming more and more open to missionary work because of all of these great people that come. The Spanish members are still feeling a little bit kicked to the side, but we are still working to help them to come together with their English-speaking brothers and sisters.
I'm eating great. I'm not really skinny and the thing is that I eat a ridiculous amount of food. I think that fat people usually get skinny on their missions and skinny people usually get fat, so my body's just confused what to do because I'm not really either.
I was told by some of my BYU friends (Lexi, Lindsey, and Emalie) "Happy Birthday" through one of the members of the ward here in Orange Park. It was a great birthday and I absolutely LOVED all of those letters from everyone. It sounds like everyone is just so happy and doing great and I am so glad to be a part of such a fantastic family! Thank you for the letters and your prayers and support in me being a missionary! I haven't made the brownies yet, but I will and I'll take pictures of my balloon-filled room and my delicious brownie-cake.
I love you SO MUCH and I hope that you keep on having a great vacation in my mission boundaries!
Love,
Eric
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