November 5th 2012

Hey Yall!! :D

It has been a phenominal week! So incredibly spiritual and uplifting. The baptism went great!! Great things still to come.

Baptism:

-This baptism was 2nd only to the baptisms that took place at the Waters of Mormon. The most spiritual baptism I have ever been apart of. All those there were touched by the Spirit. The "Awesome" family was all baptized and confirmed this weekend. We spent a good chunk of time getting it all ready. They requested really hot water. So we found the perfect temperature and the perfect speed to fill up the font but it took 2 1/2 hours. We also boiled about 4, 5gallon pots of water and dumped it in the font. I was asked to perform the baptism and confirmation for "Momma Awesome" and the others were to be baptized and confirmed by Elder Franchino and our amazing ward mission leader. Everything went perfect!!! Our recent convert from a few weeks ago gave the talk on baptism and did a great great job!!! A solo song was song by a girl in the ward who was a big part in daughter awesome getting baptized. She sung, "what heaven sees in you" an EFY song. Everyone there basically was crying. Then everyone in the family stood up except "daddy awesom" to share their testimonies. It was so powerful. My hard heart that hasn't cried in a while, just melted away as the Spirit flooded that room. We did have another person there who we are teaching and she felt it and gained much strength from it. The whole ward was really impressed with the service. I am so grateful for this wonderful blessing. So richly blessed. I was able to perform the confirmation for "momma Awesome" sunday at church and following the confirmations the bishop hugged all of them and then momma awesome forgot the rule and came in and hugged me in front of the whole congregation. Lol it was super funny! Not a big deal but it was a good laugh. They are awesome, they each have so much potential. The older daughter and younger daughter have such bright opportunities ahead. I pray will all my heart they will have the strength of the Spirit to help them be all they can be. Virtuous, righteous, loving. Etc.

Future Baptism:

-This girl, is awesome!! She is the girlfriend of a guy in the ward who is at BYU right now. She started taking the lessons after he left and she knows its all true, but weighed down with negativity from her family. Her father is a preacher and they aren't pleased with her meeting with us. But she almost gave up, but she pulled through. She has such strong faith and great love of God. She said to us yesterday after fasting with us that she wants to be baptized before the end of the year!! Yippee!!!! I will be here for that!!! :D Hopefully Elder Franchino and I will be here for that!

Nephew:

-Haha everyone who I am sending this too probably already knows this but I have a new nephew!! Corbyn Michael Diefenbach! yay!! What a great way to end and start a week!! I pray God will bless that sweet little boy. He has so much potential for a bright future!!

It's Snowing!!

-Found some snow, its gettting cold. Just kidding, its cotton season again!

Gotta be quick!! I love yall!! Thank you for the support! Turns out with the new missionary age they are getting in 6000 applications a week rather then the 600 they were getting before. The work is moving forward!! :D Thanks be to God.

-Elder West :D

October 29th

 

Hey yall!!

Oh buddy!! Great, great, great week!!!! SO many wonderful things. :D

FREEZING COLD!!:

-Frankenstorm "Sandy" may be the cause of the cold weather here, but for whatever reason it has been significantly cooler! Elder Franchino since he is from Washington state is loving it. He is a little "special" though so we will be patient with him :p

Trunk Or Treat:

-On Wednesday the 24th we had the ward trunk or treat. Lots of people showed up, we got a ride with a part member family. Had a great time!! Lots of members brought their friends so we were able to meet them. Lots of cool costumes. Ours were the best though, :D We were planning to get some biker leathers and the helments and fake moustaches but we couldn't find anyone with biker leathers to let us borrow. Oh well, we tried though!! Two of the girls getting baptized this week were there, they are teenage kids, they had a blast!! I love this ward so many fantastic people I love being here!!

Baptism Saturday:

-WHOO HOO!!!!! We are really looking forward to this family getting baptized!!! I can't use the name we were told not to send name info via email. But I will substitute the last name for "AWESOME". The Awesome family consists of Momma Awesome, Daddy Awesome, Daughter Awesome, and Baby Daughter Awesome. They are awesome. :D The past two weeks they have made significant progress. Daddy Awesome, really hurt his back awhile back and has been in significant pain since then, he is a Marine so you know he is hardcore. He said Wednesday night, "I don't care what I have to do, I will do it. I want to be baptized with my family" his back is in real bad condition but he will stick it through. Great!!! They also were a little worried about paying tithing but the night we taught them they came together to budget how they could pay their tithing and they figured it out. THey also said they will do what it takes to live the Word of Wisdom. That brings me to the Tea Story. Daughter Awesome, was at Sonic the other day and really wanted tea but didn't order it, instead she got a dr. pepper. They brought out a tea though, so she realized this was God testing her and she said no to it and asked them to return it. She ended up getting an extra free drink because of the mix up too. She was the one who didn't actually commit to it yet either! haha it was so awesome!! Also yesterday we went by to set up the program for their baptism and Daughter Awesome said she knew who she wanted to baptize her!! Which was great news because again she hadn't said yes or no to the baptismal date either. We have been prayig that she would say yes and be baptized with her family. So all four of the "Awesome" family will make covenants this saturday, we are really looking forward to it! We both will be involved in the baptism too!! YAY!!!! God is great, and glory be to His name.

Cut lock:

-my bike lock the U-lock was rusted on the inside so my key couldnt get it off, so it has been stuck there for about 2 transfers now just hanging out on my bike. We tried to use a hack saw to cut it off but to no avail sadly. Lucked out though, we street contacted a guy who actually had his work truck and he owned a saws-all so he cut it off for me! I was afraid I was going to lose my fingers while he did it, but thanks goodness I didn't.

Book of Mormon:

-We read the BoM with a girl we have really been working with and we read Mosiah 18 and the verse saying, what have ye against being baptized, really stood out to her. It was a powerful experience to read the Book of Mormon and see her receive some form of revelation.

Overall:

-Its cold

-The ward is GREAT!!!!

-Work is great!!!

-Food is great

-God's work is moving forward.

I am so thankful for the Atonement which makes all this possible. The power I see in the lives of people just before their baptism is incredible. The power of the Atonement is released into our lives and our very beings as we apply the gospel, Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the end. I testify God lives and loves us. This is His church and His work. It will move forward. Jesus Christ lives, He is the Master. Missionary work reminds us of our own experiences. Alma 29:10-11.

Love yall have a great week!