Week 84

 Put Faith, put hope, put love, put Christ in your life. Some graffiti Jeffrey found.

 Mara's birthday party!

 Brother Montejo from Jeffrey's first area.  He is down in Saltillo with a successful open heart surgery.  

 Packing up Brother Montejo to move back to Corona. 

 Cute old lady names Normita.  Jeffrey is teaching their family.

The "famous" Guiterrez family.  Jeffrey met them in his first area.  Their daughter just came home from her mission and they came to visit Jeffrey in the office.

Hello Friends and Family,

I hope you have had a great week! I heard that it was snowing back in Seattle so that school was canceled! That sounded like so much fun! Many people are complaining here in Saltillo about the weather right now. They say it is way to hot in February, it is 85 degrees right now, and that it will be a very hot summer. The good thing is that I already suffered two summers of the Canicula here so I shouldn't have to suffer a third! 

This was a pretty calm week for Elder Lopez and me. We have been having terrific success in our area recently and are excited that so many people are progressing in the gospel and going to church. We are looking to baptize a girl named Karen and her mom Rocio this month! We also continue to wait for the divorces of Lalo and Gabi to be over. The good news is that the day that it's all over they will be baptized!

This past week we also found an awesome family that is super excited about the Gospel! Elder Lopez and I have very high hopes that they are going to come with us to church on Sunday! We found them last week when we were walking in the street and we saw Mrs. Reyes sweeping the sidewalk outside her house. We offered to help her and she politely declined. We then introduced ourselves and explained that we are missionaries and that we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She was a little uncertain at first but after talking to her for a while she let us in and we had a nice discussion with her. We went back on Saturday morning to meet her husband that according to Mrs. Reyes, ''doesn't want anything to do with church'' and turns out that he really likes us and what we share and wanted us to come back the next Wednesday! 

On Wednesday, just two days ago, Elder Lopez and I had a super powerful lesson about repentance and baptism with the Reyes family. At the end of the lesson, we invited him to come to church with us, and he said, ''well, in order to repent and change to be able to get baptized and live with God someday, the first step is going to church, so we will see you there on Sunday''! He mentioned that he doesn't sleep well at night and that he wants to change so that his family can be eternal! 

Also, side note, I love the Reyes family because they have a 7 year old daughter named Natalia who is so awesome! She was the only member of her family that read in the Book of Mormon when we gave it to the family the second time we went to teach them and is super smart! Perhaps the reason I think she is so awesome because she is very similar too, and basically the Saltillo, Coahila version of my little sister Cate! I love my family! 

I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and for the good it does in the lives of the people I meet here in Mexico! It is such a privilege to share the gospel every day! 

Have a great week!

Love, Elder Shipley