Week 87

 Jeffrey's new companion

 Baptism of Rocio and Karen

Jeffrey, Elder Lopez and the Pres. 

Jeffrey, Oscar, Elder Olvara and Elder Lopez

Lunch at Mara's!

Hello family!!! Hello friends!! Welcome to March! I love March because it’s my birthday month and it’s also the month of March madness, even though I won’t be watching it this year 😊

This week went really well!  Elder Lopez and I enjoyed a wonderful baptismal service this past Friday night! Our friends Rocio and Karen were baptized! Rocio is divorced mother of 2 and Karen is her 15-year-old daughter that lives with her, it’s just the two of them! I actually wasn’t present the first time that Elder Lopez met them. Back in December, the week of changes, Elder Lopez went out to work with a new missionary that had just arrived her to Saltillo and I worked with another missionary. During the 3 hours they worked together, all of their teaching appointments and plans fell through so they decided to talk to the first person they saw walking on the street. The first people that they saw and then talked to ended up being Karen and her friend! Elder Lopez and the other missionary talked to Karen for a few minutes and she said that we could come back later to her house. 

Unfortunately, we passed by their house a couple times a week for several weeks but couldn’t find them. After almost a month, we finally found them and helped them paint their house! We then taught them and they loved everything we shared! They soon went to church and really enjoyed church. Karen started going to the young women’s activities and loved being with them. It was hard to consistently teach them, in fact, they were the first people I had ever met on my mission that had been to church more times than we had visited them in their house.  It’s almost always the other way around. However, they went to every church activity they could and learned all by themselves. They shared their testimonies right after their baptism with the those that attended the service and expressed how important our Savior Jesus Christ and His gospel are in their lives. They are so awesome! 

Also, my next companion/Elder Lopez's replacement/the next executive secretary arrived on Monday night to the office! His name is Elder Olvera and he is from California. His parents are both from Mexico but live in California so he speaks fluent English and Spanish. The crazy and surprising part is that he has 4 WEEKS ON THE MISSION!! He literally just arrived on February 1st to the mission and is already here in the office. The President asked me to finish his training this upcoming change!!! Which is cool and stressful because I didn’t think that I would be able to train another missionary before I went home, but now I can! Now I have a son, Elder Smith and a step son, Elder Olvera! They are the best! 

This upcoming week will be crazy with preparation for changes, leadership council, and sleepovers! 

Have a great week!

Elder Shipley