Van full of kids

A project that has encompassed a good portion of our week has been the
marriage of Amalia and Cándido. We’ve been waist deep in Mexican
bureaucracy in order to get all of the forms they need to get married
– there are lots, and to get certain forms, you need other forms… it’s
been fun. At first, we would tell them: “Okay, here’s what you have to
do. Go do it, and let us know what happens.” And… nothing would
happen. So now, we just bring them along to get everything they need.
They really want to get married so that Amalia can get baptized. She’s
very prepared. Today, their family should come here from Culiacán for
the ceremony, and they should be married by the end of the day. We
hope.

We are teaching a few young girls from different part-member families
who all live on the same street. On Sunday, we came by with a van, and
all of them got in with some friends and family members and we ended
up bringing nine kids to church! We brought the Primary. Poor Hermana
Carmelita’s calling is Primary President, so she had a fun day trying
to just keep them all from killing each other. We taught them a lesson
about reverence afterwards.

I got a package from Aunt Emily’s family! Thanks! That was so cool. I
really liked the drawings, but the other missionaries really liked the
candy.

I’ve been praying a lot for help in strengthening my testimony and
I’ve certainly seen the results; Heavenly Father answers prayers in a
manner that we will listen. For me, it’s never been the manner that I
expect.

Sometimes, we get a bit caught up in teaching someone, and I’ve
realized that there’s one step that cannot be skipped in someone’s
spiritual progression: gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon. It’s
absolutely key. If we return to a house to teach for the second time,
the first thing we should do is ask if they read the Book of Mormon,
and if they prayed about it. When we lose the focus of helping the
investigator progress and instead, get caught up in how we can help
them get baptized, we are unable to help them at all. If they haven’t
read, we read with them right away. It’s honestly a waste of time to
continue teaching someone who doesn’t have a testimony that it’s a
true book. I’ve met a lot of people who were recently baptized, and
now they don’t go to church at all. They were baptized without a
testimony. So I am striving to help those we teach gain a testimony of
their own.

I hope that other missionaries and prospective missionaries read parts
of my letters. My companion, Elder Merrell, has been striving to do
something in our companionship which I advise all missionaries to do:
Kneel to pray with your investigators as often as possible. Even the
first prayer that you give to start the first lesson you teach.

Love,
Elder Tingey