Morning Everyone!     Hold your horses! This is Transfer week! And All the Missionaries got the call last night. Out of all the Missionaries here in the West bank, which is a total of 10, Only one got the call to pack their bags. And that ONE individual was... You guessed it, ME!      It did not come as a big surprise. Most of us in the district knew it was going to be me. Although it was not a shock, it as definitely sad news. I have gotten SO close with many here in the West Bank. Our 2 small branches have become part of my family, and its is sad to go. As to where i will be going, I have no idea!? I have no address or nothing yet. I Will find out tomorrow morning, and let everyone know as soon as i can.      This past week, Elder Passey and I finished strong! We got a LOT of Work done! It was awesome. We had a sweet lesson with a contact that we had. And His name is Mr. Jackson. He said he only had 15 minutes till he had to leave. So we had to be quick... As soon as we walk through his door, he is giving us a name and address while on the phone, we were confused so we wrote it down. And then thought he needed it so we ere handing the information back to him and he said "No, that is for you". He had given us a refferal! Ha he just said that it was some one that he would like us to visit and that would love to hear the Word. That was awesome haha. As we thought Mr. Jackson the Restauration. We were able to get through it. He ate it up like no other. He understood it all and it just all made sense to him. It was AWESOME! And he ended up having a sweet question about Prophets, he said how can I know that someone is a TRUE Prophet of God? Elder Passey and I were super pumped because we had the answer. We read in the Bible where it says "by their fruits, ye shall know them". And explained that verse to him. He told us that he know of a few men who called themselves prophets, but they were breaking the commandments and doing the opposite of what they taught. And so that Scripture as super helpful. We explained how there is a Prophet in the Earth today who has been called of God and has His Authority. Let him know of the kind of things he does and that he does not get ANY Gain (money) for his labors. Our church is an al volunteer work and we pay to do our job. This opened his eyes. It was something that he did not know and did not know that a church like that existed. It was Awesome!      The Refferal he gave us, we contacted the next day and she was SWEET! She was super opened and willing to have us over and teach her. She was getting ready to get out of town so we will be visiting her when she gets back on the 15th. She gave us her information to contact her again when she got back. And before we left she gave us ANOTHER Refferal! It was SWEET! It was seriously and AWESOME Miracle! And E. Pasey and I kept following up.       SWEETEST THING!!! Bro. Hickerson got back from Off SHORE!!!!! We met with him on Sunday night!!!! And gave him a baptismal for december 6th! His words to us were, " I will not got back off shore to work, WITHOUT being BAPTIZED!!!!! I am going to be leaving the area this week but you can be SURE that i will be back in the WEST BANK for his baptism!!! I am SUPER STOKED FOR HIM!!! I counted down with sister hickerson until he came home. Now he is here and is ready to be baptized more than EVER! THEM MIRACLES THO... They keep coming down!      Also there was a really spiritual moment for me. A sister in the Spanish Branch was getting surgery for something very serious this past Wednesday. It has been really hard on her for the past few weeks. On Tuesday night the family had all the missionaries over. And to let us know to keep them in our prayers. And also the sister had asked for a blessing. And she gave me the sweet opportunity to give her the blessing. And so I did. I CANNOT Explain in words ho STRONG the spirit was in the room that night. The blessing i do not remember what was said, but i KNOW that it was specifically for her. After I was done giving the blessing I was super HEATED! I had never felt so WARM before! I had to take of my tie to breath. And I Know that at the moment the spirit was completely with me and those around me and the Sis. who was receiving the blessing. Well, that is NOT ALL. The next day the sister had the surgery. And Later in the day i had found out that My Mom back home went through something similar. The night that i gave the Sister a Blessing my mom had gone to the Hospital. And the next morning My Mom back home had also gone through surgery the same day that the Sister here had. I as Mind Blown... That Super WARM feeling that I had felt that night that i gave the blessing, was a feeling of calmness and comfort and of the spirit. THAT next day when i had found out about home, I Knew that I not only felt and KNEW that the Sister that i gave the blessing to was going to be okay and that everything was going to go well. But it as also a feeling to let me know that My Mom back home was also going to be Fine. That was a Testimony builder to me! The Sister who i had given the blessing to is someone who i love so much. She has been a Mom to me here in the West Bank my ENTIRE time here. She has helped me when i was sick and hurt and when i was hungry. And she literally reminds me so much of my mom back home. She is Family to me. And I am so GRATEFUL to know that i was able to give my Mom here in the West Bank a blessing and that i was able to feel Comfort through the Spirit that her and my Mom Bank Home were both going to turn out O.K.      I know that missionaries are always told that while out on the mission you and your family will be blessed and protected. And I know that it does NOT mean that they will not have trials and challenges, because we all still have to continue growing and we grow through our trials. But I know that It means that when we go on a mission, our families will be blessed with the strength that they need to overcome whatever comes their way! That Heavenly Father will not harm them, but he WILL make them Stronger.      I am so grateful for the True Gospel that I have in my life. This is what keeps me going! This is why I am on a Mission. If I did not have a firm believe in the Gospel and a knowledge of its truthfulness.. i could very much be home by now. But because I Know that this Gospel and this church is true, I move forward with Faith.      It is my prayer that we all seek to grow our testimonies every day. And to know that no trial is meant to hurt us. But instead, meant to makes us stronger to help us grow and to reach our potential as individuals. They are meant to bless us. May we take each trial head on with Faith. Faith is the antedote for Fear. I Love my mission and I Love my family and all those who support me!  Thank you all so much for all you do, and for who you are!  Please let me know how you all are doing, i would love to here from you guys.  Sincerely,  Elder Caiña

 Do you ever expect the unexpected? Are we ever ready for the unexpected. Sometimes we might think we are, but then something happens that just blows us out of the water! Makes us do what we did not plan for and the our whole views turns around. That has been my week, and it ended the same yesterday.

     Monday... Well Last Monday we had our preparation day. After e-mailing our families we went up to Metarie to play basketball. I forgot to bring my shows so I played basketball in Sandals instead. And lets just say, it didn't slow me down. Later on that day we had an appointment, which was canceled before our preparation day was even over. The reason being was because There was Tornando Warnings all over Louisiana and we were to quickly return home. Well we had a good hour drive home with traffic and there was not much of a storm anywhere. When we arrived home the storm of rain finally hit us. Thanks to Sis. Hickerson and her many Papa John points that she got us free pizza! She was soo awesome that she also gave the other missionaries in our district pizza who were stuck at home. It was a loong night at the apartment not being to do much.

Unexpected Event #1

Tuesday- I can't really remember what happened

Wednesday- We had an AWESOME Zone Conference with our mission President! My companion and I were asked to be Volunteers and there were really sweet instructions on Unity within one and the companion and then also being positive and building each other up. At the End President Hansen share a awesome instruction on Repentance. And It hit me super hard because of a friend who we are recently teaching. Ruben has been a great investigator and progressing a LOT. But recently we have come to find out and we thought him that he has been looking to learn in a more intellectual way instead of a spiritual way. We told him we could answer all his question, but they would be of no worth if he does not belief in the things in which we teach or if he does belief and he does not act he will not come to know of the truthfulness of the things which we share with him. So E. Passey and I decided that on Wednesday night we were going to let him know our purpose and re-evaluate what he was looking for. When President Hansen shared the Instruction on Repentance and shared scriptures with us, all that came to my mind was Ruben and our lesson. Our purpose as missionaries is to invite other to come unto Christ. And how do we come unto Christ? By repenting and changing, becoming more Christ-like. So it was perfect. On this Wednesday night, Elder Passey and I probably had our best lesson yet. It was powerful, to the point, and super spiritual! We could tell that Ruben understood and that he felt it. We let him know that we are not forcing him to do anything or to get baptized. But inviting him to come closer to our Savior in whom he strongly believes. Now as to what happens next it is up to him. If anything, that night I received a reminder of my purpose as a missionary. That we as missionaries are not just here to hand out information alone to just blow people's minds on what we know to be true. But our main purpose being to help others know of Christ and grow closer to him by allowing themselves to be changed for their benefit, by repenting and following the the commandments which he has given us. It definitely was a testimony builder for me! - So We had a lesson planned but it really changed into more detail when we received that inspiration. And It was completely unexpected! 

Unexpected Event # 2

Thursday- I forgot what happened during the day. BUT... we got to go to the MOVIE THEATER! 

So earlier in the week we were informed by our Mission President that we could no longer go to the movie theater as missionaries for this one occasion to watch the new MEET THE MORMONS Movie. And we had already set up a day to go with one of our friends who is investigating the church (REGGIE). So Elder Passey and I decided to ask personally to our Mission President if we could get permission. He said YES! And ONLY if we were NOT paying for ourselves. So we got invited and we got to go to the movie theaters on the mission! That was WEIRD... Not every day do you see missionaries at the theater. We as missionaries definitely felt out of place. We got starred at and talked about. We just completely felt weird. It was an interesting experience though. We enjoyed it though. Never did i think i would get permission on my mission to go to a theater. 

Unexpected Event # 3

Friday- Had good appointments. Talked Spanish all day. And it was a day where i cannot remember much of.

Saturday- Helped our Spanish Branch President. Did service all morning. Had pizza. Did our West Bank Tradition with the new missionaries of OOGA BOOGA. 

Sunday- Talk about ending the week on a GREAT NOTE! It started out being a regular sweet Sunday. Then I found out that English and SPanish were combined because of the primary program which was awesome. We missionaries got the opportunity to sing with the primary kids the song "I am a child of God" (in spanish). As i walked up I realized that in the back was somebody I knew. My sweet friend MCAT was sitting in the back. It hit me completely by surprise. I never thought that I would see anyone i knew out on my mission. And yea i was proven wrong. It was an awesome surprise though. My whole day was thrown off but it was great to see a familiar face! 

Unexpected Event #4

So yea it has been a mind blowing week! So I would say, expect the unexpected. But I do not think that is completely possible. So My words of wisdom for the week will be. Receive the unexpected with open arms and embrace it, learn from it, grow from it. Enjoy each and every moment. Life is too short to be down. 

Keep your head up! 

Hope you all have a great week!

Much Love,

Elder Caiña

So this week A lot happened but not that much happened at the same time. We were super busy, but i can not remember everything we did. And I did not take pictures of everything I did, like service. So This week I only have two Pictures. But A little bit about this week.... let see what i can remember....

   Well Wednesday night we visited one of our Less Active Families (who actually showed up to church this Sunday!). We were talking to them while they were preparing us dinner. And suddenly someone comes out of nowhere and her name was Jaqueline. It turns out that she had just moved in to the same house with her husband from Mexico. And so they are staying with our Less Active Family for a while. Armando called her and introduced her to us. And Elder Passey and I started talking to her. We both knew right away that it was a great missionary opportunity! Eventually we got her talking about church and how she was not yet in a church because she was usually just stuck inside her home most of the time. We then got a call from the Sisters who needed a ride and so we had 30 minutes. Food was not done and so we decided that we still need to have at LEAST a small lesson. We did not come planned for a non-member to be there. So we followed with teaching the first part of the Plan Of Salvation. She was VERY curious about the questions "where did we come from" What is our purpose" and "where are we going". She WANTED to know. Because of short time we left her with the Pamphlet to read over. But what was the MOST powerful part of that lesson was when Armando (less Active) bore his testimony to them! Elder Passey and I let him take over. And it was SUPER powerful! It was AWESOME! That was where we ended. Before we left her husband Carlos arrived home. And we talked to him for a bit. He said he had studied with missionaries in Tennessee and went to church. But his friend who gave him a ride passed away. And after that he never heard from the missionaries again. It was a blessing to have found them through members! That was a wonderful night and we will be going back this Wednesday!

     Friday we did service. we helped out Our Branch President moving things around his home. It was going to be his Wife's birthday on Saturday and his home is still not finished because he just recently moved in and the people are still working on his house while they are living there so it is crazy in there. So we helped him out. Basically just making room around the house so people could get in and see a nice home. We were glad that we were able to help him. The Fossati's have taken care of us every day specially this last week for me and my hurt back. And it was the least thing we could do for them. They are a blessing to the missionaries and to the Branch! 

     Saturday we did more service! We painted a few walls on the outside of a house. It was in the morning so it was not bad at all. It was a fun small project. And then we spent a good amount of the afternoon helping the other missionaries in our district with rides because we are the only ones in a car and the sisters are on foot and the others who are on bikes need a ride every now and then, specially when they miss a bus.But in the end I just really enjoy the opportunity to help those around me. 

    Sunday was super fun and super filling! Brother Ory, Brother Getcher, and Brother Newman all came down to the West Bank! I had visited them and served with them in the Covington Ward when I was up in my last area in Mandeville! It was Awesome to see them again! It brought back great memories. Brother Ory and Brother Getcher both came down to give talks in the Spanish Sacrament, they were both suppose to be in Spanish but Brother Ory decided to ask for a someone to translate for him. Think he did the right thing, his spanish sounded a little rusty. ha... But Both talks given were powerful and very good. It was a really good Sunday Service.

    Elder Passey and I accidentally have filled ourselves up with 4 dinner appointments without knowing last night!!! We were scared... Thankfully we were able to change one for Wednesday...  So in the end we only had 3. After the first one we could barely move!... So the 2 dinner we both didn't eat. Thankfully in was a meeting with our Ward leader so he understood. Then in like 2 hours we had enough room for our last meal. But at the same time we didnt... I do not know how we did it! We visited the McCue's! We ate soo much we had 2nd for some odd reason! It was Super good!!! We might have sinned by eating too much... ha We shared a short message on temples with them. Reggie is going to Temple Square for his first time this weekened! So we are hoping that opens the door for him to be more open about the gospel. He told us he knew he was not allowed in the temple because he is not a member. Elder Passey and I told him no...  He is absolutely allowed in the Temple, everyone is welcome, you just have to get baptized first. So we said "you are just not allowed in YET"... haha he just laughed. He knows we are trying to convert him haha. It was  a great night, and we were happy stuffed turkey's by the end of the day. 

    That concludes my week. With one full week left in the transfer! Wow, this one has flown by. Looks like my time in the West Bank might be up. But One never knows what can happen! 

   Hope you all have a great week! Have fun and make the BEST out of EVERY MOMENT! 

Much Love,

Elder Caiña

Lets Gooooooooooooo!

     How's it going everyone? Hope everyone is taking it easy and enjoy each and every day we have been blessed with!I have had a very slow week. So i might not have much to say. But I have made really good goals for a better week this week. But still, I have found out that blessing still do come when even if you at least have good desires and good intentions in your heart. Even though we still mess up, and maybe even just be stupid.

     First a bit about how I am doing. Well I used to have a hard time waking up on time. It was even harder to get up and work out. For the longest time I have been trying to work on that. And It all changed last week. 2 saturdays ago I receive motivation! ha I have woken up on time every single day since then and got my work out in everyday without fail! Last Saturday I ran and added a ab work out after. And I did the same today. Sunday is the day of rest so we do not work out on those days. But yea I have been doing GREAT in that catagory. I was at 168, I have gone back down to 160 pretty quickly. And I am eating super well! I have seriously cut back on Soda and Candy and trash food. Like, I am SHOCKED at myself that i am really doing this! haha But I do feel Awesome! ha yea besides that, Elder Passey and I did get lazy on the work for some reason. (this is what I mean about just being stupid) I do not know why. It was not very smart to put some missionaries to live next to each other. haha, Elder Passey and I have noticed that though and this week we have made a goal to spend less time around them so that we could get more work done. And we have a lot of people to visit so we will have our hands full this week. 

  

     So even with a slow week, we still had that desire to work. Even though it was not really that effective this week. I think we were blessed to see a miracle because of our desires and intentions. We did have a sweet miracle happen this week! So I have had Bro. Hickerson in my mind a lot over the past few weeks. He has been working off shore and wont be back till late october. But his wife lets us know how he is doing. So a little back ground, he does not believe in Jesus Christ. He does not believe he really did exist and that he isn't needed. He believed that we could go straight to Heavenly Father without  Jesus Christ. He knows all the lessons and everything. So teaching the main points would have been pointless. So Missionaries, can not remember if it was Elder Hale and I or other missionaries before that, but they told him to read the book Jesus the Christ. (Super Good Book). 2 weeks ago his wife told us what he said after reading a few chapters. He had said that the Book was "turning the myth into a man".That was awesome progression to hear. We were so happy! He had asked to speak with us because he had a few questions. So we asked President Hansen for Permission to use facebook because it was the best way he could communicate with us on land while he was off shore. President Hansen wouldn't let us. So we prayed hard for him! Yesterday after church we talked to Sis. Hickerson to see how he was doing. She had the biggest smile on her face. And she told us that after he had his question, he had just decided to re-read the first 2 chapters of Jesus the Christ to get a better understanding. (Note: he was only reading because his computer  had broken and stopped working. Other wise he would be watching movies on his computer instead of reading). And he said that everything just got cleared up for him! He sent his wife a message saying to her, "If I could, I would get baptized RIGHT NOW"!!!! Those were the Most AMAZING words I have heard!!!! We were ALL STOKED!!! I Literally could have jumped up and down, ran around and scream for joy... If we had not been in the church. So we continued to talk to her saying that now, all we have to do is wait 56 days till he comes back home. We are all so excited! She said she went on to tell him about her new calling as a Young Women's President, and his reply to her was "go read 1st Nephi 3:7 .... She was shocked how he had just quoted scripture to her. haha Bro. Hickerson is basically a Member already! I have been waiting for this moment for him to progress. I LOVE how heavenly Father works! He broke his computer, so that he could read, so that he could receive the answer he had been looking for his whole life. The Church is most OBVIOUSLY TRUE! Oh how I love the mission and the Tender Mercies of the Lord! 

     Those were the biggest points of my pants week. We also got invited to a birthday party where Elder Passey and I both beat up a Piñata. 

      

     We also went out with Many who is part an investigator and part member...? He has been baptized but not confirmed yet. So we do not know his whole reason why. It i really complicated. He know and has told us that he was just Baptized to early. But he has really come a long way! He is actually a gay. But after meeting with the missionaries and taking lessons. His desire to follow that path has left him. It has been amazing to see his progression. He is an awesome guy. He loves the church a ton! It is super cool because he know Drew Brees Personally and the Louisiana State District Attorney. We met her last Thursday. It was cool. 

     Yup that is about it. Hope you guys have a great week! We are heading to the French Market again today. Just to look around since our whole district is broke haha. But we will just make fun experiences in the "Big Easy".

Love The Missionary in the South,

~Elder Caiña

looong week!

I am completely fine and healthy. But we did have some pretty crazy things happen last week! And now my companion and I have not bikes and no car. So we are walking all over the place.

     For a quick understanding of what happen with my bike and the Van, it all starts back on the first day of this transfer. Which was on July 9th. I'll try to make it short. That first day the Sister got hit in their car by an elderly lady. The side of the car was all pushed in so it got sent to the body shop to get fixed. So the sisters had to be on bikes. Sisters Don't have bikes since they are not required to bring one out of the mission. Because they get cars to keep them safe. Anyway, so they borrowed a mebers bike and I let them borrow my bike so they could get around. We had a Van so it was not problem. Couple of weeks later the Zone leaders come down and take the bikes to lunch. While the sisters rode their car. One of the Elders (Elder Carter) got hit by a car on his way there.Thankfully he is fine. The bike was not. The spoke was loose so we sent that to a member to get that fixed. So we then give them Elder Passey's Bike (my companion). couple of days later, one of the sisters calls us saying they kinda bent Elder Passey's rim. We thought it was fixable. When we finally see it, it was NOT slightly bent. It was bent like a pretzel. She had tried jumping a curve and did not make it. Thankfully she is completely fine. We do not know how but she was being watched over. We still do not know how she bent the rim so badly. The bike took all the damage. It was literally a miracle. So now we have 1 car down and 2 bikes. Thankfully the night before gave us a bike that they did not want because they never used it. So we gave that to the sisters. The NEXT day the same sister who hit the curve, on her way home she rode all the way with a FLAT tire. She didn't know it was flat. They realized it was flat the next day. While riding on the flat, she had curved the rim as well so now it was not completely straight. So that bike was unable to be used. Now with 3 bikes down. we had to give her one of the other Elders bike. So she took the worst bike that was still able to run. Next day we get a call from a set of Elder saying to go to their place. So we head over with the Van. And We had the 4TH BIKE DOWN. The same sister had gotten hit by a taxi on their morning bike to a members home! Poor sister could not catch a break. Thankfully again she was being watched over. She was not hurt or anything. The rim of my bike how ever had been bent the EXACT same way that Elder Passey's bike had been bent. It was seriously unbelievable what was going on this whole week. I didn't really care since the bike had lasted me so long and all i need is a new rim. It was okay since we had the Van to still get around... Or so we taught... As the sister head home to rest from their wild experiences, the Algiers Elders and my companion hop on the car to go to a service. Low and BEHOLD! The car did not want to start... Our week was not going any better... We got a random person to help us out and jump the car. It took 20 minutes to jump the car. In the end the guy turned the key some special way, that he got the car started. Went to Auto Zone right after wards and found out the the battery was completely fine. Called the Office missionaries, and they got the Van towed to the dealership to get it fixed because it still would not start. So in the end, NOW have managed to break down 4 bikes and 2 cars!... Only in the west bank. My companion and I are now in a walking area till we get a new rim for our bikes. The Sisters are now walking as well because they are both not taking another chance on bikes. In the end we are all happy and thankful that we are all still in one piece! Still going strong!

So that story was not short at all. But in the end that was basically our week. Helping other fellow missionaries till our Van broke down last Friday. Who knows when the Van will be back. We hear that the Sister's car is on their hopefully in the next week. Brother Walker has helped Elder Passey and I get new rims which we will receive on thursday. And then we will be back on bikes. Slowly but surely we will pick things up. 

Also we took a Ferry to Downtown this past monday, and saw the Aquarium for our Preparation Day. And we also visited the French Market.

The Sister who crashed Elder Passey's bike also gave him a batman watch to kinda pay back for it. He is enjoying the light pictures it has. But he is still working on staying awake during personal study. 

That is my week. Hope you all had as great of a week if not EVEN BETTER week than we did. Oh the life of a Missionary! ha

Love y'all!

Elder Caiña

Miracles through Conference

 How lovely this past week has been! I have had my testimony built in every way, shape, and form. Through the district meeting that we had with you President Wall. I was enlighten and i learned a lot. In the way of questioning and asking people to make small commitments working the way up to the bigger commitment. And instead of talking about certain teachings, going out and doing it because we learn best when we are thrown into the fire. There were things i needed to learn and i am glad i was able to grasp that. And I am grateful for receiving help and for the leadership President Wall so lovingy gives.
      I will share a few things that have happend since thurday. We sent out a massive text to all the people in our phone to remind them of general conference. We got a few replies that day. The next day at night we decided to visit a refferal that was given to us. We were on our way to number 624 on their street and as we passed by there was a young family outside their home playing with chalk. As we rode they yelled out, "Hi missionaries!" Elder Swain and i looked at each other sorta surprised, and immidiatly got the feeling to turn back. So we did and started talking to them. The home number was 634. Turn out that they were the family that we were looking for! Not long after they started telling us their situation. And how her boyfriend (they were not married) wanted to be taught. They invited us in and we quickly began teaching them. And Carla (mom) expressed how she wanted to get back into the church wanted to be and re-taught with her boyfriend. He said "yes" to baptism during the lesson and the spirit was strongly felt and we taught the first lesson as well. This family was filled with joy immidiatly. Elder Swain and I both saw their smiles grow as we shared the beautfiul message of the Gospel and how it carries us. We told them about conference and invited them the next day. They did not have a car or tv so they were in need of a ride to the church. That night, we called a family that invited us to watch conference in their home so that we could help them in between sessions. They gladly said they would help. And on Saturday we were able to get this small young family , after just visiting them once the day before, able to watch conference. I am so thankful for Members and their willingness to help! They are understanding the importance of missionary work!
Another beautiful miracle that happened that same day was from our other new investigator Judy. We had repeatedly reminded her and encouraged her to watch conference. After the first session of conference on saturday morning, she sent us a text and it read,

"Those are the most beautiful words ever spoken that i have heard. I truly believe in my heart and soul, God is calling me to join you. I always do what God calls me to do. God brought the church and you into my life. I'm forever grateful to him for this calling. I'm still working on smoiking. Cofee is history. And finally Smoking will be history as well. So i may join the true church of Jesus Christ our Savior. I must call my cousin and speak to her.. I feel so uplifted, I cannot explain how i feel. I will be watching tomorrow as well. Thank you for your kindness, spirit, laughter, listening to me cry, and for your understanding. God bless you Elders you are helping me change my life. And now I know what I am going through is what has to happen, "why" is not for me to ask anymore. however, to continue on with my life and become whole again."

How Beautiful were her sweet words! And o how high did my testimony grow! That is the first time i have heard anyone gain a testimony so strong from General Conference. I told our Ward missionary as well and it was the first time he heard such a thing happen as well. It just testified to me how true are the words of God's Prophet, Apostles and leaders are! She was truly touched by the Holy Ghost at the moment. She was in-tune and she knew right away, the truth which she had heard.

It told me right away, that our Savior lives. And he STILL speaks to us today. We DO have a Living Prophet and inspired leaders. And this Church IS True! I just was reading a book by Dallin H. Oaks that said all of Christs' followers testify of him. And as I remembered all the Speakers of General Conference, they ALL testified of Christ. In one way or another. And THAT is what builds our testimonies, THAT is how we know of the truth, and THAT is how we know that this is His Church.
I am so grateful for those God has place in our path. I am looking forward to working with Judy, And Colby (Carla's Boyfriend) and also Carolyn and Grant who we will be visiting this week! These will be the first people that i will have the opportunity to fully start from the beginning and teach them till they are baptized! I has hope for my brothers and sisters. And never before has my testimony grown so much over such a small period of time!

    
     Tthere is no Doubt that i am seeing miracles. As we strive to be spirit led and full of joy for the work that we do. And the with the help of members we are seeing many blessing come to pass.

I can strongly testify that this is the Lord's work. It is not easy, but the blessings are more than worth it. I thank my Heavenly Father for all he does, all he has given, and all he will do/give.

The work is SO TRUE and SO VERY REAL!

 

   Keep on with the Work of Salvation Everyone! Remember the word sof Jesus Christ to Peter " Do you love me?" x3! Show him your love by bringing his children unto him. Actions speak louder than words!

 

Love you all!

 

Elder Caiña

Morning Everyone!

 

     From the Super Cold, Rainy,Icy, and maybe even SNOWY Louisiana!

It you are confused, so AM I! I thought Louisiana was basically ALWAYS HOT.... Guess again! Last week we received probably the coldest weather which created Icicles on the car on houses and EVERYWHERE there was icicles!!! I'll tell you all, i was pretty AMAZED. I told my companion that i never had seen Icicles and i thought that they were only in movies! haha Yep you can tell how stoked i was. But anyway, now we are expecting an Even COLDER day tomorrow with a higher chance of snow! You can imagine how EXCITED i am! We might have to stay home all day though because Louisiana is not used to this kind of weather so they do not really know how to react. So it will be a dangerous day on the road. But Anyway, because i do not really have any warm sweaters i have been freezing my tail off! But its okay... I'll keep my head up. :) But with that crazy cold weather we have receive very beautiful Sunsets at the Lake Front. (Look at pictures)

    Anyway on other news... We had Transfers last week and we were called up and told that Elder Madsen was going to be transferred. Then President Wall called me and told me that i was going to stay a district leader and he was going to give me another responsibility on top of that. And he told me that i was also going to be training. So i was VERY excited.So on Wednesday, Elder Madsen was called to serve down in Tibedo. And I stayed in Mandeville and training Elder Chase. Who ACTUALLY Elder Chase is waiting on his VISA to go down to Brazil where he has been originally assigned to serve. So he will be leaving whenever he receives it it could be tomorrow or it could be in a couple months. We never know. But i am blessed with the opportunity to work with him and get him started on the right foot on his mission. Hopefully i can train him well enough. It is a neat experience because he is learning Portuguese which is very similar to spanish so i can understand him when he speaks the words he already knows. It is awesome. We are learning from each other. It is also very interesting because Mandeville is basically an English area. But president Wall decided to put a Spanish and Portuguese Elder in Mandeville. So i like to say that we have been resigned to an english mission for just a little while ha.

     I have to say that when i was with Elder Madsen we hit a bump on the road where it was a struggle to follow all the rules sometimes. And it came to a point when our work had really gone down and it was hard to find appointments and to find people or even just find the courage to talk to people to find them. At time i didn't know what i was doing or why i was doing what i was doing like sleeping in and what not. I knew that it was not right and i sae the effects that it was having on my work. Yet because of the struggles that i was having with my companion it was really hard to push each other and start working again. Now as much as i miss Elder Madsen, God knew that it was the best thing to separate us to start getting back on track. And President Wall knew that through him. Elder Madsen and I both realized we needed to change back to doing our Job. We were just both too chill with each other and we just needed this transfer. Now I have Elder Chase, and what i Love about new coming missionaries is that TRAINEE FIRE that they have in them. The push and drive to go out and work. And something that I still have but i just put it behind me. With his example, it makes me want to bring that side out. And Immediately already we have found a TON of success!!! Within the 4 days that we have been together, we have handed out 2 copies of the Book of Mormon  found 3 new people. Had a stranger invite us to lunch EVEN THOUGH he did NOT agree with our believes. And we have thought and seen 8 families which we ended with 11 lessons for the week. Which just about triple the amount we have seen in the past 3 weeks! We have had a ton of success already and MANY great moments getting to know each other and seeing that we get along GREAT! With still having the HUGE desire to serve and do our best! We even went out knocking doors out on the HAIL on the coldest day ever here in Louisiana! I couldn't feel my body but we continued! We had one door which REALLY HURT. Before we could tell this man what we were about, he yelled at us and said, "Y'ALL ARE CRAZY! GO HOME!!! (SLAMMED DOOR!!!!!) We felt and earthquake go on inside us. And Since that was Elder Chase's first SLAM he looked at me and said.... Elder... You can get the next one.. He was sad and hurt as was I but I was a bit used to it. And we continued. We were able to find 2 families who were willing to listen and we will be going back to meet them next week! It was and exciting experience out on the Freezing Hail! Fun stuff.

     We are both excited to be doing this work! And Glad we could serve with each other. I have found out that i can almost like turn a switch on and off about doing missionary work... And i have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA why I EVER chose to turn it slightly off.... The Work is SO GREAT and so Filling! So many great moments and so much happiness comes from this that i permanently keeping it on From NOW ON! It the end i think i needed to turn it down so i could have this experience and to REALLY understand the GREATNESS that this Work has. I LOVE Missionary work! I am hoping i can stay with Elder Chase for a good small period of time. Because i know that he REALLY wants to get to Brazil so I am looking forward to learning as much as possible from him and hoping he get a thing or two about missionary work from me.

    Looking forward to  a great transfer with my companion and my District. We can all already tell that we are going to be a very strong District because we all get along so well.

     Thank you all for your support and prayers. And for Everything you do for the Lord's Church and for his work of salvation. Remember we are ALL missionaries! And i hope that you ALL choose to NOT turn that missionary switch off. Keep it on and find those which the Lord wants you to find find and help. Always try to talk to people about the Gospel and you will see the much Happiness that it brings!