Happy Easter to you as well! It's good you didn't have a lot to write about because i have A LOT to tell you this week!
But first I'll reply to what you wrote :)
Yeah we are hoping to have 3 baptisms on the 22nd! Hopefully it will be Sonny, Hannah, and Godfried. They are all super serious and are very smart!
Yeah Elder Slade does have a bigger family. Plus he is the oldest out of everyone so he is good with children. We do work really well together. He is way sweet and we teach together REALLY well!
The package ended up being from Sister Blanchard, so I'm writing a letter to thank her and also including a letter to Austen in it! Hopefully they get it soon!
The basketball game didn't really work out. The other team totally bailed. So we just played with our own team split. Oh well. Still had A LOT of fun! AND we went to Piri Piri afterwards....ALWAYS worth it haha.
No no no you misread what I wrote haha. I didn't get a washer yet! I'm going to get one once I find out if I'm being transferred or not. If I am, I'll tell the Zoll's to get me one and I'll pay him for it. That's what the Zoll's said they'd do.
ARCHULETTA IN CHILE!!!! Haha sweet! Everyone has been talking about that since I've been here wondering where he could go. Now we know!
Yeah I know Avengers comes out soon! AHHH I can't wait to come home and see it! Let me know how it is. yeah I already know all the actors in it, trust me, I followed it closely before I left haha. However, could you find out what's going on with The Hobbit? When will that come out? Any trailers for it yet?
Items from MY week!!!!:
-I borrowed a D&C (Doctrine & Covenants) study guide from the ward since no-one was using it and so I've been studying from it (it's a college class study guide). It has SO much insight and quotes that just blow my mind every section I study. I'll include some of the important things I learned from it below, and also I'll send a picture of one of the quotes that shows that YOU GUYS NEED TO MOVE OUT OF NY. LOL.
Anyway below are a couple of the cool things I learned so far:
1. "The Constitution of the United States is a glorious standard; it is founded in the wisdom of God. It is a heavenly banner..."-Joseph Smith. He also stated how the Constitution as it stands RIGHT NOW should not have a single word changed, and that it is so inspired that it could almost be regarded as scripture.
2. The Second Comforter is Jesus Christ. I didn't know this before, but when Jesus said in the scriptures: "I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you." It's literal. Like, modern prophets have said in various discourses that if you endure enough trials and basically prove to God that you would endure to the end, then Jesus Christ will literally manifest himself to you face to face and tell you "your election is made sure". How sweet would that be?! Joseph Smith and other prophets have said this is something we can all strive for, and can all obtain. Knowing that is a promise just amps up my desire to do what's right!
-I feel impressed to encourage you guys to, when you read the scriptures together, to not only read them but really really ponder them. All day. Think about the words. imagine them as if a modern prophet had said them. Liken them to yourselves. I know you probably already do this, but I just felt like encouraging you guys to do that, because you get SO much more out of the scriptures when you do.
-On Wednesday, Elder Hatch came home from splits with Abuakwa and went straight into the bathroom. Then like 10 minutes later he came out and was panting and sweating and looked real bad and said, "you guys gotta give me a priesthood blessing". Elder Smith obviously immediately called the Zoll's and was all panicked so he was like, "I don't know he's having some kind of heart attack or something!!" So the Zoll's booked it over. But before they get there Elder Hatch started to like have muscle contractions like he couldn't open his right hand and stuff. . So the Zoll's got him and Smith and brought them to the hospital where they found out he had kidney stones....yeah. That stinks. Elder Zoll spent a large effort to get them to put Hatch in the VIP rooms (the other rooms are just....well....not sanitary...). On Friday Smith called us and was like, "dude. I am BORED out of my MIND. PLEASE, bring us the DVD player," we have a small one for the training videos, "and our movies and Conference tapes and stuff. And bring more clothes!" So Slade and I went BACK to the apartment got their stuff and visited them in the hospital. They were SOOOOOO happy to see us. They were both super bored. When Hatch was ready to go back to the apartment, the doctor decided he wanted to go on easter break so he couldn't get released. So they're just sitting there doing nothing, so bored watching Ghanaian Twi movies. We visited for a while and left. Now, there's another story within the story. There were 2 miracles that allowed Slade and I to get INTO the hospital. There was one security guard outside the entrance who wouldn't let us in saying visiting hours were over. We explained to him and he still said no. Then I just told him that we were missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and without a single word he opened the gate. It was weird. Then there was a second guard outside their ward and said that they could only allow one of us to go up and deliver the things to them. We explained AGAIN and the guard said no. I said that we were missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and he ALSO opened the door without a word and we walked in and another random guy just went, "Follow, I'll show you where your colleagues are." It was so awesome. I was amazed. I thanked God in my prayers for all of that that night. So anyway, Hatch is back now and good as ever. Apparently he had a history of kidney stones in his family so PHEW (I DON'T WANT A CATHETER EVER....). I just drink even MORE water now than before haha.
-James (the Recent Convert I just baptized), passed me the sacrament this Sunday. It really was the coolest thing. To see someone that I found, taught, and baptized, give me the sacrament. With what the sacrament represents, it's almost like he baptized me on Sunday. Such a sweet moment for me.
-To Jen: You know how fun it is to hit chickens in Zelda? It's just as fun in real life. I promise. I do it everyday. Still no giant herd of chickens trying to kill me though. Maybe I need to hit them more hahahaha. By the way, in Skyward Sword, did they keep the tradition of the chickens attacking you? I hope so!
Well family that's basically it! As for the work this week, it was mostly shot in the face because of Elder Hatch's ordeal, the special instruction, and storms (which reminds me, it's getting slightly cooler as it goes into rainy season!). So hopefully next week we get more busy.
Love you guys!
Elder Gagne
