4th of July 2011

Dreaming of the USA today :)

Their long time investigator Juan Carlos will hopefully be baptized

Juan Martinez's baptism day: Sunday July 3, 2011

What a great day for this fine young man

Elder Draper with Juan and his last comp Elder Brandon

From left: Elder Seelinger (from San Diego), Rudd, Stout (from Sandy), Juan, Brandon, Draper, Davies and Rios (from Arizona)

Happy 4th! Today we sang the Star Spangled Banner for comp study this morning. USA! I'm feeling much better and Juan's baptism really helped, I have lots of pictures too. It will probably be a normal day of basketball. It is the first pday with the 3 new elders that came out so we will see if there are any other athletes.

This week was amazing!! I thought my life as a missionary was busy during the first year, but I had no idea. Being one of the zone leaders, training, and working 2 stakes is insane! I literally have zero time to myself, even to think, but it is really a great feeling to be so deeply involved with the Lord's work. Juan Martinez was baptized yesterday, and it was a super spiritual experience. Sis. Amaya's son Franky baptized him and I was able to confirm him. His story is one that I will never forget, and it was a blessing to be able to help him come unto Christ. I am sure Marisol will send you other pics as well haha. We also have Patricia, who still wants to be baptized, but she has to work every Sunday for the next 2 months, so she won't be able to be baptized next Sunday. It will have to be moved to during the week.

Elder Rios my greenie is great! He is from Mesa, Arizona. Don't let the last name fool you, he is just learning Spanish for the first time haha. He has Spanish in his blood super far back in his family history line, but carried only in the last name. He is loving the mission and having lots of fun. He's a stud. Elder Rudd and I are back to our old ways serving together haha. We get along really well and are having a great time.

This month will be tough also because it is half click month. So every month we get allotted certain amount of kilometers to drive, and this month we are only allotted half of the usual amount. AND we are covering 2 huge stakes! SO, we have gotten hold of 3 bikes and will be biking around a lot this month. I am totally grateful for that, because I don't think I would every feel like a real missionary without riding a bike haha. Plus the weather is great and so is a little exercise too.

So that was basically our week, mixed in with lots of small zone leader tasks and lots of figuring out how we are going to manage 2 stakes. But we have faith that the Lord will direct us and help us figure it all out.

I love you all and hope you have a splendid week!

Love Elder Draper