Avalon Week 14

I am glad that you had a great time on your birding trip, it sounds like it was pretty productive too! All the birds are coming back now and when I wake up a I can hear all the birds chirping and what not. It's pretty cool because our apartment complex is surrounded by trees (well all of Pennsylvania is filled with trees, but this complex more than my past apartments)! I see blue birds, cardinals, and the common ones like robins, sparrows, and chickadees. I saw a few seagulls the other day and was really confused because there really isn't any place for seagulls up here, and I didn't think that they were common. I guess that they were passing through. Who knows. 

I am doing well, and am staying healthy.

So there are some exciting happenings that are going on here!

-Do you remember Bailey L.....? The young lady I was teaching in South Side? Well I saw the missionaries that are there at a meeting last Tuesday and they gave me a wonderful update!! All of the things that were hindering her from being baptized had passed and she’s ready to go! Her boyfriend found a job and moved out, her friend that was dying of Leukemia passed away, and she’s out of mourning. So she’ll be baptized within the next couple of weeks! A guy I tracted into in SS, and taught a couple of times, is getting baptized this weekend, and Courtland H...... is going through the proper repentance process and is humble and working to get his priesthood restored!! When I found out all of this my heart was filled with joy and I felt like I could run for miles, I was so happy! Even though I’m not personally seeing the fruits of my labors, I am happy to know that they are there and being harvested. You know that that was a hard area for me, with being doubled in and working an area that wasn’t worked in for 4.5 months. Knowing all of this makes my mission. I am so happy I can’t even describe with words, and if I tried it wouldn’t do justice. I know that this kind of happiness only comes from doing the Lords work and I love it!

-Danielle (turns out she’s read the Book of Mormon 3 times!) is thinking and praying on baptism right now and will let us know tomorrow on what she says. She has an intellectual testimony of the Book of Mormon and somewhatofa spiritual one, but there is some bad news that goes along with this story though. She might be moving. Just outside of our area too! She’ll be moving due to work commute, just so she could be closer. We strongly encouraged her to move to one cities in the outer boundaries of our area so she could be at a half way mark. Not because we’re selfish and want to baptize her but because she really loves the ward and wants to stay in it. So we’ll see what she decides tomorrow, pray hard.

-The C........s are still thinking on where it should be. There really is no rule and keeping them in the area and having them baptized there, but it will still be counted for our area/ward. We’re going to talk to them more and hopefully get Bro. C...... interested in getting baptized as well. -We were able to obtain 2 new investigators, and we are excited to be able to teach them. One of our new investigators is named Will, he so cool. We had tracted into him before and stopped by to talk to him and he was out on his porch enjoying the nice weather. We got into a conversation with him and he brought up how he was watching a televangelist and said that the proper way of doing baptism is by immersion, and he hadn't had that done before, so we told him that we could do that for him! He seemed very interested, and asked if we had power to be able to do that, and we of course said that we did, and it was the proper authority too. We were able to set up a return appointment with him to teach him more. It was just a testimony strengthener for me that it's not that scary or awkward to talk to people about baptism just in regular conversation, and now he knows that that's what we want him to eventually do, and be a part of.

And that's about it for this week, I'm having a great time serving here and are finding a lot of cool people to be able to teach! This area is great and the ward is great here too! I am currently reading through the Doctrine and Covenants and I am loving every page! It's really cool because a lot of it in there is the Lord speaking towards missionary work, which was and is the main focus of the Church. It's really motivational!

Love,

Elder Benjamin Serrano

ATTENTION:

           The Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Mission office will be relocating as of April 1st, 2011. It will be important that you notify your families, friends, and other necessary contacts of this change as the office staff will be unable to do so. The current address will no longer be a valid address for mail.


            Old Address:

            Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Mission

            2589 Washington Rd. Ste 410

            Pittsburgh, PA 15241


            New Address:

            Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Mission

            2600 Boyce Plaza, Ste. 101

            Upper St. Clair, PA 15241