State College Week 15

I'm glad there was a little snow! We got a lot of snow this past weekend, but right now it's raining so I expect all the snow to be gone tonight and turned into ice. It'll be crazy!

Heather's baptism went very well, and exceptionally smooth. Because of the snow I was a little worried that it would snow too much that people wouldn't be able to make it to the church, especially Heather, and we would have to postpone the baptism. But, the Lord heard the humble prayer of a missionary, and I'm sure, many other people, and He slowed, and stopped the snow by 10 am so there were 3 hours in which roads could be cleared and salted. It was a wonderful blessing. Brenden's less-active parents came up to the baptism and helped out in the program. It was a wonderful thing to see them there and hopefully to have them feel the Spirit there. Bro. Heidrich gave a talk, and Sis. Heidrich played the organ. She only needed to be baptized once! Elder Mason did a good job at it. She was confirmed yesterday, and she definitely was glowing. I'll forward you the pictures that Brenden sent me. What a happy day!!!! I love it when friends get baptized. :)

My finger is doing good! The scab is gone and is turning into a scar. It was a quick healing!

Right now I'm not too sure on  how Chris is doing. He actually went into a de-tox unit, outside of our area, last Thursday to completely flush out the toxin in his body. He's gone through it before and says that the first few days are really rough, but it's so worth it. We look forward to hearing from him again in a few days and then teaching him some more. He's a great guy. And I pray he's enduring well.

This week went by pretty fast which scared me a little bit. Oh, and this week I got my travel itinerary and instruction for luggage weight. That was strange. I can't believe it's actually happening! But it's okay. It's a good thing. I love being a missionary and witnessing the miracle that come from God. I love teaching the gospel to others, and helping them come closer to Christ. I have loved all the many experiences that taught me and strengthened my testimony. And I will continue to work until the end of my mission, but  I am excited for
the next chapter of my life and what that will bring, or rather, what I will help bring to pass.  The gospel it true. The Church is true and always will be, so says the Lord.


Love,
Elder B. Serrano

Elder Serrano, Heather, Elder Mason

State College Week 14

So this morning I sliced my middle finger open with a knife so It's a little difficult to type, so forgive the length, and probably the spelling errors that come from trying to type with only four digits on a hand. It was bleeding pretty badly so I had to raise it above my head and apply pressure, until it slowed down. It turns out that
scouting and the first-aid merit badge paid off! Hopefully the makeshift bandage will work: gauze and duct tape. It looks kinda silly but hey it's all I had.

Heather is so ready to get baptized!!! She's very excited about it and so am I! We have everything all arranged and she should be good to go. All she needs right now is the baptismal interview and she get the
okay. Golden!!!!!

We got some word on Fei. He texted us and said that he was going to be busy for the next 2 weeks and then he wanted to meet with us and return the white shirt and ties I gave him, so that basically means he's done meeting with us... He probably got Anti-ed while at that conference in DC. Which is a huge bummer! Maybe one day something will happen.

Chris is doing great! We were able to meet with him two times this week and teach him. He's been improving on quitting smoking and drinking, which is awesome! And he went to an addiction recovery group last night that some people in the church put on. We haven't heard from him yet but I'm sure it was a good experience. He's doing well though!

This weeks topic for my studies that seemed to be common, is how awesome missionary work is! I read 3 sections in the Doctrine and Covenants that were just amazing to pump up a missionary: Sections 30-32. They are amazing in that the Lord gives words of advice, commandment, and comfort to missionaries. I loved it! I love the Work. It truly is marvelous. And I am sad that it is coming to an end soon. But That's okay, life goes on. :)

Elder Benjamin

State College Week 13

I'm doing wonderfully well!  I am staying healthy, to the best of my abilities, and I'm continuing to take vitamins and working out. I love it making healthy decisions, I feel so much better! Elder Mason is doing good. Heather is going to be baptized on the 21st of January by elder Mason, and I'll be confirming her on the 22nd. It'll be a momentous occasion! :) Fei, we haven't been in touch with for this past week because he's been gone. We're a little worried, but things will work out. Chris is good. We were able to teach him about the Word of Wisdom and invite him to live it. He was feeling sick, and we were able to give him a blessing to help him and to strengthen him as he starts to ween off of the cigarettes and alcohol. He's got great faith, but sometimes doesn't realize it. We have a great new investigator that came to church named William D. He really enjoyed church and is very willing to come again and continue to meet with us. He's a great guy that is way into being prepared. The sisters are doing great! They are so fun, and are wonderful missionaries. The district I'm in is an awesome one!! And we need a van because both of the sister companionships don't have a vehicle. So we have it so we can get to places if we need to travel as a district. Like this Wednesday we all need to travel out to Altoona for some training, and since there are no missionaries close by we will all road trip out there.

I can't believe that Steve is way out in the boonies! There's only a branch where he's at, and I was kinda thinking that it would be terrible to be sent there when I was looking at the wards and branches there in his mission. But he'll make the best of it. And I'm glad the he has a good trainer. That is such an important aspect for any missionary is their trainer. The trainer can make or break a new missionaries mission. So that's nice to know.

I love the Plan of Salvation too. It's probably one of my favorite lessons to teach as a missionary, because it's "new" to people, but it's the truth, so 80% of the time people always believe that it makes sense right away. I love it!!

I love being a missionary. 'Nuff said. :)

I will work hard and finish my mission strong! That's the only way to do it!

Love,
Elder Benjamin Serrano

State College Week 12

So this week was awesome! I had a great birthday. On my birthday, we taught Fei, emailed, then went out to get some Wings for lunch! They were way good! There is this awesome hole-in-the-wall pizza place that we go, and it is sooooo amazing! Everything they serve is delicious, and reasonably priced. And yes we did buy a cake and use the candles. I actually forgot about the poppers, so we used them on New Years eve when we celebrated the new years as if we were in Iceland, (basically we popped them at 10pm instead of staying up to 12). The week was a good week! We did find a new investigator named Chris W....s, who called our bishop here and said that he wanted to get his life in order. So we met with him, and in the first lesson we invited him to be baptized and he accepted! So he has the baptismal date of Feb. 18. We're very excited for him! Heather is doing great as well! She is really excited to get baptized in a couple weeks. She's such a great lady, and her husband Brendon is doing great too! From the insights he gives in lessons you would think that he has been active his whole life. I love them!

I was able to talk to Elder Serrano the younger on Saturday. That was so awesome! We only had 8 minutes, but it was very worth it. He sounded way excited and nervous too. He's going to be an awesome missionary! I'm very excited for him.

Love,

Elder Serrano the elder