6-30-13

Wow where to start. This week has been really really interesting.

So at the beginning of this week we were traveling with an ex-missionary, who was the office elder when I started the mission and we went up to Constanza the highest area in the mission to find a new house. So that was pretty intense with the really curvy roads and majestic views. We spent most of the day there looking for a new apartment for the missionaries.

Then on Tuesday we had a great meeting with the priesthood leaders of the ward. Lately the ward has been going down hill. We are all trying to work hard to keep things going, but it seems like the harder we try the more things go wrong. So on Tuesday we met and brainstormed Ideas about what we can do to accomplish our goals as a ward. We planned a little and came up with some ideas to bring up in ward conference next week. The main thing that came out of that meeting is that they were excited and had an idea about how we can accomplish and help the ward. Back in February we had an average of about 108 people in sacrament meeting, but lately it has been around 65 people in sacrament meeting. People have been moving away, but others are just going inactive, and we couldn't figure out how to help. So that was a great meeting.

This Sunday which was really good we had a lot of people at church. My companion and I left the house an hour early to go out and find people and try to get them excited about going to church. If we can get them to go they will feel the spirit and then it will be more likely that they will come back on their own. So we went and gave a less active family a ride, and also a Sister from the ward that had surgery, but a couple of her family that are less active also came so it was really great. The excitement had seemed to really get to other people as well because a couple of the other people that the other elders came and some that they just came. So we are starting to see some progress and hopefully after ward council we will have a better idea on how we are going to work together.

This week I also had to go and visit the doctor of the mission. I went to check up on my toe. He didn't operate on it though the way he was twisting my toe nail off and squeezing it sure felt like he was operating on it. He said that it is still just starting, but that it is a lot bigger then normal so if he has to operate he will have to take a lot of the nail. So he told me to try to bend it and ease it so the toe nail grows straight. He also gave me an antibiotic to kill the infection that I have in my toe. So that night I took the first pill. I woke up in the middle of the night and barely made it to the bathroom. It was just straight water. I spent most the morning near the bathroom. I call Hermana Douglas and she call the doctor and he said that that happens and that I needed to eat yogurt to put all the good bacteria back into my body. So I did and with in a couple of hours I was alright. But during those couple of hours I had a couple close calls where it was a miracle that I made it to the bathroom without soiling some of my clothes.  

This week we also had to go down to Santo Domingo again. We went to go and pick up new trucks. I have been working on trying to get the trucks changed since I got in the office. We drove down and ate lunch with a missionary that just finished his mission from our mission. Then we changed the trucks we had 2009 Toyota Hilux, and now we have Isuzu D-Max and they said that it is 2014, but I'm pretty sure that it is 2013 or maybe 2012, but it was new. We took off all the plastic and everything. So that have been really nice so far. It is also Automatic and the ride is a lot smoother.

We also had a ward activity this week and not a lot of people went but it was a really effective activity. The investigators that were there got to know some of the members and we played games and then after we played a little bit of basketball. One of the guys that we played with is a returned missionary that lives in our area. So we talked with him a little bit and he moved into our a little while ago and hasn't been going to church for a while. We asked if we could go by and invited him to church. He came to church and brought his whole family who aren't members and today we are going over there to teach them.

Well I hope that Tyler does great on his Farewell talk! Enjoy your last weeks with him. Have a great week! I love you all tons!

Con Cariño

Elder Cannon