ELDER KNORR COMES HOME THIS WEEK!
Hello Family and Friends! Thanks for your letters and emails this week. I'm supremely grateful for all the help that you've been to me during my mission. I am truly blessed to know people like you.
I'm sorry to hear about President Christianson's heart attack, but I'm glad to hear that he's doing well and that he plans to finish his time as mission president. President Christianson has helped me in many ways growing up and deciding to come on the mission. I hope to see him again soon.
The biggest news right now is that Danna, Paula and Sofia are getting baptized this Saturday at 6 o'clock in the Villalba chapel. You're all invited! :) They are all very desirous to be baptized and have very good testimonies. It will be a beautiful service, and the young women will be providing the musical number. 
We are also putting a greater focus on passing by members and helping them fulfill their missionary responsibilities. We are sharing with them the inspired promise given by our mission president that if they refer 5 friends to us, at least one of those friends will be baptized. So far, we're coming up against the usual "I've shared the gospel with everyone I know and there's nothing left to do" excuse, but we're helping them work past that and see that they really do know a lot of people who aren't members of the Church who could benefit from the gospel message. It's a whole new ball game, but I trust that with time, things will begin to open up more.
Well, that's about all that's going on. We keep working hard and enjoying missionary work to its fullest. There are so many people who need the gospel and there's so little time! I'm grateful with all of my soul for the opportunities that the Lord has already given me to share his gospel, and I pray that he gives me a few more yet.
Hey Dad!
Well, thanks for the email. It was great fun reading it and enjoying it. And I hope everything goes well. Let me know if anyone dies/gets engaged. Till next time,
Happy Birthday, Max! Wow, 8 years of puppy love? Where did the time go. Why, it seems only yesterday that Dad brought Max home. He's such a good little puppy...and I'm glad to hear that he still gets a kick out of shredding the egg cartons. He always did love that, didn't he? I wonder if he'll still remember me after all this time. It's sure been a while.
Sadith was baptized as planned this last Sunday. It was a great experience for all those present, including Isaac. Now all 4 members of Sadith's family are members of the church: Sadith, Maritzah, Michelle and Bryan. They're awesome people and I love them a lot. We're all very happy for Sadith and his decision. Now, just one more year and they can be sealed in the temple! :)
We have basically 3 other families that we're working with at the moment. Diana and Daniel, and their kids Michelle and Daniel. They're good. Daniel Sr. avoids us a lot and doesn't have interest like the other three. Also, Diana's father, Jose Maria, is interested in learning more and coming to church, so we're working with him too. Their current challenge is that they're not coming to church like they should be... it's a bit discouraging but we will keep working with them.
Then there's a good group of young people who have been referred by their friends to investigate the church. Alejandro, Fabiola, and Raquel (youth from the ward) have all invited friends to learn more about the church. All of their friends are good, have interest, and many of them are coming to church. It's a very nice trend that we're seeing.
The biggest news this week is that Sadith Coello is very close to being baptized! His service is scheduled for the 27th this week and we're all very excited, especially him, for this new step he will be taking in his life. His interview last night went through without a hitch, and he'll soon be joining his family in Church membership. An interesting thing about Sadith: he has read the entire Book of Mormon already. He decided that it would be important to read the whole book before getting baptized, so he set that goal. Many days, as we passed by his apartment, we saw him sitting out in his minivan all alone, reclined, reading the Book of Mormon. I asked him where he was in the book the other day, and he said that he was almost done with Moroni. Incredible! Sadith is a good man and the Lord needs him in His Church.
Things are still going well with the members. We are helping a good number of less active members come back to Church. This last week, actually, was a very successful week in that regard. Many people came to Church who don't normally do that, including one family that has been estranged from the ward for almost 5 years. It was a true joy to see all of these people make the decision to come back. That is just as satisfying to me to see. After all, I'm here to invite all people to come to Christ. I'm doing all that I can to keep focused on the work and use my time wisely. There is still so much work to do here in Villalba! And there are so many investigators to teach and to help progress.
There's so much that I've been learning and discovering as I've helped Elder Barlow get used to things here. I've noticed a lot of things that I am now used to that are new for him. Weird! A lot of the things were little, insignificant things, like the fact that doorknobs here are in the middle of the door, or that there's hardly any carpet, or that the traffic lights commonly flash yellow (yield), or that everyone smokes, or that milk comes in 1 liter boxes and can be stored at room temperature, or that there is no peanut butter or root beer. These are all things that are now normal to me, but they shouldn't be. Does that make sense? These things are strange, but I don't notice them anymore. Having Elder Barlow around to point it all out is quite interesting, seeing as I may have never noticed it myself. 
Sadith now has a date for the 26th of February, and he's excited and looking forward to it, as is his family. He is a great man and has overcome a lot to be able to get to this point. We are going to do everything possible to help him achieve his goal.
Well, compared to that bit of news, everything else seems insignificant. I'm glad to hear about Lauren and David, as well as Matthew and Theresa. Sounds like everyone's deciding to get married all of a sudden. Not that it's a bad thing. I do thank everyone for waiting until I could get back to get married though. :) You're all the best!
Monday when suddenly the lights went out. Apparently there was a problem with our bills and the power company pulled the plug on us. Moving quickly, we washed the remaining dishes with the remaining hot water (or water heater is electric) and sealed the fridge and freezer. A quick distress call was made to our financial secretary.
A bit of a rundown on Elder Thurston, since you asked. He's a tall guy, a great missionary and, from what I hear, a good shot. He's from Logan, Utah, from a family of 7, and loves outdoors activities: camping, hunting, etc. He's also a champion shotgun shooter, and has made it to nationals before. We get along great, making jokes and working hard.
A bit more detail on our investigators. We found a brand new family from Colombia, Bogota. They're a young-ish couple, both baptized, and they have three daughters (13, 12, 9) who haven't been baptized. His name is Alvaro Jon, and his mother's name is Ana Julia Castro Cubillos. Do you know her, Dad? He said she lived in Bogota at about the same time you were living there, and that she always had the missionaries over. Anyways, they're all really good because apparently they still have Family Night frequently and have good testimonies. It's crazy, the Lord has prepared them to receive the gospel at this time. 
