Elder Brock DeLuca: Happy Easter!!!

Oh my goodness, this week flew by! We were so busy and I was so tired throughout the week, but now it has passed already. Cray cray!

Tuesday afternoon, we were helping a former investigator move out of his apartment. It was getting late in the afternoon and we still hadn't heard anything from President Mortensen about the missionary department, so I called him. I asked him what was up with the situation and he said, "Did you not get my text?" I was like, "No??" He, apparently, had texted us to meet them at his house at 4 and it was already 3 and we had to go home and shower because we were all sweaty from moving things. We hurried back and took quick showers then we went down to President's home which was like 45 minutes away from us with traffic. We met him, the missionary department, the assistants and one other zone leader companionship there and then we all split up to go get dinner and then head out to our appointments. We ended up going out with President which was really sweet. We went out to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and President Mortensen invited our waiter to meet with us. So sick. We texted him and he never replied so we have to call him and see whats up.

First, we went to Jay's house and he ended up not being there so we then went to Brother Aaron Finch's house to meet with he and his mom Bobbie, who is a former investigator. We had a powerful lesson on temples and family history as we had with Brenda and Morgan just a couple weeks ago. Bobbie was so shocked to know that her ancestors are waiting on her. She said she had never thought about it like we explained it to her that day. Long story short, Bobbie agreed to start meeting with us again. We were not the ones who started teaching her, but she wants to start meeting with us now!

After the Finch's, we went over to the the Smalls' house and we had one last lesson with Brenda before her baptism. We just went over some of the laws and ordinances and it was a really good lesson. Her and Morgan are set on going to the temple in one year to be sealed to each other. I promised them that I would come back for that!!

Wednesday, we met with a lady named Pauline and we brought Aaron Finch with us and taught her the Plan of Salvation because when we tracted into her last week, she had some questions that could be answered with that lesson. As we all know, missionary work doesn't always go as we plan for it to. We received a call from her this morning and she left a voice mail telling us that she is Catholic and she intends on staying Catholic and that she would leave the pamphlets and the Book of Mormon we gave her on her front porch for us to come pick up. We hope that she will be prepared for missionaries in the future!

Okay, so Thursday we had a special MLC with the missionary department and President asked all of the district leaders to come this time. Usually, MLC is just for zone leaders and sister training leaders so this was a large group! The missionary department threw it down. It was so sweet. Brother Gonzalas talked to us about planning both nightly and weekly. Brother Wade talked to us about "How to begin teaching" which is a section in Preach My Gospel under teaching skills in chapter 10. I don't have enough time to explain all that they talked about, but just know that they threw it down! These men are inspired and they are so good at what they do. The fun part about the entire meeting was at the end. President got up to give his closing remarks and was like, "Okay, now go and teach all of this to your zones tomorrow morning!" We usually have MLC on a Tuesday and then have zone meeting that Friday, so we have a couple of days to prepare but we had it the very next morning!

Zone meeting went well, though. We had a lot of participation from the zone. We set a goal for 6 baptisms for the month of March as a zone and we collectively got 7, with the Lord's help. I knew He helped us because there was much prayer and fasting this month and I know He was listening and helping us all do the things that we needed to do in order to help our investigators progress towards baptism.

Friday evening, we had the baptism of Sister Brenda Mertes and it was great! She didn't want to have a bunch of people there, but for the most part, everyone that she invited came. Morgan received the Aaronic Priesthood on Wednesdayso he was able to perform the ordinance. So sweet!

Saturday, we met with Orian and we brought Brother Ben Ure with us and it was so helpful to have someone Orian's age to be there and to testify of the blessings that came from his baptism. Orian is still hesitant about getting baptized. He keeps changing his mind back and forth, but we know he wants to. We just have to help him see that he does!

Sunday, we met with Brother Kendrick and he is doing really well. He is preparing to go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. That evening we went back over to the Finch's and we started to reteach Bobbie the lessons, so we shared the message of the Restoration yesterday and it went really well. She is feeling hesitant as well about being baptized right now, but she agreed that Heavenly Father would answer her prayer if she were to ask Him if she should, so that was the commitment we left with her.

This week was so busy, and came and left so fast. I don't understand where time goes. You have to make the most of every day because once it is over, you can't take it back. We have transfers next Tuesday and it is possible that I will be transferred, so if anyone sends anything, please send it today or tomorrow. We had a conference call last night with President and he explained that because there are so many missionaries leaving, there are going to be a lot of zone leaders that will be pulled from leadership positions because of the loss of elders. We shall see what happens! I love you all! Have a great week and enjoy General Conference!! Happy Easter! Also, if you have not seen it yet, you all need to watch "He Lives" the new video that the church produced for Easter! You can find it at HeLives.mormon.org or it is on YouTube! Check it out!

Love,

Elder DeLuca