Miracles!

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was full of so many miracles and tender mercies.

My companion is amazing.  He is so Christlike and obedient.  He has been helping me out a lot to improve my Spanish accent so I sound Bolivian.  Also, he is a finding giant.  We found 17 new investigadores this week and Saturday and Sunday we couldn't talk to anyone in the streets or contact because there was a national election day in Bolivia for their supreme judges.  Sunday all transportation was forbidden and all stores were shut down and there was no church either.  We were joking how this day everyone just really wanted to keep the sabbath day holy. Anyway, we could only go to appointments that were already set, but if they weren't there, we had to return home.

Also, I love being a Zone Leader.  It is so much fun.  I was super nervous. Thursday when we had a zone meeting, my companion helped me prepare well, and we were able to conduct the meeting well.

One of my favorite parts of being a zone leader is you learn how to focus on others and there are two of you.  As a district leader sometimes I got really stressed because it is only you, but as a zone leader there are the two of you to keep order, answer questions, help other elders be obedient, and plan activities to motivate the zone.

For Christmas we are making a manger and we cut up yellow paper for straw.  Every time a missionary in the zone sees their companion or a member of the zone do something Christlike they write it down on a piece of paper, and we put this paper in the manger.  So we are all striving to do more Christlike things so that the Savior has a comfortable manger or a stronger place in our heart this Christmas!

Making the manger. All those wood working classes at Canyon View came in handy​.

 

Also, we are planning a skit for the zone for the annual Christmas conference.  We are going to do the story of Samuel the Lamanite and his sign and how the people tried to kill the believers but that is right when the sign came and then that is where we will have our nativity scene with our manger!

Also we are teaching a golden family named Angie and Ariel.  They are a young family that isn't married but want to be baptized.  Yesterday we taught them about the restauracion and they are so interested.  Please pray for them that they will have the desire to get married or live separately.  Also, please pray for Familia Gonzales and that their dad will give them permission to be baptized.

I love this area, my companion, and the zone!  Thank you so much for your prayers and missionary experiences. Our pension, Olga and Ornesto are in their 70s, and they take good care of us.  The other day, hna. olga made us authentic American banana bread!

Love,

Elder Matheson

Morning exercise!​

In our last zone we went on a big tour bus of the city!​