Good Week For Emails!!! =D

Hey Family!!!
Oh my...I knew it was going to be a good week for emails...but I had no idea HOW good!!! Seriously I think this weeks emails were my favorites of 2010! So much has happened in the last week at home and I just love hearing about it. It`s so wonderful to hear just line after line of GREAT news! Oh man...I feel exhausted from smiling so hard and feeling so happy and blessed. hehe This is the best feeling of the week: knowing that my family loves me, thinks about me constantly, and is strong in the Gospel, loving their Father and Savior. No lie, THE best feeling ever...so far! =P

This week was a regular week with not a lot going on. I had my last divisions with the other areas and elders in my zone and everything went according to plan. I was able to really feel the Spirit speaking through me as I taught the younger missionaries in my zone just how to be an effective, faithful missionary. I was able to share experiences from home and the mission to answer their doubts, questions, and challenges. I was able to use the Scriptures and Preach My Gospel to teach and instruct them through the Spirit. I was also asked by one of them to bear my testimony to him about exactly WHY the Church (and the Lord) needs us as 19 year old on a two year mission. I was amazed by my own response. It was possibly the most fervent testimony that I`ve ever given of the Mission Work. It made me feel very good to know for sure that I KNOW why I`m here, why the Lord sends us, and how the mission eternally effects our lives for the better. I am comfortable as a missionary and I know that no matter what, whether I`m baptizing or just teaching and contacting a ton, I am still completing my purpose as a missionary of the Lord. I try my best to teach the Gospel as simply as I possibly can so anyone can understand. I try to use good examples and parables so that my teaching reflects that of the Savior`s. I try to bear my testimony in every opportunity that the Lord gives me and then leave it to the free agency of my brothers and sisters to accept the message I bear or not. I now understand that I will never fully comprehend the scope of what I`ve done in the mission. How many seeds I`ve planted...how many lives I`ve helped the Spirit to change...how many of our brothers and sisters will eventually receive salvation because I opened my mouth. But I know that I`m doing what the Lord called me to do and I glory in my God! =)

The highlight of this week was something that I might catch a lot of flack for from all of you at home, but it`s my email, so I`m gunna tell whatever stories I want. haha Just kidding. Unfortunately I haven`t been in my area much this week because of the divisions. Also, unfortunately, most of the investigators that our zone has right now are NOT the "chosen of the Lord." We`ve learned that Satan is constantly trying to beguile us and put investigators in our ways that we may think will progress, but are really just distractions and decoys for now. We are instructed to gather the chosen, and the zone is having a hard time finding them right now, but that`s what I`m here for, to help the other missionaries sort through the masses and start spending their time effectively with those that WILL be baptized. So, because this week wasn`t great for teaching, my story and highlight has to do with FOOD! =) One of the elders in my zone taught me this week how to make banana bread and deep fried SCONES! So, last night, Elder Kahawaii and I (we are no wonderful friends and understand and work with each other well now, hallaluya!) made a batch of scone batter! IT was incredibly tasty and we thoroughly enjoyed them! To the point that, by the end of the batch, we were sick of scones and felt like we went to sleep with dough bellies! haha we played card games and listened to gospel music after we planned and while we ate and we just had a good time. I`m excited to share my meager, but tasty cooking skills when I get home. =P

I`m so happy and pumped to hear all about how wonderful and stressful and challenging things are at home. We only really grow stronger when we`re pushed to our limits, ya know. =D Something I`ve learned in the mission. Good thing to know huh? I`m just happy that everyone is trying the best and hardest to overcome their challenges and trials and is doing it all with a wonderful attitude of service and love. THAT`S the family I know and LOVE! Just always keep in mind that I`m gunna be home soon, so you`re all gunna have to pick up the pace to keep up with me! hehehe Just kidding, I`ll probably have a lot of slack to pick up in comparison to my hard working family, but I`m ready for the challenge.

This next week is changes, but I`m almost sure that I wont have a change. Elder Suazo, my old companion and no assistant to Presidente Lorenzana, came by to work in the Zone this week and sat down with Elder Kahawaii and I and told us about how President has been feeling about our companionship and past trials. He was going to take us both out as Zone Leaders and put us in a new area TOGETHER, but as normal missionaries. President (AND the Lord) sees our companionship as a crucial training for our future marriages and think that if we were unable to overcome our differences and become an effective companionship, we may eventually fail in some trial in our marriages. Therefore, He has shown faith in us and has told us that we will be staying together for Elder Kahawaii`s last change, still as zone leaders and still here in Momos Oeste. I`m excited for the opportunity. I know that it`s a tough area and baptisms don`t come easy, but we`ll work hard to lift the zone. I wasn`t at all excited to "kill" another missionary, but I think it`ll be okay to be Elder Kahawaii`s last companion. If we DO receive changes, that`s fine too. I`ll do what the Lord wants me to do.

Okay, I gotta write another small email before my time is up, so I`m gunna say goodbye. I love you all and THANK you for your emails and news this week. It was wonderful! Stay strong and remember to write next week. =)

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker