I don`t want to say we had a flat week last week, but it was a bit flat. To start off, the Wednesday P-day thing threw the entire system off. We were walking zombies that morning and were scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel of energy to get ourselves excited to work. Then we had to work in an intercambio with San Jose to do a baptismal interview. I left my newbie in Adroguè and switched places to go with Elder Mortensen. His comp, also a newbie, Elder Gaffney worked with my Newbie. It turned both literally and figuratively into the perfect storm as the clouds came in at the end of a beautiful week and started pouring rain.

To make matters even more interesting, the other Elders here in Adroguè are experiencing flooding in their Pension. As a result, all three of them have moved temporarily into our pension for the week. It has meant a lot of Elders in a very confined living space. We have to find creative ways to keep ourselves studying on time etc. Just another crazy brick in the mission wall. Nothing surprises me anymore.

The transfer ended this weekend, and I was a little worried that I would leave Adroguè. After all 4 transfers is the normal amount for a missionary of my time to be in an area. But President decided to let me stay and finish my training. Which was a pleasant surprise, as it would have been a shame to have to leave Elder Martindale behind after 4 short weeks together. We`re looking forward to at least another transfer more. What`s more, now I get to see the baptism of Luis and Veronica. I`ve been in Adroguè for six months now. That`s hard to think about. To put things in perspective, last general conference was my second week in this area. I`ll see general conference again here, and have another month. It`s almost for certain I`ll leave after that. But it really will be a shame when that day comes. Adroguè is my home. I feel like I really have a ward, friends, family etc. One out of every four days of my mission will be spent in Adroguè. Crazy to think about right?

The good news is that Luis and Veronica were set for their baptismal date on Saturday. They got married on Friday!!! They showed up at church bright and early on Sunday and everything. We announced the baptism in sacrament meeting, and everything was just a big bowl of baptizable peaches.

The bad news is that after church the president of the Elders Quorum, who lives in front of them, explained to me that that morning he had seen Luis smoking...

*Elder Jensen slaps hand directly on face

Now we face the dilemma of postponing the baptism, which is funny because the entire ward is incredibly excited. It`s not every day you get a young energetic marriage baptized into the church. Many people had already told us that they had invited friends, family etc. If I told you I knew what to do, I`d be lying. To make matters worse, my mission cell phone is now out of credit, crippling my ability to communicate. So time will tell. I`m praying that the spirit can show me the right course of action whether or not to go through with the baptism. We always encounter adversity when we are coming close to doing the right thing. If we have to wait on the baptism it won`t be the end of the world. The important thing is that they get baptized, and that they`re ready. Everyone within reach of this email PRAY FOR LUIS! He has to completely let go of smoking to take this step in his life.

The progression of investigators has been a difficult thing the past week as well. Conflicting schedules, work changes, have caused some problems. Which leaves us with a lot of people we`re only visiting once a week. Unfortunately once a week isn`t going to yield what we need to see baptisms. So we`re looking for more consistency in our investigators. It`s motivating me to be a better teacher. It seems like everyone has so many doubts, it`s hard sometimes. I feel the pressure. Then I remember that it`s the Lord who is directing this work and if I feel that way it`s because I`m trying to do things by myself. Maybe I can`t convince the people here to change but the spirit can. Teaching by the spirit and relying on God has been a big focus for me the past few weeks. We`re clearly being led to people, but just finding people to teach isn`t enough. It`s the progression that matters.

Enrique has reverted almost completely to "my original baptism was good enough" and is now at a brick wall. To make matters worse, he probably won`t be able to meet with us this week as he has a lot of family coming to visit him. It`s frustrating to feel like we`re taking backsteps, especially from someone who was coming to church and told us he knew the Book of Mormon was true. Every appointment we have with him has been less and less successful, until now he has missed church and can`t see us. We`re fairly concerned for him.

A success this last week was a good find of a man named Anibal and his wife Carmen. She has been sick and bedridden for over a year, so we teach both of them sitting at her bedside. Last time we taught about the restoration and they agreed to come to church. Anibal has been truly humbled by his afflictions, and is willing to accept the gospel. I`ll keep you updated on his progress.

Carlos has unfortunately taken a little step back as well. Having the normal troubles with smoking and drinking. He explained to us over again that he was first and foremost evangelist, but he did want us to keep passing by. He just wasn`t sure about going to church. We defined with him that he definitely wanted to get out of his circumstance, and then invited him to do the basics we were offering and see the difference in his life. Read. Pray. Go to church. He wouldn`t be able to really know if the things would help him unless he did them. So we got at the end a firm invitation to recommit.

My time is running short as always. The work in the area continues. After every hard week comes a better week. I know that the Lord directs this work and He has power to bring about the changes in these people`s lives. I love you all. Thanks for your prayers and support.