A New Life (week 12)

Hello everyone,

We had transfers yesterday and I was transferred..... to the next bedroom ha ha! Elder Chen is no longer my companion.  Elder Shortland who is from New Zealand is my new companion. All I had to do was move some of my stuff  to the room next door. I will still see Elder Chen since we both will be in the same flat! It is already my third transfer and I have finished my training.  It has gone by so fast and I am so glad for everything that Elder Chen has taught me! This week was probably the fastest week for us. We worked really hard to finish before the transfer! 

My Zone.. Elder Chen and Shortland to my left

Cale was confirmed a member of the church yesterday, and he was so excited! It was so great seeing him change over the past two months and seeing him go from a plain expression to now always walking around with a smile on his face! He says his old life feels like a dream because he has begun his new life as a follower of Jesus Christ, it is amazing! Elder Chen and I have also taught a lot of new investigators this week which is always great to have more people to teach! We have another baptism this week!  Peter has planned to be baptized this Sunday and Elder Shortland has a baptism with Hou, another investigator.  We are doing them at the same place and the same time, so I am able to see Peter get baptized as well.  That is very fortunate for me and a blessing! Peter is solid! He loves having a belief and he walks around the city carrying his Book of Mormon and and reads it out in the city! He shares the gospel with his friends and he is firm in his belief! It is sad though,  most of his friends won't be his friend because of his belief.  He said that he won't let that stop him! I am excited to see him be baptized this Sunday! 

We also started the new worldwide missionary schedule this week. We can go to sleep at 9:30pm instead of 10:30pm and preparation day starts at 8am instead of 10am.  It has been great! This new transfer should be really exciting and Elder Shortland and I plan to work hard! Elder Chen is training is training a new Elder again, so in missionary terms I will be living with my "brother".  I hope everyone is doing good and I hope you all all have a great week! I love you all!

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Sincerely,

               Elder Ethan Salcedo

Baptism (Week 11)

Hello Everyone,

This week went by super fast! It was an amazing spiritual week for me! On Wednesday, I was able to go to the temple with our recent converts and witness their first time in the temple doing ordinances for ancestors that have passed on! I was able to participate in it and it was powerful being able to perform the ordinance for the recent convert acting as a proxy for the ancestors that have passed on! 

Camera Selfie

Temple Trip with recent converts

The next spiritual highlight was our investigator Cale was Baptized!!! He went from not believing in God to be someone who has one of the most powerful testimonies I have felt, even though they are short and simple! He bore his testimony afterward and he said that he felt someone holding him and that he knows that it was God and that he knows God is real! It was short and simple, but I could feel the burning sensation in my whole body, the spirit was testifying to me that what he said was true. It was an amazing service! 

Cale's Baptism

The weather here is still super weird it is still summer, but my companion and I have had to wear sweaters, because it has gotten cold. It is so weird, but I love it ha ha! We have been low on food, so I am glad today is preparation day to be able to get more ha ha! This is already the final week of my second transfer. It has gone by so fast! I hope that everyone is doing well and I love you all!

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Sincerely,

               Elder Ethan Salcedo

Spiders(Week 10)

Hello Everyone,

This week has been a very busy week. We have two baptismal dates scheduled this Sunday, so we have been working super hard to get them prepared for their baptism! I was able to bear my testimony on an experience back in third grade when my sister Nicole was in the hospital with Salmonella poisoning and how the doctor's couldn't do anything to save her and how my family and I and our Ward family prayed and fasted for her. My dad gave her a priesthood blessing and then she got better and was cured, not because of Science, but because God saved my sister! It was a really powerful experience and our investigator felt that and it helped resolve a concern of his!

Me and Nicole

Elder Chen and I

  It was also really hot this week. I am pretty used to the hot weather, but the air conditioning in our flat isn't the best, so when it is hot outside the room is hot at night.  It was hot in the room for a couple of nights, but following the Adelaide trends this year for the weather it is going to be cold this week. Yesterday, I wore a long sleeve shirt and still felt cold. The weather is weird here ha ha! 

 We found a big huntsman spider on our wall in our flat! It was the biggest spider I have seen in my life! We caught it in a box and took pictures of it.  I'll send a few pictures and a video of us catching it,  ha ha! Sorry I will have to send the video and pictures next week. We froze it in the freezer and then we dropped the box on accident and the spider shattered to pieces! 

 

Huntsman Spider

Me and Jared

It has been a very eventful week and this week will be busy as we prepare our investigators for baptism! Also this Wednesday is my brother's Jared's birthday he is turning 17!!! I want to wish him a Happy Birthday and that I am super proud of him and he is the best brother anyone can ask for! I hope you all have a great week and I love you all!
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Sincerely,

               Elder Ethan Salcedo