Fruitful Week (Week 13)

Hello Everyone,

Well the first week of the transfer is already over! We had two baptisms yesterday one was Hou who I was able to meet once with Elder Shortland and the other was Peter who I was able to teach with Elder Chen! The service was super amazing and the spirit was so strong that one of our investigators said that he felt the spirit burning in his body, it was awesome! 

Yesterday, was also the first Sunday in my new ward! It is Marion Ward and it is a pretty nice ward with very nice people! Elder Shortland and I have gotten along very well and we have been smashing the work this week! We have been working on finding people to teach and we have been talking to lots of people on the street.  We have certainty seen the blessings of our hard work! We have set up many appointments this week with potential investigators!  We talked about the Restoration with a potential investigator on the street and at the end of the contact, the spirit was so strong that he offered us his number to contact him! 

We ate at a place called Hungry Jacks, look familiar? They have the Aussie Whopper! It has bacon, egg, beetroot, cheese, onion, tomato, lettuce, and BBQ sauce. Definitely different than what you would find at Burger King.

The weather has been very good this week, just a little hot, but it has started to cool down as well! Oh and since Elder Shortland is the district leader we get to drive around in the car ha ha, that is very convenient! Chen got a new companion to train and he is from the Philippines, it was very nice to meet him! It has been a very fruitful week and we are looking forward to seeing how the next week goes!
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Sincerely,

               Elder Ethan Salcedo

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