We finally pulled off a surprise party for Mckinley! 🎉

Elder Raven 

Thanks soooo much for the voice recording last week. It was so good for my heart to hear your voice. You sound incredible!!! 💙

I wanted to send this picture of Timp. I took this morning when I was taking the boys to school… It looked so pretty with the sun hitting it. We’ve had a lot of snow this winter! We probably have 2-3 feet of snow in our yard. 

Also Mckinley‘s 17th birthday was on Saturday, but the boys wanted to throw a surprise party for her. Remember we tried when you were 16 and she was 14 years old but the word got back to her and so she figured it out before it happened. 
This year the boys wanted to do the party NOT on a day close to her birthday so she wouldn’t expect anything. So we had friends come over after young women’s and young men’s Wednesday night and she was totally SURPRISED! It was so fun!

Questions 

When you had the surprise of the ZL’s and then President and Sister M. coming to your district meeting where was that located? I bet that was quite the shock. 

Even though it was stressful... The message you shared about having love and charity for the people is powerful… So you’ve been prepared for this since even though you didn’t know. I bet you did a great job. I know things can be stressful but just remember YOU ARE A SON OF GOD! He loves you and He will support you in all the demands and things that are placed upon you. 

He is watching over you and HE IS WELL PLEASED WITH YOUR EFFORTS! 💙💙💙

That “traditional” grandma’s advice was so funny… About how did attract a spouse when you get home. I bet that really made you laugh 😂😂😂

1. How are you feeling? 

2. We sent you a package and it arrived at your mission home. Did you get it yet? 

3. How is your area? 

4. How are the awesome families you are teaching? 

5. Thanks for your amazing testimony and wonderful emails. So many people tell us how much they love reading your emails. Tara just told me today!  We love you! 

6. Your kind heart is touching a lot of souls. The members in Mexico tell us what a good missionary you are and how much you have helped their Rama. 

7. It was fun to hear a little accent when you sent the voice recording! You sound so cute. 

8. How are the cockroaches?

9. How are those families doing that of been coming to church? How are your investigators?

10. I saw you’re getting a new mission President and July 1, 2019 do people know that in your mission? His name is Elder Jose L Isaguirre 

11. How is Cardenas Cano family 

You can answer some of these questions are all of them in the group email I just want you to know we love you we pray for you I think about you constantly. It’s been so fun for me to go and help with missionary efforts. A little girl my primary class, Jaylen  is taking the missionary discussions and it’s been so fun to go and hear what the missionaries are teaching her. It helps me

Feel close to you! I love you with all the tender feeling in my heart! ❤️❤️❤️ Here is a send you a pic of Jaylen with the missionaries! 

It’s Jaylen Rose. Do you remember her. She turned 9 in January so she is getting baptized in March. 

Happy Valentine’s Day! ❤️💕💝💛

You are in our prayers 

Love,
Mom

Here is a pic of all the snow we have right now! 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hey Mom,

Sorry about the scare!  We suddenly got news on Saturday night that we were going to have interviews with Presidente Maucotel on Monday, and so we ended up working all of Monday like a normal proselyting day, and we had our p-day today! I did take out 2,500 pesos (about the 136 dollars mentioned in the photos you sent me!) of money yesterday to pay for some new shoes as well as buy a knee brace for Elder Santiago because he really doesn´t have the money sufficient to cover it! Don´t worry I am going to get the money back because it is a medical expense and so it will come back to me cause its reimbursable! I am going to send some photos of the new shoes attached to this email!  I believe everything came in one piece, and thank you so much for the golf pants, the valentines gifts and all of the very special letters!  I have been reading the Miracle of Forgiveness non-stop and I only have 20 pages remaining in this awesome book!  I was truly shocked to actually finish the book and see how truly beautiful the repentance process is and all the unnecessary burdens that I have been carrying for so many years I am finally beginning to feel relief!  It is truly wonderful to be smiling from my heart as well as my eyes now!  I can´t thank you enough for this priceless gift as well as the beautiful commentary by grandma weber who truly helped me in learning about several of the principles inside the book!  In fact, I am going to use several in the massive group email! That is so awesome that you were able to surprise Mckinley, and I am so glad that you guys enjoyed hearing my voice!  I feel that I don´t have a very thick accent but we´ll see what two years does to me, haha!  

My area is really doing quite well!  We have the baptismal date for the 23rd of this month with the famillia Lopez Santos!  We finally found some baptismal pants for him too, because the brother is a bit chubbier and so we were looking everywhere for size 40 pants for baptisms but finally found it from this elderly member in our branch that is really amazing (Hno Galindo)!  We are also teaching Hermana Juanita y Nicolas and they are attending church and the Hermana is progressing but it is a slow but surely process!  We are really just looking for people to teach all the time, we have received a lot of references but the large majority of times we can´t find them because of their very extensive work schedules, but if we can find them, they will surely progress with their desires and the Spirit that they will feel!   

Elder Santiago and I are getting along much better now!  We battled a lot because I have always been a strict stick to the rules kind of guy, and I still am, but I have changed my perspective to be a little bit less prideful and we are working in harmony much better!

The cockroaches are fine, we really don´t battle much when it is really cold like it has been recently, but we´ll see what happens in the summer, haha!

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement!  I pray that we can be influences for good, and genuinely contribute some great families to the branch!  

Yes, we have heard about the new president and we are all very excited to see his administrative style and everything!  Being an area seventy he is sure to bring some fire Elder Holland style while still being a very kind and loving man, I presume . . . haha!  

The family Cardenas Cano is going great, the Hermana Alma is still attending and we have been teaching the hermano David, we hope they can keep going strong because of the upcoming move!  We visit them frequently to help strengthen them and we have really focused on teaching all the recent converts to make sure they keep being fortified!

I feel really great here and I truly don´t want to leave after this change, but I have felt that the Lord will call me to other directions, but quien sabe? who knows right, haha!

Love you so much,

Hope I resolved some of your concerns!

Elder Raven