The fight of salvation.

Hermana Stoor,
I am confident the Lord will bless you as you continue to work at obedience with exactness. Just a word of caution, don't be compulsive or fanatical about it, but don't be casual either.
Pdte. Spjut

Lots of emotions this week as I read your letters. It breaks my heart to hear about Thayne. He was such a sweet sweet young man. I had the opportunity to sit with him in seminary and he was always so loving and so kind towards me. I will be keeping his family and Shelby and her friends in my prayers this week. After a little bit of crying and a little bit of smiling reading your letters I read this letter to me from President Spjut and I about died laughing. hahahaha I feel like maybe he knows me a little bit now. But I've got my mind stuck to being a little compulsively obedient. I'm hoping for some miracles here in this area and if their going to come....I've got to be more obedient and I've got to study more and I've got to pray alot more. SO....I just pray that President sees my reasoning for things. :) 

It was an excellent and really really hard week here in Los Naranjos! Excellent because we had a baptism. Hard because I was sick with just about everything. (they are thinking Chikunguya or Dengue woohoo) Excellent because we were able to contact a ton of new people. Hard because nobody wanted to listen. :) Excellent because The members are working so well with us! and even more excellent because we put another baptismal date with Nancy Orellana! The Lord is really working along side us here in our area. 

It has been a week full of lots of emotions. Last night, we went to visit some members that decided this week that they don't want to come back to church for some rather scary things that are happening in their lives right now. It breaks my heart to see and hear these things. Satan works hard on the hearts of the people. He knows when we are weak and knows exactly how to do his work. We are in the fight for salvation so we have to expect these things to happen, but it is still so so hard to see. This family has been members for 4 years and have callings as the young women's president, seminary teacher and 1st counselor in the presidency of the branch. They have been such good examples to the whole ward, but with the struggles that they have been having in the past couple of weeks, they have quit making the effort to come to church and to fulfill their callings. We need lots of prayers for them this week. I am praying that the members will continue to visit them because I know we cant do it without them. 

We had a baptism this week on Satuday as well. His name is Alexis Castillo. He is 9 years old and his family are recent converts. His mom is really strong in the church but his dad has gone inactive. The biggest miracle was to see his dad walk into the church again and we are praying that though the example of his son and the feelings that we saw him feel during the baptism will help him to come back to church again. His wife told us that he is really changing so we have alot of faith in him. 

This week we are going to be looking for new people and focusing our efforts in our investigator, Nancy that has a baptismal date for the 18th of June. We were able to discover this week what her struggle is and hope that this week she may be able to fulfill some more commitments and that we may help her to really start to feel the spirit for herself. She has a lot of big potential and loved the church yesterday. I have faith that she will be ready for the 18th. 

I know without a doubt in my heart that this work is the work of the Lord. I know he is here with us fighting for the salvation of the people here in Los Naranjos. I have learned even more this week of the love and the patience that he has with us. I know my Savior knows me and loves me. I know He loves each one of you and that he truly died on the cross for each and every single one of us. I l love you all and keep you in my prayers every day. 

Hermana Stoor

Here's some pictures from the baptism and on google maps of my house and of our little chapel :)

technical difficulty with the pictures - will have to wait for Shelby's help LOL!!!