July 13, 2012

Hi mom!!!!!!!!!!!! lol Wow I have had such a great week. It has been a fun AND spiritual week. I have really bonded with my companions as welll as my district. Turns out by the time word got to my teacher about moving to the advanced classes it was too late. So i get to bond better with my district. Too bad I cant send pictures through email. I just found out that I cant. One of the Elders, Elder Neff got hit in the eye and messed it up pretty bad. Everybody in our district is fasting because today we find out how well his eye is going to heal. THAT is how close we are. Its amazing that after 1 week I could be this close with a group of guys. Surprisingly I got sick this week. DONT WORRY! Its just a cough. I got really bad one day so I asked my companions for a blessing and after I was done I instantly felt better. I have never really asked for one so I didnt think it was going to work. Well that changed haha. Other than that life has been pretty simple. I got a letter from Ben saying that he hopes he made everybody else jealous that I got a letter. Thats ALL it said lol. I was laughing so hard! I also got a letter from the Stevens family? idk who they are lol. Thanks for the packege. My roomates had each gotten a packege from home from their families a day after each other so I was thinking that I better get one and I did! :) lol But ya from your letter- make sure to tell everybody that i am fine and HAPPY. Thats funny about my picture of my shoes. I REALLY miss them haha. I actually met this really cool guy from NYC who likes shoes too. I also met this Elder from San Fernando! He has really been helping me get ready to go out there. He told me the people are really nice and it is a great place to be. I'm really happy that I get to see that Elder on a day to day basis. Ya its really hot here! I'm really thankful for the handkerchief Ben gave me. It is great to hear you are walking everyday. Im playing basketball everyday. Thats how that Elder got hurt... but i didnt get hurt. Every day for every meal I get tons of fruit and a salad to eat and I eat whatever they give me just so you know that I am eating healthy. I will be waiting for Bro. Rees to write me and tell Angelica to write me a letter. I do type fast lol. Onto the spiritual stuff lol. If you can? can you get a preach my gospel in both English and Spanish. Im gonna need your help with dad. Can you  ask him to read the Atonement section of the 2nd lesson. I read that the first week here and my testimony has grown so much about that. The Atonement is ESSENTIAL in our life. I have been able to also read in depth about it. That is the 3rd lesson which is also my purpose as a missionary. To invite others to come unto Christ by recieving the restored Gospel through Faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, Repentance, Baptism, Recieving the Gift of the Holy  Ghost, and Enduring to the end. What has stuck out to me the past couple of days other than the atonement is Baptism. I never realized how important it is. After we have faith then we can repent and be bapitzed. What that is a symbol of our faith in Jesus Christ. He is our perfect example to follow. Even though he didnt have to repent and be baptized because he was perfect, he still got baptized. Read John 3. What it doesn't mention is that Jesus walked over 14 miles to get baptized by John the Baptist. He had the PROPER authority. that is why our church is the true church. We HAVE the proper authority. There are some things I want to challenge you to do. Read the lessons of preach my gospel. You will get to know what I am teaching. Go to the baptisms in the ward. You will get to know the meaning of bapitsm like I am starting to learn. and Last Try to make an effort to become friends with the new members. Missionaries can only do so much. Members have to do their part to CONVERT the investigators. I feel like there is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much more I want to tell you but I cant remember. Mom remember that I love you and I wish I can be at home with you right now but I have been called by GOD to declare his word. It is a blessing in the lives of the investigators I teach. Something that I was told was that if I want the investigators to know the things I know and the things that I teach, then I have to be my first convert. I have to Know the things I teach. How can I expect someone to know the feelings of the spirit if I dont. 33 seconds left. Gotta go! love you and miss you.

Your son

Elder Ruelas