4/26/10 - Letter to the World

Hello World!

This last week has been Great!! Last Tuesday Elder Labra flew in from the South of Argentina! He was supposed to meet me at 8:30, but there were some complications, and we didn’t get to our apartment until about 11pm....it was a long night.

Elder Labra is great! He’s from Chile, more or less from the same area as Elder Fuentes and Elder Martinez! (My 3rd Chilean!) We lost Monday and Tuesday to be able to do anything, and on Wednesday, we had a district meeting, and we had to buy groceries, which took up a lot of our time...but we quickly got to work, and found 9 new investigators this week!

Nidia Portillo - Ok...I’m pretty sure that you all know about Nidia. Well - Wednesday night we put the baptismal date with her for Friday...she said yes, and her daughter also said that she wanted to be baptized the same day! The dad was there for the lesson and everything, and we specifically asked him for permission to baptize Nidia and Dianna. He said yes. The next day, Thursday, we went by to finish teaching, and to set a time for the interview early Friday...but Nidia said that she wasn’t going to be baptized...that her husband didn’t like us coming by to teach her, and that he didn’t like our religion. She said a lot of other things - excuses - but we’re gong to try to figure things out, and see if she is willing to keep progressing.

On March 20th, Gustavo Romano Was baptized. In preparation for his baptism, we made invitations, and delivered them to his non-member family and friends. His older brother, Guillermo is 22, and living with Jessica, also 22. They have 4 girls. They are great! We’ve taught them a few times, and they all came to church yesterday! Today, Jessica is going to the city center to take out a date to get married, and they have a baptismal date set for the end of next month...the 29th I think!

We’ve got a lot of potential in our area, and are working with a lot of past and new investigators! Elder Labra and I have put a goal to baptize 8 this transfer. I know that with the help of the Lord, we can find those that are ready to be baptized, and help them to know the message of the Restored Gospel!

I Love you all!

Elder Denton!
PS...I have pics w/ Elder Labra, and from my B-Day...but the computer is being stupid....next week!

Note from Dad: Elder Denton left me hanging last week trying to find out his current calling. He is still a zone leader (and so is Elder Labra now) and even though Elder Labra has been out 4 months longer, Elder Denton is also the senior companion only because he’s been a ZL longer.
We received a hand-written letter from him on Saturday and found out that he was robbed (2nd time) of his CTR ring a few weeks ago. No injuries that we know of.

4/20/10 - Letter to the World

Hello Everybody!

First of all, before I forget - HAPPY 22ND BIRTHDAY WHITNEY!!!

This week has been very uneventful, and sad.

We found out that the Amorin Family got kicked out of their house because The 2 kids got baptized. They moved about 45min away from here, and the worst part is that where they are there aren’t any missionaries or a church nearby. AHHHH.

Elder Martinez was transferred to another zone, and is still a Zone Leader there. My new companion is going to arrive tonight. I’m spending the day with a companionship in my zone, and at about 8:30 a car is going to come and pick me up, and I’ll get to meet my new companion. I only know that his name is Elder Labra, and that he’s Chilean.

Nidia Portillo is progressing very well! Last Saturday we went to her house, and she said ¨Don’t invite me to church. I’ve already decided that I have to follow God better, and I’m going to go on my own...so don’t invite me.¨
She came to church, and even brought 2 of her kids and her brother. She now has 3 church attendances, and we’re planning the baptism for this weekend...but it’s going to be a little complicated because she can’t do it on Saturday...we’re going to try to do it on Friday.

I Love you all, and hope that everything is going great!

Love,

Elder Denton

4/12/10 - Letter to the World

Hello Everybody!
Ok...so first of all, I´m a horrible brother/grandson. I got distracted last week when I was online, and forgot to wish Cody a happy 19th Birthday, and Grandpa Rath a Happy 68th! Happy Belated Birthday!!

This has been a great week! Patricia Ximena Amorin Marin was baptized on Sat. Apr 10, 2010 and confirmed yesterday.

We´ve been having a lot of success in finding people this week through our members. Our assistant ward mission leader brought 3 non-members to Ximena´s baptism, and after the service, we had a short lesson with the three of them!
Every Tuesday, for mutual, the young men play soccer. Elder Martinez and I have a ward mission correlation meeting Tuesday nights at 8, so we decided to be at the church at 7 to teach Ximena, and also see if any non-members were playing soccer. A recent convert had brought a friend to play, so we went inside with him to see if he would be interested in listening - we taught him, were able to set up an appointment for Thursday, and went Thursday to teach him, and left him with a Book of Mormon. He lives on the same property as a couple who are ward missionaries. They had given away a Book of Mormon to a man named Sergio, who is renting a room from them, and he arrived while we were there, and we were able to have another lesson with him!
Nidia Portillo came to Ximena´s baptism also (the first baptism that she´d seen) and got rid of the doubts that she had!!
The Amorin family is progressing (the parents), but are having some problems with where they are renting right now...we´ll have to see if they can stay in the ward, or end up moving out of it.

The amount of miracles that I´ve been able to see this week is impressive. It seemed like almost wherever we went, we were able to teach and find new investigators.

I Know that our Heavenly Father is a God of miracles - That He always has been, and that He always will be. I know that our Heavenly Father sent Jesus Christ to die for us, to suffer for everything we will ever have to go through, and to pay the price for our sins!

I Love you all, and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Denton

4/5/10 - Letter to the World

Hey Everybody!

How great was General Conference! I LOVED the talks that Elder Bednar and Elder Holland gave (along with all of the others as well!! =D)! This week has been pretty tough. We are trying to do all that we know how to do, but some of our investigators just aren’t progressing, and we’re getting to the point where we are going to have to pass VERY rarely for them. (Cody says this means that he’s not going to be able to go by very often).

The Amorin family is still doing well.

Ximena wasn’t baptized this week because, with the schedule of conference, and the parents work schedules, Saturday at 6pm would have been the only time to have the baptism, but General Conference didn’t finish until 7 pm, so the baptism will be this week.

We’re still waiting for Sara to get back, and get a hold of us. We haven’t heard from her in a while, but are trying to get a hold of her still!

I don’t have much else to say, but have a great week, and do as the prophet said - study all of the words that the prophet and apostles have taught us, and apply those words to everything that we do!

I Love you all!

Love,

Elder Denton

Side Note - Today we finally felt that it would be ok to let Kyle know about Connie's situation. Here is his reply to that email:

Thank you for telling me everything. Obviously it´s hard to hear, but I know that the Lord always blesses us as we put our faith in him. I don´t really know what to say...I´m in a bit of shock...but like you said, I can´t let this get in the way of the work I´m doing. If anything, it´s going to motivate me to do everything that I can so that the blessings will continue to be poured out on our family.
I love you, and you´re always in my prayers. Elder Denton

3/29/10 - Letter to the World

Hello World!!!
It’s been a good week here in Lopez Camelo!
George Damian Amorin Marin (yup...all of that is his name!) was baptized on Saturday (by elder Martinez) and confirmed yesterday (by me!). His sister, Ximena, wasn’t baptized because she was still sick, and she still has a little bit of doubt about being baptized, but she has a date set for Friday the 2nd (because the 3rd and 4th are general conference!!!!!!!)

Washington, the Dad of Damian and Ximena came to church for the first time yesterday for Damian’s confirmation and really liked it! His work conflicts a bit with church, but hopefully we can continue with him, and his wife, Monica.

Alejandra dropped us this last week. She started doing some service (ok, a LOT of service) for her church (like 12hrs a day cooking), and now she just doesn’t have time for us. Hopefully we can teach her daughter though...we still haven’t met her, but she is good friends with a member of the ward!

Sara Gimenez is still doing well and excited to continue learning. Her mom is fine now, but she has had to stay there with her mom for a little more time, and will be coming back today or tomorrow, so hopefully we will be able to continue with her!

I hope that you are all doing great and that you have a great Easter/General Conference Weekend!!

Love,

Elder Denton

3/22/10 - Letter to the World

Hello World!
Like I’ve told my family already, I’m going to a driving range today to play a little golf, so I don’t have much time to write.
The main things that are going on right now are the baptisms of the 2 kids from Uruguay - Damian y Patricia (Ximena). They both came to church yesterday even though they have colds...so that they could have their 3rd attendance and be baptized this weekend! Sara Gimenez is still having some problems with the health of her mom, so she wasn’t able to come to church again. We talked to her on Sunday, and she said that we could set up an appointment to visit on Wednesday. I don’t really know what’s going to happen with Nicolas Albornoz. He was really excited to be baptized, but didn’t come to church, and now, he has found work, but will be working on Sundays during church.
We have a couple new investigators. Alejandra is the mom of a friend of a member. She goes to an evangelistic church, but said that she would read the Book of Mormon and pray to know that it’s true. I know that She will receive her answer...we just have to see if she has the faith to act on what the Lord says!

I hope you all have a great week, and that you help the missionaries wherever you are!

Love,

Elder Denton

3/15/10 - Letter to the World

Hey!
Okay...this will REALLY be short.
We didn´t have any baptisms this week...we haven´t even SEEN nicolas since his baptismal interview. We´re making progress with the portillo family. He has given them permission, but they are a little hessitant to be baptized now. Nidia was going to come to church yesterday, but when we passed by her house to go to church, she was getting ready to leave...she had to take one of her kids to the hospital. arg.
Sara is still progressing well. She wasn´t able to come to church yesterday either, but like Nidia, it was a medical problem that came up out of nowhere. Her mom was sick, and Sara had to be with her.
The Amorin Family is doing great! The kids go to seminary, mutual, and church! Seminary is mon-fri at 6am! We´re trying to get the mom to keep coming to church, but she is really busy with her radio station.
not too much new stuff this week...sorry it´s so boring.

Have a great St. Patricks day everybody!

Love,

Elder Denton!