My families conversion story

Santos

Hola, how are you?

okay so I have a list of random things I wanted to ask you:

Dad- the zone leaders asked me to talk a little about my family's conversion story for the next zone conference. (I like to consider myself a convert even though I was baptized at 8 yrs old :) but I don't remember anything about the missionaries. Dad can you write me a little about your conversion story? Add in some stuff like how the elders found you, what their first approach was like to enter the house, what you liked about those missionaries in particular or anything you didnt like, and how you came to know that their message was true. And anything else, I just made up this list but add whatever you can remember. It's pretty cool to be the first missionary from a first generation lds family (on dad's side). I think there is only one other American convert in our mission, the rest are latinos. Even though I was really young, I could feel a difference when we came to the church of Jesus Christ.

Zone Conference with Elder Zaballos of the 70

Also, can you send me some awesome football motivating speach? I am guessing I will probably be a DL soon and I want to have some animo stuff to share. So if you come across anything that you can relate to missionary work send it over.

If anyone can find a book of mormon audio in Porteguese online, please send it over. I'm going to start reading it in porteguese and listen to it as I read so I can learn how to say things. I am super close to Brasil right now so the majority of the people here speak both languages. Some only speak Porteguese. (mom already sent this)

Any ideas in how I can make beans taste better? Does Bush's baked beans have a recipe? And I want to cook some fish but I forgot how to cook them. I think I can still clean them though. Oh and how can I make orange chicken and fried rice? I am craving some Panda. (mom sent recipes after reading this)

An elder just gave me the nickname of el arrepentimiento, haha.
Do you know if that huge coat I bought for New York is expensive? It's not really water proof and it takes a lot of space to pack, do you mind if I leave it behind?

So I am convincing Elder Salinas to join the Coast Guard with me. He wants to be a dentist. On our home computer I left some info on the notes app. Go there and check out the website of the Coast Guard OCS program. Send any info over if you have time.
Dad - I have a pureté idea. you or randy should get a job at Delta airlines. You will have sweet benefits, free flights across the states and only pay the tax on international. You could all come down here when I end my mission and we could go visit all my converts!!!!! That would be an experience of a lifetime.

Randy - sweet news about the blessing. I have a cool part about sharing the gospel in mine too. (and a part about the second coming, but we will share that in person :)
How is NAU going? I bet you are loving the weather. How is the basketball team? I wish I could play some bball here, it would be great if I could walk on at BYU Hawaii.

Our best investigator is Mariella. reference from a member familia. She has 3 daughters and no husband. She is doing great. She loves the plan of salvation and all that she is learning from the BOM. Her baptism is on the 8th.
Elder Schouten just baptized 6 of my old investigators, too bad I wasnt there, but I know the lord needs me here.

mucho besos y kisses,

Elder LaFaye
(el arrepentimiento)

Transferred. . . third area. . . Hernandarias

This week has been full of ups and downs. Crazy!

So I was transferred to Hernandarias, close to Cuidad del este which touches Brasil. I was pretty bummed to hear that I was getting transferred. Encarnacion was my home for only 4 months but I became so close to the members, my converts, and even my investigators. So my last day there I said good bye to some of the awesome members there, and visited all my converts. 

Fabio was doing great, he recieved the priesthood last week. He told us of some experiences he had sharing the gospel with a friend at work. He loves the spirit that he feels as he shares what he knows with his friends.

Victor, Graciella, and Mariella. I never got the baptism foto, but this will do

Victor, Graciela and their daughter Mariella are doing great, it's amazing to see how much happier they are now that they are a family and are all faithfull members of the church. My last visit with them we talked about preparing for the temple. They are reading the book of mormon together and praying every night together to prepare to enter the temple next July. Every time I come over, Victor takes the first 15 minutes to show me all the scriptures he liked. I am excited to see them again in the temple next year. 

Then I told Bernardino that I was leaving tomorrow, he was busy all day but cancelled a meeting so I could visit him at 8 that night. I'm not usually an emotional guy, but I cried like a baby saying goodbye to him. To be honest I still tear up a little thinking about his conversion process. He was the last person to visit that night, so we went home to pack up because I had to be on a bus at midnight. 

Luis Pá

Fernando wasn't in town all day but I told him to meet me at the terminal before my bus leaves. While packing at night, Luis came over and we talked for a while, he was baptized 2 months before I got to the area. Luis is 20 yrs old and about to send in his papers for the mission in a few months. He helped us out sooo much teaching our investigators. We became best friends for life real quick. He came over and we played the guitar for a lil bit, then took some pictures. He used to play rugby so he gave me his old Paraguay rugby shirt, and then he gave me a crocodile wallet which is super sweet. I packed up super fast because I spent too much time with Luis pá. I arrived at the terminal and Fernando still wasn't there. I called him and he was still a few miles away and he didn't have transportation. So I thought I wasn't going to see him again, then out of nowhere he comes running in 5 minutes before my bus left. I gave him a big ol bear hug and talked about the mission for a few minutes, he told me sí o sí he will prepare for the mission. Then I cried like a baby for the second time in Paraguay, in the same night. Fernando is basically my brother. Sometimes he does some stupid stuff like party till 4am on saturday night and sleeps through church, but I love that guy no matter what. He has a great testimony and teaches like a pro in our lessons. I'm hoping he gets called to the Tucson Arizona mission. But he needs to improve his English a little bit.

Gustavo Bobadillo . baptism date - August 18th

I also said goodbye to a lot of my investigadores. I dont think I have told you much about them, but Freddy, Ceasar, Jasel and Rosa were baptized the Saturday after I left. They are all brothers and sisters. Richard Ortiz and Gustavo Bobadilla are all set to get baptized this Saturday. That area was on fire when I left, Elder Schouten is going to baptize afull with his new trainee. Sad to leave, but life moves on and I am needed elsewhere. (desperately)
Now I am in Hernandarias with Elder Salinas from Idaho. When I got here this area was absolutely muerto (dead). There was a handfull of people they were teaching, half were kids. So we worked our butt off this week. I knew if I was going to baptize this change it would be a trial of faith. A few months ago in our mission, two missionaries got white washed into a new area, they baptized every week that change starting with week one. That is just pure faith and hard work.
fe y obras = milagros. never have I tried so hard to show my faith to the Lord and work hard every minute of the week in my mission. And man did God deliver. We found 5 new familias and over 20 new investigators. Fernando y Andrea are newly weds, they will be baptized sí o sí on the first of sept.
My comp is a stud, he just had a rough change with a local companion so they didnt see much success and he lost a bit of his animo. But now he is super excited to work and baptize so we are going to have a great cambio together.

much love y amor

Elder LaFaye
(la fe)

oh last minute news!!
Elder Bowers is my new zone leader!!! He told me that a month after I left, MIGUEL NUÑEZ GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm not sure if you remember him, but he was the old drunk guy that smoked a lot from Guarambaré. You have no idea how happy this made me, I will talk more about him next week. I'm so feliz!

ok bye again

En verdad I am having the time of my life

Hola familia!

Thanks for the photos, Randy looks sooo different! And is Robby standing on a box standing next to mom? keep sending the fotos, I love them.

It's been a pretty successfull week in Encarnacion. The mission is a lot more fun when you have success, and I love having fun so I guess that would give me more desire to be a successfull missionary. Something I learned from Elder Schone is the mission is extremely short, so have fun. But have fun by working hard, by studying hard, and by baptizing. En verdad I am having the time of my life. No importa how many trials come our way, God provides the way.

This Wednesday is cambios, please pray that I don't get transfered. I love the people in this area, our investigadores and miembros are amazing.

We found an antiguo investigador last week Richard Ortiz. He has a great testimony but never wanted to commit to a baptism date. Our lesson yesterday was incredible. Some how me and him have built a strong relationship in 2 weeks, I told him how much I cared about him and told him I want to see his baptism, but it is very probable that I leave Wednesday. He said he will have an answer for us tonight. Please pray for him.

Short on time, sorry. So here is my letter to the president. I hope google translate works well, or Randy can probably do a better job. Although I would consider myself fluent in spanish, I make a lot of mistakes. To be honest I haven't really studied spanish since the mtc. Just reading el libro de mormón and talking to people is how I have learned. But then again the Paraguayos are for the most part uneducated and mix everything with Guarani, so I tend to copy their bad habits, por ejemplo, le quiero demasiado mucho, and they say viste que in front of everything. I just realized these examples don't make sense to you, but you get the point.

Estamos teniendo mucho éxito aqui en encarnacion. tenemos muchos buenos investigadores preparandose para bautizarse. estamos trabajando con un antiguo investigador se llama richard. él vino ayer y el domingo pasado a la iglesia, le encanta. tiene un testimonio grandote, pero nunca querría comprometerse a un fecha bautismal. nuestro lección ayer fue increíble, va a bautizarse este semana. yo sé que él es mi eligido. yo sé que estoy en la area dónde el Padre quiere que yo esté.
gustavo, un joven de 18 años vino ayer tambien por el segundo vez. estamos visitandole con un converso reciente. ahora son buenos amigos y tiene mucho amistad con los jovenes. él nunca querría aceptar la invitacion bautismal, hasta que leímos 3 nefi con él ayer. él entendío el bautismo perfectamente, despues mucho silencio él dijo "entiendo porque necesito bautizarme, lo haré". tiene fecha por el 18.
estamos enseñando una familia muy buena. geraldo enseña en la iglesia bautista misionero, pero él dejo su iglesia por un día para asistir con nosotros. él es el más intelligente hombre que he conocido. va a ser un buenícimo líder en la iglesia.
en mis estudios, recien yo leí en mateo acerca de todos los milagros Jesús hizo. me encanta que él preguntó si los ciegos tienen fé que él puede hacerlo. yo sé que el Padre Celestial puede hacer milagros, pero es según nuestro fé. yo sé que si tenemos la fé, vamos a ver milagros.

ps: LaFaye is the coolest name ever if you go spanish speaking. No one believes me when I tell them how to say my name, but it is literally said like la fe (the faith). So I can always get a laugh when introducing myself with a play on words. When I talk to Argentinians I say it with their accent, la f(eye) shay. Not sure if I wrote that correctly so that you can translate it but it sounds cool in person haha

much love y amor,

elder lafaye

not sure how i sent fotos last week, not working today sorry