January 2, 2017 ~ Transfer 4, Week 1

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great new years and Christmas! This week I got a new companion named Elder Hale and we found out we are related =) We had a ton of lessons this week and also quite a few lessons that failed. We have two investigators with baptismal dates (Jan 28th). We shall see what happens because the holidays have made things a little complicated (everyone works more, or doesn't work) and one of our investigators has been working 3 jobs and it has been really difficult for her (Rocío).

So this past Sunday  (yesterday) I played piano. ELDER Chabot (my last companion ) played the piano and there is no one here currently who can play. Thankfully its an electronic piano so all i need to do is find the songs (which aren't in order) and play with one finger and the piano does the rest. Easier said than done. So I played and it was quite terrible to start out. The first song was terrible. It was hard not to laugh but it was soo off. But I got the hang of it by the end. And it started to sound a ton better =) not perfect but at least close to normal. So mom, I played the piano in church. Sure it was only in front of 15-20 people but I did it (and with only one finger =) ). So my music skills have been useful here =)

This week went by fast. We did the best we could to meet with everyone to introduce my new companion. It's a great excuse to meet with people. =) this week was difficult with festivos but it went very well. We have a lot of new people we met this last week and may be meeting with soon. We shall see what happens this next week.

I've learned a lot this last week. I'm a lot more comfortable teaching lessons, I was pretty uptight and nervous but I'm becoming a lot more comfortable and the words are coming better in Spanish.

I want to share a scripture. 2 Cor.9:6-7:

 6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

I think this scripture applies to our New Years Resolutions. If we work on our resolutions we will benefit from them. The harder we work at them the more better we will benefit. Keep the vision of your goals in mind, why you are doing them. Have a great week!

Elder Openshaw