February 4, 2013 Hey family, friends, aquantences This week has been one to talk about in the ol´ journal. We have had a lot of training given by President Avila, his wife, and some of the assistants. As a mission we baptized 35 people this month... Which honestly is very much so under our potential, and thats pretty much all we talked about at the zone leader consejo. President talked to us about something pretty basic but completely necessary and the presence of this word in missionary work means either success or failure---Faith. I suppose there is a general lack of faith among missionaries as well as members here in Cuyo. It´s somewhat discouraging knowing that any missionary leaves his apartment in the morning, only kind of hoping to see if he can accomplish what he has set out to do. I have learned a lot about faith in the mission. I remember that Elder Aidukatis (I butchered that spelling) said in a mission conference when I had about 3 months in the mission that we are the dueños of our own destiny. Or in other words, that we are in charge of what happens. A missionary needs to know that when they sit down to plan out their week, the goals that they set are expressions of the desires of their heart. We set goals to make them. Many missionaries I think set a goal to succesfully challenge 10 people to baptism a week, and then go through out the whole week, not using that goal to help guide their work. When Sunday night comes and they realize that they don´t have any new baptismal dates, they are concerned about WHY they didn´t reach their goal. Apparently they were waiting the whole week for 10 people to come up to them and tell them that they would like to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized on the 23rd of February. How many times have you been out in a lake, in your fishing boat, looking for the prize fish when suddenly hundreds of the very best fish start jumping right into your boat? We must exercise our faith by rolling up our sleeves and getting to work, making every second count. Faith without works is dead, and likewise, works without faith are very few. So that is why we baptized 35 people this last month instead of making our goal of 95. Its all I have been thinking about lately. On Wednesday we have a zone meeting which is basically just an opportunity for us to relate all that President told us in our consejo with him to the rest of the mission. I hope it goes well and that we are able to transmit everything in a way that the Spirit will help the elders understand, just like I experienced in the meeting with President. Anyways... I am doing good. Please pray for us that we as a mission can increase in faith and desire and charity. I love you guys. Happy February. Its hot here haha Elder Daybell