Things are going well in El Paso, yet one more baptism appointment scheduled!!!

Hi Family!!! How are you all doing? Sorry that I could not write letters last week it was super busy getting ready for transfers. But I am still at the same address on gateway Blvd North so you can send me letters again. And HAPPY FATHERS DAY (Yesterday) to the best dad in the whole world !! I miss all of you so much and cant wait to hear from you. 

So this week has been a roller-coaster to say the lest.  Monday was crazy because we had to run around and get things for sister Rose to leave, wash the car, make a map, and do laundry. So that is why there were no letters mailed last week. But on Tuesday I said good bye to Sister Rose, yes she was a little crazy but I miss her lots. I guess that's what happens when you live with some one for almost 4 months. Wow can you all believe I have been gone for 4 months already?! The time has just flown by, and it will be September 2014 before we all know it. So after we said good bye to sister Rose I spent the rest of the morning with sister Biencardi who also sent her trainer up north. And then after we waited at the transfer site for almost 2 hours in 110 degree heat ( yes it has been that hot all week), we finally met our new companions. Her name is sister Brown, she is 19 and from west Jordan Utah. So I still have to explain to everyone we meet how not all missionaries/ Latter Day Saints are from Utah. But she is very nice and eager to learn. 

Ok so the stories of the week!!! On Friday the day started out just like it normally does hot and windy. And as the day wore on we saw a storm moving in, and I thought it would be a normal dust storm/ thunder storm... Man was I wrong. After we left dinner it started to rain just a little bit and as we drove to our next appointment it just got harder and faster. After about 5 minutes we were in a monsoon! The streets were filled with ankle deep water, and the rain drops were about the sizes of quarters! But we had an appointment to get to so we drove down the river (it really was a river and not a street) and a crossed a few lakes (The intersections were even deeper than the roads!) then made it to our appointment. By the time we pulled up in front of the house it was raining even harder and faster! So we said a quick prayer and mad a brake for the door! And by the time we had gone about 10 feet we were completely soaking wet, so when we reached the door it looked like we ad just gotten out of a swiping pool! And the best part is....The person was not even home! So we stood out in the rain for another 5 minutes trying to get a hold of the investigator then sprinted back to the car. After we got in the car the rain just stopped, the sun comes out, and there is a beautiful rainbow in the sky. But we are still soaking wet, and had no time to dry off because we had another appointment to get to. So we drive back over the lakes and rivers to our appointment which also happens to not be there! So we park the car and start walking to a house just around the corner. We talk to a few people and the day is still very nice cool and with just a few clouds. We get to the house and started to talk to the kids out side when it starts to sprinkle. The kids run in the house and close the door so we start walking back to the car and we are almost dry at this point mind you. When all of the sudden the monsoon returns!! So we just start running to the car which is a block away! So we are soaked to the bone and kind of cold. So we went to our apartment to our last appointment, were we visited  with a former investigator just to see how she is doing. And when we leave it starts to rain again!! Man for living in a desert it can sure rain and flood fast! 

Story 2 We are teaching the Garcia family ( the miracle family I told you about a little while ago) and they are on date to be baptized this Saturday! But on Saturday we taught about the word of wisdom, and Dee Dee the mom has been a smoker on and off for years and loves her coffee. So I promised her that if she would stop drinking coffee and never pick up a cigarette again, that God would help her to stop doing both. Yesterday while at church I asked Dee Dee how she was doing with out her morning coffee. And she said, "Sister Chatwin I want you to know that every time I smell coffee or cigarette smoke, or even think about them I get sick. I know that God is helping me to be a better person and to be prepared to be baptized this Saturday!" I mean wow right!! This woman has so much faith in God and in the gospel that its just crazy! I know that she is doing so well because she is relying on the lord and doing all the things that she is supposed to be doing. 

Story 3 Again on Saturday we went to talk to Kevin Robinson (the guy who made oysters) and also talked about the Word of Wisdom. Wow we taught that lesson a lot on Saturday...Oh well I guess that's what God wanted. But he is pretty much living it already because he doesn't drink smoke or do drugs. And he rarely drinks coffee or tea, except when he is at work or in training. so we promised him that if he would have faith and try to find something else instead of coffee and tea he would be blessed. And just before we were about to leave I felt prompted to ask if he was still prepared to be baptized on the 22 of June. Because he has been sitting on the fence about whither or not to follow the spirit, which we know he feels. And he stopped and looked at me for half a minute and said, "Well based on everything that you have taught me so far, yes I am." So he is still on track to be baptized this Saturday as well! So we will get to see 4 baptisms this Saturday!! It is just so amazing to see how the lord works on people even when we are not there. 

And last but not least Story 4. On Saturday ( yeah everything pretty much happened on Saturday this week, but hey what can you do) we had just come home from dinner with Kevin, he made this really good spinaich chicken with cheese and a mushroom rice thingy. And we look at the phone and see we have 2 missed calls from the same number. But I usually don't call people back if they don't leave a message and this person had not. I was just about to delete the number when something told me to call it back. So I did, and a young man answers the phone, and after I explain who we are and why we are calling he proceeds to tell us the following story. About two weeks ago he was just coming home from work and getting things out of his car when 2 pretty well dressed (his words not mine) come up and hand him a card and say that they have a message about how you can find more joy and happiness in you life. And ask his name and shake hands then leave. Well for the next few weeks he just keeps thinking about it, Then his Grandfather comes to visit him and to help him get his life together, and tells him he should join a church. And the young man says that's funny because he has thinking about that the last few weeks. Then the grandpa proceeds to say that if he were to join any church it would be the Mormons. Again this young man says that also funny because he had just meet 2 young ladies who gave him a card and said that they were Mormons, and he had been thinking about calling them. Well the young lady who gave him the card was me. I remember that we were running late to a meeting and I saw him getting out of his car. I almost passed right by him when something told me that I had to give him a card. So I went over and shook his hand gave him a card and we left. The young mans name is Dallas and he lives in our apartment complex. We taught him the for the first time yesterday and we committed him to baptism. He wont set a date till he knows a little more but I know that he will get baptized! The moral of that story is to always follow promptings!!   

Well that pretty much all my good stories, and I hope you enjoy them. I love you all very much and miss you tons!! Cant wait to hear from you all!!

Love Sister Chatwin

P.S SMILE!!!