March 7, 2011

March 7, 2011
(Josh) Thanks for writing Josh. My favorite part is that these last 6 months coming up are going to fly by, just love the people and the missionaries. Thank you so much. I’m trying and working harder now than ever before. Our mission is focused this month in finding news and the Book of Mormon. We are trying to find more effective ways to separate the wheat from the tares. It talks in D and C 4 about thrusting your sickle...most effective tool....(Book of Mormon + Spirit). We are finding lots of news, which is fun. We are talking to lots of people and really trying to find those who will hear my voice and follow. I honestly really do love being a missionary. I know I’ll probably love it even more when I’m gone, but I do love being here. Do you have any criticisms for me? Are my letters OK? Are they helpful to the family? Should I write more about .....? I’m praying that the Lord will make with me what He will. I’m trying to fight hard the negativism and laziness. We have felt much better about the quantity of work we are doing. Please keep pumping me up and praying that Lord will be able to teach me the lessons that He wants. I love you tons Josh and am excited to see how much the Lord has blessed you even since I’ve been gone. Love JJ and B also.
12:24 (Jayce) Jayce, that was an awesome letter to read about you and Dallin and the Spirit. You are so awesome. I am so proud of you and pumped for you. Thanks for being yourself. You are a giant. Keep that V-ball team together. It teaches you a lot. It will help you on your mission pull your companion, district, zone and mission into a centered effort to work miracles for the Lord. Have tons of fun in volleyball. I remember how much fun that was. I looked forward to it a lot. Thanks for everything brother. I’m praying for you too. Thank you for praying for the Spirit in the lessons. The Spirit is the one that converts, not the missionaries. Have a great week. All the kids here just started going back to school this last week. Interesting huh? Chao, Love Elder Tilley
(mom)… Another Package!!? I feel like a king. I still loving the cliff bars in this last package, oils are pretty good i think. i loved the music that I got. It was great. … Luis stopped smoking altogether! We just need to keep teaching him very simply because he learns very simply…. Thilo and Marlene are awesome. We were going to set a date this last week, but ended up helping them understand better marriage and invited them to talk about it. They said they wanted to get married, so we were really excited. We teach them tomorrow. We are going to talk about a date. They have been getting a lot of heat from their next door neighbors, family members. Please pray that they will have the inner strength to keep going and do the right thing. Maybe you could write a little note to her about Grandpa and how you are praying for him and putting your trust in God. I’ll translate it for her. She is worried because her family is rejecting the message. Patricia and Nataly didn’t come to church. I was feeling to teach to Patricia the Sabbath Day and keeping it holy. We are just going to keep passing by Nataly for a bit. We haven’t been able to make contact with her this past few days though. We hope she is OK: We found some news this last week. I love love love finding and teaching families. Mom, Dad that are married and kids! It’s my favorite I think. We found Luis and Betsabeth who weren’t there actually for the first appointment, but we feel good about them. We have taught Armando who is 27 or so. He didn’t come to church, but he understood and felt the spirit. Also Rodrigo, Magali, Franko and Benjamin are a family when the little boy yelled oye and we went to their house. We haven’t been able to teach them tons, but we should this week. Also Mariam, Estefania and Camila are a family that we have talked to on their porch. They had a really good feeling about them. Thank you for all your support and for caring so much about them. I love you so much and am so grateful for all of you. The weeks are flying. We have a goal for April of a mission, 74 baptisms. We are trusting in the Lord and working hard… I’m loving the Book of Mormon more and more. Thank you for teaching us to read....I’m loving it now. Roberto (Jessica’s husband), I’ve heard he is going slowly but surely. I’m excited for them. They are coming up: Jessica, Jazmin and Katy at the end of this month. Venessa was a couple of weeks ago.