the one with interviews and Rolly Polly Ollies!

this week was very cool! we found some really good investigators to teach while we did a Blitz of our area with the district leader and his companion on Tuesday. we found 6 people that day and 5 more on thursday. we also found a really cool family named the Herrera family. they are all super excited about the church and Baptism. the Dad unfortunately is on probation for 10 years, so he has to go through a hard time to get baptized but he'll get baptized eventually if he starts coming to church and doing everything he's supposed to do. someday. the best part is that they have 10 kids and they youngest one is 7, turning 8 in a week! so if all goes well, they'll all be baptized with their mom in a few weeks. I hope I'm still in this area for that! but that's just wishful thinking.

Elder De Piano and I are getting a long a lot better. it is not easy to keep him happy, he is very easy to frustrated, literally anything could cause him to blow up. I just have been learning to be patient enough for two! and it's been working great! he still seems grumpy all the time, but I'm never in bad mood! at least not for weeks it feels like!

Yesterday we had interviews with President. he gave me a lot of good advice and help. he told me I need to work on always having a good attitude not just when things are going my way! I'm usually pretty upbeat on my mission, I just have the problem of over thinking situations and making them overly bleak! Elder De Piano doesn't think I have enough faith for some people. (that's what he told me after he offended that member and she shut down and said she doesn't want her daughter baptized anymore, he blames my lack of faith, I blame that fact that he was a dick!... but I degress, that's already passed and all we can do is hope that she comes around on her own!) I read the book "the Peacegiver" by James ferrell. it's a really good book and has helped me a lot the last weeks with De Piano. it's all about applying the atonement to help relationships. it really loved it, it was exactly what I need to read at that time. so even if my companion can be VERY rude and prideful, that's ok, because the atonement works for him just as much as it works for me or any of the investigators so I can forgive him and not be bugged because he's already been forgive!

Our home is full of Rolly Polly Ollies! there were 2 dozen of them (dead and alive) when I was sweeping our house this morning! I don't know where they're all coming from or why they're in the house all of a sudden?! but they're pretty harmless and a heck of a lot less disgusting than cockroaches! so I'll take them anyday!

Yesterday this guy came down that served 3 months of his mission in Weslaco while he was waiting for a visa to Venezuela. he had a pretty good memory considering that he served 35 years ago! it wasn't the most effective use of our time, but because we took the guy around for a couple of hours he was able to get in contact with one of his baptisms and get him back to church for sunday! I hope that was the kick in the pants this inactive guy needed! (the missionary also took us to lunch! at Taco Palenque, the more south texas restaurant I've been to!)

I hope everything is going well! I'm glad to hear that Jill didn't get eaten by a bear! I love ya'll lots!

-Elder Noah Duerst!