I Will Go and Do : Week 83: 19 Months

It has been a great week here in Revere! Elder Pulu and I have been able to start riding the buses everywhere and we are working hard. We were able to pick up some really awesome new investigators this week. We also have made some really great plans for the zone and are excited to see what things will come!

Tuesday I was able to go on a great exchange with Elder Benson (from Washington) who is currently serving in Methuen. We were able to use their car in our area for the day which made things a lot more productive. One of the cities that we cover is Lynn, MA. The city is really big and a great place to work but because of how far away it is, we haven't been able to work there yet. So I was very excited to have a car for the day so we could go to Lynn and work around the area. We had great success there and Elder Pulu and I hope to start working there more often. I was really impressed with Elder Benson's commitment to the Lord and how greatly he wants to serve Him. It was a great exchange.

Thursday night we started teaching a woman who's husband was recently baptized two years ago in California. Her name is Qian. She is from China and has been attending our ward for several weeks now. She got a job out in Boston with Amazon and so their family moved out here. She has taken missionary lessons in the past with the Elders in California, but agreed to meet with us. We had a great lesson with her and the family about Alma 32 and having the "word" or Jesus Christ planted in our hearts. She has lots of questions about our church and our beliefs but she is willing to learn and we are excited to teach her. Her husband, Brother Clapp, is very excited as well.

Saturday was an amazing day as I got to go to Boston on an exchange with Elder Harris, who I served with in Ludlow. We had such a great exchange, it was great to see how much each of us has become more converted to the Lord over the past 5 months. We were both able to notice a growth in our spiritual stature and focus on the work. Basically, any skill that I have been able to learn on my mission came from watching Elder Harris. I loved being with him for the day, as expected I learned a lot.

Sunday after church we had an appointment with a woman named Akeha who ordered a Bible. We were able to have a super awesome member come with us to the appointment. While we sat down with Akeha, she told us her 22 year old son had just been shot and killed in Boston a couple weeks ago. She was very broken about what had happened and felt like a Bible would bring her the comfort she was looking for. As we spoke with her, we testified about the peace that would come into her life if she turned to Jesus Christ. We testified that she would be able to see her son again and then we shared the Restoration. As we recited the first vision to her, she began to cry and the Spirit filled the room. Our member was a great help in the lesson and we all left the lesson very spiritually filled. We are super excited to be teaching Akeha and we can't wait to share the Plan of Salvation with her this week.

So some other big news- we set a similar goal here in the North Shore Zone like the one we set in New Haven a couple transfers ago. Each companionship was able to council with the Lord about how many investigators He believes they can pick up this week. The total came out to 56! This is a very stretching goal and we are very anxious and excited to see what will come of it! I'm loving my new area and can't wait to see some miracles this week. Thank you everyone for your support and your love.

Love,
Elder Gutierrez