Week 91--A Crazy Roller Coaster!

Hello family and friends. This week was such a crazy roller coaster!

There was a lot of bad and a lot of good. Let's start with the bad and crazy stuff first.

So part one. Nancy has basically dropped us. Feel like that came out of nowhere? Ya, us too. We have done everything we can to get in touch with her, but she won't talk to us. We actually don't have any idea why. Frustrating... The sisters from the singles ward are trying to get in touch with her as a last ditch effort. Please pray for her!

Now, that the worst of the bad news is out of the way, here are just some random annoyances of the week (not complaining, just helping you get a feel for the week):

- my iPad factory reset, which means I lost a LOT of studies and notes and quotes and reminders that I hadn't backed up. I still don't have it fixed.

- our water heater broke. I've been sponge bathing with water warmed from the stove because I can't stand how cold the showers are.

- on Elder Bardsley's iPad, the Areabook app updated without us seeing any warning, so we had to re-enter a lot of data.

Now, not bad news, but stuff that added to the stress:

- I gave a short talk at a stake meeting about retention.

- I gave the 5th Sunday lesson to the adults and had a little over a day to prepare (without the help of my iPad and my previous markings). Feedback was pretty positive though.

Okay, now all that is out of the way. Now the good news!

So, we found out things were rough with Nancy on Monday night. Tuesday I tried something new. Instead of fasting from food AND drink (since that destroyed me last time I tried due to my hypoglycemia), I just did a no drink fast. I felt it was better than nothing. On Tuesday night, we kind of did our last effort with her before giving her some space. It didn't work out. Then, Wednesday night, we get a text from Santiago. We had stopped visiting him and asked him to tell us when he was ready to give it a try again. He told us that he was currently with the Elders Quorum President and was heading to the church (where we were at). We were super shocked. Santiago showing up as a result of our fast for Nancy? Maybe... The thought did cross my mind. He talked with Bishop. Bishop helped Santiago gain some confidence and feel supported. Then we had daily lessons with him. He hasn't had a drink since Wednesday. He came to church. Multiple people in the ward said hi and made him feel awesome.

Sandra and Alonso are doing awesome! Sandra has been the one that has been more involved to this point, but Alonso still likes it. She said that on Saturday night, he came to her and said, "hey, we haven't read today. Let's go." They then read a whole chapter together and both understood it! Alonso is still trying to get Sundays off.

So ya, roller coaster week. We haven't given up on Nancy. We're just letting her breathe a bit. Her mom told the sister missionaries that she felt pressured to be baptized. I personally think it might be a cover up, but hopefully we'll find out what's going on soon.

Love you all so much! Thanks to everyone that sent suggestions on how to finish strong. If anything else comes to mind, let me know! I still am thinking a lot about Elder Blanchard and Elder Febbo and how they finished. I feel like I'm headed in the right direction.

Elder Christensen