Seth got a new camera and I am so excited. Not only that, but his pictures would suggest he and his companion went on their first P-day excursion.

Our first photo comes from a place named Barrillas. A nice view on a wonderful day...

The following arial photo would suggest that we are looking at a large bay in the picture above.

I think the following two photos are from Barrillas as well.

It appears to be a wonderful place, especially if you aren't a missionary and can get in the water.

The following picture comes from Jicacal. I couldn't find a map that made sense to me but I will tell you that Seth reported they had to travel there by boat.

Also, I think this is the first picture we have seen of Seth's current companion, Elder Soto.

Our final photo is of a tropical bird perched on Seth's shoulder. It was nice of the bird to look into the camera for the picture.

Seth reported that they are seeing more and more people returning to church who haven't been participating for a while. One such member, Brother Brocus mentioned in a previous post, has been doing a lot of visits with them. Elizabeth Cuevas surprised them by showing up to church and staying extra long even though she didn't seem inclined when they first contacted her.

Here is a portion of Seth's testimony. "Testifico que el amor puro y la fe y esperanza nos conducen a la sinceridad, claridad, poder, y todo rectitud, y nunca debemos hacer nada sin consultar a Dios antes, y hacerlo con nuestra mira puesta únicamente en Su Gloria..." (I testify that pure love and faith and hope lead us to sincerity, clarity, power and total righteousness and we should never do anything without first consulting with God and then do it with an eye single to His glory...)

Seth hasn't replaced his camera yet so we are back to the mission preparation photos.

Two posts ago, we showed Seth participating in a district cleaning project.  Here we see that he began his preparations for this project quite young.

In this case, Melanie is helping him prepare for missionary cleaning opportunities.

Certainly, getting along with and enjoying the company of other missionaries is an important part of the work.

These Elders who served in Charleston all those years ago seem to be enjoying his company and he theirs. Birthday cakes have made numerous appearances in this blog. That can't be insignificant.

Finally, team work is an obviously important dimension of missionary work.  Seth started learning this skill quite young as well.

Should we have guessed then he would end up 6'4"?

Now, to be serious for a moment.  Here are some extracts from his most recent letter.

"We taught [Lazaro Chavez] about the Doctrine of Christ and finally to end the lesson [he] had the courage to ask Heavenly Father if this was His church, and if this is the truth. I asked him how he felt after and he could only muster up to say "Bonito." It was one of the first times in the mission I have really seen a conversion happen. He has been reading every day since then and praying."

"...a less active brother named Elder Brocus (his name yes, is Elder) that we started teaching awhile back is about to receive a calling that we need in the ward, and has been great in helping us as missionaries. 5 of his friends right now are seriously investigating the church, and he has started forming the habit of reading the Book of Mormon daily, and we hope that he can begin exercising his priesthood more fully soon."

Now, a portion of his testimony.

"...debemos orar para entender para que seamos convertidos y participar del Fruto del Árbol de la Vida, pero si dudamos después, el fruto perderá su sabor, y entraremos en la obscuridad, y desanimo para siempre." (We should pray so that we can be converted and partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life. However, if we later doubt, the fruit will lose its flavor and we will enter in the darkness and discouragement forever.)

Seth's camera is still struggling so I am going to have to come up with my own material again.

He mentioned two talks from General Conference last weekend.

Elder Nelson

Elder Ballard

He noted that they both chose to focus on the document created by the apostles in 2000 in commemoration of the 2000th anniversary of Christ's birth. He said, "...both mentioned that we should study The Living Christ, and I realized that I had never read it before."

If any of you haven't read it, here is a link.  The Living Christ

Here is an excerpt from Seth's email. "We were able to find a few new people this week that we are teaching, but we are still trying to figure out how to help our investigators see that Church attendance is necessary in their progress. We haven't had more than 1 or 2 investigators in Sacrament Meeting since I have been here, and that I means I have something still to learn so I can help the people I teach understand also."