May 28, 2012

We've been really busy this week. Last week we found quite a few new investigators so we've had a lot of appointments to go to. A lot has been happening in our area. Saturday was great, we had a lesson with Manuel and Keila in the morning with the bishop there. We talked about some of the parts of the Plan of Salvation, mostly just focusing on the fall, the Atonement and how through baptism we can access the blessings of the Atonement. We extended a baptismal date for the 9th of June. They told us they had to pray about it but we're really hoping they'll be able to make that decision. Saturday night was the baptism of Edgardo and Givendolee in Humacao and it was so awesome. They have made so many changes in their lives and you can see the difference. I was so glad I got to be there to see it. We found them in January, and because of the move and everything it took until now for them to get baptized but they are converted. I'm so excited for them.

On Sunday I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting because the person that was going to speak couldn't come. I spoke on the talk Elder Anderson gave called What thinks the Christ of me? It went pretty well but for some reason, after the talk, members kept coming up to me, asking if I was finishing my mission. I couldn't figure out why they would have thought that, but then I remembered that the closing hymn was God be with you till we meet again.

Well everything is going great, and we're keeping really busy. The Church is true and I love the Gospel.

Elder Duclos

May 21, 2012

It has been a great week, and we've seen some of the fruits of our labors. First, on Saturday, Edgardo and Givendolee were married. They're the couple Elder Visker and I found in Juncos that moved to Humacao. It was great, the Humacao ward really helped out with the wedding and it turned out great. They'll be baptized this Saturday! We also found Manuel and Keila again, our most promising investigators that we'd lost contact with for a long time. We finally found them in their house and they told us they wanted to make time again for us to come over because they noticed a change since we'd lost contact. I'm not sure what changed but they were more excited than ever.

We have also found a lot of new investigators this past week, and we have a lot of teaching appointments set for this week. We're seeing a change in Juncos and we're seeing our hard work pay off. It's really exciting to see the area progress. We've had a lot of fun this week. We have started to talk more to all the people selling food on the streets and we've gotten a lot of free food. They sell these things called pinchos here. They're chicken kababs with a piece of bread at the end and they're really good. There are stands everywhere that sell them. One time right after we'd eaten lunch we stopped to talk to a guy at a pincho stand, just to talk to him. He couldn't hear us very well with all the traffic, and he thought we were buying pinchos so we ended up accidentally buying two.

Anyway Puerto Rico is great. It's really hot but the work is going well and I'm enjoying it.

Elder Duclos

May 14, 2012

It seems like just yesterday I was talking on the phone to you guys. It was good to hear from everyone and I'm glad you're all doing well. Sounds like things are going to be a lot different by the time I get back. So not much has changed since we talked. We're working hard and doing well. Somebody was talking to us here in the library so we got cut short but I hope everything is okay with everyone.

The Church is true.

Elder Duclos

May 7, 2012

Hey,

It has been raining like crazy the past few days. The rain is nice because it means there's no sun, but it just makes it hotter because it gets humid. For some reason people here are really afraid of the rain, and everyone who sees us outside in the rain says we're going to get sick, but we've stayed healthy. We're still on bikes a lot whenever we're in Juncos but if we go to Las Piedras or San Lorenzo or Gurabo, we go in the car with the bikes mounted and ride the bikes when we get there. Two days ago there was a huge rainstorm and a lot of the streets were flooded, it was pretty crazy but we were in the car, and on our way up into the mountains so we didn't get washed away.

Dad asked about what we eat here. We eat a lot of beans and rice. Whenever we eat with anyone else, that's what we have. They eat a lot of pork chops too and a lot of plantains. One of my favorite Puerto Rican foods are tostones, they're the fried plantains and they're so good. We buy them frozen and make them at home a lot, and we even made some from fresh plantains the other day. When we cook at home we eat a lot of rice and beans too, a member in Caguas told me how to make them together and it works out pretty well. Sometimes we make rice and gandules too. I never saw gandules before I got here but I think they're called pigeon peas in english. I didn't like them a lot at first but I love them now. We make tacos a lot too, with taco seasoning, it's not very Puerto Rican but it's easy and good.

But things have been going really well. We have been working a lot with the ward and trying to get the members excited about helping out in the missionary work. We have been doing great and I am really excited about how things are going. 

Elder Duclos

April 30, 2012

Transfers

My new companion's name is Elder Bryant. He came to Puerto Rico at the same time as I did and he's from Las Vegas, so we've got a pretty young companionship. We've only been together since Wednesday but things have been going well. We've been out on the bikes a lot more and having a lot of fun. I'm excited for this companionship. On the first or second night we had together, we were out contacting at about 8:30, just until 9 when it was time to go home. between 8:30 and 9 we found three people who were all really interested. We gave the Book of Mormon to two of them and since then we've followed up and they've both started to read. So we've got some good investigators coming.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this earlier but we had investigators that Elder Visker and I found and worked with for a long time named Edgardo and Givendolee. Anyway, they moved to Humacao and we didn't really have a way of contacting them. We weren't sure where they moved and they don't have a phone. Anyway they called us one day and told us their address and we sent the Humacao elders over there. They found them and they've been teaching them. They have a wedding/baptism planned for the 19th of May. It's really exciting that they'll be baptized. We were really worried that they'd get lost, or that it wouldn't work to change missionaries, but in Humacao their situation is a lot more stable and they've been able to progress really well. and, Humacao is close, in our district so I'll be able to see them get married and baptized! We worked a lot with them, they always wanted to learn but it was so hard to meet with them, so it's exciting to see them in a better situation now.

Well, everything is going really well. It's starting to get really hot, but Juncos is in one of the colder areas of Puerto Rico, so I'm lucky. Anyway, I'll talk to you later,

Elder Duclos

April 23, 2012

One for the folks,

I'm sorry I haven't taken much time to write more personal letters/emails. When we changed P day to Monday, we also put district meeting and weekly planning on P day so it's sometimes a little rushed.

You should know that I'm happier than I ever have been before. I love the mission and I haven't ever been more sure that I was in the right place. I've been studying a lot about success and what makes a successful missionary because I haven't really seen any investigators baptized but what I have seen is that I really am doing the will of the Lord and I can recognize that I've been successful on my mission, and that has been the most fulfilling thing I've ever experienced. I wondered before if there were no baptisms because I wasn't doing things well enough but now I realize that that's not it. I'm doing my part and Heavenly Father is pleased with that.

As far as companions, Elder Visker took a little bit of getting used to but I have realized how much I've grown with him, and I've really learned to love him. Transfers are this week, and we haven't gotten the official word but President basically said that Elder Visker was leaving the zone (he's only spent 2 transfers outside of the Caguas zone his whole mission). I have really appreciated him and everything he's done for me. It's been good to be his companion. With him leaving, I'll bee the one that knows the area. I'm still not sure at all who my companion will be but I'm excited for the chance to really take the lead. I can see how it'll help me grow and put me into the position to act even more. Not that he ever dominated or anything, but it'll be a good experience for me.

I love you both and I can see how much good you've done for me in my life. Yesterday I changed a tire for the other missionaries that live with us and I pretty much do all the cooking whenever we cook. I'm glad I have parents that taught me, and most of all taught me how to get my own testimony. That's what I've relied on more than anything and it was you that gave me that chance.

So I am doing very well. I'm sorry again for not taking the time to be more personal. Tell the brothers I've been working on letters for them, but it's just a slow process. I love the mission and Puerto Rico, and my goal is to make my parents proud. Earthly and heavenly.

I love you,

Brock

April 16, 2012

It seems like forever ago that I was emailing last P day but it's been a great week.

We had a mission Easter conference on Tuesday and went to Old San Juan. We went to a place called the San Cristóbol fort. It's a fortress they built forever ago that's right on the coast. It was the first time I'd seen the ocean on my mission. They had a cultural presentation there where they showed some of the typical dances from different parts of Puerto Rico. That was a lot of fun, especially seeing all the elders I was with in Caguas that have all gone to different places now. I am one of the only ones in the Caguas zone that was here when I started. I forgot to bring my camera though, but I'm going to get some pictures from the other elders.

Other than that, the week has been pretty normal. The elders in Humacao found Edgardo and Givendolee, and they went to church there. It sounds like they're going to fit in really well with the ward there, and the ward has been volunteering to help them out. They have an apartment but not much else and Edgardo lost his job. So they've already talked to the ward employment specialist and people have volunteered furniture and things that they'll need. I'm really excited about that, I was worried that them moving would hinder their progress but they're doing well. We haven't seen Manuel and Keila since our last lesson on Sunday. We had one scheduled yesterday but it was cancelled. We were going to follow up on their commitment to keep the Sabbath day holy and come to church but they didn't come.

Well, I don't have a lot of time to email today, but I'm going to try to get some pictures to send. I love you, and I'm glad everything is going well. Tell Jim congratulations.

Elder Duclos

April 9, 2012

Well, this week has been really hot and we've been sweating it out on the bikes all week. But it's been great. I got the package on Monday, I went to the post office but it wasn't there. When we got home it was on our doorstep. The mailman had thrown it over our fence to get to the doorstep and it was sitting in the sun for a few hours. The truffles got destroyed and melted all over everything but I saved the rest. The Canadian chocolate is really good and I was really glad to get the photos. We're going to try to get some mangos down from the tree today, I'll be sure to take pictures.

 

It has been a great week, even though it's been hot. After three appointments falling through with Manuel and Keila, we finally got to go by and teach them last night. We taught about keeping the Sabbath day holy, and helped them understand the reasons behind it and the blessings that will come. It seemed like it was something they'd always heard but never lived because they didn't understand all the doctrine behind it but they have committed now that they understand better. Manuel has been taking a lot of initiative in studying. He's reading in Alma now and he watched most of one session of conference. He thought all the sessions were just repeats of the same thing, but he said he thought it was the Saturday afternoon session he saw. That would mean he heard Elder Holland's talk - If you haven't made covenants, make them! We're still working on getting Keila more excited. We really think this lesson helped her resolve doubts about coming to church, and they've committed to come every week now, so that will make a huge difference. I'm really excited about them. They are such a cool family.

 

Anyway, everything is great here. We're working hard and seeing fruits. I love you

 

Elder Duclos

April 2, 2012

It was a really rainy week this week. One of the days we had about two hours between studies and lunch that we planned to use to go contacting. We decided to go to a part of Juncos that's pretty far away and as soon as we got there and parked the car it started dumping rain. We had already driven the whole way out so we got out, got our bikes off the car and went looking for people. It let up a little at the end of the 2 hours but we were soaked, and laughing about how funny we must have looked. I still haven't picked up the package yet. We got the delivery slip in our mailbox on Saturday night so our next stop is the post office to pick that up.

 

Some really good news though. We have an investigator family, Manuel and Keila that we've kind of held back on. We never dropped them completely because they were just busy with school and finals and everything and they seemed like they had a lot of potential. Anyway, we went by on Monday without an appointment and he'd started reading the Book of Mormon on that past Friday, and had already read all of 1 Nephi. He had a few doubts about it, but they were just things he didn't quite understand, and we could explain without problems. We went again on Thursday and he had already read to Mosiah. He told us he knows there's no way Joseph Smith could have written that book and that it had to be true. We told him it was still important to pray about it, he hadn't yet. He was really close to accepting a baptismal date for April 28th but he still wasn't quite sure enough yet but he's tearing through the Book of Mormon so I'm not too worried. His wife isn't quite as excited yet. She's happy to support him and she likes to come talk to us during the lessons, but she hasn't been reading. Her parents were pentecostal pastors, and I think that's been making it hard for her to keep commitments. But I'm really excited. I could see the difference the Book of Mormon made even between the two visits on Monday and Thursday. It's a great book.

 

Conference was awesome. Being out here has made me appreciate even more how amazing it is that we have a prophet. We didn't get any investigators there, Manuel had to work this weekend (he usually doesn't have to work weekends) but we told him he could get it online. We found out that he was already familiar with lds.org because he downloaded the Book of Mormon as a pdf and the audio files so he could listen to it at work. So we're really hoping he's listened. Especially during the Saturday morning session I felt like the talks were perfect for him to hear. We did get to watch it in English, and I was watching for Evan the whole time. I guessed he must not have been able to make it. But I did see my institute teacher and a few people in my student ward during the priesthood session. The talks were so good. Every one was perfect for what I needed to hear. I know this church is led by prophets and apostles. It's true isn't it? Then what else matters?

 

I love you

 

Elder Duclos

March 26, 2012

It's been a rainy week here. We've gotten wet quite a few times but it's been great.

On Thursday we had interviews with President. We drove up to the mission office, where he interviewed everyone in the zone. My interview went really well, he really is an inspired man. While we had interviews, the office elders and Sister Alvarado did apartment inspections. They didn't like the machete, especially because my companion had to go home with a cut tendon. So I'm going to have to have them keep it in the office.

The rest of the week has been really good too. During the interviews, some missionaries from Caguas gave us a reference of somebody they contacted there that lives in Juncos. It's a man that was baptized when he was young and his wife and kids. We stopped by one night, without an appointment and they let us in. He asked if we had the Restoration DVD to watch so we played that. I love that movie. The Spirit is always so strong when it shows Joseph leaving his house in the morning and in the background they start singing Oh how lovely was the morning. We had a pretty good lesson and gave them a Book of Mormon to read and pray about.

We've noticed that in our time here we have found a lot of families that have been willing to learn. We have been really blessed to be able to find them, but it's been a little difficult for most of them to keep progressing, so we have been praying a lot about what we can do with these opportunities we've been given. I really feel like we'll be seeing a lot of success soon, and see these families get baptized. It'll be a huge blessing to the ward here, they haven't seen a baptism in quite awhile. I think too when they see these families coming in, they'll get even more excited and work even more with us. And that's the key.

The house looks great, when I opened up the email with the pictures, I could hardly recognize it, especially the back bedroom. It took awhile for me to figure out what room that was. I'm glad everything is going well at home. We're doing really well here. I know we're doing the Lord's work and working under the direction of inspired priesthood leaders who hold keys. And I love it.

Elder Duclos