Hello from my new email address!

Hello family and everyone else!

You may have noticed that I am writing from a different email address. The Church just partnered up with Gmail to give us a sweet, new MyLDSMail account. It's pretty dang cool, we have a lot more space to store email and stuff like that...although I'm still waiting for all the email from my old account to migrated to this one. So if you want to email me, my new email address is: jacob.budge@myldsmail.net

This week Elder Escobar and I have had a few really cool experiences, especially with Amalia and Miguel, a couple that has lived together for 27 years but have never been married! Getting them married has been our main focus with them, and last week they both told us that they were willing to get their papers in order so we can head out to a judge (a friend of all the missionaries) in the next city over to get em hitched. But, there have been a few hiccups along the way. Last week, after teaching the Plan of Salvation, Miguel told us that he no longer wanted to visit with us, and that we should come back in a month to see if he's ready to begin to progress again. The next day, he was attacked by 12 dogs, and started to have severe problems with his spine--needless to say, since then he has willfully attended all of our lessons with his wife, has fulfilled all of the commitments we have left with them, and has been progressing very rapidly. Sometimes it's funny the way Lord lets us know that we're doing what's right or what's wrong.

This past week, we visited with Amalia while Miguel was sleeping (because of his back problems) and she told us that she didn't want to marry Miguel. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! After 27 years of living together, how could that be possible?! We read the Book of Mormon together, got on our knees, and had her pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true. She started to cry, and after the prayer, she looked at me and said, "Don't worry. Everything will be fine." We returned two days later, and both were ready and willing to be married and to be baptized. If everything goes as planned, we'll get both done this week. When we visited them Miguel told us, very sincerely, "What if you two are angels sent from God, and 10 years from now I'll be able to stand up in the congregation and tell everyone that God sent angels to my wife and I?" I was deeply touched by that comment, especially because that was a major theme of the Zone Conference we had on Wednesday. Elder Holland said (paraphrasing): "Welcome to the work of angels. In the eyes of God and in the hearts of the members who pray for you, you are those angels". I will not soon forget that day. And the memory of it will be even sweeter when we enter the waters of baptism on Sunday! Please, please pray that all will go well with them this week.

That's all the news I've got for you. I'm going to attach some pictures of the service we did this morning. One of them is of me doing my personal favorite of all the work positions...supervising! hahaha. But before then I was rockin the pickaxe like you wouldn't believe!

Elder Budge

Oh how lovely was the morning!

Hi!

I'm feeling pretty good today family and friends. I had a dream last night that I was hanging out with John and Jordan Crespo and Jordan and I were speaking spanish so John felt pretty left out. Just thought I'd share that with you.

Last week I had the awesome privelege of receiving a good chunk of mail from the good ol' US of A. I got a package sent from the Primary (AWESOME) with a big poster and a picture of the Primary. I'm a fan! And I received mail from Sister Savage (thank you) and letters from Grandma and Grandpa and Ally and Emily, postmarked in November! I did enjoy feeling like it was Christmas again for a minute or two. Haha. Thanks a ton for the support!

This week has been a typical week--tons of work! We've been knocking probably hundreds of doors, and we're trying to figure out the best way to get the members to help us out to find new people to teach and to help re-activate less active families. It's a good time and a half! I can't believe how fast the days are flying by. The time I have here in the mission is so short.

Sunday was a day that I will not soon forget. Elder Escobar and I went to pass by for some investigators to bring them to Church, and when we got there, the Fierro Family was there, seated on the front row, ready to be confirmed. It was very reverent, as there was none of the usual noise and music from outside the Chapel, someone had decorated the pulpit with flowers, and all that could be heard was the chirping of birds (sounds lame but it's true!). It was fast and testimony meeting, which everyone knows can get a little risky with new investigators (because most of the time the members think that it's "Fast and Share a twenty minute story about something that happened to you this week" meeting). But it was especially reverent, and a very doctrinally-sound Tesimony meeting. I absolutely loved it. I can feel that this ward is really ready to begin blossoming the way that the Lord wants it to blossom.

My companion and I traveled a good distance to get to our nearest WalMart so we could get some pictures developed for our recent converts...but it was closed! Again! We were pretty bummed. Actually, today we've experienced a lot of adversity just trying to get things done here.

I love you all and hope to hear from you soon!

Elder Jacob Aaron Budge Montoya

La Perla Cuñao!

Hey Family!

This week has been yet another excellent week here in the Perla. The work is moving right along.

But, this week was also one of the most challenging weeks of my life. As I explained last week, the Fierros Family had there baptismal date set for January 31 (yesterday), so it was a week of a lot, a lot of trials for them. They had some pretty weird, unreasonable, and awkward challenges this past week. This is what happened.

On Tuesday we showed up at the usual hour, 8 o clock, to share the Finding Faith in Christ video with them, and when we came in to their house, we noticed that Viridiana was not there. We watched the video anyway, and it was really really awkward. Afterward we asked a few questions, testified of the divine mission of Christ, and then asked them what was going on. They told us that there had been a huge domestic dispute between all of them, and that they thought that Viridiana might not be willing to continue in the Church anymore. Yikes! They told us that her mother-in-law had come in the morning, and had told her that if she gets baptized in the Church, people were going to go kill her and junk like that. So we went to Viridiana´s house and talked with her really well, and told us that she was firm in her decision to be baptized.

A couple of days later, we came to their home and had sort of an intervention with all of them, discussed the problem, had family prayer together, and a classic family hug afterward. Things were great. ...Until the next day. The following night they told us that their nephew had an evil spirit with him and that they were all freaked out about it. We called President Bulloch and asked him what to do. He told me very frankly: NEITHER YOU NOR YOUR COMPANION HAVE MY PERMISSION TO TALK WITH HIM, BE IN HIS PRESENCE, OR EVEN CLOSE TO HIM. UNDERSTOOD? I replied YES. So we sent a member of the Stake High Council and the High Priests Director over to his house to figure that out.

Their interview came, they all passed, and to make a long story a little less long, they were baptized yesterday. I am extremely content with the work Elder Escobar and I have been able to accomplish in the 3 weeks we have had together. I will never, ever forget baptizing them. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life.

Remember that the Church is true; most of the time that is all we really need to know.

Elder Budge