Happy Birthday Mom!

Hello!

First of all, I would like to wish my dear mother a very Happy Birthday!! It sounds like you've been having fun, and I hope it continues. Keep being awesome.

Some interesting things have happened this past week.
First of all, something from last Tuesday. On the way to district meeting and internet, I saw a young man walking a PUG through the streets of Peronia! My comp said to me 'That's like your dog, isn't it?' I told him yes, but this particular pug wasn't nearly as handsome as Sampson! I saw the same man with the same pug two more times later that afternoon, but I haven't seen him again since. We also visited a less active family, the Torres family, and they have a little dog. I don't remember exactly what kind, but we got talking, and it turns out that he and I have a lot in common. He wears glasses, and he really likes to work with computers. He has a couple in his home that he's been building and changing out parts on. He told me he wanted a pug, but it was too expensive to get one when they went to get their dog. Its name is Puppy, which in Spanish is pronounced like 'poopy.' Another family, the Cordon family, has a dog named 'Dogie' (pronounced dough-gie).

Other than the few pet dogs, I usually just see the street dogs. Typically, they don't bother us very much, but one attacked my pants the other night. Nothing happened, really. He didn't even tear the pants, let alone my leg, just surprised me a bit.

As of right now, we have two set baptismal dates, with Rosa, and with Alicia, who I may have told you about. Alicia lives high up the hill in our area. We were on our way to meet with her last night, and we were near the home of another investigator, William, who has, at the moment, two cars. He asked where we were going, and he said "Wait here, I'll go get the car." He gave my companion and I, and Roberto, a member who often accompanies us to lessons, a ride in his car just about to her house. She lives down a little side-alley, so we couldn't get right there, but he got us up the hill, and I got to ride in a CAR! The last time I did that was in another area on exchanges with Elder Gomez.

On the 25th, there will be transfers here in the Central Mission. My comp and I are interested to see what will happen. First of all, I'd like to explain something. The word in Spanish for transfer is "Cambio" which literally means "change." Most of the North American elders here use the word change instead of transfer, so I'll probably use that a couple times here soon.
My companion will only have one change left, and he will go home to Honduras. We're interested to see who will stay and who will go of the two of us, or if we both stay for one more change. He's been begging for the president not to take him out of the area for his last change. He will have been there for 7.5 months next week.

Next, just something funny that happens on a regular basis. One of the security guards of our neighborhood likes to greet us in a rather interesting way. Usually they say "adelante" (forward, essentially 'come in'), Buenas, or Que les vaya bien, but one of these guards, whenever he sees us, says "Canche!" I understood, but I was just confused as to why he would say this. Canche is a word used to refer to someone of lighter skin tone. Of course, he was talking about me. If you're talking about a woman with lighter skin, you can say canchita, but I generally try not to use that word, because as I understand it, it's not very polite.

We also had a lot of less-active members at church this past week. Prayers were answered, and it was great. We also had Rosa and Alicia, both of our set baptismal dates, in sacrament meeting. They are both set to be baptized this following Sunday.

We also had zone conference last week. We learned a lot about prayer. As a result, I've changed how I pray a little bit, and I've really been able to feel the difference in my life. The Spirit is with me (us) more, and it's absolutely fantastic. President Brough spoke to us, as did the assistants and some of the secretaries. It was very uplifting, and drives me to work harder and to be better.

Thank you as always for your thoughts and prayers. Please continue to remember us. Prayer is a very powerful thing, and I've already been the witness of great things as a result of prayer. I promise you, if you make a greater effort to pray often, with reverence and great thought, the Lord will answer you. He wants to hear the desires of your heart, and bless you with answers to your prayers.

I love you all!

Yours in the faith,
Elder Nicholas Banks