Another week in the coast

Dear All,

We just got back from district meeting, where the other elders told me that I'm losing weight. Again. So, yes, I'm getting used to the weather here, but it's burning me up! That's fine, because it's a good way to lose weight!

As for the area and my companion, things are going alright. As I may not have mentioned beforehand, my companion is Elder Ramos from Peru. He's my 2nd Peruvian. I now have had 2 Hondurans, 2 Peruvians, 2 Salvadoreans, and a Mexican as companions. Things are going pretty well. We have some stuff to work on, but that's normal. The area is huge, so we're trying to work it the best we can, concentrating our efforts where we feel that there's the most potential.

This week, I'll also be doing my first baptismal interview. As District Leader, I interview all baptismal candidates taught by other elders in the district, and my baptismal candidates are interviewed by the Zone Leaders. There's only one other companionship in my district, so if they have a baptism, I get to interview the person. I'm excited, but also nervous.

The branch here is really tiny. This week was about a normal week as far as attendance goes, and we had 70 there. It's a far cry from Sonora, the Utah-sized ward, but the people who do come to church are super faithful. There's one sister, Dora, who always passes by for our investigators if we call her, and brings them to the chapel for sacrament meeting. We also have some great converts, so if we can get over a couple little hurdles, there's success waiting here. The people are prepared to receive the Gospel.

This Sunday, we also had branch conference, which basically means that the leaders from the district (I explained that 2 weeks ago in my letter) come to visit and teach the members of the branch, and we get to sustain, or show our support for all the leaders related to the branch. In a stake, you sustain the Stake President, but in a district, you sustain the District President and the Mission President. It was pretty cool to be able to sustain President Brough in a sacrament meeting. I've never met either of his counselors (they're from Guatemala, and almost never work with the missionaries directly) but it was neat to sustain them as well.

This P-Day we're going to have what's called a "Super P-Day." This time, we don't really know what that means, but we know President Brough will come, and that there will be pizza involved. I don't know if it'll be Domino's, Pizza Hut, or Little Caesar's (all of which exist here), but it'll be pizza, and it'll be awesome.

Well, that's about all for now. Have a great day!

Elder Banks