This week was a ton of work.

We planned a ward/stake missionary activity.  We were going to let some helium balloons go with some cards for Light the World initiative.  So it turns out that helium is really expensive so we had to give away candy attached to the cards instead.  And it just happened to be one of the coldest days in Victoria in about 20 years.  And then the next day was the coldest in 20 years.  We did go below 0 degrees Celsius.  I guess that was why the list asked for a below 0 coat.  It was cold and we all (every body in the whole city) froze half to death.  We did alright, but it was definitely very cold.  It's different here.  They don't have insulation in the walls and they don't have heaters. The good news is that the house does have a water heater so we didn't freeze like all of the other missionaries did.  But we outlived it and we will keep going on.

So El Chino told us that he doesn't want to get baptized until he knows more (we already taught him everything) and he still drinks coffee.  He's stopped coming to church.  So right now doesn't seem to be his moment.  Hopefully we can see some progress soon but for right now we will not have a baptism on Saturday.  It's kinda sad :( 

Aylin, the little girl that we told you about a few times a few weeks ago, seems to be going well and we hope that we will be able to get something moving in the family.  It may be time for a baptism there.  The family situation seems to be going better.  We just have to find them home.

Antonio and Laura don't seem to want to progress right now.  They have some problems in their house and we still can't figure out what they are.  They did stop smoking, but they haven't done anything to get married, and they aren't going to church, or reading either.  So it may not be their moment either.

We did find a man that seems to have potential.  He is called Javier.  He is 57, he works in the state government.  And he is a lifetime alcoholic.  Honestly, I do like working with alcoholics.  Sometimes they don't make it all the way out of their addictions but at least we do leave their lives a ton better than before.  He has drank since 13 years old.  He has destroyed his pancreas, and I think that his liver is about pickled.  He has tried to stop drinking but has never been able to accomplish it.  He said that right now the alcohol is the only thing that keeps his blood pressure down.  He thinks that drinking alcohol is better for him than taking pills.  He doesn't have much hope.  But we see a lot of potential.  He loves to read so we are hoping that the power of the Book of Mormon can get him out of his problems.  He just needs help and support.  Hopefully we can change his life.  Well I guess we're not going to change his life, the Gospel and Jesus Christ will do that.

I love you all so much.  Thank you for all of your support and love.  

Elder Brady Allred