Mason's Letter -- January 8, 2011

Hey familia,

How is everything this week? Sorry I wasn't able to write much last week, but today we actually have a normal P-day which is a huge blessing and like the first time all change. Last week was a different week. We basically spent every day on divisions in different areas. On Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday we went on divisions with a different area. We went to a bunch of areas that are struggling and we tried to help them out. I always feel a lot of pressure when I'm on divisions because I'm always telling the missionaries how to do things, and I've actually got to back up what I say when I'm with them. I think they have been thankful for this because before the AP's would just tell them how to do things and that was it. But now we actually show the missionaries that we live what we preach. So having one day to show them that you do all the right things is a lot of pressure. But this week all the divisions went by really great. I always feel really blessed on divisions because we always seem to be given some great new people to teach that seem really positive. So it turned out good.

I now started a thing on divisions where I have a ´´division report paper´´ that I fill out with the missionaries in that area in that division and I fill out what they did good and what they need to do better. So I feel like they have really been efficient.

On Saturday we went to an awesome area called Trujillo. It's right on the beach and it's way far away from everything. So there is still a ton of original culture and stuff there. The people are all really different. They are not like a Latin people, but instead all of them are of African decent or of a pure Lamanite descnt with really dark skin. They speak a few different dialects there as well. So it was really cool to see all that. I would like to go there.... maybe my last couple months in the mission when I leave the office haha.

Then this week was just basically a preparation for the changes. On Monday we went to an area called Morazán to see if we could open it up. It's a small city that has an extension of a branch. Basically it just doesn't have any Priesthood holders, so Priesthood from another branch like an hour away always has to travel there every Sunday to bless the sacrament. We wanted to put some missionaries there to baptize some Priesthood. We felt really good about it and found an apartment and everything for the missionaries. Well we got back to San Pedro and the area presidency called us and rejected our request to open up that area for missionary work. So apparently it's not ready yet, but I think it will be soon.

On Wednesday we did the changes. We went to the president´s house at 7:30 am and started doing the changes. Well we didn't end until about 6:30 at night. So we were stuck in the president's office for like 11 hours straight doing the changes. I didn't know how much work that actually is and how hard it is. We only had a short break to break our fast at like 5 pm. It was really interesting though. I really was able to feel the guidance of the Spirit in putting the missionaries where they need to be. It is hard at the same time trying to know the Lord´s will for each missionary. But it was cool how sometimes we would make a change and put a missionary's face on the board and it would just feel wrong and the 3 of us wouldn't feel comfortable. So we would try something else until we felt right. I'm grateful that I get to participate in that and learn how to follow the Spirit and how to recognize his voice. So those are all done, we haven't finalized it yet just in case we need to make last minute changes tough.

On Thursday and Friday we just ran around to the areas that we are going to open and we dropped off the things that the missionaries will need in the houses that we found. So we had to pack up beds and closets and tables and refrigerators in the truck and make a few trips to the areas. That was really tiring and we didn't get back until late last night from an area a couple hours away. All this week has been really busy just preparing for the new missionaries to come and the old ones to leave and the changes and stuff. I have gotten up at like 5:30 everyday and haven't gotten back to the house until late every night. So I'm in need for some rest today.

I hope that this email makes up for last week's one. Have a great week. Next week I'll let you know how it went with the new missionaries and everything. I'm really excited for that.

Love Elder Mason Cardon