"Work, work, work, work, work"

So this week was pretty good. Besides the fact that the door opened and my bands flew out and whipped me in the back while I was working out, it was a solid week.

Something I love about my new sector besides the chocolate bread (btw they have a very good pineapple bread too I discovered) is that we do a lot of service. For example we have been helping out this old member with his little plot of land. Taking a machete to it and taking down all the plants. Then burning it all and while all the smoke is in your face and eyes, cleaning it out till there's no green left. That last part wasn't too much fun. But this week we got ourselves a crazy service planned. We are gonna go rat killing. I ain't talking mice, I'm talking straight rats. This member has a chicken farm thats filled with huge rats so we gotta go kill them now... with our feet! haha I'm so freaking scared for this service but it'll be awesome to say I've done it and send you dead rat pictures. Stay tuned!  

So this week we had interviews and man was that such an awesome experience! I really love my mission president and I respect that guy so much. He really knows what he´s talking about. So we had 3 questions we were to prepare ourselves to answer for the interview. 1. What are you doing to be a better missionary? 2. What are you doing to help your companion become a better missionary? 3. What is a question you have in mind that you would like to get answered in conference? 

So I started out by answering the first and third saying I wanted to be a more consecrated missionary. He then asks me what I'm doing to do that and i said well that's the answer to your 3rd question. What does it really mean to forget yourself and go to work? He then goes that's a great question and I recommend you go study the life of the Savior. I have that question because I've thought about it a lot and I came to the conclusion that its impossible not to think about yourself on the mission. He says its not that you don't think about yourself, its that you put the needs of others before yours. He then gave me a few examples of the Savior and man was the spirit pumping in that room. So I asked him where I should start in studying about the Savior more. He says have you read Jesus the Christ? I said I got to the millennium of time and was so lost and so I gave up about 2 changes ago. He goes just skip straight to the Atonement. He then gave me a super powerful thought about the Atonement.
Then he asked me about my companion. I said idk what i need to do to help him improve. Im still trying to get used to him. (my comp is super quiet). He says part of that is that you need to look at other missionaries especially with your calling and look to see how you can help them improve. He says once you start doing these things you'll understand what it means to forget yourself and go to work. 

I talked about to him a little more and he finished the interview and thanked me and looked at me straight in the eyes and said "elder Welch, you are a completely different person then you were when you started the mission" I literally almost started crying. The mission has changed my life. I told myself that I didn't want to come home weird like Dustin and I didn't want to ask to extend my mission. I was holding back as a missionary. Now I don't wanna come home. Besides being so tired all the time, I love this. Jose´s baptism was the most spiritual one I've had yet! The kid got baptized and just gave the biggest hug to the member that baptized him. He then bore such a very short but powerful testimony that this church is true. The spirit was so strong! I was so happy! The gospel is the source of our happiness. Ohio State football is a close second, but truly i couldn't stop smiling that whole night. He's a new 18 man that's now apart of the true church and preparing himself to help others do what he just did. Convert to the Lord. 

Thanks so much for everyone of you that wrote me. I love you all and I'm super happy. As Tyler once said a lot of times "Im livin the dream!" 

 Jose´s baptism! Great kid! 

 the picture with the kid by me is the familia moreno. We are just working with them helping them receive their answers and then its their turn! 

Sector pictures. We just walked up those monsters. The first one doesn't do it justice but just look how much higher we are then the rest of the buildings haha