Happy Easter

Hello Everybody,

This week was another great week and it amazes me how fast it is going by.

This week we had a cool miracle.  I pray all the time that the Lord will help me recognize the people that he is preparing and putting in my path so that I can recognize the opportunities when they arise.  Up here it's harder because there aren't very many Spanish people so anyone I see could be that person.  One day this week we were exploring a city called "Coloma" that is just north of Placerville and is where Gold was discovered when the Gold Rush started.  We were driving around and not finding anything that looked remotely Spanish.  All of a sudden we ended up outside the city and heading back towards Placerville driving in between a lot of really big houses when in the middle of it all there were two little houses with Spanish people standing outside! So we parked around the corner and then walked back to them to talk to them.  We started talking to a guy named Adrian and he was really nice and interested.  He's been in jail and has some smoking problems but he really wants to learn and come to church and everything.  We haven't been able to teach him yet but we are excited to do so soon.  The Lord really helped me out by putting a situation as distinct as black and white in front of me so that I couldn't miss the opportunity.

The Yablonovski family (the family John and his companion live with) had some of their kids home for the Easter weekend so that was a lot of fun.  On Saturday it was Brother Yablonovski's birthday so we had a big birthday dinner and then on Sunday we had a big Easter lunch.  I am teaching Elder Russell to stuff a lot of food away even when you're not hungry at all but you have to eat to be respectful.  We had a huge lunch and dessert at 3 and then had pozole and more cake at 4 and Elder Russell struggled through it but now he's more prepared when he's in a more Spanish area and has to eat a lot more Spanish food.

I also had an experience this week where I kind of chastised the mom of one of the families we're teaching.  She and all the kids like what we teach and want to come to church but the husband is really shy/ashamed and is reluctant to go and just says they'll go to the Catholic Church instead of none at all.  The mom is ok with that because she just wants to do everything as a family, no matter what it entails.  On Saturday night I kind of lost my patience a little bit and started lecturing her and it lasted about an hour.  When I started it was really dark in the house and it was just her and I talking with my companion on the couch.  By the end of all that there were 12 kids that had come in, 2 uncles, 1 aunt, and they were all just listening intently to what I had to say.  I didn't even notice it happening but when I stopped for a minute and looked around I realized everyone was focused in on what I was saying.  I was amazed because we have trouble keeping the kids' attention for a few minutes but they were all listening intently.  I don't know what motivated them all to come in but something had interested them.  Unfortunately this family isn't going to be able to progress until they make it a priority which is saddening to me but at least we've been making a difference in their home.

I hope everyone is well at home and had a great Easter!

Les Quiero,
Elder Gaskill