Lexington, Nebraska

Familia y Amigos,

Buenos Diaz! I hope you are all doing great and are surviving this heat... And hey tomorrow is Pioneer Day I think! SO I hope you got some good plans for that! ha

So, this past week was transfer week and I got transferred here to Lexington, NE. It is a SWEET place. I flippin love it here! haha It smells like poo outside because there are like a million and a half cows and hogs, but other than that it is a great place. I have felt very welcomed here, I feel that this is exactly where the Lord wants me, and I have felt of his love greatly since I've been here. I am serving in a 3-sum with Elder Hugentobler and Elder Terris. Elder Hugentobler is a funny kid from good old Manti, UT and so he knows a bunch of friends I had down at Snow College. pretty cool. He only has 3 weeks left on his mission so Elder Terris and I will kill him off! But he is a great Elder, and an amazing teacher...blows my mind. And then Elder Terris is from Lindon, UT and he is freaking buff. haha I think I've played against him before in basketball and he is a great teacher as well. We have free passes to the "Y" here... so we will work out each morning Mon-Fri.

But when I first got here, I was feeling sick. And the other day, I actually was feeling really sick and so I slept in a bit hoping that I would feel better. And that morning I got a call from our Mission President early in the morning and asked me if I had heard? And when he said that I was like..uh...nuh uh...and I started to worry because I thought maybe something bad had happened to someone in my family...but then he said, "The Lord wants you to serve as District Leader." I was glad that nothing was wrong with my family and this phone call was not something I was expecting at all. I accepted the call...even though I'm not exactly sure why he wants me to serve in that calling. But, I'll rely on Him for help.

On Saturday, we had a baptism for a girl named A in the ward who was in a part-member family and so that was cool to see a baptism my first weekend here. And then on Sunday, A received the Holy Ghost, 2 other girls in the ward got baptized, and a recent convert received the Aaronic Priesthood. It was quite the weekend. The Spirit was very strong. And then Saturday night we had a ward activity at the bishop's house. And no joke, the bishop here, Bishop H looks identical to President Uchtdorf! haha It is hilarious. He is a great guy and he is known as the owner of the #1 hog farm in the world. hahaha so sweet! And there were a few non-members at the ward activity so that was sweet. But this place here in Lexington reminds me a lot of Illinois when I use to live in a place called Mahomet. It is a very laid-back town, nice people, and a LOT of corn! haha I have really enjoyed the laid-back town cause it helps me relax and remember the many blessings I have received and what matters most in life. It was hard to relax a lot for me when I was serving in the big city of Omaha.

Anyway, here in Lexington, it is an English ward and there is like 2 Hispanic families. Very nice people...and I see great things ahead for this ward. Where we live, we are surrounded by Africans! And they are SO awesome! We have been teaching a few of them and one of them "SW" just got baptized. Africans are hilarious. hahah oh man. I feel like I am serving in Madagascar with Elder Robby Lee...these Africans are amazing people. They are super nice, love white boys, and really want to learn about God. There is never a dull moment around them. But anyway, we are teaching one African guy named E right now and he is best friend's with "SW", his buddy who just got baptized. E has a lot of questions about the church and has strong desires to know how we worship. He's been reading in the Book of Mormon, he knows a ton about the bible, and wants to find the "right" church. As long as he continues to ask us questions and read in the Book of Mormon, I have no doubt he will find this "right" church soon!!

Just last night, we went and saw F and MH. When we knocked the door, F answered it and we asked him: "Como esta, hermano?" And he said "SUPER SUPER bien!" haha it was hilarious. He invited us in...I got to know them good and then after we reviewed a bit from our last lesson, we talked about baptism for a bit and then we watched the Restoration video with them. Neither of them have been baptized and they both want to. F prayed Saturday night and asked God to show him where he needs to go to find the "right" church and know where he should get baptized. so super cool. And they have been taught before by past missionaries. Well anyway, as we watched the Restoration movie with them, I was praying super hard that they would feel the Spirit and have open ears and that we could listen to them well and answer their questions afterwards. Well, as the movie came to an end, there is a part that shows when Joseph Smith's dad gets baptized by immersion in a river... and when F saw that he was like "I WANT THAT!" haha He said it has always been his dream to get baptized in a river. So if things work out we will have to find a river somewhere here in Lexington to baptize him! haha But they were both very receptive to the movie and they seem to understand the importance of baptism and really want to be baptized. We talked to them about faith and how they got to do more than just pray to find a stronger answer. And then I shared an analogy from cross-country!! whoot! And then we had a kneeling prayer with them. When we knelt down, we started explaining to them how we pray and then right in the middle of when we were explaining it...Francisco just started praying and he didn't stop until like 10 minutes later! haha It was hilarious. I was trying SO hard not to laugh out loud. But next time we go over there, we will have to talk a little more about prayer. haha But, anyway, they seem very interested...so we hope that they stay open and continue to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet. Francisco accepted a date to be baptized on the 3rd of September!!

One thing I have realized on my mission is that the hardest thing for people to comprehend is that only one church has the authority to baptize. Everyone thinks that all the churches are good as long as you believe in God. It gets frustrating sometimes...but I've realized that I just have to listen to them and try to explain it simply and hope that overtime they understand it!!

But things are going well here. I love Lexington and look forward to serving here for a while! I hope you all have a great week. Thanks for all your love and support. And we'll see ya next week.

Love,
Elder Vawdrey

P.S. sorry, I can't upload pictures again. I'll try to find a different computer where I can.