Welcome Home Elder Navarro

Week 104 - Truce

Hello.

All I really wanted to say to all of you today is thank you. Thank you
for supporting me over these past two years. As I've been here in
Portland, I have seriously felt your love and prayers. It is the
single thing that got me through each and everyday. I have learned so
much more about myself on my mission. I have learned that I truly love
people. As a result, I have come to love each and every one of you a
little bit more. Even though I haven't been in close contact with all
of you, I look down the list of people I send these to and all I see
are great people. I wish I had a better way of expressing my gratitude
for the things you have done for me, but for now I will just say thank
you. As I return home, I hope to see all of you and personally thank
you for what you have done for me in my life.

Going home will bring a lot of new challenges for me. This is the
first time in a long time that I don't know what tomorrow will bring,
but that's ok. I don't know what I'm going to study in college. I
don't know when I will get married or to whom. All that I know is that
I am a son of God which means I have the potential to become like Him.
I know I can achieve anything I want to because Christ suffered for
me. I have committed myself never to fall short of my potential. I
want to be the best person I can be. The mission has taught me that.

Again, I love you all. Please forgive me for not sending updates
consistently. Feel free to contact me when I get home. I will be glad
to tell you all about my mission and all the experiences I had here. I
hope to talk to all of you soon.

:)

Elder Navarro

Week 103

Woohoo!! LAST EMAIL!!

This was actually a great week! There was a lot of good that happened.
All of the member work that we have been doing for the last few months
is starting to pay off. Earlier this week, we got a referral for this
Spanish guy that works for this member. We visited him and he is super
solid. He already had three copies of the Book of Mormon. We taught
him more about it, and he said that he wants to keep meeting with us.
We have another lesson with him on Tuesday. It should go really well.

Also, we got another referral from a different member who invited a
family over for us to teach them. So on saturday, we went to their
home and taught this family. Once again, it went really well. We
taught them the restoration and even accepted the invitation to get
baptized! It was great! They have really been looking for something
more in their lives. They have gone through a lot in the past few
months and they know that this is what they need.

All in all, it was a great week full of finding people. Anyways, this
is going to be a really busy week for us. We have district Meeting and
Michaels baptismal interview on Tuesday. Then, I'm going to the temple
with all the other departing missionaries on Wednesday. I'm also
having my departing interview on Wednesday. Then on Saturday, we have
michaels baptism. It is going to be a great last week! I can't wait to
see you guys! I'll talk to you in person next week! ;)

Elder Navarro

Week 102

Hey hey!

I am doing fanstastic! Zone conference was also really good! It was
wayyyy short! President Ballard had a lot more to say than President
Bullen does. It's probably just because he is new. Usually we would
end zone conferences around 4 if not later with President Ballard.
With President Bullen, we ended at like 1. It was crazy! I really like
President Bullen though. He is a lot like President Ballard so far.

I also got to do a couple of baptismal interviews! It was a really
cool experience. It's nice to just hear about the whole conversion
story of someone. It was really cool! The first one was in Spanish and
this lady talked a lot. She was actually already a member but they
lost her records so she had to get rebaptized. The second one I did
was this English dude that has been taught forever. He knows
everything about the church. He was quoting stuff from the doctrine
and covenants! It was cool! Luckily, neither of them failed the test
so they both got baptized!

This morning, we went to the Pedersons for breakfast. It was cool!
Apparently, it's harry potters birthday so they had a little party.
Anyways, I hope you have a great week! #2weeks

Elder Navarro

Week 101

Heyyyyyy

Life is definitely an adventure around here. It's a blast! This week
has been pretty good. It was Elder Millers birthday yesterday, so we
had dinner with the Pedersons. It was a good time as usual.

We decided to do another activity with the youth as well. We had a
game night, and we had them just bring some games and hung out. It was
actually really fun! We had some really good youth in our ward which
is really nice! It's actually weird to have any youth at all because
none of the Spanish branches really have any youth. It's nice though.
It gives us something fun to do. And they are really good missionaries
which is great for us!

Other than that, everything is pretty chill! We have zone conference
tomorrow which is exciting because it is President Bullens first one.
Also, I have to drive like an hour on Thursday to another zone to give
someone a baptismal interview because I am the only leadership in the
area that speaks Spanish. So this will be another slow week. Not too
much going on. It's good though. It keeps us busy.

Anyway, I love you guys! Have a great week! Only 3 more week! ;)

Elder Navarro

Wormholes

Hey!

How's it going? I'm doing great! This week has been a fantastically
fun week! We decided that we want to be outside more in order to be
able to talk to more people. Well, we borrowed these bikes from a
member, and it all started out great! The weather was great! We were
talking to a lot of people. Then, out of nowhere my front wheel falls
off, and I went right over the handlebars. Luckily, I didn't get hurt
or anything, but I took a good roll. Then, later my back wheel falls
off as well, and I fell again. It's all good now! I have fixed it all.
Hopefully, it doesn't happen again haha

Another interesting thing that happened this week is we met this guy
that is teaching us the trumpet. He is a very interesting person. I
invited him to come to church and he said the only condition was that
Elder Miller had to slap me in the face. It was a weird deal, but I
accepted. It is so worth it. Unfortunately, he ended up having to work
on Sunday, so he couldn't come to church. On the bright side, I didn't
have to get slapped.

Anyways, that is the fun stuff that happened this week! I love you
all! Have a great week!! :)

Elder Navarro

Burning Stars

Hello!

In case you are wondering, I am doing lovely. I know it's been a
while, and a lot has happened. I won't bore you by telling you all
about the last three months of my mission. I will be able to tell you
all about it in person because I go home in five weeks! Time is flying
by. I can't believe it. Don't worry though. I'm still working hard.
I'm a district leader right now, so that keeps me going. I'm also back
in Molalla which has been a blast. Unfortunately, there is no more
Spanish branch here, but I am part of an amazing English ward. Many of
the Spanish members attend the English ward that I am in, so it has
been such a blessing to reconnect with all of them. It also means that
I get to translate sacrament meetings ;) That has been an adventure.

As I come closer to the end of my mission, I have been thinking a lot
about change. I think back to when I was a kid seeing all of the
people I looked up to return from their missions. I remember thinking,
"Wow! They have changed a lot!" I have been worried lately that I
haven't really changed on my mission, but then I really think about
who I was before the mission. I didn't really care about a lot of
things. I sought out things that brought me temporary happiness, but I
never really looked for joy. Now, I know what it means to have joy,
and I know how to find it. I feel joy by loving other people. I love
the missionaries I serve with. I love every single person I have met
on my mission. I love my family. I love Jesus Christ. And I love you.
And that is how I know I have changed on my mission. I feel joy.

Looking at the list of people that I send these emails to, I realize
that every single one of you has made a positive impact on my life,
and I thank you for that! I look forward to seeing all of you in five
weeks! Bye :)

Elder Navarro