December 29, 2014

Well Mom,

Not too much to say today since we talked on Christmas Day. 

Well----I guess there is one thing. On Saturday the sisters had a couple of baptisms. One of their baptisms asked me to baptize him, so very happily I did. Also, his daughter was baptized. Then later on in the day they had another baptism. His name is Luis. My companion had to help baptize him because he can’t walk. It was a very spiritual baptism.

Also, my last companion, Elder Collins, now Dayde Collins, has finished his mission. He is studying at BYU. He told me he got there recently. He wants to get to know the family. So I gave him your number and dad’s number. Expect a call from him. And if you would like you can invite him to eat. He would love it. He is a really good runner. Like REALLY good. He will probably run for the BYU cross country team. I am sure you will get along just great. Also, he eats a lot, and when I say a lot-- I mean a lot! His stomach is a black hole. He is one of the 7 wonders of the world he eats so much. But yeah, invite him over, chat a little bit, eat a good dinner, and you can even have him play the piano.  He is a professional piano player as well.

Love, Elder Rucker

 

The gift I got in the mission gift exchange. Pretty small, right?

 Our Zone with the Christmas gift from President. It is a journal with our name and the symbol of the mission.

Love Elder Rucker

December 21, 2014

Making yummy cookies!!!

December 15, 2014

Hey Mom, 

This was a stressful week. The assistants had us literally running around town to get everything ready for the Mission Christmas Conference here on the coast.  We had to put everything together and do everything and they advised us with very little time. But everything came out well and everyone had a great time.

Now that I am writing, I realize that was basically all we did this week. Run a bunch on errands preparing for the conference. 

President really likes the Haka. So each year each zone does a Haka. Ours turned out the best. We rock!!! My district also did a skit that was hilarious. The zone I am in is excellent. We were the life of the conference.

Love, Elder Rucker

Check out our Haka!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L9uNiOInCc 

December 8, 2014

Hi Mom, 

Well…this week was a busy one. We had transfers. My old companion, Elder Collins, finished his mission. He got home on Thursday. My new Companion arrived on Wednesday. His name is Elder Rojas. He is from Bogota. His is 20 years old just like me. But he has only been in the Mission for 5 months. He served in the Colombian Military before coming on his mission. He is awesome.

This week I found something really special: Instant Potatoes. I bought them one night and made them the next morning for breakfast. They were delicious. 

Well, I don't know if you have seen it, but the church has put out a Christmas video. It is called, "He is the Gift". It is really good. The Church has made a bunch of promotional cards for us to hand out here. We have had a lot of success with the cards and with the video. We have more investigators. One night when we went contacting we saw a family outside their house talking. We contacted them and gave them the card. We told them that we did not have too much time but that we would like to come back another day to talk with them. They said that it was alright. Before we left they asked us a few questions and before we knew it we were sitting down teaching them. They are the Barrios family. They have a lot of interest in what we share. I know the Spirit opens a lot of hearts in the month of December. I know that any other time of year and this family would have rejected us. But the Spirit talked to their hearts and they listened. So now we are teaching them. It is the grandparents, the parents and the daughter. They are a great family. That is just one on the many success stories from contacting using "He is the Gift". 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzjFEMmM0Xs

That’s all for this week.  Love, Elder Rucker

p.s. Here on the coast it is so hot and so sunny that we are allowed to use Sombero hats. There is the foto of Elder Collins and me in our tracking hats.

December 1, 2014

Hey Mom,

This week was good. Not too many highlights but still a good week. 

First off, we went to a leaders conference in Medellin.  It is a conference we have about every month. So on Wednesday we traveled, it takes all day to get to Medellin from Monteria because we travel by bus. Then on Thursday (Thanksgiving) we had the conference. On Friday we traveled back to Monteria. Saturday was a normal day. Sunday was Elder Collins last Sunday in the mission. 

Today was busy in the morning. I had to send my companion off to Medellin. My new companion is Elder Rojas. I know him. Whenever we get together I speak with him. I am really excited.

Well, that is all for this week. Love, Elder Rucker