I'm Getting Old!

Dear friends and family,

Another week has flown by and it has been incredible! The biggest highlight of the week was towards the end when our friend Daniel was baptized on Sunday. We have been teaching Daniel since last month and he has been prepared by the lord. The challenge was to put him on date! We met with him a week ago to finally settle on a baptismal date for the 19th (which was yesterday). the baptism happened and it was amazing. I was able to confirm him as a member of the church as well. Later that day, President Hussain was able to give him the priesthood as well, so we have more priesthood in the branch! we still need to find more to help the branch grow and be able to become a ward. miracles happened all around us this week and we were so happy.

One final thing is that I'm hitting my 12-month mark this coming Thursday, hence the title of the email. I want to tell my testimony of my mission as I make my way to the halfway mark. Missions are super hard! You have to leave the world you knew and enter into a new setting with unique challenges and tasks. It can be frightening and discouraging. And I can say with all of my soul, it's worth it! The Lord gave me tools, My testimony, and my trusty book of Mormon. These tools are amazing and I found almost all of the time, they work. Talk to new people and sharing an apartment with a new companion every six weeks can be scary, but I'm to a point where it doesn't scare me as much. I learn so much out here in both of my missions, that I'm going to miss it so much when the time comes. I know this is the best work in the world and I know that sharing what we know is true, can light the world one by one! I happily say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Sincerely,

Elder Franco

pics: Daniels Baptism