The week went by too fast! Wednesday we had a visit from President Cook! And Saturday we had stake conference. And also on Saturday Jo set a baptismal date! Lots of good things happened this week!
One thing that put my heart at rest was what President Cook was teaching. Everything he was saying was another testimony to what I have felt is right, to what Brother Vargas had said and to everything I have been learning. Another interesting thing was what happened once I fully submitted myself to the mission defined standards.
Some of you might not know this but in the England London Mission we have an additional set of standards to compliment the ones the church has put out. I had a difficult time with these because they were very constraining. But I found out that one of the people who were responsible for the creation of these was my current companion 
*wow*. When I found this it I decided that I really wanted to sustain him, so for 3 weeks I was completely obedient to each and everyone, I studied and applied. But after the three weeks we got a notification saying that the standards have been updated and a lot of the direct rules are gone. It was almost as if God was telling me, "I don't care what you are actually doing but I care that you love me enough to be obedient." I feel really grateful that I had that change of heart that let me see some of the fruits of this obedience :)
*wow*. When I found this it I decided that I really wanted to sustain him, so for 3 weeks I was completely obedient to each and everyone, I studied and applied. But after the three weeks we got a notification saying that the standards have been updated and a lot of the direct rules are gone. It was almost as if God was telling me, "I don't care what you are actually doing but I care that you love me enough to be obedient." I feel really grateful that I had that change of heart that let me see some of the fruits of this obedience :)God works in mysterious ways. About 2 and a half months ago I started practicing português and I still am not very good at it but I met a ward member in Kingston who is still teaching me. I got to the point where I can set up lessons on my own. Once that happened we started getting three português referrals about every two days and I was so excited! Now the referrals have calmed back down but just by attempting to follow the spirit, God multiplied my efforts. Once again I was able to partake of another fruit, the fruit of diligence.
And now back to Jo, Jo is super cool. He was being taught for a while before I got to the area and I wasn't going to jump in and offer him a baptismal date so I just started to get to know him. And would you know it he also loves combat sports so we clicked really fast. We met up at the park and just basically had another recent convert and Jo teach the plan of salvation to another friend we are teaching. And at the end I interrupted and said, "Jo I want you to pray for a baptismal date and I'll call you this weekend and we will pray together and set it" Had I not taken the time to get to know and understand Jo, that invitation may not have carried as much meaning. But he did pray. I did pray. And then my companion and I prayed. Then all three of us prayed together. And we landed on May 31st!! That is the last fruit I want to highlight this week. The fruit of connecting!
When we partake of desirable fruit we want to share it. That's the entire tree of life and Alma 36. So these are the fruits I tasted and I liked them. So thank you for letting me share them :)
Love you all
Elder Hixon
