Striving for Virtue

buenas tardes! first of all, i want to congratulate joseph on making the 2nd band at byu! thats so sweet! keep up the great work little brother, i love you!
we have had a pretty good week here. it hasnt been as progressive as we would have hoped, but we are definitely getting off our feet. after the ward mission plan, we got a few brothers to come with us for a few hours during the night for visits, and we have had good success. before we hadnt received many references from the members, but as we take them out, they tell us about inactives that they remember, and also it helps them build their testimony of the work. we have received 5 references and contacted 4 this last week. also for this week, we have brothers coming for wednesday through saturday in the later hours of the day to accompany us. we are getting the bishopric and leaders of the quorums. it has actually been a big success, and we are planning to continue.
well on wednesday, we went on divisions and i went to the other area with a new elder who got here with elder wilding, his name is e. marlor from colorado. he had relatives that went to timpanogos high (bennion?) and shockingly at helaman halls knew tiffany peterson(ex girlfriend) it was pretty funny actually. we worked a lot of contacting and member search, and received some help, but not a ton. the area of obrera, their area, has been without missionaries for a long time, so they are trying to get the members help to get some progress going. the members that rent to them are super cool! they are great cooks, and really rich, and powerful members. they really are excited about being able to go on divisions with missionaries, as well as do their home teaching! (not very common) i learned a lot from elder marlor, even though he is younger and less experienced with the mission than i was, he taught me some good things to improve on.
well this past week, me and elder wilding have been trying to work on the christlike attribute of virtue. we really studied what it meant to be virtuous and how to obtain it, and we had some good results. it is one of the most important attributes in my opinion, because when you have virtue, you are focused on your mission, and your purpose to complete, and you do what you can to trust in god and complete your purpose. you arent focused, or even talking about home, and focus all your efforts on preparing people for baptism. we werent perfect, but we tried hard, and i feel like we had some good success and a wonderful learning experience.
we made some good contacts this week, and and completed our goal of nuevos again. before, we were struggling to get it, but with the members help, it goes much more smoothly. we are teaching a lady named esmeralda who we found on tuesday, and she is progressing really well, and we have help of a few members that are her friends. it was a reference from the bishop, and her mom is a member who helps us a ton also. she never really had interest in the church before, but when we talked to her the first time, she was touched and shared a few things with us, and has been progressing really well.
we really need some help from you all and your prayers, especially for miguel, so he stops drinking, and so he can overcome the temptations to do it. ulises to completely stop smoking. esmeralda to feel comfortable at church. ilianet, salvador, and giovanni to come to church and accept a baptismal date. crisanto and arumi to accept a date and complete with our homework. and teresa so that she can accept the message of the plan of salvation. we have quite a list and really need your help and prayers to get these people to progress. they are all good, and have good potential, but always need more help. thank you all so much.
well, im about out of time this week, but i want to say one more thing. as we were thinking about the virtue, i really had to think of what ways i could better dedicate my life to the lord. find your favorite sin, or even distraction, and try giving it up for the lords sake. i have tried not focusing on the world so much, and soccer, and etc. i want to challenge you all to do it too. elder maxwell talked about this in consecrate thy performance in the december of 2008 (i think) incredible... we give up easy things to god, but the favorite things are the hardest and we will receive the most blessings when we are able to give up the last and hardest things to follow him. it is really hard, i know... but ask HIM for help, and he will give it to you, and a way to complete and progress.
i love you all, and for all your letters! thanks for your support and prayers, and know that i am praying for you all too! love you tons!
elder facer