Sorry for the Delay in Posting!

I apologize for my lack of posting recently, I was in Colorado for the holidays and school just started back up. Also we actually didn't hear from Colton last week because of the holiday, however we did get a letter this week.....AND.............. PICTURES!!!!! I have created a shutterfly account for everyone to view his pictures on, its much easier then posting them on here because there are so many. He is doing great! We talked to him for about 2 hours on the phone on Christmas day which was awesome! He has a funny accent thing going on because he has been speaking Spanish since he left, he informed us that sometimes he forgets how to say words in English. Sort of funny :) Goes to show the power which the lord has in guiding these missionaries... pretty impressive that he is fluent enough in a language after four months that he is forgetting how to speak English. Enjoy the letter, we will update when we have a new address but for now it sounds like everyone should stick to emails....Oh and below is his link to see pictures!

http://coltonbaines.shutterfly.com/


Happy NEw Year a Week late!

Well to start off i apologize for not writing last week. In my new area (Rio Piedras) we have to do email at the university and it was closed due to the holidays. I am actually lucky that i can email today because yesterday was yet another holiday here in Puerto Rico. THree Kings DAy. And for the next 8 days it is some other holiday and then another one right after that. They like to have holidays here. I believe they celebrate every holiday from the U.S., Brasil, Argentina, Venezuela and there own. (I may be wrong but thats what a member said.) So needless to say, they are always having holidays.
My new area is pretty awesome. It is a little less urban in areas compared to Guaynabo. It also has a lot of hills which is no fun considering i am on a bike now. Elder Markham i feel your pain. Also there are a lot of "Casa Rios" around my area. Generally speaking they are pretty much ghettos. Its a little bit sketchy because the fences and walls of the buildings have bullet holes all over and my companion has a fired bullet that he found on the ground near one. The weather has been quite cool here for the past couple weeks which has been great. The ward here is awesome, it has very strong members and it is easy to get members to help us which is a huge benefit. My spanish is improving imensely as my companion cannot speak or understand very well at all. He has only been out for two more transfers than me. It is wierd to think that i am already halfway through my third week of this transfer. The first week i was in my new area was very slow but it is flying by now and the next transfer is on February 4th. I honestly only feel like i have only been here for a few days. We have an investigator right now that has a baptismal date for the 25 of this month. Its a very wierd situation but basically she is waiting for divorce papers from the Dominican Republic so she can marry a member who she has a kid with. Kind of wierd but they are awesome. Other than that we are teaching a lot of lessons and talking to a lot of people but really dont have solid investigators right now.
Sorry i still dont have a house address to give you for letters so dont mail anything for a while until you hear from me because they will just keep going to my old area. I think we are moving soo so that is why i dont have an address. Our owner is a little crazy, for too many reasons than i can put and are worth writing about.
This email isnt the best i know i am racking my brain trying to think of something of spirtual value that i have read or studied in the past week or so but im not getting anything. It sounds like all of you are doing fantastic and im glad that you had a good holiday season. I got word that the colombian kid, Alvaro, that Elder Contreras and i were teaching went to church last week which is awesome!! I have been kinda really up and down these past couple weeks i think just adjusting to the new environment, but i have truly come to know the effect the mission is going to have on my life and how much the Savior guides us in every thing we do. I have concluded that no matter what the outcome of my mission is, whether i have one baptism or none, the "joy of saving but one soul" will come from saving my own. It is amaing the changes we will make in our lives when we truly have come to the knowledge and outlook of an eternal perspective. The changes we make might bring us outstanding grief and sorrow before we can experience the fullness of joy that truly comes from coming unto Christ. "Our disappointments are the straight and narrow path back to our Heavenly Father." I would rather pass through grief or shame in the short time we have here than have to bear the burden of grief or shame in the eternities to come, wouldn't you?
I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. He lives and He as the power to carry us back to Him if we are willing to let him drive our lives. We all know that nobaody likes a backseat driver and i cant imagine He does either. He knows what is next in our lives and He will guide us through it. Nothing we experience here is too much to bear when we accept His outstretched hand.
Thank you for all of your love, prayers, and support. I pray that the Lord may continue to enrich all of our lives.

Love
Elder Baines