An awesome week! It just feels like we did a ton and are also seeing the fruits of our labors. I love it when that happens. December is known for being one of the least succesful months of the year for the mission because of so much preparing for the fiestas that are going to happen at the end of the month(many would imagine the opposite because everyone is thinking of Christ at this time of year but...), but we are having lots of success finding people. This year we are going to have a WHITE CHRISTMAS! Ha. Romina Mesa is going to get baptized this Saturday. We had 7 investigators in church yesterday(very good number). Christmas is coming up! (8 more days!)
Gosh, it feels like this year has just flown right by me. I told you that the time would just be a blink of an eye mom. That`s awesome that Buster came home this week? How is he doing? We, in our ward, have also had a few homecomings this past week. Two arrived on Friday afternoon here to San Juan. He served a good mission. You can tell because when he saw us in church at 9:00 he ran over to us and told us he wants to go look for investigators with us to bring to church. Ha. I guess here, all the return missionaries do is give their testimony the week they get home. It is not a homecoming talk or anything big. I gave my first talk in this ward yesterday and it went pretty well. We also had 7 investigators show up for church. We have a lot of people that we are working with right now. True happiness comes when you work hard and are obedient. The blessings just flow as you keep noticing(counting) them.
The best news is that Romina is going to get baptized this week! All she had to do was come to church one more time(and not sleep in) and feel the spirit and the love to help her out with the decision of baptism. The service got announced in Sacrament Meeting so it is looking pretty sure. There are a couple others that may reach baptism in the next few weeks like Mabel Garcìa, Javier Flores, and the Kim Family(Koreans). Each person has their own needs and doubts which come with time so we are going to do the best we can with our teaching and prayers so that they can reach baptism in the next few weeks.
The 25th sounds great to me. We are planning that my comp will get on Skype at like 2:00 here(10:00 there) and I can get on right after at like 3:30(11:30 there). I think that is going to work out best for us. We don`t have sure plans for Christmas(Eve), but it sounds like we are going to go over to my ward mission leader`s house and party it up with a few other elders. I don`t know where we are going to go to use a computer. We will probably just use his the next day(25th). We have the big mission Christmas party this Wednesday in Mendoza. I am pretty stoked to go and see everyone and play some fùtbol americano and pong(I didn`t lose last year, we will see what happens this year ;) ). The ward is having a big cena(dinner) on the 21st and are going to do a live pesebre(nativity scene) using adults as well as the young ones. It reminds me of all the good times with Omi dressing us up and Opi reading in Luke 2 every 24th. Ha ha. Bad news, I got into my Christmas presents again this past week. I have my stocking sitting on the table in our room so it is always staring at me. I opened up a couple including the pez reindeer, socks, and balloon helicopter. Ha. I am going to make Christmas fun by not opening the things yet and playing with them on the 25th. Yes, I did receive the tree ornaments. Unfortunately, we do not have a tree up, but I hung all the ornaments on the wall above my bed. The happy birthday photo banner is also up above my bed. Ha ha. I liked that. I really really like the Christmas card a lot! Ha ha. Dad looks a lot different with this new haircut. Everyone looks great though! Maggie looks a bit more plump. Is Brooke still spoiling her with meatloaf?
It is just getting hotter and hotter here. We did service the other day and just got burnt to a crisp. We went over to a members house at like 8:00 to cut grass(yeah, it was kind of a richer neighborhood, but there was a lot of old people not being able to clean up their yard) and ended up staying till like 11:00. That is the time when you cannot just be walking around casually here, and that was when we were working the hardest to finish fast. Unfortunately, we didn`t put sunscreen on(sorry mom). But I learned my lesson, so now I will always put on sunscreen. The nats and mosquitos here are worse than anything at night. I bathe myself in OFF insect repellent often. Ha ha. I hope you are enjoying your winter.
That is awesome that Kelleen is going to Bahia Blanca!! I didn`t know she was planning on going on a mission. Is she 19 right now? I have heard very good things about that mission. It think the mission is a part of the Buenos Aires province. She is going to love being in Argentina. My advice is to not worry about Spanish at all because it will just come as she is obedient and working hard. Get involved helping the missionaries in the area first(something I didn`t do). Read the sister missionary thing that pops up when you enter into lds.org. Try and find the drink mate(not pronounced the austrailian way) and drink it before you are a missionary so that you can tell everyone that you have tried it. I`m sure you can find it somewhere close.
I heard about the bad news in Connecticut just right after it happened. We were doing an ancient investigator contact and she told us to come in and and see what happened in our country. We said a prayer right there for the families of all of the victims.
Spiritual Thought
To receive a bit of revelation for the talk that I was to give yesterday, last week I listened to a lot of general authority talks. The theme that stood out to me the most came from a couple talks from last conference from E` Ballard and E` Bednar having to do with conversion. My talk obviously took that them and related it to the capacity and effectiveness of sharing the gospel daily. I really like one thing that E` Ballard challenged us to do daily in order to stay converted and have these type of missionary experiences. "There is one simple daily practice that can make a difference for every member of the Church, including you boys and girls, you young men and you young women, you single adults, and you fathers and mothers. That simple practice is: In your morning prayer each new day, ask Heavenly Father to guide you to recognize an opportunity to serve one of His precious children. Then go throughout the day with your heart full of faith and love, looking for someone to help. Stay focused, just like the honeybees focus on the flowers from which to gather nectar and pollen. If you do this, your spiritual sensitivities will be enlarged and you will discover opportunities to serve that you never before realized were possible." I have been doing this lately and have been seeing the results. I find myself being even more of an instrument in the hands of the Lord and seeing my heart change more and more closer to Him every day. Be converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Well, that`s about it for today. Have a good week everyone! I will be emailing again on the 24th and then I will Skype it up on the 25th! Woo hoo!
Abrazo,
The best news is that Romina is going to get baptized this week! All she had to do was come to church one more time(and not sleep in) and feel the spirit and the love to help her out with the decision of baptism. The service got announced in Sacrament Meeting so it is looking pretty sure. There are a couple others that may reach baptism in the next few weeks like Mabel Garcìa, Javier Flores, and the Kim Family(Koreans). Each person has their own needs and doubts which come with time so we are going to do the best we can with our teaching and prayers so that they can reach baptism in the next few weeks.
The 25th sounds great to me. We are planning that my comp will get on Skype at like 2:00 here(10:00 there) and I can get on right after at like 3:30(11:30 there). I think that is going to work out best for us. We don`t have sure plans for Christmas(Eve), but it sounds like we are going to go over to my ward mission leader`s house and party it up with a few other elders. I don`t know where we are going to go to use a computer. We will probably just use his the next day(25th). We have the big mission Christmas party this Wednesday in Mendoza. I am pretty stoked to go and see everyone and play some fùtbol americano and pong(I didn`t lose last year, we will see what happens this year ;) ). The ward is having a big cena(dinner) on the 21st and are going to do a live pesebre(nativity scene) using adults as well as the young ones. It reminds me of all the good times with Omi dressing us up and Opi reading in Luke 2 every 24th. Ha ha. Bad news, I got into my Christmas presents again this past week. I have my stocking sitting on the table in our room so it is always staring at me. I opened up a couple including the pez reindeer, socks, and balloon helicopter. Ha. I am going to make Christmas fun by not opening the things yet and playing with them on the 25th. Yes, I did receive the tree ornaments. Unfortunately, we do not have a tree up, but I hung all the ornaments on the wall above my bed. The happy birthday photo banner is also up above my bed. Ha ha. I liked that. I really really like the Christmas card a lot! Ha ha. Dad looks a lot different with this new haircut. Everyone looks great though! Maggie looks a bit more plump. Is Brooke still spoiling her with meatloaf?
It is just getting hotter and hotter here. We did service the other day and just got burnt to a crisp. We went over to a members house at like 8:00 to cut grass(yeah, it was kind of a richer neighborhood, but there was a lot of old people not being able to clean up their yard) and ended up staying till like 11:00. That is the time when you cannot just be walking around casually here, and that was when we were working the hardest to finish fast. Unfortunately, we didn`t put sunscreen on(sorry mom). But I learned my lesson, so now I will always put on sunscreen. The nats and mosquitos here are worse than anything at night. I bathe myself in OFF insect repellent often. Ha ha. I hope you are enjoying your winter.
That is awesome that Kelleen is going to Bahia Blanca!! I didn`t know she was planning on going on a mission. Is she 19 right now? I have heard very good things about that mission. It think the mission is a part of the Buenos Aires province. She is going to love being in Argentina. My advice is to not worry about Spanish at all because it will just come as she is obedient and working hard. Get involved helping the missionaries in the area first(something I didn`t do). Read the sister missionary thing that pops up when you enter into lds.org. Try and find the drink mate(not pronounced the austrailian way) and drink it before you are a missionary so that you can tell everyone that you have tried it. I`m sure you can find it somewhere close.
I heard about the bad news in Connecticut just right after it happened. We were doing an ancient investigator contact and she told us to come in and and see what happened in our country. We said a prayer right there for the families of all of the victims.
Spiritual Thought
To receive a bit of revelation for the talk that I was to give yesterday, last week I listened to a lot of general authority talks. The theme that stood out to me the most came from a couple talks from last conference from E` Ballard and E` Bednar having to do with conversion. My talk obviously took that them and related it to the capacity and effectiveness of sharing the gospel daily. I really like one thing that E` Ballard challenged us to do daily in order to stay converted and have these type of missionary experiences. "There is one simple daily practice that can make a difference for every member of the Church, including you boys and girls, you young men and you young women, you single adults, and you fathers and mothers. That simple practice is: In your morning prayer each new day, ask Heavenly Father to guide you to recognize an opportunity to serve one of His precious children. Then go throughout the day with your heart full of faith and love, looking for someone to help. Stay focused, just like the honeybees focus on the flowers from which to gather nectar and pollen. If you do this, your spiritual sensitivities will be enlarged and you will discover opportunities to serve that you never before realized were possible." I have been doing this lately and have been seeing the results. I find myself being even more of an instrument in the hands of the Lord and seeing my heart change more and more closer to Him every day. Be converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Well, that`s about it for today. Have a good week everyone! I will be emailing again on the 24th and then I will Skype it up on the 25th! Woo hoo!
Abrazo,
Elder Deven
La Iglesia es verdadera
ps. Mom, I am pretty sure it gets hotter than 107 here. It said that it reached 44 celcius the other day! Holy moley!
La Iglesia es verdadera
ps. Mom, I am pretty sure it gets hotter than 107 here. It said that it reached 44 celcius the other day! Holy moley!
Sweating... always
Bowling at the hiper libertad last monday
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