Monday, January 14, 2013

Bautismo...

Hello!
Greetings from Argentina once again. We had a pretty good week. The best news is that Sebastiàn Kim got baptized on Saturday! We also had our long-awaited interviews with Presidente Àvila. We have been eating way too many sweets lately so I am wanting to start a diet. It is still super hot here, and getting hotter. And it is my mothers birthday this week!

Yep, everything went very very well with the baptism this weekend! Sebastiàn Kim got baptized without problem and it was one of the best baptismal services that I have seen. He had many friends and family and fellow members come and attend the service. I think we had about 50 to 60 people there(which is a ton here in Argentina). He was really happy and is pretty stoked to go to efy this next week. Well, and the parents of the Kim family(Adolfo and Elisa Castro), are still pending on their marriage. It is true what you say mom, that it is difficult to work so hard to be God`s tool of the saving of a soul, but you may not be there to see the fruits of your labors. Even though I want to be able to say that I married them and baptized them, it has come to a point where it doesn`t even matter anymore. I see them as God`s elect just standing in front of the waters of baptism with a wall in front of the font. I just want them to be able to understand the importance of not putting off their repentance because the enemy is just going to keep telling them to not worry because they have plenty of time. They just need to get baptized. Same with the other couples that we are working with. The girl in one of them is now in the hospital today expecting her baby any moment. The other couple consists of a 16 year old(Emanuel) who has been coming to church for months without missing a Sunday. He was found by the anterior elders here. He comes from a family of the Jehovah `s Witnesses religion. His girlfriend is a member in the ward. His parents kicked him out of the house because his girlfriend is expecting a baby and they are not married. He is working things out so he can move in and have his girlfriend`s dad be his legal guardian or something like that and then they can get married. A bit complicated, but possible. Ha.

We had interviews with Presidente on Thursday. It went great as usual. An opportunity to talk with that man one on one is a pretty cool experience alone. At least I walk out of the interview feeling real good about myself. We went and ate at McDonalds for lunch. It had been a long time since my last McDonalds. Didn`t really miss it anyways. Ha. But what I did enjoy was an ice cream from Freddo, a gourmet ice cream parlor(expensive, so that will probably be the first and last time). It was delicious. Since E` Correa has been my comp, we have been eating a ton of ice cream! Just about every day. He is a great guy and all, but just being a little rough on the diet. I need a little bit more self-control. I made eggnog again this week. It always turns out so good! I should probably watch myself on that too.

It is still SUPER hot here in San Juan. Even though it stormed pretty bad last night, rain just increases the heat the next day here. I guess we are both stuck in the extremes. I could use -1 degrees once in a while here too. I am starting to bathe myself 2-3 times a day now. Ha ha.

Don`t think that I would ever forget your birthday mother! HAPPY BIRTHDAY It took me a little while, but I made you a special cake even with some utensils to eat with. I would sing you Feliz Cumpleaños in Spanish. Over the computer will have to do for this year until next year when I can sing to you in the house. Be sure to send me pics of all your gifts.

Spiritual Thought: I don`t know why I haven`t been giving you all spritual feasts with my Book of Mormon reading challenge that we are doing now in the mission. Presidente Âvila gave us all a new Book of Mormon with a pencil and a bookmark with the challenge to read it in 66 days. Even though it takes up all the time in my personal studies every day and I have other things I want to study, I have been enriched with the clear teachings of the prophets of the Book of Mormon. We are now in Mosìah. I passed the scripture mastery scripture this morning in Mosìah 4:30. I also have the new CES devotional of President Utchdorf playing while I am writing. He speaks of truth and the importance of it. The truth is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This scripture in Mosìah teaches us to watch ourselves or in other words look in the mirror to see if we are really in the truth, to see if we are really watching our thoughts and our words and our works. Confirm your own testimony of the truth, and if you don`t have one of your own yet. Get one! God is our loving heavenly father and I know that He restored the truth to us in these latter days through the prophet Joseph Smith so that we can ultimately return back to His presence. I love being a proclaimer of the truth.

Have a great week!
Un abrazo,
Elder Larisch
La iglesia es verdadera
Sebastiàn Kim"s baptism