FELIZ AÑO NUEVO

Wow!!!! 2019 flew by for me, a complete year away from home serving the Lord down here in Argentina with the most amazing people in the world, my brothers and sisters!!! I got the video of me singing my solo for Light the World attached in the email, so make sure you check it out!

This past week we celebrated Noche Buena, which is a big feast on Christmas eve down here. We had lamb asado, matambre, the best cuts of meat on the parrilla...it was delicious!!! On Christmas we called our families and then I realized we had completed had of our week of working without any success or new people to teach. I was starting to worry a little bit. But then, I had a little faith and trusted that the Lord would help us fill our goals for the week So, we went out to work and we were able to find a family of 3 the first morning after having a prayer to Heavenly Father to help us find new people to teach! It was awesome! We walked up to start talking to them since they were already outside and they immediately pulled out a table and chairs for us to sit and talk no questions asked!! It was so sweet to see a great miracle occur before my eyes. And it was a great reminder for me to have a little more faith while doing missionary work, as always. 

This week it has been SUUUPEERRR HOOOTTT!! But everyone down here is pretty nice. The heat index one day was 120! And the crazy part is that I have experienced hotter down here haha...but rest assured I am doing a-ok

Today I cooked an asado like a true Argentine!!! Estella tells me to not to eat a lot of pork, but I can't help it, it tastes so goood jajaja! 

For this new year, I encourage you all to do Come, Follow me for the Book of Mormon. This year`s manual is suuupperrr copado especially the photos, many of which are absolutely beautiful. A new year means a new opportunity to change and to focus on how we can become more like Christ, better disciples of the Master. Don't let this chance to start anew fly by! Pray and seek guidance from our Heavenly Father on what you can do to be a little bit better. Perhaps go to church a little more, or read the scriptures daily, or to serve others more. Whatever your solution is, make it focused on the following the greatest example this world has ever had- Jesus Christ! Love you all a lot!!!!

RAIN STORM!

Hey yall!

This week was good! We have been working with Estella`s son Emmanuel and her mom Zulema. They are really sweet, humble, and fun people to talk to. We are teaching them about the gospel so they can join Estella by being baptized in January, so keep them in your prayers!!! Emmanuel is starting to love reading the Book of Mormon, which is awesome since normally he keeps quiet and doesn't say anything. Now he is starting to open up and be more friendly with us! And Estella is doing good. She seems more friendly and even though she gets bullied for being baptized, she seems to fight off the haters and grows her testimony along the way. She is awesome! 

On Saturday it stormed and rained....like, a LOT. Most of our area was flooded and I didn `t have an umbrella so I got soaked...It definitely wasn't my favorite day. I lost my patience a lot that day, but it definitely has me thinking, What can I do better in situation like that? How can I be strong even when everything is going wrong? My companion told me to turn to God as a stress relief, not just whatever is comfortable in the moment. And he`s right, we should be turning to Him when things are going bad AND when it`s going good. I know from many times in my mission that God puts these trials in our lives to help us grow, with knowledge, skills, spirituality, repentance, etc. It has been such a blessing to see myself grow as well, becoming more reliable on God and the Savior Jesus Christ, which allows me to be independent from the carnal world and dependant on the Atonement and the power of God as His authorized representative here in Santa Fe.

Love yall!

Estella`s BAPTISM!!!

GREAT NEWS!! Estella entered into the waters of eternal life and was baptized and confirmed as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! I was able to have the honor of exercising the priesthood authority of baptizing another daughter of God into His kingdom. Everytime I have the privilege to baptize someone it is always makes a strong spiritual impact on me, being in the font and saying the baptismal prayer...incredible! Always another testimony of the validity of the Church. Estella invited her son and her neighbor to church yesterday and they liked it a lot, and so we plan on working with them to help them experience the same blessings Estella has had. She told me thank you for having so much patience with her (she had been meeting the missionaries since June) and I never felt like it was a burden working with her. I always had faith that she would be baptized and enter into a new covenant with God, I just needed to develop faith and patience along the way, easily one of my favorite people to work with since everyday is a new drama story in her life hahaha I love you Estella!!!

On Wednesday we had a Christmas conference and we watched a new movie about the birth of Christ its only 17 minutes long but it is sooooooooo good! It is on youtube so go look it up it is called the Christ child, perfect for all ages. I cried a little bit it was so powerful the spirit!

Even though we lost some days of work do to conferences and tràmites and stuff, we made the most of the limited time we had. I know it was a great blessing to be able to accomplish a lot even if time wasn't on our side. If we go out to work and trust in Him, we will accomplish whatever we need to do. Look for ways you all can be true disciples of Christ in every moment, trusting him in all thy paths and challenges in life.

That`s all I got this week! Love you all tremendously as always. Thanks for your prayers and love!

El Poder de La Fe Verdadera

Muy buenas tardes còmo andan ustedes mis queridos?

This week was AWESOME! Estella passed her baptismal interview and will be baptized FRIDAY!!!! WOOO! She has been steadily prepared by the Lord throughout her life to be able to take part in this special moment towards salvation! I prayed really hard for her to pass her interview and to be ready to take on this commitment and it was a great builder of my faith I gave it all to the Lord and he took care of the rest. I think especially when we gave Estella`s mom a blessing of health. I promised her that she would recover and be able to sleep peacefully, as she had been vomiting and whatnot (She`s 83 years old, so she can `t fight every little sickness) and the next day when Estella took her to the hospital, the doctors said she was fine and that nothing was wrong. As well as that night she slept well enough to recover. A miracle! The power of the priesthood of God is real when we have faith and trust that the words of recovery will have a divine effect. Keep them in your prayers!!!

Also when I was with a less active family this week, it was tough opening up and sharing the gospel message with them at first, but then they told me about some of their struggles and the spirit hit me super hard and shared them about how the same happened to my mom and I started crying and the tone of the lesson changed and now we are good friends because of it. 

That`s all I got this week! Love ya

MIL MILAGROS!

This week was AMAZING!!!! So many mini miracles that I don't have enough time to share them all, so I`ll tell you all the best of the best!  

We managed to have 11 new investigators, the most I have achieved in my mission in only 1 week. I feel awesome, a true instrument in our Heavenly Father`s hands! And several of them started by listening to a spiritual prompting to contact as we pass by. One of them is named Daniel, who was cutting grass when we stopped to talk to him and invite him to church. I hadn't thought to stop to talk to him, but Elder Gent felt prompted to stop and we presented ourselves. Well, as we were wrapping up church on Sunday, he came in and told us that he had gotten lost but was definitely going to show up on time for next week's services. A member presented himself to Daniel and asked if he had a few minutes to talk, so we went to a room in the church to share the restoration with him. during the lesson he opened about his concerns and even cried, the Spirit was strong! We gave him a blessing afterwards and were able to have nothing short of a miracle!

Another was a young couple, Damian and cicilia, who were drinking mate when we passed by them, but the Spirit told me to go back and we set up a return appointment with them in the contact. We found them a few days later and they asked us what God`s comandmnets are, and how they can follow them and being saved. WOW! I was so happy to hear that come from them, to see how close they paid attention to our words and were willing to start the journey towards baptism and investigation in the church. 

Estella watched a movie with us about the life of the prophet Joseph Smith, and she gained a testimony from it! YAY! She is preparing to be baptized the 7th of December, so keep her in your prayers. 

Diego, who was baptized a few weeks ago went to the temple in Buenos Aires to do baptisms for the dead. He LOVED it!!! And a less active family that we have been working with got sealed as a family as well. Truly an incredible week of miracles and blessings!

One thing that I have been studying this week is the power of faith, as we read in the scriptures and as we live our daily lives. In Helaman we read about how the prophet Nefi had enough faith in the Lord which lead to a complete trust in Him and His divine plan. Consequently, the Lord told Nefi that He trusted him as well, insomuch that he gave Nefi the sealing power, which allowed him to declare anything he wanted, like making mountains crumble and oceans dry up. But the Lord knew that whatsoever thing Nefi would do, would be done according to His plan. As a missionary, I have power to promise blessings for the people we teach, and I feel more prompted to trust more in His plan in order to access more of His power and blessings for the people of Argentina. although I can't necessarily make literal mountains move, I can so spiritually for the people I love and teach here. 

Nuevo Compañero!

This week I got to meet and start training my new companion, Elder Gent! He`s from Lehi, Utah and has 21 brothers and sisters! Hahaha he is still learning spanish so when he told that to someone I looked at him and asked if he had said the wrong number in Spanish, but he said no haha he's a great companion, really humble and a hard worker! We are going to have fun this transfer.

We are still working with Estella. She has told us that her, her son, and her mom have received visions and dreams about two men in all white, all white buildings, and other stories that point to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints being the place she needs to take her family now. We are trying to work with all of them to see them enter the waters of baptism this Christmas season. We also have had great lessons with other new investigators and it is awesome to go out and work hard everyday representing the Lord. 

Diego is doing great! He received the Aaronic Priesthood this past weekend and is planning to go to the temple this weekend to do baptisms for the dead. He didn't have enough money, so the bishop surprised him by offering to pay for his temple trip. I`ll make sure to send you all pictures next week!

This week I was reading in Helaman about he constant struggles the church had back in his day. Pride was a big problem (still is today) and this verse stuck out to me about the people that ended up being bullied by the prideful members of the church

Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their fyielding their hearts unto God.

Because of their afflictions, the humble members of the church grew stronger in their faith, and they were able to be made pure through the Holy Ghost, which presided in them and strengthened them. Some of us have distanced ourselves from the church or from Christ due to the actions of others. But I know that the Lord is always there to heal us, and we can actually come closer unto him and grow stronger in faith and resilience if we stay close to the church, the gospel of Jesus Christ

Diego`s Baptism & TRANSFERS!!

MIS QUERIDOS!!!!

Diego was baptized this weekend! It was a trial of faith for me, I'll say haha. We got to the church Friday to fill up the baptismal font, and there was no water... ughh haha. We tried to fix the situation to have the baptism Friday (I called people from Rosario to Paranà that are in charge to fix and maintain the meetinghouses with no luck) So, we ended up postponing the baptism for the next day, Saturday. But, we weren't sure if there would be water in the chapel. So, we made plans to have the baptism in another meetinghouse, which was father from where everyone lives. But we decided to wake up early to  check the water Saturday morning to see if we could have the baptism without problems. My prayers were answered, as hot water came out of the pipes to start filling up the font. But, we couldn't stay the whole morning watching the font fill up because we had to clean our apartment to receive transfers, so we left it running with the possibility that when we came back at noon to have the baptism that there wouldn`t be water. While we were cleaning, I was silently praying in my heart to have the baptism with the water and everything in order. When we came back a few hours later, the font was filled with warm water! (Down here, it`s difficult to have warm water for baptism, I don't know why lol) We only had a few people show up because of the mess trying to get everything organized (plus, Colòn played a big soccer game - and lost haha - so everyone was preoccupied with the match) but it was wonderful! Diego was so excited to start his new life in Christ and although there weren't very many people in the service, he had a host of angels cheering him on. I`m so glad to meet so many wonderful people here in Argentina, helping them, knowing them and seeing the same potential that our Heavenly Father has for each and everyone of us. He is planning to go to the temple soon, so that will be great for him!

We also received our TRANSFERS!! Elder Lozano is going to another area, and I`m going to be TRAINING...again! Jajaja I think my companion is named Elder Gent, but I will meet him tomorrow and send yall pics next week. I`m with some other elders in a trio now because all of us are going to be training, so we have been having some fun together. We made green brownies last night that were....well, it's the effort that counts jaja

I`m telling you all, that I don't know if I can think straight in English anymore. It is a struggle to speak and type this email at times. If yall can understand my Spanglish, a gold star for ya. Anyways, thats all I have for this week. Love ya all!

Modo Relámpago

Here in Argentina it is springtime, which the old saying about spring showers bring November flowers (that`s how it goes back in the states, right? lol) is more than just a saying, it is a LIFESTYLE since it rains like crazy everyday. Thunder and lighting and hail a veces. But no tornadoes, which is nice. The biggest downside of being in Springtime is that everytime we plan activities it rains. Today we said we are playing soccer si o si. so, as the downpours made us soaking wet, we managed to score some goals and have lots of fun. I love this country!!!

Diego is planning to get baptized here this Friday, and he is AWESOME! He told us that he had fasted as we normally do in the church every first Sunday of the month. Wow! Not many members down here fast regularly, let alone an investigator. He is so excited to be baptized; when he passed his interview, he came out of the interview with his hands raised in the air, saying "I passed! I passed!" I gave him a big hug because he is so amazing. He is already helping us with missionary work and being a faithful tool in the Lord's hands. 

We continue finding new people here every week that want to improve their lives and come closer unto Christ, and it makes me happy to be a part of something special for these wonderful sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. This week we plan to be in lightning mode trying finish the transfer strong, and have lots of people in Diego`s baptism to support him. I enjoy my Peruvian companion, he is crazy but a good worker. Anytime we can schedule a soccer activity, he`s up at the crack of dawn preparing himself for the match jaja.

This week I was reading in the Book of Mormon in Alma 37, when Alma the prophet is talking to his son, Helaman, and giving him instructions to keep the sacred records of his people safe, which we hold in our hands as the Book of Mormon. Alma speaks to his son about the sacredness and importance of keeping the records safe and adding to the story of their people. What he says in verse 14 is something that caught my attention:

 14 And now remember, my son, that God has entrusted YOU with these things, which are sacred, which he has kept sacred, and also which he will keep and preserve for a wise purpose in him, that he may show forth his power unto future generations.

The word "you" was meant for Helaman, but in reality, it also applies to US as well. As we read the Book of Mormon and come closer to Christ, we are entrusted to keep it sacred; read it, share it, and help the billions of people in the world who haven't read it or have no idea what it is. We have seen the wise purposes of coming forth of the Book of Mormon; incorrect doctrine clarified, confusion resolved, and more. The words we read from Alma to his son were meant for him thousands of years ago, but also to us right now in this dispensation. My testimony of the Book of Mormon has grown so much these past few months studying it daily, I exhort you all to do the same. Read it, share it, keep it sacred, help the Lord show forth His power unto future generations (RIGHT NOW!)   

BIRTHDAY BAPTISM! and MI PRIMER AÑITO!!!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes!!! I really appreciated all the love you guys sent my way <3

WE HAD A BAPTISM ON MY BIRTHDAY!!! WHOOO! Mateo entered into the waters of eternal life and came out a new, clean being. A child of our loving Heavenly Father! His older sisters are members, but his parents aren't yet, so it was a great opportunity to help everyone feel the Spirit and come closer to Christ. His family invited me over to their house afterwards for a birthday dinner, which included cake!!! They are some awesome, even though they don ́t have the same luxuries that we do in the United States. They show love and are perfect in God's eyes, and my love for the Espinosa family is tremendous. 

Diego is doing good as well. He is ready to be baptized on the 9th! He is super excited to start his new life in the gospel of Jesus Christ! He wants to go to the temple in Buenos Aires later this month to do the temple work for his mom who passed away many years ago... he is a special, kind, selfless, and loving soul. We usually find him talking to a less active member who is too sick to come to church, ministering to her as the Savior would. I haven't met someone so happy to take the missionary lessons before. He wants to go do missionary work with us, and the ward is so happy that he will be baptized here soon. Keep him in your prayers!! 

Also, wednesday marks my 1 YEAR MARK!!!!! It is crazy to think I have been a missionary for a whole year! It still feels like yesterday that I was getting baptized by my dad and now I'm helping others down here encounter the same blessings that have literally changed my life. I am a consecrated servant of the Lord Jesus Christ not just for 2 years, but for the rest of my life. I know He lives, that our Father in Heaven has a divine plan for each and everyone of us, no matter how difficult it is to believe or see it unfold in our lives. I know that this church is the Lord ́s true church, and that the Book of Mormon is indeed the word of God. Please read it! It is the only thing I could ask for anyone to do for me, read and pray and see if it is true! I promise to you, as a set apart representative of Jesus Christ, carrying His power and authority to preach His gospel to the people of Argentina, that you WILL receive that answer. I testify with my whole life and soul, in the name of Jesus Chrsit, AMEN!

Noche de Hogar!!

Holis!

This week has been great! We had a noche de hogar (Family Home Evening) with Hugo, who was the less active member who shared his testimony to Diego last week at church, and we invited Diego to join us in watching Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration movie. It was AWESOME! Hugo cooked some crazy good pizza and Diego enjoyed the movie and told us he wants to go out and do missionary work with us! On Sunday he came and during Sunday school class he took the lead reading and studying the scriptures for the class. CAPOOOO! He is planning on being baptized on Nov 9th, so keep him in you prayers! (Turns out his family is in the circus, and he was a clown years ago... how cool!)

Saturday we have the baptism of Mateo, who is an 8 year old in a part member family. He is a quiet kid, but knows that this is the right path to follow and is excited to be baptized. What a sweet birthday present to have is to have someone enter into the waters of eternal life!

Everything is going good here! Rainy and cold some days, hot and sunny others. That's what springtime brings here. I love being a missionary and helping others come closer to Christ. When we study the scriptures, pray, fast, we will be recognized as true disciples of Christ (Alma 17) That is something I ́ve been trying to study and improve, being a reflection of what I preach and stand for as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! 

DIOS Y PATRIA

Holiiiisss!!!

This week was CRAZY awesome! I had trámites in Rosario so I spent the day down there, but I managed to sneak in a trip to the Monumento de la Bandera, which pays tribute to the country and the creator of its flag, Manuel Belgrano. This country has a lot of revolution history like the U.S. does, so its cool to see another country be so proud of its heritage. They have written on the monument that God played a role in their independence from Spain, and it makes sense since the Americas are Zion, God´s chosen land... it is also a constant reminder to avoid unrigtheous dominion and to live accordance with God´s laws and commandments. A neat little thought while visitng one of the most popular tourist spots in the country and the birthplace of the soccer g.o.a.t. Messi! 

This week work wise was excellent as well. While I was on divisions with Elder Dos Santos from Brazil, we found 2 new investigators. José, who helped us locate a house during a crazy heat wave and let us come back and teach him more about the restoration. He likes to restore things, like bikes and woodworking stuff, so it was a perfect example to use. He is a experienced Santafesino years wise, and we had a powerful lesson with him, in which he promised us that he would read the Book of Mormon and pray to see if it is indeed the word of God. We also asked a member for a reference and they told us to find Diego, a half-brazilian middle aged man  whose grandma recently died. We found his house and he let us in to share a message about the Plan of Salvation, which allows our families to be together forever. He really liked the message and promised to come to Church the next day...well, there was a gnarly thunderstorm right when we woke up and not very many people come when it rains, but Diego made it to church! He joined us for the Elders Quorum class and a less active member, who came to church for the first time in 4 years, bore his testimony and helped Diego feel the spirit in the class. It was awesome! 

We also taught a couple other people, including Estella. I shared Alma 5 about how we are like the sheep in the fold, and Jesus Christ is the the Good Shepherd, and when we listen to his voice we won´t get lost. The Spirit acts as the voice of Jesus leading us to the fold and away from danger, and the prophet and other leaders in the Church act as german shephards that patrol the pack, helping us stay in the right path. It was awesome to be guided by the Spirit completely during the lesson.

I would have pics, but this computer is not being nice, so you all will have to wait until next week! Love ya!!!!

True Disciples of the Lord

Hola cómo están?

This week has been fun getting to know the area and the members here in San Martín. We are currently working with several investigators that are really awesome people! Abagail and Mikaela are two sisters that live in a family the missionaries have been working with for a while. Their mom, Rosana, is super nice and really friendly. And Nico there older brother has been to church a lot, so there is a lot of visits to make every week. We managed to teach them the message of the Restoration again and they committed to read and pray to see if it is true! Abagail, Mikaela and Rosana all came to church to watch general conference. They loved it! We are trying to extend a baptismal invitation to the two sisters for the 26th (my birthday whoooo!) Keep them in your prayers

And General Conference was AWESOME!!! I hoped you all enjoyed watching and listening to the prophet and the 12 apostles speak. They truly brought the spirit with them and I felt impressed to meditate more on some of the things they talked about, such as how to have more joy in this life, being a better and more true disciple of Christ, and others. There is much to gain as we study the words of the living prophets and apostles, since they represent the Savior and will help us understand the Plan of Happiness that our Heavenly Father has for us in these last days (DC 43:34-35) I hope you all can get the chance to study the talks in the next coming weeks and months, it will defiently bring you closer to Christ, as it did for me.

One of the big things that a missionary has taught me is how I can personally improve and progress spiritually, not being anchored on other people or the things of the world. I know that I am far from perfect...sometimes I set a goal and 5 minutes later I´m already messing up and instead of beating myself up on it, I look forward with more optimism and energy to start again. I love progressing, studying, gaining knowledge, etc. It has made my mission even more fun to serve. I know that if I do my part, then I will be forgiven and be made stronger from said experiences. (D&C 50:26-30)

Victoria´s Baptism and TRANSFERS!

This past week has been CRAZY!!! We had Victoria´s baptism, and it went great! She is now on the convenant path to return to our Heavenly Father, enjoying all the benefits of having the Holy Ghost as her constant companion. The day before the baptism my companion and I got deathly sick, and I lost 10 lbs in 2 days (Alta Dieta jaja) but we managed to get her baptized - even if the water was a little too low due to it being cut off by the city haha. Talk about a crazy end to a transfer of hard work. She has great friends, desires to go to the temple, and to share the gospel with her family! She is suuuuper awesome! 

I also got TRANSFERED! I´m in a ward called San Martín, in Santa Fe (where the mission headquaters are at.) I´m on the north side of the city, and it is nice! I´m finishing the training of a Peruvian named Elder Lozano (I´m a dad now? haha) He is a CAPOO!!! He showed me around the area yesterday and some of the members and investigators. We have some exciting work going on here, its incredible!! It´s defiently a test to be put in a new area all of a sudden to train a new guy, but I am excited to be here and continue the great work of the Lord!

It was a little hard saying goodbye to everyone in 5 esquinas. I met so many amazing people and helped others come closer to Christ. The Lasso family, Victoria, and many others, I truly love them all! Paraná will always have a special place in my heart and for all the lessons I learned while serving the Lord there. But now, San Martín awaits me. Onward and upward!!

PERO BUUEEEENNOOO

Hey yall!

This week has been sick (literally, like coughing and headaches and colds) but also in the metaphorical sense as well since we had some cool moments and progression with the work down here. 

Victoria is doing well. We taught her the importance of tithing, how God really doesn´t need our money, but rather we sacrifice a little to show Him that he is worth everything do us. We also took her to institute and we learned about the purpose of the Law of Moses, how it was prepatory to following Christ- it was awesome! We also watched the Restoration movie with her, and tears were shed haha. We also watched the YSA face to face and she loved all of it. she is planning to be baptized on the 28th, and she is suuuuper excited to be a member and to recieve the fulness of the blessings of the gospel in her life. Yay!

We also helped our beloved family from Colombia make and buy empanadas and fried mashed potatoe balls. They were AMAZING! They are really trying to improve and save their money, no matter how hard the days are. They got a new dog since their old one died, and they are naming it Ian-Stanley, after me and my companion (no one can say stallings, so they call him stanley haha). Keep them in your prayers.

One day we went by a member and asked if they needed help moving and if they new anyone in their new neighborhood that would like to hear us. They then told us to get in their car and then proceeded to show us where 8 people lived that might want to listen to us. Crazy cool miracle!

Anyways, another good week in the books. Thanks for all the love and prayers!!

Temple trips and soccer matches!

HEYYY YALLL!!! Hows it going? Everything is going good here in Paraná! I couldnt be more happy to be serving the Lord and the wonderful people here. They are special sons and daughters of God, just like you!

Victoria is doing great! She is still getting ready for her baptism on the 21st. She is friends with everyone in the ward (literally everyone haha) and she shining so bright in the Gospel. We had her download the Gospel Library app and she reads Doctrine and Covenants, the book of mormon, the Bible, everything! She has a strong testimony and knows she is ready to join the Lord´s true church. She also said she will take us to a River Plate (los mejores) Soccer game in Buenos Aires as long as my companion and I take her to the Salt Lake Temple (yea, she´s awesome!!!) 

We are also helping Luis and Diana with marriage and doing visa stuff. A misisonary asked for 6 pulseras, which will give her a third of her tramites money she needs. They are re building their house, with brick walls instead of chapa. Their dog is sick and Santi broke his collar bone playing soccer, but I have never heard them complain. In fact, they thank God for their struggles, because it means they can learn and grow and develop more faith in the Savior (DC 98:12-13) The faih this family has, depsite all their setbacks and struggles, is a great lesson for us who live more comfortably. Are we complaining too much? How can we be more grateful?

Also a few weeks ago the Prophet, President Nelson spoke in Buenos Aires in a devotional that was broadcasted across the country. He gave it in Spanish (castellano to be exact jaja) and he spoke of many important things. Are we keeping our Sabboth day holy? And are we doing are part in the week to be worthy to take the Sacrament? Are we making the temple a priority in our lives, to live worthily of the blessings of Heavenly Father? I was amazing to here him speak in Spanish and give us an apostolic blessing. His wife, Wendy gave a great talk about Family History. How it is our job to do it, but how doing it can help us out if we are spiritually stuck and need some help, perosnal revelation, etc. I took the charge and found my great great grandparents and some of their kids who need their work done. I found out that some of the Englebrights may have been native americnas living in Indian territory, As well as a French huguenot that escaped King Louis XIV and made his way to America. Sweet!!! I encourage you to take the advice of Sister Nelson, and have a special family history room and to work a little bit a week to help our family members who (according to her words) dont like being called dead, for their spirits are still very alive and waiting the gospel blessings.

Love you all so much! Alma 12:10