FAMILIA Y AMIGOS! ¿Cómo le van? Sorry that I did not send an email out yesterday; that´s becasue I was in Rosario (the birthplace of the soccer g.o.a.t. Messi & the current Pope jaja) for trámites! Rosario is the biggest city in the province, and it has its own mission. So we got to go outside our boundaries for the day. It was pretty boring being in the office all day, but we met and contacted a wide group of people, some from Brazil - since they speak Portuguese allá, castellano is not their first language either, so it was fun to talk to them - and some Venezolanos, some of which were members of the Church! The situation in Venezuela is really bad right now, and all the Venezolanos were ranting about how bad Maduro, their President is. Violence, thousands of deaths, inflation that is worse than here, starving people - it is bad. It is sad to see these good people, sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, our brothers and sisters, go through stuff like this, having to migrate or become refugees. But, we can do our part and support them and love them, and see them as the Savior does. It was great to meet the people there and to know a little about their culture!
I also had Zone Conference in a city called Rafaela, which is about 2 hours away by colectivo (bus). A bunch of us missionaries got together to learn more about how to be better missionaries and teachers, as well as do faith building activities (not to mention all the free food we got, yummy). It was super spiritual and fun to see all my friends from different parts of the mission, including making new ones! And since the colectivo to return to San Cristóbal wasn´t until the next day, we spent the night with the élderes in Rafaela and had brownies and Grido ice cream to celebrate my 3 month mark as a missioanary! Crazy how time flies as you are serving the Lord jaja. It was a good conference and I came back spiritually stronger.
We did some contacting this week and found some interesting people that we will go back and teach. Everyone thinks I am from Germany (tall, blonde, idk why lol) and they always struggle with my last name jaja. What I realized this week is that the way they say my last name sounds like the spanish word "ingle", which means "groin" JAJA qué chistoso. And the weather hasn´t been too bad this week, so I can´t complain! It is still flooded up north, but it is slowly getting better I hear. Keep sending prayers to the people down here!
One of the things I have been thinking about this week is the concept of "El Buen Pastor" (The Good Shephard, John 10:14-15) and "Alimentar mis ovjeas" (Feed my sheep). As missionaries, we are represenatives of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we must help bring everyone together unto the same fold, el mismo redil. We must act like shephards and help bring all the sheep together, feeding them and helping them stay firm in their faith in Cristo. However, it is very difficult to do that when people don´t come to church, or read the scriptures, or don´t do the things we ask them to do to further strengthen their faith in Cristo, y más. And it is super frustrating when you pray every night for these people, fast for them and study the doctrine of Cristo so that we can help them, just for them to blow us off and not make any progress whatsoever. But then I remember the atonement of Cristo, how he went through so much pain, bled from every pore and had to beg to God to take this cup from Him in the Garden of Gethsemane, as well as go through one of the most painful deaths imaginable, being nailed to a cross, hung up to die, being spit on, whipped, mocked, and all that. And despite all that he went through, He did for us becauseHe loves us, and wants us to have eternal life with Him and our Heavenly Father. He forgave those who mocked Him, loved those who hated Him, and was always there for everyone, never turning His back. And for me as a missioanry, that is what I am called to do; to help people come unto Christ, and no matter how many times I run into vagos and try so hard to help them and they won´t budge, I will remember the Savior and His atonement, how he did all that for us, and help everyone, even if there are people who won´t accept it. Elder Jeffery R. Holland once said that "Missionary work isn´t easy because salvation was never a cheap experience". And while there are days that really frustrate me with the work or with the well-being of the people of Argentina, I will continue to do my best and love the people the way He loves me and all of y'all. Another thing to think about is that Jesus Christ, the most perfect human being , the Son of God, with a perfect mission and with perfect obedience to the Father, wept (John 11:35). That is powerful, and it is a testimony to me that this is where I need to be right now, working with these people and spreading the love of El Señor to everyone.
Well, that is all I have for this week. Thank you for your emails, prayers, and love you send me every week. I LOVE Y'ALL SOOOOO MUCH! And I think the photos will work this week, yay!
Con amor,
Élder Englebright
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