Mantis Attack, Lost Wallet, and TRANSFERS!!!

 What a crazy week I have had I´m so excited to tell you about it!

So big news first....I got transfered! I´m now in a city called Paraná, in Barrio San Agustín! I´m in the other province my mission covers, called Entre Ríos. I´m in a ward that is having a lot of success and baptisms, and my new companion is named Elder Richards from Washington. He has close to 18 months on his mission so far and is super fun to talk to and work with. Last night he showed me the area and we met one of our investigators and some of the members. One of the members he told me was a contact that we were going to teach, and as we  clapped a woman comes out and starts yelling at us to get lost and to never to come back, then a man follows her with a gun pointed at us! But before I had the time to get scared or to book it he started busting up laughing and told me they were all members, and had a great time chatting with them. The members here are really cool from what I have seen so far, and I am suuuuper excited to be in Paraná! We have a Walmart and a McDonald´s, so I know I´m gonna have some fun :))

In San Cristóbal I had a great week as well. We put Lorena Ortiz on date for May 4th, and Elder Fowles will work on having her kids be baptized with her since they seem interested. She is a great example of trusting in the Spirit to lead and guide you to those who are ready to follow the Savior and change their lives. We also found a lost wallet and went to the address that was on the i.d. card and found the owner and taught her and her dad a lesson and they were super attentive and down to listen to us! The dad opened up about his wife dying and started to cry, so we gave him a blessing and the spirit was so strong! It was nothing short of a miracle. We also fasted to have people come to church and a few hours later some of the church leaders from Rafaela called and told us they would be coming up to be in our church on Sunday, and they helped us get a less active man to come and we even had an investigator their too! It is so sweet to see the Lord answer our prayers, even when we feel like we are dropping the ball on our end. He will always help us if we let Him, so we should always be repenting and trying harder the next day to be better. 

Also Elder Fowels and I got attacked by a mantis! He craweld up on my head and as we started to film him he attacked us it was so funny! Animals here are something else, as you can casually take photos with goats and horses while walking on the streets haha.

Well, that does it for me for this week. This week is Semana Santa, or the Holy Week, in which people remember the last week of Jesus´s life before His resurrection. I encourage you all to read in Ven, Sígueme (Come, follow me) and to try and focus on HIM this week as much as possible. I guarentee that you will have a better more spirit filled week. Read and pray!

Les banco, 

Élder Englebright :)

Doing Service Rocks! (Literally)

Mis queridos cómo andan? This week has been very interesting but amazing nonetheless! I hope you all had a great day yesterday, celebrando La Pascua de la Resurrección de nuestro Señor Jesucristo :)

This week we did service with a smile! We helped paint the house of one of the members here and it was a little difficult because we had to scrape all the moss off first, and that took forever! But we are going to have to come back to actually paint this weekend haha it was crazy. We also did service for our investigators, Maxi and Araceli. They are awesome!!!! They were contacted a couple of months ago and love church! They are working on remodeling thier sidewalk in front of their house, so we have been helping them do that. This week we broke a bunch of rocks so that he can mix them into concrete, and we did so while listening to rock music (lots of Def Leopard haha) it was funny! We had a noche de hogar with them and we watched the Restoration movie, and Maxi said that everything started to make sense with the Book of Mormon, the prophet, and everything. He has read almost all of 1 Nephi and they have both gained thier testimony of the Church and are ready to be baptized! They need to get married first and we are helping them plan their reception for 11th of May. They are such a special family (little Orión too!) and I am excited to help them start their new life in Christ, and to have an eternal family <3 

We also palyed basketball with another one of our investigators, Leandro and his brother, Fabio (who has hair like Fabio too lol) and that was fun (I was balling out there, by the way haha). We have been getting lunches almost everyday from the members and it is nice to work with them and to get references, have them help us with lessons, etc. The bishopric asked me to share my testimony yesterday and I introduced myself and everyone loved it! They are really impressed by my castellano and love calling me nicknames, like ruso or ingle haha they are super funny. My comp chipped his teeth eating a piece of bread with a fork this week and had to climb on our roof to fix a water problem, so he has been triggered haha it is fun to work with Elder Richards. I couldn´t ask for a better area or better members to work with!

Well, that´s all I have to report on this week. I will be in rosario again for trámites this week, so I hope to snag some cool pics for you all. I love Paraná and the members, and I am so happy and blessed to be a missionary for the Lord Jesus Christ. Always remember to do your best and let Him take the rest. Cuidensenlon!

Hard Work and The Circus is in Town...

Buenas! Cómo andas? Tuve una buena semana acá en San Cristóbal, Argentina! 

This past week was reeeeeecopado! We contacted a lot and found a bunch of people that are interested in listening to the message of the Restored Gospel. We had divisiones with the Zone Leaders and we managed to do splits with the Branch President and his son Alexis as well. We had really good lessons and met some very unique and special sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, and I am so excited to follow up with them this week! 

Unfortunately, Andrea was super sick this week and couldn´t have her baptismal interview as planned. It sucks cause I was really hoping to see her enter the waters of baptism this weekend, but it wasn´t meant to be. I realize that sometimes my plans and desires are not in the Lord´s time, and thats ok! As long as I do my part, the Lord will do His in His time, just have faith and work! 

So the Circus is in town, and in Argentina they go crazy with announcements. Everyday there are people that drive around in cars with speakers attached to the top blaring anuncios for stores or events. However, with the circus, the ads are extra annoying haha. They have a mickey mouse voice in the ad, and hearing the spanish mickey is hilarious haha. This circus is so crazy that they have airplane anuncios too! A plane flies over the town like 10 times blaring the ad, and my brain has it practically memorized by now. (If I have to hear about los mejores payasos one more time haha) 

Saturday night it rained..... a lot. Like all the streets were flooded and going to church in the morning was a game of cat and mouse trying to avoid puddles and mud. Because most of the city was flooded, only 15 people made it to church. Poor Norberto, his front yard was completely underwater and couldn´t get to church :( I had to give a last second talk and while I was at the pulpit, I testified about how we are in the same rebaño (flock) and that Jesus is the Buen Pastor (Good shepherd) and that we can be like a shepherd and help the lost sheep get back into the fold of God. Like Alma when he was rejected by the Lamonites in Ammonihah, I too grieve and worry about the salvation of the souls here in Argentina. But if I continue my hard work, then I will find someone like Amulek, who recognizes me as a messenger and representative of Jesus Christ. I love working hard and being a missionary, and I know that this is what I need to be doing right now in my life. (Alma 8)

 

I love you all and I hope you are preparing yourself for General Conference! Read and pray and come with questions! Listening to the prophet and apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ is a special experience, and I hope that you can receive some answers to your questions!