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!!