Adventure in the Service of Lord

Got to Love that Colgate Smile!

"Weaknesses become strengths, challenges become opportunities, trials become triumphs, and adversity becomes an adventure in the service of the Lord."

Hello dear family and friends!! What a week! To start off-- this week we will meet our new Mission President, Pte. Allred and his wife. We are super excited and know that they have been called to Rosario, AR for a wise purpose. We got to see pte. and hna. Zanni one last time last week to our surprise when our phone stopped working and we had to stop by the office to pick up a new one! We were blessed to have an excuse to see them once more ;)

So this week was surely an adventure. We had some funny encounters with the Argentines. One typical thing that people do here is to send their kids to tell us they are not home... Well the 5 year old son was outside playing and we asked him to call his mom. He walked next door to his grandparent's house where his mom was, then returned and told us that she'd be out in a sec...a few minutes later her 12 year old son walks out of the house with his phone and said his mom was at a friend's house. You should have seen this 5 year old who got all riled up and yells "LIAR!!!!! she is right next door!" and storms to prove it to everyone. hahah He wasn't in on the lie. They were a bit embarrased but we got a kick out of it. 

We were reading a scripture at a lunch this week with an elderly woman in our ward, 84 or so years old, Ether 12:4, she starts to read... 

On divisions with sisters from Buenos Aires and Brazil

4 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, YEAH!! FOR YOU GUYS!!!!! then continues to read...yea, even a place at the righthand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.

She explained how the younger generation will see this better world, and said she's lived a century and is waiting for this better world... and then she said, " Y'all the world one day will be better except Argentina!! haha She's a crack up. 

We received a referral this week and it turns out the woman does not speak Spanish...only Portuguese which is luckily similar so we could get the gist of what she was explaining to us. 

This week we had a powerful companionship study in which we contemplated the pre-earth life and how blessed we have been to have grown with the knowledge of the gospel. We considered the hard circumstances of many who are born into broken homes and families and suffer heartaches and pains that are hard to comprehend.  We shared our gratitude that even though our lives are not perfect, we have a strong foundation and we have faith and hope in Jesus Christ and God's plan for us. 

Diego and Juliana are progressing. They are reading the Book of Mormon and find that everything we teach makes sense. In our lesson with them yesterday Juliana was in tears as we shared our testimonies and a bit of what we had learned and felt in our companionship study, Diego is a little bit harder to get to, not a huge fan of churches and unsure about baptism, but we are blessed to be able to help them start to feel the pòwer of the Spirit in their lives and continue learning. 

Oscar received the Priesthood on Sunday. He says very happily, "Now I start to be a more important man!" Haha. Keila is working like a dog and sometimes has to travel to Rosario and stay for several days because she picks up the work others can't do. We are praying that she can find a job here that gives her a better schedule. She continues to read daily and expresses the gratitude she has for this gospel. Keila, Adriana, and Bianca had a hard week this week, a family problem, and could use your prayers! 

and to close...the 13th article of faith that I love...

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

Elder Ballard says hope gives us the peaceful assurance we need to live happily in a world that is ripe with iniquity, calamity and injustice. I strive to live each day with a hope anchored in Christ and to follow the admonition of Paul. It is how we can stay happy and strong in the world today!

Hermana Mathis