Babysitting

Trucho

Getting right into things, this week we got absolutely bamboozled, fooled, tricked, and downright made fools of. 

Basically this member told us about her friend. She's been talking to her friend about the gospel and she really thinks that her friend would be open to learning some more. So we go over to her friend's house and we knock and we talk to this woman, let's call her Sarah. So we talk to Sarah about the gospel and ask if she'd be interested if we passed by another day to talk some more. 

She's enthusiastic and says yes! So we write down her phone number, plan to come by bright and early the next day. So we wake up, rush to get ready and basically run to her house which is a nice long walk from our apartment. 

We get there and she says "Pass right on in, my mother in law is waiting for you in the back!" We're confused, but we follow her, she takes us to a little house behind her house then says, "I've got to run to the store but I'll be back soon." 

So we're sitting there with this mother-in-law, who is quite up there in age, and as we began talking with her, we realized not fully mentally there. So we chat with her a bit, try to understand her ramblings, talk about the gospel, all the while waiting for Sarah to return. After about 45 minutes we realize we can't wait anymore because we have a lesson to get to. 

So we leave and we knock Sarah's door. She opens it (apparently returned from her shopping trip) and says "Oh you're already done?" And we're like, "yeah we've got to go. But when can we come back to share with you?" 

She goes "Come by whenever you want, my mother in law can't really go anywhere so she's always bored!" 

And we go "No. When can we come by to teach you?" 

And she's like, "I don't know, I'm always busy, but you have my number so we can coordinate, my mother in law is always here." 

Quick recap, we babysat this woman's mother-in-law and now she wants us to come back and do it again

Translado de Emergencia!

I've been noticing a trend in this mission. For those who don't know every 6 weeks we get a call that tells us whether we're staying in our area or changing city. So every period of 6 weeks is called a transfer. An Emergency transfer is a change of area that happens in between these 6 week periods. 

Basically I've started to notice that every other transfer is a transfer full of emergency transfers! Last transfer, there wasn't any, the transfer before that, a bunch, the transfer before that, nothing. Anyways right now we're in the Transfer of Emergency because there are transfers happening left and right! 

To sum things up, 

- My beloved ex-companion Hermana Robbins left the zone :-(

- My district leader Elder Maldonado got exchanged for Elder Castillo

- 2 different sets of Hermanas in my zone are being replaced by elders

- My district leader and his companion received another companion today making them a trio

There were a lot more emergency transfers than just those ones, but these are just the ones happening in my zone. Anyways prayers for me and my dear Hermana Orellano because I do not want to be separated from her. 

Other thingssss

- Invited 2 people to be baptized this week! They both said yes but not right now 🫠

- Our Mission Leader got changed and he's a young ex-missionary who gives awesome advice! 

- Had the best Consejo De Districto ever and now me and my companion are more motived than ever before 🔥

- We tried to play matchmaker for some of the young single adults in the ward 🤭

- A missionary just got home in this ward and watching him reunite with his family got me feeling trunky 🤪

Spiritual! 

Read "The Imperfect Harvest" from April 2023, by Elder Stanfill

Elder Stanfill talks about when he was a child on his dad's farm and how they had a machine to harvest their wheat, he says, 

"After [my dad] was satisfied with the adjustments to the machine, I found some kernels of grain in the chaff on the ground and presented them to him with a critical look. I will not forget what my father said to me: “It is good enough and the best that this machine can do.” Not really satisfied with his explanation, I pondered the imperfections of this harvest. A short time later, when the weather turned cold in the evenings, I watched thousands of migrating swans, geese, and ducks descend onto the fields to nourish themselves on their long journey south. They ate the leftover grain from our imperfect harvest. God had perfected it. And not a kernel was lost." 

I love this talk and I wish I could share all of with you. I encourage everyone to go read it if you're feeling imperfect or like your efforts don't matter. This week I've struggled with feeling inadequate, like my Spanish isn't good enough or I'm not learning fast enough, like I'm not as good of a missionary as this other person, or this person didn't get baptized so I failed. 

But I love how in this talk the father says, "it's the best that this machine can do." We are all different, some "produce a hundredfold, some sixty, and others thirty. All are part of His perfect harvest." 

Some people will be better at something than you, someone will always be richer, smarter, a faster learner, a better basketball player, a better mom. But you're not competing with them. You are part of God's perfect harvest, your race is not against others, it's against yourself. 

Comparisons with others either leave us feeling prideful and like we're better, or depressed and discouraged. My invitation is to choose today to let go of the comparisons and focus on being better than the you from yesterday.

I'll be home for Christmas

Whoops did I hit 9 months today meaning I'm officially half way through my mission? 🤭

That's right, looks like I'll be home for Christmas so start thinking of bomb Christmas gifts for me because 9 months is a lot shorter than it seems. 

In other news, we have moved houses and lets just say we are a lot closer together in this apartment. 

It's super tiny and we're basically tripping over each other but luckily the neighbor gave us their wifi so at least there's that. 

Some fun things that happened this week was teaching the specialist little girl Mía! She wants so badly to come to church and learn more about Jesus. She tells all her friends about the Book of Mormon and loves to learn more about Jesus every day. 

Please pray for her because she wants to come to church but she can't go alone! 

This week we also visited our recent convert Albano and his mom. Albano is so awesome, he's already preparing for his mission by sharing the gospel with his mom! He really wants his mom to have the gospel in her life so she can have God's help in her life just like he does! 

Sentimental

Don't mind me as I get a little sentimental up in here, but really I'm so blessed to have this mission experience. I'm halfway through and I can't even begin to describe how much I've changed and how much I've yet to change. 

I've been blessed with the best companions, Hermanas Umaña, LeBaron, Merlo, Ellison, Robbins, y Orellano. They are each so special and taught me something so valuable. I love them, and I love that God gave me a chance to know them. 

I have changed so much as a person, and to be honest it has been really hard. There have been moments where I wanted to quit, or moments when I doubted what I was doing, but in every single one of those moments I remembered why I'm here. 

"Because our living God is a loving God! He wants His children to know Him and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent! And He wants His children to gain immortality and eternal life!" (Catch the Wave, Russell. M. Nelson) 

I am not here for myself, I am here for the millions of people who don't know they have a loving father who is always looking out for them, and an awesome big brother who never falters. God has changed me and I have grown and learned a lot, I'm excited to grow and learn more, but that's not why I'm here. 

I'm here because I love God. I know The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is Christ's Restored church on the earth. I know God loves every one of his children. I know he wants everyone to come unto him and receive eternal life, and eternal joy. 

God loves you so much, he is there, he listens, he answers, and he will never leave you. 

I know these things are true, because I've prayed and asked, and I have searched the scriptures, gone to church, and acted with faith. He has showed me, not all at once, but "precept upon precept; line upon line; here a little, and there a little:" 

I love the scripture in the bible that led Joseph Smith to pray, 

"5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." 

If you lack wisdom, ask of God! 

Poco a poco (Little by little)

I'm Moving

Not too long of an email this week because all of today will be used packing because we are moving into a new house tomorrow. 

Perro

Saw a sign that said "Cuidado con el perro" (be careful with the dog) and the sign took on a whole new meaning when I saw the adorable pint sized puppy waddle out to greet us. 

The Dangerous Beast

Bautizar 

Visited a super cool family of ex missionaries and was amazed as the wife told us in her mission she had a baptism every single week for 6 months. 

I'm lucky if I have a baptismal service once every 6 months! 

Milagro!

We saw a fun miracle this week! We were knocking this house looking for a guy named Denis and this guy comes out and says, Denis doesn't live here anymore he moved to the Netherlands.

So we go oh okay, chau Denis, we're missionaries, are you interested? 

And he's like, maybe. 

So we give him a card with our number and the information for the church meetings, explain it a little bit then go on our way. We didn't think much of the experience until we recieve a text the next day saying, Hey I'm Nahuel I'm gonna go to church on sunday see you there. 

People NEVER text us when we give them a card with our phone number on it, but he did and so we passed by and gave him a pamphlet about the church and that nught he texts us telling us he's read the whole pamphlet and he's gonna read it again because there are still some things he doesn't understand. 

People NEVER read our pamphlets, let alone twice! And then on Sunday he shows up to church! And all the young adults go right up to him to talk to him. He participated in the class, he made a lot of friends and he said he was coming back next week! 

Pray for Nahuel because he's really progressing! 

Pensamiento Espíritual! 

In Chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel it says,

"Be patient with yourself. God knows that change and growth take time. He is pleased with your sincere desires and will bless you for every effort you make." 

I really like this part along with the scripture in Alma 37 that says "Behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass;"

These quotes really express the truth that it is little by little that things change. If we want to change the only way to do it is little by little. New Years goals usually don't work out beacuse it's really hard to change everything all at once. 

It's through small and consistent efforts that we change and that things come to pass. you don't have to change everything today, you just have to put in a little effort! 

Halfway Mark on My Mission!