Monday, October 22, 2012

It's been a crazy week, but I've loved every second of it!  Canelones is a lot different than Noblia and San Francisco. It's a lot bigger and there are a ton more people, but surprisingly only 40 active members in the church.  As of right now the church is a branch but should change to a ward here soon because we have enough priesthood to qualify.  Elder Aguirre is my companion and he's a stud!  He's from Chile just like Elder Peña!  He loves music and plays the piano really, really well. We get a long great and are excited to work here!  He knows a little bit of English, but we ultimately just talk in Spanish. He had some problems with his last companion, but as of right now we're working hard and just basically talking to everyone about the gospel.  It's the best!  The branch seems to like me so that's good, too!

This last Saturday we did some service at a fellow member's home.  We laid cement!  It was a lot of fun, but a lot of hard work.  Right now I'm super, super sore! (I sent you a photo of me covered in cement.)  Also, when I first got here, Elder Aguirre took me to some members' homes to meet them. In one of the homes, I met Fidel.  He's awesome and has a strong testimony.  He's about 25 years old and he has completely changed his life to follow Jesus Christ.  He's had some problems with drugs and feelings of suicide, but right now he's doing great and is sharing the gospel with his friends! This last Saturday, Elder Aguirre and I went to one of Fidel's friends' house with Fidel and had a charla ["discussion"] with his friend Inacio. It went great and Inacio ended up coming to church yesterday! We´re excited because Inacio really likes what he's hearing and likes what he feels in the church. He's awesome! He is about 24 years old and has a lot of tattoos and is a funny guy.

I want to share a scripture with you that I read the other day.  This scripture really touched me this week for some reason.  King Benjamin is talking to his people and basically telling them to repent and come unto Christ.  He then asked them if they believed in his words.  In verse 2 (Mosiah 5:2) it says they did believe, and so much so, that they had a change of heart and didn't have any desire to do evil.  I love that verse! I know that as we listen to the prophet, read the scriptures, pray, and go to church, we too will have a change of heart and not have desires to do evil.  

 

All is well here in Canelones! I´m excited to be here and am working hard! I love the mission!  I miss you tons and can´t wait to hear from you.