Best P-day Ever!!

Hello, everyone!

Pitfalls

Sharon and Miguel are doing great and so are Nestor and Diana.  It makes me happy seeing them progress and learn about their Savior and how to make their lives better than in the past.

On the other hand, Sandra and Derlis!!!!! WOW! I am glad that they live with Nestor or else they would be gone!! Derlis dropped hard to the bottom.  We met with him on Tuesday and talked about the whole thing.  He was not going to tell us that he drank but his little girl sure spoke up, saying that he got super drunk.  He felt super uncomfortable and would not meet with us throughout the week.  He would make up random excuses to leave and not share with us. =( This family is one of the only ones that I have really clicked with and become attached to, so it breaks my heart to see them like that.  Sunday, Sandra came to church but Derlis didn`t.  We were able to visit them in the afternoon yesterday and when we arrived Derlis was both drinking and smoking =( =( and then he decided that he needed to leave but we were able to convince him to share with us and we talked about the adulterous woman and repentance and good stuff like that I hope it is going to and has helped him a bit. Please join me in prayer for this family!!!

Other than that, all of the rest of the week’s lecciones (lessons) and work were with one timers and people that were not interested and did not want anything to do with us.  Not a whole lot of people are completing with their compromises (commitments).

On Saturday, a sister in the ward called us up to help her carry a bed that a friend was throwing out about 2 blocks from her house.  Haha, so the 2 blocks ended up being 8 blocks and the bed was nice and heavy. I am not sure what was in it but we tired quickly.  Anyways it was good.

TODAYYYY!!!!!! Yes, best P-day ever. The reason that we are writing so late is that it was our turn to go and clean the Temple.  For not being able to go visit the temple for 7 months now, I thought it was about time to be in the House of the Lord again. Temples are awesome!  I am stoked for the groundbreaking back home and hope it gets built fast!!!

God lives. He loves us! And we can go to His house and dwell in His Spirit. So if you find yourself in a place where you have not gone for a while, pack up the bags and Drink from the waters of Life.

I love you all and exhort you to go to the temples.

Love,
Elder Call

Hernia Update:

As for me and my hernia we had a Zone Conference with President and his wife and I talked to her about the hernia and she asked if the 3 to 4 months had already past which they have not and so she told me to wait and talk to her after 3 months have passed.  Transfers will be next Wednesday, right before my B-day. So we will see what happens.

Elder Call & Elder Davis @ the Asuncion Paraguay Temple

Happy and Sad

Miguel & Sharon

Hello to all the folks back home!!!

This week was happy and sad!!!=(

Happy, because Miguel and Sharon were baptized and confirmed members of the Church!!! Throughout the week we kept in good contact with all of them in that house. Thursday, they had their baptismal interview and we headed to Paínu, as an interview is necessary to be baptized, they passed the interview!!! Friday night we went and had dinner with Nestor and the gang to celebrate his B-day.  We brought a nice ol' chunk of meat and we had a good barbeque!!! Saturday, we went to their house to try on the white clothes and found ones to work.  This was my first baptism in which they showed up on time and everything was able to go smoothly, although not many members showed up to support them.  Two kids from the Primary gave talks and bore their testimonies of their baptisms which brought the Spirit in to the room super strongly.  I baptized Miguel and Elder Davis baptized Sharon!!!  They were confirmed the following day.

Elder Davis, Miguel, Sharon, Elder Call

 Derlis and Sandra, here comes the sad part.=(  So throughout the week they were super excited and ready for the wedding on the 21st of March, but Derlis had lost his cedula or his ID of his nationality or something like that. He went to go get it and they told him that they have to do some things and to check back in one month to take it out!! Not only that, but Saturday after the baptism of Miguel and Sharon, Nestor and Sandra went to visit his parents who are alcoholics and think it is stupid that he stopped drinking. We heard from Diana that Nestor had ended up drinking and we have not been in touch with them since Saturday but we will have to see where things go!!!! =(

Matias is all normal and is now planning to travel to France and live with his cousins that live there. He is working on arranging everything so that he can study there also.  His flight out of here is the 5th of April, so he is headed to learn a new language.  Ilse does not answer our phone calls any more, soooo I do not know?!?!

The Church of God has been restored to the earth today we have the grand privilege of participating. God loves you and wants you to invite people to come to church to learn about the great sacrifices that His Son did for each one of us. Friday I found a scripture that I had forgotten about for a long time.  It is Helaman 14:12-13, explaining what it means to believe in the name of Jesus Christ. You should look it up!

Love you all,

Love,
Elder Call

Helaman 14:12 And also that ye might know of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and that ye might know of the signs of his coming, to the intent that ye might believe on his name.
 13 And if ye believe on his name ye will repent of all your sins, that thereby ye may have a remission of them through his merits.

The gang at the barbeque.

Good as Ever

Hola todos (Hello Everyone!)

This week was good as ever!!!

Derlis and Sandra!!!!!! We were able to meet with them several times this week and it is super cool to watch them progress and make the changes necessary to live with our Father again.  Derlis has such an abundant love for Sandra and has not touched alcohol or tobacco since we have taught him the Law of Chastity. He wants to marry Sandra so bad and therefore quit drinking and smoking. Sandra however does not quite have the same desire to marry Derlis. She wants to marry Derlis but has been showing some doubts in doing so, saying that the 21st of March is not enough time to be ready.  On Sunday, after church, we found her outside by her gate alone and we were asking her why she wanted to wait and what her worry was with marring Derlis. However, she kind of skipped the question by saying stuff like, she is not prepared and that there are a lot of things to change or do.!! Yea Right!!  So I finally asked her if she would like to tell me the worry or if she would like me to tell her.  She opted out on the second.  Therefore, I told her what was told to me; that, at first she did not want to marry Derlis because he drank a lot, but now that he has not drank or smoked for ten days and continuing, that she is happy and pleased with the progress that he is making, but is afraid and thinks that he is going to fall when she is not there to help monitor him!! Sandra confessed that what was said was true, that she does not worry about him falling at home but when he visits his parent’s house he might fall. We have set up a plan where she would talk to Derlis and explain her worries with him and her agreement to marriage if he gets to the 21 without even a drop of alcohol.

Nestor, Diana, Sharon and Miguel!! This past Thursday night the mom of Nestor passed away and it was pretty hard on him but he is doing good and moving strong.  Yesterday it was announced that Sharon and Miguel will be baptized this Saturday at 5 o’clock. Nestor’s birthday is on Friday and we will see if we do something to help celebrate.

Ilse—Ahh, thanks to YSA (young single adults) she is not off the radar just yet. Leopardi has a strong group of YSA that is super friendly and invites her to all their activities which she attends often!! She also came to church again and as always was filled with great questions.

Matias.  Well, so his cousins that live in France came to visit them this past week and he has been with them the whole time, so we have not been able to visit him. Additionally, he did not come to church yesterday.

Scripture for the week:
Moroni 7:12 “Wherefore all things which are good cometh of God...”  Reading this chapter this past week took me into deep reflection in the way I look at things and I began to marvel at the goodness of God and how faithfully and hard He and His angels battle so that we do good things. God is Good and loves every one of his children with a love so great that we as humans cannot comprehend what it means.

I love you and hope you are reading the Scriptures.

Love,
Elder Call

Blessings from Above

Hola a Todos (Hello Everybody):

To begin we will start with Matias!!! This kid is fun. It is weird teaching him because he comes to conclusions in a very logical way and has read a lot of stuff about strange experiments (experiences), but, in the end, he is in agreement with that we have taught thus far and is super honest. We were able to have his baptismal interview on Friday for his Baptism!!!! and Elder EEN Zone Lider (Leader) felt that Saturday was the right day to do it! It is super weird, no matter how hard we try to have things follow schedules, baptisms are always 40 to 60 min later than planned. Despite all of the opposition, he came and was baptized and thus the most important thing of the day was accomplished.

Elder Davis, Matias, Elder Call

The Saturday baptism group

Hugo, well, this guy moved back with his mom and no longer lives in our area =(

Derlis!!! Nestor!!! and Families!!!! This week we were able to meet their wives without the signature on Monday like planned several other times throughout the week. Señora de Derlis (Derlis’s wife) is Sandra they have 2 kids 5 yrs and 2 yrs. Señora de Nestor is Diana and they have 3 kids; 11 yrs Cheran, 10 yrs Miguel and 7 yrs Chiec Algo Asi, and they are awesome!!!! On Monday si o si (guaranteed) they felt the spirit touch their hearts and they did not want us to leave, so they asked us to come by on Tuesday and Wednesday and Friday and Sunday. Blessings from above!!!   The second time that we had met with Nestor and Derlis they told us that they were having a really hard time finding work and we promised that if they would come to church that God would bless them a lot the next week.  On Friday, Derlis and Nestor were not home and were out working and have had a bunch of work the whole week and that Sandra was able to find a job as well.  They have seen and noticed the hand of God blessing them throughout the week. Yesterday, Nestor and his family came to church while Derlis and his family went to his mom’s house to collect school supplies for his daughter.  We visited them that night and while we were there Nestor received a phone call and work for this next week, while Derlis had not, it was kind of funny watching Nestor laugh at Derlis for the blessing.  It has been super cool for me to see how God blesses those that put their faith in him and keep his commandments.  These families are awesome!!!!

The promises of God are real and he will always keep them.  The more we keep his commandments the more we will prosper in the land and as a son or daughter of a Divine and Perfect God.  He loves you and has given each of you a cheat sheet for this test that we are in.  It is called Modern Scripture as well as anciently. Look to this cheat sheet, Use it!!! Read the words written and try with all your might to follow them. I know that if you do so, you will feel a lot better inside and will learn how you can prosper.

Endure to the end; my fellow friends!

I love you,
Elder Call

Super Week

Dear Family & Friends:

This week was super.  Tuesday was the birthday of Elder Davis and it was all good.  He is ready to go home, almost, but when we arrived back at the apartment (pension), the owners wife had made him a big ol' plate of flan to celebrate the B-day un poco (a little). Wednesday we had changes and elder Tejeda left from Leopardi and Elder Blackett, (with whom I had lived with back in Obrero), replaced him.

Last Sunday, the YSA (young single adults) had a FHE (family home evening) in the home of Andy Vera who is the most amazing of all the members here in Leopardi. She wants so badly to serve a mission but after 3 months of waiting for her call to come, she called the mission office and asked what was going on. I guess that there is an issue with her health and that she needs to go on a mini-mission first.  Matias and Ilse went and participated in the FHE where they learned the 13 Articles of Faith. The Members told us that Matias showed some doubt on the need to repent.  We were able to meet with him on Thursday and read Alma 34 and were able to solve his duda (doubts) about repentance.  He had an incorrect interpretation of what repenting was.  Also, he has chosen to be baptized this coming Saturday, but Saturday he advised us that he would not likely be at church this Sunday because he was going on vacation.   He did not end up coming but we are still going to try for the baptism this Saturday .

Ilse is awesome but we have found it really difficult finding time to teach her and to take another person with us to her house. She, however, did come to church yesterday and we have a FHE planned in the Flia Aquino’s house tonight with her, Matias and Fabio.

I think I already told you, but Hugo, the friend of Belen and Gabi (recent converts), returned from Brazil. We were able to meet with him Saturday and he informed us that last Sunday he was waiting for us to pass by his house to go to church, but we did not, so this week we made sure to pass by and he was ready to go.  After the Sacrament, he left and went to the house of his uncle and we were not able to meet with him again yesterday.

We found Nestor three weeks back. He is inactive, separated from his wife, and is living with another family.  In the same house, lives his best friend/coworker named Derlis, a nonmember and his family. Both of them attended church yesterday.  Nestor is awesome in the lessions (lessons) because he likes the church and by what I can see only does not go because he knows that he is breaking some commandments, because divorcements (divorces) are expensive.  He is always giving good comments and compliments to the church unlike many inactive members.  Derlis is extremely humble and cool but we have not been able to share with his woman yet because she works until 9 or 10 o’clock but they will need to be married.

Well, that is a list of our investigators that are progressing ahora (now).

The good thing about all this is that God loves us, even when we do not deserve to be loved, he still loves us.  He sent his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to open the doors and lay the path in which, if we follow we may return to our Father.  May we all nourish the Word of God in our lives so that it can take firm root in our hearts!  I know that the Scriptures are true and that as you dive into them, you will find the counsel and the path to peace, love, and happiness!

I love you all!
Elder Call

My Life

Hey Mom,

This week was good but I have already spent my time up writing individually to everyone. Matias was able to come to church this Sunday and then had lunch with us in the house of a member, the Cañete family, so that was super cool but he was the only one that was able to come.

Love you tons, Elder Call


This is part of the letter to Ben:

Me and my life, well it is really interesting, wake up at 6:30, get ready, study until 10:30; leave; find the house that you had made the return visit; empty; do some contacting; set some more leccions (lessons); go to lunch, usually at a members house, eat; share a short message; leave; go to other appointments; clap, clap, clap, call; well, I guess no one is home. Hahaha, oh well, I guess keep walking; after some time, ten or so little kids come and tell you that their mom says that nobody is home; you finally find a house that lets you enter! Awesome!!!  Get to know them; teach a leccion (lesson) to best fit their needs.  Invite to be baptized; hear I have already been baptized; explain why there is a need to be baptized again; well, I guess they are of a different religion and do not want to change; invite to read the pamphlet; say a prayer; leave.

It is really weird, I cannot logically explain why I like it or why we smile throughout the day, but we do.  I love it!  I have become so familiar with the scriptures, all except the Old Testament and I guess the Doctrine & Covenants so far, but it is way cool.  I exhort you to continue to be an example to your friends of how they should live their lives. I am so grateful that I was able to grow up with you by my side and hope that you continue on the path of righteousness. I love you lots!

Love, Elder Call

This is the letter Dallin sent to his dad, only it was mostly in Spanish.  Justin translated it for me.

Hey Dad,

This past week was nice, we had zone conference where we talked a lot about needing to work both harder and smarter with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. I think that we can always improve in this part of the work.I don't like to think much in English anymore because my mind has switched into Spanish and now it is difficult to translate back into English. I still make a lot of mistakes in Spanish but I just write what comes to my mind.

I hope you have a great week

Elder Call 

Another Week

Bueno todos allá en Norte América (Hey everybody there in North America, how are you?)
Como están?

This week was a bit strange.  It was a very slow week as far as people accepting us and allowing us to teach.  The highlight of the week was that on Saturday, in Tres Bocas a little girl named Yamna Onelir Piris was baptized.  She was taught by the Hermanas in our district and she asked me to baptize her. Everything went really well and she was super excited.

Other than that, Matias did not come to church yesterday and we are going to see if he is reading or not today.  We have a meeting with him at 7.

Yesterday and today was kinda weird.  We had divisions but we all stayed in the same area because all of the leaders had a meeting in the morning.  So I had the opportunity to work with Elder Perkins from North Las Vegas.  He has less time in the mission than I do and is very humble in spirit, or in other words, he is really quiet, but we had great success.  Something that we learned and helped us a lot is that if we just teach the doctrine and do not say that what they did was wrong you have a lot more success.  All of the appointments that we had set fell threw, but we were still able to get in and teach several people.  We will see where they go.

Anyway, I hope all of you are doing well in your life and are blessed.

Love,
Elder Call