Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Week Sixty-Eight: Salta

Sounds like everyone had a good week and is enjoying the weather! Lol, well maybe not the weather so much lol. The weather here isn't too bad. It does get pretty warm and we do sweat a lot, but I am really grateful that I am in Salta for the summer because it's the least hot of all the other places. I was able to experience the hottest area, which was in Tucuman, and now I can just relax a bit more. 
This week we did splits with the office elders that are in our zone. Office elders are usually pretty new, like 5 to 9 months in the field. I went to their area and when I introduced myself to them, they all called me old because I have 16 months in the mission. I didn't like that. Everyone's like, "Oh you don't have time much left" and on the inside I'm like, "Shut up!" and on on the outside I just say, "I have some time left still." Time is going so fast and it's weird to think that I'm one of the older ones now. But I still think you really get old in the mission when the sisters from your group finish their missions. I'm not there yet so all is well. 
Sadly, Nilda wasn't able to get baptized. She told us in the beginning that she was married, but just before her interview, she said she wasn't married and her family confirmed that. Here in Argentina, it's common to have two houses on the same lot. And the president said if an unmarried couple lives in two different houses that are on the same lot they can still get baptized. Her and her boyfriend live in the same house but she is actually trying to end things with him, so she accepted the invitation to live in the other house. The other house is owned by the same family so it's no problem. But when she presented the idea to her boyfriend, he did not like it. He is an alcoholic and not a good guy who won't let her move. We fasted this week with her and we are praying that his heart will be softened. Nilda wants to get baptized, but we just have to solve this problem first. 
But this week we were able to see some miracles. We are teaching the son of a super active sister in our ward, Mario. He is about 45 years old and has had a drinking problem for a very long time. He is getting a divorce and is now living with his mom. He has become really humble through this experience and really wants to change his life. We have visited him a few times already and we can see the change in him. We taught the Word of Wisdom this Sunday. We taught it in the beginning, but we felt like we should go over it again. He then told us a story of when he was with his friends and they were all drinking. They offered him a drink but he denied it. He said he didn't even have the slightest desire to drink. Telling the story, he started to get emotional and express how grateful he is that he found the way to change his life. He then said that he spent the night at his brother's house a few nights ago. His brother has a drinking problem too, and he said is now inspired to make a change in his life as well after seeing Mario. He and his mother were both crying at this point. I can only imagine how the mom felt to see that her son is changing his life and is preparing to get baptized. And now to hear that her other son wants to change too! It was a really special experience. Mario has a baptismal date for the 4th of Feb. So keep him and Nilda in your prayers for us and for them. This week we also have a baptism planned for Geronimo. He is 9 years old but is really smart. He went to church for the third time this week and will be baptized Saturday!  
Also, this Wednesday we have a worldwide transmission. We don't know who is going to speak but we are all super excited! 
I hope you all have a great week! Have fun and be safe! Love you! Kiss my puppies for me!!

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