Hey guys, this week has been better. We had the oportunity to have a conference with our new Mission President, Presidente Orquera. He seems like a really great guy. Enthusiastic, kind, funny, and inspiring. The conference was very long. The Zona Jujuy had the oportunity to be the first conference for President Orquera. He looked nervous to be honest, it was ut we left inspired and ready to work. We talked a lot about our purpose as missionaries. That we need to invite EVERYONE to be baptized, and we need to teach with power the importance of repentance. I entered with questions and left with them answered. The conference really was an answer to my prayers. I am grateful for the oportunity I had to get to know and serve under President Chapparro, who trusted and believed in me as a missionary. He helped me so much to conquer struggles and become a better missionary. I hope to see him in the future. I am excited for this new chapter with Presidente Orquera.
We are preparing Celeste to be baptized. She lives with her boyfriend, Dario, who is member. He is reactivating. They just had their newborn son, Owen. We are planning their wedding. (Missionary by day, Wedding Planner by night.) We are going to Civil Register next Friday and Celeste will be baptized Saturday. We got a lot of work to do. But we can make it happen. They seem excited. Nervous, but excited. We are searching for new people. The results have been slim but we{re still working hard and looking for the people that the Lord has prepared here.
We went to the Shoe Repair Man. Elder Mejia had some shoes that needed to be repaired. The shoe repairman was named Mario and we talked to him for a bit and he was very kind and open. We shared a message about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was a very active catholic until something happened in his life that changed his faith and he doesn{t go to any church. He said that everyone needs God when they are down, he{s the only one that can lift us up. The guy has a lot of wisdom. He was quite entrigued by the message and he accepted a Book of Mormon and we invited him to church. He didn{t show up but we got faith that he{ll progress in time.
I did a Baptismal Interview for the sisters of El Carmen. A nine year old named, Emilio. I almost got all the questions memorized. I really like doing baptismal interviews. They are really spiritual and loving the growth and progress ofaring the testimonies of people who want to come closer to Christ through taking this promise to God that is baptism.
Our district is doing well. We are working well and we are pretty united. I really like being District Leader to the studs I have in my district. We work hard and I learn a lot from them. We are relatively young in the mission but there is a lot of potential here. I know we{ll amount to a lot of success here.
I have been studying a lot in Preach My Gospel in Chapter 1 that talks about my purpose as a missionary. There is a quote that hit me pretty hard that says "The obedience to Jesus Christ is a lifelong commitment.'' (I'm translating this from Spanish, so might not be 100 percent correct) But really that hit me hard. When we get baptized we are taking upon us a promise to follow and obey the teachings and path of Jesus Christ. As missionaries, we are set apart to help in his work. We have taken this commitment upon ourselves to be obedient and diligent to his work. That hit me hard and changed a lot of my way of thinking. I have been set apart as a representative of Christ and I need to think and do things as a representative of Christ. I have power and authority in my calling as a missionary. I with my companion, are the only ones that can help people to learn repentance through the restored Gospel of Christ and help people to be baptized with the correct authority. And that goes for every missionary out there who{s working hard out there in their neck of the woods. We are called and chosen of God with his authority to bring people to Christ. Really changed my perspective. This area may be hard, and we might not be as easy as it was before but it{s worth the grind. I love what Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said about missionary work. (I'm paraphrasing here) Missionary work isn't easy, because salvation wasnt ever easy. It was never easy for HIM, why would it be easy for you?) Gives me a different way to look at it. Whatever the struggle might be here, It's worth the fight. We are bringing souls to Christ and salvation isn{t a cheap deal. I am working with the attitude positive and with optimism.
So I just found out that 15 missionaries and 3 sisters are coming to the mission this next transfer. All of the Elders are from the US. Its about my time to train, and looks like I{m gonna have to train a gringo. I{m excited and President already kind of talked to me about training so, let{s see how that goes. We still got 2 more weeks left of the transfer. Elder Mejia and I are gonna give it our all before the transfer ends. Theres still work to be done here in Monterrico and the work won´t be slowed.
Funny ThingsÑ
A dog peed on my backpack mid lesson.
We bought a half kilo of Milanesa de Pollo (Breaded Thin Sliced Chicken basically)and they accidentally gave us a little bit of Milanesa de Panza (Breaded Stomach Fat of a Cow)gross.
We have decided that when people try to mess with us and say things they{ve heard on the internet in English we just talk to them in English as if they know what they are talking about. It{s pretty funny to see the confusion on their faces.
When we knock doors and we talk to someone we know for a FACT that the person or their family or their neighbors dont want anything with us, we play a little game with them. Before we knock doors we try to see how many times we can slip a random word in to our door contact. Like sapo (frog) or moco (booger). It makes the day a lot more fun when it{s a rough day of contacting. I am leading the leaderboard right now with 13 times of saying batata (sweet potato). You gotta enjoy the mission.
Love you guys and always pray for you guys. Miss you all. Nos vemos pronto.
Ciao con carino y amor,
Élder Batman
Rama Monterrico
Monterrico, Jujuy
La Misión Argentina Salta
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