All is Well!

This week was pretty great! Just going full turbo as always and trying to take advantages of every situation. At the beginning of the week, we had some interesting ideas, so...

We decided to talk with President Ayre and the Bishop of our Ward, and with their permission, we adopted a part of the other Elders' area that they weren't working in. The place is called Los Pinos. It's not very safe at night, so we usually work it by day and it's a pretty awesome place! Tons of alleyways and people that haven't heard the gospel yet! As a result, we met Nanci from Bolivia! She is awesome and is 75 years of age. I'm like the master of finding grammas. Haha. And so she came to Church with her 2 grandchildren and they have a baptism date for the 9th. And we found another girl, Noemi, and her little brother in Los Pinos that came to church and have the same date. So we are excited for this new bit of area we have!

It was crazy, the morning we went to get Noemi to go to church, we passed these two druggies arguing over a girl and a... sweatshirt? And so we were like whatever, but then they started going to TOWN throwing punches and the alleyway is small, so we were like, "Ah freak, Abort! Abort!" Hahaha, Luckily Miguel was with us and he is a hefty guy, so I felt pretty safe. Then like 2 other chorros (gangsters, I guess) came in and started yelling stuff my Mama taught me NEVER to say and so when Noemi's door opened they let us in, so we escaped! Also, Nanci is the gramma of a bunch of gangsters and so all of them see us teaching their gramma and family and so we have like an un-said pact.

We did 2 divisions this week. On Tuesday, I went to the area of Elder Benavidez from Ecuador and we worked a ton! It was pretty good. He has a very interesting way of working that I thought was funny. He got some pretty bad news later that day, so I felt like the divisions that day were for a purpose. It was a pretty spiritual experience. Then on Friday, Elder Walton from Utah came to my area with me. He was having some difficulties and so I finally got to do something that I have been preparing for a while. I gave him the "Everything a man needs to know to be Livin' the Dream" speech. It was pretty awesome and I think we were both edified. Afterwards, when we went to a stake meeting Sunday morning, I asked him how he was doing and he said, "Livin' the Dream!" The speech is successful. Yessss....

My companion is still awesome. We have a lot of fun together and miss each other a lot when we do divisions. Those darn Brasileros! Anyways, it has been a crazy week, but we have a smile on and a kick in our step.

"I made a promise, Mr. Frodo. A promise! Don't you leave him, Samwise Gamgee. And I don't mean to. I don't mean to."

Who have we made promises and covenants with and are we just as loyal? Samwise was willing to drown to keep his promise. He didn't know how to swim! But he did it anyways. It's the same for us and our one true master, Jesus Christ.

Loves!

What Lord of The Rings Teaches Us About Integrity

Bautismo de Miguel

Baptism of Miguel

Elders Hankins & Patey

in their new BOCA Jerseys

with Sister Sandra Lopez

Villa Los Pinos

Train to Los Pinos

Heart Light!

Haha, how does the Neil Diamond song go? Turn on your Heart Light! Something like that. However it is, it's been like my theme song this week. Today was super cool. We got the zone together to watch the priesthood session at 9 and then afterwards we played soccer with Engebretson's zone. Haha, it's good to work so close to him. It's getting super warm though. I am totally getting sun burned...

This week was full of hard work and giving it our all. I was talking to Elder Thurgood last night and we talked a lot about the mission. It's all so much about where your heart is... Where it is when you pray, or teach, or walk, or sleep, or eat. I feel like it's so important to have the affections of the heart focused on the Savior continually.

Funny story...
This week some drunk guy called us over and wanted to ask us a few questions. It was actually a pretty good chat and then we asked who he knew that we could share our message with. The first time he said he didn't know. But we were persistent and asked stuff like "What is your neighbor's name" and stuff like that and then he put up his hand, reached up to the orange tree that was over us and pulled off two leafs... He looked at us and said "Naranja... Adios". (Orange... Bye). Hahaha, I don't know why, but it was so funny to me. Drunk as a fish.

We did divisions this week as well with Pompeya 1. I stayed in the area and had Elder Lopez from Buenos Aires (no joke!) come with me. It was a good division and we learned tons together. He will be finishing his mission here soon, so it was good to share lots of experiences...

People are ALREADY making dead missionary jokes on me. Today Elder Costa asked if he could have my backpack when I die (finish the mission). I'm not happy Bob... NOT. Happy!

Anyways, that's pretty much it for this week. Pretty much just livin' the dream!

Loves!

We were dead after playing today.

Haha!  Livin´ the Dream!

Livin' it Up!

So this week has been super awesome and crazy fast! My companion is still super awesome and now I know more about him. He is from San Paulo, Brazil and is the second to serve in his family. He lived in the ghetto for 4 years and so he feels right at home in our area. He has been teaching me a ton of Portuguese so... Espero que ao fim da minha missao possa falar portugues :) Haha, but he is super cool and we are really making a concerted effort (I think that's an English word) to make zone unity and exito grupal! And it's nice to have to speak Spanish 100 percent of the time. And it's cool cuz he is a Latin, but also is learning Spanish. So... it's new and I like new. :)

This week was full of contacting and talking with new people. We have realized that in order to have success in this area, we have to talk to like 30 or more people a day just to find one person that wants to progress and make eternal covenants with our Powerful God.

There was an awesome thing that my companion said during a lesson that really got me thinking... We choose if we are creators of a situation or the creations. I feel so blessed to be part of this experience. That I have been born of goodly parents that taught me what they knew to be true. In the end, we are all Sons and Daughters of an almighty Creator. He loves us. I know it. This week we made the goal to make good situations happen. Open our mouth here, and help carry in a dresser there, are all opportunities to help, support and love others. The mission has been crazy. It´s not about how many baptisms you get or lessons you taught, it's a calling of love. I truly love these people. GO ON A MISSION!

http://meetthemormons.com/post/98919605769/david-archuleta-glorious-music-video

Miguel was confirmed on Sunday and brought his brother to church again. He is sharing it with the world. He is on fire! Through small and simple things, big things are coming to pass!

Oh and Elder Gines, my hijo, is a zone leader now! Haha! He lives in the pension behind us! And my other son, Elder Bywater, just received his first son! I now have 2 grandsons!

Loves!

Vivendo um Sonho

This week was incredibly LOCO! Haha. We were just all over doing meetings and Tecnopolis and the Temple and then Conference all weekend. No complaining, it flew by! So here's what has happened since Friday...

On Sunday, we had the baptism of Miguel Mendoza! He is seriously such a stud! What was really awesome was it was a joint baptism with the entire Stake and Elder Engebretson is in the same Stake and he had a baptism too; so we shared it! 9 people were baptized in our Stake last Sunday, which is not too bad! I am so happy and proud of Miguel. He just trusts so freely in his feelings and what he knows to be true. Truly a special convert for me that I will never forget. He even brought his little brother to the baptism and conference. This week we are working towards his confirmation. Pretty stoked.

General Conference was just a spiritual bomb! I learned so much and will never forget it. I loved the talk that Jörg gave about being spiritually confident! I haven't talked about it, but I have been putting together a formula on how to live the dream. Hahaha! It's getting pretty good, but I think I am gonna put this guys entire talk as one of the steps on how to live the dream! It's so important to take responsibility spiritually AND physically, to repent and forgive quickly and joyfully, and to look at challenges and opportunities.... AND to EMBRACE obedience. When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. I loved it. There were a ton more that I liked. I ran into the other room to listen to the Spanish talks with the members when the two Spanish guys talked. Pretty cool to be bilingual, I guess. ;)

And Transfers have come! I totally called it. Yesterday, I told Elder Peterson he would be going to the Zarate zone and it was totally fulfilled! That's the zone furthest away from my zone. Lol. And I saw who my companion would be...Elder Costa from Brazil! It was crazy because he has about 11 months in the mission and was Junior Companion. And he went directly to Zone Leader with me. I have never EVER seen that happen in my mission. He is so worried because he hasn't ever done verifications with District Leaders, or Elders in general. But he is humble and ready to learn. It just proves to me that the Lord is real and knows who He needs to be leading the mission. I'm stoked!

Oh, and the title is livin the dream in Portuguese.

Anyways, Here we go!

Livin' it!

mi amigo :))

Ride from apartment to area...

We take this train everyday!

I can't tell you how many times we book it and barely catch it

as it's leaving, like on the movies! Haha.

But yeah, I actually sometimes get off at that station, ("V.Soldati" above)

but usually I get off at Presidente Illia. (below)

Dare to Stand Alone!

Dare to Stand Alone!

Livin´ the Dream as always! This week and a half has been pretty crazy. It feels so weird writing on a Friday, but we will see how Technopolis is. Oh, and by the way... We went to the TEMPLE today! It was seriously the best! I love going there. It really opens my eyes and gives me guidance. This last week has been just such a test of testimony and faith. More than anything, I am just grateful for the chance to be on this mission. There is nothing like it!

So first things first! The Smart Phone family? Nada. Haha, happens sometimes. So we had to leave them. There was a lot of investigators that we stopped teaching because they weren´t progressing this last week. We knew if we did so, with faith, the Lord would provide.... AND HE DELIVERED! On Saturday, we met Miguel from Bolivia. We contacted him when he passed by us talking to somebody. (this is the short version here). And he committed to come to church. He ended up LOVING it! The day after, he said that he was dreaming about the Church and us passing by all the time to check on him and he just felt great. And he took that as an answer. AND THEN when we invited him to go to the Saturday session of General Conference he went to his boss by himself and asked for the day off and he got it! He will be baptized this Sunday in between sessions! He is just a huge miracle and I love him to death (not to mention I always wanted to have a convert named Miguel).

We also found a girl named Araceli that is a miracle too! Her mom is a member and Araceli was never baptized! She is preparing to be baptized next week on the 12th. We are super stoked for her and her progression. We are pretty much livin´ the dream!

Elder Peterson and I are still great! We will see what happens this next Tuesday with Transfers and all. I am super excited and nervous at the same time. There are no endings, Only EVERLASTING BEGINNINGS!

Sorry it´s short this time, but I love all y´all!

Laman and Lemuel

Engebretsen and I

We had some free time in the mission car

while our companions were doing tramites!

Hahaha!

Pictures taken at

Direccion Nacional De Migraciones

(National Migration Office)

-34.592583, -58.369530