Tuesday, September 24, 2013

If I do not love, I am Nothing

My dear family,

God is so good to me, and I don´t deserve it! I just received a call from our zone leaders, here while we´re sitting in the cyber, reading your letters. HERMANA ALICEA AND I ARE STAYING TOGETHER!!!!!!!! I cannot describe how happy my heart feels. I wish I could describe what it´s like serving with a best friend. She is darling, funny, kind, and feels like family. She makes me feel like a million bucks. Everyone should have a companion like her, I´m serious. Their mission would be a blast. I feel so at home, and how strange is that!? Being on the other side of the world and feeling so myself. I prayed, and prayed, and prayed that we would stay together. I feel like the scripture in Matthew 7, verse 11, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" I asked a great deal this week. And I feel overwhelmed with this blessing of continued service together, what I wanted so deeply to have. President Giuliani has been so pleased with how far we´ve come together, and the miracles that have been happening in Venado Tuerto. To continue to see them, and to continue to be here--this sacred, holy ground--is a tender mercy indeed. I´ve heard about hard companions, but I´ve never had them. Every one I count as a treasured, beloved friend. I don´t know why I keep getting so blessed.

This week was a whole lot of finding. After Mario and Marcello´s miracle baptisms, we kind of felt like "What´s next?" So we have been contacting like crazy. We stop everyone we meet on the street and introduce ourselves. You meet all kinds that way, let me tell you. Dads on their way to work. Folks that haven´t showered in a while and have a really neat lorenzo-snow style beard going for them. Moms carrying toddlers with little ones holding on to their belt loops, like my mom used to have us do! I love being able to share the gospel with anyone and everyone. At first it was scary, especially in another language. But understanding, more and more, the blessings that come from the gospel--I want EVERYONE to have that. So ít makes it easier with that desire.

More finding efforts--We  have been looking through the records kept by all the past missionaries of former investigators, and visiting everyone we can. Mario has been a huge help in this, he wants us to teach all of his friends and family. He has been the one to contact them and set up appointments with us, and he´s the one giving Book of Mormons and pamphlets before we even get there. He just cracks us up, and is such an inspiration for how we should share the gospel. His friends aren´t weirded out, because they know how important this is to him. He´s lovingly bold, and that strikes their attention. Lots of teaching the Restoration this week. Lots of doors, lots of people in the streets. We´re a little tired, I´d be lying to say anythings else. But we love it.

A story I forgot to mention but think that you´ll love--We had a district meeting, in other words, the meeting we have every week with the missionaries in our immediate area. Its a time for us to receive some training from the other missionaries and talk about our investigators, and what we can do to better help them progress towards baptism. Well, this particular district meeting an investigator showed up! There were some folks working on the church to renovate the lighting, and a bypasser walked on into the church to see what we were about. His name is Gustavo. We invited him in, and he sat in on our meeting. He kept asking why we were concerned about these people, why it was important whether or not they came to church, etc. It was awesome! When it came time for the training, it was actually my turn. The lesson was from preach my gospel, about how to teach to understanding. I had cut out some pictures of chirst from the Ensign and pasted a different name of christ on the back, for each of his many names. I then pulled out a picture of my sweet cousin Benjamin Harper from my mini scrapbook, and had each of the missionaries demonstrate how they would teach Ben about Christ, and what "King, counselor, brother, savior, etc." means in Kid terms, to teach to understanding. It think it worked out just great for Gustavo, as well, to hear these sweet simple testimonies from missionaries of Peru, Chile, U.S.A, and Ecuador of the Savior. Afterwards, Hermana Alicea and I ended up teaching Gustavo in our "practices" (like the MTC) later on. It was such a neat experience. Elders Alvarez and Vergara are currently teaching him for reals, now.

Well, my time is up but my heart is full. Know that i love you deeply and will write more soon! I got your letters this week, Family, kelsey, and kano family. Thank you for your support and examples to me!

Con cariño,
Hermana Boren
Mikayla Renee!

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