141 days to go...

> ola familia! > it has been a great week. president peterson asked all of us to have > a special fast this weekend for our investigators so that we can meet > our new monthly goal for baptisms. part of his vision for the mission > in neuquen is to have 100 baptisms every month. that means that each > companionship needs to have at least one baptism in the month. i felt > really good with the fast that we had and we were able to find and > teach a few more people. we have seen many miracles in neuquen this > week. > omar and grisel becerra are a young bolivian couple with two young > children. i met them for the first time this week but my companion > found them a few weeks before i arrived. grisel wanted to learn more > but omar didn`t have much interest. omar had an accident on his > motorcycle and he was hit by a bus. he should have died in that > accident and the doctors are amazed how fast he was able to get > better. it has been almost a month since his accident and he is able > to walk again. his shoulder is still shattered and a few nerves in > his face were cut so it is a little disfigured, but he is going to > have a few more operations. he has completely changed and is very > grateful to God for another chance of living and taking care of his > family. he told us that he really wants to know God and get closer to > Him. he has a baptismal date for the 23rd of june and he is going to > talk to his wife about it. > florencia is a 14 year old girl that is preparing for her baptism this > weekend. she attended the stake conference that we had yesterday with > her niece, gianina (also preparing to be baptized), that lives in > cipolletti. we are hoping everything goes smoothly, but she is really > progressing and has the desires. > we also found an older woman named alicia. she has been an > investigator for about 6 months, but she recently told the > missionaries not to come anymore because it causes problems with her > husband. i wanted to meet her, so we passed by her house. she said > that she felt terrible sending the missionaries away and she wants to > learn more about the church. her husband hugo was very 创buena > onda创, in a good mood, and everything went very well. she accepted > to be baptized on the 23rd of june as well, but hugo is not ready yet. > i feel like this area has turned around a lot these last few weeks > because we started at zero with nothing to do. i know that there are > a lot of people that are prepared to be baptized in this area, and > elder cort閟 and i are working hard. > in our zone, everything is getting better. we did not have a baptism > this week, but for the next 3 weeks, we have many investigators that > are progressing. the goal is to have a baptism every week in the > zone, and we should be able to do it with 13 companionships. i am > excited to see the enthusiasm the missionaries have in the neuquen > zone. things are picking up in 醤imo :). elder cort閟 and i are > calling at least one companionship every night to see how they are > doing and check on their progress with investigators to keep them > excited. > tomorrow is our zone leader conference with president peterson. we > are very excited for it and i know that we are going to learn a lot of > great things. > this morning, i finished the book of mormon for the first time in > spanish. i know that the book of mormon is the word of God and it has > blessed my life in many ways. it gives me the strength and energy to > work diligently every day because it testifies of Jesus Christ and i > am very grateful for the messages it contains. i loved moroni 9:25 > and i felt this scripture speak directly to me. > 25 y son, be faithful in Christ!; and may not the things which I > have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but ay > Christ lift thee up!, and may his sufferings and death, and the > showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, > and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind > forever. > i am so excited this week! today we were going to go play bowling with > the elders from catriel and 25 de mayo, but their ride got sick... i > guess we will play next week. my companion, elder cort閟 is writing a > song for president peterson so i think we are going to go to the > church and see what we can come up with, and then we are going to make > some empanadas :) i love empanadas. dad- mcdonalds here is trucho > because the burgers are very small with a little plastic-y disc of > meat, and it is very expensive. i think that the ice cream is ok but > i never bought it. it`s getting a little chillier right now. i磎 > looking forward to watching the avengers with you guys. were there a > lot of awesome things in the garage sale? i`m excited to see the bike > you bought! i loved all of the pictures that were sent this week. > jacie`s new house looks awesome and emelia is very cute. thank you > for keeping me in your prayers in thinking of me in neuquen. i love > you all and i`m looking forward to hearing from you next week. > con mucho 醤imo y amor, > elder summers