Whew! What a week!

As the title implies, we had quite a rough week this past week, and kind of humorous. It started off great. We had lots of lessons, and we have been starting to see some people who finally might be willing to make the changes in their lives to find out the truth that Heavenly Father wants to give them. Anyways, as we were about doing this, I got a little sick, but it wasn't too bad and I was getting better.

We had a zone conference on Wednesday with Presidente and Hermana Da Silva. They gave some GREAT talks and comments. Here is where we made our booboo. We had lunch together. The Zone had ordered these giant hamburger like things called bauros. They were very tasty and we continued with our week. However, my companion the day after got REALLY sick. He had diarrhea and everything. We stayed in the next day and I took care of him. We soon found out that our zone was getting sick and dropping like flies! The next day I wasn't feeling to well. I was working with another companion while mine and his were recuperating. We worked, and I started to feel bad. I got the bug, but not as bad as my companion. We had told some of the people we visited that some of the missionaries were sick. We began to think it was the food we ate on Wednesday. When we told them, they freaked out and said. "No No, you can’t order food from there. They put on old ingredients. It's not clean." So, this week almost our entire zone was sick from eating a couple of bad bauros. But don't worry. We're all feeling a whole lot better. We drank lots of water, and are now cleaning up after things piled up to do around the house, and we are going to work twice as hard to catch up for lost time.

OH one more funny story! It rained REALLY hard again yesterday. The holes in our roof were really bad and my companion-s bed got all wet. Thankfully my side didn’t have as many leaks. It was pretty frustrating, but also a fun reminder that the mission really is an adventure. Thankfully we don-t have any giant bugs like an Indiana Jones movie.....yet. Anyways, It-s hard to believe I’ve been here almost two months already! I have been growing a lot since I’ve been here. I am so thankful to be out here, though it gets really hard. I recently brushed over the verses in ´Doctrine and Covenants 89 about the oath and covenant of the priesthood. I-m going to work as hard as I can to magnify my calling and develop true Christ like love for everyone, even though it can be hard sometimes. At times, I still get a little homesick, but when this happens, I just work and remember why I-m out here.

COVENANTS

My new companion is Elder Painter from Texas. He has about a year, and he speaks the language VERY WELL. It's been really nice and I have to be careful not to rely on him too much when we teach. However, I have been improving a lot on understanding, which was a challenge for me at first. Now comes the next step. I can teach basic things, I just need to work harder on grammar so I can convey my feelings a little more clearly. Elder Painter is very knowledgeable in the scriptures, and though at first it was a little intimidating, we have had some really interesting discussions.

I gave my first talk in Sacrament meeting about baptismal covenants. I talked about what a covenant was and cited scriptures in Doctrine and Covenants. It talks about how blessed are those who keep the covenants they have made with the Lord. As I have been out here, I have come to realize little by little the importance of these covenants. They literally bind us to our Heavenly Father in the sense that we receive blessings in this life and have the opportunity to live with Him in the eternities. Elder Bowen in the last conference told us to ask those we talk to the "disturbing question" or "questions of the soul." Disturbing in the sense that they lead us to have a thirst to satisfy and answer the question that is burning within our soul. Who am I? What is my purpose here? Those are just some of the cliche examples, but really I think we take for granted sometimes how much comfort we have in knowing the answers to these questions. No matter what happens, we ALWAYS have a loving Father in Heaven, bound to us by our covenants and promises we have made with Him. I love that talk that Elder Christofferson gave last general conference about the comfort that our covenants give us. They are truly more powerful than we can imagine, made by the same power that created worlds without number.

An Awesome Goal

Guess what? We have our first confirmed baptism date set up! October 11. His name is Willington, and he is I think about 21 years old. He’s really awesome and has already come to church! He still has a lot to do before the baptism, one of which is quitting smoking, but we told he and his wife that if they read and pray, Heavenly Father will help them to quit. He is so cool. He loves to talk with us about home, and about gospel things. For instance, I showed him the pages in the back of the scriptures where all the pictures are. I showed him the ones of Jerusalem and of the sacred grove. He liked it and kept asking questions about where all these things happened. We’re so excited and continue to pray for him that he will follow through on this wonderful decision.
We had an awesome Zone Conference last week in Treinta y Tres with Elder Bowen of the Seventy. I don’t know if I have told you this, but we have a goal in the mission to baptize weekly. It is really bold. Presidente Da Silva shared his thoughts with us as well and shared D&C 4 with us. "The field is white, already to harvest". That seems an appropriate theme, especially since I have been studying about the Savior’s Parables. I find it amazing how much the world truly can be used as a symbol of the Kingdom to come. The simple truths of the Gospel can be compared to the simple truths of nature. I love the Savior. I love His teachings. It’s sad when we find those who are so overwhelmingly confused by how much the world has changed His simple pure doctrine. I am so happy to be here spreading His pure doctrine and gospel to fill the earth. I just love it! It is profoundly and deeply simple. It has been a little discouraging to try and start this trend, but the more I get into the work, the more I realize how possible and tangible this goal is. It’s not just a goal, it is a miracle. I know that if we continue to pray and work diligently, that we will find those ready and willing to accept the pure and simple message of joy and eternal peace.