Week 47

Elder Quiroz cut my hair jaja

Hola mi familia muchas gracias por todos sus carteas y amor y apoyo :) Yo lo siento muchisimo :) Esta semana volò pero bien rapido...

Well... what can i say. I passed the one year mark and recently found out that I will be going home in 11 months... not another year... but 11 months :) Just the way that transfers are gonna work out... but what are ya gonna do... :( I have 11 months to work super super super hard!! My release date is like the 4th of march or something like that haha but anyway... I'm not going to worry about that...

This week was great!! really busy, and a little bit hectic but really good! 

To start it off it was a little bumpy because we weren't having a lot of success and weren't getting along super great... but that's okay :)  I spent a lot of time one day when we had just gotten back from a days work that didn't show much fruit, thinking about why I was in this area at this point in time... I Couldn't think of a single reason, and in my prayer that night I asked heavenly father to help me find a purpose to why I am in this area, and to help me feel like I was fulfilling my purpose as a missionary and as a leader, and in the next few days I got my answer :)

The next thursday we had interviews with president Allred and as a zone leader we had to make the schedule and buy food for all the missionaries that were going to be there at the lunch hour, and so that's what we did. To eat we bought 5 dozen empenadas!! My favorite :) anyways... thursday morning we were in rosario on echanges with the asistents and so we just got a ride with president and hermana allred to pergamino:) That was awesome! Just us three and president and his wife for like 2 hours :) hermana allred had rice crispy treats that she made and we all talked the whole time about the mission and about the zone and how we can help the missionaries during the zone conference and entrevistas :)

During interviews I got the feeling to talk to one of the newer elders in my zone and so i asked him if there was something he wanted to talk about, and he said that there was... Ans so we went outside the church and talked for probably an hour and a bit, and recently his girlfriend had gotten engaged and was having a hard time because his comp isn't a very good listener and wasn't helping him deal with it, and he felt alone and not ready or prepared to be a missionary and so I was able to help him out and just listen to him :) I gave him some advice to trust in the lord and in his calling as an elder, and that now his mind can be completely in the work and doesn't need to worry about that part of his life yet. And that God still had a plan for him, He thanked me after our talk, and I gave him a big hug, and told him to trust in God and that when it was his turn to talk to president that he could tell president and trust him him completely :) He thanked me again and told me that He felt like I was called as a zone leader to help him out when no one else was there... I felt like it could've been that as well :) I felt the spirit help me talk to him about this situation, and at the end I felt better also :) When I went in to my interview with president the first thing he said was thank you for helping Elder....... and just listening to him. I learned alot in my interview with president, and am really excited to apply what I learned and to help opur zone progress as well :)

As far as my own area goes, sometimes I feel like i'm in a europe mission... But I know that God has a plan still, and I just need to find it :)

This weekend I had a cool experience,

We got a call from the STLZL's jaja and they told us that we needed to go to a town called rojas to give a training to the branch in the town this last sunday haha The training was going to be about the open chapel's that they do down here. My comps had never been in one in their mission's up till now and so I got to go and do it... I've only participated in one.... but anyways! I left my two comps in pergamino and I left with another Elder from Rojas to spend the night in their apartment and then the next morning I was going to give the training to the small branch :) Haha we took a bus for 3 hours to this town of about 30 thousand people... We got there and it was late and so we got ready for bed and when we woke up the next morning and were getting ready we received a call from the branch president saying that they needed another speaker... haha And my comp for the day was in the shower and so the president asked me if I'd give a talk in the sacrament meeting that was going to start in 30 minutes... haha I said yes even though I really didn't want to, but that's the missionary life :)  and so we got to the church and there was maybe 20 people in the congregation  and there wasn't deacons, and so I passed the sacrament, and then gave a 20-25 minute talk on repentance haha it went well... I also helped confirm a new member of the church... haha and then when it came to the second hour.... The teacher of gospel principles wasn't there either, and my comp for a day wasn't taking the initiative at all... and so I picked up the manual an gave an hour lesson on the atonement :) haha I was getting a little exhausted by this point and when the class ended the whole branch got together for the training that I was about to give for about 10-15 minutes... the branch president told me that it had to go for the whole hour, because no none had a lesson planned haha I almost got mad.... haha but I smiled at him and said okay!! :) And so I gave the training for the first time in my life, and it lasted for 57 minutes... and it should've only lasted for 10-15 :) I couldn't complain haha

But I learned a lot yesterday about being prepared and worthy to act when service is needed :) It was a good experience and I don't regret it at all haha I had a good laugh with my comps about it when I got back to pergamino that yesterday :)  (They told me that I was ready to be a bishop haha)

They told me that none of our investigators went to church, and that made me sad.... but we are trying to find people that want to keep their commitments :) And the lord will bless us if we continue to be obedient :)

I love this gospel!!! :) And I'm eternally grateful for the opportunity to be on the mission :)

I hope your week is amazing!!!!

Love Joshua

P.S JAROM!!!!!!!! BUD THAT'S AWESOME ABOUT YOUR KUB KAR!!!!!!!  YOUR SUCH A STUD!!!!!! KEEP BEING AMAZING LITTLE BRO!!! I'm sure it was a lot of fun making your car and then getting to race it :) That was always one of my favorite parts about cubs :) Love ya  Jarom XOXO

P.P.S Tell Gramma Callahan that I love her, and that she is in my prayers also :)