Week 26

Crazy that I will have 6 months in my mission by next week! Oh we heard great news: all four Buenos Aires Missions (Norte, Este, Sul, Oeste) will have a devotional this Wednesday from Elder Bednar. I am very excited! 

I went on divisions this week with Elder Jacobson, the new elder from Mesa, Arizona! He has been here for 2 weeks, and just like me at 2 weeks, can´t speak at all. It was a good experience for me. I was senior comp and training him. It was very fun.

Remember D. from last week? He and 2 of his younger sisters came to church! He wants us to come by everyday and teach him to help him stop smoking. We are very happy to help him and he will be baptized on March 12. Seeing this huge change in his life is a miracle to me. The happiest moment to a missionary is seeing someone change their life and decide to follow Christ.

I´ll write more next week!
Elder Gygi

Area Division and a New Comp

Friends and family,

This past week I received a new companion! His name is Elder Estrada, he is from Guatemala City, and he does not speak English! He is a great missionary and is very funny. I am very very excited to be with him. Our area also has two new elders here: Elder Rawlins (from Richmond Utah, has 18 months in the mission) and Elder Jacobson (from Mesa AZ!! He has 6 days in the mission!). They live in apartment right next to us so it’s really fun! Elder Estrada is teaching me all the stuff about his country and the cool Spanish slang words hahah and I am teaching him English. He was stunned to learn about the all the food that we don’t have in the United States! We were eating flan (a desert kind of like caramel flavored Jell-O) and I told him that we didn’t have it in the states. (Jared doesn't remember going to Costa Vida and having delicious flan!) He goes "What?! What are people in America even doing?!" This will be fun to be with him!

We found a boy this week named D, who is 20. He found us on the street and asked to talk for a minute. I thought he was going to try and rob us. But he asked us to come over and teach his family. We shared with them the message of the Gospel and he and his mother want to be baptized. Hopefully his 7 other brothers and sisters will follow! We met with them again and he proudly showed us all that he had read in the Libro de Mormón! We are excited for them!

Nos vemos until next week!

Elder Gygi

A Lot of Work to Be Done

Queridos Amigos y Familia,

So this week is transfers! Our area is having a huge change this transfer. We divided the area in half into Padua A and Padua B. I will be staying here in Padua B and Elder Jamison is leaving to work in Padua A. We are also receiving two new Elders! There is a lot of work to be done here. I will receive a new companion. I think his name is Elder Estrada. Two new Elders will be coming into Padua A, one is a brand new Elder who will get here tomorrow.

The resourceful Sister missionaries.

Yesterday we got stuck in one of the biggest rain storms I have ever seen. We had just finished a lesson with a new person named F. He has a baptismal date for the 5th of March. We left his house and it just started pouring. We were completely soaked. We couldn't even open our eyes very much because there was so much water. So we took a bus back to our apartment. (The bus pretty much drove through a river to get there). While we were waiting for the bus, Elder Jamison started singing the hymn "Scatter Sunshine." The 3rd verse was very applicable to our situation:

"When the days are gloomy,
Sing some happy song;
Meet the world's repining
With a courage strong.
Go with faith undaunted
Thru the ills of life;
Scatter smiles and sunshine
O'er its toil and strife."

Walking through the pouring rain singing this song was one of the most fun experiences I have had. It's all about your attitude. You can always make the best out of any situation.

Sincerely, 
Elder Gygi

Right Place, Right Time

So last week I hit the 5 month mark. It is crazy to think I have been gone that long. But you know what they say: Time flies when you're serving the Lord. 

This week I ate one of the weirder foods they have here. It's called blood sausage. It was actually kind of good. It's just a grilled sausage full of cow's blood and bits of potato and onion. I'm trying to live the culture, haha! And I didn't want to offend the person feeding us so I ate it! 

We found a new person to teach! Well, he actually found us. Elder Jamison and I were walking down the street and we heard someone say "Hello where are you from!" He said that in English! His name is A. We started talking to this guy and he told us that he used to live in Utah for 4 years going to school. His roommate was Mormon and took him to church a few times. He speaks perfect English so we teach him in English. We gave him a Book of Mormon (in Spanish) and he said that if we get him one in English he will read the whole thing. He also has a girlfriend from Brasil. She only speaks Portuguese though so he kind of teaches her for us. I'm glad that Elder Jamison and I were in the right place at the right time. And that the Lord allowed us to find him. 

A little about our ward. We got a new bishop 1 month ago. He is about 30 years old and he is a returned missionary. He is really putting a focus on missionary work. When I first got here, we had a ward mission leader but that was it. Now we have 2 ward missionaries, and soon 2 more ward missionaries. President Robertson wants to divide Padua and put 2 more elders in our area. Missionary work will soon take off in this area. Usually in an area, you have too many lessons and not enough willing members to come help teach the lessons. Here we have the opposite problem. Too many wiling members and not enough investigators to teach.

I hope everyone back home is safe and healthy.

Sincerely,

Elder Gygi

D&C 6:36 < my favorite scripture