Transfers!

This week is transfers and I received some news. I am being transferred, opening up a new area, and training a new missionary! I am very excited! I will go pick my new hijo tomorrow. Luckily I am only being transferred over to the next ward of Merlo. It's basically like moving from the Las Sendas to Thunder Mountain. It will be a fun challenge because I am new to the area and my new comp probably doesn't speak Spanish at all (if he is from the states, which I assume he is). 

Also we had a great baptism last Saturday! Her name is D. (which translates to 'sweet light holy cross' ha ha). She is only 11 years old. He father is a returned missionary who stopped attending church and her mother is not a member. Her mom always wanted to go to church but never went because no one ever invited her. As soon as they listened to our lessons, D. wanted to be baptized. D. is by far the funniest person I have met in Argentina. She has a pet puppy that she talks to. (What? Jared, you never talked to your Otto pups?) One time she told us that her dog wants to go to church and that it wants to be baptized as well. We explained that it's not a person and doesn't need to be baptized because it can't sin. She then replied that the dog broke a bunch of her toys and that's a sin! She is like a little sister to me!


I am very excited for this new chapter in my mission. I know that it will be tough but the Lord is always on our side if we just let him help.

Elder Gygi

Good News!!

I don't understand the weather in Argentina. Last week it was hot and humid, today it's cold and humid. 

But the good news! Last Saturday, J. got baptized! He is a guy that we were teaching before we changed the area in Padua. I'm not sure if I told you about him. The missionaries found him in December just before I got here. He is 61 years old. He fought in a war here a few decades ago and while he was in the army, his wife and daughter were in an accident and both died. He started smoking to help cope with the loss of his family. When the missionaries found him, he was smoking 5 packs (100 cigarettes) per day. He had been trying to quit but was praying for help. That same day, the missionaries knocked on his door. 3 months later, he has made the covenant of baptism. We are very happy for him! 

I love this work!

Elder Gygi

The Right Thing To Do

Another week in paradise (or San Antonio de Padua, Merlo, Buenos Aires)!

It is finally starting to cool down a bit. I actually used a blanket to sleep the other night! 

I want to share a small miracle that I witnessed this past week. We found a family whose children are all members of the church but the mom and dad are not. None of the kids attend church anymore. Their name is familia S. They live in a humble home that is very unorganized. M, the dad, had a long beard and pretty rough and worn out clothes. He didn't look as if he would want to listen to the message we have. But they let us in and we were happy to teach them the some principles of the gospel. They listened intently to the story of Joseph Smith. We left them a Book of Mormon to read. The next day we went back and the dad had trimmed his beard. He was also wearing nicer clothes. He told us that it just seemed like the right thing to do. We went back the day after that. The mother had just about cleaned the whole house. Again they said that it just felt right to clean up. They now have been to church and have plans to get married and then baptized. What I learned from this experience is that the influence of the spirit helps us want to make correct changes in our lives. As soon as familia S. felt that our message was true, they also recognized what they needed to change. I testify that as we listen to the spirit, it will tell us what we need to change.

Stay safe back home!

Elder Gygi

Elder Bednar's Visit

When you complete 6 months, it's a tradition to burn a tie.

Yay, the Internet actually works this week! Sorry for the short email last week, but I can't worry about things out of my control. 

So, two weeks ago we got to listen to Elder Bednar as he spoke to all the missionaries in the South America South area (all missions in Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina). There were over 8,000 missionaries watching over broadcast, about 8% of all the missionaries in the world. Because Elder Bednar was speaking from a church building in Buenos Aires, our mission was lucky enough to be there in person. It was awesome. Elder Bednar did not really give a talk. He led a discussion with the missionaries. Through the help of a translator (because he does not speak Spanish) he answered questions from the missionaries. 

One important lesson I learned was about the difference between testimony and conversion. A testimony is something we receive from the Holy Ghost as a confirmation of truth. Conversion is what we give to God because we have gained a testimony. Conversion is not something we can receive. Elder Bednar spoke a lot about faith and action. He said if you kneel and pray all night with all the faith in the world, you might die there! Because nothing is going to happen until you get up and act. An example he gave of praying with faith was the story of Joseph Smith. He did not go into the grove of trees to pray to know which church was true. He prayed to know which church he should join. He intended to act on the answer he received. 

Locust in his apartment :/ 

He told another funny example of praying with faith. He said, "How many times have we heard a prayer in sacrament meeting like this: 'Heavenly Father, please bless the people who are not here, that they can come next week. Now that's a nice prayer but without action. How stupid is that?! I wish someone would pray like this: 'Heavenly Father, there are people who are not here today, and we need to bring them back. So I'm going to say amen and everyone in this congregation is going to find someone who didn't come today and bring them next week.' He then said 'I have no authority to say this, so if the bishop does not agree with my prayer he can ask me to sit down, but he has not said that, so I'm going to keep praying, amen. All right everyone lets go!'" All the missionaries were laughing so much. It was funny to hear an apostle say "stupid" from the pulpit. But it is a very true principle. Pray with faith and then act!!

I hope someone learned something from this letter!

Sincerely,
Elder Gygi