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 

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