How are we all doing? Happy Valentines Day!! Well, this Friday. So I know that you all are dying to be my Valentine so its super easy to be my Valentine. All you have to do is listen to a song by Michael Bublé or Whitney Houston and think of me! Simple, right? And if you don't have a desire to listen to either of those people, then I'm definitely not your Valentine!hahahaha. Just kidding. But really.
Anyway, this week has just been splendiforous here in Santa Cruz! One of the most exciting things that happened this week is I weighed myself for the first time since I left home and Ive gained 15 pounds! NO JOKE! hahahha whoa. The people here say that the missionaries need to be gorditos so that they can have evidence that they served a mission when they get home. Well, Ill definitely have something to show when I get home. The food is so good. I love chocolate and life.
Oh, and I sleep talk in Spanish now! Winning! I guess I taught a lesson one night.
Okay, so this week is TRANSFERS!! Its pretty much like Christmas each 6 weeks because we wait until 9:30 to see what will happen. I decided that I might leave so I might as well soak up some first world stuff I have here. I got my ties dry cleaned and ate pizza. For those of you who don't know, the mission is a few pueblos so we never know! A few families have told me if I stay they'll buy me Cinnabon! YES! Winning.
Okay, so the updates on life this week:
So we had one of those crazy miracles you see in the Ensign happen this week. So we went to visit like 3 investigators and no one was home. Or the person was sick. We were super frustrated and just wanted someone to teach and help and we had nothing. We had a few scheduled lessons later, but nothing to do at that point and we know that knocking doors is ineffective so my companion decided to go visit a Less Active we had visited the day before to see how he was doing... As we were walking to his house, a 20 year old and his younger brother were trying to carry a closet in their house and failing. So we SUPER missionaries came to the rescue. My comp used his muscles and I pretended like I knew what I was doing. We got in, helped them and talked to them and GUESS WHAT?! The young kid is a recent convert, the 20 year old is Less Active, and his girlfriend is an Investigator! Can you say CHRISTMAS?!! We had a great lesson, shes Catholic, but loves the church. She just hasn't been yet. hahah. They didn't go on Sunday because it was pouring rain and their clothes didn'thang dry in time--we don't have dryers here-- but they had a spiritual Sunday! Hno Ivan told his grandfather that he had a testimony of God leading people to scriptures so they said a prayer and opened their scriptures and WABAM! They went to Mosiah 9 which talks about prophets and their importance! What had we spoken of the day before? Prophets. No joke. They told us they had a testimony and we were SO CLOSE to invite them to baptism, but we had to book it home. Uhh can we say golden? Yup, we can.
So Roque and Gabriel didn't go to church Sunday. Which means no baptism this Saturday. Oscar got permission from his parents to be baptized, but he isn't as motivated to learn more as usual. Its definitely a hard part for my companion and me. Please continue to pray for us so that we can become the missionaries God wants us to become so that we can help these people! But who knows what will happen when transfers come? If I end up leaving the area, I will be so content to know that I left the area better than it was. That's the purpose of missionary work. Whether or not you have the name tag, you need to find people that you can help, and those who can help YOU!
This week, as we celebrate Valentines Day, I want to talk about the love Christ has for us. I read a great talk called, The First Great Commandment by Jeffrey R Holland. I cant express how much I love the talk, but you can read it and let me know what you think! The talk is all about how we can love God and serve Him. More importantly, how we can love Jesus Christ.
Elder Holland said this:
“If ye love me, keep my commandments,”14 Jesus said. So we have neighbors to bless, children to protect, the poor to lift up, and the truth to defend. We have wrongs to make right, truths to share, and good to do. In short, we have a life of devoted discipleship to give in demonstrating our love of the Lord. We can’t quit and we can’t go back. After an encounter with the living Son of the living God, nothing is ever again to be as it was before. The Crucifixion, Atonement, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ mark the beginning of a Christian life, not the end of it.
I love how we can focus on helping others in this time. I feel like we just want to find something to show others we love them this day. Or maybe we want someone to say that they love us. Well, Christ is there. He did everything for us. He loved us with all of our perfections and died so that we can experience an eternal joy. I'm so grateful that I was called to be a representative of my Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm not perfect. I'm nowhere near. But God trusts me. He trusts you. Sometimes we forget how blessed we are. Its so easy to see others and be grateful we aren't in their positions, but do we ever feel like we can help them? We need to. We must reach out. It doesn't have to be a big present. It can just be a simple act of pure love. Last year, my valentine was the library. She and I were in love last year at BYUI. This year, my valentine is la vida. I am in love with life. I am in love with how I can help other people because Christ trusts me. He has given me this knowledge of who I am and who I can become. Oh, it is wonderful
Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me
Enough to die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!.
.I hope that this week we will be able to enjoy the love that comes from Valentines Day and well be able to enjoy all that God has given us. And that, in turn, we will share that love through the blessings of the gospel.
And please don't judge me that I haven't sent photos in ages. My charger hates me and so I'm getting a knew one today... NEXT WEEK!
Con amor,
Elder Risueño
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