Craziest week of my LIFE! (Week 35)

Family!

Greetings from beautiful TARIJA, Bolivia! If you get some free time, I invite you to google it. Its SUPER PRETTY and the people are awesome. But well get to that in a second...

So the last few days in Trompillo were so difficult. I knew I would be leaving so we bought icecream from the fast food restaurant, we bought Pizza, and I pigged out on Pan and chocolate. It was hard. But something awesome that I was able to do was teach a missionary lesson in ENGLISH! No joke! We found a guy who said HEY! I WANT TO LEARN ENGLISH! and I said HEY! I WANT TO TEACH THE GOSPEL! So I taught him in English. His family is super awesome and I think theyll get baptized one day. Super awesome.

So lets fast forward to where I am now! I am in a Ward called Tabladita and my zone is called Guadalquivir. No joke. I had no idea how to spell it for the first few days, too. Im not training, but its like Im opening an area. The area was just redivided so the sisters would have more area to work with, and they took all of our investigators. I am Senior companion, which basically means I get to be in charge of the cell phone and where we go and what we do. The problem? Our area is HUGE!! No joke. Its ALL hills and it even goes to a few pueblos. My companions name is Elder Zavaleta, hes from Peru and has about 10 months in the mission! Hes SUPER awesome. Like we both get lost together, but we teach so well. I know that once we get to know our area and can find where these people live, we will be SO awesome!

Oh! So while at the airport waiting for my flight, I DEFINITELY ate Cinnabon! and fresh out of the oven? I was in HEAVEN! Ahhh the wordly life. And then when I got to my area, I got a burger from a place called KRUSTY BURGER! All Simpsonified. No joke. Anyway, my area is like St George put in Provo. Its all hills, but with like no one walking outside their house. No joke. They all work outside of the area because its super hard to find work in Tarija. We have dogs who follow us and its pretty crazy because theyll walk with us and well have to throw rocks at the other dogs who try to attack them because the dogs here in Tarija are VERY territorial. Not like Ill get bitten, but I definitely carry rocks with me.

Im definitely in what I call a building ward. I am going to get a plan going so that these members are strengthened. I know that I was put here for a reason and these people LOVE ME! They love my name, too! Every time I got to know someone and told them my name was Elder RISUEÑO, they thought it was a joke. So I have been keeping my smile going and going and going. There was a member who even bore his testimony yesterday and in front of EVERYONE said, ¨I know Elder Risueño has been sent here to baptize my father. He has the faith and the love to do it and I know he will be able to help my dad go to the waters of baptism.¨ Yeah, it was crazy! But lets see what I can do!

I tried to fast Saturday and part of Sunday and it just got me SUPER SICK. Like we didnt teach anyone yesterday because I was super groggy and at like 7 when we were lost, I was like WERE GOING HOMe. And I slept like 12 hours. Lesson learned: Ill never fast again. I almost went to the hospital again.

To finish off I just want to share with you one story: So we went to visit an investigator, and he wasnt home so we went to visit his parents in the same house. They shared with us the stresses they were passing through and I said: LETS SING A HYMN! So we did. And I want to share with you one verse of what we sang:

So long thy pow'r hath blest me, sure it still will lead me on o'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till the night is gone. and with the morn those angel faces smile, which I have loved long since, and lost awhile!

I promise you all that the Lord has been present in each of our lives and will lead us through whatever trial we must pass through. He will be our light when we are in the darkness. But we must be in the darkness to have a need for His Light. And once we are led through the darkness, we will find the angels waiting for us. Thank you dad for teaching me that lesson just 7 months ago as I started the mission. It was something I will never forget.

I know that we can be the angels while we are passing through our own trials. That is the way to overcome trials.

I love you all and Ill talk to you next week!

For a dollar!
Elder Risueño