Alpacas are the answer to everything! (Week 38)

Holy alpacas, family! This week has been one of crazies... So well
start with the crazies..

So after email time last week Elder Zavaleta and I went to downtown
Tarija and went shopping for some trinkets and ALPACA sweaters. And
let me tell you that they are the answer to lifes questions. I bought
a sweater, gloves, I little hat thing, and just LOVE IT! i never take
off my alpaca sweater. Its lightweight and just so snug! Afterwards, I
took my comp out on a date nightesque lunch to a peruvian restauarant
which was SUPER GOOD. And I immediately repented of my sin of giving
mom and dad a hard time for always going on date nights when they were
stressed out... I know that those times really help life!

Another crazy thing? I finally got the GET BIT BY A DOG action checked
off my list of things to do on the mission. But it wasnt bad, so mom
dont freak out. It was one of those RAT DOGS that just follow you, and
then you feel a pinch on your heel, and then use your cat like
reflexes to kick and realize a dog tried to bite you! It didnt even
break the sin because I was so dang fast to kick it. Thats right. And
a few days before that we were chased by like 10 dogs. Its not bad
when you have rocks! Before PITA comes after me, lets be real: You got
two choices... either youre going to be eaten by dogs or youre going
to scare them with some rocks. Rocks win. I may have even screamed
PETRIFICUS TOTALUS to try and see if magic would work... it didnt.

So this week was kind of crazy and hard. So at the end of my email
time last monday, I got an email from my old companion, Elder Chura,
that one of my less actives that we were working with had passed away
last week. Ahh he was 32 and died because his family couldnt pay for
dialysis. Wow. That combined with some other things just set me up for
some frustration. But the Lord loves us and prepares us. As I got
ready for a Zone Conference, which is a meeting of like 50
missionaries with our president, I decided to free write a letter to
God and see what I really felt. As I wrote it, it was filled with
feelings of despair, of MY wants and MY needs and nothing about what
God wanted for me. I decided to take a pause and open my scriptures,
where I found a scripture talking about receiving power and authority
from God. As I pondered on that, I pondered on my journey as a
missionary. Sometimes I get so focused on finding people and baptizing
and just doing what I want and going where I want to go and getting to
my happy place, that I seem to forget that I need to go where God
wants me to go. For a cheesy example, lets look at Rapunzel. She
wanted to see the flowing lanterns gleam and that was her destination.
But her journey was what really counted. The moments she rose to the
occasion, other moments where she fell, and other moments where she
loved. Now, I am not looking for my companion, so I dont have that
going for me. But I feel like we need to focus on how God is shaping
our journey. We look at our weaknesses and feel unworthy, but we
really need to understand that its the Lord giving us the chance to be
strong. As I sat in that meeting and continued to be fed and to see
the beauty that comes from acceptance of the Lords guidance in my
voyage through life, I saw how much I meant to the Lord and how much
He meant to me. After that point, we started to find people to teach.
We found people who really needed us. We are working miracles slowly
but surely. But it didnt come to me until I accepted that the storms
that were ahead of me were not as powerful as my Savior with me in my
ship. I wish to finish by sharing something by Brad R Wilcox in his
talk, His Grace is Sufficient. He quotes a hymn about the pioneers and
I want you to pay attention to grace, the enabling power of Jesus
Christ. These píoneers suffered so much but always had so much faith:

Come, come, ye Saints, no toil nor labor fear;
But with joy wend your way.
Though hard to you this journey may appear,
Grace shall be as your day.

As dark as night may become, we can always count on the sun coming up.
As dark as our trials, sins, and mistakes may appear, we can always
have confidence in the grace of Jesus Christ. Do we earn a sunrise?
No. Do we ahve to be worthy of a chance to begin again? No. We just
have to accept these blessings and take advantage of them. as sure as
each brand new day, grace--the enabling power of Jesus Christ-- is
constant. Faithful pioneers knew they were not alone. The task ahead
of them was never as great as the power behind them.

I testify that Christ is guiding each of our journeys. I testify that
He will help us as we submit to that which He has in store for us.
Dont worry about what you have or have not accomplished in this life.
Worry about how the Lord has molded you into the person He wants you
to become.

I love you all and pray for you all.
For a dollar!
Elder Risueño

Have Faith. Have Hope (Week 37)

My dearest family and friends,

Happy Monday! I have to say that this week has been crazy with ups and downs, but I am just so grateful for your love and support. First off, a few thank yous! Thanks Mom for being the most awesome person in the world and packing me thermals in July. Right now, we are about to enter crazy cold winter in Tarija and I am writing with 4 layers of shirts and pants here. I am also going to buy alpaca EVERYTHING. Sweaters, gloves, whatever. It is so bitter cold here and crazy. And it hasnt even started yet! Thanks Mom and Dad! 

Sheila! Sheila sent me a Mr. Bean shirt and EUROPEAN CHOCOLATE! and floss. Thanks my friend! I am sending you some love in a package in the coming weeks.

Kerr family sent me some love too! How I love receiving family letters! I will be off to send some more love to yall too this week!

Music classes kick off tomorrow and I couldnt be more excited. The people seem really open to learning how to direct music and it as been opened to two wards so well see how it starts. PRAY FOR ME! If no one comes, well cancel it for good. 

Anyway, on to the work. I had an intercambio this week with my district leader who is SUPER AWESOME. He has about 6 months in the mission and is in his first area, todavia. And its super hard for him. It was awesome to talk to him in English and just talk about the ways we can improve our attitude. We had all of our lessons fall through and we walked a ton and we were just down. But we realized that this the Lords work and we got this! We have been called to some rough areas that need some love, and we are so exctied to help them. It was something I needed.

The next few days we had ups and downs. But Im going to focus on the ups! We had 4 people come to church Sunday! It was so awesome. One of them was this lady who I thought was LOCO. No joke. When we first met her, she spoke to us about demons and whispered and was really freaky and I was like HECK NO WE ARE NOT GOING BACK. But we did because she wanted us too. And then she showed up Sunday with her nephew and she said things how it was. It was SO SASSY I LOVED IT! I just kept saying AMEN in the class when she spoke. So were friends now. Even though she whispered to me some creepy stuff. Future baptism? I think so! We also had 2 other young men come that had just met us the night before and came on their own! YAY!

Aside from that, the Lord is working slowly but surely here in Tabladita. We have people who really have desires and it is what we are looking for. The area is so pretty and I am loving it. But I just want people to teach! But I have learned so much about our Savior this week. We were walking home from a hard day and I just started tearing up because I just wanted to teach someone! and I smiled more and decided to knock a door and we ended up teaching a man who is suffering a lot and just needed a pick me up. He is out of town 6 months to work in the fields, but he loved us and called us angels. It reminded me so much of the Saviors life, which we will celebrate this week. He suffered so much but he still loved everyone. He still served. He still kept going. This week as we celebrate Christs perfect life, perfect suffering, and perfect resurrection, I pray that we live our lives with a little bit more happiness. I wish to share with you a favorite Primary hymn: 

I know

What does the Father ask of us? What do the scriptures say?

Have faith, have hope, live like his Son, help others on their way.

What does he ask? Live like his Son

I know that our lives are difficult. Some of us are full time workers, full time moms, full time students, and with full time problems. But the Savior of the world came to give us this Hope. HE invites us to live like Him. Not to live His life, but to work to obtain His attributes and to help others. I testity that as we go through our own problems, we need to help others. Everyone has problems. Everyone needs help. But only Christ can solve them. I finish my letter with a quote:

Now let me describe to you what faith in Jesus Christ means. Faith in Him is more than mere acknowledgement that He lives. It is mopre than professing belief. Faith in Jesus Christ consists of compelte reliance on Him. As God, He has infinite power, intelligence, and love. There is no human problem beyond his capacity to solve. Because He descended below all things, He knows how to help us rise above our daily difficulties. --Ezra TAft Benson

I love you all and pray that we all can lend a helping hand this Easter.

For a dollar!

Elder Risueño

Keep On Keeping On (Week 36)

Hello Family and friends!

Happy Monday! I surely hope that this week has been amazing for each
of you and that you can feel my love and joy coming from this internet
cafe here in Tarija. This past week has been pretty gnarly. Im slowly
getting the member who cooks lunch for us to lower down the amount of
food she gives us because it makes me SUPER TIRED and slow. And the
Spirit doesnt work when all Elder Risueño wants is a nap. She
Paraguaya so I have to be super nice and slow with her so she doesnt
feel offended but I can NOT eat like 3 plates of rice and chicken,
lady! Anyway, other crazy thing is I broke out with a CRAZY rash on my
arms. I didnt get a picture, but itll probably come back so Ill be
sure to snag a pic next time! Its from sun poisoning or something. But
I just have to buy me some meds and were good to go!

This week has been exactly what my subject line says. We have been
looking for people to teach and made contacts in the streets and then
weve had people not be at home, or not give us super good directions,
or other problems. And so it was one of those moments where I have had
to rely on the knowledge of my Savior Jesus Christ to help me keep on
keeping on. I love how at General Conference we were taught that this
life is not about endings, but everlasting beginnings. That even if we
have to stand alone to stand for whats right, at least were standing
on the correct side! That love is the answer for all that we do and
all that we will do inthis life.

This week I am going to start putting together the announcements so
that music classes start up here in the coming weeks. I couldnt be
more excited. The members are awesome, and they need ways to invite
their friends to activities! When we knock on doors, we find super
Catholic people who dont want us, but they ALWAYS love my name! So I
try to get my name stuck in as quickly as possible so they smile and
realize that we missionaries are good people!

Anyway, as of this week, we are going to make a 360 in the work here
in Tabladita. I am going to pray even more. I am going to love even
more. I am going to make sure that the Lord is with me in each step.
And if I dont feel him with me, I will make sure I go back to He who
must be with me in every step. I ask that if you are looking for a
service to perform, my companion Elder Jhonatan Zavaleta is super
awesome and has yet to receive one card in the mission. Dont feel like
you have to send him something big or in Spanish, just a simple Thank
you card would help a ton. Do what you all can to translate it and
just let him know how awesome he is. Its hard sometimes to get along,
but let me tell you how much I love my companion. We are working so
hard to help these people see the goodness of us as missionaries.
Please write him if you can to the same place you send me letters.

I wish to finish this weekly email with lyrics from a hymn of hope:

When dark clouds of trouble hang o'er us
And threaten our peace to destroy,
There is hope smiling brightly before us,
And we know that deliv'rance is nigh.
We doubt not the Lord nor his goodness.
We've proved him in days that are past.
The wicked who fight against Zion
Will surely be smitten at last.

My dear family, let us not let the clouds that overhang us destroy our
smiles. We know that delivrance isnigh. We know the Lord loves us and
has protected us and will continue to protect us. This week I will be
on the search for families to teach and bless and I hope that you guys
do the same. Find someone who needs of your love.

I love my family and I love my dad. Dad, keep up the fight and keep
walking with me. I know you can do it! And Sparky, happy late
birthday! If my dog would have been a human, he wouldhave been
baptized this week. Happy 8 years, Sparkle.

For a dollar!
Elder Risueño
P.S. If you are sending packages, keep to USPS. They arent going
through other systems now to pick stuff up! Love y'all!

Okay, so a quick story to maybe help yall smile!!!

So a few nights ago we were walking in the rain and it was one of
those Les Miz moments when the pavement shined like silver and all the
lights were misty in the river. So what did I do? Sang On My Own...
Well the few parts I remembered. I realized that I really have been
out in the mission for 9 months because I couldnt remember like the
entire song. DANG IT! But it was fun. Yay for Rain!