Hello family!
Can you all just take a second to listen to some Taylor Swift because I DONT KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT IM FEELING TWENTY, TOO! I have literally waited over a year to start singing that. Holla.
Anyway, some cool stuff about this week. The coolest? I went on exchanges again with my good friend Elder Gygi. We started the mission at the same time, and have served half of our missions in the same zone. Last exchange we went on was back in December so it was nice to get back together. And then we realized the first time we had been
companions for a day was Tuesday, August 27th, 2013 when we flew from Peru to Bolivia. And 52 weeks later, on Tuesday August 26th, 2014, we were comps yet again! So fun! And we ate Mac n Cheese and sang Nacho
Libre! Fun life!
Ready for even crazier news? So I want y'all to go back to when I came here to Tarija, back in March. The ward secretary bore his testimony my first sunday and said that he felt that the Spirit had told him that I was sent to the ward to teach and baptize his father… That was 5 months ago. And we have worked and his father is getting baptize... THIS SATURDAY!! MY BIRTHDAY! I know! Dreams do come true. I love little old Fernando Villegas and he is so ready to be baptized. Yay!
So this week has been kind of hard as usual, but I always find some sort of happiness. So we went to visit a family going through a LOT of struggles and we visited them every day. Becuase they needed the love. So one day we were talking and Bro Mario is sick with stomach problems, his wife is working and is a little sick, and there are family problems. Sounds like my family! And he just kept talking about how once he has his surgery all will be better and if they only had the money to have the surgery life would be perfect. As he spoke, I opened my scriptures, but not to a scripture, I simply took out a laminated photo of my dad and me. I told the man of my familys story. How we thought all would be back to normal once they took out my dads pancreas. But once that happened, it didnt get better. That was 7 years ago and were still fighting this illness. And I told them that my family is sealed in a holy temple, my sister and I are both on missions, and my parents love and serve the Lord. But wait! Don't we have a ton of trials and isn't life hard? Yes. But we have decided to smile and serve because that's all we can do. We literally have nothing left. We do what we can and leave the rest to the Lord. No excuses. This family sat there astounded. Everyone knows me as the smiliest missionary ever, but they don't know what I've been through. And that's what I want. But there are times when people need to know that since JESUS CHRIST is the center of our beliefs and our religion, He must
also be at the center of our lives.
I am so grateful for my parents and my sister who have both taken to heart the meaning of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. That because of our Savior and Redeemer, we can overcome our imperfections just as much as we will all overcome death. But there are problems that will always be there. And there is a person who will walk with us just as we walk battle life's stormy seas.
I know many of you have sent emails and cards, THANK YOU, but I ask for each of you to make a decision to serve the Lord by serving others.
Can you all just take a second to listen to some Taylor Swift because I DONT KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT IM FEELING TWENTY, TOO! I have literally waited over a year to start singing that. Holla.
Anyway, some cool stuff about this week. The coolest? I went on exchanges again with my good friend Elder Gygi. We started the mission at the same time, and have served half of our missions in the same zone. Last exchange we went on was back in December so it was nice to get back together. And then we realized the first time we had been
companions for a day was Tuesday, August 27th, 2013 when we flew from Peru to Bolivia. And 52 weeks later, on Tuesday August 26th, 2014, we were comps yet again! So fun! And we ate Mac n Cheese and sang Nacho
Libre! Fun life!
Ready for even crazier news? So I want y'all to go back to when I came here to Tarija, back in March. The ward secretary bore his testimony my first sunday and said that he felt that the Spirit had told him that I was sent to the ward to teach and baptize his father… That was 5 months ago. And we have worked and his father is getting baptize... THIS SATURDAY!! MY BIRTHDAY! I know! Dreams do come true. I love little old Fernando Villegas and he is so ready to be baptized. Yay!
So this week has been kind of hard as usual, but I always find some sort of happiness. So we went to visit a family going through a LOT of struggles and we visited them every day. Becuase they needed the love. So one day we were talking and Bro Mario is sick with stomach problems, his wife is working and is a little sick, and there are family problems. Sounds like my family! And he just kept talking about how once he has his surgery all will be better and if they only had the money to have the surgery life would be perfect. As he spoke, I opened my scriptures, but not to a scripture, I simply took out a laminated photo of my dad and me. I told the man of my familys story. How we thought all would be back to normal once they took out my dads pancreas. But once that happened, it didnt get better. That was 7 years ago and were still fighting this illness. And I told them that my family is sealed in a holy temple, my sister and I are both on missions, and my parents love and serve the Lord. But wait! Don't we have a ton of trials and isn't life hard? Yes. But we have decided to smile and serve because that's all we can do. We literally have nothing left. We do what we can and leave the rest to the Lord. No excuses. This family sat there astounded. Everyone knows me as the smiliest missionary ever, but they don't know what I've been through. And that's what I want. But there are times when people need to know that since JESUS CHRIST is the center of our beliefs and our religion, He must
also be at the center of our lives.
I am so grateful for my parents and my sister who have both taken to heart the meaning of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. That because of our Savior and Redeemer, we can overcome our imperfections just as much as we will all overcome death. But there are problems that will always be there. And there is a person who will walk with us just as we walk battle life's stormy seas.
I know many of you have sent emails and cards, THANK YOU, but I ask for each of you to make a decision to serve the Lord by serving others.
There is a hymn (a family favorite!) thats teaches the following:
Savior, may I love my brother
As I know thou lovest me
Find in thee my strength, my beacon
For thy servant, I would be.
Savior, may I love my brother
Lord, I would follow thee.
I testify that He is our only strength that will be able to help us each day. I testify that He is our only beacon to guide us through each dark night. And as we prepare for celestial glory, we may also realize that the glory in such places as temples come from the glory of Christ. So if we are preparing to receive the glory of the Sun, we are also preparing to emulate the glory, and love, of the Son.
With my last weekly email as a TEENager,
Elder Risueño... The almost 20 year old.
As I know thou lovest me
Find in thee my strength, my beacon
For thy servant, I would be.
Savior, may I love my brother
Lord, I would follow thee.
I testify that He is our only strength that will be able to help us each day. I testify that He is our only beacon to guide us through each dark night. And as we prepare for celestial glory, we may also realize that the glory in such places as temples come from the glory of Christ. So if we are preparing to receive the glory of the Sun, we are also preparing to emulate the glory, and love, of the Son.
With my last weekly email as a TEENager,
Elder Risueño... The almost 20 year old.
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