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!

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

Sin Virguenza! (Week 34)

Happy Monday!! Wow. This week has been crazy. I’m not going to lie, it’s been hard! But God always has something for me to learn so that I can share with y’all, so let’s be patient and see how much LOVE God has for us!

So let’s start out with some things that’ll make you smile:

So you know that I eat A TON right? So we are fed lunch by a member each day, but dinner is on our own. But my comp and I don’t find much work from the hours of 2 till 5 because people nap, so we usually work during our dinner hour. So sometimes during the day, well stop by members so we can use safe bathrooms and just get some juice, and the members know I eat a lot so now they’re feeding us some food! Well knock on the door and talk and then the member may ask, Elder Risueño, ¿tiene hambre? My answer: CLARO! Of course.  And then they feed us a bit. Of course, My big toe and I are super grateful and its awesome. Well, my comp just laughs and says SIN VIRGUENZA! Which means WITHOUT SHAME! because I am honest about my hunger. That may contribute to the reason I’ve gained like 20 lbs here. Oops.

I also went to the SWAP MEET! Holla! My poor shirts are being trampled by the heat here because they get dried by the humidity so I took out 25 bucks and went with a goal to get some good bargains! and I DID! Ahh it felt so good! 3 shirts for 4 bucks each and a pair of shorts for 10 bucks? Thank you parents for teaching me well. That’s right! And I hope you enjoy the pictures of the shirts. They’re super fun. 

So we also had a conference with a 70 this week... more on that later... but President said that EVERYTHING changes this week. The new Assistant to him? a missionary with 8 months in the mission who has only trained a new missionary. President is going off of pùre revelation! it doesn’t matter WHERE we serve, it matters HOW we serve! So who knows? Maybe next week I’ll be Zone Leader! (For those of you who don’t understand this jargon, consult my dad. THANKS!)

So the work this week? Oh guys. It was a chocolate week. Which means ROUGH. Monday night we found our only investigator close to a baptismal date super drunk. I cried. It was hard. The next morning? We went to another investigator who told us she didn’t want to talk to us anymore. I cried. It was hard. The same thing happened to another. GAHHH. But I wasn’t about to give up on God! HECK NO! So Wednesday morning, I got on my knees, turned on some hymns and prayed and offered my whole soul to God. I was confused. We had nothing. And I just asked what HE would have me do. As I was praying, the words to a hymn just struck me to the core:

I need thee ev'ry hour,

Most holy One.

Oh, make me thine indeed,

Thou blessed Son!

As I pondered upon these words, I wondered what it meant to made into God wants me to be made. What does it mean that I have to do? Be humble, have confidence in Him, to be patient, and more things. I kept thinking about this and it reminded me of my old job as a swim instructor. Every 2 weeks I would have new kids arrive to teach and they would be SO EXCITED to swim. Even if they didn’t know anything, they wanted to be like ME! So we would talk and then it would be time for them to go out one on one with me. That’s when problems came. Some would cry, or tense up, or just not trust me. I would have my hands on their arms to SHOW THEM the motions, but if they were tense, nothing would work. Sometimes it would require an effort on my part to sing to them, to counsel, but more importantly to love them. Once they saw that love, they would calm down and repeat the motions I had shown them as I, in essence, acted for their hands. 

As I thought about that, my life changed as a missionary. I realized that I had become one of those children who was tense and didn’t understand what God was doing and I hadn’t trusted Him totally. I realized that maybe it didn’t matter how many had rejected me, but if I was willing to find the one whom HE had prepared for me. I continued to realize that the hymn mentioned above isn’t about our Heavenly Father, but our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the one who suffered for us. He is the one who felt our pains, our burdens, and took them upon us so that we could come to him. Once my swim students got to a point of knowing a bit, I let them swim into my arms. I was always ahead of them ready to come to me. Even when they didn’t have their goggles on and couldn’t see, I never left them. I loved them. 

As I have come to realize that this week, I have come to change my entire perspective of my life as a missionary. I feel like my lessons have become out of much more love than I have ever given these Bolivians. I just want them to feel the love their Savior has for them. A member of the Quorum of the 70 visited us and said that we have brought 8,000 members back to activity in the past few months. Missionaries in 5 countries have helped them remember of the love God has had for them and will have for them. He taught of how we can receive personal revelation as missionaries and the attributes we must work to possess to deliver this message. It’s a continuous process. I testify of that.

After that conference, my companion and I GOT TO WORK! We found families to teach and were so happy. While none of them went to church, we still looked forward. As I walked to church without investigators, yet again, I envisioned God moving my arms and just whispering to me that it’ll all be okay. I sure hope this helps you all this week. I know that the Lord is willing to send me through trials so that you all can be uplifted. I love each of you. We may not email back and forth, but I assure that you that this work I do is with you all in mind. I continue to sing to the blind, to love them; to sing to the handicapped, to love them. And I hope that my emails sing to you.

I wish to close with this thought by Neal A Maxwell:

God does not begin by asking about our ability, but only about our availability, and if we then prove our dependability, he will increase our capability.

I love ya’ll! Now let’s get to work and show these people some smiles!

For a dollar. :) 

Elder Risueño

PABLO GOT BAPTIZEDDDDD!!!!!! (Week 33)

FAMILY!

I dont know how many thousands of you were praying for Pablo, but he got baptized! Im not kidding how much of a miracle it was. Ready? so before someone gets baptized they need an interview... the Zone Leaders said it needed to be at 7 on the DOT so they could book it to their lesson. This was the day before teh baptism. So we told Pablo at 630 he needed to be home. He studies from 2pm till 6 so he said hed be there... so we waited and waited and waited and waited and NOTHING. 7:15 and we were freaking. I prayed and teared up a bit and was frustrated and called a member who said he wasnt home so we couldnt go in his taxi. Well, I kind of said, OH WELL WE WANTED YOU TO ACCOMPANY US TO A LESSON! and he said hed do his best and we ended the call. So a few minutes later we walked to the main avenue and the MEMBER SHOWED UP! So after I had invited him to go with us he dropped EVERYTHING to wait for us to show up at his house. Recent convert from heaven. No joke. So we looked and drove and looked and nothing! so last resort we made one last circle for Pablo and my companion saw him walking with his friends like NOTHING! ahhh so we patiently called him and took him to the interview and he was baptized the next day! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!!! But yeah, thanks guys. And thanks, God. Such a miracle.

So the work and life here in Bolivia! Ready for another story? So we had interviews this week and President spoke of how grateful he is for my attitude! What? So I guess my weekly letters with LOVE YOU and happiness really animate him for the week. Long story short people: It doesnt matter how hard your life is, just try to make people smile. It was such a great reminder that we can change the world one smile at a time. We also spoke to our Mission Presidents wife as a companionship and she was grateful that we were missionaries who caused no worries. I realized, THATS LOVE! Maybe being a drama queen to my parents WASNT the best idea as a teenager. Whatever, they love me. 

Oh! so the micros are CRAZY and they are like indiana jones standing up and moving from the back of the car to the front and I always yell ME VOY when I fall. I definitely squished two ladies when I flew. And Im not ashamed of this because they all know Im gringo. ME VOY! (It means Im going!) 

So investigators wise, its been a bit hard. Elder Chura and I lost all of our investigators with a baptismal date due to lack of motivation, they moved, or just didnt want to talk to us. The work of salvation that we do states that its all about the members and no more door knocking. But we tried door knocking and everyone knows us and has no want to talk to us! What? OH NO! Thats so not possible. So we will go forth. Last night I was meditaing on my bed and was like, God, what can I do? Im worthy! Im ready to work. What more do you want? 

It was then, that I realized that at that point I was content with where I was. I didnt see a need for me to change. But we always need to. If we are not consistently trying to change some small part of our lives, then our lives have no purpose. Thats my personal goal this week that I invite you to do this week, too. To find something small that you can work on to show God that you will be a little better this week. That you want to grow closer to Him so that He can grow closer to you.

The great Ralph Waldo Emerson taught the following:

What you are is Gods gift to you; what you do to yourself is your gift to God.

It is my hope that we can give God a little bit more of who we are. At the intervew I had with President he told me that I needed to say goodbye to this ward because I am going to a new area. Immediately after, he told my companion to help me prepare to train this next transfer. Well, here comes life. I still have another week to give more to God before I am put to train one of his precious new missionaries. For

May our prayers echo this hymn, Lead me into life eternal:

Father, all my heart I give thee;

All my service shall be thine.

Guide me as I search in weakness;

Let thy loving light be mine.

Hear me as I pray in meekness;

Let my strength be as thy day.

Give me faith, the greater knowledge;

Father, bless me as I pray. 

For a dollar,

Elder Risueño

Miss me yet?! (Week 32)

Hey there family!

Holy goodness, has it been two weeks? Well, it sure has! I love you all so much and I am so grateful to be here in Bolivia. No joke, Im sitting in an internet cafe right next to a street called Santos DuMont which is inside the segund ring of Santa Cruz. My life is crazy... If you think the highways of California are crazy, imagine living in circles, literally!

So anyway, special shoutouts to the people sending me AWESOME pacakges and such. Just so yall know I got them... Ashley and BREMMERS! I about cried when I saw my Valentines package and the package for Elder Vallejo. He was SO HAPPY and it made me proud of my family. Mom and dad, the chocolate package was just opened and given some love... Along with the package of necessities! SOCKS! Thank you Bremmers for socks, too! Thanks brits, ashley, meagan, and Bro Schenck for your letters and books and such! Oh the mission. Its crazy and full of happiness.

So Carnaval here in Santa Cruz is CRAZY! We didnt get to go out, but we saw people spraying each other with paint guns, I even got hit a bit on my shirt. :( and they do some unholy things, but mostly water balloons and paint each other! I think Ashley Bremmer would love it. Hahaha

My companion and I celebrated DAds birthday during then too! We bought RED ROBBINesque burgers. Mom and dad went out to eat for my birthday, so I called in some burgers. SO GOOD! I did tear up a bit because its been so long.

My health! Its so much better. I gave up soy milk, Im totally hooked on fruits and chocolate. Im not eating as much bread as I want, but Im not as tired either! Who knew that after 19.5 years of life I would learn how to exercise and eat right?! Thats what happens when McDonalds isnt too close hahaha...

So we did have so many miracles this week! AHHH I am so grateful for the Lord. Pablo, a youth weve been teaching, is hoping to be baptized THIS SATURDAY!!! He hasnt talked to his dad, and his mom said shes cool with it, but his dad is the one were waiting on. I so hope DAds birthday will include a baptism...

I forgot! A few weeks ago we got 3 people who were inactive, to be officially ACTIVE! And this past week we visited 2 of them, and one is working for the other and repairing relationships with his wife! Oh the joys of seeing peoples faces as they see the blessings of the gospel. My companion and I are definitely struggling to find people to teach, and we are praying so much, but we are also trusting in the Lord. You have no idea how amazing it is to see the Lord guide you to people and to teach them and give them the chance to accept the gospel. THATS THE POINT! I dont pray that the Lord will guide me to baptisms, I pray that he will guide me to people just so theyll have the chance to accept our message.

So you ready for what I did this past Carnaval? well, President gave us study time and we were given about 6 hours of free time or what not. He also gave us a challenge to memorize THE LIVING CHRIST. Granted, I dont remember ever reading it in English, but I decided to memorize it! Why not? Im an actor! And so my companion and I did. And you guys, I cant adequately express my love for this prophetic declaration.. Mom, if you can put the link here, that would be great. The Living Christ Memorizing in full this testimony has changed my mission. It has made me realize the importance of Jesus Christ in my life and in the lives of others. My companion and I frequently quote the words in our lessons to help these people understand that praying to know the Book of Mormon is true doesnt just tell them that our church is true... It gives them another witness that Jesus loves all his children. That he talks to us TODAY and will not forget us. This memorization will forever bring me closer to God. I love my Savior. I love my Heavenly Father.

President George Q. Cannon said: “No matter how serious the trial, how deep the distress, how great the affliction, [God] will never desert us. He never has, and He never will. He cannot do it. It is not His character. He is an unchangeable being; the same yesterday, the same today, and He will be the same throughout the eternal ages to come. We have found that God. We have made Him our friend, by obeying His Gospel; and He will stand by us. We may pass through the fiery furnace; we may pass through deep waters; but we shall not be consumed nor overwhelmed. We shall emerge from all these trials and difficulties the better and purer for them, if we only trust in our God and keep His commandments”

My dear family, that is my testimony. That our Heavenly Father loves us. He will forever be with us and help us. We are working with 2 couples... One couple wants to get married, another on the brink of divorce. One is an investigator, the other Less Actives. BOTH have kids. I testify that my work here is for a reason. That the Atonement of Jesus Christ is the cement of my religion and my belief. That without the Atonement, and a knowledge of Gods love, my life would be of no worth.

This week I invite you to read the Living Christ, personally, and ponder upon its meanings. It was written by a prophet and 12 apostles, the same organization that Christ himself had when we was on the Earth. After you have done those two things, I invite you to pray to your Heavenly Father and ask him if he truly has prophets on the Earth. I promise you that if you are humble, and truly seeking for an answer, you shall find it. That is my objective as a missionary. Im not perfect. But I am willing to learn each day. And for this, the Lord can work through me.

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose

I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;

That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

I'll never, no never, I'll never, no never,

I'll never, no never, no never forsake!

(How firm a foundation, hymn 85)

For a dollar!

Elder Risueño

P.S. Dont forget my dads birthday is the 15th! Love ya pops!