The loss of my big toe nail... :) (Week 52)

Well family,

Each week we all seem to be amazed with what I write and I am too! Haha this week has been so different, but so magnificent. I pray that the words I am writing will touch you and help you in each of your struggles.

So the day before Leo and Moises baptism about a week and a half ago, I felt a SEARING pain in my toe. And I avoided it. BAD CHOICE. I waited till Monday and showed it to my pensionista and she did her own surgery which hurt but didnt solve the problem. So Wednesday I humbled myself and went to the doctor. For my close family and friends, you know how sacred my big toe is in my family. It is practically a member of the family it is so big. So when the doctor looked at it and said, we are taking the whole toe nail, a part of me died. And I am a big baby. I am not ashamed of being a mommys boy. So she started with one injection of anesthesia, but because my toe is SO BIG (thanks Aunt Janet for always making sure my big toe was full) it took FOUR injections to calm the pain for the sucker. And it still hurt. I still screamed and was not happy. And there was one super important part that happened:

So the pain was not going away and the doctor was working on my toe and stopped the surgery and said the following: 

Look, your toe is infected and there is puss. The anesthesia doesnt take care of the pain that comes from this so youll have to get through it without help.
Dang it. I looked around. Mom wasnt there. No gringos were there. I was surrounded by foreign people. And I asked my companion for a pillow to hold and I didnt even have that. So I just grabbed the side of the bed and the only thing that came to mind was to shout really loudly the texts to I am a child of God and Families can be together forever. And so inbetween yells of pain, I managed to squeeze out a reminder that I was a child of a Heavenly Father who loves me and also earthly parents who love me. I know it may not seem so brave to have done that, but to me it was. I could have cursed God in English or said WHY ME or something like that. But I chose to thank God for what He had given me. And when the pain became unbearable, I cried in a vocal prayer asking for God to send someone to help me with the pain, and I didnt feel anything. and it was then I realized that the Savior had been with me all along. That he had sent angels long before I had asked him too.

I have thought so much about that moment. Sometimes we get so focused on praying for God to help us get through a trial or for Him to give us the help we need, but do we ever think that maybe he has already ¨been there and done that¨? I know that each of you is suffering, but are you changing your vision to see Gods care for you? 

More holiness give me,

More strivings within,

More patience in suff'ring,

More sorrow for sin,

More faith in my Savior,

More sense of his care,

More joy in his service,

More purpose in prayer.

Thats a hymn that I have read and sung many times this week. I see this verse as a step by step process. We have desires to receive holiness, and that leads us to have greater desires, but greater trials as well. As we recognize our weaknesses and sins, it gives us more faith in the One who can take away these struggles, and that leads to our awareness of Him in our lives, a joy that comes as we serve Him, and better prayers that come from knowing Him.

The day after my surgery I went to get my toe cleaned, and while on the way in a taxi, I spoke to a young lady for a good minute or toe (two. haha punny). I took down her contact info and gave it to the sisters. Last night as I was asking the sisters for how many investigators had a baptismal date, they said that this young lady and her mother both have baptismal dates. Ana was looking for someone to help her grow closer to Christ and she found it as I chose to see my life with Christ by my side, not just with Christ when I need Him.

I am fine now. I am walking well and we are teaching. I love each of you and I love my trials. I love my earthly father who was ordained an Elder 30 years ago, tomorrow. I am sure he was unaware of the trials that he would endure at that tender age of 19, just as I am unaware of the same now. But in the past 30 years he has continued to go forth and has done the Lords work, regardless of his struggles. And I will do the same.

For a dollar!
Elder Risueño

Take Gods Hand! (Week 51)

Hello my amazing family!

I just hope all is well with you guys. No big, but I did get to
baptize two people this week. And I only had to repeat one of them! My
amazing young friend Leo let his knee fly up so we had to do it again,
and I was moving him AWAY from the wall he thought I was dunking him
again and I was like NO! We have to say the prayer, too! Good teaching
time and it was fun for the both of us.

This past Monday, my pension loved me enough to make me SOPA PODEROSA,
a common soup here in Bolivia which is filled with vegetables and
juevo de torro. And torros don't lay eggs, so use your brain, people.
AND IT WAS SO GOOD! Big and good. And full of vitamns so they say. I
asked her to make it for my year mark lunch! Hahaha and for the main
dish? Cow heart on kabob sticks... How I love that lady! So delicious.

We also had the opportunity to have interviews with our mission
president and his wife. So its something super special because it only
comes once every 3 or 4 months so everyone prays and all that jazz. So
I got to my interview and the topic? Organization. No joke. Im just
super overwhelmed sometimes because I'm still super crazy in all the
thoughts I have and I cant focus and I still lose things and I was
just having a hard time. And then President gave me some great advice,
but for a time I could have SWORN it was my mother speaking. I wanted
to respond, Thanks mom, but I didn't because I'm not sassy anymore and
because I thought of that sassy remark AFTER the interview, Thank you
holy Spirit. But I am just super in love with life.

I really love seeing how much I am changing and how much I am able to
be a missionary even with weaknesses! Like, why would God want me to
serve him when sometimes I dont' even know what my investigators need?
Oh wait. It teaches HUMILITY. And it teaches us how much we need God
in our lives and how we NEED to pray to Him to figure out what to do
and where to go in life. And He loves to remind us how much we need
Him by giving us weaknesses! How amazing! We fall and hes like, Oh
here, take my hand and I'll lead you to eternal happiness. But
sometimes we act like two year olds and just sit there crying until we
realize that crying doesn't get us anywhere, thanks mom for that, and
we take His hand and walk into happiness. I love this verse from 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.

Guys, people ALWAYS tell me that I smile a ton and I'm like NO DUH! I
love God and I serve Him the best I can! I invite you all to do the
same. Just do the best you can and let God fill in the rest. If you're
too busy frustrated or crying or just being selfish, get on your knees
and pray. That's the best answer and only answer that'll bring you
everlasting happiness.

I love you all and I loved having a less active I rescued give me the
sacrament yesterday. Hes preparing for the mission now! YAY!

For a dollar!
Elder Risueño

As an Authorized Representative of Jesus Christ (Week 50)

Hello Family!

Happy Monday. I really hope all is well with you all and that you are
enjoying the warm summer weather in the US! This week has been crazy,
and I cant wait to share with you some of the happenings:

On a happier note, I found PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY this week! Yay me!
I shared it with my companion and we are both just so happy to have
our lives touched by such a blessing as a PBnJ sandwich!

So on a sadder note, Thomas isn't getting baptized. Well, not for a
while. He had a baptismal date set for last Saturday and he told us he
was ready and all that, but something happened and when we went to
visit him on Wednesday to see how he was, he pelted us with doubts and
stuff and it was a long lesson. I have never been so tired and so
focused on the Spirit to see how I could help him. It came down to
being time to get home and I just said a prayer and I told him, ¨Hno
Thomas, as an authorized representative of Jesus Christ, I testify…¨
and that's all I remember. I think that's all that matters. That I
shared with him that I had the power to tell him that Satan could
never win and would never win. That is what I learned. That as an
authorized representative of Jesus Christ, I had the authority of the
priesthood. Satan will never have that power and he will never win.

On a good note, we brought a FAMILY back to reactivity. They have been
to church enough, and have had interviews that they are no longer less
actives. We also are so ready for the two young jovens to be baptized
this Saturday! And we are filling out mission papers for the son to go
on a mission!

Just yesterday a sister came up to me and asked me if I would baptize
her 8 year od son this Wednesday. How special it will be, on the year
anniversary of my being set apart as a missionary, I will enter the
waters of baptism for the first time! And then on Saturday I will go
in again to baptize Leo Paocara.

This morning I watched a video that Ellyn sent me and she reminded me
that the most important change in our missions is OURSELVES! And that
is what I have thought about all this week. With the problems with
Thomas, but also with the joys of other people, I have to see who I am
becoming at the end of each day. Exactly one year ago today, at my
farewell, my good friend Rachel Lockhart sang the following:

I need thee evry hour most Holy One
Oh make me thine indeed, thou blessed son.

Guys, lets just reflect on those inspiring lyrics. What does it mean
to be made His? What kind of work does that include from us? I can
tell you it is not an overnight task. It is a lifelong task. It is a
task for eternity. But that is my deepest wish. That no matter how
many baptisms or rescues I have, no matter how high my numbers are
each week, that I am becoming more like my Savior. I promise each of
you at home that He needs us just as much as we need Him. There are
people to comfort, people to console, and people to save. And if we do
what He wants us to do, regardless of our imperfections, we will find
real purpose in our life.
I need thee, Oh I need thee,
Evry hour I need thee.
Oh, bless me now my Savior
I come to thee.
And happy one year mark to me this year. :)
Elder Risueño

DONT BLOW OUT THE CANDLE! (Week 49)

AHHHHHHHH!!!

You know that moment in Princess Diaries where Mayra sings Miracles
happen once in a while when you believe... Ya I definitely have been
singing that all week this week.

Some funnies:
Monday my COMPANION lost the keys.. NOT I! And so we had to climb in
the house through ladder and members had to help us. Love it! That
same day we ate chicken feet and chicken gizzard! I don't know where
the gizzard is located exactly, but yeah I know more or less. SO
GOOD. We also ate cow stomach!

This week we also had pizza from a great american place... thanks mom
and dad! And we ate hamburgers! so great!

I think there are more, but I forgot. READY FOR THE MIRACLES?!!

So we have 3 baptisms lined up for these next two weeks! Thomas is SO
READY to be baptized and he is excited. That's this Saturday... AND the
two jovenes got their parents permission to be baptized the 18th! A
MIRACLE! Fasts and prayers answered. They are also preparing to go to
the temple to do baptisms so I of COURSE bought some stuff to help
them get to the temple! I just want to be like THANK YOU EVERYONE AND
GOD FOR YOUR PRAYERS!

We also found a contact and we gave him a pamphlet to read and he was
kind of interested and when we came back he said that he felt that
his eyes had been opened when he had read the pamphlet and told us
then and there he wants to be baptized! YAY!

We have so many more miracles, but I am just so excited for these simple ones.

Now a quick story so the subject makes sense:
So we went to visit a family dealing with some problems and turns out
the power went out! So I was like YAY! TEACHING MOMENT! So we took out
the hymn book and sang the following:
The Lord is my light
The Lord is my strength
I know in his might
Ill conquer at length
My weakness in in mercy
He covers with power
And walking by faith I am blessed every hour!

How beautiful! So we prayed and then I blew out the only candle that
gave us light in the dark. The daughter got super scared and we just
sat there in the dark. And I was like How does it feel? Scary, bad,
etc. And then I told them that we are SO BLESSED to have the light of
Christ with us and that Christs light will never burn itself out, WE
WILL be the ones to blow it out. So no matter how hard our trials are,
no matter how crazy life is, we must NOT blow out that light. That
candle that leads us through the darkness. We cant progress in
darkness, and so we know that we always need light to guide us.

I testify that the light of Christ is the best gift the world has been
given. I invite you all to relight that candle if it is not burning
right now. We do that through prayer. And if it is burning, but needs
some more flame, we need to add some scripture study and church
attendance. I miss you all and love you a ton! :)
For a dollar!
Elder Risueño

GO FORTH WITH LOVE! (week 48)

My dearest family,

Let me just start this out again by thanking you for the many prayers
on my behalf and for all of the support you give me throughout the
days. The prayers, the EVERYTHING. It is officially WINTER here in
Tarija and it is DARN COLD! We don't have heaters so we just bundle up
and keep working. But I love it because it reminds me of the good ole
BYUI days. My comp saw snow on the mountains and got so happy because
he has never seen snow before!

Music classes are going well. I LOVE IT! and I also got to play
Consider the Lillies as a piano solo yesterday and I MISS MUSIC! The
ward asked me to play solos each Sunday just to help bring the Spirit
in. YAY! Well see what happens...

Work wise:

My comp and I followed Ellyn's advice about fasting and fasted... It
was hard, but good. We are looking for FAMILIES! And we felt the Lords
hand in our lives as we had more members go with us to lessons. We
have found families, we just havent been able to teach them. I feel
the Lord responded to our desires by just helping us work better
together. I LOVE THE GOSPEL!

Our two jovenes, Moises and Leo are both progressing so well and just
loving church. They told their mom they are preparing to go to the
temple and she said its too holy for them! hahaha, mothers. BUT we need
dads permission to get baptized. They want me to baptize them and I
want to baptize them but we need permission! Tomorrow we'll teach them
about fasting and invite them to fast so they can get baptized...
PRAYERS!

Now the rough part:
Hna Carmen, the lady with cancer and to whom we sang many times,
passed away this week. We went with the bishop to say goodbyes Tueday
night and he blessed her to enter into the Lords rest peacefully. One
of the best moments of my mission happened with her: She was in a ton
of pain and couldn't speak because of a clenched jaw, but she could see
and think fine. So I went to see her eye to eye and her face lit up
and she said HERMANO RISUEÑO! GRACIAS... and then I lost it. Forget
the fact that we are from different countries and such, but I am a 19
year old young man who has been called of God to preach His gospel and
to tell His children that they are loved. That's amazing. Hna Carmen
changed my life. We haven't been able to teach her family because they
live far away, but I know that we will have moments to do so.

As I have reflected on what to share with each of you, I have thought
of the importance that each of us to share the gospel. In his talk
this past April, Elder Ballard invited each person to get a hold of
Preach My Gospel, the guide to missionary work, and to read it! To
study it!and to apply it! He spoke of the joy that would come to all as
they share what they are learning in this god sent tool to be a
missionary! https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/following-up?lang=eng
That's the link to the talk. I invite you all to read it and think of
the difference you can make as you share the simple truths others
need! Start at the beginning of the book, or with the lessons, or
wherever! But just say a prayer that the Lord will guide you to those
who need His love. I would like to revisit a hymn I shared a few
months ago:
Go forth with love to tell the world
The joy of families--
That we may be with those we love
Thru all eternity.
Go forth to serve and do your best
With no thought of reward;
Then you shall know the boundless joy
Of serving Christ, the Lord.

I love you all and hope you all have a good week. I hope each of us
reaps the blessings mentioned above as we serve the Lord.

For a dollar and con mucho amor,
Elder Risueño

Hey There Family!!! (Week 47)

Hey there family!!

So Im super sorry about the email not getting you, I swear I wrote a letter and sent it, but thanks mom for being awesome and just smart as usual! Life is good!!

So the past week has been cray cray but good. Ready?

So I hit my 11 month mark this week! Holla!

Transfers came and I am still here in Tarija and that is good. I did happen to get a new companion! His name is Elder Fasabi. He is NOT chinese or cambodian. I thought he was. He is Peruvian. He and I are going home at the same time, so we are super happy to be best friends. He is 19, as well, and his brother is serving in Honduras as well, but in Tegucigalpa! He and I work so well together, are completely aware of our weaknesses, but are so willing to both call upon the Lord to help us as we work to help our investigators. He knows NOTHING of the Englihs language, but wants to have more job opportunities so we are working with English as much as we can in the mornings.

Thomas received the answer to his prayers!! On Monday he told us he didnt know if it was true and he was really skeptical but we said PRAY PRAY PRAY and he was like yeah okay. So we stopped by the house a few days later and he was like, I got my answer Ill tell ya later... and later came and he was like yeah, I know Joseph Smith was called of God. SCORE SCORE SCORE. We just have to wait for him to get home from his trip and the baptism will be planned! 

Our two teenagers are still waiting for their parents permission. Their mom is totally for it, and dad left yesterday for his 15 day trip to work in the fields. PRAYERS! Leo and Moises are just so amazing.

Aside from that, we are just praying that our investigators will progress this week. We are looking for new people, but we are also praying for better ways to help our investigators who are already learning about the gospel to progress. I am super happy right now with my companion and I know that the Lord is guiding us.

A bit of sad news: I have shared some storied about Hna Carmen, who has been battling cancer but has received such strength from the testimonies I have shared about dad. We visited her Saturday and Sunday, and she isnt doing well. I dont think she will make it another week she is so weak and the doctors arent really visiting her. We have been able to sing to her each time and just shared our love for her. She falls asleep as we sing and it is so beautiful to be there to strengthen her family. As I have spent some time contemplating these trials she is passing, my heart has been comforted by the following verse of How Firm a Foundation:
When through the deep waters I call thee to go,

The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o'erflow,

For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,

And sanctify to thee...thy deepest distress.

I testify my dearest family members and friends that the Lord who suffered for us, will also suffer with us. He loves us so much and we have chosen to come to this Earth to become transformed. To return to our Father in Heaven as people more like Him. I promise that though our troubles may be great, the love of our Father in Heaven and Savior are greater. I love each of you and I am grateful to be here. 

For a dollar,
Elder Risueño

I love daddy! (Week 45)

Happy Monday family!!

I hope all is well in the US and that you are enjoying the beautiful
weather! Here in Bolivia it still gets super cold at night, but Im in
love with the work here! We have definitely had some setbacks this
week, but we are continuing forth with the work! Hno Fernando, our
golden investigator, is not ready for this Saturday. He told us that
he wants to wait till he visits his son in Santa Cruz next month
before he gets baptized. The good news is that he wants to talk to his
son about baptism and invite his son to be baptized too! So that’s
good. But no baptism this week. Our other investigators with baptismal
dates each are passing through their own difficulties, but Elder
Zavaleta and I refuse to give up hope! That’s the beauty of being a
representative of Christ: We cant lose hope that others will change
because Christ has never lost hope that we will change!
Today I just want to focus on my dad because its Fathers Day this
Sunday. I had two chances to share some stories of my dad with others,
one of which I would love to share. We got to teach Hna Carmen once
this week and she was so excited because she was having a GOOD DAY.
That’s my dads life… The good days are always few and far between, but
taken advantage of. She spoke of how she had been praying but didn’t
know if God was listening or if her life had much meaning. She has
been suffering some trials healthwise, and as my companion was
teaching, I pulled out the photo of my dad and me and just smiled. I
thought of how much my father has suffered with his health, but the
hope and courage he has continued to show as he fights valiantly. I
thought to myself, Thank you Dad. That was all I wanted to say to him.
If my dad hadn’t been so strong, I wouldn’t have been able to testify
to these people how important it is to keep going. Even when we feel
like its not worth it, our family is what makes it worth it. My dad is
all I have and I don’t want him to think that its okay to give up,
because its not. This life isn’t just about our personal well being,
but the well being of those we love. My dad and I haven’t always been
super close, and we have had some crazy rough moments (thank you,
teenage years), but I love my dad so much. He has shown me the
definite example of the Atonement. He has suffered so much so that I
can be happy. So that I can be with him for this time. He has been
patient and loving, even when I was the opposite.
My cousin Suzie told me that my first sentence that I could articulate
as a child was I love daddy. That seems perfect to me, 19 years later.
Friday, as we were walking the dusty roads without anyone to talk to,
I took a few minutes to write a song to the tune of IM SO GLAD WHEN
DADDY COMES HOME. I call it IM SO GLAD WHEN DADDY WRITES ME because
when Dad writes me, it’s a good day. I hope you all enjoy.

Im so glad when Daddy writes me
Glad as I can be.
Clap my hands and shout for joy
And write him back quickly

I tell him that I love him so
He does so much for me!
And in the end hes my best friend—
I love Daddy! KISS NOISE!

Anyway, that’s it for this week. Thanks family for being awesome.
Thanks for your prayers. The work here is progressing and we are
hoping for baptisms in the coming weeks. I love the Lord and His
sacrifice.
For a dollar!
Elder Risueño