This week has probably been one of the coldest weeks of my
life ha-ha. I never thought it could be so cold in South
America. The humidity makes it so freezing down here. Every
morning in my studies I wear 3 pairs of pants, two shirts, a sweater, a
sweatshirt, and my huge jacket with a beanie and a scarf ha-ha. It is soo
cold!!! But besides that...
This week has been so awesome!!! Ah I love the mission sooo
much!
This past week i got a new companion. Elder Calderón!! He is
such a stud. He is from Peru
and loves to work. We have been getting along so great. We have just been going
going going, trabajando a full!! I have been learning so much from him and it
has only been 5 days. My Spanish is improving like crazy. I have been speaking
without having to think that much so that is a good sign. We are really good
friends already so we are talking all day long. I can’t wait to see what we do
in these next 6 weeks together. And to see where my Spanish is at after this
change.
So this week we had a ward activity. Noche de Barrio: La
Mejor Torta. It was about missionary work and was super fun. We had so many non
members come that we had found in the streets the past week so it was awesome.
Elder Calderón and I did two skits and then we had a few games, had a video,
and shared some scriptures at the end. Everyone brought a cake so it was pretty
awesome.
We have found so many new people this week so these next few
weeks are looking promising. It is so much easier getting into doors with Elder
Calderón because people always want to know why a gringo American is doing with
a Latino ha-ha. So that is a plus. But our lessons go super well now because
now that I am speaking Spanish all day I can understand a whole lot more of
what people are saying. We teach with really good unity too. This week has just
been going awesome so far!!
We did service this week at the house of the patriarch. We
pruned his trees and then chopped it all up to make fire wood for him.
This week we have been having new foods. While we were doing
service, the milk man came by and to deliver his milk (down here they deliver
it in old 2 liter bottles that they have) straight from the campo. We have
never used that because, Well I don’t really know why, but we always by the stuff
in the bags. Anyways, the guy liked that we were doing service so he gave us a
bottle of strawberry yogurt. Hah it is kind of sketchy but it tastes all right.
We just have to drink it pretty fast to avoid the after taste.
The other funny experience we had this past week was at
lunch. We were eating lunch with one of my favorite families in the ward. They
are so awesome. Anyways, we were eating the normal, a stew and bread because it
is really cold. The stew was really good. It had mondongo (cow stomach), chorizo,
and a whole bunch of rice and veggies. But in the middle of lunch, the dad gets
up and starts tying the bread bag and I think what the heck, that’s kind of
random, why is he doing that? Then he turns the bag and I see this rat in the
bag ha-ha. He just ties it, sets it on another table, and then comes back and
keeps eating with us like no biggy. Ha-ha. Hilarious. I hope it wasn’t
the same bread that we were eating. Ha-ha i just love being a missionary and
having the promise that no matter what we eat, its going to be for our
good.
Anyways, on a more spiritual note, I was reading in 3 Nephi
this past week and came across a scripture that I love. It is found is 3 Nephi
5 verse 13. Se dice:
He aquí, soy discípulo de Jesucristo, el Hijo de Dios. He sido llamado
por él para declarar su palabra entre los de su pueblo, a fin de que alcancen
la vida eterna. (Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I
have been acalled of him to declare his word among his
people, that they might have everlasting life.)
I just love this scripture so much. it describes the purpose
of a missionary. We are called to be Disciples of Christ. But not only
missionaries have this same charge. Every one of us at baptism made this
promise, to be a disciple of Christ. I believe it was Joseph Smith who said at
baptism we stepped out of neutral territory. We covenanted with God to be a
disciple in all times, things, and places. We should want to share the
knowledge that we have with others. A simple testimony to a friend or coworker,
simple acts of service, just being the person that He expects us to be. Through
these actions, we testify of Christ. People notice the difference and will
often want to know more. Just this past week, a member bore his testimony with
a friend, and now we are teaching him. It is so simple but powerful. So this is
my challenge for you this week. Find opportunities to serve and share your
testimony with people. I know that if you do that you will be pleasantly
surprised at the response. Your testimony grows every time you share it. You
never know what can happen.
That is all the time I have for this week but I love you all
so much. Thank you for all of the letters and emails. I hope you all have a
great week!!
Lets all try a little bit harder to be a little bit
better!!!
Con cariño,
Elder Staffieri
PICTURES BELOW
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