March 15, 2015

Familia:

This week has been so awesome!! We have been traveling a lot this week and we have been learning so much! I don’t think I wrote about last week but it was amazing too! I feel like we have been soo blessed these past few weeks! The members in our ward have been supporting us like never before, we have been finding like crazy, we had the highest church attendance that we have had in forever with 145 people in sacrament meeting. The leaders are excited to follow the direction from the area. Everyone is working together and the Church is being established! Ahhh! Life doesn’t get better than this! 

So this week we have been doing a lot of divisiones all over the mission. On Wednesday we left at like 2 am to go up to Argentina. It was so great. I got to work with Elder Espinoza! I lived with him in Artigas for 6 months. He is the new zone leader in Argentina so now we get to work together more! We had a great day teaching and found a lot of amazing people and were blessed to find a family. We also went out to work with the branch president, pte lescano to go and visit some menos activos. At the end of the night, we had the chance to go and visit Janet! It was so awesome! She is doing great! She is totally active, has a calling and magnifies it, when we went over to visit her, she had invited her friend to come and listen to us as well! She is reading every day! Praying, going to church! Her testimony is growing stronger and stronger every day! It was so great to see how much she is progressing! AAAHHH!! I love Argentina! 

So after that, we hoped on a bus at 2 am again and came back to Montevideo to do divisiones in Montevideo. I got to go with Elder McRae in the zone of Flores. Elder McRae is such a stud!! I admire him so much because he is such a complete missionary. He follows all of the direction that we have received and is constantly striving to be better! We learned a ton and had an absolute blast as well! 

So yesterday morning, we took a taxi down the ruta and pte picked us up to come out to Artigas with him! It felt like coming home! I spent 6 months in Artigas and I feel like it was the area in which I grew most in my mission! We got here and since elder Trucolo and I both served in barrio 4 we set off in divisiones with the elders from barrio 4 for the night! IT WAS SO AWESOME!!! aaaahhh!! I miss this place soo much!  It was so awesome to see the people that you taught that actually progressed and returned to church, and the people that were baptized are still active and have callings and are working towards the temple. And also to have the chance to go and try to help the people that have fallen away. It’s just a tender mercy of the Lord to be able to go back and teach them again. I am sooo happy being up here again, even though it’s just for a few days. And tonight we are going out to work with the Zone Leaders! 

So life in the mission right now is pretty much the best! I feel like I have been so blessed these past few weeks. At first it was kind of weird sending off my whole group but I have received multiple confirmations that I am where I need to be. The Lord has let me know that I made the right decision to extend and has been blessing me with experiences that I will never forget. You know that feeling when you get the confirmation that God has used you as in instrument in His hands? I feel like I have been getting that a lot lately and it is the best!

Anyways, I  am soo happy! Never been happier! I know that this is the happiness that comes from the Gospel! I was studying a little bit today in alma 30 where Korihor goes in and starts teaching false doctrine and is taken before alma in zarahemla and when alma starts talking, alma explains how he hasn’t received a cent for being in the service of God, but that doesn’t matter. He asks what more does it profit him than to declare the truth and rejoice in the joy of his brethren. That is what missionary work is all about. Declaring the truth, and rejoicing in the joy of those who have come unto Christ! And I think that is what makes missionaries soo happy! It doesn’t get better than this!! 

So this week I turned two years old in the mission! Its crazy how fast time flies! 

Anyways, I love you all! I hope you have the best week! Lets all try a little bit harder to be a little bit better! And get out there and share your testimonies! 

Un abrazo fuerte, 

Elder Staffieri