August 8, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA, and ALDEN TOO!!!
Your letters are getting trunkier and trunkier every week! Dang. I hope you know I'm not trunky at all :)
This week was GREAT!!!! Orlando Dolci finally got baptized. He's been investigating a lot over these last 11+ years or so. He's had so many witnesses testify of the truthfulness through people and experiences but had never accepted it yet. He's suffered a lot in his life without understanding truly why, and although his family (nearly all are members) has been there for him, he never understood his purpose in life and always felt lost. Now he's finally found what he'd been looking for, and all it took was for him to read, ponder and pray the scriptures and his answer was so powerful! After his baptism, he got up to bare his testimony and it was so powerful!!! Whenever I see my converts bare testimony, or receive a calling, etc... I always think in what point in my life would I have been ready for that. Sometimes I feel like they understand so much better than I do the Atonement, service, faith, basic gospel principles. I feel like the longer I spend as a missionary, the less I discover I know. I don't know if that makes sense, but lately I've been feeling really small, in a good way I think. To just think how much more these people had to sacrifice than me, to think that I ever complained about life being hard, etc... it makes me laugh!
After church yesterday we got a phonecall from the bishop of the next ward over saying that a family had showed up at church in their ward asking their baby to be blessed, and it turns out they are in our boundaries. At church they blessed the baby, and the father of the family was sick and they also gave him a blessing. That night we went over to their house and the Lord had them so prepared to receive the gospel...the mom was baptised when she was young with her family but has been inactive most of her life. We taught about the restoration of priesthood keys and the power that the Lord wants to give to every worthy man to bless him own family and they felt the spirit strong. We gave them the Book of Mormon and invited them to read and pray, and the father and their 10 yr old daughter accepted baptismal dates for the 27th of August. I hope to be here still. This change flew by so quick, we are already in the last week. I'm about to start my last change as a full-time missionary in Uruguay and I'm going to FLY. I am going to give it all I've got to finish stronger than I've been my whole mission. I know the Lord will provide people waiting for me.
The rama is going strong, this week we will have ward council for the first time since it was all reorganized and all are waiting on training, practically everyone in the presidencies has been a member for less than 3 months, so they are all a bit lost hahaha we're teaching less and less of the missionary lessons, and more and more out of the manuals every day :) There's so much to be done still, the work is just beginning and the excitement is on a rise. I love these people a ton and wish there were more hours in the day to visit them all.
Alright, I copied and pasted and edited a little bit the itinerary...here we go! It doesn't have what we'll do, just when we drive and where we stay :)
Thurs. Sep 29 Go to the temple, sleep in Montevideo.
Fri. Sep 30 Drive to Fray Bentos in the morning. Sleep in Fray Bentos.
Sat. Oct 1 All day in Fray Bentos, conferences, etc..Sleep in Fray Bentos.
Sun. Oct 2 Drive in the morning to Salto. Sleep in Salto.
Mon.Oct 3 All day in Salto. Sleep in Salto.
Tues. Oct 4 Drive to Tacuarembo, sleep in Tacuarembo.
Wed. Oct 5 Drive to Montevideo. Sleep in Montevideo.
Thurs.Oct 6 Shop in Montevideo, go home. Sleep over the sea.

It will be a lot of fun :)
As for my birthday, I am having my party at the Durè's house :) It's going to be epic!!! Asado, torta, chorizo... PA!!! I'm not going to spend any money from home, besides I can't my card doesn't work anywhere here.
I love you all so much, don't be trunky.
When's Karl's sealing? In Mesa?
Elder Magnusson