Milagros

This week I saw la mano del Señor/the hand of the Lord a lot. In the spirit I have felt and shared with others, in the words he has helped me find, and especialmente in the people he has prepared. Con fe, oración, y trabajo mediante su guía encontramos 20 esta semana, quien estaba preparando. Familias buscando aprender más de Cristo y la verdad. Él ha preparado a estas personas mediante maneras únicas, con libros en la casa de familia, con su experiencias, y más. Es maravilloso ver su mano en sus vidas. Lunes: Translados or Transfers(of missionaries área to area) was the start of this week, and Elder Brizuela and I are still juntos/together for at least one more translado!(every 6 weeks). So that's super cool, he is a great trainer and missionary so I'm excited that we still are working together here in Simoca, and boy o boy do I love Simoca. We got word of who the two new Elderes would be with the split of Simoca Norte y Sur. One a grandson of Elder Brizuela(someone trained by someone he trained) and the other a new missionary. Oooh. Run home past los dos Presidentes Martes: We ran into a lot of old friends this day passing through the plaza, got lots of references of people who wanted to learn more, met lots of new friends, and by the end of the day had about 6 oficial citas confirmadas/confirmed schedules to meet with them the next day. Super good, especially since now we only have our amigos in the North of Simoca to meet with. At around 6:30 we headed back to the pension, passed some amigos en la calles and talked about the importance of sincere oracion, and then arrived at the pension right before...Nuevooo Elderes. They arrived in a very nostalgic manera for me, pulling up to the pension in a white van stuffed with missionaries. Helped pull out a bunch of luggage and then met Elder Luthi y Elder Rojas. Elder Luthi is from Logan, Utah just about 5min from Hyde Park so Mike y Kendra say hi to his familia for me. He's great, only has 7 meses/months in the mission and is training a new missionary, Elder Rojas. Both have a lot of animo and are excited to get to work here in Simoca. Both already have been great examples for me and I can't wait to continue to work with them to strengthen and grow this Rama of Simoca. We showed them the apartment to drop there stuff of for a minute, sent them some locations of amigos in the Sur/South, and within 10ish minutes we headed out, them heading south and us north, to work. Ooooh, I love this. So good. Got back to the pension that night, called some amigos and I cooked us all some food to wrap out day one with 4. Miércoles: Milagros. Met with lots of our new friends today and had lots of great lecciones. I always love the first couple days of teaching, because I love the message of the restauracion, it really is a message of how much God loves us, wants to here from us, and has a path for us in this life. And lots of the amigos we have been teaching have accepted invitations to be baptized. Jueves: You thought that 4 Elderes in this Arlington like small town of Simoca was a lot, welp now theres 6. Just for the day. The zone Líderes came to spend the day here in Simoca, one with the Elderes in the Sur and the other, Elder Zaro, with Elder Brizuela and I. I love working with other missionaries because every single one is different and there is something to learn in the way they teach, their strengths, and more. Had an almuerzo with mom of the mission acá en Simoca, Hermana Munzi, and shared 3N11:14. I love this scripture and the invitacion of the Savior. To come to Him and Conocerle/to know Him. And I invite you to think about ways you too can accept this invitation of the Savior and come to know him. ¿Qué puede hacer para llegar a conocer Nuestro Salvador MÁS? What can you do to come to know the Savior more? And this day, found the comida that possibly is the closest we'll come to the blessings of the Gospel, but in food. Lomo Pizza. It's like if a 5-year-old couldn't decide between a pizza and hamburger, and decided he would be content with both. It's like a sandwhich or burger between two pizzas. So goood. Domingo our good friend Rosa, helped us help another friend, Mirta R, walk to the Church and it was like a Disney movie, it was great to have them both in the Capilla this sunday. And we sang Venido, Adoremos 🎄(Come let us adore him). Gotta love the Christmas music all year long. 1N18 "Sea Diferente/Be Different" We've talked about this a bit on the mission, but not here. I love this second verse, especially the last part. Nefi follows the direction of el Señor in order to build a barco/boat. "No fue conforme a la manera de los hombres." Like Nefi we too can and should follow Jesucristo and not conform to the ways of man. Sea Diferent, be different, follow him, come to know him, and live and serve as He Would. And this is a fun thing too because the more we learn of Him the better we can serve, love, and care for others and the more we serve others the more we come to know Him. Like Presidente Monson invited, Dare to be Different. Have a great week, Love ya

¿cómo es que no puede ______?

The Elderes are back in town, and soon to have dos mas Elderes acá en Simoca. ¿Tomorrow? Whhaaa... Hope everyone is doing great this week, Elder Brizuela is feeling much better, and has found mas mascotas(more pets), which always helps. This week was great, sooo goood. Especially after we caught the bus during our Tobey Maquire like collectivo/bus chase. Alicia got Baptized this weekend, we've been teaching her since my first full day here in Simoca. It's been amazing to see her faith y testimony of the gospel grow over this time, all the hurdles and obstacles she has overcome, and too see it all lead to this was amazing. She always says that it is because she has great maestros(teachers), but really we are not those teachers. The spirit is the reason for all this, and it has been amazing to hear her experiences with this. The paz/peace she feels reading El Libro de Mormon, the truth, answers, y consuelo she felt during Conferencia General, y after her Baptism. Experiences to record and always remember. And this weekend, after her Baptism Saturday, our valiente y fiel amiga shared her testimony during Church on Sunday. In these experiences I have felt the spirit so strongly, and it made me so grateful for this gift that we have, and how important this step of faith is for others to receive it as well. And it is one we should never take for granted. El Espíritu Santo. Had Divisiones this week with our Líder de Distrito and su compañero Elder Christiansen. Was super good. We all worked in Simoca, and so we had to plan for both comps earlier in the week, and visited lots of líderes, amigos, and todo. And it was really a test of confiando(trusting,relying) in Señor and the Holy Ghost. Because I knew the area, I led the way during the day, and talked a lot with all the people. Had to talk about a lot of details of events, like the baptism, and ask lots of in the moment questions, and understand a lot. And by Milagros/Miracles I was able to do all that the Lord needed me to do. And I´d say that´s the highlight of this week, probably every week, but especially this week. For me and for Alicia too. Lots of people in her life were contrary to her batism, and this step of faith in her life, but she trusted in the Lord. 1Nefi17:50-51 I love this scripture, and I have found that it is so true. And I invite you to change the lost frase, the pregunta/question, and apply it to your life, something specific. And ask yourself, how is it that with the I Lord can't do this? 50 Y les dije: a Si Dios me hubiera mandado hacer todas las cosas, podría hacerlas. Si él me mandara que dijera a esta agua, sé tierra, que sea tierra; y si lo dijera, se haría. 51 Y ahora bien, si el Señor tiene tan gran poder, y ha obrado tanmuchos milagros entre los hijos de los hombres, ¿ cómo es que no puede instruirme , para que yo construya un barco? 50 And I said unto them: aIf God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done. 51 And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot ainstruct me, that I should build a ship?

Pascua

Alrighty, ¡Bienvinidos! to Elder Shepherd is going to send an email this week. ¿How is everyone this week? ¡Espero super bien! And I hope your Pascua/Easter was super bien también. And General Conference, oh my gosh so good, did you get a chance to invite a friend? (If I told you I didn't get an email out last week because I was being what Hermana Rosa calls a morfon (morfar-to eat a ton + mormon) y eating a ton of empinadas, well yeah kinda) Focusing on the Savior: This week I've really tried to focus more on the Savior in cada momento and especially in my studies, habits I want to continue with. But I loved this past conference weekend. The invitation a learn more of our Savior 3Nefi11 So good. Was central to my studies of Christ this week of the Pascua/Easter, literally so good. Verse 14 is one of my new favorite scriptures. I love to think of how this was an invitation for these Nefitas, but tambíen para todo, 'Levantaos y venid a mi.' It's an invitación for everyone. We are invited to rise and come to Him, learn of Him, come to know Him, love Him, and follow Him. I also love what this chapter teaches us about the Manera de Cristo. He takes time for them Uno por Uno, one by one. An example of how we should serve and also a reminder of how he loves us and knows us individualmente. 3Nefi18 !Bienvenidos a Todos! Welcome all to learn of Christ, to come unto him, and to keep his commandments. To find the blessings of Oracion/Prayer, personally and in the family(3N18:21). Siempre/Always remember Jesucristo, his sacrifice for us, and our covenants, every day, every week, especially during the Santa Cena/Sacrament. When we do these things He is our rock. This week was sick, literally unfortunately. Elder Brizuela has been feeling sick all week, progressively getting worse, Friday, I was like, 'bout time you contact H Palmieri, so we did. On Saturday we headed to the hospital in Concepcion to figure out what was going on. He's gotten some good rest the last couple days, I try to get him to drink lots more water, and hopefully what appears to be dengue should pass soon. But it's been really rough on him. He is tough though, and he's recovering well now. And I think this was meant to be, wish for him this wasn't the way, but because of this I have really grown as a companion and a missionary. There were lessons early in the week, he couldn't talk much or hardly at all. And so I had to lead more in the lessons, teach, understand and respond a lot more in all parts of the day. And it went well. It proved to me a lot of how much I am capable of with Fe/Faith and the spirit. It helped me be more confident, overcome some personal doubt, and has helped me grow into a better missionary and companion. A better tool in the hands of the Lord. You know what's cool and also terrifying about karate chopping mosquitos, is that when they squish there's a little bit of their blood, and then a bunch that is human. Also I think they've become immune to 'OFF.' A little concerning. Had mashed potato donut things filled with queso fresco this week, oooh, so good. Hope you are all doing well, 'Ponga su confianza en Dios'/ put your confidence/trust in God (Alma36:3) en cada momento, in ever moment. In your good days, during your difficulties, and siempre, and you will find that you can do more through Him, through the Savior, than you could ever imagine you could do by yourself. Love Ya, Elder Shepherd.

Next Week

See ya next week. Conference was fire huh? 3Nefi 11:14