Week 6: The Weekly Letter

Some delicious food from this week: My companion is a spinach smoothie pro, and also makes some fried rice cakes that are things I´ll eat for the rest of my life** I found out that the {normal{ word for hootenannies is puff pancakes, and they tasted just the same here as in America :D. Also, I´ve discovered my favorite food from Argentina isn´t the milanesa --although that´s a close second. It´s Pastel de Papa. Oh my goodness, it´s so good*** --those are exclamation points again, just like this is in parantheses :D--. Also, the most delicious treat is ¨divinity¨ --something my mom makes at Christmas-- and a cookie with a thick layer of dulce in between and all covered in chocolate. Heaven*

Anway...

I was reading in True to the Faith last monday, and found their section on Judging Others. A lot of people try to define what exactly is good and what is bad to judge, but I was happy to find a doctrinal place that talks about it. It had a beautiful scripture in Alma :

On Tuesday, we were teaching a lesson to a neew convert and his daughter when his grandson ran up behind me calling, ¨Abuela* Abuela*¨ Then he came up next to me, and looked at me for a second, before asking, ¨Abuela?¨ 

Oh* And a miracle from last week: I´d lost my name tag while walking somewhere, and so was just using my other one and moving it back and forth from my coat to my shirt until I could get another one. Then one day, we were passing the house of Maria Ester and stopped for a quick visit. Towards the end, her daughter was rummaging through their blankets and pulled out my name tag** She´d seen it in the street as she was walking to work, and recognized that it was probably one of ours. Yeah*

A few more scriptures about the Atonement and missionary work: 2 Nephi 2:6-9, Alma 17:15-16, 36:24

On Thursday we taught Nora again. Her testimony has grown so much, and she is recognizing the Spirit in her life.

We also found an old investigator of the last hermanas, and taught Patricia about repentance and prayer, and how it can bless her life.

We taught another daughter in a less active family who really wants to be baptized. She goes to church with her uncle sometimes, and really likes it. She hasn´t really read or has a Book of Mormon, so we´re going to get her one and help her with that. She´s super sweet, and her older sister is going to help her, as well.

We met an amazing member family on Saturday and after lunch they went through basically all of their relatives and friends, giving us their addresses and names so we could visit them. A missionaries dream come true** We found a couple of them yesterday, and are going to visit them in this coming week. 

Another lady we found yesterday was a little surprised to see us and asked, ¨Hermanas, you didn´t call me?¨ This was our first time meeting her, so we told her no. Apparently she´d been receiving the lessons for a while, but had lost contact. We got her number, and are going to call her :D.

More thoughts from the Atonement: mosiah 4:2-3. Alma 5:33-34-- ¨Repent, and I will receive you. Come eat and drink of the waters of life freely.*  

I started a list of things the Atonement does for us/brings us: peace, enduring joy, understanding, healing, liberty, light, wisdom, eternal life, immortality.

The Atonement and Jesus Christ are truly at the center of our work. He is how we are able to bring people joy. The Book of Mormon testifies of Him, and teaches us how to become like Him. His prophet leads the church today, and brings light into our lives. He really doesn´t ask that much. All that we give, He will replace and then give us more. It´s like Uchtdorf´s talk about the umbrella: Heavenly Father is raining blessings on us, if we will just put down our umbrellas.

Sister Tova S Biesinger