We had a stellar week. It was long, productive, spiritual and rewarding. So on Tuesday, my trainer (first companion in the mission) Elder Arriola finished his mission and returned home to Guatemala. He was a very good companion and I know he will continue to be a great missionary; even without the plaque. Also, my comp and I had the privledge of going to Barrio 5, Oeste (my last area) to witness the baptism of Guillermo (my old investigator). And it was incredible to see all the members from my old ward.
On Wednesday, we worked with Sister Margot!! Although she is going through some troubling times, she agreed to leave and work with us. This is exceptional faith. We visited the Morales family, and although they are great people, they have had many problems with other members and went inactive. Before we entered the house, Sister Margot assured us that she would not speak, because she is shy. However, during our lesson with this family, Margot bore a powerful testimony that she goes to church for herself and for Christ and noone else. It was beautiful. This family is now prepared to return to church! After, we had a lesson with Adrian, who is 19, and the friend of a member. We taught him the lesson of the Restoration and he understood and absolutely loved it. At the end, we asked him to pray, and to specifically ask if the message we had shared was true. Well, he prayed, and he did not ask if the message was true. Sister Porley, who was there with us, told him that he needed to ask God if the message was true. And Adrian responded: "I already believe it. The second I closed my eyes, I felt something that I had never felt before in my life. I felt something warm....and powerful.... I already know it´s true." In Adrian´s case, the Spirit of God was too strong to ignore.
On Thursday, we left to work with Mattias, who is a recent convert of a few months. He is 16 and we want to get him excited to serve!!! We went out with him on that very very hot day, and we contacted people. It was a great experience and we look forward to seeing him again! After, we had a lesson with Luis Escobar, who is a progressing investigator. We taught him the Restoration of the Gospel, and he glady accepted the baptismal invitation for November 15th! We also put a baptismal date for Sofia for the 8th of November!
On Friday, we visited Ana (the miracle investigator) and gave her a Book of Mormon. We will be passing by again this week! We left to work Sister Guarteche, who is the stake president´s wife. We got alot done with her.
On Saturday, we did divisions. I worked with Pedro Alvez, while my comp left Augustine Guarteche (who is about to start his mission papers!) We worked 2 hours with them and visited various members and investigators!
On Sunday, we stayed inside ALL day. We were not allowed to leave the house, because it was election day yesterday. All the chapels in Montevideo (the capital of Uruguay) are turned over to the country for election day and voting is done there. Furthermore, the streets are extra dangerous and crazy on election day, so missionaries are required to stay in their house hahaha. So, it was a long day yesterday, but we got alot done anyway.
This week, we worked THIRTY TWO hours with members. That is aLOT of time and sacrifice on the member´s part. And we know that the Lord recognizes their efforts and they will be blessed for them. We are looking forward to an incredible upcoming week! I LOVE THIS WORK. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. I LOVE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!!
LET´S DO THIS
Until next week,
con mucho amor,
Elder Teloma
Monday, October 27, 2014
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Cuando entran los Santos
Buenos Dias loved ones in California, Germany, South Africa, Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Texas, Florida, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay, Phillipines, and New Zealand!!!
Elder Teloma
We had a great week preaching and teaching the beautiful gospel of the Lord, Jesus Christ! On Tuesday, we met Graciela, who is actually a nieghbor who is very friendly. She explained to us that she used to believe in God, but she encountered many serious problems in her life and eventually stopped believing. We had the opportunity to get to know her and schedule a return visit. It´s hard sometimes, meeting great people who through trials, have lost their faith.
On Wednesday, we met Maria!! In her mid 20s. She was at the home of a less active family that we were teaching, and we got to know her. As a single mother, she has many many problems and as we taught her the message of faith and hope, she cried many times. Later in the week had the opportunity to give her a Book of Mormon and explain it to her. We can definitely see that she is progressing and will come to accept this beautiful gospel in her life! Although she has many afflictions, she has reminded us many times that she is ready to completely change her life for the better.
Thursday. Let´s just say that this is the first time in my life that I can say I have had a chicken thrown at me. Won´t get into detail. Just wanted to let yall know that someone threw a live chicken at me.
Also on Thursday, we held a free english class in the chapel and we had 12 people show up! 10 Uruguayans, and 2 Peruvians, very eager to learn English! Elder Bagget (from Reno, Nevada) and I taught. It was very fun and we will be having English Class every Thursday at 7:30. So if you want to learn some English come on down to Montevideo, Uruguay and we´ll be here!
On Friday, we had a Futbol activity at the church. In the US, we have basketball courts in the chapels. In Uruguay, we have football fields. And literally every single person in this country plays soccer very well. It´s ridiculous. That is why Uruguay qualifies every 4 years for the world cup, when it is a country of only 3 million people. Every single person here is incredible at soccer. Love it.
On Saturday, we had the opportunity to work with members from the Elder´s quorom again which was awesome! I left with Brother Pedro Alvez and we visited a few investigators! He got alot very well with Juan. Working with members of the church is the best way to do missionary work!
Well, that was our week over here in Nuevo Paris!! Tonight I have the opportunity to go back to Barrio 5 (my last area) for the baptism of Guillermo!! He was one of my investigators from this area and he has decided to enter through the doors of baptism!! What a great blessing. I LOVE this work. I LOVE my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! I love you all! Have a great week!
Elder Teloma
Monday, October 13, 2014
We had a very productive and great week. Alot of very good uplifting experiences. First, we met an older guy named Jorge Sosa, who shouted to us from his house as we were walking down his streeting. We kept walking, until I realized he was speaking English! That caught my attention and we approached him. We ended up talking to him for a good 15 minutes and it turns out that he lived in New York City for 11 years and in Boston for 17 years. He was very kind and knew quite a bit about the church and the mission program. He has respect for us, and that is a good start.
On Wednesday, we visited Margot, a member who is returning to church and we had a great lesson and how she needs to make inspired decisions that includes her choosing to go to church to partake of the Sacrament. The Spirit was so incredibly strong in that lesson that it brought her to tears. When we left, she shook our hands asking "Oh why can´t we hug the angels?!" And that, brothers and sisters, is the quote of the week.
On Thursday, it rained. Hard. We left anyway, excited as ever, with my handy dandy umbrella, and a large rock landed in front of us. We immediately assumed that someone was throwing rocks at us, when we realized that the rock melted. It was HAIL. But not a pellet of hail. Literally a baseball sized chunk of ice. Then, many many many more stones of hailed started falling and we had to find safety. My umbrella was attacked 3 times, and made it through, just barely.
Finally, I had the opportunity to work solo with my bishop on Saturday. Nearly six hours, we visited many less active members and active members to teach them the Doctrine of Christ and how that can help them in their lives. It was a great experience, and I learned alot from Obsipo Baez!!
Well, that concludes a great week, and now we head into our final week of this change!! WHOO!
I love the Lord, and I love His work!!!!
For those of you who are interested: http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/
Love you all!!
Elder Teloma
On Wednesday, we visited Margot, a member who is returning to church and we had a great lesson and how she needs to make inspired decisions that includes her choosing to go to church to partake of the Sacrament. The Spirit was so incredibly strong in that lesson that it brought her to tears. When we left, she shook our hands asking "Oh why can´t we hug the angels?!" And that, brothers and sisters, is the quote of the week.
On Thursday, it rained. Hard. We left anyway, excited as ever, with my handy dandy umbrella, and a large rock landed in front of us. We immediately assumed that someone was throwing rocks at us, when we realized that the rock melted. It was HAIL. But not a pellet of hail. Literally a baseball sized chunk of ice. Then, many many many more stones of hailed started falling and we had to find safety. My umbrella was attacked 3 times, and made it through, just barely.
Finally, I had the opportunity to work solo with my bishop on Saturday. Nearly six hours, we visited many less active members and active members to teach them the Doctrine of Christ and how that can help them in their lives. It was a great experience, and I learned alot from Obsipo Baez!!
Well, that concludes a great week, and now we head into our final week of this change!! WHOO!
I love the Lord, and I love His work!!!!
For those of you who are interested: http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/
Love you all!!
Elder Teloma
Monday, October 6, 2014
General Conference Week!!
Dear family and friends,
We had a great week over here in Nuevo Paris!! We started the week off strong with a great lesson on the Restoration with Juan! As we taught him, he was completely attentive and focused on the lesson with a justified expression of both wonder and doubt. However, as we continued teaching him the truth of the Restoration, his face changed and you could see the conversion taking place. It´s like he couldn´t believe what he was hearing. And that truly is what the reaction should be like when hearing the message of the Restoration for the first time. It is extrodinary and real.
This week, we have been teaching alot about prophets to get people excited about General Conference!!
And so we had a crazy experience Tuesday. We were teaching Sister Disessa, a less active, and shared with her a few verses in 3rd Nephi 1. Well, it turns out that she has a Book of Mormon that was printed out about 60 years ago, and she was reading out of that one, and I asked if I could read out the other one, and she let me. So I read verse 13 where God explains to Nephi that "the time is close" in which all will be fulfilled. When I finished reading, my comp looked at me, confused and said: "It says something else in this book." He read the same scripture, but instead of "the time is close", it said "the time has come". That is the difference (revision) between the older Book of Mormon and the one we use now. It was crazy!
What followed was unbelievable. We went to the Alvez family, planning on sharing what we had just shared because it was great. We walked in, sat down, talked with them a bit, and Pedro said (while looking at his phone) "Hey Elders, look what Elder Fredes put on Facebook! (Hes an Elder who recently finshed his mission) And Pedro read 3rd Nephi 1 verse 13............ My comp and I looked directly at eachother and could not believe it. We knew it was not a coincidence that this Elder put that scripture on Facebook. It was an inspired post that in the end, helped us have a great and spiritual lesson with the Alvez family.
Later in the week, my comp and I had the opportunity to give blessing of counsel and comfort to Sister Lilliana and a blessing of health to her sick brother. Doing this definitely strengthened my testimony of the Priesthood.
And then, we had the opportunity to watch and listen to a beautiful General Conference. I did get to listen to the Latino Elders (from the 70) give their talks in Spanish which was awesome! The first time in history and I understood them!!! Anyway, here are the quotes that caught my attention:
Boyd K. Packer - "The success of the church will be measured by the spiritual strength of the members"
Lynn G. Robbins (former Uruguay mission president) - "Trying to lower God´s standards is Apostasy"
D. Todd Christoferson - " Resentment of the law of gravity won´t keep someone from falling if he steps off a cliff" haha
Dieter F. Uchtdorf - " A testimony of the church is the most important thing you can earn on this earth"
Dallin H. Oaks - "A follower of Christ will be firm in the truth"
Neil L. Anderson - "Spiritual questions deserve spiritual answers, from God"
"You need never doubt the testimony of God´s prophets"
"You will not be of help to others if your faith is not secure first"
Eduardo Gavarret - "Senor, yo te seguiré"
Jeffery R. Holland - Don´t we all beg for forgiveness and hope that mercy overcomes justice, at least in our case?"
L. Tom Perry - "We must never let the noise of the world overpower the still small voice"
Quentin L. Cook - "Decisions determine destiny"
Henry B. Eyring - "Human judgement and logical thinking will not be enough to get what we need most in life. We need revelation from God."
Russell M. Nelson - "The Lord established the system of prophetic leadership"
Robert D. Hales - "We will not fall. We will not fail. Our house will be built upon the rock"
President Thomas S. Monson - " The Savior´s path will take us home"
M. Russell Ballard - "Let us stay in the old ship Zion"
Richard G. Scott - "Arm your children everyday with family prayer"
Hugo E. Martinez - "Averiguar la necesidad y luego atenderla"
David A. Bednar - "Absolute truths exist in a world that dismissed absolutes"
"We are inviting you to receive the restored truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ"
What a beautiful conference weekend we had. I absolutely love this church and know it is the true church of God. Until next week!
Elder Teloma
We had a great week over here in Nuevo Paris!! We started the week off strong with a great lesson on the Restoration with Juan! As we taught him, he was completely attentive and focused on the lesson with a justified expression of both wonder and doubt. However, as we continued teaching him the truth of the Restoration, his face changed and you could see the conversion taking place. It´s like he couldn´t believe what he was hearing. And that truly is what the reaction should be like when hearing the message of the Restoration for the first time. It is extrodinary and real.
This week, we have been teaching alot about prophets to get people excited about General Conference!!
And so we had a crazy experience Tuesday. We were teaching Sister Disessa, a less active, and shared with her a few verses in 3rd Nephi 1. Well, it turns out that she has a Book of Mormon that was printed out about 60 years ago, and she was reading out of that one, and I asked if I could read out the other one, and she let me. So I read verse 13 where God explains to Nephi that "the time is close" in which all will be fulfilled. When I finished reading, my comp looked at me, confused and said: "It says something else in this book." He read the same scripture, but instead of "the time is close", it said "the time has come". That is the difference (revision) between the older Book of Mormon and the one we use now. It was crazy!
What followed was unbelievable. We went to the Alvez family, planning on sharing what we had just shared because it was great. We walked in, sat down, talked with them a bit, and Pedro said (while looking at his phone) "Hey Elders, look what Elder Fredes put on Facebook! (Hes an Elder who recently finshed his mission) And Pedro read 3rd Nephi 1 verse 13............ My comp and I looked directly at eachother and could not believe it. We knew it was not a coincidence that this Elder put that scripture on Facebook. It was an inspired post that in the end, helped us have a great and spiritual lesson with the Alvez family.
Later in the week, my comp and I had the opportunity to give blessing of counsel and comfort to Sister Lilliana and a blessing of health to her sick brother. Doing this definitely strengthened my testimony of the Priesthood.
And then, we had the opportunity to watch and listen to a beautiful General Conference. I did get to listen to the Latino Elders (from the 70) give their talks in Spanish which was awesome! The first time in history and I understood them!!! Anyway, here are the quotes that caught my attention:
Boyd K. Packer - "The success of the church will be measured by the spiritual strength of the members"
Lynn G. Robbins (former Uruguay mission president) - "Trying to lower God´s standards is Apostasy"
D. Todd Christoferson - " Resentment of the law of gravity won´t keep someone from falling if he steps off a cliff" haha
Dieter F. Uchtdorf - " A testimony of the church is the most important thing you can earn on this earth"
Dallin H. Oaks - "A follower of Christ will be firm in the truth"
Neil L. Anderson - "Spiritual questions deserve spiritual answers, from God"
"You need never doubt the testimony of God´s prophets"
"You will not be of help to others if your faith is not secure first"
Eduardo Gavarret - "Senor, yo te seguiré"
Jeffery R. Holland - Don´t we all beg for forgiveness and hope that mercy overcomes justice, at least in our case?"
L. Tom Perry - "We must never let the noise of the world overpower the still small voice"
Quentin L. Cook - "Decisions determine destiny"
Henry B. Eyring - "Human judgement and logical thinking will not be enough to get what we need most in life. We need revelation from God."
Russell M. Nelson - "The Lord established the system of prophetic leadership"
Robert D. Hales - "We will not fall. We will not fail. Our house will be built upon the rock"
President Thomas S. Monson - " The Savior´s path will take us home"
M. Russell Ballard - "Let us stay in the old ship Zion"
Richard G. Scott - "Arm your children everyday with family prayer"
Hugo E. Martinez - "Averiguar la necesidad y luego atenderla"
David A. Bednar - "Absolute truths exist in a world that dismissed absolutes"
"We are inviting you to receive the restored truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ"
What a beautiful conference weekend we had. I absolutely love this church and know it is the true church of God. Until next week!
Elder Teloma
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