Goodbye 2014

Well, 2014 is coming to an end, and I can say without a doubt that this year has been the best of my life. There is absolutely nothing else I have done in my life that has been so fulfilling. I love serving the Lord, and the people here in Uruguay. It has been an incredible blessing for me. And honestly, this year FLEW by. I can remember January 1st like it was yesterday.
We enjoyed an incredible Christmas week. We spent it with many great members of the church, less active members and some investigators!! So on Christmas over here in Uruguay, people FEAST. Everyone barbeques buckets of meat and it is super good. On Wednesday night (Christmas eve) we went to Victor Silva´s house and he barbequed so much, and we ATE. And I woke up Christmas day with a stomach ache. And that same day we were invited to Christmas day lunch with Bishop and his whole family and they barbequed even MORE. And my stomach hurt even MORE. It was great. We stopped by a few less actives as well and it was a highly spiritual day. And I was able to talk to my family!!!
Later, we had a miracle. We were working with Hno. Varela and as we were walking down the street we passed a lady and he turned around (Brother Varela) shook her hand, introcuded himself and then just looked at me. I was taken by surprise, but immediately started talking to her. So her name is Mirtha, and she was extremely kind. She invited us in her home and we taught her the truth of the Restoration of the gospel. She loved it. She invited us to come again. So we came again the day after Christmas and shared with her even more of the beautiful gospel. At the end of that second lesson, she has a large smile on, true happiness across her face and then it abruptly stopped. She just looked at us as though she was ashamed, and with sincerity in her voice, asked us something that struck me. "What can I do to thank you?"
It was an incredible moment where the Spirit dwelled within each one of us. We invited her to church and she gladly accepted!!

I would like to repeat for the last time this year, with all the energy of my soul that I know The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church of Jesus Christ restored on the earth! He is our Lord, Savior and King. With the sacred calling I hold, I testify that one day, "every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ."

Happy New Years!
Elder Teloma

We had a white elephant activity

big snail

Christmas! ¡Navidad!

Christmas with the Smith Family :)

My comp´s 1 year mark!

Storm. Telephone pole fell

Street flooded

Christmas Fireside!

 

Someone left a plethora of watermelons here

Rivera Week 2

This week was incredible! On Tuesday, we had a rehearsal for our Christmas fireside that we´ll be having on the 21st. After we walked over to Brazil for lunch. Then we came back for district meeting! Later that day we had the opportunity to work with Sebastian who is a young man, 16 years old. He is a convert of 3 and very active. We visited Carol, who has been investigating the church for a while, and we shared a nice Christmas message with her! We also visited Betty (an investigator) and her evangelical son, Jose, who at first showed no interest, then slowly started paying attention to the beautiful Plan of Salvation lesson that we were sharing.Great day.

Wednesday, we left to work with Brother Varela to visit some people he knew. Unfortunately we were not having too much success so we offered a prayer. Right after, we met Raquel and her daughter, Veronica and they invited us in their home and we taught the lesson of the Restoration!! It was amazing!

On Thursday, we went to Humberto who is a less active older man. Very nice man, but I will be honest. I could not teach him. So we walk into his patio and he has two small bird cages. One of them has a little parrot like bird, which was cool, and the other one had a ..........kitten. There was a tiny kitten trapped inside the tiny bird cage, and the thing was desperately trying to escape for its life. It was crying and climbing all over the place. I could not focus. Hahah. Sometimes, weird things happen here. But I´m not going to lie. I like it.
Then we met Yara who told us that she always felt something special about the missionaries and the message we present, so we taught her.
Later in the day we knocked on Rosa´s door. Rosa is a less active member of about 20 years. She answered and said "Look, I am an active member in another church, and I am not going to change." Then she stared at us and was like "Do you guys want to come in?" hahah what? So we came in. We talked,got to know her, and she made us fruit smoothies and oatmeal cookies. What a great experience! We will be passing by with another sister from relief society!

On Friday, we brought an investigator, Karen to the ward end of the year/christmas party and it was great!

Saturday, I was almost killed by a horse. So after a lesson, we crossed a large field and got to a little river. I crossed the bridge and saw a massive horse running full speed towards us. Then once it was about 20 feet away, it stopped and stared at me. I was confused and scared for my life. Then it SPRINTED right at me...... I stood completely still thinking that that was it for me. It sprinted right by me, ran over the bridge and ran to the field to eat grass...... I was in its way. Whoops. I survived.
Later we worked with Brother Varela again who is a stud. Some crazy guy was yelling at us and tried to hit me, so we got out of there (: We met many great people as well.

On Sunday, I gave a talk. I spoke about my mom´s conversion, in Spanish, and I feel the Spirit strongly. The talk brought tears to my eyes as well as the members. Sunday was just a very special day as always.

Well, we had a great week over here in Rivera,and next week will be even better. I love the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that He lives and that He is the head of this church.

Elder Teloma

That´s our house

Uh yeah....

This is not the horse that almost killed me

Niki and Seba

Brasil

The Brazil and Uruguay Border Line

Rivera Week 1

Whoo! I have made it to Rivera!!! It is beautiful and amazing over here! Completely different from Montevideo! We do live close to the city. We live 3 blocks from Brazil, and the border is completely open. You can just cross the street and walk right into Brazil! It is super awesome!Many incredible people over here! The majority speak a language called Portunol, which is a mix of Spanish and Portugese and it is cool. I understand the majority of it, but there are some words that I do not know. So it looks like I will be learning a little Portugese here! Whoo! That nice Christmas summer heat is coming in and the sun is bright as ever! This week, I have basically been getting to know all the people and the area. We have found many great people to teach!

I will inform you all on the work with details next week!
I love the Lord´s work! It´s the best!
Elder Teloma

My new companion, Elder Morales

Goodbye Montevideo :,)

Well, after nearly 11 months of service here in the beautiful city of Montevideo, Uruguay, I am being transferred out to......... RIVERA!!!!!! I arrived here in the beginning of February and have worked in Independencia, Barrio 5 (Montevideo 5th Ward) and Barrio 16 (Montevideo 16th Ward). And now my time here is up and I am heading up north where it is beautiful, hot, and bordered to BRAZIL.
My new companion is Elder Morales from Mexico!!! He will be my 8th companion in the mission field, and my 7th Latino companion.

Thank you for all your love and support, more to come next week!

I love the Lord and His work!

Elder Teloma