Salto!

So on Tuesday, we visited Gladis Diaz, who is a less active member. She is incredibly nice. We shared with her the lesson of the Plan of Salvation and she loved it. We know that because she told us that she loved it, while tearing up. It´s a very special Plan, where the Lord is the author so it naturally lifts one up. We also were able to read the Book of Mormon with our progressing investigator Maria!! We are so happy to see her progress. She is incredibly intelligent (has a library full of physics and chemistry books). And she uses alot of reason but is learning to trust God and have more faith in Him.

On Wednesday, we taught an incredible lesson on the Law of Chastity with Maria. Not only did she agree with everything, but she said something that assured us of her understanding of this divine law: "Well, if everyone kept this commandment, there wouldn´t be as many problems in the world today!" Correct.

On Thursday, I had the opportunity to do divisions with Elder Hodges again!!! He came over to my area and we worked. We had another lesson with Gladis Diaz and taught the Resurrection, the Final Judgement and the Kindgoms of Glory. The Holy Ghost was present in this lesson. Even the Gladis´daughter came in to join us. We had the opportunity to sing "The Lord is My Shepard" to many mothers for an "early mothers day gift" Elder Hodges sang tenor and I sang melody sometimes and alto as well. It was such a beautiful day!

Friday, we contacted all morning getting to know many children of God. I love meeting new people. It´s interesting to see their beliefs, what they think about our church and whether they would be interested or not in growing their faith in Christ. We taught Maria about service in the church and the law of the fast! We gave two blessings that day to a baby girl who was sick, and an 8 year old son of Juan Carlos (an investigator). It was a special experience because after both blessings, they both immediately felt much better. It´s an honor to excersize the Priesthood of God.

On Saturday we went to a baptism in the stake center because our investigator Maria wanted to see what its like! A little girl, Belen, was baptized and the service was beautiful!
We had a lesson with a new investigator (Rosario) and when the Spirit was strongest, I asked her if she would be baptized on the 20th of June and she said yes!!!

On Sunday, there were elections here in Salto and it was MOTHERS DAY! I got to talk to my mom and it was amazing being able to see her! Happy (late) mothers day to all! "The title "Mother" is a sacred one". Dont ever forget that!

I can testify that there is no other work similar to this work. It is sacred, ordained of God and eternal!
Until next week!
Elder Teloma

i was eating cake

She´s 3 but super intelligent

SALTO

By far one of the best weeks of my life!

On Tuesday, we had a mission conference in Montevideo with Elder Dallin. H. Oaks, of the Quorom of the 12 Apostles. He shook every missionaries hand. 470 missionaries. It was an amazing experience. As I approached him, I could feel that I was approaching a prophet and apostle of God. It was incredible. He spoke to us on a variety of subjects, but what I will not forget is his golden advice. "Day by day, ask your Father in Heaven for forgiveness for what you did not do. Ask Him to help you improve each day. From there you will see more success." - Elder Ballard. His inspiring, prophetic words made a large postive impact on my mission and on my life!

On Wednesday, after a 7 hour bus ride home, with very little sleep, we arrived at our area at 6:30....The time that we wake up here and get to work. When I got home, I got on my knees and prayed with all my heart for the strength I would need to work that whole day. I knew I would be blessed with it, and I was. We taught the gospel of Jesus Christ to Maria, a great progressing investigator. We also taught Sister Chivel the Gathering of Israel and she understood!!!

Thursday, we had divisions! I had the opportunity to work with Elder Lopez, a brand new missionary from Peru!! It was a great experience! We were working with Hermana Melo and found some by contacting! Her name is Marta and told us that she was just looking at a picture of her nephew´s baptism (in our church) when we knocked on her door! (She is not a member, but some of her family is) And we know it was not a coincidence.

On Friday we met Erica Saam, who is German!! When she spoke in German, I felt as though my mom was talking. Or Oma and Opa!!! We also taught Maria the Plan of Salvation up to the point of the Atonement of Christ. On Saturday, we finished up that lesson and it was powerful and Maria understood completely!!

Sunday was amazing!!! Our investigator came to church and she participated alot! It was very nice to see! After church, we went to lunch with an Hermana and to our surprise they were cooking up a massive asado!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Uruguayan Barbeque) It was amazing! This country, without a doubt, has the best barbeque in the world. After, we had a ward activity (hosted by us) where we watched "Meet the Mormons". It was a complete success! Many people, including investigators came! This past week was great. And this upcoming will be even better!! I love the Lord. I know He gave His life for us willingly. And I will always be in debt for that.

"Self-Confidence is overrated. Confidence in the Lord is underrated."

Miracles in Salto

We had an incredible week here.
On Tuesday, we had a powerful lesson with a less active lady. She had her baby in her lap. And she grabbed a piece (a rather large piece) of cake and gave it to her baby. The baby (probably 8 months old) shoved nearly half the thing in it´s mouth. HAHAH I couldn´t focus after that. Fortunately, it was after the lesson. Later we visited Maria, who is a new investigator. We taught her the lesson of the Restoration. At the end of this strong lesson, we asked her if she would pray to know that the message was true. And she responded: "Why do I need to pray, if I already know it´s true?" Although it was a nice answer, we explained to her that ETERNAL TRUTHS CANNOT BE REVEALED WITHOUT PRAYER. And she understood. And she offered the closing prayer!

On Wednesday, we stopped by Maria again, with the 1st counselor of the stake and we watched the video of the Restoration. She paid alot of attention and pulled out many details and asked great questions! It was amazing! After, we had a very special family home evening with a recent convert and the Gimenez family. We all shared powerful testimony on Christ.

Thursday was divisions day. I worked with Elder Hodges, from Arizona and we worked hard and had a great time! We contacted a lady and I asked her if she knew anything about the church. She told us the names of all the missionaries she knew and then invited us in and showed us a photo album FULL of missionaries pictures from 2008! And shes not even a member!!!! So Elder Hodges and his comp will stop by again to change that :)

On Friday, we had a great lesson with Juan Carlos, an investigator on Doctrine and Convenants 20:37 the scripture that describes baptism in the true church.

On Saturday, we visited a less active sister with our Bishop, had an incredible lesson on trials and she said she would return. And she did.
To end, we had divisions and I worked with Rodrigo (Jeff Newman´s companion in his mission) And we taught Maria the Book of Mormon in one of the most spiritual lessons I have had. I extended the baptismal invitation and she accepted it. She said "I want to be baptized." And she came to church yesterday. This work is about miracles and I can testifty with all my heart that this is the Lord´s work.

Salto Week 1

Bom dia!!! Hoje, eu gostaria de falar em Portugues um pouco com voces.
Nah, just kidding. I´ll write in English.
We had a great first week over here in Salto!!! Once I got to Salto on Wednesday, I had to welcome all the new missionaries coming in from other parts of Uruguay! What a great experience!
On Thursday, my companion and I trained all the district leaders of Salto for this upcoming 6 weeks of success in the work of the Lord! I also met the Gimenez family in my area and they are an amazing family!
On Friday, I got to know my area very well. We went around talking to people when we came across some guy named Nunez. He was very kind and we talked to him and his girlfriend, Lady. Then            Lady´s parents, Jesus and Monica joined in and then Jesus´ sister, Monica joined in. Before we knew it, we were teaching 5 adults the Resoration of the gospel. It was incredible!
On Saturday, We came back. Unfortunately, we only found Jesus. However we still taught Jesus the Book of Mormon! That just sounds strange...
Anyway, it was a great lesson. The Spirit clearly testified of what we were saying. Later that evening, we met Regima (a less active) and her husband Carlos (an investigator). We read with them 3rd Nephi 11, when Christ descends into the Americas. It was a powerful lesson that clearly touched their hearts, which is especially important for Carlos.
Sunday, as always was a beautiful day where I had the opportunity to meet the rest of the amazing members of this ward!!
So, last night, I was making calls to members and the district leaders when my comp told me to call a family to congratulate them on their new baby. He gave me the phone and thought it would be funny to give me the wrong number. So I called some random family in the ward and when they answered I shouted "CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW BABY!!!!!!"........and then I heard
"What baby?"
And I was like "......uhm.....who are you?" Then my comp started to laugh, so I tossed the phone to him and ran. Hahaha. He got me good.
Well, that is all for now. Everything is great here. And Salto reminds me of Orange County, because it is HOME to the oranges and the best orange juice in the world!
I love the Lord and I love this work. I know without a doubt that this is the true church of Christ.
Elder Teloma

The End of Rivera. The Beginning of......

Dear family and friends, 

This week was incredible. Miracle, laughing, crying, testifying.That rhymed. That rhymed. But seriously, it was great. 

On Tuesday, there was a mini MTC for the youth of Rivera in the stake center and by the end, they were each assigned a missionary companion for the week. I was assigned to Hermano (Hector) Prieto! The most enthusiastic, happy, spiritual young man in this whole country. We worked and lived together from Tuesday to Sunday and we had a blast!

We stopped by Andrea (less active) and had a good lesson with her, then she told us that she had a less active sister who lives on the same street! We had no idea before! So after that lesson we went to meet her sister (Marita Garcia) who was incredibly nice. We taught her the lesson of the Restoration and the spirit was incredibly strong. After, we went to visit our progressing investigator, Aurora and we taught her the Law of Chastity, which was great, and she accepted it! She also told us that after having taught her the Word of Wisdom (Health Law) she stopped drinking coffee!! It truly is a blessing for us to see that level of progression in a daughter of God, who just a month ago, knew nothing about our church. She is completely happy about having foung Christ in her life!

On Wednesday, we had a service project painting the Perez family´s house orange! I personally disagreed with the color choice, but it was fun nonetheless!!

That same night, we had a powerful family home evening with the Ruiz family and their inactive son, Adrian. It was amazing. We shared the first 3 verses of 1 Nephi 17 to apply it to their lives and ours. The Spirit testified the truthfulness of our message. And those exact same scriptures were later used in General Conference!!!

On Friday, I had to say bye to Gabriela and her family, and investigator that I found when I came here. It was not easy. But I know that she has the opportunity to accept the gospel in her life!

Saturday morning was hilarious. I checked the phone and saw "6 missed calls". And I was like...who in the world would call 6 times....Then I saw that it was President Pereira....our stake president!!!!! Then he calling again! So I answered and he asked us if we could help him set up chairs for the conference in the stake center. I said yes. 10 minutes later, he walks in our door with breakfast and asked if we wanted to eat. And we said YES. It was strange, funny, and awesome. Then we left. 

And General Conference was amazing as always! And our investigator Aurora came!!! This week was spiritual, wholesome, edifying and unforgettable. And it is my last in Rivera. I leave tomorrow to...............

SALTO, URUGUAY!!!!

with Elder Bedoya de Colombia!!!!

Que pasen bien.

Elder Teloma

Training Week 10

Dear family and friends, 

We had a great week over here in Rivera, Uruguay!! We are working incredible hard every day to achieve success and it has paid off! 

We visited Aurora (an Investigator we found a couple of weeks ago) had an amazing lesson on the Plan of Salvation and invited her and her 13 year old son, Ismael, to come to church. After many questions, answers and clarity, they agreed to come, and yesterday, they CAME! It was a miracle! Aurora had an older son who tragically passed away. She is going through a hard time right now, but has been blessed by her new knowledge of this wonderful plan that God has for us. However it is not what she knows that will convert her. It is what she feels that will convert her. 

We also had a very special lesson with the Garin family. They are less active (the mother and the son) And apparently, there isn´t any reason why. So I asked the mom: "Do you want your children to go to the Celestial Kingdom?"

"Yes"

"Why?"

"Because I know that is the best place to be after this life. And I love them"

"God feels the exact same way about each one of his children here on earth. However, He cannot make us keep His commandments. We use our agency to do what is right. And like that, we will return to His presence, where he anxiously awaits us."

It was a simple, yet powerful message we shared with them and we pray for them, and all the less actives that they may return to the path of Christ. More to come next week!!

Elder Teloma

Chapel that was burned down a year ago in Brazil, only the steeple remained

The Pig

This week was great!! So we got some good, interesting news! So in our area, there is  a mountain that divides Uruguay from Brazil. One side of the mountain is Brazil and the other side is Uruguay. However, on our side of the mountain there is a random street that is actually Brazil!! AND it is now officially part of our area and the Uruguay Montevideo West Mission! It is awesome!!!! So we went there and contacted many people! A few of them spoke Spanish, and others spoke Portuguese. And so did I. Just a little though.
Later we found Luis who is a friend of a member! He requested that we speak to him in Portuñol ( a mixture of Spanish and Portuguese). So we did! We had  a great lesson on the Restoration and as we were teaching, some girl who works in the office inside his sound was very interested and came in to listen. Her name is Karla. She was quiet and attentive the whole time, but when I asked her about how she felt about the lesson, she talked alot!! We resolved tons of doubts!
So we had a great experience yesterday. We went on divisions with two young men in our ward. I left to work with Sebastian, who is 16 and preparing for a mission! We were at the end of our area (close to Brazil) and as we were walking down this large dirt road, I felt that we should contact a house. However it was a bit sketch because we had to enter through a large field to get there. Anyway, in the end, we made it, knocked and the nicest lady answered and invited us to sit outside with her! Her name is Eva Cuña! Super nice and we talked to her about families and taught a little bit about the Plan of Salvation! It was an amazing lesson! After she took us to her backyard (where her husband was working) to show us their farm. There were 10 chickens sleeping, which is normal right? But no. They were sleeping on the high branches of a TREE!!! HAHAH. THEN she showed us their friendly, super tubby 8 month old pig! It was a great experience! I love this country and I love the Lord and His work here!
Elder Teloma