uruguay

So this post will be short and sweet. We had a fun week filled with great lessons, and experiences. On Tuesday, I was bit in the face by a dog. And I bled. But that didn´t get my hopes down! We have been teaching a very special message on repentance this week. That we cannot wait, not even one day to repent. It is a continuous process that will ultimately lead us back to our Heavenly Father. We had many great experiences teaching that!
On Wednesday, we taught Margot and she said she needed a blessing, so I gave her one, just for some spiritual strength. We met Margot the next day and she said that she was sad, because of some problems within the family. Then she said "However, I have never felt so much strength before. Thank you Elders."
Later in the week we taught our investigator, Talia. As we were teaching her, her sister informed us that she wanted the missionary lessons as well. Apparently her sister Estefani had an argument with Talia the other day about what happens after we die. Estefani explained what her church had taught her. And Talia had explained to her what the missionaries (us) had taught her. In the end, Estefani said that what Talia learned from us made sense. Yeah!!
On Saturday, we visited Rosana, who we weren´t planning on visiting, but things change. Once we got there, her daughter ran out, scared telling us to call an ambulance for Rosana. We went inside and she had alot of stomach pain. We called the ambulance, gave her a blessing and waited with her. We hope and pray that she will be fine. We will see soon. Please keep "Rosana" in your prayers.
We had a great week. And changes are coming up!!! Will let you all know what happens on.... Tuesday! (of next week)
I love you all! I love the Lord and His work!!!
Elder Teloma

Pictures

The heaviest dog in Uruguay. Her name is Bear. 

The Montevideo Uruguay Temple

¡Hoy es el Día!

This week was beautiful. On Tuesday, we had the opportunity to prepare Sofia for her baptism. And this girl was definitely prepared.

On Wednesday, I went on divisions with Elder Cline from Utah! He has just two weeks here in the mission field and well, does not speak Spanish! So it was very fun being able to work with him and reflect on my first few weeks in the mission field when I was not speaking much. Over there I was able to meet Viriginia who was going to get baptized on Saturday. However, I was to teach her the lesson of tithing, which is one of the harder lessons to teach over here. But we did it. We spoke and the Spirit testified. And she listened, understood and accepted the law of tithing. With that, we finished the missionary lessons with her and I prepared her for her baptismal interview and she was definitely ready and was baptized on Saturday. She will be a great, strong member.

On Thursday, I met some great people. First we visited Alberti who is their new investigator. We taught him the Plan of Salvation. I asked Alberti: How long would you like to be with your family? And he said "Well, all my life. And I don´t know if it is possible, but all eternity as well." Then we testified that yes, he could be with his family for all eternity. 

After we visited Angelica, who is very nice and is a member of the Adventist Church. We taught her the basic gospel of Christ and she understood everything up until the point of baptism. She agreed that baptism is necessary but informed us that she had already been baptized by the Adventist Church. So we began talking about the authority to baptize and I asked her "Angelica, if you were driving on the highway and an ice cream truck pulled you over and gave you a ticket for speeding, would you pay it?" 

"Haha, of course not."

 Then I asked her: "If it were a police officer that pulled you over and gave you a ticket, would you pay it?" "Yes."

"Why?"

"Because the police officer has the authority to give me a ticket."

And then it hit her. "OOOOOHH. Now I get it."

So we were able to get her to the point where she needs to find out that our church is the true church with the authority to baptize. 

Friday, we had a family home evening with the Smith family! (Our mission president´s family) All 8 of his children were there. (5 of whom are married, with their spouses as well) It was incredible. One of President Smith´s sons served in the Washington D.C. mission in sign language. And he showed us the first vision in sign language. It was powerful, and moving. 

Saturday, we had a great lesson with Talia and before extending the baptismal challenge, she told us and her mom that she wanted to get baptized. So now we will be preparing her for that step in her life. Then, we got a surprise call from our stake president, President Guarteche, that he wanted to work with us that day! So we left with him and visited a sister (Sister Placeres) who was once a very strong member but has now been less active for many years. We had an incredible lesson on the Doctrine of Christ and our stake president bore an incredibly powerful testimony and the Spirit was felt by every single person in the room. He asked Beatriz if she would return to church and she said yes. She said without hesitation that she would go the next day.

On Sunday, Beatriz came, after more than a decade of being inactive. It was a miracle, and we have given her the commitement to partake of the sacrament, ALWAYS. We had Sofia´s baptism and it was a beautiful service. Here is to another hermosa semana!

I love you all! I love Jesus Christ and this work!

Elder Teloma

Photo of the Week

A drug store. Quite literally.

The inside

The outside

A basketball hoop in Uruguay

BBQ, Uruguayan Style

Sofia´s Baptism!

A Week Well Done

I had some incredibly spiritual experiences this week that I will never forget.

On Tuesday, we taught Sofia. We taught Luis. And they are both progressing well towards their baptism and new life! We visited Sister Liliana Santana and we helped her with some family history research and it is now coming along very well! She has now reached her 4th generation! And, well, it stormed. Hard.

Wednesday, we visited a family that just recently moved into the ward, the Alonso family! And it turns out on Tuesday, they were robbed. The mom was home with her newborn baby, when two adults came in with a gun, and took the tv and computer. Fortunately, neither her nor her baby were harmed. So we came the next day and they told us everything. The mom was taking it rather well, and her husband, Brother Alonso was very angry. We just listened to them and I felt the Spirit strongly and asked if we could share a story with them. I wasn´t 100% sure, in that moment, where the story was in the Book of Mormon. And it certainly was not a coincidence that the first page I turned to was exactly what I was looking for. We read about Alma and Amulek, missionary and prophetic companions who were witnessing innocent families being killed for being believers. And when Amulek wanted to stop the wicked people from killing, Alma told him that he could do nothing, because he knew that these innocent believers would go straight to the Paradise of God, while the wicked would be harshly judged. So we related this story to what had happened to the Alonso family. They cried, listened, thanked us and bore their testimonies. It was a powerful experience.

Thursday, we found a new investigator, Talia. She is the 18 year old daughter of Grisel, who is a member of 20 years, 19 of which she has been inactive. Grisel, told us that she believes in everything, but once she got married, she stopped going because her husband doesn´t believe in God or churches. Anyway, we shared the wonderful true message of the Restoration with them, and they invited us to come back!!

On Friday we left with Margot and had a great lesson with Stefani, and she broke out crying, and completely opening up to us. It was hard, but we helped her. Then, at 7pm, we made special visits with our Stake President, Presidente Guarteche! It was awesome!! We visited the Horjes family, that is less active. Then we visited Margot, who´s expression was priceless when she saw the stake president approaching hahaha. That visit made her day, and that´s why we went.

On Saturday, my comp and I did splits, and I worked with Brother Delucchi, who is a convert of a year. I had one of the best lessons of my whole mission. We taught Grisel (the less active member) and Talia (her nonmember daughter). We taught them the Book of Mormon. We preached. We testified, but with power. Grisel explained to us that she too knew the Book of Mormon was true, but that her husband is against all religion and God. She told us that her husband had a 4 year old son that died, and after that he stopped believing in God. I told them that the Book of Mormon has answers to every single question that we may have. I asked them "Do you want to know why God lets bad things happen?" They all quickly responded "YES". And I said, then we´ll find the answer here. I opened the Book of Mormon and found the answer in Alma 60:13 that explains that all innocent people who die will go to directly to God. After Grisel read the verse, their expressions were priceless. Shock, happiness and gratitute. They said they would share the scripture with the dad once he got home. Talia offered a prayer, and thus ended a lesson that I will never forget. We teach. The Holy Ghost testifies.

Sunday was beautiful. Beautiful testimony meeting. Brother Delucchi went up and told the congregation about the splits he did with me and the incredible lesson we had. He was grateful that he got to be a missionary for 3 hours. He said that that experience strengthened his testimony.
Sister Alonso also went up and talked about her experience being robbed, but that God had sent his angels to share a message with her the next day. That the scripture we shared completely comforted her and her family.

Brothers and Sisters, I know this church is true. I am more than 100% sure and am incredible grateful to be here as a missionary!

Elder Teloma

A frog

Shirley Porley! Baptism!!

Ward Family Home Evening

The Alvez Family

A Stellar Semana

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

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!!!

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

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/topic/missionary-program

Love you all!!
Elder Teloma