¡FAMILIA!
This was such a good week. Just like always, filled to the
brim, with challenges, laughing, and blessings a ful. I feel
so blessed, it´s hard to describe the mission avoiding all the cliché sayings.
But here we go... these are the best two years of my life.
Did I tell you that my Stake President here in the Argentina
Buenos Aires Litoral Stake was called as a General Authority? Elder
Jose M. Batalla. I may have left out that important detail from my
thoughts on General Conferece. Also Elder Juan C. Avila, who was recently
released, was an area 70 in my ward in Liniers.
Let´s start out the week with my interview with President. I
have had incredibly loving Church Leaders nearly all my life. I will be forever
grateful for the way that they have helped me become who I am today, and for
their unconditional love. But President Ayre is an outstandingly inspired man,
and I feel as if he were my second father. All he did was thank me for what I
was doing, then sit in silence looking at me through tears. I´m amazed that he
can transmit so much love in such a short interview.
The most obvious highlight from the week would be Máxima and
Selena´s baptisms this Sunday. This mother and daughter are special people.
Máxima is a single mom struggling with her handicapped son, and her oldest son
who got mixed up in some bad Umbanda (don´t look that up. Just
imagine the bad guy on Disney´s The Princess and the Frog) and
suffers from mental and emotional side-effects. We´ve had extremely spiritual
experiences with her as we´ve talked about Priesthood authority, given
Priesthood blessings, etc. Both have a strong testimony that The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only Church that has the authority of God to
directly bless their family. May God bless them on their journey to endure to
the end, and may He bless me in helping them do so.
Elder Rios continues to teach me a lot. This Sunday, while
going to bring our investigators to Church, I was getting frustrated with how
many people who had committed to come to Church fell through. I was visibly
annoyed as I was thinking of everyone who had rejected us, and the stupid dog
that bit me the night before. >:( Then
I called Máxima and Selena, to make sure everything was all clear so that they
could make it to Church before sacrament meeting, and they were already on
their way. Elder Rios literally jumped in the streets with a fist pump that
reached above my head and shouted ¨Victory is ours!¨ I couldn´t help but bust
up laughing, realizing that I was getting too caught up in what I told him we
shouldn´t get caught up. We just invite everyone to come unto Christ. Their
agency is their own, but we should never let frustration over how many people
don´t choose the right overshadow our joy over those who do come unto Christ.
Who´s training who? I ask myself that sometimes.
I love you all so much. Have a great week. ¡Hurra por
Israel!
-Élder Goff
P.S. Pictures:
2070- Elder Rios´ first Arrozchaufa (classic Peruvian food with rice, meat, soy sauce, and other good stuff). Now he always wants to go eat Peruvian food. As we say in Spanish ¨De tal palo, tal astilla.¨ (A chip off the old block)
2075- Máxima and Selena on their baptism day. Elder Bonilla likes to take pictures ¨up close and personal¨, but it´s all good. These two are really special.
2081- Elder Rios after his first baptism. What a champion.
2090- Sunset on the edge of Virreyes. They tell me that on
the far ends of Provincia, Buenos Aires starts to get really pretty. This might
be as close as I´ll get.
No comments:
Post a Comment