Familia,
Since
I hit my one year mark as missionary, this week was a big one. Just one year
ago I made the crazy decision to leave my family, friends and home to come and
serve the people of Argentina. It has
been one of the best decisions I’ve made in my short life. The things I’ve learned and experienced have
been unforgettable. Time has flown by and it doesn’t feel like I’ve been gone
for a year so, “Here’s to one more!”
I started the week by strengthening my talent for cutting
hair. On Monday, I went to town on my companion’s hair and then I ended up
cutting my own as well. It actually
turned out pretty good. There’s nothing better than finding a way to save some
extra money!
This week I had the great opportunity to get better
acquainted with President Panzacchi. We
had an interview together and as we were talking about how I’m doing on my
mission, I could feel the love he has for me.
To be honest, I felt a little bit like an investigator because I could
feel how much he cares and how much he wants me to succeed as a missionary and
as a person. I’m really excited develop a strong relationship with President
and learn all of the things he has in store for us.
On Tuesday, we had an awesome lesson with Herman, who is
twenty-one-years old. He has turned into one of the best investigators we have.
I love teaching him because we are close in age and we have great chats about
life and especially about how everything relates to God and religion. Like the majority of Argentina, he is
Catholic but he likes to listen to us. We had an awesome lesson with him where
we were able to open his eyes a little bit about the Apostasy and the
Restoration. As we were teaching, it
felt like we made a lot of things “click” in his head.
On Wednesday, we had our Zone Conference and we talked
about the power and authority of our sacred calling as missionaries. It’s kind
of cool to think that, as missionaries and representatives of Jesus Christ, we
are literally separated from the world. It made me realize how fortunate I am
to have this sacred calling to serve as a missionary and serve God’s children.
We also talked about the faith required to be successful.
Last PDay, Dad sent me a talk that addressed our understanding that “faith is
power.” Then, in my interview with President, he brought up the same phrase
again and THEN, in Zone Conference we talked about “faith is power” again. In the span of three days, I heard that phrase
ten times. I felt like someone was trying to pound it into my head. I came to the conclusion that our faith is
something we need to strengthen every day.
We can’t just say we have faith and move on. Every day is another opportunity to
strengthen our faith and when we do that, we received help from God and that is
power!
This week we did some service and dug a huge hole. It was about two yards deep and three yards
in diameter. When we finished, we were legit dead. We were dead the next day too but the best
part about it was that the members who we served paid us back with a nice big
asado and ya’ boy grilled the whole thing!
I’m almost Argentine now!
We also taught Gustavo and his family this week. They are
the family we found last week who doesn’t know how to read. Due to this, our
lessons have been a little different but it just means we have to be better
teachers. More than anything, we have to
rely on the Spirit so we can soften their hearts a little bit so our message
really enters into their hearts and they can feel the truth of our words. Our goal is to actually help them learn how
to read and we’re going to try to do that by helping them read the Book of
Mormon. So, we’ll see what the Lord has in store for this great family.
One of the best parts of the week was the night I
completed one year. We went to get some
ice cream and we’ve made friends with the workers at the ice cream shop because
we go there a lot. Without saying
anything to him about my big day, my homie, Jesus, hooked me up with a kilo of
ice cream… for free! We were also invited to lunch at a member’s home and it
just happened to be her birthday. To
celebrate, they put an entire pig on the grill for us to eat, so we ate pretty
darn good this week! A full missionary
is a happy missionary!
I’m over the hump!
#teamJesusstillwinning
Have a great week! Elder Roderick
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