"Oh Little Town of Salto"

Christmas wishes come true for Elder Roderick 

Santa Claus is coming to town!                                                                      

This week I tried my best to get in the Christmas Spirit and it worked a bit better. We shared the Christmas Story with a couple of people and that helped me feel a little buzz of this great season. Salto isn’t the biggest city out there and there’s not the pretty lights on the houses but we are doing our best out here! I think one of my favorite parts of the Christmas season is the Santa on the Coke cans and at least we got those out here. Who needs the snow and Christmas trees when you have Santa on Coke cans?

This week was a much better week out here in the field for us. I don’t know if we just had better timing or maybe better luck, but it was a great week. We got back in touch with all of the homies! We are still working really hard with Daniel and Carla and we had some great lessons with them this week. I’m really trying to get Daniel up to speed with everything because Carla has been learning so much outside of the lessons, on her own. While in the lessons he always participates, has questions, and prays but we gotta get him to do more when we aren’t in the house! Carla is literally a “golden investigator” and we want the same for Daniel. So, let’s hope for the best!

Welcome to the little town of Salto de las Rosas

We were also able to get back in touch with our boy, Francisco, and we talked with him about obedience. Like most 17-year old kids he isn’t the most obedient but that is what we are here for, to help him along! The problem is that he lives with his grandma and uncle and he’s in the middle of some legal work to make his grandma his guardian. So, we are doing our best to work with them so he can be a member soon. We set some goals with him and our awesome member, Santiago, just got back from working in Valle Grande for a month so we’re praying he can help us with Francisco!

We were also able to find Alberto again.  He’s Daniel’s uncle and he’s a really hard person to find sometimes.  So, as soon as we heard he was in Daniel’s house, we jumped at the opportunity to teach him. This was the first time we had actually taught him alone. So, we tried to help him catch up with some of the things we have been teaching Daniel and Carla. He lives hecka far away so we are relying on Daniel and Carla to help him out as well. He always tells us how many problems he has in his life so I’m really hoping we can teach him more often and help him find more happiness and joy in this life!

Also, this week we were able to teach our man, Omar. The thing that is tough about Omar is that he works as a mechanic and never really has a fixed schedule. He’s good friends with everyone so, when someone has a problem with their car or moto they go to Omar. So, basically, we have been passing by his house every single day to see if he’s busy or not. He’s really receptive and has a couple of kids so when we taught him about the Plan of Salvation, he loved it. Most of the ideas and principles are really new to him so we are hoping for the best. Simplify and Intensify, Baby!

Lunch with Luis and his family

The best part of the week was our Sacrament Meeting. I’m not going to lie.  My first few weeks in the tiny Salto Sacrament Meetings were really rough. Adapting to the few members and just the style of Salto was pretty rough. But, the last two weeks have been awesome. This week after Sacrament Meeting, we had a little party to celebrate Christmas and it was soooo much fun. During a lunch appointment that we had this week we talked about how Salto is really small, of course, but at the same time we all know each other so well and we are like one big family. Of course, it’s not the most ideal ward, but it’s such a blessing as a missionary when we have an investigator like Carla who comes to church and the ward just takes her in, like a family. So, on Sunday when we had a big meal as a ward, it really felt like a big family dinner and I haven’t had one of those in a while so it was really fun. 

Well, it’s crazy to think that Christmas is this week! I’m hoping we can get in a couple more doors to share the story of Christmas or #ILUMINAELMUNDO. We’ve got to take advantage of this wonderful time of year!

I’m sure it will be weird to be on the other side of the Skype Camera on Christmas Day but I’m soooo pumped to talk to the fam! I just hope they can have some fun without me this year.

Enjoy the best week of the year and of course, never forget why we have this magical time of year. Jesus Christ truly is our light in this world. When we follow His perfect example, we are choosing the right!

“Todo lo puedo en Cristo que me fortalice”

“I can do all things in Christ, who strengtheneth me!” Fil 4:13

FELIZ NAVIDAD BABY!!

Elder Roderick