rafaela week 11 - oct 18

hellllllloooooo.....

HAPPY MOTHER´s DAY! It was mother´s day here on Sunday (it's spring here)...but i thought i should just tell you that i love you mom. A lot a lot.. Thanks for all you do.

This week is kinda crazy. So we found out last night that we aren't having transfers until Friday! So i have no idea where i am going!!! But what can ya do...wait....it's kinda weird. Anyway, thanks for your letters. Glad you liked the pics. Some of them didn't send through, so i'll have to send a few more soon. i know how to do it now. I hope all is well for the wedding too! How exciting! Rain pics turn out pretty cool...that´s the bright side.

Well. We have 2 baptisms this sat! And we should have 4 more coming up in the next couple weeks too! This week we have Oscar (finally! We are praying he will have good health this weekend) and also Gianella. She is 9, her family is less active, but they have been coming to church and we have been teaching her. Then we've got Marta and Luis...Lucas Franco (the dad of Guillermo, our lider misional)...and then Mateo!! We had an awesome lesson with Mateo yesterday, he is going to quit smoking!! We´ve gotta help him, but he wants to be baptized. I hope he will set the example for his brother and sister and mom. We gotta baptize this family!!

This week i feel like i learned an important lesson. I learned the importance of edifying the saints. There is always work to be done, and no matter how great you think someone is doing, they could always use a visit, a spiritual thought, a friend, or a smile.We all need to feel loved....We have the Familia Andereggen. They are recent converts that were baptized earlier this year. They are awesome...Hector, the hippie with the long flowy hair, is the father of this family. Gotta love them. They are awesome members. Super strong, always trying to help, they are poor, and even when they are struggling they give. We go visit them probably once a week or every other week. But we just found out that they have not had the lessons over again after their baptism, so we now have the assignment to do that. But the other day we went over there just to ask a question and we ended up having a whole lesson with them. Turns out that they are not doing as well as they appear. They too need strengthening and upliftng and encouragement. They give but don't feel like they receive. So we talked to them about that and promised to pass by them more. I can't explain what really happened. It was a great experience for me though. Lots of tears were shed, because when the people you love are in pain, it hurts. But i learned the importance once again, of edifying the saints, and how important it is that each one of us do our duty. That we help eachother out, and that we all need to be strengthened.

Also, this week we are a trio. Hna. Contrera's companion went home yesterday (finished the mission) so she has been with us, and will be with us til transfers. She's from chile so we've been speaking quite a bit more spanish in the pench. It's been good for me. I decided that i want my next comp to be a latin.

Anyway. I love you guys! Thanks for all you do. I guess you'll be hearing about where i go next week! Until then...

Todo mi amor.

Hna. amundsen