Great Experiences

Hola! All the new missionaries had lunch with President today.  So we had to get up at 5 AM to travel to the capital where I got fingerprinted, etc. so I can live in Argentina. I got to see a lot of the city of Buenos Aires, it’s way cool! It looks a lot like Europe, especially the buildings. I really liked it.  I saw a lot of beautiful houses, too.  The sad thing is, I forgot my camera, so I couldn’t take any pictures.  I was very disappointed in myself lol.  After that we headed to the mission house. I got to see the missionaries in my group from the MTC like Elder Davis, Porterfield, Larson, Denton, and Hales and also some of the newer native Elders.  We just went over things in the white handbook and had lunch, then we shared some of the experiences we’ve had so far.  My part went really well. I shared about how I gave the blessing to that investigator and how I felt the power of God as I was giving it and how grateful I am for the priesthood. My comp said it was way powerful.  President Argyle also talked to us a little bit, which is always amazing. He knows so much and you can just feel the spirit when he is in the room, it’s like having a general authority speaking with you personally. Other than that my week was pretty good, nothing too exciting though.  One way cool thing though (speaking of records, like in Elder Brooks’ letter) we set a record for our mission with 43 baptisms just last week alone.  This was the last week we had for our mission to complete our goal to double the baptisms performed last year. If we don’t quite reach it, we are really close. There are so many people here that are ready to hear the gospel. President Argyle said at our Zone Meeting 2 weeks ago that the Lord will provide a way for us to find people, and that we are going to be in places at the exact moments we need to be to find those people. And obviously that’s true when our mission had 43 baptisms in one week! :)  I know that Elder Steed and I are the only ones called to serve full time in Vucetich right now, it’s a big area but we were called and are capable of finding the people, especially with the help of the spirit.

Speaking of baptisms, I really wish I could have been there for Karlies, sounds like it was an amazing day! My baptisms were really good, and they WERE probably around the same time as Karlies!  Ours were at 5 here, so that’s 1 back in Vegas?  The baptism planned for Aug. 30 got moved to Sept 5 so we had 2 baptisms this past Saturday, well 3 but one was for an 8-year-old. Another bummer on the clothes though. . . A member was washing my clothes, and before the baptism we went to get them and she told me she was going to iron them and bring them to the baptism because I was going to baptize the 8 and 9 year olds. . . .and the member never showed up with my clothes!!! So somebody else had to baptize them.  But all in all it was good, the spirit was way strong.  I am sorry all my pictures didn’t send, I think there were too many attached to the email.  And about the watch....everyone asked which one was taken when we were robbed! haha.  But it was ......the watch from my sisters:( I’m sorry, I was very sad.  But yeah, I’m ok. It happened during the day and there were a couple other people around, just not very close by. It wasn’t way bad, it was just funny that it happened, especially during my first week!  I have had a lot of experiences so far during my first transfer; gave blessings, had baptisms, I’ve gone on splits where I had to lead and find all the houses we needed to go to, I did that bus contact in front of everyone, and I’m giving a talk this Sunday in church, along with other things, so it is good! I am understanding the language a lot better too, not every word yet but enough to have opportunities to speak and practice talking with people. The work is still fun. Elder steed and I always joke and have funny experiences everyday.  The other day there was a bird in the church that flew in through a window and Elder Steed locked himself in the room with it and was hitting it with a book to make it fly out of the window! And there’s always drunk people around that talk to us and do the most random things. So I am doing really well and having fun and learning a lot!  I’m becoming more confident in speaking and teaching, and it has blessed me because I feel like I can help the people a little bit more.  Mom I liked your experience you shared about your Book of Mormon class, it’s way true, we all have the ability to recognize spiritual truths, and that’s why the spirit is so important, not just on missions but always.  When teaching though, you can tell when investigators feel the spirit testify of the truths of the Gospel (it’s amazing), and most of the time they don’t remember what they heard but the way they felt.  I also know that with the spirit we can do anything, especially with weaknesses. As you know, it has always been hard for me to speak because I’m shy but everyday I feel that I’m getting better with it because I ask the Lord for help and to have opportunities to strengthen those weaknesses and it has blessed me so much.  And it’s the same for everything, if we have faith, patience, and have the desire, the Lord will help us with whatever we need.  I also learned that the Book of Mormon can help us with whatever we are going through in our lives. I’m so grateful to be able to read in it everyday. As you probably know, I am so grateful to be here and to serve the Lord, I have learned so much already, and know I will learn a lot more.  The past month and being here has gone by so fast, and it is important just to focus on every minute because the time does go by so fast. Thanks for all of your letters, I’m glad everyone is doing well. Thanks for all of your support and love and sharing how you are and what you’ve been up to.  I miss you all so much!! Tell everyone hello for me. I will talk to all of you next week:) I LOVE YOU!! Con Amor, Elder Ludwig

 

 

web images of Buenos Aires