Hola! It has been a great week – just a little tough since we only had two new investigators and didn’t reach our goal. But in the last two days, we have already found four. I guess we are using the spirit more, yeah? We have two baptisms this Saturday. I’m pretty excited. One is Jorge, who is nine. Most of his family is members. They recently moved to Argentina from Paraguay. They speak Guarani, which is an ancient language used in South America. They are teaching us a little of that but they speak Spanish as well. Our other baptism is Maria. She is older, but like a child. She can’t read, is very innocent and loves the church. She was referred by a member. It’s awesome how the members help us. We should have seven or more baptisms in the next couple of weeks if everything goes well. We have been teaching this little family. The wife was baptized at age eight but has never really attended. The man is Andres. They are awesome and are ready to be baptized but they aren’t legally married so they can’t. The wife wasn’t really sure about getting married but we have been helping them pray about it and they feel good about it now. I think she is scared they will get divorced in the future or something. They and their little boy have been sick so we gave them blessings the other day. It was the first time I have given a blessing and it was in Spanish! I am so grateful for the priesthood. I felt so powerful and filled with love throughout my whole body – and I had no idea what I was saying. Just goes to show that the Priesthood is the authority to act for God in His name. It was an amazing experience for me. The language has been coming along for the most part, but I do have some pretty funny stories, though. We were visiting a family which has been investigating the Church for over ten years but can’t get baptized because they don’t have enough money to get divorced from their previous spouses. The man asked me which area I served in last. I thought he asked where I was from, so I said Las Vegas! My comp started laughing and told me what happened and then everyone stared laughing. Then when I was giving the scripture, I paused to think of what to say but couldn’t think of the right words. I guess I always have a funny look on my face when I’m thinking of what to say – so again, my comp starts laughing at me. Haha. Last week, we were doing our planning and noticed we had a lunch appointment with that same family the next day. My comp had me call them to confirm for practice. After saying hello, he asked how my day had been and other things that I didn’t understand. So I paused and just repeated what my comp had told me to say about having lunch with them. Hahaah – everyone started laughing again. I hope I explained that well enough but I always have funny experiences not being able to understand the people. But the main thing I’ve learned this week is trusting the Lord. Like I said, we struggled with finding new people to teach. It’s hard for me to plan our days because I’m still new. But on the things I can help with, I learned to ask the Lord and then listen to the spirit. My comp said he has been working on that, too. We have completed all of our goals the past two days. I don’t think I could do anything without the spirit. It would be impossible to be a missionary without it. I also know that it’s not just something I can have for just the mission. The spirit can help us in so many ways through our whole lives. We just have to be in tune and listen. I’m just so grateful for the Spirit of the Lord and for the amazing love He has for us. Everything we have comes from Him. I was glad to hear from all of my family. Thanks for your letters. Love you all sooo much!!! Thanks for everything you do!! Love, Elder Ludwig
Elder Ludwig looking a little tired in his apartment in Jose C. Paz.
web photo of typical bird seen in S. American cities
Mom: People do need things here like shirts, etc. for Church but we aren't supposed to have our family help the people here in our area - it's a rule!
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