Tender Mercies...

Why hello all. Man I’ve been waiting for today for... idk… all week or more. I could not have been more excited to talk with you. Look familiar? My home away from home... the docks at Punta!
Yes, I went to Maldonado on Monday. It was the best ever! My comp was freaking out on the drive there. It’s so pretty there and I kept telling her we still hadn’t reached the best part. She didn’t know Uruguay could be so beautiful. Man, I miss the "real" Uruguay, my home! We got there late. Everything we planned out happened late so we didn’t have much time to enjoy ourselves and we got home at 11 at night but, it was good. We got there and zoomed to Nina’s. On the way we saw a bunch of members who freaked out and ran to me to hug me. It felt so good to be there with people who already know me well and yes... appreciate me. We sat with Nina and my comp got her foot fixed. It’s a matter of time though, it still hurts her and we still have to walk slowly. But Nina told me everything about the ward. She told me that Hermana Laursen and I were "to tell you the truth" she says, were a rockin’ companionship. It was a good three transfers with her. Luciano and Shantal are good, and so is Yuri. I don’t know if you remember me telling you about Diego (a 14 year old boy whose family all got baptized except him. He didn’t want to). We tried working with him a little but we didn’t really get anywhere. The mom told us she didn’t want to move to Maldonado but knew they had to. They just had the feeling and prayed about it to receive an answer. Well, we told her it was because the hermanas were going to baptize her son so they could all be sealed. Welp, he got baptized last weekend. How cool is that? It made me happy; they are totally going to be an eternal family! Depending on when they decide to be sealed (because they have already waited a year), Hermana Laursen will be able to go to the sealing. That’s cool, huh?

After that we rushed to Punta Del Este, ate some Burger King and just HAPPENED to run into Hermana Lundskog and her new comp. Random! We honestly had like 20 minutes to get out of there so we couldn’t talk much, but it was good to see her. We ran to the Dedos, took pics for my comp and then ran to the other side of the peninsula to take pics by the docks and the boats and then we had to run to catch our bus to Montevideo. The bus was driving so slowly so we missed the bus at 6 from Montevideo to Sarandi so we got to shop at the mall in Tres Cruces for 2 hours. Aww too bad! It’s really expensive there so we didn’t buy anything but we got to witness a guy trying to steal a bag from a lady. That was interesting. He didn’t get away though. Like mom said, I reminisced the rest of the day, reflected on the bus and... it was good. I miss Maldonado. I want to go back later, at some future point in my life I’ve decided.

Oh man...well, Jaekelin called us that night and told us because her husband lost his job they had to move out of their house asap! They were already gone and we couldn’t teach her anymore. We felt so hopeless right after all the drama with Ruben. It was a heartbreaker, but it wasn’t like it’s over. We´ll pass the reference to wherever she moves and she can get baptized over there. I felt so sad.

We found some new investigators... Ruben’s son for example. He’s 8, Emiliano. He wants to be baptized and they are backing him up. Too bad it’s really awkward teaching him with all of them there when they aren’t really living how they should be and showing the example. He will be baptized on the 24th! Completely soaking wet!
Cristina... we taught her a few more lessons, suggested a date to be baptized as a goal and told her to pray. She agreed and we went by the next day to verify. She was so happy. She had received an answer and she said she wanted to be baptized on that date. She already went and talked to her parents and they said they would get back to her with an answer. The next day she called us and said they said no. What! I don’t know what happened. I guess it’s really not her time. We gave her all the pamphlets and told her to keep reading them and to call our number when she can be married and baptized. In the meantime you’ve got to keep coming to church we told her. She said ok. I guess some missionaries will receive a big surprise when they get her call. Maybe I will still be here. You never know. It’s just sad, because she knows she has to be baptized and has the desire, but past choices and consequences won’t allow her to right now. I guess we´ll see.

We finally got Jess and Agustin a wedding date. March 29th. So they can’t get baptized till that same day. At least they still will be baptized. In the meantime, they still continue to face challenges and they keep fighting… thanks to a real testimony of the gospel. They will need to have a certificate of residence to be married so the ward is looking for property that they can build them a house on. It is so cool!

On Tuesday we were walking to find some references when we heard whining. We go to the side of the road and in a little stream by a bunch of trees we find seven newborn puppies thrown out. We gathered them all together and two little boys brought us a sheet to take them home in. We went home and now the owner of the house is taking care of all of them (with our help). Now we gotta get rid of them quick. Too bad no one here wants girl dogs because zillions of dogs roam freely and they always end up pregnant cause no one cares. We gave away one dog and one died so now we have five. Abandoned puppies we took in
The letter I’ve been waiting for from Hermana Laursen finally got to me. Oh. my. gosh. I miss her! She tells me a lot of cool stuff and more than once in the mission she has helped me keep going. I’m so grateful for her. I’m sad I have to wait 6 more months for her to finish the mission so we can talk all the time. We were meant to be friends for a long time. I do know that. Heavenly Father still sends little tender mercies for me. That’s the best part.

Also, the Barreto family has been a huge help. Their daughter is in Mexico on her mish and her mom showed us some of her emails. The mom reminds me of my mom! I love you mom, and dad, and sisters.

All I know is that the church is still true. Even when we have difficult times that doesn’t change, and it doesn’t change the nature of our loving Heavenly Father. He is our constant. Thank heavens for that knowledge. I’m grateful for my blessings and grateful for you and for the opportunity I have to be here and to learn, but most importantly to help my brothers and sisters make it back to live with our Father again.

I love you all so much. Everything works together for our good. Be good so we can be worthy of blessings, but look for others to help along the way too. I love you!!!! Love, me