Long Hike...

Hey!

Skype call was awesome!

Hey I´m way super super sorry but I don´t really have any time. A member took us on a hike today and told us that we'd be back by 4 pm at the latest....but we had some complications and now I have absolutely no time to write. I'm so sorry!

This week was good. Still doing lots of searching for new people. Haha pretty much everything I said on skype.

The verse of the week I wanted to share was Psalms 37:23-24,39-40.

Seriously I´m way sorry!! I can't really write anything! Won't happen again! (Haha I'm fairly certain about that, considering I'll only be writing home a couple more times....thats way weird...).

Love you all,

Elder Webster

God Knows Our Moments of Need

Hey!

Sounds like another good week! Sorry, I spent so much time thinking about your emails that I don't have much time to write this main email. But I'm glad you are all doing so well!

This week was good. We´re seeing progress, little by little. We had a few way cool spiritual experiences this week, but I don't really have time to write everything about all of them, and writing just a little about each one wouldn't really suffice... So, I`ll narrow them down.

On Friday Elder Cook and I were walking down a dirt street when Elder Cook told me that he thought I should talk to the teenager sitting on the curb near the end of the street. He looked sort of sad. We went up and I told the kid that we were missionaries and handed him a card about learning from our challenges. I paused and asked him "Can we help you with something?" When I asked that he broke into tears and started telling us about something that had just happened to his sister, but I didn't really understand because of how much he was crying. So we just sat down by him on the curb in silence for a 2 or 3 minutes. I then told him that we didn't fully understand how he must feel, but that God knew him and understood perfectly. He nodded, and we kept sitting there in silence for a few minutes. A police car pulled up and asked if someone had called them. The kid said that he had. I couldn't understand him very well, but from the questions the police officer asked, it sounded as if the kid´s sister had just been kidnapped. They took the kid away in the police car to keep helping him. It was quite a blessing to get to be there in his moment of need. We were really thankful for that opportunity. To think that Heavenly Father can put 2 americans on a dirt street in argentina at the precise moment that He needs one of His children to know that He loves them. Not to mention, we were glad that the police didn't ask about the bag of marijuana on the ground next to where we had sat... So, officially the 2nd time in my mission that a person I sat down next to on a curb got taken away in a police car.

As a verse of the week, I decided on Proverbs 16:17-19. It talks about the importance humility. I've been studying that a lot lately. To be honest, I like that Proverb more in spanish than english. But I like the reference it makes to how every fall is preceeded by pride. Reminded me of D&C 38:39 ( I think thats the reference). It occured to me that if pride is the "universal sin " (President Benson), and that it leads to all other sin, and that if humility is the opposite of pride, humility must (theoretically) lead to all righteousness. Makes me want to be more humble.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week! Hope you are all doing well! Can't wait to talk to you on skype!

Elder Webster

Much Is Required

Hey!

Wow sounds like you all had quite the week! Sounds way fun!

This week here was good. We've been spending a lot of time trying to find new investigators and, well, it hasn't been as "productive" as we might have hoped. In fact, we didn't find anyone. We found out that half the people on the ward directory no longer live here and that neither do most of the old investigators...but...new people live in their houses! So that just means there are more new people to talk to! But seriously, we've been thinking a lot and we came up with a few new ideas of what me might try to find new people and work with the members more. Haha I feel like I've probable said that exact sentence about 50 times to you. But its true! Hopefully it works out. But yeah, not the most exciting week ever. Maybe it was the second or third most exciting week of the mission...but definitely not the top one.

So, verse of the week is something I was thinking about in class at church yesterday. D&C 82:3 talks about how much is required of those that have received much. That principle is shown all over the Book of Mormon, and its pretty clear from the parable of the talents that Jesus taught. Anyway, I was thinking about that and how we can learn a lot about what Heavenly Father expects of us when we start looking at what He has given us. For example, He has given us all agency, which is why He expects us all to make good decisions and to repent for our bad decisions. There are other things we receive, such as the gift of the Holy Ghost, the priesthood (men), etc, and then there are tons of more "unique" gifts that we have received. And something I've noticed is that He doesn't tend to give us more than what we need--in other words, He expects us to use everything He gives us. So I've been thinking about what I've been given and about would be expected of someone that has those things. Its something we could all do.

I'm glad to hear that you are all doing well! I hope you have another way awesome week! Sorry not really saying much in this letter..but...yeah.

You guys are great!

Elder Webster

Transfers, Not Transfered

Hey!

Haha sounds like a pretty good week for everyone! And it sounds like this upcoming week is going to be kind of crazy, hopefully everything goes well! Happy Early Birthday to Jaxon and Dad! Haha I feel like my week was a little bit like your week back home. It was good, but I'm not really sure what to say about it or even what actually happened. It was just....good!

We got transfer calls yesterday and it looks like I'll be staying here with Elder Cook again. It should be good. I've been learning a lot from him and from the members, so I guess its a blessing to get to keep working with all of them.

This week we...well...I'm not really sure what we did. We've been working a lot with the members in an effort to help them with the new ward mission plan and to find new investigators. They all seem really willing to help and many of them have specific friends that they want to share the gospel with. So I guess the good news is that several members are working a lot with their friends, and the bad news is that none of them have gotten to the phase yet where we have actually gotten to meet their friends. So for know I guess its just patience and motivating them to set up the appointments that they keep telling us that they want to set up.

So, verse of the week is something that really jumped out to me as I read Alma 19:12-13 this week. The missionary, Ammon, had been teaching King Lamoni about, well, everything. At the beginning of the teaching process, the King didn't have much of an understanding of God or of Christ, or their plan for him. The king's words in verses 12 and 13 reveal the depth of his conversion to what he learned. Not only did he say that he had seen the Redeemer of the world, but he said that he had seen his Redeemer. His relationship with Christ had become personal, and his life had changed forever. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know and love us personally--but now I have an even greater desire to come to love and know them personally as well. As I come to learn more of them and build an ever-more personal relationship with them, I find greater and deeper meaning in what Christ meant when he said that "this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (I think thats how it is in english...John 17:3).

I hope you all have a great week, especially with all your plans this weekend! Again, happy birthday Dad and Jaxon!

Love

Elder Webster

Little Miracles (not really so little...)

Hey! Happy Monday!

Wow sounds like quite the week for all of you! I'm glad Hailey's recital went well and the rock climbing pictures look way fun!

Things are going well here. Unfortunately, it looks like we're going to stop visiting almost all of the people we have been teaching lately...but maybe they just need a break for a while. Its amazing how much you can start to care for someone in so little time.

We're also thinking a lot about how to work better with the members. The bishop presented a new ward mission plan at church this week and the members all seem pretty excited about it. Several of them have already told about friends that they have and how they are going to try to put us in contact with them in the next couple of weeks. If everything goes according to plan, we'll be overwhelmed with teaching appointments. Haha but lets not get ahead of ourselves...one step at a time.

I got to have a cool experience yesterday at church which has had me thinking a lot. This past week, some of the older members of the ward got together to have a bbq. Well, turns out it didn't go well. We got to church and a member who got baptized about a month or 2 ago, had 2nd degree burns from the palm of his hand all  the way up to his shoulder. Long story short, they had an accident at the bbq. After church, he asked my companion and I for a blessing. We ended up giving it to him, and as soon as we finished, he opened his eyes and started pointing out several parts of his arm that he said had healed/changed color/changed during the blessing. Little miracles. Its amazing what Christ can do.

So, verse of the week is a pretty familiar scripture that I read the other day. Mosiah 4:27 says that it isn't required that we run faster than we are able. I started thinking about it and the big difference between saying that it isn't required that we run faster than we are able and saying that it isn't required that we run. I think there are times (or at least I do this), where I try to say that its okay if I don't do everything since I'm not perfect. We are saved by grace after all that we can do, and Heavenly Father knows what we are capable of more than we do. If anybody is going to "cut me slack" because of my weaknesses, I'd rather it be Him that does it, and not me.

Well I hope you all have a great week! Love you all!

Elder Webster

Great Conference

Hey!

Wow sounds like you had a way fun conference weekend! I'm glad everyone is doing well!

Everything is going well here. We got to visit with some of the investigators that have been hard to find at home lately. We met with Fabian a few times, and the good news is that he always reads and tries to fulfill any commitments that we leave with him. The bad news is that now we are pretty sure that half the reason he is meeting with us is because he wants to convince us that we are wrong...he's never very direct about it, but he told us that he meets with people of other religions to try to change them...long story short, we have a lesson with him tonight that will probably help us decide if we are going to keep visiting him. We hate the idea of stopping to visit him, but we can't help him if he doesn't want to be helped.. This week I also got to have several very spiritual experiences, which was way inspiring. I can't really write them all here but I'm definitely ready to improve as much as I can in the time that I have left.

Getting to watch general conference was way great. We went to the stake center to watch it there, in english. I enjoyed it a lot, but the greatest blessings of conference definitely come afterward--time to study and apply all the things that they said. Haha I'm not sure I'll be able to put it all into practice before we have the next conference but..baby-steps I guess.

Verse of the week was a hard choice week, there were several that stood out to me way strongly this week. I eventually decided on 1 John 4:19, which in english probably says something like "We love Him because He loved us first". Long story short, I started studying the Christ-like attribute of love this week, and I came across this scripture. It stuck out to me a lot, especially when I remembered that we are commanded to love others as He has loved us (John 13:34). He loved those that didn't know Him and rejected Him. He served those who didn't want His service. He truly loved us first. And now, not only do we have the task of loving Him back, but if we are to love others the way He loved us, we must find a way to love others first. Loving someone first requires that we actively look for that opportunity, and those opportunities are a little more difficult to recognize.

Anyway, I'm glad you all had a great week! I hope you have yet another good week and that everything goes well with all the things you have planned for this week! Everything is good here.

Elder Webster

Happy, Happy, Happy!

Hey!

Sounds like a lot has been a pretty crazy week for everyone. And Happy Easter! Happy General Conference! And Happy Life!

This week was pretty good. It was a little weird, because right now I think we have more investigators here in Dorrego than I've had in my whole in this area, but for whatever reason, not a single one of them could meet with us in this past week. We've been getting blessed to be able to consistently find new people, and we're way excited to see all of them progress, but...well, progressing means getting better over time...so..it takes time. One of the cool people that we got to start teaching was someone that my companion met during exchanges 2 weeks ago, the house that my companion said he would never go back to. Haha I talked him into it :) We went there and Elder Cook told me that it was like night and day from the first time he had went there. Its the house of a less active woman, her baby, and her boyfriend. Her boyfriend just recently got out of jail after being there for 10 years, and apparently while he was in jail he met someone that told him to try reading the Book of Mormon...which he did... 3 times. He has a lot of desires to change his ways and is positive that we are the ones that can help him, so we're excited to get to meet with him again.

On saturday we also had a special meeting with the stake president, the bishops from the stake, and the mission president. We talked about the importance of ward mission plans. Our bishop was so excited that he drove us to his house afterward to start making a plan then and there. He presented a part of it the next day at church, and we are having another meeting this week with the leaders in the ward to finalize the plan. We're really excited to be able to work more effectively with the ward.

So this week I wanted to share a scripture from 1 Nephi11:31-32. Its a straightforward and powerful testimony and prophecy about the life and death of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. I think it is important that we remember the sacrifice that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father both made for us. But His suffering and death weren't enough--He had to live again in order to completely conquer death for us...and He did it. And because He lives, we too can live. There is a beautiful video that talks about his sacrifice at ÉlVive.mormon.org (thats the spanish page..I'm not sure what the english one is). I invite everyone to watch and share that video, especially during such an important time of year, when so many are brought to remember Him.

I hope you all have a great week, a happy easter, and a great general conference weekend. I hope you all know that I'm fine and that I love you all.

Elder Webster