Week 17

I'm leaving Lopez…

yup, you heard me. Im leaving...

I am going to ride the bus for 9 hours to encarnacion, and hop the border to argentina. And i will go to a medium sized town called Oberà. Elder Acevedo says its really pretty and there are a lot of hills. It is also an independent branch. So thats like having a ward thats not part of a stake. Strange.

Like 10 days ago, we contacted a 20ish year old girl, and tlaked to her. She didnt sound very interested, and i think she just talked to us because she was bore.d But she said we could come back, so we set up another time. a couple days later, we went back and talked with her boyfriend. And he was one of the ones who told us that it was the most logical religion he had ever heard of. We gave him the restoration pamphlet. We came back on tuesday, and we talked with the girl again. She said that she talked with her boyfriend about us coming. And she broght out the pamphlet. We talked about it, and we had to leave. We asked her if she could pray to end the lesson. She said no. Elder Acevedo asked if she had already prayed. She said yes. Then we asked if she recieved an answer. She said yes.We asked how. She said that she read the pamphlet, and prayed and asked if joseph smith was a prophet, and that she felt ``the wirdest felling... nothing she had ever felt before`` we asked if she thought it was an answer from God. She said yes. We then set up a date for baptism, and she said she wanted to come to church.

So we were cheering, walking away, and one of the members drove up to us, and asked us if we wanted to eat lunch at their house. Uhh... YES. So we were walking away, cheering about THAT, then some guy pulled up to us on his motorcycle and said ``hola elderes!`` That DOES NOT happen in <lopez! turns out he lives in the town over, and has been a member for 6 years. What in the world. So well see what happens with that.

Then we went over to the girls house who recieved an answer to her prayers. She met us outside. We talked and joked for a little bit. Then we asked if we could share something with her. She said no. She said she didnt want to change her religion. Elder Acevedo asked if her prayer wasa a lie. She siad no, but she doesnt want to meet with us anymore. It was the most depressing thing i have ever heard in my life. Not sure what happened there.

We also met a 14 year old kid. He was hanging out with a bunch of other kids who we went up to and taught a lesson to. They were all pretty smart, and remember ed everything we said. We asked if we could meet there again, and have a nother lesson. All of the kids said MAYBE, but this kid said ``why dont you come to my houseÇ¿!`` uh.... YES. So we did. And he loved it. He said he was trying to convince all of his friends to come to church. And he actually came to church. He said he loves it when we come over because hes never heard of any of this sturff before. Awesome. awesome kid.ç

So thats what has happened. I hope i left lopez a little better than i found it, but im not sure if thats possible. I love this place. I love the gospedl. I love you

have a nice day

Elder Emil

Week 16

Well new years happened, and I know what you all are thinking. That it was NUTS in south america. Well... not in Carlos Antonio Lopez!! haha We got to stay up until midnight, and we were just talking, then we looked at the phone and it was 1202 haha. We had all the windows open, and nothing even happened. haha no noise. It was funny., We jumped up, high fived, and said HAPPUY NEW YEAR, and then we went to bed. haha were in the middle of nowhere

There was a huge storm here. It blew out the power in the whole city for a couple days. And we didnt have water for a couple days, either. But were rarely in our apartments, so it wasnt a big deal.

One of our investigators is the Paraguayan Kramer. He lives in a really nice house, but doesnt really work. Hes really skinny, and middle aged. He has the same hair. He makes the same movements. He kinda believes everything and remembers everything that anyone tells him. Which is both good and bad for us. Because he believes us, and likes the restoration, but also believes all the other religions, too. So thats a bummer.

We found two guys in their 20s with young families, who were both child hood friends with the familiy of members here. They really respect the family, and the religion, but had never heard the missionaries before. We taught them, and they both essentially said ´´well thats the most logical religion that ive ever heard of``. Which is true, but im not sure if thats really a good way to look at it. I truly hope that they will try to gain more than just logic. Because its not the logic that gives me my testimony, its the joy and happiness that comes from living the gospel, and truly seeking the Spirit. The feeling that i get from seeking the Spirit are incredible.

Well, i hope you all are eating well, because I have had the best meat that i have ever eaten in my life. Brazillian. Just like rodizio. Put the skewer on my plate, and saw off the meat, as i grab it with my fork. And its delicious

The church is true!

Have a nice day!

Elder Christensen

Week 15

Merry Christmas to all!!

Christmas waas a 24 hour pday! and it was wonderful! We ate a bunch of asado, we travelled 6 hours to Natalio 10, and hung out withthe elders there. We watched 17 miracles, and then tried to hike to the Parana river. We didnt make it. I felt like a real person. it was strange.

Over the week, i read Our Search for Happiness. it made me sad because there are some sad stories in there. It made me happy, because Elder Ballard was an auto dealer and talked about his dealership a few times, and it made me reminiscent about the dealership. and it has some awesome insight on eternal families. It is a rocking book, and really explains quite well how knowing that your family will be together forever builds your relationship on earth, today. It was a joy to read, and I would recommend it to anybody. It is not very long, and Elder Ballard ahs a very strong testimony of Christ that will rub off on you.

We have met a lot of new families that show a lot of progress in Lopez. I feel like there are only 20 people that live here, and then we come accross a rocking family that decides to read the Book of Mormon!! Its going to bless their lives more than they know. We really hope that they will continue coming to church, and reading and praying.

Well It waas a short week, but a good one!! I love yolu all!!

Elder Christensen

Week 14

Hello, all.

Christmas in Carlos Antonio Lopez literally barely exists. It is very sad.. The only christmas tree is made out of paper and is hanging in my kitchen, taped to the wall. There are no christmas carolers, and i really doubt that well get much snow.. but ill keep my fingers crossed.

But it just means that I get to focus on Christ!!

So speaking of miracles, we were going to take a but into encarnacion, 8 hours away. But it didnt come. Then it rained. So we were stuck in Lopez for much longer than we thought we would be. We called a guy with a truck, to hire him to drive us 2 hours to the nearest asphalt road so we could catch a bus. And he told us he could leave in 3 hours. So we had some time to spare. We contacted 3 houses. Were accepted in all 3, and found some of the most promising investigators on this side of the parana river! it was stunning ! 2 of them came to church on Sunday, and they both LOVED IT!! so much!! And the third didnt come because it rained... But IS reading the book of mormon, and likes it, AND accepted a baptismal date with flying colors.

They really enjoy the doctrine the church teaches, bisecuase its true and comes directly from God. It was SO nice to finally see some progression in some investigators after a couple week draught.

We spent 3 days in Encarnacion for our Christmas Devotional, so we didnt really work a ton, but it was very nice to relax, and spend time with the couple zones that were at the devotional.

I love the christmas season, and i miss the snow very much. someone should wathc the HE Is the Gift video fromt he church, because i havent yet. But i know it exists. I hear its pretty good.

Elder Christensen

Week 13

So this week has absolutely FLOWN by. It was so much fun, but it was also really hard.

Its very strange here in Lopez now. We had to drop a ton of our investigators because they ´´dont want to change their religion´´. like 120 percent of the people here are catholic, and about 15 percent attend thier church every week. thats 105 percent of the people that dont attend church hahah but really. Its almost as if they feel that our message is true, because they say they feel good when they talk to us, but they dont understand what it means. And we have yet to find a way to teach them what it means.

People also have been turning down our invitation to pray and ask if the message is true. Its not that they say they'll pray, and then don't, it's that they say that they wont pray. I never thought id encounter that, but has ahppened a lot theis week. so strange. Please pray about it. Its so simple. Pray about whether the book of mormon is true. Every day. its so simple, and the blessings are eternal.

Elder Acevedo is the FUNNIEST person i have ever met. He makes me laugh so hard. We have so much fun, and every day so far has flown by because we work so hard and were always exhausted and were always laughing

I love you all. have a nice day

Èlder cristen

This picture is a copy of one that Paul Clements took on his mission. Someone should find him, and show it to him

Week 12

I warned you guys that something like this might happen.

Sorry. This is a short email. But thats what we get from living in Carlos Antonio Lopez.

Elder Acevedo is probably the most organized, funniest little person i have ever met. He worked for the president in the mission office for 9 months in his mission, so he really knows how the work should go. He is SO funny. He walks really fast, and is really personable with the people, and has a solid testimony. Hes freaking obedient and i love it.

Our zone leaders are still the same, and I could not be happier. I get along with them reallly well.

Usually when I find tarantulas in the house, i just avoid that area. I finally got the guts to kill one this week, and it was probably the strangest experience of my life.

I love you

Elder Christensen

Week 11

So yes. I will stay in the middle of the jungle, but I will get a new companion. His name is Elder Acevido, or something like that and he's from Bogota Columbia. I think Cuchabomba, near where grandma and grandpa served!! so thatll be fun. I met him once 6 weeks ago. He was just training another gringo that was in my zone in the mtc.

So i finally jmade a scripture case out of a cereal box. I looked down, and it said TRIX centered across the top. It was for my triple combination. It made me laugh. A lot. haha The scriptures are true.

I recieved my second package. plus a few letters. I'm not exactly sure what the notebooks are supposed to be for… Yes, that was a joke. Im very happy!

My most spiritual experience happened yesterday. We gave the Aaronic preisthood to two of the men that were baptized last week. I'm sorry, I still cant send any pictures of them, but one of them has had a real problem with alcohol, and has been almost deathly ill for the past montha nd hasnt taken alcohol the whole time, so its really a blessing. And now hes starting to get better,a dn theres just a new light in his eyes. I dont know. It was really spiritual, and I was very happy to be able to be in the circle for them.

Sleeping last night was a beezy. It was probalby 100 degrees, and we didnt have any power, so there was no moving air. I was sweating like there was no tomorrow. It was awful

I got to spend a couple days with the zone leaders in encarnacion, and it was freaking fun. it was SO nice to finally talk to someone in english, and theyre both obsessed with sports, too, so that rocked.

But otherwise, I'm loving it!! The gospel is true!!

Elder Christensen