October 12, 2012

Oí Família! Well...I guess I´ll have to be Elder Jolstead the older now. I´m glad he left smiling because its so much worse when everyone is bawling. hahaha I loved conference! The announcement about the age of missionaries is awesome! They´ll be so many more missionaries now! I loved the talk by Elder Holland. That wasn´t the first time I heard that talk. He gave one similar to the missonaries in the MTC awhile ago. Its something very important because there´s so many fubeca returned missionaries. I don´t understand how so one who supposedly served an honorable mission could come back and act like nothing happened and that they served their missions and that´s the end, you´re finished and you can go back to who you were before. That talk was very powerful. I also liked Elder Bednar´s talk and President Monson´s talk in the Preisthood session. Unfortunately these days I´ve been very tired so some of the sessions I missed a little because I fell asleep. :( I was very put out afterwards. This week I had a great opportunity. I was able to go to Uruguaiana and see some of my converts there. I was able to talk to one family there and I have to say that was one of the happiest moments of my life. The mom has a calling in the relief society and is very strong in the church. Her daughter is also very strong and is attending seminary everyday. The whole family reads the Book of Mormon everyday and prays before every meal and before they go to bed. The difference that I saw in the mom was incredible. I remember that she was always stressed about some very terrible things that were happening in her life, but now she was so peaceful and happy. So anyway it was very awesome to see the change the gospel has made in their lives. I think the feeling that I felt is the feeling that only comes to those who have the priviledge to share the gospel with others and see the happiness that they feel. That is why it is so important that we share the gospel. For the salvation of others as well as our own happiness we need to share the gospel with others. Unfortunately I didn´t get to see the whole family because the kids were at school and the dad was at work. It was very cool to get to walk where I walked 6 months ago. The funny thing is that it was about a year ago when I was transfered there. Anyway, here in our area we are teaching this woman who is practically converted to the gospel already, can´t get baptised because her husband decided that now he doesn´t want to marry her. Now that they already have three kids. So this week we´ve been praying a lot for her and her family and this week we´ll fast especially for her and her husband. Last time our prayer and fast stopped a baby from coming, I´m certain the Lord will answer us again and soften the heart of her husband so that she can be baptized. Oh and today we got to eat at the President´s house at lunch. It was very cool. I always love talking to President and Sister Ribeiro. Anyway, that´s about it. Have a great week everyone!!! love you guys Elder Jolstead the Older