Hey Family!!

This week was another fabulous week for being a missionary! We are finding ups and downs and all arounds in the work but it is always so great to have the consistancy that comes from our Savior.

To fill ya´ll in a little bit on the week, we´ve been working hard to fill up the number of people that we are working on and to be able to help those who are progressing arrive at baptism. Meanwhile we have a great number of less active families that we are working to help reactivate! I wish that the weeks weren´t so short and that time wasn´t a barrier. There is so much work to be done and it is a blessing to learn how to balance it all! We are learning to involve the spirit in our planning so that we can balance everyone and help to bring them what they need in order to come closer to Christ. We have been able to find a lot of people this last week and have great plans this week to teach and invite our investigators to change.

Donene and Juana unfortunately weren´t able to come to church this week and it has been awhile since we talked to them.. They are reading the Book of Mormon and are loving what it teaches. (That right now is a huge blessing that we´re seeing with the families that we have, they are understanding and finding worth from the Book of Mormon). On the 25th Argentina celebrated it´s Independence day!! Our Rama had a activity in the church and we had invited Donene and Juana to come. We had to stay back and do our weekly planning but helped plan everything out so that they would be able to go and get to know the Rama a little better. Something happened though and when they showed up to the church nobody was there so they turned around and headed home.. BOO!! Lame. When we showed up though we were able to stay for a little bit and help them celebrate by eating empanadas! Not to shabby of a party :) Our president and I had a little contest of who could eat more.. I think I won with a little over 20? I remember reading Ryan's email and it said that he was getting pretty good at pounding things down.. I´m getting my practice in too! The Rama here is incredible. They are so few but each one is so important and we have a unique friendship with everyone, I love Fiorito tons!

Yesterday we had a special experience as we were working to finish up our week. We have been working hard to get our standards and yesterday we were down just a couple.. We had made great plans to visit some families and bring members to the lessons, as we went on in our day though plan after plan kept falling through. I´ve learned from my time in Fiorito to be ready with anything and I believe Heavenly Father has helped us to become creative and quick in our ideas in order to use his time wisely to bless others. It was a fun feeling running around yesterday hungry for some success! In the end of our day we hadn´t wasted a minute stopped to think of "what should we do know?" We had been blessed to know and we went and did! We hadn´t gotten all the goals we wanted but we were blessed (through some hermanas in our Rama) to find a great lady who they had talked to. Her name is Carla! We didn´t have much time to talk with her but introduced ourself and shared a message with her about families. (She is a single mom with a daughter who has down syndrome and another baby on the way) As we got talking the conversation switched to her special needs daughter. She at first was angry with God for this special trial in her life but later came to accept it. Through all that we shared with her before I believe it was this topic that touched her the most. Listening to her I was very interested in her story, when she finished I opened my mouth and was surprised by my response. I went on to explain to her what my belief was as to why she was blessed with this special girl. I know without a doubt that I wasn´t speaking.. I couldn´t have been because I was learning too! The spirit has a special role in the lives of those He touches, "They are edified, and both learn together." It opens up a chanel to greater understanding of our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. I gained a special testimony of how the spirit works and was very touched by what I learned.

Alright so on Monday we finished with a great FHE with a family in our Rama. It was a rainy night and when it rains NOBODY is outside. Elder Merritt and I had left and were waiting at a bus stop with an Hermana. When it rains the buses take forever and don´t come for a long time. We were waiting there for about 20 minutes when 3 guys walked around the corner and came up to us asking for the time... That is there "hit" line. When we said that we didn´t know they came up and started getting a rough with us. Elder Merritt had 1 kid reaching in his pockets and stole our cell phone and some money from him. I had a couple guys reaching in my pockets and the other had my arms held. When they other guy got the cell phone they started to run.. ripping off my backpack and all that was in there.. camera included!! NO! Needless to say I wasn´t very happy.. it felt like a huge punch in the gut to lose all that stuff. This whole week I´ve been trying to process the whole situation and it is just dumb.. Tuesday and Wednesday weren't the best! haha I´m alright, nothing happened to us and to be honest I am very grateful it happened. Along the path there are speed bumps for sure that land us on our backs! I learned that I like being happy to much to be sad. I was grateful to be on my back for those couple days because it gave me a greater view at Heaven. I came to rely on my Savior a lot more and changed a lot of things. In our weakest moments there is the Atonement to make us strong. I testify that it is an "all-topic" Atonement, to strengthen and lift us up no matter what we may be feeling. The photos are a bummer but the greater memory has a greater worth! I know that Jesus Christ lives. Our Heavenly Father understands us and loves us. I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ restores us on our feet and ignites the light in our lives that may have faded!

 I love you all and hope you have a great week. Watch out at bus stops! ;)

Elder Jolley