Hello dear family!!

Finally!! Ha we´ve been coming from a long day of traveling and a lot of just businessy type work. Elder Mines had to do some paper work for his visa so that meant us leaving for The Capital at 7 o´clock this morning! :) I´m pretty tired... haha, but so glad to be able to hear from you guys and talk to ya´ll! It was a great time in the Capital and some crazy city sites that I´ve never seen before, Highland Utah and a Nations Capital are a little bit different! I was all eyes for the first little bit as we tried to find our way to the building that we needed to get to! Por suerte we were able to get everything done without any problems and with spare time to find a Burrito restaurant! :) First type of "Mexican" food that I´ve had in a year! So delicious! In the photos I sent we also were able to meet up with several other missionaries that were doing the same thing at the "Buenos Aires Monument." Shoot.. I can´t remember what it´s called but it was a sweet... pilar!

Elder Jolley with some of the other missionaries at the Capital

Well for the week! :) First off another big Happy Mother's Day yesterday!... I tried getting on skype, but unfortunately you weren´t on to chat! That was a let-down. Haha just kiddin! Would have been great to have 3 calls in the year! We passed the day really good and got a little bit wet, but in all we were happy to get out and talk with the people and wish all the mothers we could find a great day! As far as the work goes we still are a little bit... slow. Today I loved reading in Mosiah (4 hours in the train turns out to be a great blessing!) and being taught about the afflictions of several groups of people. We have felt a little bit like them in the past couple weeks- "captive" if you will, where we are at and not being able to find a lot of progress as a whole. It has been a "trial to try (our) faith and patience," I hold onto my knowledge that God is our Heavenly Father and never leaves us abandoned in our way! I have grown to trust more in Him and strive to be more submissive to HIS WILL over mine! Every experience has an Eternal Significance! :) I have been so so grateful for small and simple blessings that I have seen in our day to day work. I loved what you said mom, that we sometimes need to build piece by piece and watch the picture grow in that way! Sometimes it seems in our lives that we close our eyes in our daily progression of becoming more like our Savior and then expect that when we open them that the picture will be complete! We have been able to have some incredible experiences with Gonzalo this week! He´s a stud!! We´ve been trying to listen to him and understand how he is doing rather than go at our speed! At the beginning of the week we had a very powerful lesson with the spirit about fasting! We taught that it is a powerful way for us to come to understand what it is that Heavenly Father wants us to do in our lives. For Gonzalo I believe that it was what he needed to hear to help him come to see how he could come closer to the Lord. We fasted and it was super great! :) But we found out that he hadn´t felt anything.. huh? That isn´t what we were expecting! Ha but in the end the blessings are ALWAYS there. I believe that the Lord was able to soften his heart just a little bit more in order to help him see how important it is that we make those decisions in our life to follow the Savior! :) They were some of the most powerful lessons that I´ve been blessed to have. The spirit, if we are prepared, can really guide each and every one of us to know how to help those around us come closer to Christ. Gonzalo is a gran amigo and has been a huge example for me in reminding me of the things that we can and should do to come unto Christ!

I don´t want you guys to think that I´m sad or negative right now about our situation. It is something I´ve never been through before, but each of us have that blessing in our life! I love how Elder Holland put it, "we cannot expect to come to true discipleship without walking through our own little part of the Garden of Gethsemane." All of life's trials are so that we can come to know the "True and Living God!" :) What a blessing! I think each of us have a special need to seek and know the Will of our Father in Heaven more in our lives, it is the most important thing that we can do in order to continue forward in our progression!

Well we gotta run! We are a little behind and we gotta get to a cita! Favorite scripture for the day: Mosiah 24:12-16

12 And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts.

13 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

16 And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage.

Jesus Christ is at the head of His work and does guide each of us, personally, as we dedicate ourselves to greater trust, patience, and fervent prayer! This week will be a great week! :)

I love ya guys! :)
Elder Jolley

Elder Jolley and Elder Mines