Hola familia! :)

Ah, gusto hablar y escucharles. Una otra semana ha volada y estoy pero contentísmo con todo lo que el Señor me deja pasar. Ésta semana nos fue un poco diferente y surgieron algunas buenas pruebas para que no me relajara en este tiempo. El Evangelio siempre ha sido para consolar a los afligido y afligir a los comodos. Así ha sucedido. Estoy más agradecido por la mano de nuestro padre celestial en mi vida. Comprendo mejor que Él está para ayudarnos y está en nosotros para dejarlo. He aprendido mucho de La Gracia en los últimos meses, entonces no me quejo por lo que no he hecho o por lo débil que aveces somos pero me regocijo en la práctica! :) Siento mas "entrenado" ahora.

We`ve had a crazy week! Wasn`t good at all for missionary work, we got very little done but I really wouldn`t have traded this week for anything. Two new Elders joined us in our area (a huge relief for us and a giant help for our ward) and it was a white wash in every way possible. The two new elders are great and have a great desire to work. One is 2 weeks into the mission- he also went through the MTC in 2 weeks, he speaks incredibly! Anyways, Elder Anaya and I have made goals to be more Christ-like leaders. Trying to be involved with each of the Elders and be there to help them at all times. So we were blessed with a great opportunity to go and get the apartment ready for the new elders- don`t believe it had been cleaned in years so that was actually kinda disgusting but we got that thing to shine! (We used a bunch of Clorox and stuff like that and I got a good laugh thinking back to the days that I cleaned dads office! ha) Anyways we got all that ready and were ready to receive them! Throughout the rest of the week as well we had to take them different places cause poor guys were without light and hot water for 3 days- great "welcome" right?? Also we had a couple good days to take them around their new area and show them to all the people that we were previously teaching and trying to visit, also got their record books all updated! They were really grateful and are off working really hard right now and are really excited about the work ahead of them. I`ve been going through a little etapa of not serving as much as I could so this week was a great blessing for me! At first it was kinda hard to get along with the elders, one of them was a little feisty so we kinda had to keep our smiles on ya know? Anyway in serving him and being able to understand a bit more where he comes from I gained a huge love and appreciation for him! I love the Elder and feel a great excitement for all the things that he is doing. The words wouldn`t be good enough in just saying that Service is how we can come closer to the Lord! It`s so much more than that, it`s everything that He is about and everything that He wants for us. What a joy we receive from attending to the needs of our brothers and sisters! So anyway gratefully that took up most of our week.

On Saturday and Sunday we had our Stake Conference. We had a couple fantastic meetings with power messages. The President of the temple here in Buenos Aires came and spoke to us and never have I felt such a surety and peace in my life. Sometimes the trials we have really cloud our vision- me ha pasado un poco esta semana- but the answer is in a better understanding of our Heavenly Father's Plan for our Salvation! It is comprehending the nature of our Father in Heaven and His son Jesus Christ! This president spoke on the glory and holiness of the temple- how Deity is better understood. The whole audience was silent as he passionately spoke of the Lords House. Gave me such a gana para ir al templo! Anyways in the conference on saturday Elder Anaya and I were asked to give a workshop to all the bishops and priesthood leaders. Hmm. Very cool experience for us and it went really well. We talked to them about the importance of a mission plan in our wards. We truly saw that the whole preparation and presentation of the message was guided by the spirit. We were both kinda nervous to do it but it ended up inspiring a lot of the bishops to get things together and put a plan into action! The spirit really does help us achieve miracles and helps us to speak the words that need to be heard.

This morning i had a cool study about gratitude and the accompany a couple of the experiences and lessons that I learned this last week I found this great scripture in Alma 34:

37 And now, my beloved brethren, I desire that ye should remember these things, and that ye should work out your salvation with fear before God, and that ye should no more deny the coming of Christ;

38 That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.

For me what a privilege it has been to worship my God and to thank Him for being so loving to me and those we work with. How special it is to worship Him. I truly know by the spirit that He is the Great God of the Heavens and our Father. He really hears our prayers, I know that! I know that His son Jesus Christ is our Savior and companion, helping us to achieve our salvation and stay forever in the presence of our Heavenly Father. I love this work! :)

I hope you guys have a great week!

Love you all,

Elder Jolley