Elder Ivie Chillin' On the Mission: Talk about losing ourselves in the work! :) (74th email)

Buenos dias beloved family!

Wow wow wow wow super busy week for us here in good ol´Beautiful Italy!! :) I have gotta admit it has been a super stressful week, because we have so much to do, I got a cold (not too bad), and lots of other crazy stuff. BUT I am doing amazing because I think this has been one of the most rewarding weeks in my entire mission! :) I can really testify even more that losing yourself in the work is the only way to find pure happiness in the work! So what did we do then?

Well to start off we've been finding lots and lots and lots of people to teach lately and that is exactly what we needed! I dont know if I told you guys about S last week? But he is a stud muffin to the max!! He was a reference from some other Elders, he is 13 yrs. old, but acts like a 20/25 yr. old super mature! Well long story short he came to church this week!!!! :) We went to pick him up and he was waiting for us. So we have been really focusing on him this week, when we pass by we dont even have to ask him if he read or prayed. He just starts going off like the other day we sat down he told us he read the Testimony of Joseph Smith and how an angel visited him 3 times, found some plates, and so on and so forth! But what?! At his age Im not sure but I dont think I could have told you that the Angel Moroni visited Joseph Smith 3 times? Well maybe I dont know but the point is S is progressing a lot and through him we have been able to teach more in his family! His sister M (means Miracles and she is the one who is 8yrs. old), and his older bro. M (means Mark, yeah you know who that is). And they both want to get baptized as well!! Unfortunately they didnt go to church because they were sleeping and the mom isnt quite sure she wants M to get baptized. But thats the thing their parents are members just inactive. So yeah if you could pray for all of them, so we can help them ALL come back to the light of the gospel, thanks! :)

Saturday was a huge day for us!!! We had a capilla abierta here in Bella Italia, for those who dont know what that is. Its a open house, where people can come in freely and see what we actually do in the church. There are like lots of stands where missionaries/members present specifically what each organization does. We had a couple of Hermanas (Missionaries) come present the basics of the Gospel, Plan of Salvation, Restoration, Temples, etc. and the best of all people had the opportunity to listen to the words of Christ. Like what they do in Temple Square with the Christus!! Unfortunately I wasnt able to hear them in spanish because Elder Araujo and I were in charge of the baptism stand, where we taught about the baptism of Jesus and invited people to be baptized when they felt ready! :) This was my first one ever, so it was really different for me (do they do those in the states?) Anyways but it went amazing!!! All the members invited so many people, we had 27 non members attend, which is really good and lots of people that want to learn more! SO thats what I was talking about when I said we have a lot of people to teach now! But we are super excited for the work that we have in this upcoming week. What a blessing it is to have members and missionaries working together! :) Oh yeah and you are going to like this, here is the link so you can watch of the Capilla Abierta we had here. Capilla Abierta Links: Buscar YouTube :Debbie and Mike Burnett

As I said last week I am working a lot on the attribute of Charity and Love this change. And I came across this scripture, which I am sure I have mentioned before in an email but I love it sooo much its Moroni 8:16. It talks about how perfect love casteth out ALL fear! :) I love it because sometimes I am a fearful man I cant lie, but if I have faith and imagine the people in whom we are talking with not HOW they are but WHAT they can become. I will be able to develop this perfect love that Christ has for me! :) The Lord really does watch over me and what a great way to finish the BofM like this! Oh yeah, yes I have done it!! It might sound pathetic, I am still a very slow reader BUT I finally finished el Libro de Mormon for the 1st time ever on my own this past Thursday! The thing is I didnt just read it but I studied and applied it more than ever! :) I know the book was translated by Joseph Smith and it was to help us through the tough times we have. It has helped me this 17 (ish) months and I am eternally grateful to my Father in Heaven for giving me this blessing and having the opportunity to share with the people of Uruguay.

Sooo I that was my week, I am probably missing something but I love you all TOO MUCH and hope you have a fab. week, hope the link works! By the way Momma thank you SO SO much for the names, It should be perfect I just need to figure out a way to print em off! Because we have to let the Temple Staff know that we are bringing some but it will work out. Maybe I will get the names before we go I sure hope so! :) I will let you know more details later!