Meet Elder Yegros! (Week 7)

Hey everyone! How's it going on that side of the world? :)

Over here it is going pretty well and it's crazy how much can happen and change in one week. For a start, I have a new companion! His name is Elder Yegros and he was born in Paraguay but has been living in Argentina for the past 10 years. He was only baptised 4 years ago but people, he already knows more than your average veteran of the church. All joking aside, he is a great missionary and I'm learning a lot from him everyday. This transfer will be 7 weeks so we have a lot of time to perfect our teaching as a companionship and to make miracles happen in Cidade Nova. More specifically, to make President Farnes' vision of weekly baptisms a reality. :)

I guess I'll start with the baptism we were blessed with this week! :D There is a girl whose name is Laiz. Her mum is slightly inactive but Laiz has been going to church every week for as long as she can remember and only now has her mum allowed her to be baptised because she turned 12. To be honest we didn't teach her too much because she already knew a LOT but we went to leave a message before her baptism to get her excited for such a special day. The most special moment of the lesson was when Elder Yegros asked Laiz's mum to look into her daughter's eyes and read her the following scripture in Alma 38:2:

"And now, my [daughter], I trust that I shall have great joy in you, because of your steadiness and your faithfulness unto God; for as you have commenced in your youth to look to the Lord your God, even so I hope that you will continue in keeping his commandments; for blessed is he that endureth to the end."

It was such a special moment and everyone in the room felt the spirit incredibly strong. On Sunday, the whole family was there for the baptism and anyone could see how important it was for everyone involved. A member of their family died quite recently, so to have such a happy moment really united the family and brought a comforting spirit at such a difficult time in their lives.

This week we received a LOAD of references from investigators and members alike. The Cidade Nova ward is amazing and super eager to help (and feed) the missionaries. Frustratingly, most of the references we received are couples that aren't married... Ah Brazil. ;) But we were blessed to also find new people to teach including a 19 year old boy called Anderson. He is a really special guy. He shared with us that he had been involved with drugs in the past but had sought God's help to help him overcome his addiction. He joined a church and had made massive improvements from where he once was but he still wants to leave behind some other unhealthy habits. We taught him and read scriptures with him. He loves the Bible and has like 3 different versions of his own. He even recited John 3:16 which was amazing. We asked him to pray both times we visited him, once kneeling down, and his prayers were from the bottom of his heart. We felt the spirit incredibly strong and we know he can one day be a great leader and missionary in the church. While we were there we saw a very old copy of that painting of John the Baptist baptising Jesus. Turns out a member had given it to them when they moved YEARS ago and they have kept it til today. If that's not a sign then I don't know what is!

I love you all and cannot wait to hear from you next week (especially if I have a new nephew by Monday)! :D

Lots of love,

Elder Torres