...hath he commanded any that they should depart out of the houses of worship?


This little guy joined our church service on Sunday


Hola familia y amigos!  Two more weeks have passed by here in Argentina and we've completed over 1/12th of our mission (we are not counting, it's just fun to say 1/12th, haha).  I have to explain the cover picture on this post.  We were attending church in Ensanche Norte with the group of "originales" in their small chapel and this pig from the neighbor's house came into the building.  They call him the church pig because he's always hanging around the church.  All of the animals (dogs, pigs, goats, sheep, cows, horses, etc...) in the "colonias" wander around free and they don't bother anyone.  It reminded me of the scripture in the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 26:26.  Start with verse 23 and read until the end of that chapter. It's one of my favorites!  

We made lots of visits these past two weeks and it's almost impossible to recount all of them but we do want to share that with certainty God loves all of his children.  We met with a family to share a message about the importance of families in God's plan of salvation for His children.  We shared the proclamation on the family that was given in September 1995, about 3 months before we were married, perfect timing!  This proclamation is an important reminder to us of how God organized families to help us grow and learn from each other.  The Family, a Proclamation to the World. 

Every Sunday we accompany the young missionaries to a small colonia of originales to offer the sacrament to the few members in that area.  There is a small, one-room church building with a few pews, a portable baptisimal font, and a sacrament table.  There are about 6 to 8 members that come every Sunday and a group of about 15 kids from the neighborhood who show up to participate.  Martha has taken up the challenge of teaching them primary hymns.  Music is something that speaks to them, it's part of their culture.  Once inside the kids are a bit crazy, no parents or other adults with them.  They range from 3-12 years old and come all on their own.  Once we begin to sing hymns they calm and listen.  They don't know the words but they love holding a hymn book and always insist that we show them the correct page for the hymn we are singing.  It's a special experience!

We ended the week helping the branch president in Enstansilao del Campo collect firewood for a fireside they were having that night.  We went out to the campo and found plenty of wood to have a monster fire.  At the fireside, the missionaries taught about ways we can strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ.  We shared that one way to increase faith in Jesus Christ is by serving our fellow man.  King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon said, "...when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."  Mosiah 2:17

We are grateful to be able to serve our fellow man here in Argentina and are growing from the experiences we have, and hope others are too!

As always, feel free to email us with any questions or comments. We'd love to hear how you are doing and have the opportunity to share more.  

Best companion in the world!

Our little group of children in Bartolome de las Casas playing pato, pato, ganzo (duck, duck, goose)

They LOVE the missionaries

None of these kids are members of our church but they show up every week!.  We've been teaching them primary hymns (Sigue al Profeta was last week's song)

Waiting for the birthday celebration of President Russell M. Nelson with the saints in Ensanche Norte.

Soccer pitch of our friend Javier in Estansilao del Campo.  Javier is a stud!  He was baptized almost 30 years ago and is now almost 70.  He walks to church every Sunday.

Collected firewood for a "Charla Fogonera." 

La Charla Fogonera


Turkeys!  Thanksgiving is coming. 


La Cabra y cabrita para la boda de President Huels en Estansilao del Campo.  The wedding is next week, we'll let you know how these little guys taste after they hit the parilla. 

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