Hola!!!

Happy Farewell, Anthony!!!!!

So another week has gone by and I have some amazing news. First of all, we had another baptism this weekend and it was great. His name is Nelson and his sister is a member of the branch here. We weren´t 100% sure that he should be baptized because of some mental disabilities, but I remembered what President Gulbrandsen said about one of our investigators in Vicente López. Ask a series of simple questions such as: If you took a cookie and your mother asked you if you did, is it good or bad to say ´no´?¨ Simple questions like that help us learn if they can choose between good and bad. If they can, they can be baptized. We asked how we would teach him, since he could not understand or retain everything. President Gulbrandsen told us that if he has desires to be baptized and is showing a change of heart, he is ready. From that, he was baptized. It was wonderful to see the support of friends, family, and the branch.

Good news about Leonardo, as well. He just received the priesthood this last sunday and is very excited to become a fully active member of the church. He is the first to volunteer for things and really wants a calling. We asked him yesterday to accompany us for an appointment today and he was very happy to say yes. The whole family is doing great.

We just had our interviews with President Gulbrandsen and it was amazing. We received some wonderful news. He asked us if we were ok with staying with our companions for one transfer more. We said yes and he told us :¨This is the only way that I can find that you all can go to the meeting for all the missionaries in the three Buenos Aires Missions with President Eyring, Elder Ballard, and Elder Christofferson.¨ We could not believe our ears!!!  If it is the Lord´s will that we all stay the same this transfer, we will get to go to this meeting and participate in the cultural event for the temple!!! I am beyond happy right now. It will be an amazing experience and a once in a life time opportunity. Please pray that we get to go.

I was writing in my journal the other day and I want to share some of my thoughts.

¨I am reminded of when we would make pies with Mom. She didn´t need our help and it might have been easier without is. Still, she let us help. as we waited for the pie to be done, she gave us little treats; parts of the pie crust with cinnamon sugar that were delicious and helped us wait for the big treat while getting a sample of what it would taste like. Our Heavenly Father is much the same. He is letting us help with His work and His glory which is to bring to pass the inmortality and eternal life of man (our own included). This is the pie; after all the hard work, that is the ultimate goal and it is delicious to the taste. He lets us help with His work even though, at times, it may be easier if we didn´t. As we wait to receive this grand gift, we are given blessings that help us know what the ¨pie¨ will be like and they are also delicious to the taste. If we do our part, we will receive this great gift from our Eternal Father in Heaven. We may ask, ´Well, what if I mess up? What if I use walnuts instead of pecans? What if I burn the pie?´ You´re not going to do everything right the first time. I messed up my first three pies. The lemon pie didn´t have enough starch in it so it didn´t set up, but it still tasted good. Sometimes things don´t turn out the way we expect them to, or we ´mess up´, but we have the promise that if we do our best, everything will be ok; the Lord will make up the rest. The pie wasn´t pretty, but it tasted wonderful. ´What if I use walnuts instead of pecans?´ An experience from the life of Aunt Jane can help with that. She has a hard time telling the difference between a walnut and a pecan. One day she made walnut pies and pecan pies without knowing it. Turns out that the walnut pies tasted better than the pecan pies. The Lord knows what He´s doing. He knows better than we do. Though, things may not turn out like we want them to, the Lord knows the end result and it turns out to be better than our own. ´What if I burn the pie?´ One of the greatest gifts that our Heavenly Father has given us is the Atonement. Through His Son, Jesus Christ, we are able to repent. We can be clean again; we can start over. Even though we may burn the pie, we can start over and try again. It´s true that you will have to clean up and buy new ingredients, but it´s possible. Just as repentace can be hard and there are a lot of consquences, it´s possible. It is an amazing thing. One last thing I want to share before I move on is something that happened with Aunt Marie. Grandma Alvey was pickling and making jam, so she had a lot of sugar and salt. It turns out that this time, Aunt Marie´s pie was made with 2 cups of salt instead of sugar. The adversary has a counterfit for everything and if we are not careful, we fall into temptation and the end result is bitter to the taste. Salt looks just like sugar, but does not taste like sugar. Just as the adversary´s promised results appear the same, they are not. We need to be careful and look more closely to see if we are using salt or sugar.¨

There were my thoughts and I wrote them down. I testify of the counsel given by the prophets. Keep and inspiration journal nearby. Always write what you receive. Ask if it is correct. Ask if there is more and then write again. Keep repeating this process and you will receive some of the most precious and tender impression from your Loving Heavenly Father. He has not forgotten you here on this earth and is waiting to talk to you. I, sadly did not ask for more, so I do not know, this time, what more He had to say to me, but I am happy for what I have right now. He will use our own experiences to teach us in the moment and years after. It´s been about 14 years since some of those experiences and I was taught from on high through them.

Thank you soooooo much for the letters. They always bring light to my day. Thank you for your help with questions, research, and patience. You have all blessed my life greatly and I cannot thank you enough.

I hope you had fun at Pioneer Days. I bet it was exciting as usual. I can´t wait to see pictures. I´m happy with the fruits of your labors. I know that you are enjoying yourselves.

Have fun in Arizona. Take pictures of your haircut Mom. I still like your silver hair, but I understand if you want to color it. Say ¨Hi¨ to everyone for me (including Nathan). Best of luck and love, Anthony. Enjoy every minute of your mission; it´s too short to miss even one minute of it. Talk with everyone.

Dad, thank you for the research that you have done. I really appreciate it. I have one more question, what are the different type of visas? I know that you are working hard and I am very happy with all that you do. With all that everyone does. You are all doing your best and I can see the many blessings of the Lord for all of you.

The pair of shoes I have are boots meant for walking in the cold/snow and snowboarding. One of the Elders here said that the brand I have is an amazing brand and will last me for 2 years or more. If they are meant for snowboarding as well, I assume that they will last up to all the walking I have to do. I won´t need other shoes until I get back into the north. It will be too hot to wear my ¨snow boots¨ when I get back into the heat. I appreciate the offer, though. I am going to try and send some mail so I´m going to take out about $25 more. I am trying to be 100% obedient and I feel that writing people through you (though I greatly appreciate it) is breaking the rule of only writing emails to family. I´ll send all my letters in an envelope to you; please, then, send them to the addresses on the envelopes.

Wow, this letter is getting long. I love you all sooooo much. Please stay safe and well. I pray for you every day.

Love
Hermana Alvey