Week #27

Hola Familia!

It was so great being able to talk to you guys!! I can´t believe how much Ella has grown up. She´s huge!. It´s extremely hot and humid here and there isn´t air conditioning in many places. It´s part of the learning process of being grateful for everything that we have. Congrats to Collin!! That´s a great accomplishment and it sounds like he´s getting better every game.

It was my first week in Necochea and we saw MIRACLES. Ruben was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. I want to tell you about this miracle. Ruben met missionaries 6 or 7 years ago in Córdoba and the missionaries helped him in a lot of ways. he want to church a few times, but after some time, he lost contact with the missionaries and with the church and now he lives in Necochea. He´s been prepared for many years to accept the gospel and to have a relationship with God. He told us many miraculous experiences where God saved his life when he should have died and even experience where he left his body and came back to life. He told us of some stories of how he´s saved people´s life with the hand of the Lord. He´s been prepared his whole life. As a zone we found names of people that could be baptized this week through miracles. Elder Durocher told me about Ruben whom he contacted the week before. We prayed for all of these names and we did practices to ask him to be baptized. We went to his house and we talked to him. We invited him to be baptized and his attitude changed. A week ago he didn´t have many desires to go back to church. But this day, he accepted and he told us that he feels that this is the right time in his life. We reviewed the Restoration and the commandments with him and he told us that he´d stop drinking (He didn´t drink much). He took down a Catholic Saint that was on his mantle in his house. and well... he was baptized on Saturday! He told me that he feels so much peace in his life. After he received the gift of the Holy Ghost, he told me that he felt that peace again. He´s been prepared for awhile now and it was a miracle to be Necochea to see it. The Lord is incredible.

What I learned from this experience is that you never know what you say or do will affect people down the road, 6 or 7 years, or even more. The missionaries that helped him 7 years ago don´t even know that he´s a member of the church now. But that´s part of the Lord´s work. My testimony grew about the way that the Lord works in His vineyard.

Thanks for all the love and support and prayers. Have a happy 2015!

Love, Elder Bosco II

 

Lily was baptized in the Branch too!

Baptism of Ruben 

wow... Ruben´s Baptism haha

 

Week #26

Hola Familia!

Feliz Navidad! I can´t believe it´s already Christmas because it doesn´t feel like it here with the weather haha. This week was great! And it was my last week in Pompeya. I got transferred to Necochea Centro and I´m serving with Elder Durocher. I´ll explain more of that later.

Marcela came to church again. We had a baby´s blessing, a homecoming talk from the Bishop´s son, and a baptism! She got to see it all and she was filled with the Spirit. The baptism in our ward was from other Elders that live in another Ward but the young man lives in Pompeya so he was baptized yesterday and the Spirit was incredible. Marcela was crying and was filled with the Spirit. I sat down next to her and told her that I was leaving to a different area and she asked me why. Why is it like that on the mission. I told her I didn´t know but that the Lord has his ways and wisdom for everything. She starting crying and thanked me for the Spirit that I brought into her life. I started crying too. We were both sitting in the chapel crying and I reminded her about the Celestial Kingdom that we taught her a few days earlier. That one day we will be able to see each other again and that it´s important that she continues to prepare for her baptism. She is so ready. She was really happy and she told me the only thing that could make her happier is to see her 10 children have the gospel too. I told her that they´ll have the chance. She´s incredible. She´s sharing the gospel with her family and her family told her that they´ve noticed a difference in her. I can´t wait to see the picture of her baptism.

Also, saying by to the ward members and the recent converts was definitely hard! I bore my testimony in Sacrament Meeting and it was a tender mercy to see all of the people that I love so much in the Pompeya Ward. The Spirit was touching my life in so many incredible ways. I can´t wait to see them all again in the presence of God. But the Lord said that this work is not meant for us to look back at what has been done,but to look forward at what we need to do. And that´s exactly what I plan on doing.

Now I´m in Necochea Centro and I´m so excited to start another adventure on the mission! Elder Durocher is from Alpine UT and he graduated from Lone Peak. He played football he´s big and tall so I feel safe and protected haha. I´m so excited to spend Christmas in this area and to help people come unto Christ. I´ve been blessed in so many ways and I owe it all to the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The gospel is amazing and it´s especially incredible during this Christmas Season.

Happy Holidays and thank you for everything!

Love Elder Bosco II

 

Elder Durocher! My new Companion from Alpine, UT

 

 

Marcela! She´s getting baptized next week so we took a picture before I left

Martín. Cejas. and Miguel. It was tough saying goodbye to these people!!

 

 

The Baptism of Elian!

The missionaries in Pompeya, Mar del Plata!

Week #25

Hola Familia!

This week we had our Christmas Zone Conference and it was amazing! We Sang Christmas hymns at an old folks home and then after we got to talk to some of them. They truly felt the spirit and were extremely grateful that we came. One old man, with tears in his eyes, told me that I´m his son. It was incredible the love that I felt at that moment. I´ll send some pictures that I took with them. 

In the zone conference we talked about charity and the true meaning of Christmas and then we watched a slide show with some of the baptisms from this year and then after we received letters from home. Thank you so much Dad. I can´t tell you how grateful I am to have a family that has so much faith and such strong testimonies in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It truly is a blessing.

I realized just how amazing it is to have a family with testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ this week. We have been teaching a family the gospel but they never can come to church. Nahuel, a 9 year old, (He´s full of freckles and he looks like he´s 6 because he is really small) but he is the cutest kid in the world. He wants to be baptized and he was really excited about coming to church this weekend. We stopped by their house Sunday morning to pick them up and he answered the door. Him and his 4 year old sister. They were ready and wanted to go to church but their parents were sleeping and didn´t want to go. With tears in his eyes, Nahuel was trying to talk without crying. We decided to say a prayer together and Nahuel said it. It was only 2 sentences but it was simple and sincere. He went back to ask his parents and they didn´t want to get out of bed. With tears in his eyes, he said ¨lo siento mucho¨ [I'm sorry]. I will never forget the image that I saw. I left a little angry, a little upset, a little sad, but mostly full of gratitude. I´ve taken for granted too much in my life the fact that I have parents and a family who cherish the gospel of Jesus Christ and have faith that he lives. I have a family who is obedient to the commandments and for this reason, we are happy. I learned a lot from this experience and I´m extremely grateful for the Savior´s teachings in my life.

I can´t believe it´s almost Christmas and we get to celebrate our Savior´s birth. Thank you for all the prayers, support, and love. Physically it doesn´t feel like Christmas here in the sun, but the Spirit of Christmas is definitely here in the mission.

Love,

Elder Bosco II

Mar del Plata!

Christmas with the ocean and the sun

Pictures from the old folks home that we sang at! The Spirit was incredible!!

Week #24

Hola Familia!

It was HOT this week! haha.It´s actually not too bad, but walking in the streets for most of the day, it gets pretty hot. But it´s all worth it. This work is amazing. It was another tough week in church for us because it poured Sunday morning and nobody came to church today. 

 

BUT we did have a miracle in our ward. On Tuesday, Elder Jones and I visited a less active member of the church that lives far away and that we don´t know. We welcomed us and he talked to us for a long time and he was extremely nice. He wasn´t wearing a shirt and he was in the middle of shaving.. oh and he looks like Will Ferrell. He looks like him, talks like him, and has the same mannerisms. He could star in the movie Elf. But he said he was going to come to church because he misses it. He was offended by a member 7 years ago but he said it wasn´t important. Well, on Sunday, he showed up! Even though it was raining. I almost didn´t recognize him because he had a shirt on, he was wearing a tie, and a vest and he shaved haha. He told us just how much he started remembering about the church and he really enjoyed it. He´s really smart (he speaks 5 languages. English and Castellano fluently, and parts of Finnish, Swedish, and Italian) But what a tender mercy of the Lord during a day that was a little tough with no investigators in church!

Another great thing about December is that we are sharing #Él es la Dadiva. or He is the Gift. They asked each companionship to share at least 10 cards each day and they gave us CD´s with the video so that we can watch it with people in the street and members. It´s incredible how the church is using technology to help the gospel grow. It´s really fun because we get to testify even more about Jesus Christ. There is nothing in this world that brings me more peace than to testify of our Savior Jesus Christ. 

 

I´m extremely grateful for Him in my life and I can overcome anything with the help of Him. He truly is the gift that we need to accept in our lives. I´m so grateful for the opportunity that I have to represent Him on this mission and to testify that He is the Savior of the world. That salvation can ONLY come through Him. May we bear our testimony of the Savior to everyone and anyone. 

 

Everyone needs to accept this gift in their lives if they want to be happy. And they can´t accept it until they know they have it.

Thanks for all the love and support and prayers. And I love hearing about Collin and the success that he´s having on the court!

Love Elder Bosco II

#HeistheGift   #Sharethegift

The District

The Zone (Mar del Plata Centro)

Week #23

Martín received the Melchizedek Priesthood!!

Miguel (The blind recent convert), Me and Elder Jones ordained Martin. What a blessing!!

Hola Familia!

It´s December but it feels like June. It´s so weird seeing Christmas decorations in the stores when it´s getting super hot. All of the missionaries have funny tan lines from the white shirts haha. And yes, I have some investigators that needs a lot of prayers!

But first, the best news ever! Leandro Martín Villilobo (Martin) received the Melchizedek Priesthood and was ordained to the office of Elder. But even more special was that he asked me to confirm him. I was honored. The meaning of the Priesthood has grown immensely for me on the mission and to be able to give the Priesthood to Martín was incredible. It brought back memories of when I received the Melchizedek Priesthood. So of course, I wore the same tie yesterday that I wore when I received the Priesthood.  But I´ve learned from the scriptures that the priesthood is given to men so that we can perform ordinances and be saved. We have the priesthood on the earth so that we can go to the temple and learn of Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. D & C 84:19-22 explains it perfectly. The power of God is manifested through the ordinances of the Priesthood and without the Priesthood, we would NEVER be able to return to live with God. I have a testimony that the Priesthood blesses everyone and that it´s the power of God on this earth.

We are teaching Daniela and Gladys. Daniela is the person that I sent pictures of a few weeks back. She is progressing but is still in the hangup with her boyfriend. She wants to move out but has a lot of fear to tell him. We had a powerful lessons about families and we read The Family: A Proclamation to the World with her. The Spirit was incredible and I testify of the power of families and the happiness that we can find within families that base their lives on the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Gladys is 80 years old and we had a family night with a family and we invited her. She felt the spirit but she´s still trying to decide between the LDS church and the Evangelical Church. It´s taken me a lot of patience with her because she doesn´t think she´s received an answer, but SHE HAS. Right now we´re really trying to help her recognize her answers. Sadly, Daniela and Gladys didn´t come to church yesterday for reasons of their own. But something that I´ve learned on the mission, is when things don´t go your way and people choose different things, there´s only one solution... WORK. Be patient, love, and work to find more of God´s children that need our help. There´s no time on the mission to get down or to get frustrated. This isn´t my work and my success isn´t based on baptisms. This is the work of the Lord and He is in control of all.

Thank you for all the love, thoughts, and prayers. I truly feel them as a missionary. Good luck this week Provo in basketball! Play hard and put everything you´ve got on the court.

Love,

Elder Bosco II

Week #22

 Hola Familia!

So crazy how basketball is already starting up again and how Dallin is playing again. I thought he was on a mission hahaha.

 

[Wesley is referring to the PHS basketball preview in the Daily Herald- it said to watch for Jr. guard Dallin Bosco. hmmm...and I really thought that Collin wouldn't have this problem because he is the only Bosco left at Provo High. oh well...]

 

And Thanksgiving doesn´t exist here and so it´s just going to be a normal day in Argentina haha. And by the way mom, I am keeping warm. It´s getting hot here and really humid. But because we´re by the ocean, the weather changes often.

 

I had a few great experiences this week that I´d like to share. The ones that I´d like to share both happened on Sunday. I haven´t been in Argentina too long and so I´m still working on the language. It´s coming along for sure, but I really had to stretch myself Sunday. The teacher for Gospel Principles wasn´t at church and Hermana Rodriguez whispered this in my ear so I got up and taught the class. hahah I wasn´t prepared at all. But I taught a 30 minute class in Spanish. I still can´t believe I did it. But I´ll tell you how I did it. I taught about the Holy Ghost. And as I taught about His mission in our lives, he bore testimony to me of his mission because I was living it. Words in spanish came out of my mouth clearly and even though the spanish wasn´t perfect, the Spirit was present. I felt the power of the Holy Ghost so strong during those 30 mins and the power that the Holy Ghost has in our lives. I testify that the Holy Ghost is always there for us to sustain us in our calling and to help us magnify our callings. He´s there to testify of Jesus Christ and of our Heavenly Father. I bear witness that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that I have this knowledge only through the voice of the Spirit. What an experience and a boost of confidence for me on the mission. I´m extremely grateful.

 

Also, we had the Primary Program on Sunday and the theme was Eternal Families in the Plan of Salvation. I´m going to admit, I cried a little in some of the songs that were sung because the Spirit testified to me of the truthfulness of this statement: Families Are Eternal. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the gospel of Eternal Families. What a blessing for me to be able to represent Jesus Christ and tell the world of this great news!! Especially during this Christmas season. My encouragement for whoever is reading this letter is to live worthily to have an eternal family. Your family on earth is the closest thing to Heavenly Father when the walls of your home are based on the gospel of Jesus Christ. Love your family and remember that Heavenly Father gave us families to be happy!

 

I love my family with all of my heart and I´m grateful for the examples that they´ve been in my life. I wouldn´t be where I am today without my parents guiding and directing my life in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It´s something that I´ll forever be in debt. Thanks for the love, support, and prayers.

Love,

Elder Bosco II

 

SIERRA DE LOS PADRES. 

It reminds me a lot of Lake Tahoe. I even saw a golf course. 

It´s about 30 mins out of our area and we got permission to go for P-Day.

 

 

Week # 21

Hola familia,

 

Christmas must be getting closer because I´m turning into Santa Clause. Haha. It´s getting pretty warm and my hair is turning blonde... almost white. hahaha. The tan lines of the missionaries are hilarious because it looks like we´ve been wearing turtlenecks all day. Oh and I don´t know if I´m going to send a package home for Christmas because I´m not really sure if it will get home or what might happen. I´m pretty sure the packages are pretty safe, but know that I still love you all if I don´t send something home for Christmas. haha

 

The pictures of Ella and the family are so great. Ella is getting so big! I can´t believe how much she´s grown in such a small amount of time.

 

This week was great with Elder Jones. A lot of our baptismal dates fell through, but we were able to find a lot of people and teach them the gospel this week. Even though the baptisms aren´t coming like crazy, I feel like we´ve been successful because we´re teaching a lot of people about Jesus Christ. Good news though, Daniela, the investigator from last week.. stopped smoking! It took a week and a half of calling her every three hours, but it was worth it. She´s that much closer to baptism, but still has to make pretty big decisions to enter the waters of baptism. The important thing is that she is progressing. But unfortunately, she didn´t come to church. That was pretty sad. But everyone has their own agency.

 

Martin was on a vacation this weekend for the stake conference and they forget to sustain him as an Elder. So hopefully he can receive the Melchizedek Priesthood in a week or so. Cejas received the Melchizedek Priesthood yesterday and he is really happy right now. I gave him the biggest hug and he squoze me super tight, paused, squoze me super tight again, then told me that the second one was for Elder White. It´s truly been a miracle. He has changed so much and he truly understands the gospel more every day. The Spirit has the power to enlighten the minds of people... no matter the age.

 

We had Stake Conference yesterday and Prestident Parreño was there. He spoke about love and charity. He said something that I´ve been thinking a lot about lately and I want to share it with you. He said, ¨Love can change things that we can´t change.¨Think about that. If there is something that you want to change about someone else, first change the amount of love that you have for them. The love that you show for them can change them. This was the way Jesus Christ lived his life and it is the way that I´m trying to live mine. I love you all so much and I love my Savior with all of my heart. I owe Him every ounce of ability and talent that I´ve been given. And when all is said and down, that is the reason why I´m on the mission. I can´t say it better than a song by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They sing these 6 words-Oh How I Love My Savior. It´s true, oh how I love my Savior and oh how much I love serving Him. He has given me everything and all is possible because of Him.

 

Thank you for all the prayers and love. I can feel it every day on the mission. I know that this is the work of the Lord.

 

Love, Elder Bosco II

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Week #20

Hola Familia!!

Sorry I´m writing so late, but we had a zone conference today and so that´s why we´re writing right now! The zone Conferences with President Parreño are incredible. I have a testimony of leaders in the church of Jesus Christ. No matter who is called, these men and women are called of God and they receive revelation in our behalf. Part of being a disciple of Jesus Christ is being able to humbly follow the leaders that he calls. Sometimes it takes humility to follow our leaders, but know that they are inspired by God in our behalf. The same goes with parents. Be obedient to your parents. I´m so grateful for Mom and Dad who have received revelation in my behalf and have lead our family so that one day we can reach our goal of having an eternal family. Teaching and sharing about eternal families every day has helped me realized just how lucky and blessed I am to have a family that follows Jesus Christ. I truly love you all so much and all of your examples. The joy I have knowing that Dallin is serving and that Collin is going to serve is incredible. It´s a blessing extremely great in my life. Memories of looking and Dallin and Collin every night before bed as they read the scriptures and talked with Heavenly Father are memories that I can´t express. Their examples to me have affected my life now on the mission and will affect my life forever.

I have learned a lot from Elder Jones. He´s very humble and we get along well. I´ve had to learn the streets better, better my spanish, and know the ward members a little better because he doesn´t know the area. Because of that, I´ve grown SO MUCH this week. My spanish improved and is improving so much right now. It´s been a great blessing to me.

We have an investigator, Daniela. She has a child and lives with her boyfriend but doesn´t want to get married. She knows the church is true. She´s read almost all of the Book of Mormon. She even takes notes in a notebook (better than my notes haha). The thing that´s holding her back is Fear. She doesn´t want to leave him in fear for her child and also in fear of him. We´ve prayed a lot for her and there´s nothing else that I want to see right now but to see her start a new life starting with Baptism. She´s lived a difficult life. She has 4 sisters that I think will follow her example if she takes the leap of faith.

A great thing happened this week in church. Martin picked up Cejas and they walked to church and arrived in time! They´re both faithful and come to all the meetings and love church. The joy is so great right now because they´re both receiving the Melcezidek (spelling?) Priesthood next week!

I hope this week is great for everyone!! It´s starting to get hot here!! haha I love you all and I thank you for the love and support. It means a lot. Love you!!

Elder Bosco II

P.S. I forgot to put this in my letter, but Martin has been leaving with us some nights for a few hours and he knocks doors with us. He bears his testimony and he says he loves it. It´s been such a miracle to see his progress and his ability to overcome challenges in his life because of his love for Jesus Christ.

Elder Jones and I with Daniela

Cejas!! One days he´s going to come to Utah

Elder Jones and I in the Zone Conference

 Zone Conference

On the street DON BOSCO (I´m famous in this area)

Week #19

Hola Familia,

Well, my dad in the mission, Elder White, left. It was really tough for me because I only know the mission through him. Now I´m in Pompeya still with Elder Jones! Elder Jones is from Minnesota and he´s been out on the mission for a year. I´m really nervous because he doesn´t know the area at all and I do. Well at least I think I do. These moments of stress are always the worst, but always the best because they are ways that we can grow as children of God. We can grow closer to Christ because we have to rely on him more. I´ve noticed that in my life and especially on the mission. The hard times always serve for a better purpose. Especially when we humble ourselves and turn to Christ. There is always a way to overcome trials. Always. And if it doesn´t seem like there is, turn yourself to Christ even more. Kneel down and ask Him what He wants you to do. If you follow the promptings that you have and you are living righteously and the hard times still aren´t passing. Don´t worry because you´re growing. You may not be able to see it now, but the Lord is molding you into something that He wants you to be. We don´t understand everything, but He does. And what great comfort it is to know that he will bless our lives more than we can imagine.

We have an investigator. Her name is Daniela and she is living with a man right now but she doesn´t want to get married to him. We´ve taught her the law of chastity and she´s extremely scared, but she wants to be baptized. But every time she gets closer, something happens in her family. Her dad is going crazy and wants revenge on her mom (a recent divorce). And then just the other day, her mom was burned while showering. All of her body. But at least now, she´s been turning to pray when these things happen. That´s exactly what the Lord wants her to do. I´ve grown to really love Daniela and I want her to be baptized because I know it will bless her. She doesn´t think she can change, but I know she can. The Spirit has told me that she can change. I hope this week that she changes a little more than the last.

Last, Martín blessed the sacrament in church!!! What a tender mercy to see him worthily bless the sacrament. Also, he contacted with me and Elder White in the streets for a few hours one day and he loved it!! He´s going to be a great missionary. I´m so excited for him!

Thanks for all the love, support, and prayers. The mission is tough, but it is so worth it. I love you all!!

Love, Elder Bosco II

with Elder Bradford (zone leader)

with Elder Jiminez- "These missionaries mean so  much to me"

New Companion- Elder Jones

My District in Mar del Plata

The Zone (2 Districts)

we sang in the concert with the members. This is the theater. It was fun!

Week #18

Hola Familia!

 

This week in church was great for several reasons. First, Martín passed the Sacrament. It was a sweet moment to see him worthily and happily pass the Sacrament. It was a sweet spiritual moment for me when he passed it to me. The Spirit was incredibly strong and I´ll never forget it. 

 

Also, Cejas received the Priesthood. What a miracle. He´s had two brain attacks, but he´s really starting to understand the spiritual things in life. That´s the most important. He told Elder White and I that he wants to come to Utah when we both return home and he wants to take a picture with us at every temple in Utah. He told us that he wants to do this and then die after. The way he said it was pretty funny. Cejas has turned into our grandpa haha. My Argentino Grandpa. We learned that he was a captain for a boat and so he travelled to the New York and New Orleans several times. After church, he went and ate at a restaurant. hahaha. We had to reteach him the Sabbath Day. I think (hope) that he gets it now. Thank goodness for the Atonement right? But the Truth is that he´s changing and becoming better everyday. He even invited his friend, Gladys, to his house and we taught her and she wants to be baptized in a few weeks. He´s a missionary too!! Martín and Cejas are preparing to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood in 3 weeks. What a blessing it´s been to watch them! The changes that have happened in our ward have been tremendous and the Lord´s hand is right in the middle of it... like ALWAYS. Seeing the miracles is one of the tender mercies of being a missionary!

 

And for something I noticed the other day in the wind of Mar del Plata was an ant on the sidewalk. The Lord teaches us things in crazy ways sometimes. But the ant was walking and then the wind would blow it back, then it would walk a little, then it would blow it back. The ant would walk some more (but this time in a different direction because it didn´t know which way it was facing). The ant was getting nowhere. Then I saw a rock. A little rock, but still a rock. It was solid and immovable. Helaman 5:12 came to my mind. I thought about how much we need to build our foundation and our lives upon Our Rock, even Jesus Christ. We are promised that we won´t be guided astray. We won´t be tossed by the winds of Satan and confused about where we´re going in life. 

 

We know where we´re going. We´re going back to live with our Father in Heaven, who misses us and loves us so much. I´m blessed as a missionary to represent our Savior Jesus Christ and I challenge each of you to help someone build their life even more on the rock of Christ. He IS the way back to Heavenly Father. I know it with all my heart.

 

I love you all and Happy Halloween! (I don´t think they celebrate it here haha)

 

Love, Elder Bosco II

Week #17

Happy Mother´s Day!!

I know that sounds a little weird, but Argentina celebrates El Día de la Madre in October. So Elder White and I sang I Need Thee Every Hour and we recorded it so we could send it home. I really hope it sends home. I´ll try after I write this letter. But what a great week on the mission. We had interviews this week with President Parreño and Hermana Parreño talked to us. It was a great experience and I´ll tell you more about what I learned later in this letter.

It´s starting to get warmer, but the temperature changes every other day to really hot to windy and a little chilly. It´s because we´re by the Ocean. But to be honest, most of the time the temperature is fresh. But yes, it´s getting warmer and it´s very humid haha.

But great news! Martín received the gift of the Holy Ghost (there were 5 confirmations in our ward this week. It was incredible) and Elder White and I had the opportunity to stand in the circle during Sacrament Meeting to confirm him a member of the church! Also, Martín received the Aaronic Priesthood and was ordained to the office of Priest. The blessings that he received were incredible and I felt how powerful of a missionary that Martín is going to be. In November, the goal is that he´ll become an Elder and receive the Melcezedek Priesthood. If his schedule works out, he´s going to do baptisms for the dead in a month or so in the Buenos Aires Temple. And he is planning on leaving on a mission in a year and a half or so. He says he wants to prepare as much as he can before he leaves. But the truth is, he´s already ready. Martín is incredible and he has the faith that one day his family will join. He´s incredible.

President Parreño taught me a lot during the interview. He asked me if I had any questions and I asked him how I could focus myself even more on the mission. I´m focused on the mission, but I know and understand now that the more focused I am on the mission, the happier I´ll be. And with other things in life, with focus comes success. It´s the same with a calling in the church, with a family, with sports. Focus is key. He turned to the mission manual and shared with me a part about our covenants. He told me that if I always have my covenants in the front of my mind, I´m going to be focused. So I began to think about that. It´s so true. We are a covenant people of the Lord. 

I began to think of the things that I´ve promised to Heavenly Father and the things that He´s promised in return. And I couldn´t help but smile because the blessings are incredible with the foremost blessing being that I can live with HIm, Jesus Christ, and my family forever. So it´s something that I´m doing on the mission right now. Focus on the covenants. And I challenge everyone else to do the same. Always remember your covenants and make decisions that are in accordance with your covenants. The covenants as a baptized member of the church, as a Priesthood Holder, as an endowed member of the church in the Lord´s House. These covenants give us power and protect us from the destructive ways of the Devil. I have a testimony of this more than every on the mission. It gives me great peace knowing that the power of God can always be with us as we are obedient to our covenants.

I love you all so much and I´m so grateful for your love and support. And Happy Mother´s Day! It was nice to reflect on my mom. Who, like the stripling warriors of Helaman, gave everything they had to their mothers. I can honestly say that I am the person I am today only because of my mom. She has shown me how to be more Christ-like than any other person in the world. I thank you mom for everything and I hope to be half the disciple of Christ that you are. I love you so much!

Love Elder Bosco


Elder Bosco and Elder White singing "I Need Thee Every Hour" in Spanish. Elder Bosco is singing the second verse and Elder White is the harmony on the Chorus.

Week #16

Hola familia!

This week was incredible. MARTIN WAS BAPTIZED!!! What a miracle. He loves the gospel and he knows with all his heart that it´s true. He is so grateful that he received it even though his family is against it. He wants to serve a mission and he finishes high school in December. So next October he could leave! I´m so excited for him and to see the people that he touches. He goes to seminary now and he loves every minute of it. Especially because they´re studying the Book of Mormon and he doesn´t get to read it at home because it´s uncomfortable in front of his family. He truly is incredible. 

 

I´m SO happy for him. During the Sacrament Meeting, they announced that he was getting baptized and that he will be a priesthood holder and a missionary in the future. He put his arm around me, smiled, and said ¨Gracias a Bosco¨. I was humbled by that statement. During the Sacrament, I thought about that. In all reality. I realized that I did absolutely nothing with Martin. He was the one who came to the church everyday by himself to be taught. He´s the one that keeps his commitments. He´s the one that has had to go through a lot of trials and overcome them. He´s the one that recognized the Spirit. He´s the one that has embraced the gospel. And the Lord was the one who blessed him with his Spirit. The Lord blessed him with comfort, with an answer, with a change of heart. The Lord was the reason that we found each other. The Lord was the reason that we miraculously found each other again after his family rejecting us. It was completely the Lord. And I realized once again that this is the Lord´s work. The only thing I hope for is that I can be worthy to be one of his instruments in this work because it blesses my life so much. The last few weeks with Martin has changed my life forever and I´m forever grateful for the Lord giving Elder White and I an opportunity to see this miracle in our lives.

Another great thing that happened was that Cejas received the gift of the Holy Ghost!! He is so happy now and he is filled with life! We went over to teach him and he took us to lunch. He took us to a very expensive restaurant on the coast. I never thought that I would eat in a restaurant like that as a missionary. The name of it is Hotel Antártida (Look it up on the internet) The facebook page is Hotel Antártida Oficial. Let´s just say that each meal was 100-200 pesos and each drink cost extra I think. The water came in glass bottles. Elder White and I were shocked the entire time. Especially because the view of the coast was incredible. Miguel (the blind member) also came with us. And we found out that his nephew worked at that restaurant. So his nephew paid for it all. We didn´t pay for anything. So Cejas is taking us out to eat in an hour for PDay today haha. So sweet. We´re pumped.

But for real, the miracles on the mission are incredible and I´m not talking about eating at nice restaurants. The feelings at church yesterday were a million times better. The Spirit was incredible at Martín´s baptism. He even fasted with us. He has been prepared to receive the gospel for a long time. Truly incredible.

Thanks for all the prayers and support. I love you all!

Love Elder Bosco II

Elder White, Martin, Elder Bosco

Elder Bosco, Martin, Elder White

Martin is so happy!

Elder White, Ariel(a priest in the ward), Nawhel (Carolina´s son), Martin, Elder Bosco

Week #15

E. White, Cejas, me, Miguel (the blind man), and the Bishop

 

The baptism last week of Carolina (Victoriana´s mom)

We had 5 baptisms between our zone and the zone by us in between sessions of conference. So we took a picture of all of us in white. I love this picture!

Elder White, me, Cejas (The old man, our first baptism), and Hermano Veron.

My First baptism! Her name is Victoriana and she´s 11. She was an investigador of the hermanas and she was SO happy and excited. She loves the CTR ring I gave her

Me and Cejas (our first investigador that was baptized)

The Pompeya Ward is growing!!!!

Elder White baptized her mom last week and they are so happy.

Hola Familia!

 

First things first, my debit card got here safely so you don´t have to worry anymore. A lot of tough things are going on, but that´s why we´re on earth. To learn and to grow. Conference was amazing and it´s incredible as a missionary. Especially when it answers questions for investigators who are present. We got to listen to it in english!! And when the General Authority spoke in Spanish, we ran to the chapel and listened to it. I could understand like 75 to 80 percent of it!!!!

 

But what a week!!! I´ll start with the baptisms. I baptized Victoriana! Elder White baptized her mom last week and they are so happy! They were investigators of the hermanas in our ward and I´ll send pictures in another message. Victoriana is 11.

 

Elder White and I had a baptism ourselves!! Remember the man that showed us his hernia? I hope I told you that story a month or so back. Well he is a living testimony that this gospel changes lives. He has tons of health problems and he´s had two brain attacks. He´s always in a lot of pain, but each week he likes going to church more. He couldn´t sleep the night before his baptism because he was afraid he was going to sleep through his alarm and miss his baptism. He was baptized and went completely underwater and that was a miracle by itself. It wasn´t important that Elder White and I had to change him and it took 30 mins. or that we saw some things we wish we wouldn´t have seen,  hahhahah but truly, the Spirit of the Lord was there. He´s an incredible man. He asked me if I could make him a missionary plaque with his name on it. In my mind, I thought that one day he will have is own on the other side of the veil teaching his wife and his family. Truly incredible.

 

Remember Martin last week? Well right after we got done writing our families last week, we were walking and Martin walked up to us and found us. He said that he had been praying to find us and he did! We took him to the chapel and taught him. His family has been attacking him with rumors and lies about Mormons, but he knows it´s true. He didn´t like doing it, but he had to lie to his mom so that we could teach him. His mom´s heart is slowly softening, but his older brothers attack him with false things. He texted us and told us he needed to talk. He told us of all of the hard things that have been happening to him ever since we met him and for that reason he said he knows this is true. We gave him a blessing of comfort and he told us that he feels more comfortable and happy with us than at home right now. He came to three sessions of conference and he loved it!! So many talks were directed to him. He also came to the baptismal service and he is so excited to be baptized next week. He is definitely a chosen servant of God and his strong testimony is an example to me. He reminds me a little of Joseph Smith who was persecuted for having the truth. He truly is a saint and I can´t wait to see where the blessings of the gospel takes him in his life.

 

I love you all and I hope all is well.  Love you all and thank you for everything!!!

 

Love Elder Bosco II