Bahía Blanca Bound : Week #87

Hola Familia!

I had an awesome week this week. I´ve been in Viedma this week (it´s the zone furthest south in the mission) doing splits with Elder Fertig and Elder Figueredo. I´ve learned so many things from the two of them. We got to listen to Elder Bednar on Tuesday. He gave a conference for about 8000 missionaries in the Southern part of South America. I wanted to share with all of you guys today an experience from the week, and then something that inspired me in the Conference with Elder Bednar.

Before we got to Viedma, we were in Bahía and we taught a woman named Ana. She really wants to get baptized but she smokes. She wants to stop smoking but she doesn´t think that she has the strength to do it. We started talking to her about faith and she told us that before the missionaries had gotten to her home, she didn´t believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. She just believed that He was a great person who lived on this earth. She explained to us that she has gained a strong testimony that He is the Savior of the world. It impacted me so much because it was the same process that Alma explains in Alma 32. She planted a seed and it grew to the point where she knew that Jesus Christ is the Savior. That inspired me. We started teaching her about how that faith is the same faith necessary in order to stop smoking. Put your faith in Him, and He will give you the power. At the beginning, she didn´t believe that it was possible. But as the Spirit touched her heart, she started gaining self confidence. How weird to think that the Spirit gives us self confidence. By the end of the lesson, the Spirit had blessed her with so much faith in the Savior and faith in herself, that we made specific plans to get her off of cigarrettes. After the prayer, we asked for her cigarrettes and she gave us EVERYTHING- a tupper full of tobacco, the ash try, and the plastic straw looking thing to roll her own joints. From what I know, she hasn´t smoked since. The power of the Atonement gave her the strength minute by minute to resist all temptation. What a great blessing to be able to see as a representative of Jesus Christ.

The other experience helped me feel the Spirit when Sister Susan Bednar spoke to us. She spoke to us about her son that served on the mission many years ago and being able to visit the mission with him. She told us of the rewarding experience that it was when she got to see all of the people that truly were touched by her son´s work. She said later, "You want to be a fly on the wall as a parent and see you your son/daughter as they learn, live, and serve...Be the kind of missionary that your mother thinks you are." That last phrase impacted me a lot. We usually say that we want to be the missionary that the Savior wants us to be, and since our mothers are the most Christ-like figures in this world, am I the missionary that she thinks I am? I hope I can say yes the day that I see her again. The Spirit helped me realize for the sincere love that I have for my mom. I love you Mom. Thanks for preparing me to serve a mission. Just like the 2000 strippling warriors said, I have no doubt that she knows the truth.

Thanks for all the love and support. I feel your prayers daily.

Love Elder Bosco