Week 27: "If the first six months were suppose to be the hardest then I've got paradise for the next 18."

Great week! The baptism of Maria is postponed until the next week because our ward is going through the temple today with a member that is taking out his endowments because he leaves for his mission this next week. It´s okay though, we get another week to prepare her for baptism. The area we are in is doing so good, we were so blessed this week. The hard work is starting to pay off. God put a lot of new people in our path to teach. On Tuesday we were walking home and a guy, Rubin, and his wife called us over. He used to live in Rivera, one of the most northern departementos in Uruguay, and while he lived there he was a corto plazo (temporary missionary) and he left on a mission to the states but he had to come home to fix some things. After he got home he fell away from the church and is now living with his girlfriend that is 16. But he told us he wants to come back to church and she wants to go with him. So we´re going to get them married and have him baptize her. I´m so excited! Also, we have this little kid named Elias. He is so funny, every time we go over he talks to us about video games and tries to get us to play them with him. Today we played futbol with him and all the kids from our barrio. It was so fun! Also, we have Nahuel. He´s about 13, he´s a capo. If he comes to church this week we can baptize him with Maria the next week. He´s really funny, every time we go over to his house he won´t let us have a lesson this week unless we play a game of futbol after with him and his cousin Shayla. But it was a really good week, it´s going to be crazy in the next coming weeks. We´re opening up 11 new areas and 7 of them are hermanas. We have to find all the houses and make all the contracts for them. But I´m excited for it! I really loved the quote you sent me. It made me think of the Doctrine of Christ. The Doctrine of Christ is Fe,  Arrepentimiento, Bautismo, Espírtu Santo, and Preservar Hasta el Fin...true, but if you look deeper at the Doctrine of Christ it isn´t just to do those things, it´s to show our Father that we love him enough to put aside our desires and do His Will. In the end that´s the purpose of this life, to do God´s will.I´m going to be honest with you...I love it here. I´m not just saying that to make you happy either. If the first six months were suppose to be the hardest then I´ve got paradise for the next 18. I truly have learned so much on my mission. Not just about this Gospel, but about myself. I´ve learned that who I was before my mission wasn´t the man I´m suppose to be, I´ve learned who I want to become. That boy who left Pleasant View, UT won´t be coming back. I´ve realized that I have too many faults to count, but it makes me grateful that God gave an opportunity to find and fix these faults. Man I love my mission. You might have to come down to drag me home because I don´t know if I´ll come home on my own free will.

I love you all and I hope you have a great week.

Con amor y honra,

Elder Arbon