Week 71: "have an experience in Christ."

The work here is going amazing! We were blessed this week with 7 investigators in the church and the assistance was 68 and we started at 40. The work is going really well! I wanted to talk to you about something. It is something I learned in Artigas. Read 3 Nephi 11:14. It is when Christ comes to the Americas after his Resurrection. He asks the Nephite people to come unto him and thrust (don´t just feel) the marks in his hands, feet, and his side. Why does he do that? He does that so the people can have an experience in him. So they can know for themselves that He is the Christ - 3 Nephi 11:15. When was the last time you had an experience in Christ? I learned how to have an experience in Christ, read Mathew 5:38-41. We must go the 2nd mile. We can´t just go through the motions...that´s the first mile. The second mile is...the thing that is hardest for us. 

I know you are going to kill me and I want to apologize before hand. We had interviews this week and I extended my mission from the 9th of September until the 9th of October. I want to be home with you but I love this work so much I don´t ever want to leave.  On Thursday we had interviews with President Smith. It was an amazing interview. After I left with the President to a lesson. It was truly amazing...I felt the spirit so strong!  

Elder Arbon  

Week 70: "I know Jesus was behind pushing me and pulling me."

This week was incredible!  My companion and I are living in a tree house basically, with just us two. I probably shouldn´t tell you but I think it is so funny. Our toilet doesn´t work, both of our sinks don´t work, in the kitchen there is a hole in the sink so the water goes down into a bucket, then we use that bucket to flush the toilet, the shower is broken so it´s just a hose, we have to sleep outside because it gets so hot at night because we live right above a bakery and their oven runs all night, none of the lights work so we study and plan in the kitchen, we have cockroaches the size of your palm, rats, and bats. It is so fun!!! This is what a mission should be like! My companion and I did 2 divisions (I went to the area of other elders and worked with them) and worked our heart out. This week we had 9 in church!!!!!! It was amazing! 9! God blessed us more than I could have imagined! It was so humbling and so incredible! Also President Bueno and his wife came to visit me...I love those two so much! It was so great to see them. This week we have been having a lot of problems with an Elder, he has been complaining of back problems and wants to go home. He also hasn´t been obeying to the best of his ability. So this week he is going to be working with me. I´m really excited to help fill the power of the spirit and have an experience in Christ. But this week was amazing...I have never been so tired and beat up in my life. But I know Jesus was behind pushing me and pulling me.

Elder Arbon 

Week 69: "The best and the smartest missionary is the missionary that knows and teaches the basics."

This week was a really great week!!! Rivera is doing really well! I love it more and more every day! My companion is a great missionary. We get along very well and we work super hard together! He is from Ecuador! We are doing our best to get references from members, they have been giving us a few but we are really working with the menos activos. So they can reactivate and then they can bring their friends with them. The members are really good with lunches...we have lunch almost every day. This ward is a really good ward. Right now a lot of them are traveling for the holidays but our ward works really hard! On Thursday we had the opportunity to go down to Montevideo in order to have a meeting with President and all of the other zone leaders in the mission. It was amazing...the spirit was there so strong! We found two new families this week and one of the families came to church this week and are planning to be baptized the 8 of Feb! I cannot wait! The Elders here are all awesome...they work super hard. I have learned on my mission that the best or the smartest missionary isn´t the missionary that has the most amazing new technique. The best and the smartest missionary is the missionary that knows and teaches the basics. The Lord has said I delight in plainness, the Book of Mormon preaches in plainness.  Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ taught with plainness to Joseph Smith, and it is plainness that invites the spirit into a lesson and it is plainness in our lives that helps us live a Christ centered life! I love you guys and I hope you have a great week! 

Elder Arbon

Week 68: "the walls of the church shook."

I´m doing so well! The baptisms were amazing! When Samanta gave her testimony the walls of the church shook. It was incredible! The work is doing well but there is a lot to improve and my companion and I are going to do it. The zone is doing a really good job with baptisms, last month they had a total of 12 which is amazing! But I think we can have more....and the assistance in church has only increased in Rivera by a little bit. So we are really going to be focusing on increasing the assistance in the salon sacramental and baptizing the friends and family of the recent converts. Also Rivera doesn´t have a very good relationship with the stake presidency, but this week we had a break through. We went to the house of the 1st counselor in the stake and talked with him. He is super excited to work along side us now! But the work here is doing really well. Yesterday during the sacrament one of our investigators gave her testimony from her wheelchair in the back of the room! It was extremely powerful. One of the strongest testimonies I have seen on the mission. 

Elder Arbon

Week 67: "This week was the best and the hardest week of my mission."

This week was the best and the hardest week of my mission. For Christmas we spent Christmas Eve at the house of the stake president. Here in Uruguay they eat and open gifts the 24th at 12 o clock. We were allowed to stay out until 11 so it was a really great experience! On Saturday we were blessed with 2 baptisms, Blanca and Samanta. Blanca has been investigating the church for over 6 years now and finally decided to take the next step of baptism. Samanta is absolutely incredible! At the baptism she gave her testimony and it was so powerful! I know the Spirit was there at that moment! But it was the hardest week of my mission because I was changed to the zone of Rivera as a Zone Leader! It was really hard to leave Artigas. I love the ward, the leaders, the people, and the missionaries there a lot. But I love you all and have a great week! 

Elder Arbon

Week 66: "I'll see you in two days!"

I'll see you in two days! I love you and I will skype you at 4 o clock my time! My companion and I have to get everything ready for the zone, we're going to watch a movie together so I do not have very much time. But I love you and I can't wait to see you. I love you!

Elder Arbon