Your right dad, I just had a much better week. I honestly felt the help you sent me. I usually don’t think about you all praying for me. But this week I did, many times. I thank God for a family like you. Mom, and Dad, Amanda (what a champ) Saydi (please don’t move to India!) Harrison, Jefferson (the parents always tell me about you getting clocked in basketball or lax (bytheway Wilson, in many letters you put lax and I had no idea what it ever meant, but I finally figures it out) Benson, and Wilson.
We have a rock solid family. Everybody keep it up. We are a team. I have seen so many destroyed families in Argentina. Many strong members that say -- I talk to my friends in the church more than my family.
I never want that to happen to us. We are the Ostlers. The coolest family on the planet, and I love being a part.
Today we were invited to lunch with the Family Quiroga. They took us out to eat, it was great! Cristian Funes and them are all very agradecido for the help. I thank you too.
Thank you for fasting for me dad. I truly felt it. Thank you for praying for me mother, and the rest of you little kids. Wow, this week was so much better. I’ll say, the last 6 weeks were hard!
But this week was so much better!!!!!!! Yesterday I did a fast of Agradecimiento.
A factor to the hard transfer was me expectations. I am experienced, I speak Spanish, I’m in SJ, and I expected to bautizar! In fact I put the goal to baptize 20 by the end of my mission. But that hasn’t happened. I finally realized, as dad knows, that I can do nothing of myself to earn or merit a baptism.
I have tried so hard me whole mission to baptize people, but in great part, it hasn’t happened like I thought it would. This week it sunk in deep that Baptism is a miracle from God.
God converts the person. Because many times I thought, and I think, MAN!ª I’m doing all I can, all I know how, why am I not baptizing!? Why aren’t my people progressing?
But I’m changing that attitude. I will do all I can, and then hope.
And in the past months, and especially in the offices praying for my new area, I pray and have prayed and prayed and prayed for God to prepare people for me to find, teach and baptize.
Well, it has happened. We are baptizing this week. Her name is R** R**, and she is Awesome! She treats us like her grand kids. I love her so much.
Not even I understand the profundity of this miracle. For example when we tell members that she is getting baptized, it startles them. Because apparently, she has been very very against the church. Some of her kids are members. Her grand kids are members, and one family of them are in our ward. They live next door to R**. They are helping us a lot, are awesome, and we ate real oily food with them yesterday, really good.
But God has worked a miracle in her life. Her grandson left from our barrio to the mission 2 months ago. I attribute a great part of the conversion of Rosa to her grandson, serving in Columbia.
I am just so thankful to God that we have found her, (through a reference off the street from a no member!!!!) are teaching her, and on the 24th, are baptizing her. Wow, so awesome. I have been asking and praying for a baptism so much, that now that I have it, I must not forget to thank.
So, yeah, she is awesome. She always winks when she makes a little joke, it is so precious. A fun part is that she lives at least 35 minutes away from our pench, walking, so its a great trek every time we go teach her. One of the hardest parts of the area is the geografical part. Before, there were 4 elders in this area. The pench is equipped for 4.
I thank you, especially you parents, for your extra strength and love this week. Thank you.
Mother, the comments you receive!! I show practically everyone your pictures, some times on the street opening the mouth. And mom, the Argentines gawk at you. I have heard some wonderful comment about you every week of my mission. I wrote down just 2 this week.
"parece una chica de 20 años!"
And this one was last night. "¡¡Que Linda que es ella!!"
viste mom.. you are wonderful, beautiful. I love that you are My Mom.
And dad, people think you are wonderful and beautiful too. They just tend to not say it as often.
Hey, I got an extra assignment for you 2. Companionship study one day this week. Read Elder Perry’s talk El perfecto amor echa fuera el temor. It’s great.
And Hey, Harrison and Jefferson, I got an assignment for you also, but this one is mandatory. Personal study: read Mcmullins talk el poder del sacerdocio aaronico.
And then Comp Study: after reading it, pondering it, and maybe even writing some comments down, talk about it. As awesome brothers that you are, talk about what it means to hold the priesthood of God. A priesthood that has the power of the ministering of angels. And you daily walk the halls of Richland High with that priesthood. Cool huh!
And how are we on piano? I sat down yesterday and played a song for like 2 minutes and it was so relaxing! Practice your piano. You will never regret 1 minute practicing that amazing piano. Your never thankful for the water until the well goes dry.
Dad on the street this week I heard the song for the very first time. Or at least that's what it might be called. I made a note in my planner, and i just wanted to make a guess. Is that by meatloaf? It sounded super 70s, almost 60s and I loved it!
Alright I’m loving this email sesh, I’ll send you another email en un cachito.
O wait, first the questions.
No you don’t have to do anything with the flights.
Last week we had lunch with the president de estaca and family. Pte Noriega. He’s a young guy, not yet 40.
He is a visionary man. Incredible. Being in his presence and talking with him awes me. He believes. I have never seen a man who wants a temple in cuyo more than him. He is contagious and I have caught the vision too. He really believes that it is possible that Profet Monson announces a temple in Mendoza in 2 weeks. I cannot say enough about this man. I want to be like him. His vision would be like this. SO the tri cities. Why don’t we work so we qualify for 2 temples in the tri cities! He thinks like that.
That thought has never before crossed my mind. He really understands the Gospel.
This week he invited us to a meeting at the church (stake center, that's our church) and obviously we were psyched to go! But we didn’t know we got invited to stake counsel!!!!! (I didn’t even know that stake counsel existed!!!!!)
This stake, San Juan, is Amazing. It was a meeting of an hour and a half maybe (we didn’t get back to pench till 11:30ish) and I don’t know what to say. Incredible. There were 25 members there, most with stake callings. For me it was a miracle. I had the though, if only Joseph Smith could have seen this in 1830, the day he organized the church. President Arnold asked that it was filmed, so that was cool too. O there are just so many ideas, and new (and old) things we can do. I did not explain this part very well, but I could go on and on. Pray for a temple in Mendoza. dyc64:33 we are putting the cimientos. But this place is about to explode.
I really want to be a better leader. Today the Lord gave me a cool experience as we were resting from playing soccer and an elder new to the zone really opened up to me and I was able to help him. It really didn’t seem like much to me, but he thanked me and I gave him a big hug. In leadership I just realize how inexperienced I am.
Remember that investigator O**? Well we went by this week and we found a mean spirited note magnetted to the fence telling us not to come back. Bummer.
Also, I had the cool experience of going to the hospital this week. We met some missionaries in the terminal one siesta, and an in active member found us and asked us for help. So we accompanied her to the NEO terapia intensiva part of the hospital and I got special permission to enter. There were many babies in the incubators. Well, couldn’t anoint the child with oil, but I did offer blessing of health and prayed with the worried and depressed mother. The baby was 1.75 kilos and 4 days old. It was a cool, real world experience. A better version of the story is in my journal.
We deep cleaned the pench this week, so that's great.
Since I have been in Argentina my mind has been opened in so many ways. This morning as I was studying I realized something so profound to me. It won’t seem like much though, and menos in writing.
The promises of the word of wisdom have been fulfilled to me in every sense. I know that because I have obeyed the WoW all my life that the Lord has opened my mind. I’m telling you, it’s just amazing. The blessings are very real.
I feel like I’m starting to understand what vs 19 is. hallaran sabiduria y grandes tesoros de conocimiento, si tesoros escondidos. That's happening to me!
And I can still run! I run in the mornings.
Also vs 18. The Lord has blessed me with health, which is a miracle, when I think back on some water I’ve draken, and things I’ve eaten. . . . O last week I at tuna fish, just like nothing. And vs 21 is sweet too.
One thing I love So Much is receiving revelation while I’m teaching. That happened last week as I taught a recent convert the word or Wisdom, I taught her on such a simple level, and promised her simple blessings because it’s something she struggling with. But in my mind in some way the Lord revealed great treasures of knowledge.
We found a sweet waffle place too! No there’s no syrup. They are lunch, sandwich waffles, and then for desert they put dulce de leche on. It’s like carmel. In fact I put some on my pancakes this morning. I also put oatmeal and juice in my pancakes.
Alright here’s a real cool part. F** came to church! She’s 22 and from tierra del fuego. She is loving it. We had a lesson this week in the church with a 24 yr old RM Sister Missionary who is an Argentine Amanda Ostler. It was a wonderful lesson. This member just loved F** so much you could tell. And it was the first time they had met.
Probably the coolest part of my week: first I must explain. Since my first transfer I have had the goal, but more of a longing aspiration, for an Abrir la boca to come to church. I have only heard of it happening, my trainer told me it was super rare, so I wanted to achieve it. It means that someone you meet on the street and invite to church (like I have done to thousands of Argentines who don’t want to hear my message) actually comes to church!!! They aren’t an investigator, have never had a lesson, but sill come to church.
This week that happened to me. We were out with our lider misional, like always. And I saw a man waiting at a stoplite on his bicycle. I almost didn’t talk to him, figuring the light was about to turn. But I’m so glad I did! He was super interested, and I couldn’t have talked to him for more than 60 seconds. His name was H**, and he asked something like: can you take the devil and evil out of someone and make them holy? I smiled and said, Of course we can, we are Elders. He really believed me and strongly committed to come to church. He said he needed that to happen to him. I was hopeful for like 3 minutes, but then forgot about him.
Well who walks in church, ushered by the stake president, yesterday? H**!
Both me and the EQ president went to sit by him. He loved it, stayed all 3 hours and participated in the classes and all. I was next to him, introducing him to all the members and all, every stop of the way. It gave me such a good feeling. Awesome!!!!!
So that's what’s up. I'm doing real good. By the way, what day does Amanda finish? When do you see her? And is the whole family going?
Cool, I love you All
Elder Ostler
