"I love my mission!"

 Luke was so pumped about the awesome week he had and I loved to hear him say "I love my mission!"  He is in a great area, with a great companion, with great people to teach.  He is worried he is going to get transferred next transfer because he said missionaries can't stay in this heavenly area for too long :)  They just get a taste and then have to move on.  :)

So many people to update about....

First great news....Linfia got baptized!!!  I think it's actually Limpia which in Spanish means clean.  And then her last name in Spanish is pure!  (Can't remember what Luke said the last name is.) And Luke said the name is very fitting.  Limpia is actually Luke's landlord and she is awesome.  They were almost finished with the lessons this week and were getting her ready for her baptism and then they taught her about tithing and that worried her!  Luke is used to the law of chastity or something else worrying them but not the law of tithing!  She started to get worried about her finances and decided maybe she shouldn't get baptized.  Luke's awesome member friend Juan told Luke to  let he and his wife visit her.  They did and he called Luke that night and said the baptism is back  on :)  Juan is so awesome.  Talk about a guy living the law of consecration.  He is constantly giving of not only his time to the missionaries and the work, but he is also employing tons of members and helping them out.  

Luke said the baptism was amazing and so full of the Spirit! She took the discussions 20 years ago but was living with someone at the time and couldn't get baptized.  But now here she is making amazing changes in her life and now a baptized member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!

Here's an update on other friends Luke is working with...

Luke and Elder Reyes were walking down the street and met a girl named Arceli.  She and her siblings were at home and they found out their mom is a member but hasn't been active.  There was also an 18 year old there named Niko.  They started to teach all the kids, but they weren't really sure they were completely interested or taking it serious.  And then they opened the scriptures and had Niko read Moroni 10:3-5.  All of a sudden as he was reading there was a change that completely came over him.  In fact as he was reading he really got into the scriptures and didn't stop at verse 5 but kept going!  He read all the way to verse 8!  He even stood up as he was reading.  The Spirit was so strong and you could see that something was different.  He felt the power of the Book of Mormon.  After they read Luke and Elder Reyes asked if they would like to be baptized and all of them said YES!  So they are excited to work with this family and help them prepare for baptism.  

Then there is Marina.  She has a lot on her plate, she is a single mom with 4 kids and weighed down with all that she has to keep up with in life.  She has been hard to get a hold of and not keeping her commitments.  They were going to drop her but then she showed up to church!  So they will be working with her again.  I'm so glad because the gospel of Jesus Christ is such a strong foundation that I know could help her navigate life as a single parent.

Gustavo and Cristian came to church and are preparing to get baptized next weekend.  I'm sure Juan is so pleased because this is his son!  Can't wait to hear how the baptism goes!

There is a member that has 2 grandchildren named Renata and Constanza.  They are preparing for baptism.  Their dad just happened to be at their last lesson and at the end of the lesson Luke asked his daughter to give the prayer.  As she prayed her father was in tears.  What a neat moment to hear your own child pray and come closer to God!  Hopefully the whole family will start learning more soon!

And then there is their sweet and humble friend Lino Sanchez.  I still laugh that they called him Sanchez for the longest time before they found out his name is really Lino.  He is getting baptized soon.  It seems like everyone in Argentina has a hard time with the law of chastity, so as they got to that lesson this week they were expecting Lino to also have issues.  But they were pleasantly surprised when Lino told them that he also feels the law of chastity is important.  In fact he told them that people at his work make fun of him because he feels it is important.  What an amazing guy.  He truly has been prepared by the Lord.  Can't wait to hear about his baptism too! 

So as you can see they are BUSY!!!!  And Luke is learning and changing so much.  He said he realized this week the importance of remembering people's names.  In John 10:3 it says "...and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out."  He said at the beginning of his mission he couldn't keep names straight and actually didn't care to.  But then he has really been focused on individuals and remembering their names.  In fact they ran into someone that they had met a while back and Luke remembered their name and they were surprised and taken back by that.  Then they were willing to have them back.  What a great lesson to learn and one that the Savior wants us all to learn.  We are in the service of our Heavenly Father's children and he loves each and everyone of us individually and so it is important to remember and treat each one of his children with love and respect.  We all love to have people remember us and our names.  What a great example Luke is to me of learning lessons Heavenly Father wants us to learn and applying them!