The Journey to Consecration...

Hello!

This week was hard... fun... necessary... and filled with blessings! In the beginning of the week Elder Baker, Pilacios, and Caparroz went to a leadership conference in Bahia Blanca, so Elder Arnes and Rust joined me for a couple days. That was a lot of fun. We had a great time and laughed a lot. We had to stay home most of Tuesday because the plumbers came to do... something... to our house. Still trying to figure out what that something was because not much changed, but oh well! So I took the day to have a great study, I made some delicious chicken tomato pasta for lunch for the three of us, then spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up after the plumbers, then that night we got to go visit a few people and had a good lesson about Charity with a member family (not sure the last name... but it's the family of Antonella and Julieta, who were baptized around the time I arrived in Argentina).

 How many Argentine plumbers does it take to fix the house? They´ve come like 3 times in the past week and we still have random overflows...

 

 Cleaning up our nasty house after the plumbers came with Elder Arnes and Elder Rust (Elder Rust is the one holding the camera)

The plumbers came... made noise, spoke colorful language, made a mess, then they left... Not sure if they actually fixed anything, but I sure had a great time cleaning up after them!

Elder Baker and the zone leaders (Pilacios and Caparroz) arrived on Wednesday morning and brought me a letter from Alyssa! That was a much needed boost to my week, especially because she included two amazing talks on missionary work. One is called "The Consecrated Missionary" by Tad R. Callister. It is a LIFE-CHANGER and I highly recommend it. It´s obviously about missionary work, but can also apply to how we should live our lives in general. I have been focusing a lot this week on trying to follow the counsel in that talk. To truly humble myself and submit myself to whatever the Lord would have me be and do. It´s been hard, but as I have truly tried to break the natural man and be humble and have charity I have seen such a change in me and the work that has come through my Savior. Whether it´s choosing not to argue or get offended with companions and others around me, or just disciplining myself to be as obedient as possible.

One night as we (a group of 6 Elders... our usually group plus Elder Killinger and Franco) were walking to an appointment, I was feeling super stressed, frustrated, and alone because a couple of Elders had been on my case and I wasn´t sure why. I wanted so bad to snap back or confront them as to why I was being treated that way... but instead I turned my thoughts to the Lord and made the (rather difficult) decision to follow my goal to humble myself and not say anything. Right then, John 16:33 came to my mind: "Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world." I had the strongest feeling of love and comfort come over me, and I didn´t feel alone anymore. In my mind I felt as if the Savior had put His arm around me and was walking by my side. Lately I have felt so much closer to Him. Both in the work and personally, as I learn about Him and go through a VERY small portion of what he went through in His life on earth and with the Atonement that he performed for us. I am soo grateful for Him and that Atonement that makes me better and stronger, and brings me comfort. I know He lives and that He loves us! I want to share a quick quote from The Consecrated Missionary: "Our Heavenly Father doesn´t expect immediate perfection, but He expects immediate progress. True consecration may seem like Mt. Everest at times, but with each step, and with His help, we can reach the summit." May we all try to submit ourselves to do His will... whatever it may be. In doing so I know we can reach our happiest state in this life, and exaltation in the life to come!

I love you all! Have a fantastic week.
Elder Jolley