Shake My Faith!

Well, I am officially not a "greenie" anymore, as of about sixteen hours. Elder Petersen, mi Papito, left for La Rioja again, and Elder Van Loo left for Santa Rosa. I snuck one of my ties into Elder Petersen´s stuff before he got off, and he got me back whilst I slept and the sojourners packed up for the journey. My new compañero (Elder Almirón) is bien Latino, from Buenos Aires, and we seem to get along really well. We have convinced him, and Elder Gimenez´s new comp from Canada that this area is the Celestial Kingdom made manifest on earth (slightly due to the mention of five lunches a week, minus planning session days and p days, plus two dinners a week, all set in stone and without fail, and also slightly due to the fact that our recent converts are active, (not to mention the fact we are baptizing pretty well), and they are really pumped to get out and do the Lord´s work. The four of us hooligans in great looking apparel went and played soccer at the church to kick off our awesome transfer with some friendly sport action. On that note, I beat a super inactive son of our ward mission leader in one on one streetball 5-2, which truly was a miracle. Another great thing about our companionship that already is in progress is a service war, or a competition to see who can serve the other person more. Nobody really loses anything, because you get so much in return if both people go in for it, which I can already tell he will. The first thing is that we are going to get Grido ice-cream, the best stuff known to missionary kind, other than a deep, sweet personal study to start the day. The deal was that since a kilo of ice-cream is only a little less than five American bucks five days a week, and since the new companñeros need to adjust to the area, the incumbents are going to buy one kilo per compañerismo, but my "compy" quickly asserted that I wouldn´t pay simply because I am his compañero. Gotta love the ideology behind that. Elder Gimenez and I have a deal this transfer. If I speak English (not including helping my companion learn the language or like cases), at the end of the day I owe him an alfajor. However, if he eats more than one serving at any given point in time, with the exception of empanadas, he owes me a giant banana at the end of the day. I failed today because Elder Henry (the Canadian) isn´t in on the deal, and speaks English whenever, so I will have to make a huge effort to overcome. For those of you who know the story (mostly my family), you will be pleased to hear that I have acquired a copy of the Teachings of Wilford Woodruff, in Castellano, and have been reading it every chance that I have alongside my pocket Book of Mormon and set of study scriptures. For those of you who don´t know the story I quote one of the greatest movie scenes ever: the sword fight between Wesley and Inigo Montoya. "Get used to disappointment," said Wesley. How my confidence that the Lord knows each and every one of His children and that His authority to reveal things to them has augmented in this time spent in the mission! How great is our God! I feel very much like Nephi and his Psalm located in 2 Nephi Chapter 4. "What a wretched man am I! But that you may know, I am saved in Christ Jesus, who lives, and loves us to the end." My new favorite hymn this week is number 102, "Jesus, Lover of My Soul", which has a soothing, lilting melody that conveys true trust in Him and implores His help in all that I might do. I offer a challenge to the world: SHAKE MY FAITH. Go ahead. It isn´t because I am some almighty being, or that I am perfect, but God in His soft mercy has blessed me to the point of sealing me His. He has shown me so many miracles, the fact that I´m still kickin' not being the least of them, that I cannot ever imagine myself doubting that this Gospel is true. I never wish to compromise His laws for the petty things of the flesh, nor do I wish to cause others to do the same. Instead, my eye is set on the prize. What better thing can there be than living with our families and loved ones forever in the presence of an Omnipotent and Omnibenevolent Father? May the Lord provide each and every one of y´all, His beloved children, with such experiences and love as he has for me, for you truly will know with a surety that He is God and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is His glorious deed. Nos Vemos, Elder Lindsey