January 26th, 2015

Hola!

I´m glad that you had a good birthday on the beach and that you all got to relax a little bit. You also got a new couch!?!? is it bigger than our last one? Is it leather? I guess we needed more sitting space in the living room for me when I get back. ha ha. I am also happy that you are reading Jesus the Christ. I am in the middle right now and it is awesome but also explodes your mind. If you are not doing so, I suggest that you read the New Testament along with the book because it will help you understand what goes on in the bible.

I am also super excited because there are so many people going on missions! Today I got an email from Matt Prater and he said he is going to the Jackson Mississippi mission! Super pumped. The work of the Lord is moving faster than ever and it´s great.

So I haven´t bought a camera yet because I have been looking at prices and they are around the 1500 to 2000 peso range but today I am going to look at other places and find the best price. I also have not got my package yet and I will call the offices this week to see if it´s there.

So, like I told dad, this week was not very exciting but we taught a lot of lessons and found some awesome new people and we have a few that are progressing towards their baptisms in February. The weather is hot and humid and we are expecting rain this next week. I am glad everything is going well on your end and have a great week

The Lord loves us and blesses us!

Elder Giles

Monday, January 12th, 2015

Wow, This year has gone by super duper fast and I can´t believe that I´m starting my down hill slope.... The time in the mission is like riding a bike, the down hill is a lot faster and a lot more fun! I´m super pumped and excited to work here in Marcos Paz 2 because we met some great people this week:

We had many investigators come to church: We had Melody, our only baptismal date come to church and this time she brought her mom too. She is continuing to read and pray but the only thing that she lacks is that she doesn´t feel ready. So to help her with that we focused more on reading the Book of Mormon, repentance, and praying to receive an answer. Her mom is also Catholic but was very accepting of us and in church she asked us some good questions so that was awesome. Another investigator´s name is Maria. She used to be evangelist but left due to problems in her church but is super happy to meet with us. We gave her a Book of Mormon about 2 weeks ago and she is almost done reading it! She also went to church on Sunday but only for the first hour which is the Relief Society because she had to go home and take care of her dad, but when she left she felt super happy and content and said that she will do everything possible to come for all three hours next week. Lastly we met a new part-member family in which the wife, Vanessa, is not a member and the Husband, Claudio, is but they are not married. The good thing is that they really want to get married and go to church and everything but they are a little lazy. What they need is more friends and support from the ward so we are going to focus on getting them to meet members.

That was the good part of the week but the bad part is that it is super hot and humid, so I´m getting a sweet tan but also we are sweating a lot. It doesn´t feel that great but we work anyways. It also didn´t rain that much this week and on Wednesday it rained for like an hour in the morning and then the sun came out so that made it even more humid... The forecast this week is that it will be cloudy most of the week and then a thunderstorm on Sunday... Welp, more chances to use rain boots!

One thing I read in my scriptures this week which was great was John chapter 4 in the Bible. The first part is about the waters of life and it is a good story and another part talks about the work of salvation and that some sow and some reap but we all rejoice in the harvest.

Have a great week!
Love, Elder Giles

January 5th, 2015

Happy New Year!

This week was pretty awesome! On Tuesday we went to the temple as a mission and it was great! It was super cool to see the inside to the temple and to learn more about our Heavenly Father´s plan for us, in Spanish! Then for New Years Eve we had to be back in the apartment at 8:30 so for dinner we cooked milanesas and mashed potatoes. Some members had bought the stuff for us so we are super grateful for them. Also, Elder Smith makes great mashed potatoes. I think it´s because he is from Idaho....

Then for the week end on Saturday we played soccer in the evening and it was great! The ward has not had any activities for a long time and so many are super excited to go. We had a bunch of members, less actives, and investigators come so we had many good games. Elder smith and I even scored a few times. Then on Sunday we had 4 investigators go to church: Carla, Hector, Analia, and Patricia. Patricia was a referral from a less active member and so we taught her on Friday and she told us that she wanted to go to church. So Sunday we went with her and her less active friend! Then Hector and Analia are a family that we have been teaching for a few weeks and they go to the soccer activities and to Church. They have a few problems with the word of wisdom but we are working hard with a member family to help them change. The Miranda Family is the one that let us use their TV for Skype that you guys saw and they are helping us out a bunch.

It also rained this week on Tuesday and Wednesday so it wasn´t as hot after that. But this week the forecast says that it will rain a bunch but that the temperature won´t drop :( this will be fun.

Have a great week!

Elder Giles

 

Elder Smith and Elder Giles at the Buenos Aires, Argentina Temple

Elder Giles with his Zone at the Buenos Aires, Argentina Temple