Blog Letter 5/12/2014

¡Bienvenidos a todos que lean esta carta!

This blog letter might be kinda short, just because I don't know what else to put after talking to you guys yesterday. 

I would like to tell you all that I love you so much and that I am so grateful for each and every one of you. I hope that you are all happy. I enjoyed talking to you guys, it was nice to see your shining faces. 

This week has been a great week, we have had some good lessons, and we got to do a lot of fun things. I had to go to Rosario and do some paper work. It was a lot of waiting and not a whole lot of paperwork, but that is just bureaucracy. I did talk to a guy that was from Jamaica and that was pretty cool. He spoke broken English and broken Spanish so combined together it was pretty fun. He did have the cool Jamaican accent.  

Other than that I have just been fighting a cold, and trying to conquer the beast that is this cold. I am certain that all colds we get are given by Satan, but that is just my humble opinion. 

I love you all. I hope you all enjoyed your week. Have a great week and stay safe. My prayers are with all of you!!

Elder Mason Paul Reid

Letter 5/5/2014

¡Buenos Días! 

Well another week has passed here in Villa Gobernador Galvez. A week full of new experiences and a week full of learning. 

Let's see...where to begin. Let's begin with May 1st. May 1st  is The Workers Day. It is a rather big holiday here. One of the traditions of this day is Locro. It is a kind of soup that they cook here. But it takes 4 hours to cook. It is made up of corn, water, meat, Cow tail (skinned), pigs foot, cabbage, lettuce, ham, cow stomach, cow intestine, mixed with a lot of seasoning, and maybe some of other stuff that I wasnt told, or capable of identifying. I know what you are all thinking, that sounds really gross, but actually it is really really good.

My companion and I were walking around contacting some people before going to lunch. Our lunch had told us that they couldn't give us any Locro since it wasn't done cooking, so they were going to give us something else. We were a little bummed that we weren't going to get Locro, but as we were contacting we contacted two guys that were cooking Locro. They invited us in and well... we got two big bowls of Locro each. It was really, really tasty, but I still think that cow intestine, and cow stomach is just too chewy. After that we went to our planned lunch, but the problem was we were already full. We ate anyways. It turns out in 2 hours time we ate 4 plates of food. Four very full plates of food. 

With May First being a holiday we had a ward activity and had the entire ward in the Capilla. We played games and shared a spiritual thought about missionary work, it was a very successful activity. 

To end this letter I would just like to tell you all I am doing great. And that even during hard times, we can still be happy. My companion and I had every lesson fail us this last Tuesday, and on top of that it poured rain. It just down poured on us. But we continued working, we sang songs, told jokes, contacted people, and had a good time. Due to the contacts we have new investigators. All because of our attitude of pressing forward with joy in our hearts and working. 

My invitation to anyone reading this letter is that if you are struggling, or maybe a little down hearted, keep your head up. Count your blessings. But keep moving forward with a smile. It will get better, and you will be blessed for your faith. 

Love,

Elder Mason Paul

April 28, 2014

Villa Galvez ha llegado a ser un segundo hogar

How is everyone doing? I hope you are all doing well, and are happy. This week has been another great week. I feel like just last tuesday I was talking to all of you. ;) 

I have a couple of highlights from this week. The first would be the Stake Conference that we had. We had a very special Stake Conference. We had Elder Viñas and Elder Urra who are both from the Quorumn of the Seventy. Normally in stake conference you dont have two General Authoritys there but we got the opportunity, and it was such a great expierience. One of the comments that Elder Viñas shared was that this Stake conference was being held under the authority of the First Presidency, and that the topics chosen to be shared where all chosen by the First Presidency. As missionaries we got invited to two different meetings with them in which they spoke to a smaller groups of people. It was a great expierience, and I felt the spirit so much. 

I think all of the talks that were given were all centered on members, and being involved with the missionary work. Talking about how members can help with the hastening of the work. As a missionary I know first hand the power and responsibility that every member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has to bring people to Christ. It is not JUST missionaries. I invite everyone that reads this letter to find someone, and invite them to go to church, or read the Book of Mormon, or to listen to the missionarys. I promise there is someone out there that you guys can help. 

I learned a life lesson yesterday. We were teaching a lesson to an investigator that is the sister of a recent convert. We had been teaching her for a while, she was progressing a lot. She had been reading, and doing a lot of good things, she had came to church, we had even given her a baptism date. But she doesnt want to change some small simple things. She doesnt want to change the type of clothes she wears, and she doesnt want to stop partying. 

The craziest thing is that she has told us that she isnt truely happy, but she wants to be. We tried to tell her that the only way to true happiness is through Christ, but she isnt willing to put Christ first. That made me think, and learn, that each and everyone one of us, at one point or another has wanted something, but we dont realize that the first and foremost is Christ. Christ always, ALWAYS needs to be put first. THEN we can go out and accomplish whatever we want, as long as it is something righteous, and not against God's Commandments. 

All in all this week has been great. I have loved it. I hope you guys are all happy. I love you all, and pray for you every day!

Elder Mason Paul Reid