From Argentina April 2, 2012

We saw a lot of miracles here this week. We have really great investigators and members here and I´m learning a lot from my experiences with them, mainly that "man is nothing." Sometimes as missionaries we can get caught up in the thought that we are having success because of what we do, which in part is true, but like someone once said (I don´t remember who), "The things that need to be done to a human soul, must be and can only be done by God." It is the Spirit that converts, not us, the scriptures, or our teachings. What we do is prepare with the Spirit and teach with the Spirit so that those we teach can recognize it and allow it to change them. I realized how intimately involved God is in each of our lives. He has been working on the hearts of these people (and mine) for years and years.

I thought about one of our investigators, Leonel, who is so prepared for the Gospel. We met him at church last week (he came to listen to his friend´s mom give a talk) and set an appointment to teach him the following Wednesday. It was incredible to listen to him express his desire to find the truth and come to know God better. He talked about watching this family almost his whole life, as well as an old friend of his brother, and seeing the happiness and light that exuded from them. He noticed that he doesn´t have it, but wants to. He told us later that he walked home after that lesson feeling enveloped in a peace he couldn´t describe. We taught him about the Word of Wisdom and he has the goal to quite smoking completely by Sunday (1 week!). His faith is incredible. He came to all 4 sessions of General Conference in a suit and tie. I am loving being a part of this experience with him and am so amazed at the power the Spirit has to change hearts.

General Conference was wonderful. I wanted it to just go on and on forever. I loved Elder Scott´s talk. General Conference really isn´t the same in Spanish, though. There´s something about hearing their words in their own voices that make more of an impression (Elder Scott translates his own talks, though. That was a blessing). It was a little difficult to focus because they translated each talk with voice-over, but I could still hear the English a little bit. I had to work really hard to understand what they were saying in Spanish and fight the urge to zone in on the English. I hope it will be a little easier by October and that I can get more out of it. I thought about how we were watching the Conference live, and that we were doing the same thing at the same time. It was a nice thought. I can definitely feel your love from here, every day.

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week.

Love,
Erin