Monday, August 29, 2016

Hola!

Hello all!
 I hope this week has been a good one!! This past week we had transfers so I am still in Derqui, but my companion is a new missionary, Elder Lugo from Mexico. He is my first companion from Mexico and he is hilarious. He is already an incredible missionary and is a ball of energy! We are working well together!!

I feel like this past week we talked to every single person in our area haha, Well, that is a big exaggeration but we talked to a lot of people! President Teixeira is our Area President and we had a conference with him this past week. He was really emphasizing the importance of opening your mouth everywhere! It was an incredible meeting and I learned a lot and have a lot to apply here in Derqui! Presidente Teixeira was actually a mission president in my dad's mission in Brazil before he became a general authority! And he lived in Germany before that and President Uchtdorf was his stake president, so thats cool!

I read something in Preach my Gospel the other day that was talking about unfairness in the world. And I have gotten the question a lot in my mission, "If God exists, why do I have so many bad things happen to me, and why is there so much bad in the world?" And I read 2 things this week that answers this question very well. One was a phrase in preach my gospel that says mas o menos: 

"Everything unjust in the world is made just through the Atonement of Christ, the Atonement of Christ is the remedy to all injustice." 

This one cut me to the core. Who are we to say that anything is unjust when the only perfect man to walk the Earth had to pay the price for all of our sins? Jesus Christ made everything just through his Atonement, but the only injustice is the fact that our price was paid. I am forever grateful for that act of pure love that enables me to be able to progress and overcome all things to be able to live eternally.

Another is from a talk that I read this week called "That I Might Draw all Men Unto Me" by Elder Renlund. It says: 
The concept—“the greater the distance between the giver and the receiver, the more the receiver develops sense of entitlement”—also has profound spiritual applications. Our Heavenly Father and His Son, JesusChrist, are the ultimate Givers. The more we distance ourselves from Them, the more entitled we feel. We begin to think that we deserve grace and are owed blessings. We are more prone to look around, identify inequities, and feel aggrieved—even offended—by the unfairness we perceive. While the unfairness can range from trivial to gut-wrenching, when we are distant from God, even small inequities loom large. We feel that God has an obligation to fix things—and fix them right now!

So what is really the problem? They have distanced themselves from God, and feel more that they are entitled blessings. The Apostles and Prophets definitely know what they are talking about. And that is why they give us so much guidance to be able to keep our lives and ourselves close to Heavenly Father, through scripture study, prayer, going to church, and trying to be the best you can be! The problem never is more than the fact that we aren't doing all the things we need to be doing. Of course, we will still have trial and difficulties and problems, but as we grow closer to Heavenly Father we will have the comfort and peace we need to be able to overcome all things, because that is what the Atonement offers, if we ACT! 

"The closer we are to Jesus Christ in the thoughts and intents of our hearts,the more we appreciate His innocent suffering, the more grateful we are for grace and forgiveness, and the more we want to repent and becomelike Him. "

If we are closer to Christ we appreciate and think more about what He did for us. We begin to be thankful for what we have, what He has done for us, and try harder to follow Him. And I know that is true, the closer we are to Christ, the more happy we will be! Our lives will never be perfect, and we will never be perfect, but we will be happy and have peace!

I am so very grateful for my Savior, and for this opportunity to represent Him. My time is going by really fast, but I have been able to apply this principle and know that it is how we truly find happiness!

I love you all!

Elder Yeoman

Elder Yeoman with his MTC buddies Elder Ayres and Elder Hendricks
Elder Yeoman and his new companion (trainee), Elder Lugo
Elder Yeoman and Elder Stafford (Good friends from home!)
The Tigre River 
Hermana Majorana and the Derqui Missionaries!
The Missionaries and the Majorana Family



Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Transfer Week!


Elder Yeoman didn’t have much time to write his general email today, so I will share some of our letter that gives a little more detail. This was transfers week and that is why he is emailing today! He is excited to be training a new missionary again this transfer and said he would be picking up his “hijo” from the mission office this afternoon around 3:00.  He was also very excited to be staying in Derqui. That means he may even get to stay for another transfer after this one since training lasts 12 weeks. They will be moving to another pension on Friday since the pension they have been living in is not in very good condition. Elder Yeoman was also excited about a baptism that he has coming up on Sunday. Here is an excerpt from his email to us:

"We have been teaching a family that a few of them are baptized and a few aren’t.  The mom will be baptized this Sunday, and you can just feel her longing and desire to have an eternal family and be sealed in the temple with all of her kids and her husband.  I want it so bad for them, knowing that the reason I do what I do and do my best every single day is because I love the Lord and want my family to be eternal! Trying to express that to them has been such a blessing!”

This sweet lady sent me a picture and message yesterday to tell me how grateful she is for Elder Yeoman and how excited she is to be baptized on Sunday. I will include the photo below.
Alana

Elder Yeoman's Email:
Hey guys!! Hope you all are well!!

I'm sorry but I don't have much time today! Just a quick thought!

I was studying on how to truly be a disciple of Christ! We have to be willing and ready to give or drop everything to follow him. Like when the disciples dropped their fishing nets to follow Jesus Christ! The most important thing we can do is follow our Savior in all things, at all times, no matter what! 

I know that He lives and loves you all, and that through these simple things we will truly find happiness!

I love you all! 

Elder Yeoman

Elder Yeoman and Elder Thompson riding their bikes in Derqui!
This is what happens when you let your companion cut your hair!
Good thing it grows very fast!
Eating at the home of the Majorana's! They are soooo good to these elders!
The sweet Hermana Arzamendia who will be baptized on Sunday!
Elder Yeoman and his companion (until today), Elder Thompson
Hermana Majorana (Elder Yeoman's mother away
from home) We love her!!





Monday, August 15, 2016

Como Andan??

Hello all! I hope you have had a great week!! This week was awesome, a ton of work and a ton of blessings! So I am still in Derqui and working in 2 areas! It is tough trying to maintain both of them but a great experience because there is so much to do all the time! We have transfers next week so we will see if anything changes or if they bring more elders to Derqui again. Either way, I am sure I will be staying here! And this is a great ward and like my family so I am excited about that!!

This week, Elder Avalos left to go home because he finished his mission. It was an incredible blessing to be his companion for a little bit again because I learned a ton from him. It was pretty sad, but it's all good! The thing I am most grateful for though was a conversation that we had one of the last nights he was here, that really changed my whole attitude about my mission and was exactly what I needed to hear. He said "You can serve a mission in 2 ways: just to get through it, or have the attitude that whatever happens youre going to give it all for the Lord." And I feel like that is exactly the kind of attitude I need to have, and has helped me so much since then. Really, nothing can stop me from doing the will of the Lord except for me! And that is how I need to be! That conversation did so much for me! 

I was studying a lot this past week on charity! Everyone knows that charity is the pure love of Christ, but what is charity really?? I have come to realize that like faith, we must exercise our Charity to make it complete! Charity cannot be manifested without action. 

1 Corinthians 13:2

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
This scripture really caught my attention. It says even if a person has enough faith to move mountains, if they dont have charity then they are nothing. We have to have the faith to move mountains, and the love to serve others! And charity is manifested through service, helping others, praying for others, putting others before yourselves. We are hear to serve others, and if we dont we will never be able to reach this charity that we are sent here to reach.
It also talks a lot about this in Moroni 7:46-47

46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—
 47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endurethforever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
I know we can all work on this principle and most important attribute of Christ, and as we do so we will be blessed more than we could ever imagine! As we serve others, and desire to help others we will see our personal lives be changed and be prepared to meet our Savior, and be a true disciple of Him.
I hope that we can all try more earnestly to serve others, and grow together as disciples of Christ! A little message or visit to someone in need goes a long way!
I know that Christ lives and is the perfect example of charity, giving His life to us so that we may be able to have Eternal Life. Why? Because He loves us! And He knows us perfectly! I love my Savior, and all I have because of Him, and that is everything! 
I love you all and hope you all have a great week!
Elder Yeoman
Bishop and Hermana Casariego in Parque Patricios
Saying Goodbye to Elder Avalos
Saying Goodbye to Elder Jenkins
Elder Yeoman & Elder Thompson
Elder Yeoman loves his dulce de leche!
Hermana Majorana dropped the Elders off
at home on Sunday night!



Monday, August 8, 2016

News from Derqui!!!

Elder Yeoman was super busy on Monday when he wrote to us and didn't have time for a general email for his blog.  He asked that I post an update and he will have more time to write next week. We just got home from vacation.... so I am a little late with this.

Elder Avalos completed his mission and went home this week. Jace got a new companion from Arizona. His name is Elder Thompson. He just arrived to the mission last week and Jace says that he is awesome and they work really well together. As of now, they are the only 2 missionaries serving in Derqui. It is a large area that they are covering. Hopefully after transfers in a couple of weeks, there will be 2 more elders placed in Derqui to work with them.  Elder Yeoman loves serving in Derqui and loves his "family" there. The members do so much to support the missionaries.

Elder Yeoman was super excited to recently hear from one of the young men (Lucas) that he taught and baptized in his previous area of Boulogne. Lucas is already working on getting his mission papers ready to serve a mission too!!!! Since then, his whole family has been baptized.  Lucas is already a great missionary and has introduced many of his friends to the gospel. Elder Yeoman was feeling very grateful that they worked so hard with Lucas and never gave up on him when he sometimes wouldn't show up for their appointments. 

On their P-day Monday, the three missionaries had the opportunity to go back to Parque Patricios and have lunch with the Casariegos. That is the Bishop's family in Elder Yeoman's first area where he was trained by Elder Avalos. He always loved being in the Casariego's home and especially loves Hermana Casariego's cooking!! He was really excited to see them again. 

Even though Elder Yeoman didn't have much time to email, we did receive quite a few pictures from Hermana Majorana this week. I am so grateful for her and the great care she gives to Elder Yeoman. He says that she calls him her son.  I especially love the videos that she sends where I can hear him speaking in spanish. He sounds like a native of Argentina. His emails are sounding more and more funny each week as he is slowly forgetting how to properly speak and write in english. I usually have to change the wording on a few things before I can post them to the blog. :) We are looking forward to our update from Elder Yeoman on Monday.
Alana
Elder Thompson (Jace's new companion and Elder Avalos 
Elder Yeoman and Elder Thompson with the Majorana's son 
Doing service this week clearing tree limbs
Elder Thompson, Elder Avalos and Elder Yeoman
With the Majorana Family in Derqui! Elder Yeoman's family away from home!
Goodbye Dinner for Elder Avalos with the Majorana Family




Monday, August 1, 2016

DERQUIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello everyone, I hope you all had an awesome week! I hear it is super hot out there in the US, so I'm sorry about that!! We've had a couple rough days lately as far as the weather goes haha...really cold, rain, and it hailed yesterday the size of golf balls...I mean I'm not an expert on weather in Buenos Aires but that's something I didn't know was possible haha, but we are all good here! 

This past week we had the baptism of Gonzalo and Prisila. They are kids of a part member family that Elder Avalos was working with in his area and they were baptized yesterday! They are great and we are working with the parents so they can get married and start their way to being an Eternal Family!! Also, we have been working with a couple that just got their papers done to get married, so he will be able to be baptized soon. They also have 2 young kids!! A couple of other families that we have been working with have been a little hard to find and we aren't able to see them too often but they are great and we aren't going to give up on them! 

We have a new focus in our mission on families. Well that's always a focus, but really the family is the most important thing. We are here on Earth so that we can be tested and together as a family live eternally.  That is Heavenly Father's purpose for all of His children, and should be our purpose as well!! As we align our purposes with Heavenly Father's, that is when we will see miracles and truly find happiness!

Well, I was thinking a lot about the weird fact that I still don't understand that I am over my year mark in the mission.  I was thinking about this past year and all that has happened and I was really pondering about the person I am now, and was a year ago. The first thing that came to my mind was that I probably can't guard me from a year ago...No, I'm just kidding! haha! But really, I thought a lot about how much I've changed, which is something that I have felt a lot, but even more now that I look back on the past year. This past year has been the hardest year of my life, but the most rewarding and best for my life. That is a saying that I always remember, that "these 2 years will be the best 2 years for your life." I remember thinking a lot before my mission about how I would change, because my dad always told me that it would change my life forever. I figured that I would change a lot, but I had no idea how or in what way. Now, being a year into it and truly understanding what that meant, and why my mission has meant so much to me, I can only thank my Savior for the person He has made me become. I have no doubt in my mind that what is hard for me and the challenges that I have faced have been exactly for that! There are much more words to describe that I don't have, but I am just incredibly grateful for the whole process.

We are asked to take upon ourselves the cross of Christ and be His disciples and walk with Him. In our journey of trying to become true disciples of Christ, of course we are going to be faced with obstacles and sometimes we will even fall...but like the High Point Young Women camp quote; it's about how we get up and keep going ;) 

I think every week my parents have told me that, its not about your falls, but what you do to improve and keep going. This past year sometimes that's all I have been able to do, just keep going. But I know that my Savior loves me, is aware of me, and that I will have all I need to be the person that He needs me to be! 

I have also had an amazing privilegio of meeting many people who have changed my life forever, and who have contributed a lot to making this so special.

But above all, I have grown to truly love my Savior, and know what it means to follow Him. That is something that I know I will cherish my whole life and will always bring me a lot of peace and hope!  I know that He lives, and that through Him I can live with my family forever. Through His atonement that I have grown to understand a lot better, we can all become who we truly need to be. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is for everyone, but it is up to us to utilize it and show our love and faith.

I love you all and hope you all have an amazing week! Thanks for everything you all do for me. I feel like the most loved missionary in the world!!!!

Elder Yeoman

Baptism of Gonzalo and Prisila

All you can eat  pizza with the Zone on Pday. I won 2nd
place! You don't want to know how many pieces I ate!