Building a House, Romina's Temple Trip, and Hugo's Catching On!

Hey family,

It has been cold!! I dont know if I am just a wimp after a really hot summer or it really is that cold, but I have been wearing my long johns for 4 days straight, and making ninja masks to keep my face warm during studies.

Our air conditioner doubles as a heater, so that is better than last year!

We have been working a ton - doing a lot of divisions all around the zone.  

We helped a guy build his house today.  And I helped put up a telephone pole (coconut tree trunk) so he could run the electricity to his house.  It only took about 10 min to do that. :)  We just grabbed the trunk, stuck it into the hole, put the dirt around it, and that was that.  He got on a latter and strung the wires.  It was just funny how simple it was.  some people just use barbed wire to hook their house up to the electric wires. (they glow at night).  

Romina went to the Temple Saturday!  That was good news this week! 

We are working with a few great families that are keeping commitments.  It was great to hear from the Torress family - they started reading their scriptures again after a year and a half! The mom said she is finally putting puzzle pieces together about the restoration!

There is a guy named Hugo we are teaching. He knows a ton about the scriptures.  At church he (knowing he wasnt baptized yet) said, "The sacrament is only for those who are baptized right?"  It caught me by surprise, but it was great he caught that!  His mom is about to start chemo treatment because her cancer is super bad right now.  So, once again, without us even saying anything he asked if we could bless his mom.  So we did, and it was great.

Thanks for sending all the pics and videos!  They made my day!  I hope all works out for you guys Jessi and Cody!  

Love,

Elder Neifert

Mercedes + Pictures!

Dear family! 

It was great to talk to you guys! CONGRATS AARON AND CODY! You made it to the end!  Now you are going to start again doing something else! 

This week went by really fast.  We have been working a ton, with way more people to work with than time allows.  The cool thing about Luque Centro is that our ward has 12 returned missionaries in it!  So getting to have members present in all of our lessons is easy.  I started the New Testament again in Spanish and I am soaking it up.  

Elder Greer and I played volleyball today with the zone and it was great.  Lots of smack talk...using a scriptural basis.  So Aaron - Alma 41:15, the first part.

We are teaching some great smart people.  A lesson we had this week was with a lady named Mercedes.  The first lesson I asked her why she was so willing to talk to us and she said, "Well, I feel like the gospel is all about leaving behind the old me and becoming a new person.  I have done a lot of things I knew I shouldn't have and I know that to be happy I need to understand the gospel." 

Talk about a broken heart and contrite spirit!  There was an awesome spirit in that lesson.

I hope you guys are doing great! I will pray for you guys, Jessi and Cody! (Elder Neifert's brother-in-law graduated from school and was looking for a job. He has since found one!)  

aquino fam sitting in chairs,

paredez fam, + yolanda

HMNO ROJAS CAME TO CHURCH RIGHT AFTER I LEFT :( :)! 

salcedo fam

Luque 1b

Dear Family,

I am excited to see you guys too!  That will definitely be a party with everybody over there!  (Elder Neifert's Grandparents, Great Aunts, Aunt and siblings will all be in town for mother's day)

This week was a great one! We had a family come for the first time to church!  It was awesome that the members made them feel comfortable too.  

This transfer is over and I am headed to Luque 1b. with Elder Greer from Benson, Arizona.  He is the other Zone Leader, so I am out of the Training PROGRAM!!!!!!!! 

It will be a different and it gives Elder Greer and me more time to think about the zone instead of other stuff.

There is a less active sister who Elder Richardson and I have been visiting who got in a moto accident last week.  so we`ve been calling her and sent her things to read in the hospital and finally today we went to visit her.  (by the way her husband left her a month ago).  She learned today that her leg was infected and they would have to amputate it this coming week... She was really calm about it all and bore her testimony to us that she knows God will take care of her.  It was a humbling experience.  It would be good if you all could pray for her, her name is Adriana Alvarez.

There was a funny lady this week who, as we clapped at her house, just yelled out, "I dont like you!" It was funny.

We had more people this week at church than any other week and the Rojas family showed up to give their new baby a blessing.  Dad still didn't come but his wife said he was about too, just his brother showed up last minute.

That is sad about Gene Motley. I am sure that she has lots of people like you guys to be with her!  

I will call you guys Sunday at 5 pm my time! 

Love, 
Elder Neifert