Four Areas

To My Wonderful Family,

 
The weather here is really crazy right now.  Right now it is really cloudy, but the weekend it was really hot!  I think that this summer is going to be really hot.  But its kinda nice to have a break from the ¨cold weather¨.

Dad thanks so much for the pictures of the hike. They turned out really great!  I’m so happy that you all have had the chance to go to the temple open house. I can’t believe that Utah will have another temple. That’s awesome. You will love the dedication. I can’t wait to hear about it.

This week was really great.  I was only in my area for 2 days so it was a pretty interesting week. It was fun to work with one of the Zone Leaders because we traveled all over.  I worked in four areas this week - Rosedal, Fuerza, Villa Independencia and 9 de Julio.  It was lots of fun.  I’ll tell you about the highlight of the week.  When I was in 9 de Julio we visited an investigador that they have.  Her name is Luz Maria.  She is really great.  She lives with her grandma who is a member of the church.  Her grandma’s name is Violeta and she has Diabetes.  About 2 months ago she had an operation and now can’t really speak or walk and is constantly moving her head.  It is really sad.  We had the idea to sing a hymn to her.  While we were flipping through our book for a hymn to sing she said she liked Rock of Ages.  It was really surprising because she said it so clearly. So we sang Rock of Ages.  We felt a really special spirit while we sang and she cried the whole song through.  We then offered to give her a blessing and she accepted.  We asked her who she wanted to give it to her and she pointed at me. It was really special because the instant that I put my hands on her head she stopped shaking. It was a really great experience and I was so grateful to be a part of it.

Hey mom do you think that you could send me a recipe for Chocolate Chips? I would really really love that. The cookies that they have here just aren’t doing the job. Ok that was a really random thought.

Yesterday we went with our bishop to take the sacrament to a member that is sick that couldn’t make it to church. Our bishop is a convert of 3 and a half years. He is really awesome. He has so much energy for the work.  He made a comment to me that made me think a lot. Right now he is worried about the ward because they really don’t do much to help the missionary work. The missionaries do everything. We keep hearing about all the success Buenos Aires is having because of the help the members give. He said that he doesn’t want the members to just do the basics. He wants them to truly be converted to the Gospel. He then said, Elder Watts you are from Utah, I have heard my whole time as a member that even though the members in Utah go every week to church and live worthy to have a temple recommend, they aren’t truly converted and only do what they do because it’s a tradition in their families. It made me think a lot. It hurt me to think that that is what some people think here. (This is not the first time I have heard that) Sadly I think that that may be true, in some cases. I then thought about Mom and Dad, our grandparents, my church leaders I had growing up, bishops, neighbors and even coaches, and I realized that they are truly people that are converted. People that truly live the gospel. Thanks so much for all the examples.

Well guys I love you all so much. Thanks for all that you do. I hope that you have an excellent week. You are always in my prayers. Until Next Week.

Love Riley