March Means Madness

Dear Family,

Hey Guys what’s up? Even though you all went to the NCAA tournament this last week I really had a great week and didn’t feel homesick. (Now of course there were moments when I wished I was with you all, but for the most part I felt awesome.) It sounds like you guys had a really great time! Portland really is so amazing. Oh my gosh I absolutely loved the pictures. I loved them. Alex is so brave!   Joseph is even braver hahaha. It seems like just yesterday we were there with Rich and Dallin. It is crazy how time flies.  I’m feeling really healthy and really blessed. The heat does not make me sick like it was before.

Here are the pictures from the NCAA tournament Riley mentions:

We had a really great week. We taught lots of lessons and found some new people that are pretty cool. We made the decision to combine the baptism of Evelyn with a girl that is getting baptized this week. The reason is because this other girl, Tiziana, is the daughter of a member and is well known by everyone.  There were lots of special plans for Tiziana’s baptism and we didn’t want Evelyn to feel bad about her baptism since it wouldn’t  be as big. So this week we are going to have 3 baptisms! Evelyn, Tiziana and Hugo. We have been praying  a lot for Hugo so that he will be able to have the strength to quit smoking. He still has a few problems here and there. But if all goes well then we will have 3 baptisms. We are really excited.

Ok so president Salas came yesterday. He is such an inspired man. He  spoke in church about the 3 kingdoms of glory and the Atonement. We have a lady in our ward who is way awesome.  Her husband isn’t a member, but he went yesterday. After hearing what President Salas had to say he said that he just can’t deny how true it is, even though he doesn’t know very much about the church. It would be really cool if he could be baptized. Pretty amazing how the Spirit works in people! People just listen to President Salas and take his example.  He really has an amazing gift. He always knows what to say.  Something kinda funny happened to us, something that I don’t think every missionary can say has happened to them with their mission president. He was interviewing the second to last person and this other man was waiting. For some reason this guy stormed out of the chapel all mad. Who knows why?  President Salas asked me where he was and I told him that he left. So we got in President Salas´s car and went to this guy’s house. Later when he was driving us to our lunch appointment he turned a corner kinda sharp and there was a barricade in the road that he didn’t see.... Do you see where I’m going? So we just crashed right into it! President Salas had just solved peoples problems and listened to their complaints for 2 hours. He was late for a meeting in Cordoba also. Then he crashed his rented car! I learned a really good lesson on patience in this moment. He just turned his head and looked at me and said "Sorry" completely calm. Man I would have lost it in this moment if I was him. It was hard to hold in the laughter after hearing his little “sorry.”  I think it was especially funny because he said it in English. He is such an awesome man. I really love him.  I hope I can pick up on some of his attributes.

Thanks for everything guys! You are the best family ever. I’m so grateful for your examples, your service, and your love for those around you. I’m so grateful for the time that the lord has given me to serve Him. This is truly an amazing work. Christ lives and loves us. I love you all so much. Have a great week.

Love Riley