Hello Family and Friends!! I hope this message finds all of you happy and well in the comforts of home or amongst the crazy daily schedule that we all live.
For the past couple of weeks we have been planning a family night at the church provided by the missionaries of Villegas, and this past Friday, as we had planned the activity turned into an amazing experience! We had set a start time of roughly 7:30 and had everything set up in the building to watch the Restoration film on the prophet Joseph Smith. (thanks to the ingenuity and brains of my wonderful comp Elder Man) So in the afternoon we were thinking of something to bring and enjoy at the party. Since our oven wasn't working a cake was out of options, but we did have a healthy supply of eggs, flour, and milk. Thanks to my short time with Elder Brock I have been able to add Crepes to my short (very short) list of things to cook. Elder Man and I took charge in a small kitchen and quickly whipped up about 50 crepes! Then creatively, utilizing dulce de leche we made ourselves some healthy crepe tacos desert thingys that looked pretty good and tasted delicious.
Unfortunately, during our cooking process some dark rain clouds began to settle in, and as in most parts of Argentina the rain easily frightens away the Villegan crowd so my doubts began to grow as to the success rate of this activity.Fortunately as we began to set up some tables and chairs the skies cleared and a bright shining rainbow arched throught the heavens, Villegas was going to have us an activity!!
The Ojeda family was the first to arrive and with their young circus of 5 kids under the age of 10 is was quite the circus to keep their hands offf the enticing cheese pizza. I resulted to trying the many games we would use with my young counsins and found some success in teaching them how to play 'Down by the Banks'. It was a fun time just sitting there on the tile floor, I love kids and miss rolling around with my younger siblings and cousings.
As more and more continued to show up the smile on our visitying Branch Presidents face kept growing and growing. President Castilla is an amazing man who makes countless sacrifices for the church and the welfare of the large vineyard he has been assigned to watch over. he kindly offered his small car to go and search for more members who found themselves far away, the little activity was turning into a FIESTA!
After beginning with a work of prayer Elder Hanson and I took the rolls of bar tenders and served up the drinks. By the end of the night people kept coming up and asking Elder Man for directions on how to make crepes.. It's actually a secret recipe in which the main ingredient is faith and a large side of winging it. It was very rewarding to see everything come together and have 30 people within the walls of the church enjoying one anothers company and the food.
After dinner we settled into the other room and enjoyed the Restoration movie on the prophet Joseph Smith. Through media I often find my testimony of my Savior growing upward, I know that he called Joseph Smith, a mere farm boy to one of the greatest works this world has ever known. The work of restoring the gospel to the families of the earth in helping those who have desires recieve the blessings of heaven in this the final dispensation of times. It is this same work that we all find ourselves in, the work of bringing to pass immortality and the eternal life of man. Little by little, precept by precept our Father in Heaven calls the weak things of the world and through the love of His Son, Jesus Christ, helps make us strong. All of us are his children, and all of us have the divine potential of becoming like him. I'm ever grateful for this blessing of serving a mission and taking part in this work. I Love you and hope you can enjoy this coming week, thanks for the support and prayers they are always felt.. Love ya'll Elder Larsen
For the past couple of weeks we have been planning a family night at the church provided by the missionaries of Villegas, and this past Friday, as we had planned the activity turned into an amazing experience! We had set a start time of roughly 7:30 and had everything set up in the building to watch the Restoration film on the prophet Joseph Smith. (thanks to the ingenuity and brains of my wonderful comp Elder Man) So in the afternoon we were thinking of something to bring and enjoy at the party. Since our oven wasn't working a cake was out of options, but we did have a healthy supply of eggs, flour, and milk. Thanks to my short time with Elder Brock I have been able to add Crepes to my short (very short) list of things to cook. Elder Man and I took charge in a small kitchen and quickly whipped up about 50 crepes! Then creatively, utilizing dulce de leche we made ourselves some healthy crepe tacos desert thingys that looked pretty good and tasted delicious.
Unfortunately, during our cooking process some dark rain clouds began to settle in, and as in most parts of Argentina the rain easily frightens away the Villegan crowd so my doubts began to grow as to the success rate of this activity.Fortunately as we began to set up some tables and chairs the skies cleared and a bright shining rainbow arched throught the heavens, Villegas was going to have us an activity!!
The Ojeda family was the first to arrive and with their young circus of 5 kids under the age of 10 is was quite the circus to keep their hands offf the enticing cheese pizza. I resulted to trying the many games we would use with my young counsins and found some success in teaching them how to play 'Down by the Banks'. It was a fun time just sitting there on the tile floor, I love kids and miss rolling around with my younger siblings and cousings.
As more and more continued to show up the smile on our visitying Branch Presidents face kept growing and growing. President Castilla is an amazing man who makes countless sacrifices for the church and the welfare of the large vineyard he has been assigned to watch over. he kindly offered his small car to go and search for more members who found themselves far away, the little activity was turning into a FIESTA!
After beginning with a work of prayer Elder Hanson and I took the rolls of bar tenders and served up the drinks. By the end of the night people kept coming up and asking Elder Man for directions on how to make crepes.. It's actually a secret recipe in which the main ingredient is faith and a large side of winging it. It was very rewarding to see everything come together and have 30 people within the walls of the church enjoying one anothers company and the food.
After dinner we settled into the other room and enjoyed the Restoration movie on the prophet Joseph Smith. Through media I often find my testimony of my Savior growing upward, I know that he called Joseph Smith, a mere farm boy to one of the greatest works this world has ever known. The work of restoring the gospel to the families of the earth in helping those who have desires recieve the blessings of heaven in this the final dispensation of times. It is this same work that we all find ourselves in, the work of bringing to pass immortality and the eternal life of man. Little by little, precept by precept our Father in Heaven calls the weak things of the world and through the love of His Son, Jesus Christ, helps make us strong. All of us are his children, and all of us have the divine potential of becoming like him. I'm ever grateful for this blessing of serving a mission and taking part in this work. I Love you and hope you can enjoy this coming week, thanks for the support and prayers they are always felt.. Love ya'll Elder Larsen