25th of May....and my favorite week of the year!!!

Hello hello everyoneeee!!!! :)

Well this was quite the interesting week!! Chos Malal is taking a hard hit from Satan right now but as Hermana Leal says, "Satan sure is going to fall soon."  Lately we have been dealing with lots of doubt from the members here and it has been really sad to see some fo these strong members giving up on what they truly believe and know.  Hermana Agustina, who has been a member for over a year now, told us this week that she isn't going to go to church or read the Book of Mormon anymore.  Both of her sons have been in huge accidents this past month where one fell off a roof and broke both his legs, while the other was in a car accident that threw him 30 feet from the car and he has had about 4 big operations on both his broken arms and his now disfigured face.  So now, Hermana Agustina doesn't believe that God is protecting her anymore and she has given up.  Another member, Gladis, is struggling as well because her teenagers (after being members all their lives) decided that they are sick of church and aren't going to go to church anymore.  On top of all that, we have one member who has already left the church this week and many other members/investigators who are doubting the gospel due to the false information being given to them from a church called the "25 of May."  The 25 of May is the "most popular" church here in Chos Malal and over half of the people here attend this church every Sunday.  I don't know how they do it but recently they have found almost all of our investigators as well as members, and filled them with lies about the Mormon Chruch.  Literally we show up for appointments that we have made with investigators, and leaders from the 25 of May are already inside the homes teaching them their beliefs, as well as telling them that the Mormon church is a sect and us missionaries steal money...so basically it is quite the struggle!! We are doing our best not to get discouraged, but at the end of the day we invite everyone to pray and ask God about what all the churches have to say about us.  Not only that, God has given us our agency to act according to our will and desires.  Hermana Vilca and I are doing our very best and I have faith that in time the Lord and His work will be triumphant here in Chos Malal!  It truly is such a special place and I know that the Lord is going to bless the members of the church here in Chos Malal very soon.  

This week we started talking to this 18 year old kid in the park named Javier.  Turns out he is an old investigator of the hermanas, but we talked to him for a bit and he really needs a lot of help right now.  About a week ago he spent the night in prison because his best friend had left Javier with a stolen cell phone when the cops came, so Javier was framed and sent to prison!  He got let out the next day but he told us that he never wants to experience something so awful ever again.  Now he is living in the streets because his dad has a restraining order against him and now Javier doesn't have food, a job, or a place to live!  After hearing his story, we formed a plan on how we are going to help him learn the gospel and be baptized.  And then I bout him lunch because the poor guy hadn't eaten for two days.  Javier was our miracle of the week and I look forward to helping him change his life through this amazing gospel!

As a district we went to this grandma's house to offer service.  As we were cleaning, she tried giving us money but of course we as missionaries don't accept money! So we kindly said no and then she started stuffing pesos in the sweater of one elder, and in the back pocket of his companion's pants! We all were laughing super hard, but the funniest part for me was that it totally reminded me of something my grandma, Mimi, would do!!  Mimi I met your Argentine twin! :)

Happy Anniversary (tomorrow) to the BEST parents in the world!! I love you Mom and Dad!!!  And Happy Birthday to my big bro Jake on Friday :) I LOVE YOU! Wish I were home to celebrate our birthdays together Jake but make sure to eat an extra sushi roll for me :)  I hope you all have the best day ever and do something super fun to celebrate!!

quote of the week:

Do your duty and leave the rest to Heaven.

-Pierre Cornielle

xoxo

Hermana Anika Van Boerum

LOVE YOU ALL!!! and p.s. thank you for all the birthday wishes this week, you are all amazing!!