This past week was really, really good. Last Sunday we sat
down with Beto and wrote down when he has desires to drink alcohol. He starts
drinking when he gets really stressed, so we asked him what helps him to be
calm. We then wrote down all the things that help him calm down (other than
alcohol of course), and then what he can do to avoid drinking. It was really
good for him to just recognize all of these things, and it really does help to
write it all down. It's crazy how smart Preach My Gospel is, right? Afterwards
he went 4 days alcohol-free. Unfortunately, he then relapsed and drank a few
glasses of wine. However, the next day he spent the whole day thinking. When we
visited him that night he told us that he had realized how good his life was
without alcohol and with the gospel, and when he relapsed, he realized how bad
his other life was. He has been focusing even more lately to avoid drinking.
The other day two friends dropped by his house and wanted to drink, so he told
them that if they wanted to they could. They were at his house until about 2 in
the morning drinking alcohol. Beto drank 4 liters of Coca-Cola... haha. He's also
been making detours everytime he has to drive somewhere to avoid passing by the
bar where he used to go to drink. He has a baptismal date for this Saturday. We
are praying a lot for him, and are really excited. He is probably one of the
most converted people I know.
The Paraguayan family is doing really well. They are the
mom, Nicol, Cristian (age 17), Edgar (age 14), and Isaac (age 19 and cousin).
Nicol works in Constitución (what a coincidence right) in a hospital that I
passed by almost every day for 4 and a half months. Unfortunately, she works
there and stays in Constitución from Thursday to Monday... so she can't come to
church. However, we've been working a lot with the boys, and we've had really
great lessons with them. We had a really spiritual lesson on Saturday talking
about the Book of Mormon, and in the lesson we all knelt down and Edgar prayed
and asked if the Book of Mormon was true and if the church was true. It was a
time when I really felt like Edgar was talking with God. Afterwards we helped
him recognize his answer, and he was astonished. Sunday morning when we passed
by to bring them to church, Edgar was all ready to go, and Cristian and Isaac
were asleep. However, We went with Edgar to wake them up, and in the end all 3
of them went to church and all really enjoyed it. Andres Irigoyen was really
happy with us as well... because yesterday for the first time he wasn't the
only person in young mens haha.
Friday marked the beginning of Autumn in Buenos Aires, and
beginning that day it started getting cold. It isn't as cold temperature-wise
as in Utah... but the humidity makes it feel really, really cold. It is about 65
degrees in our pension when we wake up because we don't have a heater yet. I
had to open up my cold weather suitcase this past week and I've taken to
wearing my sweaters lately. The only problem is... it is cold until about 1:00 pm,
and then it is hot again, and then it is cold again around 7:00 pm...
Anyway, overall it was a really good week. We are seeing
many blessings and miracles in Pablo Nogués. I love you all. "Que la
fuerza les acompañe."
Elder John William Garrett
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