hey everyone!!!

this week we had a lot A LOT of miracles!!!! One thing that hermana terrera said she heard once is that we should pray everyday to see miracles.  Because if we dont ask to see miracles we are never gonna see them.  I am also trying to write 3 miracles ive seen everyday and honestly sometimes they are things like.... today i ate this and i didnt die.... :) that was saturday.... they gave us locro... which im not really sure what it is... but its like a soup... or stew... with lots of meat and corn and everyone really likes it... but im not a fan of the smell and it sometimes has cow stomach which is apparently really yummy.... but so i had to eat it... and really it wasnt bad. it was actually pretty good.... well other than the stomach.. i didnt eat that part... i left it in my bowl....but its always good to try new things! i hope htat doesnt sound negative... cause i meant it to be a good thing

anyways.... i was talking about miracles... the days that i just have miracles like that are the days taht i wasnt looking for the miracles during the day.....  because if i was looking for them i could always find them... especially the days that we prayed to see them..

But so we are teaching this family... Lili and Pablo. and they have 2 little kids who are soooo cute.  but so lili has been an investigator for a long time...but pablo never wanted to listen and when the missionaries came over he left.... but weve started to teach him too and he is progressing!!!!  he supposedly "cant read" but he can read really well he just doesnt want anyone to know and he is reading the book of mormon. a lot. more than his wife... and little by little he is talking more in the lessons. htey are starting to wait for us to come and visit and this week when we went to go and look for them to go to church. he was awake and ready to go... lili didnt go but pablo did...it was pretty exciting.

and oh my goodness!!!! church was sooo so good yesterday.  there was actually quite a few people there.  but all of hte youth this week went to EFY (i think taht efy is the closest thing to youth conference and that they have here...but so the stake was really involved in getting them to go..) nad so in sacrament meeting they had the youth bear their testimonies about efy. and oh wow!!! there are some powerful youth here.  It was really good to see.  They had some of the typical i-didnt-want-to-go-but-my-mom-made-me-and-then-i-got-there-and-im-so-glad-that-i-went attitudes... i love those sometimes because it shows what happens when we repent and change our attitudes... we can learn so much.  but there were a couple of them that were really touching. this sound terrible but i love to see the young men who really have powerful spiritual experiences and they stop being tough and they cry right there in front of everyone.  i look at them and i think. these kids re gonna make great missionaries and great leaders here in argentina.  how great!!!!  it was amazing. I love the youth. they have such desires to grow and be better.

yeah it was a really great semana.... a lot of times it seemed like we were in the right place at the right time.  or knocked on the right door or taught the right lesson. 

it is such a joy to see the change in the eyes of the people when they feel the spirit or they start to realize that this gospel is true. when they get a testimony.. the confidence they start to have is so amazing.  i feel like im starting to understand what the book of mormon means when it talks about hte sons of mosiah.. i think i know how they felt before they left.. i love alma 26 because its ammon talking about the blessings of god and the things they had seen.

1 And now, these are the words of Ammon to his brethren, which say thus: My brothers and my brethren, behold I say unto you, how great reason have we to rejoice; for could we have supposed when we ^astarted from the land of Zarahemla that God would have granted unto us such great blessings?  2 And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?
 3 Behold, I answer for you; for our brethren, the Lamanites, were in darkness, yea, even in the darkest abyss, but behold, how ^amany of them are brought to behold the marvelous light of God! And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made ^binstruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work.
...
16 Therefore, let us ^aglory, yea, we will ^bglory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his ^cmercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.
....
 26 But behold, my beloved brethren, we came into the wilderness not with the intent to destroy our brethren, but with the intent that perhaps we might save some few of their souls.
 27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to ^aturn back, behold, the Lord ^bcomforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with ^cpatience thine ^dafflictions, and I will give unto you success.
 28 And now behold, we have come, and been forth amongst them; and we have been patient in our sufferings, and we have suffered every privation; yea, we have traveled from house to house, relying upon the mercies of the world—not upon the mercies of the world alone but upon the mercies of God.
 29 And we have entered into their houses and taught them, and we have taught them in their streets; yea, and we have taught them upon their hills; and we have also entered into their temples and their ^asynagogues and taught them; and we have been cast out, and mocked, and spit upon, and smote upon our cheeks; and we have been ^bstoned, and taken and bound with ^cstrong cords, and cast into prison; and through the power and wisdom of God we have been delivered again.
 30 And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our ^ajoy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some.
isnt the work of the lord beautiful and wonderful?  i havent come close to baptizing thousands like they did. but they joy i feel helping the people one by one is incomprehensible....
I KNOW without a doubt in my mind htat this is the work of the Lord. i know that these people i am serving are the children of god as well as everyone else in the world. they are amazing people if you take the time to listen. 

Ive actually had a song from the movie rigaletto in my head but it says
"music boxes have with them. melodies they carry with them. once they open music fills the air.
everybody you have known, has a song, of their own, once they open up youll hear whats there.
its not easy, you must listen, with your heart to the songs with in (not exactly....)
there was a melody locked deep inside of me but now its free. it found a place embraced by harmony. sweet harmony. 

love more than anything teaches my heart to sing. only love... could break the shell now i know very well. the love within myself."
I love this because as ive started to learn to love these people. love them sooo so much i am so much happier and i understand people more. i love to just listen to people.  i want to help them more than anything else.  And i know that the only way i can is through baptism...i dont have the power to do anything else... just listening makes them feel better temporarily but its like putting on a bandaid.... when they need stitches or something like that... we (the missionaries) are the only people in the world authorized to save souls... how crazy to think about.  because no one can be saved without baptism... no one... and i want all these people in the celestial kingdom (all of you guys too!!!!)

I saw lots of miracles this week and i hope to see more this coming week.
I hope you guys saw some too.
have a wonderful week
i love you all sooooo much. and im glad to hear that everyone is alright from the shooting.... someone told me it was in huston (im not sure how to spell anymore..)  and then someone else told me it was denver.... so im glad everyone is safe. ive got you all in my prayers.

hermana applegate