A Fin De Cuentas Es El Mismo Cielo

Well Merry Christmas Fambam!!!! I have officially survived what is said to be the hardest part of the 18 months! Christmas in the mission is amazing. I am so so happy!!! I had the opportunity to talk to the fam yesterday and it was the best present ever. I realized how much I truly miss them but also how grateful I am to leave them and to put my Savior first for this Holiday season.

So lots of you are asking if they celebrate Christmas here and yes they do but it is very different from the states. We spent all of Christmas Eve and Day with members and watched TONS of fireworks haha -  it was great.

This week we had Richards baptism and it was so greatt!!!! He already has the priesthood and said he felt a cleansing that was indescribable. It was amazing. It really helped me see why I am in Uruguay at Christmas because I get to take part in saving other souls at the time of the Saviors birth and that is amazing.

Not a ton of time this week but next weeks letter will be better. I want you to know that I know our Savior lives and loves us. The gospel is incredible. I know that it has the power to change and save lives. Merry Christmas and happy new year!!! Thank you so much for all the love and support. I love you!!!!

Hermana Labrum

Merry Christmas From Trinidad Uruguay!!!

Wow it has been a week full of adventures and miracles. I can honestly say I have never worked so hard in my mission. We are really putting our all into everyday and we are seeing the blessings from it. We have three baptisms this week that we are super excited for and we are really finding the people Heavenly Father has prepared for us. I absolutely love my companion. We are super different but we work well together and we enjoy just about every moment. It is now blazing hot here and summer has just began haha! The sun is out from 6 in the morning till 9 at night (not even joking) I will not lie I am VERY ready for summer to end!!!

So we have the baptism of Angela and her son Alan this week and Richard. Angela is awesome -  she is super excited to make this next covenant and will be getting baptized with her 9 year old son. She is amazing but I do not have a super huge relationship with her considering my one week here but still I am happy for her!!! However Richard. Wow he is incredible. He is 58 and we finally just this week helped him stop drinking. He has one of the biggest hearts and is so so kind and loving. I really feel like he is my converso so I am super excited for his baptism this week.

We are working with a new jovencita that we found that is awesome. She is 15 and currently does not believe in God but truly has a desire to find out. I have never felt so stressed about an investigator or prayed so hard. I want to help her know that our Heavenly Father loves us but let me tell you it is not an easy thing to find out. If you all have any ideas I am open to whatever haha!!

We also are really trying to work with members and menos activos here. The ward really is great just never really had missionaries that have been super involved.

This week we have a Christmas conference in Carassco on Wednesday with half of the mission so that should be fun and then we have our ward christmas party tuesday, baptism thursday, and then it is almost christmas. Christmas is REALLY REALLY hard away from home but it has really opened up my eyes to what Christmas really is. It is a time for family, BUT more than that a time for the Savior so I am really just trying to focus in on that and remember the true meaning of Christmas. Our Savior lives and loves us!!!!! I know it with all of my heart. I hope you all have an amazing Christmas. Thank you for all the love and support.

Love always,

Hermana Labrum

7 Months!!!

Well. I am officially in Trinidad which is in the department of Flores. I am officially in the campo and it has been a really hard adjustment; not gonna lie. I have shed a lot of tears for my family in Maldonado. I really loved that area. But, I am learning to love it. We are in a ward of about 80 and they are awesome. Missionaries have never really worked with the ward here so that is my goal - to involve the members because I saw the difference in Maldonado with members. 

This week I hit my 7 months in the mission which is wild how quickly time moves. We are currently teaching a ton of investigators here but not a ton of progression. I do not have a ton to tell you guys yet because I am still trying to figure it all out myself haha but its an area with a lot of possibility. I have been learning the area and just trying to figure out where I am.

One awesome experience this week was with a converso reciente called Raul. He overdosed on drugs when he as 21 and due to that lost the ability to use the left side of his body. He lives in a casa de salud so we go visit him about three times a week and read from the Book of Mormon with him. I have a love for him that is incredible. One night we were walking home and it was like 8:45 and we have to be in the house by 9 but I felt super prompted to just go by and say hi to Raul. We walked by and he was sitting outside crying. We asked what he was doing and he said he was praying for someone to come see him because he was so lonely and wanted to end his life. We sang hymns and sat with him for a while and it was incredible to see the Lords hand in our lives.

My companion is Hermana Campos and she is from Paraguay. She has 10 months in the mission and is 24. She is unlike any companion I have ever had but I know I have a lot to learn from her this cambio.

If I have learned anything this week it is to trust in the Lord. He knows what we need. I have not done something as hard as leaving Maldonado in a long time. The tears I have cried are countless but I am here with a good attitude trusting that the Lord knows where I need to be. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve here in Trinidad and am excited to see what the Lord has in store for us here. Thank you for all your love and support. Have an amazing week. Love you guys.

Les quiero,

Hermana Labrum

Week of Miracles and Heartbreaks

Well I have never cried as much in a week but at the same time I have never had as many miracles in a week. First I will be leaving Maldonado to go to Durazno to an area called Trinidad with a companion from Paraguay and that is all I know. I have cried more this week than my whole mission combined but I have faith that this is where I need to be; I just do not know why yet. Really this is the hardest thing I think I have done just because Maldonado has truly become home for me.

Now to all the happy parts!!!!! WE HAD TWO BAPTISMS THIS WEEK!!!!!! IT WAS MIRACULOUS! So as you all knew Micaela had her baptism this week and it was absolutely perfect. She bore a powerful testimony after and really just showed how prepared she was and it was just a really beautiful baptism.

Now the biggest miracle of the week: ALFONSO WAS BAPTIZED. I cannot explain the joy I felt over this baptism and the tears that I shed hahaha. It was truly a miracle. We went into a charla with plans to try and get him a baptism date for the 17th of December because he had stopped smoking for a week. Before he had always said he has never seen a need for baptism. Well we went into this charla and literally I was praying the entire time that he would understand us and feel the spirit haha - I have literally never prayed so hard. Well, we asked him about the 17th and he said no I am not ready still. I felt super prompted to ask him what bad could come from baptism and he sat and thought and then said that there was nothing bad that could happen but that he did not feel prepared. Once again a huge prompting to do the baptism questions with him and guess what - he of course knew every answer. Well with that he said you know what, I want to be baptized tomorrow and we just laughed. Then he said I am serious tomorrow and we told him we could plan for the 9th so we could get ready and he informed us he would be getting baptized sunday because he was ready. We planned a baptism in less than 24 hours and it was the most spiritual and beautiful baptism I have ever been too. Truly, I cannot explain how happy I was. 

This week we did a ton of service which was super fun haha; I ripped two pairs of pants, am sunburned, and have bruises about everywhere BUT it was great.

I am so grateful for the time I had to be here in Maldonado with the most amazing people in the world. I am truly sad to leave but I know I will be where the Lord wants me to be. I am so grateful to be a missionary and for the time I have had already. I know my Savior lives and loves me. I know He is protecting me and guiding me exactly where I need to be in my life at this time. Have an amazing week . I love you guys. Thank you for all the prayers and support.

Las quiero,

Hermana Labrum 

First and Last Thanksgiving YA ESTA

Wow if I am not the most lucky missionary in the world I do not know who is!!! Today we got to feed Sea Lions in the Ocean!!! Haha I bought a VERY expensive fish to feed them but it was so worth it (video below) So, Thanksgiving does not exist here and neither do turkeys. There were literally 3 in the grocery store and they are EXPENSIVE. Well we had Thanksgiving with the Familia Gomez and they come visit the States every year and speak English so they knew it was Thanksgiving and threw us a HUGE AMERICAN Thanksgiving with mashed potatoes and turkey and wow it was so great. I was so grateful. We were all so grateful - it is a Thanksgiving I will never forget. 

This week we had some awesome miracles happen! So, through Zumba we have found a new investigator named Anna and wow, she is amazing. We taught lesson 1 and watched the Joseph Smith movie with her this week and she loved it. She is praying and reading her Book of Mormon and said she is feeling things she has never felt before. She is my converts best friend so that really helps because she already has her support but the entire ward has taken her in as well. Big things are to come this next cambio with her. 

So we have a baptism this Thursday!! My sweet 17 year old Micaela that I have been teaching for about 3 months now is finally being baptized and I could not be more happy for her. She is extremely excited and very prepared to make this covenant. 

We also have a baptism the 9th of December with our investigator Nicole!!! She is 8 and her parents are not members but her grandparents are so we have permission to baptize her!! We have done lesson 1, 2, and 3 with her and she absolutely loves it. She is extremely attentive and cannot wait to be baptized. I cry everytime we teach her because she reminds me so much of Addison haha. 

Alfonso has officially stopped smoking for three days now!!!! We set a final goal and so far he is doing well. He comes to church every sunday and is making awesome progress; he even stayed all 3 hours this week!!!! The goal is that he will be baptized by the end of December and then they will begin working to go the temple. 

Fernanda (my converso) got a calling this week!!! She has been called as the Young Womens secretary and is so excited. She is really going to change the lives of the youth in our ward.

Hanlie (from South Africa) came to church again and loves it even though she does not speak a word of spanish but it is awesome. We taught lesson 2 and this is all very new to her so she has lots of questions for us. She is still praying to know if this is the path she wants to take so I will let you guys know on that. 

Really an amazing cambio we had, I know my Savior lives and I know that He loves everyone of His children. I know that this is the restored church of Jesus Christ on this Earth. Next time I write will be cambios. Please pray that I can have just one more here in Maldonado haha. Love you all and have an amazing week..

 

Las quiero,

Hermana Labrum