Happy New Year and Wedding Celebration!

Happy New Year Everyone! And Happy Wedding lol

It's been a fun New Year. Elder Allred, my companion from Canada, Elder Biggs(Mesa Arizona) and Elder Sierra(Bogota, Colombia) and I all had an Asado(aka BBQ) New Years night. We have a little mini patio outside of the apartment with a grill so that was fun. The fireworks here are pretty dang crazy becuase they just light them wherever and whenever. They are more like pipe bombs half the time haha. We had to duck for cover sometimes as we watched from outisde on the patio. It was a lot of fun though!

It blows my mind that we are already in the new year! Time goes so fast but I am grateful for chances to put goals, reflect on what I can improve on and would like to accomplish and then go out and do it. That is something I have had jammed into my head as a missionary. We all have certain desires but we have to make our desires a reality by putting goals according to our desires, and then making the plans to accomplish the goals. Our plans consist of smaller goals that will help us reach our bigger goals. As we start the new year we should all think about what we want to accomplish and where we want to be and what we want to be doing next year at this same time. Its been weird because in thinking of my goals and plans for this year I have to put goals and plans for when I will be back in the U.S. living my normal life again. I still have so much that I need to learn and perfect on the mission though, so it may be a while until I think about goals for after the mission.

My companion and I have had some great experiences in listening to the Spirit lately. We are teaching a family where 5 of the children are members and the parents are in that process and only lack marriage. As we were preparing the Asado at about 10 at night my companion said, "Hey, give Ruben a call I feel like you should call him." So I was like alright whatever. I gave him a call and he picked up in a frantic. "Passantino is that you? Hey I'll in a big mess right now, but call me in a couple minutes thanks for calling." After that he hung up. We were both worried but were comforted later that night when we were able to talk to him. As we called him he had just been attacked by his daughters boyfriend and his family. He was beat by them, partly for listening to the missionaries, along with other personal things between his daughter and her boyfriend . It gave him some hope and some assurance that God was watching over him and that people were praying for him. It is amazing how the Lord watches out for us and prompts us to help others and bless their lives through small and simple things.

I did divisions in another area as well this week called Rivadavia. I had been praying a lot so that we could see some miracles to pump up an Elder named ELder Trujillo from Peru. We had a phenominal day. We talked to one college student who didn't seem to be too interested at first but later, as we felt inspired to ask her her belief in Jesus Christ opened up and was incredibly receptive to the message of the Gospel. She believed Jesus was a great moral teacher but wasn't sure if he was the son of God. We talked about the Book of Mormon, the prophet Joseph SMith and how it wrapped in to our testimony that Jesus is indeed the Christ. She was very receptive and was ecstatic for us to come back. As we were looking for a different house we got lost a little bit so we decided to ask a house nearby if they knew where a certain person lived. As a lady came out we asked her about the man and she said that he lived next door. She then said I lived behind one of your churches when I grew up but I never found out what you all believed. She then went on to say something similar to the the other young lady we spoke to and she asked us why Christ never was manifested in other parts of the world and why if he is the Christ hasn磘 been heard from since. Of course the restoration of the gospel has that answer and we were able to testify that Christ did indeed come to the AMericas after his resurrection (John 10:16) and that it is recorded in a book of scripture called the Book of Mormon. She also doubted the divinity of christ but could not deny the effect his teachings had on humanity. Luckily with the two witnesses of the Bible and Book of MOrmon, two distinct parts of the world, with one singular message, we were able to help her understand that God is the same yesterday today and forever. We read to her the title page of the Book of Mormon which says speaking of the purpose of the Book of Mormon, "And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations."!

She was intrigued and desired a copy to, as she put it, 创investigate创 it. She is a professor of scientific investigation at the University of San Juan. We didnt have a copy to give with us, but we both promised her to give her one in the morning. I felt that we should go back to the apartment and get one that night but brushed off the feeling. As we got back to the apartment that night we kneeled and prayed and as we got up Elder Trujillo said, 创 I almost told her we would give her a copy tonight.创 We both looked at each other for a second and decided we needed to go back and give her one. As we tried to leave the apartment door the lock broke and we were locked in for 15 minutes trying to get out. Finally I got us out with a screwdriver and some leverage haha. We delivered her the book and she was very grateful for it. The SPirit told us she needed it that night and we listened( a little late but we did it) and now all she has to do is read and pray and she will receive an answer from God that it is true. I am so grateful for the Gospel and another 7 months I have to preach it and see the joy of it change lives. Have a great week and a great new year!

Sincerely,
Elder Passantino