A Good Friend

Yesterday I found out something quite tragic. We hadn't heard much from Carlos Palacios since he was baptized on November 30th. Remember how I said that he was super sick the day of his baptism? Well he didn't make it to church that Sunday to be confirmed because he hadn't gotten better and was confined to his bed. Before the next week his family from the providence next to us, Tucuman, took him over there to take care of him. We tried to keep in contact with him, but after a while the phone just didn't get answered. Yesterday we went by his house to see if he had returned. His friend answered the door and when I asked if Carlos was home he gave me the bad news that Carlos had passed away on the 19th. Apparently he had been suffering from a kidney infection. 

I am super sad to hear that Carlos has passed on. Even though I only knew him for a little over a month I got to see that he was a great person. He lived alone and far away from the rest of his family, but he always had friends in his house. He was always helping others. We once brought the children of an someone we were teaching to church and Carlos met them there. The kids were from a very humble family. Later Carlos got together a big bag of clothes that were the kids sizes and gave it to us to take to them. He really worried about others.  

here is a scripture that really brings me peace right now 

 "Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body... are taken home to that God who gave them life.

 "And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow."

Like I said I didn't get to know Carlos perfectly, but i know that right now he is not suffering any pain. i know that he did not just disappear, but he´s just in another place, probably listening to the missionaries over there too. It´s sad to know that i can´t visit him for a while, but I´m sure I´ll be able to see Carlos again. 

I´m so grateful for God´s perfect plan. He doesn't forget about a single one of His children. No good thing that we do here in our lives goes unseen by him. and one day we will receive our recompense. 

Elder Lulich

Preaching With Shaved Legs and a Red Face

We´re getting in the Christmas spirit here. A few weeks ago we made a Christmas tree on the wall with Christmas lights that were in the pension. So were feeling pretty festive.

Some stuff that happened this week:

-My companion shaved his legs and being the faithful companion that I am I acompanied him (see photo below). Like I said its hot here and having badly shaved legs helps a little. But I think it´s just going to be a one time thing...

-On Friday and Saturday we did an exchange and I went to Ancasti. While there we had to help out an offended member of the church, That's probably one of the hardest things to deal with as a missionary because you can´t take sides. You just have to think "what would Jesus say?" and then say it. 

-On Sunday I had to speak in Catamarca and Valle Viejo and I also had to teach the Book of Mormon class in Valle Viejo. When the missionaries who were dedicated to Valle Viejo were taken out Elder Jones and I were left in charge of helping the struggling branch, So our area is now a lot bigger, but that just means that we have even more people that we can help. It´s amazing to me that I can do this as a 20 year old kid. But the mission really changes us. Although it doesn´t change the fact that I turn pretty red when I get nervous. so I was pretty red Sunday. haha. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas time and can take time to remember the birth of our Savior and think about what he did for us,

The members in Catamarca made a box of gifts for Jesus and his family. We had just as much fun with the box as with what was inside, haha. 

Love you all,

Elder Lulich

El Dia de la Virgen

Some happenings of the week. 

On the 8th it was the day of the Virgin. I don´t know if it was a worldwide thing or just in Catamarca but there were a ton of people who came to walk in the procession. And they pretty much filled up the city. Catamarca is a center for those devoted to the virgin because there is a patron virgin of the city and has to do a lot with the religious culture here. We don´t worship the Virgin, but we work with the people who do. Out of curiosity we went to the main plaza before heading back to the pension that night. There were SO many people. Streets that we usually walk down normally were so full that we had to scoot by people. I was afraid that someone would be trampled. But finally we made it to the plaza. My comp even saw someone there that he had met in Córdoba. It was pretty crazy.
Also this week we were able to participate in giving the Aaronic priesthood to Jesus the recent convert. It´s really cool to see how he´s been progressing. I really believe that he will stay firm in the gospel.

Here´s a totally fake picture that we took. But it turned out pretty well. I guess this is what we usually look like when we walk down the street... Except in this photo we were down in one of the huge drainage canals that the city has.

Also an explanation of the weird picture. I have a hot water thing for mate on top of my head with a knee brace. I was able to serve a mate like that. Now that´s skill, or an obsession... who knows? 

Then the other picture is of today when we played regular football, and then a little bit of rugby... 

which is a lot harder than it looks.

Anyway I hope you guys are doing great! 

Lots of love! 

Tyler  

Indiana Jones and the Desert of Catamarca

Transfers were yesterday. I will be staying here in Catamarca with the Elder Jones. (His middle name is Indiana. For real! How cool!) We had some good times with Elder Velaztiqui but I am also excited for this new transfer and a new companion. My district leader said in his farewell testimony to the ward, "if there is no change there is no progress". So I´m hoping to progress a lot this transfer.

This last week Carlos was baptized! It was a miraculous baptism because that day he was feeling very sick and he didn't think he would be able to be baptized that day, but he wanted to do it so much that he went anyway with a terrible stomachache to be baptized. He has so much faith, it often astounds me. 

The baptism of Carlos

Also we had some crazy changes in the zone. Our already little zone of 10 elders has now shrunk to a zone of 8 elders. I will be the district leader of the only district in the zone. Like it or not we are going to be one unified and tight knit zone ha ha. It will be a challenge, but it will be fun. I know that things won't be so hard if I really love what I do. 

 The beginnings of a parade. These next few days Catamarca will be
full of people from other provinces for a religious festival on the 8th.

 A beautiful Catamarcan street