WHAT A MIRACLE

All convert baptisms are a miracle by the fact that one is able to see how God prepares and directs a person as they choose to follow Christ. Having that said, this weekend I saw the most miraculous baptism of my mission. The baptism of Joaquin Gomez and his wife Claudia Mamani.

It´s a pretty crazy story. I had my first lesson with them on Saturday. We were just able to talk to Claudia because Joaquin was tired and sleeping after working the whole night. During the lesson we read a scripture and invited Claudia to be baptized. We told her that because she had attended church before she could be baptized the next day, Sunday. She was willing to be baptized, but she wanted time. My companion then invited her to pray right there in the moment and ask God whether she should be baptized. After a little explaining and persuading Claudia offered a simple, but extremely sincere prayer. When she had finished she kept her head bowed and stayed silent. We all stayed silent for about 3 minutes. I think all of us were feeling God´s answer in that moment. Elder Velaztiqui then looked at Claudia and said, "you know what you need to do" and she agreed. 

Then there just happened to be a baptism going on thirty minutes later and Joaquin had gotten up by then so we invited both of them to see the baptism. They went to the baptism despite having there motorcycle tire pop halfway to church. And then they went to church the next day for all three hours. Joaquin looked very thoughtful the whole time during church. Claudia´s baptism was going to be that afternoon and the two of them were going to come. 

At the baptism as we were going outside with my companion and Claudia already dressed in white to take pictures, we were surprised when Joaquin looked at us and asked "can I be baptized too?" The answer was obviously yes. So we hurriedly found more white clothes and I had the marvelous opportunity to baptize Joaquin. It was so special to see a couple take the decision to be baptized together. I really have high hopes for them in the future. God has prepared them so well to hear the Gospel of his son Jesus Christ and accept it for a reason. I´m super excited to see how they progress.

That´s all for now folks. Have a great week. 

Siesta Streets and Servicio

This week we got to do service twice in the garden of one of the members. We had to weed out a big space in the garden to get it ready for planting. Then we had a fire and burned the weeds. It reminded me of working in the garden back home. It´s pretty theraputic to hack at weeds and clean up a garden. I felt pretty relaxed doing it.

Here are a ton of pictures. I've started carrying my camera around a lot more. 

Giovani an 8 year old kid that was recently baptized and confirmed and whose family we are working with.

The street during the siesta. Here in Catamarca it´s pretty hard to find people outside from 2 to about 5:30 or 6 and it´s because they are all sleeping. 

We always play sports on Friday nights here. The zone only has ten elders so we all get together in the chapel and bring our investigators and play. This last Friday we played a different version of dodge ball called quemado.

The service last night. There was a ton of smoke! The sister made pizza for us after the service. Later that night President Correa who is now visiting us out here in Catamarca came to our pension. When he was getting ready to leave he paused and asked us if we had made an asado because we all smelled like smoke.

SO IT WAS A PRETTY GOOD WEEK IN CATAMARCA. LOOK AT MY OTHER E-MAIL TO SEE THE CRAZY MIRACLE THAT HAPPENED. 

LOVE YOU :)

TYLER

Hot and Windy

That´s basically my summary of how Catamarca is. Hot and windy. This week we already had temperatures in the 90's, and "technically" spring doesn't begin until tomorrow. From what the catamaqueños tell me, in the summer the temperatures get up to 110 and more. But it's a bearable heat because it's dry, very different from the "sweaty blanket" heat of Córdoba.

For only having about two months in the mission Elder Velaztiqui is already a natural at this missionary business. He has no fear to meet new people or to testify of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I don´t have to much time to tell you all of my adventures, but here are some pics.

I love you all!

Elder Lulich

Reunited! because my bus to Catamarca left super late I took advantage of the extra time and visited Parque Liceo. I saw David and Jesica

 and also Mabel Pineda

Dario, our awesome ward mission leader 

A giant hot dog I ate today

 Elder Velaztiqui and I

On the road again...

Well after only 6 short weeks in Carlos Paz I´ll be heading out to another area in the province of Catamarca. What happened was that the assistant to the president were going to be moved to our area to work. We knew about this new change for a few weeks, but we heard that we would be staying in the area to work with the assistants also. Boy did we get a surprise Saturday night when the zone leaders called and said that both Elder Jackson and I would be leaving the area. It sure was a bummer to hear that. 

I still haven´t gone to my new area or met my new companion. I´ll be finishing his training. His name is Elder Velazti, he has a little over a month in the mission, and I've heard that he's pretty cool. I´ll be meeting him on Thursday after I go to the trainer training tomorrow. So next week you´ll get a photo. 

One cool experience of the week was meeting Daniela. We met Daniela on Saturday while getting on a bus to another part of our area. in the 10 minute transit we shared what we do as missionaries and invited her to church the next day. And she came! And she didn´t only show up at church  but she really liked it too! In the class of Gospel principles we talked about obedience and even though she was only there for the first time she shared a beautiful testimony about how obedience is love. It was awesome to hear. I hope she can keep on learning more with the assistants now. And I hope I am able to meet more people like her in Catamarca! 

Have a great week.

Elder Lulich

Baptism and Burnt Banana Bread

Just a little announcement now the p-day has been changed to Tuesday. So I´ll be writing my letters on Tuesday now. 

This week was pretty hectic, with lots of trips to Córdoba for exchanges with the other Elders in our district on Thursday, and the zone leaders on Friday and Saturday. Sunday we had the baptism of Mirta and Paula, a mother and daughter. It was super special. Mirta especially was so grateful for the chance to be baptized. 

Just a fun story from this week. Sometimes I can be a kind of light minded person. What some would even call an airhead. It´s because of the blonde hair... But on Wednesday night we saw evidence of this. I decided Wednesday night to make banana bread for lunch with some investigators the next day. But I guess I started to make it a little late because my body went on autopilot and I ended up getting ready for bed and falling asleep... with the banana bread still in the oven. When I woke up on Thursday I took a shower and was getting ready for the day. It wasn't until Elder Jackson asked me, "are you cooking something?" that I realized that the banana bread was still cooking. *GASP* I took it out and it was perfectly cooked! Nah kidding it was basically a piece of charcoal. Luckily the apartment didn't burn down and we were able to make another banana bread before lunch. This whole week when we entered in the apartment we were greeted with a smell of melted butter. I learned my lesson pretty easily- banana bread is EVIL.

I hope you guys have a great week.

A Good Week

This week was fantastic. Here are some highlights

- On Monday we met a great new investigator, Jonathan. He is 23 years old and has been looking for something stable in his life for a while. He was super excited to here our message and is now preparing to be baptized.

- On Tuesday we went to the temple as a district. It was great to have that time to reflect and receive some guidance. Afterwards I was able to do two baptismal interviews for investigators of the other missionaries in our district.

The district at the temple. Left to right, Elder Hendrickson, Elder Dixon, Hermana Duran, Hermana Medina, Elder Jackson, and I.

- Thursday we called one of our investigators, Mirta to see when we could pass by.  We thought she wasn't really wanting to learn much more. We were surprised when she said that she had been feeling bad about the recent death of her mother, but she started reading and praying and thinking about the things we had taught her and she was able to feel better.

-Friday was a day of service. Elder Jackson and I left the house in the morning with our service clothes to cut up some wood for a sister that has a wood stove. But we were also blessed in the afternoon with the chance to do some service for the family of Franco and Analia, some investigators of ours. They had cut down a few trees on their property so we helped them put the branches in a huge pile to dry out for firewood.

- On Sunday we saw a huge miracle, Franco, Analia and their kids, Jonathan, Mirta and her daughter Paula, and Andres all came to church.

Me and Ciara, one of the daughters of Franco and Analia, on the way to church in their car 

We have gotten to know some great people here in Carlos Paz. I am SO grateful for the steps that they all are taking to really draw closer to God and Jesus Christ. It really fills me with joy to see when people put the teachings of Christ into practice and can really feel like they are doing the right thing.       

I hope y´all have a great week.

Elder Lulich 

Going Moroni

Being a missionary really brings out some strong emotions.There´s a story in the Book of Mormon that helps describe how my companion and I felt on Sunday. In the story Moroni a righteous captain of a army was getting pretty ticked off at all of the people who were falling into sin and following an evil leader. He got so heated that he tore up his coat and wrote on it, "In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children," then went out among the people and shared with them that declaration. His actions were so impactful that many people swore to follow God instead  On Sunday I was getting ready to go Moroni and tear up my suit coat when our investigators didn't show up to church. Ha ha. I doubt I would ever get to that point, but it sure would be memorable huh? A North american missionary waving his ripped suit coat in a park in Argentina... Maybe we would get a few new investigators...         

Also a ray of sunshine: We were able to get together to teach Andres. Turns out that on Sunday  when he came to church he was with his girlfriend Valeria who is a member that is starting to come back. The two are new to the ward from another province and they are pretty awesome. Andrés is super willing to learn about the church and live the gospel of Jesus Christ. He came to church again this Sunday. He would like to get baptized as well, but him and Valeria aren't married  so that makes it a little difficult. But before we know it he´ll be dressed in white.

Have a great week and remember to be patient with others and their weaknesses.
Elder Lulich

Here´s a picture of a birthday we went to. Someone turned 20.

I let a few people know it was my birthday. My companion prepared a "surprise party" for me Saturday night. I knew that he was organizing it (he told me) but we agreed that I would pretend to be surprised when the family brought out the cake. We went to the Salgado family´s house. They are a big family of members that are always super nice to the missionaries.  I've got to say it´s pretty crazy  for me to think that I'm 20. It just sounds so...old.