http://www.missionsite.net/elderderekdroesbeke http://www.missionsite.net/elderderekdroesbeke/viewletter/168254 Hola Mis Queridos Well it was a good week, last week. We were able to do a lot in el área and en la zona tambien. We finished the week with five bautismos y five confirmaciones so we are really excited about the work and to keep going strong. We are going good to get la meta este mes and to get la meta for the next mes as well. Well this week I did divisiones with el Elder Thomas, haha ese chavonito es re capo y voy a ir a su casamiento cuando sea. Vamos a ser amigos por toda la vida. Well we did well together and we talked about everything a little. We even had a servicio and we pruned an arbol. After that el Élder Estrada came back to el área and we worked hard as well. El Élder Estrada was a little sick this week but we still keep it going on there. We were working really hard to be able to get the 5 bautismos and confirmaciones. It was something that we really needed aqui en la zona. We did it and we are going to keep doing it. Silvia está progresando. We talked to her this week about stopping smoking and she is going to do it. We went el Domingo with el Presidente Ojando and we gave her a bendición de consuelo. We are going to do everything we can to help her with that. This weekend was really special because the Templo of Buenos Aires was rededicated. It was something really special for la Argentina and the transmisión was broadcast to every Stake and District in la Argentina. We, as missionaries got to go see it and it was really capo. Three members of the Quorum of the Twelve were there, Elder D Todd Christofferson, Elder M. Russell Ballard, y el Presidente Henry B. Eyring. It was a really good experience and I recieved a lot of revelacion. Presidente Eyring said that the Temple should be part of our lives. We should live our lives worthy of the Temple Covenants that we made. Reading the Scriptures, saying our prayers, Keeping the commandments, and going to church help us to be ready to go to the Temple. I hope that we can all be more aware of that. We shouldn´t live our lives to only keep the commandments, but we should govern our lives because we have made convenants with God. If we want any chance to return to His presence we must make and keep sacred the covenants of Baptism, Confirmation, and the others that we make in the Temple. As we do so we will be filled with the Spirit of the Lord, our lives will better, and we will find more peace in all that we do. Les amo mucho. Sé que la vida puede ser abrumadora pero pasa. Hard times end, tears dry up, and scars heal over with time, but the everlasting joy that only comes from living by our covenants lasts forever. I am sure that when we look back on our lives that we wont remember the hard times, the times that we couldn´t go on, but we will remember the joyful moments. Let us all push on in the Work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Con Amor, Élder Droesbeke http://www.missionsite.net/elderderekdroesbeke/viewletter/168253 ¡¡Hola Mis Queridos!! Well this past week was pretty tranquilo and not a lot of things happened. It is really really hot here in Clorinda. We´re talking about the temperatura del verano. Ya it´s crazy but ¿que va a ser? We keep working and we are finding some good people are are excited about la rama. Well el Martes y el Miercoles I was in divisiones with el Elder Ray. He is the other District Leader in la zona. It was pretty good and I had to capacitarle a fulaso. He is going to be a good líder. Well after that I returned to my área with el Élder Estrada. Haha fetch it is soo much fun being with him. Haha we joke about everything and a lot about el matrimonio y todo eso, because he finishes the mission in Diciembre. We are going to be amigos por siempre. El Viernes, mi cumpleaños, was really tranquilo. De hecho it was a día normal, but I did buy a corbata re capa and I wore it that day. Our investigadores are doing well. Silvia y Tito finally have a fecha to get married, then we found some part member familias and all that. We were really excited because el Domingo vino la familia Nuñez. It´s a familia of twelve that are members and that might have a couple of chicos that aren´t bautizado. They are really excited and we are going to work a fulaso with them. Also this last Domingo was my último Domingo de Ayuno y Testimonio in la misión. It wasn´t as bad as giving my last testimonio in front of all the misioneros but I can´t believe that it´s coming to a close. Well I hope that each and everyone of you keeps going adelante. There will be days of trial and hardship, there will be days when nothing goes our way, but we must always remember that our day will come. Shadows give way to the light. The darkest Friday in human history gave way to Resurrection Sunday. He has already won, nothing can stop Him now. Let us be better discipulos de Cristo, because we will have the hope and faith of what we are doing. Nothing will be too big to handle with Him on our side. Les amo mucho y hasta el próximo. Con AMor, Élder Droesbeke http://www.missionsite.net/elderderekdroesbeke/viewletter/168252 ¡¡Hola Mis Queridos!! Well this past week has been a different week. After el Lunes, Conferencia de Zona, it was pretty normal. Not a lot happened but we are seeing some good changes here in Clorinda. We are working harder and harder everyday so that we can have a higher vision. It´s tough and we have to change a lot of habits, but as we do it we will be better prepared for what is to come. We always have to be changing for the better and progressing because we can´t just stay still, always for the better. This week we saw some good progression with our investigadores. Silivia is just about ready for el Bautismo, she only has to get married, and she is already stopping smoking. Haha wow she really has changed a lot from the first time that we got to know her. She told us one time that she didn´t believe in God, but now she is re capa and has grown a lot. I can´t believe the changes that come from accepting and applying the Gospel in your life. Then we also have Jesica. We found her a couple of weeks ago, and ever since that time has come to church everyweek and is reading in the Book of MOrmon. She is really excited to get baptized and she even told the Branch President that she is going to do it. We are seeing a lot of bautimos in Septiembre and we are also preparing for Octubre. Well one thing that I have learned this week is about the importance of time and how we have to use it. Our time is short and it will come before we know it. Time is something that once lost can never be found. It is for that that we must always be in a good cause. We must always be looking for the way to become better diciples of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Because in the end that is what matters. I don´t think that He will ask us how many bautismos we have had, or how many important callings in the church. No, I think that He will ask us if we are better Deciples today than we were before. We have to ask ourselves that question everyday, and then go and do. If we do it we will become better diciples and we will have more joy in our lives. It matters not how God uses us, it just matters that He trusts us enough to use us. Whether it be the Prophet or a Primary Teacher the Lord has need for all of us. Let us renew our commitment to Him. Les amo mucho y espero lo mejor. Con Amor, Élder Droesbeke http://www.missionsite.net/elderderekdroesbeke/viewletter/168250 ¡¡Hola Mis Queridos!! Well I´m not going to lie, this week has to have been the strangest week in all of my mission. Haha nothing left like we planned, and we had to do a lot of other things, but when all is said and done we did have some good éxito. We are starting to turn everything around here in Clorinda and we are really excited. Well like I told you guys last week, el Lunes we were in Resistencia for the entire day. El Martes we spent a good part of the morning helping the new Hermanas Misioneras a lot. I´m not sure if I told you guys that, but now we have Hermanas Misioneras in la zona. So we helped them out a lot. We are teaching Carlitos and he´s really capo and progressing a lot. We are really excited and hope that he keeps going on like that. Over the next couple of days we had to deal with sicknesses in la zona and other que haceres so we didn´t have a whole lot of time for other things. Tito and Silvia are doing well and they are going to sacar fecha pàra el casamiento. We are really excited about that and are going to help them out a lot. There was also a wasp hive in la capilla, and it was worrying us a little bit. So one day with our Presidente de Rama we took it down. We attacked during the night and I don`t know what happened to the wasps but they didn´t even try to sting us. El Domingo was really good and we found some new people to teach that we feel are ready the accept el Evangelio de Jesucristo. We are excited in la zona and are going to be having a lot more éxito. Well ayer, el Lunes, we had a Conferencia de Zona. Well I don´t want to admit it, but. . . It was my last conference and I have to give my last testimonio in front of all the others Élderes y Hermanas. After giving my testimonio I realized that it is something real. My time in the mission is short and that I have to aprovechar de cada oportunidad. I honestly can´t imagine what it will be like at the end, and I don´t want it to come. There are others that are also going home with me. Hermana Hamman (she is in my zona) and la Hermana Green ( re capa y mi amiga desde Posadas). I can´t believe what the flight home will be like. In these, my latter days, I have learned a lot about how sacred the time the Lord has given us really is. Time is one things that can´t be recovered, and once losted can never be found again. Let us not put things off for tomorrow when we can do them today, especially not with the Gospel. For today is the day of our probation and if we do not better then come the vapor of darkness where no work is allowed to be done. We must learn to manage time and to take advantage of the oportunidades that the Lord has given us. Les amo mucho y espero que todos estén bien. No se preocupen de mi porque estoy bien y el Señor me cuidará. Tengo poco tiempo que me queda pero voy a aprovechar cada momento. Con AMor, Élder Droesbeke http://www.missionsite.net/elderderekdroesbeke/viewletter/166742 ¡¡Hola Mis Queridos!! Well this past week has been a different week. After el Lunes, Conferencia de Zona, it was pretty normal. Not a lot happened but we are seeing some good changes here in Clorinda. We are working harder and harder everyday so that we can have a higher vision. It´s tough and we have to change a lot of habits, but as we do it we will be better prepared for what is to come. We always have to be changing for the better and progressing because we can´t just stay still, always for the better. This week we saw some good progression with our investigadores. Silivia is just about ready for el Bautismo, she only has to get married, and she is already stopping smoking. Haha wow she really has changed a lot from the first time that we got to know her. She told us one time that she didn´t believe in God, but now she is re capa and has grown a lot. I can´t believe the changes that come from accepting and applying the Gospel in your life. Then we also have Jesica. We found her a couple of weeks ago, and ever since that time has come to church everyweek and is reading in the Book of MOrmon. She is really excited to get baptized and she even told the Branch President that she is going to do it. We are seeing a lot of bautimos in Septiembre and we are also preparing for Octubre. Well one thing that I have learned this week is about the importance of time and how we have to use it. Our time is short and it will come before we know it. Time is something that once lost can never be found. It is for that that we must always be in a good cause. We must always be looking for the way to become better diciples of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Because in the end that is what matters. I don´t think that He will ask us how many bautismos we have had, or how many important callings in the church. No, I think that He will ask us if we are better Deciples today than we were before. We have to ask ourselves that question everyday, and then go and do. If we do it we will become better diciples and we will have more joy in our lives. It matters not how God uses us, it just matters that He trusts us enough to use us. Whether it be the Prophet or a Primary Teacher the Lord has need for all of us. Let us renew our commitment to Him. Les amo mucho y espero lo mejor. Con Amor, Élder Droesbeke http://www.missionsite.net/elderderekdroesbeke/viewletter/166741 ¡¡Hola Mis Queridos!! Well I´m not going to lie, this week has to have been the strangest week in all of my mission. Haha nothing left like we planned, and we had to do a lot of other things, but when all is said and done we did have some good éxito. We are starting to turn everything around here in Clorinda and we are really excited. Well like I told you guys last week, el Lunes we were in Resistencia for the entire day. El Martes we spent a good part of the morning helping the new Hermanas Misioneras a lot. I´m not sure if I told you guys that, but now we have Hermanas Misioneras in la zona. So we helped them out a lot. We are teaching Carlitos and he´s really capo and progressing a lot. We are really excited and hope that he keeps going on like that. Over the next couple of days we had to deal with sicknesses in la zona and other que haceres so we didn´t have a whole lot of time for other things. Tito and Silvia are doing well and they are going to sacar fecha pàra el casamiento. We are really excited about that and are going to help them out a lot. There was also a wasp hive in la capilla, and it was worrying us a little bit. So one day with our Presidente de Rama we took it down. We attacked during the night and I don`t know what happened to the wasps but they didn´t even try to sting us. El Domingo was really good and we found some new people to teach that we feel are ready the accept el Evangelio de Jesucristo. We are excited in la zona and are going to be having a lot more éxito. Well ayer, el Lunes, we had a Conferencia de Zona. Well I don´t want to admit it, but. . . It was my last conference and I have to give my last testimonio in front of all the others Élderes y Hermanas. After giving my testimonio I realized that it is something real. My time in the mission is short and that I have to aprovechar de cada oportunidad. I honestly can´t imagine what it will be like at the end, and I don´t want it to come. There are others that are also going home with me. Hermana Hamman (she is in my zona) and la Hermana Green ( re capa y mi amiga desde Posadas). I can´t believe what the flight home will be like. In these, my latter days, I have learned a lot about how sacred the time the Lord has given us really is. Time is one things that can´t be recovered, and once losted can never be found again. Let us not put things off for tomorrow when we can do them today, especially not with the Gospel. For today is the day of our probation and if we do not better then come the vapor of darkness where no work is allowed to be done. We must learn to manage time and to take advantage of the oportunidades that the Lord has given us. Les amo mucho y espero que todos estén bien. No se preocupen de mi porque estoy bien y el Señor me cuidará. Tengo poco tiempo que me queda pero voy a aprovechar cada momento. Con AMor, Élder Droesbeke http://www.missionsite.net/elderderekdroesbeke/viewletter/166740 ¡¡Hola Mis Queridos! Well, haha, this last week was pretty caotic. Yep it was the week of traslados so it´s normally pretty busy, but there were a couple of surprises this time. Well Lunes and Martes were really good, just really tranquilos. Martes in the noche was capo. Well I am still with el Élder Estrada and I´m going to finish the mission with him. Every companioship in the zona changed except for ours. Also the shocking news. . . There was a whitewash in Laguna Blanca and now there are Hermanas misioneras alli. Ya so pretty much Miercoles we were in la terminal the whole day, but we did have some good charlas with Tito y Silvia. They just need to get married and ya está. THursday we took las Hermanas to their área y showed them some members and all that. It was a big shock when they got there and all that. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we worked a lot and we are trying to find the way to strengthen the rama and all that. Les cuento we have started running in the morning to get into better shape, now all that we need is a pelota. El Lunes we were traveling nuevamente because we had el Consejo de Líderes de Zona in Resistencia. That was great as always. La Hermana Heyman made chili, cornbread, and peach cobbler. Oh man I had forgotten how much I miss that kind of food. Well that was pretty much my week. There weren´t any changes and I am going to finish the mission here in Clorinda. I´m excited and am going to use every second that I have left. This week I have been studying a little about el amor. It really is one of the biggest tools we have to show the world that we are diciples of Christ. It we trully love those around us, we aren´t going to get mad for nothing, we are going to always serve them, and have paciencia with them. I liked what Elder D Todd Christofferson said. . . ¨Hay poca defensa contra el amor¨ It´s true. I know that if we ask for this love, God will give us the opportunities to desarrollar el amor. Let us all strive to feel charity and love for everyone. It isn´t easy but in the end it´s worth it. Les amo mucho y les deseo una capa semana. Con Amor, Élder Droesbeke http://www.missionsite.net/elderderekdroesbeke/viewletter/163591 ¡¡Hola Mis Queridos!! Well this last week was pretty tranquilo and not a lot of new things happened. El Elder Estrada and I are working hard and are trying to find the way to have éxito acá en Clorinda. We have greats hopes for Agosto, but it is going to need a lot of hard work before anything happens. But we have la fe and el animo to tackle each new obstaculo. We are going to do what the Lord requires of us. Well we keep going forward with some of our investigadores. Lucas is still battling los cigarillos and so we keep giving him animo. We hope that he will be able to get baptized this Saturday o el proximo. Then we have Adela and she seems to be animado but we have to keep that going with her. Then we have Tito y Silvia. Haha their matrimonio seems to keep getting put off, but we talked to them about it and they are going to get married. We are exited about this work. And we have found some pretty good nuevos as well. We are going to keep up the hard work and have fe en el Señor. This past week I have been studying a lot about Revelation and the Holy Ghost. They are two things importanticimas en la Iglesia. We have to strive each and everyday to be able to recieve the two of them. first we must be spiritually prepared to recieve them. That may be through being worthy to go to the temple, and being an example of Christ is cada momento, etc... As we do that we will be more receptive and we must always write down the spiritual impressions that we recieve. then we must also be prepared physically. we must take care of the bodies and make sure that they are in fully operating conditions. If we do those two things the Spirit will be able to open the heavans unto us and we will be able to do what the Lord desea. Los amo mucho y espero que sigan bien. con Amor, Élder Droesbeke http://www.missionsite.net/elderderekdroesbeke/viewletter/161909 ¡¡Hola Todos Mis Queridos!! Well the past week was a pretty long week, not because it was hard or anything like that, only because we traveled a lot and I was pretty tired. So el Lunes we had la Capacitacion de Líderes with Presidente Heyman in Resistencia(it´s about 5 hours from Clorinda). So Saturday night I didn´t sleep, Sunday night tampoco, and Monday night not even. Martes I was dead, but the work goes on. We got back Martes en la mañana and that afternoon we started divisiones with Laguna Blanca. I went to work in Laguna Blanca and my compañero stayed in our area. Laguna Blanca was pretty good, it is a really small town and we met some really crazy people there. I got back to my area el Jueves and we started to work normally. It was a pretty good week and we had bastante éxito. Lucas didn´t stop smoking but we are en eso. We took Presidente Ojando y Presidente Bogarin and they got him really excited for it. We are going to do everything posible so that he gets baptized this week. We had a lot of people in Church el Domingo. We had seven investigadores and a lot of them are progressing so we should be having some bautismos really soon. Also el Domingo there were emergency transfers so a Élder of our zona se fue and recien came his reemplacement. We are really excited to keep working hard to see what happens. The time is passing by rapidly and I can´t believe it. I really don´t want it to. I love the mission too much and it really has changed me a lot. I know why President Monson and el Señor want every young man to serve a full time mission. It is the best thing for their life. I have learned to love, to be persistent, and to keep working even when everything seems to be falling down around you. We give two years of our lives to the Lord, but what He gives us in return really can´t be repaid. I hope that each and everyone of you think about serving the Lord whether as a joven or as senior missionaries. As you do it the Lord will bless you and will take care of you. There are miracles around us everyday. I hope that we take the time to find them. Les amo mucho Con Amor, Élder Droesbeke http://www.missionsite.net/elderderekdroesbeke/viewletter/161907 ¡¡Hola Mis Queridos!! So the past week was pretty good. We are working hard here in Clorinda and with more hard work we will be able to keep going adelante. We are seeing some good things here in Clorinda and we just have to keep up the hard work. All in this week we had divisiones, entrevistas con el Presidente Heyman, un bautismo, cambios en el Liderazgo del Distrito y Rama, y we had la Capacitación de Líderes. Well Martes we started divisiones and I went with el Élder Fernandez and work in his área un poquito. He is a good Élder and came to la Argentina with me. He was in the advanced spanish class so he goes home a transfer after I do. We worked well together and it was a really good day. We had some great lessons and found lots of new people. We finished Miercoles and I went back to my área with el Elder Estrada. We were a ful the entire week with Agustin y Lucas. En el fin only Agustin was baptized. Lucas is still struggling a little with los cigarrillos. We are going to do all the possible to get him baptized. It was a good bautismo and la familia de Agustin came. We are going to start teaching the whole familia now. El Viernes el Presidente y la Hermana Heyman came to have interviews with us. So needless to say el Élder Estrada y yo were a ful getting everything prepared and all that. THe interviews were good and I´m pretty sure that I am going to stay here for my last transfer but we will see what happens. We ate lunch with Presidente y la Hermana Heyman and we got them a little surprise. Thursday was their aniversary(33 años together) so we bought them a cake and celebrated together. It was really good. El Domingo fue bueno and there were a lot of changes in the District Presidency and the Branch Presidency. Everyone is really excited and we are going to work a lot better with the members. Yesterday we had la Capacitacion de Líderes con el Presidente Heyman. It was really good as always and we learned a lot about la visión and what we have to do to keep having success in la misión. The vision that we have really helps us to change our way of working and the potencial that we can reach. For dinner la Hermana Heyman cooked tacos with a jalapeño sauce, it was really good. I love the missión and I know that there is no better thing for me to be doing. I like something that Presidente Heyman said. He said that the misión shouldn´t be the best two years of your life, but they should be the best two years for your life. I know that it is asi. The mission has changed me a lot and I am grateful that God showed me that I had to serve. When someone serves the Lord with all their heart and mind they really are blessed for their entire life. There is no better way to find greater happiness than to lose yourself in the service of the Lord. Los amo mucho y oro por ustedes cada día. Con Amor, Élder Droesbeke