Festival de Danzas

Dear Family and Friends,

Here in sunny Santa Cruz it is hot and humid again. One blessing though is that there aren´t a ton of mosquitoes in our area because most of the area is pavement.

But this week my companion and I worked hard and the Lord blessed us with a really prepared family. Last Monday we were contacting and passed by a house and we saw a wedding photo through the window so we decided to contact them. A lady came out and told us that her cousins are Mormons too. Her husband wasn't home so we set a return date. When we came back, the one lady wasn't there but her brother Humberto was, and he let us in.

Humberto and Sandy Gallardo have been married for 5 years and they have two kids. During the lesson we learned that they don't assist any church but do want to learn more about God. Humberto told us, ´´I have a hole in my life. I feel like something is missing in my life.”

So we taught them the plan of salvacion this week and they accepted a baptismal date for the 4 of August. Saturday we invited them to church. Hno. Humberto said, “My wife and I want to go to church, but in every church we go to we feel uncomfortable because everyone is dancing and shouting.” (When he told us that, I thought this family is like one of those families that you read about in Preach My Gospel or in conference talks.) But we testified that this is Christ's church and that because it is His church, it is a church of order. They agreed to go Sunday, but when we passed by Sunday they had had some family problems and could't attend. (There is an opposition in all things.) Please pray for them!

Big news! Ivan, Elvis and Carlos all received the Aaronic priesthood this week! And Yovanna and Her Mom came to church too!

Friday, the stake held a huge dance festival. It was held in good sized basketball/futzal stadium. We got permission from President, and the entire zone went as long as we brought an investigador with us. Before the festival started, the whole zone contacted and tried to invite as many people possible from the street to attend.

​Our zone!

​In the festival, every ward had a specific department of Bolivia. This is barrio Trompillo they danced a dance from Santa Cruz.

Piari (my old ward a year and half ago was there too. I got to see some ward member too) They had the department of Oruro! Their dance was my favorite!

Some other adventures this week:

​Intercambio with Elder Gonzalez. He is from Peru and plays rugby.

​If you haven´t heard, France won the world cup! It was crazy on Sunday. During the match there wasn't a single car on the street. In South America the world cup is like the super bowl. In memory of France we went to the ramada and bought some France soccer jerseys.

​My companions!

Elder Stewart was my previous companion

My companion now - Elder Huanecune

 ​KFC! There is one in Santa Cruz. It was delicious!

I know this is God´s work and that the Book of Mormon and the Bible are the word of God and that as we read them we receive power and comfort from on high!

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Matheson

This Hna. Helen and Her Family


Helen is a  member who is coming back to church. She cooks so well. She made us empanadas! Her daughters Yovanna and Joselin are investigating the church!