Que se yo - cambio de presidente, y mate en la pension, 7/3/17

Hola mamá y familia!

Thanks for sending the pictures of your trip to Boise. Cyrus is looks like an adorable little guy! The family keeps growing and growing! 

As far as your question with improving my teaching skills- I´m basically just trying to be adapt my teaching to the people more. It´s something that sounds obvious- an 8-year-old kid doesn´t have the same learning style as a 70-year-old man, but if you´re not careful you can easily fall into a routine in your lessons in the mission.

The big news this week in the Buenos Aires West mission was the arrival of our new president! Presidente Resek! Presidente and Hermana Resek are from Rosario, Argentina but have been living in Utah for the past 30 years. They have a son who is currently serving in our mission, and I got the chance to see them as they greeted their son for the first time in almost two years! The showed us the video of when they opened their mission call and they were absolutely jumping for joy! It was awesome to see their enthusiasm.

With the arrival of Presidente Resek many of the missionaries were excited to hear of a small change- we can now drink mate in our apartments. For those who don´t know- mate is almost a herbal tea type drink that is incredibly popular in Argentina. People have little cups that they fill with their herbs, and then they add in hot water and some kind of sweetner (sugar or a liquid sweetner). Then then drink out of a metal straw-type thing ("bombilla") and they than pass the cup around, and each person drinks from it as they sit and chat. We still can´t drink mate with the people in the streets, but there was a lot of excitement that we can now drink in the apartments (really strange when I think about it from a non-missionary´s perspective).

Apart from all of the administrative-type changes this week, we had a great miracle this week. Elder Ruiz and I had the blessing of seeing one of our investigators that we found together attend church. Her name is Adriana, and we hope to see more progress from her and many more people. 

I know that Jesus Christ lives! It´s hard for many people to accept that there can only be one church with the authority of God on the earth, but I testify that it is true. There is no other place on earth where there is the power to bind things on earth and in heaven. 

I love you all!

Elder Lambert

P.S. Sorry for no photos again. I know the letters are really boring without pictures haha. I´m going to improve. 

Un ano cumplido y vamos conociendo, 6/26/17

Hola Mamá y familia!

That´s awesome to hear that you could go hiking and enjoy some time in the mountains. That´s something that I definitely don´t have here. All of my areas have been city, city, and a little more city. It´s always peaceful to spend some time in nature every now and then.

Elder Ruiz and I here had an incredibly good week meeting families, and inviting them to come unto Christ. It was absolutely miraculous, and we were able to find and teach many families. I really can testify that I´m supposed to be here with Elder Ruiz in this area. I have felt really strongly that we are here together for a reason. We are loving our time here, and I feel like God is going to be blessing us to see many miracles.

While we still have a lot of work to do we now have been able to find an amazing group of people that we hope to be able to help come closer to their savior Jesus Christ. To name a few of the families that we were able to teach: the family mortgentsen (Marian, Lorenzo and their 6 sons), the family Malzoni (members that have two of the sons in the family who were never baptized), Nestor (lives with his wife and kids), and Hector and Maria Franco (their son is a member of the church).

As we have been making so many efforts to find and teach families, we have been really having to improve our teaching skills. It has been awesome to feel the spirit as we have taught in ways that even an 8-year-old can understand. As we share the gospel clearly, the Holy Ghost has the chance to give clear testimony.

I am so grateful for the year of memories that I have had here in Argentina. Every day is a new adventure. I hope to treasure these memories, and make many more in the coming days. Thank you for the love and prayers that you all give to me each day.

With love,

Elder Lambert

photos: 1. Me and Elder Ruiz (Ecuador), 2. Me and Elder Serage (St. George, UT) during divisions, 3. Me and Elder Perales (before he got sent to another area) with the family Paganini, and the family Arnold

With Elder Ruiz.

With Elder Serage.

With Elder Perales, families Paganini and Arnold.

El invierno en Ecuador no tiene nada que ver, 6/19/17

Hola Mamá y familia!!!

That´s sweet that you could have a nice lunch with Dad´s family. I love those pictures of Dad and grandpa out biking!! That´s so cool!! Glad to hear you have been doing some treatment to help with your back too. I´m grateful that you and Dad have always taught me to take care of my body. I´m really trying to follow your counsels here in the mission.

As for the change in mission presidents- it doesn´t actually happen until the end of this month. Presidente Robertson is going to be with us unitl the 30th of June. But when July starts we will start to work with Presidente Resek! Presidente Resek is from Rosario, Argentina, and has been in charge of the church translation department between spanish and english for several years. He actually has a son here in the mission who is going to be just finishing his mission when his parents arrive!

This week was really awesome with my new companion- Elder Ruiz. Elder Ruiz is from Ecuador, and his been here in the mission for 7 months. He comes from a family of 6, and is the oldest child in the family. His parents got baptized when he was 5-years-old and he is the first member of his family to serve a mission! He´s a very hard-working kid and we have been seeing some awesome miracles in our area this week!

Elder Ruiz and I have really been trying to make an effort to find families to teach, and we really saw some awesome miracles. Yesterday we felt impressed to contact a house and had the miracle of meeting Claudio, and his family (his wife, and daughter). Claudio is super tall (6´6") and as we presented him a pass-along card that said, "What is the purpose of my life?" he asked, "Do you have an answer to this question?" Almost as quickly as Elder Ruiz could say, "Yes" he invited us inside to talk about the question. We are very excited to see if Claudio and his family will keep increasing their faith in Christ!

In addition to Claudio, we have kept working with Walter, Claudia, and their two kids. To add to the excitement we were also able to meet a family of 6 the other day that invited us to come by and share our message. God is really blessing us as we have been seeking families to unite in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Yesterday the phrase from the scriptures- "I have engraven ye in the palms of my hands." really struck me. Jesus Christ will never forget us. He wants to remember the pain and suffering that he went through to save us- his brothers and sisters. I am eternally grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. I will never be able to repay the sacrifice that he has made for me.

I love you all,

Elder Lambert

Hasta ver- nos vemos a los Robertson, hola a Elder Ruiz, 6/12/17

Sounds like you were able to have a lot of unique experiences this week Mom! That´s cool to hear that all of the Packards were there to greet Skyler! I´m very grateful for all of the great extended family members that I have! 

Elder Perales and I just finished our short three-week transfer together on a high note! With the departure of Presidente and Hermana Robertson this month we had a short transfer so that things are prepared for the arrival of Presidente and Hermana Resek. We got the news today that I am staying in Castelar, but I will already be saying goodbye to ElderPerales. We had a great three-week run together.

This week got going with divisions where I went to Morón to work with Elder Tuncar, and then we were blessed with our very last zone conference with Presidente and Hermana Robertson. It was a really great experience and President shared with us again his favorite poem- "The Race". I really love the poem- I mentioned it in an earlier letter. "The Race" tells the story of a young man in a race who starts of running only to fall three times during the course of the race. Each time he looks to the stands to hear his father telling him, "Get up, and win the race." On his final fall his father expresses to him that winning is not in being the first to finish but only that he rises each time he falls.

With the spirit of our zone conference in our hearts, Elder Perales and I had two lessons this week that especially stood out for me. The first was with a woman named Victoria. Victoria didn´t accept us to talk in her house, but talked with us just outside her door. We had contacted her previously and she had read what we had left from the Book of Mormon. We proceeded to teach her the first lesson and I felt like I should invite her to baptism on a specific date. Even though she did not accept the invitation, I could really feel the spirit and Elder Perales said that he felt the spirit as well. I am excited to see if she will progress and accept the commitment to attend church.

The second lesson that stuck out for me this week was with a family- Walter, Claudia, and Josefina (the mother of Claudia). Walter and Claudia have been married for 18 years and have two young children. We met Walter last week when he was raking his leaves, and we went over and just started helping him to grab the leaves and put them in the garbage bag. That started a conversation which lead to us being able to go to his house yesterday to talk with him and his family. 

We were blessed to have a less-active member, Franco Gomila, whom we are encouraging to serve a mission with us. During the lesson, Franco testified of our beliefs several times, and the spirit was very powerful throughout the lesson. They didn´t accept our baptismal invitation, but in the end of the lesson Claudia offered a kneeling prayer with all the sincerity of her heart. She asked for their hearts and minds to be open to our message and to be able to know if it´s true. It was really a beautiful moment.

Thanks for taking the time to read each week my un-ending paragraphs of stories. I love you all and I am very grateful for all of your influences in my life! I especially want to tell Dad that I love him and am extremely grateful for all that I´ve learned from him. He taught me to work hard, be organized, be efficient, and to never stop learning. I love you Dad, thanks for teaching me about some of the characteristics of my perfect father, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

I love you all,

Elder Lambert

Photos: Me in a park in Morón, Elder Perales in front of a catholic basilica, me with Presidente and Hermana Robertson, me with Elder Tuncar in divisions (Lima, Peru)

Algo nuevo, algo antiguo, 6/5/17

Hola Mamá y familia!!

That´s cool to hear that you have been preparing for the trip to Australia! I´m sure that it will be an incredible experience! That´s also crazy to hear that Dad´s going to be visiting Poland. I hope he is really making a positive impact with his visits through the Leavitt Institute. Thank you for the quotes from your lesson as well! There´s a quote in Preach My Gospel that I love that says all injustice is made right through the atonement of Jesus Christ! 

We had a lot of firsts in the area this week for Elder Perales and I. First, we had two investigators accept baptismal dates in July! Woohoo! Julieta Arnol, a 40-year-old daughter of a recent convert, and Roxana, a 35-year-old daughter of a less active member both accepted baptismal dates. They still have a long ways to go, but it was really awesome to see the blessing of God as we worked to invite people to Christ and be baptized.

We also had our very first exchanges in the area. Elder Perales stayed in our area, Castelar, with another Peruvian,Elder Tuncar, and I went to Morón to be with Elder Chamberlain. Elder Chamberlain is from St. George, Utah and we met our very first day in the airport in Salt Lake! It was awesome to be able to work together for the first time in the mission but actually be able to communicate in spanish. 

Elder Perales and I also had our first fast and testimony together in Castelar. The meeting this week was very spiritual and I really think a story of Christ from Matthew impacted me as a sat thinking in sacrament meeting. 

In Matthew´s account Christ turns to his apostles and asks them who people say the Son of Man is. They respond that some say John the Baptist, others Elias, and others say that the son of man was another prophet. Christ then asks, "And who do you say that I am?" Peter responds, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!"

This phrase impacted me a lot this week- "You are the Christ. The Son of the Living God!". I want to represent Christ, the son of the living God. I am so blessed to be here and be sharing this message. At times I get distracted from my central purpose, but I know that´s why I am here. I hope and pray that we can remember our purpose! We are children of a God. He has given us the power to heal and improve through the sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ.

I love you all from the bottom of my heart,

Elder Lambert

Photo: Our district eating some Peruvian food today on P-day (left to right: me; Elder Chamberlain- St. George, UT; Elder Tuncar- Lima, Peru; Hermana Rodriguez- Cajamarca, Peru; Hermana Avila- Honduras; Elder Perales- Cusco, Peru) 

Hay vamos subiendo la escalera economica, 5/29/17

Hola Mamá y familia!

That´s crazy to hear that school´s out for summer! Everyone´s in the thick of the school year in Argentina, so it´s weird to think that you guys are heading into the hottest part of the year. It also is great to hear that you could clean and organize the garage. I always feel better when I have thinks clean and organized. It takes an effort but it brings a great peaceful feeling.

I can officially say that each area of mine has been progressively more well-to-do. Castelar is very similar to Santos Lugares but it is one notch above in terms of city. It´s almost like being in a more downtown area in the US. There are some really big, really nice houses, but at the same time other parts of the neighborhood are pretty normal. We do have a McDonald´s in our area which is weird. I don´t have plans to go there, but maybe if there´s a really special occasion we´ll pass by.

As for my companion- his name is Elder Perales. He is a super good kid from Cusco, Peru. He is a bit more timid but he is very smart and has a great testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Before the mission he was studying to be an orthodontist, and is going to finish his studies after the mission. His parents are converts, and he grew up going to a big ward in Cusco (160-70 members if it was a good Sunday).

Elder Perales and I were able to have a really good week. It was a bit unorthodox because we had transfers Tuesday, and then Wednesday we had to return to the mission offices so that Elder Perales could do some paperwork for his visa; however, when we did teach I really felt the Spirit strongly. 

In particular, we were able to teach a family of three women (Elvira- the grandmother, and her two daughters Maria Eugenia and Guadalupe) with the help of a member who was just called as the elder´s quorum president this last Sunday (Hermano Paganini). We talked about the Book of Mormon and why it is important to read and ask God if it´s true. I really felt the Spirit as I testified of the Book of Mormon and the need to know of its truthfulness. Hermano Paganini and Elder Perales both bore powerful testimonies of the Book of Mormon. I am excited to see if the family can progress.

In addition to that experience, we were also able to visit another investigator, Julieta, that is the daughter of a recent convert. The relief society president and her husband were present in the lesson, and were able to share the blessings that they have received as they have kept the Sabbath day holy. Unfortunately, Julieta did not accept our commitment to attend church- we had even arranged that a member could take her to church in their car, but I know that we did our part in testifying and trying to help her exercise her faith in Jesus Christ.

I know that my Savior lives and loves us. As we better understand his sacrifice for us, we have stronger desires to share his gospel. I love when many of Christ´s disciples left him, and he asked his apostles if they would leave him too. In response, they said, "To whom will we go when we know that you have the words of eternal life?" Christ is the way. It is only through him that we will return to live with our father again some day.

I love you guys!

-Elder Lambert

Photo: Elder Perales and I in our apartment. 

Elders Lambert and Perales.

Me quedo, me voy?, me fui, 5/22/17

Hola Mamá y familia!

Another transfer down the tubes! What an amazing transfer Elder Priebe and I were have together. We were so blessed with the baptisms of Marcial and Gustavo. We had a great week. I´m very excited to continue learning here in the mission.

That being said- it´s official- my time in Santos Lugares has come to end. Tomorrow in the morning I will be saying goodbye, jumping in a taxi and heading to......CASTELAR! I will be there with Elder Perales. Up to this point I know nothing about him, but I know that he is a native speaker and that I will have the blessing to finish off his training.

This last week was a really great week to finish off my time here in Santos Lugares. We had an amazing stake conference yesterday, and my mission president spoke. I want to share the story that he shared with us.

When Presidente Robertson was 9 years old he went to a father and son´s camp with his father and brothers. During the day they went hiking, and in the path saw several poisonous snakes. They were able to avoid the snakes, but were very alert to make sure that didn´t come across any others during their day.

That night, while they were sleeping in their tent, Presidente Robertson´s father felt a snake begin slithering underneath his sleeping bag- he woke and immediately grabbed ahold of it from inside the sleeping bag. With the sleeping bag between his hand and the snake he started calling for the help of their neighbor that was sleeping in the same tent as them. "Grab a hachet! I have the snake in my hand!" The neighbor replied, "I can´t see anything! Where is your hatchet at?" To respond to this, the father of Presidente Robertson yelled to the older brother of Presidente to grab the flashlight.

Presidente Robertson´s brother grabbed the flash light, and turned it on. He pointed it towards his father and everyone´s eyes turned to see the snake. As they turned their eyes they saw- that the snake was Presidente Robertson´s arm! Of course, Presidente Robertson was grateful that they had searched for the flashlight before taking a few hacks at the "snake" that had slithered into the tent.

So how does the parable of the snake apply to you and I? The reality is that all of us have the light of Christ with us, and as members we have been blessed to have even more of the influence of Jesus Christ and his light in our lives. With that light- we see clearly the consequences of breaking the commandments. However, there are people whose light has dimmed- whether by the haze of drugs, the numbing of alcohol, or something else. Rather than judge these people, we need to bring this light to them so that with the time, they can also see clearly.

I know that Jesus Christ lives. He is my Savior and my general-in-chief. I am blessed to take up arms for his cause each day. I pray that you all might fight to iluminate those around you, no matter who they might be.

Love,

Elder Lambert

Una madre como la mia, 5/15/17

Hola familia!!!

It looks like everyone´s looking great back home! The call worked out really well! You guys are having a lot of crazy life adventures! I`m glad to hear about all you have been able to accomplish and enjoy! There are some many great things to enjoy in life when we live it!

This week was filled with a lot of big events. To name a few:

1. I had my very last interview with President Robertson. In one month he will be leaving and we will be receiving President Resek.

2. Our investigator, Marcial, was baptized and confirmed this weekend.

3. Our recent convert, Gustavo, was ordained a priest and received the Aaronic priesthood.

4. I got to call home and see everybody`s smiling faces!

Wow. It is really cool to reflect on these awesome moments for this past week. I have been really blessed by my relationship with President Robertson. He has always been available to help and guide us here in the mission. I have felt really blessed by his example and the guidance he has given us in the mission. He is a great leader. It will be strange to see him go, but we now that President Resek has been called by a profet of God and will guide the mission in the direction that it needs to go in the future.

Marcial kept moving forward this week, and in the end we had the wonderful blessing of holding his baptism this past Saturday. Along with us, my old companion, Elder Vieyra, and his companion baptized an investigator of theirs. It was really cool to be able to baptize as a district. What was even cooler though, was the happiness that Marcial, and Pedro (the other investigator) showed, and the spirit that I could feel in their baptisms and confirmations.

The ordination of Gustavo hit me completely by surprise, and was an awesome experience. After church we were taking care of to-do`s with the members and investigators when the bishop invited us to enter into his office to participate in the ordination of Gustavo. It was awesome. I really had the feeling that even though it`s 2017 I was a part of something that has existed since the world began, a blessing by the priesthood of God.

To finish off the letter today I just want to express my gratitude to Mom. Mom- thank you so much for everything that you have done for me in my life. You are imperfect, but you are the best example of Jesus Christ that I have in my life. No number of thank yous, money, favors, words, or actions can pay you back for the gift of life that you have given me. You have always sacrificed of yourself for me, and for all of your kids. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I hope that people can see the woman that you are through the man that I am today. I love you Mom.

With all of the love in my heart,

Elder Lambert

Baptism of Marcial.

La puerta que se llama bautismo, 5/8/17

Hola familia!!!

That´s cool that you get to spend a few days in Denver. I love visiting different places around the world, and it always is super exciting to go to church in different places and see how God loves his children everywhere in the world! There are great people all over the place!

Mom! You were cheering for the Jazz!? I´m just kidding. I get a little stressed hearing about the NBA honestly, but I would appreciate it if you would keep supporting the righteous decisions of Stephen Curry haha.

To follow up the baptism of Gustavo, we have been working with him to integrate himself into the ward a bit more (prepare him to receive a calling, the priesthood, do baptisms for the dead, etc.), and at the same time we have been working to help a few other people prepare themselves to be baptized.

One of our other investigators that is progressing a lot towards baptism is Marcial, a young peruvian man of 28-years. Marcial lives by himself and moved to Argentina a few years ago to find better work opportunities. He has a sister that is a member and lives in Peru, and the missionaries had visited him a couple of times in the past before we stopped by.

The coolest miracle with Marcial this week was being able to see the power of the testimonies and help of the members. We have been asking a peruvian family that lives near Marcial to help him by walking with him to church with him and to visit him with us. The father of this family, Vladimir, bore a testimony about how faith is belief and action during Elder´s quorum and I really felt the spirit because I knew the Vladimir lives his faith. He does not only talk about Jesus Christ, but he strives to help other people believe in and follow Jesus Christ.

In addition to Marcial, we had the awesome blessing of another investigator, Yolanda, read in the Book of Mormon and attend to church this past week. It was another win for members because we had the blessing that one of the other members, Hector Vitello, was willing to walk with her to church. Yolanda is a very sweet woman- she is very thoughtful about how she can help make the world a better place. She is constantly involved in charity organizations, etc. She has faced some difficult things in her life in her family situation, but we had an amazing lesson where we could testify about the healing power of the atonement to heal wounds that we feel when others don´t choose to live the gospel.

Overall, another great week in the books. I´m very grateful for all of you. Elder Priebe and I continue to put our shoulder to the wheel to invite others to Jesus Christ. Thank you for being examples of Him. Keep looking for ways to be a little more like Him each day.

With all my love,

Elder Lambert

P.S. Sorry I don´t have more pictures. It´s really hard to find a cable to buy to replace the one I lost in order to charge my camera. I´m working on it the best I can.

Hay que trabajar en el dia del trabajador,, 5/2/17

Hola Mamá y familia!

Wow, I received a lot of crazy news from all over the place this week! It´s so weird to hear news about things like the NBA and school in the United States. They aren´t even on my radar until Mondays hit. That´s awesome that Landon is going to be working with Aspiro outdoor therapy. I am praying a lot that Connor can get into a great program! He is an awesome student and an even better person! I know that God will guide his path!

As for my days being numbered in Santos Lugares- the reality is that normally my mission president never leaves someone in an area for more than three transfers. This transfer is currently my fourth transfer in Santos Lugares- even though I have been in both areas of the ward. As a result, it´s very likely I´ll be transferred after this transfer, but it´s not set in stone. It´s still possible that I´ll stay here longer.

As for this week the big event was...drum roll please...Gustavo got baptized!!! It was awesome to be able to share a part of the day Saturday with him as he chose to be baptized and then to be able to be there as well as he was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ and received the gift of the holy ghost.

I hope from the bottom of my heart that Gustavo can be an example of Jesus Christ to guide his kids for all of his life. He is in a tough position has a single father of 5, but I know that God loves him and wants his kids to follow this example that Gustavo is setting.

After the baptism Saturday and confirmation Sunday things got started off very differently this week. Yesterday was "Labor Day" here in Argentina, and basically every store was closed. We ended up having to only do a partial preparation day yesterday and finish today. That´s why I didn´t get a letter out to yall yesterday- sorrry!

However, God really blessed for working yesterday with the holiday! We were able to find five new people to teach, and had an amazing lesson with one of them- a man named Adrian. Adrian started off our lesson with him by quoting what sounded like the entirety of a chapter from the Gospel of John. Later in the lesson he quoted what sounded like a whole chapter of Psalms from memory as well! It was a pretty crazy experience, but he was very open to our message and showed a really sincere love for Jesus Christ.

I feel like I´m missing so many things to tell from this past week but my time to write today is coming to end. I love you all! Thank you all so much for loving and believing in me! Keep supporting and helping one another! Help someone that you have never met before! Do something small today to be a little bit more like Jesus Christ!

Much love,

Elder Lambert

Photos: Chalkboard for the baptism, Elder Priebe and I with Gustavo and his kids in front of the church, us with Gustavo and the chalkboard, and pizza to celebrate (me; Elder Vieyra- Utah, USA; Elder Giancarelli- Santa Fe, Argentina)

Elder Priebe, Gustavo and kids, Elder Lambert.

Elders Lambert, Vieyra, Giancarelli.

Tramites y triunfors, 4/24/17

Hola Familia Lambert!

I´m glad to hear about all of the progress that you´re making with your foot and to be able to finish your master´s degree! It´s pretty hard to find a Mom as smart as mine! Thanks for your great example!

Also, congrats to Aunt Melissa! It looks like it was a good time for the family. I´m glad to see that her children seem to be doing well. Also, that talk is really good- I just read it the other month, and send my thanks to Brother and Sister Simmons! Sister Simmons was always very nice to me, and always made an effort to greet me and tell me how Annika was doing every time I saw her. They´re really good people.

So this week was a bit different with the work schedule. This last Monday with the talk of President Nelson, we couldn´t write until late that night. Then this past Wednesday, Elder Priebe and I had to head into the offices so that he could do his paper work and receive his Argentine identification. With the travels Monday and Wednesday, we lost a little bit of work time that normally we have in our area. However, God always blesses us as we put first things first, and we saw a lot of blessings.

The biggest blessing that we are seeing right now is with our investigator Gustavo. He has been progressing incredibly well, and it has been awesome to be able to visit with him. Gustavo is a young guy, 33 years old, but just this last week I realized the full impact of the difficulties he´s been going through recently. Just this January his wife died, leaving him alone to take care of their 5 kids- all of which are less than 10 years old.

Through this tough time Gustavo did what we all need to do- he looked to God for hope and direction. We met him when he went to watch general conference with his neighbor, and from there is where his progress started. In less than a month he has read all of 1 Nephi and is reading 2 Nephi now. He told us that he has received more answers to his prayers in this month, than he received in years attending to his previous church.

We are extremely excited for the opportunity that Gustavo is going to have to be baptized this coming saturday, with his kids and the members there supporting him. He is a really special son of God. I know that is true.

The other blessings came to us this last Sunday. We went out to search for our investigators and all of the investigators that we had arranged to walk with to church decided to fall through on their commitments to come. However, as we went to the meetings we saw God bless us with people in church one by one. Gustavo was our first investigator to come, then when the second hour came around an investigator of ours Jimi (a haitain man) showed up as well as Teresa (the girlfriend of a member). Then as we entered the final hour Delia (an older woman) and Gustavo number 2 (a homeless man that Delia has been trying to help) came. It was really miraculous.

I am very grateful for my opportunity to be here with Elder Priebe serving in Santos Lugares. I know my days our numbered here in this area. I hope that I can give God all of my heart, might, mind, and strength. I know that there is a lot of joy to come as I continue thrusting in my sickle for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Love,

Elder Lambert

P.S. Sorry I haven´t been sending pictures again. The problem is that the cable to be able to charge my camera got lost, and it´s very difficult to find another one to buy. I´m working on it. 

Pascua y profetas, 4/17/17

 Hola mamá y familia!

 I think the last time I checked the food pyramid, peanut M&M´s was one of the main food groups. I´m glad you can drive again so that you can maintain a balanced diet. Also, that´s super cool that you´re thinking about solar panels. It´s very exciting the cool progressions we´re making with renewable energy. As for Connor and Landon- I have them in my prayers every day! I can´t wait to hear the awesome opportunities that come their way!

As for my week- it was really good! We are having the best of problems right now- trying to make sure to fit in time every week to help our investigators that are progressing towards baptism! We did find out that we need to exercise a little patience with Zoe, because her grandpa isn´t progressing the same with her. We can´t baptise her unless he will take the initiative and get baptised as well!

Aditionally, we have two investigators that are progressing beautifully towards baptism- Gustavo and Marcial. Both of them came to the ward for the second week straight. We were able to talk with Gustavo about the law of chastity this week, and had a cool lesson with Marcial where he basically taught his neighbor the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

In addition to those awesome lessons, Elder Priebe and I had a great lesson with a couple that has two kids (Leonardo and Gisela). After the first vision we both felt like we should just be quiet and wait until they spoke. After waiting for a little bit the mother said, "This happened." It wasn´t a question, but a statement. I really feel like the Spirit testified to her of the truth of the first vision.

Naturally to finish off a successful week, I started to get sick yesterday during church and had to rest last night so that I could go to see President Nelson this morning! We have been extremely blessed to be having apostles come to our Buenos Aires a lot recently. I have now had the privelege of shaking hands with both Elder Stevenson and Elder Nelson. 

Elder Nelson gave a really awesome talk today talking about our need to understand our family history, and the promises that God has made to our family. God has promised us all  success if we follow him! I hope that you all can continue with the spirit of Jesus Christ that you had with you for Easter!  

 I love you all!

-Elder Lambert 

Milagros en la ultima milla, 4/10/17

Hola Mamá y familia!!!

That´s crazy to hear that you broke your foot! Sorry that you´ve had to been stuck in the house a bit. That can certainly be a little bit boring. I´m glad that I learned how to enjoy my time without needing television, or music before the mission haha. I don´t think I suffer as much on sick days on the mission as some Elders.

I´m also super excited for Noelle!! Congrats on the baptism sis!!!! Just keep doing today! I love you! Way to go!!

So...this week was completely amazing. God really poured down blessings on Elder Priebe and I. Also, we just got word this morning that Elder Priebe and I will be staying together for the next transfer! If President keeps us together for all of the transfer he will be my first companion that I have had for more than a transfer haha!

The biggest miracles that poured out came this past weekend- we had the blessing of seeing five of our investigators in the reunion sacramental. We even had a sixth that was at Church but left right before the final hour because she is leaving for vacations. We are very excited for several of them- in particular for Zoe that is preparing to be baptized the 22nd of this month.

I believe I mentioned Zoe the other week- she is ten years old and is reading in the Book of Mormon regularly. She shared a really beautfiful experience with us the other week that she prayed and asked if the Book of Mormon is true, and received a feeling that it is true. It´s a little strange to think that she is only ten-years-old because she understands what she reads better than some 50-year-olds that we teach.

Zoe has had a lot desires to come unto Jesus Christ and be baptised, and we were blessed to have her in church this week with her grandfather, Ruben. Ruben also came to conference the other week, and we hope that he can come to know the truth of these things for himself and be baptised with his granddaughter. Ruben has a son that is a member named Fernando that lives in Santa Fe (a provincia of Argentina) and is a District President there. We have been talking with him every now and then as we have taught Ruben and Zoe. I know that Fernando has been waiting for the miracle of another member of his family joining the church for a long time.

In addition to the blessing of having Zoe and Ruben in church, we had a really good lesson with one of our investigators- Elvira, her daughter Claudia, and her granddaughter Milagros. We started to teach about the gospel of Jesus Christ and Claudia had a lot of doubts about repentance because of the problems of addiction that she has had in her life. We were able to testify of the atonement of Jesus Christ, and testify to her that Christ knows exactly how she can leave the drugs behind. Elder Priebe shared a beautiful testimony of our purpose here as servants of Christ to help her come unto him. We hope that Claudia will begin to progress with her mother and daughter.

Thank you for all of your love and support! I know that God and Jesus Christ live! They continue to bless me every day! I know that we are all imperfect beings, but we have a father that is perfectly loving. There is no failure in him.

I love you all!

Elder Lambert

La Conferencia de Campeones, 4/3/17

Hola familia!!!

Sounds like you were able to have a great spring break Mom! That´s great to hear! That´s so crazy that Gonzaga´s going to play in the championship game! I try to forget that sports exist on the mission the best I can jaja.

Landon´s beard is so...interesting. I´ll just say that it looks better than I expected. I´m pretty sure my beard would look the same if I tried to grow out my facial hair. Lucky for you guys I still have more than a year before I can even try to grow facial hair.

This week in Santos Lugares was really great! It was a small transition starting to work with Elder Priebe and also having a mini missionary (a kid from a different ward here in Buenos Aires that´s serving with Elder Vieyra full time for two weeks) in the apartment, but God blessed us with some awesome miracles to finish off this week!

Elder Priebe and I had been working really hard all week, but for whatever reason we weren´t finding a lot of new people to teach, and were having a lot of our appointments cancel. Friday, we went to the mission offices for trainings and interviews with the president. After trainings we came back to the area and got to work.

Almost immediately, we contacted a person as we were walking towards an appointment, and she told us that her brother-in-law had just passed away from cancer and that they were there waiting for the car to take the body to the mortuary. We were able to share a bit of the plan of salvation with her, and the spirit was really strong as we strived to help Susana know the truth about this life and life after death.

We left from that contact with the spirit, and went to our English class that night to a few more miracles- we had four investigators in our class! Lately we haven´t had a lot of people coming or they have all been members, and then this week three people that we had only contacted- that we hadn´t even taught before, came to class! The class went well and we were able to set up a time to visit one of the men that came, Leandro. We are excited to talk with him this week.

I can´t think of a better way to finish off the week, then the general conferences meetings that we had! The talk of ElderCosta was especially powerful as we were sitting there with two of our investigators, one of which is scheduled to be baptised the 22nd of April. Elder Costa, a convert from Argentina, spoke specifically about what investigators should do to have a fullness of joy in their lives. What a blessing to have a general authority, from the same country that we are in now, talk to our investigators about how they can come unto Jesus Christ.

Elder Priebe and I are excited to keep working here in Santos Lugares and help Zoe (the investigator with the baptismal date of the 22nd), and more investigators to progress and be baptised in Christ´s church on the earth. I hope that you all could listen to conference and feel of the love of your Savior Jesus Christ! He lives and it is his glory that we succeed! Better that we work with him than against him!

Much love,

Elder Lambert

Photos: 

1. Me and the district at the temple (we did the trip last week- Elder Priebe, Elder Durfee, me, Elder Vieyra)

2. Me in front of the school of the United States of America

Elders Priebe, Durfee, Lambert, Vieyra at B.A. temple.

Wilt Chamberlain, y se golpeó por un relámpago, 3/27/17

Hola Mamá y familia!

That is quite the beard! I feel so weird seeing Dad with a beard like that! That´s awesome that you could go the temple this past week Mom! We had the chance to go to the temple this past Wednesday as well! It was incredible! I´ve been communicating with Landon and Connor every couple of weeks. I always love hearing about the cool, positive things that are happening in our family. Thanks for all of the love and support!

Elder Vieyra and I had a monstruosly good week this week. The trip to the temple was amazing, and I really felt like I learned alot from the trainings. More than anything the trainings and work I have been doing here with Elder Vieyra have been inspiring me to consecrate myself even more. 

I have heard several missionaries mention a story of an elder in England who in a time where missionaries baptised very few people baptised 100 people. He had a phrase that he would say to himself before he left his apartment in the morning and before he went to bed at night- "I fear no man." This story and the trainings reminded me of what is most important- to do what God wants and forget about what man thinks. 

There are so many instances where I choose to worry about man- whether it´s what people in the street will think, investigators, members, or other missionaries. However, if we are giving all of our effort to follow God, nothing else matters. If I have faith in God there is no excuse in the world that can stop me from accomplishing his work.

To fit along with the theme perfectly, Elder Vieyra and I had the goal to contact 100 people this week in between our appointments. For us, a contact is when we talk with someone and give them the opportunity to listen to our message of the restored gospel. 

In miraculous fashion, we achieved our goal right before ending the night Sunday. We contacted two people on the train ride home to finish the week with 100 contacts. To celebrate we did our best Wilt Chamberlain impressions (a famous basketball player that scored 100 points in a game) and took pictures of us holding a piece of paper that says 100. 

With the efforts we made to contact we were really blesseed- we were able to find 11 new investigators this week. We hope that all of the amazing people we are meeting can progress. One of the fruits of our contacting, Pedro, was able to come to church and get to know a little more of the Church of Jesus Christ.

We finished on a high point last night and then got wind of another "flash" in our area- our district leader, Elder Durfee, is going to be heading out after four weeks here. He will be going, I will be switching over to the other side of the ward to be with his companion, and my companion will be accepting a mini missionary (someone that is younger than 18 that is doing a "trial mission"). For at least the next two weeks it looks like I´ll be having another new comp and another chance to stretch myself and seek the guidance of my Lord.

I´m excited to hear the words of the prophets this coming weekend. I hope to be able to keep working with all of my might, mind, and strength to invite people to come unto Christ. I know that God is leading me one day at a time to how I can be a better person and missionary. I´m so blessed to be able to serve as his representative.

Love,

Elder Lambert

100 Contacts made in one week!