Thank you all so much for your love, letters, and support!!! Since President told us to enjoy our P-days more in order to work off office stress we went to Cerro de la Gloria today. I’m sending a bunch of pictures so you can of course save them as your desktop backgrounds :) . It’s a big monument to General San Martin (the same San Martin as the department San Martin I worked in at the beginning of my mission) and the crossing of the Andes Mountains which he did in record time on horseback. He’s basically the biggest hero in all of Argentina and he liberated half of the countries in South America. In this particular stage of his army they were liberating all of Chile which is why they had to cross the Andes Mountains. Supposedly his army came from Mendoza too so this is a pretty good place to learn about General San Martin. Elder Cabrera told me a bunch about him when he was my companion but I can’t remember everything right now. This monument is on the back of the 5 Peso bill, the same bill that has General San Martin himself on the front so it was really interesting to be there in person. You can learn a great deal about a culture and a people by who their heroes are. You can see the Argentine patriotism in all the people who come to see this monument. Just as General San Martin saved South America from bondage to foreign countries, Joseph Smith freed the world from the bondage of ignorance. So many people were confused and so many people are still confused because they don’t know where the truth is. They don’t really know who God even is and they don’t really know why they’re here. The true plan of salvation is again here on the Earth and it’s a great blessing to take part in the work of bringing the truth of that plan to the people in Argentina. Even though the world may be having problems, God isn’t having problems. Maybe this world crisis is to help people realize what’s really important. Money isn’t really that important because it will not save a single soul. Money has yet to save someone and it never will save someone’s soul. This problem can be directly related to unrighteous desires that would have been avoided if people had their priorities straight. The answer to happiness isn’t a bigger house, a bigger car, or a bigger boat. It’s about making your family a bigger part of your life. We have a DVD from the church called “Together Forever” which I know is from the ‘70s but it’s still a great movie. It really shows the importance of the family and would help a lot of people. If you manage to get a hold of it you could use it to help someone out. I know a lot of people are worried about their financial situation but now really is a time to count one’s blessings. A really good wage here is 100 pesos a day. For 100 pesos a day you’re making the big bucks. That’s less than 30 dollars right now. In three hours working as a telemarketer I earned more than that. Granted things are cheaper here in Argentina but only certain things. The advice of the prophets is sufficient for us to avoid any serious problems and if we stay out of debt these financial crisis may come and go but we shall be as the wise man who built his house upon the rock. The winds and floods may come but the foundation will be steadfast. In all reality the foundation of Christ cannot be moved, broken, or even damaged. A family in our ward talked about a hard time they went through during fast and testimony meeting yesterday. They had been doing quite well and had a fridge, microwave, and even a stove. They talked about how hard they had worked in order to have everything they wanted so they could live comfortably. One day without any warning or notice, their home caught flames and burned so quickly that they could barely escape the house with their lives. No one was hurt but not one material possession survived the blaze and they were left with but the clothes on their backs. They worked long and hard to recover from that disaster but they learned a great deal, so much in fact that the mother was grateful for that fire which put her priorities in order. She didn’t lose a single child and her husband wasn’t hurt either. The family was safe and alive and instead of working more the family spent more time together and grew much stronger. It really was the Refiner’s Fire. Sometimes we need some of the world that we hold so dear burned from us in order to make us pure. We can’t take it to heaven with us anyways. If we hold dear to Christ and our families we will be able to take our family with us. Thank you all so much for letting me know how you’re doing. I’m really grateful to have such a great family that writes often and shares their love and stories. A number of Elders have commented on their jealously for the great family I have :) . I love you all and I hope you have the best week you’ve ever had and that the week after that will be even better and so on and so on! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams
General San Martín y el Cerro de la Gloria: So here's a big shot of the entire monument Cerro de la Gloria (at least the upper part) so you can see just how big it is.
The amphitheat
The Countrysid
These are some of the bronze plaques near the Cerro de la Gloria.
El General San Martín: Look at that grin on his face.
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