Que coman torta. (Let them eat cake.)

and I'm staying in Baradero! Yayy!

So Elder Mussin's visa came and he left me for the United States of America. This is the fifth companion I have booted off to the States. This last one stung a bit, knowing that he would be able to go to Cafe Rio and Jamba Juice and all that jazz, but just two transfers more after this one and I'll be headed back home. It's strange to think that I am reaching the end! 

But we are still working up a storm here in Baradero. My new companion is Elder Tolentino, from Peru, and we are getting along really great! Really humble and just goes with the flow. 

So about the title... well I have been doing some brainstorming about how I can better serve and love the people. And I was thinking and thinking, and I think that one of the attributes of love is going out of your way to help another. Elder Uchtdorf once said that love is spelled T. I. M. E. And I decided a would take away a bit of my free time at night (easy now that they give us an hour and a half) and I make cakes! I bought myself a nice little Bundt pan and was ready to get rolling. But then I ran into a dilemma, the recipe. At first I was walking through the chino (supermarket owned by Chinese folk) looking for a bizcuchuelo mix (like a quick cake mix) but couldn't find any! So, I was like well, it looks like we are going to have to do this the old fashion way. So I went over to the flour and looked on the bags to see if they had a simple cake recipe... and there was! Being a missionary has made me very domestic. But it was a really basic recipe, and I wanted something jazzy-er. So I put on my thinking cap again, and received PURE REVELATION: Stick jello mix with it. So I did some modifying to the recipe and have come out with a winner. Thus far I have made a strawberry cake, a pineapple cake, and vanilla pudding cake. I make them and the we give them to our investigators. It's hard not to love someone when you give them a cake. So far the efforts have been satisfying, and we are excited to keep up the work and to spread the love! Today I am working on a vanilla one with chocolate frosting courtesy of Nesquick chocolate milk powder. Elder Mussin left it in the apartment from when he left, and we are missionaries here on a budget. Hay que aprovechar. 

We started to teach a great family this week! They are passing through a lot of trials right now and want to get closer to Christ! They have a lot of potential, the only problem is going to be how to get them to church, because they live on the other side of town... but we'll worry about that when the time comes. One thing at a time. 

We are also working with this couple so that the husband gets divorced so they can get married! And they are making progress! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. When you find situations like this, your faith gets put into play. At the beginning I was like ''I don't know if we will be able to do this,'' But through small constant efforts, they are progressing. They have gone to church now FOUR TIMES since I've been here in Baradero, and the wife is on page 35ish of the Book of Mormon. REPENTANCE IS REAL! And they told us to come over Wednesday to eat with them. And yes, we did give them a cake. =)   Pray for them so that they can get the divorce and get married please! And then the wife can get baptized!

I love being a missionary. I love serving others. I love baking. It's fun. Well, maybe not every moment instantaneously, but all the good we do now gets turned into a blessing, which means fun in the future as well, and I like that. SO WAKE UP AND DO SOMETHING GOOD!

That's all for this week, folks. See you all soon enough!

Atentamente,

Elder Hardcastle=)

Picture:

The pineapple cake