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Hey fam,

I'm here writing on the tail end of my first all-nighter in the mission!! Hahaha wasn't nothing like an all-nighter in the den with the gang, but something along those lines. Last night we had transfers, and I had to make sure everyone made it out of here to their new provinces on the right bus at the right time. That included my good friend Elder Vera, who will finish his mission in Tucuman. Elder Edwards, from San Diego CA, has recently joined me to lead the fold in Santiago. His last comp was... Elder Miño, my beloved hijo!!! I'm pumped, I don't know much about him but I'm sure he works great.

This week, we headed to Salta for our leadership council. A really good, spiritual conference helped me renew the fire. Also, I received really great news about previous areas! Aldana and Gabi (Limache) are active. Victoria (Limache) is still inactive because her fam got mad, but she's feeding the Elders etc. 

That reminds me, mom, will you please reach out to Victoria on FB and tell her I'm praying a lot for her and that I know the BoM is true and will bless her life as she keeps reading. I don't know what God's plan for her is, but I feel strongly that I will see her again in this life or the next and the reunion will be sweet.

Also, I'm not sure how much I talked about her, but an awesome investigator (her partner is (was) an inactive member) named Cinthia Barrancos in Jujuy, got married and baptized by her husband at the end of Dec! She's a miracle, and just finally made it to church my last Sunday there, after battling with a pretty tough sickness. It made me really happy to get this news, and I hope to keep hearing good things from my friends here in Argentina.

I'm not sure what much else there is to share from this week. We keep talking with everyone and are seeing progress in the area as a result. On Sat, E Vera and I had a good old companionship inventory to shake out a few things that were bothering us, and we ended up feeling a lot of brotherly love, coming out of it a whole lot closer. He's great and I'm gonna miss him. He taught me a lot about service and humility, and it really feels like it was yesterday that I came here. 

I'll close with what I spoke on in church yesterday. They asked me to give a talk last minute, in large part because we only had 30 people in attendance. I spoke about the power and influence of our words, and how the Atonement can help us speak more lovingly. Countless times in my life I've seen other people interact without the Spirit and it's really sad the biting affect can have a thoughtless word or 2. I shared scrips like Eph 4:29, 32, I John 4:7-9 , 2 Nefi 33:1, and Galatians 6:10. I've been loving my NT studies lately. I know that if we seek to always speak by the Spirit and full of love, everyone will be happy. 

Shoutout to all my friends and family. I've got 7 short months on my ticket and I've had some dreams/experiences lately that have scared me into working harder because I know that after these 7 months life will never be the same. I don't know if I'll ever have the same calling and authority to teach and testify of Jesus Christ as I do now, and this time has grown to be one of the most precious gifts I have.

Love, 

Elder Isaac Blake