Sick Day

"Hey what is up everybody? This week was pretty bad actually haha. Um so the beginning of the week I actually think Monday we were teaching Laura and she got a phone call for a job offer in another town, where she would have to work monday-fridays up there and she would come back to Grand Bourg for the weekends. We were alright with that but it kind of sucked. We just basically gave her homework about smoking and reading. And we would call her every night and talk to her and see if she was doing her stuff and she was doing great. There was another baptism from the other branch Saturday night and so we planned out with her that we would take her to that. And she called us like an hour before the baptism and was like where is the church I am coming! She never came and she never answered her phone that night. We went to pick her for church and when we went I peaked through the fence and I saw her smoking...I was thinking "NOOOOOOO!" We clapped and she ran inside and we waited and she came out and peaked through the gate and she ran back inside. We called her name and nothing. Her niece came out and was like, "Laura is not her" we were like we just saw and she was like oh she is not here. So we just went to church with out her which sucked! There was 27 people in our sacrament meeting, and 2 minutes before it started the Branch President came up to us and was like hey can you guys speak on being "Witnesses of Christ in our lives?" So that was awesome I actually felt alright when I did it but that was a sad day. 

"Saturday I woke up at 6 and threw-up and then I threw-up about 10 more times so we didn't really work that day I just kind of rested until about 6 that night, so that was bad.

"We "found" some more families this week that we have visits with so we will see how that goes. We are back to looking for people! Sometimes I feel like I will never baptize somebody it is pretty rough. Yeah so this week was pretty lame but we are determined to find this week and I know that we will! We have to bring some to the church this week! But I have faith that The Lord will guide us to the people that are ready we just have to go through a bunch of people to find those people.

"One quote that we here all the time on the mission is from Elder Holland, " Missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience!" I love that quote so much, I know that I am here to help people have salvation, I know that with prayer and faith it might not be easy but success will come! I know that I am going to really be able to help someone enter into the waters of baptism and I am just looking forward to that day, whether that is in 3 weeks or in 1 year I am ready! Love all you guys I miss you all and make sure never to take the family for granted because you are all awesome!"

Dude, Where's My Water?

Jun 16, 2015

"Hey everybody yeah yesterday was transfers

so today was our P-Day! This week was actually really awesome! So those people I told you all about last week, they all fell through and we are not teaching them anymore. The kid Brian who was 13 was really hesitant so we just asked him do you want to still be baptized and he said no not really, so we were like "chau." No but after I am emailed you all last week that night we went out with a member and just contacted old investigators around his house. He was awesome he would just go up to people and just show them The Book of Mormon and be like "this book can change your life" he was so bold. But that night we found a lady named Laura and she was pretty good and we set up another visit for another day. She is not married, she does not work she just lives with her sister and nieces she is probably 50 years old. She committed to the 28th for baptism! We gave her a Book of Mormon that night and told her to read 3 Nephi 11 and we called her the next day to see if she read. And she read and said she loved it! Our next appointment with her was Wednesday and about 3 hours before our app Wed the assistants called and were like hey can we send the secretary down tonight, and he come and work with you guys. So we were kind of freaking out and so we made sure our plans were good, and when were doing that Lara fell through on us! And our member we had fell through on us! We had to go to our backup plans, and contact some references and old investigators with him. He was so good at just talking to people he was really bold and taught us a lot. At the end of the night he came back to our appartment he just basically said they are checking out all the "tough" areas and see what is going on. But anyways Thursday we went back to Laura to teach her The Restoration, and when we entered the house she was talking to us about her smoking problem. So we dropped The Restoration and taught he The Word of Wisdom. She said she really wants to stop smoking she said she only smokes like 10 cigarettes a day! So we set some goals with her and she was excited about it! We went back Friday to teach her The Restoration. This was like the first time I have taught the Restoration inside sitting down with and investigator. I have taught others inside and I have taught The Restoration in a lot of front yards. My job was to introduce The Restoration and do the first vision and talk about Joseph Smith. When I started to say the first vision, in the middle of it she just started crying. And right after I just shared my testimony because that is always the best moment to do it. She was like " I never cry I don not know why I am crying, but I don't feel sad." It was awesome! We asked her if she believed this was true and she said yeah! Also her niece was listening and it was so great! We invited her to church which was stake conference and they said that wanted to go. Sunday morning we went and picked them up and they came to church! They loved it and they were telling all the members they are going next week too! Anyways it felt so good to bring somebody to church and to have a progressing investigator. She is still doing awesome! We talk to her everyday and she is excited about baptism and she just needs to leave smoking by the 24th! 

"Yeah so Tuesday night we were out with a member and we were standing in the street talking and these 2 dogs started fighting right next us. And they were like all over each other and some how they came right in the middle of our group and one bit me in the leg! The second time in like 2 weeks! This one hurt a lot more, that was a week ago today and it is still sore. It was not bleeding but it left a little bruise! I hate dogs, they smell, they bark and they bite. So now the next time a dog bites me I am just going to kick it. 

"So yesterday was transfers we are both staying in the same area this transfer, but Elder Laudie is District Leader this transfer. He is super nervous but it should be fun! Also we ran out of water about 3 days ago so we boil water and she just take showers like that so that sucks. I do not know when it will come back on but I hope soon!"

A Dog Eat Dog World

"Hello people how are you all doing?

"A lot has happened this past week! I am seeing a little bit of light with these people but we will see haha! No this week was good we talked with a lot more people than the last couple of weeks, and we actually taught a lot of lessons this week.

"We found this old lady last week and we started teaching her Tuesday. When we visit her she always says she is doing something so we can not go in but then she just starts talking to us throught the gate for like 10 min. So we were like we are just going to teach her without asking. So we just transformed the conversation into the lesson and pulled out a pamphlet and started teaching her about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was going awesome she was basically accepting everything we were saying and it was going great. We asked her to be baptized and she accepted for the 21st. So that was awesome!  At the end we asked her if she would pray and we taught her how to. She looked a little confused so I said, "Maybe we can show you an example of a prayer and then after you can try." She was like okay! So Elder Laudie started his prayer and she was copying everything he was saying so he just went with it I was trying so hard not to laugh.

"The family I told you all about last week, we taught the 13 year old and he also accepted a baptismal date for the 21st but he wasn't able to go to church this week. But he is awesome we just need to get the permission from the parents and I am sure he will get baptized because we have talked to him a few times, and he is fine with it. So we will see how that turns out this week!

"I think it was Saturday night we were trying to contact an old investigator that was from a few years ago. And we were "asking the neighbors" and we talked to this one lady and she was so nice! She lives with her "husband" and 3 kids 11, 13 and 15. And we were talking to her and she said her uncle or someone just died and their family is having a hard time right now. She also said " I am not a part of any religion right now but I am searching for the truth." I was thinking "YES!!!!" Those are the people that we are trying to find. So we started teaching really quick about the Plan of Salvation and told her that we know families can be together forever! And she was really excited about it. We did the verification, by asking her if she actually has interest in our message and she said I will see you Tuesday at 3! Awesome!! We walked away and were like "GRACIAS!" Oh crap we forgot to ask her if she was married. We were so mad, that could ruin everything if she is not married. So this morning we called to "verify our visit tomorrow at 3" but really we were calling to see if she was married. We were so nervous to call and we started talking to her and she said she is married! That is so rare here! We then asked her if she had any questions, and she asked what we believed about Jesus Christ. And we gave a short version of the part of the lesson about the life of Jesus Christ. And we also told her that we believe that there is a living Prophet today. And she was like "living? There is someone to lead the people on the earth to today?" We were like yes there is and we can share this message with you tomorrow and she was like " I have one problem my husband is sick and at home and he will not let you into the house" So we asked her if she wants to do the visit at the church tomorrow and she said yes! So I feel like she is the one we were trying to find! But of course we are going to see!

"This week I saw another dog eat another dog, which was the worst thing I have ever seen. And also today some home walked past us and starting screaming at us saying you "Testigos" (Jehovahs Witness) "I kill Testigos" So that was cool haha!

"No this was a good week! Next Monday is the end of my first transfer I think that we will stay together for another transfer and then he will leave the area and I will stay here for another transfer or two. We will see! Thanks for the emails you are all awesome! I know that this is the truth and people need to know that!"

Not Enough To Make Me Bleed

This is the first of two posts today. Make sure to check out the other one here.

"This was another great week! I cant believe that I have been here in Argentina for a month. That seems crazy I feel like I just got here. It is also weird to think that I have been gone for 2 1/2 months. We are already in "week 5" of this transfer.

"This week was good. I feel like I just emailed you all a couple of days ago. Funny story right when I finished emailing you guys last week we walked out of the building and when we rounded the corner there were some dogs there barking at us. We didn't think anything of it because dogs are constantly barking at us but we walked by them and one bit me right in the leg. I almost turned around and kicked it right in the face but I had to show some control. It was a little sore at first we checked right away to see if it was bleeding because if it was we would have to call the mission home and get shots. But when we checked it was just red it didn't get me good enough to make me bleed which was good.

"Um this week I started to do street contacts by myself. If we had an address to a house we always just ask houses around it and then invite them to church. But usually we both go up to the same house and talk to the person. But this week we would go to different houses and talk and ask the people and invite them to church. So that was pretty fun we talk to a lot more people that way and also get denied by a lot more people. Last night I was talking to this guy and I asked where these less active members lived even though I knew they lived right next door. And the guy just pointed to the house and when I started to tell him about the church he just turned around and walked in his house so that was cool. But I walked over to Elder Laudie he was talking to another lady and she was talking for a while and he invited her to church and she said she would go but she needs permission from the church that she goes to. I asked what the name of the church is and she was like um "I don't know it is a really long name" (but in castellano). So there are a lot of people like that here that claim they go to another church or they are catholic and so they cant come but they don't actually know anything about their church. 

"We actually met some good people this week. We met this family that has been to church 2 times before so they really only have to go one more time then they can be baptized. No but they are really good except of course the parents are not married. But they have a 13 year old son who is awesome. So we are going to try to get hime baptized in the next couple next weeks. We are going to meet with them tonight. We are starting to get tired of people say that they want us to come back and then when we do they are not there. So now when we meet someone we say we don't want to waste your time and we don't want to waste our time (really we just don't want to waste our time because we are on the time of the Lord) so are you actually interested in our message and do you have desire. We met this old lady yesterday and she was really nice and we asked her if she has desire and she said yes I do. And she said she wants to meet with us in the church. So we are going to teach her in the church tonight and so hopefully that goes well. We will find someone good that is ready we just have to talk to a bunch of people and use the members as much as we can.

"...[T]he castellano is coming along. I feel fine talking kind of. I started to do phone calls but understanding everything everybody says is still hard. I know it will just take time.

"I hear L. Tom Perry died that is sad. I don't know what happened if anything happened other than just old age. I think he has a free ticket to Celestial Kingdom so I think he will be fine. Studying this gospel everyday and teaching to people is awesome. I am happy here and I know it will just keep on getting better."

Release The Hounds

This letter is from a week ago, but better late than never, right?

"Hey everybody! ...[Y]esterday we had the mission wide activity near Capital. It was at the school of the presidents kids. It was a super nice area it was much different than our area. We had a mission wide soccer tournament each zone was a team and then we watched Meet the Mormons it was pretty fun!

 

"Anyways you know the two girls I told you about last week that we taught? So after we taught them we went back for our next appointment and they were not there. So we called them and they did not answer. That night she texted us and said we do not want to listen to you guys anymore. I was super sad, so the next day we went to the house to talk to them and when we clapped they opened up the door really quick and sent the dogs for us. The dogs ran at us and ran out of the gate and started freaking out, so we got out of there pretty quick. So I don't think they want us to come back.

 

"Anyways wednesday night we had a youth come with us to contact referrals. We got like 5 new great investigators that night and we were super excited. We went back for one girl the next day she was 17 and we taught here and she excepted the baptismal invitation, and said she would come to church. We went to visit her Saturday night and her brother answered the door and said she was not there. And I looked in the house and she was sitting right there so that kind of sucked. All the other people we met also fell through, so we are basically starting over this week. So we are going to find some new people to teach starting today. This area is known as being a hard area to baptize but I do not want that to get into my head so we are just going to keep on working hard and I know we will find somebody.

 

"So my birthday was pretty awesome! We went to lunch at a members house and they made me a cake and gave us food!  Then at church the next day I had to speak in sacrament meeting and we had to teach priesthood. But the whole branch threw me a party after church with cake and food and the sang it was pretty awesome. Birthdays are a pretty big deal here.

"Anyways I will talk about the food a little. So like I said we drink a lot of soda because the water is not clean. We eat a lot of hamburgers which are really good here. We also eat a lot of fried meat called Milanesa and potatoes. I have not had anything too bad yet which is good but I am sure it will come. Everybody here drinks Mate which is the stuff that looks like weed in the cups with a straw. We are not aloud to drink it so that is good because everybody share the same straw and I do not have to. I need to weigh myself because I feel like I have gained weight because I eat like 10 pounds of bread a day. Another thing that is good is choripan, it is sausage cut in half and put on bread. It is super good! So the food is not to bad!

"Anyways I still feel like an idiot with the language. I feel like a little kid but it is good! I get better everyday but is so hard to understand these people. I am at the point where I can basically understand everything my companion says in spanish now I just need to get better at understanding what natives say-. I feel like I can speak pretty well. It just takes time to translate what I want to say in english into spanish in my head and by the time I know what I want to say it is too late. So it is a pretty good struggle!

 

"Anyways I love what I am doing right now, I know that without this gospel my life would so much worse. Prayer is one of the only ways that helps me feel comfortable when I feel dumb or mad at myself. This gospel is true and I just want everybody in Grand Bourg to know that."