February 4, 2013

This last week was great. I continued in my ongoing battle with the Argentine government officials to have a visa. I only have to go one more time tomorrow, and then I think it will all be done.

Missionaries are only supposed to have one free day a week and I am going on a tour of Capital with all the other Elders who are going home on Saturday. So today I didn't have a p-day and had to work.

This coming week is going to be a little wild. Tomorrow I am going to Capital to do paperwork for my visa for hopefully the last time. This last Sunday, the bishop announced that I only have one week left in Sacrament meeting. So after the meeting, about every family in the ward asked me when I could come past their house for a goodbye dinner. This week I have a lunch and two dinners almost every day. Lots of asado. The members are Tolosa are way too nice.

I don't really know what to say about my closing week. It kind of just seems like I am going to continue on being a missionary. I don't really think it has hit me that my mission will end at some point.

I love you all tons. Thanks for all you have done to make it possible that I could be a missionary. I can't wait to see everyone in the next few weeks. I love you all. See you on Tuesday. All is well. Life is good.

January 28, 2013

I think this might be the last email I send home. I'm not really sure yet. Next week, all the Elders who are going home have a guided tour of Capital and I don't know if I am going to have time to write home. So....if I don't write next week, don't freak out and I will see you at the airport!

I don't really know what to write....this week was good. I am having more and more trouble focusing myself as the days go on. Every once in a while, I find myself staring into space thinking about airports. But, in those moments I do my best to real my focus back to La Plata. I also started to pack my bags this week (I'm bringing my sleeping bag home, there is no negotiating on this one) and buy souvenirs. So I guess I am officially trunky. No worries though, I still am working a lot and doing my best to find new people to teach.

This week I had a lot more problems with my visa. I drove around all of Buenos Aires with the office Elders, trying to get my visa figured out. It didn't really work, and this week I got kicked out of another government building. We have to run around for two more days this week to try to figure out the visa. We will see if I leave Argentina legally or illegally.

This week I have the final zone leader counsel of my mission. In the zone leader counsel, the Elders who are going home always bear their testimonies. I have seen 11 months worth of missionaries giving their testimonies, and this week it will be my turn. I don't think my brain can fully understand that its my turn, instead my hands start to sweat and I get kind of confused. But, since you guys wont be there to hear me, I thought I would share a little tiny bit right now.

The mission has been something really really weird for me. Weird in the best way. Before the mission, I kind of never liked to listen to people bear their testimonies. In fact, in kind of made me a little bit uncomfortable. I remember, several different times, looking at people who had given themselves to their devotion in religion and Jesus and thinking, "Whaaaat? What are those people feeling that makes them act the way they act and say the things they say?" I really didn't understand. During the mission, I feel like I have been forced into many situations where I have had to pick in between throwing my pride to the side and taking part in the weirdness or keeping my hubris and my spiritual allergy. I feel like that is one of the functions of the mission, to force you really to decide who you are and what you want to do. I was lucky enough to have the help from my companions and the Spirit to be able to, in some degree, drop my hubris and experiment what all the testimony givers were feeling. It was in those moments when I really began to feel, recognize that the feeling was good, and to understand. Little by little, moment by moment, feeling by feeling, I feel like my pride went leaving my heart, the feeling got stronger, and I began to change. I began to become one of the people who had previously made me uncomfortable. That is all Heavenly Father really wants us to do. He wants us to lay aside our pride just long enough for him to make a change in us. We actually do very little in the process. He does most of the work. I have learned many things while I have been here. I have learned that our best chance of happiness in this life lies in living the gospel. I have learned that Heavenly Father loves everyone so so much. I have felt it. I have learned that I have many many weaknesses and that I can correct them if I want to. I have learned that no matter how many weaknesses I correct, I will never be close to finished in ridding myself of all of them. I have learned that bedays are much better than toilet paper. I have learned that companions are the best. I have learned that if there are problems in my life, there is a 99% chance that they are my fault and not of anyone else. I have learned that you can be happy in any situation, it just depends on your attitude. I have learned that my family is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I better stop there. I'm out of time.

All is well. Life is good.

January 21, 2013

This is my third to last email I will be sending. Writing these emails have been kind of strange. I have been fairly lazy as far as writing in my journal goes, so I think these emails will be valuable for me in the future. When a seventy´s wife came to teach us, she said, "The best journal you will have for after the mission will be the letters that you have written to your mother." I hope that is true.

This week was pretty busy. Elder Reynolds and I had to run around doing a couple different activities, so we did not spend as much time teaching as we would have liked. On Tuesday, we had interviews with the President. Whenever we have interviews, the zone leaders have to do a workshop for every companionship of missionaries. Giving the same 1-hour workshop eight times in a row can be kind of tedious, but it was funny thanks to the company of Elder Reynolds.

On Wednesday night, the office Elders called me and told me that I had to be in the mission offices to do visa work the next morning. The mission offices are on the other side of the mission. (Two buses and two trains). We got to the offices on Thursday morning. There, they told me that they couldn't find my passport and were frantically looking for it. The mission Presidents wife and all of the office elders were fasting so they could find it. I asked them what it means if I don't have my passport and they told me that I would have to stay in the country for another 2-3 months while the embassy made me another passport. That notion was very bittersweet for me. More bitter than sweet so, I started to pray too. Meanwhile, they told me to go to a nearby government building and try to do some paperwork to get my visa current and to ensure than I leave the country legally. At the government building, I talked to a not very friendly lady (who reminded me of one of the ladies who works at the post office, except meaner) who asked me for my passport. I told her that I did not have it. She shouted at me for a little, and in short told me to get out and come back when I had my passport. I went outside for a little bit and called the office Elder whose job is to organize the visas. He told me that the lady didn't know what she was talking about and told me to sneak back into the building, avoid the mean post office lady who had just finished shouting at me, and try to do the paperwork with a different mean post office lady. I sighed and said, "okay...". I tried to sneak back in and was promptly discovered by the same shouting post office lady. She asked me, with lots of expletives, what I was doing. I told her, in a faltering, frightened, and higher voice than normal, that I was there to retry my visa paperwork. She blew up. She started screaming about how if our situations were switched my country would have deported her years ago and how Yankees are always acting like they own the world and something about my mother...She just caused a big scene and everyone stared at me. I just tried to smile. She then called the policewoman who was stationed at the government building and told her to take me out of the building. The police woman (a lot shorter than me) grabbed me by the upper arm and ushered me out of the office. sweeeeeeet. I then made my way back to the mission offices, feeling rather defeated and embarrassed. When I got to the offices, the office Elders told me the bittersweet news that they had found my passport and that I could go back and face the screaming menace once again to finish my visa papers. I went back and the lady had left, and the papers went smoothly. It all ended well and for the moment, I am not to be deported nor exiled.

The best part of the week, by far, was the baptism of the Sanchez kids. I wish I could send the picture, but this computer is not cooperating. (I will show you them in a few weeks.) I don't know why, but it seems like something goes wrong at every baptism. The Sanchez baptism was an exception. The water worked, the clothes fit, the family arrived on time, the members brought refreshments, it went well. The kids were so happy and the family too. It was especially special because Hermano Sanchez, who recently re-activated in the church, was able to do the baptisms. Everyone was beaming, and the whole experience was real good.

All is well. Life is good.

January 14, 2013

On the Argentine news I hear that there is a horrible, freezing storm that is debilitating the western United States. Based on how they usually report happenings in the US, its probably kind of cold in a few places. I'm not jealous. I would take overwhelming heat and humidity over freezing cold any day. I'm not excited to be cold again. For everything else, yes, I am excited.

Things this week were severely normal. That does not mean that they were bad, (in fact this week was great) just that they were pretty normal. Once a month, Elder Reynolds, President Stapely, the Stake President, and I have a meeting. We usually sit and watch the two Presidents talk, but it's good nonetheless. This month, the meeting finished a little early and the President asked us if we had any investigators that we would like to visit with him. We decided to take him to The Sanchez Family. The Sanchez family is a part member and inactive family. We are teaching and planning the baptism of two of the kids in the family, Celste, and Jonny. The Mom of the family, Laura is not a member, and is friendly and cordial, but doesn't really want to hear anything. When President got to the house, the whole family was super honored and a little nervous to have the Mission President in their house. But Stapes is awesome and calmed them down with friendly, easy conversation. Then he focused totally on Laura. We have been trying to figure out what Laura's doubt is for some time. After about 8 minutes of sincere chatting in between her and President, she spitted the doubt out. I was blown away. I guess President holds a little more weight than I do. Being an old missionary, sometimes it is easy to make the mistake in thinking that you have finished progressing as a missionary. Thanks to President Stapely, I know I have lots of room to grow, even in the last four weeks. and the rest of my life....

The baptism of Celeste and Jonny will be this Saturday. They are super great and fun to teach. Should be good. I will try to send pictures next weeks.

Elder Reynolds and I are holding on and trying not to get trunky. I am searching for a good quantity of quality experiences in my last few weeks.

All is well. Life is good.

January 7, 2013

It's getting harder every week to read these emails and stay focused. It's great. When I first started my mission I carefully looked through all of my ties and choose a different one everyday, depending in how I was feeling that day. Some days I wore one tie for the first half of the day and another for the second half. It was a big deal. Now, I usually wear the same time for a week or more and when it comes time to change because someone comments on the fact that I have been wearing the same tie so many day in a row, I grab one randomly off the tie rack. I am looking pretty good with dirty ties, yellow shorts, holy pants, and moldy shoes. I guess its all part of the experience though. I welcome it.

Today was a special day. I forgot to tell you all last week, but today, all of the missionaries from the BAS mission went to the temple. It was the first time I had been to the temple in about 22 months. The missionaries can only go to the temple one time a year or if one of their converts is going to the temple to do their own work. The reasoning for the rule is that missionaries are here to do the work for the living, not the dead. I guess that's right. It looks like a family that I taught and baptized in Longchamps, the Acuña family, will be going to the temple before I go home with them. Also, all of the missionaries get to go to the temple the week before they get home, so I will be going yet another time before I come home. I might soon be translated. Naw, it will be real good. Walking away from the temple today I felt real good and ready for the next few weeks.

Everything is going pretty normally. Elder Reynolds and I are teaching a part member family right now named Familia Sanchez. They are all super well-behaved kids (hard to find in Argentina) and love when we come over. Two of them have baptismal dates for the 19th of this month. Should be b-e-a-utiful.

Remember how strange people always sneak into the church if the doors are left open?  Welllll.......the other day Elder Reynolds and I were teaching English classes in the church with a few youth and the Hermana missionaries from the bordering ward. Elder Reynolds was teaching when I noticed a guy walk by the door with a big plastic bag. I recognized him right away as these cheesy, and usually drunk or high salesman who walk door to door and sell super random things from plastic bags. I went out of the classroom to talk to him and usher him out of the church, as is custom. I asked him if he needed any help. He right away started pulling electrical cords, highlighters, cd booklets, paperclips, and a punch of random stuff out of the bag to sell me. It was obvious right away that we was pretty drunk and I told him I didn't want anything. It was at that point that he pulled out a knife, pointed it at me, and asked me if I wanted to buy the knife. I think he was showing me the knife half as a solicitude and half as a threat. I said, "Sure! How much is that highlighter, I was just needing a highlighter." I gave him ten pesos and he left. Lesson: Always lock church doors.

All is well. Life is good.

December 31, 2012

My Christmas was fantastic. After talking on skype with a few of you, Elder Reynolds and I went to Juanitas house to celebrate. There we had some good food and laughed for a long time with Juanita and her equally old roommate, Regina. They are my favorite old ladies. They always tell lots of old people jokes that wouldn't make me laugh unless the jokes had come from Regina and Juanita. And I laugh soo hard when I am with them; to tears. They gave Elder Reynolds and I shaving cream (for sensitive skin, I don't know how they knew I have sensitive skin) and after shave. I have never used after shave in my life, so we will see how it goes. After shave just makes me think of Home Alone when little Macaulay Culkin slaps some burning after shave on his face and screams. I am hoping that my first time after shave experience is a little better. But, the point is that Juanita and Regina are great, and they helped make my Christmas perfect. Hopefully I helped them have a brighter Christmas too.

This week was pretty funny and different. I don't know why I always end up talking about the shower in these emails, but it always just seems to pop up. Our shower is the best I have had thus far in my mission, but the water heater has the sneaky habit of turning off if there is even a little bit of wind outside. I jumped into the shower on Friday morning without really testing the temperature of the water beforehand. The water was so freezing, but I am kind of a pro in taking cold showers lately, so I didn't turn it off. I just shouted to Elder Reynolds and asked him if he could light up the water heater again. I didn't hear an answer, so i just assumed that he had been busy with something and couldn't light the heater again. I just finished my cold shower. When I walked out of the shower, I just saw that Elder Reynolds was laid out on the bed and his face was all pink with hints of black. Apparently Elder Reynolds had gone out to light the water heater, stuck in a match to light the pilot light, and light a pocket of gas or something that caused an explosion to come out of the hole and burn his face. He was in kind of a lot of pain in his eyes, so we called the mission doctor. The mission doctor told us that he probably had a flash burn on his cornea and that we just had to buy some special eye drops and stay on bed rest. In the end, Elder Reynolds was totally fine, but we were obedient to the doctor and stayed in the apartment for the rest of the day. So, I spent another day counting bricks and drawing dragons. Sweet. Elder Reynolds is fine now. It seems like we have weird accidents every week.

In between leadership meetings, burned corneas, and holidays, we did not have as much time as we would have liked. But I did have a lot of time to think. As I was thinking, I realized that most of my thoughts were directed towards home, friends, family, school, girls, future jobs, pretty much everything that is happening outside of my missionary life. That realization made me kind of sad. My mind was more in the United States than it was in Argentina where it needed it be (with my body). I opened up a book Mom and Dad sent me with a bunch of good quotes in it. After a little bit of flipping through, I found a quote that was perfect for my situation and motivated me a lot. It was something along the lines of this, *ahem* "Every dog, when you put it behind a fence, will cry and bark and squeal to be let out. And most dogs, upon being let out or digging out of the fence will simply lay down next to the fence that had previously enclosed them. The dog was focused on getting out of the fence, but hadn't thought about what it would do once it got out." I don't share this quote to say that dogs are stupid or anything, I share it because I think we humans are exactly the same. Too many times we think, "I will be fine once I finish school", or "I will be happy once I am out of this relationship", or "Everything will be fine once I get this job". Or in my case, "Everything will be sweet once I am done with my mission, area, companion, etc." When we resort to such thinking we are making our happiness conditional and robbing ourselves from the joy that could be garnished from the moment we are in presently. If we make such thinking a habit, we will find that we have run through so many good experiences without learning the lessons or reaping the happiness. It's so very hard and so very important that we learn to be present. I feel like the happiest people, the people that everyone wants to be around, the successful people are the ones who have learned to never leave the moment, but to take it for all it is worth. There is a word in Spanish that doesn't really exist in English. it is aprovechar, or pretty much take advantage of something and use it for all it is worth. I want to do that. I want to aprovechar every moment I have left in the mission, and in broader scope, my life. I don't want to look back and see a path of missed opportunities. I promise to do my best to aprochevar the next six weeks. I invite everyone else who reads this email to do the same. Aprovechar every moment. Be Present. 

All is well. Life is good.

December 24, 2012

I am running late and I have to get inside pretty soon. On Christmas eve, pretty much everyone just gets really drunk and shoots fireworks everywhere, so the streets are pretty dangerous and we have to get back to the apartment pretty early. But, I will share the few highlights of my week.
    1. Confirmation of Macarena-Real good. She was shining.
    2. We were helping a lady paint the inside of her house on Wednesday. First we had to clean the walls that were covered in mold. As I was cleaning the mold, it kind of turned into a dust and I breathed a lot of it in. I started to have a really intense allergic reaction and my throat closed up almost all the way and I couldn't really breathe or talk at all. Luckily Reynolds was at my side and calmed me down. We were about to go to the hospital, but we got a hold of some liquid benadryl and that fixed me up pretty well. I'm totally fine now, it was just a funny moment.
    3. The Christmas party for the mission was today in the mission home. It was super good and chill. It is the hottest day this year today and everyone was sweating and dying. Pres. Stapelys face was so so red and everyone was making fun of him. I love the mission and have made a lot of good friends here.

December 17, 2012

I heard about the shootings this week. So so bad. The news find of really affected me this week. I saw a few articles that were sent to me about the shootings and I just ended up feeling angry and sad. My initial feelings are that guns should not be available to citizens anymore. Guns are the worst. One Hermano in the ward asked me what i thought about what has happened and I told him what I thought about guns. His response was both chilling and true. He said, "But, Elder! You don't blame spoons for getting people fat, do you?" I thought about his comment for a while afterwards. The problem does not have as much to do with guns as it does people. The problem will not be solved until people choose good over evil, light over darkness, and love over hate. I feel lucky to have the gospel in my life and wish that all others had the same help. The gospel, in my life, is the motivating force to choose light over darkness and love over hate. It has the power to save the world from every social and economic problem. The only thing we can do is to make sure that we are active in the matter and do our best to always choose good and help others to do the same.

This week was really really good. I was working in a lot of different areas on exchanges this week, and it was really refreshing. Being on exchanges kind of makes you feel like a new missionary again because you don't know anyone, know where anyone is, etc. That feeling new again was exactly what I needed. Sometimes, it's kind of easy to fall into the routine. When one falls into the routine, all of ones relationships become emotionless and kind of empty. I believe that was happening with me in Tolosa. It was good to take a few deep breaths and get my perspective back.

We had a baptism this week. Remember the family of daughters who were kidnapped? We have been teaching one of the daughters of that family named Macarena. (It's a name here, not a dance.) We were walking past thier house the other day and saw a girl crying outside. We went to talk with her. She told us her name was Macarena and that she was 16. We had seen her a couple of times, but never really talked that much. She started telling us that her family was always doing bad stuff and she was sick of it. She said, "I want a new start." boom. In her house, almost every night, there are huge, nasty cocaine parties. Even the kids who are 7 and 12 years old are constantly walking around drunk. It's just a bad atmosphere. But, Macarena couldn't take it anymore and asked for our help. We have been teaching her in the house of a near by neighbor ever since. It has been amazing. Macarena has eaten up every word, lesson, scripture, testimony that we have given her. She read the Book of Mormon twice already. I have never seen such fierce hunger for the gospel in a person. After a few weeks of amazing lessons and days at church, she has a new shine and even looks different. So good.

The baptism was planned for this Sunday. The font takes about 4 hours to fill up, so we got to church a little early. We started filling up the font, but after about 2 minutes of filling up, the water stopped. I couldn't believe it and almost lost it. All I could think was, "When there is water, the people don't come and when the people come, the water doesn't." I was so angry and wimpy about the whole situation. Luckily, Reynolds is still rock solid and has way more faith than me. He just told me not to worry and that we would fill the font with buckets. I didn't think it would work, but followed Reynold's lead anyways. For the next three hours of church, we missed all the meetings and slowly tried to fill up the font carrying buckets from an outside spicket to the font. Eventually, we got about one foot of water in the font. Yet again, I decided it wouldn't work, but Reynolds, yet again, said it would be fine. Reynolds did the baptism and Macarena pretty much had to lie down flat in the font, but she was baptized on the second try. It was a special baptism. Macarena was beaming with new light. In the end she received her new start that she was looking for. 

Do good things. All is well. Life is good.

December 10, 2012

Right now there is a huge wind and rain storm outside. There is tons of chapa (I don't know what you call it in English. Google it up y'all.) flying around in the streets and cutting peoples heads off. Only slightly kidding. The storms here are never really that bad, but the people are so dramatic. It's super funny. One drop falls and everybody runs as fast as they can and don't leave thier houses for the next week, not for church, not for anything. 

Meanwhile, Elder Reynolds and I walk around soaked and loving the cool weather. I know the thermometer doesn't show it, but it has been so so hot lately. The thing is that even if it is 75% outside, it's totally uncomfortable because of the constant 98% of humidity. Lots of sweat. None of my shirts are really white anymore, more like a greying cream tone with a tint of green (of mold). I think I will be leaving pretty much all of my clothing here when I go home, just the clothes on my back will be making the journey. And Mom, there is no way I am leaving my sleeping bag here. I love 7 day a week sleeping bags. I have found a better way. You don't even need sheets!

Remember the family who didn't come to thier baptism? We went to thier house a few times this week, but it was all in vain. I don't know what happened with them, but it seemed like all of the good desires that we helped them to develop have dried up. We told them that we would be back in 2 or three weeks. Hopefully that will refresh thier minds and spirits. Bummer, but what are you gonna do?

As a result of dropping the Alvarez familia, we have lots of time to look for new investigators. Finding in Tolosa is a totally different experience that I have not had in my mission. Almost all of Tolosa is pretty wealthy, so doing contacts is not affective at all. In other more humble areas, 1 out of every 4 people will let you in. So Elder Reynolds and I are doing our best to work through the members as much as we can. I am starting to feel like less of a missionary and more of a personal mission work coach. We have been visiting a lot of members and helping them feel brave and calm about inviting thier friends to visit with us. We are having mild success, but surely it will pick up later on.

This week we had a little bit of a scary and in the end funny experience. Last Monday, we got a call from one of the pairs of sister missionaries in our zone at about 11:30 at night. I answered the phone and the Hermana just started screaming in the zone that something bad had happened with her companion and that we needed to go to thier apartment as fast as we could. At that point in the conversation, the phone cut out. My comp and I dressed as fast as we could, a little scared ourselves from the phone call. We called a remis(kind of like a taxi) that took us on the 40 minutes trip to the Hermanas apartment. While in the remis I called President and told him what had happened and he told us to move as fast as he could. We also got a hold of the Hermanas again, who were still freaking out and were not able to communicate to us what exactly was happening for thier hysterics. I stayed on the phone with them trying, without success to calm them down. We eventually got to thier apartment and realized that the power was out in the zone around thier apartment. The Hermanas were waiting outside, in there pajamas with a flashlight and crying. Apparently they had just talked to a schizophrenic investigator who said a lot of mumbo jumbo that the Hermanas interpreted as a voodoo spell. They left his house, went home, and got ready for bed. They were both still really scared and decided to sing hymns to calm themselves down. Right as they started to sing hymns, the power went out, and they freaked out and called us. We gave them blessings and blessed the apartment. They felt better, and thanked us, and we made the long trip home. It was just funny because they were freaking out and scared each other more than anything. Now that I write out this story, it sounds less funny and more scary, but it was funny. I promise.

Other than that, things are going well. My biggest worry right now is if my last pair of shoes is going to make it for the past two months. Other than that, I'm good. All is well. Life is good.

December 3, 2012

This week was good, but kind of rough. We have not had any luck in finding a new place to live, but that doesn't concern me that much. This week we had the baptisms of Brian and Brenda lined up for Saturday. We spent most of the week preparing things for the baptism. (ie. Baptismal Interview, organizing the bap service, calling and inviting members to the service, getting the clothes ready, getting the kids ready, filling out the paperwork and so on.) Saturday rolled around and we spent all day filling up the font. The plumbing is kind of ancient in the church, and it takes about 7 hours to fill up the font. We had arranged that the kids come to the church at three thirty to come and get ready for the service at four. The kids didn't come at three thirty. The members started coming at four and the Hermanas prepared a lot of refreshments. We called the kids about 500 times and no one answered. Finally, I called the Mom of the kids who is not a member and she answered and just started shouting telling me that the kids had been fighting, so she wouldn't take them to the baptism. I tried to talk to her, but she wouldn't hear any of it. I hung up the phone and was totally sad and embarrassed. I went in to tell the members that there wasn't going to be a baptism and apologize. I did, and they were all kind of bothered, but they were nice about it. My face must have showed that I was really discouraged because the bishop cane up to me and hugged me for about 17 minutes. He's great. It was frustrating but oh well. I talked to the kids and they still want to be baptized. I just how to figure out things with the Mom. Luckily I have rock solid Reynolds at my side. He;s the best. 

But, things are good. Like I said in the last email, I almost always am totally okay with whatever is going on, and the failed bap didn't change that. Today we had a zone activity and just had a big water balloon fight. I forgot to bring extra underwear and am now sitting in wet wet underwear under my shirt and tie. Que va a hacer. It was totally fun. All is well. Life is good.

November 26, 2012

This week was super tranquil and almost boring. I accidentally told you all that Pres. Arnold was coming last week. He is really scheduled to come this coming week. But, We received the announcement last night that President Arnold had been relieved as the area president and was in the United States to receive a new calling. What that calling is, I have no idea. When the announcement came out, I almost heard the deep breath of relief throughout the mission. Instead of Arnold, it looks like Pres. Giovanni or someone of the seventy will be coming on Thursday to take a tour of the mission. I don't know who he is, but I will let you all know next week how it went. 

Elder Reynolds is a great guy. He is just really chill and doesn't have problems with anything. We figured out the the other day that we are the oldest companionship in the mission. Or that we have the most combined time in the mission out of all the companionships. We will do our best not to be trunky ever. 

Thanksgiving was so good. Even though no one celebrates/knows what is Thanksgiving here. I totally felt the Thanksgiving spirit. I even made a list of the things/people I am most grateful for. But, this Thanksgiving was way special. There is a family in my ward, Familia Dolder, that used to live in the United States that knows what Thanksgiving is and invited us over for Thursday night dinner. Hermano Dolder kind of invented the computer in Argentina and The Dolder family has the nicest house I have ever been in in Argentina. It was kind of strange. I am used to houses with cement and dirt floors, and I felt kind of awkward being in this huge American like house. But I quickly overcame my awkwardness and it was such a good night. The Family Dolder are the nicest family in the whole world. I don't know how they figured it out, but they made us pumpkin and apple pie. I couldn't believe it. I had never before seen a pumpkin and less an apple pie since I left the US. We also ate a rotisserie chicken with chicken noodle soup. So nice and good. I totally felt with family with them. I'm glad they made a special time for the extranjero american Elders.

Other than that, almost nothing happened this week. Elder Reynolds was sick almost all week, and we couldn't really leave the apartment that much. So, we spent a whole lot of time sleeping, and I read almost all of Jesus the Christ. It's the worst when your companion is sick because you have to stay with him 24/7 and there isn't much you can do as a missionary to combat boredom. The scriptures are great, but after 6 straight hours of scrips, I kind of feel like I am going crazy. After that I found and named all the spiders in the pinch, cleaned the bathroom 4 times, did as many sit ups as I could, drew pictures of dragons, and so on. Luckily he is doing way better know, and we will be working more this week.

Our apartment is the worst I have had thus far on the mission. We call it the poverty hut because it is so small and has a tin roof. When it rains, it sounds like everyone is throwing rocks at the apartment. It is about the size of my room at home with a kitchen and a bathroom squished in. There is tons of humidity and mold everywhere. EVERYWHERE. (walls, floor, clothes, roof, beds, my ear(not kidding)). It's a totally funny experience though, and I don't mind it at all. Elder Reynolds and I were talking this week, and neither of us understands why we are happy all the time. Even if things are going really bad and we are in really uncomfortable conditions, we don't feel mad or sad or anything. I decided that's what happens when you LIVE the gospel. Your happiness starts becoming independent of your conditions, your happiness becomes unconditional. That's the best. The reason you are happy is that you are. All is well. Life is good.

November 19, 2012

Things are way good here in Tolosa. This weekend we had transfers, and Elder Romero got shipped out. I feel like we were companions for almost no time, but six weeks have already gone past. Today I received Elder Reynolds from Layton, Utah. I have known him pretty much my whole mission. I was his District Leader when I was in Longchamps. He is way different than Elder Romero, but still way way cool. Elder Romero probably speaks 212 words a minute, Elder Reynolds 40. He is just way chill and will be a good buddy. He will most likely be my last companion. He only has six weeks less than me in the mission. He is the first American companion that I have had in a year. haha In the few hours that Elder Reynolds and I have been together, I have noticed that my English is so so bad. My last American companion was Elder Abbott. In between him and Elder Reynolds I have had: Elder Ramos, Elder Ruvalcaba, Elder Villalba, and Elder Romero. As much as I love Latins, there is always something more comfortable to be with someone from your own country. I am happy to have Elder Reynolds for the next three months.

Things are moving along in Tolosa. It's kind of easy to feel frustrated here because I feel like I am the best missionary I have ever been right now, and I am really not finding the type of success that I would like to. But, when I start to feel frustrated, I just have to calm down and let my self know that I am doing my best and then I am satisfied again. 

This week, President Arnold from the Area Presidency is coming to do a tour of the Buenos Aires South Mission. Every time a General Authority comes to the mission, a wave of fear goes through the whole mission and all the missionaries start going crazy. Elder Arnold is famous for shouting at missionaries and breaking thier agendas. I kind of think that is a total myth though. They said the same thing about Audukadis, and he was totally cool and funny. I will let you know how it goes.

This week I have thinking a lot about my food experience in Argentina. I thought very profoundly about the subject. But for real, I was thinking about how much food people have given me in my mission. I would say that about 3 out of every 5 lunches is given by someone who has to sacrifice to give that meal. And the people are so set on making that sacrifice. There is an Hermana in our ward who lives in really humble circumstances. She gives us a lunch once every fourteen days. I didn't really think much of the lunches as we walked in and out of her house. The other day, and Hermano from the ward came over and told us that the Hermana budgets and saves her money every week to be able to give us food. In that moment, I felt a bone shaking wave of shame and gratitude. I had always thanked the Hermana for the food she gave us, but never really made an extra effort to show her my gratitude. I decided that for the rest of my mission, I will write a thank you note for every meal I am given. I have also decided that I am going to make a large effort for the rest of my life to be a generous person. I am so thankful for the families who have sacrificed so much to make me a little more chubby. They are so so good. They have taught me an important lesson for thier service that I will not forget. 

This Thanksgiving, a family invited us over for dinner. They told me not to expect an American style Thanksgiving dinner, but they were going to try to imitate one. Totally nice.

I am grateful for every one of you. I am so grateful to have been raised in such a good, solid, loving family. I am grateful for the mission. I am grateful for my companions. I am grateful for all of the God given blessing I receive every second of every day. I am grateful for Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he made for us. All is well. Life is good.

November 12, 2012

This week was way good. It kind of seemed like everything worked out. There is a homeless drunk guy who always sneaks in the church when anyone leaves the gate open. He doesn't do anything bad, just kind a corner and sleeps there.  (corner=baptismal font, underneath the sacrament table, in the cleaning closet, on the benches, etc.) He always sneaks in on Sundays especially and sleeps though the Sacrament meeting. The members kindly delegated the duty of waking up and helping the homeless man out of the chapel to the missionaries. Usually it is kind of a fight to wake him up.You have to poke him in the ribs really hard, and then he wakes up a little bit, looks at you, mumbles something understandable, and then goes back to sleep. You have to repeat that process around 6 times to get him up. This week after sacrament meeting I poked him once, he shot up and RAN out of the church.Tender mercy. That's just the kind of week it was. 

I hit 21 months this Friday. I only feel trunky during email time. 

This week we got a call from a student from the University of La Plata that was looking for the Public Relations representative of the LDS church. She asked us if we would be willing to have an interview with her for a documentary on the 5 biggest churches in La Plata and their stances on sexuality and homosexuality. We called President and asked him if we should and he asked us, "Do you know our stance on sexuality and homosexuality?" We said yes but he reexplained it to us anyways. He had the interview on Wednesday in the church. The girl and the group were totally nice. They brought a camera crew and everything with them. They said that they had already interviewed Catholics, Evangelists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Buddhists. They asked us some pretty basic questions and we just tried to focus on the family the whole time. Elder Romero loves to talk, especially in interview type situations, so I let him answer the majority of the questions. I was kind of nervous to speak about such a sensitive subject on camera, not knowing who all would see the video. As we testified of the family and the love that God has for everyone of us, I felt really good and sincere about the things I was saying. I felt sure. The students (who were obviously very liberal and didn't agree with the things we were saying), were totally nice and respectful and told us that we had a "sweet spirit" during the interview. It was a way good experience to wear my beliefs even more on my sleeve.

A lot of the investigators who were formally not progressing made huge steps this week. We had about 12 investigators in church. It was way good. 

I have basically decided that extending is not something I want to do. I love the mission so so much, but I feel more and more that when February comes around, it will be time to finish things up. That, and I don't really have any options of companions to extend with. (The extension companion has to be someone who would be going home in your group. My group is only 5 missionaries.) So...no extension. But its good! I feel good. 

November 5, 2012

Everyone and their grandma came up to me this week and told me that the United States was being torn to shreds. It kind of scared me in the moment, but it calmed my fears that no one who lives on the east coast, or was there visiting, even mentioned the storm. The Argentine news is super super dramatic and kind of uses whatever excuse it can to make The United States look bad. I blame the nws that everyone here always is freaking out about things that have happened in the US. 
 
This week was way good with a few tinges of frustration. I still look really stupid 85% of the time because Elder Romero is always making me laugh really really hard without trying. We will just be walking down the street and not be talking and he will say something (with all sincerity) like, "I hate cougars. All of them." I don't know if the humor is completely communicated by a medium like email, but he is really funny. I live in a Nacho Libre world.  

Remember the two girls who disappeared that we were looking for? They were found! But, the story kind of ends sadly anyways. The girls made it home, but it came out that the whole kidnapping was kind of set up. The girls parents both use a lot of cocaine and got into debt with the drug dealers. To pay back their debt, they arranged a deal with the drug dealers that the dealers could have the girls (13 and 14 years old) for a week, and the debt would be forgiven. It was kind of a prostitution deal. When we found out, we were both pretty upset. The police didn't really want to get involved. We decided it was probably best if we don't go to the house of the girls and parents anymore. 

Remember the Family Cora? We tried working with them for the past few weeks, but they don't really want to hear anything. They are pretty satisfied with Umbanda. Oh welll.... They are a totally cool family anyways.

We are kind of going back into the looking for new investigators phase. It's kind of frustrating to regress, but it's what we have to do. This coming week we will probably be walking a lot.

All is well. Life is good.

October 29, 2012

Right now it is misting outside and had been misting/raining for the last three days. When it rains, a ton of water leaks under the front door of the apartment and floods everything. This morning I jumped off the top bunk (where i sleep) and there was about 1cm of water all over. The worst is that all the water is sure to convert into mold everywhere in a few hours. It's okay though we hardly time at all in the pinch.

Today we went to the Cathedral of La Plata. (I took lots of cool pics, but the computer seems to think my camera is a virus and won't let me download any pictures.) It's so so cool and big. Supposedly it is the biggest cathedral in South America. It's kind of strange though because I think the typical Cathedral experience is that of being in a really old old building. Not so in La Plata. They just finished constructing it in 2007. Kind of new, but way way cool. I went with all the Elders in my district. As we walked into the cathedral, some Elders started whistling and singing "The First Vision". I felt really embarrassed and ashamed and tried to get away from them as fast as possible with another Elder, Elder Smoot, who felt the same. Elder Smoot is one of my best buddies in the mission. I lived with him for 3 months in Longchamps when we lived in a four man pinch. He reminds me of Josh so so much. He and I are the two Elders who have been robbed the most in the whole mission. (Me-8 Smoot-6) He lives in the Uinta Mountains in Utah. He said he lives 50 minutes away from the closest town and didn't have friends, besides his parents until he was 15.  I invited Smoot to live with Matt and Rick and Kyle and I some day. Hopefully it work out.

This Sunday, the two biggest soccer teams in Argentina, Boca and River, played for the first time in more than two years. When Boca and River play, it is called the Super Classic. There are lots of games that are considered Classics, but only Boca vs. River is the Super Classic. There isn't real a comparison in United States sports. It's like the World Series, the Super Bowl, and the NBA championship all in one. It was wild. We had lots of appointments planned during the game, but none of the people would even open their doors, not even the members or the bishop. Noooo one. And there was no one in the streets except for when a goal was scored. We could always tell when one of the teams scored a goal because all the people would come out of their houses, scream bad words for a little bit, shoot a gun in the air, or dance, and then go back in their houses to watch the rest of the game. After the game was even worse. The game ended up in a tie and all of the fans of both teams came out of their houses to fight. There were fights everywhere in between groups of Boca and River fans. Hundreds of people were injured in the actual stadium after the game because they had a huge rock fight after it finished. Not kidding. Wild. We didn't accomplish really anything for about 4 hours on Sunday, but it was super memorable and funny anyways. 

We have been teaching a 11 year old kid named Guillermo (Geeshayermoe) for the past few weeks. One day we were walking down the street and a barefoot, really dirty, and little kid starting shouting at us. He went over to talk to him and he asked us when we were going to come over to his house to show him a movie about God. We set up a appointment for the next day. We went to his house and it was kind of a sad experience. Guillermos parents are both mas o menos drug addicts with about 10 kids. Guillermo is the youngest of all of the kids and his parent just don't really pay him much attention, so he just kind of runs around in the streets all day doing whatever he wants. He never wears shoes, not because he doesn't have them, but he doesn't like shoes. The bottom of his feet are totally leathery. hahahah He is totally funny and mature for his age. He think that whatever we say is the coolest thing he has ever heard and always drops his jaw out of surprise while we teach. I have never laughed so hard in the process of teaching anyone before. (Except Antonio-the crazy guy in Solano who punched me in the crotch at church)  We have been taking Guillermo to church for the past few weeks, and we had it planned that he would be baptized this last Saturday. But, we passed by Guillermos house this Wednesday and Guillermos Mom came running out of the house bawling hysterically, gave me a huge hug and bawled into my chest while talking really fast and not really making sense. Eventually we got it out of her that two of her daughters had been abducted the previous night. The two daughters (13 and 14 years old) had gone to the street corner to smoke cigarettes at 1 in the morning and never came back. Both of the girls were/are really crazy and are always hanging out with men who were way older than them and that did lots of bad things. This week we spent lots of hours walking around with Guillermo and hanging up fliers. It's kind of normal for young girls to disappear here. It's kind of in style for teenage girls to run away with boys for a few days. That's where I personally think and hope the girls are. We will keep on looking and praying for the girls. We were a little sad that Guillermo wont be able to progress and be baptized for a while, but a lot more sad about the missing girls. 

We are also teaching a man named Alberto right now. Alberto is about 50 years old. He has a disease where he can't grow any hair at all; not on his head, nor eyebrows, nor eyelashes, or anywhere. Alberto is one of the best people I have ever met. He is so so friendly and eccentric and loving. He is the kind of person that you have lots of energy and motivation to go and do good things after you talk with him. We found him because his Mom invited us into her house one day and he was there. (Grandmas always always invite us into their houses and just want us to be their grandchildren for a few hours.) He is a very happy person. He has an awesome family, a way good job (owns a mechanics shop), and not a lot of problems. It's a different experience teaching him. Up till this point in my mission, I have mainly taught and had success with people who have a lot of problems and need help in their lives. I have had much less success with the people who are already happy and don't have many needs. Alberto is happy and doesn't have a lot of needs, but loves the gospel also. The experience had been totally different with him and I don't really know why. He said the other day, "I feel like what you guys are teaching me is the missing piece of my life that I never knew was missing." I guess that is how it is. The gospel is for all people happy, sad, fat, and skinny. 

October 22, 2012

Things are going really really well. I feel like I am in an area that I like with a companion that I love, so I can't ask for much more. This week was really successful for Elder Romero and I. Sometimes I feel like the more I search and put lots of effort into finding new investigators, the less I find. And sometimes when I have a good group of instigators and am not particularly looking for new investigators, they come out of all places. (holes, rivers, trees, inside of playground equipment) This week Elder Romero and I were walking down the street in an area where we had never been before. Two kids ran outside of a house and told us that the missionaries used to play soccer with them. We asked if we could go in their house and they said sure. The family ended up being a family of 11 kids from one dad and one mom. (I know, right?!) They were totally nice and gave as dinner and asked us 345 times when we would be coming back. The only thing is that they are members of the Umbanda Church. The Umbanda Church is kind of the Argentine version of Voodoo that came in from Brazil. Lots and lots of people here practice it. They sacrifice chickens and dogs and stuff to I don't know who, but it's just a little strange and kind of scary for me. The Umbanda church would always do sacrifices in front of the chapel in Avellaneda and rub blood all over the gate. We will see how the things go through with the Familia Cora this week. 

Mom asked me what my plans are for when I get home. Not that it has been something that I have been thinking about a lot, but here is the plan. 1. Get home and eat all of the pancakes and Mexican food that I can in 48 hours. 2. Run and exercise off the 10 missionary kilos that I have been carrying around. 3. Get two jobs and earn money for school. (Start looking for a job for me! Not GV please.) 4. Work until June and then go to BYU for the Summer term. 4a. Matt told me that there is a spot saved for me in the apartment for summer term. 4b. Work at the MTC during summer term and for as long as I can. 5. Go to BYU in August. Steps 1-5: Search for beautiful young women to court.

October 15, 2012

This week was real real good. As much as I love and am going to miss the villa and its lifestyle (seriously), I am happy to be here in Tolosa. This week was a huge eye opener for me. My idea of Argentina in the last few months has become one of danger and robbings and dirt and poop and guns. But I had never been to Tolosa. There are flowers everywhere and the people are all really educated and nice and give you strange things to eat that you don't get in the ghetto. There are three universities close to my area, so there are tons of students walking around all the time. It's so so different. It's actually kind of refreshing.

Not only is Tolosa really beautiful, but it is full of work to do. This week we visited so many intelligent, interested quality investigators who were all so ready to accept baptism. It was amazing. Generally in my mission, I have kind of avoided wealthy areas because less people listen to you there. It's different here. All the people have money, but are just open to listen. It sounds strange, but the people here even reject you well. In Avellaneda, I was used to the typical Argentine reject, which consists of lots of bad words and asking why I feel the need to infringe of peoples privacy. The people here just tell you that they are very thankful for the notion, but they would really appreciate if we came back another time. Obviously, they don't really want us to come back another time, but they are so nice about it. It's refreshing. The members in Tolosa are pretty self-motivated and give a lot of references. So Elder Romero and I are not spending much time clapping doors or anything. 

Elder Romero is so so funny. This week he told me that he respects no man who doesn't have a mustache and that it caused a deep, searing pain in his soul everyday when he shaves. He is so Mexican and it makes me laugh so hard. I feel like I am living in Nacho Libre. Dream come true. He is 27. He finished all of his studies and is a professional architect. Even though I have a lot more time in the mission than him, I kind of feel like a little boy with him. He is totally cool though and lets me take the lead anyways. 

Our pinch is smaller than our family room. hahahah I can pretty much go to the bathroom, cook some eggs, take a shower, and lay in my bed at the same time. Seriously. It is just one big room and a tiny tiny bathroom attached. We do have hot water though. A hot shower felt so so good after four and a half months of cold showers. I don't really mind the tinyness of the pinch anyways, we are almost never inside of it. But a member did invite us to come and live in a house that they rent out behind their house. We went to check it out and it is so so big. We will see though. The member asked a lot of money for the rent, and I don't know if the mission will accept it or not. 

This week we had a baptism! It was a little strange because I had only taught the girl three times, but it was exciting anyways, We baptized an 11 year old girl named Ivanna. She is a granddaughter of one of the members. Ivannas parents are members, but inactive. She is super super smart, and goes to a special cool for genius children. She always tries to explain really complex math to me. I act like I already knew was she was explaining, but really have no idea whatsoever. I would send pictures, but this computer is not behaving.

I just got an email from the mission asking for some dates for the plane ride home. WHhhhhhaaaa?! Very strange.

October 8, 2012

General Conference is the best Holiday there is as a missionary. Better than Christmas. Way better. The Stake President set apart a room with a TV in English, so all of the gringo Elders had a room all to themselves. It was way too good. We said the Pledge of Allegiance before every session. But we were not allowed to go to Priesthood session since it starts at 9:00 Buenos Aires time. It's cool though. That's what the Ensign is for.  I loved the talks of Elder Bednar, Elder Uchtdorf, and Elder Holland. I liked the talk by Elder Bednar especially because he basically just gave instructions to those who are making their way through their own conversion and what role testimony has in conversion. Conversion is just the natural effect of righteous living. Our testimony alone is not just enough, it is only the first step of conversion. Our conversion is never over, but we must work always to progress. I liked Elder Uchtdorf's talk so much. I always love his talks. It helped me especially because of the moment I am in right now and finishing my mission. The joy is in the journey and not in the destination. Can't wait till I want to bike race my wife and instead she just gives me sweet advice. jk Elder Hollands talk blew me away. He had actually given the same talk in the MTC right before I got there, and the missionaries who had heard the talk were still buzzing about it. We must all leave our nets behind to be true disciples of Christ. It was a little weird that Elder Hales kind of gave the same talk (except a little more boring) a few minutes later.

Well, I write you right now from my new area, Tolosa. Tolosa is a part of La Plata, and bordering my first area in the mission, City Bell. President Stapely called Elder Villalba and I on Friday night and told us that we would not be changing, but stay together for another transfer. This is what I excepted, and was totally fine with it. A few minutes later, President called us again and told us that he had just had a strong prompting that I should be sent to Tolosa. I thought it was kind of strange, but was thankful for the little reminder that Heavenly Father has me personally in mind. It was kind hard saying good bye to Avellaneda, but by far the easiest goodbye to an area yet. I didn't cry once. (Chest hair.) I got to La Plata this morning, and it was a totally strange experience. I have not been here since the start of my mission about a year and four months ago. La Plata is so different than the rest of the mission. It's kind of far away from the rest of Buenos Aires, and something happens in the little space between BA and La Plata. The people get nicer, wealthier, and whiter. It's strange. As I walked around the streets here, I just felt different. I don't feel like anyone is trying to kill me. After being in three areas in a row (Longchamps, Solano, and Avellaneda) that are famous for Elders getting shot at and robbed, it's kind of a relief to be in a calmer area. I will probably finish my mission here in Tolosa. I'm totally cool with it. I feel like I might finish my mission with a grand total of robbings of 8. I feel like it's good there. 

My new companion is Elder Jorge Romero. He is from Mexico City, Mexico. Now I have had 2 Argentine comps, 2 Peruvian comps, and 2 Mexican comps. He is famous in the mission for being really funny and dancing all the time. He is a young zone leader at 13 months. I'm totally happy to have him as my new comp. I already love him lots.

I feel like there are a few things that I forgot to write, but I don't have any more time. I will write them down for next week.  

October 1, 2012

This week was very normal. Elder Villalba and I are trying to get along without a cellphone. Whenever a phone gets stolen, the mission takes about 2 months to replace it. So for the next little while, we are without phone. Its kind of frustrating because investigators and members are usually constantly calling us and moving our appointments around. Since we don't have a phone now, we go to a lot of appointments, and the people are just not there. Its kind of frustrating. I have no idea how missionaries made it without phones before. There is a new rule in our zone (we get robbed more than any other zone) that we have to carry our phones in our socks. Mmmmmmm Walking in humidity and sweating so so much and then taking your phone out of your sweat soaked sock to put it on your face is the best. 

I love the spring. The winter is finally done, and everyone is excited all the time. I feel like it's easier to do missionary work in the spring and summer than in the winter and fall. This week, the mission baptized more than it has baptized in a month in like 5 years. I accredit the success to the change in weather.

Changes are coming up on this Saturday. It's kind of a toss up for me. I have been in Avellaneda for 4.5 months. I could finish my mission here, or I could leave this transfer. We shall see. Maybe next week I will be writing from a different area. I would be happy to stay and I would not be mad to go.

This week, I did an Intercmbio with some of the Elders in the zone. I had never been to their pinch before, and it blew me away. Elder Villalba and I live right next to a villa and we don't have gas or hot water. The pinch that I went to this week has a shower nicer than ours with like 5 spouts that never runs out of hot water. They have an exercise room with weight sets. haha The disparity between the pinches is funny. 

September 24, 2012

This week was a little wild. On Friday, Elder Villalba and I were walking down the street of the villa when we heard running behind us. I turned around a little bit and saw two guys running towards us shouting at us and telling us not to turn around or look at their faces. I am kind of used to being robbed at this point, I had an idea of what was happening. My companion and I just stood still as the two kids reached in our pockets and backpacks and took everything that was worth anything. They put something up to my back, I don't know if it was a gun, pipe, or their fingers. But they told me not to move and I was happy to obey. They took our phone, my comps wallet, and my backpack. Again. I am on the fourth backpack of my mission. The people at the backpack store love me. The funny part is that I had a totally junky pack and my comp has a totally nicer pack, but they stole mine anyways. But, in the end, we walked away totally fine. I was pretty frustrated, as was my companion. But the important is that we are totally fine. We talked to a member who lives close to the place we were robbed, and he said he knows the kids, and would get our stuff back. Just another story to tell.

Funny Story: I did an intercmabio with an Elder from the district, this week, Elder Talbot from California. We both woke up on Thursday morning with really bad allergies. I looked through my baggage and found some pink pills that I am pretty sure were allergy pills. We both took two of them and went out to work. I don't remember very much more of the morning. Either we both reacted to the allergy pills really strongly, or the pills were sleeping pills, because we both fell asleep in the next three appointments. It was pretty embarrassing. 

We also had a baptism this week. Eric, the investigator that I told you about, got baptized. We had to do the baptismal service early Saturday morning because there was Stake conference in the evening. It was really simple with just family members. Eric is a stud. I had the opportunity of baptizing him. After the ordinance, we were leaving the water and he said to me, "I feel way better now!" I just smiled and laughed. I am always surprised how quickly one can come to love another person when you are really trying to focus on how to help them. I feel like that is something that really comes with the calling, and I hope it is something that doesn't end when the call does.