Crazy news and Elder Rasband!!

Tuesday

Tuesday was a really good, all around day. We taught a few lessons and had a good time. In the morning, Elder Loveridge went with Elder Mario into Santa Fe for Elder Marios physical therapy, so I was with Elder Delgado for the morning. We went to a lesson with Jonathan in Las Vegas and it went really well! When we showed up, Jonathan was all business. He said that he would say the opening prayer, and we were more than happy to let him do that. After his prayer, we jumped right into his reading of the Book of Mormon. He had only made it a few verses into 1 Nephi 1, but we read with him and finished Chapter 1 and then continued into Chapter 2. He seemed to really like it and be interested. He asked lots of questions about who Lehi is and about why he and his family left Jeruselem. After that, we got to talking about what we had covered in the last lesson, about the commandments of LOC and Word Of Wisdom. He told us that he used to have pretty bad problems with Word Of Wisdom, but now he is a whole lot better and doesn’t have any issues keeping that commandment. But the other part was about him and his girlfriend. So we told him that in order to help his girlfriend understand a little bit more about why he wants to keep the commandments they could read the Family a Proclamation to the World and explain to her that God wants us to be married and have kids because that is the best way to help, protect, and bless everyone that is involved. He said he would try to talk to her about that, I believe him. And after that, we talked even a little bit more about how some kinda crappy stuff is going on in his life. Not anything too bad and serious, but he had the question of "If Im starting to do all the good things that you guys are telling me about, why are bad things happening to me?" So we basically told him that it is important to know that God is real, but just as important, Satan is just as real. So, when we are doing the good things--like keeping the commandments and reading and praying everyday--Satan doesn’t like that, so he will try to mess things us in your life and make you feel frustrated, angry, and confused. But then, we promised him, that if he continues to do the good things, God will bless him more and more. So yeah, that was basically the morning. After lunch and studies, we went and did service with teh FML Amarilla. The dad still can’t do any manual labor, so we did if for him. We help him with cutting his lawn and weeds and stuff with a machete and a sharpened shovel. It was pretty crazy, but fun and a good time. We got it done, and then they showed us some family videos that they have. They were of one of their sons, who is now serving a mission.  In the videos, the son is beatboxing like crazy. It was super cool to see. They told us about how he went to competitions here in Santo Tome, and also in Santa Fe, and later, in Buenos Aires. Then, after changing and leaving to work, we had a lesson with a really cool kid named Nazareno. Crazy cool name, no?  But he is a guy of 17 years and Elder Loveridge contacted him a long time ago, but could never find him in his house. But, we passed by, and he let us in. So we met him and his parents, and then taught him a lesson. We talked about the Restoration and he really liked it. By the end, we could ask him to review all of what we had talked about, and he could do it almost perfectly. It was great! So we set up another appointment for the following day and ended with him giving a prayer. It was a good way to end a good day.  

Wednesday. 

In the morning, we had a Choque de Fuerza with the Hermanas in our district. Their area is pretty far from our pench, so we were walking for a while, but when we got there, we had a good morning full of contacting. We only had about an hour and a half or so, but it was full of finding good people. We had a nice chat with an older guy who lives alone after losing both his wife and daughter. So we talked to him for a while about Eternal Families. Then we found a few other people, all of which seemed to be pretty interested in what we had to say. So that was really nice. It seemed that at almost every door that we knocked or clapped, there was someone ready for our message. Why can’t all days be like that? Then we went back to the pench and had a good lunch and study time. When we left, we had plans to teach Nazareno again, but whe we went by, he sadly wasn’t home. So, we went back to the pench so we could do divisions with the other Elders again. Elder Mario was feeling pretty sick, so I had to stay in the pench with him while Elder Delgado and Elder Loveridge went to appointments for the afternoon. I used my extra free time to get quite a bit done. I did some laundry that I had been ignoring for a while and caught up on some journal writing. I also had time to study a little bit more. So yeah, pretty chill afternoon, but I still got quite a bit done, making the best out of being stuck in the pench. 

Thursday

In the morning, Elder Loveridge went with Elder Mario into Santa Fe, so I was with Elder Delgado for another morning. We had a few citas set up, but they all fell through. So we went walking around looking for some of the other Elders investigadores, but none of them were home either. So we did a whole lot of walking, and a whole lot of talking. Pretty uneventful morning to be honest. During the siesta, we did our planimiento semanal and this week, we actually had 2 people to plan for, so that was pretty good. Better than only one. But, there is definately a lot of room to improve. We are going to be trying our hardest this next week to speak to everyone and find new people to meet with and teach. We will see at the end of this next week just how well our prayers work. But don’t worry, we aren’t going to pray and just hang out the whole time. In the afternoon, we went looking for a few references from the other missionaries, but it turned out that neither of the houses existed. But we did a whole lot of contacting and ended up finding a few people. It was pretty fun to find new people. That’s always nice to do. Towards the end of the night, we had a meeting with our ward mission leader. Sadly, we did have too many people to talk about, but we did have a good time with him sharing mission stories. He is a recently returned missionary who served in Mexico. He had a few crazy stories. But other than that, we didnt really have anything too noteworthy happen on Thursday. 

Friday

Friday morning we had our regular Friday morning appointment with Jonathan. It was a really good lesson that we taught about Faith and Repentance. When we showed up, we started with a prayer by Jonathan and then read together in 2 Nephi 31. He really liked it and had a few good questions. When we finished, we started talking more about the gospel of Jesus Christ in general. We taught and explained about Faith and how it is believing, but more than just that, We taught that faith is more about action and not just a passive belief. He told us that he doesn’t really feel that he has faith, for now, but maybe he has a desire to believe. So we looked up both Ether 12:6 and also Alma 32:26. We explained to him that if we don’t exactly have "Faith," we can have a desire to believe, and that is enough for Jesus to help us and enough to Repent. And then, we taught him more about Repentance and tried to take a little bit of time on that to really explain it really well. One way that we explained it to him is that Jesus, through his atoning sacrafice, has, in his hands, our new lives and wants to give it to us, but we have to do a few things first in order to earn it. We have to first believe and have faith in him, and then, through true repentance, we can receive our new lives and begin to be more and more perfect everyday. He really liked that, but I still don’t think that he understands it completely. So we gave him the invitation to read through the pamphlet about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and then to think and ponder what Repentance really means to him. So that took up just about all of the morning. During the siesta, we had a pretty big, eventful and somewhat crazy reunion de distrito. The assistants came into town to be part of the meeting and they gave us some pretty big news. We had a pretty good scripture study together. We read in Heleman 5 and we all learned a lot. I was asked to think of and set a goal for the entire district that has to do with something in the chapter. I thought a lot about how great and fearless the missionaries like Nephi and Lehi were and how through their testimonies and fearless preaching, they were able to teach and baptize over 8000 people in one day. So, for the goal, I thought it would be good for all of  us to try to be more fearless and really focus on testifying and preaching to the people that we are meeting with during the week. But, after that, the assistants shared the big new that they had for us. They told us that all of the missionaries in the district were going to completely flip all of their areas around. So, here in Santoto, we have two branches and the boundaries basically split the town in half. But, because the areas that the missionaries were working in had be set while Santoto only had one ward, some of our area was in both of the new ward boundaries. So, we had to change everything so that all of the missionaries are assigned to only one ward. So, for now. the hermana missionaries are going to be part of ward 1, which completely changes their area. And now, Elder Loveridge, the other Elders, and I all share parts of the hermanas old area. So basically, people were a little frustrated because they are losing all of their old inbestigadores. But for me, I’m actually keeping both of my investigadores, so that’s nice. But, wait! Theres more! Presidente is trying to open another area called Galvez. It is a smaller town that is about 2 hours from here. Galvez used to be a branch that had two full time missionaries working there. But a few years ago, some crazy stuff happened and the mission had to close the area. But now, Presidente Westover wants to start to reopen Galvez. But, very slowly. So, the assistants told Elder Loveridge that as the District Leader, he had to decide which of the Elder Companionships was going to make a trip out to Galvez twice a week and attend a sacrament meeting there every week, starting on the 9th of September. So, after a bit of thinking, Elder Loveridge, my dear and beloved Companion and District leader, decided that we are going to be ones that make the wonderful trip out to the promised land of Galvez. So, we are going to start making the grand journey twice a week for the afternoon and then, starting the 9th, go every Sunday morning to participate in the sacrament meeting of the "Group" of members that is being held at the house of a member out there. So that is going to be a really fun time. So we are still going to be working in Santoto the rest of the time that we are not in and traveling to Galvez. But for now, Presidente is trying to see if we should start sending missionaries to Galvez permanently. For the afternoon, we had an english class, but other than that, we didnt have anything too important and special happen. 

Saturday 

In the morning, we spent most of the time walking around the Centro of Santoto looking for a place to buy tickets to go to Galvez. We were told that we had to find the prices of the trips so we can get the info to the Financero in the offices. Because it is going to be a bit of money to go to and from Galvez 2-3 times a week, we are going to have a little bonus to our mission funds. Sadly, we didn’t have too much success, but now we know that we actually don’t buy tickets but just pay by cash to the bus driver. So we will see if we can talk to members that have gone there in the past. After the siesta, we had a meeting with one of Elder Loveridges converts, named Geonfranco. He is a really good, funny guy. He speaks pretty good Engish, so we talked to him in English and basically just used the time so I could get to know him more. He is really into video games, so we were able to talk about that for a while, but he also told us that he is reading a chapter of the Book of Mormon everyday. So that is really cool and amazing. He tells us that he is just getting to 2 Nephi 31ish so he is learning a lot about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and also the Second Coming. He is a really great guy. After that, we went to the chruch so we could meet with the other missionaries and trade different registers for our Area Books as missionaries. Because now that we are changing all of our areas, we have to take out nearly all of our Area Books and give them all to the hermanas. It was a bit of work, but we got it all done. When we were done, we didn’t have too much time left, so we left and went to visit a contact that we had made not too long ago. It was meant to be a guy named Matias who is about 25 or 30, but an other man, about 65ish answered the door and basically just started talking for a really long time. Granted, he was a little drunk, but he basically told us his whole life story and all of the crazy jobs that he has had, how he bought a house and then added about more than half of what the houses is now, and how not too long ago, he lost his wife and now is a little lost and sad. So we shared a pamphlet with him about the Plan of Salvation and testified to him that he will be able to see his wife again and live with her and all the rest of his family again in the heavens forever. He seemed pretty happy to hear that and told us he would read the little booklet. After we got back to the pench, we had to prep for the big Sunday that we had the next day. We shined our shoes and made some fish empanadas, that ended up being pretty dang good. So that was a bit crazy, but really good. 

Sunday.

Well. Lets just say that Sunday was a heck of a day. And I mean, a HECK of a day. Holy cow. It was sooo good. We woke up and got going pretty quickly so we could get on the colective with all the members to go to Santa Fe for our big Stake Conference. When we got there, we were pretty early, so we had a bunch of time to talk with other members and missionaries that had come too. I got to see a bunch of good friends including some guys from the MTC and other good friends that I have. I also was able to see Elder Robinson so that was pretty good. He brought my socks, because I may or may not have forgotten more than half of my socks back in Rafaela when we did transfers about 3 weeks ago. So that was a good thing. The meeting was really good too. I had a kinda hard time paying attention because I had to move a few times to give my seat to other missionaries and members and ended up on the far back wall of the stage, behind the overflow. But, I still got quite a bit out of it and felt the spirit a whole lot. After that, we had a time to kinda hang out and wait for the other meeting to start. So we ate our Fish Empanadas that we made the night before and then talked with all of the other missionaries. Then they got all of us missionaries into a nice, big formation for a nice picture. We were all standing there waiting for it all to look good and perfect, and then he walked in. Elder Ronald A. Rasband, an Apostle and Prophet of the Lord came in and we all took a big ole picture together. The Spirit that we could all feel at that moment was almost tangable. I literally stood less than 5 feet away from him. And then, we all were able to shake his hand and the hands of the other General Authorities their wives. It was a very great experience. We sat down in the chapel and had the opportunity to listen to a few great testimonies and messages. First was from Hermana Westover. She gave her wonderful testimony and the Spirit I felt was absolutely amazing. She really is a wonderful woman. Then, we were able to hear the words and testimony of our dear President Westover. One thing that he said that I really liked was the the mission is not a "Program" but is a "Cause," the Cause of Christ. I really do love that man and all that he does for me and all of the other missions here in Santa Fe. After him, President Benjamin De Hoyos, the Area President, gave a short message on the importance of working using members in Missionary work. He shared a lot about Preach My Gospel and its importance and power. After him, President Carlos A. Godoy, President of one of the Quorums of the Seventy, spoke on the land, the people, and the mission. It was a really good talk and I got a lot out of it. Probably the biggest thing that I learned, or more realized, is that while I am here in Argentina, I am working and being a missionary in the very same land that people like Alma, Ammon, Amulek, Nephi and Lehi all worked, taught, preached, and baptized in. I realized that if they could do it with the same calling and power and authority that I hold, why the heck can’t I do what they did. I can. After him, we had the opportunity to listen to the words of Sister Rasband. She gave a sweet message all in Spanish, which she doesn’t speak. But through the help of Google Translate and lots of practice, she read her message to us and it was very spiritual. I loved it, even if it was a little harder to understand her through her thick American accent. But, it was yet another testiment the the Gift of Tounges is real. After her, we listened to her husband, Elder Rasband himself. He had a lot to say, which I’m not complaining about. He definitely brings a very strong spirit with him. He explained to us the process of calling a new Stake President. He explained that they spend very little time in interviews with the potencial Stake Presidents, but, by the power of revelation, they are able to make the decision after less than 15 minutes of interviews. He also explained that as missionaries, we should kneel down and ask God for success in specific areas. He also talked a lot about how important it is that we try our hardest in everything we do every day, because even if we don’t see the future ramifications, or the future "Fruits" of what we do, we have planted the seed. He also explained to us that our main purpose as missionaries is obviously to teach repentance and baptize converts, but that the end goal that we should have with each and every one of our converts and members is that they enter the temple to receive and enter into covenants that will give them Eternal Life. So, after we baptize someone, we aren’t done. We still have to help them stay active and to help them set goals and do the things that are necessary to do before entering the temple. He told us about President Gordon B Hinckley’s 3 things that every member needs to do or have in order to stay active and happy in the church. First, is a friend. We need to bring members to the lessons with us so that the investigadores can have friends in the church to help they want to go. Obviously we aren’t going to want to go to church if we don’t know anyone there. Second, a calling.  He told us that we need to help our converts receive callings in the church, and if it is necessary, to stand on the doormat of our Bishop or Branch President and demand that they receive a calling. Third, is the continual nourishment of the Good Word, meaning that we continue to go by them and teach them more about the gospel and doctrine, even after their baptisms. A few other quotes that I really liked were these:

*Go forth with Faith, not Fear.

*Today is the first day of the rest of your lives.

*Live everyday as a Memory Day.

That whole meeting was absolutely amazing. The Spirit that was present and the things that we learned and that I was reminded of are almost too much and too many to describe. 

After Elder Rasband left, the missionaries stayed in the chapel and we went around and people were able to say what they all had learned, both from what was said and from what was not said. It was a really cool way to tie the whole thing up and end it on a really good note and learn from the things that other missionaries were impressed on us. Then, at the end of that, Hermana Westover stood up and told us that she had made us all Chocolate Chunk Cookies for all us. She freaking made them all, homemade and by hand!! Gosh dang, they really are the best. 

After all of that, we had a while to just chat and talk to all of the missionaries all together. It was really cool to talk to everyone from the MTC and other friends that I’ve made while here in Argentina. It was a good time. But, oh yeah. Elder Robinson was telling me about all of the people that we had been teaching when I left. Sadly they all haven’t progressed at all and now Elder Robinson and Elder Thelin have had to drop them. So that sucks, but its the way it is. At least for now they all know where to find the truth and have had good, spiritual experiences with us. Actually, Adrian.... Is actually investigating now!! Apparently he is actually reading and praying because he is super bummed about not having work for the past few months. So that stinks about his work, but hey, now it’s making him be a real investigator!

So yeah, to sum it all up, it was a pretty great week overall.

I want to say thank you to everyone that was able to read my last email and send me a short response. It really does mean a lot and I was able to learn a lot about my talents this week. Now I know exactly which talents I have and will make it a pretty big focus of mine to work on them in the future.

Love you all! 

Chau

Elder Haley

LOVE my new hoodie!

making weights so we can step up our workouts

We take the bucket off the dry cement and then repeat on the other side.

My companion Elder Loveridge

We made fish empanadas

The amazing chocolate chunk cookies

It was so great to see Elder Robinson again

Sleepy companion on the colective

Always learning...

Hola Familia y Amigos!! Como estan_ Espero que todo fue bien esta semana pasada. Bueno, ahora por mi semana. This week has been alright, kinda slow, but we have been working hard to find new people to teach and meet with. Because for right now, we honestly don’t have too many people at all. But, we are finding loads of people and now we just have to get with them and teach them and have fun while spreading the Gospel and trying to bless lives. 

First. I finally received my package.  The word processor is going to be awesome.  I was surprised to see a message waiting for me when I turned it on! I love everything that was sent, thank you!

Tuesday was a pretty good day. In the morning, we made our way out to Barrio Las Vegas to teach our investigator Jonathan. The guy is a total boss. He wasn’t able to come to church on Sunday, but when we showed up, he told us that he had been reading the Book of Mormon and also praying. So that’s awesome! It’s always really nice to see when people totally do the things that make them happy and will bring blessings to their lives. So we were really happy to hear that. He started with the opening prayer and then we read all of the introduction to the Book of Mormon and then we read all of the Witnesses together too. He really liked the information and had a few good questions. Then, after that, we taught and discussed the Plan of Salvation. It was a good time because, like with everything, he had a good questions and understood a lot. He was asking stuff like what happens to babies if they die and where do the people that aren’t baptized go. So we were happy to explain all of that to him. Then we set up another appointment with him for the following Friday. During the siesta, we had our Reunion de Distrito that was pretty good. I am having a lot of fun with this District so far this transfer. During this weeks meeting, we read together in 3 Nephi 19. It was really good. We all learned about how we should strive to have the Spirit with us at all times. We also learned that we can have the spirit with us at all times as we have a prayerful heart and clean minds and intentions. I learned a lot about how we should always be trying our hardest to be worthy of the Spirit, and when we do so, we will be blessed in ways we can’t even imagine or describe. In the afternoon, we walked around quite a bit looking for people to contact on the streets or occasionally knocking on doors and clapping at gates. We found a few people, but didn’t have any lessons. We also passed by a few of Elder Loveridges old investigators and made some other plans to go by and visit them too in the future. We spent part of the night visiting a member family. The family currently has two sons serving missions, so we talked about that for a little bit. Also, the dad just had a pretty big accident not too long ago when we was up on a ladder and fell, breaking his wrist and elbow. So he showed us the xrays he got and also the stitches he has from recent surgery. We ended the little bit of time we had with them by giving the father a blessing. I was able to use my new oil dropper and was happy about that. 

Wednesday was a pretty long day, but I actually learned something from it and had a good time with my companion. In the morning, we went with the other elders and did some service for a member family. We moved bricks and helped them prepare to add onto their house. Then we helped them repair their refrigerator. We had a good time helping them and spending a little time in the service of others. Then we had a really good lunch with them, too. We had a bunch of homemade pizza and for dessert, we ate some really good oranges too. It was a good time and lots of fun. They also had a little baby puppy that I honestly was a little in love with. For the afternoon, I wasn’t feeling the most excited to leave and work. We didn’t have any appointments to visit people, but we made plans to visit lots of people and just look for new people to teach. But I wasn’t too excited to just walk around. But, during the afternoon, Elder Loveridge and I just sat down and talked for a little bit about why we are on a  Mission in the first place and the whole reason we are in Argentina at all. Because really, the Mission is not easy. Obviously there are a lot of good times and spiritual experiences, but those don’t come without having hardships and other times when life really isn’t too fun. But we decided to just go out and try our hardest to talk to everyone we passed by. But more importantly, to be happy about it! So we tried it, and it ended up working. Not only was the afternoon more enjoyable, but we were able to meet new people who are really good and have a bit of potential. I had more fun joking around with Elder Loveridge and also just talking to other people and getting to know them a little bit more and share with them a small part of our message. So yeah, basically it was a reminder that you can turn most situations into something enjoyable if you just decide to enjoy it. It all depends on your attitude. I just needed something to hit me in the back of the head and help me remember that I already knew that. 

Thursday morning I went with Elder Mario into Santa Fe to go to his Physical Therapy stuff. I basically just sat in the place just hanging out and using the time I had to think a little and read some of the General Conference talks. Then we went to the offices because the other Elder’s phone was broken. So we went there and got the new phone, but when we were there, I learned from the other office Elders that work there that one of the missionaries from my group, an Elder from Brazil, just went home. So that’s crazy and stinks a whole lot because he was a total boss. I loved him a lot. But he was having some problems with his health. But after that it gave me something to think about and have a few thoughts, mostly about how crazy the mission is and how much of a blessing it is to be here. I sometimes, often actually, forget just how important this time that I have is. I regularly forget that my short two years I have here in Argentina is very sacred and absolutely critical in my life, but more importantly, critically important to the people that I am meeting with. Obviously I still want to have fun here and make some really fun memories. But, more importantly, I am here to help other people receive happiness and salvation in and through the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am happy to be here, even though it is quite stressful or crazy or hard at times. I love Argentina and am trying my hardest to soak up the most of this experience. So yeah. Then the afternoon was pretty chill and calm. We started by going to visit a member family that has been a little inactive for a while, but then we talked with them for a little bit and made plans to go and walk with them from their house to church on Sunday. Afterwards, we went to do some service with a member and prepare to help him add on to his house and turn it into a garage for a mechanic shop so he can have more room and them get a little bit more work to help support his family. The rest of the night was spent looking for people to teach and tracting and contacting in some of the areas that Elder Loveridge hasn’t worked in as much. We didn’t have too much luck, but we did find a few good people to talk to and hopefully we can look forward to teaching them in the future. It wasn’t the most exciting day, but like always, we tried. 

Friday was a pretty good day over all. We started the morning by running over to our Ward Mission Leader’s house to walk with him to our lesson with Jonathan. Our Ward Mission Leader is super young and super funny. He is 24 and is married with two kids now. So we went with him to Barrio Las Vegas and had a really good time teaching Jonathan. We taught him about the commandments, the Word of Wisdom and also Law of Chastity. For now, Jonathan doesn’t have too many problems with them. He doesn’t really drink, smoke, or do drugs. But, he does live with his girlfriend. But, he commited to live both of the commandments. So we are happy to hear that and are excited to see how well he keeps his commitments. During the lesson, it was great to see just how helpful it is to have a member come to lessons with us. If it’s something small like correcting our Spanish or giving a really good, touching story to help relate to the Investigator, lessons with members are a true blessing. We also committed Jonathan to coming to church this Sunday and made plans to either talk to a different member that lives right in front of Jonathan so they can go to church together, or that we can go look for him before church. But it was a really good lesson and morning over all. Then we had to make the very long trip all the way across all of Santoto to go to a lunch appointment with a member family. We may or may not have shown up an hour late, but it was all because of the lesson with Jonathan, so the family let it slide. During the afternoon, we had a lot of free space for looking for new people to teach, so we went by a few old investigators the Elder Loveridge had taught before and also did quite a bit of contacting. We found a few really cool people and I’m actually really excited to meet with them in the future. One was a really cool guy named Franco who has about 22 years and is super funny. We also taught English Class at the church that a few member kids came to. It was a fun time and even though they didn’t really learn too much, we were able to go over some really basic English and answer a few qustions. After the class, we were walking around and just about all of our plans fell through, but we stopped by a members house and it was actually really good. It was cool because when we showed up, the mom, who is the Relief Society President started asking us all about member families that are less active and if we had visited them or if we needed any members to come to lessons with us and all this stuff. It was actually really cool because that is literally how members are meant to be. We want the members to give us work and to be willing to help us. I love all the members here in Santoto. It really is a blessing to have so many good, faithful members who are ready to help us in just about any moment. 

Saturday was a pretty tough and long day. We made some really good, extensive plans in the morning, so I was feeling pretty optimistic about how much work we were going to get done. We visited a bunch of people, and big surprise, none of them were home. So that was pretty lame. But we got quite a bit of contacting done and made our way around the town looking from people. The only problem is that it was a bit chilly and windy, so not too many people were out, walking on the streets. But, it was still okay. Just a little hard. Then we had a lunch appointment which was pretty good and delicious. It’s kinda funny to see how the members absolutely stuff you full of food until you can’t breathe, and then bring out the dessert. My studies were actually really good and I got a lot out of them. I started to reread and study all of the Conference talks, but this time I’m actually going to highlight stuff. So that has made it a lot more meaningful. Then, in the afternoon, lets just say it was a long night. It was super freaking windy and with the dirt roads here, we were being pretty well sand blasted at times. But, at the same time, Elder Loveridge and I weren’t too mad or dishearted. We weren’t let into any homes and didn’t teach any lessons, but we tried our hardest and found a few people that seem pretty well interested. So that is pretty good to see. Plus, Elder Loveridge is almost always happy and joking around, so it’s a whole lot easier to stay up beat and happy with him. Towards the end of the night, about an hour before we are meant to go home, we got a text from the Zone Leaders telling us that we were meant to go back to the penches because of a really bad storm that was going to hit. So we got back in the Pench and a few minutes after we did, the rain started absolutely dropping sheets outside. It was pretty cool to see. 

Sunday. We woke up pretty dang early and headed out for Barrio Las Vegas to go looking for Jonathan and to take him with us to church. It was pretty dang muddy and sloppy and just nasty in the roads because of the storm the night before. I might start looking for rain boots in this area. But, we showed up at his house and he answered. He wasn’t too aware of what was going on because it was super early and we actually woke him up. But, we were talking to him and asked him if he was ready to go to church, and he was still pretty drowsy, but he was about to get ready and come with us.  But the night before, he had been playing some futbol and he messed up his ankle, so he wouldn’t be able to walk with us. So we made the long trip all the way back to church without any investigadores, which sucks, but hey, we tried. So we made it to the capilla and had a few good classes. In Principios del Evangelio, we learned about service and the importance of it for both the people bing served, and the people who are doing to service. I really loved Sacrament this week too. It’s awesome to participate in the Sacrament here because there are enough people in the ward that it takes a while for everyone to be passed to. So I actually have time to ponder and pray and really give meaning to the Sacrament. In the afternoon, we had a pretty good time. We went to go see some contacts, but they were not home. So we stopped a member family that wasn’t in the church for meetings. So we were stoppoing by to make sure they were all okay. It was the FML Amarilla, the same one that has the dad recently had an accident and we gave a blessing to. So we wanted to make sure nothing happened with him. But, when we showed up, we were happy to find that they were all okay, but that they couldn’t go to church because the dad hadn’t gotten any sleep the night before because of pain in his arm and also one of the daughters was sick. So they all just took the day to recuperate so they could all be healthy and ready for the Stake Conference the next week. We are going to be able to attend a conference at which the Area President and one of the Presidents of the Quorums of the Seventy are going to attend and speak at. Also, we, as missionaries, are going to have a conference with Elder Rasband. It’s going to be really sweet and super spiritual. I can’t wait for it. Then, the rest of the night, we went to HNA Amelias house. She is basically the HNA Palota of Santoto. We had pizza and some really good fried donut almost things. So it was a really good day, even though we weren’t able to get any investigadores into the chruch. But it was a good way to end the week. 

For pday, we didn’t do too much. We had plans to go to Santa Fe and walk around a few of the cool stores and areas, but today is a vacation day so everything was going to be closed. But were still able to do some good, fun things. We went to the Church building and played some ping pong and made some raviolis. It was a pretty good time. But then we helped in an activity for all of the youth and kids because it is a holiday called Dia del Niño. So that was fun. 

One thing that had me thinking this week was about Talents. I heard somewhere this week, I can’t remember where, about how the mission is a really good time to find and develop our personal talents. So this coming week, I am going to try more to focus on my talents and try to discover what mine are. We, actually, it going to be hard to NOT find my talkents. I mean, I just have so many that it’s going to be hard to narrow them all down, but I’m going to try. But really, this is something that I feel I’ve actually been doing wrong. I haven’t really been trying to build and strengthen my talents. So, I actually need all of your help. I’m sure barely any of you actually read this far into my emails and blog posts, but if you are reading this, I am asking you a favor. I need some help finding my talents. So, if you would be willing to write me a small email that basically just says one or two things that might be my talent, that would be nice. Obviously I know I don’t have too many, but if it could be something really small and easy to help me in this goal I have. So, I’m going to work and ponder and study this week to try and determine my talents, and then, next pday, I’ll open my email and find a few emails that say what my talents are and then see if what I have written down as my talents match up with what you guys tell me. So yeah, thanks for the help!

But yeah, that’s basically the week. A few other things...

Elder Loveridge and I made some fish this week. We bought it for super cheap and it ended up tasting pretty good. We used some of my lemon pepper and Johnnys salt. The fish is called Sabalo, and I don’t know what that is in English, but I’m pretty sure it is Carp or something like that because it is kinda a total trash fish, but it didn’t taste too bad. But now, a few members have told of other fish that we can buy that are a whole lot better. Also, apparently fish empanadas are a thing. So we are probably going to try and make those this week. 

Also, I decided to cut my hair pretty short. Elder Loveridge gave me a haircut, but then I just decided to buzz all of it. I did it myself, so it looks a bit sketchy, but it will work. I don’t have to look too pretty to be a missionary. 

Thanks for reading and sharing my mission with me. I love getting emails from you guys. I hope everything works out for you guys this coming week and that you don’t have too much fun.

Love ya all

Chau

Elder Haley

Surprise message on the word processor

Love this puppy!

Homemade pizza with the family we were serving

Our fish...

before my haircut...

Just more eating.

First Week in the New Area. Alright, but it’s going to be so much better.

Well, I still don’t have the keyboard, but we are looking forward to having my package come in sometime really soon. So this weeks email is going to be a little short too, because I don’t have too much time and because, honestly, not too much stuff happened this week. 

This week we were on divisions quite a bit because the other elders have investigators to visit and Elder Mario is still doing his physical therapy stuff in Santa Fe. So I was with Elder Delgado for a lot of the time this week. We were together more than I was with my actual compañero, so that was kinda tough, because I want to get more used to my area and actually figure out where some people live and get myself around the area. But, Elder Delgado and I still had quite a few teaching opportunities, so that was pretty good, even though they weren’t in my area. 

The first morning that Elder Loveridge and I did get to work together, we found a really sweet and super awesome guy named Jonathan. He is a total boss and is super interested in what we have to say. We’ve have only been able to teach him once, but It was a really good lesson and he accepted baptismal date. The only problem is that he lives in probably the sketchiest part of our area and we only go there in the mornings. So, we are hoping to find him again this coming week and keep teaching him more. He has a lot of potential, but the hardest part will probably be finding him in our limited time in his neighborhood and also getting him to the church building on Sundays. 

Oh yeah, speaking of which, I love church here. The members are awesome, not to mention that we have a ton of them. Church yesterday was probably one of the best experiences I’ve had on Sunday in a really long time. The classes were really good and I learned a lot. We have two wards here, like I’ve mentioned before, and both of the Bishops here are really young, really good, and very diligent. I am very glad to have so many good, helpful members ready to come with us to lessons or basically help us in any way they can. We also have a really good, young mission leader that we have plans to meet with today. 

Also, our district of missionaries is super cool and fun too. The sisters are both really awesome and the four Elders have lots of fun as neighbors. I’ve been playing quite a bit of chess with Elder Mario and Delgado in our free time. It has pretty fun and a good way to chill out and have some fun. 

But yeah, Elder Loveridge and I have had a lot of time to walk around and talk and that has been pretty fun. Elder Loveridge is from Cali and is a total Surfer Dude, but he also knows a lot about cars and engines and motos and stuff so he is teaching me a lot about that. But, he doesn’t know too much about hunting or fishing, so as a Nebraska Boy, I am teaching him a little about that. We are having a lot of fun and a lot of cool experiences. We have a lot to learn from each other, so we are trying to make this transfer count. 

My shoes. They are really good so far, but they are a lot heavier with the new soles. Also, I think I’ve basically destroyed these in soles that were mailed. A lot of walking!

Apparently my keyboard and package is in the offices so next weeks email will be a lot better. But I want to say thanks to all of you for the love and support that I have received. It’s always nice to get a small email and a little update on your guys' lives. Love you all and can’t wait for what this week has to offer.

Chao

Elder Haley

birthday party of a girl in the ward

Food.  Of course.

homemade pizzas

new, big, thick soles on my shoes.

Goodbye Rafaela, hello Santo Tome

Well, this past week has been a little crazy and we were all over the place trying to get some lessons taught, go to Santa Fe for tramites, and in the end, say goodbyes to lots of people because after close to 8 months, I left Rafaela. Yeah, that’s right. So, I am now writing from Santo Tome, a smaller city closer to Santa Fe. From the few hours I’ve been here, I can see how much more humble the people of Santo Tome are. So yeah, it has pretty fun here already. 

This past week, we were trying to find a lot of our investigadores, but we weren’t able to keep much contact with them or find them for a lesson or two. So that was pretty frustrating, but it gave us more time to find other people to teach and meet. We didn’t have too many lessons this past week, but we did get to meet with Franco and teach him more about the Restoration and invite him to be baptized. He accepted, and them came to church this last Sunday too. Such a good kid. But other than that, we only had a few times when we were able to talk to other people. Oh wait, we were actually able to go to a lesson with the Familia Palota and taught them about the Word of Wisdom. It was a really good lesson, and in the end they gave us their cigarettes and then we gave them blessings to help them have the strength to stop smoking and drinking. After that blessing of the mom, she told us that she could feel a fire or a tingling on her back during the blessing. So that was really good that she felt the spirit. Then, during the rest of the week, we couldn’t find them at home. Because apparently, they moved without letting us know, but Elder Robinson is going to find them and baptized them with his new comp, Elder Thelin. 

Other than that, we had tramites for Elder Robinson on Thursday, so we went to Santa Fe and had a pretty good time there, I was basically stuck in the offices the entire day, but it was still fun. I got to hang out with Elder Rasmussen. Good stuff. 

Friday night, we had a good activity of a Talent Show with all the members in Rafaela. It ended up being pretty dang fun. We had lots of talents and he laughed a lot and were able to admire the talents of other people. I took loads of videos, but they would take forever to load, so I’m not able to send them this week. But it was a good time and we were able to have Adrian and Liza come too! They seemed to like it and had a good time too. 

Santo Tome is awesome so far. We have two wards and about 80 members attend each ward, each week. So that’s a whole lot different than Rafaela. It is super calm and humble here, so that’s a whole lot nicer. It’s a pretty small town compared to Rafaela, but we still have 6 missionaries here. We actually live in basically the same pench as the other Elders. We are next door neighbors in our departamento. So that’s been pretty fun so far. The other Elders are named Elder Mario from Buenos Aires and Elder Delgado from Peru. Pretty fun so far. My companion is Elder Loveridge and he is from California. 

Saying goodbye to everyone from Rafaela was pretty tough. Really tough. Saying goodbye to Emiliano was the hardest. But that’s how life is. I’m hoping to keep in contact with all the other people, like Hermana Palota, Ariel and Alma, Adrian and Liza, and of course Gabe. I’m going to talk with all of them after the Mish, that’s for sure. Saying goodbye to Adrian and Liza was hard too.  They helped me so much with my teeth and became great friends. They have all taught me so much and I am so thankful for my long stay in Rafaela. I could barely speak Spanish when I arrived and now can understand everything and say anything! Many tears were shed say goodbyes.  I can’t wait to see them all again. I love them all, and I am ready to meet even more amazing people here in Santo Tome.

I don’t have too much to mention from this last week, and still don’t have my typer thing, so this one is going to be a little shorter. But thank you all for reading and I hope that all works out for you guys this week.  

Can’t forget to mention, the shoes are good and thick in the sole. I’ll get a picture for this coming week. They are nice, but I have to re-break them in

Love you all!

Ciao,

Elder Haley

Rodrigo and family

Emiliano

Gabe and Franco

Gabe

Familia Palota

Hermana Palota.  This angel washed my laundry every week and fed us regularly.

Familia Quiroga

Sister missionaries, Zone Leaders and Hermana Soledad

Ariel, Alma and their madre

Liza & Adrian

Goodbye to Elder Robinson.  We will still see each other throughout our mission.

New companion, Elder Loveridge

A few of the texts from Adrian:

                    "Hi guys!! To be honest I am sad, I really love your boy.  And we will miss him.  I hope we have a chance of being in contact in the future. They were here in moments where it was hard for me to find the light.  Today I have been talking with my mom about Morley and the last night we spent, trying to face some tears.  I will keep the memories on my heart, and I wish him all the best in the new area."

                      "Yes, it was hard to say goodbye.  As a foreign friend, I am proud of him and his work.  I am sure he will be working hard and continue spreading light for someone who needs it more than me.  I think some people appear in your life, in the exact moment you need them, and leave us when their mission is complete.  I continue reflecting about that."

A good, solid, fun week

Oh, hecks yeah. This week has been a really good one and I am seeing a lot of really good things happening in our area. We found a lot of people to teach, have a lot of new investigadores, and are helping them progress. 

Tuesday. It was a pretty long day, and we were walking a lot, but it was good none the less. We were on divisions with the Zone Leaders and this time I was with Elder Sandler. He’s a really good missionary, has about a year and half in the mission, and is actually the trainee of Elder Duval. So, when Duval left, he took his spot as the Zone Leader here in Rafaela. Pretty cool. But yeah, Elder Sandler and I were together in his area. In the morning, we went to a few appointments, but sadly, no one was home or could talk to us. But we contacted a few people and talked to a few people just outside their houses and ended up having a pretty good morning of finding a few people. During the Siesta, we had our weekly District Meeting, but this one was a little different. Our District President was there to talk to us for a little bit. Presidente Horton is the equivilent to a Stake President, but we don’t have enough people in our area, so its just a District, not Stake. But he came in and dropped some serious missionary knowledge on us. He shared some of his mission experiences and how we should be working with our mission leaders and having weekly meetings with them. We also learned about how we should do activities, that the activities should be centered on how we can help the people who attend to be more converted and to feel the Spirit. The rest of the meeting was good too. In the afternoon, Elder Sandler and I went out and had a pretty good time. We meet a few people and taught two lessons, both of which were really good. The first one was to a middle aged couple and thier teenage son. We taught them more about the Book of Mormon and how it can bless their lives. We shared a few scriptures with them and ended up teaching them about Obedience at the same time. They were paying a lot of attention and it was nice to see how they were really interested in what we had to say. The other lesson was with a younger couple and their friend who is living with them. We taught them about the Restoration and they were really interested. They are super great and humble people and we testified to them about just how blessed their lives can be, and will be, if they accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ and are baptized. I could really feel the Spirit during the lesson when we were talking about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and then later during the First Vision. It was a really good lesson. Something else that happened was when we found an older lady who lived alone with her cat and told us that she has some tough health problems. So we offered to give her a blessing and she accepted. So we gave the blessing and it was really great to see how the Spirit was working through Elder Sandler to help bless and comfort the lady. Then, afterwards, she tried paying us a few hundred pesos for the things that we had done. We had to tell her that we can’t, as missionaries, accept money from people. Throughout the entire day, Elder Sandler and I were sharing some fun mission stories together and it was fun to see just how many experiences I have had, and to see just how crazy Elder Sandlers missin has been. 

Wednesday. Well, Wednesday was a pretty good day too. We didn’t really have too many citas set up, but everything ended up working out and we had a good day anyways. In the morning, we taught Mario and had a good time with him, as always. We shared a scripture and even though he never really says anything, we know he feels the Spirit and enjoys it. Afterwards, we went to see our investigadora Natacha, but we couldn’t talk to her for long. She told us that she is really busy this week and that maybe the next week we can catch her for a lesson. We were able to check up on her to see if she had been praying or reading the scriptures, and she told us she has, but didn’t tell us more than that. So I guess we are going to have to wait to hear more about that. We also went by the Familia Suarez and were able to talk to them for a little bit. They are all doing well, except now they are in school again and are pretty dang busy. But we had time enough to share a small scripture and then set up an appointment for the next morning. The afternoon was a bit crazy. We were on our way out to the neighborhood we had plans in, when we walked into Gabe riding on his bike. He stopped and seemed pretty sad and that he needed someone to talk to, so we went with him to one of the local parks and sat down and listened to him about what’s been going on in his life. He has some pretty crazy stuff with his family that he has to deal with, while at the same time is going to school but still doesn’t like what he is studying to be and doesn’t really know what to do with his life. So we listened for a really long time and tried to help him understand a few things and give him some advice. We tried telling him that life is hard, but that’s the way it’s meant to be. If life was so easy, we wouldn’t learn or progress at all. But at the same time, we don’t have to just sit here and take all the crappy things that happen to us. We should do the things that God has told us to do, like pray and read the scriptures to have more blessings. Sadly, we still haven’t gotten it into Gabes mind/heart that he had to do these things EVERYDAY. But, we gave him a scripture to read and then set up and appointment to meet with him and one of his friends that is trying to stop with drugs and Gabe told him about us. So, until that, we were in our area looking for other people to meet with, without too much luck. But we were able to talk to a few future investigadores and set up some lessons for the future. Then, at the very end of the night we went with Gabe to his friends house to meet him and talk to him for a little bit. We were really only planning to get to know the guy and talk a little about what we do as missionaries, but basically as soon as we got there, he was talking about going to church and prayers and reading the scriptures, anything to be able to stop doing drugs. I was kinda surprised, but pleased at the same time. His name is Franco and is a really good kid who just got stuck in the wrong type of things and bad friends. So we got to know him a little more and then to share a small scripture in Alma 37:6 about small and simple things. We told him that drugs are addivtive, so it’s going to be a really hard and tough process to quit, especially if you try doing it all at once in one day, but that if you do it by small and simple things, every day, in the end, you can quit drugs and alcohol for good. We also met his family. He has a younger sister who is really nice and super funny and his parents are the nicest, most loving parents. They are open to us helping their son as much as possible and are there to support us and him in this tough time. We are really happy to have the opportunity to help this family and to see just how much Gabe trusts us with his friend. 

Thursday. In the morning, we went to the Familia Suarez house and taught them about the Plan of Salvation. We taught them that they all really do have a purpose in this life and how they can fulfil this purpose, especially through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They had a few good questions and were really attentive. I was even able to use my new Plan of Salvation activity thing and they really liked that. When we talked about the Atonement and how through it, Jesus suffered and died for us, Belen and Andrea were really emotional. It was a really powerful moment. After that, the rest of the morning was just looking for other people to teach and meet with. All of our plans fell through, but we were able to find a few people to chat with. In the afternoon, we had a few lessons and it was a really productive time. We had a lesson with Maria and Juani, the mom and son that we have been trying to meet with for a while. We finally got into a sit down lesson and taught them the Restoration. They were really interested, like most people are, and answered a lot of the questions we had for them. In the end, we invited them to be baptized, and they didn’t exactly accept, but they didn’t deny the offer either. So well see how that ends up playing out. We also found one guy named Jose they we had talked to before a few times. When we found him, he and his friend were sitting outside his house smoking some weed. So we sat down and taught Jose about the Word of Wisdom. His friend left before we started teaching, but Jose was pretty interested and understood why smoking and drinking is really really bad for you and how God doesn’t want you to do it. But he was super high out of his mind, so he would say stuff like "If God doesn’t want us to smoke it, why did he create it:", or in the end when we asked him if he had any questions, he only said "Only the same one I always have, Who created God?" Crazy dude. We spent basically the rest of the night looking for other people that Elder Robinson and Elder Pena had talked to while in Divisions. We met and talked to a guy named Matias who is a really cool person. We were looking for some one else that he lived with, but ended up talking to him instead. He told us that he has a son with his girlfriend and they live together and stuff. So we taught him about the Law of Chastity and how the family is ordained of God. We taught him how children deserve to be raised in a Family where the parents are married and love each other because hoy en dia, a lot of kids are being raised in broken families and are missing the love and relationships that are built through a strong family basis. We also found a few people, including a house of 4 guys from Paraguay that all live together. They let us in, and they were all sitting around the TV drinking Mate. So we shared a scripture with them and then gave them a Book of Mormon to read if they wanted and told them that we would come back some other day. So yeah, we found a whole bunch of people and taught a lot of lessons. Good day.

Friday. It was yet another really good day full of finding people and teaching a few lessons. In the morning, we were with the Hermanas in their area doing another Choque de Fuerza. We walked with them all the way to the neighborhood we were meant to work in, and it took literally close to an hour. But we talked to a few people on the way and when we got there, we were able to split up into our companionships and contact a few houses and meet more people that the Hermanas can go and visit. We met a few people and talked to a lot. Not going to lie, most of them were angry, old, prideful people that think they are too good to hear about Jesus, but we did find a few good people to talk to. We found one lady in particular that was really nice and seemed interested. At first, she seemed to be a little up tight, but in the end it was really good. We talked to her about her family and school and stuff, then started to share a little about the Plan of Salvation and how we can live forever in peace and happiness with our Families. She seemed really interested to hear more about that, so we got her info and set up and appointment for the next week so the Hermanas can pass by and teach them. During the siesta and studies, we were able to do our Weekly Planing session and it was actually super cool to see just how blessed we have been these past few weeks. Looking back to other Weekly Plannings, we noticed that we actually have people to plan for this week! Yeah! The afternoon was really good again. We had a lot of plans that ended up falling through again, but we were able to find a few people and still have a really good lesson with a new Family. During Divisions this week, Elder Robinson and Elder Pena were able to find a reall great family. They started talking to them and found out that they have the last name Palota and that they are related to HNA Palota. So that’s super cool. None of them are members, so they are taking the lessons with us now. It is a family of 6, the dad, mom, and 4 daughters. In the first lesson, Elder Robinson and Elder Pena taught about the Restoration and committed the parents and the two daughters who are older than 8 to be baptized. So, when I went by to teach them with Elder Robinson, we just checked up on them and how they are doing with reading the Book of Mormon and praying. They said that they have done both! So afterwards, we read some scriptures and taught them a little about the commandments, especially the Sabbath Day. They really liked all of it and committed to coming to church. In fact, Andres, the dad, said he was coming, even if it had to take two or three trips to take everyone to the church on his moto. Yeah! 

Saturday. It was a pretty dang good day to be a missionary on Saturday. We taught a bunch of lessons and had a lot of good experiences helping other people. In the morning, first thing we did was go to the FML Suarez and talk with them for a little bit. We were only able to talk to Rodrigo and Andrea, but it was still really good. We shared with them a scripture in Mosiah 2:20-22 about keeping the commandments and then taught them about the Sabbath day. Rodrigo committed to going, gosh dang he is a total boss. But, Andrea had a few problems that would impead her from attending. So we promised her, in the name of Jesus, that if she did all that she could, she would be able to attend on Sundays. We shared 1 Nephi 3:7 and told her that God does just give us commandments and thats it. He helps us keep them and all we have to do is try our hardest to be worthy of his help and then pray for more aid. Sadly, she still couldn’t commit to attending the following Sunday. But that’s okay. So we left with Rodrigo to go to the church and teach him some English. We taught him how to say "A mi, me gusta..." or in English "I like to..." Then we had to hurry over to Gabe’s house to leave for the lesson with his friend, Franco. Franco is a complete stud. He has a super contagious laugh that is so flipping funny and his family is so great and supportive of him. So we taught him about the Word of Wisdom and how the things that completely destroy your body, like drugs and alcohol and smoking, are bad for you. Weird huh? But, the rest of the lesson was really good. His younger sister sat in on the lesson too, and she learned too. Both committed to living the Word of Wisdom. Yay! After, Gabe walked with us for a while and he’s been reading in the Book of Mormon. Nice. I love it when people do the things they know will make them happy. Then, the afternoon was actually really good too. Before we left the pench, we said a prayer and asked the we could have at least one lesson during the afternoon. We didn’t have any appointments with anyone, but we had lots of plans to visit some contacts and other people. So we were praying to be able to have at least one lesson. So we left and got to the neighborhood that we were going to be working in, and Elder Robinson had the thought to visit one guy that we hadn’t seen in a really long time. A while go, Elder Robinson and Elder Duval were on divisions and they taught one guy who actually lived in our area, and we had tried to make contact with him a few times since that, but we were never able to meet with him. So we went to this guy, named Hernan. It was really cool because we had made plans to visit just about everyone we knew in that area, except for him. But we received the prompting and followed it. And it ended up paying off! He was home and we taught him the Restoration. It was a pretty good lesson. He understood a lot and talked even more. But we got through it all without much difficulties and now he understands who Joseph Smith is and his wierd "Mormon Bible" (Which actually isn’t our version of the Bible. We believe in the Bible too, so don’t worry about that!) But yeah. After that lesson, we didn’t teach anyone else the rest of the night. So we received an answer to our prayers! We were able to talk to other people, just that we couldn’t teach them. 

Sunday. It was a really tranquilo and good day, but honestly not as good as we were hoping for. In the morning, we woke up to see that during the night, Rodrigo texted us to say that he wouldn’t be able to go to church because he would be out of town. So, we were pretty sad to hear that. But, we got to the church hoping that the Familia Palota would at least attend. We also called Gabe and tried to get him to come. Sadly, no one did until sacrament had already started and Gabe came in about half way through. He’s a good kid. Emiliano came too and I finally got the t-shirt from him. I love the shirt and it’s going to be one of my favorite recuerdos. Good stuff. The rest of church was alright. We had to teach the 3rd hour lesson because it was 5th Sunday. We, and HNO Deck, the ward mission leader, taught a lesson on sharing the Gospel through Social Media and technology. It was a pretty good lesson, but the sad part is that all the members are older people and don’t really know how to function a phone. But, they still learned a lot. The afternoon was really good and super chill.  We didn’t really teach anyone, but we talk to a bunch of people for really longs periods of time, and it was amazing. It was cool to just be able to chat with people and know what they are saying and being able to contribute to the conversation without any problems. We went to go see one lady named Sandra who is a member that has been kinda inactive for a while because she has had cancer and other sicknesses. So went and talked with her for a while and had a good time just chatting and sharing a few scriptures while we were at it, we also had the opportunity to give her the Sacrament. Afterwards, we went and visited the Familia Quiroga because they weren’t at church today. It was actually really good. We were only able to talk to the mom because HNO Quiroga was gone and the kids were running around outside, but it was super chill and nice. She didn’t share specifics, but apparently the family is having some problems, but they really appreciate that we check up on them. Now we have plans to have another Noche de Hogar after PDAY. After that, we went to see Maria and Juani because we invited them to church too, but they didn’t come either. They said that the had slept in, but then we talked for a while and it was really good. They are really great people and super fun. We talked about all sorts of stuff like sports, mate, best places to buy food in town, and a few more things. It was a good time to just be friends with them, and in the end set up an appointment for the next week. Good stuff. And after that we went to HNA Palotas and talked with them for a while. Tommy is a boss, HNA Virginia is super cool, and Josefina is fun. Seba is just Seba and is the most amazing baby in the world-except for my cousins of course. And of course, HNA Palota is just and angel. After that, we went to see our other FML Palota, our investigadores, to see what happened this morning. Apparently they slept in too, but they are still reading and praying, so we set up another cita for later this coming week. So yeah, over all, it was a really good day.

Some other things that happened this week... So if you remember, last week the ZL’s found a fish in the street and put it into our freezer. Well, this week we found an old cow skull, so we got them back... kind of. We put the skull in their oven and left if for them to find. The following day, I wanted to get a picture with it, so we went into their pench and opened the oven, and it was gone. So we were just like "Oh no....." and ran over to our pench to see where they had put it. It turns out they had found it and some how put it back into our freezer! So now we have a cow skull, dead fish, and a baby doll head frozen in water. Crazy stuff. 

I also really love Mate now. I didn’t like it at all at first because it was super bitter and tasted like grass. But now, I have learned how to make it sweet and amazing. 

While we were talking to Maria and Juani on Sunday, we were outside and an old guy came walking by. We were just talking and the guy had the biggest, loudest, nastiest burp ever. So we just stopped talking, looked at each other, and started laughing really bad. They guy laughed too and yelled "Bien Hecho!" which means "Good work" or "Well done" Super funny stuff. 

I’m also very proud to tell you all that we finally have hot water! Yeah! The guy came just this morning and got everything fixed and going with a new water heater. Now, we can finally shower in our own pench. So yeah, thats good news too. Oh, and now that we are on the topic of good news, the weather is getting a lot nicer! It’s not as freezing cold and it starting to change a little into spring. I will say I don’t want it to be summer yet, but it will be nice to not be freezing my butt off anymore. 

Oh, also. My brown shoes are dying, but it’s all good because HNA Palota has a shoe guy that will fix them. She said he can put on good strong soles on. HNA Palota says they will be good. I just wanted to get a video because they were pretty badly worn down. (on the blog)

But yeah, just to end this thing on a spiritual note, I’ll share some of my favorite scriptures from the week and also some of my thoughts and feelings. I have been reading in the Book of Mormon a lot this week, but for now, I want to turn my thoughts not exactly to the scriptures, but just to the living proof that I have witnessed this week. I have been able to see recently and for a while now, how Satan is really making an attack against the family. I have witnessed many families, both members of the church and not, fall apart and be destroyed recently. A lot of families are being broken by pride or other things, but really the only thing that we have to do as people and members of a family, is be centered, together, on the Gospel. I have seen a lot of families who don’t have the Gospel in their lives, and some get by alright. But for the most part, the families are broken, separated, and unloving. It happens in the church too! But I would like to bear my testimony on the importantance of doing small and simple things. It is through the small things, like reading the scriptures, praying as a family and also holding Family Home Evenings, that the family can be stregthened and protected. Also, in D&C 10:5 it talks about this principle and also in the recent General Conference, the talk by President Oaks touched on the importance of small and simple things. So, I invite all of you to read this scripture and talk and apply them to your lives. 

Thank you all for everything you do and for reading this. I know it’s long and sometimes repetitive, but I hope you all can learn from my experiences. Love ya all

Ciao

Elder Haley

Mate!

Eating with the ZL's

Cow skull and fish in our freezer......

No Bakes!

Guarana Mate.  Cool cup and straw!

Franco, Gabe and Franco's sister.

Giant moon!

Shirt from Emiliano!

Gabe at church with us

Cool Statue

Wait, more food!

Story of my sad shoes after 8 months.