Well we got through another week of life in the Mission and
it was pretty sweet the whole time. We got a bunch of stuff done and I had a
really good weekend with General Conference and everything. So lets just say,
it was a good ole week.
Tuesday.
In the morning, we did a Choque de Fuerza in the area of the
Hermanas. It went pretty well, we found a few people and had a good morning
talking to as many people as we could. Not too much to mention though. We
contacted one guy who actually lives in Santa Fe but was visiting his grandma,
so we passed the reference to the Zone Leaders and hopefully they could send it
to others in Santa Fe. But yeah, it was a pretty chill morning. Then, during the
Siesta, we had our weekly Reunion de Distrito, and that was pretty great
actually. The Hermana Capasadoras, or the Hermana missionary assistants, were
doing divisions with the Hermanas, so we had them in the meeting too. It was a
great time. We were able to talk a lot about our investigadores and learn new
ways to help them and the Capas gave some good advice for all of us. We were
also able to read together in Alma 26, one of my favorite chapters of scripture
in all the world. It was a really good opportunity to learn from each other and
share our thoughts and experiences. I learned a lot from the other
missionaries, and I also was able to share a few of my own personal thoughts.
Then, in the end, we were able to pass the references and contacts that we had
gotten in the morning during the Choque de fuerza. Not too bad of a meeting if
I do say so myself. Afterward, we went on divisions with the other Elders for
the afternoon, because we had accidentally scheduled two citas at the same
time, and both were really important. First, was going to see Fabian and take
him to Seminary. The other was a cita with FML Penno. I was with Elder Delgado
and we were the companionship that went to the cita with the FML Penno. But,
before that, we went to Las Vegas to go and see a few people that we had made
citas with. Sadly, none of the people we had planned to visit were home.
Literally none of them. Even our back up plans weren’t home either. I think the
only person that we did talk to was Guadalupe, the woman that we have been try
to meet with to teach, especially since her younger brother has died. But, she
wasn’t able to let us in to talk, but we were able to share our grievances and
condolences with her for the loss of her brother recently. She was very nice
and acceptant. When we tried to offer her a pamphlet of the Plan of Salvation,
she reminded us that she had already received one. Sadly, she hadn’t been able
to read it before, but we explained it shortly, especially on what happens
after death and Eternal Families. It was a good, small moment that we could
share with her. Hopefully we can meet with her again soon and have an actual
lesson. After that, we had a lesson with the FML Penno. It was a really good
lesson and we were able to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but were not able
to finish the lesson because they had a few really good questions that needed a
little bit more explaining and guidance. And, in the end, they had Asado
waiting for us. It was funny because in the last lesson, before the one on
Tuesday, they had mentioned something about Asado, but Elder Grandon and I
thought that they were only joking about that. But in the end, I had Asado with
Elder Delgado, while Elder Grandon missed out. And, to cap it all off, they
gave us a ride home at the end so we wouldn’t be late and walking around in the
dark. They are the best!
Wednesday.
In the morning, we didn’t have any citas planned, so we made
a few plans to visit a few contacts and other investigadores. As we were
visiting all the people, none of them were home or very interested. So, we
actually ran through our plans pretty quickly, And what do missionaries do when
they have nothing else to do) That’s right, we went back to the pench and took
a nap for the rest of the morning. I mean...uh...wait no that didn’t happen....
No but seriously, like we always do when we don’t have any more people to
visit, we did some contacting to help us find new people to visit. It went
pretty well. We talked to quite a few people and ended up having several good
contacts and citas with them in the future. It was fun. I remember now, in the
very beginning of my mission, when I couldn’t contact anyone at all. Mainly
because I couldn’t speak Spanish at all. But now, I have developed a few
contacting techniques and contacting has become pretty fun. And, I’ve gotten to
the point with my Spanish skills and my accent has changed enough that most
people can’t tell that I’m from the USA. Some say Brazil, others Spain. It
helps that I already have a crazy tan that makes me look a little Latino. After
lunch with a member family and studies in the pench, we went back out to work
and went to have our regular meeting with Jonathan out in Las Vegas. We got
there and sat down and he told us that he had a few doubts and questions that
he wanted answered. We were happy to help him resolve any of the problems he
had, so we prayed together and then listened to what Jonathan had to say.
Sadly, he had gotten into a bit of Anti-Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints stuff. So he had a lot of questions about that stuff, but mostly he was
just confused and lost in different lies and trash that people share about us,
the members of the Restored Church of Jesus Christ. So that was pretty sad, and
super frustrating because literally all of the questions could be answered by
the lessons that we had already taught him and reviewed with him a few times
over. It’s crazy to see just how destructive that kind of garbage can be.
Basically, in the end, we reminded him of the Spirit that he has felt as we have
passed by and taught him, and that in every lesson, we do not try to force him
to believe or to adapt to our beliefs. We reminded him that in every lesson, we
only share what we believe, and then invite him to pray to know if what we
shared is true. He told us that he honestly hadn’t prayed specifically to know
if what we taught was true, which was a mistake on our part for not verifying
that, but he did commit to do it on his own and to continue to read and pray
regularly. He’s a good guy, he just got caught up in the wrong kind of stuff.
After that interesting visit with Jonathan, we went to see a few other people,
but they weren’t home or they were busy. So we went to see the FML Varino. We
went to ask them if they could come with us to the lesson with the FML Penno
that we had for Thursday, the following day. Sadly, they couldn’t, so that was
pretty lame. But, as we were chatting with them, they had a few questions and
needed some advice in helping the brother of HNA Varino who, as they put it,
was having problems with pride. So, we helped them and gave them a few ideas to
help the hermano, and also gave them a few scriptures to read, ponder, and
maybe share with her brother. It was a good time and a pretty nice way to end
the day. Not too bad of a day, but hey, what can ya do?
Thursday.
Well, it was yet another good day. That’s right. A good day
baby. In the morning, we didn’t really get too much done. We had set up a few
citas, but would you guess it, they all fell through because the people weren’t
home, or if they were, they didn’t want to answer the door and talk to us. So,
we did a bit more contacting for the morning, visited a few less active
members, but didn’t have a lesson in the morning. So we went to the local store
and bought some stuff for lunch. But, just as we were finished making our super
nutritious and healthy lunch of hotdogs with onions and tomatoes, we got a
phone call from the other Elders, reminding us that we had lunch with them at a
members house all the way across town. So we got ready really quickly and got
there pretty quickly, going by colectivo. It was a super good lunch with a
member who just got home from him mission about 3 or 4 years ago. SO he had a
few crazy stories from his mission in Brazil. And, not to mention, the food was
super crazy delicious. Part of the lunch was a type of side dish that is
basically just fried slices of sweet potato. They are so good! But so simple.
After that, and a little bit of studies, we went back out to work and had a
pretty great afternoon. Well, a pretty great END of the afternoon. Because in
the beginning, no one was home again. So that was pretty lame. All of the citas
we had set up fell through, but we went to see a few other people instead. One
of which was Fabian. We were able to sit down and just chat with him. It’s
pretty lame though, because every time that we plan to take him to church on
Sunday, or for seminary during the week, he is never home or something happens
that he can’t go. It’s just a big problem that is making it hard for him to
progress. He has been talking to the missionaries for over a year now, so he
has had literally all the lesson more than a few times. So we don’t really have
anything else to teach him that is necessary for his baptism, but if he doesn’t
come to church, there is nothing that we can do. We can keep passing by him,
but if he isn’t coming to church right now, before his baptism, he sure won’t
come after. After chatting with him, we went and had our lesson with the Family
from Heaven, FML Penno. Gosh dang people, they are so cool. We finished the
lesson of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and answered all of their questions and
doubts that they had. It was a great time. They really understand everything
that we teach them, and if they don’t, they actually ask and don’t let the
doubts stew. In the end, to kind of sum up all of the lesson that we taught
over two lessons worth of time, we read in 2 Nephi 31. It was great. They all
have their own Book of Mormon and they all followed along and if one of the
kids didn’t know a word, Noelia or Jose would answer the question. In the end,
we shared which of the verses caught our attention the most and gosh dang, I
can’t say it enough, but they are just the best! I love them so much! Also, in
the lesson before with Elder Delgado, we helped them download the app of Gospel
Library, so they are using that too. Noelia, at the time of the lesson, had
read up until 1 Nephi 19, and, AND she told us that she wants to end the Book
of Mormon in a month or less!! What! How freaking nuts is that. When Elder
Grandon and I heard that, we didn’t want to say anything, but in my head I was
screaming and shouting with joy and gratitude. And THEN to make the night even
better, they made some freaking Asado chicken. Gosh dang man. I literally
cannot express myself enough. But yeah, That was the day. Pretty dang good if I
say so myself. Yeah!!!
Friday.
In the morning, we had a lesson with Mari, and it went
pretty well! She had been reading the Book of Mormon up until chapter 10. It
was great to here, because she still doesn’t totally believe in God, but she
does have the desire to know if He exists or not. Plus, she had been praying to
know if the Book of Mormon and what we have been teaching her is true or not.
At this point, she still doesn’t know for sure if everything is true or not,
but she is convinced that everything is very good stuff and that it
"Sounds right." That’s always really nice to hear. And then, we
taught her about the Plan of Salvation, and I used my little graph thing to show
her how everything plays out and give a bit of visuals. It was an alright
lesson. Throughout the entire discussion, she kept saying stuff like "I
just can’t believe" and "It’s just too hard to believe." That’s
usually not what we like to hear when we are teaching, but in the end, we were
able to help her realize that every part of the Plan of Salvation makes sense
and that everything works together to give us answers to our questions and
gives us purpose in this life. She literally took all of the pieces of my
little plan, and made a life that consisted of being born, living, and dying,
and told us that that was all that she believed in. So we explained to her as
best we could, and in the end, she accepted everything that we said. It may not
be firm in her beliefs right now, but the more that she prays and asks to know
if it is true, she will come to know for herself. But, she does seem excited to
learn more. We invited her to continue to pray and read, and also we invited
her to come to General Conference with us. She seemed really happy to be
invited and told us that she would come. Then, as we were leaving, we invited
her two sons, Facundo and Rodrigo to come with us to an activity that night to
play ping pong in the church. They said they would go and we set up a time for
us to stop by and look for them to walk together to the church. So, after lunch
with the FML Leonelo and studies, we went out to see a few more people who we
had made citas with, but wowzers, if you wouldn’t believe it, they all fell through.
So, instead of having a few lessons for the afternoon, we did a bit more
contacting. We didn’t have too much success, but we were able to talk to a few
people, even if they didn’t want us to go by again. Then, we went to the church
and had our English Class. The only person that could come was a hermana from
the Barrio who needed some help with her English homework. It was actually
pretty tough. We had to help her translate a few paragraphs of information, and
normally that would be easy, but my vocabulary isn’t big enough to get the
direst translation of most of the bigger, more sophisticated words. But, we
limped our way through and ended up helping her a little bit. After that, we
went to look for Facu and Rodri to take them back to the church and play some
ping pong. It was a pretty fun time! On the way to the church, Facu was asking
us stuff like "Do I have to kneel before entering the church?" or
"You guys aren’t going to try to convert us, will you?" He was
halfway joking, but we had a laugh about that. But ping pong was nice because
they were able to meet some members and see that we, the members of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints aren’t completely weird. Now, they want to
come back and play some more. So we are planning a big tournament for the two
wards here in Santoto to invite investigadores and menos activos. It should end
up being fun. But that was the end of the day.
Saturday.
In the morning, we went to the house of our Ward Mission
leader to make and eat some tacos. It was nice to have a calm morning and to
talk with him about our investigadores and make some plans for the future to
talk to menos activos and also to plan a few activities for the ward. We took a
little too long to make the tacos, so we weren’t able to eat them before the
first session of Conference, so we had to leave early to go to the church and
watch. Holy cow, I loved conference. I won’t go into too many details right
now, just to sum up all of my thoughts all together in the end. But yeah, it
was a good time. In between sessions, we went back to the house of our ward
mission leader and ate all the tacos. Holy cow, they were good. Especially with
my spicy sauce. Then, we went back to the church to watch the second session.
Mari was able to make it to that session! She really liked it, especially the
talk by Elder Uchtdorf. I was glad that she had the opportunity to listen to
the words of our Prophets and leaders and to feel the Spirit. After conference,
we went out and talked to a few people. We were really only able to talk to one
guy for a while. We went by to see the Ariana hermana, or maybe her sister,
Selene, but this time, we talked to yet another different person. This time, we
talked to their brother. He was super awesome. At first, he was super chill and
nice to us, so we though he might have been high, but it turns out, he was just
a super cool dude. He gave us some juice and we just talked with him for a
while, got to know him, and had a few laughs. Hopefully we can catch him again
some time and actually teach him something.
Sunday.
Sunday morning, since we normally never do anything at that
time, we were a little lost as to what we would do as far as work. The only
other problem is that literally nobody is up and about on Sunday Morning, they
are all sleeping. So, instead of doing some contacting, we decided as a
District to stay in the church, make some pancakes, and share some of the
thought that we had about Conference, what we had learned, and how we can apply
those things to our own personal lives, and also to the work. It was a good ole
time. Pancakes were yummy and we all learned a lot from each other. For the
first session, FML Penno was able to come, and also Jonathan. They all seemed
to have really liked the conference and I think they all learned something. FML
Penno is so cool! You want another reason for why they are so cool?? We were
waiting for them outside the church, and they showed up in a Remis, which is a
taxi here. It was weird because they have a car, so they shouldn’t have to pay
a remis. But what had happened is that their car had broken down, and normally
that would keep someone from coming to church, but nope, not them! Gosh dang I
love them! After the first session, Elder Grandon and I stayed in the church
and made some lunch. And after the second session, we went to drop our clothes
off at the FML Maciel, then ended the night by stopping by HNA Amelia because
we hadn’t passed by her in a really long time. It was a good night.
Alright, now for my thoughts on General Conference. Let’s
just say... HOLY COW THAT WAS AWESOME! I love it all so much. Really, GC is so
good no matter what you do. But this one was super good. SUPER GOOD! Before
Conference, I was able to write down a few questions that I had, and each one
was answered, thoroughly. Plus, a few questions that I didn’t even know that I
had!! It was great. I have so much notes to keep me busy studying, and I can’t
wait for the Liahonas to come out so I can go through the talks again and
hopefully catch some things that I missed. I was so happy to hear the voices
and the words of our prophets and leaders and to be guided by them, and by the
Spirit. I am so grateful for every opportunity that we have to learn more of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how to become more and more like him each and
every day. I am so grateful for the personal revelation that I received and for
the Spirit that I felt. I can’t wait 6 more months to be fed and nourished
again. Legit. I love it so much. I hope that you all were able to do the same,
to feel the Spirit and receive answers to your questions. I think my favorite
talk was by Elder Holland (big surprise) or by Robert C Gay. But really, all of
the talks were amazing and I got so much out of them!! It was pretty great
to understand it all in Spanish too, especially compared to 6 months ago!
Well, that’s what has been going on in my life. Thank you
all for all that you guys do. Once again, I love getting emails and updates
from all of you. I hope everything goes well for you all
this coming week. Love you all!
Things to note, I have a super awesome tan already. I am more brown than my Argentine companion!
I ate a Big Mac this week for the first time in my life. I can make awesome tacos and there are some
pretty cool streets in Santa Fe!
Chau
Elder Haley
Tacos in the pench
Chicken Asado with Familia Penno
Sweet tan lines
I am more brown than Elder Grandon
Santa Fe
My first Big Mac
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