Rain and new people...

Wellllll alrighty my friends and family. Here we are again, reading the freakishly long emails by yours truly. This last week of the mission has been pretty good with quite a bit of cool stuff going on and good stories and experiences. It was a good time and with a bunch of funny and spiritual stuff. Alright, so lets jump in, no?

Tuesday. In the morning, we had to travel to Santa Fe and have a kind of "Mini Zone Conference" in one of the church buildings out there. I say that it was a "Mini" one because it was only our district and one other one, that consisted of the assistants, the Sister training leaders, and Elder McCown and his comp. It was super good. We reviewed what we had learned in the Conference that we had with the Elder Villar and how we have been able to apply these things. So we talked again about the importance of Preach My Gospel and how we can be better, more effective, and more efficient missionaries. So that was super great. And afterwards, we each were able to have an interview with Presidente Westover. It was great, as always. I love the man. He has helped me learn a lot and how to be a better missionary and man. And, while I was waiting for my interview with Presidente, I was able to sit and chat with Hermana Westover too. Elder McCown was there too and I was able to catch up with him about the mission and life and stuff like that. So it was a pretty good, chill morning. Afterwards, because we weren’t given lunch as part of the Conference, we went and got some Sanduba, some super great sandwiches. Then we went to the Mission Offices to drop off a few papers and things, and pick up a few supplies and letters and packages and stuff. Packages are so great, thank you! By the time we got back to good old Santo Tome, we were able to drop the things off at the pench and then head to the FML Penno’s for our lesson and dinner with them. So this time we didn’t get into a lesson, but we did talk a lot about being good, loving members of the church and doing our best at not gossiping or saying bad things about the other members. Not that the FML Penno has problems with that at all, but just to help them understand the dangers of that and the importance of just being loving at all times. It was a good day.

Wednesday. In the morning we spent more time going through the list of members that we have and trying to get it all organized into areas and neighborhoods to make it easier and quicker in the future to identify members and where they live based on where we are going to be working. So we did that and then when out to visit a few of the members. First was Mari because we hadn’t seen her in a while. But she wasn’t home because she was working. We got into contact with her during the week so it’s okay. She hadn’t attended church for two weeks or so because she was sick and traveling. But, it’s all good. And then we visited a few other members, who apparently moved since the list was last revised the list, so we didn’t end up finding the members, but we did find and talk to a few other people who now live in the previously owned houses of the members. It was nice to talk to them, but sadly there doesn’t seem to be much potential there. After lunch and the siesta we went to visit a few other people that we had contacted before, but sadly, none of the people were home. Oh well. So we contacted a little bit and visit a few more members, but not too much happened that night. 

Thursday. In the morning, we had made a few citas and lessons, but the people that we had made the appointmentes with forgot, so we had to reschedule and visit a few other people. One of which was Maria Jose, who lives in Las Vegas. We went to see her, but she wasn’t home, so we went just across the street to visit her ex-mother in law. The ex-mother in law is the crazy lady that always calls us spies. She wasn’t home either because she was sent to the hospital after a bunch of heart problems and was going to get open heart surgery. Crazy stuff, so throughout the week we kept stopping by them to get the news and info on her surgery from her kids. Then we had a lesson with Jonathan and reviewed the Plan of Salvation and I used my little graph thing. It was pretty good lesson and Jonathan, like always, had a few questions. But all for the morning. On the way from Las Vegas to the house of a member for lunch, we were about half way there when a huge, crazy storm started to absolutely DUMP rain. So we showed up to the house for lunch a little wet because we didn’t have any umbrellas or rain jackets. We didn’t pack them with us that day because there was not a single cloud in the sky when we left the pench.  I should know better, being from Nebraska.  I know storms can roll in fast! So that was fun, being soaking wet. After lunch, we had to walk all the way back to the pench in the rain too. When it rains the streets fill with water.  Sometimes we have nowhere to go, except through the water to get where we need to go. Then we went back out to work in the afternoon and visited this guy named Ricardo who we are teaching now, but because he has super bad problems with him roof and it was raining.  He wasn’t able to attend us because the rain was pouring in his house just as bad as it was outside. So we offered our help, but he declined and asked us to come back some other time, when it wasn’t raining. I hope he will let us help him! So we went just around the corner and had our lesson with FML Penno. This time we reviewed the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and got into some deeper doctrine than we did the first time we taught them. It was funny to think that the last time I had taught them that lesson, it was with Elder Grandon and we had only just recently gotten to know the FML Penno. Now they are basically family and I can’t imagine my mission or my life without them. Then we ate dinner and just had a good old time.  Also, since they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Argentina, I totally forgot that it was a holiday. 

Friday. In the Friday morning, Elder Cortes was sick, and Elder Carter wanted to leave and visit a few people. So I went out with him in the nice rainy, cold day and we went to visit a few people. Mind you that his area is super far away, so we had to walk super far just to get to their area, and then we had to walk super far away to get to the cita that they had. So, let’s say I was a bit tired of walking. But! We were able to find the guy we were looking for and teach him the Restoration. It was an alright lesson. The guy wasn’t paying too much attention. We got to teach him, but didn’t have much time left after that, so we had to use the rest of the time walking home. Then, in the afternoon, we did basically the same thing. We went to visit a few people in our area, but they ended up not being home. So we went to the church to have our english class, but we realized that the hermanas had our keys to the church, so we werent able to get in. So we went to the area of the other Elders again, but this time even further than we were before. And I mean like 30 or so blocks away from our pench. So we went there to have a lesson with a few of the Elders investigadores, but when we got there, they let us in and we started having a pretty good lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but they had to do something and we weren’t able to end the lesson. So that was a bummer. We went all the way back to the pench and that was the day. Not too much, but we were happy about still leaving and working our hardest. 

Saturday. Dang, Saturday was actually a super good day. In the morning, we went to visit a few people that we had made plans with in Las Vegas, but when we got to one of them, the lady that we had talked to wasn’t home, but the husband told us that we could go back in the afternoon and find her then. Then we went by the Spies lady and she now is in her house, but can do very little because they literally opened up her chest and now she has to heal from that. She is kind of old and the constant pain keeps her from doing much other than lying in bed in anguish. So that was a little sad to hear, but at least she is alive. I hope she will let us give her a blessing this week. Then we went and contacted a few people and set up citas with them for the afternoon. We ended up having an afternoon full of citas. Then we went to visit a few other people in a different part of our area and ended up setting up even more citas for later in the week. So, after the siesta and everything, we went back out to work and our first cita was with the lady that wasn’t home in the morning, but that was going to be home in the afternoon. So we finally found her in her house and we were able to teach her about the Restoration. She found it really interesting because the first time that we contacted her, we gave her a pamphlet of the Restoration and she read the whole thing that same day. Wo when we went back to talk to her, she was asking us about the Book of Mormon and what it was and that she wanted us to go back another time and explain it to her. So we were finally able to teach her, and she accepted all of it. She thought it was great because she was also meeting with the Jehovah Witnesses and she was happy that we could answer the questions that she had that the Jehovah Witnesses couldn’t answer. So we invited her to read and pray and to come to church with us the next day. She accepted all of the invitations and was super happy and satisfied when we left. The next lesson was with two ladies that we had contacted in the morning. It was super cool because when we clapped at their door, the one lady, Celeste, answered and said that we were an answer to her prayers because she was actually, literally praying that she needed help from God when we clapped. So we talked to her and her sister, Maria. They were so cool. We sat down with them and just explained more about the mission and what we do as missionaries and a little bit more about ourselves. Then, they invited us inside and we taught them all of the Restoration. It was such a good lesson and they were so focused and interested. In the end they understood why we are the only true church and how they could come to know about it for themselves. It was fantastic. They even accepted when we invited them to baptism on the 22nd of December. So let’s just say I was super happy leaving their house. They were so cool awesome! We could joke around and have fun with them and it felt like they were almost already members. Super cool. Then, after we gave them a Book of Mormon and invited them to read and pray, we left and went to visit the Paola lady that we taught last Friday. We had passed by her the day before, but she wasn’t home, so we decided to pass by again. When we did, her daughter, Abril, answered, but Paola was just getting home from running errands. So we talked with her for a little bit outside and she invited us in to talk more. She told us that she had read a little bit of the Book of Mormon and that we was super interested, but had a few doubts. So what happened is we ended up teaching her and going through all of the details and proofs of the Ancient American Indians and how they really are the descendants of the Lamanites from the Book of Mormon. Paola is a lady that needs to know absolutely everything before she is convinced. But, in the end we tried explaining to her that the details, at times, are not important, and that we have to work by faith. We invited her to continue reading, but his time to pray to know if it was true or not. She accepted and we set up plans to go back the next week. 

Sunday. It was a pretty good day on Sunday. In the morning, we went extra early to the church to wait for the people that we had invited, but sadly, none of them were able to show up. But, Jose Penno was super surprised to see us there before he was. So that was funny.  During the classes we learned about the Holy Ghost and about how families are a responsibility that we have. It was a really good set of classes. Then during Sacrament Meeting, of course that was amazing. I’ve really come to love partaking of the Sacrament. It means so much. After that, our Bishop gave a super good talk on Gossiping and basically really taught all of the members. We always need to be reminded that gossip is not a good idea. I thought it was a great talk and I learned a lot. After lunch and the siesta, we went to visit a few people and a few members. The members we visited weren’t home, but the other Elders asked us to pass by for a contact of theirs and that actually ended up being a fun experience. The lady that we were looking for wasn’t home, but the husband was, so we talked to him. It turns out that he is a super crazy devoted Catholic, but not the normal Catholic church that you see and hear about. Even more extreme, Roman Apostolic Catholic church, so they have a few things that the typical Catholic church doesn’t agree with. So that was fun because he kept calling us "Mormons" in a super derogative way and was being super, super nice to us, but at the same time was trying to pick at us and Bible bash us a little bit. So that was funny. After him, we went by to see Gonzalo, the teacher of the Prinicipios del Evengelio. He is the convert of Elder Loveridge, and Elder Loveridge and I are going to have divisions this week. So we had to set up a cita with him so Elder Loveridge can see him. Then we went by the FML Amarilla. It was super great! We just sat down and chatted with them for a really long time. It was nice to just sit down and talk with them because they are going through a whole bunch of stuff, still... but we are always willing to help them and talk to them about their sons and share a scripture. They are really cool and amazing people with so much strength and faith. They really remind me of my family back home. Then, after that we went to visit a few other people and set up some stuff for the rest of the week. It was a super chill, sweet day. 

That’s the week! We are going to be getting a lot more stuff this coming week. It is so great to see the fruits of our labors and planning and having faith. Also, sorry for no food pictures this week, I know you are super disappointed.  Don’t fear, next week I will have so. Oh, and if you guys didn’t know yet, I’M GOING TO PASS MY YEAR MARK THIS WEEK!! THAT’S RIGHT BABY!!! I can’t believe it has already been a year.  It is awesome!

Love you all!!

Chau

Elder Haley

My MTC companion, Elder McCown. 

Lunch after our meetings

Beautiful sunsets

The clouds that DUMPED rain on us...

We got slightly wet...

Road filled with water when it rains.  

Another dead dog

Really big, gross moth

What the streets always look like when it rains

This week was 8/10

¡¡Hola gente!! Mientras camino, estoy bien. Un poco cansado, ¡pero eso es normal como misionero! Sigue siendo tan caluroso y húmedo aquí.

I’m here again with what has been happening down here in Argentina, but this week I am going do this a little different. Honestly, not too much big stuff happened this week, but in every day we had a few cool experiences. So, instead of going through literally all that we did this week, I am going to go day by day and share just the cool experiences that we had or good lessons. Alright¿ Good. Let’s get into it.

Tuesday. So basically we worked all day, but didn’t get to have any lessons with investigadores. We visited Bishop in his house and talked with him and his wife for a bit and that was good because they are super cool. Part of that was that we asked him for a list of members in the Ward (congregation) so we could have more people to visit, including less actives, and also maybe find a few part member families. So that basically summed up the rest of the work we did for the week. We used the list of members and visited a bunch of them. Turns out that the list hasn’t been updated in a bit, so some of the people who were super inactive have moved or even died. But, we were able to find a few good people and their families. I’ll get more into that further in the week. So that was good. Other than that, the only thing to mention of Tuesday was our regular dinner and lesson appointment that we have with la familia Penno every Tuesday. It was great as always. This time we didn’t really teach anything, we did answer a bunch of their questions and doubts. Mostly, it was a time to help Noelia understand and learn a bit of somewhat basic doctrine that she had been mixed up on because she had been raised as a Jehovah’s Witness. So we had to use a bunch of scriptures and helped her understand a few things, mostly that Jesus is Jehovah and a few other things like that. It was super good because we are starting to get into a bit of the more deep doctrine, that as missionaries, we almost never talk about because we are always teaching basic gospel and doctrine principles. It was super nice and actually fun. Like I always say, I love them so much!!!

Wednesday. Alright, when we sat down to plan in the morning on Wednesday, it was a little sad to see that we didn’t have a single cita planned or anything whatsoever written in our planners. So, in the morning we decided to just go out and contact the entire morning. We set the goal of having at least 7 contacts in the morning. We ended up one contact short at the end of the morning, but we were still pretty happy and satisfied with the work we got done. We went to an area that I haven’t worked in too much and just tried to talk to all the people that we saw instead of just going door to door. Of course we knocked a few houses, but only the houses that we were impressed to contact. It was a pretty great morning actually. Contacting can sometimes be frustrating. But this morning it was fun. We just tried our hardest to talk to everyone and listen to the Spirit. One of the people that we contacted was a single mom that told us that she had already talked to just about all the missionaries from other churches that there are. So she was willing to listen to us, but she wanted to know why she should listen to us, or what made us different from all the rest. We told her basically that we were there with the sole purpose of sharing with her and that we would never try to push our beliefs on her or make her change what she believed to fit our beliefs. As missionaries, we are only here to share our beliefs, and then invite everyone that we teach to pray afterwards to know if what we shared was true and what God wanted them to know and believe. She seemed to really like that, so she accepted our invitation to go back and talk to her again and share a bit more of what we believe. In the afternoon, I was actually super tired and feeling super just without energy and really didn’t want to do anything. BUT! We went out anyways and I bought two alfahores to help me feel better. AND! It totally worked. After munchin’ on the yummy deliciousness of the chocolate goodness that is an alfahore, I was feeling much better. So, we went out and visited a bunch of the members on the list that we had received. We met one old lady that hasn’t been to church in a while because of how crazy old she is. We also met a guy that has been a member for a few decades now, but has recently gone inactive for one reason or another. But basically, that was the afternoon. A bunch of walking and talking to people, but not much for big, crazy, super spiritual missionary experiences. But it is always good to make contact with people, that is where it all starts.

Thursday. In the morning really not too much happened. We spent most of the morning going through the list of members that we have to filter out the people that don’t live in our area. It’s necessary because we share the ward boundaries with the other Elders. About half of the members don’t live in our proselyting area. In the afternoon, we visited one member lady that has actually reactivated herself recently. We talked to her for a little bit about her and her life. She told us that she had been a missionary and with her sons had gone to the church for a really long time as a real, active, faithful members. One of her sons had even served a mini mission. But then, for a reason that she didn’t share with us, she and her kids went inactive. But she said that recently she had been visited by a few of the members and had decided to reactivate herself. But, she told us that her husband still hadn’t been baptized. So, she called him to talk to us with her and so we could get to know him a little more. It was super funny though. She had told us before that he had talked to a bunch of missionaries and had been to church a lot and even watched General Conference a few times, but basically, he just couldn’t get over a few doubts. So, she called him to meet us, but even before we could shake his hand and meet him, she invited him to take the lessons from us again and be an investigador. It was super funny cause she did it super straightforwardly, and he said that he didn’t have a problem with it. Then, THEN, we greeted him. She even gave us a little wink too. It was funny. Then, after that, we went to the FML Penno again for our regular Thursday night dinner and lesson, but this time we showed up a bit late. So we decided with them that this time it would just be a nice, chill dinner and that we just share a scripture. It was great. It was just like a normal dinner appointment with members, not a lesson with recent converts. They are so amazing. I can’t express it enough.

Friday. In the morning, we went to Santa Fe so I could pick my brand new, official, Argentine DNI. So now, I am a completely legal Foreign Immigrant to Argentina. It’s pretty sick actually. It was nice because all we had to do was get to Santa Fe, sign a few things, and leave back to Santo Tome. Super quick and easy. So we were able to get back to Santoto and visit a few other people. The best part of the day was our cita in the afternoon with Paula, the lady that I talked about in our morning of contacting that has already talked to a bunch of different missionaries from all types of religions. It was so great. The woman can talk your ear off, but she was super nice and was super receptive. We got to know her more and learned that she had two daughters that live with her in the house and that she is divorced since a few years. She talked a whole lot about her life and asked us a few questions to get to understand the mission and what we do and stuff like that. She asked us stuff like if we live here with our families (which we don’t), if we get paid for the work we do (which we don’t, we pay our own way), and if we enjoy the work we do (which we absolutely do). But after we got to know more about each other we started the lesson. We decided to teach the Restoration because it would be the kind of thing that would really get her interested, especially after listening to so many missionary lessons from all kinds of churches. Also, it was the perfect thing to show the differences between us and the other churches. And... She loved it!! It was a great lesson! We were good about explaining everything well and clear to her and she had a bunch to say and interesting comments. The best part was when we were talking about Joseph Smith as a boy before he had the First Vision and she was relating a lot to him and how confused he was. She also was saying stuff like "The real church would have to have something that made them stand out, to show the other people that they were right" and we were like "Yep, your absolutely right" and then we told her about the First Vision and she was so into it. You could totally see the Spirit working in her. Then, as we were talking about how Joseph restored the true church, and how he had a proof or a "fruit" of his labors as a prophet she was really interested. We explained the scripture in Matthew 7 verses 15-20 that talks about the fruits of the prophets and how we can know if they are true or not based on the fruits that they carry out. We gave examples like Moses when we split the sea, or Noah when we made the Arc and things like that. Then we showed her the Book of Mormon and said that the Book of Mormon is the fruit of Joseph Smith and the proof that he was a True Prophet. Of course she thought it was "our bible" but we explained to her what it really was, ANOTHER testament of Jesus Christ and a companion to the bible. And by the end of the lesson she was super ready to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it is true and if Joseph Smith was a prophet. It was amazing. I love how perfect the Gospel is! It makes teaching so fun! And after that, we had a lesson with the husband of the menos activo from the night before. His name is Roberto. He is super funny, but I could tell that he had been an investigador for a really long time because he is always asking for proof in the scriptures and is always picking at everything we say. It was a good time with him though. We got to know him a little more and learned that he had been pretty close to being baptized a few times, but that he was always doubtful of Joseph Smith. But we shared with him what we had just explained to Paula a few minutes before. Then we invited him to a challenge. We invited him to pray at least twice a day, when he wakes up and when he goes to bed, and to read the Book of Mormon every day. Then, we promised that if he would put in his full effort and try his hardest to find the answer, that we would receive his answer before the end of the 2 weeks. He said something like "Well, I guess I’ll try, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do it every day..." So we explained diligence and a little bit of Grace and also the scripture in Mark 10 about the Rich Young Man and that as part of the invitation, he had to work his hardest and give up everything that he had to "Follow Christ and take up his cross". He was pretty satisfied by the end of the lesson and we were sure that he would do his best to read and pray every day, especially  because it’s not a hard thing at all. AND THEN after that we went to see the FML Varino to ask them about a bit of metal that we needed for a service project. And it just so happened that as we were showing up, the FML Varino and the family of our Elders Quorum President were just about to have a dinner all together. So they invited us to say for a little bit and eat with them. So yeah. Miracles and blessings really do exist! 

Saturday. Well, let’s just say that Saturday made me super tired and that by the end of the day I was really ready for a nap. When we planned in the morning, we had two citas in the morning, one with a less active and one with a contact. But, both of them fell through. So, in the morning, we did some contacting without much success at all and then passed by to see the FML Chomorro. They are doing okay, but none of them are readying the Book of Mormon everyday like we had committed them to do. So that was pretty disappointing. Then, the rest of the day, we had make plans to visit a bunch of people. Members, less actives, investigadores, contacts, literally everyone. But! Absolutely none of them were home or able to let us in. So that wasn’t fun. Literally the only person that we were able to talk to was a less active member at the very very very end of the day. Literally the last person that we visited for the night. He also lived really, really far away. So on the way to seeing him I was thinking like "Oh my goodness this is totally one of those typical mission stories. Last person, very end of the night, dark streets, super far from the pench. There is going to be someone waiting for us." I just knew it. So we got to the house and this guy of about 21 years old and he was sitting at the window of his house and when he saw us he came to the gate of his fence with a weird look on his face that looked kind of like "No way..." So we introduced ourselves and got to know him a little bit more. It turns out that he lives at home with his parents and that his mom is super sick with Kidney Stones. He didn’t say it, but I know he had been praying to have some kind of help. And it just so happened that we showed up. Weird... Almost like God was planning it or something... I know that other things fall through during the day so that a plan that Heavenly Father wants to happen will work out. If all of our citas that day had worked out, we wouldn’t have been able to find this young man. Heavenly Father always knows what is best, we need to trust in Him and Him timing.

Sunday. Sunday was pretty good. In the church, the lessons were great and I was happy to be able to be in the church building after missing a week because of the rain. The best part, by far, was the Sacrament. Not only because I hadn’t taken it for two weeks, but because Jose blessed the bread too! It was amazing. I felt so great and so happy. And even better, the Primary had their yearly Primary Program during sacrament meeting too! It was so amazing. I love the Primary kids. They make me so happy and make me laugh a lot. But that was basically it for the day. In the afternoon, we talked to a few people and worked, but nothing really happened for us. It was still a great day. I bore my testimony in the Gospel Principles class about families.

And then today for Pday in the morning we went to La Costa here in Santoto and had a morning of fishing with the FML Penno. It was great. They are the best in the world. In the whole time we were there, only one fish was caught, and Elder Gonzales was the one that caught it. It was even his first time fishing, so it was pretty funny and lucky for him. But the wind was super crazy and the current super strong, so I have a bit of an excuse for not catching anything. Then, after we were done fishing and we were heading back to the car, one of the tires of the car was flat. So we had to change the tire, but it turned out that the jack that Jose had wasn’t big enough to lift the car high enough to put the tire on. But, it was okay because a random guy was nice enough to help us and lent us his jack. It was a pretty fun morning. 

So that’s the week. We are working our hardest to find the people that are ready to hear the message we have and help them the best we can. I know I have said it before-I LOVE being a missionary. I love Argentina so much and I know that this is where I am supposed to be right now in my life.  Teaching, serving and learning. I am so thankful that I am here and that I still have a year left to continue to grow in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to teach the people of Argentina about joy and how families can be together forever. It really is the “best two years.”

Thank you all for reading!

te quiero

Chau

Elder Haley

There are SO many frogs.  Everywhere!

We found blueberries.  They are so good but hard to buy regularly.

Familia Penno

I am official! Pretty awesome!

Dinner at EQ President's home

Just a cow in town

Someones creepy but funny gate we passed by

Fishing on Pday.

Me and Francisco

Teaching Elder Gonzales how to fish

Me and Jose

Goofing around

Elder Gonzales, Jose and ME

I got tired of waiting for the fish to bite and took a nap.  May have gotten a little sunburned. 

Holding up the bridge.  That bridge connects Santo Tome and Santa Fe.

Helping to fix Penno's car

My official Argentina identification. Pretty sweet.

We cook pretty darn well for ourselves and we always reading and learning!

Noelia took this picture of me one day this week after a very long and hot day.  Lots and lots of walking.  I was very, very tired.

What a week...

Helloooooo my people. Holy cow was this week something else. We had so many good and crazy experiences and I can’t wait to share them with you all. Let’s just say that this week was super fun but really hard at the same time. You‘ll understand after I share everything. Let’s get into it. 

Monday. Well, after Pday last week, we went out to work, but we didn’t have any plans or citas with anyone.  We were going to go to Santa Fe but ended up not working out. So we were just walking around to try and visit a few people, but not too much was happening for us. And while we were doing that, I kept saying to myself "Well, what are we going to do now? We can’t contact in the afternoon, that would just be ridiculous. People are never willing to talk to us in the afternoon." But then I decided straight up, you know what, to heck with that! We are going to do some contacting! And so we did, and we actually found a few really cool people that we set up citas with for later in the week, so by the time we got home, we were proud of working hard and not giving up. 

Tuesday. Well, for the morning we went and I got a haircut for the entire morning because we had to wait for a few people. But it turned out good. We had to go to a different guy because my usual peluqueria was closed for the morning. But, after that, we got ready and went to lunch with members and then after that we went to Reunion de Distrito. This week we had the Zone Leaders come to the meeting too because they had divisions with the other Elders right after, so it turned out to be a really good meeting. For most of it, we were talking to about our investigadores and how they were progressing and how we could work as a district to help each other’s investigadores. It was nice to have the Zone Leaders there to have more ideas and advise. Then, after that, we read together in Preach My Gospel and did a few practices of how to help our investigadores keep their commitments. I decided to use this topic for the meeting because I figured that our entire district works pretty well and we can always FIND new investigadores, but the problem that we are having is how to help the people that we find PROGRESS. So we learned more about the importance of inviting, promising, and testifying. It was a good meeting, Then, afterwards we went to visit a few people that we had set up cita with, but sadly they fell through. But, we went to visit a menos activo family, the la familia Chomorro, and we were actually able to sit down with them and get to know them a little more and share a scripture with them. They are the converts of Elder Peña, my good ol’ Mexican Zone Leader from Rafaela. So helping them come back to the church is kind of important for me. So we shared the scripture in Alma 37 about small and simple things and shared with them that they can absolutely return to being active members of the church, but that they had to work hard to do the small and simple things every day. After that, we went to the la familia Penno’s house for our normal visit and this time we were finally able to get started on their retention lessons, or the lessons that we teach them after their baptisms to help them remember all that be had taught them and to teach a little bit more deeply and with more doctrine. It was great. We taught them about the Plan of Salvation and helped answer all of their questions and help them understand everything better. Like always, I was very happy to be able to be with them, to laugh and share stories and memories, and to be able to share in the Spirit with them. And after the lesson, Noe had made a crazy lasagna that was just absolutely amazing. Not exactly like Mama makes it, but still super good. I actually wasn’t able to finish one whole plate, so you can imagine just how crazy the lasagna was. 

Wednesday. In the morning, we had set up another cita with the FML Chomorro, so we went there to teach them more and do all that we could to help them feel the Spirit and want to come back to the church. We read with them the story of the Lehi’s Dream of the Tree of Life and then helped them apply it to their own lives. It was great, because they really related it to themselves and how they could really be holding better to the Iron Rod and how they miss the blessings that come from their keeping of the commandments. We asked them how they had felt after their baptisms, and they said that they felt amazing and clean and with peace and happiness. Then we asked them if they felt the same way now, and they were honest and said that they didn’t. But what was really cool is that the Mom of the family already knew that they didn’t feel the Spirit anymore because they weren’t going to the church or reading the scriptures like they should. She already knew what they were doing wrong and she understood what she had to do to feel the Spirit again. She did admit that she just didn’t "feel it" at times, meaning she sometimes she just doesn’t want to or she doesn’t have the desire to. But that she recognized that feeling and also said that she knew how to overcome that feeling, but that at times, she just doesn’t want to. So that was a little sad, but I think the visit was good for them. After lunch and studies, we went back out to work and had a pretty long, but good afternoon. Once again, we had made a bunch of plans to visit people and hopefully teach some people, but all the people we passed by weren’t home. So we did some contacting and we had a bit of success with that. We found a few good people in Las Vegas and also a few just outside of that neighborhood. So we are hoping to at some point be able to catch them while they are in their houses. But, as we were passing for a members house, we contacted one of their neighbors and she let us sit down with her and teach her a little about the Plan of Salvation. It was a super good time. We sat outside and taught the girl, named Sofia, about how our lives were before coming to the Earth, why we are here, and where we go after we die. It was actually perfect because she shared with us that both of her parents had died in less than a year. She didn’t seem too sad about it anymore, but she did have a lot of interest in knowing where they are now. It was a great lesson and se were able to set up another visit for a few days after. Then, as we were doing our visits, we decided to stop by the FML Amarilla too, and that was just as great as always. HNO Amarilla wasn’t home, so we just sat outside and chatted with them, but it was a great time to sit down and get to know them and them to get to know us better, especially since it was the first time passing by them for Elder Gonzales. They are an amazing family. We shared a scripture with them in Mosiah 24 about how the people of Alma were visited in their afflictions and their burdens were lifted as they had faith in the prayed in their hearts to God. It just perfect for this family because they are going through quite a few troubles. I was happy to be able to spend the time with them and help them feel the Spirit. 

Thursday. Holy cow Thursday morning was sweet. We had gone to Las Vegas to visit a few people that we had made citas with, but once again, the people weren’t home and we weren’t able to meet with them, so we went contacting again and found a few really good people who seem to actually have a lot of interest. So we were actually super happy about that. And then, we went to a part of Las Vegas that I had never been in before. It was super sad. It was a huge dump where they drop off all the trash and garbage from the city. The sad part was that there were kids and adults all over the place scavenging for food. It was miserable. But, as we were passing for that area, we stopped at a small hut of a house and talked with a lady that was sitting outside with her grandchildren and she was super nice to us and said stuff like "God Bless you boys" and how she had talked with the missionaries before and that she admired our work and purpose. But, as we were talking to her, we noticed that one of the grandchildren, a little girl of about 2 or 3 years old was sitting on the ground and her leg had a super bad burn and there were flies and everything. It was so crazy to see and to realized just how bad it is for so many people. We offered to the Grandma a blessing for her baby nieta, and she was absolutely into the idea. So she let us pass through her little gate and then we gave her granddaughter a blessing of salud. Then, after her, the grandma grabbed two of her other grand kids and asked us to give them blessings too. It was fantastic. I will never forget that morning in all my life. As we were leaving, she thanked us and said that we had been sent by God, which I don’t doubt for any second. Then, after lunch and studies, we went back out to work but this time we didn’t proselyte, we went to the house of HNO Julian, our war mission leader, and we did some service for him. It was good work. A nice time to just not have to think too much about anything, but just work and work and nothing else. We were moving some dirt and stones in his lawn and helping him start a small little garden. Then, after working with him for about an hour or so, we had to go back to the pench and change to we could make it to a cita with a menos activo lady. When we passed by, we sat down with her and her two kids and started chatting. As we were talking, the two kids were super interested in everything I had, my watch, my oil vial, my tie, my backpack, literally they were grabbing at everything and wouldn’t leave me alone, and they wouldn’t stop even when the mom talked to them, so I had to move a little away from the mom and Elder Gonzales so he could talk to her and I wouldn’t be as much of a distraction from the mom. But, by the end of the little visit, the kids had almost broke everything that I had, but Elder Gonzales was able to talk to the mom and help her understand that even after 27 years of not going to church, she is always welcome. So yeah, not the best time because I wanted to help talk to the mom, but it turned out alright. Then, we went to the house of FML Penno for yet another lesson and dinner. This time, we helped teach a little bit more of the Priesthood to Jose and answered all the questions and doubts he has. He’s super worried because one of the recent converts in the ward, Gonzalo, who Elder Loveridge taught and baptized, is now the teacher for Pricipios del Evangelio, so he is worried that he is going to have to be a teacher or something. But we helped reassure him and help him understand a little bit more. Then we verified that they were all still reading and praying personally every day, which they were all doing. Then, as we were eating dinner, we watched a few of the super old, but super amazing and nostalgic Living Scriptures videos. It was amazing. The food was super good and the videos even better.

Friday. Oh boy, Friday. Well, it was a super long day on Friday, but it was still super good. In the morning, we went to the house of Mari for the first time in a few weeks because she and her husband have been better lately and aren’t going to be splitting up anymore. So we can go, but just not when he is home. But, we got there and the kids were home too, but they still don’t want to listen to the lessons. We are still hoping that they will want to sometime soon. We taught Mari the Restoration, again, and she still really loves it and is still learning new things. She has been reading and praying daily, as much as she can, because while she was sick, she couldn’t really do too much of anything. But, we taught her that and she was able to answer just about every questions, so that was great. We did have to clarify a few things but that’s okay because obviously she isn’t going to remember everything. Then, after her, we went to the house of another contact, but just as we were getting there, the contact was leaving, which was a bummer. But, when she left, she still had 3 kids, and their babies, sitting outside. So we were able to talk to them. It turned out to be super good. We started to get to know them a little bit more, and then started sharing a little bit of the Plan of Salvation. Then, as we go to the part on our purpose in this life and how we have to follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they had a bunch of questions about baptism. It was great because they were finding the truth in everything that we were saying. For example, one of the ladies just had a baby about a few months ago and they were planning to have his baptism soon, but they didn’t really see the point in baptizing their son because he doesn’t have any sins and baptism is for the remission of sins. So they were happy to learn that we don’t baptize until the age of 8. But that was just one example. We shared with them so many things, and they were getting really into what we were saying and they had so many questions and ideas and it was actually super fun to be able to answer all of their questions. But, we had to go to lunch, so we had to leave them with a few doubts and questions, but that’s okay, and actually good, because they want us to go by again now and answer the rest of their questions. After lunch and studies, we went back out into the absolutely killer heat to go and visit a few more people. Sadly, our citas fell through. But, about halfway through the afternoon, we were invited over to the house of the FLM Penno to drink some nice and cold chocolate milk and take a break from the heat. So that was nice. Then, at the end of day, we stopped by the FML Varino because we haven’t been by to see them in a while, and that was super nice. It was fun to play a few little games with the kids of tic tac toe and talk with the parents about life and how they are doing with work and everything. They are another family that is really struggling lately. Well, let’s just say that almost all of Argentina is struggling right now, but they are one of the families where it’s really bad. But, we are always happy to make a visit and help brighten their day a little bit. 

Saturday. In the morning, we had made so many plans to pass by for people in the morning, but yet again, none of them were home. The only person that was at home was Jonathan, so we stopped by and talked to him for a little bit, but we didn’t teach too much. We just asked him if he had been reading or praying, and he said that he hadn’t been reading much, but praying yes. So we taught him more about Prayer and Reading and how important it is to do both every day. But that was about it for the morning. The rest of the morning we were walking around and trying to talk to other people, but not too much luck. But, we were able to buy some stuff to make a super good lunch that I am actually super proud of. But yeah, other than that, not too much happened for the morning or during the studies or siesta. In the afternoon, we were yet again on the look for investigadores and contacts and everyone to invite them all to church. We were able to end the day with the FML Marani. They are super sweet and super nice grandparents that just love the missionaries. So it was a good time. Really not too much to report from the afternoon either. 

Sunday. Ohhhhhh my goodness Sunday was really crazy. Well, we woke up in the morning and that was all fine, but there was a crazy, crazy storm that was going on. It had actually been raining since Saturday night. But we were like "eh, we can make it to the church." So as we were getting ready to go, there was a huge explosion really close to the pench and we lost our power. We think it was the power box to our department building because the neighbors all have power but we still don’t. So yeah. We weren’t able to make it to church because of the storm and we weren’t able to leave for the afternoon either. We actually got a message from the Zone Leaders that said we had to stay in the pench because of the storm. We were in the pench all day and that was a bit lame, but it ended up being alright because I got to catch up even more on my journal and study a bit.

So that was the week. As you can see, we are trying to work hard, as hard as we can , we are just relying on the investigadores to do their part. Working hard and forgetting ourselves in the service! Love you all and thank you for all of the love and support!!

Chau

Elder Haley

A giant bag of cheeto type chips for 70 pesos-less than a dollar

We are eating a lot of fruit since it is summer. It is really cheap and really good.

LDS? Na...

Hermana Penno's lasagna

Francisco taking a picture at dinner

Dinner pics at Penno's

A cool truck

Elder Gonzales and a lady bug

A part of Las Vegas

Super cool picture we took

Taking a picture of the kids...then them taking a picture of me

Chocolate milk and pizza with Penno's

We are making good food for ourselves too!

My Companion, Elder Gonzales

The rain! It rained and rained and rained...