Hernandarias is starting to turn into Nebraska...

I say that because the weather is constantly changing. This week we had some pretty good weather and then some pretty bad weather. Its been pretty funny to watch. The heat and sun turned into cold and rain clouds for one or two days and then we had the heat and sun again. It's making me feel a little bit trunky.... Ha! Yeah right. 

Honestly we are working super hard and we are having fun while we do it. It's been a pretty busy week. I would love to write all about it, but I'm running short on time. So I am going to just share one small but really great story. Real quick….this week was transfers but I am staying in Hernandarias with Elder Casamona.  I am happy, we both wanted to stay!

Alright. So it all starts about 2 weeks ago or so. We were visiting Alberto, the member in a wheel chair that has been working hard in the church and trying to be an inspiration for others. So, about 2 weeks ago we visited him and he shared with us an experience that he had the night before. He was invited to a friend's house to eat dinner with them and when they got there, Alberto asked if they could say a blessing over the food. After the blessing, they got talking about religion and church and everything and Alberto told them that he is member of our church. When he told them that, they were very surprised and told him that they were also members of the church! But that they hadn't gone to church for almost 15 years. Their names are Cristian and Fabiana and they have been living here in Hernandarias for a few years now. It turns out the Cristian and Fabiana were baptized in Santa Elena, a town about 2 hours away from here. They were baptized and were active for a few years, but later moved to a different town where there wasn't a church building, let alone meetings on Sunday. So, over time, they turned away from the Church until they were completely inactive. Then, about a few years ago, they moved here to Hernandarias. By this time they had almost completely forgotten about the Church and their times as active members. But, every now and then they would see the Hermano Maxi Vega, who, 15 years ago back in Santa Elena, was in young men's and had met Cristian and Fabiana when they were baptized. But, after so much time, they weren't really sure if it was actually him, so they never said anything to Hermano Vega. So, Alberto told us all about that experience and gave us their names and where they lived. We went looking for them one morning without too much luck. The directions that Alberto gave us were a little hard to follow, but we were in what we thought was the general area. So we started knocking and clapping at doors and asking for a Cristian and Fabiana. But, after almost all morning, we hadn't had too much luck. So, on the way to other plans, we were walking and walked past a street that I had never been on. Remember, Hernandarias is not very big so it was crazy that I hadn't been down that road before. So I figured, Awe heck, why not go down this road. So we went down, doing the same thing that we had been doing the entire morning. We clapped at one of the last doors on the road, and out came a man. When he saw us, he had a big smile on his face and came to shake our hands. It turns out that it was Cristian! So we planned another time to come by and get to know them a little more and maybe teach them. Once again, putting faith in our works!

So, just this last Friday we were in the church building with Hermano Vega waiting for people to show up for an activity that we had planned. After about 25-30 minutes of waiting, no one showed up. I guess you could say I was a little disappointed and feeling pretty down on myself. But, we asked the Hermano to come with us to the appointment that we had made with Crisitian. So we showed up to his house and he wasn't home. Bummer. So we were leaving the road that leads to his house when he comes home from work on his Moto. He stops and invites us to come on in. So we sat down with him and started talking and getting to know him more. It was great to have Hermano Vega with us too because they had already known each other, so they also caught up for a little bit. In the end, Cristian told us that after all the moves, they had lost all of their scriptures. So we gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to start reading again. Then, as we were closing up, the Hermano Cristian asked if we could sing a hymn. We said why not and Cristian picked number 208, Brillan Rayos de Clemensia or in English Brightly Beams Our Fathers Mercy. 

If you guys remember from a few weeks ago when we had Zone Conference in La Paz, Hermana Westover shared with us the back story for the writing of the song and also the importance of being the Lighthouse for other people to come to and afterwards Presidente Westover and the Assistants sang the hymn for us. It was amazing. Then, a week later in our weekly meeting with Hermano Vega we sang the same song. Then, while in the house of Hermano Cristian, we sang the song, yet again. In the moment, I couldn't help but think of all the connections and the miracle of what was going on. It was amazing. I loved it so much. I was reminded of the Elder Rasband's talk called By Divine Design.

Just this Sunday Cristian came to church with us. He is very happy and very excited to restart his conversion and reactivate himself in the church again. He came to church alone because his wife is working on Sunday's, but we will be meeting with them regularly to help them really see the blessings of the Gospel and to help them come back to the fold of God. Oh, and not to mention that Cristian already has both the Aaronic AND Melchizedek Priesthood, so we are very happy to have him in the church again. 

Then, just Monday night, we went to visit Alberto. The day before he hadn't come to church because he had to do some election processes that the entire town had this weekend. But he was feeling pretty bummed out. He told us that he was just having a hard time staying positive and keeping his testimony alive. We tried to help him feel better and give him a few tips and ideas, but he just started talking about all the problems that he is seeing in the other less active members of the church and their examples to the other people of Hernandarias. He was just having a hard time. He told us that he just wants people to be "a light to others while in church, and a light to others outside of church." So I told him about how Cristian had come to church the day before and how he is super excited and wants to come back to church full time. And then I told Alberto that Cristian was found through his (Alberto's) efforts and example. I told him that he has been exactly what he wants others to be: "a light in the church and outside of church." And then I thanked him for being such a great example of faith and diligence. 

Well, that nearly brought Alberto to tears. And me too. It was a great moment. 

So, now I would just like to share with you my testimony that I know that this Church is true. I know that things happen in our lives all by God's will for us. I also know, that as we reach out to others in brotherly love and kindness, miracles can happen and that we can grow in our own testimonies as we do so. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love you all and thank you so much! Happy Easter!

Chau

Elder Haley

We were caught in the rain...

Some fun on Pday! Futbol!

Lunch today

This is how we wash our clothes.  This is the first area where I have had to wash my own clothes. 

This drying rack is very helpful!

I’m glad that this week went by so fast

It really did go fast. I was kind of hoping it would to because HOLY COW I LOVE GENERAL CONFERENCE. It is so awesome. 

If you think about it, General Conference is basically just like reading the scriptures. It’s like the Doctrine and Covenants says: 

"...whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same" (D&C 1:38)

So we were literally listening to the word of God people! That’s so awesome!!! I loved Conference so much, I really felt the Spirit and it gave me a nice kick to the pants Spiritually and I’m feeling a whole lot more excited for the work. 

But yeah, this last week went by super fast because we had to go to Santa Fe and have some paperwork done for Tuesday and Wednesday and then we just had a bunch of great Conference goodness for the weekend. But we were still able to get a bit of work done in between all of the traveling and listening to the good Word of God.

Just to make the email shorter, we are working hard with a few of our investgadores to help them come to church. For some reason, no matter how much we help them have the reasons to go and promise them all the blessings in the world, it’s still hard for them to come to church. But, we are just trying to get some of that good work done and putting a lot of Faith into our Works. 

I’m really loving the area right now and we are having a lot of fun finding a bunch of people and helping others come unto Christ. Thank you all for reading and hope to hear from you all. 

Oh and this week we have transfers, so I’ll be on Tuesday to let you all know if we got moved or not! 

(sorry for not sending pictures mom! the internet isn’t the best!!)

Love you all and God bless

Chau

Elder Haley

I Almost Kissed My Snake...

Yep. I almost kissed her. Or it. Or whatever. It was a snake.

But anyway, on to the email part. This week as been really great. We were able to get back from Santa Elena alright on Tuesday and spend the rest of the week running around and doing a lot of good work. We were able to visit a lot of people, new contacts and have a lot of good lessons and experiences. 

Today for Pday we had Choripanes ( a kind of sandwich) with our friend Alberto. He is a member and was baptized about 6 months ago or so. He is the one I told you about a few emails ago that is in a wheelchair. He is preparing to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood in the next month or so and we are trying to help him prepare as much as we can. But as we were waiting for the food to get ready, he was a bit tired so he dozed off a little bit. So we took a picture with him. Ha. Well, sometimes I feel so tired that I want to fall asleep right in the middle of a conversation too hahaha. 

But alrighty. So my companion is super great worker and he is always talking to everyone in the streets. It is great because this week we were able to meet a lot of new people that have a lot of potential. And I mean a LOT of potencial. We are in the process of meeting with each of them this week and we are hoping to have good lessons with them and be able to teach them and share the Spirit. 

As for Pablo, he is still really good. He wasn’t the least bit disappointed in not being able to be baptized last week. He understands the need for another interview and is actually really excited for the opportunity to talk to Presidente Westover and learn new things from him and ask a few questions. He tells us that he is just super anxious to be baptized and that he just wants to do it now! He is very excited and has a great desire to follow Christ and finally take the steps into the Baptismal Waters. I can’t wait for his actual baptism. It will be amazing

Also this week we were able to teach a few other people that I won’t mention in detail right now. But I will be sure to write about them next week when we get to teach and talk to them a little bit more. But rest assured, we are working our butts off to help all the people of Hernandarias learn more about the Gospel. 

And, obviously there is a big thing happening this week... It’s General Conference BABY!! I can’t wait. I love the opportunity that we have to listen to the words of the Lord’s chosen leaders of the church, especially from the Prophet himself, Presidente Nelson. It’s going to be a great Conference and I am so excited. Yesterday in Sacrament Meeting I was asked to give a talk (which makes that about 5 that I’ve given now hahaha) and I spoke on Revelation and the blessed opportunity that we have to receive personal revelation for our lives, especially during General Conference. I love the chance that we have to prepare ourselves and really listen to the words that God would have his great leaders speak. I can’t emphasize enough the magnitude of General Conference. I invite all of you to prepare yourselves and go into General Conference with specific questions that you want answered. And I promise you that you will be able to receive the answers that you need. But! You have to be listening. So, with that, I’d like to bear my testimony that I know that Jesus directs this church and that President Russell M. Nelson is a Prophet of the Lord and that he is the literal connection that we have with the heavens. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Thanks for reading! Love you all

Chau

Elder Haley

A bit of basketball!  Even in slippers I still had game!

Another amazing sunset!

In Entre Rios on our way home from Santa Elena

The 7 dwarfs...

The snake...kissy kissy

Dead gross insects and rodents...

Alberto taking a siesta while we are waiting for our sandwiches

He is a great guy!

Lots of traveling...

Well, well, well it's been yet another week. It's been a pretty good one, but I will admit that I am really flipping tired after traveling in buses almost all week. Early in the week we had to go to Santa Fe for some paperwork for my companion. It was a great trip to be around other missionaries and friends and have some good laughs and experiences. The highlight of the trip was getting to see my amazing and "Golden" family, Familia Penno and get to chat and catch up after so long. They are doing great back in Santo Tome and having great experiences and helping the Ward a lot! Noelia has been released as the Sunday School teacher and now is the President of Young Womens. Jose gave his first talk this week. Ari is going to Seminary, and although she doesn't like waking up early (who does?) she is having a good time and learning a lot. And Fran is just as fun and crazy. 

Then, later in the week we had the Zone Leaders in Hernandarias for a day for Pablo's Baptismal Interview. It was good to see them and have a few more people in the small area, even if the beds barely fit in the small apartment haha. But the interview went alright. For a few things Pablo has to have another interview with Presidente Westover this coming week, which will push back Pablo's baptism. It's a bit of a difficult process, but we are going to be working our hardest to help Pablo stay excited and prepare the best he can for his big day. He is a great guy and is having a lot of fun coming to know Jesus more personally. I couldn't be any prouder of him. 

Then, at the end of the week we traveled to Santa Elena and then yesterday we had our Zone Conference in La Paz. It was great to see all the missionaries in the two Zones and have a great conference to learn a lot and have lots of fun. Presidente and Hermana Westover are the best and we love them so much. They help us so much and teach us even more. 

Also this week we started teaching a few new people. First is the Familia Vegada. They are super great and amazing. They have met missionaries before and were really close to them, so they are already super comfortable with the missionaries. But with the old missionaries, they were more friends than investigadores. So now we are trying our hardest to help them be more serious about reading and praying because they are a great family and would help the group in Hernandarias grow a lot. We did service with them this week and chopped a huge tree down. Sadly I forgot my camera, but I'm hoping to have Hermana Olga send me the pics she took with her phone. 

We are also teaching a new lady named Cicilia. She is super great and has a lot of interest. She already reads the Book of Mormon when we ask her to and has accepted the Baptismal Invitation! The only problem is that we are trying to help her Father support her in the lessons because they live together, so we are teaching him too. But he is a really energetic Evangelist guy and doesn't let us say more than a few sentences before he goes off on a rant about his beliefs. Luckily, all that he says we believe too, so its really just a problem of having to listen to his rants for more than half of the lesson. But, they are really great and have lots of potencial. It's all going really well in Hernandarias.

This week has helped us get even more animated and excited about the work so this week we are planning to go out and just wreck everything and get some people in the church building on Sunday. 

Thanks to all for reading and hope you all have a good week!!

Chau

Elder Haley

Penno's in Santa Fe.  Seriously, made me so happy to see them!

a kid tattoo from a little kid on the street

having he zone leaders over with 4 beds in a super small apartment

Where I am on the globe.

On the way to Zone Conference

Zone Conference in La Paz

YUM!

Missionaries and food!

Lots of superstitions!!

 I’ll explain the title at the end…

So this week has been pretty good. Pretty normal, but good none the less. We have been meeting with quite a few people and trying to teach lots of lessons and get people into the church building.

With Pablo this week we have been able to meet with him and help him prepare even more for his baptism which should be in a week from this Saturday, so the 30th of March. He has been super excited and has been telling us about how much his life has changed and how happy he is now. It’s amazing. We taught him this week all of the commandments and he is pretty well set with all of them and is supèr excited to finally be able to step into the waters of baptism. He is a great guy and I’ve really enjoyed watching him learn and grow and change. Yesterday we were even able to let him come to church on his own! Last week we went to look for him at his house, but this week we trusted him to come on his own, and he did it! The members are also helping us quite a bit in being friends and helping Pablo feel comfortable in church.  It is awesome.

With Belen we have also been trying to meet with her and help her focus more on her baptismal date. As of right now, we are still planning her baptism for the 13. It was going to be the 6th, but with the General Conference coming up we are going to push it back a week. She is super great has a lot of interest in the messages we have to share. But, we were only able to meet with her once this last week, so we will see tomorrow morning if she has been reading or not.

With the rest of our investigadores we are just trying our hardest to help them learn and accept the messages that we have to share. But for now, we are just trying to talk and contact just about everyone that we are crossing in the street and also teaching all the lessons that we can. We have been doing pretty well so far this transfer, but we only have to be getting better every day, better than the day before!!

We have also been meeting with a few less active families recently. It has been great to be able to get to know them and help them feel the spirit more. It is honestly pretty sad to see how so many people go inactive here in Argentina, but it makes us stay busy at all times. This week we had a pretty good Family Home Evening with the Alvarez family. They are a huge family and just about all of them are members, but only one of the daughters goes to church. So we are helping them become more and more excited about returning to church. 

Alright, now for the title. Here in Argentina the people are super Superstitious. There are lots of crazy myths and stories that all the people believe in. For example, there is a story of a man-wolf thing called the Lobizón that is a man by day and a wolf thing by night. You might say "NOOO that’s just a Werewolf." But that’s where you’re wrong. The Lobizón doesn’t attack just any ol’ person. The Lobizón only takes the children that aren’t baptized!! Jajajaja  Really, that is what people say. I actually have a really hard time trying not to laugh when people tell me that they have seen one in real life. It’s honestly pretty funny. But I’ve also heard a few stories about Elves, Witches, and all sorts of other things. It’s pretty funny, but it’s just one of those things that makes the mission such a crazy experience. 

Spiritual thought: A quote from Jeffrey R Holland, “You can change. You can be helped. You can be made whole-whatever the problem.”

I know this is true and it is through our Savior Jesus Christ that this is possible.  Believe and trust.

Thanks for reading and hope to have more to tell you all next week!!

Love you all

Chau

Elder Haley

MY NEW LATINO SON!!

WELLLLL how are we doing this week?? I’m pretty great! We are getting a lot of great stuff done here in Hernandarias and we are having a lot of fun and success. 

First order of business, MY NEW SON! Reminder…in mission we call someone we are training, who is brand new in the mission our “son”…so I am training again!!! His name is Elder Casamona and he is from Lima Peru. He is a super, super, super hard worker and came to the mission ready to get some people baptized. I don’t know what it is that they feed the people in Peru, but it makes them all super crazy good missionaries. He doesn’t let anyone not hear about the gospel. He is super happy to be here and we are working really good together and getting along awesome. Also, he is a convert of about a year, he was baptized in January of last year. When he was baptized I was already in the mission field.  It’s so nuts to think that we are comps now!! Jaja He has learned a lot in mission prep classes and also in the MTC and is super excited to finally put it all into use. So we are super excited for that. We are working really hard and finding lots of people. He loves to talk to literally everyone in the streets and in the park and literally anyone. It’s amazing and he is actually teaching me a thing or two. So far it is a totally different experience training someone who speaks Spanish as their 1^st language. 

This week was also super good because we were able to finally get Pablo to commit to a baptismal date. He is super excited for the 30th to come so he can enter in to the baptismal waters and feel the great spirit that comes from the purifying powers of the baptism. We are crazy happy for him and his willingness to follow Christ and take this step of Faith. He came to church on Sunday and it was awesome!

We also found this super great Hermana named Belen. She is super funny and really enjoys what we have to say. We met her one night in the plaza and had a lesson the next morning. It was a great and super spiritual lesson that we were also invite her to baptism. It was even better because she accepted! We are planing to prepare her to be baptized the 6th of April. She is super excited and has been keeping her commitments really well.

We met a family this week who are the parents of one of our investigadores. They are super great and have talked to the missionaries about a year or so before. But since that time have had one of their sons pass away, so we are hoping to help them and teach them a little more about the Gospel and about the Plan of Salvation more than anything. But, after meeting them and talking and getting to know them a little bit, they asked us if we were able to do some kind of prayer or blessing on their home to help them feel better and more calm. They wanted the blessing for a few reasons, but I guess you could say that the most important was because they have a neighbor who likes to do some kind of witchery stuff and throw bloody hair and dead chickens at their house while yelling some kind of gibberish. So yeah. We were happy to do the dedication of their home and help them feel better and we hope to meet with them soon this week to teach them a little bit more. 

We are also working super well with all of the less actives her in Hernandarias. we are planning a few Family Home Evenings with a few of the families so we can help them be a little more excited and feel the Spirit and the desire to come to the church. So let’s just say we have a lot of good stuff going for us right now.  The work of the Lord is amazing!

So yeah. I know the emails are a little shorter these days, but I hope you all can still get something from them. Thank you all for reading and have a great week! 

Spiritual thought: our efforts are magnified by our Heavenly Father when we are doing everything in our power to keep the commandments and serve.  When we are doing everything we can to better ourselves through reading the scriptures and praying, we are promised that we will be blessed.  I know I need those blessings in my life.  I know you do too.

Chau

Elder Haley

Pictures from our call today!

Meeting Elder Casamona for the first time!

The new missionaries and their trainers

Elder Casamona came to the mission with a bunch of dollars. It's the first $100 bill I've seen in soooooo long!!

Favorite glasses got broken

Yes, I made this pizza.  From scratch.  College food won't be too bad after cooking on my own for two years!

Our tacos were amazing too!

We get along great!

This is our pench.  We are one of the six.