Wards are Cool!

That is really the biggest thing I can tell you guys this week. That being in a ward is super cool. Now, just to clear things up, I’m not saying that Branches or Organized Groups aren’t great and cool, because they are. What I am saying is that I love being in a Ward. My time in branches and organized groups has been great and I’ve learned a lot from them. But, being in a ward is much different. All of the members want to give us food, they are all willing to go out to lessons with us and pick people up for church. Oh, and did I mention that they always want to give us food? Haha, no but seriously. If I’m going to survive this winter, I’m going to have to work out a whole lot.... 

But alrighty then. This week has been pretty good. We aren’t as lost in the area as we were at the being the week and we are working hard. Walking a lot and talking to a lot of people. It’s great! I love it. Esmeralda is a great area and we are going to have a lot of work to do this week. I’m happy to be here and Elder Smith and I are happy to be working hard and having fun together. 

So far, from the investigadores that we’re meeting with the Elders before we got here, we have only been able to teach one of them. We have met almost all of the rest, but they were all busy at the time we went by, but we are going to be able to meet with them again this week. The one investigador that we have met with is named Pricila. She is really great. She has been talking to the missionaries for a while and has been to church a lot. She understands the need to be baptized and has the desire. In fact, about 2 weeks ago she was going to be baptized, but the day of her baptism she was called into work and wasn’t able to attend the service. So we are working with her to help prepare her even more and get her, and hopefully her son who is 8, to get baptized, but for real this time hahah.

Also, yesterday was a great Sunday! First of all, our church building is huge! Two stories and filled with classrooms, which is a bit different than Hernandarias... hahaha. But when I walked into the Sacrament Room, I was surprised to see the FAMILIA PENNO sitting in the pews. It was great to see them and even better to share the meetings with them. In Sunday School, we learned about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the Spirit was very strong. I love the class and learned a lot. It was even better to hear Noelia’s great comments and in the end to hear Jose be asked to say the closing prayer. I love the Penno Family. It was also really nice to meet all of the members. The ward area is pretty big, so all of the SIX missionaries of the District are in the same ward. It’s pretty great. So this week we will be doing some divisions and getting to know the rest of the district a little more. 

But today we had a really great experience, one of the coolest of my mission honestly. While Elder Smith and I were walking through an area that is called the Peatonal (which is a long open air mall), there was a group of Jehovahs Witnesses talking to people that were passing by. So, as Elder Smith and I walked past, a young, probably 10 year old JW came up to us and asked if he could talk to us for a little bit. He was all dressed up in his tie and slacks and had his little bag and everything. Then he pulls out his well worn, very highlighted and marked Bible and starts to talk to us about our Heavenly Mother. It wasn’t the small message that I liked so much as the fact that the kid was 10 years old and had the guts and courage to talk to the two of us, who were obviously pretty well dedicated to a different religion. I thought about it a little more as we left and asked to myself, if that kid was able to talk to us and other people, why can’t I do it too?? We talk to people all day long, but we could talk to more!

So I’ll let you all think about that and ask yourselves if there isn’t anything that you can do better to share your faith with those that might need it. 

Love you all

Chau

Elder Haley

Happy birthday to me!  New ties and jerseys!

Air drying laundry...

The food here is so good!

Our District!

Penno's came to Santa Fe and celebrated my birthday on Pday for me! 

Mixed Emotions.... NEW AREA!!!

Well let’s just start this email with the big news.....I turned TWENTY and I got TRANSFERRED!! My birthday was great, thanks for all the birthday wishes. It is pretty great that the country of Argentina throws a party for me! ha ha But really, it was a pretty chill day since everyone was celebrating Argentina's Independence Day. Elder Casamona made me a birthday sign!  Also, now that I am close to Santa Fe, I can pick up my birthday package! Also, after 5 months in Hernandarias, I've been sent back to Santa Fe! This time in an area called Esmeralda. It's a part of the actual city, my first area in the big city. So far, it’s really good. Granted, I've only been here for a whole day, but I'm liking the area from the little that I've seen. It's definitely a lot different than Hernandarias. There are a lot more people in much smaller of an area, there are actually stores, and we have a little bit of a dangerous area. But don't you worry. It's still not dangerous at all. It is just that literally anything is more dangerous than Hernandarias. And my new comp is Elder Smith from Utah. He is super cool and super tranquilo nomas and has about 9 months in the mission. And! Something that is super big and a lot different than I'm used to is that we are doing a WHITE WASH. A white wash is when both of the missionaries are new to the area. So normally when you get to a new area, your companion has been in the area for a while and knows the streets and how to get to places and knows the members and investigadores and everything. But this transfer we are doing a white wash. So we are both new to the area and we are going to have to work super hard to get used to the area and meet all the members. But, it’s going to be a great experience. We are going to work our butts off and finally get some baptisms going.

But this last week in Hernandarias was really, really, REALLY GREAT! And I mean, like really great. Honestly one of the best weeks of my entire mission. I have no idea what we did differently. But it was amazing. We found sooooo many people to teach and I had a lot of fun. I was completely exhausted by the end of the week. We taught so many lessons this last week, and they were all (mostly) great lessons. But it was kind of funny to see just how great the week was because it just happened to be the last week that I was in the area that we found so many great people to teach. So I mean it's all good. And, even though I left Hernandarias without baptizing anyone, I am honestly really happy with the work that we got done. I feel that we worked really hard and had a great time together with Elder Casamona. For the last Sunday in Hernandarias, Alberto gave his first talk. It was great for his first talk. And he is having a great time learning more about the gospel and trying his hardest to help other people come to the church too. It's great. Saying goodbye to the people I have become close to over the last 5 months was hard.  Juliana is still praying for her mom to let her be baptized, but in the meantime being a great friend and example to her friend Elianna who is also working towards baptism. Cristian and his wife are slowly coming back to church.  Pablo is still coming too! Elder Casamona is staying there so it will be great for him.

Also, in my new area we are in a Ward, which is going to be really, really different. It's going to be great to have lunches with members and more people to come with us to lessons. Elder Smith and I have a few ideas of things we want to do in the area so we can teach and meet more and more people than ever. 

This week I've been reading a lot of the Book of Mormon. I've gotten pretty far. I restarted not too long ago and I'm currently in Alma, in the part when he and Amulek are teaching and preaching to the wicked people of Ammonihah. I love how they just testify and preach with power. But I also love how they use the Spirit to their advantage. They are speaking the truth, and with that truth, the Spirit reaches them and touches their hearts, and that's why the people have the desire to listen to them. I also admire the faith and courage of the Righteous people of Ammonihah that chose to repent and claim their faith, knowing that the wicked people were going to punish them for declaring their faith. I hope each of us can have the same desires to look for the truth and let it set us free. As it says in John 8:32, the truth sets us free. I love the truths that I find in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love the chances that it gives me to learn more and better understand and come to know God and Jesus Christ. I know that they love me and that they love each and every one of you. 

Thank you all for the love and support!

Talk to you guys next week!

Chau

Elder Haley

Just some local goats

birdie...

Pictures for mom...

From Elder Casamona

Service project

Saying goodbyes.  

Alberto.  I gave him a tie to remember me by.

Juliana

Familia Perez

 Pablo.  My hat says "dope"...it is his. 

Goodbye Elder Casamona!

Santa Fe

My new companion, Elder Smith.  Pizza for dinner!

Time flies....

This week has been super good, but oh my good golly, did it go fast. Talking with family today and also thinking about it, time really does fly by. To think that this is the week of my 20th birthday (what?), I almost have 18 months in the Mission, and this transfer is almost over. It’s crazy just how fast time passes. 

But this week has been a good one! The main event was going to Parana and having a Mission Conference and listening to the words and the Spirit from Elder and Hermana de Hoyos along with Presidente and Hermana Westover. It was a great conference. We learned a lot about how to be better missionaries and disciples of Christ. We learned about how to be more Pure in our Thoughts, Words, and Actions. We also learned a lot about how to better use the Book of Mormon and also how to involve the teachings of Preach My Gospel and other scripture in our lives. It was a good time to enjoy the Spirit and meet together as missionaries to share laughs, memories, and experiences. 

As for the work in Hernandaries, we are still working hard with Juliana. She is a great girl and is really developing a testimony. She already reads and prays daily and has already gotten to Mosiah in the Book of Mormon. She loves coming to church and still really wants to baptized. But sadly, her mom has grown even more closed to hearing us and letting Juliana be baptized. But, Juliana doesn’t let it get to her. She is a great example of diligence and faith. She knows that the church is true and doesn’t let anything or anyone change her mind. She is also helping her friend, Eliana, progress and keep her commitments. It’s great. Its almost like she is already a member and helping the investigadores we are teaching. 

But this week has been pretty tranquilo for the most part. Not too much has been going on because we were traveling so much. The weather is still messing around quite a bit and we have gone from kind of hot weather to cold and rainy. Apparently it’s going to be like this the rest of the week. So pray for me and my comp that our shoes can dry out and that we can find more people to teach so we aren’t in the streets all day!

I love this work and I love my Savior.  The hope and joy we can have through the gospel is amazing.  It brings peace and understanding to our lives.  It is true!

Love you all!

Chau

Elder Haley

Elder Robinson.  We we are goofs.

Elder Loveridge

Elder Grandon

This is how we dry our clothes when it is cold and rainy outside...

Conferencia de Distrito!

Howdy y’all.

This week has been really good. The highlight of the week was of course MOTHER’S DAY yesterday. Like always it was amazing to talk to the Family and share some good laughs.

Yesterday was also our District Conference. We came here to Santa Elena and had a big meeting with all the members of the church within a few hours of here. It was great. The messages were amazing and the Spirit was strong. Not to mention we had a bunch of people travel all the way from Hernandarias! At the beginning of the week we were planning to have an entire bus to bring as many people to the Conference as possible, but later in the week we had to change plans and we could only bring a small van that fits only 15 people. So we were really stressing to get the van filled without having too many people wanting to come so we wouldn't have to leave anyone that wanted to come. But in the end, it all worked out and we had 5 investigadores in church!! We were also working really hard with Juliana and her mom to get permission to bring Juli with us to the conference. And after talking to the mom for a while, and later when Juli talked to her for a looong while to convince her aaaaaand she finally let her come with us to Santa Elena!! So it was really great to have her there. She enjoyed it and is progressing really well. We will keep working with her mom to help her trust us more and more and hopefully get her permission to baptize Juliana within a few weeks. But, she has already told us that if her mom never gives her permission to be baptized, she will just wait until she turns 18 next year. Also, this week we talked to a girl in the street named Eliana. It turns out that she is one of Juliana's really good friends and that Juliana had already talked to her a little bit about church and the Book of Mormon. So Eliana was open to hearing our message. So we taught her a little bit about the Plan of Salvation and then invited her to church too. and on Sunday she came to church too and had a great time. She was a bit shy, but ended up learning a lot and having fun too. 

But this week we also have a conference in Parana to listen to Elder de Hoyos. It will be a great time and we are going to be blessed by the Spirit and the knowledge and wisdom from a General Authority. I cant wait. Its also going to be fun to see old companions and mission friends that I haven’t seen in forever. 

But that is all the time I have to write, so I'll talk to you all next week! 

Thank you all for the love and support!

Chau

Elder Haley

Argentina version of Ramen! And it is getting colder!

Jesus and Pablo came to Santa Elena for the conference!

Eliana and Juliana came too!

Long week but good vibes

Howdy y'all. Its your favorite Nebraskan missionary reporting in from Argentina.

This week was a very long week. I'm not going to lie. I'm quite tired. But it was also a pretty good week. Not too much to talk about honestly, but it was a good time. 

We have been meeting with Juliana this week and finishing up on the lessons that we are teaching her before her baptismal interview, which should be this Sunday if all goes well, which means her baptism will be the 18th. She is progressing really well and learning a lot at the same time. This week as we were teaching her, we shared with her the need to get her mom´s permission to baptize her. Her mom has been nice since we met her, but has been pretty closed to hearing us teach her. She hasn't said anything against us teaching her daughter, but as Juliana has talked to her trying to get the permission, the mom told her that she doesn't have any problem with her going to church, but does not want her to be baptized. So we are going to try and meet with both of them this week and try to explain to Juliana's mom what it is that we do as missionaries and also what Juliana will be doing as a member of the church. To help us in the effort to get the permission, Juliana fasted and has been praying a lot to help her mom see the real desire that she has to be baptized. Juliana even came to church yesterday, all on her own, and in the rain. And if I haven't explained it before, here in Argentina, if its raining, no one, and I mean NO ONE leaves, especially not to go to church. So she is really showing a true desire and her testimony is growing even more through her sacrifices. 

Also with Pablo we are still passing for him trying to keep him motivated and learn as much as he can for his baptism. From what happened in the interview last week, President Westover still wants to meet with him. Luckily we will have a District Conference this Sunday that he will be able to talk to Pablo.

Also this coming week we are going to have a special Mission Conference in Paraná and we will be visited by Elder Benjamin de Hoyos from the Seventy and also the President of the Area. He came here last year with Elder Rasband and I had the opportunity to shake his hand, so it will be great to get to listen to him again. 

So yeah. Not too much to report this week, but we are working hard and staying happy. Thank you all!

Chau

Elder Haley

Elder Casamona LOVED his Bean Boozled surprise!

Bad picture with Juliana, we will get a better one this week

Jesus!

Pablo

Fishing and beautiful Argentina

The work is moving forward

Here in Hernandarias we are having quite the good time. We are working hard to find new people and continue working with the people that we are teaching right now. We are getting quite a few lessons taught and feeling the Spirit pretty well! It seems like the entire spirit and feeling of the entire town has changed. 

Because I don’t have too much time, I’ll share a quick story that has been pretty cool. This week we had two investigadores in church. We had Pablo and a girl named Juliana. There are both really great. Of course, we've been teaching Pablo for a while now. But with Juliana, we have only been teaching her for a little bit. We first met her contacting and invited her to come to General Conference with us, and she came! And since then, she has come and we have been teaching her about once or twice a week. She is already into 2 Nephi! But, as she continued to read and pray and really ask God if what we have been teaching is true, she was confused because she hadn’t received an answer. She was feeling good while reading and praying and everything, but she wasn’t having a straight up answer. But, this last week we had an activity in the church in which we watched the movie of Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration. And after that, we asked her if she liked it, and she said that now she really believes that what we are teaching is true! So we are going to meet with her again this week and keep helping her learn more and prepare her for her baptism that we are planning to have in the 18th of May. So we are pretty happy to be working with her.

We are also teaching a few other people and families and trying to help them come to church to really start to come closer to Christ. 

But I would just like to share with you all my testimony. I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and that today we also have a Prophet of God in President Russell M. Nelson. I know that he is guided by the Lord to guide us. I know that as we work hard to listen to his words and guidance, we will be blessed.  I know that these things are true. And I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Thanks for the package! We also went fishing today.  I better stay a “fisher of man” because my fisherman skills are not good. But, we aren’t using fishing poles so I will use that as my reason! Argentina is beautiful!

Sorry for the short letter! Love you all!!

Chau

Elder Haley

Zone Conference

Zone Conference with my buddies from the MTC

Look, I can still tie a bow tie!

Treats from home for Easter! Thank you!

Fish bait...rotting fish guts

Fishing on Pday.  We didn't catch anything.

Combines in Argentina

Beautiful sunsets never get old!

TODO ESTA DE 10!

Well people. This week has been pretty DANG good. I would give it a 10!

We have been teaching a lot of people and having quite a bit of fun too. 

I’ll list really quick the few people that we are teaching right now. 

Pablo (obviously), Juliana, Jesus, Olga, Cesilia, Sandra, Marta, Dora, Andres, Monica, Oscar, and Hector. 

So we are teaching a lot of people, and quite a few of them are progressing really well! I’m actually super happy with everything that is happening here in Hernandarias right now! I’m loving the area and especially loving all of the people we are teaching. They are all such great people and I’m coming to love them more and more everytime we meet with them. It’s so much fun! I love the mission!!

Yesterday for Easter we had a great time in the church. Even though there weren’t too many people, 10 to be exact (4 members and 4 investigadores, plus Elder Casamona and I) it was great and the Spirit was very strong. Honestly, it used to be a little embarrassing to bring people to church and have very few people there. But I have come to really believe in the Spirit and the power it has in the conversion of our investigadores. 

For example. Yesterday Jesus came to church with us. (I’ll be sure to get a picture with them this week don’t worry) He is a great guy and has progressed so much since we met him. He really didn’t have too much interest in the church when we first started teaching him and Olga. But now, he is very excited and VERY willing to be baptized. In fact, we taught him a little about the Temple this week and gave him the pamphlet that teaches all about the Temple. Jesus read the entire thing! And he is already planning to go to the Temple and get sealed to Olga and his son, Nazareno. Yesterday, during church, we were talking about fasting, and he leans over to me and asks in all but a whisper "and what is fasting??" it was so funny!! So after the lesson we taught him a little about fasting. When we were saying goodbye to everyone, one of the members said "yeah, we have to go and eat. I’m super hungry!", and Jesus said "Eat?? No, we have to start the fast!" It is a real miracle to see the change that Jesus has had in the past few weeks. We are happy for him and to see just how happy he is!

Also, with the Hermano Cristian and his wife, Fabiana. We met with them this week and talked to get them a bit more and share a few things to help them. First of all, we talked about how the family is very important to God and how everything we do in the church is for our personal progression, but just as important is how it blesses the family. We asked them if they had ever gone to the temple and they hadn’t, but were very interested in setting a goal to go as soon as possible. They are really great and have so much energy and excitement to get back to church, which our group is really needing right now to help everyone feel better and more excited and energized in church. Also, they have 3 sons and none of them are baptized! Cristian and Fabiana even mentioned wanting their sons to be baptized (if they chose to do so) after seeing their parents' example in attending the church and reading the scriptures and everything. Holy cow! It’s so amazing what is happening to them and their family. I’m so happy for them and the changes they want to make. 

Alright, so life is all good here. But I hope that you are all doing well and having fun in all that you do. 

Also, I kinda almost forgot to say HAPPY EASTER! I love the message that Easter brings. Christ was resurrected! He lives! Christ overcame death, which means each of us can too. He suffered for our sins. His atonement means that I/we are loved and of value. Because of Him we can have hope and joy and families can be together forever! A quote I read this week by Dieter F. Uchtdorf: “On Easter Sunday we celebrate the most long-awaited and glorious event in the history of the world. It is the day that changed everything.  On that day, my life changed. Your life changed. The destiny of all God’s children changed.” I love that I have the opportunity to share this knowledge, every single day.   

It was an Easter much different than the ones we have back home, but it was very special and I loved it all. I will never forget the Easter of 2019!

Love you all!

Chau

Elder Haley

Lunch with Pablo

Pizza made over fire with Jesus and Olga

My watch broke so now I have to walk around with this terrible tan line

Pday with Elder Casamona