Elder Morley Haley Santa Fe Argentina Mission: Mission Conference and Saying goodbyes

Well, this week was a little down in terms of lessons and new investigators, but it was a good one none the less. But, anyways, about this week and what we did.

Tuesday. So Monday night we traveled to Santa Fe for the huge mission conference on Tuesday. We stayed the night in the pench of Elder Mamani, my last companion and Trainer. It was pretty good to see him again after a bit of time. Santa Fe is a lot louder than Rafaela so I didn’t sleep too well, but the next morning we got up and going and made it to the huge Chapel that the Conference was held in. It was super awesome to see a bunch of the guys I haven’t seen since the MTC and also to finally meet some of the people I’ve heard a lot about. Also, the talks that Presidente and Hermana Perez gave were really amazing and super powerful. It is sad to see them go, but also really exciting to send them back to their families in Chile and to receive a new Mission Presidente and Wife. The Assistants made a few goodbye videos for President and Hermana Perez that were really fun and in one of them they had pictures from close to all the baptisms that the mission has had while President Perez has been here. He is an amazing man and I’m grateful for the time I had to know him and learn so much from him. Hermana Perez is also a truly wonderful woman and I will always look at her as an example of Charity and Love. So we learned a lot at the Conference, especially about how to stay focused on the mission and not being Trunky. Talking to everyone from the mission and getting to know a few more people was awesome too. When we got back to Rafaela that night, we went to see Gabi (USA exchange student), who wasn’t home, but we talked to him Mom who is really starting to warm up to us and even has been asking us to pray for her daughter and other members of her family. It’s amazing to see how hearts can be softened and how when people just talk to us, they realize that Mormon missionaries are just normal people. Weird how that works.

Wednesday.

In the morning, we went to 2 de abril and finally found Gabriel again after a few weeks, but we still couldn’t teach him. He is a really great guy and has a lot of potential, the only thing is that it’s hard to find him at his house. Actually, tha’ts a problem that we are having with just about all of our investigators. During the siesta, we had our weekly district meeting and it was a kind of sad one because Elder Duval and Hermana Ceron gave their "Farewell Testimonies" in their last district meeting of their missions. They were good testimonies. I love hearing testimonies from the older missionaries because they usually have much more power and spirituality to them. That night, we went by to see Adrian again and he gave us some good ideas for places to visit on Pdays. Most of them we won’t be able to do, such as pain tballing and flying in a plane, but others will be fun to visit, like a local taxidermy museum and art galleries. We also shared a short scripture with him to thank him for his help with my teeth problems and his friendship in general. We shared Matt 25: 35-40 and related it to them and how by helping us, they were really helping the Lord. Adrian and Liza really seemed to appreciate that. They keep on telling us that they can feel a different "energy" when we come over and how they forget all the bad things that are happening in their lives, and we are trying our hardest to help them recognize that they are actually feeling the Holy Ghost. Here is the scripture:

35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Thursday.

For the morning, we visited a few people that weren’t home, but talked to one lady that we have visited before. She has been really nice and pretty interested in what we have to share, but sadly she told us that she can’t let us into her home because her husband is basically forbidding us from going inside their house. So, even though she wants to hear us, we still aren’t able to talk to her right now because her husband doesn’t want to listen to us for anything. But, we have planted the seed so to speak and hope that in the future, she will have the opportunity to hear someone else. That night, we had a noche de hogar in the church and we invited Adrian who was able to make it. It was great for him to be there too because for the activity, we watched the Joseph Smith biography movie and it really helped him understand more of his role in the Restoration and really just who the heck this Joseph Smith guy really is. He really seemed to appreciate the spirit that we all felt.

Friday.

In the morning, we did our big Limpieza (cleaning) of the pench to end the Transfer and get ready for the new transfer. I am staying in Rafaela again for this transfer! There is work to be done! We got down and dirty and cleaned really well so that the spirit will be able to reside in our pench. But other than that, nothing really happened the entire day because for the afternoon, I was with Elder Duval in the hospital because he had some really bad stomach pains. So we were on divisions and I was stuck in the hospital with Elder Duval, waiting for our turn to see the one doctor that was on duty that night. Honestly, I really hope that I never get sick enough to have to go to the hospital here. A root canal was good enough for me and I don’t think I want anything more serious than that to happen.

Saturday

In the morning, we had a lesson with a kid named Mauricio who once upon a time was really close to being baptized but ended up backing out of some reason, but now has a desire to be baptized and we are more than willing to help him with that. He is a good kid and we are going to have a lot of fun teaching him and helping him prepare for his baptism. That night we went to an area we hadn't been to before. We found two people that are really amazing and we are planning to meet with more this week. One is named Neli and is a really sweet grandma who was really happy to learn about the Plan of Salvation. She had lots of questions and we can’t wait to meet with her again this coming week. I can’t wait to see where things go with her. The other person we met is a guy named Lucas who we actually barely talked to, but seems to have a lot of potential. We taught him about the Restorationa and gave him a Book of Mormon and he seemed excited to read it and Pray to know if it is true. I love it when we actually have lessons! The gospel is so much fun to share!

Sunday.

Yesterday, we didn’t have any investigators in church with us, but it was still a good Sunday nonetheless. We taught Tommy, Hermana Palota’s grandson about the priesthood and learned more about ministering in Elders Quorum. The only part that wasn’t really my favorite part was having to say goodbye to Elder Duval and Hermana Ceron. Elder Duval has been a great Zone Leader for me and an even better example of a true missionary. I wish to have his dedication and love for the people as he does. He really did serve his mission to its fullest. If you’re reading this Elder Duval, thank you and good luck with life, we will meet again. We ate some ice cream in the terminal to send them off and even though it was sad, I’m happy to see them off and to have been part of their missions. Lifelong friends are being made on my mission.

So yeah that was the week, not too much, but it was still good. Oh ya-my tooth. I have an appointment this week just to check up on it, but it should be fine. I haven’t had any problems since the root canal and they don’t think anything should be wrong, but we will find out more this week.

Gabe so far is progressing well and has been praying, but was in Cordoba this weekend so we couldn’t bring him to church. The same with Gonzalo, who has been reading and praying every day this week. We hope to really see some progress with them and get close to the baptismal font with both of them.

The World Cup has been quite the focus of talk here. Argentina isn’t doing too hot, but that doesn’t keep people from pointing out that the USA didn’t even make it….. But we are still cheering on Argentina from the streets.

Thanks for everything and can’t wait to hear from you and share even more experiences next week.

Love ya all

Elder Haley

Ciao