Elder Morley Haley Santa Fe Argentina Mission: A good, solid, fun week

Oh, hecks yeah. This week has been a really good one and I am seeing a lot of really good things happening in our area. We found a lot of people to teach, have a lot of new investigadores, and are helping them progress.

Tuesday. It was a pretty long day, and we were walking a lot, but it was good none the less. We were on divisions with the Zone Leaders and this time I was with Elder Sandler. He’s a really good missionary, has about a year and half in the mission, and is actually the trainee of Elder Duval. So, when Duval left, he took his spot as the Zone Leader here in Rafaela. Pretty cool. But yeah, Elder Sandler and I were together in his area. In the morning, we went to a few appointments, but sadly, no one was home or could talk to us. But we contacted a few people and talked to a few people just outside their houses and ended up having a pretty good morning of finding a few people. During the Siesta, we had our weekly District Meeting, but this one was a little different. Our District President was there to talk to us for a little bit. Presidente Horton is the equivilent to a Stake President, but we don’t have enough people in our area, so its just a District, not Stake. But he came in and dropped some serious missionary knowledge on us. He shared some of his mission experiences and how we should be working with our mission leaders and having weekly meetings with them. We also learned about how we should do activities, that the activities should be centered on how we can help the people who attend to be more converted and to feel the Spirit. The rest of the meeting was good too. In the afternoon, Elder Sandler and I went out and had a pretty good time. We meet a few people and taught two lessons, both of which were really good. The first one was to a middle aged couple and thier teenage son. We taught them more about the Book of Mormon and how it can bless their lives. We shared a few scriptures with them and ended up teaching them about Obedience at the same time. They were paying a lot of attention and it was nice to see how they were really interested in what we had to say. The other lesson was with a younger couple and their friend who is living with them. We taught them about the Restoration and they were really interested. They are super great and humble people and we testified to them about just how blessed their lives can be, and will be, if they accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ and are baptized. I could really feel the Spirit during the lesson when we were talking about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and then later during the First Vision. It was a really good lesson. Something else that happened was when we found an older lady who lived alone with her cat and told us that she has some tough health problems. So we offered to give her a blessing and she accepted. So we gave the blessing and it was really great to see how the Spirit was working through Elder Sandler to help bless and comfort the lady. Then, afterwards, she tried paying us a few hundred pesos for the things that we had done. We had to tell her that we can’t, as missionaries, accept money from people. Throughout the entire day, Elder Sandler and I were sharing some fun mission stories together and it was fun to see just how many experiences I have had, and to see just how crazy Elder Sandlers missin has been.

Wednesday. Well, Wednesday was a pretty good day too. We didn’t really have too many citas set up, but everything ended up working out and we had a good day anyways. In the morning, we taught Mario and had a good time with him, as always. We shared a scripture and even though he never really says anything, we know he feels the Spirit and enjoys it. Afterwards, we went to see our investigadora Natacha, but we couldn’t talk to her for long. She told us that she is really busy this week and that maybe the next week we can catch her for a lesson. We were able to check up on her to see if she had been praying or reading the scriptures, and she told us she has, but didn’t tell us more than that. So I guess we are going to have to wait to hear more about that. We also went by the Familia Suarez and were able to talk to them for a little bit. They are all doing well, except now they are in school again and are pretty dang busy. But we had time enough to share a small scripture and then set up an appointment for the next morning. The afternoon was a bit crazy. We were on our way out to the neighborhood we had plans in, when we walked into Gabe riding on his bike. He stopped and seemed pretty sad and that he needed someone to talk to, so we went with him to one of the local parks and sat down and listened to him about what’s been going on in his life. He has some pretty crazy stuff with his family that he has to deal with, while at the same time is going to school but still doesn’t like what he is studying to be and doesn’t really know what to do with his life. So we listened for a really long time and tried to help him understand a few things and give him some advice. We tried telling him that life is hard, but that’s the way it’s meant to be. If life was so easy, we wouldn’t learn or progress at all. But at the same time, we don’t have to just sit here and take all the crappy things that happen to us. We should do the things that God has told us to do, like pray and read the scriptures to have more blessings. Sadly, we still haven’t gotten it into Gabes mind/heart that he had to do these things EVERYDAY. But, we gave him a scripture to read and then set up and appointment to meet with him and one of his friends that is trying to stop with drugs and Gabe told him about us. So, until that, we were in our area looking for other people to meet with, without too much luck. But we were able to talk to a few future investigadores and set up some lessons for the future. Then, at the very end of the night we went with Gabe to his friends house to meet him and talk to him for a little bit. We were really only planning to get to know the guy and talk a little about what we do as missionaries, but basically as soon as we got there, he was talking about going to church and prayers and reading the scriptures, anything to be able to stop doing drugs. I was kinda surprised, but pleased at the same time. His name is Franco and is a really good kid who just got stuck in the wrong type of things and bad friends. So we got to know him a little more and then to share a small scripture in Alma 37:6 about small and simple things. We told him that drugs are addivtive, so it’s going to be a really hard and tough process to quit, especially if you try doing it all at once in one day, but that if you do it by small and simple things, every day, in the end, you can quit drugs and alcohol for good. We also met his family. He has a younger sister who is really nice and super funny and his parents are the nicest, most loving parents. They are open to us helping their son as much as possible and are there to support us and him in this tough time. We are really happy to have the opportunity to help this family and to see just how much Gabe trusts us with his friend.

Thursday. In the morning, we went to the Familia Suarez house and taught them about the Plan of Salvation. We taught them that they all really do have a purpose in this life and how they can fulfil this purpose, especially through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They had a few good questions and were really attentive. I was even able to use my new Plan of Salvation activity thing and they really liked that. When we talked about the Atonement and how through it, Jesus suffered and died for us, Belen and Andrea were really emotional. It was a really powerful moment. After that, the rest of the morning was just looking for other people to teach and meet with. All of our plans fell through, but we were able to find a few people to chat with. In the afternoon, we had a few lessons and it was a really productive time. We had a lesson with Maria and Juani, the mom and son that we have been trying to meet with for a while. We finally got into a sit down lesson and taught them the Restoration. They were really interested, like most people are, and answered a lot of the questions we had for them. In the end, we invited them to be baptized, and they didn’t exactly accept, but they didn’t deny the offer either. So well see how that ends up playing out. We also found one guy named Jose they we had talked to before a few times. When we found him, he and his friend were sitting outside his house smoking some weed. So we sat down and taught Jose about the Word of Wisdom. His friend left before we started teaching, but Jose was pretty interested and understood why smoking and drinking is really really bad for you and how God doesn’t want you to do it. But he was super high out of his mind, so he would say stuff like "If God doesn’t want us to smoke it, why did he create it:", or in the end when we asked him if he had any questions, he only said "Only the same one I always have, Who created God?" Crazy dude. We spent basically the rest of the night looking for other people that Elder Robinson and Elder Pena had talked to while in Divisions. We met and talked to a guy named Matias who is a really cool person. We were looking for some one else that he lived with, but ended up talking to him instead. He told us that he has a son with his girlfriend and they live together and stuff. So we taught him about the Law of Chastity and how the family is ordained of God. We taught him how children deserve to be raised in a Family where the parents are married and love each other because hoy en dia, a lot of kids are being raised in broken families and are missing the love and relationships that are built through a strong family basis. We also found a few people, including a house of 4 guys from Paraguay that all live together. They let us in, and they were all sitting around the TV drinking Mate. So we shared a scripture with them and then gave them a Book of Mormon to read if they wanted and told them that we would come back some other day. So yeah, we found a whole bunch of people and taught a lot of lessons. Good day.

Friday. It was yet another really good day full of finding people and teaching a few lessons. In the morning, we were with the Hermanas in their area doing another Choque de Fuerza. We walked with them all the way to the neighborhood we were meant to work in, and it took literally close to an hour. But we talked to a few people on the way and when we got there, we were able to split up into our companionships and contact a few houses and meet more people that the Hermanas can go and visit. We met a few people and talked to a lot. Not going to lie, most of them were angry, old, prideful people that think they are too good to hear about Jesus, but we did find a few good people to talk to. We found one lady in particular that was really nice and seemed interested. At first, she seemed to be a little up tight, but in the end it was really good. We talked to her about her family and school and stuff, then started to share a little about the Plan of Salvation and how we can live forever in peace and happiness with our Families. She seemed really interested to hear more about that, so we got her info and set up and appointment for the next week so the Hermanas can pass by and teach them. During the siesta and studies, we were able to do our Weekly Planing session and it was actually super cool to see just how blessed we have been these past few weeks. Looking back to other Weekly Plannings, we noticed that we actually have people to plan for this week! Yeah! The afternoon was really good again. We had a lot of plans that ended up falling through again, but we were able to find a few people and still have a really good lesson with a new Family. During Divisions this week, Elder Robinson and Elder Pena were able to find a reall great family. They started talking to them and found out that they have the last name Palota and that they are related to HNA Palota. So that’s super cool. None of them are members, so they are taking the lessons with us now. It is a family of 6, the dad, mom, and 4 daughters. In the first lesson, Elder Robinson and Elder Pena taught about the Restoration and committed the parents and the two daughters who are older than 8 to be baptized. So, when I went by to teach them with Elder Robinson, we just checked up on them and how they are doing with reading the Book of Mormon and praying. They said that they have done both! So afterwards, we read some scriptures and taught them a little about the commandments, especially the Sabbath Day. They really liked all of it and committed to coming to church. In fact, Andres, the dad, said he was coming, even if it had to take two or three trips to take everyone to the church on his moto. Yeah!

Saturday. It was a pretty dang good day to be a missionary on Saturday. We taught a bunch of lessons and had a lot of good experiences helping other people. In the morning, first thing we did was go to the FML Suarez and talk with them for a little bit. We were only able to talk to Rodrigo and Andrea, but it was still really good. We shared with them a scripture in Mosiah 2:20-22 about keeping the commandments and then taught them about the Sabbath day. Rodrigo committed to going, gosh dang he is a total boss. But, Andrea had a few problems that would impead her from attending. So we promised her, in the name of Jesus, that if she did all that she could, she would be able to attend on Sundays. We shared 1 Nephi 3:7 and told her that God does just give us commandments and thats it. He helps us keep them and all we have to do is try our hardest to be worthy of his help and then pray for more aid. Sadly, she still couldn’t commit to attending the following Sunday. But that’s okay. So we left with Rodrigo to go to the church and teach him some English. We taught him how to say "A mi, me gusta..." or in English "I like to..." Then we had to hurry over to Gabe’s house to leave for the lesson with his friend, Franco. Franco is a complete stud. He has a super contagious laugh that is so flipping funny and his family is so great and supportive of him. So we taught him about the Word of Wisdom and how the things that completely destroy your body, like drugs and alcohol and smoking, are bad for you. Weird huh? But, the rest of the lesson was really good. His younger sister sat in on the lesson too, and she learned too. Both committed to living the Word of Wisdom. Yay! After, Gabe walked with us for a while and he’s been reading in the Book of Mormon. Nice. I love it when people do the things they know will make them happy. Then, the afternoon was actually really good too. Before we left the pench, we said a prayer and asked the we could have at least one lesson during the afternoon. We didn’t have any appointments with anyone, but we had lots of plans to visit some contacts and other people. So we were praying to be able to have at least one lesson. So we left and got to the neighborhood that we were going to be working in, and Elder Robinson had the thought to visit one guy that we hadn’t seen in a really long time. A while go, Elder Robinson and Elder Duval were on divisions and they taught one guy who actually lived in our area, and we had tried to make contact with him a few times since that, but we were never able to meet with him. So we went to this guy, named Hernan. It was really cool because we had made plans to visit just about everyone we knew in that area, except for him. But we received the prompting and followed it. And it ended up paying off! He was home and we taught him the Restoration. It was a pretty good lesson. He understood a lot and talked even more. But we got through it all without much difficulties and now he understands who Joseph Smith is and his wierd "Mormon Bible" (Which actually isn’t our version of the Bible. We believe in the Bible too, so don’t worry about that!) But yeah. After that lesson, we didn’t teach anyone else the rest of the night. So we received an answer to our prayers! We were able to talk to other people, just that we couldn’t teach them.

Sunday. It was a really tranquilo and good day, but honestly not as good as we were hoping for. In the morning, we woke up to see that during the night, Rodrigo texted us to say that he wouldn’t be able to go to church because he would be out of town. So, we were pretty sad to hear that. But, we got to the church hoping that the Familia Palota would at least attend. We also called Gabe and tried to get him to come. Sadly, no one did until sacrament had already started and Gabe came in about half way through. He’s a good kid. Emiliano came too and I finally got the t-shirt from him. I love the shirt and it’s going to be one of my favorite recuerdos. Good stuff. The rest of church was alright. We had to teach the 3rd hour lesson because it was 5th Sunday. We, and HNO Deck, the ward mission leader, taught a lesson on sharing the Gospel through Social Media and technology. It was a pretty good lesson, but the sad part is that all the members are older people and don’t really know how to function a phone. But, they still learned a lot. The afternoon was really good and super chill. We didn’t really teach anyone, but we talk to a bunch of people for really longs periods of time, and it was amazing. It was cool to just be able to chat with people and know what they are saying and being able to contribute to the conversation without any problems. We went to go see one lady named Sandra who is a member that has been kinda inactive for a while because she has had cancer and other sicknesses. So went and talked with her for a while and had a good time just chatting and sharing a few scriptures while we were at it, we also had the opportunity to give her the Sacrament. Afterwards, we went and visited the Familia Quiroga because they weren’t at church today. It was actually really good. We were only able to talk to the mom because HNO Quiroga was gone and the kids were running around outside, but it was super chill and nice. She didn’t share specifics, but apparently the family is having some problems, but they really appreciate that we check up on them. Now we have plans to have another Noche de Hogar after PDAY. After that, we went to see Maria and Juani because we invited them to church too, but they didn’t come either. They said that the had slept in, but then we talked for a while and it was really good. They are really great people and super fun. We talked about all sorts of stuff like sports, mate, best places to buy food in town, and a few more things. It was a good time to just be friends with them, and in the end set up an appointment for the next week. Good stuff. And after that we went to HNA Palotas and talked with them for a while. Tommy is a boss, HNA Virginia is super cool, and Josefina is fun. Seba is just Seba and is the most amazing baby in the world-except for my cousins of course. And of course, HNA Palota is just and angel. After that, we went to see our other FML Palota, our investigadores, to see what happened this morning. Apparently they slept in too, but they are still reading and praying, so we set up another cita for later this coming week. So yeah, over all, it was a really good day.

Some other things that happened this week... So if you remember, last week the ZL’s found a fish in the street and put it into our freezer. Well, this week we found an old cow skull, so we got them back... kind of. We put the skull in their oven and left if for them to find. The following day, I wanted to get a picture with it, so we went into their pench and opened the oven, and it was gone. So we were just like "Oh no....." and ran over to our pench to see where they had put it. It turns out they had found it and some how put it back into our freezer! So now we have a cow skull, dead fish, and a baby doll head frozen in water. Crazy stuff.

I also really love Mate now. I didn’t like it at all at first because it was super bitter and tasted like grass. But now, I have learned how to make it sweet and amazing.

While we were talking to Maria and Juani on Sunday, we were outside and an old guy came walking by. We were just talking and the guy had the biggest, loudest, nastiest burp ever. So we just stopped talking, looked at each other, and started laughing really bad. They guy laughed too and yelled "Bien Hecho!" which means "Good work" or "Well done" Super funny stuff.

I’m also very proud to tell you all that we finally have hot water! Yeah! The guy came just this morning and got everything fixed and going with a new water heater. Now, we can finally shower in our own pench. So yeah, thats good news too. Oh, and now that we are on the topic of good news, the weather is getting a lot nicer! It’s not as freezing cold and it starting to change a little into spring. I will say I don’t want it to be summer yet, but it will be nice to not be freezing my butt off anymore.

Oh, also. My brown shoes are dying, but it’s all good because HNA Palota has a shoe guy that will fix them. She said he can put on good strong soles on. HNA Palota says they will be good. I just wanted to get a video because they were pretty badly worn down. (on the blog)

But yeah, just to end this thing on a spiritual note, I’ll share some of my favorite scriptures from the week and also some of my thoughts and feelings. I have been reading in the Book of Mormon a lot this week, but for now, I want to turn my thoughts not exactly to the scriptures, but just to the living proof that I have witnessed this week. I have been able to see recently and for a while now, how Satan is really making an attack against the family. I have witnessed many families, both members of the church and not, fall apart and be destroyed recently. A lot of families are being broken by pride or other things, but really the only thing that we have to do as people and members of a family, is be centered, together, on the Gospel. I have seen a lot of families who don’t have the Gospel in their lives, and some get by alright. But for the most part, the families are broken, separated, and unloving. It happens in the church too! But I would like to bear my testimony on the importantance of doing small and simple things. It is through the small things, like reading the scriptures, praying as a family and also holding Family Home Evenings, that the family can be stregthened and protected. Also, in D&C 10:5 it talks about this principle and also in the recent General Conference, the talk by President Oaks touched on the importance of small and simple things. So, I invite all of you to read this scripture and talk and apply them to your lives.

Thank you all for everything you do and for reading this. I know it’s long and sometimes repetitive, but I hope you all can learn from my experiences. Love ya all

Ciao

Elder Haley