Tuesday
Tuesday was a really good, all around
day. We taught a few lessons and had a good time. In the morning, Elder
Loveridge went with Elder Mario into Santa Fe for Elder Marios physical
therapy, so I was with Elder Delgado for the morning. We went to a lesson with
Jonathan in Las Vegas and it went really well! When we showed up, Jonathan was
all business. He said that he would say the opening prayer, and we were more
than happy to let him do that. After his prayer, we jumped right into his
reading of the Book of Mormon. He had only made it a few verses into 1 Nephi 1,
but we read with him and finished Chapter 1 and then continued into Chapter 2.
He seemed to really like it and be interested. He asked lots of questions about
who Lehi is and about why he and his family left Jeruselem. After that, we got
to talking about what we had covered in the last lesson, about the commandments
of LOC and Word Of Wisdom. He told us that he used to have pretty bad problems
with Word Of Wisdom, but now he is a whole lot better and doesn’t have any
issues keeping that commandment. But the other part was about him and his girlfriend.
So we told him that in order to help his girlfriend understand a little bit
more about why he wants to keep the commandments they could read the Family a
Proclamation to the World and explain to her that God wants us to be married
and have kids because that is the best way to help, protect, and bless everyone
that is involved. He said he would try to talk to her about that, I believe
him. And after that, we talked even a little bit more about how some kinda
crappy stuff is going on in his life. Not anything too bad and serious, but he
had the question of "If Im starting to do all the good things that you
guys are telling me about, why are bad things happening to me?" So we
basically told him that it is important to know that God is real, but just as
important, Satan is just as real. So, when we are doing the good things--like
keeping the commandments and reading and praying everyday--Satan doesn’t like
that, so he will try to mess things us in your life and make you feel
frustrated, angry, and confused. But then, we promised him, that if he
continues to do the good things, God will bless him more and more. So yeah,
that was basically the morning. After lunch and studies, we went and did
service with teh FML Amarilla. The dad still can’t do any manual labor, so we
did if for him. We help him with cutting his lawn and weeds and stuff with a
machete and a sharpened shovel. It was pretty crazy, but fun and a good time.
We got it done, and then they showed us some family videos that they have. They
were of one of their sons, who is now serving a mission. In the videos, the son is beatboxing like
crazy. It was super cool to see. They told us about how he went to competitions
here in Santo Tome, and also in Santa Fe, and later, in Buenos Aires. Then,
after changing and leaving to work, we had a lesson with a really cool kid
named Nazareno. Crazy cool name, no? But
he is a guy of 17 years and Elder Loveridge contacted him a long time ago, but
could never find him in his house. But, we passed by, and he let us in. So we
met him and his parents, and then taught him a lesson. We talked about the
Restoration and he really liked it. By the end, we could ask him to review all
of what we had talked about, and he could do it almost perfectly. It was great!
So we set up another appointment for the following day and ended with him
giving a prayer. It was a good way to end a good day.
Wednesday.
In the morning, we had a Choque de
Fuerza with the Hermanas in our district. Their area is pretty far from our
pench, so we were walking for a while, but when we got there, we had a good
morning full of contacting. We only had about an hour and a half or so, but it
was full of finding good people. We had a nice chat with an older guy who lives
alone after losing both his wife and daughter. So we talked to him for a while
about Eternal Families. Then we found a few other people, all of which seemed
to be pretty interested in what we had to say. So that was really nice. It
seemed that at almost every door that we knocked or clapped, there was someone
ready for our message. Why can’t all days be like that? Then we went back to
the pench and had a good lunch and study time. When we left, we had plans to
teach Nazareno again, but whe we went by, he sadly wasn’t home. So, we went
back to the pench so we could do divisions with the other Elders again. Elder
Mario was feeling pretty sick, so I had to stay in the pench with him while
Elder Delgado and Elder Loveridge went to appointments for the afternoon. I
used my extra free time to get quite a bit done. I did some laundry that I had
been ignoring for a while and caught up on some journal writing. I also had
time to study a little bit more. So yeah, pretty chill afternoon, but I still
got quite a bit done, making the best out of being stuck in the pench.
Thursday
In the morning, Elder Loveridge went
with Elder Mario into Santa Fe, so I was with Elder Delgado for another
morning. We had a few citas set up, but they all fell through. So we went
walking around looking for some of the other Elders investigadores, but none of
them were home either. So we did a whole lot of walking, and a whole lot of
talking. Pretty uneventful morning to be honest. During the siesta, we did our
planimiento semanal and this week, we actually had 2 people to plan for, so
that was pretty good. Better than only one. But, there is definately a lot of
room to improve. We are going to be trying our hardest this next week to speak
to everyone and find new people to meet with and teach. We will see at the end
of this next week just how well our prayers work. But don’t worry, we aren’t
going to pray and just hang out the whole time. In the afternoon, we went
looking for a few references from the other missionaries, but it turned out
that neither of the houses existed. But we did a whole lot of contacting and
ended up finding a few people. It was pretty fun to find new people. That’s
always nice to do. Towards the end of the night, we had a meeting with our ward
mission leader. Sadly, we did have too many people to talk about, but we did
have a good time with him sharing mission stories. He is a recently returned
missionary who served in Mexico. He had a few crazy stories. But other than
that, we didnt really have anything too noteworthy happen on Thursday.
Friday
Friday morning we had our regular
Friday morning appointment with Jonathan. It was a really good lesson that we
taught about Faith and Repentance. When we showed up, we started with a prayer
by Jonathan and then read together in 2 Nephi 31. He really liked it and had a
few good questions. When we finished, we started talking more about the gospel
of Jesus Christ in general. We taught and explained about Faith and how it is
believing, but more than just that, We taught that faith is more about action
and not just a passive belief. He told us that he doesn’t really feel that he
has faith, for now, but maybe he has a desire to believe. So we looked up both
Ether 12:6 and also Alma 32:26. We explained to him that if we don’t exactly
have "Faith," we can have a desire to believe, and that is enough for
Jesus to help us and enough to Repent. And then, we taught him more about
Repentance and tried to take a little bit of time on that to really explain it
really well. One way that we explained it to him is that Jesus, through his
atoning sacrafice, has, in his hands, our new lives and wants to give it to us,
but we have to do a few things first in order to earn it. We have to first
believe and have faith in him, and then, through true repentance, we can
receive our new lives and begin to be more and more perfect everyday. He really
liked that, but I still don’t think that he understands it completely. So we
gave him the invitation to read through the pamphlet about the Gospel of Jesus
Christ and then to think and ponder what Repentance really means to him. So that
took up just about all of the morning. During the siesta, we had a pretty big,
eventful and somewhat crazy reunion de distrito. The assistants came into town
to be part of the meeting and they gave us some pretty big news. We had a
pretty good scripture study together. We read in Heleman 5 and we all learned a
lot. I was asked to think of and set a goal for the entire district that has to
do with something in the chapter. I thought a lot about how great and fearless
the missionaries like Nephi and Lehi were and how through their testimonies and
fearless preaching, they were able to teach and baptize over 8000 people in one
day. So, for the goal, I thought it would be good for all of us to try to be more fearless and really focus
on testifying and preaching to the people that we are meeting with during the
week. But, after that, the assistants shared the big new that they had for us.
They told us that all of the missionaries in the district were going to
completely flip all of their areas around. So, here in Santoto, we have two
branches and the boundaries basically split the town in half. But, because the
areas that the missionaries were working in had be set while Santoto only had
one ward, some of our area was in both of the new ward boundaries. So, we had
to change everything so that all of the missionaries are assigned to only one
ward. So, for now. the hermana missionaries are going to be part of ward 1,
which completely changes their area. And now, Elder Loveridge, the other
Elders, and I all share parts of the hermanas old area. So basically, people
were a little frustrated because they are losing all of their old
inbestigadores. But for me, I’m actually keeping both of my investigadores, so
that’s nice. But, wait! Theres more! Presidente is trying to open another area
called Galvez. It is a smaller town that is about 2 hours from here. Galvez
used to be a branch that had two full time missionaries working there. But a
few years ago, some crazy stuff happened and the mission had to close the area.
But now, Presidente Westover wants to start to reopen Galvez. But, very slowly.
So, the assistants told Elder Loveridge that as the District Leader, he had to
decide which of the Elder Companionships was going to make a trip out to Galvez
twice a week and attend a sacrament meeting there every week, starting on the
9th of September. So, after a bit of thinking, Elder Loveridge, my dear and
beloved Companion and District leader, decided that we are going to be ones
that make the wonderful trip out to the promised land of Galvez. So, we are
going to start making the grand journey twice a week for the afternoon and
then, starting the 9th, go every Sunday morning to participate in the sacrament
meeting of the "Group" of members that is being held at the house of
a member out there. So that is going to be a really fun time. So we are still
going to be working in Santoto the rest of the time that we are not in and
traveling to Galvez. But for now, Presidente is trying to see if we should
start sending missionaries to Galvez permanently. For the afternoon, we had an
english class, but other than that, we didnt have anything too important and
special happen.
Saturday
In the morning, we spent most of the
time walking around the Centro of Santoto looking for a place to buy tickets to
go to Galvez. We were told that we had to find the prices of the trips so we
can get the info to the Financero in the offices. Because it is going to be a
bit of money to go to and from Galvez 2-3 times a week, we are going to have a
little bonus to our mission funds. Sadly, we didn’t have too much success, but
now we know that we actually don’t buy tickets but just pay by cash to the bus
driver. So we will see if we can talk to members that have gone there in the
past. After the siesta, we had a meeting with one of Elder Loveridges converts,
named Geonfranco. He is a really good, funny guy. He speaks pretty good Engish,
so we talked to him in English and basically just used the time so I could get
to know him more. He is really into video games, so we were able to talk about
that for a while, but he also told us that he is reading a chapter of the Book
of Mormon everyday. So that is really cool and amazing. He tells us that he is
just getting to 2 Nephi 31ish so he is learning a lot about the Gospel of Jesus
Christ and also the Second Coming. He is a really great guy. After that, we
went to the chruch so we could meet with the other missionaries and trade
different registers for our Area Books as missionaries. Because now that we are
changing all of our areas, we have to take out nearly all of our Area Books and
give them all to the hermanas. It was a bit of work, but we got it all done.
When we were done, we didn’t have too much time left, so we left and went to
visit a contact that we had made not too long ago. It was meant to be a guy
named Matias who is about 25 or 30, but an other man, about 65ish answered the
door and basically just started talking for a really long time. Granted, he was
a little drunk, but he basically told us his whole life story and all of the
crazy jobs that he has had, how he bought a house and then added about more
than half of what the houses is now, and how not too long ago, he lost his wife
and now is a little lost and sad. So we shared a pamphlet with him about the Plan
of Salvation and testified to him that he will be able to see his wife again
and live with her and all the rest of his family again in the heavens forever.
He seemed pretty happy to hear that and told us he would read the little
booklet. After we got back to the pench, we had to prep for the big Sunday that
we had the next day. We shined our shoes and made some fish empanadas, that
ended up being pretty dang good. So that was a bit crazy, but really
good.
Sunday.
Well. Lets just say that Sunday was a heck
of a day. And I mean, a HECK of a day. Holy cow. It was sooo good. We woke up
and got going pretty quickly so we could get on the colective with all the
members to go to Santa Fe for our big Stake Conference. When we got there, we
were pretty early, so we had a bunch of time to talk with other members and
missionaries that had come too. I got to see a bunch of good friends including
some guys from the MTC and other good friends that I have. I also was able to
see Elder Robinson so that was pretty good. He brought my socks, because I may
or may not have forgotten more than half of my socks back in Rafaela when we
did transfers about 3 weeks ago. So that was a good thing. The meeting was
really good too. I had a kinda hard time paying attention because I had to move
a few times to give my seat to other missionaries and members and ended up on
the far back wall of the stage, behind the overflow. But, I still got quite a
bit out of it and felt the spirit a whole lot. After that, we had a time to
kinda hang out and wait for the other meeting to start. So we ate our Fish
Empanadas that we made the night before and then talked with all of the other
missionaries. Then they got all of us missionaries into a nice, big formation
for a nice picture. We were all standing there waiting for it all to look good
and perfect, and then he walked in. Elder Ronald A. Rasband, an Apostle and
Prophet of the Lord came in and we all took a big ole picture together. The
Spirit that we could all feel at that moment was almost tangable. I literally
stood less than 5 feet away from him. And then, we all were able to shake his
hand and the hands of the other General Authorities their wives. It was a very
great experience. We sat down in the chapel and had the opportunity to listen
to a few great testimonies and messages. First was from Hermana Westover. She
gave her wonderful testimony and the Spirit I felt was absolutely amazing. She
really is a wonderful woman. Then, we were able to hear the words and testimony
of our dear President Westover. One thing that he said that I really liked was
the the mission is not a "Program" but is a "Cause," the
Cause of Christ. I really do love that man and all that he does for me and all
of the other missions here in Santa Fe. After him, President Benjamin De Hoyos,
the Area President, gave a short message on the importance of working using
members in Missionary work. He shared a lot about Preach My Gospel and its
importance and power. After him, President Carlos A. Godoy, President of one of
the Quorums of the Seventy, spoke on the land, the people, and the mission. It
was a really good talk and I got a lot out of it. Probably the biggest thing
that I learned, or more realized, is that while I am here in Argentina, I am
working and being a missionary in the very same land that people like Alma,
Ammon, Amulek, Nephi and Lehi all worked, taught, preached, and baptized in. I
realized that if they could do it with the same calling and power and authority
that I hold, why the heck can’t I do what they did. I can. After him, we had
the opportunity to listen to the words of Sister Rasband. She gave a sweet
message all in Spanish, which she doesn’t speak. But through the help of Google
Translate and lots of practice, she read her message to us and it was very spiritual.
I loved it, even if it was a little harder to understand her through her thick
American accent. But, it was yet another testiment the the Gift of Tounges is
real. After her, we listened to her husband, Elder Rasband himself. He had a
lot to say, which I’m not complaining about. He definitely brings a very
strong spirit with him. He explained to us the process of calling a new Stake
President. He explained that they spend very little time in interviews with the
potencial Stake Presidents, but, by the power of revelation, they are able to
make the decision after less than 15 minutes of interviews. He also explained
that as missionaries, we should kneel down and ask God for success in specific
areas. He also talked a lot about how important it is that we try our hardest
in everything we do every day, because even if we don’t see the future
ramifications, or the future "Fruits" of what we do, we have planted
the seed. He also explained to us that our main purpose as missionaries is
obviously to teach repentance and baptize converts, but that the end goal that
we should have with each and every one of our converts and members is that they
enter the temple to receive and enter into covenants that will give them
Eternal Life. So, after we baptize someone, we aren’t done. We still have to
help them stay active and to help them set goals and do the things that are
necessary to do before entering the temple. He told us about President Gordon B
Hinckley’s 3 things that every member needs to do or have in order to stay
active and happy in the church. First, is a friend. We need to bring members to
the lessons with us so that the investigadores can have friends in the church
to help they want to go. Obviously we aren’t going to want to go to church if
we don’t know anyone there. Second, a calling. He told us that we need to
help our converts receive callings in the church, and if it is necessary, to
stand on the doormat of our Bishop or Branch President and demand that they
receive a calling. Third, is the continual nourishment of the Good Word,
meaning that we continue to go by them and teach them more about the gospel and
doctrine, even after their baptisms. A few other quotes that I really liked
were these:
*Go forth with Faith, not Fear.
*Today is the first day of the rest of
your lives.
*Live everyday as a Memory Day.
That whole meeting was absolutely
amazing. The Spirit that was present and the things that we learned and that I
was reminded of are almost too much and too many to describe.
After Elder Rasband left, the
missionaries stayed in the chapel and we went around and people were able to
say what they all had learned, both from what was said and from what was not
said. It was a really cool way to tie the whole thing up and end it on a really
good note and learn from the things that other missionaries were impressed on us.
Then, at the end of that, Hermana Westover stood up and told us that she had
made us all Chocolate Chunk Cookies for all us. She freaking made them all,
homemade and by hand!! Gosh dang, they really are the best.
After all of that, we had a while to
just chat and talk to all of the missionaries all together. It was really cool
to talk to everyone from the MTC and other friends that I’ve made while here in
Argentina. It was a good time. But, oh yeah. Elder Robinson was telling me
about all of the people that we had been teaching when I left. Sadly they all
haven’t progressed at all and now Elder Robinson and Elder Thelin have had to
drop them. So that sucks, but its the way it is. At least for now they all know
where to find the truth and have had good, spiritual experiences with us. Actually,
Adrian.... Is actually investigating now!! Apparently he is actually reading
and praying because he is super bummed about not having work for the past few
months. So that stinks about his work, but hey, now it’s making him be a real
investigator!
So yeah, to sum it all up, it was a
pretty great week overall.
I want to say thank you to everyone
that was able to read my last email and send me a short response. It really
does mean a lot and I was able to learn a lot about my talents this week. Now I
know exactly which talents I have and will make it a pretty big focus of mine
to work on them in the future.
Love you all!
Chau
Elder Haley
LOVE my new hoodie!
making weights so we can step up our workouts
We take the bucket off the dry cement and then repeat on the other side.
My companion Elder Loveridge
We made fish empanadas
The amazing chocolate chunk cookies
It was so great to see Elder Robinson again
Sleepy companion on the colective
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