Elder Morley Haley Santa Fe Argentina Mission: Super good week!

Whoooooii it sure was a pretty dang good week if I do say so myself. Lets just say we got some freaking stuff done and had a real good time as Missionaries of the Lord, baby!!

Woo. Alright, lets jump into what happened this last week of my life.

Tuesday. So, after Sunday when Jonathan didn’t come to church yet again, we were hoping to catch him at his house for our normal Tuesday morning lesson. But, when we got there, his girlfriend answered the door and we were relieved to hear that he still had work and that he said we could go by to see him in the afternoon. So, instead of doing that, we had time to go and talk to a few other contacts and people that we have been wanting to visit so we could teach them. It was a good time in Las Vegas and we set up a few good citas for the rest of the week. Then, on the way back to the pench, we stopped by Nazareno to talk to him for a little bit. We didn’t really have time to have a full out lesson, but we verified if he had been reading and praying, which he had been, and then left him with a pamphlet of the Word of Wisdom because he has problems with drugs and we wanted to teach him that doing drugs is bad and makes Jesus sad every time we do that. Then we made a pretty good lunch and went to the church for our District Meeting during the Siesta. It was a pretty good meeting. We were able to counsel about our investigadores and talk to each other about what we can do to help them better. Then, in the end, I shared with them all the details of what was happening with Drew and they were more than willing to join in and help pray for him and the rest of the family. So that was really nice. Then, we went out to Las Vegas to have our lesson with Jonathan. When we got there, he told us that he had been reading in one of the folletos that he had given him earlier and came upon some stuff about Adam and Eve, so he used the scripture references to get to 2 Nephi 2 and learn more about that. The only problem is that he didn’t really understand most of it, so we read it with him and answered any questions that he had. It was a good time because this lesson was more of a discussion and not just us leading a lesson. It was nice to see just how interested he is and how he actually thinks about what we have been teaching him. Then, after that, we were walking around, getting some errands done. We had to go to centro in Santo Tome to take out some more money and then go to cyber so I could-with permission from President Westover-talk to the Fam for a little bit by email. Basically, they are all holding up well and Drew is being a total boss, but don’t tell him I said that. Oh and Drew, if your reading this, you’ll still never beat me on the court. But yeah, that was basically the rest of the night, but we had a pretty good day over all.

Wednesday.

In the morning, we did some service for the FML Varino in our ward. They are a really cool family and I’m sure I’ve mentioned them before. It was pretty good and fun. We cleared out a bit of their backyard that was a little messy and full of different moto parts and metal sheets and all sorts of stuff. The kids of the family helped quite a bit and we had a good time helping them. Then, we had a good lunch with them and shared a little bit more time together. In the afternoon, we went on Divisions with the other Elders in the District and I was with Elder Mario. We went looking for the hours and the times that the Colectivos (trains) pass through Santo Tome on their way to Galvez and then got the information on where we can catch the buses. Then, we went to pass by a few people that we had contacted before and didn’t have too much luck, but then we had to run all the way across town to a cita that I had kind forgotten about. So we got there a little late, but it was still really good. It was a lesson with Gianfranco, one of Elder Loveridge’s converts who was baptized about 2 months ago. He’s a really cool 23 year old kid who is super into the church and is doing all sorts of stuff like attending Institute and reading a chapter of the Book of Mormon every day. He is a really good guy. We went by to teach him more about the Priesthood to help him prepare to receive it and then help in the Church. He is actually really excited and wants to study everything he can so he can get it as soon as possible. We talked to him and reviewed the basic principles of the Priesthood and answered a few questions for him but then left him a bit of stuff to read and study. We gave him D&C 20 and about half of 84 for him to study. He was pretty excited to finally have the opportunity to learn more. We also told him to look in his copy of Gospel Principles to help him understand even better. Then we set up another appointment to follow up with him on Monday. After that, we went to go see Nazareno and teach him about the Word of Wisdom. It was a pretty good lesson and he learned quite a bit. It was nice to be able to explain to him that yes, things like Alcohol and Drugs hurt you and God doesn’t want you to destroy your body with them and to explain that God doesn’t give us commandments that we aren’t able to follow. God won’t mess with us and command us to do something impossible. So that was good to do and even better to see that we understood all of it and committed to live the commandment. But yeah. It was a good way to end the night.

Thursday.

In the morning, we were planning on doing some service for another older couple in the ward, but they had to cancel on us. But it was okay because it gave us more time to go out and work and talk to people. Sadly, we weren’t exactly able to do that because we had to go to pick up some medicine for Elder Delgado and buy some other things. So we ended up not having too much time to go out and actually visit anyone. But we used the little time we had left to go and contact a few people. Sadly, we didn’t have too much success. But, hey, we tried. Then, in the afternoon, we went out to Las Vegas and had another lesson with Jonathan. This time, we were finally able to teach him about the Sabbath Day. We read together in Mosiah 13 and explained to him that Sunday is a day that we should use as a day of rest and worship. So, most importantly, we go to church and participate in the Sacrament. That is most important. Then we go to classes and lessons and learn more about the church and the scriptures and gospel stuff. Then, we can go home and spend the rest of the day with our family to just kind of relax for a little bit and talk about what we learned in church and just have fun together. It was nice because he totally understood all of it, even the part that we should try our hardest to not work on the Sabbath Day. He’s such a boss. He also commented on how easy it is for him to understand the things that we read together, but when he is reading alone when we aren’t there, it’s always harder for him to understand and register all that is happening. So, we explained to him that that is because we bring the Holy Ghost with us when we teach him. But, if he wants to understand for himself the things that he is reading, all he has to do is pray and ask. He said that he had never thought about it that way, but that he would give it a try. And then we made him promise that he would come to church on Sunday. Gosh dang I sure do love the guy. Then, as we were on our way to another lesson, we stopped by the FML Amarilla because they are awesome and we want to have a kind of Noche de Hogar with them and invite some investigators. So, we stopped by, and the HNO was having some trouble doing some yard work because he still isn’t too recovered from his accident and surgeries. So, we helped him pound in a few fence posts and move some dirt. They also told us that having a Noche de Hogar with them would be amazing, so that was super awesome to hear. Then, we made the kind of long trip all the way out to visit another one of Elder Loveridge’s converts, Gonzalo. He is the one that has been baptized for a few months now and is teaching the Gospel Principles class on Sundays. He’s a really good guy, and like Gianfranco, is super active in the church and loves to learn more about the Gospel. So we passed by and chatted with him for a while then helped explain a few gospel things to him and even teach him a little bit of English. It was a good time. Then, he walked with us for a while when we left and told us that he is thinking about if he should leave to Spain and work there to send money back home to his wife and kids because the Argentine economy is kind of taking a hit lately. We just explained to him that he can pray about it and even ask for a blessing of comfort to know what he should do. But that was the end of the night.

Friday

Friday was a pretty long day, not going to lie. It was a little tough to get through it, but we did it and did it well. I will say one thing, trials bring blessings. In the morning, we went to Las Vegas again and were meant to have a lesson with a contact, but when we got there she asked if we couldn’t come back in 10 minutes or so. So we left and went contacting for 10 minutes. We ended up finding a lady and a kid who we talked to for a while. They are super Evangelico and she told us about how a few years ago, she supposedly was dead for a good 4 months, but then she came back and when she did she cried because she didn’t want to come back because she only wanted to stay in heaven because it was so much better. So that was kind of nuts. But the kid was asking us all sorts of questions about what we believe and most of it we could answer pretty easily with a bit of info from the Plan of Salvation. So that was pretty crazy, but it was fun at the same time. But, we ended up talking to them for a good 30-40 minutes, so when we went back to talk to the actual appointment that we had, we were disappointed to see that she had already left. But, her mom was home and answered the door. So we talked to her for a while and she asked us if we were really spies from the USA, but she figured that we weren’t because she didn’t think there was anything in Argentina that people would waste their time spying on. She was super fun to talk to. Then, she asked us when we were going to come back so we could talk to her again. We were glad to hear that. So we set up an appointment with her for Sunday. She told us that she has a few doubts and questions about us crazy Mormons that she wants to talk to us about. Awesome lady. We love to talk to her. During the siesta, we got some haircuts and that was cool. I wasn’t feeling too trusting of Elder Loveridge’s haircutting skills and he wanted to see how professional haircutters do it so he can learn how to do it better. Then, in the afternoon, we had a Choque de Fuerza in the area of the hermanas. It was alright. We split the time we had in their area in two halves because we had to teach English Class too. Honestly, the first half was kind of lame. We talked to a few people, but most of them weren’t interested at all and it was a bit of a struggle. But the second half, after English Class, was a whole lot better. We ended up finding a bunch of cool people and two or three families that seem to have some potential. And! They were already married! So it’s that much better. Pretty awesome actually. We didn’t teach anyone all afternoon, but we found a few good contacts with a lot of potential for the HNAs. But, during English Class, we taught Dante, our only student for the night, about the different ingredients for a Cheeseburger. You know. Something he would actually use in real life. Practical English, as Elder Sandler would call it. It was pretty good and fun. I’ll have to get a picture with Dante this coming week, but he is a total boss and still wants us to come by and have us lunch with him and to teach him and his family afterward.

Saturday

Well, Saturday sure was a crazy day. And by crazy, I mean crazy long. In the morning, we went to Las Vegas again. It seems that we are spending a lot of time out there. Well, it hasn’t been bad. Las Vegas is awesome. So we went there and went to our appointment with Maxi Emiliano and Guadalupe, but they weren’t home, so we went to visit a few other people and came back in about 20 minutes. When we got back, Maxi Emiliano was just getting home. So we got let inside and started talking to him. He started to say sorts of stuff that was kind of suggesting and hinting that he didn’t really want us coming by anymore. He was saying stuff about how he and his family already had a church and they just were really comfortable and stuff like that. So we started to talk to him about the Restoration and asked him things like "Why do you think there are so many different churches if there is only one, perfect God and Jesus established only one, true church¿" He seemed a little lost in the questions, so we started talking to him about the Restoration and taught him more about how God uses prophets and how the Great Apostasy brought about so many different churches and all that stuff. He was super interested and had a lot to say about how there are so many churches. But, he got even more interested when we started to talk to him about the Book of Mormon and how it came to be. Then, we read with him the part of the Introduction that talks about our invitation to all people and he was super interested in that and even let out a little "Wow.." in the end of reading. It was pretty awesome to see. So, we ended the lesson by inviting him to read and pray and then he prayed to end it all. It was a pretty good lesson. Then, in the afternoon, we finally made the trip out to Galvez to get the feel if that place. We took the colectivo and got there in about an hour and a half to two hours. Pretty good timing. We had also received a reference from a sister missionary who had talked to a guy in Santa Fe who was actually from Galvez. So that was cool. We had called him before getting on the colectivo and asked him for his address and everything. When we got to Galvez, we went to visit him and when we got there, he was sitting at the door reading the Book of Mormon. We started to talk to him and he was a really cool guy. His name is Alberto and he has talked to the missionaries for a really long time, but wasn’t baptized before they closed the area a while back. So he’s just been waiting. Also, the guy loves to talk. I swear, we probably could have listened to him talk for a few hours without ever saying a word. But, we got some good info from him and learned where the terminal is and a few members who lived close by that we could visit. So, we went looking for the members he had told us about and didn’t have too much luck. But, because we thought the colectivo that left from Galvez to go to Santo Tome left at 8:15, we had to leave kind of early. Sadly, the colectivo actually didn’t leave at 8:15. Somehow, the info on the website is wrong. So when we got there, we were a little bummed to find out that the colectivo didn’t leave until 9:30. So sat and waited, then walked around, and then sat and waited a little longer. Pretty fun. Yep, pretty fun. But, for the most part, Galvez seems to be pretty awesome. It reminds me a lot of a miniature Rafaela. It was pretty cool to spend a few hours there. So, we ended up getting home a little late. And, on the colectivo on the way home, we got a text from the Assistants telling us that President doesn’t want us to go to Galvez anymore. Not for any reason in particular, but just for now, we aren’t going there anymore. So that kind of stinks, but it’s what President thinks is best, so we'll do it.

Sunday

Well, we woke up and got ready and went to look for Nazareno again for church. Earlier in the week, I had made Nazareno sign a small contract that said "I, Nazareno will go with the missionaries to church on Sunday" But, when we showed up, he wasn’t even home. That crazy kid. So, we went to church all alone, yet again. We were also calling Jonathan but he didn’t pick up or come to church, so that was super dumb and pretty lame. But, like always, church was really good. The classes were good stuff and I learned and felt the Spirit. And of course, Sacrament Meeting was super good too. I love partaking of the Sacrament. It’s so great. Afterward, we had a great lunch with the FML Zorzi. It was delicious, but also super fun because the husband really likes fishing, so Elder Loveridge and I were able to talk a lot about that kind of stuff. Then, in the afternoon, we had a pretty good time working. First, we went to a cita pretty far away, but the lady wasn’t home. So we went to a different cita in Laz Vegas. It was with the lady that asked if we were Spies or not. It was a really good time. Basically we answered any questions that she had about us. It was good because she ended up being a lot more comfortable with us and learned that we really aren’t all that weird of people. We explained to her the Book of Mormon and a little about our church meetings and things like that, but other than that, not too much as far as a set lesson. But it was actually really fun. Then, we got our dirty cloths and took them to one of the member families that is nice enough to do that stuff for us, and then ended the Night at HNA Amelia’s house. She is, like I’ve said, the HNA Palota of Santoto. We went there and watched the Face to Face of Elder Cook. It was super good and I actually learned a lot. I can’t wait to read the Book Saints when I get home. It looks like an amazing book full of things to learn and ponder about. But yeah, that was basically it for Sunday.

So, that’s the week. We found a bunch of cool people and can’t wait to get back at it and start spreading some blessings! We’re going to go out and do what servants of the Lord are called to do baby!!

But, other news, Drew is still hanging in pretty well. From what I’ve been told, the surgery went well and everyone is still in good spirits. It turns out that one of his calf muscles was actually still alive, so the amputation was lower than what everyone first thought. So that’s great! Thank you all for the prayers and thoughts and all sorts of support! And about all of the help from people from church and the community, I honestly don’t have to worry about anything. Thank you so much!! Ughhh I just want to give a huge hug to everyone!!!

Love you all!!

Chau

Elder Haley