Elder Morley Haley Santa Fe Argentina Mission: CHAU Grandon. HOLA Gonzalez.

Holy smokes this week has been so nuts and busy. It feels so long since I’ve had to write one of these. But holy moly, it was a pretty good week none the less. We got quite a bit of stuff done. Not in terms of lessons and new investigadores, but it was a really busy week and we were running around all over the place doing things. Well. Alright.

Monday night is where this week begins, because Elder Cortes and I had to go to Santa Fe and sleep there before going to Rosario the next morning for Tramites. So, we were traveling pretty late at night. We didn’t leave Santo Tome until super late, but when we got to Santa Fe, it was raining super hard, and I mean absolutely dumping, and we got a little lost. So we were walking around in the streets of Santa Fe, completely drenched, and pretty dang hungry. But, we ended up getting were we needed to, ate some cereal and milk and got to bed because we had to wake up nice and early the next morning.

Tuesday starts off at 4 in the morning, getting ready and eating quickly before piling into the Office Van and heading to Rosario. This trip was me, Elder Cortes, two other Elders, two hermanas, and Elder Marshall and Elder Sanchez from the offices. It was a pretty good trip. On the way there, Elder Cortes and I got to talk a bit and have a few good laughs. In Rosario itself, sitting and waiting for the paperwork to be done and stuff was pretty lame, but I was able to talk to a few people and get to know them. It’s super cool because in the Tramites offices, there are a bunch of people from all different countries. So I got to talk to a lady from Puerto Rico, a guy from the Dominican Republic, and a few others from places like Guatemala and Costa Rica and all these different places. It was pretty awesome. Spanish is pretty much the same wherever you go. I could talk with all of them without any problems. They always end up asking about our religion and beliefs and things like that, so it’s actually a great way to share and testify to people. Other than that, we didn’t do anything in Rosario. And this trip was actually super good and fast, so we got back to Santa Fe and had lunch there. We were able to get some McDonalds and then hang out in the offices for a little bit. Elder Cortes and I had to stay a little bit longer than the rest because we had to pick up a new phone for him and Elder Delgado after Elder Delgado baptized Francisco last week with the phone in his pants pocket. So, by the time we got back to Santo Tome, we were right on time for the dinner/teaching appointment with the FML Penno. Since we weren’t really able to celebrate their baptisms the day of, we had a bit of a party in their house with a few other members and their families. It was pretty great actually. We had a lot of laughs and the Penno’s are totally the best family ever. Gosh dang I love them so much. They are also becoming pretty good friends with the other member families too. They make me so happy!!

Wednesday. In the morning, not too much happened. We had set up a few citas, but they had fallen through. So, there isn’t much to say about that. But, in the afternoon, we went on divisions with the Zone Leaders, which would be Elder Loveridge and Elder Christensen. I went with Elder Christensen to their area in Santa Fe. So we traveled to their area, dropped my stuff off at their pench, and got to work. We had two pretty dang good citas. The first was with a contact that Elder Christensen and Loveridge had met a few days earlier. So we passed into her home and talked with her and her son. The mom was a little old, but the kid was only 22ish years old. They both had a little bit of learning problems, so neither knows how to read. But, we were able to get to know them and share a little bit of our purpose as missionaries and what we do. Then, we were able to teach them how to pray and it was so funny because after we had taught them, the son just started saying his own little silent prayer. It was so funny and awesome! And so amazing to see just how excited he was to learn more! After that, we had a lesson with a few of the Zone Leaders super cool investigadores. The family is so amazing and they are actually really ready to be baptized, the only problem is that they aren’t able to attend the church meetings very often because the mom always has to work and the dad usually can’t keep the kids under control all by himself. But, they are progressing really well and are still looking forward to being baptized. The family consisted of the mom and dad, a daughter of 9 years, a daughter of about 6 years and a little son of 3 years or so. They are all so amazing. We were teaching the daughter more than anything, but still teaching the parents at the same time because they can always learn more too. But, the daughter started feeling sick so we gave her a blessing and then she went to bed. But they offered us to eat dinner with them and we are never ones to say no to food, so of course we accepted. By the time we were done eating, it was time to go. So, they offered to drive us home too! So amazing. That family alone makes me want to work in Mayoraz, the area of the Zone Leaders, at some point in my mission.

Thursday. In the morning, we went to the house of a member in Mayoraz that owns a Dietetica, or a store of diet and healthy foods. She needed a little bit of help in her store. So, we say that it was "service" but it wasn’t too hard at all. I always think of service as chopping down a tree or cleaning the water tank or cutting grass. But no, all we did was put some product from one bag, and put it in another. It was super chill and took basically all the morning. But it was also really good time to talk to Elder Christensen and become better friends. He’s a stud. Then we ate lunch, studied a little bit, and then went all the way back to Santo Tome to end divisions. It was a pretty good time that I had with Elder Christensen. I always learn quite a bit from him. Then, in the afternoon, we had a meeting with our Ward Mission Leader in the church just to review things, talk about the investigadores, and get things planned for the baptisms on Saturday. The afternoon before, Elder Grandon and Elder Loveridge had had a lesson with Mari that went really well. She was still feeling really good and ready for her baptism and we were happy to hear that. They had also gotten all the information for her baptism program. Because we baptized two people, Mari and a girl named Jazmin, they shared the program. So both chose only one person to pray and one person to give a talk. After the meeting, we were able to stay at the church and while Francisco and Ari had piano classes with Elder Delgado, Elder Grandon, Elder Cortes, and I were able to stay and chat with a few of the members, including Jose and Noelia for a little bit. It was a good time. Then, after that, not too much happened. We didn’t have any citas, but we tried contacting for a little bit and talked to a few people.

Friday.

In the morning, we had our Limpieza Profunda or the Super Duper Deep Cleaning of our pench for the end of transfers. This time around, the Assistant’s made it so that we had to clean our pench and then send pictures of the clean pench to the Zone Leaders before we could know our transfers. SO we made sure the pench was nice and perfect before sending the pictures. Sadly, we had to wait until the entire flipping zone was done cleaning before we could receive any transfers, so we didn’t find out for a long time. So, in the meantime, we had a little meeting with Mari in the church that went pretty well. We read a chapter of the Book of Mormon with her and then left her with a little bit of homework reading in 2 Nephi 9. We also cleared up a few things for her on the baptism for the next day and she was still feeling super ready and excited. We also went to a cita for the other Elders because Elder Cortes was super sick, so we went and visited the girl Jazmin and talked to her for a little bit. Both Elder Grandon and I had been to her house before, so she already knew us. But we talked with her and ran her through what was going to happen during the next day for her baptism. She was feeling super ready too and didn’t have a single questions. It was super nice. Then, afterwards, we went to look for the baptismal clothing for both Jazmin and Mari at the house of a member. Then we had to go back to the church and wait for people to come to the English Class, but sadly no one came. So we went back to the Pench, dropped off the white baptismal clothing, and went to see the FML Penno to tell them about transfers. It turns out that I’m staying, but that Elder Grandon was leaving. All the way to Federal that is in the provincia de Entre Rios. Super far away. So we let them know first out of anyone. They were all pretty sad to hear it. Noelia even cried a little bit. But then we set up a dinner and chat time for Sunday to say goodbye officially. Then, we went to the house of the FML Amarilla for dinner. This time around, we had some pizza and these super dang amazing calzone kind of things. Like always, the food was amazing. And, I had a lot of fun with the Familia because they are super funny and the dad is a little nuts, but super great. Then we had a super good kind of desert that was a crepe with bananas and dulce de leche and oh my good golly was it good! But yeah. I always love going by to see them and have dinner. They are an amazing family.

Saturday.

In the morning, Elder Delgado had to do some laundry, so I had to stay with him in the pench while the other guys went out to see a few people. So I was stuck in the pench all morning. Then we had lunch with a member family and then went to the church to set up some of the chairs for the baptism and then start filling the baptismal font. This time we knew how to get hot water going to the font, so the water wasn’t nearly as cold. Then we went back to the pench to get all of the baptismal clothes that we needed. Then we raced back to the church, got changed, got some pictures taken, and got going with the baptismal program. For this baptism, a bunch of people came again and we had a really good time. I was able to baptize Mari and Elder Delgado baptized Jazmin. It was a great program. Jazmin’s mom, who is a member that has been inactive for a while, gave her testimony and experience from her baptism that was super good! Then, after the baptismal service, there was a devotional of President Nelson while he was in Chile, I think, that everyone could stay to watch. As for the missionaries, it was our turn to clean the church building. So while the members were watching that, we were working hard to get the church clean. Then, after we were done, and after the devotional had ended, we had a ward dinner that everyone was able to participate in also. It was amazing. They had bought a few pizzas that were bigger than the tire of a truck! They were huge! And of course Jose was sure to make fun of me for eating so much... (sarcastically roll my eyes.) So we spent the rest of the night hanging out with all the members, having a good set of laughs and enjoying ourselves at the After Baptism Party.

Sunday.

We got to the church and had a really good time. The classes were amazing and the sacrament meeting was great. In sacrament meeting, I was asked to direct the music. I wasn’t the best at it, but sitting up behind the pulpit was super great because I was able to see all the members and converts, the FML Penno and Mari, and feel the peace and joy that comes from missionary work. Also, in sacrament meeting we were able to participate in the confirmation of Mari and that was a great experience, especially for her. And then, totally as a surprise to me, they announced that Jose was going to be receiving the priesthood right after the meeting! I had no idea, but I was so happy to be able to participate in that also! Especially as part of the last day for Elder Grandon. Then, we got back to the pench, ate, and Elder Grandon got to packing. After that, we went to the house of FML Penno and spent the rest of the afternoon there. It was great. We had dinner, chatted, had a lot of fun and spent the last few hours of the transfer all together. It was so great, an amazing way to end the week.

Monday, because it was transfers, we went to Santa Fe and I picked up my new companion, Elder Gonzalez from Bolivia. He is super chill and quiet and already has 9 months in the mission. We are going to get a whole bunch of super good work done this coming transfer, I can feel it. Also, along with Elder Grandon, Elder Delgado is leaving and being replaced by Elder Carter. The hermanas are staying the same.

So that was the week. A pretty dang good time, a little nuts, but super great. This coming week is going to be a little like it. This week we have conferences with Elder Villar from the Presidency of the Seventy both Wednesday and Thursday, so we are going to be pretty busy with that. So, I can’t wait to tell you guys all about it! Until next week!

Oh, some exciting news! Remember Elder Robinson, my good friend and companion from Rafaela? Well, he told me that Gabe wants to be baptized now! That is so amazing. Elder Robinson left Rafaela to Rincon this transfer also, which is in my District! I love that guy!

Chau!

Te quiero,

Elder Haley