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

Mate!

Eating with the ZL's

Cow skull and fish in our freezer......

No Bakes!

Guarana Mate.  Cool cup and straw!

Franco, Gabe and Franco's sister.

Giant moon!

Shirt from Emiliano!

Gabe at church with us

Cool Statue

Wait, more food!

Story of my sad shoes after 8 months.

We drink mate and have random, dead fish in our freezer...

 Yooooo whats up family and friends!! It’s me, your favorite missionary, Elder Haley here with what happened this last week of my life in Argentina. It’s been a pretty good one and I hope that I can fit everything into this email. Actually, like I said last week, we found out that Duval’s old word processor isn’t broken, so emails are going to be a lot easier to send now.

Alright, last Monday, after P-Day ended, we had a really fun and awesome Noche de Hogar with the Familia Quiroga. They are a member family with the mom and dad and 4 daughters. So it was pretty crazy. We had a good Spiritual time when we talked about just how important the family is and how we can help one another in our homes through prayer and scripture study. Then we had the games part and one of the girls, named Alma, shared one of her matching card games and we taught them how to play Don’t Eat Pete. They really liked the game because they could all yell really loud. And then they taught us Tuti Fruti, which is a really fun and intense kind of category game. I had a lot of fun with them. And of course, they had 4 pizzas for us to eat together, so we left full and happy. 

Tuesday. We taught a few people and had a pretty productive day. We taught Andrea and Belen in the morning, the mom and sister of Rodrigo. Sadly, Rodrigo wasn’t home, but it was still a good lesson. We taught them about the Restoration and they had a lot of really good questions and comments. They understood all about prophets and priesthood and how Jesus restored his church on the earth through Joseph Smith. And then we invited them to read the Book of Mormon and afterwards pray to know if it is true and they both said they would. We also asked them that when they found an answer, if they would be baptized, and they said yes! So now, we have all of the Familia Suarez preparing to be baptized! Before District Meeting, we made some homemade peanut butter with the help of Elder Sandler and then used that to make some No-Bake Cookies from one of Elder Robinson’s recipes from home. It was super good and now I know how to make peanut butter from scratch. Afterwards, we visited Hermana Soledad and she was happy to see us, and us to see her. She made us some Mate Cocido and added some dehydrated milk powder, so it was a terrible milk gray color. But now, I can testify that the gift of tounges is real because it honestly didn’t taste too bad. Ha. We also visited Gabe on Tuesday night and he is doing alright. He still isn’t convinced that God is real, so we taught him about King Lamoni and Ammon and also told him that if he is reading, praying, and keeping the commandments, to the best of his ability, he will find his answer. He is a really good kid.

Wednesday we went to Santa Fe in the morning for some tramites for Elder Robinson. Remember, it takes about 2 hours, sometimes a little longer, to get to Santa Fe by colectivo (train). So we left first thing in the morning. We got there, he signed two papers, they took his fingerprints, and we left after about 5 minutes. So a 2 hour long trip to do 5 minutes of work. Kinda ridiculous. But, we got to see a few other friends who were doing tramites too and it was a good time. By the time we got back to Rafaela, we were able to visit Emiliano. He is such a good kid. I love him a lot. I decided to give him one of my BYU-I shirts in exchange for one of his shirts that I like a lot. It will be a cool recuerdo. Then, we were invited to eat with Gabe and his mom and it was super good. We had Milanesas de Pizza y Pure de Papas. Muy rica!

In the morning on Thursday, we went out to find a few contacts and references, but didn’t have too much success. We also stopped by the Familia Suarez, Andrea, Rodrigo, and Belen to see how they were doing. They are all good and happy. We invited Rodrigo to the English Class that we teach, and he said he would go. So after lunch with the Familia Palota and studies in the pench, we had plans to visit a lot of Contacts and other Futuros Investigadores, but sadly, almost all of them either weren’t home or weren’t able to talk to us at the time. But, it was okay anyways. We brought Tommy Palota )HNA Palota{s grandson= and Rodgrigo to english class and they had a good time. Afterwards, we asked Rodrigo if he had been reading and praying and he said he read a little bit of Nephi 1. Yay! He also accepted our Baptismal invitation and is excited for that day to come. After all of that, we went by to see Adrian and Liza really quickly because it was Adrian’s birthday on Thursday. We didn’t have much time to talk, but made plans to cook and eat hamburgers on Saturday. 

On Friday, really the only thing that happened was a noche de hogar activity in the church of Juan de Garay, one of the Ramas (branches) here in Rafaela. We have three Ramas, but one two chapels. So our branch, Rafaela, and the branch of the ZLs (Lehmann) share one building while the other (Juan de Garay) has a different one really far away from ours. We had invited a few people to the activity, one of which was Rodrigo, our super awesome investigator. At about mid-day we got a phone call and it was him asking us at what time the activity was and where. So we told him and made plans to have him catch a colectivo that we were going to riding on and that we would go to the activity together. So, the time came for the colectivo to pass where he was meant to be waiting, and he wasn’t there. But then, when we got to the church building, he ended showing up! He wasn’t able to catch the colectivo because he was taking care of his little niece. But his sister gave him a ride on her moto. So he came and had a really great time! The Hermana Missionaries did a really good job with the activity and everyone had a good experience. Afterwards, we were talking to Rodrigo and following up on him to see if he’s been reading and praying and he said he’s been doing both! But when we asked if he has been able to ask God to know if its true, he said no, and that he doesn’t have to... So I asked him what he meant, and he said that he doesn’t have to because he already knows. He can tell by the way we talk about the Book of Mormon that we know that it is true. He figures that we wouldn’t come all the way from our homes to Argentina just to lie to people about some dumb book. So obviously, it’s true. He also said that we could have knocked on anyone else’s door and talked to them, but we knocked on HIS door and talked to HIM and HIS family. He knows that we are sent from God and are messangers of the truth! How awesome is that! Such a huge blessing in my eyes.

Saturday was a pretty unorthodox day. We had an English Class in the morning that no one showed up to. We usually try to invite anyone and everyone to the classes because close to all of the kids here are learning English in High School so they need some help and It’s a good way to meet other people. But usually, no one shows up for them unless we are the ones that bring them to the classes. So we are probably going to stop doing the classes twice a week. After waiting for a little bit at the church for the class, we went looking for a few contacts and futuros investigadores who weren’t home either. Then we went over to the house of Adrian and Liza and made some Cheeseburgers. We were finally able to do the cheeseburgers after having talked about doing them for the last few months. So we had lunch with them to celebrate Adrian’s birthday and also Friends Day, which was Friday. We had a good time, like it always is when we get to talk with them. In the afternoon, we had a meeting with all of the missionaries in Rafaela to plan a big activity in a few weeks. We are planning to do a Talent Show with all three of the Ramas, which is going to be a good way to invite menos activo members and other investigadores to the church. After that, we didn’t really have any appointments planned, but we were able to visit a few people and teach a few mini lessons. One of which, was with a really cool lady named Maria and her younger brother and two sons. The kids have about 12-14 years each and they are super funny. Maria is really interested in what we have to say, but is always really busy so it’s hard for us to meet with her. But, we hope to be able to meet with them more in the future. 

Sunday morning, we went looking for Rodrigo and his mom and sister at their house, but they didn’t answer the door. So we went to church without any investigadores, but that’s okay. It was still a pretty good set of meetings and classes. We listened to a talk from a young woman about the Sabbath Day and another sister spoke about the talk that Presidente Uchtdorf gave about the Wonder Dog and his crazy journey back home. In our classes, we learned about the Doctrine of Christ, and in Priesthood, we learned about why bad things happen in the world and if it really is the will of God. So yeah, a pretty good time in the church. In the afternoon, we didn’t really do anything too big and special. We just visited a bunch of people. We talked to Soledad for a little and shared something about Temples with her. We stopped by to see the Familia Quiroga and we read all of 2 Nephi 2 with them. It was really good and afterwards we played a few rounds of Tuti Fruti. Afterwards, we stopped by Familia Fernandez and Ariel and HNA Estela weren’t home, so we talked to Alma for a bit outside. She just got home from being in Santa Fe after 2 weeks for vacations. So we had some time to visit a few other Antiguos Investigadores and some futuros. We were able to contact a few houses and talked to a few people, but not much to recount from that. Just doing what missionaries do, talking to lots of people and trying to help them. We were never able to find Rodrigo at his home or contact him through phone calls, so we don’t really know what happened this morning, but we are sure everything is fine and he just slept in was all. 

Some other notes from this week. We just found out today that Presidente Westover has changed the rule for drinking Mate. We are now able to drink mate in our penches. So that’s pretty nuts!! So tonight we are going to end the night with some mate and it’s going to be a good time. But don’t worry. The email was sure to emphasize that it should not be the focus of our work nor should it be a waste of money or time. But it is going to be cool to finally be able to do that!

Also, this week, we opened our freezer to find a dead fish lying in it. At first we were confused as to if we were in the right pench or if we were accidentally opening some random persons freezer, but it ended up being that the ZLs had found a dead fish lying in the middle of the road one morning and decided to take it to their lunch appointment and later put it into our freezer. Quite the surprise for us. 

So yeah, that was the week. I’d just like to end with a little kind of Spiritual note. One of the things that I studied was the talk by President Eyring this past General Conference titled “His Spirit to be with You.” The talk was a lot more powerful than I remember it being, I really enjoyed the Spirit I could feel while I read and studied his words. It helped me realize that at times, I’m not exactly focusing on the Spirit or trying to listen to the promptings that I could be receiving. So, from this talk, I learned that I should really be trying harder to seek out those Spiritual guides, and not doing my own thing. I’d also like to invite all of you to do the same, to really look for the ways that the Spirit might be affecting your life and then make the effort to follow the promptings or enjoy the Spirit when it is present. 

I would like to end with a small note on the reason why I’m here serving a mission in the first place. I would have to say that the real reason is that I know without a doubt that God, my Heavenly Father loves and cares for me. I know that becuase Heavenly Father loves me, and because he loves each and everyone of us, he wants us, his literal children, to be happy and have better lives. So, because I know this, I want to be someone that helps other people have more happiness and more blessings in their life, and what better way to do that than to share the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ with other people. That is why I am here in Argentina, to share the happiness and joy that I know can be found through the Church of Jesus Christ. I know and love God and Jesus Christ and am a representative of them. I am here to share the message of truth with other people so, in the end, they can live in happiness and joy for the rest of eternity while in the Heavens with God. That is why I am here. And I share these things with you in the name of our Savior and Redemer, Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Con Amor,

Elder Haley

Noche de Hogar with the Familia Quiroga

"Don't Eat Pete" game

Cooking in our pench

Members drew pictures of Elder Haley y Elder Robinson

Rodrigo at our activity

Finally cheeseburgers with Adrian y Liza

Holy fantastic week! WooHoo!

Yeah. This week was a good one. It was full of blessings and good experiences. I’ll try to get all the juicy info in this weeks letter. The good news is that we found out that the word processor that Elder Duval left behind actually works, so this next weeks email is going to be a good one too. 

So yeah.

Tuesday.

Sadly, in the morning, we were stuck running around trying to get things figured out for the Old and New Penches. We had to drop the keys of the old pench off, but we still didn’t get energy (power) for our new pench. Luckily, the ZLs have been taking good care of us. Then, in the afternoon, we had a lot of really good plans all set up. We were walking all over the place, but we are pretty well used to that by now. But we shared a little bit of time with a guy named Cristian Santa Cruz, a member who needs some help get back to the church. Other than that, we were just talking to people in the streets and finding new people to teach. We ended up finding quite a few good contacts and hope to meet with them in the future. 

Wednesday. 

In the morning, not too much happened for us, but we were able to find and talk with a family that has been less active for a while now. They are a family of 5, the Mom and Dad, a son who is 13, a daughter who has 7, about to turn 8(!!) and a new baby boy of 4 months. They are really funny and are also trying to reactivate themselves to the church. We had a really fun time sharing stories, I was able to share pictures of my family, and in the end, ended with a scripture and prayer. We hope to stay in contact with them and have more times like that. In the afternoon, we worked in one of the areas that we haven’t worked too much in in the past, but after the choque de fuerza last week, we have a lot of good contacts and other people to visit. We also made contact with a menos activo guy who used to be a really great and active member, but, after moving, went inactive for a few years. But, now, he wants to come back, and we are more than ready to help him do that. His name is Juan Diaz, and even though he hasn’t attended church for a while, he told us that he has read the Book of Mormon 2 times and the book of Principle of the Gospel book 3 times. So really, the only problem that he has is just coming to church. He was also divorced from his wife and is now married to a lady who isn’t a member, but has interest in the church and they want to meet with us to get the things all figured out on Sunday, and maybe baptism for her. 

Thursday.

On Thursday, we were on divisions with the ZLs and I was with Elder Peña in his area. We had a really good day, lots of walking and talking in the streets, but ended up teaching a really good lesson to a kid named Ariel who has a lot of potential. We also found a really cool family that has a lot of interest, or at least they liked talking to a good looking American and an even better looking Mexican for a little bit. But, while with Elder Peña, I was able to learn a lot about how missionary work gets done. A lot of times, we just have to open our mouths. This week, I learned that normally, when poeple don’t want to talk to the wierd Mormon missionaries, it’s just because they haven’t talked to us before, but have heard from a lot of other people about us. But when we talk to them and just have a normal conversation, they really seem to open up when they find out that we are actually not that different from everyone else. So yeah, just opening my mouth and having a normal conversation with people before trying to say anything about God or being Missionaries, because if you open the conversation with that, everyone is going to run away or slam the door shut. We had all sorts of people to talk to. Most of whom were contacts and future investigators. We were able to talk to almost all of them and set up citas for the next two nights. We also taught the first lesson to a guy named Facundo right outside his home and he was really interested. Also, talked to one lady, who at first didn’t want anything to do with us, but when we started talking to her about our message, she was really interested and wanted us to come back later. We will be happy to do so!!

Friday.

Yeah. Friday was a freaking bomb day. We had plans to meet with the Juan Diaz guy, but he had to cancel last minute. So we talked to a lady that Elder Robinson and Elder Sandler had talked to the day before. Her name is Graciela, but she told us that we can call her Natacha, because everyone else does. She is a really sweet old lady who has a lot to say, but was also very interested in listening to us and what we had to say. We taught her the First Lesson and had a really good discussion. She understood a lot about it, especially about the Book of Mormon. Actually, when we offered to give her one and invited her to read it, she told us that her son had one packed away somewhere in her home. But, she took the one we had until she found the other one, and was more than happy to commit to reading it. WooHoo! We also invited her to pray and ask if what we taught was true and asked her that if she received an answer and knew that what we taught was true, if she would be baptized on the 4th of August. She was surprised but said that the 4th is her mothers birthday. She didn’t exactly agree to ba baptized yet, but did say that she would pray. But how cool would that be??  We also found a really good family named the family Suarez. They are a pretty big family, but we were only able to talk to the Mom, Adrea, and two of her sons that are living with her. Rodrigo has 15 years, and Belen has 13 years. They are all really cool and we had a good time talking with them and setting another lesson up with them. Rodrigo also promised to come to church with us, so we made plans to go and look for him before chruch. 

Saturday.

In the morning, we had to run some errands like going to the doctor because Elder Robinson was bit by Facundos dog. It turns out that he was fine, mostly because the dog was the size of his foot, but it is mission rules to get it checked out, just in case. So we were running all over the place trying to take some money out for a few bills that needed to be paid. But, we ended up having a really great lunch with Gabe and had a good time with him. He has been praying to know if God really exists, but was honest when he told us that he hasn’t received an answer yet because he hasn’t been praying enough or with enough effort. It’s a good lesson for me to see that prayer is more than just saying words. It’s meant to be heartfelt and more than just saying things to say them. We had all sorts of plans, but just about all of them fell through, but we still were able to talk to a lot of people and set more citas up for the future. 

Sunday was a really good way to end the week. Rodrigo came to church with us and Gabe came on his own. We were glad to hear that they ended up having a really good time. Rodrigo is really interested and we have plans this week to go back and teach all of their family and talking to them about their baptisms. They are a realy good family that will be blessed a lot by the gospel. In the afternoon, we were all over our area and ended visiting a lot of members and setting up some noches de hogar. 

So yeah. Basically, this week was really good. I know that I don’t really get a lot of good spiritual experiences in these emails, but I’m trying to share some of the biggest things that happened. I will work on more spiritual content too!

Oh! We finally got light today!! After two weeks in our pench, we finally got some electricity running. But now, we have to get our water heater fixed. But, as long as we are working hard, everything will work out well.

Love you all

Ciao

Elder Haley

Long line for delicious churros

Our wall of Jesus pictures

Surprise empanadas and still no light...headlamp...

Gabe playing violin

Dinner & lesson with Gabe

Elder Robinson....

ha!

Gabe and Rodrigo at church!!

FOOD!

Pday!

POWER!

Eating with the ZL's.  Again!

Moving, 4th of July, and Zone Conference

Holy cow. This week kinda kicked me in the rear! It was super busy, but we sadly had barely any time to work because we were all over the place doing things for our old pench and moving into our new one. I’ll get the details in, but lets just say this: I’m tired. 

Tuesday

In the morning, we went out and talked to a bunch of people and actually had a really good and successful few hours. We talked to one kid that has a bit of potential, and now that all the schools and kids are on vacations, its going to be easier to find people in the streets and at their houses. We ended up finding a few good future investigators. Then in the afternoon, we did just about the same exact thing. We made a bunch of plans and just went out looking for people. It was actually a really good afternoon. We had a lesson with a guy who has been really inactive for a few years, but just recently, came to our Elders Quorum President and is wanting to reactivate himself. So we met with him and had a good time. His name is Christian and he has two jobs. One is at a factory of some kind for clothes or something, and the other is as a hired DJ for parties and big gatherings. So he is super fun, but still really intersted in the church and scriptures and things like that. Then, afterward, we had a lesson/dinner with Matias, Gabii and their mom. It was really fun and we were able to share some time talking about baptism and the sctiptures. Then, when we got home, we had to pack our pench and clean a lot so we could move out the following morning. It was a pretty good day. 

Wednesday. 

Well, Wednesday was nuts. In the morning, we hired a moving crew and helped them move out our pench and get the things into our new one. The new pench is a lot better, cleaner, bigger, and right in front of the church. It is also the same complejo de apartamentos that the ZLs are in, so we are neighbors with them just down the hall. The move took all morning and it wasn’t too bad, except that we had to do that all morning long and didn’t have any time to leave and do some work.  Luckily, we were still able to make it to HNA Palotas house for lunch after the move. Then we got our haircuts done at a new barber shop just under our pench. The guy is super funny and cool, but also kinda crazy and out of his mind. He shared with us all of his crazy theories of why the earth is flat and how NASA is all a lie and we never actually made it to the moon. In the afternoon, we had to leave and go to the Rent place to take care of things for the Old and New pench for a few reasons. But the biggest is that in our new pench, we didn’t have any light, power, or gas. So yeah. Actually, we still don’t, but hopefully we can get it all sorted out tomorrow. Don’t worry mom, everything is okay. We have been showering and cooking at the Zone Leader’s pench until ours gets figured out. But between that and getting things all settled in our old pench, we didn’t have much time to work, so not too fun of a day. But, at the end of the night, we were still able to celebrate the 4th of July a little bit and make some burgers and get ice cream to celebrate America. 

Thursday. 

In the morning, we had to go with the people and get the pench looked at. So that took just about all morning, so yet again, not a good morning because we couldn’t go out and work. And in the afternoon, we had a choque de fuerza in the Hermana´s area. We had the elders and hermanas in town for the afternoon so they could be here for the zone conference the following day. So it was yet another day outside of our area. I was in divisions with Elder Gomez for the afternoon and we did a whole bunch of walking in the hermana´s area to help them find new investigadors. We did get some contacts, but other than that, not much happened for us.

Friday

Zone Conference!! It was a great time, especially to finally meet Presidente and Hermana Westover. They are super amazing and have a real spirit and an amazing story. So what happened is that they were already in the MTC preparing to leave on a mission to Spain. But they got a call and they were told to come into the Church Offices and Head Quarters. The husband wife who were called to be our mission president: Presidente Hientz, had some really big health problems, President and Hermana Westover were called in an emergency. They talked to Elder Anderson, and later to President Oaks himself. They were told that because of complications, they were going to be called to be the Mission President and wife of our mission. So, instead of serving a year and a half in Spain, they are going to be here for 3 years. So that’s crazy. But, we are absolutely happy they were able to come here instead. They are wonderful and I can’t wait to learn and get to know them even better. Then, in the afternoon, we did another choque de fuerza and I was with elder Vergas, who only has about 3 months left, but doesn’t let that keep him from being a great missionary and teaching me things. He is actually 25 and is a great missionary. I also forgot to get a picture with Presidente and Hermana Westover. 

Saturday and Sunday. 

Not much else happened for us these days. We looked for people and had a few good contacts, but not too much other than that. We are trying to activate a few menos activos, but aren’t having too much success in the search for new investigadores. But, we are going to hit this week with new spirits and really get down to business. I can’t stress enough how important and welcomed all of your prayers are. I know that I wouldn’t be able to do any of the things I’m doing here in Argentina without the love and support of all of you back home, or where ever you are. Thank you so much and keep up the good work and all that you do.

We finally found a good, fast cyber station. And I get to use the tv screen computer for today!

Update: Gabe is not doing too well, but Adrian is still his crazy self. We visited him last week and shared the “Because of Him” videos, but they still don’t want to accept the Gospel. What we have basically decided is that they are really amazing people and will be baptized, just maybe not right now. But, we are still going to keep the friendship and contact, but not focus on them as much. Thank you for the letter for Adrian and Liza, I will get it to them as soon as possible. But thank you even more for the prayers and fast. It really does help, even if not in the big, great ways that we may expect. 

Con Amor,

Ciao

Elder Haley

AMERICA.  Sunglasses and ties from home

American dinner on 4th of July

 4th of July ice cream

breakfast burritos!

Jesus picture wall at the ZL's pench

new shirts from mom, thank you!!

The backs...our home states with an arrow to Argentina.  The Argentina flag at the top.

New cyber station we found

Neuvo Presidente!

Well alrighty then. This week was a little crazy and all over the place. I feel like we were kind of running around everywhere, but yet again, I’m really learning a lot and growing in the gospel at the same time. 

So last Pday, for the afternoon, I was on divisions with Elder Dressen from my group from the MTC. We got to the mission at the same time and it is really fun to see how well other missionaries get work done and learn from them. He and his comp were in town because the entire country had a strike on Monday for the collectivos here. So they were stuck in Rafaela after transfers. Thankfully the strike didn’t last very long. We visited a few people and found one lady that has a lot of potential. It’s going to be fun with him in the Zone this transfer. 

Tuesday morning we had to go back to the dentist to finish the work on my root canal. And of course, our Uncle Adrian accompanied us. Apparently, last time they drilled into my face, it was basically only half of the entire process. She only had time to take the pain I was having away. On Tuesday, they finished the work, and not going to lie, this time it wasn’t my favorite thing in the world. The treatment took close to 3 hours and by the end, we didn’t have much time left in the morning, and after having my face drilled into for 3 hours straight, I wasn’t feeling pretty. So we took the little time we had and I rested a little in the pench. Luckily, I was feeling much better after studies, so the afternoon was actually pretty good and fun. We visited Hermana Soledad and it was really funny because when we showed up, she was really, really happy to see us. We hadn’t visited for about a week and she thought that we had left the area and were gone for good without stopping by to say goodbye. So we had a good laugh about that. Both of her daughters were there and told us that they had received calls from Soledad. Apparently, she was crying about how we had left her forever. So it was good to see her. Afterwards, we talked to Matius, the kid that we usually visit once a week. He is such a boss and really smart and funny. We reviewed a lot of what we had taught him before, and he remembers close to everything. Then we shared a little something aobut Samuel the Lamanite and he really liked that story. Its always a good time when we teach Matius. 

Wednesday in the morning we had to go to the terminal to buy some tickets for our colectivo ride to Santa Fe that night. I had Tramites on Thursday and we had to travel Wednesday night. But that morning, we by to see Mauricio, a kid we are teaching in 2 de Abril. He was once really close to being baptized, but ended up backing out for some reason. But now, we are trying to reteach him all that he learned before and prepare him for baptism again. We taught him about Prayer, and somewhere in the lesson, we asked him, “Would you rather speak to God or to Messi?” and he said Messi. But then said, “Wait no, it doesn’t matter, because Messi is God.” Messi is an Argentina futol player. Crazy Argentines. That night, we talked with the really sweet old lady named Neli. She is really interested in what we have to say, but always seems to be busy. But, she also says that her grandson is interested too. So, we are hoping to get in a lesson with the two of them and get two people taught at the same time. That night, we traveled to Santa Fe and stayed in the Office Pench which is always a good time. Especially this time, because I was doing tramites with 2 or 3 other elders from my same group from the MTC. 

Thursday morning we woke up at 4am to travel to Rosario. It was a pretty long day full of traveling and waiting in Tramites offices. It was pretty lame over all, but it was nice to have time and talk to guys from my group that I have only seen once since the MTC. We shared all sorts of stories and experiences and it made what would have been a very lame day into a good day. We also ate some really good food in a Peruvian Restaurant. I got a kind of steak thing with rice and it was spicy and amazing and delicious.

Friday morning we had to get our money for the next transfer from the bank, and it sadly took close to all morning because there were long lines, and when we finally got to the ATMs, they weren’t working for us. So we had to go to other banks and then take the money all they way back to the pench. But, we still got some contacting done, and met a few people that we hope to talk to with a lot. One was a kid who we hope to bring to our English classes and the other a lady that works as a nanny for a family. Both have a lot of potential and we hope to stay in contact with them. For the afternoon, we made contact with a reference that we had received from the other missionaries here. His name was Jose and is a really great guy. He told us that he used to be really crazy into drugs and had even lost his family and house because of his addictions. But, he finally decided that enough was enough and that he is finally changing his life. He tells us that his family is the most important thing in his life and that he hopes to find a church to help him change his life for the better. How happy were we to hear that! We can’t wait to see the great steps that he makes with the Gospel. We also had a lesson with Gabe. We had a really long lesson, taking close to 3 hours, and taught the Commandments, specifically The Word of Wisdom and Law of Chasity. He told us that he is going to try his hardest to keep these commandments, but that it is going to be hard for him. We promised him that he can do it, especially when he is focusing on prayer and reading the scriptures. He is a really good kid and can definitely feel the spirit when we go by. 

Saturday. In the morning, we had a blessing to give to a young man and his mom. The guy had an accident about a month ago that put him into a coma. He was been in stable condition, but has been bed ridden and unconscious for over a month. So we gave him a blessing of health to help him recover faster and return to full heath. We also gave a blessing to his mother, who is having troubles keeping after her son and work at the same time. Oh, and on top of it all, she also has cancer and has to take care of her own health problems. It was a very spiritual experience and we were happy to help others. That afternoon, Argentina played in the Copa Mundial (World Cup) against France. Sadly, they lost and the entire country was sad and angry. Literally no one was out in the streets during the game that was also during the siesta. It was fun to see how crazy the people go when Argentina scores though. Literally, people freak out and scream. Crazy stuff. That night, we visited the Fernandez family and they aren’t doing the best. They have all been sick for a while now and haven’t been able to go to church for a few weeks now. But, we talked with Ariel and we had a good 10  minutes together. We hope to see them in church this next week and will be visiting them often to help remind them of the meetings. 

Sunday was Fast Sunday and we fasted for a few reasons. First, for Gabe so he can have more help and strength to keep the commandments that we taught. Second, for the guy in the coma. That he can recover soon and his mom can have more peace. And lastly, that we can be lead to find more people this week. We also had the opportunity to bear our testimonies and I bore mine on the Prophet and how I know that he is the President of the Church and that Jesus is acting through him. After lunch and studies, Elder Robinson had a really bad headache, so we had to stay in the pench for a little bit so he could rest and nip his pain in the butt. Then we visited with the Familia Palota and also Emiliano. All are doing really well and we had a good time with all of them. Then, to end the night, we stopped by Gabe and watched the Because of Him videos. they are so powerful and amazing. I love Jesus so much!!

So yeah, a pretty good week I would say.  We will meet our new Mission Presidente this week at District Conference, that is exciting.

On thing that I decided to work on is the power that I teach with. It seems that I have kind of gotten into a routine of just saying words during lessons. But, I’m trying to work more on testifying and preaching with the power of the holy ghost. I really saw the difference when I focused on that, and can’t wait to see the things that happen this week as I work even more with this goal. 

To end with my testimony, I know that this is the Church of Jesus Christ and that we can be blessed every day for our actions and obedience to the commandments and laws of God.

Thank you for everything you guys do for me and for the church wherever you are. 

Love you all,

Elder Haley

Ciao

American Street sign.  La Plata means The Money. I am holding a peso

Police car?

artwork from Elder Robinson

Empty streets during the World Cup game vs France and siesta

Sunday dinner.  We cook well!

Gabe!

Lion's Club in ARGENTINA!

Amazing spicy food!

Mural with Book of Mormon

World Cup hat and jersey

Nitendo?

We tried to make homemade rootbeer with the extract you sent.  We tried to use soda water...but it didn't work out very well.  Dry ice is impossible to find.

Sunday fun.

Teaching the Tree of Life