Training a new comp

this week I'm in Bahia Blanca.....I didn't get transferred but I had to come here to get my kid.....yep, I'm training..... it's weird, I'm really nervous but got to do my best.... i really don't feel ready to train but me and my comp will have to learn together.... so sorry, i don't have much time to write much, my new comp's name is elder bills, he is from salt lake, Utah.....and I'm his papi. he seems great and like a kid who knows a lot so he will help me teach a lot.....

but this last week was good as bundy went home, and i got to kill him... or so we say... but it was great working with him, he was the best missionary i have seen so I'll try to keep his example.....

then this week on Monday and Tuesday i was without a comp so i was working with a kid called Gabriel, the best recent convert i have seen, he's a great kid and we got a ton done so it was good to be with him...

then today, at 2:40 in the morning i went to the terminal to go to Bahia and here i am..... i got back to Santa a Rosa at 6 or in a little while, so I'm happy to be going back, Bahia is nice, but i feel more at home in Santa Rosa...... mainly cause it's my area....

but yeah, so I'm happy to be training, like i said: i really am nervous, but if God didn't think i could do it i wouldn't be doing it, so that gives me comfort, just going to do my best and keep going with the motto, stay chill and work.... cause for the next year and a half es lo que hay.....

alright sorry for the short letter, i will let u know more about the comp... latter.... alright thank u all i love u and peace out...

oh, about calling for Christmas, buy a calling card for Argentina, and i will call, give y'all the number of the fijo amd then y'all call me back.... i will let y'all know more as we go.... love u all peace

I love the mission!

wow, sounds like i have missed a lot this week, from stuff that's happened at home... accidents, weddings, and stuff, dang.... oh well... I'm happy y'all are all safe and nobody got hurt hardcore..... but about the Jason accident, first problem...is that Amanda was driving, anyone that's seen her drive knew it was only a matter of time..... just playing...seriously glad to hear about the miracle... right on...

this week was kind of weird, we didn't have the bautizmo on sunday cause he got juntado, but now we just need to get them married and then dunk them, cause they both like the church... God works in mysterious ways.....

this week is kind of laid back cause bundy is going home so he wants to visit some of the people we had but we still work... he is dying great... so that's good, but has had bad luck the last 2 weeks.... but venga lo que venga... we just take it head on and keep going, that's life....

but funny stories we haven't got any, it's kind of getting harder to say what we have been doing cause now we do a lot of service, which is nice cause it keeps me in shape..somewhat.... but yeah.. we have done service like 3 time this last week... i like it. beats knocking doors....

the really only big news is this weekend is transfers so that will be a change i will let y'all know how that goes next week.... probably coming with new rules, cause pres is doing that a lot now but i down with change, and if I'm not, what can i do, so make the best of it.... in the end it works out for the best anyway.. so I'm happy...

i really am sorry i have nothing to write about this week next week i will have a lot hopefully.....

but thanks for the love, the support, the help.....oh and for the packages the pants were great and the airheads were a nice touch... my comp said it makes sense i like airheards, and i told him it made sense he likes sour patch kids....

i love it... its a great experience, i was actually thinking about all the things i have learned and thinking about the stuff i understand now, compared to if i never went on the mission. best blessing i have ever received, seriously things make more sense, and u can see the purpose easier.... i love the mission, hands down no other thing i would rather be doing now than this.... so thanks to everyone who helped me, was there for me, gave advice... y'all helped me make the best decision of my life.....peace out

ps... sorry my spelling sucks

Scared out of my life

whats up y'all? this week was good...

got cristian baptized and so that was great...... but this week there was a ton of drama in the barrio, with a rumor and the missionaries were in the center of it... so pretty much a lot of this week was damage control cause most of the members love us, and help us a ton.. so yeah...

but cristian bautizmo was kind of funny cause we got there a little late and so did he, but it all came through in the end....

but the funny thing came from yesterday, i got scared out of my life... we were doing divisions in toay, which is just outside of santa rosa, but i was working with the new kid his name is elder gaughan, we were working and talking to this lady and he just dropped, he fainted, and it was terrible, cause i did not know what to do, the lady kept talking, gaughan was on the floor shaking, i was trying to help him but i was yelling at the lady to shut up in english, it was funny. then, after like what seemed a long time, he woke up he was really only down for 5 seconds or out anyways, he was down on the ground for a long time.. but what made the whole thing scarier was that i was in a random city, the only way i knew how to get to the church was walking and he couldn't walk, but i was lucky cause i remembered to ask for the phone from my comp before we left so, i could call the sisters that work in the area but yeah it was fun...not.... all in all everything was great...in the end... but yeah really though. that was the only thing that was interesting from the week.... but its funny how it worked out.....

then our baptism for this sunday, we hope we can teach him everything he needs but we will see, he still has the fecha so hopefully we can get him in the water.... but yeah.....

i really can't think of anything else to say or to write, I'm blank but i want to thank every one for everything without u all i wouldn't be here... i love y'all....peace

Thanksgiving in Argentina

happy thanksgiving everyone. this week has been really good for us...

this week we set up 2 fechas, 1 with a kid called christian, he's 12 years old, and is capo. when we were teaching him, he said his prayer and prayed that he would go on his mission in the united states...... it was awesome. he's great and at 12 understands a lot of the important stuff. also when we were teaching him one time he started talking about getting married in the temple, with a good mormon girl after his mission... the kid is a stud, and in the barrio there are a bunch of young kids so they will keep strong... so that's a blessing.. his getting baptized this Sunday... i hope.... i have faith..

then our other investigator who's doing great is called Walter, he is 24 and is the tio of a new convert, he's great, we were teaching him and he told us the answer he received, he knows it's true, it was awesome. he is working on stopping to smoke but he can do it easy.... hes a stud too.. his fecha is for 6 of December... so we will get him to that point.

as far as that, this week there was a big storm that made it a little hard to work but we did it. then on Saturday we played soccer with the branch that was fun.... Sunday was a hard one for us cause we only had 73 people in church which is really low for the barrio so we had to visit a lot of members to see how they're doing and why they didn't go.... but that was pretty much the week so far...

oh, we are living with 2 new elders now so four elders in our house so that's nice, we got good company....

me and bundy are doing great, he's going home but he has a saying... it's ok to be trunky if ur working... I'm down, we're working and baptizing....

oh and i have finally decided to put a goal for baptisms for my mission: 33, 3 every transfer till i die. so i will work for that, the more the better....

and as far as thanksgiving here, non existent. But it's all good... but since we are here I'm going to say the things I'm thankful for....

1. me, family, and friends, that's always there for me and loves me and helps, i seriously wouldn't be anywhere without them.

2. my country... it's funny how much u actually miss ur country when ur not there... but dang i love USA.... USA:USA:USA:USA

3. all the hard and bad times i have had in my life and my mission.. they sucked but when i think about it, i learned a ton from it all..

4. all the good times in my life. the bad times make the good times so much better...

5. the suns.... what more can i say, my team is my team and will always be.... i fight with a bunch of ginobli fans here... so keep it up suns.....

6. the gospel (just so y'all know, these are not in order of importance, they're just the things that come into my head). the gospel is everything in my life, i have seen it change lives in ways that only the gospel can. and in my life, it's what i am, i need to work hard, try to live it a little better, but without it i'd be lost, and have nothing.

7. momma and papa, y'all have helped me more than i could ever tell you, i love y'all so much.... and thanks for everything... i will never be able to pay u back for the things u taught me and helped me with...

8. fine, i guess i will have to put my bros and sisters again also... but i won't explain why...if u don't know why....you better ask somebody...jp... nah, i love y'all to.

9. i don't really have 10 things but I'm grateful that the list is almost over. (i really do have a lot more than 10 things, i just can't think of them)

10. I'm grateful for all the blessing i have received, the people i have met and know in the church and for their help in everything.

11. one more for luck. I'm grateful for the book of Mormon, just finished it again, and once again got the assurance that it is, without a doubt, true... i love it cause all u need to do to figure out it is true is read it and ask.... and u get the answer....

well, that's a lot, not everything but a lot, hope y'all are happy with the list. thanks for the love and the support y'all have giving me... peace out..
and happy thanks giving

ps. now that I'm thinking a little better, i skipped a lot of stuff like the mission, water, food, etc.... but yeah, it's all good so bye

Almost better to swim across the street

well, first day of p-day on Wednesday, kind of weird but es lo que hay...

so some big things happened here the last couple of days, mainly as of tomorrow, i am in Santa Rosa barrio 3 only, not 5, we got 2 new elders who will go to 5 so that makes our job a lot easier, but we leave 5 with a couple who is getting married and getting ready to be baptized. so we're happy about that.

also some other news, is that i love it here in Santa Rosa, it's flipping hot but the people are nicer... so i dig that...

so this week seemed a lot longer cause p-day was on weds. but it was great, in barrio 3 we had a 118 people in church which is a lot cause the average in other barrios are like 50, and in barrio 5 we had 60 so that was good there too.... but pretty much what we did this week was the same old same old... work, and better... we don't knock doors cause the members pretty much do everything.. another reason i love Santa Rosa.

but yeah, really i can't think of anything we did or any good stories... but yeah... i guess to answer some questions.....

first, now my area is above the rail road tracks on the left side, dad, the cross roads of my house are piedras y m. Argentina... hope that helps a little trying to find me.....

also wait, ok good stories...

here some member feel it is necessary to force food down certain missionaries or through....mine... we were eating lunch and i still had food on my plate and she said elder eat more..... and gave me more until i got sick.. for like 2 days.... moral of the story don't eat food.... I'm going to need to start saying no to the people or i will get fatter... I'm already huge but es lo que hay.

also, there was a huge storm and it flooded the streets and me and bundy were in a house teaching, then the lights went out, so it was a weird lesson.... but good, we were in the house for like 2 hours waiting for the storm, then we just left during the storm cause it was late..... but yeah, walking home we hit a crossroad, all the streets were flooded and we could go back and try to find another way or just walk on through.... it didn't look deep so we walked in and got up to my knees, yeah a little deeper than i thought.... but it was funny cause everyone was like mejor nadar para cruzar, or better to swim across.. but yeah...

so that's pretty much everything..... oh wait, i have some big news that might shock everyone that knows about Argentine soccer, before hincha de boca, now hincha de independiente, with velez a close second..... sorry family who like boca, but mom, at least i still hate river so don't worry, but i almost hate boca just as much... long story ...i can tell next week why it changed.... but yeah.... so yeah that's all

right on, thanks for the support and the love, y'all give me.... i love the mission, it's hot, hard, but vale la pena, so we do it... but thanks again love y'all. peace out

PS. don't know why the letter last week came late cause i sent it Monday but yeah, so sorry

Huge changes, grammar and enjoying the journey

what's up everyone....

one week in santa rosa and one baptism, his name was luis, 11 years old almost 12, and he is re-capo.. but yeah so that was a great way to start the transfer...

but this transfer is going to be weird, cause in the mission there aren't alot of missionaries, and so the pres. didn't want to close areas that were good so he gave some elders 2 areas, and me and my comp have the two areas... like seriously, a third of santa rosa. it's big, and to make it even more fun the 2 barrios we need to work in aren't really the best of friends, and now we are in the middle of everything, but the work goes on, and good things are happening here.

but this week was more getting to know the members and trying to find the balance in working the two areas. the bishops from the wards don't want us working in the other ward.. so it's fun...

but also the people here are a lot nicer, well, at least they say hi, which is really nice after 4 and half months of people avoiding u... but yeah... it's what there is....

but yeah, so this Sunday we went to two sacrament meetings, which was really nice, and i needed to do the welcome speech, and testimony, it was really funny cause everyone said my accent was great but my grammar is terrible... so i need to start working on that, but y'all know me, not a fan of rules especially when it comes to languages.. look at how i spell...

but talking about rules... the pres. made some huge changes this transfer, one being changing p day to Wednesday, so yeah next week's letter is coming on Wednesday, so that Monday we can work, also we can only email from 5 to 6 on Wednesday, so the letter will come later than normal.

also surprise transfers, which is weird, but whatever.... also we plan Thursday not Tuesday, and district meetings are something we will hardly ever do, cause we're not allow to travel...

but yeah so those are some of the changes of the mission.. at first i wasn't that happy but he's the boss and does everything for a reason, so i will do it happily... but those are about that...

to answer some questions about Santa Rosa..

me and my comp elder bundy have two areas, two barrios, and 1/3 of Santa Rosa. also the people here are great the members are great and we don't need to knock doors which is the part i love, they give references and put the citas for us.... which is even more part that i love.

but also the house is piedras 1242, santa rosa, don't know the direction more than that but to find it look for the railroad tracks in right above centro, and my areas are everything above those, there's a big lake in my area that might help y'all find it if u want...dad...

but yeah, so that's pretty much everything.. I'm so happy to be here in santa rosa, and I'm happy for the hard times that i had and that are in store.... the greatest thing that i learned in olavarria, is venga lo que venga difrutalo. and that's going to be the motto, probably, for the rest of my life, stay chill, work, do what u need to do, but enjoy the journey.

and right on... thanks for the love and the support that u have all given me, and sorry for the terrible English, don't worry cause i suck at 2 languages now..lol.. but yeah thanks and peace out..

ps. the next letter will be Wednesday like at 3 or 4 your time so don't freak out mom it will come

Killing my companion

hey, so the news of the transfer is I'm in Santa Rosa, la pampa now, and my area is huge cause a lot of missionaries went home, cause they finished their missinon, and so i have two barrios in my area right now.. so yeah..

my new comp is elder bundy, who dies this transfer, I'm going to kill him... he was ap when i got to the mission so he is really good and a hard worker...

right now, i don't know much about the area aside from that cause i just got here, so yeah, i will let u know more next week... but yeah, santa rosa, the city so I'm stocked the place i wanted to go.....

but the last week in olavarria was hard, cause i was kind of thinking about the places i could go, while tring to work and all that jazz.. but the highlight of the week was friday when we had a show de talentos... it was great, pretty much everything we did in the week was to build up for that... but yeah, in the show de talentos me and elder lopez sang a song that was about a missionary who got writing off... it was really funny, and the idea of lopez... so we got it on video but can't really send it right now cause all my stuff is packed in the bags so i will try next week...

but then after that there wasn't really much.... but yeah kind of normal..

but I'm happy for my time in olavarria, independecia. i learned a lot and worked hard so yeah... we had success also so it was great, we leave lopez and elder sands, the new comp of lopez, with 2 families that are incomplete and going to get married and are striving for the temple.. I'm cool with that.... it was hard to leave cause olavarria became like home for me, but I'm happy to be in a new area that's really, really big, with new doors.. and new people to meet.

but yeah, so that's pretty much all, sorry not much to say this week....... but next week will be a bit more.. so right on...

oh a note to Jason and Amanda... wow, the big step, engagement... you're both making the biggest best mistake of your lives...lol... nah right on, I'm excited for u, and if u want the speech u need to send me an invitation, and a nice one.... with a note or something like that...I'm happy for y'all and do what u need to do to be happy...

so yeah, thanks all for the love and the support, it's helped me a lot.. so thanks again and i love u all.. peace out

Hard week but loving every minute of the mission

what's up everyone, hows life going...

here this week was hard for me... mainly cause i was more depressed that I'm going and didn't change anything... yeah, i don't know where I'm going but this is my last p-day in olavarria for now.. the president already told me unless he feels i should stay a little more. but yeah probably not... and so this week we were working hard but like always we never got anything out of it... but so i was all depressed then Sunday came, and church started and we had so many people there, many menos activos, that we had been working with for like 3 or 4 weeks.. gave me so much hope.. and then the president of the branch gave a talk and started to say how lucky the branch was to have 2 good missionaries, and that they can have confidence in us... which before the missionaries didn't have confidence in the brach and viseversa... but it gave me such excitement. and it made me feel so stupid for being depressed. but yeah that was the major spiritual thing of the week.. i guess if we try our best there is always something that will happen that's good....

but yeah, so to answer some questions that i got... no, me and my comp aren't fighting, elder Lopez and me are like great friends, and really have never fought, over anything... it was just that we were kind of both depressed that we were doing everything we could and we thought nothing was coming from it...

but yeah, so this week was a big week for me also cause i got 6 months in the mission, already it's funny cause it's exactly how they say, it's like yesterday i was home, and now I'm here in Argentina preaching what i know is true... pretty awesome....

as far as the mission, so far i have loved every minute of it. yeah,. maybe if i had more exito i would be happier but it will come and if it doesn't it's all good it's the way it's supposed to be....

but yeah so that's everything, sorry this letter is really short, i have a lot of things to do today so not much time but yeah...

i love you all and thanks for the support and the letters. i know I'm bad at writing back but i will try to do it.... alright thanks, and just for kicks, put this letter a little better, if next week i am still in olavarria u all can laugh at me... jk.. but yeah so thanks for everything,, peace out.

PS sorry i didn't answer all your questions.. but what can u do I'm here really far away..lol,.. bye

I still have a way to go but little by little

alright, i guess i said i would write this in Spanish so hear it is......

como andan mi rama? espero que todo bien, eschuche que ustedes estan haciendo mejor en basketball... tienen que ganar por lo menos uno juego.... pero esta semana era re chistoso porque, tuvimos mas o menos exito, econtremos 5 personas, y una de las personas es re-loca, por ejemplo ella me sanó de leukemia, yeah cancer... ella es re evangelica, pero poco por poco..... wow es mas deficil a escrbir en espanol tan hablarlo... y voy a empezar en ingles..... pero gracias por su apoyo y por todo..

yeah, sorry, i suck at writing in two languages now,

but yeah, this week was interesting in case you didn't catch the cancer thing we found this lady who is really crazy, she says she has written a book like the bible, and goes around healing people, like me. I'm cured! then she said to my comp. I'm going to give u a girlfriend and i was laughing, but kind off upset i get cured from cancer, and she gives my comp a novia... but she is really good and want to learn, it's hard with her cause she is on meds the whole time, but we will see...

it was also kind of funny cause we had some exito but it was really hard to work this week, cause Argentina played Uruguay for the chance to enter a soccer cup and nobody opened the door, and then yesterday was mothers day, and nobody opened either but yeah... it's what there is....

this week elder bowen came and he was pretty much straight forward and said if we want exito we need to obey all the rules, but the meeting was great he is re capo. and the spirit was great during it.. i still have a long way to go until i become a capo but little by little, Rome wasn't built in a day......

oh, if u couldn't tell by me writing in spanglish i stink at spelling but I'm actually speaking alright now, so things are looking up.... we are finding people, working hard, and doing what we need to do.....i guess it goes to show u that patience is a virtue.

but yeah I'm kind of out of things to say so yeah..... thank you everyone for ur support, help, love and everything...i love u all and especially to my family thanks y'all are the best i could have... Peace out

Hard week but things that are easy aren't worth the price

hey, i know i said i would write this carta in Spanish but it's easier and faster to write it in English as to the point that i don't have much time... lo siento mi rama....

but today was a holiday and so everything was closed till like 3 so now i got no time...

but we had the baptism, yeah, she actually showed up, so we were really stoked, and i got lots of fotos but i forgot the camera, so yeah... sorry y'all... but my comp baptized her and everything was perfect, the only thing is that it doesn't count for the mission, but what do i care it counts for god, so bite it zone leaders...lol....

this week one of the area authorities is coming to olavarria to talk to the missionaries, probably going to bajar the canya but yeah... so everyone is freaking out, and the zone leaders were bugging us trying to get more numbers, which we didn't really have.

this week was hard for me, and elder lopez, we're not fighting, but having no exito is getting to us. and we try to find different ways to do the work, but it's all good, he is really great, hard working elder, rey capo... but yeah, this week was kind of the same old same old, aside from all that.

also i was really sick this week, well, sick for me, and i will tell y'all why.... we went to a member's house and he gave us fish.... and here fish is really expensive so when someone offers u got to eat it so i ate it, and like all argentines "coma mas elders... si le gusta"... and so i had to eat more... then i was sick ever since, but Sunday got better. so all good for now....
but so yeah, mom and dad, i ate fish and got sick, I'm going to start saying I'm allergic, but yeah...

so this week for me was hard but i love it, it's hard but things that are easy aren't worth the price, and almas (souls) are expensive so we fight... but yeah..

this week was also a bad American week, i don't know why but they weren't happy with my pais but i just say nothing or if they make me mad and say "fuera yankee", i just say "fine I'm leaving with my stuff, give me ur car, cause its probably a ford"... jaja I'm weird like that but yeah.

right on y'all, peace out.

sorry the letter was short... wait it was long, hope urt happy mom...

thanks for the support, and the love and the prayers... i love y'all
peace out

Amazing week with General Conference

this week was amazing, general conference was awesome... all week we were just trying to prepare to get our investegators to the confrence, and to find some new people.... we didn't really find that many new people but yeah, we found one, she is good, danela.. but yeah.....

kind of the story of my mission, hard, but if we don't work, we acomplish nothing. so might as well work and have little exito than do nothing and have none..

but yeah.. conference had so many canyonasos... that at the end of the batlle it was general authorites 20000 to 0.. but yeah, it was probably the best conference that i have had since i actually started to watch them, it was aweseome.....

but yeah..

to answer some question that i know i will get, i watched conference, in spanish 1 and the other times in english.. the rule in the mission is that we can watch it in english if we dont have any investigators there, and so yeah..... but we had 3 investigators.....

but honestly, i started watching the one where elder anderson talked, but he translated his own talk...... not a good idea, great talk but i was laughing so hard that i had to go to watch it in english. if u heard his talk in spanish u know what i'm saying.. maybe... but it was good...

also the conference here is in the afternoon, and preisthood session ended at 7 at night it was good.... breaking the rules, with permision... yeah i'm bad.... just playing... but confrence was great...

the best talk was with elder holland, pres. monson talked about anger, and uchtdorf about love........

but yeah, so that's about all i got for now. really, nothing hapened this week, out of the ordinary........... but one good note, that we should have a bautism at the end of the week unless she decides not to show up... like my last bautizmo....jajaja really not that funny, that was like one of the worse weeks of my life....but if u don't make jokes about stuff, u get depressed thinking about it, so yeah..... 1 bautizmo, really excited for that, hope all goes well...

that's about all i have, i tried to make it really long, i'm not that good at doing that, so sorry

but hey pops happy birthday, honestly i didn't know if it was this month or next month until i saw jason's email, but yeah..... i propably shoudn't have said that, oh well...

thanks for the support and for the love, everyone, thank u. everyone i have known has helped me come this far, i realy can't ever thank u enuff, so thank u......... peace out

en espanol..... mi rama como andan, espero todo esta bien con ustedes, y querro decir que ayer fue uno de los mas trunky dias de mi mision porque cuando eschuche que van a hacer esa fiesta cosa, con la general conferencia yo empece a recordar todo eso dia, pero gracias por todo. la proximo tiempo voy a escribir todo la carta en castellano, y ver si puedo hacer eso.... pero gracias y peace out...

Elders got robbed but we got a "fecha"

what's up every one...... this week was alright.

right now we don't really have anybody left, cause we needed to drop a lot of our investigators, which is really hard to do but they don't want to progress so chau.....

but hey, good news... we have a fecha.... haha por que somos capos. but her name is valentina, 8 years old, she is the daughter of a menos activo family, but she is really good, and we got the whole family to come back, but aside from that.... it's about all the success that we have had.

we still have some investigators but it's hard, to keep them.... but that's how it is..... little by little, waiting, working to find our family of oro, with 7 people... jaja.. but hopefully we find them... but aside from that not much happened.. with us. we went to azul this past week, it was cool, it's abig city......... it was nice...

but now the good stuff.

last week we were in bolivar, right, and this week they got robbed, at gun point...hahaha.. they are fine but yeah.... but here is the story... the 2 guys tried to enter when they were gone but had no luck so they waited, until they came back and then came in... while one elder, elder sands(norte americano), was in the bathroom, and elder robles(argentino). but one had a jason mask, and the other covered his face, but they robbed everything that was electronic... but they are alright... but yeah, that happened when we were in azul.... but elder sands told me that he didn't understand anything, and so he didn't know what was happening... but yeah..... kind of funny... especially in bolivar. it's a small town, really calm, but so yeah that's the interesting thing that happened here........

this part in spanish para mi rama.... eschuche que ustedes van a tener una equipo de basketball... tenemos que ganar, contra los barrios por que si no ellos van a pensar que nosotros no sabemos como jugar bien...... vamos rama y ganamos contra los gringos......jajaja... pero en serio, el manera para ganar es no dejar que Dan toque la pelota, porque el es el mas peor de todos.... jk......

alright, sorry i suck at writing in spanish, but yeah victory..... if you all win i will send something for everyone on the team from here.... probably an alfajor, porque soy pobre..... sorry for the Spanglish everyone..

but yeah, that's everything that's happened here, we have a fecha, the elders in bolivar got robbed, it's cool here..... can't get much worse than before....thanks for your support and the love, and the prayers....

ph happy birthday liz, yesterday, and amanda i don't know when that was but hey happy birthday to u all, and every one else who had a birthday.. peace out y'all

Our motto: Don't let things stop us

what's up everyone, how life......

great news I'm am now in olavarria..... same place. guess i must really have some people here for me and elder lopez to find.... but yeah, so far the last week that past by was kind of hard, cause the last transfer we didn't have the success we wanted and everyone was getting on us... and our investigators are all kind of lazy and don't want to attend church.

but like we have been saying venga lo que venga disfruita lo..... and so that's our motto don't let the things stop us.... we have decided that we are going to be a lot more stricter if they don't progress, then we will leave them.... hard but we will need to do..

but this last we has been hard on us cause we felt down cause everyone kept reminding us that we didn't have all that success which really killed us. but yeah... new transfer, new goal.. we're going to burn it... but we also went to bolivar for the last three days of the week cause they had a baptism and my comp needed to interview the lady, but so we did divisions, which was really fun. but yeah......

oh news from the abnormal. last p day we killed a chicken. cause the hermano was afraid to do it and we have an elder from salta.. named elder robles, and he did it, then he prepared the chicken for them to eat. it was cool never saw how they prepare the chickens to eat but really makes me not want to eat chicken... but it was funny, in a weird way, but he tasted good... ate chicken i knew personally..lol.

but yeah that was about all that happened, not really much but we have a new desire to burn olavarria, and make the next pair of elders job alot more harder..haha we are evil like that..... but yeah so that's everything thanks for the support...

oh about transfers, the only elder who left was elder rosas, the zone leader .. but yeah so peace out y'all...

love you all

Patience is the name of the game

whats up y'all..

this week was a little more calm, i wasn't British anymore, anyways but yeah, it was fun while it lasted... i stop when i said i was British and they say es mas peor, or it's worse it was funny, i was like fine then I'm USA, viva USA hahaha......like a crazy missionary..

but this week was district conference, we tried to get all our investigators to go, so they could see that the church is bigger than what they normally see, but none of them came.. that's a normal problem here, they are lazy and don't want to wake up, or some of them need to work.. but the conference was great. really good turn out, like 400 people, really good.. also got some menos activos to go to the church again. aside from that, not really any success. but I'm happy with that.. something i saw is that as humans we are never happy, always complain about something, or at least me.. but if its cold, we want heat, hot we want more cold...kind of funny....patience is the name of the game, i think. but yeah...

this week we worked hard mainly trying to get our investigators to go to conference, and get some menos activos to go also but yeah, a side from that pretty normal.

but big news coming is transfers and I'm most likely to go, if there are changes, it depends if one of the zone leaders will train a newbie.. if not, i will probably stay, but we will see next week, i will let y'all know... if i got santa rosa here i come...i hope.. but that's that...

as far as things here, all is well, I'm happy, just need to work on my patience and my spelling..lol... but yeah...

so that's pretty much everything happening here, oh, also about transfers now we need to pay for the ticket, to our next area, and the prez. cut some money, but it's all good.. cause u all know I'm a saver when it comes to money i have 3 pesos in my account... filthy rich.. but it's all good. cause i got 50 saved, in my secret hiding place... but yeah...that's about all..

to answer some questions,
first comp is from Mexico city, he's really cool. we work hard, and i don't sleep the siesta anymore, cause i would wake up hung over from a nap, maybe not best word choice but yeah, it's what i got..

oh i get dear elders, and i received the package......the air heads lasted about 5 seconds mom... if u could, in the next package, send 3 cosco packages of air heads... but yeah that's pretty much everything for me...... so yeah..

thanks for the support, and everything.

also want to say viva mexico independence day thing the 15 yeah...

alright, peace, love you all, and thanks for everything

What gold means to me

hey every one.....

this week was great.... we are still working hard and doing what we need to have some success. and like always with all our investigators something happens so we don't see them, but the gold stays...hahaha....

but yeah one of our gold, she is called vanesa she is like 32 and her dad is putting protests, which is really funny, for us.. but there is always opposition to things...

but i received a question that ask what is gold for me.. here in argentina.. for me it's the person who needs the gospel the most, not necessarily the easiest but we got the thing they need to hear, and will make their lives better. that's gold. and they know u have something different.... gold in Argentina, or at least for me.

our other gold is called oscar, and his family; him we visited and he really needs it, he is having a hard time in life but ain't we all...jk.

oh this week we also had a lady kind of find us... we were lost in the other side of our area,and we asked this lady for direction, and then she started asking questions, and then we went in and taught her family. and her husband ricardo is really good, and she is also.. but we will see what happens, something always does. but we are learning from everything that is happening.. but yeah...

so overall this week was great we worked really hard and are still working with menos activos, but yeah. little by little. the work moves forward.

but also the thing every one said.. the argentina contra brasil game. nah we didn't even see it. we heard about it but we were working and the people we visited didn't even care cause it wasn't on the tv. but yeah we heard about especually now....

right now i hear more about the colombia thing, where usa has some troops in there. every one says hey yankee get out of here, and then i say I'm from london... with a british accent and they shut up....what do i care about that right now.. but yeah good thing happening here in olavarria, if i stay for another transfer here we will baptize every one.... hahhaha...

oh one last thing about santa rosa, that storm is nothing, it was just rain for like 20 min. and everyone was like nahh santa rosa is coming...
but yeah didn't stop us really...

but um yeah i think thats every thing.. still haven't been robbed, or eaten anything really strange that i know of but i don't ask what type of meat I'm eating, i learn from experience... but yeah i gots to go

peace out y'all thanks for the support, and the love.

Striking Gold

what's up everyone,

this letter is going to be so much better than last weeks, we still haven't baptized katty and to be honest it's looking bad, cause her parents don't really want it, and she doesn't wants to do comunon also so that makes her difficult.... but slow but surely..we will see..

but thse week has been so good. we were working like crazy, and obeying pretty much every rule, and we got some success, not a lot but hey we struck gold...haha... twice, we will see what happens.. i think i have a different version of gold but, hey, it works for me. the first family his name is oscar and cristina and they have 2 kids and the lession we taught them was amazingly good. also the other is 2 women, and they are really good also vanesa, y maggie, the lession with them was really good, also.

we also worked to the point of exhaustion, and it was amazingly hot, well not hot but humid. it was terrible, but fun... but yeah we are still trying to work with menos activos, cause knocking door isn't working so yeah, but that's working a little... but yeah so that's that. but it was an awesome week, well, could be better but hey I'm easily pleased right now..

tuesday we went to tandil, for zone conference, and had the interviews with the president, and it was really good, he is trying to motivate the mission, cause i guess we as a mission aren't doing as good as it could be, for example last week we had 3 baptisms, for the whole mission... but he is a great president and the changes will help us all find success. and tandil is a really pretty town, man we went to the calvery i have a bunch of fotos but i left my camera at the home, so sorry mom, but next week, i will remember. but that was tandil really nice city, but it's really humid there also.

now to try to answer questions a little better, the weather right now is not hot but humid, and santa rosa, a big storm is coming this week so we will see if that messes us up any, hopefully not.. but that's the weather,

now about the food, really i normally eat empanadas or neiocus (gnocchi), i don't know how to spell that so sorry. but yeah, the worst thing i have eaten is morsillo, or i think i ate dog but not sure, i don't ask where the meat comes from cause if I do i will feel bad, for example cerebro, or brain. i have eaten that but i didn't know till after, and it was good until she told me it was brain.. funny how that works but yeah...

also i don't remember the other questions. sorry everyone...

but i want to say thanks for the support, and the love and the emails. it helped me out a lot so thanks, and i love y'all, and peace out

Tough week

this week pretty much sucked on all bases, the only way it could have been worse was if i got bit by a dog, or something like that.. but yeah, i guess sometimes it's like that.

this week me and my comp, elder lopez, who is really cool, and we work really hard, obey the rules, we are better missionaries, but yeah. but this week we worked so hard and got so many doors slammed in our faces, and only found 1 person who would talk to us, but then he disappeared.

and to make thing worse... yesterday we had a bautizmo, everyone showed up except the girl, katty, who was going to get baptized, and her parents didn't go because they wanted to go a party, so all of us were left hanging but. yeah...

it's kind of funny how bad this week has been for us. but that's how it is, only motivates us more cause we don't really like failure, and so yeah this week we are going to find gold. or knock every door in this city until they answer and let us in. but it was kind of funny cause we tried everything to get inside, we tried to sing, i don't blame them for closing the door on us.....hahahaha but yeah we tried everything doing some jokes, but they must have been bad ones, cause no one laughed but yeah, it will get better, we will work harder.... and next week we will have exito, a lot of exito.....

now to answer some questions i have received, yeah we obey a lot of rules, and the food we get here is almost daily, so it's really good, we are lucky to be in an area where they give us lots of food but yeah.

we also walk a ton cause the president doesn't want us taking remis but yeah also the aps lost their cars hahahaha so they need to walk like the rest of us...haha..

about all the rules that have changed, really the rules didn't change but the standards did. like before we needed 14 new investigators now we only need 6 but the six pretty much only count if they are of gold, but it's good cause we were averaging like 3000 new investigators a month but only 75 bautizmos which is really7 bad ratio. but yeah so that's what has changed more than anything, and all the p-day stuff that i mentioned before.

the mission president is really great, i like him and i think the changes are necessary, and the p-day stuff, if he thinks that's what's best i stand by him.

but yeah so that's been my life this week. work hard, no success and all that but yeah it's all good...it will come in the Lord's time...

alright i want to say i love u all and thanks for everything, happy birthday miguel, and anyone elses b-day that is this week, and yeah peace out


PS i haven't got the package yet

Great week and a better week coming

hey everyone hows life,

this week was awesome. my new comp. to answer some questions is from ciudad de mexico, he's been here for 9 months and here is really good.

this week we worked hard and obeyed most of the rules..hahaha just playing, we obey the rules but don't make the rules our life, but we are doing good.

ok this week was probably the funniest of my mission, first of all this saturday there was a rock concert like 10 blocks from our house "the callejeros", it was funny cause we could hear the concert from our house and yeah it was weird, but it was funny, and this week we found great people, worked hard and did everything we needed to.

me and elder lopez are going to get along great, and baptize many. um yeah something funny is that the new president is making the changes for the mission right now, some of them are kind of weird but yeah they are the rules, we follow them, we will have exito. but yeah.....most of the changes have to do with p-day, and the standards.. for example one p-day he wants us to stay in our houses, or do the stuff we need to do, like buy stuff, instead of doing stuff as a zone, and to limit travel he says we travel too much which is true, but the changes will work out,

oh and quickly, sorry if this letter isn't making any sense, i cant really think today, sorry y'all......but yeah um good things coming from the mission...i hope, i will explain more next week.... but yeah i want to thank u all for the support everyone has shown me and all that....so thanks i love y'all and yeah peace out.

Same Area, New Comp

hello! what's up every one? how's life.

my first transfer of the mission and pretty much my half of my zone got changed, we got elderes from bolivar that got whitewashed, and 3 other companionships that got changed.

as for me my new comp, is a mexicano: elder lopez, i still haven't met him cause he arrives at 12:30 today but from what i hear he loves to work and obey the rules, so I'm probably in for a shock but I'm happy.

we will probably have more success but me and elder vizcardo left the area in a great way for elder lopez, we have a fecha her name is katy, she is 8 but is really cool, her parents situation is a little complicated but they support her and like the church so that will be cool.

we also have many other investigators that are progressing slowly. but it's cool. i'm happy for change it's good. and even better is that he is mexicano, and speaks no ingles that's 2 in a row that don't speak ingles. i hope i don't get an american until a year into the mission. but we will see.

um, this week with elder vizcardo he wanted to say good bye so we did that pretty much the whole week while we were teaching our investigators, that we had but we didn't really look for any others, but exito is coming to olavarria i can feel it, we will see.

but all in all, I'm excited for the change, kind of nervous cause i hope it goes all good and it will, cause I'm that cool and humble, lol but yeah....

this week my spanish is picking up, every one says and thinks i have a year in the mission, which is cool, i don't have a problem with it, it's cool and better that way.

but yeah um what else ..............................................................
............. ......................................................................................................... i don't know i'm doing that to make the letter a little longer so y'all will be happy, i don't really know how to make these longer but yeah.....

i'm going to end with this, i'm really happy for the changes that are coming, i loved my papi and he taught me good, and this new comp will teach me good also..................i hope....i guess we will see, i will let u now more next week

sorry these letters are always short, but thanks for the support and the love, and if it's someones b'day feliz b'day from me che too

alright peace out....

ps....i will be obeying more rules i think so yea facebook is probably a thing of the past...sorry but a good thing... love y'all bye

easy to find investigators, hard to find time to teach them

this week was normal, weather nothing out of the usual, and we just worked and did what we needed to.

the investigators still seem to find us right now, it's awesome, cause we knock doors all the time, and i like it better when they find us. but the lady that found us, her name is maria, she is a tia of one of the new converts in the church, and she is really interested, but now she got a job that makes it hard for us to find a time to teach her, cause she is always working, but she is great. but it seems that this is a normal probably we have no problem finding them, but once we find them something happens so we can't teach them, seriously for every investigator, but we still try.

i guess that's how it is... but this week my spanish was terrible, it was funny i said so many mistakes, that butchered everything, it was funny, but what can u do, but keep speaking and pray it gets better, that's how it is...

also i had intervistas con el presidente, that was funny, every one is in there for like 20 mins i'm in there for 3 mins, it's cause I'm perfect...hahah, but yeah it was nice to talk to him.

but yeah, we also found out that my comp elder vizcardo is probably going, it was funny he was begging that he could stay, actually he was like yelling at the president, everyone could hear him throw the doors. but he said he will go. so vizcardo is saying good bye to every one its funny, but even more funny if he stays. but whatever..

i got some good fotos but cant down load them hopefully latter. but yeah that's about all...

thank you for the support and for everything y'all did for me.
i love y'all, peace out.

The Moral of the Story

hows life in the nice warm heat of the state i love.

well this week was awesome, we worked hard, really hard, and the weather sucked. i will give you the day by day.. monday sunny, cold but sunny.. tuesday..cold and little rain... wednesday.. freezing and SNOW.. yeah snow. i will talk more about it latter. thurs... sunny..but freezing.. friday...cloudy.. but freezing also.. saturday sunny and nice...but now enuff of that but the snow... i thought it would be really fun, right tracking in snow, yeah for the first 10 mins. it was terrible. windy, snowing, and really cold and humid. and we needed to walk cause we don't have money.. it was fun... not.. but enough of the weather.

this week we worked really hard, and to start the week, we had little, we only found one family, but that was working for 3 days. but then thursday, there was another esfurzo but in the part of olavarria, and we had success like nothing. 20 new investigators for those missionaries, in total. but we were coming back and we were feeling down cause the week was going bad, and we were actually working really hard, not like the other weeks, which made it harder on us. but anyways thurs. night we were coming back from the esfurzo, and we decided to stop at a rotiseria, to buy some food for cena. and it's a place we always go to but when we walk in one of the worker just start talking to us, and sayes he has been looking for a church, cause the other ones just didn't feel right, and that he has seen us in the store but he never had the time to talk to us.... that's music for a missionaries ears.. so we teach him a little but we didn't have much time. so we get his number, his address and all that good stuff, and we head out. right then, the second we walk out the rotiseria, an old investigator, come us and says he has been wanting to talk again.. once again, music to our ears. then we get his stuff, and head to the apartment feeling great....but wait theres more.

friday was somewhat a hard day, no success but still feeling great about thursday. then saturday.. first we got the chance to service, helped this guy put up his techo, but after that we had an appointment with pedro y alejandra, our investigators, the lady who had the gripe, she got better, but we go for the appointment, and they say we want to bring friends so they can hear what you have to say, and they brought like 4 people. it was cool, that they trust us with their friends, and they're not even members.

but the moral of the story i guess is we did our best, and worked hard, and the investigators came to us. it was cool. it's funny how the Lord works sometime, but it taught us something. work work work..... yep..

just so you know church is back here in olavarria, yeahhh. it was nice to go back to church. but yeah that was the week, um yeah thanks for the support, and all the letter and emails, i have received. alright peace out....

ps. people who like the cold, let me say the heat is so much better because you can only put on so much clothes. i know Wednesday to turn my head i needed to turn my body. so what now.....love ya peace

Still no meetings on Sunday

sorry this letter is going to be short, i wrote the whole letter and was about to send it then the power went out.... i got so mad it was funny, but i wasn't the only one. so that makes me feel better.

so this week was weird, i'm going to start monday, it was a normal p day, kind of boring, cause we never really do much, just play sports and watch church movies but whatever.

then tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. were normal days. just worked the most i could and had a little success not much but it was all good. it was made up from on friday.

friday we had an esfurzo in our area which is when other missionaries in our zone, come to our area to work for 3 hours. we got 10 investigators so that was awesome.

but then saturday we spent the whole time visiting the investigators we didn't met from friday, and visiting some of the investigator we already have, they all seemed to disappear, when we try to invite them to church. except one family, the lady who got the gripe. they couldn't have come. so they have a good excuse. but things work out for the best, example that the lord knows all.

sunday there were only four people including me and my companion elder vizcardo, and the Branch president. and the only person who showed up aside from us was abuela gladys, an old lady who we got, she is a new convert. but it was funny, and better that we couldn't and didn't bring investigators cause it would have been weird for them. now the turn out is mainly for 2 reasons. 1 gripe, the churches are still closed, and the other is cause it was raining, and so nobody came..,, but it was alright no worries.

with all luck the church is going to be open again next week. hopefully...

but yeah so thanks for all the support, and the emails,letters and everything. i love you all and miss you all.
peace out

Life on the other side of the world

how's life going on the other side of the world?

it's funny, the swine flu thing has some funny phases. phase 1 everyone freaks out, phase 2 nobody cares anymore, phases 3 they freak out some more, and last phase problem solved. here in Argentina they are in between phase 1 and 2. but anyway that's that about that. it's a good thing for missionaries cause everyone is at home, but at the same time some people don't want to open the door, cause they are scared we have the gripe (flu). but anyways that's all I'm going to talk about the gripe, cause it's annoying.

But this week was really cool. p-day we played basketball, and futbol, tuesday we worked alot, found this really great family, but then the wife got the gripe, like 2 days after, so we need to wait till she is better. before we can go back.

but we also found a family of 6. that was all in home and seemed really interested, but that's really all we found.

lots of rejections, but unfortunately for every one who rejects us, it makes my comp, elder vizcardo, want to work harder, and i get a kick out of getting rejected, so it doesn't slow us down.

wednesday was mission conference, it was alright, kind of boring, and there was no food, but it was alright.

then thursday me and elder vizcardo went to Mar del plata cause he needed to get his patriarchal blessing, and there is only two in the mission one in bahia blanca and the other in mar del plata, and we chose mar del plata. it was cool, went to the beach, walked around, a little, then went to the patriarch. it was a little vacation. but 6 hours on a bus to get there, and to get back. but it was cool.i got some pictures i will try to send.

also after that friday we worked some more, that was when we found the family of six, then saturday was a fun day but we didn't actually knock doors, we went to visit some of our investigators, and meet some members.

but anyways, then sunday there was a small meeting for people who don't have the priesthood in their houses at the church. which was fun cause we needed to make it look like there was nobody there cause, right now, it's against the law, or something like that. but it was a good meeting.

oh also funny story i now know why we carry big backpacks, for the dogs, we were walking and this big dog comes and starts barking, looked like it was going to bite me so i took my backpack and nailed the dog, and he went bye bye, it was funny.

now to answer some questions. mom, first of all the city is called bolivar not bolivarria; i was mixing my cities name with that one....that's only for her everyone sorry..... my city is called olavarria, it's kind of a big city, but really not probably the size of tucson, or mesa, cause i don't really know that much about tucson. but anyways, actually i don't know much about mesa either. but anyways it's kind of a poor city, well it is, not kind of it is.

but anyways the food here is good, it doesn't upset my stomach at all, it's really cool,

also it is freezing here, it kind of sucks but whatever. i will get over it.

ummm yeah, hope this letter was longer, better, and all that. thanks for the support, and the love and everything.
peace out

First assignment in Argentina

so this is the first email I'm doing from Argentina so far all is good, my first comp's name is elder vizcardo, he is from Peru, he is really cool.

but its kind of funny my first week here we only knock on 4 doors, but 2 of them let us in. which was really good for only knocking for doors.

but its not that we are lazy it's just that we had no time. here is what happened. on Monday i left the mtc yeah....i barely got out cause i had a cold, and the doctor wanted me to stay, but i told him that i felt great so he let me go and now I'm in perfect health... then tuesday we got to buenos aires, and we stayed there till about 6 at night. i saw tio, it was really awesome, it made arriving here a lot easier, so I'm happy i saw him. then tuesday night we went to bahia blanca, and stayed there till i arrived in my area, independencia olavarria.

it's a nice area, we always have food to eat. but anyways so friday morning i arrived in my area at like 2 in the morning. then we went around olavarria friday, did some work, then we went to a city called bolavarria cause there was a baptism, and we stayed there till sunday and i got back to my area around 6 at night. but yeah that was pretty much my week. i like my area it's a good place nice people.

it is really cool to be in argentina. um that is really all that happened.

oh wait I'm lyeing, the church here is closed for 2 weeks cause the flu, big problem i cant get a way from it. but hopefully it is only closed for 2 weeks cause if not we can't baptize people, cause they can't attend church. But alot of the missionaries are saying they are having a hard time getting in houses cause the people are paranoid, and don't want to get sick. but yeah i think that's all.

yeah i just want to say congrats to jazmin y zuyapa, sorry if i spelt your names wrong. but that's awesome you decided to get baptized. a

alright i think that's all so yeah talk to y'all next week. peace out thanks for the support, and the love.
peace out again

I know my purpose and why I'm here doing this

this is my last week at the mtc and all i can say is yea me...... i really think the mtc didn't want me to like it here, with all the swine flu, the gym floor thing, and now the mission presidents. but the mtc failed. i have to say i kind of did like it here. but anyways this week at the mtc my district got to be host missionaries for the new kids, that means that we show them to their rooms, and show them the campus a little. we greet them from their car doors cause they aren't allowed on the campus. but it was funny cause the first kid I had was crying the whole time. he didn't really talk too much. but then the second kid coming in with a mohawk, and wearing sunglasses. so i got like the weirdest kids ever.

But something really cool this week was at the rc we made calls in spanish. it was really cool, and everyone who made a call was like they're so much nicer. it was funny. I didn't really talk to anyone but this kid, and then one lady who told me to call her back. but it was cool.

Well i don't know if i mentioned it but the MTC is on locked down even more than normal cause the mission presidents are here. it's funny, everything is set up for them. but i still haven't met my mission president yet, but i think he might fly down with me if i go this monday. I have to say I'm feeling a little sick so they might not let me know, but i will find out sunday I'm trying to feel better but it's not working. But hopefully i can just go and no worries. either way i will call monday once around 11:30-2 and then maybe between 6-8 or something like that but yeah.............

so i guess i might as well say what i learned at the mtc. i think i learned a lot of stuff like the only difference between a toilet and a urinal is the seat, if lunch is good you eat as much as u can cause dinner will be terrible....lol.. but seriously, i learned a lot but I'm still the same it's weird how it works. Like I'm the same but i know the purpose and everything it really cool. I'm just happy, and can't explain why. and it's kind of funny cause this week went by really slowly. but it was fun.. i don't think I'm making any sense. but do i ever really?
I am really happy i could come and stay as long as i could, and i hope i don't stay any longer....

i want to say thank you to everybody who supported me trough the mtc, cause it will probably be the hardest part of my mission for me. i don't expect the rest to be easy, actually i know it will be more difficult, but like i know my purpose, and why I'm out here doing this now, and i mean like hardcore i know.

But so thanks to everyone for helping me get here. But don't stop the support cause like the support.. ya dig.... But thanks everyone i love you all miss you. cant wait to go to argentina, and hopefully forget english.

alright peace out y'all.

Elder Bednar, the greatest missionary speaker ever

hey everybody whats up hows life on the outside.

I have some big news as you know my companion was district leader, well guess what now he is a zone leader, and by saying that i'm a zone leader too. Which means i have to inforce the rules. it sucks but i kind of like the power to control everybody in the zone. but so far it has been alright.

Also some big news at the mtc is swine flu. IT is still just as bad, but now everybody is getting used to it, but 2 people from my zone got the swine flu, one just got it today, and he was put into isolation. but i'm still healthy i just hope i don't get sick the week before i go cause if that happens i will be delayed when i got to argentina. but so far no delay.

Also someone really cool came to the MTC this week. just to show u how cool it's the equivalent of if the beattles got back together with the original member (if john lennon wasn't dead), but David Bednar came. He is like the greatest missionary talker ever, him and jeffrey r holland. But when he came everyone started getting really excited, and people where giving each others high fives, which is funny cause it's against the rules, to give high fives, with the whole swine flu thing. BUt it was a great talk. It was about the holy ghost and he just told a bunch of jokes and stories, it was awesome. he told this one story about a missionary who always kept his BOM in his pocket over his heart and one night he got robbed and got shot right where his BOM was. but he was ok cause the bullet stoped in the Isiah chapters in second nefi. if you don't get it sorry, ask someone who does. but it's funny as missionaries everything amuses us, and it's funny.

BUt also sunday we watched the legacy, and that movie is really funny at the MTC because everybody starts cheering when they kiss, and when they are traveling they do some really funny stuff. at least for us.

Oh at the TRC we had to teach missionaries again, cause the swine flu thing nobody wants to come in, it sucked, we did really bad, cause this week is the week where they do a non christian faith thing. but the missionaries, me and elder nielson got where evil. they were people who hatted their families, and everytime we tried to teach them something they said we don't believe in that. They were evil. like if it was really i bet they would have kicked us out or we would have left, but it was hard. BUt the spanish was better than the first one. but they were just evil sister missionaries.

Also at the rc this week i talked to this same girl i talked to a little while ago. like a week ago it was cool, cause i just got to tell her some funny stories about joseph smith, cause she is a member but her parents don't let her go. so she sneaks on the internet to just learn stuff about the gospel, it was cool.

Um that is pretty much everything...............wait no somebody had a birthday...HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRISON, HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD TIME AT DISNEY LAND.

alright thanks to everyone for the support and thanks for letters.

Alright peace out. sorry if the spelling is bad on this letter. oh and happy birthday to anybody else who had a birthday.


MOM im sending u a letter hope fully it gets to u soon. i love you

MTC and the swine flu

Well i guess the MTC doesn't want me to like it here. Cause as some of you may have heard there is a couple of cases of the swine flu here. and because of that the MTC is on lock down. it sucks mainly because i cant play basket ball anymore, again. first the gym floor and now this. I'm never going to be able to play basketball again. But anyways there have been like 5 cases of swine flu and 20 cases of some other flu, but the people with the flu are put into isolation/quarantined. which sounds funny, but oh well. but that's whats up with the swine flu. hopefully i don't turn into a pig.

Also i always forget stuff when i do this email, so i want to say my companion is the DL, which is cool cause its not me. Also we got a new district last week, and they are all going to mexico. so that's cool, they all really cool kids.

Now for the weekly TRC update, let me say it sucked this week cause we were teaching some missionaries from our zone, cause nobody volunteered with the whole swine flu thing. So i guess the swine flu must be pretty big news in the real world if it is still going on. BUt we taught it in spanish(the first lession) which was alright but my mind went blank so i did really bad and my comp, cant really make sense in spanish yet so it was hard. but we did alright for the first lession in spanish.

The At the RC, i finally talked to some one on the phone, and guess what they are getting baptized today, just joking. one guy cussed me out witch was funny. and another lady said she wasn't in the mood. But at least i talked to people. but it was fun.

Yeah um i kind of had everything that i wanted to say on this email planed out but i really forgot, and i didn't bring that paper with me, so ummm yeah. I guess somethings never change right.

Oh right um yo podria escribir esta carta en espanol, pero la verdad es que, no tengo la tiempo para hacerla. y por que todavia no se como spell en espanol. pero gracias por su apoyo, y por toda las cosas ustedes les hacen por mi. ok back to english. yeah i really dont remember what to say. So thank you for all the support, and everything you have done for me.

Don't worry i wont turn in to a pig, but while I'm on this topic i remember a funny story. So alot of the people are paranoid of getting sick cause if you get sick. you get sent to isolation. And they were giving out those air maskes that cover your face. and So it was to the point were if you cough the missionaries will get out of your way. and so i couldn't resist. i got one of those masks and i put it on and pretended to cough, and like everyone one but my companion like started running, and i literally mean running it was funny. oh and also we are not allowed to shake hands, but what me and some of the other people in my district do is put a bunch of hand sanitizer on and hi five each other, that way we don't get swine flu.. but if i get swine flu, i wouldn't be surprised cause of all the jokes i make about it.

But any ways that's all i got. Thanks again por todo. you like the spanglish. Hasta luego.
Peace OUt



mom i want you to know I'm sending a letter that will answer all of your swine flu questions. and don't worry I'm safe and healthy.... love you

Singing for a General Authority

hey every one how is it going?

This week was a sad but a good one at the MTC. It was sad cause one of the guys in our district left, but he did what he had to do. Also it is funny cause in our district they are going to call a new district leader, and nobody wants it because you have to go to a lot of meetings, and you don't really get that much power over anybody else. But i don't have to worry about that cause I'm not going to be it. So that's cool.

Also funny story, my district can sing pretty good, so they all wanted to sing at the devotional when a general authority would be there. and so i decided i might as well do it once. but what made it funny was i sat with the tenners, or for us musically challenged people, the dudes who sing with a really high voice. The song they were sing was secret prayer, which is a really high song. So it was me and my companion we both have deep voices, and we tried to sing high. Half way through the song my voice gave out, and it sounded like an animal was dieing, but i couldn't just stop singing cause if i got on the tv, i wanted it to look like i was good, but i didn't think about singing softer, so pretty much i was singing, like a dieing rat. and i didn't even get on tv... BUt anyways the devotional was awesome.

Then even more good news the gym is officially opened. yeah..... its cool, but moms probably worried cause now i can play b ball, which is where i always hurt my self. but so far two days and no injures... but i have been challenging this one guy in my district called elder pugsley, so far he leads the over all series 9-8, so we have some pretty epic battles. BUt its fun.

Also at the TRC-TA, the thing were we teach real fake investigators, we got this lady who brought her family. It was so cool, me and elder nielson were trying to teach the plan of salvation, when they kids were all running around. Seriously it was the most fun i had at the MTC so far. expecaully when i found out one of them wrote there names in my scriptures. It was cool. IT reminded me of home like Alana luke harrison, and porker, all mixed together.

Then at the RC this week there were some more people who were just playing around, but it was funny. I would have started messing with them but my companion said that i shouldn't cause I'm a missionary, but i wanted to mess with them so bad. But after i got done with that guy, there was this other guy who was pretty serious, and i told him about the book of Mormon, and the restoration, and then i had to go, but he had to go also, so that was that but it was still pretty cool.

Yeah that was pretty much all that happened, i still like the MTC but its starting to get repetitive. but its still the place to be right now so im cool with it. Also Thanks for all the letters i got. i will write everyone back who send me a letter. so if you send one. you will get one. But thanks for all the support. I love you and miss you all. peace out

For mom,hope this one is alittle better, running out of time but can you fix their errors cause there are a lot. and i will send the letter so you will probably get it tuesday or monday.

also tell jason thanks for the example and for the advice on writing these emails and making them longer. alright love you.

Getting into a routine at the MTC

hey everybody.

hows life going on the outside world. hope its all good.

i would love to say that this week was as exciting as last week but now I'm getting into the habit of life here at the mtc. So really nothing really to exciting happened.

But to update you on how me and my companion elder nielson did on the TA, we did good the guy said the spirit was amazing, which is what we want. i kind of zoned out during the lesson, and i was supposed to talk so it was like a minute of awckward silence. it was funny. but we try to teach with the spirit which is what we did.

Um also at the RC, we were doing chats and we were chatting with this one lady ? I'm not sure i say it was a girl, but anyways, we felt like she was really interested, but then she started fighting with us, and when we need to go, she like yelled at us. now i never knew you could yell at someone through the computer, but i guess its done like this......"YOU PEOPLE ARE CRAZY, GOD DOES NOT REVEAL HIMSELF TO PEOPLE" that's what she said... but it was funny cause we showed her some scriptures that said in the bible that he does reveal himself to people, and she just threw it away. it was fun. I love the RC i still haven't talked to anyone yet. which stinks cause i really wanted to talk to somebody. but next week I'm not going to stop calling people until they pick up the phone..... actually somebody picked, but then they hung up. but it still doesn't count.

I actually want to tell y'all how my spanish is let me says mi spanisho es sooo gud dat im forgetin mi ingles. just playing. but anyways yeah so that pretty much it at the mtc, its kind of all the same. but um yeah that's kind of all i have to talk about.

Oh wait the General Authority that came, his name was like elder nusinbusin, it was a weird name with a N but it was a good talk.

but anyways thanks for all the support, and the letters. y'all please send letters. so much better than emails. maybe my mom will but my address here at the mtc on this for me. HINT HINT. but yeah thanks for the support. and sorry this letter is so short.

PEACE OUT

P.S YOU LIKE HOW IM YELLING AT YOU ALL.




MOM sorry this letter is so short im sending y'all letters in the mail. tell me how long it takes for you to get them im sending them today. and i will take a bunch of picture and send them

Also this part is for jason.

Whats up my brother how's life in peru? um, i have a question is the timer thing still work even when you in peru or just the MTC. and second how many baptisms you got right now. almost a year in your mission? but alright you be good. do what's you gots to do, and your my hero. and how were u able to write so much in half an hour? and find so many things to write about in the MTC. im out of ideas. help a brother out.... peaceout i love ya bro.

2nd week at the MTC

hey y'all.

how's life not in the mission field? i need to say i feel a bit sheepish now that i actually like the mtc. Kind of weird how i didn't like it, but it wears on you.

Anyway, at the MTC devotionals i have seen M. Russel Ballard and Russel M. nelson. so if there are any more general authorites with the name Russel M. he will probably be the speaker for next tuesday.

Some funner things that happened to me, is my district was at the RC, referal center, and i guess were are a chat district, so when you go to mormon.org and have the option to TALK WITH A LIVE MORMON thats what we do. But anyway it was funny cause the first chat i get is this one "lady" who said that one of the missionaries here had her baby. I was funny just how she went about it, cause you could tell it was a joke. Then when we weren't chatting we were making phone calls so far i haven't talked to anybody yet. but hopefully next time. honestly i would rather chat. Cause if i dont think about what i say, i normally say stupid things. but it would be fun.

Also i guess they redo the gym once every ten years. and so they decided that this would be the once. so the gym is closed until May 29th or something like that. But it is cool, cause i would rather be outside.

Oh also an update on mine and elder nielsons teaching apiontment. The lady didn't really know what she was doing, so we were suposed to do a door to door aproach. but she let us in and had us start teaching the first discussion. The funny thing was that it was in spanish so it was a liitle harder, BUt it was fun. cause then we got to do it in english.

I really appreaciate all the letters and dear elders i get, so thanks for all that.

Oh and isreal felizidades on the baby. That's cool.

Also i miss you all and i want to say thanks for the support.

Oh one last thing classes are getting much easier to stay attention in and to learn things in. And the biggest problem with the mtc so far is i think i'm forgetting english cause i'm having a big trouble reading and stuff like that. BUt that's cool.

so alright, like i said earlier thanks for everything. and if this doesn't make sense sorry. i'm tired. see y'all later.

Peace out.

p.s. jason said that i would miss the showers at the mtc. I will not. i would rather have it be ice cold so i can get used to it, Rather than right when i get used to it, it gets burning hot.... but love ya bro. have fun at the field. baptize millions..

First week at the MTC

hey everybody one week at the mtc is finished......yeahhh.... i did it, only 8 more to go....

Alright this week was pretty chill, my companion's name is elder nielson, he is from bluewater, new Mexico. yeah, i never heard of it either. He is a cool dude, he doesn't let me break rules, which is good cause i think im learning a lot faster because we're being obedient.

I guess im here till June 29, the teacher said if i felt like i wasn't getting tested or what ever i could go to an advanced group. so we will see what i decide right now i think I'm going to stay, cause my district is really awesome.

my district has 10 people, 5 going to my mission Bahia Blanca, 2 going to salta Argentina, and 3 going to Paraguay. we all get along really well, so that's pretty cool.

As far as the MTC is right now i don't really like it. cause 12 to 14 hours of class isn't really my style. But the worst thing about the MTC is the showers, they go from either boiling hot, to ice cold without warning, it is bad. and the food is alright it could be worse, so i don't complain about it. However the more i am here the more i like it a little better so.

So yeah one week at the mtc and they already have you teaching fake lessons which is cool, but kind of difficult cause we don't know all that much yet. We also went to the referral center and we called up some people, but everybody i called wasn't there so i didn't talk to anyone. But i was kind of happy about that cause i was a little nervous.....

Oh quick before i forget, Mom i have some good news and some bad news. the good news is i will be able to call you, (at the airport) I guess here at the mtc with like 2000 missionaries, and not enough phones they don't let anyone call. so i cant call you on mothers day. But more good news is you will here from Jason. That's cool.

One last thing is everyone who wants to email me and stuff just send letters through dear elder, so i can actually read them cause I'm a slow reader, and i don't type very quick. so dear elder would be best If you don't know how to do it email my mom.

Yeah so that's about it thanks for all the packages and letters. Seriously letters make my days awesome. i love getting them, and my district loves when i get packages so send some of those if you want to... once again thanks for every thing.

happy birthday to anybody whose birthday it is or was. and alright..

Peace out

Going to the temple

by Bryce's mom:

Early on Saturday, without anyone having to wake him up, Bryce was up and "almost" ready to go. The almost goes because he was wearing his white shirt and shorts. Oh well, most miracles take some time.

At 9am, we were at the temple, Bryce went with Jorge as his escort to do his endowments while mom had the opportunity to sit at the chapelin the temple and read D&C 137 & 138 until called to go to the session. Abuelo, Pam, Kirk, Meli and Dan were able to share the experience with us, so were some members from the brunch.

What a wonderful blessing to be able to see my baby dressed in white, his beautiful blue eyes sparkling, at the temple.

The Huerta family, from the brunch, were in the same session and we had the opportunity to be with them as they got sealed as a family.

A wonderful, glorious day!

Interview with our future missionary

Question: How do you feel about serving a mission?
Bryce’s answer: Excited

Question: Where did you expect to be called?
Bryce’s answer: Mexico

Question: Where did you not want to be called?
Bryce’s answer: Asia or anywhere that doesn’t speak English or Spanish

Question: What did you think when read Argentina Bahia Blanca?
Bryce’s answer: Cooooool, I was stoked

Question: What are you most excited about?
Bryce’s answer: Coming back, just playing – I am looking forward to serving the Lord in all that I do as well as helping all the Argentinean people and getting them water from the well.

Question: What are you most afraid of?
Bryce’s answer: I’m afraid of clowns, bears and dolls

Question: What are you most afraid of in your mission?
Bryce’s answer: This is truly a deep question, getting bitten by dogs cause I don’t like dogs, actually I do like dogs I just don’t like them when they bite me. Are there Chihuahuas in Argentina?
Eating inside of animals that I don’t want to eat, like Corazon (heart) and stuff like that.

Question: How do you feel about wearing a tie almost 24/7?
Bryce’s answer: If it’s a singing tie, I’m cool with it. Or one it lights up otherwise I don’t care about it.

Question: How about riding a bike all day long?
Bryce’s answer: Depends how they drive, if it is like they drive in Phoenix or Mexico, heck no. otherwise, I’m cool with it.

Question: What do you think will be most difficult from you there?
Bryce’s answer: When the Suns win the national championship and not listening to music and not going swimming, and getting used to the cold weather, and talking like an argentine.

Question: What would be easiest?
Bryce’s answer: Not listening to music cause the music down there sucks. And gaining weight, actually depends on the food
Feeling the spirit and serving the people of Argentina to the upmost of my capacity

Question: How good are you at playing soccer?
Bryce’s answer: Move over Diego Maradona, nuff said.

Question: Would you like to have American companions or Latinos?
Bryce’s answer: Does not matter, I would serve with the upmost of my capacity with whomever I serve with.

Question: Do you think you will get mugged?
Bryce’s answer: They have to be brave to mug me.

Question: What will you do when you have a cranky or homesick companion?
Bryce’s answer: The cranky companion, I’m very laid back so it won’t bother me, the homesick I’ll just work so he’ll forget about it.

Question: What about having to read and study so much?
Bryce’s answer: No problem.

Question: Would you like your brother to go visit you and maybe serve with you a couple of days when his mission is over?
Bryce’s answer: Heck yeah. It would be cool. And then we can see who’s the better missionary.

Question: Will you miss mom’s wonderful home cooking?
Bryce’s answer: Don’t ask questions you won’t like the answers to

Question: What will you miss from home?
Bryce’s answer: My pictures

Question: Who will you miss the most?
Bryce’s answer: Liz

Question: What would you like us to send while you are on your mission?
Bryce’s answer: Kool-Aid and money

Question: How many baptisms you think you will have?
Bryce’s answer: Numbers don’t matter to me. So if I can take one person to the Lord that would be enough cause that one person will convert another and they will multiply to convert thousands maybe even millions by the end of my life

Question: How many times do you think you are going to have to eat what your brother calls mystery meat?
Bryce’s answer: More times than I would like to think about.

Question: How many times do you think you will read the book of Mormon in your mission?
Bryce’s answer: You can’t read the book of Mormon enough times, probably like 15 or 20 times.

Question: How many times do you think girls will ask you to marry them?
Bryce’s answer: Millions, but after seeing my mom and sisters no way I will marry an argentine girl.

Question: How does it feel not seeing your missionary brother for 3 years?
Bryce’s answer: Fantastic, I’ve seen him every day of my life, 3 yrs is going to be beautiful. Just kidding, I hope to see him when he finishes his mission if he can be my companion for a few days.

Question: What’s your favorite hymn?
Bryce’s answer: Popcorn popping & praise to the man (you can thank EFY for that one)

Question: How many ties do you have now & which one is your favorite?
Bryce’s answer: what kind of question is that, who cares? Pam: I care. Bryce: I don’t, but I have a lot.

Question: Will you obey ALL the rules?
Bryce’s answer: What do you think?

Question: Will you sing hymns while riding the bus or your bike?
Bryce’s answer: No.

The mission call is already changing Bryce

These photos are living proof that even a mission call changes young men. Bryce, who has what many would call a deadly allergy to shopping, was seen doing just such thing less than a week after receiving his mission call.

Some members of the family believe that he might even make another shopping trip before entering the MTC on April 29th.
We can only hope.

Getting the Mission Call to Argentina Bahia Blanca

Argentina Bahia Blanca

Bryce received his mission call to the Argentina Bahia Blanca mission. He reports to the MTC in Provo on April 29, 09.