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