Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

hey everybody, how's it going.... well, not much has changed since the last email. to be honest there wasn't too many full days to work, and so yeah... monday we were in mar del plata... then Tuesday in necochea, and then we were in loberia for Christmas eve, and Christmas day, i called the family.... but we did get transfers..... and elder Guzman. left.... my new comp is from Formosa Argentina.... his name is elder Garcia... so yeah, i actually knew him in bahia when i was there so I'm way excited. but yeah, we will need to start kind of from scratch but I'm way excited, we will be fine, and have a little bit more exito.....

so yeah, right now I'm in necochea, and i have been here since Sunday and stay till Tuesday because of transfers, and tomorrow district meeting.... but yeah... for Christmas, me and elder Guzman, well Christmas eve, we had an asado (BBQ), and yeah, then in the church watching movies, Jose smith profeta of the retauracion, legacy, stuff like that... it was fun..

really not to much to tell you all but yeah, it's been fun... I'm way excited for the new transfer, my new comp has a lot of pilas (he's a battery) so that will help me out a lot. so yeah we will start all over, and be worthy of the blessing and the exito that is here in loberia. and so yeah...

i just want to say thanks you all for the love and the support. and i wish you all a very merry Christmas... and a happy new year...

and for Alana that's way cool you're getting baptized, wish i could be there but i cant but I'm way proud of your decision Alana... and stay cool....

and i also want to say thank you for the presents you sent me, but to name a few Pam and kirk, your present came in perfect time... thank you so much... then for the packages you all told me you sent, but might have got sent back...... but yeah thank you all too.......

alright, sorry for the like 3 Weeks of short letters but yeah.... know that i love you and miss you all. and will see y'all latter.... peace out

Christmas - Ponder on the reason for it all

well, the good news and the bad news for you all is that this Saturday i will be calling you all so i will keep the letter short so that we have lots to talk about when i call.

but actually the funny thing is, right now, I'm writing from mar del plata caisamar. we had a super p-day and i had to come here. it's way cool to walk an old area. the bad thing is that i don't have a chance to pass by some of my friends before i go back to loberia. but, oh well, it is what it is.

so this week has been interesting, church the assistance dropped a ton, and there were only 10 in sacrament meeting, to be honest, don't know why it dropped, normally more people come during Christmas but oh well....

we have been working with 2 of our investigators, trying to get them to get baptized but we just need to be patient, they are willing, just don't really understand why.... but they will get there....

so yeah, aside from that it was a normal week, we worked and did what we had to do but it's harder this time a year cause everyone gets way into Christmas gifts and shopping, but forget the reasoning to it all. happens everywhere i think. but yeah...

so i am way excited for Christmas and new years to be over so everyone will kind of simmer down and so we can teach, and find people a little bit easier. but I'm also way happy to call you all and talk to the fam... so i will try to call at 11 but i will call first, one of this days, to work out the little details.....sorry that's mainly for my mom.... whoops.. but oh well......

so yeah, um i have a couple of funny things that happened but i will tell in the phone call...... but yeah, so mainly i just want to wish everybody a merry Christmas... and celebrate it good, and have fun.... but also try to take a step back and really ponder on the reason for it all... i promise it will be a little more joyus.....(i think i made up a new word but oh well) so yeah, know that I'm way grateful to be here, and i love the mission... so thanks for the support, and for the love, i miss you all and am with you in spirit... so don't forget to send me gifts.... lol... nah just playing... it's all about Christ. but alright see y'all later and peace out

Interesting work

hey everybody.

this week was an interesting one. but it's been getting better here. this week was mainly trying to teach the fechas we have and try to get them to go to church. and in which none of them really came but it was a good week anyway. it's funny to see how God is always willing to bless us. we were blessed to work, we found a couple more people to teach and focused on the fechas. but we will see if this weekend we can get any. i hope we can... i know we can. but yeah.

this weekend we divis with the district leader and an AP... my ex comp van wagenen. i was with waggy and we did service all day, we cut one of our investigators grass, cause it was way long. but yeah, it was fun to be with him again. brought back old times.

but yeah, then Sunday for the first time me and my comp didn't have to speak, or bless the sacrament. i did direct, and my comp taught the class. but the branch is getting more consistent now. at least we have had like 25 or more for the past 2 or 3 weeks so that's good. and some menos activos are going back to so yeah, all in all, a good week...

but to be honest sorry I'm going to keep the letter short; my mind went blank and don't know what to write.

but yeah thanks for the love, and the support. you all have always been there to help me, and for that i am way grateful.... i love this work that I'm doing.. nothing's better than it, and nothing else i would rather be doing. but i love y'all and will see you all later....

peace out

Being humble to see the miracles

hey every one, this week was good. we actually found a lot of people and so we are getting started with getting them ready for their fechas... the biggest problem is finding our investigators after we found them the first time... kind of the story of my mission... but yeah. no complaints. it's funny how sometimes the Lord just wants patience out of us. like last week was way hard, to be honest so was this one but yet God blessed us and helped us find more people. so it was cool.....

Monday, we found this dude named juan, it was funny, it was raining, and we passed his house then we doubled back so we could knock it and he let us in. we taught him, he's a great dude. then Tuesday, we found some more people, a family of 3, well, more like a sister and brothers but they are way funny, they heard the lessons before and pretty much know everything. we just need to help them apply it. but yeah....
we pretty much found people every day of the week. and Saturday, we found the coolest dude. his name is Jeremiah... like the bible prophet. but this dude looks and acts like Chris Rock... he's way funny, heis 20 years old... but he had us laughing all the time in the cita. it was fun.
all in all, we received many blessings... patience is the name of the game. but it was a good week all in all.

but to try to answer some questions.....

here the only person that gives us food is presidente gutirrez, and to be honest, if we go to his house every day he will give us food... way good. but most of the week we fend for ourselves. and so yeah, we eat, hamburgers, pizza, pasta, rice, sandwiches, and whatever else we have in the house...

then the branch is still fun, me or my comp has to teach Sunday school. and then whatever other class the teachers didn't prepare. and we talk every sunday. wether it be directing, talks, prayers.... either way, the members here get the blessing of hearing my broken Spanish...lol.. well, strong yankee accent. but yeah....

but yeah, like i said, this week was a lot better, most of it was just in forgetting myself and serving the people and being humble enough to see the miracles..... God sometime kicks us on our butts so we can get better and progress. so after the swift kick in the rear from last week, I'm good until probably tomorrow and then i'll need another..lol.... but that's life, right? Progress, slowly but surely... like someone told me in an email "we ain't the losing team". just work hard, serve, love, be myself, stay chill, and it will all go good, or at least, the way it needs to go.

but yeah..... so thanks y'all for the letters i'm gonna try to answer all the emails i didn't answer last week. sorry, know I'm way gratefully to get mail. and love hearing from family and friends. so thanks for the support.

love y'all and peace out....

One more thing I'm grateful for

hey everybody, hope you all enjoyed your turkey day and Thanksgiving festivities.... but first...... tengo que añadir algo a la lista que hice la semana pasada, numero 11...estoy agradecido por mi presidente de mision y su esposa... ellos son todo lo que yo pudiera haber esperado de un presidente de la mision... son capos.. son como mis padres argentinos que todavia viven en argentina... gracias a ellos...

to be honest with y'all, this week was probably the hardest and worst week datawise i have had all my mission. nobody was in the houses, all the citas fell through and our investigators weren't there for the citas either.... o sea we pretty much just walked around and did contacts in the streets and knock houses... so yeah...

but this week we had zone conference, and i had the chance to talk with pres a little bit where he told me he saw my list was not too happy that he wasn't there...lol... but i fixed it..he's there now.. and that's pretty much what i learned this week. most of the times in our life or at least in mine.. we try to fix stuff by doing doing weird stuff when we miss the easy solution that's right in front of our faces...
but the conference was great, helped me and my comp a lot and we learned and got a lot of questions answered... it's way cool to see how inspired people are sometimes, like always presidente in his talks answers all my questions so in the interview there is really nothing to talk about...lol... got to say he's way efficient. but yeah

but yeah, aside from that... the conference was in tandil, and so Friday we went there and came back on Saturday night... but yeah, it was fun.... but the good thing is from this week here on out it's all up hill. we can't get worse, really...lol... but it's all got to about trials, faith, and obedience. and if i do all i've got to, God will bless us in the way we need it. and that's true. so just keep on fighting.

but yeah... sorry the letter is short. the computer shut off on me halfway through the first time, then this is the second but yeah... i love y'all. thanks for the package.. and the fotos, and all the letters i got a lot this week, it was cool.. but i love y'all again....

thanks and peace out

10 things I'm grateful for!

well, this week was kind of like last week. the good thing is these past weeks we have been teaching this family. i don't know if i told y'all but their names are luisina, jose, and abel. they are way good people. and they really need the gospel. to be honest, they are the only investigators were they are always there. the mom passed away in February and the jose and all his daughters. they are a great family, and they are learning and are way excited to hear the message. but with them we have been working a lot.....

also, every Wednesday, we go to an even smaller town outside of loberia called tamgueyu. there, we have had a lot of success surprisingly. and we want to try to go 2 times a week now. but just so y'all know how small it is, we already knock every door there. but if not all them answered and also we found some good families there. but it's about 4 or 5 kilometros or in other words it's kind of far. but at least, i will lose weigth... that's good. lol...

but yeah, aside from that it's been normal. we have been trying to find some new people who will be there when we put citas. but yeah. can't complain.

as far as the church went on Sunday. it was fun. we had none of our investigators go, and also none of the youth went that we have been working with . but yeah, it was raining a little so that's always kind of the excuse they throw out. but yeah. this sunday was the Sunday of dropping the cane. i gave the Sunday school class, it didn't turn out as well as i would have liked but oh well, it was from the old testament, called los pastores de israel (the shepherds of Israel). then in sacrament meeting there were 2 talks on diezmo (tithing), and 1 on orgullo (pride). so yeah, it was kind of funny. but yeah.

but like in all things hard there are miracles to be seen if we open our eyes to them. but yeah, this week we are planing for ways to get better success in the work here and so we will see what happens.

but yeah, i actually don't know when is turkey day or i don't know if it passed but happy turkey day..... i think i will list ten thing i am grateful for....

1. my family, the thing i that i truly miss the most of everything. Everything i am, the good and the bad, it's their fault. so thanks family of mine. i love y'all and y'all helped me get this far and taught me by your examples.

2. the scriptures.....because who doesn't want to hear the word of God. and who doesn't want to have the blessing and knowledge that comes with that...they have helped me a lot this past few months.

3. the church.... who doesn't want Gods only true church......( i write that as though He has churches that aren't true..lol)

4. the mission.... I'm learning a lot and am really getting directed in what i want to do when i get back and learning a whole bunch.

5. the branch and my old ward.... this are the people who put up with me in the church, and who guided me and taught me. so thank you all. i miss you all.

6. driving..... probably the thing i miss second most... it sucks not being able to drive and having to watch this people who don't know how to drive do it....

7. temples... i underestimated this one when i was at home, and could go. i always tell the members here when they say "if only the temple were closer we would go more often" that when it's closer it's harder cause you always wind up saying " i will go next week" or tomorrow.

8. my friends and family. this time i put friends before family cause i already talked about my family. but thanks for those of you who have supported me, and have written to me, and to one of my special bros... who just got a girlfriend named nikki.... or is working on that.... keep up the good work.... i miss just chilling with y'all. and i say family cause y'all are my friends... so yeah...

9. for computers that don't freeze and go slow... I'm sure this email will take about 5 minutes to send... cause it's long.... but yeah, I'm grateful for that.

10. I'm grateful to be grateful for so many things... and that God's blessed me, probably more than i deserve. but yeah...

so yeah, that's the list. if you want to see if there is a difference from this year and last year check it out.... but yeah thanks for everything for the love and for the support i love you all and miss you all. but i will see you all latter..

peace out

We are still here in Loberia

hey y'all,

well, the good news is i stay here, to be honest I didn't really think I would go, but wasn't sure about my comp. in the end we both stayed which is good. we get along good. and are way excited for a new transfer, as of right now we have the same problem with almost all of the people we are teaching. but we have this one family, in all, it's a family of like 5 or six as of right now we have only been able to teach like 4 but they are good, and are reading and praying or, in other words they will get an answer, and it's great cause they really need it. the names of the people are luisina, jose, abel... they are way good. and ask a lot of questions which is good. cause it shows they have interest. but yeah... aside from that it's been hard to find everyone else but it's the way it is. I'm going to go back to my policy 3 strikes you're out. so that should help us be a little more efficient.

but this week in church i directed, it was a funny experience cause when i started nobody listened to me. but then they realized i started. and the hermano that has rock concerts during church i got used to it..... but the good thing is we are having a lot of exito with the youth, funny how just when u do activities, all the youth will start coming back. this week we had 4 deacons, and the activity was capture the flag with water balloons.... there were about 10 people who showed up. so it was worth it. and when i say people i mean youth. but yeah, they liked the opportunity to try to hit the elders with water balloons.... and my comp was way happy to hit them with water balloons to so it was fun.....

aside from that, it's been cool. this week, to be honest, passed by way quick. almost all the time we were working in the campo, we went to a pueblito outside of the pueblo of loberia called tamangueyu. it's like 4 kilometros, we walked there and had pretty good success. it was funny, the people would say after we knocked the door: passen (come in) so we would walk in and then they would be like dang it was funny.... but yeah

it's been a fun week. and this transfer me and guzman are going for the exito we haven't been able to have.

but yeah, that's been life here, Tuesday river and boca play so it will be funny to work in that. but yeah, thanks for the love and the support and the letters. i miss y'all and will see you later

All in all, I LOVE IT!

hey everybody,

this week has been very normal. pueblo life here is way easy. it's been pretty much filled with yard work service projects, and trying to find all our investigators. As of now that's the biggest problem, not finding people, but finding them after we have taught them. kind of ironic. but yeah, we still are working hard.

the first half of the week i was doing divis with the district leader, it was fun, mainly cause the district leader is one of my friends in the mission. so yeah, it was nice. then after that, me and guzman, had a service project and it took about 2 days. i swear all the gardeners here in loberia are going to hate us. but yeah, it was funny to see people use a lawnmower like a vacuum....lol... but yeah, here it's great. I'm already starting to know everybody. sometimes, when we do contacts, i say "hey how about now, you want to listen"..... and if they say no i just say we will talk more latter. that way i can stop them as many times as needed until they say yes. it's a new tactic i have learned here in loberia.

but aside from that, it's been kind of normal. it's been raining a lot here so it always makes me not the happiest camper but i enjoy it for the first 10 minutes.... yeah, sorry not so much to write about but now to answer some questions....

about the rama.... every sunday we have about 15-25 people who go. most of which are older women. there are pretty much 2 families that go. family of presidente, his daughters, and his son. and another family andina....but are way good. so it's cool.

but yeah, it's interesting cause we never know what classes we are going to teach. this week, presidente told us, he wanted us to start mutual. so we did that on saturday, wanna guess what we did? i taught the kids to play some b-ball. but it was fun, 3 kids went then 2 went to church which was nice. cause then the presidents son didn't have to be lonely. but yeah, so it's fun. I'm learning to become a great class winger, and can kill lots of time if i have to give a talk. so it's way funny. even better cause they have to pay attention to understand what I'm saying cause my accent is strong, and i don't really open my mouth. but it's fun. but that's about all the stuff about the rama. and primary, there are about 5 kids and they're all from the same parent so their mom is the primary president. so yeah. all in all, i love it.

but about the family of my presidente, the more i get to know him the more I'm sure he has the strongest testimony i have ever seen. he is a great man, and has had a lot of problems and has carried the branch pretty much solo for like 3 years now. but he is awesome and works hard. so what more can u ask for? i can't think of anything.....lol... but yeah

so this week is transfers. to be honest, i don't think i will go but at the same time, i haven't stayed in the same place for more than 2 transfers since i was in santa rosa., my comp might go but i think we will both stay. but yeah whatever happens i've got no complaints and way excited to see what we can do here in the pueblo.

but yeah peace out.... oh I'm going to send fotos

We found my family of Seven!!!

hey everybody,

this week was honestly the week of p-days without being p-days.... i will explain how this happened. Tuesday... we went to work in the morning and the branch president told us about an hermana that wanted to have some service done in her house. so we called and she tells us to go during the siesta. so we go but we go in normal missionary clothes so everyone in the neighborhood started watching to see the Mormons get dirty cutting grass, that probably wasn't cut since last year, with and edger ( or the machine that we use in the States to trim the edges of the grass.) but yeah, after one hour of that we had a cita, went there and they didn't answer so we go home and change in normal clothes and go back to cutting the grass in Africa...lol... but it was true, i should have taking a foto. but after like 3 and a half more hours we finish. it wasn't that even but from far away, nobody can tell the difference.

and so then we get ready for another cita we had with a lady called claudia and then we put a fecha with her. she is a lady who has like 4 kids. The first time we taught her, her kids told her not to listen and that we are crazy and she told them she learns more with us than with other churches. and so yeah, we will see what happens. Also, Monday we found a family of 7, jaja, they are way good but it's a single mom and 6 other kids. but she is way excited to read and learn more about the Church and God. so that's way awesome....

then, wednesday was like another p-day.... it was the day of the census and so we couldn't go out to work until someone came by our house to ask some questions. that now that i think about it was way pointless, for a Yankee and a Chileno to answer. but oh well.... in case u are wondering my political party here in Argentina.... it's the jovenes radicales.... just so you all know.... they seem like nice people. and so anyway they didn't pass by till like 5 in the afternoon. so then, we went to a cita with Pablo but he wasn't there. but yeah. he went to visit balcarse. but yeah, then the rest of the week it has been raining, so it's been way hard to get people to let us inside. but yeah .... so yeah, and it rained until sunday afternoon.. then sunday during church i had to give a talk and teach the primary, and sacerdocio (priesthood). so it was a busy day and we had 2 people in the church..... but it was fun..

all in all, this week was fun with a lot of water and a lot of spare time. but yeah, we were blessed to find some great people this week. the big family, and claudia, and also we were able to get the family that dropped us last week to let us in and they decided to keep going. but yeah.... it's been fun.

so yeah, that was about the week.

thank you all for the emails, and all the support that y'all have given me. so yeah, i will see y'all later.... peace out

Autographs please

hey every one how's it going. hope life is good. here, this week has been way hard but kind of fun. me and my comp find a way to pass the time and have fun, while we work. this week the cops didn't bug us, they are still everywhere in the city and they still pass by and wait outside our house a little, it's funny cause if we notice they are there we close all the windows and make it look way suspicious... at least until they come with a warrant... if they have those here. but yeah, it's been funny with that.

as far as all the other stuff is concerned. this week we found a family, and we found a dude who is way good. the dude's name is pablo,and he was a reference we contacted without contacting it. our presidente gave us the reference and then we were walking in the street and found him and put a cita. it was way cool so that's something cool. and the other family, is a family of 3 but we found them, then they have been hard to find again. so we will see what's up with that. aside from that we have pretty much lost everyone else. the family that was going to be baptized this weekend sent us a message that said she wanted to think alone, and told us to not call her back. like any good person we are not giving up on her but yeah, she don't answer the phone and we haven't passed by the house o sea yeah we will see what's up with that. but yeah that's been pretty much the story of the week with us. most everyone told us we will call u when we can, which pretty much means they wont call. but yeah, we will see what's up. but now that i think about it, the week was pretty good mainly cause we found pablo, he's like 47 or something like that, which is what the branch needs, men who will want to work. but yeah

this sunday was the primary program. it was way good considering that there were only like 5 kids. after, i went to them and asked them for their autographs, they were way happy about that. but they did way good...... but now i need to tell u all something that happened that had me and my comp laughing the whole time with the music. but not with the kids.... in the church we had someone who plays the piano. and i was happy cause its been a while, we all sing out of tone, and so i thought the piano would be good. the dude plays the introduction, does it perfectly. it was way nice. then he starts playing jesus es mi luz. the dude starts nice and softly then all of a sudden goes crazy and starts pounding the piano playing so loud that nobody can sing, and he would throw in little cool piano notes that aren't in the song to show of a bit..... me and my comp were laughing way hard. then the sacrament song. this is where it gets worse, we stand up to break the bread and they guy is playing asombro me da. and he starts going nuts with it. i started laughing and then my comp started laughing. and we couldn't stop. we had the district president there, who dropped the cane on us after. then he told us he was laughing also. so it wasn't so bad. but yeah, it was a way funny sunday.

but yeah that's all i pretty much remember as of right now. so yeah, um, thanks for everything, for the love, the support, and the prayers. i love y'all. it's hard here but it's fun, and I'm learning a lot. and it's a pueblo of like 12 000 people in total.... with campo..... but I'm sure there is like, at least, 100 people here for us to baptize, and teach... we just needed to find them in the middle of the 11 900 people... but yeah, 100, a lot of people.... so yeah.... but yeah

ok i love y'all, will see y'all latter, peace out

Rain and police

hey everybody, hows life....

this week has been interesting mainly cause it was raining since wednesday night. and I'm not the happiest camper in the rain... so it was kind of hard for me but it happens. cant beat mother nature.

but Tuesday we went to necochea for reunion de districto. and it was good but we left early cause we needed to catch our bus. but yeah.

here the work is going good. this last week we didn't find anybody. so that kind of stunk, but like always there are more good stuff than bad stuff. like this last week we worked a lot with menos activos and found and taught some good families, and so we will work with them try to get them to go back to church.... but the fun thing about working with menos activos is that you can always learn about the problems the rama has had, and sometimes why the church has a bad rap. here it's cause there is a family with kids menos activos, but they are all thieves.... like the only ones in loberia. the funny thing is that most nights we get home and there is a cop out side our house. we thought he was protecting us. but then presidente told us that the police would follow the missionaries, and vigilar them (sorry forgot
the word for that). so that's way funny. they weren't protecting us, they were spying on us. the rest of the week me and my comp have been pretending that we had ear phones in our ears, i talk in English when we pass them... but yeah, that's about the highlight of the week.

the rest with the service, it was hard cause the rain, so nobody is in the streets but everyone has cars here. so it's weird.

but yeah, then this sunday was kind of an experience also with the rain we only had like 17 people in total in church. we didn't have any investigators, cause with the rain and mothers day. they didn't commit to it. but my comp directed, i blessed the sacrament, water and bread. and then me and my comp had talks, and then the branch president. so it was fun. but yeah, it's cool cause, like i said last week, i'm learning a lot about how the church is organized and it's way cool to see. but yeah

but right now we have a couple of families that we are teaching. the best ones are called the familia castellano. im sure i spell it wrong but they are a family of 4. well more, but 4 that can be baptized, but they are good. right now we are teaching about the commandments. and they have a fecha for the 30 of october. so that's way cool.

but yeah that was pretty much the week. rain, getting spied on by the police, and mothers day.... so to all moms: happy mothers day.

oh yeah just cause i know my mom will ask me latter, my talk was about temples. but i talked like 5 minutes about moms, and told them your 2 rules. but nobody got it or they are a tough crowd here in loberia. but with my awesomely great charm they will all ask me to talk every week....lol...

but yeah thank u all for the letters, the letters helped a lot. just to here how things are going over there is nice. its kind of always hard to stay focused when u cant see the exito but your letters helped me. so thanks for the love and the support. i will see you latter.

peace out

Changes and learning

hey everyone.

if u can't tell there are some new changes in the mission, one of which is p-day is once again on Monday, so that's why I'm writing u on Monday...... yeah ...... lol. the second change in the mission and this is the crazy one that has some elders upset.... is no siesta... yep, pres wants us to work. so yeah, it's been fun, the changes just took place yesterday, so yeah, it's been fun.

but now, about here in loberia this week has been very fun, and i have learned a lot, many things about how the church works. yesterday it was fast Sunday and i had the opportunity to see what the church how the church deals with it. way cool, for me at least, strengthens my testimony to see how organized and simple it is. so yeah, it's been cool. but as far as the area it's been great. i like it. it's a small pueblo but there are a lot of people who walk around and work so there is always people to talk to. but this week it's been hard for us to get in houses but that will change this week cause, i think, i figured out how to get inside. but it's been fun.

i kind of figured we would go about like Ammon did and ask people if they needed help so that's what we did, we did like 4 service things for the people, the funnest part was Saturday we help build a house. so yeah, it was fun and yeah....

also me and my comp get along great, so that makes it easier to adapt. but aside from that, not much really changed considering i wrote to y'all a couple of days ago. but yeah, just a lot of service. and it's working pretty good. and so yeah.

in the church here we were a total of 27 people, including me and my comp and the branch president. but yeah, it's a nice little branch, the members are great and happy, as of right now, just kind of lonely but we'll change that. but yeah, so that's what's been up with this week.

and about the changes, the p day one doesn't bug me, and to be honest neither does the no siesta thing, pres knows what he is doing and so i just do what he tells us. and it's never hurt me, on the contrary it helps, so yeah......

but yeah, I'm going to try to send some pictures this week again, mom ur going to be happy cause I'm taking a lot of pictures here.... mainly cause nobody will rob us here. so yeah

also this sunday was some crazy day in Loberia where a bunch of people from other places came and did dances and stuff. it was kind of funny, cause the people in the pueblo were there at the fiesta, party, festival thing, so yeah, it was funny to see. and mainly cause there were a lot of people in the streets...easy to do contacts. so yeah, it was cool. but yeah that's about it so yeah

thank you all for the support, the love and the prayers. I'm way happy here, and loving every minute of it, mainly cause I'm learning so much..... it's way cool but yeah love y'all peace out

I just got to do what the Lord wants me to do

well, this week has been crazy, but mainly with conference and the baptism. but so i will start with the baptism. we didn't have it, what happened is we were getting everything ready to go, we were going to do it in the morning, but then we figured out we didn't have the key to the baptismal fount and so we called the bishop and he tells us to fill it up anyway... so we do it without going inside. then we realize that the fount isn't clogged... so we needed to go inside to stop the water from draining. so we go outside and see that the window was open... and so i hoped inside and put the plug... it was way funny cause there must have been people watching and thinking why are the mormons breaking into their own church. but yeah, in the end we got a call from antonela and she said she had to work and wouldn't be able to do it..... to show that God works in mysterious ways.. obispo forgot that he didn't even have the keys, so if she would have come she wouldn't have been able to get baptized anyways... so yeah, big blessing..... but then conference..... it was awesome. i got to say i love conference, the talks just get better and better. so i can't complain....

and so now with transfers..... I'm now in a little pueblito called loberia. it's a pueblo right above necochea. to be honest, when i got the news i wasn't the happiest camper, cause i had just got to villa serra a little while ago. but yeah, i can't complain, i realize I'm getting the things i wanted in the mission... as far as the places i want to go, and things i want to do.... in loberia, it's a branch, and I'm a 1st counselor in the branch. so I'm going to learn a lot about how to do that stuff. which is really what i wanted.... so I'm happy with the change. my comp is a chileno called elder guzman, I'm his 2nd comp in the mission, so it's fun to have someone with that newbie desire. he is a really good kid, i like him. but yeah.....

to explain what the pueblo is like, it's about 24 by 24, so it could be smaller. but it's a pueblo filled with a bunch of old people and the church doesn't have the best reputation, and in pueblos it's hard to fix that.... non the less. I'm excited to see what the Lord can do with us there. we will need to rely on the spirit a lot cause i have never worked in a pueblo nor have i ever lived in one... so it's going to be fun. this couple of days working there, my comp has been comp mayor showing me around and helping me with that. but we are talking with every one.... i figure it's a pueblo with 5 thousand to 10 thousand so there has got to be a lot of people so I'm way excited...... but yeah that's with transfers....

funny fact in my old area, my son, elder bills, is going there. that would be the 3rd time i have left him an area. he has been following me in the mission. so it was funny when i heard that.

but yeah, it's been a crazy week but no complaints. i just got to do what the Lord wants me to do, and let Him make me the tool He needs me to be. so yeah, I'm way excited just to see what we can to here.... but yeah, I'm going to try to send pictures of necochea, I'm here right now and took a lot of pictures so my mom would be happy, so yeah...

but thanks for the love and the support. i love y'all. and will see y'all latter...

peace out

Transfers, Conference and Baptism

well, i have big news..... transfers are this week. and general conference. so i will start with first things first..

transfers.... this one i have no idea what to think because i have been with my comp for 2 transfers, but in 2 different areas. really i have been here in bahia for like 5 months. and so it can go either way. i always play a little game with the elders in the house and try to predict transfers. so i will play with u all. try to decide what happens. if i stay or go and if my comp will stay or go... hopefully we both stay, we are a really great companionship, and elder waggy is a great friend. but iré y haré (I'll go and do) so yeah, we will see. but i will let y'all know...

then with general conference this weekend also it's going to make transfers interesting. but I'm way excited, and we are working to try to get everybody to go and hear the prophet cause if they hear him they will want to know more. it's kind of funny how conference talks are so much better when u actually listen. who would have thought....lol..

but also, to make this weekend even crazier but way awesome is we have a baptism... yeah, her name is antonela, we have been teaching her all the transfer. but we have also kind of had a fecha with her all the transfer but now she has the assistance, and and the testimony and is way excited for the baptism. then, next week, we have 3 more, who is an incomplete family, they are way good... they kick a lot or in other words, they want to know everything and complain about everything, but the funny thing is they all got their answers and know they have to do it and obey. so it's way fun to teach them, cause when they have a doubt about the commandments we just always say remember your answer. and so yeah. with them once they hear the prophet and the apostles, they will be way happy, so yeah....

but this week has been kind of crazy, as right now we have 7 living with us in our house, 2 of them are from another area but stuff happened there so they have to work with us, and the other is just an elder who is hurt so he needed to go to the doctor but it's been fun being so many but way crazy.... it's easy to see why we have the rule not to get together so much as elders. but yeah, it's been fun and a crazy week.

but to answer some question about rules.... no i don't get on facebook, so if someone aside from my mom and sister get on, get off...lol but nah, all in all, i do my best to be obedient to the mission rules. cause i figured out, a lot of it is so we can have more power in our testimonies, and for protection. so mas vale that i obey them. so i hope that answers those questions. gots to be like nefi, and the last thing i write in my book is "and i must obey, amen."

oh, and mom, i know i promised fotos but i forgot to bring my camera and this cyber isn't so good, so yeah.. my bad...

but yeah, that's pretty much all the things to come. and whats happened. this week we also have interviews, so yeah, it's going to be way crowded... but like all things in life, we just take what comes ahead, and trust in God, stay chill, and have fun. my motto. and i must obey amen...lol...

but thanks for all the love and the support, and the emails... i love y'all and miss y'all and so i will see y'all latter. peace out

I've got the news first

hello family and friends of mine....

well, i guess this week there is a new member of the family. and so that's way cool. happy birth, Lacey Misty Collins.... to be honest, i don't know if that's her name but oh well.... but that's cool. it's kind of weird to think that the family gets bigger while I'm far away but it's way cool. the more the merrier...

but yeah, the week here has been good but normal. we are still working with some of the same people. but they wont be able to get baptized this week cause they couldn't go to church last Sunday but it's alright, to be honest they are more excited to go to church this week cause they felt bad that they didn't go and noticed a difference. so yeah. it's been great.

here it's been funny cause we have been working, pretty much, in the same area, i don't know why but almost always i work far away from the house, it's the same here in villa serra. but it's a great area with great members.

to be honest i cant really think of anything, to say, and i didn't get the questions my mom or pops normally ask cause i haven't gotten the mail. but it's been a great week, like always we were blessed a bunch. one of the families we are teaching, the lessons are always way crazy. they are some of our fechas. to be honest i still don't know how we got them, the first time we went to their house they were like u brain washed our kid, way angry with us, but then little by little they started listening, and now the lessons, they still ask a bunch of questions but it's kind of like zeezrom in the book of alma, where first he ask the questions to try to find the fault. but then he ask to actually know. it's the same with them they are a great family. they are way funny. but yeah. but yeah that was pretty much my week. it was great, but not too many things outside of the normal. but yeah so thank u all for the love and the support and the prayers........


ps... this is to all the members of the family, as we have been able to see the family has grown at an increasing rate. since i have been on the mission, Jason got married, Amanda is pregnant, and Meli had a baby.... and now someone else is going to have another... but the question is who? i will leave that up to you all to guess and call the person. are u up for the challenge to find out who? but to that person: congratulations. and let me know who is the first to guess right...... ahahahahahahaha....

pss. the name of the person is in this email. lol

but thanks again...love y'all

peace out

We were blessed to know what we have to do and say

hey everybody, sorry but this letter is going to be kind of short.

this past week has been great, as of right now in our area we are working with a family of 4 their names are marcela (mama) Danela (daughter) tomas and ramiero (sons). they are 3 of our four fechas... ramiero is member ya. but it's way funny to see them progress because, when we first met them, they were all saying we brain washed their ramiero, and that we were crazy... and now they have feachas for the 25th of september..
we were blessed to know what we had to do and to say and all the lessons have been great... the other day she told us about how she got her answer (marcela)... it was kind of funny though cause then she went to church and it was all about diezmo (tithing)... but we talked about it and she's way excited.. and know it will help the whole family... so we will see. they are a little bit harder but, if we keep doing what we need to and she keeps praying, they will make it to their fecha...

then the other fecha, antonela... she;s still way good. she went to church also.. and is way excited. but yeah, those are the main people we are teaching. but yeah, this week it has been crazy.

like i said Sunday we had 6 in the church... so that was good. and the rest of the days have been pretty normal. but yeah.. it's funny to see how the Lord blesses us to know what to say, and the stuff we should do. like the other day, this part member family asked us to give their son and the husband a blessing... the husband is the one who is not member and normally when we are there he is nice, we talk but when we pray and talk about the church he leaves... so i got to give him the blessing, and it all just came... it was great. then the funny thing after is he got his daughter and was like lets say a prayer... it was cool and a nice step... for him... but it's cool just to see how we can all be tools... lol... in the hands of the Lord...

but yeah to answer some questions.....

the zone is good but a lot of people sick this week. but it makes it fun.. but I'm way lucky to have a good comp. he helps me out a lot so I'm way blessed. but yeah

so thank u all for the letters and the love and the support. i love y'all...

peace out

Funny story

Well, how's life going for u all.....

this week has been crazy for us.. and it's been kind of funny. this week we had plans to have like 6 people in church with members passing by to pick them... and only one came; it was kind of a disappointment, but oh well, the work goes on. they will all come next week cause they felt really bad they left us and some members hanging. but yeah, pretty much thursday through saturday it was normally going to teach, and trying to get them to go to sacrament meeting.

but yeah, then the big news, on monday and tuesday we had conference with elder adukitis, a member of the 70ty, that came and part of the area presidency...... lets just say he called us all to repentance... it was funny, he dropped the cane but we deserved it, and he did it with love and a smile.

on Monday it was a conference of leaders in all the mission. so there he talked about how the mission is doing, what we need to do to have more exito (sucess). and also talked about paying the price... he said that like 200 times during the 2 conferences "pay the price"... and so after that, presidente talked about some of the new metas (goals) for the mision. and so yeah, it was a great conference.

another good thing about it was that i got to see a lot of my friends in the mission cause everyone had to come here to bahia... so that was fun.....

but then on tuesday it was zone conference, my zone bahia with the santa rosa zone. and it was great. he once again talked about how we can be better, have more faith in the promises, telling us that there is people to find..... something he said that i like a lot is that he said: the field is white and ready to harvest. and if it's ready to harvest, how do we not see many fruits..... yeah he dropped it good... but it was great... I hink it's like all things, when someone gives you advice, even more so a servant of God. u take it and do all u can to do it... so i'm way excited...

this past 2 months the mission has been changing a ton for the better. and with all the new changes i only see good things. it's all about faith , what we need to do to have more, and to put it in practice..... o sea paying the price.

it's been a great week. the mission is a funny place cause it's kind of like a mini life. ur born ur new, u learn or die. when change comes u accept it and adapt to it. same thing when problems come, u solve them. and so yeah, it's funny, i love the mission. it's the best experience ever.....

to answer some questions really fast....

one - no, i could not see or hear the argentina game cause of the conference.. and cause it's against the rules...

funny story though..... tuesday, we got to the church at 9 in the morning to prepare the church, clean up, make it look good for the conference. it should have started at 3 in the afternoon. then the other zone comes like at 10. and then we just wait in the church till it started, cause we didn't want them getting lost if they went out to work... so yeah, anyways, like at 2:50 one of the ap's asked me and my comp to go run really quick, find a kiosco that's open, cause it's the siesta, and buy like 5 bottles of water.... and do it before presidente and elder adukitis come. we go and see presidente in the car with the elder so we started running to the gas station. the only place open... also, we are in our suits, and when we get there the aps call us and tell us that it already started. and so, we buy the water and run back.... we get there late, i give them the water bottles. My tie was way out of place cause we were running, and so yeah, we were one of the first ones there and we got to the meeting late with a general authority there..... worst part about it is that he didn't even need the water... he had his own watter bottle...... yeah, stuff happens.... it was funny to me.... but yeah

ok well, i love y'all very much and miss y'all. and will see y'all latter.

thanks for the prayers... and peace out

Book of Mormon has all the answers

hey every one, how's life going over there....,. this week has been great, well, we have the opportunity to actually work in our area, and we are being blessed...

the end of last week was good, up until friday we couldn't really work in the area that much cause of problems and stuff like that. but after that we have been working. some of the people we have been working, one of them is a lady who is called antonela, we put a fecha with her yesterday... she is a 21 years old who wants to start everything new, and be a better example for her 2 daughters.. she is a really good lady and, as of right now, has been blessed a bunch by the gospel and loves it so, we will see what goes on with that.... but hopefully all is good.

it's been weird now though with 4 elders in our house. to be honest, i always like 4 better than 2 cause it's never boring with 4. and so that helps a lot. even more so when they are all obedient elders. so yeah fun. fun......

but trying to think of a good story to tell, well, yesterday (this story is not really that good but it's the only one that came to my mind, so yeah) so yesterday we went to visit this menos activo, her husband is in jail right now, she is always bumbed about it. but we went to teach her and she said how she lost her faith in the book of Mormon, and in the church. and so we asked her some questions and explained about the atonement, using the book of Mormon, and she didn't want to understand it... it was hard for us, mainly cause she really needs the peace that comes from that book and the bible. but i remembered something in that experience, just how loving god is... that He has given us the book of Mormon to help us. it really does have all the answers one needs in life.

something that i find really funny is everyone who knows me knows i hate reading books, but the only books that i don't mind reading are the scriptures, and that I'm here in Argentina teaching people about a prophet that i know is true because of a book.... kind of funny how little stuff changes our lives. but yeah. it happens, every one can choose for themselves.

but this next week will be kind of crazy because elder Adikitis (no idea how to spell his name) a counselor in the area presidency is coming to visit our mission and is going to check our house..... i don't know why but it's going to be funny when he sees my big suns blanket on the wall.....lol, but yeah

thanks you all for everything u all have given me. i love the mission, every one who can go should go. like everything in life it's hard but worth it. sacrifice brings worth... and so yeah

thanks again and peace out

Just cause things don't go the way we want them...

This week we had transfers and the results are that me and van wagenen are still comps... I'm way happy about the transfers cause it's been about since santarosa since i have had the same comp for more than 2 translados... so I'm way happy about it and we will do a lot of good stuff. So we stay in villa serra, but now we live with 2 other elders... which i always like cause with 4 elders there is always someone to talk to......but yeah, that was transfers......

the end of last week was weird because on Thursday we did divis, i was with an elder called vance.. then on Friday we went to pigue... a pueblo north of bahia. and there we did some baptism interviews.. it was cool, and to be honest probably the best baptism interview i had ever given, the lady was so ready and happy to have the gospel. but then after that, like all things, stuff never goes the way we want. we were supposed to go home that night (on friday) but we missed the bus. and buses in pueblitos don't pass by every 5 minutes... and so we had to stay there again overnight. and then saturday we got back into bahia at like 11. but it was kind of hectic everything. that's one of the coolest things i have learned from the mission, how to stay calm when things go wrong. but it worked out good.

and on Sunday we had a kid called Marcelo in church, he's 16 but this Sunday we hope to get his whole family to go. his parents are from Formosa, and menos activos there, like a family of like 7 in total. but hope it will go good with them. but yeah.

Then terminal, all day from 14:30 to 6 in the morning. yeah, it was long and way funny cause, some elders almost missed their bus. and we caught it just with time but one of the workers for the colectivos was way pissed, he started yelling at us... it was way funny cause he was so mad that he threw his chair against the wall and broke a wheel... but yeah, moral of the story getting mad just don't do any good. but yeah, it was fun....

then just to make the week even more weirder, there are 2 elders who finished the mission but that couldn't go home to Mexico because of some problems there so they have to stay a couple more days, and they are here with us... it's funny. they're dead but still going at it... but yeah, so they are staying and working with us till they can go back home... (bet they never thought that would have been a problem) but yeah, all in all, it's been a crazy week. but like in most things, somethings just never go the way we want them to but it doesn't mean it doesn't go good. to be honest, one of the reasons i love the mission so much.....

I'm so exited for the exito we will have here in whatever form the Lord has for us. and so thank u all for the love and the support. i love u all and will see you all latter. peace out

love y'all

Checking the new area - I like it (a lot)

hey everyone, how's life going over there.... here it's been cool.

this past couple of days my comp has been sick but luckily saturday we were able to work... it's good to be able to see the new area. To be honest i like it a lot, there is a lot of work to be done here and so, I hope, nothing changes for transfers. maybe my comp might go cause he was in the area a year ago. but we will see. they are this week. but these days we have been working, trying to get to know some of the investigators the hermanas left.. we have had luck and met some good families... it's kind of hard for them, cause the hermanas are way different than us (elders) but the spirit and the message is the same. so that's a good advantage we have...

But today we had the zone activity, it was good, we have been planing to try to make that good. and it turned out very well but like always they are way exhausting.. and there are always people not happy but, oh well, it happens... it turned out very good. all problems aside. so i don't complain... but yeah, I'm way tired..

But yeah, that's been pretty much the week for us. to be honest, don't really remember what we have done, or anything that really happened sooo.. yeah but it's been cool to see how the Lord has been blessing me to have the energy i need, to work... i have been way tired but it's true, there's always a little left in the tanque until i get home... so it's been cool to see how God blesses us, when we do what we need to do... so yeah

but thanks for all the support and the love you all have given me. i want u all to know that i love y'all and miss y'all. and sorry for the short letter but yeah como dice la gente es lo que hay.... pero los quierro un montone.... peace out

Transferred but with my comp

well every one, big news, i got transferred..... well kind of, they changed my area but not my comp......

or sea my area is called villa serra. my comp is still van wagenen, but they changed it. the new area is exactly like the name calls it "villa"... but so we got whitewashed in there. it's funny though cause my comp was in that area about a year ago.. so this sunday when we went a lot of people already knew us. so yeah, it's been a weird week... they actually told us last friday night, and saturday we moved... the kind of fun thing about the mission.... but it's cool, i like working in villas a lot more. so yeah.

now, my comp has also been sick most of this week so we haven't been able to work in the area as much as i would have liked but yeah, it's alright... but I'm way excited for the change... the thing i have learned from the mission is change comes whether u want it or not, but it's u who makes it a hard change or an easy one. so I'm happy about it...

i think it's always hard to leave an area, and even more so suddenly, we didn't have time to tell anybody in the ward, minus the obispo, but I'm going to miss them. but I'm like a 20 minute walk from my old area so it's not that bad... lol

but to answer some questions.. the book/books in studying right now is the book of Mormon, and preach my gospel.... I'm also reading Jesus the Christ cause, like i said, my comp is sick and I've got a lot of time in the house so... yeah, it passed the time... way good... it's funny how stuff like TV isn't really that much of an interest right now.. but I'm sure if i saw a suns game i would be way tempted.. that's why i have never seen one...

but my favorite scripture is probably... cant think of one... but i like 2 nefi 4.. and 2 nefi 25. and the bible is way cool. but I'm not reading it right now.. lol.

and my favorite comp i have had in the mission is always going to be the comp i'm with at the moment... right now it's van wagenen.. in two weeks when transfers come we will see...if it changes... hope not... (but with all that talk about change I bet it will come...lol )

but as far as the teaching, it's been great. the meetings helped out a lot. just when we teach there is a huge benefit and we can feel the difference and so can the investigators so it's way great.... and been a huge benefit...

sorry it's been a crazy letter.. but gots to go, love y'all...thanks for the support and prayers.

peace out

Focus on the right stuff - teaching by the spirit

Well, since last week's letter was short, i will try to make this one a good one... this week has been great, the conference ended on friday, and then saturday we had to work like normal.... but about the conference...

the changes aren't really that big, it's just pretty much helping us focus on the right stuff, and letting us rely more on the spirit when we teach..... like it was really like a mini MTC, for the whole week... but the changes in teaching has helped us out a lot. me and my comp have felt the spirit a lot more when we teach... but to better explain the changes, it's not really changes in preach my gospel, but they help us use it better, and by using that book better we will teach better, it's been great.. lets us be better tools in the Lord's hands, so it's great.

but as far as rules go, the only thing is that interviews are once every 3 months, but that's why we are supposed to write to the pres every week.

but during the conference it was presidente teaching us, with the ap's, and a lot of practicas. so we could, kind of, apply what we learned also, what was cool was that i was able to see like most of my really good friends in the mission. so that was fun...

but after the conference, it's been kind of complicated cause we have been in a trio cause one of the elders in the zone doesn't have a comp, cause his newbie didn't show up... and it's really hard to be in a trio, mainly cause the people think we will attack them, and almost quite literally run away from us.. but the lessons we have taught have been great. now we focus more on the people, on the needs, and so pretty much love them in the most productive way.. but yeah...... i guess in short word the purpose of the conference is to give us more confidence teaching with the sprit. cause it's true, many time we hold ourselves back thinking we can't do it, or that God can't/ doesn't love us enough to work through us... kind of funny but true... but all, in the end, depends on faith.. and trusting that He will guide us and give us what we need..

i have seen the difference in this short time, I'm not a great teacher but with the spirit doesn't really matter.. I'm getting better at teaching, and using the spirit way more and me and my comp are going to do big things here.. so I'm excited... but now we need to find some more people to teach cause we don't have too many now..... but yeah, that's everything in a short note... but yeah, I'm grateful for the changes and for the mission, I'm learning a lot of stuff that's use to me now and when i get back... so i love it, mainly cause it's fun.... and yet hard.... almost never do those two things happen at the same time... but oh well

i love u all, thanks for the love and the support. i miss y'all and love y'all, And will See y'all latter..,

peace out

Like back at the MTC

Hey sorry that this week, it's going to be a short letter really don't have a lot of time....

so this week we have been having a bunch of mettings that are helping us teach a little better, and use Preach My Gospel better also.. so it's been good, but brain exhausting, every day 9 to 5, like the mtc. but it's been great with the new changes in the focuses, it will help use have a lot more exito here. so yeah it's going to be great.....

but yeah, sorry for the short letter talk to y'al next week..

thanks for the prayers and the love....

peace out

Games & finding people

Hey everybody, this week has been really good. We have been blessed to find a lot of good people last week. (pretty much on Wednesday through Sunday we found new people) it was cool... then, this week it slowed down a little bit. but yeah, so now we got some people to teach and we are doing good. So it's been really good this week.

the way we have really found people is through contacts on the streets, and so that's been working really good for us.. but its been funny cause as, of this week, it's been hard to get directions for people houses. but it's always like that, just depends on the people. And some of the new people we are teaching are called David y vanesa, they are a young married couple... key word "married".... and they were listening to the charlas in a pueblito en nuequen and so they are really good... but as of right now, we have only passed by them once... so we will see how they are today.... actually a lot of them, it's kind of early ot be able to tell.. but it seems that we found a streak of people who are looking for the gospel, so that's cool...

but just to answer some questions I've got, my comp Van Wagenen is zone leader, I'm his helper. so I'm happy.

some thing cool here is that we found a store that sells stuff really cheap but in bulk... like the pictures with the cookies... and so we bought like 8 boxes of alfajores, and a bunch of other fatty good stuff.... and so we are happy getting fat...

here it's been really cold, and and it's been raining, and so not that fun of a weather to work in, but they say it's like this every winter....(minus last year) so it's going to be an interesting winter, to see how i deal with the cold, but mainly the rain...

oh, just as i remember, this next week there is a big reunion in the mission for leaders and stuff, all next week. and so i don't know if i will be able to write next week so yeah, that might be a little weird but I'm excited cause i hear they are changing a lot of stuff.... and to give u all the hint they gave me, they made a preach my gospel movie 2.... and so I'm excited to see what's going down... something i have learned in the mission is that change is going to come no matter what we do to stop it. the best, and really only thing we can do in most cases is embrace it... and so I'm excited...

but yeah, um, to end it with a funny experience in the zone, me and my comp planned a game we can play as a zone... it's a game about basketball... obviously... and so my comp told me when u do a game and promise a prize at the end, the best thing u can do is win it so u don't waste the money for the zone... and so we started good... but we underestimated how much people want to beat us... and so the last two days, even though we have had ok datos... we still lost..... but everyday we play a different team, and so here is the tablas......

Equipos G P

Lakers 5 0
Jazz 4 1
Nuggets 4 2
Heat 4 2
Suns 3 2
Knicks 3 2
Bobcats 2 3
Spurs 2 3
Hawks 2 3
Bulls 2 4
Wizards 2 4
76ers 2 4
Maverick 2 4

we are the heat.... the 2 teams wining are the hermanas and the games we have lost we lost cause they are cheating.... hump... but it's good....

doesn't animate in a bad or dumb way but makes it a little more competitive... so yeah its cool...

but yeah that's about all i got for today so thanks u all for the love and the support....

i love u all and will see u all later......

All night at the bus terminal

hey everybody,

i don't remember if i said transfers were this week but they were, and the results of transfers is that i am now........... with elder Van Wagenen, he is from Minnesota, but he was born in Mesa or in other words he's a stud.... i met him in Santa Rosa, he is 2 transfers older than me... so we are going to have some fun this transfer together.....

but transfers were kind of a pain in the butt for me.... cause Probert was zone leader and I'm like lackey but number 2 and so with Probert gone i needed to deal with transfers, o sea greet people in the terminal, make sure nobody missed their bus, and so pretty much i was there all night... all in all it's one more reason why i don't want to be leadership in the mission.. cause some elders showed up to the terminal without tickets, others missed their bus.. it was a pain... and i was running on fumes.. cause the whole night got like 30 minutes of sleep.. but it was a blessing cause, all in all, it went good......

here it has been freezing cold, and raining.. two things I'm not really a fan of but my comp still made me go out and work,...lol.... but yeah.....

to give the run down of the week after last p-day, me and Probert did some more divisions, with some other elders... then Saturday, and Sunday was passing by members so Probert could say goodbye.. and Sunday night at 5, we were in the terminal... there till about 8 in the morning Monday.... then Tuesday, me and elder Van Wagenen worked and had a good day..

so that's been pretty much how it's been here, kind of weird but fun... and strange.

but as far as people here, that lady Amalia we will probably leave a little bit and not pass by so often, which is kind of a bummer cause the gospel can really help her, but that's the funny thing about the gospel, is that it's her choice... but something i have been thinking about lately is how great of a analogy is that Alma 32 metaphor or simile thing... that compares faith to a seed, and how when it grows, it grows at different rates... like, i have never seen two trees that look exactly the same. it's the same about faith.. every one's at a different place and is trimmed differently so that it can grow and be the best and biggest it can be... i don't know, the gospel is just cool.. and even better, it's true... so yeah, sorry for the rant.. but that's what we have been teaching a less active member, and it's just cool but anyways...

so really, don't have any more things to say minus the fact that the gay marriage thing is getting pretty big here. so we have been getting a lot of questions about that... but things like that actually help and makes it easier to share the gospel, cause they wonder what we think about it.. so yeah ...

but thanks for everything. sorry the letter probably didn't make sense, my fingers are freezing right now and so...

yeah, i love u all and will see u later... and am grateful for everything u all do for me.

peace out

A week filled with Germans, divis and English class

This week has been good here in Bahia. it's been kind of complicated but it's been good....

up to this point in the week i have been doing divis in coronel Suarez. it was fun, went up Monday, got back today in the morning.... it's a nice pueblito, a lot of germans..... on that note, yes Argentina lost. people were sad but it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be. at least here in Bahia. the people dealt with it good... sucks that they lost, it gave the people here a bunch of animo..... kind of cool how sports can do that... but yes. so back to suarez. Monday me and probert got there at like 1 in the afternoon, after like a 4 hour bus ride. but then i stayed with elder gessel... last name comes from Germany..... and it was good. we worked a lot, and yesterday it rained, we got wet. so it's been a fun week. up till now.

and this weekend we have transfers, so we will see how all that goes. me and probert hopefully stay together... but we will see.. but um... yeah if u cant tell this week has been filled up with lots of germans, and divis, friday we were on divis again. saturday me and my comp worked together and then sunday church. but it's been good.. I'm actually really happy with the area, comp. barrio.. and so yeah, it's a lot easier to work and be happy in those circumstances..

so as far as the area, all the investigators are about the same as far as i know of so not much to tell u all on that front... but yeah, if u can't tell by the fotos I'm getting fat... but i will eat better next transfer.

oh, fourth of July was good, but kind of weird cause now i look back a year ago, and I'm still in Argentina.. it was weird but my comp made some real good American food... pasta and milanesas.. lol... but yeah, i ate a lot.

oh funny story when i was in suarez, i taught an english class, with elder gessel. and it was about buying stuff. and so we did some practices, and during the practice they asked to buy a hamburger.. but it was like a pink panther moment... they couldn't say it right, and i couldn't stop laughing. but it was good...

but yeah that's pretty much all i can remember, um thanks for all the love and support. and the prayers. i miss u all and will see u all soon enough... but love y'all peace out...

Perfect week

hey y'all... this has been a great week... first on the week end we had the baptism of Karina... it went perfect. then Sunday the ward was very happy with us... even to the point that the obispo said we need to be fed more often. it was funny... so I'm going to be getting fat..er.. but yeah... then as far as the game, Sunday... it was crazy here, people were going out to party and yelling from the streets, it was awesome... if they win Saturday i will video or take pictures of it.....

so what the mission was doing last week was a "semana perfecta" or perfect week, where everyone in the mission has had to be exactly perfect with all the rules, and every one has to get at least 215 contacts because that is what the area presidency says... so we did that so we can see the miracles, and mainly to force God to bless us... D&C 82: 10...... and so with all that done, me and my comp had to make sure that we did it and that the other areas did it too... but it was hard cause few of the companionships actually did it. but the ones that did do it saw some miracles..

as far as me and my comp, the baptism and what happened on Sunday was our miracle... this area it's segun dicen one of the hardest areas in the mission.... to be honest, I don't see it, i love it here... but it has also had some bad missionary experiences so not many of the members gave a ton of support to the elders.. but the last companionship's worked on that a lot and we are too and we are seeing the blessings of that work... all the members like us and do the best to help us... so it animates us a ton to work and keep strong.

but that has been the great week we have had, we saw a lot of miracles, a lot of them not really worth telling cause they weren't anything big, or that crazy.. but what i have learned is the smaller ones are more important, and make a bigger difference... that's why i think they are sometimes hard to see. but to be honest, the fact that i can stay on the mission this long, and learn the stuff i have learned, had the exito i have had, and the strength i have received are all miracles... of an all powerful.. yet all loving God...

that was something i learned a lot this week. with that lady i told y'all about. Amalia, where her nieto died... she is angry at God because every one says He is all powerful, and in being all powerful, why does He not step in and make people do stuff, heal people, and stop natural disasters... it's cause He is all loving... loves us enough to let us make mistakes, pass throw hard times, let people make choices, and more than anything give us a purpose, and a way to be happy.. and all powerful enough to give us that way, and option many times we just need to take it..... but yeah, that's what i have learned. sorry for the rant... but i want to thank u all for the love and the support you all have been giving me... for the prayers. and everything... i love u all...... sorry i can't spell...

but yeah. aguante argentina world cup......

peace out

I'm going to be an uncle

hey everyone. sorry this email is coming late.... yesterday me and my comp had to take an elder to a doctor and so we couldn't email... but yeah....

this week has been kind of crazy... but good. but first before i start my normal rant...jaja.. i got news i don't know if u all know this now cause I'm late to write, but i know something u all don't know.....
and just to give it away: Jason and Amanda are going to call their kid Bryce Batistuta Taliercio if it's a boy and if it's a girl Brycina and they will make up the other 2 names... and so, if nobody got the hint, Amanda is embarrassed..-- oh, i mean pregnant... and so in nine months as i predicted there will be a little runt going around bugging us. but yeah, that's cool, gots to say congrats to Amanda and Jason for helping.... but i will send some advice to the both of them so they will deal with it alright. but yeah, i might be home to see the baby if u all want to keep him in for like a month more.... just saying it would be an option.... but congrats

but yeah, this week was crazy in the sense that this Saturday we got a baptism. her name is karina, she's like 30 years old, and she has been investigating for like 4 months here. but yeah, she is a great lady and the gospel has already help her out a bunch. she had lots of problems, and still does but she is just an awesome lady. so hopefully that goes well.

then this week or sea yesterday, we needed to plan an activity for the zone, we did a scavenger hunt in all of centro bahia, it was good. a lot of elders liked it so that was alright but all in all we are doing good. we are teaching a lot of people and most of those people are kind of screaming help us but at the same time they aren't what, i guess, a lot of people would say are easy, but once they get it they are those who get it and never doubt. so i like our gold.... this sunday we found a lady, her name is titi, her husband died a couple days ago and he was mormon, but inactive, but then sunday she came to church and she is really good. and so, all in all, here in this area it's been good... actually great/ i really love the area-people-barrio. so that helps me a ton... and so that's kind of what's been going on here.

as far as the world cup here, it's crazy but mainly after they win. during the game there is nobody on the street or anything, so yeah. it's interesting. but yeah,r the deeper they go the better-crazier it will be, so we will see what pres does.

I'm lucky to be in this barrio cause there is almost always food, they do it more like the States where they sign up, and aren't forced; in some other areas they just throw the names down, and they don't even know so i like this thing better as of right now... but what i eat is normal, something I'm seeing is there is not much variety here with the food so... milanseas are my favorite, but it's all good, so i don't complain whatever they give me... everyone knows I'm allergic to fish....lol..... i tell them that... but nobody believes me.. and here food's not strange so i haven't really eaten anything out of the normal weird for here, like i have eaten tongue, chinchulin, morcilla.... by far the worst... but yeah, not much.

but yeah, something I'm missing the most is driving.... we don't drive so that bums me out but yeah what can i do... can wait to get home to the volvo.... love that car so much..... but yeah, so thanks for all the love and the support. i love u all and miss u all....

peace out

Soccer World Cup & Missionary Work

well, first to answer all the questions about the world cup..... it is really funny. the rules are that we can not watch, but if we happen to get in a house we can't tell them to turn off the TV... right, so we could watch it..... nah... to be honest, it's only different when Argentina plays. when they play it gets closed down, and there is nobody on the streets... but it's funny cause u can tell when it is halftime, cause every one comes out, u can also tell when it's over, cause even more people come out. but yeah, we try to work and find people but during the Argentina game it''s almost usless. but its been fun.. every one goes crazy when they win and go out and blow horns and stuff... so it's good. then the usa game turned out good also. so yeah, it's good stuff and fun... a lot of people say it would be funny if the usa plays aregentina, segun it could happen.... but i hope it doesnt happen, the work here would tank... so yeah, thats whats up for right now..... with that...

as far as the work, we are working with some good investigators that we have found. we are actually recieving a lot of blessings and are getting good contacts that let us go back. so on the finding end, we are doing very good.

also we have an investagator that has a fecha but the fecha is always going back a little cause she is having a lot of problems with the ley (law) and stuff. but so that's good with her.

also we have this one lady who is really hard, she is passing thhrough things and she needs the gospel, dont know if anybody remembers oscar from olavarria, she is the same story. she has lost her nieto, husband, and an aunt and is angry with God. but with her, we are trying to help her understand but she doesnt really want to but we will see what's up and what happens with her. she is really good, her name is amalia. so yeah.

really all in all, i love the area I am in, the ward is great, the people here are great, so yeah, it's been good. i'm excited and know that we will have a lot of success. the only bad thing is the cold here in bahia but it's nice kind of geting used to it now so another blessing.

but yeah, thank you all for the love and the prayers and the support, i know it helps me cause always when i have no ganas i alwasy am able to get that extra umnph.... so thanks and know that i love u all and that i'm happy. i love the mission, noplace else i would rather be. and so thanks again.....

peace out

ps.. thanks for all the emails this week, honestly made the p-day the best one in a while...

peace out

Fun week

ok this week was fun.... there was a lot of stuff to do but it was alright....

Thursday, me and my comp probert went to get the packages for all the zone and then we went to deliver them... so if u guys want to send packages, yes, i do get them a little faster, not by much but without the middle man. so saves that time. but yeah, so that's good. then after that it was a normal day. it's cool in my new area cause there are a ton of people and so it's easier to find some people.. then Friday i had to go with my comp to the mission office for some metting... while he was in the meeting, i was with the office elders, they are not as bad as i thought...but yeah, cool kids. that was pretty much all Friday. then Saturday and Sunday were normal working and teaching people... then Monday i went to a small city called coronel suarez, and we did divisions. it was fun, i like to see other cities/ pueblos, it's cool, so that made me happy. then Tuesday we had zone conference and me and mainly my comp had to put that all together but it was fun, so pretty much it was a busy week, here i also had to give a talk in zone conference, it was bad. but we didn't even plan it till like 2 hours before, so i don't complain. but yeah, it's been fun. these next weeks will be easier. and tranquilo..

oh and funny news from caisamar, my last area, they have gas... yeah ,2 days after i left... yeah ,makes me laugh... so now they are not moving and most of my time there was wasted... oh well, stuff happens for a reason... makes me laugh, i'm happy for my son and my last comp....

so about the zone, there are 13 companionships, 22 elders, and 4 hermanas... the biggest zone. and there are 4 districts. but like i said last week, my official title is assistant to the zone leader, there is only one. so i just help him out. i like it that way.

some thing about this area is it is the area pres. grew up in when he was a kid... he was born in bahia blanca, and this is his old barrio. so a lot of the members know him, but he goes to a different barrio in the otra estaca. so i dont really see him all that much. unless he randomly comes from nowhere. but yeah it's a cool barrio. as of right now i like it a lot.

I'm happy right now with how the things are going. i love u all, thanks for the love and the support... and hope i answered ur questions...

peace out...

oh pops, my street is spell chancay 504..... or... terrada y chancay. i live on the coner above a store... love y'all, peace

Transfers came and I'm in Bahia Blanca

Well guess what transfers came and the results....... are........
I'm now in Bahia Blanca, area hospital... which is like the centro in bahia blanca... as of right now i love it, we already found a new lady doing contacts... and people seem a lot nicer here. so yeah I'm really excited...

my comp is call elder probert... and he is the zone leader.... he's a pimp, great missionary, and we will be good friends. but as his comp I'm what i always called the zone leaders lacky... so yeah that's me... right now, his assistant. but I'm happy.

the only thing is i didn't have time to tell everyone in caisamar i was leaving, so i was bombed about that. but yeah, it's what it is. they actually made the barrio only have 2 elders so the area is now huge.... to be honest it was actually a good thing i left cause me and my comp would have surely fought a lot if i stayed.

so yeah, as far as the area here, like i said, it's in most of what is centro, our mission president is from this barrio, o sea he grew up in my ward, so i'm excited to see the ward....

also, fun fact, manu ginobili lives in my area, I'm going to be sure to bug him and yell at him if i see him on the street... so it will be good. my house is on the street chanqui 504, not sure if that's how u spell it but yeah, try it pop and see if u can find my house.

transfers are always kind of hard cause you always want to see the exito (success) u have had in the area, and i wasn't really able to see it, to be honest, I don't think i will ever know, but i worked the best i could, and so no regrets, it's just hard sometimes.... but yeah kind of used to it, actually helps animate me, so it's always good in a weird way..

but yeah about my comp, he is a transfer younger than me in the mission, and he is from Utah, and worst thing about him is that he is a Lakers fan.... we have been fighting about that for some time now but it's ok, the suns did great and i give them props so yeah.....

to be honest right now I'm not sure what more to write... i will let u all know next week...

so yeah, we also need to set up zone conference this coming week so we will see how that goes. so yeah, i want to thank u all for the love and support, i love u all. and will see y'all later... peace out

I will make the best of it

OK how's life.... here things are getting better, but weirder....
so the thing with the house is we have like 2 houses we will try to get so both with the same immobiliaria (realty) but yeah, we will see if any of those go through...

then with the work here it's been tranquilo... last we week we were focused on finding a house, now we are focused on working, and so we will keep up the cycle.... i look for a house then i find a house, they don't get the house, and we wait for 2 weeks then we look again... but I'm tired of houses again, and so I'm praying we get one of this two houses....

also, the activity we had for the 25th was great, kind of unorganized but beggars cant be choosers.. so it went well, nobody died, and the food always helps an activity have success. so yeah, we had like 70 people there and 3 investigators, so yeah, we will work with that... what we did was like a carnival, but it was raining so games became really simple, like musical chairs, cards, stuff like that... but simple things work... i think most of the time we over complicate things as people, when something can easily be done another way.... so i learned that lesson from the activity... so that was great.

then this week it has been raining a lot and so yeah i have been getting wet a little but as of now we are going good, and finishing the transfer strong, so yeah

this next week is transfers, i don't think i will go but we will see, a lot has changed this transfer so maybe i might go, or maybe my comp, we will see, i hope it all stays the same but whatever happens is God's will so, venga lo que venga, i will make the best of it, so yeah.

thanks for everything, for all the love and the support, and i love u all and miss u all so i will see u later...... peace out

Just keep swimming...like Dory

hey everyone,

guess what i get to do again this week.... yeah look for a house again.... really, the whole situation is crazy and complicated and i don't feel like explaining it all. but yeah, so that's what we are doing.

also we have a big activity the 24th of May because of the 25th of May is like 200 years since the independence of Argentina, so we are planning an activity that needs to go good, cause if it goes bad then the ward wont do any more activities ever again.. so yeah we are also working on that a lot so it can have the exito we want it to have.....

but this week has been weird, well pretty much everything has to do with the house, so yeah....
like the whole thing is a mess. but that's what we have been focused on, this past few days... so yeah.

um yeah sorry, the letter is going to be short, today we actually need to go to a cita, that's why we did cyber early...

but yeah I'm good, like i have come to expect there are trials in everything we do, but we just need to keep swimming... like Dory from finding Nemo... so I'm swimming, happily with life, got no regrets, and loving the trials, so yeah.....

thanks for everything u have giving me the love and all....
peace out.

ok i live on the street cataluña 7515, mar del plata..... if not, the intersections are constitucion and ruta 2, por ahi so hope it helps u.... alright I'll write more next week peace out

Little by little things are coming together

hey everyone,

first things first, sorry about the mothers day call, it got complicated, and so i couldn't call back, and i couldn't talk for so long when i called. sorry for all that, my bad.

yeah, this week was different, it started out with me and my mini, Oscar, and then Thursday i got a call and they told me that i was going to get another comp, but an elder this time, so yeah new comp... his name is elder thomson, he is from Canada.. he is good, really new in the mission, 6 weeks in Argentina, so it's going to be interesting. he speaks well but needs help, so we will see what we can do with that. but yeah, it's been weird having so many comps in so little time, but i hope this is the last change. so yeah, that's the new news...

this last Sunday was stake conference here, it was great, we had a general authority there, he was a stud, and we also had an investigator there, it was great... so little by little things are coming together... so we will see.

but yeah, really aside from that it's been normal, in my district there is a companionship that is fighting so now we are doing lots of divis so that they don't kill each other, but yeah aside from that, i've got nothing.

and about he Spurs, i just need to say that this is proof that the Suns were always better, of course they win the first time i can't watch the games but yeah, so we will see what happens they will probably play the lakers. so yeah go suns....

to my family i miss you all, it was hard not to be able to call y'all back, but time didn't let me, and so yeah I'm sorry. but thanks for everything, i want you all to know i love you all and that u all helped me get this far and become who i have become..... so thanks, love y'all and most of all love u mommy....

peace out

Trials suck but are vital

so hows life everyone.

hope all is good here things are getting better. this week we actually found a new person... wooooo... so that was great. but yeah me and my comp Oscar are doing good. it's kind of like training a newbie, just they don't really have to do anything if they don't want to.. but i was lucky to have a good one, he's a pimp and helps me a lot. so that's a really great thing.

but yeah... about the thing with the house we are staying again, and this time they are fixing the house, so that's awesome news. things appear as though they are getting better. really they are which is good, because trials suck. but are vital... but suck.. so one trial down, we can start the next one tomorrow... jjajaja... but yeah..

but i have some good news, i will actually be able to call y'all on mothers day so yeah, i will call Saturday and we can set it all up mom.. but it's probably better if u buy the calling cards, and then call the number... we still don't know from where we are going to call so it will be interesting what we do.. so yeah.... but it's the first and last time i will call on mothers day.... making my mom trunky...

yeah another random fact that sucks. we were playing basketball today, and i think i messed up my leg, right now it really hurts but I'm going to try to walk it off, but what happened is my comp made a really bad pass, and so i tried to save it and dived and tried to roll. key word tried.. didn't work but I'm alright. mainly just to scare my mom...

but yeah beside that nothing really happened outside of the normal, we worked did our best, teaching a lot of menos activos right now, so yeah.. aside from that it's all good. but yeah so I'm excited for what's to come...

thanks for the love and the prayers, and for all the support. but yeah peace out..

One year mark

hey y'all, one year down..

this week was interesting. a lot of stuff has changed again, and so i just keep going... first thing, i have a new comp.. well, mini oscar meneses.. he's a pimp, i met him in santa rosa, he is from toay... but yeah, that's new news.. so my old mini, gustavo gaiannini, had to go back a couple weeks early because they actually got like 3 minis for me, and then sent oscar without telling anyone. so it was a surprise..

but also this week with the house, we found one but like always the office elders don't do anything and so we lost it.. so that whole situation has had me very angry, and put me in a bad mood for pretty much the whole week... but now I'm just tired of looking for a house, and am not doing it. so yeah... but really, with me and gustavo that has been our focus on the house and so there really isn't that much to tell u all. but yeah... so that's pretty much where I'm at right now....

but about the year mark thing, i think I'm going to celebrate it how i celebrated my birthday.. by doing nothing.. some elders burn ties but i don't want to cause most of my ties i got from elders from the mission, and shirts, well, i still have a year left and need the shirts so yeah.. I'm not going to do anything about that... but really kind of crazy how fast time passes by. seriously, like yesterday i was in the mtc, so yeah... but I'm happy with how it's gone and no regrets as of right now.

so yeah, sorry, don't know if this letter made much sense, but nothing really happened here, so yeah... thanks for the love and the support. also for the prayers, i think that helps the most. so i love u all.. and see y'all in about 365 days... peace out