Week 35~

Hey Family! Well this week was a super exciting one! I had to say goodbye to all of my dear friends in Venado Tuerto which was super sad, I was only there for 9 weeks but I already loved the people there so much and had a lot of really great friends that I was super sad to leave. I really didnt want to leave that area, but I am already loving my new area too! Santa Fe is HUGE. There are so many people here. Which means so many people to share the gospel with obviously. So that makes me super excited. I actually really love talking to people in the streets and there was hardly anyone in the streets in my last area so now I am in paradise with all the people in the streets haha.. My area is in the city so there are a lot more people with money and cars and with that comes more robberies and the people arent as trusting and willing to let two random grown men come into their house and teach them about God.. But we are working on it! I already knowing my companion and I are going to have tons of success together. Elder Knight is from Syracuse, Utah! I asked him if he knows the Warner family, but he said it sounds familiar but doesnt know them.. He has about 19 months on the mission and knows a ton about life and being a ZL so he is teaching me a lot. We are also like best friends. We get along so well and laugh all the time, it is so fun. We are working super hard but also having lots of fun which is great. I already know our time together is going to fly by. He is a super humble dude and loves the work and is willing to respect and support me and my ideas as the other zone leader which I really appreciate. Being a zone leader so far has been super fun. I have ten other elders in my zone and ten sisters and there are tons of new missionaries. We have four missionaries in our zone that just got here to argentina last week and then theres another 3 that are still in their first three months so there is tons of excitement and desire in the zone to work hard and see miracles. I already feel so much love for all of the missionaries I am leading and serving and I am learning a lot about how to make decisions and how to do it in the way the Saviour would. I love this work and I love being a missionary. I love being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is the only true church on the earth that has all of the truth and all of the authority that is necessary to make it back to the presence of Our Heavenly Father. The evidence is in the scriptures and I dont just know its true. I feel it. I know that Heavenly Father loves us soooo much. We dont even get it. We wont ever understand how much He loves us. We just have to do what He asks and He will give us all that He has.. Which is everything.. I love you guys.

Me and my buddy Elder Holloway- he was called to be a new AP

Week 34~

Hey Fam! Well this week was a crazy week! With the final of the World Cup going on, we didn´t have a whole lot of successful work haha but my mission pres let us watch the game!! It was so awesome. All of us missionaries went to another city (Pergamino) to meet the president and he is such an awesome guy. I seriously am so excited about having him as our president. He is giving us a lot more freedom to do what we want and says that he trusts us to do the right things, which I think is great. He is changing lots of things and I think the mission is going to keep moving forward and progressing. While we were there, president asked to interview a few of us and I was one of them and I had an awesome interview with him. He gave me some great council and I am even more excited to be in this work! So we got to watch the final and that was super sad. WE SHOULD HAVE WON! Argentina didn´t really play that well which was a bummer, so all the argentines are sad, but maybe now I can bring some joy into their lives with the gospel! This weekend transfers started and yesterday they called to assign the new trainers and zone leaders and I was actually really hoping that I might train because I think that would be super fun to help a new missionary in his first two transfers.. But I got a call from one of the assistants and they told me that I have been assigned to be a zone leader in Santa Fe.. I was super shocked. It was something that had never even crossed my mind. It almost never happens that someone goes from being a junior companion to a zone leader because normally they should have experience as a district leader or at least senior companion.. So I feel super unprepared and inexperienced and not ready for the assignement I have. And I am also super sad to leave my area here in Venado Tuerto because I love the members and we have some awesome investigators and I feel like I just got here. But I am excited for the new opportunities I will have to lead and help other missionaries and learn a lot from those I serve. I feel super humbled and not ready, but I know that God puts us where we need to be in the mission and I know that He will help me to learn and grow and fill the capacities that I have to fill.. So hopefully I don´t blow it! Haha. But My new area is called ciudadela, in the city of Santa Fe in the provincia of Santa Fe and my new comp is Elder Knight from the States! I heard he is awesome guy so I am excited about that. So I have a lot to do today to pack up and say goodbye to everyone before I leave tomorrow morning. And I have to do a lot of praying... That will help for sure. Other than the big changes, I am doing great, I am super happy to be a missionary and super excited about all the time I still have left. I know this is where I am supposed to be and I am doing what I am supposed to do and that brings me the greatest joy that I have ever found in my life. The mission is so dang hard. If anyone ever says its not, then they did it wrong. But it truly is the best two years. I love the Lord and I know He Lives and loves us. I love you all and am so grateful for your love and prayers. I am praying for you all and I know the Lord is blessing and protecting you during these two years. Always seek to recognize the immense amount of blessings we have. There are so many! Have a great week!

Tried to make stir fry~didn't turn out so good!

Week 33~

Hola Querida Familia, This week was excellent! We saw lots of success and blessings this week! I knew it was bound to come soon.. This week we found several new people to teach which is what we have been lacking, so now we are going to be super busy visiting lots of people! We also have been visiting lots of the members that live in our area and we have been strengthening the relationships we have with them. I love visiting the members.. I think its something that a lot of missionaries undervalue, but they are people and families with problems and needs just as much as the people that aren´t members. I have seen that even the strongest families need the help of the missionaries to remind them of the little things they should be doing and also to help bring the spirit into their homes. I love that as missionaries we have the calling to invite everyone to come unto Christ. I love visiting families and helping them to keep progressing as a family centered in Jesus Christ and his teachings. Its the best way to have a happy family! And I am learning so many things about how I want my future family to be. Yesterday we contacted a man and his wife and at first they kind of rejected us, he was saying that he already had his religion and that he is busy and stuff, but we asked if we could just give him a pass-out card and he accepted and then he just began to talk to us and open up about how his dad had passed away a couple months ago. He began to cry and cry and share how he has been this way ever since the day he died. He doesnt sleep and doesnt eat and he has been having problems with alcohol and it was just super sad. It was sad for me to see someone with so much pain because he doesnt understand the great plan of our Father in Heaven. We shared some scriptures from 2 Nephi 2 in the BOM about the plan of Salvation and the purpose of this life and then also in Alma 40 about the Spirit world where we go after we die and the spirits of the righteous are in a state of peace and rest. I felt the spirit so strongly talking with this man and his family. I felt so strongly the love that the Savior has for him. We were able to testify to him that what he is going through is just a moment and that there is opposition in all things so that we can have joy and so that we can grow and progress in this life. It was a lesson full of the Spirit. It made me so grateful for the knowledge and peace that I have as a member of this church. And it gave me a reminder of how important it is that I share it with everyone! And every member of the church has that same responsibility to share it with their friends! Yesterday some drunk or stoned guy came wobbling over to us and tried to rob my companion haha it was super funny.. It was day time in like the middle of the street and he comes up to my comp and touches his beany and says, is that yours? ANd my comp said yeah and then he says to some other guy that he was talking to that he was going to rob us so then I said ¨okay we are going to go¨ and then he comes after us and says to my comp, hey give me your jacket and my comp said no and then he said give me your jacket again and then my comp was like no its mine.. And the guy grabs my comps arm and so then we just told him to go away basically and he like threatened us haha, but honestly I dont think he ever even saw me haha he was just looking at my comp the whole time. I think because I am bigger.. But it was silly, he wasnt scary at all and he was super out of it. But that counts for both me and my comp as our first attempted robbery haha it was funny. ALl is good here! I love you all and am super grateful for you guys. Thanks for all of the love and prayers that you are sending my way. You are all in my prayers and thoughts! Con mucho cariño

Week 32~

What up family? Hope all is well with you guys and that you are behaving.. This week was a pretty normal week, we didn't get a ton of work done because Elder Hokanson was pretty sick all week so that has been frustrating.. But we have been able to work with an investigator that is progressing super well and he came to church yesterday which was huge because NO ONE comes to church here.... But yeah he came and he really liked it and he is preparing to be baptized in the next couple of weeks! He has a desire to change and leave a lot of things behind that he has done in his life and we have the way to do that! Through his faith in Jesus Christ and a sincere desire to change and repent he will be able to feel completely free of all of the weight that he has been carrying in his life. I love that we bring that message of peace and happiness to the people. The satisfaction of seeing someone in the process of coming to understand the love that Heavenly Father has for us is something so fulfilling that I just want to do it for the rest of my life.. This week I did divisions with Elder Holloway (my ZL) and that was sweet because we both just want to work and get it done so we had an awesome day together. HIm and I have become super good buddies. We had a crazy lady flag us down on our bikes and she started saying ¨hey come here, get of your bikes..¨¨ and elder holloway said no we are okay and so then she comes over to us and said hey come here, there are two germans that live here and we are gonna say a prayer.. come here we are going to pray.. and then she asked us for our cell phone number and obviously elder holloway gave her a fake number and then she gave us hers but we didn't want to write it down so elder holloway said he was going to memorize it haha. I don't know if adequately explained how crazy she was but basically she showed a lot of potential to be someone we will be visiting in the future.. But it has been a good week, yesterday I had an interview with President Giuliani and it was his last interview because the new Pres comes like next week! So that was really good, he gave me a lot of good advice. He is an awesome guy! All is well, I am loving the mission and still trying to develop patience. Certainly the Christ-like attribute that I lack the most, but I am trying to get better! I love you all and want you to know that I love our Savior. Have a great week!

Week 31~World Cup Week

Hola querida familia! This week was pretty good! As far as working goes, we were pretty much a complete failure as a companionship, between being a little bit sick, the world cup starting, and other factors we struggled this week, but I haven't lost my excitement for the work that we are doing! I am actually really excited to do a lot better this week! Earlier in the week I got an ear infection and it was somewhat painful and I couldn't hear anything so I went to the doctor and he was not the best doctor in the world haha. He looked in my ears and what not which was good and then he just gave me some pills and told me I had to go next door and get a shot in my butt! I was pretty baffled.. I couldn't quite figure out why having an ear infection required a shot in the butt, but I followed his council.. And honestly I don't think it really did anything because I still had the ear infection for a while. But I have since then recovered so all in all I would say it was worth it. The world cup started this week as you all know so everyone is just all futbol all the time, which I love, but at the same time it is super hard to focus and find anyone that wants to talk about stuff other than futbol. I underestimated how hard it would be to be a missionary during the world cup because all I want to do is watch the games sometimes haha, but its all good! Everyone tells us the scores and what happens. It is just such a different culture here.. The other day we had an activity for fathers day at the church and every single one of the dads said their favorite thing is futbol haha it was so funny.. They have a passion for futbol that is on another level from even the people in the states that are huge football or basketball fans. So its been cool to be in this culture during the world cup, but also surprisingly difficult! Yesterday argentina played their first game and the streets were completely empty. The whole country I am pretty sure was just dead. Elder Hokanson and I are getting along well! I have really had to step up and be the leader in every aspect of the work which has been a big change from my last companions who always lead everything, but I am learning a lot! Lately I have been reading Jesus the Christ all the time, which I love. I would recommend that everyone read that. I am like super hooked on it. I feel like I am there with Christ and His apostles when I read that book and my testimony and love for the Savior is growing as I read and study. I love the Savior. I love that I have a knowledge of His love for us. It brings me so much peace and I know that He has given me the way to overcome any trial or weakness I face in my life! I hope I can always be seen as a disciple of Christ and someone that tries to be like Him. Its not an easy lifestyle, but it is the happiest there is! I know I lack so many of His attributes and fall short every day, but I want to keep progressing! I hope you all can have the same desire and find one thing that you can do better this week! I love you guys! Besos Copyright: doomko / 123RF Stock Photo

Week 30~

Como andan ustedes?? Well this week was great as always! Elder Hokanson and I are finding tons of new people to teach and have programmed several new people to be baptized in the upcoming weeks! We are super focused on trying to find the people that are prepared to accept the gospel so we invite the people to be baptized on the first lesson,which can be kind of tough, but we are finding lots of success with it! And the people are willing to accept the invitation. I am continuing to try to develop more patience for everything.. Companion, investigators, difficulties of the mission.. I have found that I am not a very patient person, so I am working on it! Its tough though.. But I am so grateful for the mission and how it has helped me to see how weak I really am without the help of the Lord. Yesterday I got way sick! So that was sweet! For lunch we ate a big asado (cookout of meat) and I tried blood sausage for the first time, which was a huge mistake. I actually didn't mind it that much, but yesterday afternoon right before we were going to leave to work, I started feeling super sick and from basically 6 in the evening until 1 in the morning, I was throwing up.. I think the blood sausage is the culprit (is that a word?) but yeah I kept trying to go to sleep but just kept throwing up and I had a nice fever, but I took some medicine and finally got to sleep and I am feeling a lot better today!. I am telling you this because I am okay now so theres no need to worry mom.. But just wanted to warn you guys to not go out and eat any blood sausage today. I am loving my area and the members are super awesome. Our branch is super united which is something you don't find here very often, but all of the members are like one big family which is so cool. A great example to me. It really is so important that we fellowship other members of the church and create that feeling of a family in the church. Hope you all know that I love you and am grateful for you guys! Families are ordained of God! And I am so grateful that I get to be a part of this family that our Father in Heaven has given us! Love you guys

Week 29~

Hey mom! Another good week in Venado Tuerto! This week was transfers so thats why I am writing today.. Elder Hokanson and I are staying together for another transfer so thats good! It will be a lot of patience and hard work on my part but its going to be a great transfer! The good news is that Elder Howe is coming to my zone!! My comp from the MTC whos like my best friend in the mission. I love that guy. And I havent seen him in 6 months since we got here so I am super excited for that! This week we have been working hard to find more people to teach and working a lot with the members of our branch to find people that are prepared to hear our message. Working with the members really is the key to success in the mission. I have realized more and more the resposibility that every member of the church has to share the gospel with others. It is a commandment from our Heavenly Father and as Joseph Smith said, the most important thing we can do. I am trying to keep being patient with my companion and know that I have a great opportunity to help him so I am going to keep doing everything I can to help him out! We are teaching a family right now that is so awesome that we are preparing to be baptized at the end of the month. Nelson and Maria and their son Gaston and they are so awesome. Everytime we teach them, the Spirit is so strong. I feel so much love for them and they lready feel so much love for us too. They always ask us a million questions about our lives and its actually kinda nice. It is impossible to teach a lesson in less than thirty minutes because the people take a topic or an answer to question and just run with it for 10 or 15 minutes without taking a breath. Haha its really funny, but the people are super open and willing to share their thoughts and experiences which I love. The people here are so great. So tonight this family invited us over for dinner so that will be good! But today is the start of my 5th transfer in the field and it is just flying by so fast. I cant believe it. But I m excited for another transfer to be better and improve my ability to teach and speak spanish and most importantly, strengthen my testimony of Jesus Christ. I dont have too much to tell this week, but know that I am doing great and working hard! I love you guys!