RIOTS IN ARGENTINA

Well this week is a very crazy week with lots to talk about. As I`m sure you`re aware it has taken TWO day to be able to write you this week which has never happened before. Well... here is the story:

It all started like any normal Pday we woke up, did our exercises, then our studies. From there we were ready to go to centro to use the computers in the library because they are the fastest and they are free. The only problem was that we didn`t have permission from president. We decided that since we don`t have a phone to even try to ask and he always gives us permission anyway that it would be ok. So we started waiting for the collectivo and there were some women talking about something that was happening with police, collectivos, and robbing’s and that is why it was taking so long. Well that was the first sign of the bad idea we had, but we ignored it. Then we went to the library to write home and all the computers weren’t  there they were locked away and we asked why and the people said it was because of some robbing’s that have been happening in centro. So we decide that we were going to go because that didn`t sound like a good place to be. On the way out of centro while in the collectivo we saw a mob of people and a couple police.

 We then went to the cyber in fontana but it was closed. We decided to go to the other elders house to see if they were able to write home or not. They told us that there was a message that went out that everyone has to stay in their pensh and not leave to proselyte. They told us that the police were on strike so there was a massive idea that every person was going to go out and rob the stores. So we went back to the pensh and stayed the rest of the day there. The next morning we got a knock on our door and the other elders had shown up and told us that we weren`t to leave the pensh again because the people had ran sacked centro and different stores. Also we were told that four were killed in the craziness. That day we just stayed in the pensh and relaxed, slept, read, etc. Now it is all over and the police are off of their strike. Now our week will start to normalize. So that is the crazy story for the week.

Here is a link from Fox news about the rioting. I am thankful that Cameron and all the missionaries were watched over during these riots!

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/12/10/deadly-looting-police-strikes-test-argentina-on-30th-anniversary-dictatorship/

More than that the only thing I can think of are a couple funny experiences. Like last pday after writing we were looking at some stores and E`Clemons was looking at a spatula and was testing it`s flexibility and it just shattered.  He then threw the pieces back on the shelf and walked away. It was pretty funny.

We had a lesson with and investigator that is golden and the next day that we came back to invite her to church her Evangelico friend was there. She was really annoying and didn`t want to accept anything we said just fight about what we were trying to teach. We started pulling out all this scripture mastery that we have been memorizing and showed her in the scriptures that what we were teaching is true. Then we testified of the truthfulness of it. Unfortunately I don`t think she will really pray about it but our investigator was impressed that we were able to answer her questions in the scriptures.

(PS can you guys look up what is the Evangelico church`s doctrine? It would really help because there are a ton of them here and I want to know exactly what they believe. That would translate to the ``gospel church`` but I don`t think there is that in the US. Maybe they are the seventh day evangelists... idk.)

I love you guys so much and can`t wait to hear from you next week. I feel like the time was very cut this week to write.

An Argentine Children's Story...

The pictures of shacks in dropbox are some people’s homes that they have been building recently. I took them thinking that it could make a great children’s story book, haha That would go something a little like this:

One little argentine built his house out of paper

One little argentine built his house out of tarp

One little argentine built his house out of sticks

 One little argentine built his house out of bricks

Then when the rains came down they all flooded.

After that the rays of sun came down and evaporated the water

They then continued to make each house.

And all the little argentines cooked away and drank their matte.

The end.

The toucan was really cool! We saw a guy in Formosa who had it. We went over to ask if we could take pictures then if we could hold it. It was sooo cool! It would also nuzzle the guy and clap its beak!

The singing guy is a drunk less active member who was really funny and Elder Mossman loved him and to sing with him.

The frog and the toad were both right in the open area between our house and bathroom and the frog was more in the bathroom on the door.

The baptism on Saturday went awesome! Everything went really smooth and was the best flowing baptism since I have been here! Also when we got out Silvia saw her brother who she thought didn`t come and she started crying she was so happy! The relief society pres told us that she has a goal to get her whole family baptized!

Recently here we have been focusing on memorizing the scripture mastery and their references. It has been really fun! We then try to relate those scriptures to stuff all the time. Also we hear people talk about them then we say the reference and they think that we are masters of the scriptures, jaja which we are that is why we memorized scripture MASTERY, haha It is also very useful in teaching.

Pday, haha is my favorite part of the week because I get your letters! My next favorite day would have to be Saturday. Some weeks we have baptisms! If not then we are out looking for all the investigators that we already have to invite them to go to church that Sunday.

We had our very delicious Thanksgiving feast today! It was Lomitos, empanadas, and a liquado. It was VERY good!!! Lomitos is a really good sandwich with a whole bunch of stuff on it. It had beef, egg, lettuce, tomatoes, mayo, and a ton of stuff. It was delicious! Liquado was a shake like thing it was really good!

Well I have run out of time but I will write more next week!

Love you guys and can’t wait to hear from you next week!

THANKS GRANDMA!!

Toucans in Argentina

First of all HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Dad and Emily

I finally got Grandma’s package! It is awesome! I love all the stuff! Very delicious peanut butter balls! The awesome missionary stockings, butter mints, good deodorant, pictures of Christ and the temple, etc but ya saben what is in it! Thank you so much! I have been slowly enjoying the peanut butter balls because they don`t have anything like that here. I was just saying the other day how I wanted Reese’s but this is just as good or better!

We have had a crazy week with investigators! Well the good news is right now our new investigator is doing good, haha. So here is the story. This week we went over to Hna Loli`s house to ask her daughter to go with us to a lesson. When we got there we found out that Silvia was there and the home teachers as well. So we decided to stay instead and teach Silvia. We taught her about prophets, obedience, reading the scriptures, and praying. After that she asked us for a blessing because she had been kind of sick. I ended up being the one to say the blessing part and right after I gave it she stood up and then fell back into her chair. My comp and I thought that she was just faking it and just stood there. Then she was just there passed out so we carried her to the bed and she there sat up for a moment and said she saw demons and passed out again. Then a nurse who was a neighbor came by and started attending to her. We left because it was time to go home and she was being taken care of. The next day when we went to Hna Loli`s house to see what happened she said that the nurse said that she was just faking it. At that point Hna Loli was saying that she doesn`t trust Silvia and doesn`t want her coming over all the time like she has been. Then we had a lesson with her at her house and she said she was all good just that she had low blood pressure. The good news is everything is good for her baptism and that will be this Saturday. She also told us that her niece wants to start taking the charlas!

Last week in my interviews with my Mission President I asked him why does Christ seem like he wants to kill everyone in the Old Testament and is totally different in the New Testament. He said that it is just a matter of view of the people writing the scriptures. In Old Testament times they lived like nomads, everything was life or death so that is how they viewed things, but Christ isn`t that simplistic life and death. Pte says that he likes to think of the Christ that appeared to the nephites. Who when he went to leave the people were sad and he said well I have to go to the father but I will stay a little longer. He healed the sick and afflicted. Then he took his little children and blessed and ministered unto them. That is the what I have been studying recently in 3 Nefi where Christ comes and talks to the people and I have learned a lot of interesting stuff. 

I have not eaten anything weird in my new area so far. We have had a couple occasions recently where we go to people`s houses and they give us a ton of food and we have to eat it hungry or not to not offend them, haha. Like this Saturday when we had just started our fast and we went to an investigators house and they started setting up this huge feast for us and it would have been really rude to say no so we accepted and we had just eaten a ton because we were about to fast but they just kept bringing more and more food to us. Pizza and asado, haha it was really good but I was stuffed. Also we have to Catholic family that lives by us that likes to give us lots of food all the time and it is awesome, haha sometimes a lot more than I need or want but what can you do? haha I`m definitely not getting underfed here. 


Here we walk a lot and ride the bus a lot. The area is giant. It is probably ten times that of my last area. It is already cut in half from what it was before, haha but we walk and rid the bus a ton. We have been mostly just working with the people who live near us to not rack up so many bus tickets and there is no need to go to the other side when there are people here. Love you all!

Miracles on Jdub Row

 Our toilet is fixed, haha we bought a plunger sometime last week and that fixed it. We figured out that the toilet here doesn`t allow us to put toilet paper in it and that was what was clogging it. So now we have to put it in a little baggie to the side.

Here in Resistencia (Fontana) there are more things to do on p days than in Formosa and there are even more things in centro. There are some restaurants that we might visit one week. We mostly have been doing shopping for the pensh and stuff like that so far. This week we are going to have to use going to do interviews with president because this transfer I didn`t have one because I was in formosa and he hadn`t done interviews yet and moved to chaco where he had already done them.
So one thing that was really cool. We were studying a little this week on how to biblically prove that our church is right, that Jesus is Jehovah and that the godhead are three different beings, and that the other churches doctrines are wrong. This way when we are forced to bash to keep investigators etc we can help them see the truth. I am sure that us studying about that this week was inspired of God and here is why. We were walking down the street the same day and saw a whole street of JW`s. We really wanted to try out our new scriptures but knew we shouldn`t start the bash, haha. Then as we were walking away we both felt like we should go back. Then as we walked down the street of JWs (Jdub row as we now call it) a woman sought us out and started to talk to us. She asked us if we were Mormons or one of them (pointing to the JWs). We told her we were indeed Mormons or since that is just a nickname we are from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She said she knew we were different our faces were brighter. She then wanted to talk to us and we had the first lesson with here and she accepted a baptismal date. This is where it gets crazy. A couple lessons latter she told us a story about how when she was younger she dreamed about a picture of a man burying some golden plates in a hill but none of her relatives knew what it was and just said she was crazy. When she opened the book of Mormon and saw the picture of Moroni burying the plates she knew that this was the true church, the one that she had been looking for, for twenty years. She also felt the emptiness that was in her filled. She has been fighting with her family who are all Evangelicos that don`t want her to go but she is 25 and can make her own decisions. She defended us as missionaries and the book of Mormon to her family, they would tell her lies about us and the book. She is very strong and super awesome! We are so excited for her baptism this thirtieth!
We have a new favorite family to visit but the only problem is that they live very far away from us. The family Gutiérrez. They are really nice and help us out a lot. They are kind of funny because they are ``training`` to have kids with three dogs. They treat those dogs like kids too, haha. Also the Family Barrios is really awesome. They live really close and always give us cold juice or food and wash our clothes.
I do truthfully miss the Family Puladas from Formosa. They are the best! We used to go over there all the time and Barbara always looked after the missionaries. That was the one family (besides the dueños familia Fleytas) that I said goodbye to. Oh wait and the family Samudio.

It is about 38 degrees C here now I`m not sure F. But the temperature isn`t what kills us, it is the humidity. When it is very humid the heat kills you. You feel like you are being baked in an oven.

I don`t think that there is anything like Thanksgiving here. We were asking about it and no one knew anything about it and there aren`t any holidays at that time. But it is a very American holiday because it was when the pilgrims came and had a feast with the Indians before killing almost all of them. What will be weird is Christmas and it is nuts that it is coming up in a month and a half. I can`t wait to Skype! I just hope that it works ok because in Cali it had some problems so I hope that here it will work...

I really like the branch here they are all really nice and helpful. The branch president always wants to help us with stuff. Even if it is out of his bounds sometimes, jaja.

Oh and we has the most pathetic rob attempt last night. Some guy told us to give him our cell phone or he would shoot us. We told him that we didn`t have one and showed him and we walked away, haha

I love you all so much and can`t wait to read what you wrote! I can`t wait to hear from you soon! Love you all!

Top Ten with Elder Pickle

1.       Is your pensh more equipped now?

 Well, kinda, right now we are borrowing a lot of stuff. We still don`t have desks, pans, and hot water, but we manage. We should be getting the money for all our stuff sometime this week.

2.       Tell us about your new area. I looked it up on google and it seems like a city in Resistencia, kind of like how Taylorsville is to Salt Lake City.

Yes, it is just like that. We are just outside of the city of Resistencia. It is nicer here and less poor. The roads sometimes have gravel here and there are a few more that are paved. The big thing that you have to keep in mind is that the richest of the rich here would only be equivalent of the lowest of the middle class in the states.

3.       Have you had any luck finding people to teach since you were left with none? The Elder’s in our area call that white washing.

Yes, that is what it is called whitewashing and also training so whitewash training. We were left with no one so we have been finding our own investigators to teach. During the last week we have had 20 nuevos but right now only eight of them still have a baptismal date. I think that two or three of them should get baptized!

4.       Tell us about your companion where he is from etc.

My comp is Elder Travis Clemons. He is from Highland Utah. He was serving for two transfers in the Carlsbad mission, haha He served in Escondido and his trainer there was the comp of Elder Fe in the CCM. That was pretty funny. He loved his mission in Carlsbad, and has a hard time letting go of things from there. He loves to work. Before his mission he worked and hung out with his girlfriend. He is cool but at times it is hard to find things to talk about but we usually find something.

5.       Do you eat with members every day?

Yes, well pretty much. It has been interesting trying to get the members to understand that there are two calendars and which days they need to fill out. The Branch president wants us to go to every single member in the ward and half of them live very far from us in the other Elder’s side of the branch. It takes a ton of time and we have to buy colectivo tickets both ways basically every day.

6.       Are there more places to shop or eat out?

Yes, there are a lot more especially in Resistencia Centro. There is even a Walmart there.

7.       Do you still see dogs everywhere?

Yes, haha there are dogs EVERYWHERE. I have heard that all places except the states has dogs everywhere because they don`t have dog catchers or pounds.

8.       So now you are part of a branch… did they give you callings or more assignments?

Umm, I don`t think we will here because it is a very large Branch. It is almost a ward now the only thing that it lacks is a few more active priesthood holders.

9.       Are you in a little nicer area or is it still really poor?

It is a little nicer. I don`t think you really could call any area here rich but it is definitely nicer than in Formosa. I think that Formosa is the poorest providence.

10. What has been happening this week?

This last week has been a little crazy with some of the things that have been happening. One thing that went down what that our toilet is retarded and doesn`t work. So what happens when a toilet doesn`t work and you have nowhere to do your business? Well you find out that plastic bags work rather well for a substitute, jaja. The only and big problem there is disposing of the waste. We also don`t have a basket in front of our pensh for garbage so we had to put the bags in other people`s baskets. We also didn`t want people to see that it was us putting bags of waste in there baskets so we did it sneakily, jaja.

I love you guys and can`t wait to hear from you soon! Have a great week!

Fontana Resistencia watch out here comes ELDER PICKLE

I am in a new area with a new comp! I am in Fontanergra II (Fontana,Resistencia) with Elder Clemons. I was hoping to see Elder Fiabane when I went to get my hijo but he still isn’t training I am sure that he will this week. I did get to see Elder Santoro however! He will be dying soon. He is down to the last two transfers. It is a huge area I am in now and it took me a couple of days to orient myself. The members are super awesome and give us a lot of references. The whole branch is very helpful and they all love the missionaries. We really weren`t left with investigators.... or anything but some unassembled beds and a table and dressers. We are still lacking just about everything and it won`t arrive for another week. It is a big change but awesome...

I don’t  know what will happen this transfer still. I could leave again after only being here one week but that won`t be very likely. Maybe just maybe President would have me train someone else because my newest hijo already has two months and was training in Carlsbad. His zone leader was Elder Fe. He also served with Elder Herrera.

I still haven`t got my package from grandma yet. I am hoping this week especially since I am here in Resistencia I should be able to get it faster... at least I think, jaja

Our new pensh ( I will have fotos next week) it is a little crazy. Our pensh is ok but it lacks a lot of furniture and I hate that the bathroom is on the outside. The bathroom also doesn`t have warm water for the shower, only freezing cold. The toilet is a piece of crap and doesn`t flush good and drips something red... I don’t know what. But our fridge should get here... well supposedly the day after we got here then yesterday, then today, but maybe tomorrow! Jaja

There really isn`t Halloween here... they have it but don`t do anything for it. They more celebrate dia de los muertos by putting flowers on graves that is nov 1 and 2

Oh and I wanted to say thanks for the letters and don`t worry all is good with Elder Mossman it just turns out he understood a lot less castellano than I thought and he understood almost everything that I said wrong and so that was what was causing just about everything. The last week was great he was a lot more fun and talkable. I wish we could have had more time like that. Now I just need to get my new hijo to be more talkable. The problem is he didn`t do anything before his mission but work and hang out with his girlfriend... He isn`t one for talking much I don`t quite know why. But we`ll see. I hope that you guys are having a great time! Winning polo tourneys and getting into fights with VW owners, ajaja. I love you guys so much and can`t wait to hear from you next week! Next time the letter should be longer, sorry! Crappiest keyboard ever takes forever to write...

Have I always been a missionary?

I was thinking about that the other day that in just a couple days it will be one year from when I opened my call on Halloween and it is nuts. It has been over a year since I have been out of high school... It is weird to think about. I remember the night that I opened my call like it was yesterday... or three lifetimes ago.. .I´m not sure which :P there is this time while I´m living here, there was a time when I lived in California and we had to try to find Spanish speakers among the gringos, and there was the MTC, then I think there was some other life before that... jaja It is weird almost to think that I haven´t always been a missionary. Honestly I don´t have the slightest idea what is going to happen... If there is a holiday or not... I basically forgot that Halloween was even there, jaja But I will find out this Thursday and I can write more about it next week!

I will find out tomorrow if I am getting transferred (it is possible there are 19 new elders coming in) and I have been here a long time. But there is no way to know until tomorrow. Then next week whether I get transferred or not there is another chance that I get transferred and there will be another 25 new missionaries coming in (don´t know how many will be elders or hermanas). So it is possible that I  could change or I could just stay here and finish training Elder Mossman. We will see. But I bet Elder Fiabane will be training. 

We have been having troubles finding people who want to listen to us. We can find people that will listen to us for como one lesson then they will never be there or not receive us anymore. So that makes it even more difficult because our zone leaders come to our area and find people and say, oh your area is great the people do receive us. But we do find people who will receive us just not keep taking the lessons and progressing.... I feel like I am doing something wrong or something because I am not meeting the expectations that I have and it is driving me crazy at times. I feel lost and don´t know what to change. We are trying to follow all the capacitaciones and everything but I don´t know. 

I don´t know if I have a favorite lesson to teach investigators per say. I would say that the best lessons are the ones when we really find the persons need and teach to it. You can feel the spirit testifying to the truthfulness and you can see the hope and peace it brings to them! Those are the best lessons. I wouldn´t say that we really have anything fun to teach our lessons... I should think about things that I could do to make the lessons more fun, maybe people would want us to come back more if it was like that... I don´t know. 

I love you guys a ton and can´t wait to hear from you next week! Love you all and miss you all a ton!!!

Tomatoes the only food not covered in oil or fried :) YUM!

The weather has been starting to get VERY hot. It already feels very hot and it has only gotten up to 35C and in the summer it will reach around 50C about 120F. Just yesterday it was a little rainy and windy which was nicer weather but it was the day we stayed inside :P. I am sure it will be very hot this summer but it is better than being somewhere like Russia, at least I think so, jaja

We don`t have many options for fun things to do but we listen to the music we have and talk and quote movies and things like that. Or a fun thing to do is to visit cool members like Barbara. Or sometimes read in the Old Testament because there are really funny stories in there.

It is full of crazy things, jaja Or read some good talks.... and now you got a little taste of what I do. “That is the alley where I get the Lord`s chips and there is a crazy lady.” Or maybe tell the other companion about cool or funny things they didn`t know about. Like Jim Gaffigan jokes or Demitri Martin jokes. We don`t really have a lot of options for Pdays either. We have gone to the Mercadito Paraguyo in central and bought some cool things there a couple times and once went to a pizza place there in central that was good but a little expensive. I still want to go fishing but I don`t think it will happen at least not here... Hermano Fleytas hasn`t done it yet and I don`t think he will next week, jaja

In our area... there is nothing much. There is one restaurant like place but it is for asado and I`m sure is very expensive and we get asado for free every Sunday! There is a little Kiosko where you can buy hamburgers (argentina style), empanadas, and pizza (argentina

style) and we go there sometimes and buy the hamburgers because you can buy them there cheaper than at the store and you don`t have to make them. They aren`t the same as American hamburgers though. They are made out of a meat that is more like sausage than beef. They also come with lots of toppings like lettuce, tomato, cheese, ham, egg, etc. It is weird because I didn`t like tomatoes before but I have come to like them here... I think it is because it is nice to eat just about anything that is a little healthier and not fried or covered in oil, jaja

This week has been interesting, jaja We had splits and that was good, I learned some more from my zone leaders and we found some great investigators. The thing with this week was that I got really sick for a part of it. I have been sick with a cough for the last three weeks but not to the point I had to stay in the pensh but I also ate something bad and my stomach started to hurt and one night I had to go back to the pensh early but it is better now and the cough seems to have finally gone away. More than that it hasn`t really been an exciting week. Well I did find out that we are going to be getting 25 new missionaries next week and 25 the following for transfers so we will be having two weeks of transfers. I am also sure that they are going to be splitting Circ into three areas now. They have been talking about it for a while and with all the newbies coming in I`m sure they will be doing that. It will be crazy because it already is a tiny area, possible the smallest in the mission.

Well, if I had answered last night it would have been a no we didn’t get the rat yet, jaja but last night... We got back to the pensh and I saw it run behind the fridge so I hurried and grabbed the wooden rod to garrotearle. It started to climb up the wall and I smacked it off into the floor. It ran and hid inside our oven and we couldn`t see where so we turned it on to try to heat it up so it would leave. After a little searching we found where in the oven it was hiding and it ran out and we started trying to get it. Finally I hit it and pinned it to the ground then dragged it to the center and lo garroteo! We now have a penshion free of pestilence. It was huge to the size of my hand (not counting the tail).

Grandma my package hasn`t gotten here.. when did you send it?

Sorry that you didn`t get the letter yesterday there weren`t any cybers in our area that were open yesterday.

I love you guys a ton!! I hope you have a great week!

PS Drive the golf cart up and down the street a few extra time for me and maybe park in the gaymires driveway for a little while, jaja I wish that I could be there for some of the gaymire wars, it sounds really funny!

Baptismal Font in Circ

Most Memorable Mission Experiences So Far!

I´m glad you have enjoyed the pictures; I have been trying to take more of them. The little boy is named Abel and he LOVES missionary name plaques. In his prayers he always blesses all the plaques and is what he says every other thing during the prayer. It is really funny. His mom also said that we are the best here in Circ because the Elders from Italia won´t let him wear their plaques. The horses are a little farther north from our home in barrio la Floresta. I thought that you would love the baby horse so I had to take that picture, jaja


Karen one of our investigators got baptized this last Saturday! (pictures in Dropbox). Her younger sister doesn´t want to get baptized for anything... and her younger brother... maybe will get baptized depending on the day, jaja He is very back and forth but I think if we get permission from his mom and set it up he will get baptized. Karen is awesome, she was telling us last week how she wants to be a missionary like us and we told her in five years she can. She was excited and said that isn´t very long!

 Some of my most memorable experiences from the mission so far... Well in the MTC it would be the devotionals and hanging out in the dorm areas at night. There was food, rapping contests, yoga master and his entertaining things he did, and other funny things. In Cali it would be things like Gary (investigator who almost got baptized and was super awesome but his wife said no or she would divorce him). Some cool experiences that happened when we found some cool people like this one family that I forgot their name but his name was Jeremy. Mother’s day Skype call home. The good food we ate that was a really spicy. Some cool member friends from there like Steven and Alan. Also the night of the chicken surgery... that was disgusting but really funny at the same time. Here I would say every single baptism; Ermalina, Carlos, Jorge, Kati, Manuel, Seba, and Karen. Lots of funny stories with elder Santoro, also when Elder Santoro and I would also have to sneak past Ariel (we called him machete man) and hope that he wouldn´t throw a machete in our backs to get to the Pulada´s house. The visits with Hermana Pulada and her family. Me and Elder Fiabane got along really well and we had a lot of fun and worked hard together. We could have been friends outside of the mission easily so that was a fun time. Also the rat killing that is happing now.

We are having a rat hunt in our pensh. We are filming the whole thing and it will be basically a movie in the end. (Can´t put it on dropbox it is too big and would take forever to upload.) But it is pretty funny. We want this last rat to die just like the other one... Garrotearle!!! Hopefully that will be happening soon!

Today I finally got to withdraw. I took out what should be right around $100. It was $500 pesos. So you should see that this week. 

I love you guys a ton and can´t wait to hear from you next week.

"Greenie Fire"

My new companion is good! It is always funny to see the greenie fire when they first come in! I was talking about that with one of the returned missionaries here, we were talking about how when the new missionary first comes they clean the whole pension and always have a ton of energy. Then after one or two transfers they lose the energy to fight the constant amount of mud, dirt and other messes. I still clean, I´m not saying that I don´t clean but I also don´t try to have everything spotless like before. It just doesn´t work here. Then we said that the greenies when they have their first hijo end up being the one who sleeps while their new hijo is the one that cleans the pension, jaja My hijo said that that will never happen to him and that he will always clean the pension to be spotless (I said that too :P) I told him that is awesome and support him in it, but I highly doubt he will last any longer than two transfers.

But more specifically about him, jaja Everyone we talk to asks him if he is Chinese and starts making racist jokes about him, I think it will happen his whole mission. The people here are very ignorant. I told him to get used to it now because it won’t stop so he is thinking about for the summer trying to find one of the Chinese hats that they wear to support their racist comments and jokes because it would be funny. He is actually a mix of Hawaiian and Japanese.

We get along good but sometimes I feel like he wants to challenge what I tell him. He is very new and excited and has all these ´´great ideas´´. I know that I am going to be learning more about patience this transfer, jaja I am going along with a lot of his ideas so that he can learn for himself, especially because he doesn´t listen when I tell him what will happen. He likes to do things for himself instead of learn from other people. Like today he couldn´t understand that I had faith that we could reach our area goal for baptisms of 4 (I know it COULD happen) but at the same time I don´t think it will happen and we should lower it. Then we talked with the sister missionaries too and I think that another person’s view helped him to see what I was trying to explain and maybe trust me a little more, we will see. But I also want to let him try things for himself and learn for himself why things work and don´t work. Just a lot of greenie fire that is all, haha. I remember when Elder Fiabane had that, jaja.

For conference it was broadcast in Castellano in the chapel where all the Latinos and investigators, and members went. We had another side room where it was broadcast in English. I think that I would have understood pretty much all of it in Castellano but it would have bugged me to have the voices changed of people like the prophet and the apostles.
My favorite talks were probably first of all the one on Saturday by Uchtdorf. I loved the story he started with, the guy who had all the things that we do for our church listed to him then he asked why would anyone want to be a member of your church? jaja I thought that was funny. I also liked that quote of doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. I think that if more people would think like that it would help them out a ton. He also talked about some great points for things that people have said to me while on my mission. Like the church isn´t perfect because it is ran by us who are imperfect beings but that is no reason to not go. That they should go and add their talents and try to help make it more perfect.

Other talks that I really liked where Edward Dube and David A Bednar. I liked the quote in Dube´s talk ´´faith is always looking towards the future.´´ that we should always take serious all of our calling because God put us there at that time and place for a reason so we need to do what he asked. I also liked in Bednar´s when he talked about how we often receive simple but significant blessings. I think we often overlook those simple but significant blessing. Like in the story he told the lady had no unusually large medical bills or payments that she had to make. That we can receive blessings from God for the same end through different means like we may have more endurance to search out different job offers than other people. God will always answer our prayers, just maybe not in the way that we expect. ´´Your thoughts are not higher than my thoughts, but my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.´´

Our relationship with those who feed us is good, jaja that isn´t the problem. The problem is that the bishop is trying to set crazy rules for us to have baptisms. There was a, as we call it, attack the missionaries meeting this week. The bishop and his counselors set up a whole bunch of crazy rules about baptizing and told us how we were doing all these different things wrong. We talked to president who told us that he knew that what is going on here isn´t our fault it isn´t the missionaries failing but the church failing the missionaries here. President has talked to the Stake President and he is going to talk to the bishop. The way that he did it we aren´t even involved. The stake president is going to ask him about things that president has heard have been going on here that shouldn´t be (like the bishop trying to interview baptismal candidates). President told us to just to our best with the ward we have and he is pleased with our work. 

I love you guys so much and I can´t wait to hear from you next week!

Training a Gringo from UTAH

Bueno, well here is what happened! We were at the house of Barbara and we got the call... We went in the other room and answered... They told us that Elder Fiabane... was going to be leaving. He went to Corrientes Capital. Then they told me that I would be.... what do you think? Leaving or staying? Well it turns out that I stayed. Also they said that I will be training another time. I had to get up early the next morning to go to Resistencia and look for my new hijo. Once there it was a long wait as always were they train all the trainers how to be trainers even if you have been a trainer five times already. That part is very boring and we all just want to find out who will be our new hijos. Then we went into the room where they all are and they started announcing who the hermanas were going to be with. Then after that they started announcing all the elders. Almost at the end they finally said Elder Pickle is going to be with Elder Mossman in Circunvalacion II.

   And that is the story of how I ended up where I was but with a new hijo. He is a gringo from Utah... well he more looks like a chino but that is because his mom was Japanese and his dad is Hawaiian. He grew up in Hawaii and at twelve moved to Utah and has lived in Sandy and went to Hillcrest High school. I had never met him before and we don`t know any of the same people but he lives really close.

   As for exciting things happening this week we have had a revolution in the barrio. jaja well kind of jaja. We got to church this week and the Relief Society President called us aside to talk to us. She took us to the Relief Society room and started yelling at us saying, ``Look at this mess you guys made! Why did you take out these ping pong tables and leave all the air conditioners running and the kitchen a disaster. You have to clean up after your baptisms!`` So first of all we didn`t have a baptism it was the Hermanas. Second of all the mess had nothing to do with missionaries it was the young men. Third of all she has no reason to be yelling at us for whatever reason. I calmly explained to her that it was not the missionaries and that when we got there to help the sisters with their baptism it was already a disaster and that we cleaned up the kitchen. And we had nothing to do with the air conditioning or Relief Society room. She then threatened to call the mission president and stormed off.

   That was one of the fun parts of the ward starting to hate us for no reason. Then in Sunday school the Elders Quorum President asked us if we wanted to leave our area who should we call? We replied the mission president. He then went off about how we are new missionaries that don`t know anything because we should call our zone leaders who would call president (that isn`t how it works, you call president EVERY time you want to leave your area and inform your zone leaders if he gives you permission). We also have been trying to set up ward council with the bishop for over a month and he won`t do it for this reason or that. We ended up talking to our zone leaders and they said try to set it for a date that coming week and if he won`t do it talk to president. So we tried and he wouldn`t so we called president. He told us that we were just going to have to try to work with the ward and serve them and try to make things happen like that.

   On the up side we found some really cool investigators that all went to church this week! They are three kids who went before with missionaries but for some reason the missionaries stopped passing. They already have a lot of assistance and we will teach them the lessons again to be sure because we can`t find a registro for them. They will probably be getting baptized here in the next coming week! They were so cool that not only did they go to church but they left to go before we got there and we met them on the way. They also stayed for all three hours of church! We are really excited for them!

   That is awesome that Nathan went a 28 on his 50! Tell him he has to break my record and make it to state this year! He has to beat 24 sec. I know he can do it! Emily also has to go I remember that she was super close and once her arm gets better her time will drop. It is very hard to do sports with broken arms, specifically swimming (trust me I know) :P.

   It is too bad there were no calls on ride alongs but that is cool that you can go again and so it doesn`t matter if there weren`t any that night you can go for more, right?

   Kaulin is 16? I fear for the world... It may no longer be safe to go outdoors... jaja jk kind of. It doesn`t seem possible that he is 16.

   That is cool that Dad likes his new partner and captain hopefully he will stay. And I am sure that he will make a great captain whenever they call him.

   As far as a car would go I think that probably a more efficient car would be better. I really liked the White Tiger but I am also a poor college student who can`t afford his classes so I think that it would be better to spend less on a car. Like my Saturn was a great car that did everything that I needed. 
   This will be a crazy week for us trying to bring everyone to General Conference. It will be held in the stake center so we will have to find a solution how to get everyone there. I am not quite sure how it will work out. We have a goal of having 8 people there. We will see how that goes and do our best to meet it.

   I love you all soo very much and I can`t wait to hear from you next week!

Are you a Resistencia Missionary?!?

1.      We have a question that we keep forgetting to ask. Do you think in English or Spanish now?

Well, that depends on the moment. But for the most part I think in Castellano. I speak Castellano all day and so I don`t really even have anything to do with English for pretty much the whole day. Sometimes I talk to my companion in English and it has been more and more recently because he is getting a lot better but for the most part I just think and speak in Castellano.

2.      When do you find out about transfers? Not until Wednesday when you actually transfer or Tuesday night? How does that work does someone call you or do you get an email?

For transfers we get a phone call Tuesday night from our Zone Leaders saying who will be staying and who is going. We don`t know anything until then. If all goes like it normally does then I will leave and Elder Fiabane will stay with someone else. We also have a tradition in Circ

2 that every transfer eve we go to the house of Barbara and we are there when they call at 8ish. That night is when and where we find out. We have been there every transfer eve that I have been in Argentina.

3.      How deep of mud have you been in? Any crazy incidents with mud?

The mud hasn`t been bad lately it has hardly rained this transfer. The wet season was when I first arrived and during that time I only used boots for two weeks strait. It has only rained one or two times this transfer. When it did rain there was a bull dozer that was in the street and it couldn`t move. It was stuck peeling out in the mud. I thought it was going to slide into the sanja but we didn`t get to stick around to see. It can get to ankle deep at times depending on the street and how long it was raining.

New Floor

4.       The pictures of your floor in the pension look all torn up still… what kind of floor was put in and why did you need a new one?

Oops, that is because I didn`t get all the pictures on the week before. They are there now and you can see the lindo new floor. We have enjoyed it for this week and now I will probably be going, but we`ll see.

5.      Have you been sick very often? Uncle Bryan says you’re not a true missionary until you have pooped your pants. GROSS!!

Not too often. I would say once every month or every other month I am a little sick but usually nothing bad. And I would have to agree. Sometimes the food just doesn`t agree with you and hasta ahora, I haven`t had a log in my pants and hopefully it won`t happen but I could easily see one day eating something that will kill my stomach and not having anywhere to go to take care of business. One of my Zone Leaders said that you aren`t a Resistencia missionary until you have been bit by a dog, fallen in the sanja, and crapped your pants.

6.    Do you have any good Argentine recipes for us?

As far as Argentine recipes there aren`t a whole lots, jaja We eat Milonesa (What Rob ate), marinera (similar to milonesa but with different breading), Guiso (noodles or rice with either chicken or beef on top), salchicha (hotdog), empanada, pizza (Only difference is different cheese and something other than pepperoni because they don`t have anything remotely spicy here), tarta (tortilla with cheese in the middle), and sometimes tortellini. Basically if you just add more oil it`s Argentine :P The food is good just a little repetitive and too much oil. If you want recipes ask for the specific food and I will give it to you.

Mini Elder Pickle

I had a great opportunity recently when I went on exchanges with my new zone leader. He is at the end of his mission and knows a lot about teaching a being a missionary. I learned a ton from him! Right now I feel like I really didn`t know how to teach or find people in my mission before that exchange. He first of all taught me that we always need to be looking for new people and talk to everyone that we see in the street and ask every person for references. Even if we don`t have time to stay for a lesson take their name and address and phone number and write it in the future investigators section to put as a backup plan for other days. We need to always have something to do. Then to begin talking with someone you need to ask a ton of questions about them to find out things that will help you know what is there need and obstacle. Three really great questions that he told me I will share with you and if you want more just ask. but ones like, Do you live here with your family? How many are there? If, one day, we invite you to come to church with us would you attend? Those questions whether they answer yes or no you learn things about them that will help you know what they need to be taught.

Que vamos a hacer cuando regreso? A veces parece como estoy perdiendo mi Ingles. Y cuando es tiempo para regresar a casa capas no voy a recordar ningùn Ingles. Por eso de cierto de cierto os digo, aprendìd Castellano y hablais conmigo cuando regreso :P chiste no hablamos en vosotros pero es chistoso a hablar asi. Y a insultar gente en maneras lo que Cristo hizo, jaja Pero ojala todo esta bein y que uds van a entender todo estes palabras porque a veces son diferente entre los paises. Y a quien esta tranduciendo este carta vos podes entender cuando hablo con vos? Porque me gusta usar vos y no podemos por la mayoria del tiempo porque tenemos que usar ud con la gente solo podemos usar vos entre compañerismo y con los niños. Pero asi es che!

Vaya con Dios!

I love you all so much and I can`t wait to hear from you next week!

Secret Desire's

Well what has been going on recently here is that we have been trying to bring our area back to life it is still dead and we are lacking investigators and no one has gone to church in the last two weeks. I am excited for transfers even though I like my companion and lots of things about my area I want some change because I am ready for a change but I shouldn´t say that because I will probably stay here :P 

It has been starting to get hot here but we have only hit about 38 degrees Celsius and haven´t reached the forty’s to fifties. I don´t remember what is the conversion to Fahrenheit. I will soon have to buy a sombrero to wear every day so that I don´t fry, jaja

Right now Elder Fiabane and I are enjoying our new floor in the pension after two weeks of construction it is finally done and the pension looks a ton better (photos in dropbox). 

Right now our only investigators that I would say have real intent would be Miguel and Lucia and Alejandra. Miguel and Lucia had a baptismal date for this Saturday but didn´t go to church yesterday because of health problems of Miguel. He has been having really bad headaches and stomach pain. That with being blind makes it hard to get to church. Alejandra we met this last week and she said that she was going to go to church no matter what even if it rained(not even the members go if it rains). But when we went to look for her she was sleeping and the dad answered and instead of waking her up keep trying to tell us to give up on her because she won´t keep any commitments and that he knows her so just give up. I found that at least a little strange that she won´t keep commitments since she has been reading in the BoM.... needless to say we won’t be giving up....

There isn´t a whole lot to say about what has been going on lately because for the majority of the time it is just clapping houses and having people say that they are catholic and don´t want to listen to anything we have to say because they already know everything about our religion. Today is exactly my eight months in the mission or one third. Elder Santoro said that this is the very hardest part of the mission. 

Oh, I don´t know if I ever told you guys but I got my ring back. It turns out that it was the people who were working on our floor. One of his assistants was doing something in the bathroom and didn´t want to knock it off of the toilet so he put it in his pocket then he just forgot it was there. But anyway I have it back!

It is crazy to think that I have two cousins that I have never even met! It is weird to only have seen them for pictures! It is also crazy to see how big everyone is getting! 

Barbara has a kidney stone and might need surgery do you know any tricks to help them pass I know Lindsey had several and maybe has some suggestions. 

As far as the Toms that you and Emily said you wanted there are no Toms here. There are only the original things called Alpargata that look like Toms but aren´t that brand. I don´t know if that is what you guys wanted but that is what they have. You also need to tell me you shoe size in metric if you want me to buy them for you guys. Also I want the shirt size of everyone if you could send that. 

I am trying to take pictures of around here but it is dangerous to have things like cameras and phones out so I am doing what I can. Also there really isn´t any good landscape here in the city except one part that is the most dangerous of our entire area, jaja So I will try to get pictures but I don´t know how well it will work with where it is at. 

Formosa

Formosa

                                                                             

I also have a secret desire that I will get transferred to a faraway area because the collectivos play movies when you travel far and I am dying to just sit down and watch a movie especially because the other day some investigadores were watching Transformers and didn´t turn it off when we came so we were fighting not to watch it but I would be lying if I said we didn´t watch at least one scene :P 

It is crazy that general conference is almost here. I can remember the last one when I was in California and I still watched it in English. It will be really weird to watch it in Castillano here. I hope that I will understand all the words that they use :P

I love you guys more than anything and can´t wait to hear from you next week! 

Asher:

That is funny that Asher says now everyone will speak “his language”, jaja but there is one problem here we don´t speak Spanish in Argentina, we speak Castellano, jaja and Harmony´s sister (Got her mission call to Buenos Aires Argentina and leaves January 15^th) will speak like a Portaño with the ll sounding like sh while here in the north it is more of a juh. but you can tell him, Cuando regreso podemos hablar solo en Castellano y Español. A menos el puede entender lo que digo y el puede ser me traductor porque no se si voy a olvidar todo mi ingles mientras estoy acá. Y puedo enseñarle a hablar Castellano porque solo hay chicito diferencias como el sonido por los y´s y ll´s y usamos vos porque tu no existe en Castellano.

Just another week with lots to learn and grow right?

This week has been a little rough because we have been lacking in investigators. It seems like they all decided that they don`t want to listen to us and that no one else wants to be investigators either. We will be working hard on finding new investigators this week and recommitting the ones that were supposedly solid. But just another week with lots to learn and grow from right?

Sebastian was baptized last week but not confirmed. He didn`t show up for church the next day to be confirmed and then we finally found him during the week and he said to come by the next day. The next day he wasn’t there and we called him and he told us that he had permanently moved to Resistencia. We have been struggling trying to get a hold of him again and finally today got his address to give to our leaders. They are going to bring him to church there and do the confirmation.  If all works out bien... But fingers crossed!

We now have lunches every day with someone. With flia Rosa Tuesday, Barbara Wednesday (and anytime we stop by, jaja), Hna Carmen (owns our house) Thursdays, Flia Rodriguez or Flia Pereyra depending on the week Friday, and Bishop Saturdays, and Asado with Flia Fleytas every Sunday!!

I have tried to get money at the bank of Formosa but they just gave me funny looks when I handed them the card and said they couldn`t do anything with it. They said to try the other type of atms that can be found in central. The problem with that is it is outside of our area so I will try when I get a chance.

You guys should put pictures of baby Hailey, and more pictures in general! Crazy schemes of boxes being transferred back and forth in front of the neighbors, crazy huge lawnmowers, you guys, everything! Also a picture of our house people often ask how it looks.

Emily:

Careful if you procrastinate then you definitely won`t be able to keep up with your schedule this year! In AP US you will do fine if you read the book. If you read the book you will pass the class sì or sì.

No, I have never met Emerie as far as I know... And also why are you flirting it up with your boyfriend in the library when you should be studying that WILL make you fail your classes, jaja. Yes I had Keeko and he was cool, just a lot of busywork in that class. Oh, and Hansen is pregnant in Honors English? To answer your question I would say no the Argentine girls here are in love with Elder Fiabane and he would say the opposite so you can decide who is telling the truth :P

  8O Love you so much!

Nathan:

That is awesome that you have seminary now! It is a great class and very exciting! You can learn a lot in there! That is cool that you have Sackett, I never had him myself but I knew a lot of people who liked him! Continua practicando tu Castillano y podemos hablar cuando regreso. Voy a necesitar un tranducidor para mi y vos podes hacerlo! And you slow danced with the girl you like WHAT? jaja jk bien hecho. I look forward to the day when we can once again destroy the GDF (those scum) and kill some zombie Left 4 Dead status. Love you so much!

I want to invite you guys to get your patriarchal blessings! I know that they will bless you a ton and it is only an interview and blessing! Let me know how it goes!

``I`m black how dare you assume that I am tan!`` Shawn

``Oh no Gus what will we ever do, it is closed`` (steps over chain) ``That wasn`t too bad`` Shawn

I love you guys soo much and can`t wait to hear from you next week!

Ammon the most amazing missionary!!!

There were 34 missionaries who arrived this week. It really wasn´t like I was expecting. Basically nothing happened :P We are now in a new Zone Formosa 3 with half our old zone still in Formosa 1. We have one new area that is a companionship of Hermanas and I am pretty sure that one of them is a Hermana from my mtc district. I will see tomorrow. 

Sometimes it can be a little cold but the winter is over now. Now it is time for the hottest hot I have ever seen. I have decided that I hate humidity and am very glad that Utah is dry because humidity causes molds, colder cold, and hotter hots. I don´t even think there is any benefit to it...

We attend a ward here not a branch. I think that all the churches here are wards unless they don´t have a meeting house. Because here each ward has its own church to make it easier for the people to go to church. With more buildings it is less travel distance. 

The city here is different. The way that houses are build is very different from the states. There are still lots of empty lots around in the city and one that is next door to us is being built on.. Here is just a few guys who have come and laid down a huge cement slab for the floor and then they have these red bricks (different from the kind in the states) and they take cement and start building the walls. Almost always the houses are one story and I don´t think any house has a basement. It is also common for the walls to be built of only wooden slabs side by side and you can even see through them if you try. Air conditioning and heaters are the kind that you mount on the wall not ventilated through the house. Electricity wires are often strung through comers of the house not in the walls. Sometimes a better floor, roof, or walls will be put in later after it is done. The floors are always tile; it is very rare to see carpet or anything else. 

Markets aren´t too different from home. They work basically the same. They aren´t as nice though. They also don´t have near as many choices of food. We are very limited in selection. Basically someone here decided that all food should be the same. Everything is also cooked in oil, if it isn´t it probably isn´t Argentine, haha Even a salad is lettuce coated in oil but those aren´t common. Tons of fried meats, potatoes, eggs, noodles, and rice. The big difference in stores here and there is that here there are a lot of little kiosks and hardly any large stores. There is a kiosk house on every street but hardly any big stores. There is a chango más (Walmart with a different name to have latinos enter it) but it is out of our area. I have heard that it has lots more options and food from the states. I had the Hermana that we live with buy me a jar of peanut butter there.

Mom I am glad you asked, there are lots of different ways that you can approach reading the BoM again. For me, I didn´t connect the entire story in my head before my mission. I knew basically all the stories but I wasn´t totally sure how they connected. If you haven´t yet spend some time focusing on the story behind it all. But you probably already have done that... another thing you can do is study it by topic. When you do that you will want to keep a study journal. I find when studying like that the best way to start is pick a topic and start in PMG or the topical guide. You can read each of the passages and write the reference and a summary of what each says and then your study journal will be really useful for things such as talks or if for whatever reason you need a scripture about something. If you study it by topic or through PMG you will probably find that there are key chapters and passages that are used a lot for different topics. Such as 2 Nefi 2, 9,31,32, Alma 17, 26, 31, Ether 12, and many others. 

As far as Nefi I like him a lot. He is always willing to go and do what the Lord wants (1 nefi 3:7) He was a great example for all those around him even in times of hardship (1 nefi 14 more or less, when he breaks his bow), also he is a good leader and ruled as a righteous king until his death. 

My favorite person in the Book of Mormon is Ammon. He was an amazing missionary. He was offered to be son of the King but instead chose to be his servant (As Christ always said him who is greatest among you let him be thy servant). He saved the servants of the king by cutting off the arms of the enemies. Then when he had accomplished that he didn´t go back to the king to brag about it he went to the king´s stables and fed his horses because the king had also commanded that his servants do that. He then converted the king to the church. As it says in the scriptures that not a single one of his converts fell away from the church. Also my favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon Alma 26 when Aaron was telling Ammon not to boast then Ammon says ´´yea, I know that I am nothing, as to my strength I am weak, therefore I will not glory in myself but I will glory in my God, because with his strength I can do all things, yea behold many mighty miracles we have brought to pass in this land for which we will praise his name forever.´´ Then he goes on to talk about how he know that it isn´t his strength that he praises but the strength of his God and that if that is boasting then yes, he is guilty of boasting.  Good luck with your studying! Love you all!