August 29, 2011   Salta   Argentina

It’s amazing how when the gospel is first in our lives that the other things will just fall into place and how useful the spirit can be in helping with those decisions and just successfully moving forward in life. One can really feel Heavenly Father’s love for his children when receiving guidance in all parts of life and receiving answers to prayers. I have had a few things happen lately as direct answers to my prayers. It’s been a great experience here and I know it will only get better (continue learning more). I was praying with my companion and alone for help with the ward. We have about 50 people coming to church and it’s been difficult getting enough help for them. We started really focusing on this a couple weeks ago and this last week a general authority came here to Salta and had a meeting with the missionaries and all the bishoprics in both stakes. He gave a really good short talk then we split into stakes (2 from Salta and one from a bordering state) and had a workshop with the presidency and our bishops. I think it will help alot. It was all about how we need to work together more and how to have good ward council.  It was a big answer to our prayers. We had no idea what it was going to be about until we got there. Then Sunday we had 6 investigators in church! I have found that sometimes the people you need to talk to are people we have contacted and just not had time to get back to yet. Makes me focus a little more on newly contacted people to try to meet with them at least a few times so that we can really tell if they are interested. Alot of the time we aren’t in the areas they live in or nearby during the times they are in their homes so it makes it difficult sometimes but we are getting better at it. This guy who smokes 2 packs of cigarettes a day is wanting to quit. He read the stuff we gave him and understood it well so we are meeting with him again. He came to church 10 minutes early in a suit! It was great! He had to leave a little early for something but we passed him on the street later that day and he said he loved church and figures he will just go till he dies! Haha. We were shocked and really excited at the same time. Things are going great and when they aren’t I am usually learning something good! Haha. Like you said Isaac, the mission is tough but you would never give up the experience for anything.

Love Alex

Aug 22, 2011  Salta Argentina

Hola Familia y Amigos!

This week was a huge party here because this weekend was the Virgin Mary's birthday (the Bolivian one). There are a ton of different Virgins for the different countries. It’s pretty crazy in September I guess cause there is a celebration most of the weekends. It just so happened that right across the street when we got home Saturday night the people where setting up these huge speakers and a table all decorated with the Virgin Mary doll on it. At 10:55 the music started... our bed time is 11. This mariachi band started playing in the street then after that a Bolivian dance group did a performance. I could see it from my bed and since I couldn't sleep I enjoyed it. It lasted about an hour and then they all went in since it was really cold out. Up in the hill there was a little snow this weekend! It was freezing. Last night the neighbors had another party too... it’s been quite the weekend. We also saw a pickup truck with a Virgin Mary statue in it and a huge group of people dancing and following it down the street before we got back to our house. The Book of Mormon really comes to life after seeing all of these parties for the Virgins here. One lady said when we knocked on the door that she is "Catholic and believes in the trinity, the Father, Son and the Virgin... oh, and the Holy Ghost" There is so much tradition of the grandparents and so on here and it talks alot about traditions of the fathers of the Lamanites in the Book of Mormon. 

It’s pretty interesting! There are also a ton of fireworks for all of these celebrations! Almost more than on the Indian reservation back home for the 4th of July. My companion said that at Christmas the whole city will be filled with smoke because every family goes out and lights off a bunch! 

Anyways, for a more spiritual side of things, we have been teaching a guy once a week (since that's the only time he had), and he has a page (at least) of questions for us every week! It's great! He came to church the other day and is pretty interested and excited. He has alot of good questions! He is learning German and English on his own too! He is quite an interesting guy! We have a General Authority (church leader) coming this weekend to talk to south America and it will be right here in Salta! Marcelo, who I just told you about, might be going with us! A couple other investigators might be also! 

Recently we were trying to find someone and they weren't there so we knocked on a door nearby. The guy who answered just got home from work and said 3 or 4 times that we could come back another time but not now. He finally went and asked his wife. I might have told you this before but we found out that the wife had told her husband the night before that she wanted to go back to church. I think Heavenly Father heard her say that too because we just happened to knock on their door. They aren't on our papers for this ward because they moved here from pretty far away. Their son isn't a member so we are teaching him and have to be there in 15 minutes. So I’ve got to go! I love you all very much and hope things are going great!

  

I love you all! 

  

Love, Alex 

Aug 15, 2011  Salta Argentina

I have a bit of a cold but it's going through its stages. The weather is changing back and forth so fast that everyone gets colds. I guess it's normal close to the end of winter. It’s really warm out today which is nice.

So about the patience thing... I have been praying for help and am being blessed with MANY opportunities to work on it, ha ha. I don't know if I am just seeing situations differently now that I am trying to change or if I am really getting more opportunities. This lady we are teaching brings her two kids to the church during the week when we have lessons with her and they are a handful! The little girl is 6 and the boy is 8 or 9. They both love grabbing our stuff and running off with it while we are teaching and also digging through it so we have to go get the stuff and bring it back. They took all the tithing slips and crumpled them up in their pockets and went through everything they could. The other day the boy went out and got a bunch of red current berries or something (they are like small blueberries and I don't think they are edible). Anyways, he started throwing them at us during the lesson and then was throwing them around the room until my companion told him to get a trash can and practice shooting them in. With his short attention span that worked for two minutes and then he was back at trying to get our attention. He did ha ha. He got more berries after his mom took them away and then he was in the other part of the church. Finally we were able to talk. They left and she will be ready the 27th for baptism and is very excited! We went and got lunch and came back to the church since that day a family gave lunch to us in a container. We ate and started picking up the berries. We got to the only carpeted room in the church and yup... he had thrown them all in there and walked all over them! I took a deep breath and we cleaned it up laughing at how that kid can think of every way to get under your skin! The stains blended into the carpet well so you couldn't notice them after we cleaned it with a rag as well as we could.

Like I said, I am being blessed with many opportunities to practice! ha ha

We are teaching a lady who read the Book of Mormon a long time ago and loved it but never pursued it. We passed her on the street and said hi as we walked by and because of her enthusiasm in saying hi back we stopped and started talking to her. It was quick but we got her address and she was excited to have us come over. After weeks of trying to find her home and not sick we connected! She told us she had one question about the Book of Mormon and everything else she loved. She said she didn't understand the part where Alma talks about the spirit world or life after death. We talked to her about it and she was so happy and believed it all, that she wanted us to keep coming back! She has been reading it over again and has said that as much as she loves the Virgin Mary and the Catholic traditions she is going to have to let it go and not look back like the story in the Bible when Lot was walking away and commanded not to look back. She knows the Old and New Testament like the back of her hand and since she has been reading the Book of Mormon over she is finding that it is so true just by proof and also how great she feels about it! She ends up teaching us more than we teach her! ha ha. She has studied all the different types and translations of the Bible but just feels like she learns so much more when she reads the Book of Mormon! She also had a dream in which I told her "plainly" that "I KNOW THAT WHAT WE ARE TEACHING IS TRUE!!!" and woke up feeling something that she couldn't describe inside her! We know that it is the spirit and that she is receiving answers to her prayers. She not only has been reading the pamphlets we give her, she does all the questions in the back of them by searching for the answers in the verses listed. She said while she was doing these she felt like her understanding was enlightened! It is so amazing to be present while the Lord is doing his work! We found out that a bishop a long time ago stopped at their house at 10 at night and knocked on the door. Clara(who we are teaching) said that her mom(now passed away) was mad that someone would knock that late but when she opened the door, the guy(a bishop in the LDS church) said that the spirit told him that he was supposed to stop here at this house and do something for the family. He then asked what it was they needed and Clara's mom said that she was trying to build a school and had been praying for the funds for 3 months! It was a Catholic school but the bishop paid for every part of the school and told them not to tell anyone who did it. Clara now wants to know if it would be OK if she could put a plaque on the school that says 'built by a Mormon bishop'! ha ha She never forgot that moment and has wanted to do something about it but couldn't because of what he said. He passed away a few years ago and she wants to do something now. She was blown away that he would do that for another religion!

Another guy we are teaching read a ton the first time we asked him to read the Book of Mormon and he had a bunch of questions written out including asking about the trinity and many other things! It was a great lesson with the spirit and he loves the book! We can only meet with him Saturday though because of work so that is the only bad thing. He is excited to keep learning!

We are being blessed with alot of people who are interested and progressing including many who we were teaching who we haven't been able to meet with for a while. One of the recent converts we had, now has a wife who is really interested in learning more. She never wanted to listen while we were teaching before because she knew she would just start crying. She told us that her husband said (before he got baptized) that maybe it's the spirit trying to tell you something! We are being blessed with many amazing experiences and tons of walking! Our area had 4 missionaries before but then they took two out a few years ago. It’s been two ever since and it's huge! I might be here for another transfer because my companion goes home at the end of this transfer.

Well I hope everything is going great back home and that you're getting some of this fabulous sunshine!

Love you all!

Alex

Aug 8, 2011   Salta Argentina

Hello!

One thing I have been trying to work on is how I react to different situations here in every aspect of the mission... I have a hard time but I am really focusing on it alot. We have appointments fail so many times I think if I made three for one time I might get lucky and have one of them be there. We just have to keep going and learn what we can from it. My companion has been a great example for me in his patience with the people but he has been here for 2 years! He is surprised though, with how many do fall through. We are trying to do everything we can but sometimes it feels like we have tried everything. There were more members – some less-active and investigators at church this week so that was a blessing. We are trying some new stuff at ward council to get more help with the work so we will see how that turns out. We have a wonderful bishop and counselor. Our elders quorum president was released due to alot of work and not making it there most of the time. We are teaching his wife now after 6 years of the missionaries trying to even talk to her! It’s turning out well but slow which is fine. Everybody goes at different paces.

 It’s my companion's birthday today! He turned 21 so we made hamburgers hoping they would take less time. But no... it was about the same after cleanup as the tacos took. We also made Joe Joes which were really good. We also made some sweet potato. Well we just cut them up and cooked them in the oven like we had at a member's house. They were good just plain with a tiny bit of butter. They have alot of different types of them here it seems like. 

Anyways we made cookies and banana bread for a Family Home Evening with a recent convert and investigator (2 families of 3) at the bishop's house. We tried to do one last week but the wife of the member didn't make it. It was good for the member though because he just came back to church after being inactive for 5 years. He’s 22 and has a 1-year old girl. He is really sharp and comes to church early and his wife (soon to be) likes church alot! He can’t wait to get sealed in the temple and has a really strong testimony! We are hoping that everyone makes it to the Family Home Evening though cause they are both new parents and excited about the church. 

Anyways... the weather has been warm here again. I think winter is coming to an end. Don’t know if I'm excited or not... ha ha. Right now it's perfect out, but still kind of hot. This area is one of the more mild areas in the mission too. There are a few areas that will be 50 Celsius and very humid!

 We found a guy who is trying to teach himself  English and German and is really interested in what we have to teach. He read the whole restoration pamphlet and we read some of the Book of Mormon together and he is very interested. The more I read the Book of Mormon, the stronger and stronger my testimony gets of it. It’s really amazing how many stories in it apply so many different ways in our lives. With all the less actives we have been teaching we are trying to use the stories and read them with them. It is really helping as long as they keep reading every day.

Well I have to go now! I love you all!

The book of Mormon IS the most perfect book in the world and will bring any person closer to Christ if read everyday.

Alex

Aug 1, 2011   Salta  Argentina

Not alot of new things happening here. We made tacos again today and it was so good! I think we are going to make hamburgers next week!

  

The weather got really warm for a few days and we were in out short sleeves all day! It was really nice and then a cold front came in and changed it overnight. It also rained yesterday which added to the cold. 

I am learning alot about listening to the spirit right now. I learn alot when I don't realize it was the spirit and find out afterwards! ha ha I have really been thinking about the atonement more and how faith leads us to repentance and after repentance brings a change of heart. I was studying it a bit and it is true for us everyday. If we exercise our faith by studying and learning and having a desire to learn more, it really shows us the things we need to change. 

Well I have to go now sorry it's short! P-day flies by with everything we have to get done.

Love you all!

Alex

July 25, 2011  Salta  Argentina

I made it through transfers without having to pack! I was expecting to go because it was a rumor that 6 months max in an area was a new rule from the prophet. I guess it was just the president's rule. I don't know if I mentioned this, but we got a new president in the mission 3 weeks ago or so. He is really good! The new president is from here and has 5 kids under 15 years old!  Yes, he has his hands full. The secretary of the mission takes them to school in the morning sometimes so he has a new title... baby sitter. ha ha

Anyways, my companion  goes home the first week of September. We were hoping to stay together to get alot better at teaching together. We have recently been trying hard and talking about the lessons and how we can work together through it. I am learning alot and working it out and changing the way we are doing things to have the spirit more in the lessons will help me down the road. We are so blessed to have the spirit guide us in our lives as long as we are living righteously. I am so happy with everything and what I have been learning. It is so true that the times that aren't just easy are the best times because we learn to rely alot more on the Savior and his help. If everything were easy, I wouldn't be learning anything. We learn so much more with trials and tribulation!

So there is this member who served here in Argentina a long time ago and learned how to make tacos like we make them at home. They aren't common here cause the food is so different than Mexican food. They don't like hot foods here so when they say something is really hot you don't have to worry about a thing.

Anyways, we ate with them yesterday and they were so good, we made some more today and it might just become a Monday tradition.... another kid in the apartment with us loves Mexican foods cause he's from Arizona and has a lot of Mexican friends. The tacos ended up so good but the tortillas we have to improvise since you can't just buy them ready here. We buy these little empenada crusts which are smaller than a corn tortilla and role them out to be a little bigger than a corn tortilla but it's a flour tortilla. They were delicious! That’s the one thing I miss is tortillas ha ha. Pat Forcum was right about that - at least the Costco-ready tortillas.  

Oh I don't know if I told you, but last week, I think it was, we found someone while knocking on doors, who was inactive and we set a time to come back and it landed on the lady's birthday. We found out from a member it was her birthday because it was her aunt. She had been praying for them a long time and it just happened that we were walking by and we had just about passed when I turned and reached out and knocked on the door. It was weird but felt like I wasn't in control. The spirit once again. So we came back and found out that her husband received the priesthood from Elder Richard G Scott when he was mission president here! They enjoy singing the hymns again and his favorite was the lighthouse one. They still know the church is true but quit going for some reason 25 years ago. It's great to see them excited to get back.

  

I love you all!

Alex

July 18, 2011   Salta  Argentina

 

Hello!

We got here to the internet place really late because we were both feeling pretty sick last night and today. We stopped to help a lady do some work on the side of the road and afterwards she gave us some water... it was either that or lunch but we are alive and moving. ha ha Like I told Miles. It's part of the adventure.

 

 Last week a 22 yr old kid came to church for the first time in 5 years and is on fire! He came with his girlfriend and 1 yr old daughter this Sunday and when we talked to him last week he wants nothing more then to go get married in the temple. We will be teaching them tonight because his girlfriend isn't a member. She participated alot in the lessons at church and seemed pretty excited! It's so neat to be working with families who are excited about the gospel and making the temple a goal. There is a strong spirit with him and his family!

 

I have to go now though.

 

I love you all and hope everything is going great!

Alex