Don't Punch... Our car...

Haha, Familia! Todo Bien? Hellooo!

Can I just start out by saying how incredibly blessed I am to be a missionary? It is seriously the best thing in the entire world! It has its ups and downs, but man, it has made me love my Savior a million times over. There is a quote I heard in a talk by Holland, "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times". Ha, not only in a missionary sense, but life in general. Today we have so much to do good and extend the boundaries of the Lord's kingdom, as well as to destroy it. It's crazy, let's choose to be clean.

So cool news, our mission made history this month. We had over 200 confirmations, which is a mission record! As celebration, the whole mission is going to the zoo next Tuesday. Which means Monday, I will only have 2 hours to email and then I do a normal workday. I'm pumped! The zoo with all my friends! Never thought I'd be this excited for the zoo. Haha!     Aerial Map

My companion,  E l d e r   S t o c k i n g , is hilarious. I love the kid! Ha! We really hit it off when we started quoting Kid History (Don't Punch... Our car...) and Lord of the Rings, and YouTube videos. Our favorite is "Would ya just look at this! Ah! Just look at it!" and talk in feminine voices. It's hilarious. Yesterday when we were walking in the cold and rain to look for our investigators, he turned to me and yelled "Tengo gozo en mi alma hoy!" and then I joined in with him singing the hymn. Love it!

Revelation moment... The 3 wise men? They were religious men from other areas who had the gospel more or less. At least that's my understanding. Look it up in the Bible Dictionary. Blows my mind to think that there were probably people like the Nephites in other parts of the world like Australia and stuff. Wo..

Something I really learned this week was application. Always asking, Why? If we know the doctrine, we change. We do everything on our own! Doctrine, Principles and Application. The pillars of awesomeness! Love it! Think about it, Christ healed, taught and preached, but he applied his everything! Because of this, those he taught translated his teachings into "True repentance and gospel living". We can grow up in the church and go through the motions and be called as quorum president and stuff, but living the gospel is something different. I was big time humbled to learn that...

I love this gospel. I love the people. Yesterday, we were walking down the villa and stopped and talked to this lady cooking pig head. We talked for like an hour and she made us hot chocolate and even though she wasn't interested, two of her family members were, and we are gonna teach them tonight. Super stoked. She taught me this saying, and now I am gonna sing it tonight:

Yo soy paraguita! (yankee)

No niego mi nacion,

A papa le doy un beso,

A mama mi corazon!

Haha, Love it. And that's also to my Mom and Dad...

Welp, the mission is the best! It should warm up soon and I'm stoked for that. I'm pretty over this whole "hace frio" shin-dig.

"Use it when all other things go dark".  I think the elf queen lady in the Lord of the Rings was talking about the scriptures! ;)

Loves!

All the Elders in my zone who are of Boca!

Haha, the best!

Familia! Loves!

Hey guys, how are things? That's nice. First of all, thanks for all the emails y'all have sent this last week, it was really nice. Well I got some reportin' here to do...

Sebastian didn't get baptized this last weekend. The thing is his girlfriend and he have kids together, but they don't live together and are living the law of chastity. But... he decided he wants to get married before he gets baptized, which I guess is good. I hope he stays true. I love that guy!

Mercedes should be getting baptized soon. She is such a crack up! Hahaha! Seriously, the craziest old lady I have ever met. We were walking home from Church and she saw this old hat on the ground and she picked it up and wore it home. Hahaha, and then I tripped over a crack and she freaked out and said "Stop stop, come back! Go around it!" And so now I do that whenever I trip over something. I'm hoping we can get her baptized this Saturday since next week is General Conference.

I got a new companion today. His name is  E l d e r   S t o c k i n g  from Rupert, Idaho. Haha, and this will be my second straight companion that I will be "killing" which means he is going home at the end of this transfer. And that means I am almost guaranteed I will be here in Lugano another transfer. He seems like a stud though so it should be fun. I am gonna miss E l d e r  S m i t h though. We got along really well and had fun.

We went to San Fernando like 3 or 4 times, which takes like 4 hours, mas o menos, round trip, so that was kinda annoying. Oh well.

On Sunday, we were running late for  E l d e r   S m i t h ' s  farewell in San Fernando and even though it was Sunday, we figured the ox was in the mire, and we took a remis (a taxi thing). The guys that run that one all worship this saint Gauchito Gil. At the end of the trip, we handed him the money with a picture of Jesus and he just said "No, I just want the picture of Jesus" and let us go! The Lord had our backs that day. :)

So there is this guy named Brother Villanueva in my ward and I just love him and his family to death! And he wants to know so bad what marshmallows taste like. So I told him I'd ask back home for some marshmallows. Could anyone send a poor wittle missionary in South America some marshmallows? haha! Also, some sour gummy worms.... Mmmmm....

I can't explain how amazing it is to be a missionary. You just learn so much! The Church is true! I just know that the Savior loves us and that the Book of Mormon is key! Trust in it! I love y'all so much!

Loves, Loves!

Livin' the Dream, Siempre!

So this week was pretty sweet even though half of it was walking in gross, rainy weather. Ha. The only thing with this is 1. The members are not as willing to accompany us. 2. The culture of Argentina is to sleep when it rains.... or when it isn't raining. 3. We got wet a full! So it was a fight, but I think we came out on top. We had to drop like 6 investigators because they just aren't progressing, but we got lots more to work with... I'll get to that in a bit. :)

I went on divisions once again and  E l d e r   U l l u a  (from Cordoba, Argentina) came to my area. We had a good day. I haven't left my area once for divisions, which isn't normal, but I like it because it helps me grow.

Nidia has grown so much! Seriously, just a day after her baptism and she just seemed so different. That is the BEST part about this work. Seeing the change. She got confirmed this last Sunday and when we sat back down and I looked over at her and she just had the BIGGEST smile on her face. I honestly can't ask for anything better. I know she will be a big help for us in finding new people in the villa too because she is basically the only active member there now. Ha! Que una capa!

We were able to participate in the Helping Hands project this week as well, which was stinkin' awesome. We took the bus to Liniers and met up with another zone and we painted and did lots of stuff for a hospital. It was sooo much fun and I got to see  E l d e r   C l a w s o n  (buddy from the MTC, I'll send pic) and chill with President Ayre and his familia! Service is like Sour Gummy Worms... I never realized how amazing they were till I came out here. Seriously though, send me Sour Gummy Worms... I'm desperate.

I believe in Miracles! So this week we were crossing the train tracks and I felt the prompting to just pass by a family we knew down the tracks a little bit. We stopped by and saw Miguela (member) and Sebastian (her husband, non-member). Sebastian just seemed so happy to see us, which was odd because we tried to teach him like a week before and it seemed to us like he just wasn't prepared. So we sit there on the porch and he whips out all the pamphlets we give out and points out all the stuff he had been reading, particularly in the Word of Wisdom. He said he needed to leave drugs and smoking behind and needed our help. Miracle? So we have been teaching him and it's amazing to see the change! So awesome, I just love that guy. He will be baptized this Saturday, which is awesome cuz that means  E l d e r   S m i t h  will be leaving with a baptism. :)

Now, I know I haven't said much about  E l d e r   S m i t h ,  but that doesn't mean I hate him. hahaha! He is such a stud! We have been working hard and we always laugh! He is a good leader and the companionship of the spirit means a lot to him. That is a trait that I want to improve. Seriously, I love my companion! I'll be sad when he leaves. I will get my new companion next Tuesday, which reminds me, my next p-day will be on Tuesday, not Monday. Just so ya know...

Quotes of the Week:

As we have been helping Sebastian get back up on his feet and be a family man, a quote came to mind from Batman: "Why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn how to pick ourselves up." Something like that.
Also, and Alecia will appreciate this, we were walking down the villa and saw a dog leg... That's all there was! Haha, and immediately the quote from Harry Potter came to mind: "A finger... That's all that was left was a finger!" And then shortly after, a quote from Princess Bride: "I've seen worse". Hahahaha!

So this email is huge, but just one thing... Christ dying for us shouldn't be just a thing to be acknowledged, and then move on, as if it's nothing. It means everything. Someone literally died for you, that you can have ETERNAL life. He actually was killed. Think about it. When we understand this, our attitude and thoughts will change. I promise! I love that he allows me to make mistakes. He is the gardener and I trust him.

I wuv you all! Loves!

"If you want to believe something, then believe it!" -Grandpa Forbes

My foot after a long week

E l d e r   M e j i a
(lives with me) and I
He is from Mexico
Seriously the funniest guy!

Livin' the Dream!

E l d e r   D i a z
(Companion of  E l d e r   M e j i a    
who also lives in the pension with us)
and I
He is from Miami and a stud

The Mission President's Son and I

E l d e r   C l a w s o n   a n d   I
He is such a stud
I hope one day we can be companions!

September 14, 2013
"Mormon Helping Hands"
at Hospital Santojanni
Liniers Neighborhood
-34.648898, -58.515177

"If you go through the main entrance of the Hospital Santojanni (Pilar to 900) bound to see that is much nicer, and it's because on Saturday, September 14 maintenance, painting and even plants and flowers filled the park. All this was carried out by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, under the campaign "Mormon Helping Hands" and was surprised to see the number of hands that helped!

More than 200 employees armed with brushes, belts, brushes, oakum, shovels and all materials needed to perform this task, approached from the previous Friday night, with the rain and cold, and began passing fillings in cracks and leave everything ready for the big community painted."

Go to Hospital Santojanni Facebook

La Gran Obra Misional!

The Church is True, The Book is Blue, and God is a Mormon!

So this week was pretty sweet! We had some weird days, but it all turned out great! First things first, Nidia got baptized! And So did Ricardo! And they are the first people I have actually baptized, so that was pretty special. To put the arm to the square and baptize them. But more importantly, to see the change in their lives and help them experience the joy that the gospel brings. I just truly love these people! They are strengthening my testimony more than anything else! I think back to that moment in the waters of baptism and can't think of ANYTHING better than that moment. It honestly is the best! I can't wait to walk in the Celestial kingdom with Nidia by my side. :)

This last week we have been teaching this old lady that has met with other missionaries, but never got baptized. Que bajon, no? So we have been teaching her and one day we decided to sing to her Soy un Hijo de Dios (I am a child of God) and when we finished we looked up and she was in tears! She couldn't talk for a few minutes and the spirit was super strong! We challenged her to baptism right then and she accepted. Mercedes for the 22 we hope!

(See videos at end of this post)

I had the opportunity to go on divisions once again and this time  El d e r
R o s a s s a  came to my area. He is from Peru and a capo. We had good experiences together and I got to, once again, speak Spanish all day. I love that! I love being able to go on divisions and teach these younger guys. It's the best!

We went to the mission home this last week to have interviews with the president and it was great. He is big on planning for the future and setting goals and developing talents. I won't list all the goals we set, but one that stuck out to me is ¨Grow in Humility, but Act with Boldness!¨.  Super Dope, no?  I want to be that way. Super meta! That made me think... So many people here live for the moment, for this one day. They don't think about tomorrow or their future. With one of our investigators, Kevin, we decided to just sit him down and help him get his head on straight. We asked him where he saw himself in 40 years and he was thrown back and told us he was never asked that nor had he thought about it! It's incredible! Goals are so important and I owe so much to this mission for helping me know what I truly want. :)

It rained so much one day this week... We got drenched. And our villa (ghetto) was full of mud. It was fun!

I just know with all I got that this Church is true! Every time I hold a copy of the Book of Mormon in my hands, I can just feel of the power that it contains. All that power in a book. Everything depends on it! Christ is the Savior. Heavenly Father loves us. We can be healed. We can start over. I know it.

Loves!

¨There is ALWAYS hope!¨ -Aragorn

Elder Rosassa y yo

Science... SLUMBER PARTY!
What's that off of?

Sunrise yesterday :)

Rainy day

Me waiting for the bus 

Nidia y Yo

Ricardo y Yo

Nidia y yo otra vez

"Soy un Hijo de Dios"

"I am a Child of God"

Elder David Archuleta

Serving a mission in Chile

Singing with Rebecca López

LOVES!

My dearest Family and Friends!!! What is good!? You know I love you all, right!? K good. Loves for days.

Entonces, I got some good stuff to share, vamos a empezar! So to start, do you know that song that goes like this: ¨I believe in Miracles! You better believe!¨. Haha. I´ve adopted that song as my theme song for right now and sing it all the time, translated in spanish of course. Miracles really are real! We have this lady, Nidia, who is a single mother that we have been teaching and she is so prepared. We will be baptizing her this Sunday and it will be sweet. We got a family we are preparing for the following week, with several other possibles as well. The Lord truly is blessing us. I just love it! I believe in Miracles! Dow, dow dow dow dow doooow!

I think I´ve said it before, but people have the hardest time with my name here. It´s because the Hard H doesn´t exist here, so some members have decided to pinch their noses and try their hardest to say  H A N k i n s ... Still usually comes out like Onkeenz. Hahaha!

I went on a few divisions this week: One with my zone leader,
E l d e r   P a s t r a n a, and one with a latino from mexico in my district,
E l d e r   S o l i s.  Divisions are basically miracle day! With
E l d e r   P a s t r a n a  we saw these teenagers playing fuzball and we went up and said, ¨Hey if we win, we teach you, deal?¨ They accepted.... and we totally destroyed them. So we had a bunch of punk teenagers lined up on a curb being taught the restored gospel. Love it! One of them even accepted a baptismal date! Miracles!  E l d e r   S o l i s  hasn´t been out long, so it was fun to teach him through my example. And we got to talk in spanish 100% of the time, so I liked that.

So do you all remember when I was teaching that man, Felix, a few weeks ago with  E l d e r   E n g e b r e t s e n? The one with smoking problems and everything? He got baptized! And I got permission to go! Due to bad traffic I wasn´t able to make it to the baptism, but I went over to his house and gave him a huge hug! The spirit was soooo strong! He was completely changed! The atonement is incredibly real!

The weather has gotten quite a bit better. So much so, that last night we put our mattresses on the roof and slept up there for the night! Haha. I love looking at the stars and thinking about all the blessings we got. I´m so grateful for stars... they just put things in perspective. Every single one of us is looooved more than we know! I saw a quote the other day ¨To the world you are someone, but to someone you are the world!¨ Totally true! I love this gospel.

I feel your prayers. Seriously. I love this work and my Savior! Turns out the Broncos lost hardcore!? Hahaha, que bajon! No worries though, livin' the dream!

¨What are you doin´? You can´t read...¨
¨It´s the bible, ya get credit for trying!¨
(Thanks to my parents)

Loves!

Elder Pastrana

Elder Solis

Felix and I 

Engebretsen, Felix, y Yo

Felix is SUCH A STUD!
We get to walk into the Celestial Kingdom juntos!