12-25-2015

From Tanner's Skype on Christmas day.

He said that his city has had so much rain that it's flooding really bad.  The stake president called and told them to pack their bags so they can be ready to leave at any moment if they need.  The day after Christmas they ended up moving in to another apartment that is less likely to flood.  So they are 4 Elders in an apartment for 2.

For Christmas they had a zone meeting in the morning and then the skype at the church.  He then was going home to make jalapeno poppers.

They are hoping for a baptism on Jan 9 they have a person committed for that day.  They are always looking for new investigators.  He loves what he is doing and loves the Lord.

12-14-15

Hola family how are you?  Another week has come and gone with lots of rain and sun.  It's 7:30AM and it's already 95 degrees.

Yesterday was church and E came again so that was fun.  We only taught him once this week because his schedule is very complicated and he works a lot.  We only met with him once but we talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ and he still wants to get baptized on the 9th of January and yesterday in church I gave him the paperwork to get married.  We have a lesson with him tonight, hopefully that all goes well. 

Christmas is 12 days away.  Sister Franco gave us a folder that has 12 days of Christmas and every single day we have to do something special for someone else.  Yesterday it started and what it said was write someone a note and give them a gift.  I had this extra scripture case and one time in church Brother C said that he really like my scripture case.  I gave it to him for Christmas and he was pretty happy.  Just trying to make this Christmas special.  

Yesterday was the Christmas devotional and we went and watched.  It was really good.  I like President Uchtdorf's talk and how there's a lot of Christmas giving and it's a good atmosphere but we need to remember that Jesus Christ gave us an eternal gift.  

We also had divisions this week.  I went on divisions with Elder Reynolds.  He's a good guy that will go home in about 1 transfer so he's a bit trunky but that's OK he's a good guy. M wasn't progressing very well so we hadn't been by but we went by again this week and it looked like she may start progressing again but she didn't come to church.  I don't know what's wrong, we are teaching so many good people that don't come to church.  It makes it hard but that's OK.   My district leader (my comp) is going to talk about commitments tomorrow.  We're going to work on that so we can get more people to come to church.  We are still looking for more people.  We have great people that want to get baptized but don't come to church.  

The family B is a family that lives right next to M to so we are teaching them too.  They like us.  The dad invited us for lunch.  We ate fried alligator for lunch.  It's alligator or crocodile (not sure of the difference).  It's breaded and it's fried.  It was pretty funny because he was drinking his wine along with the whole family and we were drinking our juice.  We explained that we don't drink alcohol.  They like the lesson, so we'll see where that goes.

I don't know if I told you this but we often get up early and go run.  About 3 or 4 blocks away is a BIG cross and for Christmas they put up a nativity by the cross.  Around the cross is 4 big pictures.  On the side of the nativity there is a star.  On the other side there's the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove.  Pretty Catholic but we're living in a place that is 90% Catholic, the dove covers the world with its wing.  The other side there's a picture of the nativity on the 4th side there's a picture of Mary on a donkey with Joseph walking with her.  It just so happens to be that the picture is from our church.  You know the live videos and with Mary and Joseph, that's the picture, we recognized it.  I'm not sure that they got permission to use the picture but that's OK it's Jesus so we can get over it.  It's kind of funny.

This week was a good week, that's all I have to say.  I love you guys.  Another thing today is my last p-day before Christmas.  So in other words no p-day next week until Friday when I Skype.  I'll probably email you right before I Skype you to be sure you're ready and then I'll call you.  We'll chat a little, see how the weather is in Utah, how the Jazz are doing, how REAL SLC is doing.  Love you tons.  I'll talk to you on Friday.  Bye.

12-7-15

Hola family, how are you?  

 We had another great week, Wednesday we got back to work after p-day on Tuesday.  We'd been working a  lot with the family M.  We had passed by their house Saturday and because his schedule is weird but this last Sunday he didn't have to work --but they didn't show up to sacrament meeting.  Half way through Sacrament meeting I get a text message from the mother who said the alarm didn't go off.  So I went outside of the sacrament meeting while everyone was bearing their testimony and called them.  I told them that they could still come to the classes and not worry about being late.  Then they showed up a little bit late but I think they really liked it.  He is so solid, he would be a great member.

 Two weeks ago I was on division with Elder Lopez, we were working in his area and we had lunch with some members and we asked them for references.   They gave us a reference of a lady that is in our area, we went Saturday in the morning and watched the new A Savior is Born.  As missionaries we're using that video to get references to teach lessons and to feel the spirit of Christmas.  We took it to the reference, her name is M.  We watched it with her and she felt the spirit super strong.  She couldn't go to church yesterday because her cousin got in an accident.  She's a solid investigator.  I think she'll get baptized. 

Other than that our other investigators kind of disappeared.  C, we saw her Monday and since then we haven't seen her and we've passed by and we can't get a hold of her.  M was so solid and he didn't come to church.  We set plans on Saturday and he didn't come to church.  Sunday we called him and he's not answering.  People are just disappearing.  Other than that we are looking for new investigators and trying to help the ones that we have get baptized. 

This week we also had meetings in Resistencia, we woke up nice and early, at 3AM and got to Resistencia at 7AM.  We left at 8:30pm and got home at midnight.  We didn't sleep very much that day.  Basically we talked about the Christmas videos and how to use them in the mission work. 

This week it was cloudy all week long and it rained a ton.  There's a lot of flooding, and when it rains a ton all the little rivers flood.  The little rivers fill up and flood everything.  It's like the little river down by the Madson's house and when it rains it turns in to the size of the Jordan River in Lehi.  Anything close to the little rivers get flooded.  A lot of people don't have a house right now.  It's actually pretty sad. 

Something else that is heart breaking, Saturday we went to the R family.  G the little girl that is 9 that was baptized a month ago, we went over and the mother she understands the basics of the gospel.  She understands that Joseph Smith was a prophet but she doesn't have a testimony.  She understands the words we say but she doesn't have a testimony.  We stopped by Saturday to see how they are doing and she said you guys can't come by anymore, I've decided to go back to my old church.  That was kind of sad because she has 3 kids that don't have any hope any more.  We told her we respect your decision but we represent Jesus Christ and we represent His church and testified that this is His church.  But that's ok.  I hope they have success in the future. 

That was about all for this week.  It's going to be a nice hot day, the sun came out and it will be a sweaty day.  I love you guys ton and I'll be seeing you soon through skype soon, woot woot.  Oh the other thing my mission has been shortened by one week.  That means I'll be home for Thacker's birthday.  I leave Argentina the 20th of June, which means I'll probably be home June 22.  It got shortened because all the missions in the whole world are changing the time that missionaries are in the MTC when speaking their native language.  They'll be in the MTC 3 weeks.  So I'll be home a week earlier and we'll party on Thacker's birthday.

That's about it.  Love you tons.  Chow chow.

12-1-15

 I don't like speaking in English so bear with me.  It's been a fun full past week, it was  a great week.  How are you family?  Last Monday we had a Family Home Evening.  We had A and G over to a family's house and watched a movie about Thomas S. Monson.  Because we were going over the baptismal questions and G y Adidn't really know who he was so we watched the movie, On the Lord's errand.   It was a little confusing for them, not for me because I've been a member my whole life but they felt the spirit.  That Monday we planned the baptism.  Everything that could have gone wrong for the baptism went wrong.  Literally Satan was fighting so hard against us this week, so many problems, so many obstacles, so many changes, it was honestly incredible.  But they got baptized, we prayed a lot and did everything we could so they could get baptized.

This week I went on divisions with Elder Lopez, I'd been on divisions with Elder Lopez a long time ago when I got to this area.  As we were walking around his area and we say some kids playing in the sewage ponds, the Sanhas.  They were fishing or something.  Elder Lopez goes over and talks to them and jokingly asks if there's a shark in the pond.  Long story short it turns out the kids were Mormons.  They wanted us to talk to their mom and dad.  It turns out one of the little brothers hasn't been baptized yet and he wants to.  From now on Elder Lopez and I call the sewage pond the holy sewage pond, because that's where we found investigators to baptize. 

It's really hot again in Argentina.  Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday it was so hot.  120 degrees Fahrenheit.

I've honestly sweat this week more than I have in my entire life.  Friday we went to go to work and it was super hot and we didn't think it would rain.  Out of nowhere came a huge rain storm, even hail fell.  We didn't have our rain coats or an umbrella so we got completely soaked.  It was kind of fun, one of those moments on the mission I won't forget. 

We've been working with the family M, he's a Dr and turns out the mom was a missionary like 10 years ago.  He is really starting to open up and he was going to go to church this weekend but Satan put his horns in.  Hopefully he'll come next week.  C was also going to come to church but right before she came to church her mom showed up at her house for a surprise visit.  So she didn't want to leave her so she wasn't able to come to church.  This week we found another investigator in our area named M.  Saturday in the adult session of stake conference.   After one of our members brought an investigator to church who wants to get baptized.  He's set a date for baptism for 26th of December. 

This week with stake conference there were a ton of meetings on Saturday and Sunday.  Originally we planned the baptism for Saturday at 3PM but G and A couldn't get baptized then.  Then we moved it to Sunday after Stake Conference.  Then we talked to the assistants and president wanted it before Stake Conference so we moved it.  Then the bishop that is in charge of the stake center called and said we couldn't have a baptism Sunday morning because they didn't want it dirty before Stake Conference.  We called the stake president to get permission to let them get baptized and it all worked out.  We were running around all week trying to get the baptism ready.  The baptism was brought to pass.  It was super cool they showed up at 8 AM.  We got dressed in white, took some pictures.  A lot of people showed up for their baptism.  The water was super cold.  I baptized Aa and Elda Tapia baptized G.    After we ate cookies.  After stake conference they were confirmed and they are new members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.   That was probably my favorite baptism of my whole mission just because we worked so long and so hard with them.  They are just so cool.  I love them so much.

Transfers happened again, surprise surprise,  I stayed in the area.  I really excited that I'll be here for Christmas and New Years because it is a great area.  I stayed here with Elder Tapia, he's a good guy I like him. 

Yesterday we sat in the terminal until about 4PM.  Then we went out and worked.  We had another Family Home Evening with A and G.  This time we watched The Testaments.  It was kind of funny because after A had a question.  She said she had been thinking that morning about  if the church is so focused on the family why do you you guys leave your families for a mission.  It must be  really sad when you leave she said.  Then the spirit told me to say that we have our families too and we'll return to our own families but what we hope is that they will always apply what we teach them.  If they always apply what we teach them then they will get to heaven.  When we get to the celestial kingdom, there we will be an eternal family and we'll never separate ourselves again.  It was a pretty decent answer and it seemed that she like the answer.  We need to keep helping them become strong members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  It was a good week.  Next week we have meetings again.  We just need to continue to find people to teach and baptize. 

Love you guys a ton and I'll see you all later.

11-23-15 Weekly Jazz

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas (music)  Yes that's right I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, by that I mean people dressed up in white getting baptized. Hello family how are you?  Today in Argentina is the national elections, a few weeks ago was national elections and I had to stay in the pension all day long.  Well the elections tied so that everyone has to vote again, so we are in the pension again because it can be a little dangerous if people don't like who wins.  So here we are sitting in the pension all day, reading our scriptures, taking a nap, living the missionary life to the fullest. 

We had a baptism Saturday.  Jose Louis got baptized.  Everything went perfectly as planned.  We've been stopping by their house all week to teach him everything he needed to get baptized.  We talked to the dad a little, he got baptized and then he started drinking again.  The alcohol started making him sick so he was forced to stop drinking, he's actually a really great guy.  He's semi-truck driver for a full-time job.  The other day he had a whole bunch of bread that was about to expire so he gave us like $20 in bread, sweet!  We've been eating a lot of bread.  He hasn't been to church in a long time but he came to his son's baptism.  Right after his son got baptized, the smile on his face was HUGE!  I baptized Jose Louise, we had asked a member to baptize him but he didn't show up so I threw on the white clothes and threw him in the water.  Actually I baptized him; it was super fun.  We confirmed today and everything turned out great.

Last Monday we were walking around in our area and we ran in to a member.  I guess what happened is some of the Elders here were teaching her husband.  Her husband is a smart guy, he's a heart Dr and he knows what he's talking about.  He really liked what the Elders were sharing.  The Elders were white washed out and the new Elders didn't come so they were forgotten about.  He's really good but the only thing is he doesn't have any time.  He's really busy with his job, so that was a good find this week.  Also an Elder in our Zone is talking with an ex missionary that served here.  He was talking with one of his converts and she said to pass by.  Long story short, we got her address and we met her husband too.  They said they were going to come to church.  The only people that came to church this week was GyA, because it's the voting the people have to go to go to  far away places to go vote.  It's kind of complicated but it's OK because the work moves on.  This week it rained a lot so it flooded a lot of houses in our area.  The river was huge.  The house of GyA almost flooded.  German said he was praying a lot that it wouldn't flood and it didn't flood.  Also we've still been teaching C.  She is doing so great.  She came to the baptism.  She couldn't come to church today because she had to go to a little city 3 hours away to vote and left at 7AM.  She really wanted to come to church, she loved the baptism.  More than anything she said she loves the hymn book.  Also Maria, she wants to get baptized the only thing is she hasn't come to church yet.  She's already prayed, she's felt the spirit, she knows it's all true she just needs to come to church a few times and then she'll get baptized. 

We went to Lysee and we contacted a few references that a few of the members gave us there.  We had some pretty solid lessons.  A special experience that I had this week was yesterday we showed up to the baptism.  It was starting at 6, Elder Tapia and I showed up at 5:55 and no one was there.  We waited 10 more minutes and Claudi showed up, we waited a little more and the family showed up.  No one else showed up.  Brother M was not very happy that no one was there, I was praying to help us and then the Bishop, 1st Counselor, and more people showed up.  After the baptism GyA were going to come to the baptism because G wanted to see a baptism before he was baptized.  They didn't show up so we called them and he said they weren't going to be able to make it because they got in a fight and he had to leave.  The baptism started at 7 and finished at 8 and we have to be at our house at 9.  At 8:10 we were waiting for a bus.  They lived a half hour away walking so there would be no way we could walk, teach them and get back in time.  We were waiting for a bus and the busses were not coming.  I said another prayer to please send us a bus and then right when I prayed I looked up to the main road and one of the members, elders quorum president was passing by.  I yelled Hermano stop, stop!  He stopped his car and took us to the lesson because he lived kind of close.  German had left the house because he was mad.  We talked to Angela about love and Jesus Christ and the basics.  We talked a little sense in to her and then we left we decided to call Herman on his cell phone to talk a little sense in to him too.  When we called Angela answered the phone.  In the lesson I had said the first prayer and I had prayed that German would come back to the house and so they could go to the church.  So we called G and A answered his phone.  He had come back to the house, YES!  Basically God answers prayers and he answered my prayers 3 times last night.  He answered it different than how I had thought. 

This is the last week of the transfer we are going to work really hard.  I hope I don't leave, I think that I'll stay for Christmas.  There are some great people that are going to get baptized.  They just have to come to church a few times.  I'm happy, the work is good, it's not white here, it's really hot still.  I don't think it's going to snow here.  It's OK because it's like I said people are going to get dressed in white and get baptized and we'll call it a white Christmas.  Love you guys done, see you later.

Chow

11-16-15

It's raining hard here.  It's been raining since 3 in the morning, all morning long.  We had a great week this week.  I told you guys last week that my shoes are absolutely destroyed.  I have 3 pairs of shoes right now.  One pair of shoes Elder Harris gave me, they are a little bit broken in.  Another pair of shoes I brought to the mission that the bottom is worn out.  They have holes in them and dirt gets in.  I have the pair that you sent me and where I step on the heel is just a hole.  They are destroyed.  Monday we were walking around and there was a guy outside fixing shoes, we stopped and talked to him.  We stopped by later and gave him my shoes.  It cost me $250 pesos, like $25 so now I have comfortable shoes again.  It was terrible because my feet were dying but it's all good now. 

A few weeks ago we found M, M, and L that we're teaching.  They are really cool young adults.  They are confused about their religion.  We've been teaching them and gave them a Book of Mormon but they haven't felt that it's true.  Last week we had an activity for them but they didn't come.    Maria read on her phone a lot of garbage about the church.  Luckily she didn't believe in a lot of the stuff she read.  One of the things that she didn't really understand was baptism for the dead.  She thought that we baptized dead bodies which is a little creepy so I can understand.  We explained it to her so she's not completely convinced but she felt better about it.  We had a lesson in the church before the activity.  We helped them  see the changes in their life since they started learning about the gospel.  They have more understanding of the purpose of life.  We are trying to help them understand that those are answers from God.  I think they are waiting for an angel to appear and tell them that the Mormon church is true.  That's never going to happen, well maybe but it's never happened to me.  They stayed for the activity after the lesson.  Out of nowhere M started feeling super sick, she started feeling depressed.  We gave her a blessing and then she left.  She didn't come to church because she's been sick.  We've also been teaching J and he is going to get baptized this weekend.  He'll get baptized this Saturday if it all goes good so pray for J.

G and A got married.  We threw rice at their wedding, they were really happy.  When we first started teaching them they would always fight and now they treat each other a lot better.  They get along a lot better  It's really cool to see how reading scriptures, going to church  and praying changes lives.  I don't think it's a coincidence.  No wonder Jesus teaches this.  The activity we had Saturday was for them, we made them a cake.  G came over and we baked the wedding cake with him.  We had the cake and a little wedding shower and a bunch of the members came.  We played a game like musical chairs.  It was a fun activity, they really enjoyed it.  It was crazy during the activity some kids outside were throwing rocks at cars.  The church is on a main street and right next to the church is a police station.  The kids threw rocks and broke some windows.  The guy driving the car called the police and the kids tried hiding in the church, they ran through the church and in to the back field but he church is completely surrounded by a fence.  The police ran through, caught and hand cuffed them.  We left to go wash my hands and came back to the police.  They looked very focused and looking for the kids.  We had to go through the whole church and make sure there were no bad guys.  Luckily they got them.  Fun activity.

Friday we had some baptismal interviews for some Elders in our zone.  I interviewed a few people for their baptism.  We've also been teaching someone named C.  C, her son died.  Her son was the boyfriend of a recent convert.  She was super sad and another member gave her a gospel doctrine book and marked the pages about the spirit world.  Every time that she's sad about her son's death she just gets up and starts reading gospel principles.  She's never been to church before.  The member gave us a reference of her.  We've been teaching her a few weeks now.   She's progressing very well now but she didn't come to church.  She's accepted baptism.  She's reading the Book of Mormon.  We promise peace blessings and happiness.  That's really what everyone wants and that's what the Gospel of Jesus Christ gives. 

The day before the wedding we had a little lesson.  The day was a bad day.  We had walked from tim-buck-two and back.  My feet were killing me and we walked so far and I had these big blisters.  It was actually a good experience.  We were walking down this super long street and knocked on an investigators door but they weren't home and then we walked back down this super long street.  Looking at the street I thought wow is there another way, could we catch a bus?  Then I thought of Jesus Christ when he was about to perform the atonement and he asked the Father is there some other way.  There was no other way so he just did it and there was no other way for me so I just started walking and did it.  We walked an hour and got to the house of our investigators.  We sat down and he tells us he has some bad news.  He said they weren't going to get married and they were going to break up.  He said he was going to another city and they weren't going to church any more.  She was outside the house and from outside she heard what he was saying and she was telling us that he was lying.  He started dying of laughter and thought he was so funny.  She wasn't ready to get baptized so we asked her to read and pray.  She read and prayed and she got an answer.  She prayed and asked God to guide her and give her an answer.  She opened the Book of Mormon.  She opened up and read Isaiah that says Oh house of Israel you that have left the waters of baptism.  She read that and took it as her answer that she needs to get baptized.  She's set to get baptized the 28th of November.  Hopefully everything turns out good this week.  

I love you a lot,  I hope you aren't too cold in Utah.  Don't worry it's hot here in Formosa.   Love you tons, see you later.

Bye

11-9-15

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. How are you? That’s so good! I feel like I start these things the same every single time, let me see if I can do something creative…. Nope that’s all I got. 

So it was a good week um we didn’t have a lot of time in the area this week, we had a lot of meetings but it was good. 

Monday we were going to make pizza, but then we didn’t have the dough to make pizza. So we didn’t make pizza I just cooked up all of the pepperonis, the onion, and the cheese and put in in the pan and I ended up making a Philly Cheese steak sandwich type of thing, Without steak, it was alright. Um other than that this week Wednesday we took out a turn in the, well you guys don’t know that word, lemme see if I can explain this, a place where people get married. And we took out a turn, which means we basically take out a time and place to get married, so we went and we got a turn for this Thursday, at 11:30 in the morning, but GyA their doing good, that’s true, their doing good, but they’re kind of doubting if they should get baptized or not. A, her mom is really christiano… Christiano?. She is with a different church and she is really faithful to her church and we think she is telling stuff to A and A is kind of doubting. G is doubting with her. So yes they do want to get married, but they’re doubting if they should get baptized. Saturday we had an amazing lesson with them the spirit guided so much and they were able to learn a lot of things, but they didn’t come to church. We don’t know why. We passed by last night to see what happened and they weren’t home so we called and they didn’t answer. So were just a little worried about them um they had a date for this weekend to get baptized but we will see what happens, just keep them in your prayers because they need that little extra push, right there, right there, but yeah. On 

Tuesday we woke up at morning got  ready headed out to Resistencia at 5 in the morning and got there at like 7:30, we had Consejo, which is the big meeting with all the zone leaders and all the mission, it was pretty good. President talked about being obedient, he talked about wanting to baptize and raising our faith. I think I told you guys he gave us a challenge to read the whole Book of Mormon this month. Its 22 pages a day, which is kind of actually hard because we have personal study for one hour and that is about all we have to read, we can’t just read in the street we have to work, so we spend all of our studies just reading the Book of Mormon but I like the Book of Mormon it’s fun. Solid, good book. I’m pretty sure it’s true, I’ll have to pray about it, haha. 

Um this week we also had a different meeting, the Multizone meeting. That was Thursday and alright we, me and elder Tapia are in zone Formosa uno, Formosa one, which means we are the first zone in Formosa which means every time there is a meeting in Formosa there is five zones that come, and we are in charge of all the food so we found this place that sells Arabian Tacos, they’re pretty good, and we bought like 50 of them, we go hard. And we had to buy the fruit all the drinks. I really am sorry about my English. I actually kind of feel dumb. But what are you going to do about it, I’ll just learn it when I get back. I don’t need it right now.  

What else happened? Ah we found some solid investigators this week, Named M and the B family. last week it was raining and we found them in the rain. Like we contacted her in the rain and she said “Well my parents aren’t home, you guys are going to have to come a different day.” So we went back this week on Monday and we found her and we had a solid… wait no, we had a lesson from last week but we had another lesson this week. We got there and she had read the Book of Mormon but she didn’t really like it. She said “this isn’t really my bible I don’t like it.” But we read 3 Nephi 11 with her and we talked about baptism ant then Friday we went with GyE, which are two members recent converts in our area and the family C we went with them and it was super solid, we had a great lesson. The recent converts explained to them their conversion, what they did, what they have to do, and it was just solid. Saturday we had an open house, a church open house and they came. We showed them the church, we sang a song, showed them the baptismal font. Then we ate some popcorn some cookies and some juice and watched the video Joseph Smith and the restoration.  Then a bunch of members had come with them and M said she was confused she didn’t know which church was true and all the members just testified to her. It was just *long whistle* It was one of the better lessons I’ve had in my whole mission and I didn’t even say anything Whew! I’m gunna take note of that. The less I say the better the lesson goes. I’m just going to have Elder Tapia teach all the lessons. This Sunday, but then they didn’t come to church, I didn’t get that. They said they were going to come but then they didn’t come to church. You know I can’t get mad because I feel like we are working as hard as possible. Like sure we can always do a little bit better but, I feel like we are working as hard as possible but people just aren’t coming to church. Oh wait wait wait I’m lying, J he came to church, we did have someone come to church. He is a 9 year old of a family and they are all members but he isn’t so far. And he came to church for the 1^st time and he is going to get baptized not next week, but the week that follows. That is if he goes to church next week, but he is going to go to church next week. I got the faith. 

I have something sad to say, really sad to say, and after I say it I’m going to take a little moment of silence, alright. But I don’t want you guys to feel bad it’s not your fault. The shoes that you sent me with Elder Johnson already are destroyed. Moment of Silence. Ah. I walk a lot alright. But don’t feel bad it’s ok. It’s my fault I shouldn’t have walked so much. Anyway this week we were looking for people that fix shoes. There is a lot of people that fix shoes here I don’t know why. I don’t know what you call them in the English either but they are called Zapateros in Spanish. So we were looking for some Zapateros to fix my shoes. And we found one, C and we took out an estimate on how much it’s going to cost to replace everything, it’s like 20 bucks but hey its ok! I gotta walk, I gotta walk and I need shoes, and if I need shoes I’m just gunna buy it. But we also taught him a lesson and it was actually a really solid lesson because I felt like the scripture that in D&C, don’t ask me what It says in English cause I only know it in Spanish but it’s like, talks about how there is lots of people among other sects, denominations that are hidden from the truth because they know not where to find it. Or something like that. But anyways I feel like that is kind of him. He’s evangelist. But I think he just wants, well he’s evangelist because he doesn’t know the truth. So we taught him about the restoration and you could see that he really understood and then we gave him the Book of Mormon and he really wants to read the Book of Mormon, but it was actually a pretty solid lesson. 

Like I said we weren’t in the area so much because Tuesday we weren’t even in Formosa, Wednesday we had to get everything together for the meeting and so we only had like 2 hours in the area, Wednesday we had the whole day in the meeting and then Thursday we were in the area, Friday too, and Saturday. But anyways yesterday we went to (ow) Time out I gotta do something.  We are slowly having more attendance little by little. First time we had like 12, second time 15, this time we had 20. Whew! Yeah! Salvation Whew! And on top of that one of the members gave us a reference of one of his friends. So we are going to go visit her this Wednesday. 

It’s pretty solid, we have so many people that are so close to progressing but they just don’t want to go to church. Just go to church! Go to church people it’s not that hard! Just go to church. Galey. But I can’t complain. Like I said I’m working hard I’m happy I just want to make the best use of the little time I have left. Well I’ve got a lot of time but it goes by fast. So I want to take advantage of it. But the work is good, this is the true church, be obedient, Go to church family and friends. Go to church! It’s important tell you what. But anyways love you guys tons, hope you have a good week. I’ll keep you in my prayers and I’ll see you later. 

Chow

11-2-15

Hello family how are you?  Oh ya that's right you guys don't talk back.  Another great week, we found a ton of new people this week.  They aren't just new people but they are solid investigators.  The family M came to church last week.  They were baptized a few years back and they don't have really strong testimonies.  They have a son that is 9 and hasn't been baptized so we are working with him.  The mom comes to church but the dad doesn't.  Another person we found is a lady that's about 40 and her name is A and we contacted her 2 weeks ago.  We went by again and taught her about the restoration.  At the end she asked us how much does it cost to get baptized your church?  No it's free we told her.  She asked if she had to sign up on a waiting list or something hahaha, I wish.  She couldn't come to church because her sister was sick but she really wants to get baptized.  She's been to church a few years back.  One of the members in our ward is her good friend.  She just needs to come to church and she can get baptized.  .  Then the last and greatest of all N & A, they are going to get married Wooooooooooot.  The truth is I don't know what changed their minds but we showed up one day and she said she heard a voice in her head and Jesus told her that marriage is sacred.  After that she decided she wants to get married.   Thank you so much for your prayers, it's helped a ton, it's not every day we hear a voice in our heads prompting us.  

Other than that it rained a lot this week, one morning we headed out to work with our nice clean clothes on.  They were doing some construction on the road and so I had to jump the santas.  I think I've explained what the santas are, it's like the poop channels here in Argentina.  We had to jump over it to get to the road to our lesson and guess who slipped and fell?  Yes that's right I slipped and fell, you'll see the pictures.  It wasn't super bad but my backside got all muddy and we had to go back to the pension so I could shower and change.  I smelled liked poop for at least 2 days after.  That's a good experience, reminded me in the part in D&C when Jesus is talking to Joseph Smith that if everything combines against you will all be for your experience.  I feel like falling in poop was just good for my experience.  

 Obviously the farther I go on my mission the better of a missionary that I am.  I'm not saying I'm perfect but I've improved.  One thing I've realized is that in the beginning of my mission I never ran.  I didn't run to make it to appointments on time, I didn't run to get to the pension on time.  Elder Johnson and Elder Tapia and I always run.  We are always sprinting to make it to places on time.  For example, Saturday we had 2 lessons, one on both sides of our area.  The first lesson was a reference from a member of a friend that her boyfriend had died.   The member had given her the gospel principles book.  She told us that every time she wakes up in the night crying she reads the part about the spirit world and the resurrection.  We taught her about the plan of salvation and gave her a Book of Mormon.  On the complete other side of our area we had another lesson.   We took off, we didn't run all the way but we got to the point where we saw the city bus so we full on sprinted and it ended up being the wrong bus so we waited a minute and another bus came.  We had to travel a distance that would usually take us 45 min to walk and we made it there in 25 minutes.  That's some dedication.  

Yesterday we had an activity with all the members that was really solid.  We started doing some missionary training.  The missionaries just share how the missionaries can help with the work.  Elder Tapia and I talked about being a light and we read a scripture in 3 Nephi 12:18.  It was so cute this little kid who is  a convert wanted to read a scripture.  We were talking about the Light of Christ and how we should let it shine and we should hold it up so everyone can see it.  He's about 8 years old and he reads this scripture and then I asked him what this scripture mean.  He sits there for a minute thinking and then he says you know that  really bright light on my Grandma's porch and it's always on and always shining super bright and it's like that.  Wow.  The sisters taught how we can share the gospel with our friends and family and we did a little practice and ended up getting 3 references.  It was a great week, we worked really hard this week.  The upcoming week we have a ton of meetings.  We have consejo and zone meeting and multi zone meeting so this whole week will be full of meetings.  

2 days ago we were planning in the night.  I was like oh look October is over, and then I remembered it was Halloween.  I'd completely forgot because no one celebrates it here.  That's about it I love you guys tons, I hope everything is good there in Utah!  One other thing our mission president has challenged us to read the whole Book of Mormon in November so that's pretty fun.  I love reading the Book of Mormon, I love the mission, I love everything about it.  I love you guys too, I'll be talking to you later and I'll see you in 2 months through Facetime. Chao, chao.

10-26-15

Happy Birthday to Grandma! (in a very out of tune song)  If she's in Hawaii please send this to her and tell her that I love her and happy birthday.  Another week that went by way too fast.  Tuesday was our p-day.  We were in a trio because one missionary was going to train and his companion didn't get here until Wednesday.  We walked around in a trio, it's super fun.  Two Mormon missionaries in white shirts and ties is already enough but 3!  Wow people just running and hiding but it was fun and it makes everything more interesting.  Wednesday the missionary left to go get his new missionary straight from the MTC straight from the USA.  Wednesday we walked a lot but couldn't teach anyone.  We didn't have any lessons, in the afternoon we had to back to the terminal.  I think this week I been in the terminal for about 14 hours this week.  It's nearly a full time job, I should get paid, I do get paid.  I get paid in blessings.  We had to go receive the 2 new missionaries to our zone.  One is from Brazil and one is straight from Springville Utah and he's as green as it comes.  Thursday there was a white wash in area in our zone.  The Elders were so lost so we had to go buy them a map.  That night we went to teach German and Angela.  He put an AC in his house.  What happens is you have to put something that is called Machimbre which is wood that you have to put below the roof.  All the roofs here are made of metal.  When the sun comes out it gets really hot so you have to put wood blow it so all the cool air stays in your house.  We helped him with this.  It was fun, I kind of like it and I'm pretty good at it too.  I'm thinking about starting a Machimbre store when I get home.

Yesterday was a good day we had 7-8 lessons.  We found a new family, they had listened to missionaries about a year ago.  They had been to church but they didn't want to get married and they didn't understand very well.  We're going to try again.  We visited the family A.  She is neighbors to a member but she wakes up at 11AM every day so that's a tough one but that's OK.  We taught a few lessons to the family C, Brother N, we taught some good lessons.  Today is Sunday I'm recording this because we stayed in the pension allllllllllllll day long.  Today in Argentina is the elections, they are voting for a new president and all the local leaders here in Formosa.  It's been a little boring but actually kind of fun to just chill.  I actually wrote you guys a letter so you should be getting that in 4-5 weeks.  Read some scriptures, took a nap and now I'm recording this.  That's about all that happened this week it wasn't super eventful with being in the terminal.  I'm looking forward to this week.  We're looking hard for new investigators because we usually have some great prospects but so far the people we are teaching don't want to come to church.  It's been kind of hard to find new people.  We've found some hard hearted people and it's all good.  Today we listened to a talk by Elder Holland and for Jesus Christ it wasn't easy He had to suffer a lot so why should it be easy for us.  Some of the hardest times on my mission have taught me some of the best things.  Equally I'm raising my faith and my hope and we're going to baptize people.  I'll make sure that more things happen this week.  Next Monday I'll be telling you crazy stories of all the people we've met and all the people we've baptized.  Just hold on to your....what is it, hold on to your butchers, no that's not it.  I don't remember how to say it but anyone love you guys a ton and see you later.

10-20-15 Transfers

Hello, hello, hello anybody there?   Oh right you guys don’t talk you just listen.  Luckily I’m still here in Formosa I didn’t leave.  We had another great transfer and will have lots of baptisms with Elder Tapia.  Nothing really changed, same old same old which is always great.  How are you doing?  I hope everything went well this week I hope Logan had a great birthday.  I hope he gets his driver’s license and I hope he’s already gone on a date.  I hope Paige advanced in state.  I hope Thacker and Eli are doing well.  I hope grandma is still super super super excited for her mission. I hope my parents are great as always.  Last Sunday was mother’s day here in Argentina so happy mother’s day mom.  Woot, I love you.  

Last Monday after I wrote you guys, we went to an activity with the other elders and we played soccer tennis.  We ate a ton of sausage.  We played a little ping pong.  It was fun but it was hot.  Tuesday last week we had to pay for the apartments here.  Our mission is getting smaller so we have a lot of extra apartments that we have to shut down. 

 This week we found a few new people.  We are really looking a lot for new people because we always need new people to teach.  The references from the members are slowing down.  Last transfer and the transfer before we hardly contacted at all so we decided this transfer to contact more.  I don’t know if its working but we are contacting more.  We are meeting new people and we are also getting rejected a few times.  Some people are a little cold but that’s OK if they don’t want to accept it they don’t have to.  We found a girl named G A and she is a spiritualist.  Basically I could say that her beliefs don’t have boundaries.  She believes whatever she wants.  She’s very receiving to the gospel; she already believes the Book of Mormon is true.  We don’t understand completely but her son talked to some missionaries from 3 years ago and he wants to get baptized.  It’s kind of hard because this last week people didn’t come to church for mother’s day.  It’s OK because there’s always next week.  

This week we also went to Lisse, the little city, it’s like a city between Payson and St George.  It’s in the middle of nowhere and there’s nothing there.  There’s a church there because 10 years ago there was a really strong group of 70 people but a lot of them have died and now there’s about 15 people.  We go there to help them because they aren’t the strongest of members.  Last Thursday went there; we walked in the sun a little and tried to see people.  The problem is there literally are no investigators that live close.  We have to walk 20 minutes to find someone to teach. The Elders here before us went and taught some people close to the church and some people called the police and said they were disturbing the peace.  The church there is made of wood and some bees got in the walls and there are 1000s of bees and it’s also infested with bats.  It's a pretty hard situation there but we do what we can to help them and hope that the Lord helps them too.  

We found another lady Sister A.  She's close to a member and she sells second clothes.  Every time we go by she says Ola Elder.  She knows the word Elder so we kind of talk to her.  We sat down and gave her a Book of Mormon.  She believes it's true.  The only problem is that she wakes up about 11 or 12 every day and so that's rough to get to church.    That's going to be an obstacle.  We can help her work through it.  It's a bit hard for her to change churches but that's OK.  

We're going to set some goals for this transfer.  We are praying that we have some success.  We have high hopes for G and A.  We had a lesson with them last Saturday.  They aren't sure they want to get married.  We seriously had a lesson for an hour and a half and talked about marriage and marriage and marriage and finally at the end she said yes I'll get married but not right now.  She said in the future she would get married.  Little does she know that little in the future she means next week but she doesn't know that yet.  When we bring the marriage papers to her house that's when she's going to know.  We are sooooo close with them.  They came to church this last week, but little by little.  We are just hoping the spirit touches their hearts so they know what we are teaching them is true.  It's better if the spirit converts them. 

Last week  we had a member ,H M.  The dude is a machine, he's retired and he was a hippie   He went to the Hare Krishnas church, he was in a rock and roll band and he's done every drug you can think of.  The dude's has been everywhere.    He decided to get baptized a few years back and now he's so dedicated to the gospel.  He tells us he's retired so whenever we need him, call him and we can visit people.  We didn't abuse him this week but we kind of over used him.  He came with us 3 or 4 days in the week.  He's a great guy and honestly the missionary work is always better with a member.  Thacker, Eli, Logan, Paige, Gma and Mom and dad when you guys serve missions, always work with the members.  I'll repeat that for you to make a dramatic  effect.  Now I'm going to say it in Spanish just in case you didn't understand.  

This week our ward also took a trip to the temple in Asuncion Paraguay.  The family C went to the temple, the converts  of one month, their whole family went to the temple.  Last night we had a lesson with them and all they talked about was their trip to the temple.  Wow, They loved it so much.  The only thing they were sad about is that they couldn't be sealed yet because they've only been members for a month but they'll go again.  They went and did baptisms for the dead.  They did 15 baptisms for the dead.  This past Sunday the family C are honestly the dream team family.  They are perfect for the gospel of Jesus Christ.  They are a great example of how the gospel of Jesus Christ should be lived, kind of like my family.  

This past Sunday was crazy, after church we ran to the bus terminal.  We took the bus to Lissee to go do the Sacrament meeting there, then we came back on the bus and we got back about 6PM.  We didn't eat the whole day and I almost died of hunger.  Wow!  We worked all day and got home about 9PM and finally we ate and wow it was a good feeling.  Yesterday was transfers so we went to the bus terminal and waited for missionaries to come from other places.  It was pretty hot sitting in the shade it was 110 degrees.  We were just sweating and wet but it's all good.  It's  actually  a lot easier this year because I was here last year and I know what to expect.  You just have to keep working.  We got a little bored at the bus station so someone else had brought their UNO cards and we were playing UNO.  Then the security guard came and he told us we weren't allowed to play poker.  We said we're playing UNO and he said no betting here.  So we put the cards away.  That ended the UNO cards.  We don't bet we're Mormon. 

Love you guys thanks for all of your support.  The church is true, Jesus is the Christ and missionary work is the best.  It's hard and it's hot but it's the best.  Yep see you later, best of luck this week.  Chao chao.

Coso Pues 10-12-2015

Happy Birthday Logan I love you!  16 you can date and you can drive legally now.  Wow.  I’m sorry I can’t make it to your birthday party but enjoy the cake for me and good luck with dating, that’s a scary thing.  Really Logan I love you tons.  Oh and happy half birthday to Eli. 

Another good week in Argentina!  It was super hot and it rained a lot.  This week we found some really good people to teach, G, C, D.   G was a reference from a different ward.  The member was a recent convert and he gave her a Book of Mormon.   She really likes it but it’s really hard for her to go to church because she’s not used to it.   She said it will be hard for her but little by little.  We had a reference from our Bishop and they are a relative to our bishop.  Cis a police officer so it’s hard for him to come to church too but they are really good people and really want to change.   I think Dfound the missionaries on a bus and told them he wanted to learn English because he’s planning on going to New Zealand to work and he wants to improve his English.  The elders passed him along to us and now we teach him.  The other day we talked for an hour in English and gave him a Book of Mormon.  The second time we met with him we talked about the Book of Mormon and he is super interested and that was super cool.  

Sadly no one came to church yesterday because it rained.   Fun fact when it rains here the whole city shuts down.  I'm not complaining I'm just stating a fact.  No one leaves their house, no one goes to work, no one avenges to school.  In fact there was a member here told us that one year he missed half of the school year because it rained so much and he still passed.  It's not even expected for the teacher to show up when it rains.   It's kind of hard, as you can imagine, when everyone is inside their house and no one wants to let you in.  So we walked around in our boots and our umbrella.  The mud here is incredible.  How do I explain it.  It's like walking in the slushy snow but it's just mud and slippery.  Fun stuff, makes it more interesting. 

It was really hot this week.  It was 45 degrees Celsius which is about 111 degrees Farenheight, somewhere in there.  The hottest moment Elder Tapia and I were out walking.  We went to that little city we went to about 6 weeks ago with Elder Johnson.  We went back again there this week and a member of the church there came with us.  We walked about an hour and a half to get to the church.  It's 115 degrees and the wind was super hot too.  I've never been so hot in my entire life!  It's kind of fun, it just gets to the point where you are so sweaty it doesn't matter anymore and you just keep walking.  We visited the members there and helped them out a little bit.

The other day we were walking to the bus to go to district meeting and all of the sudden we see this girl and she falls in the Sahna (sp?)  The word Sahna refers to the sewage system, the little stream in from on the houses.  So this girl fell in the Sahna, and I thought she had died.  She had passed out.  This man pulled her out and everyone was asking for a cell phone to use so we let them use our phone.  Elder Tapia stood behind her in case she fell again and she passed out again and Elder Tapia caught her; a good representative of Jesus Christ.    That was pretty crazy.

I've been ponderizing too.  I don't want to brag but I've ponderized 3 scriptures this week.  Sometimes when I'm walking I just talk to myself working on the memorization part.  It's actually really good because it puts your thoughts in a good place.  That's about it, this week will be a great week.  This is the last week of the transfer but I'm pretty sure we'll stay here.  Here in Formosa!

If you have any questions or comments you can contact me at Tanner.Simmons@myldsmail.net and I'm only online 2 hours a week!  Love you guys tons and I'll talk to you later.