Week #35 ~Santiago's Baptism

Hola Familia! yo estoy muí bien y contento! especialmente con mi bautismos!

Life is good here in Argentina, I am safe and healthy!  It’s been a great week full of fun and amazing spiritual experiences.  We even had fun run in with some Americans!

Here is my week…

Monday

We had our P-day so we played some basketball in the morning like normal missionary’s.   Then we went to a lunch with one of our friends in our ward.  We hung out with him until it was time to work, then we went to visit one of our progressing investigators! He was the one who was baptized this week! yeah!!

Tuesday

Tuesday was Valentine’s day, so naturally we did the same thing as every day, ha-ha; we visited investigators and members.  We also visited the house of another investigator that just got baptized.   She is a mom of three and her husband was inactive for 40 years.  That is until we passed by his house with my former companion.  Then he started to come to church every week.  We had tried to talk to the wife, but she was very cold and unwelcoming toward us.  She told us not to come by anymore, however that all change one day when she was talking to her husband who had been attending church.  She noticed that he was much happier for some reason and she wanted to be as happy as he now became through full activity in the gospel! That is when he told her she needed to talk to the missionaries and start going to church!  ha-ha what an incredible blessing!

Wednesday

We worked with the youth in our ward and showed them what being a missionary was all about. It was fun we had a few of them with us and we went contacting.  We taught some lessons and shared scriptures and it was really neat! All the youth just got back from EFY so they were all eager and wanting to be more spiritual! 

Thursday 

The Mission President called us in the morning and asked if there was anyone in my zone that exercises.   He wanted to join-in when he came to visit our zone. I replied that I run at 6:30am and he would be welcome to join us.   Guess what?  Sure enough, at 6:30am we left our house, the President was waiting to go running.   It was super fun to talk to President while we ran.  The rest of the day our zone had meetings with President; we had interviews and goals setting.  It was a great day!  At the end of the day, when we were walking home, we saw some dudes putting a ramp in the river.  Naturally I was curious and wanted to know what they were doing!  So, we went over and I asked, “Hey, what are you guys doing?”  They replied in terrible Spanish, “Is there was a problem?”  Clearly Spanish wasn’t their native language.  So, in Spanish, I asked “What language do you speak?”  They replied, “English.”  So, I said, “Hey ME TOO!!” ha-ha.  Then, I learned they thought we were government officials trying to kick them out of the river.  I found out they are a traveling wakeboard stunt team and wanted to ride the river to jump off the cool cement dam/waterfall.  The day prior the policio said they needed to ask the officials to see if they could ride there and they thought that was us.  I guess the missionary look resembles official business?!? Ha-ha. It was awesome, all are from the states and traveling all over the world making wakeboard stunt videos!  I’ll try to send you the video if the computer will let me.

Friday

We had a baptism interview for Santiago, the little boy I had the privilege of baptizing.  He is son of the man who had been less active and whose wife was just baptized.  It was super special to have the entire family baptized, active, and happy!  It was a great experience.  Bonus for the day was that I got to hang out with Elder Goodrich (my MTC companion) for the entire day! 

Saturday

All day we were running around getting baptismal cloths, cleaning and preparing the baptismal font.  We were so tired when it came time to have the service because we had been running from house to house collecting all the stuff.  We got it all just in time and we had lots of investigators and less active families and friends attend so it was a super amazing experience for all!  Awesome day!!

Sunday

We confirmed both the mother and son to top off another great day at church.  The elders of the other area had a baptism in our chapel Sunday night so we stuck around to help them out.   Then after that we passed (visited) some less active members who didn’t show up! 

Week #34 ~A Missionary Payday

Hola famila! Como estan!

I am doing great and super content with this week and for the week to come with all the progression we are getting from some key investigators! I only have 500 days left and I have so much to do…I LOVE being a missionary and serving in Argentina!

Monday

We had a super fun p-day we had minute to win it with our zone.  Every companionship had to come up with three games to play and it was great We ate pizza con millinessa!!!! It was super fun!! Then after we had a family night with the elders in boliva and less active family in our ward it was super fun.  My old MTC companion Elder Goodrich is in my zone, it has been so great seeing him and talking with him.  Kind of like a brother from home.  The only problem is he wants to talk in English, and I it is getting harder and harder to go back and forth thinking in Spanish and speaking in English.

Tuesday

We had a zone meeting and it was super great! That night I got a call from a member that told me that his aunt wants to go to the temple and get sealed to her member husband.  She obviously can’t without being baptized.  So we obviously rushed to her house… the crazy thing is we contacted her house the last transfer with my old companion.  I remembered she was hostel and rude, but when we came this time I was like… is this the right address? Because the last time we were there it was not a very fun experience!   BUT…it was the same house and the same lady and she let us in.  I could tell something changed she was very kind and loving after our message and we talked a lot about the blessings you can receive in the bonds of your family.   She said that’s why she wanted to be baptized.  She wants to have a stronger bond with her daughters.  It was amazing to see the little things that the Lord does to prepare people to hear us.   The first time she wasn’t ready but the Lord knew that soon she will have this change happen with her daughter and husband.  And that and those experiences would slowly lead her to be willing to listen to those 2 boys sweating through the white shirts! haha 

Wednesday

We had a great day of passing for investigators and new contacts and references.  So we were walking to all different area and it was super fun to talk to my new comp all day.  I learn all new things about the reasons things happen in this country and it was super informative. 

Thursday

 We had a great meeting with a family we have been teaching they are old investigators that we found in our binder.   We passed by and taught them and it was super and they all loved it.    This was our second lesson with them and we invited them to get baptized and they all said “YES"! wowowo a family that want to be together forever! YEAH the ultimate for a missionary!

Friday

We had a day of service and we moved boxes for an old women in our ward.   And…we helped move some big things in her yard, the only thing we didn’t do it seems was help her cross the street!  It was great and she was so kind to us the whole time! Then after that we had a ward meeting in the night and it was great, best thing was that the bishop asked me when I became so good at Spanish ha-ha it made my whole day! I guess having a native companion who speaks NO English helps a lot!

Saturday

In the morning, we cleaned the chapel and then after that we made an Argentina stew for lunch with a meat called chorriso and it was super good! Then after that we had some less actives that we passed for. 

Sunday

We had 6 new investigators in the chapel! Ahhh  The best way I could describe of investigators in the chapel is kind of like pay day for missionaries! Then after that we had a dinner with a family then passed for members that could make it out. 

Anyways that’s my week love you guys!

-Love Elder Vance

Week #33 ~Simply getting the Gospel

Hola familia!! Como estan!

This week was just as great as the last! It is so hot here but the last three days were rainy, so its cool right now I hope it stays like that!  I am feeling very healthy and love my companion. I  actually look forward to working everyday with him.  Today we are going to cook a foods called sopa paraguaso a soup from Paraguay.  I have a little recipe book I bought and it has a blank page for me to write down the good recipes that I find! 

Monday

We had some great lessons with a new investigator and old investigators.   We set goals with them and plans to progress and hopefully get baptized! It was super great and a lot of fun to see people that you found and taught actually start to really learn the gospel.  Not just say yes or agree to things but you can tell that they are just simply getting it.   

Tuesday 

We had a good morning contacting and a lunch with a family! It was super great and the food was…well there was food. Then we had some meetings with recent converts and less active members. It was great! The questions that they can come up with, are so interesting some times Then we passed by some of our investigators just to see how they were doing on our way home.  It was a fantastic day and we got a lot done on Tuesday!

Wednesday 

We passed by for some references and old investigators that live far from our house in the morning.  It was good, we actually ran in to some of them and got to set up a time to come back and talk and teach them later in the week! Then we had a lunch with a family that just moved in, we taught a lesson to their daughter who is not a member and it went really good!!!  Then we visited some more of investigators and members in that area because we were so far away.   Then we went home and to bed.  

Thursday 

We had service on Thursday and we got to help two of our investigators.  It was super great to see them and to help them out a little bit! It took most of the morning because we cut the grass for one of them and the other had stuff that they were moving.Then after that we had a lunch with a returned elder in our area.   Then we went contacting in the rest of the night!

Friday

On Friday we had an extra elder with us and we passed for contact that we made earlier in the week.  That took almost all day because it was so far from our home and we had made a lot of contacts! It was good but it was really hot so thats always a good combo. That night we had to go to the bus terminal to send our third comp back to his comp. It turned out to be a very long night because all the busses were delayed, after an hour and a half walk back we got to go to bed…haha but we got it done like champs!

Saturday

Back to normal with 2 comps and we hit the ground running. We had a lot of cita in Saturday and we pretty much were all over the place, trying to make it to all the meeting and visits we had set up. It was super great I think I am happiest when we are rushing to a meeting and trying to think what the need to hear form us and then trying to find a scripture mid stream to their house, haha crazy but it’s such a fun game. 

Sunday

Was fast and testimony meeting and let me tell you it was a long fast! The primary decided to cook meat for a asado for completing the primary list and the whole chapel smelled like a bbq and I know how strong temptation is! haha the devil is all around and in many forms, but after we had a lunch with a member then we went contacting with the returned elder and it was super fun to see all the tricks of the trade that he had and perfected! 

Love to all, 

Elder Vance

Week #32 ~Everyone Loves Argentines!

Hello family! How are you! 

I am doing great with my amazing new companion!  

Here is my week in review...

Monday 

Monday was a fun first p-day with Elder Benitez he is super cool and I am learning so much from being with him! On Monday we passed by some less active members to see what we could do to help and we passed by 4 houses and talked with them for a bit and it was super great! It’s amazing how different the people act when they are talking to us when I have an Argentine comp! They are like a whole different person! Crazy! 

Tuesday

We had a lunch with a family and it was good.   The son of the family is trying to loose weight to go on a mission and our lunch was a huge plate of just vegetables hahah it was good but kind of lacked something crucial like anything but vegetables hah.  Then after that we passes by members and investigators to get aquatinted with the new elder and to see how they were all doing a very busy evening.

Wednesday

Today we had service and we cut the grass for a new family that just moved in.   It was fun we at some chicken and eggs thing and it was good then we watched like 4 mormon messages it was super fun! Then we went out and visited some investigators in the night. We taught a menso activo family that son wasn’t baptized and he was soo excited to talk to us.   He ran down the street and gave us a hug even before we got to his house! haha Now thats the kind of love elders need when we teach your family a lesson! 

Thursday

This was a good day we had a reunion of the zone in the morning then we did division with the zone leaders and it was really fun.   I was with a zone leader of Argentina and he was super funny and crazy. We had a lot of fun talking and contacting in my area!  Then after that we had a ward counsel, it was fast and furious.  It started at 9 and so we started, we shared and then ran home to get home by 9:30 curfew. 

Friday

We just had meeting with investigators all day Friday because we were getting ready to leave for Bahia Blanca that night or really the next day early in the morning. We had a new investigator that said she wanted to be baptized! wowowow

Then we woke up at 1 am and got in a van to Bahia Blanca we got there an hour early sat on the curb in front of the chapel because the assistants to the president would not answer their phones.  Finally they came we sat and waited for the meeting to start at noon.  It was so hard to stay awake but luckily I didn’t have to much of a problem because we had a talk given by Elder Stevenson and it was amazing! I learned so much and took soo many notes. It was super amazing getting to hear from him! After that we all got pushed in to vans given a 7 up and shipped home then we all fell asleep when we finally got home!

Sunday

Was good, we had a great talks about tithing and one of our less active families.  They have not gotten baptized, basically because of questions about tithing.   So I think it was a miracle and a blessing that Sunday talks were all about tithing.   They decided to come when all the talks were about the importance of tithing, imagine that! So amazing I know it helped! Then after that we went to visit the members that weren’t able to make it out and to see how we could help. It was an amazing week!

Love to all,
Elder Vance

My new Companion Elder Benitez

My ride home from zone conference with Elder Stevenson

Week #31 ~My new Argentine Companion!

Hola Familia! como estan? 

This week we finally had transfers!!! Now I have a new companion Elder Benitez! He is super cool and I am so glad to have him as a comp! It’s a blessing I think to finally have an Argentine and that he is super cool and normal! 

Monday

This was my last day with Elder Severtson and so we had a lot of fun.  In the morning, because it was p-day and we visited every family and investigator that he wanted to pass by.  We walk so, so much in this day! I was dying! We walked literally to ever corner and back again to find them when they were home! I think we walked over 18 miles.  It was super fun to see so many people in one day.   Then we went home and I helped him pack his bags and then we went to bed because his bus left at 3am in the morning, then we grabbed his stuff and trekked to the terminal! Then I went to the others elders house to live with them until my comp came! 

Tuesday

I was in a tri or really a quad because another elders came and one left the same time my comp did so we were kind of like a herd of elders.   We went on contact and visits because we didn’t know they area, then we split and went and contacted and visited members in their ward. After that we came home and had some other elders that were passing through come to their house.  We made food and hung out with them, then they left for there bus and we went to bed.  We had to leave for the terminal at 3 am again to go get my new companion. While we were there I got a call saying that his bus was delayed 30 min.  So we can hung out for 30 more min that turned into about an hour and a half.  When he got there, we grabbed his bags and hustle went home.  We wanted to try and see if we could salvage any of the night remaining. The saddest part was while we were walking home the sun started to rise! It was just super depressing to know that we would have to start working in a few hours! haha 

Wednesday

The first day with my new comp! He is from resistencia chaco and thats in northern Argentina ! He speaks no English… I know my mom was going to ask me so I just put that in. He is super cool. He plays rugby and was a chief before the mission! Wooooooooooooo!  We went out to get him familiar with my area and to show him where the church is, the river and all the cool stuff here.  We also went to visit and to meet some members! It was super great! It is amazing how much people change when you have an Argentine with you! We probably  had the same amount of success as two or three days normally! Crazy!

Thursday

We went to see more of our area and to meet more people and investigators. We had a lot of fun because now I can talk 100 percent in Spanish all day and it’s so amazing! I didn’t realize how much I love talking in Spanish until I had no other option! He wans to learn english, so we are giving each other language lessons in the house and on the streets! It’s been super helpful and I have already learned so much just talking to an Argentine all day! What a blessing it is to have a companion like him! I think it was due to my patience with the others.

Friday

This day we decided to pass by references and less actives all day and we visited a lot of them! We had some great lessons with them and its insane how much people open up to you when you have an Argentine companion.   It’s incredible… people tell me, “aww its about time we have one of our own here to talk to.”  Crazy things! We had some great lessons and a lot of people we were able to visit! 

Saturday

In the morning we passed by a member whom just recently got back from his mission and he and I planed a prank on my new comp.   We planned to have him pretend to be an investigator. It was awesome I told him one of our ancient investigators called and asked if we could come by to answer some questions. So we went to his house and I told him he was a Jehovah's witness.  When we went there he had a copy of the Book of Mormon. It was fully marked and had notes and all the pamphlets cross referenced and all these very deep doctrine questions. He explained the whole plan of salvation in to very deep details and asked all these super crazy questions.  My comp was trying so hard to answer them all.  It was so funny, the whole time I was trying not to die from laughing! Later that night, my comp was confused and kept asking why we had not tried to get him baptized.  He is Golden, he kept telling me… I finally told him we were playing a joke on him, he laughed so hard and was relieved a good guy like that was already a member to the church.  Then in the night we passed by the homes of the bishopric to meet them and get new family assigned to visit and it was super fun!

Sunday 

It was a great Sunday and every person came up to me and asked to pass by their house that day.  It was insane we have never had so many people talk to us at church or want us to pass by.   It’s really an eye opener and we have such a busy week planed for next week and I am so excited to continue working!  And so excited to see the how things are different with an Argentine by my side…

Love you all,

Elder Vance