Monday, January 27, 2014 7:04 AM
Les amo
Are you sure it is my cousin Erica that is getting married!!!?? the one that in like only 18 years old?! If this wasn’t some sort of typing error that is crazy for me, but hey age is just a number! And I trust her that she would choose a stud to marry. Also with Daniel I have a Mormon message that I recommend him to watch today before he gets the priesthood this week. I think it is called "The power of God" by Thomas S Monson and really helped me think differently about the priesthood. Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY! FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS!!! a Daniel y a mi Madre!!!! I hope you don’t party rock too hard because you will still need to go take the sacrament (or in Daniel’s case PASS the sacrament) on Sunday. Glad to hear that Dad is enjoying his calling and I know he will be a "cool" leader and more importantly a good example. I remember a lot of the things my scout/young men leaders did and said, they were all very good and good examples, talk to them about your mission it will help them look forward to their turn to serve! This week was a bit weird with the change of schedule and stuff but we found some other new people, and they all live within a small area so it makes the traveling easier. One is Soledad, which is the name of the other Falkan Island, so we make the joke that we are going to baptize both of the islands. But mas alla de los chistes (beyond the jokes) she is really in need of the gospel. She stopped us in the street about a week or more ago and told us that she had been listening to the missionaries and that her boyfriend was a member and that she wanted to get baptized. We were excited and set up a cita (appointment) with her, that she wanted to do in the church and then she didn’t show up. We didn’t understand and so this week I felt like we should call her, so we called her and she said we could come over right then so we did. She is going through a really rough time. She didn’t come because her sister is having a lot of problems with drugs and she has two kids and the parents wanted to put her in a mental institution which wouldn’t be good, so Soledad got in a fight with her parents (Soledad is 25 years old). Also her boyfriend broke up with her without giving her any reasons why (he was an inactive member and it was actually his brother that just left on his mission that got her interested in the church) and her and her group of friends all lost their jobs. She said she feels very alone and that when we called her she had gotten her Book of Mormon and was reading it. We taught about God’s love and explained that we are priesthood holders and can give blessings (you shouldn’t offer blessings because they should be asked for so it can be by their faith) so she asked us for a blessing. We are going to try and help her get to know Malvina because she also felt very lonely when she first started talking with us. Well stay strong I love you all very much!
Elder Andrew
Wednesday, January 22, 2014 12:35 PM
Well kind of weird to be writing on a miercoles (Wednesday) but then again the mission is full of unexpected surprises. I am really glad to hear how good you are all doing and that the Mesa High wrestling team is doing well haha. I sometimes wish I could practice but oh well I’ll just try to keep up with my tiny morning exercise routines in the meantime and not get too fat. I don’t know if you remember a few weeks ago I talked about worrying that we didn’t really have that many investigators, well the Lord in definitely blessing us with that. Thanks to a reference and always looking for opportunities to "invite" we have found some great new people to teach. I like the idea of inviting your neighbors because it turns out that we found one family that is progressing well that lives two houses down from a member family. We didn’t find them from a reference but rather from just talking to the people outside one day. We also found another investigator just talking to him when we saw him sitting with the inactive son of a member family who also lives only about 5 houses down from this family. I am glad we found these people but it would have been easier if we had been guided by the members to these people. I think a lot of the time we think that people aren’t going to change, but, like Mom said, it never hurts to invite. If you are too scared to talk all you have to do is give the name to the missionaries, they are more than willing to talk haha. It is always better to have a connection through a member though. I am glad you are inviting people to the temple, it really changes lives, one of the families in this ward who are getting ready to be sealed said one of their first experiences in their investigation process was going to the open house of the Buenos Aires temple. Speaking of that awesome place I really enjoyed being there today. Just being in that quiet tranquility just reminded me of being at home in the Mesa temple. I think that no matter what temple I go to I will always feel at home. It was different in Spanish but I really liked it. And Hermano (Brother) Caseres was there working the veil so that was really cool to be there with him as well. I could just image Malvina being in there in a year or so. We did English classes the other Saturday and they went really well and a lot of people actually came! By a lot I mean like 10. It was fun and we taught some numbers and a few other things, we are telling a lot of people and there is a lot of interest so hopefully the pool will get even bigger. It also helps that here English is required in school. We are having fun trying new things and seeing new success. I am trying to aprovechar (take advantage of the time) because I think in a few weeks I will probably inevitably be in a new area. Whether I go or not I love this work and I will do it where the Lord wants. Iré y haré. (I will go and do) Les amo cada uno de ustedes, y espero que tengan mucho exito en su esfuerzos misionales. (I love each and every one of you and hope that you have much success in your missionary efforts.)
Con muchos besitos, (with many kisses)
Elder Andrew
Well kind of weird to be writing on a miercoles (Wednesday) but then again the mission is full of unexpected surprises. I am really glad to hear how good you are all doing and that the Mesa High wrestling team is doing well haha. I sometimes wish I could practice but oh well I’ll just try to keep up with my tiny morning exercise routines in the meantime and not get too fat. I don’t know if you remember a few weeks ago I talked about worrying that we didn’t really have that many investigators, well the Lord in definitely blessing us with that. Thanks to a reference and always looking for opportunities to "invite" we have found some great new people to teach. I like the idea of inviting your neighbors because it turns out that we found one family that is progressing well that lives two houses down from a member family. We didn’t find them from a reference but rather from just talking to the people outside one day. We also found another investigator just talking to him when we saw him sitting with the inactive son of a member family who also lives only about 5 houses down from this family. I am glad we found these people but it would have been easier if we had been guided by the members to these people. I think a lot of the time we think that people aren’t going to change, but, like Mom said, it never hurts to invite. If you are too scared to talk all you have to do is give the name to the missionaries, they are more than willing to talk haha. It is always better to have a connection through a member though. I am glad you are inviting people to the temple, it really changes lives, one of the families in this ward who are getting ready to be sealed said one of their first experiences in their investigation process was going to the open house of the Buenos Aires temple. Speaking of that awesome place I really enjoyed being there today. Just being in that quiet tranquility just reminded me of being at home in the Mesa temple. I think that no matter what temple I go to I will always feel at home. It was different in Spanish but I really liked it. And Hermano (Brother) Caseres was there working the veil so that was really cool to be there with him as well. I could just image Malvina being in there in a year or so. We did English classes the other Saturday and they went really well and a lot of people actually came! By a lot I mean like 10. It was fun and we taught some numbers and a few other things, we are telling a lot of people and there is a lot of interest so hopefully the pool will get even bigger. It also helps that here English is required in school. We are having fun trying new things and seeing new success. I am trying to aprovechar (take advantage of the time) because I think in a few weeks I will probably inevitably be in a new area. Whether I go or not I love this work and I will do it where the Lord wants. Iré y haré. (I will go and do) Les amo cada uno de ustedes, y espero que tengan mucho exito en su esfuerzos misionales. (I love each and every one of you and hope that you have much success in your missionary efforts.)
Con muchos besitos, (with many kisses)
Elder Andrew
Missionaries having fun!
Malvina's Baptism from a week ago
Monday, January 13, 2014 9:24 AM
OH RATS!
Well like I told mom the rats are back and they came back with a vengeance but they are nothing compared to four servants of the Lord! So that is something that we are working on. Don’t worry about your notices making me distracted or anything like that there is so much to worry about here to be honest Mondays are really the only days I worry about home. That isn’t to say I don’t think about you but I try to stay focused on this great work. Oh Mom and Dad I need you to tell me the cities that you served in on your missions and if you can remember any of the names. We did tramites (legal paperwork) today and I ran into two missionaries from El Salvador and I have run into others from Guatemala y Honduras. I enjoyed Daniel’s talk and am glad that I taught him how to be a good wrestler ;) I am glad that you are all safe and well. In weekly planning we realized we are suffering with investigators. So we went through them and I even called one we hadn’t visited in a while and she said right there on the phone that she wasn’t interested right now. So we are starting to build a strong base of investigators from scratch almost but it is exciting. Instead of feeling depressed Elder Corry and I feel excited. On that day of the weekly planning we even found two new investigators! So we are working with getting more references trying new methods because the olds ones weren’t working and going to start teaching English classes to see if we can get more investigators or references from that. I feel like I am starting a new thing and it feels good. Speaking of new things we had interviews with president and he said "Wow you have been in that area a long time" and "we need to spread your talents around to mission" So I am pretty sure this next transfer will be Adios Lanus. Which will be sad but I know will be good for me. The newly revamped exercise is going well and I feel well. We still have a whole lot of fun together although we are pretty terrible about teasing Elder Haynie since he is going home. I love the mission and love each and every one of you. I am proud to be an Andrew and am so grateful for a strong family as Daniel said. You help me to keep pushing along.
Love,
Elder Andrew
Malvina's Baptism from a week agoMonday, January 13, 2014 9:24 AM
OH RATS!
Well like I told mom the rats are back and they came back with a vengeance but they are nothing compared to four servants of the Lord! So that is something that we are working on. Don’t worry about your notices making me distracted or anything like that there is so much to worry about here to be honest Mondays are really the only days I worry about home. That isn’t to say I don’t think about you but I try to stay focused on this great work. Oh Mom and Dad I need you to tell me the cities that you served in on your missions and if you can remember any of the names. We did tramites (legal paperwork) today and I ran into two missionaries from El Salvador and I have run into others from Guatemala y Honduras. I enjoyed Daniel’s talk and am glad that I taught him how to be a good wrestler ;) I am glad that you are all safe and well. In weekly planning we realized we are suffering with investigators. So we went through them and I even called one we hadn’t visited in a while and she said right there on the phone that she wasn’t interested right now. So we are starting to build a strong base of investigators from scratch almost but it is exciting. Instead of feeling depressed Elder Corry and I feel excited. On that day of the weekly planning we even found two new investigators! So we are working with getting more references trying new methods because the olds ones weren’t working and going to start teaching English classes to see if we can get more investigators or references from that. I feel like I am starting a new thing and it feels good. Speaking of new things we had interviews with president and he said "Wow you have been in that area a long time" and "we need to spread your talents around to mission" So I am pretty sure this next transfer will be Adios Lanus. Which will be sad but I know will be good for me. The newly revamped exercise is going well and I feel well. We still have a whole lot of fun together although we are pretty terrible about teasing Elder Haynie since he is going home. I love the mission and love each and every one of you. I am proud to be an Andrew and am so grateful for a strong family as Daniel said. You help me to keep pushing along.
Love,
Elder Andrew
Monday, December 30, 2013 11:12 AM
Miracles of Christmas
Yes it was awesome to see all of you on Christmas DAY! I really enjoyed talking
with you even though for some reason it was a bit odd. Be warned in advance that
whenever I get home (in some unknown really far away date in the future) I will
probably be really awkward and not know what to do with myself, so cut me some
slack in advance haha. Those are some sweet gifts that the kids got! It looks
like mom and dad have been holding out waiting for the two wild ones to leave.
No just joking thank you for not giving us coal even though we probably deserved
it! I really like those eyeball glasses, those are pretty funky. Elder Godoy
really likes the mac and cheese as well. Well transfers came and por suerte(with luck) we are all staying. My whole district is the same for at least another six weeks.
Now the baptism. I was pretty nervous but we got the details taken care of for
the most part before hand. We got there early with the things we needed and
started to fill up the pila. I was super nervous before being the senior
companion, being the one going to do the ordinance, and it being the first
baptism that I had ever had anything to do with! She got there we changed out
and we took some pictures I sent you the big group one. Then the program started
and Hermano Caseres (featured on the left) Gave a talk on baptism and the we did
the ordinance. There was hardly any water in the font but she is really short so
it was alright. She was nervous and was facing the wrong way but we got
everything worked out, I said the words and put her under the water. She looked
very happy coming out and I can´t wait to ask her in detail about her
experience. Then we sang the four elders and finished the program. After we had
some nice refreshments. For a first time the program aspect of it went really
well, but what was really important is that she got baptized. The next day in
church she was confirmed by Hermano Caseres and the blessing he gave her was
very interesting. That she would be a light and teacher and help many people. It
made me think of all her family members on the other side of the veil. She
accepted the gospel like it was already a part of her and continues accepting
everything new that she learns. If she is like that I am sure she has dead
relatives that have died and already accepted the message. She will get the
chance on the 4th to go to the temple, and we will probably go with her, even
though we can´t go inside. It has all been a very big miracle and she is such a
blessing to us. I brought an extra triplet and bible in Spanish that some elders
left in the MTC that I was waiting to give to my first convert so she will get
those. Thank you for all your support and I will continue letting you know how
the work is I just love it!
Elder Andrew
Miracles of Christmas
Yes it was awesome to see all of you on Christmas DAY! I really enjoyed talking
with you even though for some reason it was a bit odd. Be warned in advance that
whenever I get home (in some unknown really far away date in the future) I will
probably be really awkward and not know what to do with myself, so cut me some
slack in advance haha. Those are some sweet gifts that the kids got! It looks
like mom and dad have been holding out waiting for the two wild ones to leave.
No just joking thank you for not giving us coal even though we probably deserved
it! I really like those eyeball glasses, those are pretty funky. Elder Godoy
really likes the mac and cheese as well. Well transfers came and por suerte(with luck) we are all staying. My whole district is the same for at least another six weeks.
Now the baptism. I was pretty nervous but we got the details taken care of for
the most part before hand. We got there early with the things we needed and
started to fill up the pila. I was super nervous before being the senior
companion, being the one going to do the ordinance, and it being the first
baptism that I had ever had anything to do with! She got there we changed out
and we took some pictures I sent you the big group one. Then the program started
and Hermano Caseres (featured on the left) Gave a talk on baptism and the we did
the ordinance. There was hardly any water in the font but she is really short so
it was alright. She was nervous and was facing the wrong way but we got
everything worked out, I said the words and put her under the water. She looked
very happy coming out and I can´t wait to ask her in detail about her
experience. Then we sang the four elders and finished the program. After we had
some nice refreshments. For a first time the program aspect of it went really
well, but what was really important is that she got baptized. The next day in
church she was confirmed by Hermano Caseres and the blessing he gave her was
very interesting. That she would be a light and teacher and help many people. It
made me think of all her family members on the other side of the veil. She
accepted the gospel like it was already a part of her and continues accepting
everything new that she learns. If she is like that I am sure she has dead
relatives that have died and already accepted the message. She will get the
chance on the 4th to go to the temple, and we will probably go with her, even
though we can´t go inside. It has all been a very big miracle and she is such a
blessing to us. I brought an extra triplet and bible in Spanish that some elders
left in the MTC that I was waiting to give to my first convert so she will get
those. Thank you for all your support and I will continue letting you know how
the work is I just love it!
Elder Andrew
Monday, December 23, 2013 8:49 AM
Christmas is coming the elders are getting fat....
Well I Hope that all is worked out for Skype. Elder Corry is going first so he can take care of all the bugs haha. We have a camera and a microphone so hopefully things will be good from our end. Like I told you I will be calling around five o clock here (around 1 over there) and have 45 minutes to talk! How exciting no! Well I am glad to hear you are enjoying the Christmas season, I saw some lights on a house (very rare) and I thought of when we used to drive around and look at the lights. To start off I’ll tell you about what we will do on the 24th night. We are going to be with the Familia Leyes and they are going to cook us lechón (baby pig) y cordero (lamb) yummee. I hope I like the lamb because the last time I had lechon it wasn’t horrible but not my favorite. That will be a lot of fun. This week has been good. All my weeks just seem to be so good even though they are so hard. Maybe that is why they are so good because we are working so hard and seeing that the Lord is blessing us for our hard work. I’ll start with Miguel. He doesn’t have any legs and was baptized como testigo de jeohva (as a Jehovah Witness). And for that reason he knows a lot about the bible and has some weird doctrinal thoughts, but he is awesome. He really has a desire to learn and I think that he will, his faith is amazing and through some service we did for him (moving fridges) hopefully it opened his heart and the heart of some of his family (we think it did from what they said to us and just the difference we can already see). Olga y Roberto weren’t too serious investigators but recently are starting to progress. They are having a rough time financially and Roberto says that he needs a spiritual outlet. They really love us missionaries and Roberto even gave us both two awesome ties for the navidad (Christmas). Then on Sunday Roberto came to church, he liked it and asked how long someone had to come before they could get baptized. (Hopefully he was talking about himself and not just a general question we need to get back and talk to them about that). Then, finally, the perfect one, Malvina. We taught her the last lesson and did the pre entrevista (interview). She is so ready to be baptized and we have only been teaching her for a little over two weeks. That is why I say she is the perfect one. She had taken out her nose piercing but still not the one in the lip so I asked her if she could give it to me as a recuerdo (souvenir). She tried to take it out but couldn’t (it has been three years since she has taken it out). Then the next day in church she gave it to me because she put some soap on it later and was able to take it out. She did it without complaint and just said that she knew she had to. So now I have a sweet lip piercing..... I am thinking about putting it in to call you guys! Not really. We asked about who was going to do the confirmation and baptism and she said that Hermano Casares is going to do the confirmation and she asked me to do the baptism. I am so honored and so happy for this moment. She really is a miracle in our lives and a great blessing to help me work better. This week will definitely be the best one of my mission. My companion shared with me in Luke where the Savior is atoning for our sins. The Lord did not pass the bitter cup, but he did send an angel to help and support him. This mission isn’t any easier but right now I can really feel the angels and the blessings that he is sending my way. This week will be a lot of fun and planning for the baptismal program, it is going to be great and I am so excited!
LOVE;
Elder Andrew
Christmas is coming the elders are getting fat....
Well I Hope that all is worked out for Skype. Elder Corry is going first so he can take care of all the bugs haha. We have a camera and a microphone so hopefully things will be good from our end. Like I told you I will be calling around five o clock here (around 1 over there) and have 45 minutes to talk! How exciting no! Well I am glad to hear you are enjoying the Christmas season, I saw some lights on a house (very rare) and I thought of when we used to drive around and look at the lights. To start off I’ll tell you about what we will do on the 24th night. We are going to be with the Familia Leyes and they are going to cook us lechón (baby pig) y cordero (lamb) yummee. I hope I like the lamb because the last time I had lechon it wasn’t horrible but not my favorite. That will be a lot of fun. This week has been good. All my weeks just seem to be so good even though they are so hard. Maybe that is why they are so good because we are working so hard and seeing that the Lord is blessing us for our hard work. I’ll start with Miguel. He doesn’t have any legs and was baptized como testigo de jeohva (as a Jehovah Witness). And for that reason he knows a lot about the bible and has some weird doctrinal thoughts, but he is awesome. He really has a desire to learn and I think that he will, his faith is amazing and through some service we did for him (moving fridges) hopefully it opened his heart and the heart of some of his family (we think it did from what they said to us and just the difference we can already see). Olga y Roberto weren’t too serious investigators but recently are starting to progress. They are having a rough time financially and Roberto says that he needs a spiritual outlet. They really love us missionaries and Roberto even gave us both two awesome ties for the navidad (Christmas). Then on Sunday Roberto came to church, he liked it and asked how long someone had to come before they could get baptized. (Hopefully he was talking about himself and not just a general question we need to get back and talk to them about that). Then, finally, the perfect one, Malvina. We taught her the last lesson and did the pre entrevista (interview). She is so ready to be baptized and we have only been teaching her for a little over two weeks. That is why I say she is the perfect one. She had taken out her nose piercing but still not the one in the lip so I asked her if she could give it to me as a recuerdo (souvenir). She tried to take it out but couldn’t (it has been three years since she has taken it out). Then the next day in church she gave it to me because she put some soap on it later and was able to take it out. She did it without complaint and just said that she knew she had to. So now I have a sweet lip piercing..... I am thinking about putting it in to call you guys! Not really. We asked about who was going to do the confirmation and baptism and she said that Hermano Casares is going to do the confirmation and she asked me to do the baptism. I am so honored and so happy for this moment. She really is a miracle in our lives and a great blessing to help me work better. This week will definitely be the best one of my mission. My companion shared with me in Luke where the Savior is atoning for our sins. The Lord did not pass the bitter cup, but he did send an angel to help and support him. This mission isn’t any easier but right now I can really feel the angels and the blessings that he is sending my way. This week will be a lot of fun and planning for the baptismal program, it is going to be great and I am so excited!
LOVE;
Elder Andrew
Monday, December 16, 2013 1:03 PM
Subject: Chillin like a ..... actually it is really hot.
Well I will start off with the funnest parts of the week. A few days ago the water in the shower stopped working so now we are showering out of buckets. It is actually kind of fun and with the weather being so hot we don’t mind the coldness so much. We got the fans and really enjoyed them.... and then the power cut out. We have a new rule to be in the pension before dark because people are starting to rob a lot of business, but we haven’t seen anything to worry us in our area (so don’t have a heart attack mom). We had an awesome asado today with our district and if I do say so my cooking skills are improving. I made the rice, salad and cut up some tomatoes for a side dish. They call me "big mama" in the pension, and I do the majority of the cooking and dish washing and the majority of the nagging... so I guess you could say the title has reason behind it. I sent you a picture of noodles and tuco that I made and was delicious. I love the great opportunity we have to just learn everything on the mission; it is probably the best opportunity to learn ever. Yeah I could imagine that regular life would be boring if you weren’t a member of the church or weren’t on a mission right now. That too bad that Meghan feels the best part of her life is over (Meghan was a friend of Ben's that he knew in high school. Brian saw her the other day.) I really can’t imagine life not on a mission I have thought about how it would be to just go straight to college and that would be so lame and the mission is 100000x better than anything I ever did in high school. It all just seems so far away now. We are working hard. Alejandra’s kids are better but I wouldn’t say she is quite back on track yet. We called her on Sunday and she was sleeping and didn’t come to church. So we have some work there still and maybe a little of bajando la caña to do. Hady kind of disappeared; we will have to track her down again. Malvina is a stud, if there was ever anyone ready to receive the gospel it is her. She has come to church twice and doesn’t show signs of stopping. She understands everything and can explain back to us what she read when we go for the visits. We were going to teach her the law of chastity and word of wisdom but she fell back into depression about her boyfriend that died, so we took some time to talk about the Savior and his atonement and told her to take her problems to the Lord especially in sacrament meeting the next day. Well it seemed like she did because we taught her yesterday and she seemed back to normal and feeling the Spirit and we taught her the lesson. I was nervous because we were going to tell her that she needed to take out her piercings (one in her nose and one in her lip) and I was getting nervous but as I expressed that part with love she just kind of laughed and said she knew she needed to take them out and said she would. So we will see tomorrow when we get to her. I really am loving it down here so much and I am very excited for the next few weeks! I love you all very much and will tell you all to really study your scriptures it is very interesting what you can find when you really try.
Monday, December 9, 2013 11:52 AM
Bueno, esta semana fue excelente y muy dificil pero asi es en la mision. (Well, this week has been excellent and very difficult but such is the mission.) Are you still going to have those missionary mom meetings? Bennet told me he is training now too and is a district leader, talk about responsibility, but I knew that my best friends were studs and still totally are. Blake said he doesn’t have any spanish investigators, I couldn’t imagine that, sometimes I get frustrated with Spanish but I just love it so much and the people that speak it and how the culture is that I couldn’t really imagine it different. I am trying to talk is more spanish with Elder Corry and he is learning really quick. He is a cool elder and it will be cool to hang out with him after because he will be going to UVU as well. Could you get me Shaun’s email, I really want to email that guy. Oh Elder Reynoso went home due to his back and won’t be able to come back out for a year or two. I was sad but he really should have taken care of those problems before, I will still try and keep in contact with him though. The area....... Lanus Reading
Elder Andrew
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