Love from Argentina

June 15, 2015

Thank Angela for her kind words being in home really taught me that many times my will isn't the Lord's will. I feel so blessed now to be with the great people of CityBell, a blessing I would not have enjoyed had I stayed out on the misión without breaking my ankle. And tell her, "Si yo tuviera plata para comprar facturas le mandaria algunas pero por ahora tengo que administrar bien el dinero jaja". Well this week has truly been a good one as well as a very busy one! Monday we had some very good lessons teaching the familia Mamani as well as the familia Cambilla. The Cambilla familia are people the Elders found doing contacts a few weeks before I got here, they don't have much of a religious formation and have a pretty mixed up family (the three kids are all from different dads) but they are making the effort to make changes in their lives. Aldana (the mom) is doing her daily prayers now and says she feels a lot of peace Alejandro (the dad) understands the message a bit better but isn't applying quite yet although he did go to church with us on Sunday and really liked it! Back to Monday we went with a Member couple the matrimonio Pintus who are a great family and Hermano Pintus is the second counselor of the branch. Anyway we talked about families and they were able to help the Cambillas feel very good and open up. Lessons are always better with members and especially when you try to get members that are having about the same experiences in life. They were all going to come to church on Sunday for the first time but two of the kids got sick and so the mom stayed home but Alejandro came with Ignacio (the middle kid with 4). They really enjoyed their time and the members here are great cause they just latched on to Alejandro and made him feel very welcome. Another exciting news is that Fatima Mamani came with her family to church! This is the first time in a while that she has come and we can tell they are making changes in the home, there is a different spirit when we go now. I am praying a lot so her and her sister Melani can receive an answer on the truthfulness of these things and be baptized. It was testimony meeting and many gave their testimonies on the Book of Mormon and that Joseph Smith is a true prophet something Fatima is struggling to believe so hopefully some of the words touched her heart! We are trying to find new investigators and no luck so far but we are going to keep on trying. Even though we have a pretty good teaching base now there are always more people to teach the góspel to. Although in two weeks we will be taking over the sisters half of the branch because they are leaving, so this Thursday we are going to visit some of their investigators to start making the transition. Well in the zone we felt like there were several problems with unity in a few companionship so this last district meeting we asked if we could speak in the two districts about companionship inventories. Apparently the district leaders had the same impresión because both of the meeting were about unity and resolving problems. After the meeting we found out that several of the companionships that we were worrying about we able to resolve their problems and that the district meeting inspired them to do it. What a humbling experience to follow impressions and see it help other people with their problems. I sure feel grateful. And one funny story with Stevey Smith (the stuffed lizard that we borrowed from a less active) we pulled of a great prank. We took him with us to the correlation meeting with or Ward misión leader and put him in the bathroom on the counter without anyone noticing. we had the meeting and it was pretty normal and when we finished the sister said "we need to go to the bathroom" talk about perfect. we watched as they went in and then as they ran out screaming and talking in English they were so startled haha will the good news is they don't hate us and we all had a good laugh. Sometimes its nice to just have a good laugh :)

Love,

Elder Andrew

Getting better all the time

June 8, 2015

Well after the blister went away my ankle has been feeling a lot better. I walk pretty much normal now. Some days it feels a bit stiff but for the most part it is fine. What a blessing! This week has been pretty busy and as I look back on what we did it seems like this week has been a month or something. I look back to what we did on Tuesday and think "We did that only 6 days ago, man it feels like it was forever ago" but I guess that's how things are when you have action packed days! On Tuesday we had a zone meeting and talked about chapter 5 in Preach My Gospel about "what function the Book of Mormon has in missionary work" and it was good. This month as a mission we are all supposed to study and focus on chapter 5. My vision of how to use the Book of Mormon I feel is changing and my testimony of it is definitely getting stronger! Like you said Mom, what a blessing it is to have the scriptures! Also what a blessing to know that the Heavens are not closed and God still speaks with His prophets in these latter days! Oh by the way one of the RMs in my ward served in the Salta mission and one of his areas was Tucumán. I don't know if you all remember Elder Reynoso, my hijo that went home after a week because of his back. Anyway the RM here in Citybell served in his ward!! Small world. So Gabriel Reynoso is married in the temple and has a kid already jaja. My companion makes fun of me because I'm still in the mission and my son is already married and has a child. He makes a lot of jokes about how long I'm going to be in the mission, I guess it is pretty funny haha. Then on Wednesday we had the consejo de liderazgo where all the zone leaders and sister training leaders get together to talk about mission things. It was a bit weird because everyone except for like one elder was different from the last time I was there. The mission is splitting and there is a lot going on to get ready. President Thurgood told me when I got here that he might possibly move me to the south mission at the end of this transfer, but I hope he lets me stay here. I really like Citybell and there is a lot of work to do. Plus at the end of this transfer they are taking out the hermanas due to lack of missionaries and so we will have both areas to keep us busy.... good thing we have bikes. This weekend we had a stake conference that was very uplifting and talked a lot about keeping the Sabbath day holy although I like the wording better in Spanish "Sanctify the day of Rest" it is something we must do to make that day Holy. The family Mamani is still coming strong. Fatima has started reading and praying again. She still hasn't asked if this is true or not but said she would now, so we'll see when we teach them today. We are teaching a guy named Julio who is really nice and interested in the gospel. When we went by yesterday to teach him his family was in a big fight, with yelling and foul language and a bit of guareni as well. Not the best way to start out a lesson and it was really sad to see just how sad it made him to see his dad and brothers like that. I don't know what I did to deserve such a wonderful family but I sure am grateful for it. Thank you Mom and Dad for founding our family on the principles of the gospel, on love and Jesus Christ. It has made all the difference in the world in my life and surely in the lives of generations to come. I love you all very much and wish you the Best in this week. May you ever seek the will of the Lord and His guidance.

Love y besitos,

Elder Andrew 

soy un Aregentino mas

June 1, 2015

Well right now I'm in a ciber with pretty bad computers sitting on a bar stool and there are about 12 kids that maybe are 10 years old, playing counterstrike and using worse language than marines. I fear for the future Argentina, well I always kind of did. Anyway other than that this week has been really good. On Tuesday I did an intercambio with Elder Garache, he was in the Quilmes Zone and is a good friend of mine, from Nicaragua. If you remember he is the only member in his family and was kind of disowned by his mother when he came on the mission. He is a good example of doing what the Lord wants before anything else, and it was nice to be with an old friend. To be completely honest being back was pretty difficult. I didn't feel the same love for the work as before and felt like maybe I shouldn't have come back out. However, on Thursday we had a Zone Conference and talked about many subjects that are near and dear to my heart, and I was reminded of a lot of things I used to do in the mission. Then, at the end we had a testimony meeting of all the missionaries since this is the last time the Thurgood´s will have a zone conference in La Plata. Being able to bear my own testimony about why I came back and the truths that I know and being able to listen to the strong and uplifting testimonies of the others gave me a real boost. I would say I'm back to having probably about the same amount of Love for the work and animo as I did before I broke my ankle. My ankle was doing really well, but then the other day a few pebbles got in my shoe down by the pad of my foot on my right foot. Instead of taking them out I just kept walking. Well thanks to that I now have the biggest blister every on my right food haha. It feels a little better but my ankle has been hurting a bit because of the weird walking the blister has caused me to do. I would ask for you faith on behalf of my foot, I'm sure it will be fine. Here is a great lesson we had to finish up. We are teaching a family named the family Mamani. Two of the daughters have already been baptized and the mother wants to get baptized but isn't married and doesn't want to get married because her man has another family in Bolivia.... so typical family you'd find in Argentina. We went and one the daughters who was going to church and progressing really well when all the sudden stopped everything, kind of opened up to us. (We think part of the reason she stopped is the evangelico boyfriend she now has that will just come and live in their house for like 4 days a week) Anyway Fatima (that's her name) said that when she was going to church she really liked it and felt really good but then when she would get home she felt like it was all the same. Also, that she wasn't sure about the story of Joseph Smith. In the mission we are studying one chapter of Preach My Gospel each month and this month is 5 about what is the function of the Book of Mormon. So we told her that really her problems lay in knowing if the Book of Mormon is true or not. We read all of the introduction with the whole family and it was really good. You could tell Fatima was getting into it and a daughter I had never seen before, Yanet, was also pretty interested. This normally crazy family was silent and thinking as we testified of the power of the Book of Mormon and the ability it gives us to know about the truthfulness of this church. I am very grateful for the Book of Mormon because if I ever have a doubt about something in the church I can always fall back on the foundation that I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It changes lives and has infinitely changed mine. I finished reading it for the second time in Spanish last week and am enjoying my study of the Doctrine and Covenants that I'm starting. I love you all and hope you have a great week and can share the gospel with someone or just show someone that you love them, which is pretty much one in the same!  

love and besitos,
Elder Andrew

Joleen Andrew replied: My sweet son. I'm sorry it's been hard. I feel strongly that there is a good reason you are there at this time. Don't let Satan get to you. He will try to get you down. Don't let him. I do pray for the ankle. Remember to take out the rocks...from your shoes and you heart before they make blisters.

Benjamin Andrew replied: I didn't mean to make you worry with telling you how I felt, I really do feel much better now, and apart from the occasional ankle pain it is like I never left the mission, what a blessing :)  

Elder Benjamin Andrew was able to return to the Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission Monday, May 18.

Buenos Aires round 2!

May 25, 2015

Back to the land of street dogs and really bad cibers! haha. Well in Georgia, Hermana Cannon and I met up with a bunch of Hermanas and Elders straight from the MTC that were going to different parts of Argentina. When they found out I had already been there two Elders just glued on to me asking a bunch of questions and stuff like that it was kind of funny and made me remember that weird day when I left the MTC. Then after a reaaaaallllllly long flight we got through customs and everything and I see.... President Thurgood!!!! We ran over gave him a hug and the Hermana Thurgood was there, too. She was so happy to see me she gave me a hug, too haha. They were with the assistants and guess who the new assistant is? That's right, Elder Corry! My hijito ("son", Ben trained Elder Corry) is now an assistant to the president! So we went to the mission home, ate some empanadas and pizza and talked with some old mission friends who were office workers. I had an interview with President and he said he would be putting me as a zone leader in La Plata with Elder Meza. I guess he just doesn't want to give me time to ease back into the mission just throwing me in as zone leader like that haha. It's been good so far though. Elder Meza is from Monterrey, Mexico and is about a head shorter than me. We get along well and make a lot of jokes and stuff. He is a convert of about 2 or 3 years and the only member in his family, pretty special dude. This week, because of the dedication of the Cordoba temple, the hermana that usually sets up the lunches couldn't so we ate in the pench all week (welcome to mission life, haha). Next week we have a zone conference but all we need to worry about is the food and we already took care of that so it won't be that stressful. My area is called City Bell and is pretty big and really tranquilo (mellow), no fear of me getting robbed here. It's kind of like rich farm land. It is my first branch that I've been in and even though the usual attendance is around 65 it is a really nice capilla (chapel). There are about 5 recently returned missionaries and two that got home just last week so a lot of potential to do a lot of things. There are a few good families here to teach, but we are looking for more people as always. This is also Elder Crowther´s last area so he left a few things for me haha. (Elder Crowther was another one of Ben's companions) It has been a bit strange and difficult getting re adjusted to the mission, and it's not like there is anyone who can give me any tips on how to do it. They should make a book for re-adjusting to missionary life. ha ha just kidding But I guess I just worry that I might have lost some momentum but I'm gonna keep trying my hardest to be the missionary I'm supposed to be. My foot feels a bit sore but better than when I got here. We also have bikes in the area which helps my foot feel better. It seems like all the missionaries are new, in my zone most of the missionaries have 6 months or less. Plus there are a ton of hermanas! It is 8 elders and 10 hermanas so really I'm just the president of the relief society. I think the time home helped me to realize how much my love for you guys really had grown. I am so grateful to be part of an eternal family and to be able to share my mission experiences with you. I really do appreciate the good people that you are and feel overly blessed to be part of what seems like such a perfect family. Oh I got an extra transfer added to my mission so I come home November 2. President asked if I want to come home in September or November so I said November. I'll be home just in time to have a huge nacho party haha. The Castellano (spanish) was a bit awkward at first but after a few days I think I'm pretty much back to where I was before, just as President Montague blessed me to be in my setting apart. I love the Lord and am trying to get back in the hang of things.

mucho love,

Elder Andrew

Oh, as of right now in the next transfer I would be in the east mission (new mission) but President thought that he might possibly take me out at the end of this transfer, so we'll see what the Lord has planned for me.

Dear Friends and Family,

Elder Benjamin Andrew fell while playing soccer on P-day Feb. 9th and fractured his ankle.  He came home Feb. 15th to have surgery and to recover.  He sincerely hopes to return to Argentina or at least be reassigned so he can finish his mission when he has recovered.  He had successful surgery on Friday, Feb. 20.  The doctor said that everything just clicked and went much faster than he anticipated.  He is now in a cast and hopefully will be able to be in a walking boot at his next doctors appointment March 12th. Your faith and prayers in his behalf are greatly appreciated!  He has been to the temple and plans to go at least once a week.  He has been working on being able to work at the family history center as a service missionary and also will be going out with the elders to do some visits.  We are grateful for this time we have been given with him and pray diligently for his swift recovery so that he can continue his great work.

Joleen Andrew (Ben's mom)

The following is an email he sent out to some of his mission friends soon after he came home.

weird things are happening to me

Well I thought I might just inform you all that last Monday I fractured my ankle playing soccer on a p day and they sent me home so I can get surgery on it, which will be this Friday. I got home Sunday evening and for the time I have been released as a missionary but hope to be able to recover quickly and get back out on the mission, prays would be very appreciated I love you all very much. 

queria informarles que el lunes pasado me fracture el tobillo jugando el futbol y ahora estoy en casa esperando que me operen el viernes. por ahora me han relevado de ser misionero pero espero poder recuperarme pronto y volver a la mision. gracias por todo su amor y apoyo, oraciones serian muy bienvenidas.

con mucho amor,

Benjamin Andrew

Well well well my family

Feb. 9, 2015

Thank you for your loving kind words, they inspire me to be a better missionary. I am also SO grateful to have been born in a family that really tries to apply the gospel of Jesus Christ in their personal live and in our family lives. I see too many families (member and non member) that don't do that. I try to count my many blessings because I really am so blessed. Something I have been doing lately in the morning while I eat breakfast is read conference talks. It is such a blessing to have modern prophets that guide us and keep us on the path of truth. That is something I have learned on the mission to take advantage of "dead time." Reading while I eat breakfast, in the bathroom, or after planning session in the night has helped me get through Jesus the Christ, and many other books and magazines. By small and simple things great things will come to pass. Those that have smart phone can download scriptures and manuals right to your phone and maybe instead of playing angry birds, you could read a bit of the Book of Mormon, or prepare yourself for the lesson that will be taught on Sunday. It is just an idea and definitely something I will keep doing after the mission. Another idea that is really working out for us here: take investigators to church. One of the biggest challenges with investigators is usually getting them to go to church. Something that is really working here is we take members with us to lessons and ask them if they can then pass by the investigators house on Sunday to go together to church. So far it is giving really good results, so someway you could help the elders in our ward is ask them if one of their investigators needs a ride to church, or if you go out on visits offer to pass by the persons house on Sunday to give them a ride. Then the investigator can feel a bit more comfortable and will already have a friend and can focus more on the spirit of the meeting. It is amazing how many things we can do in the work of the Lord and sometimes how easy some of those things are. I feel like we live in a dispensation that the gospel has never been easier to share. We have facebook, messaging, telephones, cars, mass printing, and so many other tools! The Lord really does want us to accelerate his work and He gives us the tools to do it. President told us the church is going to be doing another initiative this Easter kind of like "He is the gift" that they did for Christmas, asi que prepare yourselves! My companion and I continue working hard together, he hasn't complained about his stomach in a while so it seems to be at least calmed down for now. He has changed a lot in the short time that I have been here. I know the Lord calls us to our areas to teach the people but I also feel like a lot of times he calls us to be with our companions for a very specific reason as well. At the beginning of the mission I was all pumped to baptize and everything but now I think I am learning to really love just teaching people the gospel. What a privilege to be set apart to teach people the best message they will ever hear! The elders in my district call me a "high priest" because of the time I have but I still feel like a greenie haha, I love the mission and I love my Savior, I really do depend on Him for everything I have. I love you all very much and are always in my prayers, especially Brenda and Levi in this moment!

love,
Elder Andrew

 

Happy birthday Mom and Daniel!

Feb. 2. 2015

 

 

 

 

Happy birthday Mom and Daniel!

 

Feb. 2. 2015

Well I haven't read your letters yet but I'm sure you will tell me about what you did on both the birthdays so first I want to tell you what I did on your birthdays.

 

Wednesday, 28 of January

In the morning we visited the family Feirrera, pretty new investigators, that came from a member reference. We taught the mom, Marisa, and her 17 year old son, Lautaro. We had talked about most of the restoration the last time so we focused on explaining well the Book of Mormon. It was a really good lesson and they are going to read, meditate and pray! Then after we waited a long time for coletivo (bus) to go to lunch. Oh, I forgot to mention it was raining pretty good. We ate lunch with the familia Siles, a nice family, and then went on our way. Then we visited an hermano that hadn't come for a few weeks and found out he hurt his foot so we shared a scripture with him. Then the family Paredes. We watched a movie with them and it went pretty good. Then we went to an inactive family where one lady is super active and the rest of the family inactive. It was our first time going, the familia Chalco. It was a pretty good visit and at the end the sister came in and told the family that someone they knew recently had a stroke so we did a kneeling prayer for him. (the hermana later told us that in that moment he woke up from his coma and is doing a lot better, miracle!) So it was a pretty normal day I guess, I don't really remember that much anymore the days just all blend together!

Saturday, 31 of January

Well cooly enough we visited the family Feirrera again in the morning. Marisa told us that she had talked with her daughter (who she fights with a lot because of the son in law) and where she had expected to kind of get in a fight there was the opposite reaction, and she said it impacted her. She is feeling the Spirit that what we teach is true, we talked about recognizing the Spirit on Wednesday and now she is recognizing it and reading and praying! Lautaro didn't read so we read Moroni 10:3 -5 (the homework we left) and he is doing his prayers and says he is seeing good changes in the family. A lot of potential over there. What a blessing to be in the true church! Then we searched around some more and then went to lunch with the familia Porcel. They made us SOOO much meat it was insane. People here don't believe in the Word of Wisdom because there was just rice, potatoes with mayo and a ton of meat. They are a really good family though who are putting the batteries to be 100 active this year and so far are going strong. Then, we taught the family Lopez for my first time who are inactive. The hermana was making a lot of excuses and kind of lying to us (they are known for lying) and so we pulled out Alma 42:25 to 30 I think it is. Hermana if you go to church you'll be blessed if not you won't. I feel like the mission has helped me get a lot more patience but at the same time as the time goes on my patience shortens with some people haha. Then we visited another menos activo (less active) and went to a ward activity/birthday party for the bishop who turned 31. That's right, the bishop has the same birthday as you Mom, so I saw cake and everything on that day!

Some other cool things that happened this week is we finally taught the familia Ramos for the first time. They have been going to church for 4 weeks but we could never set up an appointment to teach them. We finally did and they are as prepared as they seemed in the capilla (chapel or church). We talked about the Book of Mormon and the hermano told us one of the reasons he wants to change his life all the sudden is because he saw his nephews who are returned missionaries and what good people they are. He even said "my nephew is more mature than me a lot of times!" haha. He said he went to church as a kid kind of just following his brothers and sisters but now as he is going he feels something a lot different, like what they say is just for him. The church is true! and another good bit of news on Sunday Kenny got the Aaronic Priesthood! The Ward is really excited to work and a few weeks before I got here they had an assitance (attendance) of about 35 I think.  This Sunday 115 people were in Sacrament Meeting! It just goes to show that working with the members, and the members working by themselves without the missionaries having to remind them really pulls out the best result. Be you own agents and look for ways to help, there are so many! I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!

Elder Andrew

beloved family and friends

Jan. 26, 2015

This week was great! with the traveling elders here we did divisions every day and could get a lot of work done! We also cleaned our pench more deeply and got our area book a lot more organized. Elder Payne and Elder Peterson are like two area boosters. Elder Peterson was assistant for 6 months and Elder Payne a zl for 10 months so they are some pretty experienced missionaries. We found a lot of new people that seem like they have quite a bit of potential. One day Elder Payne and I were kind of walking around trying to find people when I felt like we should really just go look for this family (the familia Ramos that has been coming to church but we still haven't taught) even though it was kind of far and I wasn't exactly sure how to get there. We went and weren't finding the house so we did a few contacts and they went pretty well. As we came back out onto the main street and I am looking back down at my agenda to see what we should do next I hear a "hey elders" it was the familia Ramos! What a miracle! They didn't have time to let us in and teach but showed us where their house was so that I wont get lost next time and we gave them a Book of Mormon cause they didn't have any. As we handed it over the face of the hermano lit up. I am really excited to teach them on this Friday. They seem like a pretty prepared family. As we were over there still we hear again "elders!" A lady comes up to us and said she is visiting from Peru and wants us to teach her inactive daughter. So we went right then and taught her and a lady that lives with her and set up an appointment to teach them and their boyfriends today! We were in a part of the area I have never been to, just in the right moment too. With all the people in all of budge we found those two that needed us! The Lord really does look out for us and has His children in mind! We also got to go to the temple this week which was awesome! I love to see the temple I will keep going there someday, to feel the Holy Spirit, to listen and to pray. What a blessing to have the fullness of the gospel over the earth. The real blessings of being a member of the church are found in the temple. Maybe you could offer to take with you some recent converts from our Ward and help them to do baptisms for the dead. That is a huge part of retention! I am still learning a lot every day and loving this mission so much. I love all of you and hope you have a great week!

Elder Andrew