29 August 2011

Another week in the country of Argentina! The weather is starting to warm up so it´s getting really nice and it feels too much like California so I´m stoked hah. I can´t beleive this mes is reaching an end. It really goes by too fast and I feel like it will only go by faster. So I´ll just start from the top of the week and finish with a Miracle that we had this week!

Basically we worked really hard this week and I love President Carter. He´s such a great man and President. First before jumping ahead my companion and I had to go down to Captial again so he could start on his paper work to be legal in the country. Again we were able to take the subway downtown and it was awesome like always! I love downtown and it was crazy going down there with the new missionaries and having to translate for them. It makes me realize how far I have come in the language and the mission. After doing the paperwork we went it eat some lunch at Subway and the lady workers behind the counter were laughing at us because we haven´t seen bacon in like 17 months so it was pretty funny. I can´t wait to go back and show you down town, it is amazing! I´ll show you guys some pictures. The mall felt like America 100% but with Argentina European people.. jaja. After that we headed back on the subway, train and back to Padua. In the night we had a great lesson with our investigators and his kids. Then Friday came, the conference of Zone so we had to wake up at 5:30 and take colds showers because our stupid water heated is sketchy but we made it on a over stuffed train. I´ll paint a picture for you guys how crazy it is. Just think of the down stairs bathroom but with 30 people in it. You literally have to fight to get out at your stop hah. It´s craazzy. So we made it to conference and we had a great time! I love the counsle that president has for us and he is changing the mission and I love it. We are focused on talking with more people and relying more on the Lord and working hard! There is a lot of focuses and I like it. I recieved a super awesome birthday gift from the President and his Wife. They are studs!

Friday night was awesome! So right now we are able to play futbol with our investigators and we had 5 investigators come to the activity. So as long as there are investigatores we are set. They all loved it! Saturday we had an activity with the Qoroun of the Elderes and we ate chorripan and they played futbol! It was rad. I love how everyone is really good a futbol here and they really know how to cook meat hah! Overall a super day but it gets even better.

During the week we talked with a lady on the street with her daugther. It wasn´t anything special but we were able to write down their direccion and we ended up passing by Saturday. They let us in like they already knew us and we sat down in the house with the Mom and the daughter of 12 years. It ends up she said when she talked to us in the street she knew we weren´t send from God for her and her family. She talked with the missionaries over 16 years ago but even since nothing has happened. So talking with her was so spiritual. She is going through a really hard time with her health and family. They are a family of 8 children. The lesson was super spiritual and I could feel the spirit so strongly in the lesson. I had the impression to promise her if she came to church she would recieve blessings from our Heavenly Father. It just came to my mind during the time and she told us she will try. We told them we would pass by in the morning and she said we will see but I told her, if you have the faith it will work out. We passed by in the morning and the mother and daughter both came out ready to go to church! They are such studs and I knew she wasn´t feeling good but she came anyways. We headed to church in a remis and at the end of church we gave her a blessing. She was super impressed on how everyone cared for her and the daughter is stoked to come to mutual this friday to play some soccer! The 18 year old daugther wasn´t able to come but she want´s to come next week! I really have a testimony that heavenly father puts people in our path so we can be instruments in his hands. It is one of the many miracles that I have seen on my mission. It´s the best feeling ever. I want to help this family so much.

I´ve found to be obedient to the Lord, Work hard and be real. Its the truth!

At church we were able to bring 7 investigators and we had the confirmation of Rodrigo!

Today we went to Merlo to buy some stuff and I bought some Jerseys for super cheep and I am ready to play some futbol this week. I´m getting a lot better. I can´t wait to come back and be an addict to Futbol and Baseball. I can imagen Uncle Gary and I going crazy over Futbol! Aguante Boca!

This keyboard is so sketchy but I do what I can. Tonight we have a Family Night and we are going to make some brownies! I´m stoked

Off to another hard working week

Love you Fam!
Keep it real!

22 August 2011

What a week what a week! We´ll yeah it is true that I am training Elder Nesbit from South Jordan Utah! I am stoked and he´s pretty much a great elder with a great personality, new of coarse but he is learning everyday. The program we have to work with is really inspired and it helps the two of us a lot! So starting off this week was super crazy because we went to pickup our new missionaries and we had a super awesome conference with President. He told us how he picked the best missionaries to train the new missionaries and how we will play a huge impact on their mission and their lives. So I am super excited to help my new companion out with everything. We didn´t get to work on Monday or Tuesday but we had a super great week. We led the zone in eficacia points and we had a Baptism this weekend of Rodrigo! He is a stud and I´m sure the story of him leading up to him are in the older emails but he came to church with a suit and everything and was ready to have a great baptism. We had a bunch of members support the baptism and the bishop said he was amazed on how great of a baptism it was. I am super stoked for this family because you can see how they are changing so much. There are more people in the family that are able to be baptized so we are working with the whole family! 5 investigators came to church this week including Pablo by himself. He came without his girlfriend Juliana because she is sick but he came anyways! He showed his faith and now we see that he really wants to join the church. So something awesome happened in Gospel Principles class when Pablo said ¨I come from a Catholic background but I don´t agree with the stand points but I know that this is the true church and I want to be a member.¨ He gave his testimony like a stud and I loved it. He is really progressing so stronly. The only thing that is stopping him joining the church is getting married. Stupid divorce papers! People don´t want to get married because the whole divorce thing is redic so whats the purpose of getting married when you have the same benefits and a married couple here? That is the problem we run into all the time!

We had a goal from President to talk with 140 people during the week and we comlepted it and I really did see the blessings from our Heavenly Father. We found amazing people and just everything is working out. Don´t get me wrong, 90% of the people are like, ¨Nahh it´s all good, I have my religion¨, but through all the hard contacts we find great people and I can´t wait to see them Progress.

I´m so pumped on the missionary work right now and I can´t wait to have a great full week ahead in San Antonio de Padua. Today on P-day we played futbol with investigators and members and last night we found a super tiny dog that started to follow us and we almost took it to the pench because it was so cute but we left it at a members house lol. We forgot it at the house but it worked out because they want it.

Off to another week!

Love you guys,
Bret

15 August 2011

How is everything in the Family?

Well to update you guys I´ve had a crazy week but everything ended up fine. This friday there was a huge storm and it hailed. Basically the whole provincia got hit pretty hard. I was in Captial doing paperwork but there was times where it was pitch black outside in the middle of the day. Crazy stuff!

Looking back at the week we had some awesome Family Nights with families and everything was working out that we would bring 8 people to church but we completly forgot that it was the day to Vote in the country. Here it is Obligtory so everyone had inconviences and only a couple people arrived to church. Even though it was a bit disspointing I am super excited for the week ahead because we have so much potential here in the Area. We met a family of 7 people and one of the daughters is baptized but everyone else are non members. We went by to see them and the let us in and we talked with the mom and the youngest daughter that has three years. Super awesome family and I can´t wait to pass by this week to have a Family Night and invited them all to come unto Christ. Also, I´ll be training a new missionary. Tomorrow I have to go back to Ramos Mejia to pick him up and everything. 20 new missionaries are coming into the mission and President said he picked the 20 best missionaries to train. I´m humbled to be one of them. I don´t think I´m that great at all but I´m excited for this oportunity because it´s a great experience and the area is about to explode. I love when President speaks. We had a meeting with him this morning and he feels like a President. Just a straight up awesome and man of God. He´s giving me a huge oportunity and I´m going to do my best to make things work and train this missionary. We have a new program to teach missionaries so this is the first test run in the mission!

Besides that we will be having a baptism this weekend for Rodrigo and two more on the 18th of September. We have a lot more people to work with that are ready to be baptized. I love these people so much and especially the Family Diaz. They were able to come eat lunch with me on the 10th for my Birthday. I love them so much, words cant describe it. It even makes me teary eyed writing this hah. But I´m grateful for everyone that I know here. Also when we were heading back from Capital I ran into an old investigator from Mariano Acosta and it was amazing! They were going to get married and baptized but the paper work is taking forever. I talked with her and told her to get married hah so we will see. I wrote them a letter and we will see how things work out. Speaking about letters. Thanks for the letter from the family, I still haven´t opened it yet. I haven´t had time. Give thanks to the Hambrects and the Hamiltons too! Also Ragey and Soda :)

Well a crazy week but right now it will only get crazier because I´ll be training a new missionary. Not sure if he will be American or Latin. There are 15 Americans and 4 latins so the chances are in favor of an American.

Love you guys, Keep me update on how things are at home. Thanks for all the Birthday emails from everyone!
Well what a week here in Padua. It was great hearing all the birthday wishes from everyone. Thank you for your kindness. I really don´t feel any older but according to my age I am 21 now hah. It´s crazy but we got some good things planned for the week and at the end of the week some baptisms. Your age in the mission really isn´t your age in real life, it´s your age in the mission life. I´m getting old but I still have some time to work magic here in the mission. It´s the best place to be!

Well looking back at this week we had a pretty busy week. Pablo and his kids loved coming to mutual but unfortunanetly they were not able to come to church this weekend. We recieved a text message saturday night and it said they can´t come due to complications. They said next week si o si! They said they have something planned for my birthday and it includes eggs... I´m pretty worried about passing by tomorrow night.

Rodrigo is going to get baptized this weekend. We are seeing if it is the right weekend to do it because here on the 14th it is voting! So everyone is required to vote and we are looking to see if we will have a good attendance for the baptism but I am sure everything will workout. He´s a stud and I´m amazed how awesome he is. Comes to church with his brother Gonzalo who is only 13. They come in Shirt and Tie and everything. Studs. Luciano is still set for this weekend but he´s not sure. He´s that type of person who doesn´t like commitments but I have faith when the weekend comes he will show up for the baptism. On the other hand his girlfriend will have to give him the frank talk.. haha. I told her that she needs to get married in the temple and she wants to. Just one problem.. your boyfriend is so close to being a member so help him! Luciano is a stud and comes to church by himself. We just need to have him jump in the water!

Besides that everything is going well in Padua. We are seeing blessing in many forms. Old investigators without interes are telling us they have interes again. One investigator named Tamara has been coming to church and we are planning a family night with her and her family. The parents havent listened to the missionaries before but now the mom wants us to come over and she came to church for a little.

Thursday we went to Capital and Palermo to do some dentist stuff for my companion and I had to go to get my DNI renewed.. unfortunantly it closed at 3:00 and I arrived at 3:15.. So it looks like I am going back Thursday! We had a great time walking around Capital and taking the subway. We ate at Burger King too! It was great having a burger after 17 months of not having one hah. It was weird seeing all the kids in uniforms and running into a Legit Addidas store and finding a Kobe Bryant Jersey that was legit. (Go Lakers)

So yeah I am exciting for my birthday that is coming up tomorrow. We have great plans, a lot of food and a lot of people to teach and bring to Christ.

I love going to church on Sunday because you have the chance to renew your convenants that you have made with our Heavenly Father. You get your batteries recharged for the week and that was just what I needed! I´m looking forward to this week and it might be that I am training the next tranfer. We will see!

08 August 2011

Well what a week here in Padua. It was great hearing all the birthday wishes from everyone. Thank you for your kindness. I really don´t feel any older but according to my age I am 21 now hah. It´s crazy but we got some good things planned for the week and at the end of the week some baptisms. Your age in the mission really isn´t your age in real life, it´s your age in the mission life. I´m getting old but I still have some time to work magic here in the mission. It´s the best place to be!

Well looking back at this week we had a pretty busy week. Pablo and his kids loved coming to mutual but unfortunanetly they were not able to come to church this weekend. We recieved a text message saturday night and it said they can´t come due to complications. They said next week si o si! They said they have something planned for my birthday and it includes eggs... I´m pretty worried about passing by tomorrow night.

Rodrigo is going to get baptized this weekend. We are seeing if it is the right weekend to do it because here on the 14th it is voting! So everyone is required to vote and we are looking to see if we will have a good attendance for the baptism but I am sure everything will workout. He´s a stud and I´m amazed how awesome he is. Comes to church with his brother Gonzalo who is only 13. They come in Shirt and Tie and everything. Studs. Luciano is still set for this weekend but he´s not sure. He´s that type of person who doesn´t like commitments but I have faith when the weekend comes he will show up for the baptism. On the other hand his girlfriend will have to give him the frank talk.. haha. I told her that she needs to get married in the temple and she wants to. Just one problem.. your boyfriend is so close to being a member so help him! Luciano is a stud and comes to church by himself. We just need to have him jump in the water!

Besides that everything is going well in Padua. We are seeing blessing in many forms. Old investigators without interes are telling us they have interes again. One investigator named Tamara has been coming to church and we are planning a family night with her and her family. The parents havent listened to the missionaries before but now the mom wants us to come over and she came to church for a little.

Thursday we went to Capital and Palermo to do some dentist stuff for my companion and I had to go to get my DNI renewed.. unfortunantly it closed at 3:00 and I arrived at 3:15.. So it looks like I am going back Thursday! We had a great time walking around Capital and taking the subway. We ate at Burger King too! It was great having a burger after 17 months of not having one hah. It was weird seeing all the kids in uniforms and running into a Legit Addidas store and finding a Kobe Bryant Jersey that was legit. (Go Lakers)

So yeah I am exciting for my birthday that is coming up tomorrow. We have great plans, a lot of food and a lot of people to teach and bring to Christ.

I love going to church on Sunday because you have the chance to renew your convenants that you have made with our Heavenly Father. You get your batteries recharged for the week and that was just what I needed! I´m looking forward to this week and it might be that I am training the next tranfer. We will see!

01 August 2011

Looking back on the week everything went really well. I was sick for a couple of days but that didn´t stop us from working. We had some great lessons with our investigators. Everyone is progressing and we are looking for some baptisms in two weeks! We had a Family Night with Pablo and his kids. We made tacos again because they loved it and we had a great lesson. They were so excited to come to church but on Sunday morning they had to go to their grandpas house to help him with his yard.. but they are coming next week for sure and to all the activities.

We headed to captial this last wednesday for my companion so it was cool to see captial again. We passed through Palermo. I remember Drew telling me he was in Palermo for a little bit.

Today the mission made a video. I was in it. So I´ll have to send it to you guys when it is done. It will probably be on youtube later or on the mission blog ( buenosaireswest.blogspot.com)

Thats about it. Just another week in the mission.

Love you guys