Week 23: Ventana a la Cabeza

Hey Y´all!

So this week was good, with good and building experiences, but also a lot of ¨patience building days¨ haha.

So first off, this week we got to listen to a world wide Missionary Training for every missionary in the world.  It was about teaching repentence and baptizing converts, it really was a good answer to prayer, because I had been wondering about how we can really help people become converted to the gospel.

So, this week we had a sad experience with Jorge, the man who wanted to get baptized and had all the pain in his body.  We wanted to watch the Video of the Restoration of the gospel with him to invite the spirit to help them realize that they need to get married. 

We brought his mom with us to help with the lesson (who is a member)  and before we could say anything, she started arguing with him about the marriage, and just BASHED him.  No spirit at all, and the woman and Jorge got defensive, and told us they won't get married and that he won't get baptized because of that, and that's it.  Pretty sad, but we are hoping that he can ponder the gospel for some time and eventually change.  

Also, yesterday at church, we waited for the investigators to come, and waited, and waited, and nobody came, which was pretty disappointing, but the Lord blessed us and didn't let us get down about that, and we just kept on working!  

So, this week we got to teach Barbosa a few times.  One day, he was really sad, and we asked him why.  He told us that he went to the bank to get money, and they gave him 1000 pesos (about 950 dollars) of counterfeit bills, and he said they won't do anything about it.  Super sad, but the man just keeps fighting in the face of all affliction!  He is such a great example!

 We also got to teach Barbosa the Law of Chastity, which is the other most commonly-broken commandment here in Argentina.  We taught him, and he told us that before his wife died, she told him to find another woman and marry her so he wouldnt be alone.  

He told us that he has known one woman for 8 years, who wants him to move in with her, and he asked our advice.  He then explained that he has known her for 8 years and has never had any kind of innappropriate relationship with her, because he wants to wait until marriage.  Literally just golden.  I love that man and I love that the Lord has let us be a part of his life.  

Funny:

So the other day our lesson went long, and we were super far from the pension.  We were going to be late, so we got a taxt.  It was literally so terrifying, and the dude just BLEW through intersections without really slowing down....AT NIGHT.  I was terrified, and i dont want to do that again haha.

Yesterday in church they were talking about the Visions that Nephi had of the Americas in the Book of Mormon, and of the United States in the visions.  They talked about how it was because we were the only country with religious freedom, and that we are really powerful.  In response to this, i decided to sing ¨Oh im proud to be an American, where at least I know im free¨ (super softly, just to my companion)  and Elder Riberio just said ¨Callese!¨ hahahahaha

We played indoor soccer last week on the tile, the zone leader ATE it straight on his hip

The other night we were trying to go to sleep, and suddenly heard BANG!  it scared me quite a bit, and i looked over, and the giant window was on top of Elder Ribeiro. hahaha....he knocked it off the hinges, and it hit him straight in the head.  Luckily he was ok and we spent the next few minutes trying to fix it haha.

Love ya guys!

Elder Conover

The Soriano family....they are awesome...this man works more than any person in the world.

​I spend much time here.

​The beautiful view from part of my area.

¨Mi Testimonio de JESUCRISTO¨ 

​I have gotten lazy with my meals, so i eat a lot of pasta and juice.

Me peacefully sitting next to a beautifully dirty acequia.

Week 22: Emily STOP IT!

Hey Everyone!

So it was a good week!  Good experiences, spiritually, and in a funny way too!

So first off....we had an interesting experience on Tuesday.  We found a man on Christmas, who seemed really nice, and he told us we could go to his house.  We finally caught him at home this week, and it was.....different.

So, we knocked the door, and he answered it, and he invited us in pretty fast.  I was super stoked to get into a house, cause most people just tell us they are incredibly busy.  We walked in, and he grabbed his Bible.....the thing was HUGE.  He then started yelling and Bible Bashing us, so we asked if we could start with a prayer.  He agreed, so he told us to stand up, and grabbed our hands, and gave a prayer like that, and then continued to Bible Bash us for a while.  That really stunk, and we just bailed when we got the chance.

This week, we also got to teach Barbosa the Word of Wisdom.  The word of wisdom is by far the commandment that causes the most spiritual hiccups here, so I was praying and hoping that it´d go well.  

We started teaching him, and he told us that he drank a little bit of wine with lunch, and he drinks tea.  We explained that keeping the commandments means letting go of things that may be harmful to us, physically and spiritually,  and he thought about that.

Then, all he said was, ¨Oh, I didn't know that stuff was bad for me, I'll throw it all away now¨ and he did!  Then, at the next visit, Barbosa, with a grin that streched from ear to ear, told us he wanted to show us something.  He led us into the kitchen, and he showed us the box of herbal tea he bought to comply with the Word of Wisdom!  Such a flipping stud.  So humble and willing to learn.  He doesn't let pride, lack of faith, physical pain, NOTHING stop him.  I think we can all learn something from Barbosa.

Finally, Ines came to church this week, who I just love, and she got to stay all three hours, her first time in Relief Society.  When they finished, she came up to me, with a huge smile, and said ¨Yo leí algo!¨ or, ¨I read something!¨  The gospel really brings so much joy, and its always amazing to be able to see that!

Funny:

We were walking down the street when we saw a group of people crowded around the Acequia (the giant canal-like gutters)  They pulled a dude out, who had fallen in, and was clearly drunk out of his mind.  Then, all the people scattered, and another man, who is often drunk, and stops us on the street like 3 times a week and likes to yell ¨Halleluiah!¨ at us came in on a bike, beer bottle in hand, to save his fellow drunkard....it was quite the show

We found a little bird in the pension the other day, and now the owner of the pension has a new pet bird in her house

The other night, we didnt have power, and their was a lot of thunder and rain and the dogs were barking and it was really hot, so I had a hard time sleeping.  At one point, Elder Ribeiro started snoring.  I really wanted him to stop, but I didn't want to wake him up and tell him to stop snoring.  Something about me....sometimes I yell Emily (my sister) STOP IT!  in my sleep, I've always done it, I don't know why though.  So, I pretended to be asleep, and just yelled, EMILY STOP IT!  And yes, Elder Ribeiro stopped snoring, and didn't know I did it on purpose hahaha....

Love Ya Guys!

Elder Conover

I just love these kids!!

The bird we found in the pension

My watch. I put amor on the watch because you look at your watch a lot on the mission and it's a nice reminder that it's not about us.....it's something that I'm still trying to work on....forgetting myself completely....it's hard.

Yes, mac and cheese and tapatio from the states!

This is only funny if you speak Spanish.

If you ever wondered what Elmo would look like on Drugs....now you can see!  Thanks to an Argentine Graffitiast

Week 21: Seguir Luchando

Hey Everyone!

So it was a good week, and the  work is continuing to progress.

We got a call from a member on Monday night, asking us to come visit her brother the next day.  We met her brother about a month ago, and he has tons of pain, and often can't leave his bed and just cries because of the pain. (he is about 50).  

He never has wanted anything to do with the gospel, but becuase of the circumstances, he has been humbled so much.  We went to his house the next day, and he accepted a baptismal date right there.  It was a really good lesson, and the spirit was really strong.  

I was also given the opportunity to give him a blessing, and it was amazing.  The Spirit was such a guide, and my tongue really was loosed in the language, and it wasnt hard to say the prayer.  It was amazing!

Another experience that we had this week was that we got to teach some investigators who have stopped progressing.  The husband had been coming to church, but are really anti-baptism.  The woman wont get baptized because she is catholic (hasnt gone to church in like 10 years) and the husband wont because he knows that we dont drink.  In his words, ¨its the same as a little bit of juice, its all chemistry.¨  

Anyways, we had a lesson with them, and we were very straight forward, and just told it how it is.  It was literally like a war.  The Spirit guided, but it ended up turning into a huge battle, but it was powerful.  We turned to the sister (who is a member)  and invited her to share something.  She just dropped a bomb and chastised her brother for his lack of faith.  It was a crazy lesson, and they didn't progress, but we are praying that some time they may come to the realization that the blessings of the gospel outweight the requirements of the commandments.

Finally, the best part......BARBOSA.

Barbosa is literally my favorite person in the whole world.  He continually blesses us so much....however, something really bad happened this week.  

Because it has been raining, and Barbosa´s house is almost 80 years old, he started having leaks in the roof.  Before, it wasnt a big deal, and as water and dirt got in, he just cleaned it up.  However, this week a part of the roof collapsed, and dumped water and debris into his house.  

We went to his house, and were just shocked.  He had cleaned up most of it, but his roof is still destroyed.  On Sunday, we talked with the Elder´s Quorum, and everyone wants to go help him, so we will hopefully be able to go over there to fix his house soon.  

When we found out all of this happened, we sat with Barbosa to try to help and encourage him.  He stopped us while we were talking, and he just said ¨the roof is nothing......its a joke......it really doesnt matter.....you boys have given me something much more important.  You have given me the desire to live, have given me faith, and that is so much more important.¨    I honestly marvel at his strength, love, and faith.  I have come to adopt Barbosa´s saying....¨Seguir Luchando,¨ or, ¨Keep Fighting.¨ 

When faced with terrible trials and afflictions, I think we can all learn something from Barbosa, and ¨Seguir Luchando.¨ The Lord ALWAYS supports us!

Funny Stuff:

So I can usually understand everything people say, but of course, there are some exceptions....like this week.  We were talking with a less active member, and she was telling us that she has a lot of pain.  She then said ¨maybe its my time to depart.¨ Like die.  I didnt understand, and I thought she said ¨maybe its time for you two to leave.¨ So i responded with, ¨Yes!¨ Needless to say, she was fairly shocked, and I was quite embarrassed, and had some explaining to do....luckily she knows im just a dumb gringo haha

We found a new investigator this week, with a HUGE rotweiler.  It jumped up on me, and is about 5 feet tall standing up.  Wow.  Then, the guy showed us his guns (highly illegal here).  It was an interesting lesson.  

CRAZY DUDE STORY----so we were walking down the street, and saw a crazy man, who only had one leg, and was hopping around.  I dont know why, but missionaries are crazy people magnets.  He started calling to us, but we kinda just smiled, waved, and kept walking.  He really wanted to talk to us, so he chased us (yes, with one leg)  and then grabbed my tie, and started pulling on it.  I was really confused, with his face in my face, and asked us to bless him.  Elder Ribeiro put his hand on his head, and just said ¨amen.¨ Then, the guy put his hand on Elder Ribeiro´s head, and mumbled, made a weird noise, and a pop as he lifted his hand off of Elder Ribeiro´s head.  It was quite strange.  

But ya, Great Week, and Great Blessings!

Love You Guys!

Elder Conover

I got a package!!!!

Yes, I got really spoiled!

I made a peach pie!

Whipped some cream too...it wasn't as good as mom's but it 

was still pretty good!

My other Toby...he was smiling for the camera.  Haha!

I killed a fly with my bare hands!

Week 20: Barbosa and Baptism!

Hey Everyone!

Its been an awesome/crazy couple of weeks haha, can't wait to talk about it.

So first, we had Christmas Eve, which was definitely different than we do in the States at home.  Since it's kinda dangerous on the streets at night because of all the fireworks and explosions, we spent the night in the pension, and made ¨Coke-Floats¨ since they don’t have root beet here haha.  

Christmas was good, and skype was really awesome, and it was a great refresher.  We  got a phone call from Hermana Milani in the ward that ¨Papa Noel¨ came to their house and left something for us there.  When we got there she had made us a BUNCH of food, and a huge cake, just for the two of us!  It was such a blessing, and yes, I think that woman will soon be translated hahaha. 

This week, we got to also clean the baptismal font.  Since the drain doesn’t work, we got to do it all by hand, using buckets and dumping the water in the toilets haha.  It took forever, but it was actually really fun, and we get to do it again today, with twice as much water hahaha. 

This week, we witnessed another miracle with my favorite person on this planet, Barbosa.  Last Sunday, we had 5 investigators at Church, including Barbosa, and a member had driven him to church.  We were so grateful for all of the investigators at church, and it really was a miracle.  However, after sacrament meeting, Barbosa started shaking because he was in pain, and it absolutely terrified me, and I've had a hard time getting it out of my mind.  It was one of the saddest things that I have ever seen.  

Fast forward a few days, and we are sitting in Barbosa´s house, and he tells us that no matter what, he is going to walk to church.  Barbosa lives far from the church, and he can barely walk 100 ft without stopping to rest.   We explained that the members of the church would be more than happy to take him, but he stopped us, and said that through God´s strength, he could do it.  We gave him a blessing on Saturday, and on Sunday, HE WALKED ALL THE WAY WITHOUT RESTING!  It truly was a miracle, and when he left, I just stood and watched him walk away, slowly, but oh so faithfully.  It was absolutely amazing.  

Finally, on Saturday we had a baptism!  It was for Juan Vera, who is 9, and we are working to reactivate their family.  The entire family came, and the Dad got to do the ordinance.  A ton of people came, and they were so well supported.  Also, the grandmother came (who isn’t a member) and told us she felt something deep inside her chest when he was baptized, and we are planning on referring her to the missionaries in her area!  The next day, the entire family came (something that simply does not happen) and they stayed for all three hours, participated, volunteered for things, etc.  It was such a miracle, and when we conferred the Holy Ghost to Juan, the Spirit was so incredibly strong, it was amazing.  It truly has been a week of miracles.  

Funny:

So since it´s summer here, it´s SUPER hot.  Like at night, about 95 degrees in the pension.  On the 26^th, we came back from a day of work, and the power went out, so we had no light, and we couldn’t use our fans haha.  We also have a mosquito problem in the pension, so the fans usually help with that, so the night of the 26^th was fairly interesting.  

We were teaching a couple about prophets and apostles, and the man stopped us to explain what prophets and apostles are to his wife.  He explained that prophets and apostles are against each other since they both want power, and that´s why ¨Moses´ snake ate Abraham´s Snake….¨  haha we had to explain a little.

We were walking down the street, and we heard yelling.  We looked over and there was an older man screaming at two dogs who were barking at him, and looked like they might attack.  The old guy took his briefcase while he was screaming and tried to hit the two huge dogs…..it was quite the scene, and Elder Ribeiro turned to me and just said ¨Ah pobrecito Anciano¨ (Poor little elderly man!)  haha

We were sitting in Sacrament meeting, and it was during the sacrament, DEAD SILENT.  I was sitting next to Barbosa, and he all of a sudden said, REALLY LOUD, ¨ME LEVANTÉ A LAS SEIS Y MEDIA¨ or, ¨I WOKE UP AT 6:30¨ Everyone turned and looked straight at me, but hey, what can ya do hahaha

Love you guys and hope you have an awesome week!

Elder Conover

Christmas Morning with the district.

The amazing food that Hermana Milani made for us on Christmas Day!

Juan's Baptism.  The Vera Family

We got to help a member build part of his house this week.

Mixing the cement

Maria and Antoinette.  We live in the backyard of the woman in the middle, and these are the dogs that bark at us EVERY DAY!

The Chafala Family

I took these pictures for the Abigail and Julia.  One of our investigators has a Ton of these tiny Kittens, like smaller than your hand.  We were at a house that had 8 of these puppies too.