Week 54: The Roller Coaster of Mission Life

Hello Everyone!  

Still working away here in San Juan, and things are already starting to heat up.  It is really gonna hurt in a couple of months haha.  

Last Pday, we got to have ¨Super Pday,¨ in which we had 2 zones, and all the Elders played soccer together.  It was super fun, even though I can't play soccer for my life haha.  

On Tuesday, I got to give my weekly District Meeting, and we watched a video called ¨La Expiacion y La Obra Misional.¨ It is SO GOOD.  It basically hits the mission on the head.  You should all watch the video, it made every hermana in our district break out in tears.  

This week was a little bit strange because we spent very little time in the area, from Intercambios to Mendoza trips, we were only in the area for about half of the time.  

After coming home from Intercambios on Wednesday, we had a lesson with the Familia Sosa, who we found a couple of weeks ago.  We taught them Lesson 1, about the Restoration, and they asked a ton of questions, and seem deeply interested.  The member that we invited to the lesson really is a stud and he helped us a lot.  It ended up being a fantastic lesson.  

On Thursday, we got to teach Gabriela Aballay again, and she is reading the Book of Mormon, and should be baptized in less than two weeks.  She is progressing well!  It is always so amazing to be in her house and hear how much she understands about the gospel.  

Then, we taught Elias and Flavia.  We taught the Law of Chastity with a lot of courage, and we read Alma 39 with them and parts of ¨True to the Faith.¨ It was a pretty serious lesson and we were very direct.  It didnt seem to effect them very much, so that made us nervous.  They still were saying that they will not get married.  

Then, we got on the bus to Mendoza, and we spent a day there.  The buses that we take are the huge two-story buses with big, comfy seats.  They are way nice haha.  

On Saturday, we taught a lot!

We taught Gabriela, which went really well, and she told us that she was going to be in church.  

We also taught Elias and Flavia again.  But, we taught them seperately, one at a time.  It was shocking.  They have huge problems in their relationship, and one of them is lying to us.  Elias says that he stopped smoking and drinking, but she says he hasn't.  We are really confused still, but they said they'd come to church as well.  

We also taught the Familia Sosa about the Book of Mormon, which went well.  Belem (the mom)  listens to attently and it is amazing to see the interest that she has.  I am so excited to teach them.  

This week I hit a year in the mission!  It is crazy to think, and to be honest, it was hard.  I had some hard feelings that came with it that I didn't expect to come.

Then, Sunday.  We were super stoked since we were going to have 6 or 7 investigators at church.  

No one showed up.  

It was a really hard sunday, especially since during Gospel Principles, a Less active man freaked out and basically told the whole class that ¨El Flaco¨ (that´s me) is an idiot and said all the things he doesn't like about me.  Everyone knew that what he said wasn't true, but it just hurt.  It was like falling on the ground (when the investigators didn't show up)  and then getting kicked in the face.  

We went back to the pench, and Elder Crist and I read the scriptures for a few minutes together, which helped us.

Later that afternoon, the Lord blessed us with great lessons, and we now have 5 investigators with baptismal dates.  The Lord blessed us with his spirit to ease our difficult feelings.  

The Lord lives and he loves us, and this is his work.  

Elder Conover

my ¨I HIT A YEAR¨ Shirt

The burning


the blister i got from washing my socks haha


my current agenda


A cake an hermana made for my Cumpleaño


this is my ¨I have never been so tired in my life¨ face

Week 53: Blessed Abundantly

Hey Everyone!

This week had its bumps, but it was a blessing and we were able to really grow the work tremendously in our area.  We had the highest numbers that I have had in my entire mission up to this point.  

Last monday was a holiday here, so no one was working, and therefore nothing was open, so we just went to a plaza in downtown San Juan to play soccer, and a bunch of Pibes came over to hang out with us, which was pretty fun playing soccer with random Argentines.  

This week, we got to teach a woman, Gabriela, who we found last week.  She asked us for a blessing and then she told us right after that she wanted to go to church and read the Book of Moromon.  She had talked to missionaries before, but is super Evangelica, so she didn't want to follow with the church or anything.  

She actually did go to church, which was awesome!  She seemed to like it, and the reverence that we show in church, as opposed to the yelling and rock music they have in her church.  

This week, she started reading the Book of Mormon, and she told us that she likes her church, but she still feels like there is something that is missing.  

In our lesson with her, we decided to invite her to be baptized, but the lesson was SUPER bumpy.  We had her neighbor there, who is a member, and he just kinda said what ever came to his mind, and really tried to drive the lesson, which made for a bumpy ride.  Elder Crist then pulled out a scripture and invited her to be baptized.  She accepted as she receives an answer that it is true! She also accepted the baptismal date of 10th of September!  The spirit just flooded the room as Elder Crist invited her to baptism, and it was such a blessed moment.  

On Wednesday, we had a rough go of it.  We knocked some doors, and we did have a lot of people answer the door that we actually pretty nice and we didnt get that many door slams!  It was awesome!

However, the rest of the night, we had 5 appointments, and all of them fell.  That meant a really tiring tarde haha.  

However, We met one woman, Belem Sosa, and Elder Crist did the contact.  She told us that she had interest, and we went by the next day.  As we went by, they were leaving in their car, and when they saw us, they pulled the car back in to talk to us.  They are a family that has two little girls, Valentina and Isabel.  Valentina is literally the cutest little 4 year old I have ever seen.  They are so prepared.  They are Catholic, but they have a bunch of doubts, and they told us that if they feel good with our message, they would like to follow it as a family!

We had some hard moments this week as well.  Elias and Flavia seem to be falling, and they are being overcome by fears of getting married.  We tried to explain the importance again, but it just did not get in.  We are going to teach a VERY direct lesson this next week and be very straight forward with them.  Gonna pull some Alma 39 goodness.  

Also, Analia is being inundated by work.  Not even her kids see her anymore.  She works literally all the time, except for 4 hours in which she sleeps.  We basically have to drop her since we cant find her.  I know that she will be baptized one day, and it doesnt matter if I´m here or not, just as long as she is able to find it completely one day.  I feel so blessed to have been blessed to plant such a fertile seed.  

Another miracle:  We ended the week with 11 lessons with a member present and 10 new investigators!  By far my best week in the mission!

Finally, we had another lesson with Gabriela, and she told us that as she reads the Book of Mormon, she can feel that her eyes are being opened, and that she believes that the church is true.  Such a Blessing!

Funny

We were walking, and we passed a branch.  We were with our ward mission leader, and I told Elder Crist (In English) that I was gonna pull the branch so it hit Gabi.  Hahaha He didnt even see it comin.  

We found a family of three, and they accepted a baptismal date in the first lesson, so we were super stoked.  Right as we walked out, I forgot that everyone her is 3 feet shorter than me, and I clobbered my head in the cement doorway haha ouch.  

I got clothes lined by this long piece of metal over the sidewalk.  

I love you guys all so much and I hope that you have a great week!  The Lord lives and he LOVES us!

Elder Conover

San Juan Zone

Mixing Cement Selfie

I made Banana Bread again...yum

We got a LOT of food from a member

Found this in the dictionary this week.  This is a touchy

subject here...Malvinas  (The Falkland Islands)

Week 52: Satanás No Nos Puede Vencer, Pero Esta Semana Era Difícil

Hello Everyone!

This week went by fast, but it was definitely a challenging week.  We worked really really hard, and got a LOT of bad rejections, and some bad news, but we also got to feel the Lord's hand in our lives.

First off, on Pday, we played soccer with a bunch of Elders, which was fun, and then when the Hermanas came, we got to play ¨signs¨ with them, which was fun.  

Anyways, as for the week:

We knocked a LOT of doors.  We really exhausted ourselves this week working, and the Devil really worked against us, because we had one of the worst weeks of rejection that I have experienced in my mission.  And, we set a lot of appointments, but, unfortunately, the grand majority of them fell.  

We finally found Analia after 2 weeks of not seeing her, which really made me scared of what happened to her.  Unfortunately, she has hit a wall that is going to be incredibly difficult to overcome.

When we met her, she recently had been divorced.  Her ex-husband refuses to give her any money to support her or their kids, so she is now 45,000 pesos in debt, and she is about to lose her house.  Because of that, she has had to start working everyday, all day, except for Sunday in the afternoon.  So basically, she cannot go to church anymore, and her progression has hit a big, big brick wall.  All week I have been saying ¨Odio Satanás.¨ 

We are working to come up with ideas to try to get her out of work each Sunday, which she could give up if she can get an extra 500 pesos each week.  We are going to look into the welfare laws here in Argentina.  

Anyways, we had a heart attack with Elias and Flavia as well.  We got to teach them with the bishop, which went well, and then 2 days later we went to teach them again.  They told us that they had news for us that would ¨hurt us to the soul.¨ Nothing like those words to freak you out.  After the prayer, they told us that they decided that they are too young to be married, and that there is no way that they can do it.  Ouch.  Right before, Elder Crist had been studying the part of Preach My Gospel that talks about listening to the spirit.  Elder Holland talks about how we need to listen to the investigators, and then the spirit will testify of what we need to do and say.  

They went on a freak-out rant, and just flipped out basically.  Then, the spirit took over.  It was incredible, I could feel the power of it and I don't know why I pulled up the scriptures I pulled out.  It was really amazing, and calmed their nerves, and they committed to go to church as well.  Heavenly Father saved us when we couldn´t have done it ourselves.  

The next day, I felt really sad in the morning, thinking about how our three best investigators have hit big walls.  It really weighed on me for a few hours, and it was hard to push on.  I asked in my prayer to be blessed with a scripture to comfort me.  

This is what I read.  

"Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

And the Lord God doth work by means to bring abouthis great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls."

That scripture really helped me and put me into tears as I sat their doing my studies.  The Lord truly answers our prayers, and I know that even though I may not see the fruits now, the Lord will consacrate the work we are doing for the salvation of many souls.  

On Sunday, we got up to go take Elias and Flavia to church, but they didn't come out when we went to their house.  That was a big kick in the teeth.  We went to church, and we were disappointed that they didn't come.  

An hour later however, I was in the hallway, and looked over to the door, and two people walked in.  IT WAS THEM.  I yelled and ran over to them and gave Elias a big hug.  It was such a miracle to have them there.  

As I am now training, I have noticed a challenge that I didn't expect.  The memory of new-missionary feelings.  I don't know if I have ever passed through feelings so difficult as I did those first few months, and now that I have the blessing to train, I have noticed that seeing someone pass through those feelings brings some of them back.  I can only imagine how our Savior Jesus Christ feels as we pass through difficulties, because he knows Everything, and understands every one of us.  

Funny

This week I noticed my spanish has gotten better.  I was talking with a latin (who is one of my good friends) , and he said something, and I noticed that he messed up his grammar, but it was something really small.  I asked him if he actually did mess up, he thought for a minute, and then he was like ¨Ya, youre right¨ I was pretty stoked.  

We were having a rough, long, tiring day 

Me ¨When we get back, I'm gonna freeze my juice into a popsicle¨

Elder Crist ¨I'm gonna sew my pants¨

Me ¨I'm gonna bang my head against the wall¨

Elder Crist ¨I'm gonna cut my legs off¨ ( He is still getting used to walking a lot hahaha)

I Know that the Savior lives, and that He is in this work!

Love you all,

Elder Conover

We helped make a roof this week.


My comp got some good blisters...
ouch


My stud of an hilo going up a
sketchy ladder.



Weekly planning selfie.


We had to do lesson practices, so
of course we taught Emma Smith.

Week 51: I'm A Trainer

Hello All!

Another eventful week here in Krause, and with transfers, I am now a trainer!  I got a gringo!

First off, on Pday, we had a ¨Super Pday,¨ in which we played soccer with the other zone, and it was the most fun game of soccer I have played here.  (That doesn't mean I can play well though)

Then, monday night, some members wanted to say goodbye to Elder Hoagland, and to do so, they smashed eggs and flour in his hair.  I don't know why, but that is how they do it.  That didn't make him very happy (he was super angry actually), which led to a funny experience that I will explain in the ¨Funny section.¨

On Tuesday, we had ¨cambios,¨ and we said ¨chau¨ to the other missionaries, and they took off to their areas.  I basically kicked around with other missionaries for a couple of days, and then we got on a bus for a couple hours to head back to Mendoza to pick up our comps.  

Following our training with President Goates, we then left the room, and they took our ties.  Then, they gave the tie of the trainer to each corresponding trainee.  

I got a GRINGO!  His name is Gavin Crist from Gilbert, Arizona.  He is a stud.  Works hard, he can speak well for having less than a week, and he is super fun.  I couldn't be happier with my comp.

The only thing that came with training that I did not expect is remembering the feelings that I had when I came to Argentina and the weeks and months that followed.  Elder Crist is a stud, and hasnt freaked out like I did, but just putting myself in a trainee´s shoes this week made me remember all the hard times.  I am so grateful that thanks to the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can be washed and healed of all hard and difficult feelings.  ¨Domingo Llegarᨠ

This week, because we hardly were not in the area, we didn't teach very much, and we havent been able to contact Analia for over a week.  I'm nervous about that, so please keep her in your prayers.  

However, we did get to knock some doors, and we got into two houses, so we found two new investigators!  Yay for New person miracles!

Finally, we had another miracle with Elias and Flavia.  Elias quit his job, so he can go to church now!  We went to their house yesterday morning, and we went to church together!  It was such a blessing, and the ward did a spectacular job befriending them.  I love this ward, the people really are so sweet.  

Funny

After Elder Hoagland got smashed with eggs and flour, he was super duper mad.  Like just flaming with enojo.  As we left the house and walked to the bus stop, a mean dog started chasing me, trying to bite me.  I was tryiing to intimidate it, but it didn't work.  Elder Hoagie lost it, and he grabbed a giant rock and PASTED the dog, sending it whimpering into the house.  It was so funny and so unexpected.  

Since Elder Crist is new, he isn't used to all the dogs that try to kill you.  We were passing a house, and a dog lurched through the bars to try to bite us, but got caught at the shoulders.  Elder Crist jumped so far haha

I love you guys!

Elder Conover


Me and Elder Crist


Elder Escobar from Mexico.  He is like my
best friend in the fish.


Me and Hoags


Hermana Sandau and Hermana Lett


Pancake and hot chocolate breakfast


The district before!


All the Trainers


The family picture


Me and Elder Hendrickson


The Warners from Idaho...They are awesome,
and are going home in a couple of weeks.


On the bus back to San Juan


A less active woman gave us a free
pizza!


We found a meat truck.  I love
Argentina


Elias and Flavia went to church!


Just chillin in my Colonial Bombal
hat