Week 76: The Preparation

Hello Everyone!

Things went well this week, and we worked hard, and got to find quite a few
new investigators!

First off, on Tuesday, we got to do intercambios with the other Elders in
our District, and it went well!  I got to work with Elder Johnson, from
Utah, who has about a week in the mission!  It was great, and it is so
amazing to see the new missionaries work, because they really trust in the
Lord for everything, and they don´t rely on themselves at all.

On Intercambios, we got to find and teach a man named Leandro.  We taught
him about the restoration, The lesson went well, and the Spirit was there,
and at the end, he accepted a baptismal date, and we were so happy!

However, what happens, which is super hard, is that the people often are
GOLDEN, and then we never find them ever again.  Unfortunately, we havent
found him again in almost a week, which is super disappointing.

Anyways, this week we also had a World Missionary Training.  It was
awesome, and at the end, they announced that missionaries now will have 2
extra hours of Pday.  That was exciting haha!

We had another roller coaster experience similar to Leandro.

We were walking down the street, and we saw a woman standing on the side of
the road, so we stopped and talked to her.  Her name was Eli, and she
talked with us for a while, and told us about all of her problems, and that
she needs help.  So, we went with her to her house, and we were able to
teach her.

We got to talk to her about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and we got to
share a video with her.  The spirit was so strong, and brought tears to my
eyes, and the Love of the Savior was there, and Eli accepted a baptismal
date, and an appointment for the next day.

However, she wasnt there the next day, and a couple of days later she hid
from us when we knocked on her door.  She then sent someone out to tell us
to go away.  That really hurt, especially since we never got to talk to
her, and she dropped us so abrubtly.

However, I made a really powerful realization this week.

Maria is still going through a roller coaster of emotions, and each day she
can feel really good, or really really bad.  Thursday was one of those
days.  She felt really bad and had a lot of questions and expressed her
concerns about being strong enough to continue active her whole life.

That is when I reallized that many of the hardships and difficult feelings
that Maria has experienced are extreme forms of many of the exact feelings
that I have had being on a mission.  I believe strongly that the Lord gives
us trials to bless his children, and I have realized that each time Maria
is sad, what I have recently studied or read often applies directly to what
she is going through.  It is incredible how the Lord molds us and directs
us to bless his children.

Funny

Some members were telling us a bunch of Trump stuff.  As we left the
members´ house, Elder Dicou looked at me, and said, ¨Sounds like Trump hit
the ground running, guns blazing, running the 9 yards, and it is not his
first rodeo.¨  It was funny in the moment.  And, we are missionaries, so
everything is funnier.

We were knocking doors, and a man called to us from across the street, and
invited us into his house.  As we entered, the dense cloud of cigarrette
smoke hit us in the face, and he proceeded to show us his art studio.  It
was filled with pictures that looked like he was probably on drugs when he
made them.  It was super weird.  And, to make things even more
uncomfortable, he knew a few words in English, and kept saying, ¨Thees Ees
My House,¨ and ¨Take Eet Easy.¨  Missionaries are magnets to weird people.

I Love You All!

Elder Conover

This is the three legged dog that we see like 4 times a week.

Dat Comp Selfie

A toaster mailbox!

Classic Argentine Trick…Filling up bottles with water and putting them

in your garden keeps dog's from peeing on your bushes, don't ya know

The moment when a missionary forgets his tie

My comp is so cute

Week 75: Denny's

Hey Guys!

I Hope that you all had a great week, this one was way tiring, but it was a
good week!  We worked really hard, laughed hard, and just had a good time
overall.

First off, on Pday last week, we went to the area of one of my comps, Elder
Sorenson, and we got together with 8 missionaries, and a HUGE bolivian
family, with like 20 people to play soccer in a big dirt field.  It was so
much fun. I dont know if Ive had that much fun playing soccer ever.  And, I
learned how to get around people, so I wasnt just embarrassing myself the
whole time, trying to beat latins and losing.  I actually scored a few
goals!

Anyways, I got a new comp this week, and his name is Elder Jacob Dicou,
from American Fork, Utah.  He is awesome.  Super Funny, Loves to work.  We
get along really well.  I couldnt ask for more!

This week, we put the shoulder to the wheel and just WORKED.  We got to
talk to 102 people, apart from lessons and what not.  That was more than
either of us have ever done in our missions, and we both like doing it, so
it makes it super easy, and it gave us a few new investigators, and a few
of them seem really awesome!

On Friday, we went by Iris´ house (The Less Active We are teaching).  Her
son has a lot of problems with drugs and robbing and what not, and she is
super sad about it, as any mother would be.  He really is messed up.  But,
she has two little twin girls that are tiny.  They are so cute.  So, we had
a very direct ¨Charla Franca,¨ explaining the blessing of taking her girls
to church each week, and what will happen if she doesnt.  The Spirit was
super strong in the lesson, and we were super direct and strong with her.
And, at the end, she committed to come to church with us, and it was such a
great experience.

However, two days later, when we woke up to go to her house sunday morning,
we had a message from her, basically saying that she is never going to come
to church ever again.  It was crusning.  It just made me feel so bad for a
while, and I felt just so discouraged.  So, Elder Dicou and I sang hymns
for a while, and it was such a great experience and brought the spirit in
abundance.

Finally, we got to have a lesson with Maira again, and it went well.  She
is sadly still going through some hard moments, and it is like a roller
coaster always.  She just has such wonderful experiences, as well as really
hard experiences.  We were sitting down, and talking about the blessings
that Maria will receive the rest of her life from the gospel, and I told
her how much I am waiting for the day in which I get a letter, which a
picture of Maria outside the temple, sealed for time and all eternity.  As
we all thought about that moment, tears came to each of our eyes, and the
Spirit filled the room.  I am so grateful to be able to have been a part of
her conversion experience.

Funny

Elder Dicou and I were walking through the street, chatting, and we were
telling each other the stories of our last days at home.  Elder Dicou was
explaining what he did the morning right before he walked into the MTC.  He
explained that his last meal (which is a big deal for us) was Denny´s.  I
stopped in the street, looked at him, and just said, ¨Elder, your last meal
was Denny´s? You need to repent of that¨ haha.  Then, a couple of days
later, he was talking about the movie Pirates of the Carribean, and I
explained that I havent seen it, and Elder Dicou responded, ¨Well, I think
that cancels out with me eating at Denny´s¨ haha.

The little kids that live outside our pension always yell ¨Hola Mormones!¨
whenever we leave the pension in the morning.  They are like 3 or 4 years
old.

I love you all so much!

Elder Conover

We found a REALLY big dog

Me and Elder Skonnard

We were walking and talking about how lame

France is, and we looked up and saw this street sign! haha

Argentines do this thing where they fill two liter bottles

with water to keep dogs from peeing on their grass.

Week 74: Sick Week!

Hey Guys!

This week was challenging in the sense of sickness haha.  I got slammed
with Heat Exhaustion, because I got way dehydrated, so I got a fever,
chills, headache, dizziness, the whole shabang.  It was way fun.

Anyways, we worked hard other than that, and we got to knock a TON of
doors.  It was insane.  A lot of rejection, but it did give us some success
a few days later.

We got to teach Silvia again this week, and we are trying to get her to
prepare to get married, and she said that if she has to, she with seperate
from her man, since things already aren't good with them, so she accepted a
baptismal date, and committed to do all of the preparations to get baptized
in February, if that means getting married, or by some other means.

This week we also got to find a new investigator named Mari, whose door we
knocked this week.  She came out, and told us about how her 8 month
grandson has a tragic accident, and now has been left completely disabled.
It was so sad to here.  We had the opportunity to share some verses from
Moroni 8 with her, showing her the love that Christ has for children, and
that they are alive in him.  It was such a blessing to be able to testify
of such a beautiful doctrine, coupled with the doctrine of the restoration
of our physical bodies in the resurrection.  Being a witness of God is
truly a blessing.

Then, that same day, we got into a house of two old people that obviously
had no interest.  They were one of those people that say ¨Every Church is
correct because their is only one God.¨ Doesn´t really make sense, but is a
super common belief here.  So, I pulled out the Restoration Pamphlet, and
just testified of the truth of the gospel.  I could feel the spirit confirm
my words with power.  Even though the people seemed to not even notice, I'm
so grateful whenever I have the chance to testify and feel the truth of the
restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

I Love You All So Much!

Elder Conover

Elder Conover sick

The District

When Elder Plumb left.

Me cutting hair

It is peach season here

Week 73: Taking a Hit For the Convert

Hey Everyone!

Hope that you all have had an awesome week!  This one was nuts!

First off, for Pday, we got to do an Asado, and I got to do it.  You
basically can call me Argentine.  It was so good.  We bought about 5 1/2
pounds of meat, and it was amazing.

This week we also got to intercambios, and I got to work with Elder
Skonnard from Utah, and I absolutely loved it.  He is such a good guy, and
works so hard.  It was a great intercambio.

Also, this week, we got to have interviews with President, and they were
amazing.  I just love interviews, because he always knows exactly what to
say.  It was perfect.  Lately I have felt bad since I feel like I'm
struggling a lot to feel the Spirit, which doesn't make sense, since we are
working super hard.  But, he explained that sometimes, as Lehi and his
family did, we have to ¨walk through the desert for 8 years,¨ and continue
forward.  It was a big comfort, and I know that the Lord loves me!

This week, we also visited the family that had attacked Maria a few weeks
ago.  We sat down with the Hermano to share a scripture with them, and just
ask how we could help them, so we could show Christ-like love, even though
they attacked her ruthlessly.

Well, it went terribly, the father just talked about how lazy everyone in
the branch is and how he worked so hard in the church and criticized us.
It was way fun.

Then, on Sunday, we had church.  It was a battle.

When we got to the church, we saw President and Hermana Goates there.
Always a big surprise when that happens.  Then, Maria showed up.  After
Sacrament meeting, I was trying to keep myself between her and the member that always attacks her.  Well, when we weren't looking, the Hermana went after Maria, and pulled her aside.  It felt like I had a huge rock drop in my stomach.  I then ran over, and tried to make something up like ¨Hey Hermana we are gonna work in your area this week and we need your help,¨
just so she´d stop talking to Maria.But, the Hermana just looked at me, said mean things, and then kept drilling Maria, and just ignored me, and all the while, Maria is on the
verge of tears.  So, what do I do?  I throw myself in between the member
and Maria.  Face to Stomach with the Hermana ( She is really short).  That
set her off.  She yelled at me, and then threatened to talk to President,and then went to the members to tell them I'm a terrible missionary, and when she saw us, she yelled that we can never go to her house again.  Fun Stuff.  Well, we then called Hermana Goates over, and she comforted Maria and helped her, so that was a miracle that she was there..

After another lesson with Maria, she feels good and strong.  She is
preparing to travel to the temple in February.  Even though there are
wolves within the flock sometimes, it is amazing how much the Lord can and
does comfort his sheep.

Funny

An old man in a old person´s home called us over.  He asked us if we were
police, and I responded ¨YA! We are actually spies (many people think that
we are)¨ and he responded, ¨Oh good, You guys need to get me out of this
place.¨ I then explained that we were missionaries haha.

A huge dog came after us in an ally way, so we went around the corner, and
I bent down for a rock.  As soon as the dog came around the corner, and
just saw me bending down, IT TOOK OFF.  It was so funny.

I love you all!

Elder Conover

President Goates…"Should I Take It With My 

Cool Cat Shades On?"

Got to hang out with my two favorite comps this week

Elder Skonnard

The MEAT!!!

We all got burned doing the Asado, so when we put on our

ties, it really really hurt, so we were hanging out in the

hot pension like this.

Hermana Goates took a Selfie with Maria!

Got a staff infection this week.

Week 72: New Year's Resolution: Baptism!

Hey Everyone!

Hope you all had an awesome New Years, and that everyone is safe.  This
week was another crazy one, and the best part was that Maria got baptized!

First off, this week, we basically did only baptismal stuff at the expense
of other proselyting activites, but it all payed off at the end of the week.

So, on Thursday, the day we had set for Maria´s baptismal interview, Elder
Plumb and I sat down to do weekly planning.  In the middle of it, we got a
call from Maria, asking if we could stop by her house that day, and she
seemed really sad.  I asked if she was okay, and she said ¨No,¨ which is
not exactly what you wanna hear from someone who is about to get baptized.

We dropped everything and ran over to her house, all the way praying for
help to comfort her, and I felt calm after offering the prayer, and I knew
that it would be Okay.

As we sat down, she explained that she feels bad about how she still feels
like she hasn't forgiven the member family that attacked her, and that she
wants to be able to forgive.  And, she asked us why it seemed like she had
a lot of problems, and she was doing the right things, and the other family
isnt, and doesn't have many problems.

We pulled out Mosiah 17, and talked about how Alma was doing the right
things, but had to flee the presence of the wicked king Noah, or he would
be killed, and it seemed like nothing bad was happening to the Wicked King
Noah, even though he was incredibly evil.  But, Alma, in the end, becomes a
prophet and finds joy, while Noah dies by fire.  The lesson went really
well, and Maria felt so much better.

Before the baptism, I sat down and called every member I could find, to
invite them to the baptism, and they almost all said yes, so we were super
excited about the support that Maria was gonna have.

Then, came the day of the baptism.  We had six missionaries there, and we
were waiting for all the members to come.  Six members came, and one was
from another branch.  It was SO disappointing.  We had probably 40 people
commit.  As the baptismal service started, inside I felt so disappointed.
I felt like it couldn't be as special for Maria, since no one showed up.

Then, we got to do the baptism.  Maria and I got into the water, and I got
to baptize her.  As she came out of the water, she stopped, and closed her
eyes, not moving at all, for about 20-30 seconds.  It was such a peaceful
moment.  As we got out of the water, I asked her how she felt, and she
responded, ¨Exactly the way I hoped that I would feel.¨  In that moment,
all of the disappointment seemed to melt from my body, and it was such an
amazing moment.

Funny

After the baptism, as I went to go change, I realized that I had forgotten
another shirt, and I was all wet.  #missionaryfail

Elder Plumb´s zipper broke on his pants, so he now has to walk around with
5 or so saftey pins to hold his pants closed.  It is so funny to see haha

I am so grateful for the example of Maria and for her courage to stand
against the adversary.  The Lord lives, and he Loves us!

Love You All,

Elder Conover

After Baptism!

Before Baptism

My New Year's Eve

Silvia made us Empanadas!

      A daughter of some members visited from the United

States this week, and she brought us candy!

Watch Tan Update

The Package!!!

I Don't Know What My Comp Was Doing

Woo!

 With All The Missionaries

The sign that I made

Zone bonding activity

The Zone

We are so funny