Just Doing My Thing

Hola Familia,                                                                                             

This week was another solid one in Villa Mercedes. The weather has started to cool down, which has made walking the streets a lot more enjoyable. On Wednesday morning, it rained like crazy and for some reason, sewers don't exist in Argentina so all of the rain water was just running down the streets.  It looked like we had a small river in front of our pench.

            We started the week in San Luis because we had a Super P-Day with all of our Zone and all of the Chileans in the Zone made us some Chilean food.  It was way fun! Later that night we did some intercambios (exchanges) and we ended up talking with a drunk guy who told us how bad the United States is right now because of Donald Trump. (We actually have conversations like this constantly because apparently, the Argentines hate Donald Trump.) On Tuesday morning, we had our Zone Meeting and our focus was on helping our investigators attend church with us.  We also shared strategies for finding new people, which is something we can always work on.  In the last three weeks, we've traveled to San Luis for different meetings where we've learned how to become better missionaries and more effective teachers. It has been really nice to put these things into play during the weeks.

            This week we did a lot of work with the menos activos in the ward with the goal of helping them come to church with us on Sunday. We had a really cool experience with one of them. We met Hermana Monsilla in San Luis last week when she called us over to chat for a while. While talking with her we learned that her son died only 2 months ago and she was feeling really lost. We were able to get back in touch with her this week to address her needs and help her. We were also able to talk with Hermana Monsilla's 15-year old granddaughter (her father was the man who just died). We were able to help this family because Hermana Monsilla asked us about the possibility of providing a blessing on her son's gravesite. So, on Saturday we were able to go with the family and a member of the ward's bishopric to offer a blessing on the gravesite. Hermano Gallardo, of the bishopric, offered a very special blessing and there was a very strong presence of the Spirit.  It was truly an amazing experience. Of course, it was sad to be in that situation but it was gratifying to be able to promise Hermana Monsilla that death is not the end and she truly can spend eternity with her son. Next stop for her, the temple!

            This week were also able to catch up with the boyfriend of one of the young women in our ward.  He has come to church for the last two weeks.  Victor is 23-years old and he is such a stud. (Yes. He's dating a girl who is 16-years old so that's awkward.  It's basically like Matthew and Emily being together. LOL!) He lives far away so we have to teach him at his girlfriend's house, but that is great situation because the more people we have in a lesson, the better. We had an effective lesson with him this week and it truly helped to have his girlfriend's entire family there with us.

Presenting 6 Months Ties

            We also had another great lesson with Daniel and his wife, Sandra.  We taught them about the Plan of Salvation, which is a Gospel Principle that is unique to our church and its precepts are attractive to everyone. During the lesson, they had so many questions, but most of them were about our previous lesson so that means they are really taking our lessons to heart and thinking about them during the week. Daniel is really testing our knowledge of the Bible, which has required me to read the Bible and strengthen my knowledge of it so I can answer his questions.  Daniel and Sandra have been listening to different viewpoints about religion and they've been a challenge to teach because they have so many questions and comparisons.  Even so, every Sunday they find themselves in our chapel!

Burning 6 Months Ties

            We had a very busy week and it's been such a blessing to have a full schedule. We have seen great progress with our boys, Pedro Sanchez and Fede Vege, because they are really getting involved with the youth in the ward.  Their friendships make our job as missionaries so much easier! Our goal this week is to set baptism dates with these boys.

            On Sunday, I was just doing my thing, you know... leading the hymns, and immediately after the Sacrament was passed I was asked to give a talk.  Yes! In less than 10 minutes! Oh, Man! To be honest, I was hecka nervous. Luckily, I was given a few minutes to find some scriptures and put my thoughts together. Before I knew it, I was at the pulpit talking to eighty-plus people. Thanks to the Gift of Tongues, I was able to deliver my message. However, I can't remember much of what I said.  In all, it was a good experience for me and it turned out just fine.

            The work is really moving and progressing and the best part is being able to see our investigators in Sacrament Meeting with us.  I'm looking forward to this week because we are going to set some baptism dates! Yay!  

            It will be a great week! 

            Elder Roderick 

           

Reasons to Celebrate

Familia,                                                                                                         

This week we saw another month pass and this one was a big one for me because I completed six months in the mission!  I’m ¼ of the way there! LOL! I celebrated with a half kilo of ice cream because while on a mission, you’ve got to find every excuse to celebrate. On Saturday, my companion celebrated his 22^nd birthday by fasting so we still have more celebrating to do.

            At the beginning of the week we went to San Luis for our Zone Conference and to have interviews with President Goates. During the Zone Conference meetings, we focused a lot of our attention on exciting the youth to engage in missionary work so we can teach their friends.  We know that the ideal age for an investigator to join the church is between fifteen and twenty- five years old because if they join the church during this time they can still serve a mission. This is what happened with Elder Martinez, so we know it’s possible and it’s really cool to think about. We are actually teaching a lot of youth right now so it was helpful to get advice and guidance from President Goates about how to work with them. We also talked a lot about becoming more Christlike.  I have learned that as I missionary who I am as a person and how I conduct myself is as important as what I am doing.  Becoming more Christlike is a constant goal and process but it is a goal that is important to work on, especially as a disciple of Christ.

            Also in Zone Conference, we learned about our new missionary schedule and my naptime went away. L But, we get two extra hours on PDay and received an increase in our monthly allowance so we can purchase more fruits and vegetables to keep ourselves healthy. So, that was a big win for the missionaries.  We are also starting to have an interview with President Goates at every transfer.  This is such a blessing because I can receive personal council and talk with him about anything that is bothering me or things I need help with.

In via Mercedes we are witnessing a miracle play out because the week before I came a couple just showed up to church. Daniel and Sandra have been together for 31 years and they are basically just looking for the truth and trying to find a place where they feel comfortable. We were able to teach them this week and we had an awesome lesson. They had so many questions about everything that makes our church different such as how we pay tithing and baptize. Daniel told us that he's 52 years old and has never been really religious in his life but he wants to know the truth before he dies. When we were telling them the Joseph Smith story and explained to them that Joseph was searching for the truth, Daniel said, “That's me!” We left them with Moroni’s promise and they told us they feel the most comfortable in our church because of the ward for a family that has welcomed them in with open arms. I'm really praying hard for them because it's not very common that people are searching this hard for the truth.

During the week we also challenged a less active family to bring someone to church on Sunday and they came through! Federico Vega is a 16-year-old kid and he is such a stud! He’s going through some family problems right now so we can't teach him at his house but we are teaching him in the house of the less active family. This is actually so much better because we are killing two birds with one stone by helping the family stay strong in the gospel, while teaching their friend. We had such a cool lesson on Sunday night with all of them. The Spirit was so strong and it was one of those lessons that makes me want to just jump for joy. Federico has been Evangelical his whole life and has always gone with his mom to church but he hasn’t felt truly comfortable there. This is a golden situation for us and it helps that the youth in the ward have already made Federico feel comfortable at church an in their activities.

This week we were also able to get in touch with a less active lady who recently got remarried to nonmember. We are trying to get the whole family back involved with the Church by inviting the kids to play soccer with us and finding other ways to engage the whole family. They have other family members in the world who are less actives as well, so it’s a big group effort to get everyone involved!

We are still teaching a bunch of families but since it's summer, it's tough to have everyone together at the same time when we are teaching. But, we are seeing small miracles every day as we are helping them come unto Christ. I think that what I love most about the Church is the family aspect and how much we concentration on families. I'm thousands of miles away, learning a new language and I spending all my time with people I don't know but I love the way I feel every Sunday with my ward family. It still takes so many Ls every week while leading the music but I truly do feel at home and especially with our investigators the come to church. I hope they feel the same thing I do.

On Saturday night we decided to call as many people as we could to invite them to church. I called one of the young women to invite her boyfriendand while we were talking, she said he was with her, so I invited him personally. As I was leading the first hymn, I saw them walk in together and it was the coolest site. I had the biggest smile and totally messed up the opening hymn because I was so distracted. Victor is actually such a stud and we are praying that he has a family who we can teach as well. 

It was a great week and we went so hard. The weather is finally starting to cool down a bit and that is a small miracle. I’m really loving the ward and especially the investigators who we are working with. I constantly see the Lord’s hand helping us along the way and it is such a blessing!

Please pray for the family of Elder Martinez because they are living in one of the cities in Chile that has been damaged because of the fires.

 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11: 28 & 30

Have a good week!

Elder Roderick

Tired Missionary = Happy Missionary

Hola!                                                                                                                          

I had another busy and exhausting week down here in Villa Mercedes. A local member told us that it was just above 100° this week and it made me miss the breeze I had while riding my bike in Salto. LOL! First, P-days are a lot different here in Villa Mercedes because there are only two other missionaries in the city. So, we get all the youth who are members and all of our youth investigators and ball out on the soccer field behind the chapel. When I am the only gringo on the court I get exposed! You wouldn't believe the feet on the 14-year-old kids!  Today we went to a little lake and had a lot of fun. So, P-days are actually very sick because we get the youth involved with our investigators and everything goes well.

Elder Roderick with Pedro Sanchez

The first thing that we did this week was some service for a less active family. We scraped off a bunch of rust from their window shutters and then repainted them. I'm not gonna lie, when we finished they looked so fresh! One night this week we had a Family Home Evening with one of our members which included their less active daughter and their son’s family. Her son is without work right now and and he has three boys, ages 16, 14 and 11-years old, so they are really looking for something good in their life. Their situation is actually provides an opportunity for us because we can teach them to look up to our loving Heavenly Father for help in a time like this. The boys always play soccer with us on our P-days and they have already turned into some of my best homies.

On Wednesday, we headed to San Luis for the worldwide missionary devotional and it was my first time being in the city. It's huge! I got to meet the rest of the zone and it's always fun to be around the other missionaries. The devotional was way cool. During the whole thing I was thinking that I had friends all over the world who were watching the same thing that I was.  That was the coolest, most reassuring feeling. The devotional helped answer a ton of questions that all missionaries have and there is no better advice than that of apostles, right? We also learned about some changes in our daily schedule, which include extending our P-Days by a few hours. So, that was exciting. 

P-Day lunch in the park

We have also been teaching a young kid named Uriel and he has become one of my best friends. He is one of the few kids who plays basketball here in Argentina, so I love balling out with him! Uriel’s mom is the lady who cuts our hair and we have been getting their whole family involved in our lessons. It’s been a little crazy trying to teach the whole family because there are always new people in the lessons! They don’t have the most religious background but slowly, we are gaining their trust. They are getting really interested in our message because they haven’t had a resource for all of their questions. So lately, we’ve been answering a lot of their questions.

We are also teaching the Familia Cejas who is a family of 4 with two little boys. The 3-year-old had an accident with one of the killer dogs that almost took off my hand last week.  He’s had multiple surgeries all over his body and he has a big scar on the side of his head. Due to this tragedy, the Familia Cejas has spent hours in the hospital and they have seen miracles. We have taught them twice they have soooo many questions about everything. This actually such a good thing because this shows they are interested in our message. This family has a pretty special spirit with them because they have seen the hand of the Lord in their lives and they are looking for something more.                                           

There is a family in our ward who got baptized a year ago and they were just sealed in the temple a few weeks ago! They have grown children who are out of the house now and we have started to teach them. Their daughter, Silivina, is living with her boyfriend and they are planning to get married soon. We are trying to use her parents as much as possible to show them the best way to get married, which we know is for eternity, in the temple! It has been really cool to see the whole family rally together in this time and to see them in Sacrament Meeting together as a whole family. It is sooo cool!                                                            

Overall, it was a good week and I’m really looking forward to seeing the progress of our investigators and especially that of the special families we are teaching.                             

Also, I received a calling in the ward to be the music director and it’s safe to say that I am taking Ls every time a hymn is played. When the words are different, it totally throws me off. But, I’m trying to get out of my calling by playing the piano instead. So, we’ll see where that goes. Ha ha!

I love you all so much!

Elder Roderick