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

Hola 25 de Mayo!

Hola!                                                                                                                      

"Goodbye" Daniel and Carla

Wow! What a week it was down in the ARG! It was probably the most exhausting week of my mission, so far. On Monday night, I kissed Salto “Goodbye.” I also had to say, “Goodbye” to all of my homies whom I came to love so much. To be honest, it was pretty hard to leave them. A mission is always full of changes and unfortunately some of these changes include saying, “Goodbye” to people and never knowing when or if you’ll see them again.

On Tuesday morning, I hopped on the bus to San Luis.  It was four long hours in the middle of nowhere Argentina. LOL. Then, I had another two-hour ride to Villa Mercedes, which is my new area. We are still apart of the San Luis Stake but Villa Mercedes is it’s own little town. There are two wards here with two sets of missionaries and a we have a ton of ground to cover. Our area is soooo big and we walk everywhere, so I come back to the pench dog tired every night. But, that’s a good thing. There are tons of houses to knock and the people here are so nice and welcoming. Literally, at the first house I knocked here we were able to set up an appointment. But a new area, means new accents and the people in this town are from all over so each person has their own little way of talking which has been frustrating. It’s definitely a good challenge for me.

"Goodbye" Elder Mena and Salto de las Rosas 

My new comp, Elder Martinez, is such a boss. He is almost 22-years old and has been a member of the Church for less than two and half years. He has been on his mission for one year and he became a member only a year and half before he left. He got in contact with the missionaries through a friend and was baptized 4 months later. The missionaries found him at a really trying time in his life. At age 17, he was living alone, supporting himself and running with a pretty tough crowd. He has a lot of stories :).  But as a missionary it is so nice to have his testimony and his personal experiences to share with investigators and everyone we talk with.

The work in Villa Mercedes is really going strong.  This week we basically ran all over the place from one appointment to another and we were always so busy. We have a really nice pool of investigators right now, including a lot of couples with young kids and a couple of teenagers. I’m still trying to remember everyone’s name but next week I’ll be able to provide more details about the work. One cool thing we did this week though was knock on a “menos active” door and they were so welcoming. Since Elder Martinez hadn’t contacted them before we weren’t expecting anything but they invited us inside. We got in there and saw that they have this type of dog called a “dogo,” which is the MOST dangerous type of dog. Of course, this family has three of them! So, one of the first houses I entered here and I find out they have three of these beasts! The family saw that we didn’t know what to do so they had to teach us how to handle ourselves with the dog. I sat down like they said and the dog came running towards me and I was freaking out inside thinking, “This dog is going to eat me,” but then everything seemed cool so I went to pet it and apparently, I did something wrong with my hand and the dog started freaking out and the owner had to yank it away from me. I turns out that I didn’t have the confidence of the dog yet so, I couldn’t pet it. I was so confused and freaked out and my companion was just laughing. It was awful! To make things even better (or worse), one of the dogs just had 14 little puppies so, we’ll see how that goes. But, we had two awesome lessons with this family and when Sunday rolled around we were able to take the Hermana to church with us.  It was the first time she’d been to church in almost four years. It truly was a great experience. I like to think of “menos activos” as people who are dangling from a cliff and they just need someone to come help them get back on their feet. 

Killer "Dogo" 

Sunday was such a good experience because it was my first full block of church meetings since I’ve been in the mission field. We had 70 people in church and for Argentina, that is really good. It was the best feeling to be surrounded my families, little kids and just more people. One of the best parts about the Church is the family aspect and in reality, we are all one big family and I felt the love of my new family here in Villa Mercedes so much. 

We also have a new schedule here because people are more available later in the night so we work until 10-10:30 in the night and don’t fall asleep until 11:30. I still wake up at 6:30 because it’s just a habit now. Since we work late in the night we can take an hour nap during the siesta. So, I just grind in the morning and try to stay awake. Then, after a big meal with the members, I take a nap for an hour. It’s pretty awesome! I’m not going to lie.

I’m so happy here in my new area and it’s been an adventure adjusting to everything. Even so, I love the change. Like coach Benson would always say, “You’re either getting better or getting worse, never staying the same.”

I’m so humbled to be a missionary during this time and it is truly an honor to share the Restored Gospel and be a servant of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Much love!!

Elder Roderick