Dear Family,
This week was great! It was one of those ones that shows you what you’re really made of. We had it planned to be a super effective week and we had members scheduled to go out with us every day. Unfortunately, nearly all of our appointments fell through. Almost every single new investigator we had did not show up for the second appointment and we ended up walking a lot, passing by every investigator we have to at least teach someone. What made it great was that despite all the difficulties we had, we were still able to teach several people and the people that we are teaching really are progressing. They are reading the Book of Mormon on their own and keeping their commitments and in those lessons we did have, the spirit was felt. Despite the hard times, we were really blessed.
The family I told you about are definitely progressing. This week we had a lesson with them and the bishop and his wife, who live across the street. It was a super great lesson. They have been having problems with family unity and the dad recently came back to the family after years of being separated. Because of this, the kids don’t really listen to him that much. We taught them about how fatherly leadership should not be one of forcing and shouting, rather leading by example, service, invitation, and love. I told them how my own dad never forced us to go to church, just woke us up with a glass of cold water if we slept in and made pancakes to serve us. A great example of the leadership prescribed in D and C 121. They really liked the lesson and still haven’t come up with a wedding date, I think partly because of the family unity problem, but are progressing well and doing prayers every night as a couple and then as a family and also FHE. This Thursday we have another appointment with them so hopefully by then we can get things rolling some more.
This week I finished the Book of Mormon again. It is the word of God and physical evidence of the veracity of the church and truthfulness of the restoration. Read it. Cherish it. Those pages contain the power to change lives, increase faith, and invite the spirit more than perhaps any other thing I can do as a missionary.
Anyway, got to go now. I love you all! Choose righteously! It takes courage, but it’s worth it. Elder Scott said in his conference talk that happiness in this life comes from making many right decisions, none of which is hard to make. No matter how difficult your circumstance, you can always find happiness, peace, and safety for the soul by choosing the right.
-Elder Spencer
PS, this week we got to our house one day to find our gate blocked by a cow eating the bushes in front of the sidewalk. We ate well that night... haha, just kidding. (There really was a cow though!)
Monday, October 25, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
October 18, 2010
Dear Family,
Another great week in the green hills of Salta Argentina. Well, it’s actually more like dusty roads, and brown hills right now, but, they say that in the next couple months all the hills turn completely green, so I’m pretty pumped.
This week we’ve been keeping up a lot of what we were doing last week. We don’t really have any good investigators who are progressing so we’ve just been knocking doors pretty much all day every day. Bad news, it’s pretty hot. Good news, I have a very enviable tan, and we are starting to find lots of really good people willing to listen to us. This week we have been working with a part member family where the whole family are members except for the dad, and they aren’t married. Missionaries have been trying for a while to convince them to get married so the Dad can get baptized, but the problem is that the mom and kids don’t have a very good relationship with him. We tried taking a different approach and have been teaching them about charity and the importance of FHE, family prayer every night and scripture study to form family unity and now they are starting to show lots of progress. They told me the family is changing tons and they are starting to feel a spirit they never had felt in the house before. We were pumped. This week we are going to have them make a goal for when they can get married, now that they are starting to feel ready. I’ll let you know how it goes :)
Other than that, pretty normal week. We had a stake conference this week with super good talks. One of the speakers dropped cane on all the youth (and adults) by saying that the same person who tells you he can’t memorize scripture mastery could probably recite to you in a heartbeat the latest pop songs lyrics. Haha. It’s funny because it’s true.
Read the scriptures. They are important. They aren’t a novel, they are an exercise program. You need to do what they say in order to get any results. Love you all, the church is true!!
-Elder Spencer
Another great week in the green hills of Salta Argentina. Well, it’s actually more like dusty roads, and brown hills right now, but, they say that in the next couple months all the hills turn completely green, so I’m pretty pumped.
This week we’ve been keeping up a lot of what we were doing last week. We don’t really have any good investigators who are progressing so we’ve just been knocking doors pretty much all day every day. Bad news, it’s pretty hot. Good news, I have a very enviable tan, and we are starting to find lots of really good people willing to listen to us. This week we have been working with a part member family where the whole family are members except for the dad, and they aren’t married. Missionaries have been trying for a while to convince them to get married so the Dad can get baptized, but the problem is that the mom and kids don’t have a very good relationship with him. We tried taking a different approach and have been teaching them about charity and the importance of FHE, family prayer every night and scripture study to form family unity and now they are starting to show lots of progress. They told me the family is changing tons and they are starting to feel a spirit they never had felt in the house before. We were pumped. This week we are going to have them make a goal for when they can get married, now that they are starting to feel ready. I’ll let you know how it goes :)
Other than that, pretty normal week. We had a stake conference this week with super good talks. One of the speakers dropped cane on all the youth (and adults) by saying that the same person who tells you he can’t memorize scripture mastery could probably recite to you in a heartbeat the latest pop songs lyrics. Haha. It’s funny because it’s true.
Read the scriptures. They are important. They aren’t a novel, they are an exercise program. You need to do what they say in order to get any results. Love you all, the church is true!!
-Elder Spencer
Monday, October 11, 2010
October 11, 2010
Dear Fam,
Not much time this week, but it sufficeth to say, great week. My new area is right outside of Salta capital, at the very very end of the city. The roads are pure dirt. Translation, the soles of my shoes are completely worn out. I’m having them replaced tomorrow for a whopping 15 dollars, haha, gotta love cheap labor and such down here. Luckily another elder left another pair in the apartment which, while uncomfortable, will work until mine get fixed.
The area where I am is jam packed with people and it’s pretty poor, but the people are super nice and receptive. There weren’t many (...any) investigators progressing when I got here, so this week we busted our bottoms to find a ton of people. We did, but unfortunately none of them came to church, so this week we are going to keep teaching them and find tons more until we can find someone who will progress.
This p-day was awesome. It was a holiday (one of the very, very many) so we went with the ward to a little town that’s about 30 minutes away from the city that is super cool and has awesome mountains and a lake. Super awesome views. Salta is really pretty. There are mountains everywhere and I love it here. About as hot as San Diego. Anyway, because we went there, we don’t have much time to write. So, love you all tons, church is true, and I’ll let you how things are next week if things get a little more exciting.
Love,
-Elder Spencer
Dog bite. It got a little bit bigger and puffier than this later on. (buff leg, eh?)
Saying goodbye to our awesome investigator Alejandra
Not much time this week, but it sufficeth to say, great week. My new area is right outside of Salta capital, at the very very end of the city. The roads are pure dirt. Translation, the soles of my shoes are completely worn out. I’m having them replaced tomorrow for a whopping 15 dollars, haha, gotta love cheap labor and such down here. Luckily another elder left another pair in the apartment which, while uncomfortable, will work until mine get fixed.
The area where I am is jam packed with people and it’s pretty poor, but the people are super nice and receptive. There weren’t many (...any) investigators progressing when I got here, so this week we busted our bottoms to find a ton of people. We did, but unfortunately none of them came to church, so this week we are going to keep teaching them and find tons more until we can find someone who will progress.
This p-day was awesome. It was a holiday (one of the very, very many) so we went with the ward to a little town that’s about 30 minutes away from the city that is super cool and has awesome mountains and a lake. Super awesome views. Salta is really pretty. There are mountains everywhere and I love it here. About as hot as San Diego. Anyway, because we went there, we don’t have much time to write. So, love you all tons, church is true, and I’ll let you how things are next week if things get a little more exciting.
Love,
-Elder Spencer
Dog bite. It got a little bit bigger and puffier than this later on. (buff leg, eh?)
Saying goodbye to our awesome investigator Alejandra
Monday, October 4, 2010
Oct. 4
Dear Family,
It has been quite the week. Starting from the top: somewhere around Tuesday I lost my voice completely due to a bad sore throat. No fun. Then, Wednesday night, I got bit by a dog for the first time, thus confirming my childhood fears that dogs really are mean. It got a pretty big tooth mark and blood and stuff and we tried asking the people to see it to make sure it didn't have rabies or anything but they didn't let us, so we just went home and put on some antibiotic and hoped for the best. Then, Friday, I got the news that I was to be... transferred! After 6 months in my first area, Tucuman, I got changed to my new area where I am writing right now in Salta, San Ignacio. I had to go say goodbye to all my converts, which was sad, but for lunch on Friday Teresa taught me how to make empanadas, which was a fun way to have a going away party, and then Saturday and Sunday we were chock full of conference (Which was incredible by the way!)
This morning I hopped on a bus at 5 a.m. and arrived here in Salta at 9 a.m. I´ve been getting my stuff put away and washing clothes for the last little while so we decided to come take a break to write to you. So, it has been quite the week.
My new area is a whole lot farther out of the city and a whole lot poorer than the last. The people are super kind and receptive and it is usually a very successful area. I'm looking forward to getting to know it more. My companion is a Columbian named Elder Miranda. Today while I was starting to sweat, I noticed he had a sweater vest. I asked him why and he told me because he was COLD! He is very dark skinned and told me where he lives it's 40 degrees Celsius (about 105 Fahrenheit) year round. Go figure. I'll stick with Colorado weather :) I'll send pics next week.
Conference was incredible! One of the things that most impressed me was the frequent references to agency, our power and responsibility of choice. The scripture 2 Nephi 2:27 was quoted tons. One thing mentioned is that it is easier to keep the commandments 100 percent of the time rather than 98 percent. This is because of an idea I like to call "spiritual momentum". As we make decisions for either the right or wrong, those decisions build a precedent to make it easier to make future decisions in that same direction. We build up a momentum, per se, in the direction of our chosen destination. Repentance is so difficult because it is not just the immediate changing of decisions from right to wrong, but also the fighting against the momentum of hundreds of earlier wrong choices, whereas, as we continue to make right decisions, when obstacles come in our way, the built up momentum we have allows us to continue forward with ease, no matter the problem. Right choices build on right choices to build an almost unstoppable course to eternal life. Choose the right, there's peace in righteous doing, there's safety for the soul.
I love you guys so much! We have heard the voice of God this weekend. I encourage you to study it and apply it. God gives us prophets to bless us, let us follow them and receive the blessings he has waiting for us. Write me! (Prophets orders! =))
Elder Spencer
It has been quite the week. Starting from the top: somewhere around Tuesday I lost my voice completely due to a bad sore throat. No fun. Then, Wednesday night, I got bit by a dog for the first time, thus confirming my childhood fears that dogs really are mean. It got a pretty big tooth mark and blood and stuff and we tried asking the people to see it to make sure it didn't have rabies or anything but they didn't let us, so we just went home and put on some antibiotic and hoped for the best. Then, Friday, I got the news that I was to be... transferred! After 6 months in my first area, Tucuman, I got changed to my new area where I am writing right now in Salta, San Ignacio. I had to go say goodbye to all my converts, which was sad, but for lunch on Friday Teresa taught me how to make empanadas, which was a fun way to have a going away party, and then Saturday and Sunday we were chock full of conference (Which was incredible by the way!)
This morning I hopped on a bus at 5 a.m. and arrived here in Salta at 9 a.m. I´ve been getting my stuff put away and washing clothes for the last little while so we decided to come take a break to write to you. So, it has been quite the week.
My new area is a whole lot farther out of the city and a whole lot poorer than the last. The people are super kind and receptive and it is usually a very successful area. I'm looking forward to getting to know it more. My companion is a Columbian named Elder Miranda. Today while I was starting to sweat, I noticed he had a sweater vest. I asked him why and he told me because he was COLD! He is very dark skinned and told me where he lives it's 40 degrees Celsius (about 105 Fahrenheit) year round. Go figure. I'll stick with Colorado weather :) I'll send pics next week.
Conference was incredible! One of the things that most impressed me was the frequent references to agency, our power and responsibility of choice. The scripture 2 Nephi 2:27 was quoted tons. One thing mentioned is that it is easier to keep the commandments 100 percent of the time rather than 98 percent. This is because of an idea I like to call "spiritual momentum". As we make decisions for either the right or wrong, those decisions build a precedent to make it easier to make future decisions in that same direction. We build up a momentum, per se, in the direction of our chosen destination. Repentance is so difficult because it is not just the immediate changing of decisions from right to wrong, but also the fighting against the momentum of hundreds of earlier wrong choices, whereas, as we continue to make right decisions, when obstacles come in our way, the built up momentum we have allows us to continue forward with ease, no matter the problem. Right choices build on right choices to build an almost unstoppable course to eternal life. Choose the right, there's peace in righteous doing, there's safety for the soul.
I love you guys so much! We have heard the voice of God this weekend. I encourage you to study it and apply it. God gives us prophets to bless us, let us follow them and receive the blessings he has waiting for us. Write me! (Prophets orders! =))
Elder Spencer
Monday, September 27, 2010
September 27
Dear Fam,
This week was awesome, with a few slightly bad news. Bad news, Carlos and Macarena can't get baptized yet because they haven't quite kicked some problems. It's all right, they'll be baptized in another few weeks. Good news, we have this really awesome investigator named Alejandra. Last week was her first Sunday in church, and after church at the night we had a little activity with her in the church and watched The Testaments. Her husband was baptized 30 years ago but hasn't been active for the last 15 years, where, in the meantime, he married her and had a family. He still doesn't feel ready to come back to church yet, but he's getting there. This week we had a lesson with them and we talked about prayer and the importance of it and at the end of the lesson we had a kneeling prayer with the whole family (3 kids) and he gave it. It was awesome. You could feel the spirit super strong after that prayer. Then, Alejandra went to the RS session of conference with one of the members on Saturday and loved it. She is already identifying here as a member of the church and is meshing super well with the ward. This Sunday she came with all her kids (no husband still) and loved it. She even gave the prayer in gospel principles class, which was super awesome. This Sunday night, we had another activity and this time her husband came instead of drinking with his friends like he did the last one and got to know the current bishop. He knows he needs to change a lot of things in order to have a happy family, but he is always there helping his wife with the discussions and she is progressing super well. She will probably get baptized the next week after conference, which is a shame because conference is a day before transfers and I won't be here. But it has been such a blessing to get to find her, teach her, and see her progress, that even if I don't get to be here for her baptism, I'll still be super pumped.
Also, other cool stuff that happened this week. After working with several investigators for a loooong time, we had 12 come to church on Sunday. The mission goal is 4. We were super blessed. Also cool thing: Veronica (my convert from a few months ago) got called as a Primary teacher and this Sunday was her first week teaching. Her son Junior who recently got ordained passed the Sacrament this Sunday for the first time. It was pretty awesome seeing them get rooted in the Gospel and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to be able to teach such awesome people. Anyway, that was my week. Pretty much the same as always, teach, work, see blessings. The Church is true. I'm so excited for conference this week. We have a chance to hear from a prophet of God and here the will of God in these the modern days. Listen well.
Love you guys! Thanks for writing!
-Elder Jonathan Spencer
This week was awesome, with a few slightly bad news. Bad news, Carlos and Macarena can't get baptized yet because they haven't quite kicked some problems. It's all right, they'll be baptized in another few weeks. Good news, we have this really awesome investigator named Alejandra. Last week was her first Sunday in church, and after church at the night we had a little activity with her in the church and watched The Testaments. Her husband was baptized 30 years ago but hasn't been active for the last 15 years, where, in the meantime, he married her and had a family. He still doesn't feel ready to come back to church yet, but he's getting there. This week we had a lesson with them and we talked about prayer and the importance of it and at the end of the lesson we had a kneeling prayer with the whole family (3 kids) and he gave it. It was awesome. You could feel the spirit super strong after that prayer. Then, Alejandra went to the RS session of conference with one of the members on Saturday and loved it. She is already identifying here as a member of the church and is meshing super well with the ward. This Sunday she came with all her kids (no husband still) and loved it. She even gave the prayer in gospel principles class, which was super awesome. This Sunday night, we had another activity and this time her husband came instead of drinking with his friends like he did the last one and got to know the current bishop. He knows he needs to change a lot of things in order to have a happy family, but he is always there helping his wife with the discussions and she is progressing super well. She will probably get baptized the next week after conference, which is a shame because conference is a day before transfers and I won't be here. But it has been such a blessing to get to find her, teach her, and see her progress, that even if I don't get to be here for her baptism, I'll still be super pumped.
Also, other cool stuff that happened this week. After working with several investigators for a loooong time, we had 12 come to church on Sunday. The mission goal is 4. We were super blessed. Also cool thing: Veronica (my convert from a few months ago) got called as a Primary teacher and this Sunday was her first week teaching. Her son Junior who recently got ordained passed the Sacrament this Sunday for the first time. It was pretty awesome seeing them get rooted in the Gospel and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to be able to teach such awesome people. Anyway, that was my week. Pretty much the same as always, teach, work, see blessings. The Church is true. I'm so excited for conference this week. We have a chance to hear from a prophet of God and here the will of God in these the modern days. Listen well.
Love you guys! Thanks for writing!
-Elder Jonathan Spencer
September 20
Dear Family,
This has been a good week, but it's had its ups and downs. I'll get the downs over with first. I got some kind of food poisoning so I spent the past couple days running to either the apartment or the chapel between appointments. Still don't feel too pretty, but, as they say down here "A la carga, dijo Varga" which means "[Go] to the task, said Varga" aka, the Nike slogan, "Just Do It".
This week we were also teaching Carlos´ mom and Grandma and had a really good lesson. The spirit was so strong in that room. We have been working with them for quite a while, but we can't get them to come to church. We promised so many blessings and helped them to realize how important it is to come to church, but they still didn't come this Sunday. That's one of the big disappointments of the Mission: You come to love the people and want the very best for them, and provide a way for them to be happier, but because of their agency, they don't choose those things that will truly make them happy. Other than that, the week went really well. Pretty much a normal week, not much out of the ordinary. We got to ordain Dante (Junior) this Sunday as a deacon and next Sunday he'll get to pass the Sacrament. We are working with his sister (Macarena) and her boyfriend Carlos to get baptized this Saturday. We have been teaching them for the last 2 months and it seems like they are really prepared. Yesterday, however, we talked about their baptismal date and they were pretty nervous about getting baptized this week. We're going to be visiting them almost every day this week, so hopefully we can conquer their fear and get them baptized. They already know everything, just a little nervous. Pray for them.
Anyway, short on time. The church is true and it's the only way to be completely happy! Love you all tons. I'm doing great, gettin' fat and happy. I´m totally loving it down here, but still miss you guys. Write me! (Promise, it's worth it.)
Love, Elder Spencer
This has been a good week, but it's had its ups and downs. I'll get the downs over with first. I got some kind of food poisoning so I spent the past couple days running to either the apartment or the chapel between appointments. Still don't feel too pretty, but, as they say down here "A la carga, dijo Varga" which means "[Go] to the task, said Varga" aka, the Nike slogan, "Just Do It".
This week we were also teaching Carlos´ mom and Grandma and had a really good lesson. The spirit was so strong in that room. We have been working with them for quite a while, but we can't get them to come to church. We promised so many blessings and helped them to realize how important it is to come to church, but they still didn't come this Sunday. That's one of the big disappointments of the Mission: You come to love the people and want the very best for them, and provide a way for them to be happier, but because of their agency, they don't choose those things that will truly make them happy. Other than that, the week went really well. Pretty much a normal week, not much out of the ordinary. We got to ordain Dante (Junior) this Sunday as a deacon and next Sunday he'll get to pass the Sacrament. We are working with his sister (Macarena) and her boyfriend Carlos to get baptized this Saturday. We have been teaching them for the last 2 months and it seems like they are really prepared. Yesterday, however, we talked about their baptismal date and they were pretty nervous about getting baptized this week. We're going to be visiting them almost every day this week, so hopefully we can conquer their fear and get them baptized. They already know everything, just a little nervous. Pray for them.
Anyway, short on time. The church is true and it's the only way to be completely happy! Love you all tons. I'm doing great, gettin' fat and happy. I´m totally loving it down here, but still miss you guys. Write me! (Promise, it's worth it.)
Love, Elder Spencer
September 13
Dear Family,
Fun fact: the numbering system for hair clippers is different here than in the States.
Other Fun fact: I loaned my clippers to another apartment and couldn't wait to get mine back, so used a Latino elder´s clippers.
Determine your own conclusions.
The truth is, my hair is pretty short. In the last two days I've been called "bald head" more times than I have fingers or toes to count, and I tried calling on some she-bears to avenge me (2 Kings 2:23-24), but nothing happened, so I'm just enjoying the nice scalp breeze and hoping it reaches a decent length before zone conference in 2 weeks. I'm sending some pictures, and if you're wondering what the expression is on my face in the bald pictures, its the " ...wow, I can't believe I cut my hair that short" expression. Hope you all enjoy (also please note the nice wedges of baldness creeping in... uh oh..)
Other than that, the week went pretty awesome. This Thursday we got to have a conference with all the missionaries in the closest 3 zones and one of the 70 who is in the new Area presidency. His name is Elder Bradley Foster and he is a stud. He gave us a super good training on how we are going to be able to strengthen the wards down here and work with the members a whole lot better. This is great, because Argentina has one of the lowest retention rates world-wide. Right now I'm in a ward with membership around 400 and our weekly attendance averages 70 per week (including us and the 8 investigators we have with us). That's one of the things I wish we had here a lot: strong wards with strong leadership. Here we don't have an elders quorum president, let alone ward missionaries or anything like that. Hopefully though, the things the church is working on right now will work. Elder Foster told us that if the church down here keeps running the way it has (it's pretty relaxed), in 20 years it will shrink till it disappears. Wow. Lots of work to do.
He also gave a really cool talk on how Heavenly Father listens to prayers and how he knows each of us personally. The church did some study and found that half of the members surveyed were not sure about those two facts. He told us that our job as missionaries is to make sure that everyone knew those two facts. We also did this really cool thing where we read the first chapter of the book of Moses replacing our name for where it said Moses' name. I recommend it to you guys too. He also showed us some videos from deepastronomy.com when we read the parts about God showing Moses the universe and all his creations. After seeing those I could really understand why Moses would say "I realized that man was nothing, which thing I had never supposed". Then after all that, seeing all the grandeur of God's creations, we read in Moses 1:39 that all of the greatness and glory and purpose of God is centered completely on us, our well being, and eternal happiness. Pretty cool stuff.
Our investigators are doing well. Carlos and his girlfriend Macarena are doing great getting ready for their baptism in 2 weeks. This week they both dropped coffee cold turkey, and we taught Macarena a lesson on treating our bodies with respect and dressing modestly. She was super accepting about it, and earlier was going to get a lip peircing, but decided against it, and completely stopped wearing immodest dresses. We are super happy for her and she and her mom are now working together on reading the whole Book of Mormon for personal progress. Her mom, Veronica, whom we baptized 2 months ago, just got called to be a Primary teacher, so we are also super excited for her.
Also, her son Dante (Junior), the 12 year old we baptized last month, will get the preisthood this Thursday and be able to pass the Sacrament on Sunday. So cool!
Carlos is also doing super well. He comes from a very rough family background and he used to be very involved in drugs and gang violence (and he's only 15). The other day, he told us that in their house they didn't have anything to eat, so he walked outside with the idea of robbing to get food for his mom and little brothers. As he got outside he started thinking about what he had learned from us when we taught him about the iron rod and the temptations that were the fiery darts. He decided to go inside to pray and read the scriptures to be able to
overcome the fiery darts of the devil, the temptation to rob. He didn't rob, and his mom was able to get some work and they had enough food. He is doing super great now and is reading and praying daily. So is his mom, and she has almost quit smoking completely. She started out smoking 20 cigarettes daily and now she is down to 1 or 2. It is completely amazing to see what a huge change the gospel has wrought in their family. It truly is, as it says in Mosiah 5:2, a mighty change in heart. I know the church is true, and every experience like that that I have makes my testimony stronger. Hold to the rod with all you've got. If it can help Carlos stop doing drugs, stop fighting, stop robbing, and become a loving patient son of God (and soon to be priesthood holder), it can help you in whatever problem you have.
I got the letters you all wrote from the family reunion and I was mighty happy to hear from all of you. I love you all tons. Keep me posted!
-Elder Spencer
P.S. Funny story, my companion this week repaired his suit with super glue. Who knew those crazy missionary stories were actually true.
Me and my comp making the cookies last week. So fun.
Posing in front of the cookies.
Another pose, I'm considering modeling when I get back.
All the cookies cooked. There were a lot, and the people were mighty happy to eat them.
The beautiful Argentine scenery.
Wow, there goes my hair, and modeling opportunities...
Another hair shot, I tried putting on a pretty distracting tie to divert attention from the hair. It didn't work.
Fun fact: the numbering system for hair clippers is different here than in the States.
Other Fun fact: I loaned my clippers to another apartment and couldn't wait to get mine back, so used a Latino elder´s clippers.
Determine your own conclusions.
The truth is, my hair is pretty short. In the last two days I've been called "bald head" more times than I have fingers or toes to count, and I tried calling on some she-bears to avenge me (2 Kings 2:23-24), but nothing happened, so I'm just enjoying the nice scalp breeze and hoping it reaches a decent length before zone conference in 2 weeks. I'm sending some pictures, and if you're wondering what the expression is on my face in the bald pictures, its the " ...wow, I can't believe I cut my hair that short" expression. Hope you all enjoy (also please note the nice wedges of baldness creeping in... uh oh..)
Other than that, the week went pretty awesome. This Thursday we got to have a conference with all the missionaries in the closest 3 zones and one of the 70 who is in the new Area presidency. His name is Elder Bradley Foster and he is a stud. He gave us a super good training on how we are going to be able to strengthen the wards down here and work with the members a whole lot better. This is great, because Argentina has one of the lowest retention rates world-wide. Right now I'm in a ward with membership around 400 and our weekly attendance averages 70 per week (including us and the 8 investigators we have with us). That's one of the things I wish we had here a lot: strong wards with strong leadership. Here we don't have an elders quorum president, let alone ward missionaries or anything like that. Hopefully though, the things the church is working on right now will work. Elder Foster told us that if the church down here keeps running the way it has (it's pretty relaxed), in 20 years it will shrink till it disappears. Wow. Lots of work to do.
He also gave a really cool talk on how Heavenly Father listens to prayers and how he knows each of us personally. The church did some study and found that half of the members surveyed were not sure about those two facts. He told us that our job as missionaries is to make sure that everyone knew those two facts. We also did this really cool thing where we read the first chapter of the book of Moses replacing our name for where it said Moses' name. I recommend it to you guys too. He also showed us some videos from deepastronomy.com when we read the parts about God showing Moses the universe and all his creations. After seeing those I could really understand why Moses would say "I realized that man was nothing, which thing I had never supposed". Then after all that, seeing all the grandeur of God's creations, we read in Moses 1:39 that all of the greatness and glory and purpose of God is centered completely on us, our well being, and eternal happiness. Pretty cool stuff.
Our investigators are doing well. Carlos and his girlfriend Macarena are doing great getting ready for their baptism in 2 weeks. This week they both dropped coffee cold turkey, and we taught Macarena a lesson on treating our bodies with respect and dressing modestly. She was super accepting about it, and earlier was going to get a lip peircing, but decided against it, and completely stopped wearing immodest dresses. We are super happy for her and she and her mom are now working together on reading the whole Book of Mormon for personal progress. Her mom, Veronica, whom we baptized 2 months ago, just got called to be a Primary teacher, so we are also super excited for her.
Also, her son Dante (Junior), the 12 year old we baptized last month, will get the preisthood this Thursday and be able to pass the Sacrament on Sunday. So cool!
Carlos is also doing super well. He comes from a very rough family background and he used to be very involved in drugs and gang violence (and he's only 15). The other day, he told us that in their house they didn't have anything to eat, so he walked outside with the idea of robbing to get food for his mom and little brothers. As he got outside he started thinking about what he had learned from us when we taught him about the iron rod and the temptations that were the fiery darts. He decided to go inside to pray and read the scriptures to be able to
overcome the fiery darts of the devil, the temptation to rob. He didn't rob, and his mom was able to get some work and they had enough food. He is doing super great now and is reading and praying daily. So is his mom, and she has almost quit smoking completely. She started out smoking 20 cigarettes daily and now she is down to 1 or 2. It is completely amazing to see what a huge change the gospel has wrought in their family. It truly is, as it says in Mosiah 5:2, a mighty change in heart. I know the church is true, and every experience like that that I have makes my testimony stronger. Hold to the rod with all you've got. If it can help Carlos stop doing drugs, stop fighting, stop robbing, and become a loving patient son of God (and soon to be priesthood holder), it can help you in whatever problem you have.
I got the letters you all wrote from the family reunion and I was mighty happy to hear from all of you. I love you all tons. Keep me posted!
-Elder Spencer
P.S. Funny story, my companion this week repaired his suit with super glue. Who knew those crazy missionary stories were actually true.
Me and my comp making the cookies last week. So fun.
Posing in front of the cookies.
Another pose, I'm considering modeling when I get back.
All the cookies cooked. There were a lot, and the people were mighty happy to eat them.
The beautiful Argentine scenery.
Wow, there goes my hair, and modeling opportunities...
Another hair shot, I tried putting on a pretty distracting tie to divert attention from the hair. It didn't work.
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