Tornadoes and Drinking Water Like Pirates Drink Rum

Hi everyone

The conclusion of last week is that later that night we had to go to Alejandro Korn and wait in line to get money.  We heard the train coming so we started bookin it as fast as we could and there was no pavement directly to the train so we had to run on the tracks. (Don’t worry ma, I looked both ways just to make sure that I couldn’t see one.) So both of us were booking it, with our bikes, books, and being in this panic I kept going with it super super close to my body and the pedal caught my pants, I tried taking another step, and I ate it... hard... I said some of the most unchrist like words I have ever said as I scrambled to pick up my stuff off of the train tracks and then try and catch up to my companion.  I am pretty sure that I left some pamphlets and free English classes fliers for the train tracks to read as I was storming off.  I cut my hand and my leg a little bit but the thing that I was most mad about is that my favorite pants that I had cleaned the day before were now dirty and had a little hole... NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!  My companion didn’t know what to say and when I told him that he has now seen me mad he told me that my mad side is scary... haha dang right its scary.  

Anyways we got back and we started out for our English classes, and there was a fair going on. So being the curious cat that I am, I asked my comp if we could go look through.  So we went in and we heard somebody say "elderes!" We saw a mom and her kids waving to us.  We had no clue who they were but when we went over and talked to them we found out that she hadn’t been to the church for a while and wanted to start going but she wasn’t sure when it started or where it was.  So we gave her the address and all the deets and she ended up coming to church on Sunday.  Anyways we went to classes of English and there was a turn out of 3 people. We had a good lesson of English with the woman and then after that a good lesson of the Word. That night we went to sleep just like normal until at 1 am all of these fireworks started going off.  There was like a 30 minute show of fireworks and they were so dang loud that all of us decided to get up and watch them. We had no other choice... Haha. I thought it was a great day as slowly faded away in my nice warm bed and the party outside played Sweet Dreams by Eurhythmics.

The week of 12/02/13 Monday we played and ate some lunch and then at 4 we decided to go write the family.  So we went to the Civer to write and while we were there the lights started flickering—literally the first 3 minutes we were there.  Then all of the sudden everything just shut off.  So we waited for a little and they came back on for about 30 seconds and then everything shut off again, for good this time.  So we decided to go grab our bikes at the church and see what is up.  When we walked outside we realized that the sky was full of clouds, and not just any clouds, some good ol green clouds.  I had never seen anything like it before.  We booked it to the church when it started to get real windy and then when we were safe inside all, of the lights shut off—all of them.  It was pitch black in the kinda creepy church.  As soon as the lights went out all of these doors and windows started slamming because the wind was picking up and there were a bunch of open windows in the church.  And then it started pouring rain, so as we were all screaming like little kids at Christmas the rain started coming into the building.  So we ran around shutting all of the windows and then it started to lightning and thunder every 2 seconds.  So we figured it was probably better if we just didn’t leave for a little bit.  So we watched the storm around us as tree branches broke off and the wind was just crazy for about 45 minutes to an hour.  Then the storm started to calm down and the sky opened up.  We went outside and there were all sorts of tree debris and other people’s roof on top of the church and all of that good stuff.  So we cleaned up the church for about an hour and then we went back to the pension.  As Elder Gomez and I were walking back to the pension we decided to go through the park. (The other 2 had bikes that worked so they rode to the pension, and we were left to walk.) As we were walking through, there were complete trees that had fallen down and broken off.  So we hurried and took some pictures of the scene.  We got back to the pension and we got a text saying that we couldn’t leave because there were no lights in our zone (which we later found out is because the storm produced several tornadoes, One was across the street from our pension, which means that I have now been in my first tornado!!!!) Anyways there were no lights so we had to stay indoors for the night...until we received a text from a member of the other elders that live with us that she is stuck about 3 hours away, because the trains and buses weren’t running, and that her super old grandma was stuck in the house and she asked us if we could go check up on her.  So we all dressed up in street clothes, not to draw attention and then went out in the dead of the night.  I felt like a shark or a jet from the west side story snapping in unison as we went to a gang fight as the 4 of us walked in a pack in the streets of Argentina but we didn’t get into a fight or do any snapping in unison.  But we went and checked on the grandma and everything was good with her, just a little worried for her granddaughter and the missionaries and then we walked another 20 minutes back to the pension. 

The next day we had no water, no lights, no power, no nada. So we didn’t shower or get ready cause there was no water.  So we went to our reunion, and then to lunch, and then out to teach.  We went with Alex out to teach Marivel and then after that we went around to all of the people in the ward to make sure that everything was ok.  We found out by talking to everybody that they were all in the same situation as we were, no lights, no water, no power.  But there was one family that is less active that had their whole roof cave in.  So after we checked up on everyone we decided to go over to their house.  So we went to Barbis and asked them what we could help them with.  We talked for a bit and then gave them a lesson and they told us that we can come back later to work with them.  So we went back to the pension because the lights were out and studied for a little bit and then when all of the other Elders came back we talked to them about the need of water.  Without any power, there were no stores open... So, we couldn’t buy any water anywhere... So we all were thinking, "where can we go to get some water...?"  And I thought... Lets go to the church! They will have some running water! So we got on our bikes, but there was only one problem, there were only 3 bikes, and 4 of us.... So of course, like usual I had to double up on the bike with another elder.  I sat on the handlebars with the new Elder Delgado, driving us.  He has a lot of laugh attacks so it was pretty funny and chaotic as he tried steering us at the beginning, but after that it was smooth sailing. We got to the church without dying, and then we filled up the bottles and headed back to the Pension.  When we got to the Pension we drank that water like pirates drink rum.

Then next morning we woke up super early to go shower at the apartment of some Elders who got some their water back. So we showered and studied and ate some breakfast, and then we went on our merry way.  When we went to lunch I wasn’t feeling too hot.  We ate and then I told my companion that I wasn’t feeling good and that I needed to lay down.  I was to the point of about to puke over the toilet for 30 minutes while my companion was teaching the lesson.  After that my companion told me that he was feeling the same way. So we went and taught a little bit more and then we got a text from our leaders that was saying that there are a bunch of people getting together to go raid a bunch of stores so we had to return to the pension.  When we got there we found out that the other Elders were already there and that they were feeling the same way.  We pieced together that the church filter works only with power and without the filter we were just drinking bad water and now we are all sick... CURSE YOU BAD WATER!!!

The next day my comp woke up and had a fever of 40 which is about 102 degrees haha so we stayed inside. Later that night he was getting a bit worse so I gave him a blessing and he calmed down a bit which I thought was sweet.  

The next day we went out for a bit but then he was feeling the same so we ended up going back and just talking about faith and what it means and how he was converted.  It was a pretty interesting talk.  He told me that his dad was a minister of the Adventist church and that when he found that my comp was baptized he broke his keys to his house, took away his car, kicked him out of the house, and didn’t talk to him for a year and now after praying a bunch and talking with his dad for the past year his dad is going to be baptized haha. Crazy how big of a change took place in one year.

Haha anyways, that is why we had so much chaos last week.  I love you guys and I hope everything is well.

Love,

Andy

Moses Parting the Red Sea

12/5/13

Well, my new comp, Elder Varela, is from Honduras, 5 foot 4 inches (mas o menos.) He loves singing, telling jokes, talking about honduras, quoting scriptures, and anime/ videogames.  I think it is super super fun but... on the second day I started to hear a repeat of his jokes.  (Now... I had 2 weeks of it and I can quote most of them by memory. haha)

Varela and I were biking to one of our meetings and there are horses everywhere here. We saw a completely black horse and a completely white horse that were staring each other down.  We saw the black horse go in for a hit so we stopped and watched them for a bit.  I didn’t ever think that I would watch a horse fight but I did.  They didn’t really look like they were fighting, just trying to dance and moving around in circles.

These past weeks we have been having a lot of Noche de Hogars, which is where we go to a less active family’s house and teach them to have one night for the family only, with games, videos, lessons, food, just the works.  So with my old comp we had 3 in 3 months but in these first 2 weeks, we have had at least 9 or 10 haha.  It is pretty dang fun. The other night we had a family that made rice pudding and we helped them make some pizza, and then right as it was time for us to leave... It started dumpin buckets... like pouring rain.  But we had a schedule and we had to get home.  So we put all of our stuff in trash bags and stepped out into the rain.  Within 10 seconds I was sopping wet, my shirt was sticking to my back and it was hard to see 20 feet.  So we started our journey home and I was following my companion.  It was dumping buckets and I was trying to focus on holding our clean clothes that a sister washed for us and holding my books. So I lost focus and didn’t see my companion dodge a huge puddle. And by the time I realized that he dodged, it was to late for me.  I was going ramming speed so I just braced for impact.  I rode straight through the puddle and at this time in my life I felt kinda like Moses parting the red sea.  I saw the water come up to my mid shin on my bike on both sides and then it all came down. I don’t know how it happened, but not a drop hit the cement.  All of it went straight into my shoes and had real wet socks on the way home.  

The next morning we woke up bright and early to go give service to an old grandma with red hair and a blind grandpa in our ward.  Haha I was happy to help them cause they are always super super nice.  We showed up with some of the people in the ward to help them finish their house.  There was an age range of 14 years to 65.  And they all outworked me.  Jk but they had me working like a dog the whole time.  I was struggling to keep up with the 65 year old and he had me breaking a sweat the whole time.  But I learned how to mix cement by hand and how to plaster and all that good stuff.  After we had some lunch and we were all talking but we had been working for 5 or 6 hours so I was kinda tired and zoning out.  Until I heard the words "thug", "alarm", "neighbors", "burning alive" and then my ears perked up a little bit.  I asked them to reexplain what they were talking about. The 65 year old guy is an immigrant from Peru and he told me that when he was living there, there were so many robberies in his town that people started putting alarms on the doors so when the thugs broke in all of the neighbors would run over and surround him.  When they beat him up they would drag him to the beach and burn him alive.  Man that is so dang crazy. I can’t even begin to believe that these things are true, but I guess the moral of the story is thou shalt not steal, right? 

Well, I love you guys and hope all is well.

Love

Andy

Updates from Cole

Merry Christmas

Hey guys, so, to explain everything- Yes, I have gotten/am getting/ will get everything you sent to the old apartment, it just takes a little more time. I have gotten a few packages and whatnot, but I haven't opened anything yet because I am waiting for Christmas. I'll call home arounds like 10-11ish here time, somewhere in there to the home phone. We had a cool mission conference. This email is gonna be shorty cuz I'll talk to y'all on Wednesday. I had a great week and everything is going cool. I like the car and whatnot. I feel bad because y'all never told me who I had for Christmas, so I didn't get anyone anything. That sounds like a pretty well done work by Samson, but I could do way better... Anyway, sounds like you all had a fun week making Christmas cinnamon rolls. All the kids wrote me saying how much they were all jealous that I didn't have to do it, but I actually liked doing that always haha. 

TALK TO YOU ON WEDNESDAY,

Role

Happy New Year

Hey guys, happy New Year (in 2 days). Haha things stay pretty fresh up here, fresher than a white pair of teeth out the orthodontist. I'm so fresh I don't have to fold my laundry. The week was pretty good, we went caroling on Christmas day. The rest of the week was just pretty normal, I dunno haha, it's all the same. Haha, I guess my letters sound depressing or something? I dunno, I just giggle my way around all day. That is preetty sweet about Jamaica though, but you shouldn't go without me. Haha. How is Jordo doing? Haha he sounds like the same old Jordan though haha. But that printer thing is super cool, and I have had some great ideas so far hehehe... Thanks again for everything, love you guys so much!

Love,

Cole

A letter from Leena to Coleman:

“Coleman, what did you get for Christmas?  And I LOVE you!  Thanks for the Monster High doll.  It’s fun to play with.  Do you miss me so much?  I lost a tooth and the Fairy gave me a silver dollar and 2 quarters.  I miss you very much dear Coleman.  Dear Coleman, do you know how to bike ride over there?  And Coleman, do you know something new?  Tell me what you look at.  A farm, or a pig?  What does the butterfly look like?  What did you name her?  Dear Coleman, you miss Mom and Dad right?  I am sick and I have an ear infection.  Love, Leena” 

Coleman’s response to Leena:

Leena,

I got a printer thingy and some pjs and some candies and stuffs. Love you too and you are welcome, I picked that doll out special just for you (because it looked like you). Stop loosing teeth you crazy girl how are you supposed to eat? Leena guess what? (What Coleman?) I can ride my bike and I don't even have to hold on with my hands (Wow you're so cool Coleman!). I look at another dude all day, me and my friend drive in a car and look at cows with big horns. The butterfly is still in his cocoon. His name is Heimlich (like from bug's life). Haha, sometimes I miss mom and dad hahaha, jk all the time. Don't get sick Leen, feel better.

Love,

Cole

Elder Cook: November Update

Nov 4, 2013

Well all is well here in Farmington! I hit my 4 month mark yesterday and it is pretty crazy! It has gone by so fast already and I am looking forward to all the stuff that I am learning and that I will learn! But anyway this last week was a slow week! Probably because of Halloween but it was still a good week! Well we had a good Halloween! We went in early and just played monopoly with some other Elders. But something that is cool, the ward that we are in is making a little Christmas video and they want us to be in it to give our testimony's on Christ's birth or something like that. So we will be getting a call sometime this week! But also something cool that I found out about my area. There was another movie called Reach, I have no idea what it is about but they filmed it in parts of my area! We are probably in one of the scenes just riding our bikes in the background!? Ha I actually don't think so but that would be cool! But we saw them filming and it was pretty cool to see! Anyway some spiritual experiences that happened this week. Well yesterday was fast and testimony meeting, Sister Jenkins, the member that we gave a blessing to her son that I talked about a couple of weeks ago, went up and gave her testimony and she said that her son knew that it was Heavenly Father that gave him his life back and that he was going to start coming to church which I don't think he is a member. So that was really cool and I know that Heavenly Father does have a plan for everyone! We just dont know what that is! But it is really cool to see these things going on! But yeah that was a cool experience! I can feel a couple of baptisms coming up in this area. Hopefully I am here for them but if not then that is okay! But we have transfers in 2 weeks so I could be gone or I could still be in Farmington. Part of me wants to leave and get off the bikes but part of me wants to stay because the people in my area are great and the members are awesome too! Anyway all is good and I love you all!

Love,

Elder Cook

Nov 11, 2013

Well this last week was a really slow week.... And it was really cold riding our bikes. But anyway really the last two weeks have been slow and its getting pretty tough to find stuff to do and we are just really struggling with the area. But I know that happens and it is definitely not getting me down. If anything I am just trying to work harder and think of new ideas and stuff so that we can really get this area going! It has been really slow kind of the whole time we have been here and there has been some great experiences but no one is really progressing! So we went and talked with some members and we have some good ideas that will hopefully get this area that we are in really going! Ha we just have to keep on going! There is a quote that I really like. "When the sky is cloudy and the road is rough, there is always hope on the horizon" -???? Ha but that quote I really like and it has a picture that goes a long with it! But  I was able to share that quote with one of our Recent Converts who was baptized like 6 months ago and she is going through a really hard time. She has cancer and now she is going blind in both of her eyes and it is amazing to see how faithful she is! That would be really hard and she just said that "I know if I put my trust in God then everything will be okay!" Or something like that. But it was really cool to see! But yeah we are struggling right now with this area and it is disappointing at times but that is really alright and I know that we just have to keep moving on! But yeah we are hoping that this week will go a lot better and I am sure things will get better! Anyway that is really all I have for this week! But I hope I will have more to write about next week! Oh and also this is the last week of transfers! In one more transfer I will be out for 6 months which is 1/4 of my mission and it is going by way to quick! Anyway love you all and hope all of your weeks will be great! Talk to you all next week!

Love,

Elder Cook

Nov 18, 2013

Well my third transfer is over with! We just barely started my 4th transfer and I am still in Farmington! Which I am happy because we have some good ideas that will really hopefully start to pick up the area more! But this last week was a lot better! We had a really good week! But we hopefully have at least one baptism that is coming up soon! We will have to wait and see though! But this week we were able to have dinner with members and they invited one of our investigators and his family that he is suppose to marry in to! But it went really well! His name is Roger and he is the one that is pretty much ready to be baptized, we just have to finish teaching him the lessons! But it was really good because they bonded really well with the members and it just went great! But I am so happy to be in this area again! I just felt like I couldn't leave with it being the way it is so I am ready for anything that comes! And I know that whatever happens happens! I had the feeling I was going to stay! But I will be here for Thanksgiving and Christmas so that is exciting! And also it is crazy that when this transfer ends, I will be 1/4 of the way done with my mission! Also we have this family that has had medical problems with there kid and so they are going up to Salt Lake City to Primaries children to hopefully help them. But it is crazy to see how faithful they are! Anytime we ask if there is anything we can do for them, they always just ask us to pray and they are going through a really hard time right now but because they are so faithful, something always comes up at the last minute for them and they are still able to get through it all!  Well anyway sorry for the short letter this week! I don't really have much more time! But love you all and have a great week!!!!

Love,

Elder Cook

Nov 25, 2013

Well another week gone by! It is so crazy to think how fast it is going! Everything is going really well here in Farmington! My companion is still Elder Poulson and we are doing great! Anyway things are going good! We had a pretty good week! The members here are really helping a lot with missionary work! We got a new investigator this week and her name is Cindy and she is awesome! She has been to church 3 times already but we thought she was a member for the first 2 weeks but then we found out that she wasn't a member and so we went and visited with her and she wants to be baptized so we invited her to be baptized on the 13th of December and she said yes and that she would prepare to be baptized on that day! But yeah she gave up smoking like it was nothing. One day she was smoking a pack and then the next day she quit and hasn't smoked since then and it has been like 3 weeks now! It is crazy to think what you can do when you really put your mind to it and you have something to work for! And it also helps that she knows that God will help her if she accepts that help! But that was way cool and she told her boss that she couldn't work on Sundays anymore because she had to go to church! So that was all really cool! Also we should have a baptism on December 7th also! So hopefully those both go through! Anyway everything is good and also Happy Birthday this last Saturday Mom! Oh and also we locked ourselves out last night! Ha but luckily we finally got in and so we didn't have to sleep out in the cold! Oh and also it snowed here! I was way excited when we woke up and saw snow! It wasn't much but there was still snow! It made me miss snowboarding! But I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! We are going to two members houses that day! We have a thanksgiving lunch at 1 and a thanksgiving dinner at 4! We will be so full that day! Oh and also another thing I am not picky at all anymore. And I eat a lot more then I did back home! But I still can't put on weight.... which I have been trying to do because I am still skinny! But everything is great here and I look forward to hearing from all of you next week!

Love,

Elder Cook

Elder Varela and The Cat Lady

11/25/13 

Last Monday we woke up real early and went out to Banfield, a good hour and a half away for transfers.  We showed up, talked around for a bit and then sat down for the next 2 hours to listen to the missionaries who were going home give their testimonies.  It was good but Neyra was spread out like he was on his bed and I was crunched up in the corner. Somehow I still managed to get a bit of shut eye haha.  

After that I found my new companion.  His name is Elder Varela.  He is pretty dang nice and enthusiastic about a lot of things.  Haha the only thing that could be a problem is 1.) He told me in his words "I’m allergic to working out" and 2.) He can’t wake up on his own, so it is my duty to wake him up every morning haha.  If only he knew how deep of a sleeper I am. I could fall asleep if my clothes were on fire.  Since we had transfers all of the old missionaries that were in the same pension left too, so now I am officially the oldest one in the pension, woo! 

When we were picking Varela up there was a sign for a special kind of burgers.  But these weren’t any burgers. They were "Barfys vegetarian burgers." Varela told me that he forgot his bags back in his pension and their pension was super super nice…on the 10th floor, big, and super tidy.  We grabbed his bags and then he told me that we had lunch planned and I thought to myself "Forgot your bags did you...?" haha but I was cool with it because some lunch is better than no lunch, right?  The member reminded me of the Crazy Cat Lady on the Simpsons. She got us some big ol stakes and plopped them down on the indoor grill.  Which I didn’t think was a problem, until I realized that she didn’t have a fan and all of the smoke was just rolling to the ceiling and coming down and filling the room.  Haha It was pretty hard to breathe but in the end the steaks were definitely worth it. We started talking and she told us 4 missionaries that she hadn’t gone to the temple and all of them have more experience than I do so they were using all of these sweet scriptures and then it came to me and I had nothing so I pulled out the Matthew 29 card again about loving god. (Haha I can tell that this one is going to save me a lot on the mission).  

After that we went on the train for an hour back to Guernica.  We were talking about how excited Varela is to serve here and finally have bikes and all this stuff and then he walked into the pension.  I had cleaned like crazy the first 2 weeks that I was in Guernica because the whole place was a straight up pig sty. But after that I realized that they aren’t going to help and its not going to get any better so I kinda just lost hope and gave up.  But he walked in and saw this place, he went completely silent.  Haha I’m pretty sure his enthusiasm went down a good 10 notches.  He told me that we cannot live like this, that we will never be able to feel the spirit like this and that we have to clean now.  So we cleaned for a good hour and then we went to the computers to write. Anyways after that we went to Fernandas and taught them a lesson.  I was worried that things were going to be weird with him and the others because he was new but things were great and he was joking around and having a good time.

The next day was Tuesday and in the morning we went and cleaned all morning.  After we went and cleaned we went to lunch at the Sajamas and he said "is it ok if we share something with you?"  Haha it was so weird for me.  With Neyra, we never ever shared something with the members but Elder Varela is all about strengthening the members and that good stuff.  So we shared a couple of scriptures and then after that we went out to teach some other people.  We went to Marivel and then to the house of Daiana, Albert, and family Ormeno and taught them. 

The next day we went to the Guarachis and had some lunch there.  We taught them a bit about marriage and the blessings that we receive and we decided to go to an area that Neyra and I hadn’t visited much.   I realized that Neyra and I had been teaching the same investigators and converts for the past 3 months and just baptizing their family and we didn’t have anybody new and I had absolutely no clue what the heck we should do.  So Varela asked me "What about the area book?" I had no clue what that was.  He asked "what about the 15 families?" I had no clue what that was. "What about this the young men? Young women?" haha I realized that we hadn’t worked with any of these things and I had no clue what the heck half of them were. Elder Varela taught me all of these new things and papers that we had to fill out.  Haha I felt like a newbie again.   I think my new companion is going to be a bit more strict than my old comp but he seems to like more of the same things and he is a bit more patient. This week was pretty good.  Really, really different than how I was used to working but good.  But I’m dang excited to be with him. I have learned a bunch already this week about the scriptures, investigators, how to teach, the church, everything.  

I love you guys. I hope that everything is good. Have a good week.

Love 

Andy

Look Al, No Hands!

11/18/13 

On Monday we had normal bidness. We went and had our p day and then went to Fernanda’s, Bruno’s, and Santis to teach them a lesson.  When we were there the power went out. (I don’t know why but people always take and use other peoples power. For a moment everybody is happy but then everything crashes and nobody has power for at least a couple hours and nobody wins. haha) Anyways we taught them in the dark and it was actually pretty fun. I felt like I was a little kid again, making a fort in the basement.

The next day was Tuesday we had interviews with the President of the mission and it was pretty cool. He knew me by name, which I thought was pretty impressive, seeing that he has 300 other missionaries too.  We had a good talk and went back to our area.  After that we had lunch at the Sajama’s and met up with Alex and went out to Marivels and Santiagos.  Then we had a bunch of our lessons drop so we ended up having a good hour or two left in the day and nothing to do.  We decided to go to a menos activos house and we found out that her dad had just passed away.  She was sad that he didn’t have an opportunity to hear the gospel and be baptized. Neyra had been reading that day in D &C 138 about life after death and he taught her all about how her dad can still receive everything and it was sweet to see how much hope it brought her.

The next day we went to visit an investigator.  I had them draw a picture about what makes them happiest and then I related it to some scriptures (haha I’m trying to be creative.) Anyways after that we went to the Guarachis and had some peruano food.  Then we went to Kevin’s and taught him for a little bit longer because he was having his interview the next day.  After that we went to a menos activos and she was talking all of this crap about how the members don’t assist and how they gossip and all that jazz so then neyra bajo las cana and told her "You need to get your house in order before you criticize others."  Haha super funny to me. After that we went to Hermano y Hermana paez and just relaxed and shared.

So Thursday we went to an interview of one of our investigators and he passed so we were stoked about that. After that we had Alex, a member, call us and he asked us if he could come help us, but the only problem is that he didn’t have a bike and our area was 25 minutes away with a bike.  So I told him to hop on my bike handlebars and I would steer and pedal with him on the front seat.  Surprisingly everything worked out fine...until I thought that it would be funny to show him I could do no hands with him on the front.  So I let go and put my hands in front of his face and said "Al look, no hands!" And then, we started to drift.  And then we started to crash into my companion.  And then we all started to fall. Haha I felt like such an idiot. But luckily we all caught ourselves so nobody got hurt.  When we safely arrived at lunch the family told us to try some Mora berries (kinda like blackberries, except not as sweet and the black ones stain your hands like crazy.) So we went outside and every time we would pick one 10 would fall off.  So I had the idea to go grab a blanket and gather as much as we could.  I grabbed a rake and we ended up getting a good 4 poundsish of berries.  After lunch we took some pictures because we found out that Neyra was for sure going and this was our last time with them.  After that we went and taught Marivel and took pictures with them.  Then we went to teach a girl named Daiana.  She doesn’t seem like the kind of person that would want to be listening to the missionaries. (She is the one that told us that she stabbed her boyfriend because he hit her.) But she told us that she is reading and she prays about it and she had all of these questions.  So we started to answer some of her questions (and by we I mean we not only my companion, woo!) We took pictures with her and then said our goodbyes.  We went and talked to the Sajamas for a bit and then we went home.

On Friday we woke up and did our normal bidness. We went and had lunch with the family Avalos and then went to the church to talk to the Women’s relief society because neyra had kissed up to them and they all loved him and also they were making fruitcake. I learned a couple of secrets about baking though so that was nice.  After that we had a lesson 30 minutes away.  So we biked there with the 150 mile/hour wind typhoon blowing against us the whole time and then when we got there we called him and he told us " oh sorry, I forgot."  Haha so we had to turn around and go back the other way and the typhoon changed directions so we were biking with the wind against us again.  We stopped by a menos activos and talked to her and my companion told her that I would be sharing a scripture. I drew a blank and was scrounging around and luckily found Matthew 22:36 about loving god is the grand commandment so I used that bad boy and it ended up going pretty well.

The next day was a special Saturday. We woke up at 4:30 and left the pension at 5:30 to meet up with the zone and travel for an hour by train to get to another church.  Once we were at this church we met up with half the mission and waited for 30 minutes for another bus to travel another hour to a different mission to meet up with the Buenos Aires North, West, and South and also the MTC in Buenos Aires at one of the biggest churches in Argentina. Why were we all coming together, you ask? Elder Holland of the 12 apostles, and also Elder Suarez of the 70, were coming to speak with us, woo!  It was like a giant party the whole time.  Everybody brought snacks for the bus and was chattering excitedly.  It was pretty fun.  I saw some friends from the other missions too so it was pretty dang exciting.  Some wisdom I learned is that if I think of missionary work as a privilege, I am going to be happy to do it. We shouldn’t be forced to be obedient, but we should be obedient because the big man asks it.  If you refuse a gift you’re refusing the giver. We have to be good examples for everyone and we can be if we apply what we learn in the scriptures.

The next day was Sunday.  We went to church and it was testimony meeting and it was interesting.  Neyra gave his testimony and it was super super good.  It was the first time I had ever seen him cry but it was a manly cry.  After that 4 or 5 of the people that Neyra had baptized here got up and gave their testimonies like Bruno, Fernanda, Celene, and Marivel and every one was dang good.  After church we said goodbyes there.  We went home, got changed, and then went out to lunch.  After lunch we went to 4 houses and said goodbyes there and then after that we biked for 35 minutes to the other part of Guernica and started to say goodbye there.  We went to 3 more houses and said our goodbyes there and then we went to the Avalos house and with the Familia Sajama and Avalos we all said our goodbyes to Neyra.  It was the 2nd time in one day that I had seen him cry. It was so weird to me.  

Anyways, this is half of the week.  I will share the rest next week.  I love you guys.

Good luck.

Love Andy