We Have Sombreros!

3/10/14

Yoz everyone. 

I got tons of news with zero time to write. I got a new comp. His name is Elder Capson from Riverton Utah. He’s pure smart and pretty quite but its sometimes way funny. He has a little over a year in the mission and speaks Spanish better than the Mexicans so that’s just great for me because I’m learning a ton. He also collects the atalaya or the  testigo de jehovas magazine things and its way funny. The other night he pulled out of his bag a whole stack of them.  In other news its starting to get so freaking hot here so the our President told us that we can have sombreros haha. I bought one for 3 bucks and its pretty sweet. My comp says I look like tg but I don’t give a dump. I say they look good on me. I’m pure sorry this letter is so short. I’ll try and do better next week. We’ve been pretty busy trying to get our ward put together because its pure chaos. Love you guys a ton 

Con amor Elder Kimball

Chunks Of Ice Floating

3/2/14 

Well...to start off the week

On Monday we were looking for a road to find an investigator’s house.  We were winding and weaving up and down all of the streets of Ezeiza and my mind started to wander.  I looked down and I started day dreaming (just a lil bit...) and at the same time following my companion. When all the sudden I heard a grinding of rubber and my wheel started to shake.  I looked up to see my companion turning left and me going straight and my wheel ramming into his at full speed.  In all of the confusion I somehow ended up on my back. 

Usually there is nobody in the streets at 12:30 in the morning but for some reason... the streets were like Wal-Mart on black Friday.  2 or 3 people stopped to ask what happened, and how I fell and if I am ok.  And every time I had to explain again what happened--feeling stupider and stupider every time. (Ya and I did just realize that stupider isn’t a word but I’m not in Argentina to improve my grammar and spelling, right?)  

Anyways when I was standing up there was a guy sitting on the sidewalk and I felt like we should talk to him.  We went over and started up a nice little conversation and he told us that he is super interested in our message and wants us to pass by, Woo!

This week was Fast and Testimony meeting so everybody was going up and giving their testimony.  Unfortunately I was in the very back and there was a whole row of teens right behind me. And they were all talking and laughing and I couldn’t hear anything.  On top of that we had some investigators so it was doubly bad.  I suddenly had the Mama Pat gene turn on in me and I gave good glare to get them to shut the heck up.  Anyways after that I got to bless my first baby! Woo!  I was super nervous but then I just thought, ‘If I were a dad, what would I want for my baby?’  And then things just started to work out a little bit smoother.

Also this week we had a baptism!!!  Her name is Belen Bustamante and she is super super awesome.  She is Meg’s dream child--kinda quiet and really really smart and loves to read and if she wants to do something, she will do it.  Haha anyways I got to baptize her but the califone wasn’t working so it was ICE cold.  I’m pretty sure there were chunks of ice floating in the water. (Oh also my companion and I "cleaned" the font but then we forgot to scrub out all of the soap so in the font there was ice AND soap bubbles.... haha oops...)  Anyways it was super super cold so I made sure that I did it right and shoved her straight down to the bottom of the font. Haha jk but for real it was kinda deep now that I think about it.

Anyways I hope that everybody has a good week. I love you all.  An Elder told me this week that I am only an Elder for 2 years so live it with pride.

Love ya’ll,

Elder Andy

I'm Grateful for This New Friend

2/10/14

This week was pretty interesting. I wish just for one day you guys could be here to meet the people I met. One day this week as we were walking out of the house I was locking up the door and I heard some guy start shouting out to us. I thought to myself "ah not again" because I’ve met this guy has got something way wrong in the head so he’s always yelling when he talks. He came up to us and started yelling about he knows the word of god and all about the Virgin Mary and what not. I knew that he lived by our investigator named Jesus (who we baptized this week I’ll talk more about him in a minute) so we started walking to his house and he’s telling us about
how he was from England and how he is the nephew of Prince Charles. He’s also the nephew of Princess Diana who lives in Hollywood right now. Stuff like this he was telling us for about 15 as we walked him to his house.
That was only the start of the day. A little bit later we went visited these 3 guys who tend an eyeglasses shop/ taco stand. As we showed up on of the guys took of in his taxi and the other two we talked to for about 5 minutes. The guy who took of came back with another man who turned out to be a father of different church. He pulled out of his bag a way long scarf thing that went down to his knees, put both hands in the air and started
praying while the other guys are yelling amen. My companion was just shaking his head and I was just thinking about how dump we all looked. I got the heck outta there as fast as we could because this guy just wanted to fight us but it made me think if people think Mormons are weirdos just come see the churches down here.

Later in the week I got to go to Temazcal. We had divisions and I went with Elder Layton to his area. Its way way pretty and Elder Layton is pretty awesome. He has 3 months in the mission and is from Fruit Heights Utah.

On Sunday we baptized Jesus Mendez. This guy cracks me up. He is way funny because of the stuff he does. Like the other day we took a member with us to teach him. When he said the closing prayer, he said in his prayer " Heavenly Father, I’m grateful for this new friend I made even though I'll forgot his name, I’ll ask what it is after the prayer." Just stuff like that he’s always doing and it kills me. He also told us that that nut who talked with us is named Jamie and one time Jamie snuck into his house and started smoking weed with his other buddy. When Jesus Mendez told them to leave they responded, “NO we were wounded in the war. You can’t disrespect us like that.” And they refused to leave his house haha.

I love you guys a ton and I hope all is going well.
Elder Kimball

The Empire Strikes Back

Helllloo,

Ok well… I think that I finished off with the Evangelists.  They are super awesome and they told us that they are going to buy me a hymnbook.  Anyways, something that I think is super super funny and I almost laugh every time is when we say a prayer here.  I don’t know why but everybody in Ezeiza is Evangelista and evangelistas talk during the prayer.  They say their own prayer or amen or halleluiah or something along those lines.  So I will be praying in all seriousness and then somebody will shout out HALLELUYAH! I don’t know if I should wait for them to stop or if I should just keep on going so usually I just try to truck through the prayers.  

Also in this matter I don’t know what to do when they are praying... Haha should I pray and say hallelujah too?  I usually just stay quiet but sometimes its a little fun to join in on the action.

I don’t know why but everybody, EVERYBODY loves soap operas here so whenever we go into a house, no matter who it is, a grandma, or a boy of 5 years they will be watching a soap opera...  But this week we walked into a house and a grandpa was watching a soccer game.  It was like jumping into cool water on a hot summer day.  Just so dang refreshing to see something different than coffee with a hint of woman for a change.  Too bad 3 minutes later we had to ask him to turn it off... 

This week we ate lunch with a member named sister Bellezan.  Her husband is super super funny and isn’t a member so is always making jokes about how he spiked the drink because he knows that we don’t drink and stuff like that.  We were talking and eating lunch when he asked me "What’s wrong with your watch? Is that a women’s watch?"  I was trying to keep it a secret but to you who are reading, yes, yes it is.  

2 days later I called a grandma in our ward.  I started talking "Hermana! How are you?" and she answered "Erika? Erika?"  

"No Hermana, its the elders..."

"Oh... sorry... I thought that it was Hermana Erika talking..."

2 times in 1 week?!!?  I don’t know what’s going on but 2 people in 1 week have thought that I was a girl... Looks like puberty did absolutely nothing for me.

This week my companion and I were getting chased by all sorts of dogs.  Big ones, little ones, fat ones, skinny ones, every possible dog was chasing us.  Until yesterday when we decided not to take any more of it.  There were 3 or 4 dogs chasing us and our heart pounding in our ears as we pedaled as fast as humanly possible when one came out of nowhere and I almost hit it.  

We noticed that because I almost hit it the little guy ran off.  We started to test it on the other dogs in the block and to our amazement it worked on every single one.  So we decided to go back and get some revenge on the mutts.  As we were scaring off the little doggies I’m not sure what was funnier, watching the dogs run off or seeing the crazy maniac pleasure in my companions eyes as we chased them on our bikes.

This week I was trying to work on praying more specifically for things in my life.  If you want a specific answer, you need a specific question.  So I was praying that we could find 3 new people today that wanted to hear our message. 

We left the pension and went to work.  We had divisions with some of the kids in our ward so it was a kid named Cesar and I looking for a members house. But with me only having 6 weeks here I got quite lost and we realized that we’d have to ask for directions.  I saw a man and his wife outside drinking mate so I went over to talk to them.  We started talking about where the street was and then about what we were doing and who we were.  We then started talking about our message and what it can do for the family.  Then their son walked out of the house and they told us that they were busy but they can meet up with us the next day. 

Haha I was so dang amazed that we received an answer so dang fast. It totally pumped me up to go teach the whole day and I am so stoked to teach them this week.

Anyways, I love you guys. 

Love,

Andy

The Latest from Cole

Hey guys, what's up? This week was really good. We have been having a lot of fun in the trio, but also we have been working harder, and seeing some fruits. It has been an awesome transfer so far.

So we had a huge bummer this week. There were these three investigators Janet(18), Carlos(14), and Juan(15) that were scheduled to be baptized on Saturday. They were interviewed on Thursday night, and all passed and were ready to go. Then, Saturday morning, a few hours before the baptism, they called and said it was a no-go. They told us their father didn't think they were ready. We went over and talked with the father (it was the first time because he was always working), and he basically said no. We talked with Janet and Juan and Carlos a little more, and Carlos said that he didn't feel ready at this time. That was a huge bummer. They are super cool kids, haha the two guys love me because I dunked after soccer one day. It was a bummer though. 

Conference is this week and I'm pretty excited. It'll be my second conference out here. They should match up with my 6 month marks more or less, so that's a good way of keeping track haha. 

Anywhey, Dad is right, it is tough to communicate with 1 letter per week, but no big. Here are some answers-

I can't order the new scriptures. It says "processor error" or something every time. I can't figure it out haha. I'll try again this week though. 

I can't figure out the bike computer either. Again, more info next week.

Yadira's daughter had her baby this week, so we haven't seen them since Sunday. Hopefully we get to see them soon. 

I talked to SLCC, and basically the only thing they could do was give me a D in the class and give me a diploma, so I took it. I am super bummed about that, but I couldn't do anything else... Either way, be on the lookout for the diploma one of these days. 

Here are some pictures of my comps- Elder Munoz reminds me of a Mexican Easton haha, and Hepworth is just super funny, I can't even describe him. We have a ton of fun, but sometimes it's hard to be the one to say lets get back to work, especially because they've been out here for longer. Anywhey, hope all is well!

Love,

Coal

For more photos go to: http://called2swerve.blogspot.com/

Elder Cook: February Update

Feb 3, 2014
Well this last week was pretty good! We were able to see a lot of people and things are going great! Well first I dont have much time today because we have to drive to a place called Window Rock and it is like an hour and a half away and the other Elders still have to email and we have to leave around 12. So this one might be a little short. But our investigator Billy is doing great! He told us how he made a promise with God, that if he got out of jail then he would do his best to serve Him. So that was really cool! And also yesterday he paid Fast Offerings and that was way cool! He is really trying his best! And he still paid even though he has like no money and they dont even have electricity and also they dont have any wood which is how they keep warm at night out here. They have wood burning stoves out here so that is how they stay warm! That is crazy and so much different than back home. I am still loving it out here in the middle of nowhere! Round Rock is a way cool place.
Love,
Elder Cook

Feb 10, 2014
Well good morning everyone! This last week was pretty slow but we were able to see some investigators that are progressing. We went and saw this guy named Billy, and he has decided to quit drinking and smoking for good. So i hope that he can overcome it! He is way cool and he loves reading the Book of Mormon and he always prays all the time and also he says he wishes he could live at the church! He is way cool and we always are praying for him! And i know that he could easily overcome it with all three of those things! CPR. Church. Pray. Read. But also we went to see this family that wants to get  baptized and the only thing that was holding them back was that they were not married yet. But just this last week they got a marriage license and they want the Bishop here to marry them this week! So once they get married, all they have to do is come to church the next 3 weeks and they will be able to be baptized! I am way excited for them! The people out here are so awesome! I love them all no matter who it is! They are all just so humble out here and they go through really hard times and it is crazy to see how strong they are and how faithful they are! But also we do basketball nights here every Friday night because everyone loves basketball here, and it was pretty cool this last time. We had the some of the Chinle boys high school basketball team come and they are really good!!! They were running circles around everyone! But they are #1 in this area so of course they are going to be good! But of the members here goes to Chinle and all the parents know the basketball players and they were saying how surprised they were that they would come to a basketball game here at the church. It was pretty cool! They were all really cool too, they were really good and had a lot of respect and they were just having a great time! Probably because they were laughing at how bad i am at basketball! haha but it was still way fun! Anyway that was really cool! And then also this weekend was transfer weekend so we found out transfer news this last Saturday night! And while we were waiting we started a campfire in our backyard and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows! It was way fun! It was me and my companion Elder McCarrey and the other two Elders that live with us, Elder Nicholson and Elder Peterson. And also the senior couple missionaries here, the Andersons! It was pretty fun! But i guess i will tell you the news now. So my companion, Elder McCarrey is leaving to a place called Dilcon. And Elder Nicholson who was our District leader here, is leaving to be District leader in Sheep Springs... Ha they are weird names! And Elder Peterson and I are getting  trainee's, so a brand new missionary fresh out of the MTC. So we will both be trainers! I am way excited, but nervous at the same time! Ha hopefully i will know my way around.... Which i dont at all! So we will probably be getting lost a lot. And we might have to stay the night in our truck a couple of times because i will get us lost! Ha hopefully it doesnt come down to that! But a little rez town in our area called Rock Point... I have only been there twice.... And there are a lot of dirt roads and back roads that go on for miles.... We are probably going to get lost! Ha but it will be fun! My trainee will probably think i am crazy though! Ha because i have no idea where to go, but i want to go explore and find some people way out there! Oh and also a Navajo culture thing is that they point with their lips and say "way over der!" Its pretty  funny and i am picking it up a little bit. Ha its weird. But anyway, love you all and i hope you all have a great week!!!

Love,

Elder Bradley Thomas Cook

Feb 17, 2014

Well things are great here in Many Farms/Round Rock area! I got my new companion this last week! His name is Elder Quijano and he from Grand Junction, Colorado! He also graduated this last 2013 and i am actually only older then him by one month! So we are pretty close in age! But anyway things are great and i am looking forward to this next transfer! Elder Quijano is Latin American and he actually use to live in Mesa, Arizona for a little! But he is doing awesome! He came straight out from his home.. He didnt go to the MTC, which is crazy! He was home exactly one week ago! So yeah! He is doing well though for coming straight out of the MTC! But this last week was kind of a slow week! That is alright! Oh and also sorry for not sending any pictures for awhile! I will have to send some when i get the opportunity to! But anyway this last week we went to go see Billy and he is doing well! He did miss church last week but he came yesterday! he was out of town last week and that was something that he was actually praying for because he just wanted to get away from where he was living! So he was really happy about that and he is doing well! He is going to help one of the members clean the church this upcoming Saturday! He is so awesome! We had a lesson with him on Friday and we just read from the Book of Mormon and the same verse stuck out to both Billy and I and we were talking about that one verse for like 20 minutes! Ha so that was a way cool experience! He loves reading the Book of Mormon! Also we have some other investigators that we put on date to be baptized march 8th! Elder Quijano actually invited them! That is part of the 12 week training program that we have! the new missionary has to extend all the baptismal invitations his first week! So it was awesome! He did great! Hopefully we will be able to put some more on date this upcoming week! Anyway things are going great! We are going to go out with our Bishop today and he is going to dedicate our areas to missionary work so that will be way cool! I am just loving it out here and it has been really good weather here! Too bad it is just all dirt and no grass or anything! But anyway if there is anything that i have missed then just let me know next week! Well i think that covers just about everything!?? ha i forget a lot because so much goes on! Anyway i hope you all have a great week and i will talk to you next week!!!

Love,

Elder Cook

Feb 24, 2014

Good morning everyone! We are doing emails an hour early today because we are going to Window Rock today for a Zone Activity and also a Zone training! So we have to leave around 10 15. But anyway things are going really well here! We had a really good week last week! So we are excited for this upcoming week! But last week was an awesome week! We have an investigator named Tamara and she is 17 years old and she is a really smart girl! But this last week we taught the Law of Chastity at the church with a member and we got to the music part and she likes like heavy metal music and so we taught her how we have to listen to good things because thoughts leads to words and words lead to actions. Anyway we brought up the music part and she pulled out her i-pod right there on the spot and started deleting a bunch of music! It was way awesome! Ha it was hard for her but she did it! And so i told her about some of the music that i listened to back home that were good songs to listen too and she likes the music that i told her about! Also we gave her a EFY soundtrack! ha so that was way awesome! And also she gave a talk yesterday in Sacrament meeting and so that was way awesome! She goes to seminary every morning and all the seminary students had to give a short talk and she did it! It was way cool and she did a really good job! Whats amazing is that she isn't even a member yet! So yeah that was a cool experience! Also we went to see one of our investigators named Billy and he is doing really well! He is reading and praying and going to church! We told him about reading and praying to know if the Book of Mormon was true and he said that he was going to start doing it! Then we followed up on him and he said that he didn't get his answer yet but he knows it will come eventually! So he is doing awesome! And also his brother that stabbed him comes to church with him and they bring their nephews to church! It is so cool! Also Billy forgave his brother for stabbing him and now they both come to church every week! Ha they are so cool! But also Elder Quijano and i are doing well! He is a quick learner! Ha i feel like i don't even have to do much! Anyway things are going really well and that is what has been going on this week! Thanks for all the emails and have a good week everyone! Love you all!!!

Love,

Elder Bradley Cook