Happy Birthday Lawrence!

December 27th was Lawrence's 21st birthday! Since we couldn't invite him over for a party, we all sent him our own birthday greetings. From three different states, here are the messages my family sent to him:

California:


My parents had a bunch of family over for an after-Christmas dinner on Sunday. They invited everyone to wish Lawrence a happy birthday.

Jenny (sister), Patty (aunt), Christine (aunt), Michelle (cousin), Liesel (cousin, holding baby Cade), Cody (Liesel's husband), Grant (uncle), Abuela (grandmother), Robert (cousin), Dad, Mom, and in front, Spencer and Madelyn (Michelle's kids)

Washington:

My sister Julie and her husband Dave remembered Lawrence from their cozy apartment


Utah:


Joel and I used our kids as an excuse to get out of the picture :). It was hard to keep them still and holding up the signs!

We love you, Elder Williams! Happy birthday!

Christmas and a Birthday

All of the missionaries who were at the Christmas Party who had served or are serving in Rivadavia, San Juan. It was quite the reunion.

President Jarvis showing off his accordian skills. I worked a lot with President Jarvis in the offices and it was good to see him again. Every so often he'll call me if there's a problem the offices can't fix. It's Elder Williams to the rescue.

From my surprise birthday party with the cake the Sister Missionaries made for me

Me with "Santa Claus" Elder Brown :)

Dear Family,
Thank you all so much for your love, letters, pictures, prayers, and support!!! It was so good to talk to Dad, Mom, Jennifer, and Abuela on Christmas. This was quite the Christmas week with a trip to Mendoza, some Christmas dinners, and even a birthday. Wednesday morning, bright and early, we headed on bus to Mendoza, arriving there at about 8:00 in the morning. The first thing was a getting-to-know-you game with random questions like, “What color is your toothbrush?” We then had to find someone else who had the same answer and we’d sign each other’s papers. After that was the White Elephant gift exchange. I think I got quite the gift: two ice-cube trays, a plastic juicer, and a package of alfajores, all in the same bag! My gift was two Rubik’s Cubes that I had found in the apartment from previous missionaries. The funny thing is that the previous owner of those cubes was at the party and he said, “I think I was the one who left those cubes there.” The cubes ended up going to Elder Christensen who is my great-grandson as Historian of the Mendoza Mission. He’s supposedly pretty good at Rubik’s cubes too. Soon after the chaos of the White Elephant gift exchange we played some Christmas games like the inflatable-ball relay (I don’t know what it has to do with Christmas but it was fun anyways). Each zone had prepared two skits for a mission talent show which we had afterwards. Our zone did a skit and then the New Zealand Haka (I think it’s spelled like that, but I think Joel would know better) just like the BYU Football team does before every game. Even the Sister Missionaries participated which made it even scarier :) . After scaring all of the other zones we had a nice lunch which had been prepared by the Rastelli family from Godoy Cruz. The father is the Second Counselor in the Mission Presidency and former Bishop of the Villa del Parque ward which shares the chapel with San Ignacio where I was not too long ago (ok, over a year ago actually). The table of desserts was overflowing with all kinds of goodies, every child’s dream. We all had a good time and got to meet up with old friends. We took a picture with all of the missionaries there who had served in Rivadavia before, and there was actually a good number of us there.
Christmas was spent with the Quiroga family with an unbelievably good dinner (it was really good). We were a little behind on buying everything we were going to bring so we ended up bringing sandwiches instead of empanadas but it worked out because we weren’t actually going to eat the empanadas as the main part of the meal. We didn’t exactly have Martinelli’s so we just bought some Sprite and a box of apple juice. There were tons of fireworks which makes me glad I don’t have to buy any because everyone else buys them and I can just watch them for free :) . Fortunately Hermano Eduardo Quiroga drove us home in his mom’s car so we made it home safe and sound (although there weren’t that many people on the street anyways, just in their backyards).
I’m almost out of time but I’ll tell you about my surprise birthday party. We went to church and everything and were planning on the usual Missionary Correlation meeting at 5:00 PM after lunch and everything. Afterwards it turned out that the meeting was moved to 8:00 PM since the Ward Mission Leader couldn’t be there at 5:00. We arrive at the meeting and instead of a meeting, “Surprise!” it was a birthday party :) . We watched some videos the mission had sent out to everyone on DVD for Christmas and then ate some cake that the Sister Missionaries had made. It was all quite fun.
Well, I have to go but I thank you all again for all you’ve done to wish me a happy birthday and I thank you so much for thinking of me. I hope you all have an excellent week and a Happy New Year!!! I love you all!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams

Merry Christmas!!!

received December 21st

Pictures from Zone Conference

Dear Family,
Thank you all so much for your letters, love, support, and prayers. I can’t believe it’s already Christmas time! We’re all getting ready for Wednesday when we’ll be heading to Mendoza for the mission Christmas party. Yesterday the zone watched the rebroadcast of the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. I loved the music and the messages from the First Presidency. It would have been nice to watch it in English but it was recorded to a VHS Cassette so it could only hold one language and obviously they weren’t going to choose English. At the very least the music was in English :) . When the congregation sang it had the words at the bottom of the screen in English so everyone else pulled out a hymn book to sing in Spanish. I just read the words to sing in English but I don’t think anyone noticed. It was a wonderful fireside. I hope we can all apply what we’ve learned from those messages.
Ok, question time:

Jennifer:

“What are your plans for Christmas?”

Eduardo and Ingrid Quiroga have invited us over to their house for Christmas Eve so we can all have a big dinner together as is Argentine tradition. The non-traditional part is that we’ll already be back in our apartments by 12:00 midnight as opposed to starting dinner at 12:00 midnight. On Christmas day we’re going to have a big Chimbas Zone breakfast with all the pancakes you can eat. I volunteered to be on the cooking team so I’m excited about that. For lunch Christmas day we’ll get together as a district and make something fun like noodles (ok, noodles might not sound like fun to you but they are). After being unbelievably stuffed with food we’ll head off to the local hospital to get our appendix removed (just kidding). Actually we’re going to sing to the patients and bring them a little Christmas cheer and maybe some treats too.

“Soooo how was your week elder? Have any fun stories?”

Not too many fun stories but an update on the Sister Missionary’s door I got to kick in: Hermano Nuñez put everything back together again and all it needs is some paint and it’ll all be good.

Mom:

“What time on Christmas day do you want us to call?”

Ok, after a little thinking, it’ll probably be best if you can call at or after 8:00 PM my time which should be about 3:00 PM your time. There’s 5 hours difference so you can call as late as 10:00 PM my time which would be 5:00 PM your time. I’ll be waiting at 8:00 PM but if you don’t call then I’ll understand that you were going to call later (I guess that goes without saying).

Lisa: ok you didn’t have any questions (unless I just forgot about them) but really quickly, don’t forget about Mormon.org.

Ok, I have to run off to a Zone “get-together” which then extends into the Zone “meeting” (I don’t get it either). I love you all!!! Have a Merry Christmas!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams

I just thought I would tell you...

Lawrence will be home TWO MONTHS FROM TODAY!

22 down, 2 to go doesn't sound so bad, does it?

I'm excited.

That is all.

-Lisa

The Reason for the Short and Late Letter

Zone conference was on Monday. This is one of five pictures I found on Hermana Lindahl's blog of the different zones. That's a lot of missionaries in one place! Can you find Lawrence?

Really Quick

Dear Family,
Thank you so much for your love, letters, prayers, pictures, Packages, and support!!! I did get both packages from Mom yesterday at zone conference. I thought they were going to wait until Christmas but it appears that they didn't want to have to hold on to the crazy amount of packages that 200 missionaries have received. I'm kind of short on time so I'm hoping I'll be able to write again today but I have some great stories to tell.
I got to kick in a door on Sunday :D ! The Sister Missionaries had lost the keys to their apartment and the locksmiths were going to charge $120 pesos (a horribly expensive amount) and they were going to kick in the door too! We figured we might as well do it and I got to do the honors. With a few kicks the wooden door gave way and the Sisters were able to get back into their apartment. Luckily we were able to repair the door (the lock didn't break fortunately) that night and even more luckily is that the Sisters have another gate that completely seals off the entrance to their apartment (as in there's no way to jump over because it's a complete enclosure from top to bottom).
We also had Zone Conference yesterday which was amazing and I'll tell you more about it later. I love you all!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams

So Many Pictures!

Lawrence sent us about 50 pictures this week! Not sure how he did it, but I'm glad he did! Most of them are old. Here are my favorites. I have a lot of favorites.
























Dear Family,
Thank you all so much for your love, letters, pictures, prayers, and support!!! I'm a little short on time for sending all that I sent but since a picture is worth a thousand words I must have just sent enough words until the end of the mission. Cyntia, Nahuel, and Celeste got baptized this Saturday!!! We were really happy and it was a beautiful service. It was actually one of the most peaceful baptismal services I've ever had in the mission. I was even able to make brownies for the refreshments (which turned out amazing) and then played the piano for the musical number during the service. It was indeed: "Más Cerca Dios de Ti" since that is one of the few songs I can play with both hands. It's actually a really high-pitched song but fortunately with the fancy electronic piano technology I was able to drop the pitch by no fewer than 5 notes. It was way low but we were all able to sing it and it sounded great. I baptized Cyntia and then confirmed Nahuel on Sunday. I also gave three baptismal interviews in Retiro, San Juan which is where the Zone Leaders are (I'm technically the District Leader of the Zone Leaders but since they don't actually pertain to a district I'm kind of not...I guess it only works when they need baptismal interviews).
In other news, Cristian Funes who was baptized about five months ago received the Sacerdocio de Melquisedek (I can't spell Melquisedek in English so I spelled it in Spanish but I think you all know how to translate that one). We always called him Presbitero Funes since he goes on divisions with the Missionaries a lot. Now he's an Elder so he's "part of the club" :) .
A lot of fun and exciting going-ons occurred this week but that's the gist of everything. It actually turned out to be a longer letter than I thought. I love you all so much!!! Have an excellent week!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams

Happy Monday!

This is an old picture from when Elder Torres first started the mission. He's the Elder in the yellow T-shirt on the far right of the picture. Next to him is his trainer, Elder Villalba.

This came from the mission offices. It's kind of like an advent calendar that the mission offices sent to everyone. I thought I'd pass it on to ya'll.

Dear Family,
Thank you all so much for your letters, love, prayers, pictures, and support!!! Well, transfers came and I’m still here in Rivadavia. Elder Rios however was sent to Colonia Bombal in Maipú, Mendoza. I’m now with Elder Torres from Perú! He came in from Ugarteche which is technically in Lujan de Cuyo. He was also studying Computer Science before the mission but he was studying more of the hardware aspect, IT stuff. On the day of transfers Elder Rios left a little early so he could get to Maipú quickly. He left me with Hermano Quiroga who is the Stake Mission Leader for the Chimbas, San Juan Stake. While we were waiting we sent off all of the other missionaries and stayed in the San Juan Terminal. It turns out that Elder Rios had made it to the Guaymallén, Mendoza Terminal (the largest terminal in Mendoza) before Elder Torres had left for San Juan. Elder Torres was supposedly going to travel with the other missionaries coming up from Mendoza so when their bus came in we started looking for him. Lo and behold, he was not on the bus. We asked the other missionaries if he had come with them and they said he hadn’t so we were getting a little worried. Then, right behind us, pulls up another bus from Mendoza and sure enough Elder Torres was on THAT bus, and all was well. Hermano Quiroga brought us over to his house where we had lunch and then off to the apartment to clean and let Elder Torres unpack. We were supposed to take pictures of the apartment after we cleaned but since it was already pretty clean, we took pictures of the apartment and then started cleaning. I’m sure we’re going to get a gold star for that one :) .
Well, I hope you enjoy the few pictures I was able to send but I thank you all for your love and for your letters!!! I love you!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams

P.S. I can’t believe there’s finally an In-N-Out in Utah!!!
P.P.S. I haven’t gotten the Christmas Packeges yet but I think that Hermana Lindahl is actually going to hold on to them until the Christmas Party so that no one opens their packages before Christmas.

Still waiting to find out about transfers

The first is a gift from Cristian Lopez who was baptized not too long ago and the second is a gift from Marianela Silva Vega, also a recent convert, from her 15th birthday party.

(This first one looks so much like the souvenirs my mom has from her mission!)

There were some questions about the apartment so here are some pictures.

Dear Family,
Thank you all so much for your letters, love, prayers, pictures, and support!!! We’re all waiting anxiously for transfers which supposedly will be made known this morning. At this point just about anything is possible so there’s no telling what might happen. There are a few transfers that we do know. For example, Elder Rios’s brother is going to San Martín II which is where I started! I hope he can say “hi” to all of the wonderful people I remember down there. We’ve been working a lot this week with Cristian Funes, a recent convert here in Rivadavia. He loves coming with us to appointments to help us teach and fellowship investigators. He’s even received a calling to take care of the chapel and keep it clean, a calling he’s very diligent in fulfilling. He’s even been invited to Missionary Correlation meetings since he works so much with the missionaries, with us and even with the Sister missionaries. Just a few weeks ago he had his appendix removed but he’s still working strong with us.
We’ve also been working with our new Ward Mission Leader. Last Saturday we had a missionary activity to teach members how to share their testimony of the Book of Mormon. It started out with everyone in two rows of chairs talking about six questions we had written on a chalkboard. We showed a video afterward from another mission that shows the story of one member who shared a Book of Mormon with a guy in her class. In the end were some practices with Elder Rios of how to share the Book of Mormon with someone to help them with whatever problem they’re going through. We even had the Bishop share the Book of Mormon with one of the members of the church who attended the activity. It was quite fun and we had a good refreshment afterwards which is the key to just about any activity.
La pregunta de la Hermana Julie: “Are Argentina and Uruguay rivals in soccer?” Yes. Argentina is still a little bitter about that one World Cup that Uruguay won, but Argentina has been more times to the World Cup I think.
Ok, I’m out of time but I love you all and I hope you like the pictures! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams

Pictures from a Fun P-Day

This is the infamous Zonda race track that we were able to see as we toured Zonda today.

This is actually a man-made lake up in San Juan that we got to visit. We obviously couldn't go in the water but we did have a lot of fun around it.

This is the road that leads to the man-made lake. With all of the palm trees you'd think we went to California for P-day.

Dear Family,
Thank you all so much for your letters, love, prayers, and pictures!!! We’ve been working here in Rivadavia, San Juan, looking forward to the baptism this Saturday of Nahuel and Cyntia. Almost every morning this week we went to their house to teach them the missionary lessons. Their sister, Marianela, who was baptized a week ago, said they’ve even been paying more attention to their parents and behaving themselves a little bit better. We have an appointment tonight to see how they’re doing and to continue teaching them so that they can be baptized on the 21st of this month. We’re all excited.
Today we were in Zonda which is just west of our area (according to the ward map it is in our area but according to the other people it isn’t in our area so we’re not sure). That’s where the infamous Viento Zonda comes from, a strong wind that can reach all the way down to southern Mendoza. There are tons of hills and caves which cover a large amount of land. There’s also a race track for professional auto racing that we were able to see from one of the hillsides. Unfortunately the museum was closed but we were still able to walk all over the place looking at an abandoned hotel which seems to be a popular location for Paint-balling now.
Ok, questions:

Jennifer: “I was wondering.. have you ever been chased by dogs down there?”

Just once have I ever really been chased by a dog but it gave up pretty fast. It was in my first area with Elder Parry but now I think the dogs are more afraid of us then us of them. You just bend over as if you’re grabbing a rock and they run away.

Lisa: “Describe the apartment you're in.”

It has a main room/kitchen with a bathroom and a bedroom. It’s not terribly large but it’s perfect for missionaries because it’s a lot easier to clean. We each have our own little table with a longer table in the middle for eating and companionship study.

“What is your companion like?”

Elder Rios is from Jujuy and likes having fun. He gets along really well with all of the members who are basically all his friends. He’s a really hard worker too. I never have to worry that he’s not going to talk to people on the street or not teach in a lesson.

“How do you get around each day?”

We mostly walk but we take bus whenever we have to go really far. We take the bus to “La Bebida” which is where most of our investigators live.

Mom:

“By, the way, we should ask what number do we need to call on Christmas day?”

The new number is [deleted! MUA hahaha! :) ]

Ok, I’m out of time but I love you all!!! Bye!!!

It's "Más cerca Dios de Ti" not "Nearer My God to Thee"

Before you read this, I want you to direct your eyes over to the right...under the pictures of Lawrence and Elder Rios. Look at the countdown...we are under 100 days! Woo hoo!!



Dear Family,
Thank you all so much for your love, letters, support, prayers, and pictures!!! First of all, I wasn't thinking about going home which is why I changed my mind from sending "God Be With You Til we Meet again" to "Nearer my God to Thee." Julie indeed guessed right, but only partially. The surprise (it's not that big or life shattering really) is that I can play several songs on the piano, including the two aforementioned hymns, but with both hands!!! Elder Sander in my second area (way back when in San Ignacio) told me where the notes are on the page and where they relate to on the piano. From there I found, note-by-note, where the notes from various songs are and slowly started practicing. That's probably almost a year and a half ago when I started practicing and now I've learned a handful of songs, though most of them one-handed. We have 2 Elders and 3 Hermanas in one ward and yet I'm the only one who attempts to play the piano. I've played for Priesthood, Baptismal Services, and they're thinking of asking me to play for sacrament if the other lady in our ward doesn't show up. Every time we're in the chapel waiting for a meeting to start or for lunch I love practicing the piano and learning a new song. I can't wait to practice more. Suddenly the piano sounds so much more beautiful. Wow, Julie guessed right off the bat what the surprise was so I didn't have enough time to make you all wonder for weeks and weeks.
Well from there I'll move right into question time:

Julie:

"Did Lisa send you a picture of Allie and Jake?"

Yes, they looked so great in their costumes.

"Also did you know that Dave is a direct descendant of Hyrum [Smith]?"

I didn't know but that makes quite a church history family. Future children will be direct descendants of both.

Mom:

"It's that time of the week again and here we have just 100 more days to go! Is that your big surprise?"

I was actually looking on the cellphone calendar the other day and when I found out it was 100 days I just cringed. From other Elders I found out that they send the itinerary pretty early so I figured ya'll already had it.

Lisa:

"Do you have any questions for us??"

Um...the only thing I can think of is, has anyone tried Windows 7 yet?

"What is your favorite thing to eat in Argentina?"

Probably pastel de papas (shepard's pie), empanadas, and alfajores.

"What do you miss the most about the US? Don't say us, even though we KNOW that's the answer :)"

Probably having my own ("own" being a relative term) computer to use but I don't miss it that much.

"What is your favorite ice cream flavor in Argentina?"

There's a flavor called "Brownie" which has brownie bits with dulce de leche and sometimes banana. It's amazing.

"Do they have dulce de leche granizada in Argentina?"

They do! It's always the first flavor that runs out since everyone loves it.

Well, I'm already out of time but next week I'll send pictures of the dam we visited today. It's really beautiful and amazing because San Juan is mostly desert so any water is beautiful and amazing. I love you all!!! Have an excellent week!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams

Happy Zone Conference!

Dear Family,
Thank you all so much for your letters, love, support, and prayers!!! We’ve been having a pretty good week this week. Yesterday was Zone Conference which is why I’m writing on a Tuesday. It was also Hermana Lindahl’s birthday so we had a nice little fiesta with cake and goodies. By the way, Mom would be proud to know that Elder Rios and I won “Cleanest Apartment” at Zone Conference which meant we got a bowl of goodies from Hermana Lindahl. Tomorrow is President Lindahl’s birthday so the Zone Leaders from San Juan Nuevo Cuyo and Chimbas got together and made matching T-shirts for President and Hermana Lindahl.
This week we’ve also been working with Marianela, Mario, and Jessica who have baptismal dates for the 7th, 14th, and 21st of November respectively. Mario works for the Police. They have two children, including one with a learning disorder which causes his mental growth to be about half of the speed as his physical growth. They’re a wonderful family. Mario was really excited when he heard that he would have the opportunity to baptize his wife, which is why he’ll be baptized a week before Jessica, his wife. He told us “that means I’ll be like John the Baptist, right? That’s a big responsibility!” At first he felt like he wasn’t ready but we told him about when President Eyring received his call to be an Apostle and he felt he wasn’t ready yet. When we think about all that President Eyring has done in his life to prepare and to think that he didn’t feel ready when the call was extended to him it helps us realize that God knows better than we do how ready we are. Sometimes we forget just how amazing the callings are that we receive, even in everyday life. God trusts us more than we trust ourselves. We were so excited when Mario accepted the call to be baptized and to baptize his wife in return.
Marianela is progressing well and still talks about how she wants to be a missionary when she’s older. The family came to church this Sunday and once again had a great experience. Every time an investigator makes it to church it brings such a joy to just think that they’ve made a step towards God and returning to Him. It may take a lot of steps to make it back to Him but every step we make is important and wonderful.
Ok, Q and A time:

Mom:

“Ask [Elder Rios] if he knows the Barranco family or the Coco Coronel family?”

Yes! He says he recognizes all of those people.

“Would you please ask if he knows any of these people and the area he lives in?”

He lives in the capital of Jujuy, San Salvador, in Cuyaya to be more specific.

“How can you go through life and not experience all the wonders of this gospel?”

It’s difficult to imagine but people have their free agency to choose joy or not.

Lisa:

“WHAT IS THE SURPRISE???”

Just stay tuned for more hints, like this one: b #.

“The night I got your letter, I had a dream that you came home from your mission, and the surprise was that you were engaged! You don't want us thinking things like that, do you??”

Of course not!


Well, I’m out of time but I want you all to know I love you very much! Have an excellent week!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams

Lawrence sent out another email after this one. . .

Ok, Lisa said she had a dream that the surprise was that I was engaged. What kind of unfocused missionary do you think I am?!? That would be really funny though...really bad, but funny if it happened to someone else...ok maybe it wouldn't even be that funny. Anywho, I've attached a little clue to this e-mail so pay attention.
-Elder Williams
P.S. By the way the surprise is nothing all that life shattering like an engagement so don't worry. As soon as someone figures it out I'll tell everyone else.

The attachment was audio to the hymn "Nearer My God to Thee". My dad and I immediately thought the same thing- "The surprise is that the Titanic is sinking? :). We theorize that the surprise has something to do with Lawrence getting really close to the day he'll only have 100 days left. In fact, tomorrow is that day. I have heard missionaries refer to their mission as a lifetime, and so when it is about to end they are "dying". Perhaps that is where Nearer my God to Thee comes from. That's just a guess, so I guess we'll see! I have no idea what "b #" is about though...

A Little Spanish

The baptism of Gema Lopez!

Dear Family,

Thank you all so much for your letters, love, pictures, prayers, and support!!! We had another baptism!!! Gema Lopez was baptized by her father, Cristian who was baptized just last week! It was a wonderful baptismal service with the whole Lopez family there excited for the newest member of the church of Jesus Christ. We’ve been passing by their house all week helping them prepare for the baptism and everything. Cristian Lopez practiced a lot in order to be able to do the ordinance. Now the Lopez family is complete and they just need to wait a year so that they can go to the temple to be sealed for time and all eternity. It’s such a beautiful thing.

Marianela is preparing for her baptism on November 7th. This week we had the Sister Missionaries pass by to meet her and they all said she’s really ready for her baptism. She’s been studying and even takes notes on the pamphlets we give her which is really incredible. She wants to be a Sister Missionary some day so it was really good to have her meet real Sister Missionaries. The whole family (minus one son) came to church this Sunday and they loved it. They came to all of the classes and were able to meet the families in our ward. It’s actually a pretty big ward here so they were able to meet a good number of people. I also still have a pretty big surprise but I’ll just let ya’ll wonder about that one for a little while. Don’t let me forget though. I’ll drop some hints every once in a while.

We’ve been doing well here in Rivadavia. It’s funny to think that over there it’s almost Halloween but here I think Wal-Mart is the only one who’s celebrating. When we went there to send a fax I saw the Halloween section which was pretty small actually. Most people here think it’s the devil’s birthday or something but at the same time they don’t protest Halloween. They just don’t really care.

Today to celebrate P-day we went to the big park in downtown San Juan Capital to play capture the flag. In the end the sprinklers came on but we still played for a little while afterwards. A few people were playing for the first time but I think they enjoyed themselves. Afterwards we were trying to decide where we should eat lunch. Some wanted pizza, others empanadas, and another ice cream. In the end we found a street corner that had a rotisserie with empanadas right next to a pizza parlor right next to Grido Ice Cream. It was a sign. In the end we just all ended up getting empanadas. We were off by one dozen on the order so we had way too many empanadas to eat. I still have a bag of over a dozen sitting right next to the computer so I think we already have dinner all set.

Ok, Q and A time!

Lisa:

“What is up with these teams??” [referring to BYU's loss to TCU and the Angels' loss to the Yankees]

Nothing good apparently is up with them.

Mom:

“You will be home by that time, so we will all go and you can see Elder Barrow in person. Won't that be fun?” [Elder Barrow is a missionary Lawrence knew in the MTC who has served in my parents' ward]

That would be really fun. It’ll be weird seeing him still as a missionary and me not a missionary anymore.

Abuela: “Hola Lawrence como estas?”

¡Muy, muy bien! Ok, I’ll include my letter to Abuela here:

¿Cómo anda Abuela? He pensado mucho en usted estos últimos días. Espero que esta carta le encuentre bien. Estoy en Rivadavia, San Juan con Elder Ríos de Jujuy. Éste es uno de los mejores barrios donde he servido porque los líderes trabajan mucho. El Hermano Quiroga siempre nos llama para ver si estamos bien y para hablar de nuestros investigadores. Cuando hay una familia cerca de un investigador siempre nos ayuda para que el miembro pueda ir a la visita junto con nosotros. El acento acá es muy diferente también porque la ‘rr’ es como la ‘sh’ en inglés. Le quiero mucho y que tenga una semana buenísima.

(Lisa's rough translation: "How are you, Abuela? I have been thinking about you a lot recently. I hope that this letter finds you well. I am in Rivadavia, San Juan with Elder Ríos from Jujuy. This is one of the best areas I have served in because the leaders work hard. Brother Quiroga always calls to see if we are doing well and to speak with our new investigators. When there is a family close to an investigator, they always help us by sending a member to go with us to discussions. The accent here is very different as well because the 'rr' is like the 'sh' is English. I love you very much and have a wonderful week.)

I love you all so much and I can’t wait to hear from you next week! Bye!!!

Love,
Elder Williams

New Area and Companion

This is the picture of Cristian Lopez on the day of his baptism. We didn't all figure out to do a group picture so one picture is half of my district and the other picture is the other half (and because I realized I had never taken a district picture).

The Villegas family as I was saying goodbye

The view from our front door in Rivadavia. We live on the second story of a small apartment complex (four apartments).

First let me say this is the fastest Cyber Cafe I've ever been in which is why I'm sending so many photos. Ok, the first photo is the beautiful sunrise we get to wake us up every morning in my new area.

Next is Elder Rios with Elder Rios (I'll explain in the letter).

The last photo is of my last Branch Council in Pellegrini.

This lovely stream is actually our gutter but it looked really great in this picture.

Dear Family,
Thank you all so much for your letters, love, pictures, and prayers!!! I’m here in Rivadavia B, San Juan!!! It’s really amazing here especially because of how hard the ward works here to help us. Our ward mission leader (technically he was just called a week ago to the stake so he won’t be our ward mission leader as soon as they call a new one) was waiting for me with my new companion, Elder Rios. My first week here we already had a baptism! His name is Cristian Lopez and he lives in a town called La Bebida (the Drink literally). His wife was baptized a while ago as well as two of his daughters but he never had much interest in the church. As time went by he started learning more about the church and made some major changes in his life. He decided to be baptized this past Saturday and was confirmed yesterday. He also received the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday and will be baptizing his daughter Gema this coming Saturday. We also have the Espejo family who also lives in La Bebida (we have a lot of people from that neighborhood) who’s been progressing greatly. They’ve been reading in the Book of Mormon and say it’s brought a huge change in their family. They don’t argue like they used to, the family actually spends time together, and they feel there’s a lot more love between everybody. It’s nothing short of miraculous.
Our ward here works really hard to help the missionaries, making sure we have lunch every day, washing our clothes, and even accompanying us to appointments with investigators (of course they still say it’s easier to feed three Hermanas instead of 2 Elders). There are at least 6 ward missionaries and now 5 full-time missionaries so the ward is doing very well. We had over 70 people in church last Sunday which is pretty big for a ward here. We start with Priesthood and then end with Sacrament meeting which makes it pretty interesting as well. Also, yesterday was Mother’s Day here in Argentina so Elder Rios got to call his family. His parents had to call at least two missionaries, both their sons, which is even more interesting because they’re both in the same mission! Elder Rios and Elder Rios are actually both in San Juan. The funny part is that I met my companion’s brother before I met my companion since the brother was in Guaymallén when I was in Las Heras which are right next to each other. I thought I was going to be companions with the brother so when I got to the terminal in San Juan my first thought was “that’s not Elder Rios!” We’ve got a really good area, a really good zone, and I’m just glad I’m in such a good mission. The Wal-Mart is actually only a few blocks away but more important is the Grido ice cream which is even closer :) . Our area technically affects the entire rest of the mission actually. In our area is a city called Zonda which Mom might know about for the infamous Viento Zonda. It’s a hot wind that comes from the hills in Zonda and actually makes it all the way to Pellegrini, in the far south area of the mission. It’s just kind of a novelty to think the infamous wind is all because of our area :) . It’s been blamed for everything from really hot weather, to cancer (yeah, it’s kind of the scapegoat for everything).
Oh, I almost forgot question time! Julie: “So did you know that Argentina qualified for the World Cup?” I did actually (mostly because everyone keeps telling us how close they were to not qualifying). Mom: “Elder Williams will you please wish me luck and hope that I got a good grade on my test?” I will! “We also need to know what you want to register for, so we can do it for you.” If you look on BYU’s website (Lisa or Julie might be able to help you find it) there’s a section that lays-out all of the classes I need to take for my degree. I think it even explains which classes should be taken when so that’s probably the best place to look for which classes I should take. Lisa: “Isn't that funny?... Not too shabby, huh?... Wouldn't it be awesome, though, if somehow, some way, they played each other [the Angels and the Dodgers] in the world series?” Yes to all of the above.
Ok, I’m just about out of time but I hope you all have a wonderful week and I love you all!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams