Big News for Elder Williams!

This is what we did for P-day...it was amazingly amazing, unbelievable, and extremely awesome. We went to Villavicencio, I'll talk about it in the letter.

*If you were curious, Lawrence explains at the end why divorce is sometimes necessary for baptism.

Dear Family,

Thank you so much for your letters, love, and support!!! If things weren't amazing enough once again this week someone came up to us and said "Are you the missionaries? I was investigating the church a few years ago and my family and I really need your help." She wants us to teach her and she wants to come to church. It's really interesting because she works almost every day except Sunday in the morning and Monday which means we're going today to teach her and then her family will be able to come to church on Sundays. It's really exciting and it gets more exciting. Elder Swainston and I both got phone calls last night from President Lindahl. Elder Swainston is going to be transferred to be a District Leader in Estansuela over San Ignacio! He's going to be right next to my old area and will go on divisions with the Elders there so I told him to say hi to all of the people I know from San Ignacio. After President finished talking to Elder Swainston he told him to pass the phone off to me. President wanted me to go to the mission offices on Wednesday at 11:00 AM sharp because..........I'M TRAINING AND I'LL BE DISTRICT LEADER!!! I'll stay in San Miguel to train a new Elder straight out of the MTC, either Provo or Buenos Aires, I'm not sure yet. I'll also be district leader in my area which means I'll verify every week with the Elders in my district and report to the Zone Leaders. I'll also give a district meeting every Tuesday and go on divisions with the Elders in my district and occasionally with the Zone Leaders. It'll be a big change but I'm ready to hit the ground running.
In other news, today for P-day we went out to Villavicencio which all of the members said was a must. There's a water company called Villavicencio because they have a huge natural source of mountain spring water there which they get their water from. We rented a driver since there aren't any buses that go out in that direction and it was pretty expensive in Taxi. We actually asked if we could rent a car to which the Assistants said "Absolutely not!" The driver took us straight up to the hotel and then stayed there with us while we explored and took pictures. The hotel is huge and surrounded by various trails which have been formed by stone and brick which took us a little ways down the mountain into some beautiful foliage, trees, and ivy (but fortunately not the poison kind). The hotel has actually been closed since the '70s but they still take care of the outside as well as all of the land surrounding the Hotel. It's deep in the mountains and it took about an hour to get there but oddly enough it's technically still in our area (since the church doesn't leave empty spots in ward boundaries). We thought we had been there forever taking pictures and looking around and it turned out to only be about 2 hours in total. Unfortunately we rented the driver for the whole day but at least he took us all to our apartments and then to this Internet Café. Each way we only ended up spending about $20, which is amazing as well. It was just some company we found in the phone book too but it was really nice just to have our own group heading up to Villavicencio. I took probably around 100 pictures, all of which came out really well just because of how scenic the area is. I'm just lucky to live in a really beautiful part of Argentina. I hope everyone likes the pictures and has an amazing week! I love you all!!! Bye!!!

Love,
Elder Williams

P.S. the thing about divorce down here is that it takes about 5 years to get a divorce unless you pay an enormous sum to a lawyer. People who are living together and married to different people aren't keeping with God's law of chastity so they can't get baptized until their circumstances change. They can either move out or get married and they can't get married if they're not yet divorced from the other person. Since a lot of people here eventually separate from their spouses they tend to move in with other people before doing the divorce paperwork. Marriages take about a month but the actual divorce takes about 5 years.

P.P.S. Julie had a nice wisdom teeth experience. Elder Swainston told me he went to Wendy's after he got his wisdom teeth out and asked to talk to Wendy because she's "pretty." His mom got him a date out of it with the Wendy's worker.

Elder Williams enjoying the amazing scenery

Group shot of everyone that went.

More grandeaur

Playing Catch-Up

Lisa here.....

I have been seriously neglecting my Lawrence blog duties. If you aren't in the mood to read through the four letters I just posted, Lawrence is out of the offices, has been transferred, has a new companion (check out Elder Swainston on the right), and had a baptism! Exciting things are happening to our favorite missionary! By the way, look at Lawrence's countdown. We're in the 200's!

I hereby pledge to keep up with posting Lawrence's letters here on his blog from now on.

Is anyone else having déjà vu?

BAPTISM!!!

Dear Family,

Thank you all so much for your love, letters, support, e-mail, and prayers!!! WE HAD A BAPTISM!!! Luis Espinosa was baptized last Friday after waiting about 5 years for his divorce to go through so he could get married to the woman he's living with. Yesterday he was confirmed a member of the church and his family came in to see him, including his son who happens to be a returned missionary. He was so happy to finally be baptized and he reminded me a lot of Juan Carlos from San Martin II who I believe is still waiting for his divorce to go through. We had to find baptismal pants for Luis which wasn't as easy as we expected it to be. The nearest Elders who had pants that would fit him just happened to live in San Ignacio so we had to stop by the offices in Godoy Cruz in order to get a bus that went out to San Ignacio's apartment. Sure enough they put me to work while I was in the offices and I ended up updating Internet Explorer on two of the computers in order to get them ready for the big change to the Internet Office System that everyone thought I would be there for. I finally got to say goodbye to Hermana Jarvis since she nor her husband were there when I got transferred. I also got a letter from Elder Ryan Spencer while I was in the offices which was really nice. Poor guy sent the letter in February and it just barely got to Mendoza and he's only in Brazil!

In other news, winter is finally coming to Mendoza. We've been having summer-like weather up until only a few days ago and this morning was delightfully brisk. We don't even need to sleep with the window open anymore. Our apartment is really nice, granted not as nice as the office Elders' home but we're only 2 and not 12. We live behind the landlady which is really nice for security but not so nice for the loud dogs that are deathly afraid of the Elders so they run a distance away, bark at us, then run away again. It's kind of funny actually. The apartment's big enough for 4 and actually has two bunk-beds but we only have two living there right now. The members have been feeding us well and yesterday was the first time I had corn cake (tarta de maíz). It was pretty good actually, a shell of dough filled with corn. The best Argentine food I've been getting is probably the pastel de papa (potato cake). It's basically shepherd's pie with dough on the bottom with sugar and cinnamon on top. The milanesas are always amazing though.

How's the Carbon Canyon Ward doing anywho? It's kind of funny down here because there was a huge birthday party on Saturday that went well into the night, causing much of our Sunday attendance to drop. Sometimes I can understand why the Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate birthdays :) . I'm pretty sure everyone has at least 4 birthdays a year because every day is someone's birthday in our area. If you think a sweet 16 birthday party is big then you've clearly never been to a quinceañera. It's bigger than a wedding reception and costs more than many cars. It's not uncommon for the party to start in the morning and then go until breakfast the next day. It's pretty crazy, I'm not going to lie. Fortunately you only turn 15 twenty-six times in a lifetime (I swear ("Didn't you just turn 15?")). Well, I hope everyone is doing well and I hope you have a week so great that the 7 'o clock news will spend a half hour just talking about your week. I love you all!!! Bye!!!

Love,
Elder Williams

Received April 13th

So Elder Williams hasn't taken very many amazing pictures yet but here are some older ones.

Even the 90 cent (a.k.a. about 20 US cents) juice powder has an anti-theft magnetic strip on the back...

Dear Family,

Thank you all so much for your love, letters, prayers, and support!!! Wow it’s amazing to be a real missionary again! We’ve been finding people like crazy. Just yesterday we found a family in which the father was baptized in the Dominican Republic and now the wife is investigating the church and really believes it to be true but is waiting for her divorce papers. Luis Espinosa (I actually haven’t asked yet if he’s related to Hermana Espinosa (Rossi) who just received his divorce papers and just got married is going to be baptized this Friday so it just goes to show that even though divorce takes a long time here and makes a lot of people wait for baptism, it can be done.* We actually mentioned that to the family last night and it gave the mom a lot of hope. We also found a lady yesterday who said she really wants to get baptized but she just wants to go to another ward. She believes in the church and everything and her husband (I think it’s her husband) is already a member in our ward (just less active). We also have about 4 references from members that we’re trying to get in contact with (they work a lot so it’s hard to find them at home). The work here really is exploding and there are so many people just waiting to get baptized. It’s incredible! Elder Swainston is a little sad though because he’s probably going to be transferred at the end of this transfer which is in just a few weeks.

Yesterday was also my first Sunday in church in my own ward since last Sunday was General Conference. It’s actually probably a larger chapel than the Godoy Cruz Stake Center. There’s an amazing attendance of about 60+ members in sacrament meeting, including 2 of our investigators who are preparing for baptism. Instead of having sacrament meeting as the first meeting, it’s the last meeting on Sunday and starts at 11:00. Priesthood starts at 9:00 so it’s basically the exact opposite of most churches. I’m not quite sure why they hold the meetings backwards but I’m sure they have a good reason. For example, the two other companionships in our districts share a building in which 3 branches (Cementista, Municipal, and Bologne Sur Mer) attend so they have meetings all over the place. In San Ignacio we shared a building with Villa del Parque in which we started with Priesthood at 9:30 and they started with Sacrament meeting at 10:00. The assistants always got home from church after us which meant we were done with lunch earlier.

For Julie: wiping a hard drive, I’ve found, is actually a whole lot easier and a whole lot more effective for getting rid of viruses. My favorite part is that then I know for sure I got the virus and with all the unsurety in this world at least wiping the hard drive is sure.

For Mom: they haven’t actually given us any instructions about the Mother’s day phone call yet but here’s my cell phone number just in case I forget: [deleted]. The [deleted again] is the area code and usually for an international call you’ll drop the 0. I’m not 100% sure but I’m fairly sure the number you’ll have to call is [and again] since you might need to drop the [and again] from the [sorry! Last time]. I have to go to the offices tomorrow since Elder Swainston has an ingrown toenail so I’ll check while I’m there. If you ever want to call the number one day (making sure not to use a private number like our home phone) I’ll make sure not to answer and then e-mail you to let you know it worked, that way there shouldn’t be any charges or rule breaking.

Thank you again and I can’t wait to hear from you!!! I love you!!! Bye!!!

Love,
Elder Williams

*Lawrence was a little confusing in how he worded this. You do not have to get a divorce in order to be baptized. He is probably dealing with people who did not bother to get a divorce, but are living with other people. I will ask him to clarify exactly what he means in a future letter.

Received April 6th

Dear Family,

Thank you all so much for your letters, love, packages!!! Yes the package got here safe and sound with a cookbook, a letter, and a Williams shirt from the Utah Jazz. I’m going to play basketball 12 times better now for sure :) . Conference was amazing though we had to go through a few loops so we could watch it in English (which is what Elder Richard G. Scott counseled). On Saturday we found out we couldn’t get English in the Mendoza Stake Center and had to run off to the Guaymallén Stake Center where they had a connection already set up. Unfortunately the entire Guaymallén zone was there so we were a little bit in the back. Then for Priesthood session we were there until 11:00 at night when it got out and had to find a bus, which wasn’t the easiest thing in the world. The taxis were on strike that day (of all days) so we couldn’t grab a taxi from the terminal. The only bus we could find took us to our district leader’s apartment and then from there we were lucky enough to find a taxi that wasn’t on strike and got home pretty late. The following day (Sunday) we talked to the Stake President and talked him into giving us a TV though the only connection in the building we could find was in the cultural hall right behind the chapel. He let us have the entire back section but as more and more people started coming he had to open the other half and we had to scramble for a new place to watch conference. We ended up having to run the cables out a nearby door and watch conference outside. It was a pretty interesting experience but it shows how determined Elders can be to get conference. Watching the World Report between sessions was amazing as well and I think everyone is really excited for the Spanish LDS Bible to finally come out in September of this year. The bibles we have here for sale are nice and everything but there’s nothing quite like having all of the Joseph Smith Translations and cross-references in the footnotes. We might also have a Spanish Topical Guide and Biblical Dictionary though the Study Guide for the Scriptures is really nice too. We’ll see when the Spanish Quad comes out. During General Conference everyone really felt the power of the words of the General Authorities. Especially during my mission I feel like I’ve gotten a lot more out of Conference just because I’m living many more applications from the messages. Looking over my notes I noticed that just about anyone can get something different out of each Conference address. God really does know each and every one of us and knows exactly what we need to be happy. Another missionary asked me what I was looking to get out of Conference and I mentioned several things. During Conference it seemed like the talks were specifically aimed at answering any questions I had or discussing matters of concern. I really love General Conference and I know that the men and women who speak are really called of God. Those looking for the truth need not look farther than this very Conference. I am grateful for the living prophet we have, President Thomas S. Monson, and know we live in a blessed but trying time. I know the counsel of the General Authorities will help us to avoid pitfalls being set up all the time in this day. Thank you again for your love and I can’t wait to hear from you again!!! I love you all!!! Bye!!!

Love,
Elder Williams

P.S. DearElder.com and Pouch letters are always awesome, especially DearElder.com because it’s cheap as free and anyone can write a letter on that site to me.

Received March 30th

Dear Family,

Thank you all so much for your love, letters, and support!!! Well, for the first time in a little while I'm going to have a full hour of uninterrupted e-mail time because I’m in an Internet cafe in San Miguel. “Why is Elder Williams in San Miguel you say?...that’s a very good question. I GOT TRANSFERRED!!! I got a call Saturday night from President Lindahl letting me know that my time in the offices was ending and that I would be called to be a full time missionary again. Elder Salmon then got a phone call from President telling him he’d be an assistant after the end of the transfer. The next day I was already in San Miguel (it was pretty hard to pack but I got everything I needed). San Miguel is in Las Heras of Mendoza which means I’m in the area right next to Mendoza Centro. We had the Zone Leaders of Mendoza in our house for a little while while they were looking for a new apartment and they were excited to hear I was coming to their zone. My new companion is Elder Swainston who actually came with me in my group from the MTC (even though I didn’t meet him until I got on the bus to go to the airport). He got sick though while I was in the offices and had to go home for medical treatment but through a lot of work and recovery he managed to come back to the same mission though his end date is now a few months after mine. He needed a companion in the middle of transfers because his old companion, Elder Yakovich had to leave because of medical problems. So now here I am on my first P-day in my new area and I’m really excited to be able to work full time again. Working in the offices was described has having a full-time job as well as a full-time calling to missionary work. It was really good though and I learned a great deal. It’ll definitely help me out when I start out in my future career. The week before I left was pretty hectic since we were getting ready for zone conferences. I already gave my presentation on how to fill out a baptismal record and was planning on giving the same presentation in the zone conferences but then I got transferred so I guess things change :) . That’s ok though because Elder Stevenson should be able to give the presentation by now. I had to make sure he knew what he was doing as Historian of course. Granted I’ll see him tomorrow because the Mendoza and Godoy Cruz zones are having their zone conference together. I’ll have to see if they call on me to give the presentation and I’ll see if Elder Stevenson’s doing alright on his own. I still remember when Elder Maxfield left and I was nervous because it was all so new to me. Fortunately I had that document with everything I had to do on it. I learned a great deal reading that document and hopefully Elder Stevenson will learn a bunch from it too.

The area of San Miguel, at least according to the map, isn’t too much bigger than Trapiche. We have buses throughout the area though in case we’re in a hurry to get somewhere. We also have a Wal-Mart right in the corner of our area which is interesting (Elder Swainston is addicted to Wal-Mart doughnuts). It actually happens to be right in the corner of about three areas so we all have to share the Wal-Mart. My new district includes 3 wards (Cementista, Municipal, and Bologne Sur Mer) which are worked in by 2 companionships. Just about a transfer ago Elder Deuel was in that area and he also came with me in my group from the MTC. It looks like a really nice area especially since Elder Swainston recently baptized with Elder Cox who was here right before Elder Yakovich got here. I started taking pictures of everything and I even have my camera with me right now. Unfortunately I don’t have my camera cable with me or my card reader (so maybe I could be working on the memory part). Hopefully I’ll be able to learn the new area quickly. Elder Pedersen predicted that I would be with Elder Swainston for about a transfer and that I would train after that so he might be leaving pretty soon. It should be alright though since I made several copies of the area map before I left the offices and took several pictures so I’d be able to find everything. We’ll see how it all works out in the end. Oh and to make things even more interesting, one of the Elders in my district (Elder Bodily) was in High School Musical so that should make some interesting street contacts. Elder Swainston says he uses that every time he goes on divisions with him. I’ll have to send a picture so Jennifer can see if she can spot him (he’s in the background but supposedly his brother actually gets a pretty close shot in the second or third movie).

In response to everyone’s questions: we’ve had a number of examples when the husband or the man was the first one to accept the gospel. It’s really amazing to see their change and how excited they are about the Gospel. The bishop in Godoy Cruz Centro was the first one in his family to accept the Gospel and he kept inviting the missionaries over so that his family would hear the discussions. Now his whole family is baptized and active in the church.

For Elder Barrow, it would be fun to room with him at BYU. I hope he doesn’t mind Wyview Park but at $187 a month (unless it has changed) who would mind Wyview? Supposedly the upperclassmen housing is nice and someone said they throw in incentives. Being on the other side of Wyview would definitely make me a little closer to campus and really close to the Wyview Creamery. If you need my help with passwords or anything like that in order to sign-up for BYU housing let me know.

Living conditions are actually pretty good, especially in the office’s house since it’s built to house a whole bunch of missionaries (which we’d had for a good amount of time). President Lindahl really wants to get rid of all of the apartments which aren’t in very good shape and consequently many areas are moving from their old apartments to new ones. Elder Salmon, who was in charge of moving apartments, was always busy looking for new apartments or revising contracts. The apartment I just moved into is really pretty nice. It has two bedrooms and a nice size kitchen. We live right behind the owner of the apartment so we’re pretty far removed from the street. There’s a nice gate and a good amount of security so we shouldn’t have any problems. There is an evil 9-inch-tall mini dog that Elder Swainston tells me about but I haven’t had any problems with it yet (Elder Slater who was the old Financial Secretary once said he wished the evil dog in front of the office house would die...the next day as he walked out of the house the dog started running towards him and got hit by a car...Elder Slater says he felt pretty bad). Oh and it would be alright if Lisa commented on the Hermana Lindahl’s blog.

I heard about the Sounders from another missionary but I haven’t heard of them from an Argentine yet. I think most of them only know about the LA Galaxy and the Olympic teams.

Well I’m running out of time at the Internet Cafe but it’s been nice being able to write for the full hour. I love you all so much and I thank you again for your letters, e-mails, and support. I can’t wait for General Conference this weekend especially since we’ll find out who the next apostle will be. I love you!!! Bye!!!

Love,
Elder Williams