Watch for tomorrow's letter, coming soon!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Zone Conference
This picture is from Hermana Lindahl's blog. It's from the Mendoza/Godoy Cruz Zone Conference. She had group pictures of all the conferences in the mission, so I had fun trying to find which one Lawrence was in. Can you find him? I think the guy to the left of him is his new companion.
Watch for tomorrow's letter, coming soon!
Watch for tomorrow's letter, coming soon!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Happy 25 de Mayo!!! and Happy Baptism!!!
Dear Family,
Thank you all so much for your love, support, and e-mails!!! Today is 25 de Mayo which is basically the Argentine 4th of July without the fireworks (they save those for Christmas and New Years). Everything's closed for the national holiday so we were lucky to find an Internet Café open but I forgot to bring my camera so I apologize. This week we had an actual convert baptism!!! Nancy Ramirez was baptized last Saturday at 5:00 PM. We were fortunate enough to have the baptism right after a Relief Society meeting so we had most of the Relief Society present at the baptism. Nancy couldn't decide who she wanted to do the baptism when we went by on Friday so we "cast lots" and the lot fell on Elder Williams so I did the baptism. The Bishop couldn't come because he had to be with his wife who was sick but he was able to make it to church on Sunday to perform the Confirmation. Everything worked out just perfectly in the end even though we had a couple hiccups. We even were able to clean up the font and still have time to get ice cream to celebrate. That day as well we didn't have a whole lot of time to make lunch so we discovered a restaurant called "Samuel" where we got a large hot dog with a huge side of fries for 5 pesos ($1.50). When we were at the Chafalá family's house the mom told us that her sister was really good friends with Nancy and that she had talked to her about the church but that Nancy didn't seem very receptive. Much later Nancy needed help and her other friend, Miriam (also a member of the church), helped her out with many emotional problems. Nancy started going to church with Miriam in Plumerillo but technically they both live in our area, San Miguel. Miriam decided to go back to the right ward so that Nancy could bet baptized and on Saturday she was baptized! We've been really happy lately :) . Luis is still very active in church even though his wife is going through some tough health problems and can barely walk sometimes. Our Gospel Principles class was very full on Sunday as well which is always good. We had Emir and Martín who came for their first time since I've been here at least. Both are going through difficult times but are helping each other out and both said they felt a lot better for having gone to church. This really is a church of healing. No one's perfect and the Gospel is for helping those who want to better themselves so basically EVERYONE needs the Gospel. It's always amazing watching people progress and even the oldest members can progress towards having a better life. The Gospel really is amazing. Every time we leave someone's house we always ask if there's anything else we can do for them and they almost always just ask for us to pray for them. We always offer to do service, cleaning, or whatever is needed but they always just ask that we pray for them. The people here are really amazing. I was really fortunate to have been sent to Mendoza, Argentina. Thank you all again for your e-mails and I hope you have a most fabulous 25 de Mayo!!! I love you all!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams
P.S. They do actually have milkshakes here but they're kind of expensive and they call them "batidos."
Thank you all so much for your love, support, and e-mails!!! Today is 25 de Mayo which is basically the Argentine 4th of July without the fireworks (they save those for Christmas and New Years). Everything's closed for the national holiday so we were lucky to find an Internet Café open but I forgot to bring my camera so I apologize. This week we had an actual convert baptism!!! Nancy Ramirez was baptized last Saturday at 5:00 PM. We were fortunate enough to have the baptism right after a Relief Society meeting so we had most of the Relief Society present at the baptism. Nancy couldn't decide who she wanted to do the baptism when we went by on Friday so we "cast lots" and the lot fell on Elder Williams so I did the baptism. The Bishop couldn't come because he had to be with his wife who was sick but he was able to make it to church on Sunday to perform the Confirmation. Everything worked out just perfectly in the end even though we had a couple hiccups. We even were able to clean up the font and still have time to get ice cream to celebrate. That day as well we didn't have a whole lot of time to make lunch so we discovered a restaurant called "Samuel" where we got a large hot dog with a huge side of fries for 5 pesos ($1.50). When we were at the Chafalá family's house the mom told us that her sister was really good friends with Nancy and that she had talked to her about the church but that Nancy didn't seem very receptive. Much later Nancy needed help and her other friend, Miriam (also a member of the church), helped her out with many emotional problems. Nancy started going to church with Miriam in Plumerillo but technically they both live in our area, San Miguel. Miriam decided to go back to the right ward so that Nancy could bet baptized and on Saturday she was baptized! We've been really happy lately :) . Luis is still very active in church even though his wife is going through some tough health problems and can barely walk sometimes. Our Gospel Principles class was very full on Sunday as well which is always good. We had Emir and Martín who came for their first time since I've been here at least. Both are going through difficult times but are helping each other out and both said they felt a lot better for having gone to church. This really is a church of healing. No one's perfect and the Gospel is for helping those who want to better themselves so basically EVERYONE needs the Gospel. It's always amazing watching people progress and even the oldest members can progress towards having a better life. The Gospel really is amazing. Every time we leave someone's house we always ask if there's anything else we can do for them and they almost always just ask for us to pray for them. We always offer to do service, cleaning, or whatever is needed but they always just ask that we pray for them. The people here are really amazing. I was really fortunate to have been sent to Mendoza, Argentina. Thank you all again for your e-mails and I hope you have a most fabulous 25 de Mayo!!! I love you all!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams
P.S. They do actually have milkshakes here but they're kind of expensive and they call them "batidos."
Monday, May 18, 2009
We had a baptism...kind of?
Dear Family,
Thank you all so much for your love, letters, and support!!! So we kind of had a baptism yesterday. Granted the person being baptized was 8 years old and both parents were members so it wasn't exactly a convert baptism but someone was baptized and that's the important part. After the baptism the aunt invited us over for lunch and we had empanadas and spaghetti (it was quite good). In the same house live two full families and the grandmother. We call it the Chandín/Nievas/Poblete household. Much like the Nievas family in San Ignacio (though of no relation) they take good care of the missionaries and signed up to give lunch to the missionaries every Sunday.
This week we had Zone Conference (last Tuesday) as well which focused a lot on the new mission plan called the "Balanced Approach." More than anything else it's about focusing on the value of our work instead of just numbers. The meetings went a little long so President stood up in the middle of the Assistants' training and said that if we work effectively and are baptizing that he doesn't really care about numbers. We then had a prayer, sung the mission song, and the Zone Conference ended. I’m in the Mendoza zone so we held our conference with the Godoy Cruz zone. The Elders in the offices were there too so I got to ask Elder Stevenson how he was doing. He says the offices are going well and they’re enjoying their new color laser printer (isn’t it funny how something as simple as a new printer can be the hot topic when you’re working in mission offices?). He’s called me every so often for various questions which has been nice because whenever I have a question about something like the monthly rent payment or about changes in the mission I don’t have to get permission to call the offices because the offices called me. It was nice getting Elder Stevenson’s first “Aguas de Cuyo” since I left. He did a really nice job in my opinion, but, ehem, he must have had a good teacher (in my ever so humble opinion :) ).
Nancy and Rodolfo are both progressing well and we’re going all over to invite people to Nancy’s baptism this Saturday. We’re all really excited, especially because this will be Elder Guevara’s first baptism in the mission. I’m sorry that I don’t have any pictures but my camera was all packed away to go to Uspallata today. In the end we weren’t able to go to Uspallata and now a bunch of my stuff is in the apartment of the Zone Leaders. I hope everyone has a wonderful week and I’ll make sure I send pictures next week. I love you all!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams
Thank you all so much for your love, letters, and support!!! So we kind of had a baptism yesterday. Granted the person being baptized was 8 years old and both parents were members so it wasn't exactly a convert baptism but someone was baptized and that's the important part. After the baptism the aunt invited us over for lunch and we had empanadas and spaghetti (it was quite good). In the same house live two full families and the grandmother. We call it the Chandín/Nievas/Poblete household. Much like the Nievas family in San Ignacio (though of no relation) they take good care of the missionaries and signed up to give lunch to the missionaries every Sunday.
This week we had Zone Conference (last Tuesday) as well which focused a lot on the new mission plan called the "Balanced Approach." More than anything else it's about focusing on the value of our work instead of just numbers. The meetings went a little long so President stood up in the middle of the Assistants' training and said that if we work effectively and are baptizing that he doesn't really care about numbers. We then had a prayer, sung the mission song, and the Zone Conference ended. I’m in the Mendoza zone so we held our conference with the Godoy Cruz zone. The Elders in the offices were there too so I got to ask Elder Stevenson how he was doing. He says the offices are going well and they’re enjoying their new color laser printer (isn’t it funny how something as simple as a new printer can be the hot topic when you’re working in mission offices?). He’s called me every so often for various questions which has been nice because whenever I have a question about something like the monthly rent payment or about changes in the mission I don’t have to get permission to call the offices because the offices called me. It was nice getting Elder Stevenson’s first “Aguas de Cuyo” since I left. He did a really nice job in my opinion, but, ehem, he must have had a good teacher (in my ever so humble opinion :) ).
Nancy and Rodolfo are both progressing well and we’re going all over to invite people to Nancy’s baptism this Saturday. We’re all really excited, especially because this will be Elder Guevara’s first baptism in the mission. I’m sorry that I don’t have any pictures but my camera was all packed away to go to Uspallata today. In the end we weren’t able to go to Uspallata and now a bunch of my stuff is in the apartment of the Zone Leaders. I hope everyone has a wonderful week and I’ll make sure I send pictures next week. I love you all!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams
Monday, May 11, 2009
"...and I think to myself, what a wonderful world"
Dear Family,
Thank you all so much for your love, letters, support, and prayers!!! I received the Easter card a little bit back if I hadn't told you yet by the way, thank you so much!!! It was really awesome to talk to the family in California yesterday! I still couldn't believe I had talked to everyone after we'd finished the phone call. It was like I had only had a dream that I was talking to the family. My poor companion wasn't able to communicate the right phone number to call for his family so he might have to wait a few days before he can finally talk to his family. It sounds like we were really fortunate too since other people who talked on their cell phones said the phone call would cut out every 5 minutes and they couldn't carry on a real conversation. Everyone sounds like they're doing well and everyone has such good Spanish! I still remember when Elder Aquino talked to Dad before my first phone call he thought that one of the members was talking and didn't understand why they'd want to talk to Elder Williams. When he found out it was my Dad he was surprised. Mom as well has really good Spanish and it was so amazing to be able to talk to everyone and have a family that understands and speaks Spanish well. I should just start writing these letters in Spanish!
We've been doing well here in San Miguel and we're still having amazing experiences. Yesterday I gave my first baptismal interview and fortunately the lady was really well prepared. You could tell she has a strong testimony and that the Elders in my District had prepared her well. Nancy is also on her way to baptism and we had another great lesson with her this morning right before P-day. It helps a ton to have a member there to confirm everything we say because the member knows much better than we do and has dealt with many of the same problems the investigator has dealt with. It's definitely a testimony of the power of member missionary work. I always smile when I hear about your member missionary experiences and I know God is blessing all of us as we seek those experiences. If everyone understood the importance of this work there would be lines in front of every chapel asking for baptism.
Thank you all again for your letters and I hope everyone had an amazing Mother's Day, I know I did :) . I love you all!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams
Thank you all so much for your love, letters, support, and prayers!!! I received the Easter card a little bit back if I hadn't told you yet by the way, thank you so much!!! It was really awesome to talk to the family in California yesterday! I still couldn't believe I had talked to everyone after we'd finished the phone call. It was like I had only had a dream that I was talking to the family. My poor companion wasn't able to communicate the right phone number to call for his family so he might have to wait a few days before he can finally talk to his family. It sounds like we were really fortunate too since other people who talked on their cell phones said the phone call would cut out every 5 minutes and they couldn't carry on a real conversation. Everyone sounds like they're doing well and everyone has such good Spanish! I still remember when Elder Aquino talked to Dad before my first phone call he thought that one of the members was talking and didn't understand why they'd want to talk to Elder Williams. When he found out it was my Dad he was surprised. Mom as well has really good Spanish and it was so amazing to be able to talk to everyone and have a family that understands and speaks Spanish well. I should just start writing these letters in Spanish!
We've been doing well here in San Miguel and we're still having amazing experiences. Yesterday I gave my first baptismal interview and fortunately the lady was really well prepared. You could tell she has a strong testimony and that the Elders in my District had prepared her well. Nancy is also on her way to baptism and we had another great lesson with her this morning right before P-day. It helps a ton to have a member there to confirm everything we say because the member knows much better than we do and has dealt with many of the same problems the investigator has dealt with. It's definitely a testimony of the power of member missionary work. I always smile when I hear about your member missionary experiences and I know God is blessing all of us as we seek those experiences. If everyone understood the importance of this work there would be lines in front of every chapel asking for baptism.
Thank you all again for your letters and I hope everyone had an amazing Mother's Day, I know I did :) . I love you all!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams
Friday, May 8, 2009
Life as a Senior Companion
Dear Family,
Thank you all so much for your love, support, letters, and prayers!!! This week has been my first week as a trainer and it's been an awesome experience. My nuevito reminds me a lot of me when I first started the mission, when I had lots of questions and was still learning how everything works in the mission. It's been pretty different as well since this is the first time I've had a Junior Companion. All of my other companions have been either my Senior Companion or we've been co-Senior companions together. Now whenever we go out to work I'm in charge of where we go and what we do. Whenever we start planning my new companion will look to me asking what we should do for the next day. It's definately a calling that forces one to step up to bat and get ready to hit. He's from El Salvador and his name is Elder Guevarra (as in Che Guevarra...no relation whatsoever). He's really excited to work and really wants to serve well. He's actually my 9th companion so I might just beat Mom in number of companions: Elder Parry, Elder Cabrera, Elder González, Elder Maxfield (for 5 days), Elder Miles, Elder Salmon, Elder Stevenson, Elder Swainston, and Elder Guevarra. It's also already over a month since I left the offices which feels really weird. I've had to go back to the offices a couple of times for various things like Elder Swainston having to see the nurse, looking for baptismal pants, and now I have to go tomorrow so I can pick up papers for my companion's Argentine documentation. I should also be getting my Argentine DNI (Documento Nacional de Identificación) booklet finally tomorrow. It's all pretty interesting. Where I am right now in Las Heras we're pretty much in Downtown Las Heras since we have the Plaza Las Heras right smack in the middle of our area. In reality there's a couple wards and branches in the "Departamento de Las Heras." The don't really have citys so much as departments as they call them. We're just north of Godoy Cruz and Downtown Mendoza. Technically there is no city of Mendoza but what is understood to be Mendoza includes Guaymallén, Godoy Cruz, and Las Heras.
Sorry I wasn't able to write yesterday but we had several Zone activities with the Guaymallén Zone so we didn't have time to do all of the P-day preparations we needed to do. Today we started work extra early because we have an investigator who has to work mornings and afternoons but is available at 9:00 AM. We had to run straight there and then come back and take our clothes to be washed. Finally right now, still in the morning, we have time to write our letters so here we are. Our lesson today was really amazing because our investigator really opened up and explained how badly they need the healing power of the atonement. They talked about how they have gone to several churches but have never felt satisfied or that their necessities were satisfied but that the Mormon friend was there when they really needed help. They feel they'll find the answers they need in this church. The Spirit was really strong. Also this morning we went to a member's house to bring him to see Rodolfo another one of our investigators. He couldn't come since he had some prior commitments that he had forgotten about when we last talked but said he'd be available in the afternoon. Unfortunately Rodolfo isn't available often in the afternoon. Afterwards we went to the house of Rodolfo and the wife answered the door and said that he wasn't there but would be there that afternoon! ¿Qué tal? So we called back Luis (the member) and he said that was excellent and then his wife invited us over for lunch for tomorrow :) . Well, things are going well and I'm always excited for all of the experiences I've been having every day. Thank you again for everything and I love you all!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams
P.S. I'm really excited for Mother's Day and the phone call :)
Thank you all so much for your love, support, letters, and prayers!!! This week has been my first week as a trainer and it's been an awesome experience. My nuevito reminds me a lot of me when I first started the mission, when I had lots of questions and was still learning how everything works in the mission. It's been pretty different as well since this is the first time I've had a Junior Companion. All of my other companions have been either my Senior Companion or we've been co-Senior companions together. Now whenever we go out to work I'm in charge of where we go and what we do. Whenever we start planning my new companion will look to me asking what we should do for the next day. It's definately a calling that forces one to step up to bat and get ready to hit. He's from El Salvador and his name is Elder Guevarra (as in Che Guevarra...no relation whatsoever). He's really excited to work and really wants to serve well. He's actually my 9th companion so I might just beat Mom in number of companions: Elder Parry, Elder Cabrera, Elder González, Elder Maxfield (for 5 days), Elder Miles, Elder Salmon, Elder Stevenson, Elder Swainston, and Elder Guevarra. It's also already over a month since I left the offices which feels really weird. I've had to go back to the offices a couple of times for various things like Elder Swainston having to see the nurse, looking for baptismal pants, and now I have to go tomorrow so I can pick up papers for my companion's Argentine documentation. I should also be getting my Argentine DNI (Documento Nacional de Identificación) booklet finally tomorrow. It's all pretty interesting. Where I am right now in Las Heras we're pretty much in Downtown Las Heras since we have the Plaza Las Heras right smack in the middle of our area. In reality there's a couple wards and branches in the "Departamento de Las Heras." The don't really have citys so much as departments as they call them. We're just north of Godoy Cruz and Downtown Mendoza. Technically there is no city of Mendoza but what is understood to be Mendoza includes Guaymallén, Godoy Cruz, and Las Heras.
Sorry I wasn't able to write yesterday but we had several Zone activities with the Guaymallén Zone so we didn't have time to do all of the P-day preparations we needed to do. Today we started work extra early because we have an investigator who has to work mornings and afternoons but is available at 9:00 AM. We had to run straight there and then come back and take our clothes to be washed. Finally right now, still in the morning, we have time to write our letters so here we are. Our lesson today was really amazing because our investigator really opened up and explained how badly they need the healing power of the atonement. They talked about how they have gone to several churches but have never felt satisfied or that their necessities were satisfied but that the Mormon friend was there when they really needed help. They feel they'll find the answers they need in this church. The Spirit was really strong. Also this morning we went to a member's house to bring him to see Rodolfo another one of our investigators. He couldn't come since he had some prior commitments that he had forgotten about when we last talked but said he'd be available in the afternoon. Unfortunately Rodolfo isn't available often in the afternoon. Afterwards we went to the house of Rodolfo and the wife answered the door and said that he wasn't there but would be there that afternoon! ¿Qué tal? So we called back Luis (the member) and he said that was excellent and then his wife invited us over for lunch for tomorrow :) . Well, things are going well and I'm always excited for all of the experiences I've been having every day. Thank you again for everything and I love you all!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams
P.S. I'm really excited for Mother's Day and the phone call :)
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