Dear Family,
Thank you all so much for your letters, love, pictures, prayers, and support!!! To make a really long story really short...a whole bunch of stuff happened. What kind of stuff, you say? Well, have a seat. We just had transfers last Wednesday and sure enough, Elder Gutiérrez was transferred to a new area: Cordón del Plata in Tunuyan, Valle de Uco. President had already called me to train so I bought a ticket to get to Mendoza where I would pick-up my new missionary. In order to not travel alone, I bought the tickets for the San Rafael Elders (two of them) who were also headed to the offices so that we would be on the same bus and they were going to pay me back (I got the money so that was no problem). Unfortunately, a few hours before my bus was going to leave the Zone Leaders called to tell me that my new companion had visa problems and would arrive on August 5th. The bus company offers zero refunds so I was in a bit of a jam. I had to go to San Rafael in order to give the other Elders their bus tickets to Mendoza and since I was already in San Rafael and actually needed to finish some Argentine documentation paperwork, I talked with President Jarvis (first counselor in the mission presidency and secretary to President) and he told me to come in to Godoy Cruz, to the offices. I got there (it was snowing!!! Crazy!!!) and helped out with a bunch of generic office problems they had been having. Since my Argentine ID was supposedly ready I went down to the Registro Civil to get my booklet. When I got there I found out that it was missing a signature and would have to be resubmitted. Unfortunately the paperwork takes a year and a few months to finish so obviously it wouldn't be done before my mission ended. As a "consolation prize" the worker there gave me back my certified birth certificate. I never knew that I was born at exactly 9:58 AM. You learn something new every day. Well, after all the helping out and everything it got pretty late so President Lindahl told me not to travel until the next day. I had to stay the night in the offices apartment though. I got there just in time to see Elder Miles, my old companion, who for his last transfer in the mission will be one of the four assistants to President. This makes 3 of my companions who eventually became assistants...that counts for something right? :) I got to eat lunch with the other trainers and then the next day President took everyone out to McDonald's, so I did have fun while I was there. The next day when I was getting ready to go back to General Alvear I had to wait for the contract for the new apartment in Bowen and ended up finally being able to leave at around 7:00 PM. The bus trip back was amazing. They gave me a full dinner, I had the whole front of the second story of the bus to myself, and it was nice and warm. I got home to General Alvear and met up with Elder Crunkleton and Elder Ortiz who work in Bowen. they're going to be my companions until August 5th when my nuevito gets here. I'll tell you more about them next week since I'm out of time right now. I love you all and I hope your week ends up in the L.A. Times for being so amazingly wonderful. Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams
Monday, July 27, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Here comes a letter!
Ok, here's a handful of photos of the districts in Alvear, our baptisms, and a funny little organ in the Pacifico chapel that used to be in our branch but no one knows how to play the organ. I attached a few sound clips of Elder Gardner playing said organ. You might recognize the tunes. If you don't...just think like Elder Williams...it'll come to you. (Although we were all hoping to hear some audio of Lawrence saying something, alas, the sound bites only contain Elder Gardner's organ version of the Super Mario Brothers song. I couldn't figure out how to get audio on the blog, so you'll just have to take my word for it.)
Dear Family,
Thank you all so much for your love, letters, prayers, and support!!! WE HAD A BAPTISM!!! Technically, WE HAD TWO BAPTISMS (even though one was for the Elders of Bowen but technically Bowen is still part of the Pellegrini branch). Yessica Villegas was baptized last Saturday in the Pacifico chapel! Bowen as well had a baptism so we shared the font as Carlos Monge was baptized as well. It was really incredible because I did the baptismal interview for Carlos and he was really prepared for his baptism. When the Elders in Bowen asked him who he wanted to baptize him he said, “Is it ok if the Elder who did the baptismal interview baptizes me?” Saturday while we were all getting ready to start the service, Carlos told me he wanted me to baptize him which left me speechless. Elder Gardner had already brought baptismal clothes and everything for me so even though I only had about 20 minutes of warning I was able to baptize him that day. It was so incredible. There was a strong spirit as we started the service and then moved on to the ordinance of baptism. Yessica was baptized first by Elder Gutiérrez and then I baptized Carlos. The warm water didn’t have much pressure so the water was a little on the cold side (somewhat freezing actually). When Yessica talked to her mom after the baptism she told her she loved how warm the water was! It truly was a miracle. Yessica even brought a number of her friends to the baptism, as well as her cousin Marisol who is preparing for baptism. Yessica as well was really prepared for her baptism. We’re excited for her future in the church and we know she’ll progress well into a strong, faithful member of the church. Carlos will be a great leader as well as time goes by. He’s already a pioneer in Bowen.
As time always seems to pass by, this transfer as well has passed by. President Lindahl called last night to let me know that I’ll be training again this transfer and that Elder Gutiérrez will be going to Cordón del Plata in Valle de Uco. President said I’d be training an American but he didn’t say who quite yet. I have a really good guess though. While I was in the offices I noticed that another Elder Williams would be coming to Mendoza exactly this transfer. I’m pretty sure that President will put the two Elder Williams together so if you know anything about a Jon Williams on his way to Mendoza, Argentina let me know. President put Elder Snow and Elder Nieve together so I can definitely see him putting Elder Williams with Elder Williams. I’ll still be district leader over Bowen which will still be with Elder Crunkleton but since Elder Gardner, his companion, just barely finished his mission I already know that someone else is on their way here. It might be an Elder Cox but I’m not sure. Elder Cox was in my first Zone in my first area of San Martín II. I think he was in Junín. I’ll tell everyone all about everyone as soon as I find out more. I’ll be heading into the offices in order to be there by 10:00 AM for all of the trainers. We might be taking a bus that leaves at 12:50 AM in order to get there on time with extra time to try and finish my Argentine ID (yeah, some missionaries leave the mission before their Argentine ID is finished in Buenos Aires). We’ll have to see what happens. It’ll be another good long while of traveling but at least they might give out alfajores on the bus :). I hope you don’t have to travel 12 hours on bus! I love you all!!! Have the most amazing week you can!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams
Dear Family,
Thank you all so much for your love, letters, prayers, and support!!! WE HAD A BAPTISM!!! Technically, WE HAD TWO BAPTISMS (even though one was for the Elders of Bowen but technically Bowen is still part of the Pellegrini branch). Yessica Villegas was baptized last Saturday in the Pacifico chapel! Bowen as well had a baptism so we shared the font as Carlos Monge was baptized as well. It was really incredible because I did the baptismal interview for Carlos and he was really prepared for his baptism. When the Elders in Bowen asked him who he wanted to baptize him he said, “Is it ok if the Elder who did the baptismal interview baptizes me?” Saturday while we were all getting ready to start the service, Carlos told me he wanted me to baptize him which left me speechless. Elder Gardner had already brought baptismal clothes and everything for me so even though I only had about 20 minutes of warning I was able to baptize him that day. It was so incredible. There was a strong spirit as we started the service and then moved on to the ordinance of baptism. Yessica was baptized first by Elder Gutiérrez and then I baptized Carlos. The warm water didn’t have much pressure so the water was a little on the cold side (somewhat freezing actually). When Yessica talked to her mom after the baptism she told her she loved how warm the water was! It truly was a miracle. Yessica even brought a number of her friends to the baptism, as well as her cousin Marisol who is preparing for baptism. Yessica as well was really prepared for her baptism. We’re excited for her future in the church and we know she’ll progress well into a strong, faithful member of the church. Carlos will be a great leader as well as time goes by. He’s already a pioneer in Bowen.
As time always seems to pass by, this transfer as well has passed by. President Lindahl called last night to let me know that I’ll be training again this transfer and that Elder Gutiérrez will be going to Cordón del Plata in Valle de Uco. President said I’d be training an American but he didn’t say who quite yet. I have a really good guess though. While I was in the offices I noticed that another Elder Williams would be coming to Mendoza exactly this transfer. I’m pretty sure that President will put the two Elder Williams together so if you know anything about a Jon Williams on his way to Mendoza, Argentina let me know. President put Elder Snow and Elder Nieve together so I can definitely see him putting Elder Williams with Elder Williams. I’ll still be district leader over Bowen which will still be with Elder Crunkleton but since Elder Gardner, his companion, just barely finished his mission I already know that someone else is on their way here. It might be an Elder Cox but I’m not sure. Elder Cox was in my first Zone in my first area of San Martín II. I think he was in Junín. I’ll tell everyone all about everyone as soon as I find out more. I’ll be heading into the offices in order to be there by 10:00 AM for all of the trainers. We might be taking a bus that leaves at 12:50 AM in order to get there on time with extra time to try and finish my Argentine ID (yeah, some missionaries leave the mission before their Argentine ID is finished in Buenos Aires). We’ll have to see what happens. It’ll be another good long while of traveling but at least they might give out alfajores on the bus :). I hope you don’t have to travel 12 hours on bus! I love you all!!! Have the most amazing week you can!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams
Monday, July 13, 2009
¿Cómo anda la familia?
Even though we didn't take many pictures this week I managed to snap off a shot of a plaza in General Alvear on the way to go shopping at the Vea.Dear Family,
Thank you so much for your letters, love, support, and prayers!!! It’s always great to see how everyone is doing and find out what you’re up to. It’s been a milestone week as Bowen has had their first sacrament meeting over there in Bowen and had 13 people there! All things considered, that’s a lot more than we were expecting! Yesterday was the first time I got to go to Bowen as President Jarvis, the San Rafael Stake President, and his counselor came down to check out some potential chapel sites. Elder Gardner and Elder Crunkleton are already having success in Bowen and they’ll probably have their first baptism within a week or two. Carlos has already gone to church twice. The Elders in Bowen were walking down the street during the Siesta (between 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM-ish) when a car drove by, stopped, and reversed back to the Elders. The man inside rolled down the window and asked, “Are you the missionaries? If you are, I know someone who needs your help.” That man was Carlos’s dad. Soon after the missionaries started visiting Carlos, he accepted what they taught and decided he wanted to be baptized! It just goes to show that the field really is white already to harvest. Yesterday Bowen had their sacrament meeting in a member’s house but next Sunday they’ll probably have the meeting in the apartment they’re going to rent. Everyone’s really excited. We’re pretty excited too because our branch, Pellegrini, has already basically picked out a spot of land to buy to build a chapel! Last Sunday (not yesterday but the Sunday before that) we had 40 people in church which is supposedly just 20 short of having a chapel. The members have been waiting a long time for a chapel but finally they’ll have a place to call their own, a permanent home for Pellegrini. Bowen is currently like a branch of our branch (or a leaf as Elder Crunkleton likes to call it) but if they progress the way they're progressing right now they’ll be their own branch soon. Half of the reason for starting this branch of a branch in Bowen is because it’s a good 13 miles east of General Alvear. Since most people don’t have cars that tends to be a substantial distance. This “Bowen Experiment” is much like what the stake did in Salto de las Rosas. They as well are a branch of a branch (the Cuadro Nacional Branch) but are very close to being their own separate branch. They already have an attendance of over 20 every week which shows they’re not far away. It is a big difference from the Californian wards with who knows how many who attend every week but the spirit is just as strong with our small branches and wards. In other news we managed to find the old organ that used to be in our branch and we’re going to see if we can talk the branch president into taking it back to our chapel. We’ll see if we can find someone to play it too (that would help :) ). Well, I hope everyone has a most spectacular week and I want ya’ll to know I love you!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams
Monday, July 6, 2009
Happy 4th of July!
Dear Family,
Thank you all so much for your love, letters, support, and prayers!!! Happy 4th of July! It was pretty nice, as I was opening all of your e-mails I clicked to update the page and even more e-mails came up! That's a lovely surprise for any missionary. We had an interesting week with all the interesting interestingness that was going on. I think I already mentioned it but the Gente de Cobos won the elections much to the excitement of some and dismay of others. I still say the Gente de Jesucristo would do a much better job :) . In other interesting news, tomorrow is the great cleaning day in the mission. Hermana Lindahl wants all of the apartments spick-and-span and there will even be cleaning checks so that we do a good job. I've gotten several calls from the offices this week for technical questions including a "Mayday" call from Elder Swainston. Fortunately everything's in good shape now and I'm able to use Mikogo to fix anything else over the Internet. Hermana Brown, the Mission Nurse, also called because her Yahoo e-mail was giving her problems. We switched it over to Yahoo Classic and that seemed to take care of that problem as well. She calls me Computer Doctor Williams now :) . In the Pellegrini chapel we had an activity to for the 4th of July (ok it wasn't specially for the 4th of July but it happened to be on the 4th of July). We watched The Testaments and ate pop-corn and cake. It was kind of funny because the oven is lopsided and half of the cake batter fell onto the oven bottom but after the part that fell out cooled down, it tasted pretty good too except for the giant black mark on the bottom. It was pretty much cake blob but it came right out as if we had done it on purpose. We ate a bunch of cookies too and everyone enjoyed themselves. We even got Yesica, one of our investigators, to come to the activity and she said she liked the movie. Our branch mission leader is all pumped for another activity soon so we're all excited. Things are going well and this next week should be even better since everyone's over the sickypoos now (though floor-cleaner is supposedly way expensive now, go figure). I love you all and I'll be sending more pictures next week!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams
Thank you all so much for your love, letters, support, and prayers!!! Happy 4th of July! It was pretty nice, as I was opening all of your e-mails I clicked to update the page and even more e-mails came up! That's a lovely surprise for any missionary. We had an interesting week with all the interesting interestingness that was going on. I think I already mentioned it but the Gente de Cobos won the elections much to the excitement of some and dismay of others. I still say the Gente de Jesucristo would do a much better job :) . In other interesting news, tomorrow is the great cleaning day in the mission. Hermana Lindahl wants all of the apartments spick-and-span and there will even be cleaning checks so that we do a good job. I've gotten several calls from the offices this week for technical questions including a "Mayday" call from Elder Swainston. Fortunately everything's in good shape now and I'm able to use Mikogo to fix anything else over the Internet. Hermana Brown, the Mission Nurse, also called because her Yahoo e-mail was giving her problems. We switched it over to Yahoo Classic and that seemed to take care of that problem as well. She calls me Computer Doctor Williams now :) . In the Pellegrini chapel we had an activity to for the 4th of July (ok it wasn't specially for the 4th of July but it happened to be on the 4th of July). We watched The Testaments and ate pop-corn and cake. It was kind of funny because the oven is lopsided and half of the cake batter fell onto the oven bottom but after the part that fell out cooled down, it tasted pretty good too except for the giant black mark on the bottom. It was pretty much cake blob but it came right out as if we had done it on purpose. We ate a bunch of cookies too and everyone enjoyed themselves. We even got Yesica, one of our investigators, to come to the activity and she said she liked the movie. Our branch mission leader is all pumped for another activity soon so we're all excited. Things are going well and this next week should be even better since everyone's over the sickypoos now (though floor-cleaner is supposedly way expensive now, go figure). I love you all and I'll be sending more pictures next week!!! Bye!!!
Love,
Elder Williams
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