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...