Progressing Investigators!

I have already talked about Mirta in one of my earlier messages. We went by her house last night to share a message with the entire family, kind of having a family home evening. Towards the end, she looked at us and started to ask some questions about temples. She also talked about her baptism and told us she felt ready, which really made everyone smile in the room. Her husband, who has served in the church for the last couple of years, felt great and shared his testimony with all of us. All of their kids have already been baptized, but Mirta always had her doubts. However, after listening to the missionaries for these past six months, she has studied and really thought it through. In the end, she has come to the conclusion that it all makes sense, and she wants to go with her family to the temple, a great goal that requires her personal baptism. Everyone in the room that night had an indescribable light in their eyes, and we left feeling great as we walked home to the apartment.

I felt extremely grateful and excited for her family, as well. A mix of emotions has hit me, and I realized why I came here to Pergamino. Elder Valenzuela and I have done over 500 contacts and worked incredibly hard these past couple of weeks. After all the strenuous work, the conversion process seen within the life of Mirta makes it all worth it. We plan to go and plan the baptismal program at her house this Wednesday. If all goes as planned, we should have the baptismal service on December 8th. 

We have already talked to some members and plan to have a musical number, refreshments, and basically just a solid program with numerous members. We are excited, and so is our Bishop. :)

I have little time today, but I really appreciate everything you all do for me. The letters, prayers, and encouragement really hit home with me. As we all work together, we will really build the kingdom and see its blessings throughout the world, little by little, day by day. 

We finally made it to the post office!!! After five long weeks, we finally found a post office! I sent a letter to each of you, Kailey and Malia. Thank you for your support and awesome stories. I have a few more written and will try to send them soon, Shantel and Kimbz!!!! It is like a 30 min walk to the post office, so I will have to convince someone to go with me again. I will try to mail those today.

Like always, thanks for everything. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

Elder Jones

Pergamino's Preparation Days

Editor's Note:  Due to Transfer Week, Elder Jones' P-Day was moved to Tuesday, so the post comes a day late!

Hello from Pergamino, Argentina. My companion had a migraine this past week, which left me with a lot of free time both in the hospital and apartment while he recovered for three days. While he was recovering, i wrote up an ESPN article in Spanish, just to practice my translation skills. It isn´t perfect, but it turned out alright. Then I decided to translate it back from Spanish to English. Every part of it is true, except the quotes, which are obviously made up from scratch, but basically portrays how everyone feels. I hope you enjoy it. Here it is:

ESPN UPDATE

Pergamino´s Preparation Days
Elder Rory Jones

For as long as anyone can remember, the missionaries here in Pergamino, Argentina, have always played soccer on Monday, their famous preparation day when everyone rests from the strenuous work and simply just takes a break.

"I´m not gonna lie, Mondays are totally rad and chill," said Elder Hixon, one of the current district leaders here in the zone. "If only they were a little longer. . ."

With a mere seven hours of free time, these devoted missionaries really have to use their time wisely. Just like Elder Hixon, the majority find themselves wishing for more time as the day comes to a close.

"At least three more hours to relax would be perfect," responded Elder Rodriguez at the last press conference, when asked if he thought Mondays should be extended in the future. "I mean, who doesn´t want more free time to eat, sleep and recharge yourself," he added later while yawning and further debating about the official preparation day schedule.

Whether the typical Monday schedule changes or not, everyone will always enjoy the leisure time, regardless of its length!

"I just go hard all day and never stop," said Elder Sáez, one of the largest missionaries know for his immense stature and limitless strength. "Sometimes people call him the `human tank.´"

And there you have it. From the crack of dawn until the end of each day, Elder Saez keeps plowing forward, always accompanied by his faithful companion, Elder Welsh.

"On Mondays, every second counts, just like in BYU football games," exclaimed Elder Welsh, when asked for his opinion during the last mission council.

Currently serving as a zone leader here in Pergamino, Elder Welsh has chosen to suit up for the Lord these next two years, leaving behind his fame and putting his future career and football scholarships on hold. He does it with good intentions, though.

"We are glad to have him on our team," reported President Hugo Giuliani, the current leader and president of more than 200 missionaries here in southern Argentina. "He was a beast on the field in Provo, and he´s a spiritual beast here in the mission field."

One might say that Elder Welsh´s prayers were answered this past week and his sacrifices recognized. Why? Well, surprisingly enough, the whole zone gathered together and played American Football this past week, breaking traditions and giving some Latin Americans quite the experience. Despite the fact that 95% of them had never touched a football before the mission, two of them managed to score touchdowns!

"I caught the ball and just took off running," said Elder Valenzuela, the newest missionary in Pergamino who arrived with Elder Jones about a month ago. "Everyone kept screaming, so i just kept running like a madman."

The saying "Third time is a charm" really defines this extraordinary play of the game. After bobbling and dropping two previous passes, Valenzuela grabbed ahold of the third one and bulleted into the endzone.

"Yeah, there you go, man!" shouted Elder Jones, the quarterback at the time who threw a perfect, spiral bomb to his companion.

One hour later with the score tied at 14, all 12 missionaries lined up and waited for the hike. As soon as possible, Elder Eliosoff shot off the line at lightning speed, showing no sign of fatigue. Later, before anyone knew what was happening, Eliosoff was launching himself into the air to avoid the last defender and belly-flopping into a bunch of knee-high weeds and untamed grass.

"Everyone went bonkers," he exclaimed during his post-game interview. "Even though I got a bunch of weeds and prickles down my pants, it was worth it in the end," he later commented.

Eliosoff´s team came out with the win, and each missionary celebrated differently. All in all, it was just a chill and eventful day. Everyone enjoyed themselves--Latinos and Americans alike.

When asked about his experience, Elder Salt said the following: "I got pegged a few times like a kid in dodge ball, but that´s just part of the game, ya know?"

In sum, preparation days leave all companionships exhausted and satisfied--a goal quite hard to achieve.

I don´t think anyone could have put it better than Elder Nelson, known as "Nelly" by all missionaries, when he described preparation days like this: "Mondary are just flat-out sweet."

Reflection

I had a great week. Due to little time, I will only contribute a paragraph or two about this past week. Overall, I must say that everything has gone well up to this point. I have lived in Pergamino for almost a complete transfer now, which means we have already completed half of our training program! Like always, we have a full plate, loaded with investigators and tons of members. We try to help out wherever possible, and during our service this past week I had a really powerful experience, one worth sharing with you all.

Washing the dishes for the Bishop´s family. Like I´ve said before, the people here struggle economically. Amongst those that struggle, which is the majority of my area, is the Bishop and his family. They come to church faithfully every week and offer us food each Friday. Overall, I feel accepted and really comfortable in their house. However humble or difficult the circumstances might be, they always extend a helping hand to everyone else--members of the church of not. This past Friday, we ate some sandwiches with them at their house. After the the meal, a quick spiritual thought, and a prayer, we prepared ourselves to head back home. We offered to assist with the dishes, explaining that we would like to contribute a bit since they always do so much for us. They gladly accepted. Long story short, my companion and I had to clean plates and cups for close to 30 minutes because this poor, faithful family doesn´t have running water. We had a small tub that we filled up with water from the hose. Later on, using the same hose, I then filled up a liter jug of water, which we later used to pour on the dishes and rinse the soap off. It was quite the process, and it really hit home withe me. The saying "you never appreciate something until it´s gone" really has profound meaning for me now. Just running water and a faucet makes everything so much easier.

At the beginning of my mission, I always complained since we didn´t have a dishwasher and had to do everything by hand. Now, I am grateful just to have a faucet since it takes almost twice as long to wash with just buckets of water. This humble family really taught me a lesson, and I admire their faith and commitment.

May we all count our blessings a little more in our lives is my hope and prayer, and I leave this quick thought with you guys as my main weekly message today. Thanks for all you do.

Elder Jones

Another Week Down!

Another Week Down!

 

I have had a crazy adventure during my first month here in Pergamino, Argentina. Here is some quick info about our two main investigators.

 

Mirta. About 40 years old, she already has a stable family with three kids and lives on a ranch.  About half of the population here in Pergamino has a ranch. Miguel, Mirta´s husband, takes care of their horses, chickens, and dogs. They have tons of land, forming a few acres, I think, just to give you guys a rough estimate. Miguel has served as a counselor in the Bishopric, and he has gone to church for many years. Due to job and money complications, they all stopped attending on Sunday for a decent chunk of time. For the last month or so, they have come every Sunday. We started passing by because we wanted to get to know Miguel better, especially since he is one of hte best members right now. With time, we became good friends with Mirta and all the kids. We pass by about twice a week to teach one of the missionary discussions or to have a family home evening with them. Something we said sparked Mirta´s interest, and right now she is reading the bible and book of Mormon regularly, a huge plus for us! She has a baptismal date for November 24th, so we will have to see how everything plays out! I¨ll keep you updated.

 

Juan. He worked on a farm for his entire life before retiring at the age of 65. He always ran tractors and worked with cattle and horses. He is kinda like a cowboy, and his Spanish has a slightly different accent. We passed by his house our second week here in the city, and he listens well and actually does in depth studying during his free time. He has already come to church twice, where he became good friends with Miguel and Mirta! We have a lesson with all of them together this week, when we will watch a church movie together and hopefully eat dinner together. Having Miguel as a friend and fellow member works great for both Mirta and Juan. After working for many years, Juan has developed a successful lifestyle and has a really nice house, especially for our little town here in Pergamino. Its bright bricks nad wooden roof really stick out when compared to the other cement or metal huts in our area. Also, he only received and elementary education, so we have to teach every thing on a basic level. He loves going ot church and still reads well enough to study on his own, so we will just have to see how everything goes here in the next few weeks. He accepted a baptismal date for the last week of November, as well!

 

Elder Valenzuala and I are really excited with our success. We have passed by the houses of many less-active families, and this past Sunday we had 42 in church. This is a huge improvement from a mere attendance of 16 our first week here. Work hard, fly right haha. It is kinda a joke here. If you work hard here for your two years, the flight back home should be really rewarding.

 

I have to go since we have little time this week to write home. We all got together and played American football today, which was a total blast. The zone leaders finally got mail, so i will have to read it throughout this week. I will have comments next Monday, no worries.

 

Thanks for everything. Many of you are in my prayers.

 

Elder Rojo.

 

 

Pergamino Info.

Hello to everyone. I have absolutely loved serving as a non-office missionary these past few weeks. The only downside is the mail system. Now, I have to wait until special conferences or meetings with the zone leaders to receive mail. So long story short, I haven´t heard anything from the outside world for close to a month now. Pretty crazy, huh? No worries though, since the mail should arrive this week with the zone leaders, or at least that´s the plan. :) I enjoy reading about school and activities in your letters, especially after a long day of work. I know I´ve said that like a thousand times, but it´s completely true. I love serving as a missionary, but at the same time, there is nothing like getting a letter from a good friend or family member. Letters are treasures for us as missionaries, and they always make me want to work even harder! So thank you, like always. I´ve decided to focus this week´s message on the small little town of Pergamino here in Argentina, which actually lies with the providence of Buenos Aires.

 

Pergamino. Including my service here in Pergamino, I have now served in four different cities of Argentina: Santa Fe, Paraná, Rosario, and Pergamino. Each one has its own pros and cons, and Pergamino has the smallest population, that´s for sure. I don´t know the exact statistics, but we only have about 10 missionaries in the whole city, forming a small, legit zone. I already know almost all of the missionaries here because we all live within walking distance except for two companionships. They take the bus, which is no big deal. I really love it. It reminds me of my experiences in Paraná, the other smaller zone in which I served before heading into the offices. Like Paraná, this city is so small that all the missionaries get together every pday--every single pday!!!!. We played indoor soccer this morning with a mini soccer ball. Tons. of. fun. I had a blast, and everyone is really tired right now. We will probably head back to the apartment after writing home to take a nice long nap before heading out to work this evening.

 

Aside from the zone and its missionaries, Pergmaino has a ranch/cowboy feel to it. About 40% of my current area contains ranches, fields, and lots of dirt paths. We walk on rocky streets half of the time and on cement whenever possible. The people aren´t as educated here, but they are a little more open and treat us well. Some of them even give us food and a glass of water during the first visit. Many own horses or cattle. So cool. Whenever we head out to the ranches of our area, the majority of the men don´t wear shirts and have big mustaches. It makes me think of El Paso sometimes. haha. Due to the fields and wide spacing, we have to walk two to three minutes between contacts sometimes. It really is quite the experience. The other half of our area is the border of downtown. It has a suburb feel to it, although most of the people still lead a simple life with little technology.

 

Let´s be honest, it is really quite different than all of my other areas. I really like it; however, and I learn some more each week. The people here have passionate feelings towards soccer in Buenos Aires, even more so than Rosario and all my other areas in the mission. We talk about the league and the teams during almost every visit :), which is good as we're having some solid small talk before starting the lesson. I´ve enjoyed my time here. Due to little time here in the computer shack, here are some other quick facts about the little town of Pergamino:

• Little groups of young adults and kids always play soccer in the street.
• A large chunk of the population goes to an Evangelist church, which helps us out while teaching them. Usually they have a reasonable understanding of basic gospel concepts and accept the Bible without any problems. 
• It rains here three to four times a week. I don´t know if we have just had some random weather, but it does seem to rain here quite regularly.
• Our apartment has a car garage. It is really small, unlike the typical garages in the states, but we use it to do exercises. We can even play small soccer games inside when the relentless rain keeps us inside.
• We starting having missionary activities in the church this past week, inviting many members and investigators to come and get together. It was a great success, and we plan to work with the Bishop some more this coming week.
• Our first Sunday, only 16 people attended. This past week we had 36! We can´t demand unrealistic goals, but we sure can demand improvement :)

I have tons more to say, but I would like to dedicate some more time to writing my family this week. Thank you for all of your support. I´m doing well down here, thousands of miles away from home. Actually, I will experience a reverse culture shock upon my return home to the states haha. Seriously. Hopefully I won´t be too weird! haha.

 

Elder Jones

 

Hello from Pergamino

Guess what? I have lived in Pergamino, Argentina for a week and a half already. Though tough at times, I have enjoyed my experience so far and plan to stay here for three more months. When we hit the three-month mark, the president will tell us the next game plan. As for now, I can´t complain. Here is some solid info. that gives a quick lowdown of my mission right now!

 

The Apartment. I already briefed you guys on the format and layout of our little apartment last week, which actually has served us pretty well up to this point. However, I still have some more to tell everybody. First off, IT IS CRAZY. For my whole mission, all of my companions have been from the states. This go around, not only is my companion from Chile, but everyone I live with speaks fluent Spanish. It is a completely different and unique feeling. I love it. I feel as though the different, legit culture shock has finally hit me, and boy did it take me by surprise haha. I will do my best, but you just have to serve as a missionary to really take the rollarcoaster ride. Here are some bullets, just to give you a sample:

 

• My Spanish has improved dramatically in these past few days because I live in a complete Spanish world right now haha. I am learning a lot of non-gospel vocabulary. It is nuts, and I wouldn´t have been prepared for it earlier in the mission. I am able to speak well enough to always keep up with the conversation, and they can´t make fun of me like they do with other Americans. haha.
• Elder Rodriguez is from Mexico and has to train his new companion as well. We work together sometimes, formulating ideas and planning out weeks. He is hilarious--absolutely hilarious. He knows English better than the other two, but we just always talk in Spanish since it is easier. He eats spicy eggs, spicy tacos, spicy jalapenos, and spicy everything. Man, I thought Elder Camacho (from the offices) ate spicy food. Boy, was I wrong! :) Elder Rodriguez always jokes around too, and I have learned a lot of Spanish words with two meanings, depending on the context of the sentence. A lot of jokes in Spanish have a play on words, just like in English.
• Elder Eliosoff is the one from Buenos Aires. He speaks super fast, but it helps me with Spanish conversations, which is the hardest part for Americans learning the language. He speaks really formally in the streets (obviously, since we are missionaries), but then a little less formal in the apartment. He is kinda like a skateboarder, and he cooks all of the Argentine food really well. He is a pretty cool and chill dude. :)
• Elder Valenzuela is my companion, and I described him a bit in last week´s message too. He loves to play tennis!! We haven´t found a court here though.... We will have to see if we can play within the next few weeks. His Spanish from Chile is a lot different from how the Argentines speak here. He is learning fast, however, so it´s no big deal. There are just a lot of small words that change across countries. It happens in the states too. Is it a coke, a pop, or a soda? They all mean the same thing, but sometimes people get confused haha. We speak English together like 30 minutes a day, just to practice some. He really isn´t too bad and took three years in high school. I imagine he speaks English like a new missionary from the states speaks Spanish. Long story short, things are going well.
• Not ever speaking English is really weird. On pdays, I finally see some other Americans, and it feels kinda strange. When I´m in the apartment or sitting in on a lesson with an investigator, it´s as if I am in a completely different world. English means absolutely nothing to them, which still blows my mind sometimes. 
• I finally feel like the missionary I´ve always wanted to be since my arrival. I finally have a good grip on the language and improve some more everyday. I finally understand the Bishop, the people, and we all work together to better the ward and members within the boundaries.

Alright. I have some other quick points to tell you guys!

 

• We walk on average 10 miles a day. Yeah, we hit the hay hard at night haha.
• It rained three times this past week, and half of the streets are made of mud here. We both almost ate it in this slippery sludge a handful of times.
• My area is poorer compared to Rosario, but it is much better off than Santa Fe.
• Our ward had 30 people in attendance yesterday, which is really good for us. The average is 22. We have close to 300 members on the roster, so we are doing lots of visits to less-active families. A lot of people have lost their jobs and have to work on Sundays to help provide some extra change for food.
• I am completely used to the food and diet here. I eat Argentine food almost everyday since I don´t live with Americans anymore.
• The bills come to the apartment every month, and we divide them between everyone. The landlord thinks we are crazy since we all live together and get along, forming four different nationalities! haha.
• My zone consists of 10 companionships. There are eight here in the main city, and the two other ones work out in in the outskirts of the city, called "pueblos," which basically means "small town" in English. We usually get together in groups of eight missionaries, with whichever companionships live closest. We plan to play soccer today at one in the afternoon. The majority of the zone is Latino, so the game should be pretty intense.
• The companionships in the pueblos come up to the main city like once a transfer, but they have to pay an expensive cost and travel for like an hour each way.

Basically, everything is pretty chill. I´m living the good life as a missionary, despite the tough circumstances. Long story short, I feel used to everything and know you guys support me. I appreciate your prayers and letters, too. We haven´t found a post office yet.... Hopefully we will come across one this week.

 

Thanks for everything!

 

Elder Jones

The Most Bizarre and Random Week of my Mission!

For the first time in seven months, I have the opportunity to write my weekly letter to home from a computer shack close to my apartment. This past week has blown by, leaving me exhausted and excited at the same time. I have less access to computers now, so I better get started. Some of the details will probably take you by surprise, so get ready!

 

Companion. I recently left the offices after serving for seven months as the mission historian and now work as a trainer right now with my new companion, Elder Valenzeula (Val--in--sue--eh--lah). I finally have the opportunity to work with a missionary from Latin America! He is from the heart of Santiago, Chile and has served as a missionary for almost 30 days. So yes, he feels extremely new sometimes. haha. I help him with the missionary work and explain how the schedule, appointments, and special missionary meetings work each week, while he helps me with Spanish. He speaks a little bit of English, but barely enough to hold a conversation. About 95% of the time we just speak Spanish, just to make sure we understand each other and everything. Much of the training program comes from either Salt Lake or the president, so we always speak in Spanish to make sure he understands. He loves music and always sings romantic Spanish songs, which basically sound like a Spanish radio for me. haha. I don´t really know of any good Spanish music, but I have learned a decent amount though just from listening to other Latin missionaries. One time he started singing while preparing breakfast, and I started singing along with him. Even though my voice is terrible (yes, all of my close friends and family know I can´t sing at all), he was SUPER surprised. I have a huge list in my journal completely full of Spanish music. I have asked each of my Latin American misisonary friends to write down their favorite artists. So I should have a pretty solid library for Itunes when I come home :). Here are just a few other quick details about him:

• He plays soccer really well and practiced a ton as a kid.
• His English doesn´t really make that much sense, but we are working together so he can communicate better.
• His older brother served a mission in Ecuador.
• His accent from Chile is really obvious right now, and a lot of the members make fun of him. He does alright though. There are just small words or sayings from Chile that don´t often get used here. So I have even taught him some Spanish stuff, which was really funny! :)
• As a missionary from Chile, he likes to hang out with the other missionaries from Chile, which makes sense.
• He is doing well, and we will have to see how it goes over these next few weeks!

Transfer Week. I have already explained the chaos of transfer week in other weekly messages, so I don´t have to explain the process this time! However, it did feel different being on the other side of the process this past week. I was one of the trainers who ate with his new companion and went to the special ceremony for new missionaries. I´m not gonna lie, it felt kinda nice not having to worry about setting up tables, cooking food, or running to do last minute set up for the ceremony in the chapel. I just took everything in and enjoyed it, smiling at my old companion since I knew what everyone was really doing outside in the offices behind the scenes! haha. The day felt as if it would never end. I woke up at 5:30 am since I still had to train the new historian a bit more, which started the day off with a bang. That´s for sure.

 

Finally, after all the ceremonies, the lunch, the interviews with president, and everything else, we took a taxi to the bus station. I also felt strange since I had always helped other missionaries buy bus tickets in the past, but I was on the other side this time. Some of the other office elders had already found my ticket, and the zone leaders helped us load everything up on the bus. After a three hour bus ride, we finally arrived to Pergamino, my new zone and area for the next four to six months! Guess what? We arrived, and nobody was there in the station waiting for us! My companion is completely new, and I had never been in Pergamino before, which made things a little hectic. I called a few people, and we finally got everything coordinated. The taxi dropped us off right in front of our apartment at 8:30 at night. What. a. long. day. We had to unpack, do groceries, and all that jazz. Let´s just say I slept great that night! haha. Anyways, moving on!

 

My New Apartment. I will have to make this short, but don´t worry, I will continue writing more next week! I live in another apartment filled with four missionaries. This is CRAZY. As of right now about 85% of all missionary apartments are simply for one companionship. I have never had one in my mission so far! haha. I haven´t met another missionary in the field like me. Everyone has lived in a two-man apartment at least once. haha. Alright, I´m sure there are at least a few other missionaries who have had the same experience as me. It is still pretty crazy though, considering the statistics. I lived with six elders in Santa Fe when I started the mission. Then I lived with four in Paraná. In the offices, I lived with eight missionaries. And now here in Pergamino, I live with four once again!!! There is a twist to this one: everyone is Latin except me! Crazy stuff. I am from Texas, and my comp is from Chile. Elder Rodriguez is from Mexico, and Elder Eliosoff is from Buenos Aires. So yeah, I am really having the foreign mission experience right now :) The bathroom is terrible, but overall, it is a pretty nice apartment.

 

Well, I would really like to say more, but we have to leave in five minutes! We played soccer and ate pizzas as a zone today. It was tons of fun, but we didn´t finish until like 4:30, leaving us with only one hour to write to both the president and our families. I will have to continue next week, and hopefully we will have more time.

 

I would like to thank everyone for your support, your cards, and your prayers. I got a few letters mailed off my last day in the offices, which was really fortunate. So Kimber and Malia, you should get one soon! I found out that sending cards here is really tough. Hopefully the zone leaders will be able to give me my mail quickly!! Thanks again for everything!

 

Elder Jones