Happy New Years!

Happy New Years! New Years was a lot like Christmas. Dinner at night and lots of fireworks. We got permission to stay out until 1030 and eat dinner with a member. It was pretty fun. New years day there was no one in the streets. It was empty. It was super weird. We had two investigators come to church yesterday. One we found last week, his name is Mauricio. He is 17 years old and is atheist but he is really interested in the church. He had a really good experience at church and wants to learn more. We are really excited about him. We also found two families this week that weren't able to make it out to church but both of these families fathers passed away within a year. We are super excited to teach them about the plan of salvation. We really need to get them to go to church. That is such a hard thing to do here- to get people to go to church. We have a member that on most Sundays helps us with transportation and we leave our pension at 7 and we go and try to pick up all our investigators but when we don't have him we have to do a lot of walking and then take a bus for like 10 minutes. It is really hard because it is super early and then it costs a bit of money and it takes time. Emanuel who was baptized a few weeks ago, received the priesthood and I got to pass the Sacrament with him yesterday! It was awesome! He is an awesome kid. Pray for Mauricio and Natalia and her family. Thanks for everything. Love and miss you all!

This was a huge rain storm in the morning.

This is where I write every week. There are a ton of abandoned cars in the streets like this.

family! Thanks for everything! Love and miss you all!

Elder Roberts

Paulina's Baptism!

12-9

Yesterday we baptized Paulina. She has been investigating the church almost her whole life. Everyone in her family are members. We live in her daughter's house. It was a really good experience for their family. Yesterday was also the confirmations of Emanuel and Camila. We are still working with there family a lot because half of them are not members and Emanuel and Camila do not have a problem inviting their friends and family to talk to us. Almost every time we have a lesson with them they bring someone new! They are awesome! We found a few more investigators this week so I am super happy about that. In Argentina there are these places called villas and they are awesome! It is a massive place where people just went and started building cement huts and connecting them to others and building on top of each other. We have had a hard time making time to go into the villa but this week we finally went in! It was awesome. It is like a massive maze of just huts! My first day president said these are really good places to find humble people so we are going to start working in the villa! I am loving Argentina! It is still so hot and it is only supposed to get hotter. The kids playing soccer in the streets remind me exactly of jaxson- it is not even funny. Some even look just like him. They have their soccer jerseys and are just going all out playing soccer! I love it! When I have to wait for the bus or train I love just watching them! It still doesn't feel like Christmas but I am loving it. I love my Christmas tree mom! Dad thanks for the pancake idea. Every morning I have pancakes with dulce de leche! Its so good! Pray for the Ortega family. They really need the gospel! Thanks for everything! Miss and love you all!

12-17

Hola! Today was transfers and me and elder Molina are staying together in San Martin! I am super excited about that! Sam said he is training!!!! That's awesome! This week my ward had an end of the year/Christmas party. We went to a big campsite that is owned by the church with lots of pavilions, a swimming pool, basketball court and lots of soccer. We had a huge barbecue and then played soccer for a few hours! I got destroyed but it was so fun! It was so hot. There is a part of my neck that hasn't seen the sun since I left on the mission and it got fried. The pool would have felt so good. This Sunday was kind of a bummer. None of our investigators showed up. But this week we found a lot more so I am happy about that. Every day just gets hotter and hotter. I wish my shower could go colder. This week I pulled out my ipod to give one last try and it works perfectly!! Its a Christmas miracle! So now I am loving the Christmas music! I cant wait to skype with you guys. If there is anything I need to do you need to tell me now so I can get everything ready! Thanks for everything! Love and miss you all!

 Yummy bananas with caramel/chocolate sauce!

We take these trains everyday

Baptism of Emmanuel and Camila!

11/26

This week was pretty good! Not a lot different happened. At church we had 5 investigators and like 4 other non-members there, but we haven't counted them as investigators yet. Sunday was the primary program and one of our investigators is 8 years old, so everyday this week we practiced primary songs so that she could sing on Sunday. It was way fun. It was a super good way for us to keep in daily contact with this family.  It was another really hot and humid week. Here we do a ton of walking. We cover half of a ward and I have never been to over half of my area. In Salt Lake I would plan somewhere to go every 30 minutes. Here we can't do that because we have to count for walking time, buses and trains. But I really like it because we are constantly moving and are super busy. Spanish is getting better each week. I am starting to understand a lot better but it is still really hard. Any snow and skiing yet?  I miss and love you guys!

12/2

HOLA! Today I have been working on visa stuff all day so I only get like 2 hours of pday but I got the package you sent me mom! I haven't opened it yet but it looks like maybe someone went through it. I also opened one of the packages you sent me while I was in salt lake that said open December 1! I loved it! Thanks so much for that. Yesterday was the Baptisms of Emmanuel and Camila! It was awesome! Their whole family came to church and the baptism and it went really good for them. After the baptism their dad said he felt a lot of peace, so I think this was really good for him. We don't have a ward mission leader so we had a lot to do to prepare for this Baptism. Thanksgiving here was just like a normal day. I didn't even know it was Thanksgiving until like noon. For lunch I ate at a Peruvian restaurant which was really good. This week was another hot week except it rained for like 2 days which was really nice. Everyone says it gets super hot during like January so I am trying to get used to it. That's crazy Sam has lost 15 pounds. I wouldn't be surprised if I have lost weight too. Here I have breakfast at 7 and then lunch at 2 and that's it. Everyone says I would gain weight but that's hard with only two meals a day. Dad, I have not eaten much candy besides what I brought from salt lake. The only candy I buy here is a few pieces of gum to chew in my house. They do have panderias here and I am trying to get my companion to run with me in the morning for workout and buy bread and facturas but he says his feet will hurt. I am so tired of doing the same workouts every morning. You need to send me a list of things I can do. I do drink a ton of soda here so thats probably not the best. I cant believe it is Christmas time. It does not feel like Christmas at all. Do you have snow yet?? I wish I had snow here. I miss and love you all!

My apartment

This week was pretty good! Not a lot different happened. At church we had 5 investigators and like 4 other non-members there, but we haven't counted them as investigators yet. Sunday was the primary program and one of our investigators is 8 years old, so everyday this week we practiced primary songs so that she could sing on Sunday. It was way fun. It was a super good way for us to keep in daily contact with this family.  It was another really hot and humid week. Here we do a ton of walking. We cover half of a ward and I have never been to over half of my area. In Salt Lake I would plan somewhere to go every 30 minutes. Here we can't do that because we have to count for walking time, buses and trains. But I really like it because we are constantly moving and are super busy. Spanish is getting better each week. I am starting to understand a lot better but it is still really hard. Any snow and skiing yet?  I miss and love you guys!

Elder Holland came to Argentina!

This week was awesome!!! Saturday Elder Holland came and spoke to all of the Buenos Aires missions! I had to wake up at 2:30 in the morning and take a bus throughout the night and morning to go see him but it was awesome!! He talked about how important our missions are and how this is the Lord's work and we need to be completely focused on the Lord. He got so into his talk, it was crazy! He was pretty much screaming in the mike! The spirit was so strong and I learned so much from him. Also Elder Soares and another General Authority spoke and they both gave really good talks! This week we only found one new investigator but we had 6 investigators at church! I was so happy but we still have a lot of work to do with them. This week was so hot and humid!! I don't think I have slept with a blanket for my whole mission. Dad I will try to answer your questions. For p-day I do my 3 hours of morning studies, then usually clean up a little bit( this morning we found a massive pile of maggots in the kitchen. I almost threw up!) We then shop and email and then for the rest of the day the whole zone plays soccer at the church. Every church I have seen here has a soccer court outside in the back. My zone has only like 5 Americans and like 30 natives so they all love soccer and they are all freaking good! I get destroyed every p-day but I am getting better. Jaxson would love it here. Soccer is so huge here. All throughout the day kids play soccer in the streets and then at nights there are fields everywhere with older people playing. Everyone said I would just eat cow here but I get a lot of chicken and pasta. Most of the food I eat is from Peru because there are a ton of Peruvians in this ward. But so far the food has been really good. I love being with Elder Molina! My Spanish still isn't that great but it is improving a lot. The only problem I have had with my companion is that he puts his toilet paper in the garbage so I taught him that you can put it in the toilet. He told me his dad said you can only put it in the garbage. He is doing better but this morning he put it in the garbage so I wasn't happy about that. But other than that I am loving it! Thank you so much for everything! Do your best to share the gospel with others. Here I am not allowed to knock random doors. We work 100 percent with the members and it is so much more effective but we need the help with more members. I love and miss you all!!!!!

Pray for the Ortega Family and Jessica and Ever!

I am loving Argentina!

Mom I hope you had an awesome birthday! Your birthday dinner looked awesome! My mouth is watering right now thinking of crab and lobster! This week was super fun! I am loving Argentina! I am in San Martin right now! I cover half of a ward but my area is huge! We do a ton of walking. My Spanish isn't the greatest but I am learning so much right now. I am completely immersed right now so all I speak is Spanish. I can communicate fine with my companion. If I am confused about something, he explains it in a way I can understand. It is really nice to be with a native. I feel really safe here. Other missionaries over-exaggerate things. All of the members say it is really safe here. There are a few sketchy places in my area, but for the most part it is really safe. I will carry my camera for a few days this week so you can see where I live. It has been hot here but it has rained a few days and when it rains - if I don't have my umbrella -I am sopping and I mean sopping! Yesterday I had to change mid day because I was like a sponge! This area has been really slow for the past while so we are working really hard right now. Me and elder Molina have been out the same amount of time so we are both new but things are going good. Yesterday at church we were expecting 3 investigators at church but only one came. The other two I guess were sick but I was excited that one came.  After church we found a family of four and taught them and it went pretty good. I love the area I am in! It is like an old, big town. It is like a big Radiator Springs but with a lot of people. There are a ton of people from Peru here so I eat a lot of Peruvian food but it is way good. Pray for Jessica and Ever and for the Ortega family! Ever wants to be baptized right now but the rest of them are searching for an answer. Thanks for everything. Love you!

Kissing?

 The ocean with Buenos Aires in the background

 The City

How is it going familia? Argentina is awesome! It was so fun meeting the Eberhards at the airport! I loved that! It was so fun to talk to them! I am sorry that my typing is horrible right now I have never used a Spanish key board! Transfers were today so that is why I am writing today. This last week they put me with the zone leaders in the city until transfers. It is a crazy city. There are streets and streets of massive buildings. There are just doors everywhere and each door has like a hallway with tons of rooms just full of families. Today I just got transferred to the provinces. I have only been there for like 20 minutes so I don't know much about it. My companion is Elder Molina. He is from Rancagua Chile and speaks no English so I am using my Spanish a lot. It is already really hard but I am learning a ton. Colton Page served in his ward back home so he freaked out when I told him I knew him. He asked me if I knew anyone there and right as I said colton page he pulled a picture out of his scriptures with him and Colton. He said they write each other every week.  Dad to answer your question about Halloween, they don't celebrate it here. It looked like a normal day to me. Sunday the Zone Leaders that I am with had a baptism! I only taught her once but she is 90 years old! It was awesome! I love this mission already. President Ayre is awesome. We only work through the members so we don't knock any doors at all. I knocked a lot of doors in SLC and didn't find it effective at all. Something they do here that is really weird is they kiss each other a lot and everyone kisses everyone even the guys so I am not really used to that here. There are a lot of Peruvians here in Argentina and for some reason I am struggling to understand anything they say. The food here is good so far. The big meal of the day here is at 2 so I get pretty hungry at night but everyone says I get used to it. I will try to take as many pictures as possible but from what I hear, you shouldn't take your camera out much. At my orientation they said don't be surprised if you get robbed. If they see that I have something, they will take it. The companions I was with for the past week have both been robbed and one of them lost like his first 400 pictures in his mission so I am a little scared to take my camera out in public but I will try.My companion also knew David Archuleta. That is how Colten Page came up because I remembered they served in the same mission. I will tell you this again next week mom but HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! I think it is on Sunday so I hope you have an awesome day! I remember you always asked for no fighting but that was when I always got in fights, so I am sorry for that! I hope you have an awesome day! You are the best!!!! I love you so so so much!!!!! Have a great week! have to go right now, me and my companion are going to the church for something. Thanks for everything. I love you! 

 Buenos Aires, Argentina Temple

Picture from day 1 serving in the Salt Lake City South Mission. Photo taken by Mom hiding in her car as Parker and the other elders got off the Frontrunner Train!