July 25, 2011

(A lovely, delicious long letter!  Yay!)


OH MANN!!! WHAT A WEEK!!!! WHOOOO!!!

This week has probably been the biggest emotional roller coaster ride... EVER. I can´t even begin to describe to you the ups and downs of it all... But I´m going to try... Here it goes:

The rest of Monday was... terrible. Ha, when it was time to work, E. Rojas SHUT DOWN. He began walking very slowly, and didn´t say a word the entire night. We went by Chino, a member to see if he could accompany us the next day to an appt. we had the next day, after that we walked to every single investigator we knew... And every appt we had fell through!! We didn´t teach ANYBODY on Monday, it was terrible. That night E. Rojas and I did our own thing, silently and went to bed.

Tuesday was supposed to be District Meeting, but E. Rojas was ¨sick¨.... So the Trevelin Elders and the Hermanas just sat in our pench, and we took pictures and wrote in journals. Mom... You´re going to have a surprise here pretty soon. There´s one for you, dad, Jared, Dani, Chris, Aubrey, and Kim.... HEHEHEHE!!! So, Tuesday was spent in the pension... ALL day. I did a lot of reading, writing letters, praying, making homemade brownies, stuff like that. I hated it. I hate not working. End of story. 

Wednesday morning was interesting. In the morning, my attitude from the day before carried over and I was very down and gloomy. E. Rojas, after sleeping in for quite awhile, said he would try working. I took the advantage, jumped up, and off we went! I was feeling very sad and depressed, up until we reached our first appt. of the day... Diego! Do you guys remember Diego? He was my bread and butter in the beginning of the mission... He was my first lesson I ever taught, and he was also the first person to reject E. Slaugh and me and say, ´´I never want you guys in my house again´´. But, if I haven´t told you, we went by him again one day... Something told me to go to his house, even though he had said that to us. And we ended up putting another baptismal date... but a little bit shaky. We went by his house on Wednesday and had an incredible lesson on his desires to stop smoking and better his life. It was a lot of getting him excited to do what is right, and complimenting him on his efforts so far. Incredible lesson. At the end, he said: ´´I´m going to read the Book of Mormon... ¨´. WOOH!!! That made me SO happy. In that moment, all the depressed feelings from the day before vanished, I was happy. After that, we went to Patricio and Lidia. Lidia is a lady we found about 4 weeks ago that is 3 years inactive. No body knew she even existed! But we found her, and we began teaching her bfriend, Patricio. He is a member of a rock band down here in the Patagonia, drinks and smokes a lot... But... Idk, I love the guy. He´s such a stud, and he´s reading the BoM... SLOWLY, Haha! He doesn´t understand a lot, but he´s trying. Lidia was married in the church to another guy, but they separated themselves, without divorcing. She called us looking for help as to what she should do in this situation. She wants to marry Patricio, but she doesn´t have the money to divorce, and she doesn´t know if Patricio wants to be a member of the church. We´ll change that! ;) De Diez this family! That night, I decided to REALLY suck up all my pride, and be a companion with E. Rojas. At the end of the transfer. After SIX grueling weeks of torture. Hahaha, my pride does terrible things to me. But I did it. :) 

Thursday we met a girl named Ailin. We had the first lesson with her, and the Spìrit was so strong, I asked her right then to be baptized for the 6th of August. She said, YES! She said she hasn´t felt like this in a long time. Never had anyone tried to talk to her about God, or about how families can be happy forever... It was an amazing experience. We need to pass by her almost every day to help her get ready. We´ve got our next appt. tomorrow. That night was soccer at the church. The Elders quorumn always plays on Thursday nights, and we got permission to play with them from our D.L.... They KILLED us. Argentines are INCREDIBLE. We picked up Diego before, and also Nicol, the son of Lidia. They played on our team, Diego is pretty good, but these other Argentines that play every week... Destroyed us. When we had to walk Nicol and Diego home, Nicol (He´s 11 yrs. old) Asked me to jump and touch every roof, or any high thing possible. Every time I did, he couldn´t believe it! It was such a fun night. Friday was a day of... Miracles. In the morning we had District Meeting and had a testimony meeting, because some of our District was leaving for other places. The spirit was so strong... E. Barton, who has quickly become my favorite person in the entire mission... He gave the testimony of how his dad has began his own church, and has broken the heart of E.B. He told us why he was here. I bore my testimony about many things... And at the end, everyone was crying, after all the testimonies. We vowed to do our very best to work as hard as possible. We had a very successful day, we put two more baptismal dates, found a bunch of investigators, reactivated an inactive family, and... DIEGO SAID, I¨M GOING TO BE BAPTIZED!!!! 

The real miracle of Friday... We have 5 people we´re going to baptize on Saturday, the 30th. Diego, YES!!!!! Rita, (bfriend is Juan) Inés (best friend of Rita) Ruben (10yr. old son of Inés) and Roberto. The cousin of one of the members. 5 people in one week!! Do you notice how all the blessings and happy lessons came AFTER I decided to shape up and become a good companion with E. Rojas??? What-do-ya-know??? This is the biggest miracle... I can´t even tell you. That night, after everything... I find a sign on the side of a business that´s called: ´´Milagros´´´. This means Miracles in English. I took a picture underneath it, and you can tell how happy I am. Wow... The mission. The inactive family that we had a family home evening with, Familia Carmona... We went there and had a very good spiritual thought about eternal families, and played a game that E. Rojas had. I made the family homemade brownies... The most heavenly, incredible form of deliciousness that is known in this world. I put chocolate chunks in the batter, I put chocolate frosting on top of it, and whipped cream on top of that. The inside was so rich and moist and dense and... Ok, I´m going to stop bragging about my Brownie-making skills... Hahaha!! ;) My pictures aren´t uploading, and I have a ton to show you guys.... This is frustrating, Ha! I´ll have to show you the Milagros picture next week, the family home evening with the... Brownies... and also, a picture of me with a bunch of wild parrots!!! I have my tooth brush in my mouth, because I was brushing my teeth while looking out the window, saw them and screamed at E. Rojas, spitting toothpaste eVERYWHERE!!! I got the camera, and got a picture with them!!! Hahaha! 

Saturday was a very stressful day. That night I was to find out if I was to be staying in Esquel for another transfer or not. After all our hard work, and finally having a fun, successfull time with E. Rojas... After finding out that I was about to help 5 people enter the waters of baptism the next week, I said... I can´t go. Because if I go, I cannot see these baptisms. I prayed so hard that day... that night... I was told that I¨M STAYING!!! I was so... shell-shocked, actually! Haha! I´m so happy... I can´t even tell you guys. 

Sunday was incredible. We went and picked up Diego in the morning for church, (HE CAME TO CHURCH!!!!!) And he loved it. IMAGINE THAT!!! During Sacrament meeting, two of the members got up and gave talks on temples. Diego wasn´t understanding a thing. I was freaking out. Germán, that stud... He got up to give his talk as the last person with a talk. The first words out of his mouth were...: ´´Diego, I can tell you don´t understand everything... So I´m going to explain it.´´ He then used all the time in his talk to explain to Diego personally, very simply, what is a temple and things like that. He gave his testimony, relating to his own life... I owe so much to Germán... He has helped us so much. Diego loved church... Ah, wow. 

I don´t have much time left, but I have one more story. Omar, a guy we´ve been teaching for the last week. We hadn´t found him for about a week before, and we finally found him on Saturday night... We were there with Juan Manz, a member who served his mission in Rosario Argentina... KOLT?? Are you LISTENING TO THIS?? DO YOU KNOW AN ELDER MANZ??!! He served 5 years ago.. Don´t know if the time is right. But anyway, we asked Omar how he was doing... And this was his answer: ´´Seriously? .... I´m just hungry...´´ I could not believe it. In that moment, I wanted to give him all the money in my wallet, go to the store, buy him every thing in sight and give him everything in my fridge. Juan Manz, being the stud that he is, ran out to his car and came back with a bag of bread and Mayonnaise. He gave it all to Omar... And we put a baptismal date for the 13 of August with him. I was so humbled that night... He had walked all day the day before, looking for work. His search lead into the night, and he didn´t arrive at home until early the next morning... He hadn´t eaten anything for 2 days. HOW CAN WE LIVE LIKE WE DO KNOWING THERE ARE PEOPLE LIKE OMAR WHO WALK AROUND ALL NIGHT LONG, LOOKING FOR A JOB JUST SO HE CAN FLIPPING EAT???' I could not.... cannot... I am so humbled right now... I can´t even tell you. 

The church is true, and it blesses lives. I am so happy right now. This week, E. Rojas and I are going to break the standard of excellence. It´s the ´´bar´´ for outstanding missionaries. I´m working my hardest to get these 5 baptisms on Saturday. If all of you at home could pray for my investigators, every one of them, with all the faith that you have... I know they will enter the waters of baptism. They all have very tough situations, but this will help them. 

I love you all, E. Cuthbert is doing fine and loving live here in Esquel. I love this work, and it is work!!! En mis oraciónes... E. Cuthbert

July 18, 2011

Get your hankie ready, this is a good one! :)
Well.. I can´t type. My hands are frozen solid.....

Haha! Winter finally arrived in Esquel. Snowed a lot on Saturday night, E. Rojas has been freaking out because he´s never seen snow in his life. He also has no idea how to walk on ice, and it shows... He´s fallen 5 times. ;) Hahaha! 

In answer to your questions... WELLL... With German and his gfriend... I have my first convert. :) :) :) HAHA!! It´s a miracle story, really. What happened was this. After Sunday and our little testimony meeting with the BoM, she said she would read. Last Monday was the FHE, but she decided not to join us, she was mad at German for some reason, Haha. But the next day, German had a conversation with her, saying that he was willing to move out of his own house and move in with a members family until she was baptized and they got married. She didn´t want to live alone, so she decided to go back to Misiones, Argentina (WAY up North) to think everything over and decide what she wanted to do. She left the next morning and began reading the BoM. When she reached Misiones the next day, she was finished. ....... YES!!!!!!!! She read the BoM in a day and a half, told German that she lOVED it, but didn´t understand everything, so she´s reading it AGAIN!!! After she asked what she would have to do to be baptized, and German told her to go to a church and ask for the missionaries to teach her the lessons and then she could be baptized! She said, I will do it. I HAVE MY FIRST CONVERT! It does not matter that I´m not baptizing her, We´re all on the Lord´s team, right? :) :) :) And German will be ¨eternally¨ grateful for me. ;) HAHA! Such a good first conversion story, I think. Wow... I love this church. I LOVE the BoM. )Just so you know, German wasn´t doing anything bad, he is the b iggest stud of the earth. I have learned so much from him, and I love him so much. Such a helper.) I hope he moves to Utah... Haha! 

Last PDay was pretty bad with E. Rojas. We got into a HUGE fight over the contact that happened on ´Sunday with him waiting forever away, things like that. We were almost at blows. i would feel VERY bad if he had tried to fight with me. He´s a very small boy. Haha, BUT. What happened was we did Divisions on Tuesday and Wednesday to let us cool off. I went to Trevelin with E. Barton, who has quickly become my favorite person in the entire world. Haha, remember when I was saying he was so annoying and I didn´t like him? He´s like a heavenly angel, sent to relieve me from my companion... Hahaha! Anyway, we had a really good, fun time together, E. Barton and I in Trevelin. We worked very hard and well together. We got back on Thursday morning and found E. Rojas... in bed, like always. He never gets up at 6:30 like he´s supposed to. He sleeps in EVERY morning, with excuses that he´s sick. What was hilarious, is that when e. Barton and Gutierrez left for trevelin and left E. Rojas and me alone, The President of the Mission called!!! HAHAHAHAH!!! I had sent him an email the week before, telling him all the things that E. Rojas had been doing that was stopping us from being the most effective missionaries possible. Things i had brought up with E.R. but he had refused to change. Pres. Peterson called and asked to speak with E.Rojas who was... in bed. When he wasn´t supposed to be. First whippin´was about that. Then he started talking about the lap top and what his plans were to better the companionship. It was a long talk on the phone. After they ended their little chat, E.Rojas got SO mad at me. He couldn´t believe that I had told the person who was responsible for the mission the things that were going on. After that, he went to the missionary rules book to find SOMETHING that I was breaking. 15 minutes later, he asks me to read the ¨Jewelery¨ section. I did. It says you´re not allowed to wear nose rings or toe rings or bracelets or necklaces. I asked him... So..... What´s the deal? He pointed to my CTR ring. My CTR RING??!! He kept saying that that was a break in the rules. I was laughing for a good 10 min. Needless to say, that day didn´t go to well. 

Friday I decided to do a study for myself. What I found was very interesting. I had a very spiritual experience that morning, in the fact that I realized just how important my calling is, my responsibilities, and my responsibility to love my companion. I realized the importance of working hard, smart, and with love. I decided to apologize to E. Rojas for everything that I did, and commited that I would try harder. it was the beginning of a change for me. The beginning of my ¨new¨ mission. I found out so much about myself that morning, I actually cried for a good 20 minutes, unable to comprehend or express to my Heavenly Father how grateful I was and how humble I was and how NEEDY i am for his help. I know Heavenly Father answers prayers, and that he loves us. I know that He wants more than anything for us to come back to Him. I know He knows me, and is watching out for me. The problem is that I can´t fully explain my feelings for what happened that morning to you guys right now. Maybe someday if you ask me, i´ll be able to describe it a little better to you someday. This mission has literally CHANGED me. i can´t tell you how grateful I am for the things I´ve learned about myself, and the help I provide in the lives of others. I am SO grateful for this calling as a missionary. 

We were walking around on Friday, and i looked up at a powerline, and saw something amazing... 20 brilliantly green and red and yellow PARROTS!!! There´s PARROTS in the Patagonia!! I have wild PARROTS in my area!!! How COOOOOOL is that????? Hahaha, I was so ticked I didn´t have my camera...

Thank you all for all you do. I am trying my hardest to be friends with E. rojas, changing more myself than asking him to change. I have learned so much on this mission. Grandma, Thank you SO much for your continuous letters!!! I love you and Grandpa so much, and am writing to you soon. I love all who continue to pray and give their support to me. Thank you so much. Every week, I am reminded with the love that I have for all of you. Mom, I love you. Never forget that. Melyn, I love you so much! Jared, you lil´ stud. Keep makin´ dem Sandwiches!!! I miss Subway with all my heart... Haha! Dad... I love you so much. Thank you for the continued support. I can´t put in words my appreciation for you. 

I love you all, write me, please? Hahaha, the subtle plea of a missionary.... ;) 

Have a great week, Nos vemos!!

Elder Cuthbert 

July 11, 2011

Hahahahaha, Ohhhh WOW. What a week... Where to begin??? 

Miguel Vilte and family are doing well. It´s been a while since we saw them... But they really like us. Belyn also, has been very difficult to get ahold of. She works every day! I can imagine that i´ve been on your mind this whole week, and the story just got a little more interesting... 

First of all, I need you to see if you can find Lectures on Faith. It´s a book that Joseph Smith wrote for the School of the Prophets.. Want that! Haha, also, what are good things to eat at night, right before bed that won´t just stick in your stomach? Found that recipe for buttermilk syrup from Bro. Dennis yet? Well, Rita Marqueo, don´t know if I´ve talked about her before, but she´s pretty much a member, just isn´t baptized. She knows the BoM is true and Joseph Smith is a prophet and... EVERYTHING! Only problem is she has a boyfriend. He´s terrible. Drinks, smokes, is never at the house, doesn´t do anything good for Rita and her son, Ismael, and is very dishonest. We had a lesson with them the other day, in where I told Juan this: Rita wants to be baptized, and we want this opportunity for her as well. The problem is she can´t be baptized until she´s married, or you´re gone. I need you to make a decision, Juan.    And I left it at that. He hasn´t shown up at the house since, but I know he hasn´t left for good yet. 

Manuel is gone. We´ve left him for good. After his failed baptism, which was a very... interesting experience for a very new missionary, we went to visit him one more time. He said that he would get baptized when he wanted to, when it was warmer. Ha, he´s not ready. We said we´ll return in the summer, and the very next day I saw him with a bunch of old guys, drunk on a street corner. :/ Remember Diego? Well we passed by him and he´s accepting the chats again. We had a dinner with him on Saturday night to gain his confidence. I made American Omelettes, something none of them had ever had in their lives!! Eggs, chicken, onions, g. pepper, cheese, and a little touch of Argentina... ChimiChurri. Haha, they were delicious, and he loved them! We also made some homemade brownies with whipped cream and choc. sauce. It was a very fun night. 

Hernan and Maria, I hope I´ve told you about them... E. Smoot, the Pres. Assistant and I visited them when we were doing divisions. They accepted a date for the 24 of July to be baptized. We passed by them, and they absolutely love us. Such a beautiful family. Problem, they´re not married. We need to ask them to get married. They´re really good friends of Juan and Patricia Manz, some of the most strong members in the Branch. They´re so close to getting baptized... But their family is visiting for the first bday of their daughter, and they don´t want us to come over for 3 weeks while family is there!! We´ll see about that... Heh! We had a Pollo Al Disco as a Branch on Saturday for lunch. Everyone in the Branch came, and we had Hernan and Maria, Horacio and his kids, and a few other people there who aren´t members. It was such a fun experience! After the DELICIOUS Pollo Al Disco (Chicken) They had a talent show and asked if I would play something. I decided to play ¨Breathe¨ by Greg Maroney, everyone loved it. Ha, it´s so hard to keep up with my piano songs!! There´s never time to play, never. It´s kind of sad. 

German, the stud of the earth, he served his mission in Argentina Neuquen too, 4 yrs. ago. Anyway, he finally has a gfriend. She is visiting from Misiones, a province way North in Argentina, and she´s living in his house... Ah, jeez. I know he´s not doing anything bad, it´s just interesting for me to see him doing that. We had lunch with them yesterday and had a lesson with her. She´s not a member of the church, but came to Sacrament meeting with German and loved it. We´re going to baptize her, but if she´s living with German right now, we need to marry them first. We have a family home evening with them tonight, and I´m going to ask him what his plans are... Proposal??

Now on to the interesting stuff... E. Rojas. Where to begin? I´m at the end of my rope with him. I keep asking myself how I´m going to survive 9 more weeks with him... There´s no way that I´ll be leaving Esquel at the end of 2 transfers, so I know I´m with him for another. We´ve been having some pretty interesting fights lately. The subject of which has been the supposed ´faults´ that I have and he has. Faults of me: I ate an empanada in the street, which isn´t ¨sacred¨as he put it. I walk with purpose, like a missionary should.... I can´t even remember a lot of the things he tried to load on me, they were ridiculous. New things for him, he sleeps in every morning till about 7-7:30, HE HAS A LAP TOP (I will not give on this one, it is unacceptable) He walks behind me in the streets, all the time. I don´t get it. I stop suddenly every now and then and he´ll bump into the back of me. I walk at a pace that has purpose, not running like he puts it. i know he can keep up, he just chooses not to. The biggest thing: We were walking down the street and i saw a family. I went up to contact them and began walking along side them, talking about our message. When I finished the contact, I looked back to see where E. Rojas was. He had stopped and was waiting where I began the contact, about a block away. This infuriated me. We´re supposed to be ¨companions¨ , no? How can this guy have 1 year and 6 months in the mission? His example is terrible, but he does not admit anything. 

But let me tell you also, that I know I have a lot to work on. i´ve been trying very hard to develop Christlike Attributes this week, Humility, Patience, CHARITY. And I do well for a little while, and then fall again. When he does things like that, I fall. And that is not alright for me. I should set the example. No importance, time had in the mission field, I can set the higher example. I´m trying, but I have a lot to improve. I have been burying myself in the scriptures, and Liahona´s. Especially the May 2011 Gen. Conf. edition. I drink in the words in those talks.... I´ve learned so much. I encourage you all to get a copy of the Liahona and read it!! Mark it!! The talks in there are from God, I know it with all my heart. 

My situation hasn´t improved with E. Rojas, then. It has stayed the same, if not worse. What I am thinking though, is how we can possibly bring people to Christ if we ourselves are not acting as such? It is IMPOSSIBLE! I´m done complaining about the situation. I´m stuck with him for now, and I´m going to conquer. Job 23:10, If I can endure it well, I shall come forth as gold. What a cool scripture, yeah? I am growing a ton out here. More and more, I´m finding this mission being everything I´ve needed my entire life. It´s teaching me things I never thought I´d know. I have such a testimony of the church. I have such a testimony of the BoM. Even though i have a companion that is... different... I will not let that stop me from Coming forth as gold, and showing my Savior that I am a dedicated, hard working, servant. Whenever I think of home, I smile, and it spurs me onward. You guys give me such strength in the face of adversity, which is a lot. Believe me, the things that have happened to me so far are... Challenging. The only place I know where to turn to is Christ, My Savior. I have such a testimony of the Savior and His love for each and every one of us. More than anything, I know the BoM is true. I love each and every one of you. I have learned that the love I have for you all is... incredible. Every single aunt, uncle, cousin, grandma, grandpa, brother, sister, mom and dad... You all mean the world to me. I think of you all often, and you all give me strength. I humbly wait for anyone willing to write me a letter. Hearing from home always brings a smile to my face, and it´s such a blessing. It helps me to continue pushing forward.

 

I want you all to know that I´m alright. I´ve grown more than you can imagine on this mission, and it´s shaping me in ways I never thought possible. Please pray for me and keep me in your thoughts and hearts, I need it all. Through all the trial and adversity, there is One who knows me. His love is all encompassing. I love you all so much, I know I keep saying it, but it´s because it´s true. I will not let you all down. I´m here to work, to be a servant of my Heavenly Father. Ah, I´ve learned so much, and the more I think about it, this mission is more for me than anything else. This mission means everything to me. Even with all the struggles and trials, hardships and adversity, I am in love with this work. I will Return with Honor. I carry the name of my family well.

 

Love you all, I pray for you all. E. Cuthbert is fine, just Savior needy. just like all of us.

 

E. Cuthbert

July 4, 2011

I love my family! 

Thank you so much for the letters and everything you do... Mom... I love you. More and more, this mission is changing my perspective on the family. I wouldn´t trade my family for ANYTHING. I keep saying it every single week, and I will KEEP saying it until people truly understand the importance of their family. What I´m feeling isn´t home sickness... It´s just... Ah, I don´t know. I appreciate my family so much more now that they´re gone, 6,000 miles away. Yesterday (Sunday) we were visiting a family after church, and then the rest of their family came over. They had 4 generations of family in the small room... And I just smiled. I told them... IF there´s one thing I miss from home... It´s This. We don´t understand or realize the importance of our family. Family is everything for our Heavenly Father. It is his one and solo mission to bring us all back to Him. Can you imagine how He felt, knowing He´d be leaving us to choose for ourselves, with the chance that we might reject Him and Life with Him???!!! I can´t imagine... My dream is to get off that plane and have my entire family close by me. That is what life is all about. I´ve figured it out... Took you long enough, E. Cuthbert... There´s a reason the family is the most important unit in the church, and in the world.  

Well, I was with you, Mom. I didn´t think Manuel was ready... And sadly, I was right. He had his baptismal interview on Thursday, and our District Leader said he was ready, he just needed friends to help support him. E. Rojas has been saying this whole time that he KNOWS he´s ready. I, knowing Manuel a lot better than that, had my doubts, sadly. We got to his house Saturday morning to pick him up in a car for his baptism. And he wouldn´t come. He was very angry, talking about how he didn´t like the baptism interview questions, and how he has to clean his clothes, chop wood, things like that. During this whole time, I tried my best to persuade him to come, but he wouldn´t budge. E. Rojas was taken aback, and didn´t say a single word the entire time... I hate to say I told you so. :( AAHH!! I just want BAPTISMS!!! What is it that I´m doing wrong?? I´m in a city in Argentina, with a companion that if given the option, will sleep in till 10, and not work. I have been in the mission for 4 months, and already, I am in charge of everything that happens! It is a lot to deal with! To top off the cake, E. Rojas pulled out a mini laptop this morning... That is a FORBIDDEN on the mission. I´m telling my Mish President about that in my email. Mom, I loved the advice you gave me about service, to love him. At this moment in time, I don´t even have the desire to love him. But this is a sin. This is not a Christ like example of the love He would show. We humans are so imperfect. Lower than the dust. Me, more than anyone. I can´t even like the idea of loving my companion right now, and for that one reason, I have a lot of repenting to do. The mission is teaching me so many things, and I feel like this email is turning into a venting letter more than anything else. I just want to better myself, and help others. How can I do that with a companion who isn´t willing to put in the work that I´m putting in? There´s a reason we´re companions. I can´t figure it out. More and more time on my knees, I know I need to better myself in so many ways. Gah, I need the help of my Savior right now. I am trying my hardest to become a missionary. So many people go on missions, do missionary work... But how many really come home having BECOME a missionary? Kolt, My teachers in the MTC, Kass... My uncles... Them, yes. Many others, no. I will NOT fail at this. The question is just... HOW do I do everything, without having the advice of people who have already gone through these types of experiences? How alone I really am down here... This mission is the biggest test of my life, I know that. What´s Elder Jordan Evan Cuthbert made out of.............. One quote that E. Slaugh showed me... I cannot give in to Satan, for I was meant to be a King. That quote means everything to me right now. Although I have a companion that is breaking rules... although I don´t know all the best ways to find investigators, teach or help... I cannot give in. A constant battle. One I will not lose. No regrets. 

Wow, big Venting session. I feel better now, though. I need every one of your prayers... But well done with the house! I can´t even imagine what it will be like to see it in two years!! It´s so cool to hear that all the missionaries are coming home! Haha, tell them to pray for me - the Pros... 

Jared, don´t worry. I´ve written you a letter, along with everyone else in the family. I´m sending them out today or tomorrow. It will take about 3 weeks or so to get to Mapleton... Haha! I´m so sorry... It´s so difficult, But I´m only allowed one hour on the computer a week. It kills me, receiving letters from Aubrey, Dani, Gma, Melyn and everyone else and not being able to reply right away. Know now that I LOVE YOU ALL and will write you back!!! IT just takes flippin time!! Haha. 

Other things that happened this week.... It snowed, finally! It´s been pretty cold for the past couple weeks, but it finally snowed. Not much, not like Utah. E. Rojas was ballistic with happiness, a little annoying actually. He´s almost never seen snow in his life, but... bleh. I really do need to find love in my heart for that Elder. I know I have at least 9 more weeks with him. 

Jared, you´re the stud of the world... Working at Subway, making sandwiches that I DREAM about here. They don´t have sandwiches like Subway has sandwiches... Melyn, thank you for your letters, and when you can find the time, please keep writing. I live and breathe for letters from my family.  Dad, thank you for your continued support. You, more than anyone, are the reason I´m here, and I will be ETERNALLY grateful for your sacrifice and willingness to let me serve. Mom, you are an angel. The angel in my life. Enough said. Jared, you got guinea pigs?? Ha! cool!!! Write to me, everyone, please!!! In a time like this, I really do feel kind of alone. Maybe there´s a reason for all this... Perhaps this is my time to really step out of the crowd and show my Heavenly Father who I really am... 

I need to go, But I love you all. I´m trying not to think about home too much, the fact that i´m with a companion that I don´t want to talk to, the thoughts about home come in uninvited. I love my work here, I just can´t forget that this companionship is really made up of 3 people... Me, E. Rojas and My Savior. The one who I can depend on for EVERYTHING. Go to church, love your family, read your scriptures, and PRAY. Have a connection with the Father who misses you the most. Talk with the one who wants desperately to talk to you. Siempre, Nuestro Padre Celestial tiene su mano para Nosotros. Tenemos que unicamente agarrarlo. 

Keep me in your prayers, I love you all. I think of everyone in the ward with such fond memories, the Bishop and his wife. Chris Shurian... and the Priests... Ah, some day. Right now, I´m enjoying, and loving my mission. This time is not my time, and I am serving with all my heart, might, mind and strength. I need Bro. Dennis´ recipe for buttermilk syrup. Also belgium waffles. IF you can get those for me, I would love it! 

Until next Monday... Les quiero muchisimo. 

Amor, 

E. Cuthbert 

June 27, 2011

Well, I finally got the package!!! It takes about 3 weeks to get here, don´t worry! Everything was inside that I needed... I can´t thank you enough for your help, love and kindness for that package. :) :) :) Thank you so much for the letter, Jared! I haven´t read the one in the package, I will later today, and you got a job?? Way to go!!! Proud of you bud and your hard work! It will prepare you well for a mission having to talk to people all the time. Begin having conversations about them, get to know them. You can´t think to teach someone the Gospel if you don´t know their doubts, the things they like and things of that nature, it´s so important to be social! Love you bud. 

So glad to hear about the work done on the house! And thank you for talking to Jordan and Kolt about writing me, I need all the help I can get, seriously. This is all completely new to me, obviously... I need all help that anyone can give me. Thank them for me, will you? 

Going to Jerusalem without me, huh??!!! GO!!!! Holy cow, the chance of a life time!!! I am so jealous right now... Wow. Plan Argentina as the next vacation for the fam!! Haha! But seriously mom, this is a chance you cannot pass up, Dad, you too!! Seriously, you shouldn´t pass up an opportunity like this! (Before I forget, Grandma, Melyn, Aubrey... I´m not ignoring you! I get your letters every week, I just don´t have the time to always write back, but I´m in the process of writing a huge bunch of letters to send home, don´t worry, I love you guys!) Go, Mom. Go to Jerusalem. Ah, wow... So cool. We have such a loving family. Omi and Buppi are incredible to us. I would love it if you could send me CD´s!! Wait for another transfer or two, though. Ludovico Einaudi has some of the best piano songs ever. Jon Schmidt would be good, and also a bunch of MoTab and other church artists, but I don´t need it right now. :) 

Tulio is leaving on a 15 day trip to Buenos Aires, so I´ll be working with him later. Manuel came to church again, but halfway through the second hour, he told me he had to go to the bathroom, but he ended up booking it! I think it was because he was feeling uncomfortable, not understanding everything. The fault of a missionary who still doesn´t know what he´s doing... ;) He has his baptism this Saturday, I´m praying that he will be ready. I love that quote, and I gave a blessing to an inactive member named Gumer. He´d been having a problem with his jaw, and now it´s fine. :) The power of Faith.... 

Last Monday was by far a day of emotions. I can´t tell you how difficult it was that first week. He isn´t Trucho, but he needs encouragement. He will not work if you don´t work. He also has a very interesting way of teaching.. It´s very difficult for me to get a word in sometimes. He´s always pointing his finger at the person we´re teaching and trying to convince them of stuff without listening to their doubts or concerns. It´s such a hard thing to have to deal with. I can tell you one thing... I have learned that prayer is the most important thing in this work. There´s a sign that Kolt gave me that says Missionary Work is 100% Spiritual. How true that is. I have gained a greater relationship with my Heavenly Father through hours of pouring out my soul to him in help and supplication. Prayer is by far, the most important thing that we can do to strengthen our relationship with our Heavenly Father!!! PRAY!!! 

One cool experience we had was with a girl named Belyn. We taught her once before, and then came back, but couldn´t go into the house because it was only her. So what I decided to do was have the lesson right there at the door! She grabbed a chair, and we stood and began to speak about the BoM and the importance of reading and asking God about it. It was such an interesting experience to have a lesson with half the people inside the house, and us outside. Haha! 

We have a planning session every Thursday for the week. It´s a 3 hour session of deep planning for everything we´re going to be doing for the week. This last Thursday was... terrible. E. Rojas and I fought for an entire hour about Manuel. I had been worried that Pres. Leal the Branch Pres. wouldn´t let him get baptized this week because he didn´t come to all three hours of church the week before, I said we needed to postpone the fecha for baptism. E. Rojas did not like that, and we began to have an argument about everything we didn´t like about each other. It was intense, ha... But necessary. A lot of it was my pride and stubborness. One thing you cannot do in life is blame others. It was my fault. I learned a lot from that fight. Manuel IS getting baptized this Saturday, if he can realize the importance of this sacred ordinance. Since that day we´ve been better as a companionship. I´m still trying to do the leading, and more and more i´m realizing how little E. Rojas knows about really being a true missionary. More on that in a little bit. 

Remember Diego? He said he didn´t want to talk to us again, remember? Well we went back, and he accepted a fecha for the 16 of July. It was a good lesson, but I didn´t say one word. Seriously. E. Rojas spoke the entire time, and I don´t want to say this, but I kind of think Diego accepted a little just out of pressure...I don´t know. But he has the fecha, so that is incredible. 

Had my interview with President Peterson. What an incredible President I have. I love him and his wife so much! We talked about the things that had been happening with E. Rojas, and also about how I can more better strengthen my studying and things of that nature. It was a very good interview. E. Smoot and E. Woodbury, the assistants to the President stayed in our Pench that night and the next day, Sunday, we did divisions. E. Smoot with me. It was such a good day. To finally work with a missionary who has been in the mission for a long time, and really, truly, is a missionary. Everything he taught me was just incredible and awe inspiring. The advice he gave me was so needed. We did a lot of preparation to prepare me long term, but also I learned a lot about teaching through the Spirit, contacts, references and things like that. We had a lesson at the end of the day with a family named Hernan, Maria and their 1 yr old daughter. The Spirit was SO strong. We didn´t go in with any plan, we got to know them more as people, and then began to teach through the Spirit, the things that they needed to hear. It was such a good experience. I loved it. I´m kind of scared of taking E. Rojas to them because I´m afraid he will try and dump a whole lot of info on them. This is not how you teach through the Spirit. He is very... I don´t know how to explain it. Robotic. E. Smoot and I spoke a lot about him, and he said that he´s worried about E. Rojas because he can´t see any light in his countenance. He told me, there´s no light in his eyes... He doesn´t teach through the Spirit. I´m scared for my Investigators. We are so close to exploding in Esquel with baptisms. I have to put ALL my faith in the Lord for this to happen. Your prayers will help a ton as well. 

I´m here to be a missionary. I love missionary work, and I want more experiences like that with E. Smoot. Stud of the earth. Mom, you should encourage yourself, Dad, and Jared to write me on DearElder. Write me everything... I love hearing about your thoughts, worries, desires and dreams. I want to stay close to my family, no matter how far away I am from them. That is one thing I have learned... The importance of family. To every single person that is reading this letter, give your mom, your dad, your brothers and sisters the biggest hugs... Your family should mean EVERYTHING to you. I miss my family incredibly. I dream of the day where I will be able to hug my family, sit down and just talk with them... and I just see happiness. Do this for me, and for yourself. Your family is the single most important thing on this earth. 

I love you guys. Ah, I love you guys. Pray for me, please. I need all the help I can get. The sooner I can learn the quickest, most efficient, effective way to do missionary work the better. E. Rojas is not that answer, so it will come from prayers and from the Spirit. Pray that I can be humble enough to receive that help. 

Until next week. 

E. Cuthbert

Thank you so much for that package, mom. I love you and Dad so much... I hate the fact I don´t have more time to write you both an email. If I did, I would write you both every single week. Love you guys. Dad, I love you.