October 24, 2011

This week has been very fun and crazy... I will try and see if I can relate everything.

 

So I left Esquel a week ago... It was hard. We spent the day packing, then we got together with the other Elders and bought some icecream. Then it was off to the terminal to wait for the bus! While we were there, we began taking pictures and enjoy the last few moments together. I was JUST about to get onto the bus when the Colque family who we baptized all came RUNNING from the parking lot, trying to get there before I left. They made it! We took pictures, and said our last goodbyes... It was very hard to say goodbye to that family. They´re so special to me... I love them so much. I must return someday. I got on the bus, and Chao Esquel! It was such a strange experience... But right when I left, and was on the road out of Esquel... My entire 6 months of time there flashed before my eyes like lightning. Starting with the day I got there, nervous, not being able to understand Argentine spanish... All of the experiences, the good times with E. Slaugh, the bad times with E. Rojas, the successful times with E. Sharp... It all flashed past so quickly, I all of a sudden felt so... I don´t know how to explain it. The time I have is so short... I felt like I lived 6 months in about 6 seconds... I can just imagine getting on a plane in Buenos Aires for the U.S.A... How I will feel... Leaving home. Being a missionary is a one of a kind experience. And it´s one I will never forget.

 

Monday night, I stayed with... (Drum roll please...!!!) E. ALLSOP!!! Haha! I stayed in his apártment with his companion, it was VERY fun! In the morning, they saw me off to San Martin. I got there at 2 o´ clock and met my companion, E. Calvache. He´s very short, Columbian, 27 yrs. old (The oldest in the mission) and has the most annoying laugh, EVER!! Haha! My first day was AWESOME! San Martin is GORGEOUS!! Pres. Peterson must love me, because I thought Esquel was beautiful! San Martín is THE Spot. It´s got a lake right next to it, there´s trees EVERYWHERE, the people are very nice for the most part, and the city is incredible. I love it.

 

So the first few days were spent in me getting to know the members, the investigators, and basically everyone. Our apartment is incredibly perfect. I love it to death... I´m just a spoiled little missionary... Aren´t I? Haha! I can´t help but laugh to myself, but at the same time, I am very humbled to be this blessed. It is an incredible opportunity to be two years in the Patagonia. But that isn´t even the best part. In the first week I´ve been here, We´ve put about 7 baptismal dates with the other 4 they had before, so we´re already at my record of 11 baptismal dates. We have a kid named Gino, (12yrs) who will hopefully be baptized on the 29th. The only thing that would impede him is his dad. His dad is less active, and doesn'´t want to baptize him. But Gino wants desperately that his dad can baptize him. So they are having a little chat today, and we´ll find out tomorrow if we´re waiting a little longer for his dad to prepare himself, or baptize him anyway on the 29th with someone else doing the ordinance. We´ll see how it goes...

 

Roberto is the boyfriend of a member who was listening to the missionaries before I got here. He if a very tall Chileno, has cancer, and is as stud. He´s probably about 50, but anyway.. We had a date for him for the 19 of November, But then he told us that he has kids... I asked him if he would bring them with him to our lessons, he said ok. We had an AWESOME lesson with Roberto and his two kids, Matius (15) and Mikaela(11) We ended up asking them all to be baptized on the 5th of November. They all said yes!! It´s awesome!!! I´m so happy for them. I´m already seeing incredible blessings here in San Martin. It is an area that is completely ready to explode with baptisms.

 

On Sunday I bore my testimony and presented myself to the branch. It is a lot bigger than the Esquel branches.. About 110 members come every Sunday. We have some incredible members! They´re all very kind and willing to help us. The church building is gorgeous. It´s the only one in the Patagonia with 2 floors and an elevator! Haha. Anyway, as you can see, I´m a very happy boy.

 

Now, I´m pretty tired, this morning we got up and with the first counselor of the Bishopric and another member who is a mountain guide, we went on a hike to the top of the Volcano Colorado. It was a very fun hike, the only problem was the ash... The ash from the volcano that erupted back in June in Chile is still in the air here in San Martin. Sometimes it´s very clear... But days like today, it was terrible. We got to the top, and couldn´t even see the base of the mountain because of all the ash, but it´s all good. It was a fun hike, and at the top, we cooked hamburgers with a little propane burner and skillet! Haha! E. Calvache likes to kid and joke around a lot, it´s a little annoying, but the patience I learned from E. Rojas has helped me to be much more calm about things. It doesn´t bother me like it would have before... Anyway, that´s me for this week! I´m extremely happy, the work is AMAZING, I feel extremely blessed, and I know that my Heavenly Father lives. I have no doubt in my mind that He is always watching out over me. . . Thank you all for the kind and loving support you give me, I will see you next week! 

 

Amor, 

E. Cuthbert

October 17, 2011

What a week it`s been!!! Holy cow... The mission is about the craziest thing that`s ever happened to me!!! I will just throw it out now... I`M LEAVING HOME!!! Ha, I`m being transferred. A little later on I´ll tell you where and everything. This week has been very busy. 

So this week we`ve been very busy in preparing the Colque`s and Alicia Tapia for their baptisms on Sunday. We had to plan them for Sunday because Franco Colque is the chef for the military base here in Esquel. Argentina`s Mother`s Day is on the 16th of October, so on Saturday he was cooking all day for a party for all the mother`s in the military. So we couldn`t do it on Saturday, so then we planned for Sunday. It`s been a very, very exciting but bumpy ride with these baptisms. Like I`ve always said, the temptations always come at the last week before the baptism. We went by every night to teach the kids and talk to Franco and Cecilia. They`ve been so happy and excited lately. I know that the gospel blesses the lives of everyone, because I could see the difference in their attitudes towards their children, and everything was just... Better. Ah, a missionary can`t even describe the joy and love he feels for his wonderful investigators... I can`t tell you the love I feel for that family. They are precious. Alicia, also, has been incredibly excited. We can`t go by every night, because her husband Pascual is a little stingy at times and doesn`t like a lot of visitors. Hahaha. But we taught her everything, and she was ready! Something I have learned as a missionary is that once you have put a baptismal date, you need to PROTECT IT. Hmo. Maxwell in the MTC taught me that. Where´s my letter Cliff??! ;) But that`s exactly what we`ve been doing. Everyone in the Branch was a little doubtful that we were going to get all the baptisms, because they`d never seen 5 people get baptized at the same time... We were determined to show them up!

So, I don`t even have to say that this week has been exhausting. I don`t know what happened to us, but we were so sleepy, ALL the time!!! It was frustrating at times, because if you`re not 100% awake, it`s very hard to stay motivated. But we did alright, even though every morning, it was a literal battle to get out of bed and begin the day, we did it, because our baptisms are much more important than our own sleep. Work this week was hard, other than with our baptismal date investigators... We`ve lost a lot of investigators, and it`s been very hard to find new ones. If one doesn`t have investigators, the work is very slow. So we put extra emphasis trying to find news, but still with the focus on the baptisms. 

We had lunch on Friday with a family where the mom had been gone working for about a month on the coast. She had brought back giant bags of seafood, so for lunch she cooked us a GIANT vat of seafood, rice, chicken and potatoes! It was DELICIOUS!!! Such a good family. But anyway, I have way too much to talk about, and no time to say it... 

The baptismal interviews... The night before the interviews, we went over to the Colque family and taught them the last minute details, went over the interview questions, and practiced baptizing. It was a very fun night. The kids were nervous, thinking it would be some giant, hard thing.. But we assured them that it was nothing and that everything would turn out perfect. The next day, we got to the church and waited for E. Barton our D.L. to get there and Alicia/Fma. Colque. They all showed up on time, and E.B. started with Alicia. She passed!!! Then it was Cecilia`s turn. I love Cecilia, she`s the whole reason this family was even at the church, waiting in line to have a baptismal interview... She`s an ANCHOR. She wants the best for her family, and she wasn`t letting anything get into the way of it! She had an awesome interview with E.B... He was very impressed. :) :) :)  Then Franco went. He passed with flying colors... I don`t know what HAPPENED  to him!!!! He`s such an incredible stud, who wants the best for his family. And he`s doing just that. Then came Franco, the kid... He didn`t pass. E.B. came out and asked for Franco the dad to go in and talk to him for a second. We found out later that Franco didn`t want to be baptized because to be baptized you have to follow the Law of Chastity... And this cute lil` 12 yr. old thought that that meant no kisses!!! What`s he doing kissing girls anyway?! But his dad just looked at him and said: What`s wrong with you??! He explained what it all meant, and from that moment on, Franco passed! Then went Nicolas and he passed with flying colors.. WE HAD THE BAPTISMS ALL READY!!! It was such a hilarious experience with little Franco, Haha! I loved it. 

Saturday, we went over to Alfredo`s house, our other convert from Conference weekend. I spoke with them about my testimony, we read some scriptures, and I told him to continue onward. I`m going to miss that kid... He needs to go on a mission, and I hope that he will choose to do that soon. It is the hardest thing saying goodbye to Investigators, but I didn`t have to really say goodbye until Sunday after church. (The picture with E. Sharp and me with a kid and his goatee... That`s Alfredo. He totally needs to shave that thing!! ) So... Saturday night... We bought some empanadas for delivery, and waited for the Transfer call... We got it. I found out I was finally leaving Esquel, my home for 6 months. I`m going to miss this place, for it`s mountains, the beauty... Everything. There aren`t many places like Esquel in my mission. It`s one of maybe 4 areas out of 20-30 areas that are gorgeous. So.. Where am I going? The MOST gorgeous place in the mission!!! What a lucky duck I am!!! Haha! I`m going to San Martín de los Andes... It`s supposedly the most beautiful place in all of the Patagonia. I`m SO excited. My companion, an Elder Calvache... I`m a little apprehensive about him. From my first latino companion, I`m a little... Ah, I need to give this guy the benefit of the doubt. But, I have heard he`s very hard headed... But it`s ok, he`s about to meet someone a lot harder in the head when it comes to the rules! So I leave today at 4pm for San Martin. I`ll get there tomorrow at noon... And I`m very excited... It is going to be great. 

Last thing I`m going to talk about... The baptism!! IT HAPPENED!!! They all came, and it was GOURGEOUS to see 8 people in white!!! For Alicia, we had to put a chair into the water, because she`s so old, and her husband, Pascual doesn`t have the strength to baptize her by herself. After 3 tries to get her completely submerged, I was called in to help. I went down in the water and helped him say the baptismal prayer. After he said Amen, I grabbed Alicia by the stomach and legs, and just shoved her as forcefully as I could down into the water, because she had been fighting every single time!! It was so hilarious! It was probably the most irr-reverent baptism I`ll ever have. I literally had to fight her in getting her completely under, but then we got it and she was happy. Then I baptized Franco the dad, and little Franco. E. Sharp baptized Cecilia and Nicolas. It was INCREDIBLE!!! I have to go soon, so I can`t talk more about it, but I want you all to know that the work is TRUE!!! I LOVE IT!!! I`m very anxious, sad, and happy to leave... It`s going to be very hard to leave my home, but I can`t wait to see what`s waiting for me in San Martín. I love you all, 

E. Cuthbert 

October 10, 2011

Well Hello!

My... What a week it´s been. Honestly, it was a hard week. The numbers we had were, for lack of a better term, pathetic. Sometimes you have slumps like that, but that´s no excuse. It´s us who make the slumps! Anyway, I´m a very happy boy right now, we´ve had a lot of miracles....

I will tell you first that... Cecilia and her family did not get baptized. BUT. The prayers you have all been praying have been answered. Franco has had the biggest change I´ve ever seen. I don´t know if I told you last week about his story, how the first time we went into their house to meet them and teach them, he wouldn´t even look at us. As time went on, his curiosity got stronger and stronger. Before you know it, he was listening to us. He always kept saying: But I´m just going to let you know... I´m NEVER going to be baptized. Hahaha! On Monday we went over there, and taught Cecilia and Franco, Franco and Nicolas (The 12 and 13 yr olds) together. We spoke of their family. We spoke about Jesus Christ and His Atonement. We spoke of Baptism. We put baptismal dates for the rest of the family for this coming Saturday, the 15th. Never in my wildest dreams did I see such a big, miracle coming our way!! This family is wonderful. I have obviously never baptized an entire family, and this will be my first one! I´m so sorry I don´t have any pictures of them... Thanks to that dang SD card, I don´t know if I´ll be able to save the pictures on that card. Anyway, we´re going 110% with this family, and giving them every oportunity to grow and strengthen their small but incredibly tough testimonies. On Thursday, we watched the Testaments. I´ve never seen a man so into a movie as Franco (The dad) was. He was on the edge of his seat, nodding his head whenever something incredible or spiritual happened... And at the end when Christ heals Helam from being blind, he began CRYING!!! The military man began CRYING!! He went into the other room and dried off his tears then came back in. We spoke about the movie, and the message it contains. Honestly... I don´t know how any of this happened... We are so blessed, really. The missionaries were teaching this family for a year and a half and never got anywhere with them. Heavenly Father knows when people are ready to hear the Gospel, and when their hearts are soft enough to accept the Atonement. We didn´t do anything. We´re two gringos who stumble our way along in a foreign language... And Heavenly Father still works miracles through us. How lucky we are... Really. I´m a very blessed person, I know it. I feel like I don´t deserve such love and help for the terrible servant I am. There´s always so much more that we can do. It´s truly humbling... So yeah, I have my first incredible, INCREDIBLE miracle story. Well, not yet. After this weekend, I´ll have it! Hahaha. Franco works for the miilitary, so he can´t be baptized on Saturday. So what we´re going to do is baptize them after church on Sunday. We have another baptism, Alicia Tapia... The wife of a recent convert. We´ll baptize her on Saturday, then the Colque family on Sunday afternoon. It will be a White Weekend. :) I HAVE A REQUEST FOR ALL: PLEASE pray for Franco, Cecilia, Franco and Nicolas. Pray that their testimonies can be strengthened. That they can make good decisions, that when temptations and doubts come this week (AND THEY WILL COME THIS WEEK), that they can rely on their Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ to help them through it till Sunday afternoon. PLEASE do this for me. I don´t want your prayers right now, I need them all for my investigators!!

Well, another transfer has come and gone. We will find out on Saturday night if one of us is leaving Esquel, or not. I will probably be leaving... Sadly, I have been here for 6 months, and that is the general time limit on any given area. My situation is a little bit more rare in that I´m technically not IN my old area. This is technically my second area, but still... The chances that I will stay in my beloved home - Esquel - are slim. If I do leave, it will be perfect to leave with a BANG, the 5 baptisms. It will be incredible. 

We´ve really been faltering on finding new people to teach. It´s become increasingly harder and harder to find people, and that puts a drag on the work... We need your prayers that the hearts of the people will be softened enough to allow us to teach them the wonderful message of the Gospel and Restoration. As we pray and fast, the windows of heaven will be opened, and we will find people!!! It is so crucial that we have new people to teach. 

I´ve become increasingly tired as the weeks go on. Two nights ago, I laid on my bed for a few minutes while E. Sharp was writing on his journal, I put myself in the most uncomfortable position possible so I wouldn´t go to sleep... And the next thing I knew, the alarm was going off at 6:10... What the...?? E. Sharp got a video of me sleeping. I was completely OUT. 

Well, sorry I don´t have a ton of things to say this week... It was slow, as I said before. Just a heads up, your picky eater now likes oranges, raveoli´s, spaghetti (WITH THE SAUCE), squash, and things like that. Please don´t say I told you so!!!!!... ;) I love missionary work. Every one who is reading this, who is a guy and is coming to the age of the mission... DO NOT MISS YOUR CHANCE TO GO!!! GO!!!! You will find INCREDIBLE blessings and experiences here in the mission field. Christian Andrew Springer, I´m still waiting on that call. 

Love you all, 

Amor, 

E. Cuthbert 

October 3, 2011

Well hello my wonderful family!! :) Man, today has been a good day! And SOOO much has happened!! 

First of all... WE HAD A BAPTISM!!! HAHAHA!!! I bet you weren`t expecting that one! Ha, I feel really bad for leaving it out of my emails, I completely forgot! We had been teaching a 19 yr. old kid named Alfredo for about 3 weeks, and he entered the waters of baptism between Conference sessions on Saturday!! We were so happy!! I got pictures of his face all soaking wet, but there was a huge smile on his face, and we all knew that he felt the Spirit. It was an incredible experience. It is going to help his family a lot, because his mom is 6 years in-active, and seeing her boy get baptized, she began crying, saying to the members that she was so happy for what we had done for him because it´s given him more purpose in life! Great, great day. Oh... And about the pictures... Something´s wrong with my SD card in my camera that has about 4 months of pictures on it, and I´m a little worried that they´ve all been deleted... I´m praying I can save them! So forgive me for not having the pictures of the baptism, or our wonderful Pday adventures... :( 

The Colque family... I LOVE THEM!!!! What happened with the Sister Missionaries??! They´re so ready! Cecilia is always so excited, and if ever we leave the house without giving her and the family homework, something to read, stuff like that... She teasingly scolds us! Hahaha, we have some incredible blessings here in Argentina, Esquel! On Wednesday, we went to their house that night and Franco, the husband who has always stayed away from us, made us and the family Empanadas from Salta, Arg. (Way up north). They were the most INCREDIBLE things I´d ever eaten!!!! While he was making them, we threw on the Restoration movie, and he almost forgot about the empanadas, he was so focused on watching the Joseph Smith story! I have a picture of him trying to roll out dough while his eyes are plastered to the screen. We had an incredible time with them. On Friday, we invited them to a dance that the two branches were putting on... They came, and had a blast with all the members! We are inviting Cecilia, and the rest of the family to be baptized this next Saturday tonight. I pray that they will have the courage to do what they know they feel is right. It is especially hard for Franco, because his entire family is Catholic, and they would reject him. I´m hoping for one of the miracle stories that happens when missionaries have A LOT of faith that their investigators can receive their answer, and take a leap of faith... Because it would be super hard to be rejected by your entire family!! But, I am so grateful for that family, and I know they will be baptized. 

General Conference was such a spiritual FEAST!!!! I loved it! My favorite talks were by Pres. Uchtdorf about knowing that we ALWAYS have our Dear Heavenly Father with us... That he NEVER abandons us, and even in our darkest hours, He will always be there to be our Light. I have such a testimony of His presence in my life. I know that He loves me, and that He watches over and cares for every one of us. He is our loving Heavenly Father... Our FATHER. My other favorite talk was in the Sunday morning session by Elder Callister about the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I have become the biggest fan of the Book of Mormon in my mission, I know it´s from God, and I know that no one could have made it up. The Book of Mormon has a Spirit about it. It´s words touch the soul in the way a normal man talking could never do. I HAVE A TESTIMONY IN THAT BOOK. I KNOW it´s true. I challenge every one that is reading this email, to try the promise written in Moroni 10:4-5. It is true. Joseph Smith did not write it. He translated it from divine power from Heaven. I encourage all to read that book, meditate and PONDER the message, and pray to Heavenly Father to know if it is true. I know that He answers. Always. 100%. Wow... Look at Jordy... He´s turned into a missionary... ;) HAHA! The mission really changes people. I know it´s going to be the best thing for my entire life. I´m learning things that are invaluable. Jared... Don´t do ANYTHING that will prohibit you from going. As your big brother, I EXHORT you... Be a good boy. I love you, and care for you as the little brother that you are to me. You are my only brother, and I want the best for you. It is through the scriptures, church and a mission. Plan on a mission. You will never regret it. Yes, it´s brutally hard. But through the Refiner´s Fire... We come out as Gold. I´m not saying I´m gold, I never will be... But I do know that Heavenly Father has the power to shape us into the people that He wants us to become. The Sons of God. Through the tribulations... We become stronger. It´s like a muscle. If you want it to grow and become stronger, you need to work it out, and tear it up. Through this process, it repairs itself, and comes back even stronger than before. I love you, Bud. You are such a driving force for me in my mission. Keep up the good work. 

E. Rojas left very urgently for a medical emergency. We as a district have been together, the 5 of us, since Saturday. We have had a ton of fun, including going to Los Alerces, a national park with a lake, and gorgeous views!!! We went there today, it was such a blast. I have a few pictures from it... 

Well, I love you all! The work is INCREDIBLE!!! I LOVE being a missionary!! WOOHOO!! Bring it on! It´s incredible that I´m already past the 6 month mark. The last month has gone by SO FAST!!! I want you all to know that I´m happy, healthy... And I´ve got an incredibly terrible farmers tan on my neck and arms from my white shirts... Oh well... ;) It´s getting hotter every day, but we´re only in Spring! We´ve long since left the suit coats at the apt, and go in just white shirts and ties. Esquel is as gorgeous as ever... And we might go paintballing for Pday next week... ;) ;) ;) 

AMOR PARA TODOS!!!

E. Cuthbert 

September 26, 2011

What a week its been!!! Last Monday, we hard our interviews with President Peterson. We had a very good, spiritual conversation about the Atonement, and our work here in Esquel. He asked me the question, How many are you going to baptize here, Elder? I told him: At least 4... He then told me... Elder Cuthbert, there is someone in Esquel ready to be baptized this Sunday. (WHAT???!!!) Thats what was going on in my head when he told me that. We spoke more about it, and he encouraged me and E. Sharp to take the matter up to fasting and prayer... Later that day, we went on Divisions with the Assistants. Remember E. Smoot? The most STUDLY, spiritual missionary ever. Kind of like an Hmo. Maxwell or Douglas... ;) Ha! Well, we went to a families house of investigators and had a very good chat with Cecilia, the mother. It was a very spiritual conversation, focused on the Atonement and Baptism. We placed a baptismal date for the next Sunday! It was incredible. From that point on, E. Sharp and I have had some extremely crazy blessings... Right now we have 9 baptismal dates... Thats 9 people that have baptisms planned before the 17th of October! We began working more with Cecilia last week, only to find out that the sister missionaries before us... Had never taught her or the family the Law of Chastity, Tithing, or the Word of Wisdom!! Surprise!!! :/ Her husband also left for the mountains with the army for a week, and she didnt want to be baptized without him there to see it. A lot of prayer and fasting over the situation, we decided that she should be put back to the 8th of October so that her two sons could be baptized with her. At church yesterday, we had a Gospel Principles class with her, a recent convert who has been fellowshipping Cecilia, and us two Elders. We spoke about Heavenly Father, who he is, and what he wants for us. It was a good lesson, and at the end, we asked if Cecilia could say the closing prayer. She began the prayer, normal but halfway through, began crying... She choked through tears while she pleaded to her Heavenly Father to bless us, the missionaries, for helping her get to church, to know that this is the true church, and to help her get to a baptism! She poured out her whole soul in that prayer! When she ended it, the Spirit was so strong. The recent convert was in tears, Cecilia was in tears, and I was about ready to jump out the window with all the happiness that a missionary can feel! I then testified about baptism, and that the church was true. We then asked if she would be baptized on the 8th. She said: Sí!!! YES!!! WAHOO!!!! She is an incredible person, and her family will make incredible members of the church. 

General Conference is this weekend!!!! WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED!! Its hard to think that its already been 6 months since the last one in the MTC! WOW! Anyway, I cant wait, and none of you should be able to wait, either! We get to hear the words of God through our Prophet. What a priviledge it is that we have. I was going to make scones and honeybutter for the Sunday session, but everyone here makes scones and gives them to us, so Im sick of them! We are going to make Cinnamon rolls instead... ;) ;) 

I love you all. My testimony is stronger than ever. 

Amor, 
E. Cuthbert  

September 12, 2011

(Sorry for dropping the ball a bit on posting Jordan's letters!  I promise to post them as soon as they're emailed. - Melyn)

Thank you mom so much for the oreo recipe! Haha, that makes me happy! Before I forget... There was a piano song at the MTC that I LOVED, that I need to learn for Sacrament meetings and things like that. It was called : Oh How Lovely Was The Morning. There´s probably a ton of songs called that, but it´s just straight piano, and it´s GORGEOUS. Wow.. It´s been such an interesting week here in Esquel!

So Tuesday morning we had to get up really early like always to meet our new companions! E. Sharp was with me in the new area, and E. Syddall with E. Rojas. I was so ready to get to the terminal to meet E. Sharp, but E. Rojas had to go the the bathroom... In the new house, there was a problem with the bathroom door, and I had told him not to close it all the way, or else he´d be locked into the bathroom and wouldn´t be able to get out. Guess what he did? ..... Yeah, he got stuck in the bathroom. Dang kid!! So after 20 minutes of helping him squeeze through a tiny little window in the back of the bathroom... We got to the terminal to see our new comps waiting for us. E. Sharp is tall, not as tall as me, but tall enough. He´s a distance runner... Blegh!... ;) And likes a lot of the same things I do. I was SO happy to see my new comp, and turn E. Rojas over to E. Syddall, because however you look at it... 3 months with him was enough. Ha. So we took all of his stuff to the new apartment where the Hermana missionaries were living, then we went to the house and grabbed all my stuff. It´s exactly like you said it, Mom... It was such a pain to pack up everything that I had just unpacked. :/ Haha. But, anyway.. We got to the apartment and had to clean it up a little bit.. I´m seriously disappointed in the sister missionaries... It was a pig sty! We were cleaning until lunch time, finding long girl-hairs in every crook and cranny, throwing away the extra tampons they had..( Oh PLEASE!!!) Stuff like that. It was terrible. But, we got it all into order and went to lunch. The problem is that the apartment is very small... I didn´t have any space to put my suit cases! So for the first few days.. They were sitting in the kitchen, on the floor. Anyway, we began to explore the new area on Tuesday. It was very, very interesting, because usually at least one of the Elders knows the area, the investigators, members, etc. E. Sharp and me? Nope! It didn´t help either that in all the information the hermanas left us, there were hardly any addresses! I´ve "Whitewashed" an area before, and I´ve been wondering why Pres. Peterson put a new missionary in a whitewash, but whatever. Cliff Maxwell, did you whitewash as a missionary at all? It´s... interesting. This first week has just been finding everything. Even when we have the address for someone, the system here is all names and neighborhoods, not numbers. So even if we found neighborhood Baden 1... Where the heck is that?! Haha! I´ve never asked so many people for directions in my life... It´s such a hit on the pride... ;) Ha! 

We decided to go meet our Branch President and let him know that we´re here to work and help him build the Branch. We had a good meeting with him. He´s very short, is 26 yrs. old, married, has a fohawk, and huge coke bottle glasses that magnifies his eyes really big. He´s such a stud! Haha, His name is Pres. Russo. We will work well together, because he went on the mission, and so he understands exactly what it is we do and how to help us do it. So he gave us a bunch of names of people to visit, and directions... After that, his brother in law took us for a tour of the area in his car. Our area is about 2 and a half times the size of my first area, it´s HUGE! I´m so happy, because there´s a lot more beautiful things in this part, more people, more houses... A lot more potential. After the tour began the fun week of walking... and walking... and walking! We both bought ourselves personal maps, and I´ll bet it was so odd for so many people to see these two men in suits on a street corner, their heads buried in big sheets of paper! Ha! 

The members are very nice, they help out a lot. We´ve got lunch every day like in the other area which is a definite bonus... E. Sharp and I on Friday were knocking doors and this guy named Leandro opened up to us. He said: I was just studying the Bible... Want to come in? We had a lesson about the BoM, prophets, and the Restoration. He took the BoM and accepted a baptismal date for the 8 of October! We put it so late because we haven´t met the wife, don´t know if they smoke or drink.. Things like that. He´s got three boys. One that´s 7 months, 1 yr. 7 months, and 7 yrs. old. Good guy. I´m excited to begin working with him and his family so he and his wife can make the date for the 8th! 

Oh! Something I forgot to say... The first night in the new apartment, we got ready for bed. E. Sharp chose the bottom part of the bunk bed, so I had the fun opportunity to have the top. Obviously, as someone like me who can jump, Oh so High... ;) I decided to jump onto the top part of the bunk bed to go to sleep! Bad Choice. I snapped the supporting beam... And slept on the floor that night, and the next three nights... Hahaha! Also, we were talking to a sister member out on the street, when a guy on a motorcycle drove by, screaming at the top of his lungs... SATAN SATAN SATAN!!!!! It was so funny!!! Haha, we laughed about it as "Mormons"... Ha.  Sunday was a tough day. Sundays are usually the worst, because people are either sleeping, or not at home, or don´t want to talk to anyone that´s not family. After lunch... We walked. That was our entire day, basically. We went to every less active, every investigator, and every person we could think of, and we didn´t get into anything. We were DEAD by the time we got to the apartment. I don´t know how far we walked, but it was far. I wish I had a pedometer to know how much I walk a day, it would be interesting to see! 

E. Sharp is a very good companion. We get along great. He´s from Arizona, was born in Alaska... He likes working out, eating... He´s got a sarcastic attitude which makes good for some fun jokes, something I couldn´t do with E. Rojas because Spanish jokes and English jokes just aren´t the same. He´s a little fidgety, and doesn´t like to get into peoples way, but that´s why he´s got me! Haha. I´ll probably only be here in Esquel 1 for one transfer... After that I´ll prob be transferred somewhere else and leave behind good ól E. Sharp. Sorry I didn´t send any pictures... I really didn´t take many this week. I´ll get betta! ;) 

Well, life as a missionary is as fun as ever. It´s exhausting, but rewarding. I began to see a lot of the good I had did in the other branch, because now whenever I see any of the wonderful members from that branch, they come up and are so happy to see me. Nicol, my stud who was baptized, he saw me in the street yesterday, and BOOKED it to me and gave me a huge hug. The same happened the day before with his little sister Emily. She ran as fast as those little legs could carry her and hugged my legs... It puts such a smile on my face to know that I´m not a burden for these wonderful people. I love the people here... I´ve fallen in love already with this country and the people. They´re incredibly kind, and always smiling. I love the mission. I´m so excited for this transfer with E. Sharp. We´re going to do good things here, I know it. Please continue to pray for me... I need every prayer I can get. I read the BoM in 3 weeks... I LOVE that book! I have such a testimony about it... I´ve started D&C, and am very excited to learn more about it. Keep sending the letters... I love you all. 

E. Cuthbert