April 2, 2012

*There were several pictures Jordan sent, but they won't upload!*

Well. The unthinkeable happened. I`m being transfered. DA DA DAAAAAAAA. NOOOO!!! Wonderful, beautiful, home-away-from-home San Martìn!!! Well, it was bound to come sooner or later, just a little sooner than expected. E. Agazzani was saying goodbye to members all week, having them write in his journal and say their goodbyes, I didn`t. Haha. After Conference on Saturday night, E. Agazzani got the call for transfers. After the call, he asked me... Do you have your bags packed? A deep, sinking feeling shot down through my heart. Nooooo, I thought. I didn`t have ANYTHING prepared. Nothing. I`ve been waiting for those baptisms of Gaspar, Darìo, Miriam... So many others, but I won`t be able to see them. San Martìn, my area, is being whitewashed. It is obviously being done because the Elders coming into my area can and will do things that I could never do. At least that`s what happened with the Whitewash in Esquel with me and E. Sharp. So... Where is E. Cuthbert going? To the wonderful city of Comodoro Rivadavia!!! It`s in the provincia of Santa Cruz, much closer to the bottom of the world. It`s VERY windy there because they`re right on the coast. I heard it`s very cold too, but I don`t care! My new companion will be E. Wagstaff from S.L.C, Ut. This is his 4th month in the mission, he`s still very new. I`m his second comp in the mission. I`m SUPER PUMPED AND EXCITED. Comodoro is known for giving people some of the best life-learning experiences in the entire mission. Bring it on. 

Saturday night was spent writing people, packing and preparing everything for the new Elders. I went to bed at 3am... What a night. I had to rapidly wash all of my clothes and begin throwing everything into suitcases. What an experience! The next morning I kept packing until I had everything ready. Then we went to a final lunch with Alberto and Evelina Di Stefano. They`re my favorites. Alberto has been such a fun friend of mine, and I will miss him and his family dearly. But not as much as I will be missing the converts... 

We got to the Sunday session of Gen. Conf. and I told Ramòn and Mirta that I was leaving. Ramòn started crying. I love him with all my heart. Mom... Mother, if you only knew the happiness I have felt with these people... If you knew the joy I have to serve them... My heart is swollen with joy as I think of all the wonderful people who I have had the priviledge to help. Mirta made me promise something. Mom, I beg you to do everything possible to help me make this promise true. She wants us in her Sealing in the Buenos Aires temple in March. I promised her I would do the best I can to be there for her Sealing with Ramòn for time and all Eternity. They are waiting till March till I finish the mission. I beg you to make whatever preparations or savings possible to be able to come down and pick me up from the mission, so that we can go together to Buenos Aires and watch this GORGEOUS family be sealed together. Don`t send me ANYTHING. I don`t need it. I ask for this now... It`s something huge to ask for, I know. But there would be nothing more beautiful to see, for you and me, than to see them make those sacred covenants. She made me promise. She`ll kill me if I don`t keep my promise ;) Ha. Please. 

Darìo, when I told him that I was leaving, he said: NOO! I wanted you to baptize me! A swell of pride and love for this wonderful, faithful Son of God rushed over me as I looked him in the eye and said it didn`t matter who baptized him, just so long as he got baptized. I love that family. Two converts with another on the way after his wedding on the 13th of this month. What miracles the Lord has blessed us with... Incredible. 

I have loved the people here, with all my heart. My six months here felt like a blink in the eye. I wasn`t able to say goodbye to a lot of people because of shortness of time, but I know that I will always remember them, as I hope they will do the same with me. The mission... It`s an experience that brings tears to my eyes. This area taught me so many things. It`s wonderful. I`m coming back some day. I leave today at 1 o`clock. Me and E. Lee from Junìn are going to be on a bus for about 25 hours!!! WOOOT!!! Hahaha, it`s going to be a long trip. I`ll tell you how it all is, with pictures next Monday. I love you all, and wish the best for you all. I`m doing great. Asado means Grilled meats. I bought a little mp4 player to play music, haha. Well... Have a wonderful week. E. Cuthbert is happy, excited, and ready to bring on a whole new level of what they call: Missionary Work. 

Amor, 

E. Cuthbert 

March 12, 2012

My week went very well. It went kind of slow Monday to Thursday, because Elder Agazzani, Elder Arenas and I were together. I honestly don´t have much time to write today, I feel VERY bad for that. Darío and Viviana are going to be married this week, probably on Thurs. or Friday, then on Sunday after Sacrament meeting, he will be baptized! We´ve had some incredible experiences and spiritual moments with him and his family. They´re a wonderful family. We´re busy finding more families to dunk in water... A little more spiritual than that, but... Well, you know what I mean. Lautaro and Yesica, the son and daughter of Fabiana are preparing to be baptized! Lautaro might get baptized this sunday with Darío, then Yesica on the 31st. It is so weird to think that Gen. Conf. is just around the corner! I know there are many more experiences that I´ve had this week that are worthy of this letter... I learned how to lasso! My jeans ripped down the butt while doing service (I´m not fat, it was a hole that was ripped from barbed wire... ;)) Waking up at 6am i hard, but I do it anyway. E. Agazzani and I are happy together again. 3 weeks left and then he goes home, I get someone else...

I need pictures from you guys!!! We don´t have daylights savings here. Last night? I got home from knocking in the rain without a jacket on... I was soaked. Hahaha! Then I got in my Air Jordan sweats and mocassins and read for a little bit, we planned for tonight´s work. We´re going to have three lessons with a member, put a couple baptism
dates and then go home. Good luck with hamster... No idea what to tell you. I´m starting to think of things I need to buy as my Argentine stuff. I´m going to buy an Asado kit, some cowboy pants, a giant Asado knife, and stuff like that. We had a lot of investigators in church yesterday. I love the work, I love my life here in San Martín. I was telling Melyn that my heart will be staying here in San Martín until the day I die. I love it here. It´s my little Celestial Kingdom.

I need to go, we need to get to our appts!!! I love you so much, SEND ME PICTURES! I want to see the fam.

Amor,
E. Cuthbert

March 5, 2012

*I can't believe Jordan's irreverent behavior!  I apologize!! - Melanie*

First of all, Monday night we got a call from the Mish pres. and he told us that E. Campos is being emergency transfered to Allen, Roca (Where E. Syddall was slashed) and E. Syddall was coming here. Hahahaha! I was really sad, actually. E. Campos is someone that I will be hanging out with when I get back. He has been such a good friend, just like E. Barton was back in Esquel, but anyway, he left on Wednesday. So I`ll be able to see E. Syddall again and get the full story from him. He was awesome in Esquel, poor kid. He`s now having studies done on his face because one of his neck muscles was severed and his saliva gland was also destroyed. I love this mission. :) COOL things happen. (You can totally tell that I`m still a boy at heart... ;)) 

Dad, we don`t carry out Passports hardly at all. The majority of the time, they`re stuck in a safe in the mission home in Neuquèn. We have to become Argentine citizens, or at least have an Argentine license, and that`s what we use to be legal. I was given my passport because I need to renew my Visa to be in the country, that means trips to Bariloche!!! 

Lautaro was not baptized with all that happened this week. I was in my area for a good... Three days, nada màs. He will be, soon. He`s a ten year old with a lot of energy that doesn`t like to be cooped up in the house listening to the boring, old misioneros... ;) I`m so jealous that you`re all going down to Moab and Jordan`s running the marathon there and then you`re going to the Fiery Furnace! SEND ME PICTURES OF MY BEAUTIFUL FAMILY. I WANT TO SEE you guys!!!! I miss that stuff, ha, but I only have one more year so... It`s already coming to a close. :( NOOOOOO!!!!!

We are going to be doing something HUGE for my year anniversary, and E. Agazzani`s end of the mission. HUGE. We`re talking roasting a stinkin` lamb on a big cross over a bed of stinkin` coals!!! THAT`s WHAT I`M talking about!! That`s Argentina. :)I`ll send you pictures with my NEW CAMERA! It got here!! WOOT!! So happy about it. Well, I don`t really know, I haven`t turned it on or anything, but I will be playing with it tonight. Thank you so much, Mom. 

My Eccos are holding up FINE. They`re full of magic, I think. Seriously. I have walked, probably... GAJILLIONS of miles, and they`re still goin. They`re starting to pull away in a couple places but I can take them to be repaired really quickly, don`t worry about that. You`ve sent me too much stuff anyway. Are you sure Jared turns 18 this year? Doesn`t he turn 15 or something? There`s NO WAY he`s turning that age. No. Way. My little brother isn`t so little anymore! I love you Jared. 

Now, we were in Zapala for 3 days, well me and another Elder. Like I said, we needed to renew our Visas, and we had to do the first step in Zapala in the police station doing thumb prints and going to the bank and paying a lot of money and crap like that. So we weren`t in San Martìn for awhile. But last Monday, I went on Divisions in my area with E. Davis, an Elder with 6 months, NO Spanish and from Gunnison, Utah. He can`t speak at all, but it was with him that we had a lesson so spiritual... It was like it was from the movies. Darìo is the dad of Daniza and Zahida who got baptized. We went to their house, and I wanted him to accept a date to be baptized, and to get married, because they`re not married. So in the beginning I began talking about Eternal Families. They want it. I asked him what he would need to do to be able to have that Eternal Family. I was hoping he would say baptism... He didn`t. He said Marriage. EVEN BETTER!!! The majority of the time, marriage is harder to get people to do than baptism, so I was so happy that he recognized the need to be baptized. So we spoke about marriage for awhile, then I wanted him to accept a baptismal date, so we spoke about that and he said: "You know, I`ve been thinking a lot about what you guys have been telling me these last few days, and.. I want to get baptized." BING! SCORE! GOAL!! Then, I said: "Darío, y Viviana (the name of the mom) Heavenly Father wants you to keep all the commandments before you get baptized. One of those commandments is marriage. Viviana, do you want to get married to Darìo?" She said: "I`ve ALWAYS wanted to!!" And she burst into tears. Darìo held out his hand (They were in separate couches) And she reached out and latched onto his. Then I asked Darìo the same question. He said, "Yes, I do." At that point, they were both crying, the Spirit was so strong... Viviana launched herself into the arms of Darìo and they began crying together, just holding on to each other. It was a beautiful moment, and I am a LUCKY man to be apart of that moment. We set everything up, and they will be married and baptized in the coming weeks. I am so happy, Mom, I am happy. I see miracles every day. I love the mission. I love this work. I love my Lord and Savior. I love my life. 

Just the other day, we did service, then had the whole rack of ribs of a goat and a giant rump from a cow. Fresh. I love Argentina. I LOVE this people. Kolt knows exactly what I`m talking about. The people here are so loving and incredible. The culture is amazing... The land is beautiful. I`m in love, and I`m already halfway through... :( 

I want you to know that I love you. I`ll be taking more pictures of beautiful San Martìn, baptisms and everything else. When E. Agazzani leaves, I`ll be receiving much more responsibility, from what the President told me in our interview in Zapala. He looked me in the eye and said, E. Cuthbert... You`re good. Baptizing almost every single week. I know you`re anxious to not be junior comp. And that time is coming much sooner than you know it. Your mission is still young. 

The mission... It`s a once in a life time experience. I`m working on more love, patience and humility than ever before. I love you all. So Much. 

E. Cuthbert 

February 27, 2012

E. Agazzani and I have been a little better. We still need to work on a couple things. It`s like we`re both on a tight rope... With one wrong move, everything goes tumbling down... I have to be careful, patient, loving, Christlike... I can`t tell you how hard it is to really be like Christ. He was the perfect example of being...Well... PERFECT!!! No one but God could do that. It`s insane. 

Well, There was some really sad news here in the Great Mission of the Patagonia. Elder Syddall, one of my good friends from Esquel, was knifed in the neck last Sunday. He is in Roca, close to Neuquèn. A guy who always bugged the missionaries, throwing rocks at them and sometimes, rotten meat, went up to them acting like he was interested in the church. He began walking with them, they answered his questions and everything, just like a normal contact. When they were about 100 meters away from the church, the guy stopped looked at E. Syddall, then pulled out a knife from his pocket and, screaming "REPENT!" slashed him across the neck and face. He meant to kill him. He escaped and E. Syddall was carried to a members house then to the hospital where he was operated on right away. He`s alive. But he will carry a very nice memory of that encounter on his neck and face for the rest of his life. It will be a scar that goes from the middle of his neck all the way to the corner of his mouth. About 5-6 inches. Scary? A little bit. I was reminded though about a sentence in my Patriachal Blessing that says that in my mission, The Angels of the Lord will protect me. I believe that. 

I`m really excited for this transfer. It`s going to be a good one. We have the dad and big sister of Daniza and Zahida that we`re working on. They will get baptized, The dad and mom of Daniza and Zahida will be married and will complete their family... Eternally!!! Fabiana has her son Lautaro who is 10 who will hopefully get baptized this Saturday. He`s a rascal and is always running around, not making it on time for the apts, we have with him and his mom. Also his big sister has shown some interest. We met an inactive family that has three daughters that aren`t baptized. They all will enter the waters of baptism. A family that came to a baptism and wants to be baptized needs to be married, and then they can enter the waters of baptism. Mirta and Ramón and Roberto Gori and their families (All my converts, I`m SO proud of them!!!!) are sharing with families and have set up appts with us to meet them. They`re doing Missionary Work!!! So strong and faithful, they are. I love San Martìn with all my heart. It`s an incredible place. This week I`ve been reading a lot of the Book of Mormon, and I never get tired of reading. I need to work out more... Oh! That reminds me of an experience we had yesterday.. 

We had lunch yesterday with the Branch President and Flia. Calderòn. I don`t know how we got on the topic, but we started to talk about working out and stuff like that. the President, Presidente Di Stefano looks at me and says "Let`s do it.". He`s such a little guy, he`s a skinny stick of a man. He says, we`re going to do push ups. Whatever amount you do, I`ll do 5 more. I said: "Vamos, Che!!" Let`s go, Dude! We get down and start doing push ups. He was talking smack the entire time. We got to 55 and started slowing down, the both of us. I stopped for a second in the Upward dog position, and he thought I was done, I then began pumping out push ups again. We were both dying, pushing as hard as we could. In the end... He didn`t beat me. We did the same amount, about 65. Not a lot. I need to work harder. But he wasn`t finished... He then wanted to do a contest of one handed pull ups. There`s no pull up bar in a church??!! He said, Oh, yes there is. We went outside and he went to the antennae. It`s a big tower and at the top is the antennae, to get to the top is a metal ladder, but you need a step ladder to get up to it, it`s about 15 ft. above the ground. He got a ladder out and climbed up and began his one armed pull ups. He did 12. We had about 20 members, all the missionaries and the little kids watching and cheering. Then it was my turn. The missionaries, E. Campos and Arenas (Both from the U.S. ) were yelling at me, REPRESENT! REPRESENT!!! I began doing pull ups. I past 12 easily and got to 16 before asking for the ladder. I beat him fair and square!!! It was very fun. But I need to work out more... A lot more. 

Well, I just want to throw out a big thank you to everyone who continually supports me... I`m about to complete a year in the mission... And it`s gone by so fast. So incredibly fast. I have many goals and things to accomplish in this next year, and it`s so scary to already see the finish line in the distance. A year of work... Incredible. I love you all. I miss you all, but I miss the work more! Gotta go out and teach! 

Amor, 

E. Cuthbert 

January 2, 2012

And........... THEY DID IT!!!!!!!! This WONDERFUL family did it!!!! I am so happy and proud of them... Really... This last week has flown by, and a MILLION things have happened... I am so happy. 

Alright, I just want you guys to be aware that we have another baptism coming up for this next Saturday! Their names are Jennifer and Karen, the two daughters of a really awesome family. We found them in the same week that we found Mirta and Ramon. Miriam, the mom of the two, she too, wants to get baptized. We were in a lesson with them about a week ago, Monday, actually. They had come to church the day before and she said: I was already baptized in another church a while back but... I want to be baptized again, I´ve decided. WE WERE SO HAPPY WHEN SHE SAID THAT. But, one problem... She´s not married. Her man doesn´t really want to talk to us. We´ve tried a lot to talk to him, but he´s either really shy or doesn´t want to talk because we can´t get him to say one word! Anyway, he doesn´t want to listen in this moment, so we´re going to baptize Jennifer and Karen so they always have contact with the church and the missionaries. Blessings... :) 

Now I´m going to tell you right now. The Lord knows how to direct His work. On Tuesday morning we went with Mirta and Ramon to do all of the wedding arrangements. They needed to get their blood examined, buy seals at the bank, get the birth certificate and a bunch of other stuff. Now, mind you... To get your blood examined, we were talking to a member that had recently gotten married, and she said that the results usually come back in about a week!!! A WEEK??! We needed to schedule the wedding that same day!! Long story short, Mirta and Ramon got up really early to do all this stuff. We were praying and fasting for WEEKS for all of this stuff to happen. And by 9:00 in the morning... Everything was done. Just like that. Easy. I was shocked. I didn´t understand it. But then I realized... It was the prayers, it was the fasting, it was the diligence... It was an answer. Heavenly Father blessed us, blessed this family... And things that usually take weeks to do, they did it in 2 hours. A Miracle. The miracle of a New Years Eve!!! It was awesome! 

On Thursday, they got married. It was awesome, but it didn´t quite give me the satisfaction I thought it would. The marriage was just another step towards the ultimate goal, the baptism.  The baptism was AWESOME. The members LOVE this family, and they helped with everything. A really wonderful couple named Alberto and Evelina Di Stefano did all the decorations for the wedding reception that we had right after the baptism, and the cake, dances that they danced to and everything was... Wonderful. It was very emotional to finally watch this incredible family make it through the door... Baptism. :) I want you guys to know that the Lord loves his Children. That He KNOWS their desires, and that he answers prayers. I was so worried that Tuesday morning for the papers and everything that was going on, but I shouldn´t have... It all went more fluidly than I could even imagine. I love my Savior. 

It´s been extremely hot this week. In the 90´s and 100´s. I have realized that I really don´t like the heat in a shirt and tie... Not even going to talk about the pants... Oh! By the way, I went on divisions with another Elder, and I decided to take us on a "shortcut" to a neighborhood. We had to climb a fence, and I... Ripped the butt seam of my favorite slacks. a HUGE hole. It was terrible. I had to work for the rest of the day with a very big breeze going through my pants. Haha! Anyways, for New Years Eve, we spent it with the Flia. De la Torre, a really good member family that has been having some very hard trials lately. But we spent it with them, had a ton of Asado and deliciousness... Then went to bed at 11:30 and slept through the New Year. Yes, mom, I have lots of goals. :) I want this new year to be incredible. And it WILL be incredible. I´m just getting warmed up as a missionary. There´s still the curve and the straight-away to run. :) I want you all to know that I love you. I want you to know that the house is GORGEOUS!!! BIEN HECHO!! Props there, Mom and Dad! I miss you guys so much. Seeing those wonderful pictures and reading about the Christmas stuff you did... Aw man. I love you guys. Have a wonderful week, I´ll be back next week with pictures of the next baptism!! 

Love, 

E. Cuthbert