February 13, 2012

HAMSTER KILLER!!! He got out of your stinking bathtub?? Hamstupendous.... Gosh. That´s terrible that he is dead... Even more terrible that it SMELLS like death. Gosh... Pobreciiiiiito... (Hehe, Melyn!! ;)) I know Dad will do a GREAT job with the selling of the contract. I remember when he would use me as the "audience" to practice for his eREP presentations... Hahaha! Dad can do anything.

 

Well, here in the mission things have been a big roller coaster of good/bad experiences, happy/sad feelings and... things like that. On Tuesday, E. Agazzani got really quiet. He wouldn´t talk to me, and I didn´t understand what was going on. I thought that maybe I had done somthing to him, offended him or did something that he didn´t like. We were still fine Tuesday night, but then Wednesday in the morning, he completley stopped talking! This 21 yr. old who has much more time than me, stopped talking to me. I was so confused and a little frustrated. I called him out on it before we left to work in the morning, he told me that everything was fine and that he was just "like that". That does not settle anything for me. I need his communication, cooperation and companionship in the mission. We´re a team. If we don´t work together, we don´t have the Spirit. We cannot teach and baptize without the Spirit. Anyways, Wednesday went by VERY slowly, because he wouldn´t talk to me. I tried to strike up conversations, but we would talk for about a minute, and he would fall back into silence. That night, I was done. I wanted him to talk to me. When we get back to the apartment from work, we get down on our knees pray to HF for help to fine-tune our plans for the next day. He got down to pray, I stayed up.  I began doing regular chores we do after the planning session. I washed a couple dishes, organized my desk, swept, things like that. My goal was that he would ASK me to come and plan. FINALLY, after 5 minutes of him kneeling there silent, He said: We going to plan?

Oh, you wanted to plan?

Only if you want to.

I would LOVE to plan, E. Agazzani, but I can´t if we aren´t talking.

I then let go of all the feelings I had felt during the day. My frustration with him not talking at all during the day. I related all the reasons I had thought of that could be causes of his silence, I began ranting and ranting and my voice began to raise until I was yelling. I had lost it. I turned around and began trying to guess why he was being so quiet, when I heard snobs and sniffs from behind me. I whipped around to find E. Agazzani crying. Crying? I was stunned for a second. I couldn´t think why he would be doing that. He then burst out: I DON¨T WANT TO GO HOME, OK!!! He began to vent, and vent and vent. About how scared he was to go home... What was going to happen to him, what he was going to do... Gosh... It was very surprising. But we began to talk more calmly, and in the end we gave each other hugs and promised to help him get to the end of his mission happy and successful. Gosh... I felt terrible for snapping at him like that. But I got it out of him... And we were good again.

 

Now, Fabiana. She didn´t baptized on Sunday. We had a lesson with her on Wednesday that was INCREDIBLE. She spoke about how it is necessary how we need to be humbled before God to be able to accept the Gospel, and that´s exactly what she had to do. She had had such a hard life, but she was now much, much happier. We put the date for the 12th, Sunday, to baptize her. She then bore her testimony to us of the happiness she felt. Before she had accepted the Gospel, she had always felt alone. So alone, with no one there to help her out in her times of need. But she then told us that when we began teaching her, when she began to give up cigarettes and her boyfriend to follow God, she felt better. She felt that she had a Daddy that was there for her. That in her darkest hours and in the times that she feels alone, she can just curl up in the arms of her Heavenly Father, and know that it´s ok. That He is always there for her, and that He won´t let her go. She was taking a great leap of faith. It was incredible and so humbling to watch her bear this testimony amongst her tears when thinking back to the first lesson we had with her. She had told us that religion was created to DESTROY families. That she would NEVER go to a church. That she believes in God, but no more. It was an incredible, and unbelievable 180 degree turn. Another miracle in San Martín de los Andes. So we had her interview set for Friday. We got there to begin waiting for her... And she didn´t show up. No......

 

We found out that her boyfriend came to her house to try and talk her out of it. She was staying strong, but she wasn´t able to get out of the house to go to the interview. I was filled with such a rage to this guy for impeding her from her interview. Such a rage... Anyway, we moved the date of the baptism to the 18th, Saturday, for sure. She came to church and cried during the whole of the Sacrament Meeting. I haven´t been able to talk to her since, so tomorrow we´ll talk about everything. I love her to death, she´s been so strong. PRAY for this woman. She needs EVERY prayer.

 

Well, We had the opportunity to speak with one of the Seventy, E. Foster and his wife. I got to shake his hand and speak with him. It was incredible. I loved the talk he gave. He spoke of the power of prayer, many things we can change as missionaries to become better, and... Other things. Hahaha! I have to go, don´t have much time, but I love you all. And I will write to you next Monday with the news that Fabiana got baptized, if I´m leaving my home, San Martín de los Andes, and if I got your package, mom. I love you.

 

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 

November 28, 2011

It makes me so happy to read your letters. :) I know you love me, and I love you too.

 

Well, since you`re DYING to know if E. Calvache left or not... No. He didn`t. We have 6 more weeks of baptizing to do before he leaves GORGEOUS San Martìn to somewhere else in the mission. I think I told you a couple emails ago that he`s from Columbia, but maybe not. Columbia, the oldest brother in his family. 27 yrs. old... Never knew his father, baptized when he was 19 yrs. old, Catholic before that... Really good with the scriptures... Hmm, I think that`s about it. Really good guy. We get along well, and we`ve had some major success this past week.

 

Well, on Monday after I wrote you guys, we went to Familia Larrea`s house for an Asado. They were planning on leaving San Martìn to move to Eldorado, Misiones in Argentina way up North. They have been a family that has helped us in MANY things in the missionary work here in San Martìn, and they wanted to have us over for a party to celebrate the success and the memories. So we got there and they had a HUGE Asado going. There was so much meat... It was a sight. The smell was so good, I thought I was going to die. When we began eating, the only thing I could think was that I was back at home, sitting at Tucanos having the most delicious cuts of meat in the entire world. I have some incredible pictures of the Asado... It was amazing. When we were halfway through the feast of cow... I said, Hahaha! My grandma would be SO mad at me right now! She was so happy that I was going on a mission, because she thought that I`d for sure be going to a place that only has food I don`t like! If ONLY she could see me now, with this cornacopia of beef!!! Haha, it was very funny. I laughed very hard to myself. The meat was cooked to perfection. Argentines really know how to cook their meat.

 

This week we have found many new people to teach. The most investigators I had found in a week before this week was 19. This week we smashed that with 25 new investigators. Many of them are happy and wanting to change their lives, more focused on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and be baptized! We have many baptismal dates, and are working hard so that every person can reach their goal. We have three couples with their children that need to get married before... I swear... The two biggest stumbling blocks of missionary work here in Argentina is 1) People not married and 2) Sleeping!!! I would be baptizing millions if people would just get married and stop sleeping! It`s a little frustrating, but what are you going to do? The agency of the person is something that I can not steal from them, however much I would like to sometimes.. hehehe. Anyway, we are working very hard here in San Martìn, and are hoping for some baptisms in the coming weeks.

 

Marta Carmona will be posponed for a little while... We found out that she has a problem worshippng the Gauchito Hill and the Virgin Guadalupe... Don`t ask me, I have NO CLUE who they are and what they did for my salvation!!! ;) But we keep praying and visiting, helping her to understand the importance of everything that her Heavenly Father asks her to do. She has made outstanding progress with cigarettes. The last week she only smoked one, and that`s incredible.

 

I will relate to you ONE experience of some of the types of people we meet here in Argentina. I have an experience like this, almost every day... But I will tell you... People here in Argentina are weird, and lost... We were knocking doors the other day, and we found a guy named Rolando. He invited us into his house and we tried to begin talking about Christ and the Gospel. He then cut us off and then began to elaborate on this story about how he had been building this temple for 30 years for the Eternal Children. I don`t know where this temple is, but he told us that he wasn`t allowed inside, only the Eternal Children were allowed inside its holy walls. Supposedly he worked on the electrical and all that fun stuff. Then, trying to reign in the lesson a little bit, I asked him why Jesus Christ was important to him. From there, he whipped out a little match box, and began to tell us... "Do you know what I`m grateful for? Fire. Because with this little stick and box... I can create civilizations..." Ah! The lesson and Spirit was lost, I was quickly falling asleep because of the drag in his voice, so as my final attempt to save the lesson I said... "The Gospel... is like Fire. It shines about in a dark world, and directs us to our Heavenly Father..." It was SOOO FUNNY!!! What a terrible attempt at trying to save the lesson... We left laughing our heads off.

 

We have two kids named Luis and Mikaela that we found this week. Luis is 14 and the son of a return missionary, although he left the church a long time ago. He loves talking to us, and wants to be baptized. Mikaela, his cousin is 16 and a little more timid. She too, wants to be baptized, and we are working with the both of them. They came to church with us yesterday, and Luis loved it! Matius Gori, our recent convert who`s 15 has really helped out with Luis to make him feel accepted. What a stud!!!

 

Thanksgiving... Familia Larrea, they know a guy. His name is Julio. He lives in the mountains. He is rich. He speaks English. He invited us over for a turkey Thanksgiving dinner... Turkey doesn`t exist here. He invited us over for a United States of America holiday... And we didn`t go. This was Thursday night. Larrea Family was leaving the next morning, and they invited us over to their house to say the last goodbyes. In the end, we chose to visit them, even though this Thanksgiving turkey dinner was a once in a mission time chance. We got to their house, and they had a very humble dinner of bread and deli meat for sanwiches. We said the prayer, but before we started eating, E. Campos and I, who are from the U.S., said STOP! We have to go around the table and everyone has to say 5 things they`re thankful for. Everyone was laughing at first, because they had never done it, and it was something strange to them. But by the end, every person at the table had tears in their eyes, and we felt a Spirit so strong... That shows those Argentines, Chileans and Columbians what an American holiday will do to your emotions!!! ;) In my testimony of what I was thankful for, I thanked them all for everything they had done, and said: Right now, I would not accept all the turkey in the world if it meannt I was away from this table, enjoying this time with you all. The material doesn`t matter. It is the relationships, the family, friendships and love that will always stay with us. Not turkey. I had a great Thanksgiving.

 

Thank you so much for the Christmas package. I do not deserve your love. I am doing fine. I am feeling better than ever before, and am taking care of myself. I wash in between my toes every morning, and take my vitamins.. ;) I love you all. I can`t wait for the call on Christmas. Write me, I love the letters.

 

Amor,

E. Cuthbert