May 28, 2012

That`s so cool about school getting out and watching the Avengers (NINE MORE MONTHS, NINE MORE MONTHS...) Hahaha, I`m sure you guys had a blast. Dad, I know you can do it with the workload, with an iPad... Anything is possible! ;) Hahaha! I am so proud of you.  Thank you for sending the pictures of Jareds photography. I really appreciate it! It will be great to be able to show people more about my life! My keyboard sucks, that`+s why there`s so many mistakes... Sorry! 

Well, I said goodbye to my Mission President, Pres. Peterson and his wife for the last time on Thursday. They came down to Comodoro one last time before they leave at the end of June. We had a good talk together, and we laughed about how when I get home, we`ll get together for a lunch or something, they live in Bountiful.

Me, E. Slaugh and two other Elders did a musical number... We sounded beautiful. I sang bass while E. Slaugh sang tenor, E. Jewkes with the alto and E. Marriott with the melody. Abide with me tis eventide. Great hymn. Anyways, good stuff. So I saw E. Slaugh there, again and we were able to talk. Really awesome.

Well, the 25th of this month was Independence day for Argentina, so we the missionraies threw an acivity for the entire ward. We had a delicious GIANT pot of what`s called Locro, look it up, we made enough for 120 people. Then, we had a talent show, and we four missionaries did the best skit/lip sync to Backstreet Boys EVER. I don`t have the time to explain it... I feel really bad, but suffice it to say that we will be famous forever in this ward for the show we put on. It was so funny. SO SO FUNNY!!! :) :)

We put three baptismal dates yesterday night with a new family that are really awesome! They`ll be baptized this next month, June. I`m so happy, missionary work is awesome. Mom, has Hermana Peterson emailed you back about what you have to do t come down to Argentina and pick me up? Anyway, I love you all so much. I want you o know that I have a strong testimony, and I won`t let you guys down!!! Until next week!

Amor,

E. Cuthbert 

May 14, 2012

Tell grandpa that I miss him... A lot. He`s been such an example in my life, tell him that I am so proud of him, his son; my father, and all that he has taught the both of us. The same goes for Grandma, Omi and Buppi and all the rest of the family.

 

I totally didn`t want to use Skype until I saw your face. :) Then I was a converted person. I was so happy that I was able to give you that present. I know you loved it, Mom. I love you so much. Once again, Happy Mothers Day. Thank you for everything that you have done for me in my life. For all the sacrifice, all the hard work. I realize now the amount of love and devotion you have dedicated into the lives of your children in such a short year and 2 months. And I know that as I get older, that appreciation will just continue to grow. Anyway, I wanted to ask Jared to send me some of his photography. From what I saw on the cam it was REALLY good! And it`s got awesome views of our view of the mountains. People here have never seen such big mountains, so Jared, send me some good pictures of our gorgeous mountains that you`ve done, and other things around the house. I would love to show more about my own life to them.

 

So the move went smoothly. We moved Monday night, and got everything organized, going to bed at 11:30, exhausted after a good Pday and lots of moving furniture. The new pench is much bigger than the old one, and in a much safer location. Just last week we had people throwing rocks at us right in front of our pench! Glad we moved!! Haha! Anyway, finding new people to teach this week was hard. I`m not understanding why it`s so hard to find people, but I know that they will come, if I Trust in the Lord, like you said, Mom, I know that we will be guided to the people looking for the truth. Wednesday night, we held a little 6 month anniversary for E. Wagstaff. I made him pizzas and chocolate chunk cookies that you sent me, Mom. If you ever send me more of the cookie mixes... I want that one... And nothin` else! Hahaha! SOOO good, and they reminded me of home. I can`t wait to try your brownie dessert pizza or whatever it was you made for dinner for Mothers day!

 

Thursday I had the coldest and most cruel wind and icicle´-like raindrops pound and rip apart my face for what seemed like an eternity. I`ve never been colder. The wind threw the rain into our faces, and it literally felt like someone throwing little daggers one by one into our flesh... Charming, but extremely fun experience! Haha! What we do for the Lord and the people here in Comodoro... We had an incredibly crazy lesson with Carla and Gabriel, the lady who forgot everything about the church. Gabriel pretty much denied himself eternal life. Saying that he was aware of the decisions he was making, and if he were to die tomorrow, he would be fine with going to hell. All I could say was... Sad. So, Sad. We begged them to read the BoM and pray about it, knowing that`s the only way he can get a testimony of everything. He is someone who dedicated himself to the Bible for 15 years, and he knows a lot. But every time he tried to counterargue something with a statement from the Bible, I whipped it back in his face with something from the Book of Mormon, or his own precious Bible. It surprised me at just how much I have learned, and the knowledge I have gained by both books. It has put the promise made by the prophets fulfilled when they said that with the Bible and Book of Mormon, you will be able to confound all men who come against you. I know that is true. And how powerful I felt to be able to testify of that fact to him. What a testimony I`ve gained... I love this church, I love this Gospel, I love my Savior.

 

It has been a while since I bore my testimony. I was thinking about what I`ve learned over the past year here in Argentina, and I know I am not the same person. Like Grandpa said to you, Mom, I know as well that the mission is changing everything about me. I sure hope that I am not like I was before the mission, and knowing that I`m not, I hope that I will never return. I know who I am now. I know what my purpose as a person is. I am so much happier, I don`t doubt about my life, and what I`m going to do. I know that as long as I trust in the Lord, He will direct my paths. I love this Gospel with all of my heart, and I know that it is a priviledge to suffer whatever it is that I suffer as a misisonary for two years if it means I can pay back even a little part of what The Savior of the World suffered for me. I know that without His example, His suffering, the giving of His life, we would not have the opportunity, the chance, or the blessing to see each other after this life, but because of it, I know that He conquered the death, and that we, as families can live together again after we have parted from this earthly life. I want everyone within the sound of my voice to know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church of God. There was a true church of God when Jesus Christ was on the Earth. And it is back on the earth again because a loving Heavenly Father answered the curious prayer of one who only wanted to know which church to join. Joseph Smith really saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. Of that I bear witness and testimony. And with all the complaints, all the false theories, all the lies, the persecution, the hatred, and the excuses that people will exclaim to me and my family about how Joseph Smith is a liar and a man destined to reign in Hell with Satan himself - To them I say they are wrong. And if they will not take on the promise made by Moroni, an ancient prophet from this American continent who promised that every single soul on this earth, male or female that wanted to know the truth of the Book of Mormon and the reality of the Truth of the Church of Jesus Christ, would only have to get on their knees and pray to their Maker, asking Him if these things are true... If they will not do that, it is because they do not have faith. I admonish, beg and exhort all to read the Book of Mormon and ponder its message. I love that book, and know it is the word of God. The Church is true, it`s important, and it`s NECESSARY to receive life eternal with our families. I love my family. And will fight every day of my life, until I can say at the end of my life as Paul said of old: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course..." I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I know that any person that will abide His teachings... Will be saved in the Kingdom of God. Of these things I testify, asking God Himself to seal my testimony in heaven as well as here on Earth, and I do it in the name of His Son, the Son of God, even Jesus Christ, Amen.

 

I love you all, Happy Mother`s Day.

E. Cuthbert 

May 7, 2012

Jared, Ha! Do you mind sending me some $ since you`re making so much? Just a couple grand... Not much to ask, right? Ha! Oh, how`s Valentina? Did you get all the parts and the registry and everything done to drive her? I bet you`re just itching with the roads being nice and dry and hot from the sun... Oooh, it gives me chills to think about it... ;) Heh! 

So we`re moving out today. Saturday was a long day spent in a ton of service. I`ll hurry and tell about what happened. So the pench that we`re moving into is the pench of a less active member and her non member husband. They are moving into their new house that they have built, and were planning on being out by Saturday, didn`t happen. Haha. On Wednesday, we went over at their request to help them dig a giant hole for the big pipe to connect their water to the waterline. 3 hours later with a giant hill next to us on the side of the road... We find out that the waterline doesn`t pass by where we were digging... GREAT!!!... Ha, so we went back to the pench,  changed and went to our appointments. On Saturday, we went over after lunch to see if they had connected the water. Still, no luck. They were working on another hole a little farther away, using "logic" that that`s where the pipe would have to be. So we got clothes on, and went to help dig with the pick ax and shovels and stuff. Nothing. So we started doing the same thing, a little farther inside, on the sidewalk this time. This time, there was no way we were going to fail. We began digging and then found a pipe at the bottom. Success!!!! Ahem... Not. The owner of the house whose sidewalk we were destroying came out and told us that that wasn`t the water pipe. Great. 3 holes, and no luck. So, finally we made a temporary ditch for the pipe that passed through the street. We were digging and pick axing for a good 7 hours. We got home with sore hands and tired bodies. So, I decided to make us Empanadas Arabes. They`re probably my favorite food in all of Argentinedom. What you do is you mix hamburger meat with onion, green, red pepper and salt, pepper, and a spice. Then, you take the juice from about 6 lemons and you pour that over everything. You then let it sit in your fridge for 2 hours, and the lemon juice cooks the hamburger meat, solo! With the acids from the juice, that cooks it all, you then put it into empanada shells and throw them in the oven. So RICO!!!!!! 

So today, at 6 pm we are moving. FINALLY. We slept on our mattresses on the ground last night because we already took apart the bunk bed in the hopes that we would have already moved out. Haha.    So I will definitely send pictures next week of the move and everything.  

Alright, I am so proud of my Dad right now. What a bunch of woosies that wimped out of the job!  That`s so awesome that he kept with it, and will be doing that with Texas. I promise that I will not do anything to my body that will  cause a medical insurance difficulty. You have my word. And I just signed a random piece of paper, signing my life away to that promise. I hope you`re happy. :) 

Thanks again for the package with my journal in it! I forgot to tell you to send more of the spicy chipotle marinade packets!! Oh well, I can be patient for Christmas or something like that.   So, Mother`s Day. I`m so, so so so so so so so excited    to call you guys! It`s going to be great! I`m planning on calling at about 4:30. 1:30 your time. Be sure to write down any questions   that you want me to answer so you don`t forget. I`ve got about an hour to talk to you guys, so let`s make it a good one! I`ll call you guys, and then if you guys can call me back, that would be great. 1-801-358-0396... I`ll never forget your cell number.  I`m not going to do Skype. I`m going to make you wait till I pick you up from the airport in Neuquèn!!! ;) I`ll be talking with my President about that soon to make sure I know everything and how to help you  know what it is you have to do. 

So, yes, we have found a few new investigators... But not enough. I have realized latelty that I might be putting too much confidence in myself, and not in God to help us work. I realized through a set of really humbling hours of knocking and not getting into ANY house, that I need to ask My Heavenly Father more specifically for His help, and then I need to listen as carefully as possible to hear His whispers to me. I love missionary work, and I know I don`t want to leave. The work is a little harder here, but E. Cuthbert never backed down to a little adversity. In 2 nephi 4 it talks about how Nephi wouldn`t back down because of his afflictions. I, like him, will do the same. Work the hardest I can, and let the Lord do the work. Thank you for all of the support you guys give me. I can truly thank my Heavenly Father for giving me the most incredible family... I love you guys so much. Send me pictures of Prom, and of the family!  Don`t worry about me, I am doing so well here... I`m happy, and I`m learning more about the Plan of Salvation and the purpose of our existence here, more and more. I love this Gospel. 

Amor, 

E. Cuthbert 

April 9, 2012

*There was another picture Jordan sent in this email that wouldn't upload :(*

So, I`m at the bottom of the world in Comodoro Rivadavia, and to tell you the truth, I LOVE IT! It`s SO Awesome!!! My area is right next to the beach, so I can always see a little bit of ocean. It makes me happy. The bus ride was, long. SO long! 26 hours! But whatever, it was fun because I had E. Lee from Junìn de los Andes next to me the entire time. It was a very fun experience. When we finally got to Comodoro, and I saw my comp, I was SO HAPPY!!! He graduated in 2011, he`s 19, this is his fourth month in Argentina, his Spanish is surprisingly good for only being out 3 months... But not as good as mine was... ;) Nah, Just kidding! It`s probably better! Anyway, I found out that he`s a RAPPER!!! NO WAY!! A Rapper?!! He has about three CD`s of his raps, and his Rap name is Rufio. We`ve got along perfectly. We love the companionship, and we even have the same hoodie!! ;) Hahaha!!!

 

So we found an investigator that wants to be baptized. We didn`t even invite her, we went to her house and she said, Hey, I`ve fixed a bunch of problems that I had in my life before, and I want to be baptized. That was outside of her door when she told us. I looked at E. Wagstaff, and then looked back at her and said. "Can we come in and talk?" HAHAHAHAHA! As you can tell, I perked up very nicely and my baptism senses were screaming and ringing every bell. Her name`s Ximena. She didn`t come to church yesterday, so we`re going to help her come to church, then she`ll get baptized. Probably the 21st of this month.

 

So the other elders in the district had a baptism on Saturday, so we went and sang a musical number for the service. I played the piano... And it was a good thing I did. It was Horrible. E. Lee was the only one that knew how to sing. His companion on the other hand....... From Bolivia, let`s just say that his number one hobby before the mission was not singing in the choir. Dani, if you had heard us, your ears would have been bleeding. I started laughing at the piano while playing because it sounded so bad. They sung When there`s love at home. They couldn`t even reach the high note at the last part of the song, they just... Stopped singing when they came to that part, it was TERRIBLE, but it was a very fun experience for all of us and we laughed it off.  There`s a lot of couples here that are married, but the spouse is not baptized, so we`ve got some work to do. I love this area. I love Comodoro. I`m going to love it here.

 

I missed Easter, not being with you guys. I was amazed to realize that I`ll be home in a years time. Weird, and I don`t want to do it. I`m just so excited for when you come down to pick me up! We`ll rent a car and visit San Martìn de los Andes... Then we`ll go to Buenos Aires and see Mirta and Ramòn get sealed for time and all eternity. I love you so much for doing this sacrifice for me. I will owe you and be in your debt for a long time. I love you so much. Say hi to the family for me!!!! :) :) :)

 

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 

December 19, 2011

I GET TO CALL YOU GUYS IN LESS THAN A WEEEEEEK!!!!!!

It sounds like things back home are awesome. People are coming back home from their missions, you´re having parties left and right, and Buppi is... Not doing well... :( Tell him from me to rest it up and not do anything stupid! Since he can´t drive now, he might as well give up the keys to the RS6. It´s only fair. ;) Haha.

 

Haven´t received any Christmas packages yet, we haven´t even received the pouch mail from the mission home for 2 weeks. It´s probably all there in the mission home, they just need to send it! But I´m grateful for anything I get, thank you so much.

 

Well, the situation with the Birth Certificate. It should have been made today and sent by bus from Buenos Aires to get here tomorrow or Wednesday. I am praying so hard, and we have been fasting every single weekend for the past month for that birth certificate to get here and that the wedding and baptism can go through on Friday and Saturday. We REALLY want a White Christmas, and if I can´t have snow... It HAS TO BE  A BAPTISM!!! Gosh Dang it!! It´s been too long without a baptism, and this family deserves and wants it! We were with Mirta and Ramón yesterday night and she said, "Gosh, I just want to get BAPTIZED already! I am willing to do whatever it takes, follow whatever commandment and do... whatever to get baptized!!" We love them, and they´re a family that was always ready. Keep the prayers going, we need them.

 

We had a great time this Saturday with MTC for a Day with all the young men in the Branch. We got up early in the morning to be there at 7: 00 am to study with them and then teach them about being missionaries! After lunch we took them all out to work! It was very fun, they were so tired at the end of it, and it reminded me of my first week in the MTC... Exhausting!

 

Well today was exhausting as well. We got up early and went on an AWESOME hike with a member who works as a guide for rich people here in San Martín. He took us on a hike that was SO STEEP and VERY long. At the end, though... Was a volcano crater with a crystal clear blue lake in the middle... It was gorgeous. The wind was SO strong. Even though it´s summer right now, it was freezing up there. I´ve got some pretty awesome pictures. San Martín really is the most gorgeous place in the Patagonia. I´m so lucky to be spending Christmas and my birthday here... Wow... I love the mission... :) I love you guys so much, Sorry for the short letter, but I have stuff to do! I miss you a ton, and can´t WAIT to talk to you guys at 1:00pm on Sunday, the 25th of December!!! Que tengan una buena semana! Hasta que hablemos!!!

 

E. Cuthbert 

December 12, 2011

A warm hug to Bro and Sis Riding... Thank you for your letter and message!!! I truly believe that what you shared with me is true, and it is happening to me.

I will go ahead and answer your question really quick about what Argentines do for Christmas. First of all, it´s blazing hot down here... So what they do to celebrate is they light off fireworkds. A lot of fireworks. All the celebrating is on the 24th, the 25th is a chill day where no one does anything. About presents? I have no idea, I will tell you when I find out how they do that part! There are hardly any lights in the city, on the roofs, in the pine trees... It makes me a little sad. Haha, I never thought the Christmas lights would affect my feelings... Sniff, Sniff. If I were to walk around the city right now, I would hardly recognize that it´s Christmas time, it´s way different than in the U.S. But almost every one has... Da Da Da... Asado!!!!!!! WHOOO!!! I love Asado!!! Hahahahahahahahaha! MEAT! CARNIVORE!!! DINOSAUR!!! Ahem... Excuse me for the outburst.

 

Now about the life of the missionary...

 

First of all, I´ve been learning lesson after lesson here as a missionary and as a person. I can´t even tell you the amount of things that I learn as a missionary. It is incredible. The life of a missionary is so jam-packed with lessons that if I wasn´t a missionary, I´d be all lessoned out!!! But I love it. I have learned so much about what I want my life to be like after the mission. How I want to work afterwards, who I want to spend my time with, what I will NOT do with my life. How I can best treat my family, friends, acquaintences. Things like that. I could write all day about the lessons I´ve learned, but I don´t want to. Ha.

 

I´m going to talk about Mirta, Ramón, Claudia and Dana first... They´re wonderful. They are such a chosen, special family. I can´t even express the feeling of love I have for this family. We go by them every Sunday, Tuesday and Friday night. A week ago we had them read 1 Nephi 18 and switch "ship" for "family". Do it. We were with a member couple while we talked about the chapter, and then we put the goal for them to be married on the 23rd! And they accepted wholeheartedly!!! We were so happy! Now comes the sketchy part. We have to get the birth certificate of Ramón from Buenos Aires before the 23rd of December. If he doesn´t have that, he can´t be married, a.k.a can´t be baptized the 24th, a.k.a. No White Christmas. I am now calling Operation PRAY HARD. I need you all to dedicate your prayers to this family. Think of the blessings that you and your family have received by the Gospel and the Church... Now think of the need that this family has to share these blessings... How better to celebrate the birth of Christ than with a covenant that we will always follow Him? I can´t think of anything better. And so I call Operation PRAY HARD, also Operation FAST LONGER, and I´m going to throw in a little bit of Operation PRAY AGAIN AFTER PRAYING. Get the hint? This family deserves it. We then went by their house on Friday and spoke about the Word of Wisdom. They had a little bit of beer and wine for meals occasionaly, but they quickly gave it all up and said, we are ready, willing and able to follow this commandment! Mirta was LOVING the commandment! She LOVES THE CHURCH! We went away that night, so happy. Content... feeling so blessed. Sunday we waited for them in the chapel, but they never came. Family from Bariloche had come in the morning, and they couldn´t make it. Sigh........ Oh well. They still know the church is true. We went by yesterday night to check up on them and we found them. We decided to watch with them a little segment of the movie Special Witnesses of Christ. A movie by the church that has the testimony of all the apostles and prophet. When we stopped it, we asked them to share their feelings, they loved it. Ramón and Mirta both exclaimed... You can FEEL that they´re men of God. I just... KNOW they´re men of God. We then testified a little more about them, then when Ramón said they last prayer, he exclaimed to Heavenly Father... "I want to testify to you, Heavenly Father, that I know that this is true... " I silently smiled to myself during the prayer, almost breaking out into tears for the joy that came to me for hearing that one sentence in that heart felt prayer. I need to send you pictures of them. We will probably spend Christmas night with them and bake some United States brownies or something, so I´ll have pictures... Remember the Operations!!! PRAY HARD, FAST LONGER and PRAY AGAIN AFTER PRAYING.

 

The weather is a nice 100 degrees here right now. Grandma and Grandpa would love it here, why don´t you two come down here and spend a few months in San Martín? Heh! You´d love it.

 

I want you to know that I love you all so much. We have found a lot of new people this week, Licandro and Miguerina... We haven´t found them. That´s the only problem I have with missionary work... Is that I´m working with things that have a thing called a brain. It´s pretty frustrating sometimes. Marta Carmona is fighting with her faith. She has finally found work and it doesn´t let her come to church on Sunday. We have testified, read scriptures, prayed and tried to help her see that she needs to find out what her HF wants her to do.

 

Remember these names in your prayers, I feel the prayers every single day, because we are having wonderful success here in Argentina. I can´t wait to talk to my family!!! Enjoy this Christmas with your family. They are the greatest gift God has given us. XOXO

 

E. Cuthbert 

December 5, 2011

I ask myself sometimes if we will ever stop with what we´ve got... But no, we don´t.  The most funny part is that we have so many investigators, future investigators, contacts and baptismal dates that it´s humanly impossible to actually visit everyone!! We have to sort out the priorities, and do our teaching and visits according to that. At the end of Sunday night, the count of baptismal dates was a good, juicy 19. Haha! Answering your question about the siestas... Yes, EVERYTHING closes. It is the most annoying thing in the entire world. If you´re trying to buy something between 1:30 and 5:00... Good luck. It doesn´t help that the stinkin´ lady president of this country just made up holidays so they would have a holiday in every single month. Holidays are terrible for missionary work. Enough said.

 

Can you get me E. Adam´s (Holden) address in his mission? It´s been too long since I´ve heard from that kid. Happy birthday to Omi!!! I love you, and I hope you had a good one! 70 years young! You still look a good... 48... ;) Heh! I love you, Omi. That´s really good to hear that E. Carter is doing well. Makes me very happy to hear that. I miss the Bishop. I know he´ll be reading this, so I´ll just say it again. Thank you Bishop for all you did for me and my family. I owe you A LOT. I work for the Lord, and you had a small part in making that come about. You will be very happy to know that I CAN use Skype! I was going to ask you guys to buy a web cam for Christmas so I could talk to you guys!!! Let´s plan on it! That makes me SO happy! I´ll probably be calling in the morning (For you guys) There´s a 4 hour difference right now (I think) for you guys, but we´ll organize this a little better in the coming weeks.

 

Now, news. You will be happy to know that the pictures I thought I had lost on my 32GB card were saved!!! I took it to a members house, a Stud named Alberto Di Stefano, and he had installed a program on his computer that reads the internal memory of the card, even if all things have been deleted. He saved a good 400 pictures!

 

Now the real news. I will end with the best... We have found A LOT of people. A LOT of people want the Gospel. If it´s not the Gospel they want in this moment in time, it´s because they just don´t know it yet. They want what they FEEL. E. Calvache and I are good companions. We have a way of testifying and teaching in a way that every person can SEE and FEEL that what we are doing is something important. A good example would be Daniel and Miriam that we found this past week. They´re an older couple that were never religious, but in talking to us, they quickly began to see the light and feel the Spirit. They have never gone to church and don´t like the idea, but at the same time, want to hear our message, because they know it´s sent from God.

 

Next, Licandro and Miguerina. Now this is a couple that needs your prayers. All of you. We found them about 2 weeks ago and taught them about the Restoration and Joseph Smith. Everything seemed good and dandy when we left, but then we couldn´t find them for a good week and a half. FINALLY we found them and when we got in, only Licandro the husband would listen to us. The wife was giving us a cold shoulder, and didn´t want anything to do with us. We asked her to join us, and she said no. That She was SICK of all the missionaries from different religions coming to her house and telling her what to do. What had happened was after we had went to their house, their house became bombarded with Evangelicals, Christians, and ... Oh goody... Jehovah´s Witnesses. They are the biggest Apostasy I have ever seen. They came to their house and told them they couldn´t celebrate their daughters birthday, donate blood, or crap like that. From all these missionaries, she was fed up with it, confused and hurt. She began crying in relating all of this to us. We felt terrible. We agreed that all of what was happening to her and her family was difficult, and we understood that all she wants is the best for her family. We gave her the challenge to read the Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 11 and then ask Heavenly Father if we were sent from Him to help her family. If yes, we would continue, if no, we wouldn´t come back. We set up a time to come back, and when we returned... Weren´t there. Pray that we can find them and rescue them.

 

Miriam and Justino. They´re a couple that we found last week also, we have quickly became their friends, and Miriam and her two daughters, Yennifer and Karen (yes, Jennifer starts with a Y in Argentina) came to church with us yesterday! They loved it! Including, MIriam cried, loved it, and said she wants to get baptized. She and Justino her husband need to get married first... Grr.. But they´re awesome.

 

Now the grand finale. We have found another GOLDEN family. Names? Mirta, Ramón, Claudia and Dana. Mirta and Ramón are not married, but have been living together for 5 years with their daughters Claudia (10 yrs. ) and Dana (almost 3). We found them last week and from the beginning, we knew they were hungry for Gospel. We taught them about the Plan of Salvation and then asked Ramón to pray at the end, hesitantly, he did it and at the end Mirta was crying - I will tell you why she was crying in a little bit. The next time we went by, they were anxiously waiting for us and we taught them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ - Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Holy Ghost and Endure to the End. There was a friend there, and he was, of course, a Jehovah´s Witness. He began trying to fight with us during the lesson! "Hey, I heard that you guys have a guy that you worship, equal to Christ! Hey, is it a sin to drink coffee? Hey, you don´t need to get baptized! Hey, I already have Jesus Christ in my heart, I don´t need to do anything else!" We calmly and patiently ignored him and taught the lesson, inviting them to ask Heavenly Father if what we teach is true. They accepted, greedily. The next time we came by, we went by with Alberto Di Stefano and his wife, Evelina. We taught them about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. They loved Alberto and his wife, and loved everything about the prophets and Joseph Smith... Oh, what a family. Then we asked them to come to church, they said that they would love to! And so on Sunday, we waited anxiously for them to come... and finally, we saw them round the corner and walk up to the doors!!! It was incredible! Church was amazing, they loved every second. I was by their side the entire time to answer questions about the Sacrament or some word they didn´t understand. Later that night, we went by their house to check up on them. Amazing. We had the most amazing lesson. We had been planning to ask them to be married, because they need to be married to be baptized. We watched the movie Together Forever from the church and began talking about the importance of the family for them. In the end, we asked them if they would be married to bless their family, and follow God. They said yes. We have a goal for the 23d of December, one day before the baptism! Now we need to help them get the papers and everything ready so they can do it. Pray and fast for them, please. They are incredible. When the lesson was almost over, I bore my testimony of the faith that they had and the Spirit I´d felt. Then Mirta burst out crying, and began relating to us of her experiences for the last 3ish years. She had been having pains in her head that doctors could not explain, and one time she was in the hospital for 7 days, she had a dream that she was searching for something in the hospital, but could never find it. Then she found a room that turned into the church we have here in San Martín. She said that the church she went to yesterday, was exactly like it was in her dream! She then began explaining how her story was exactly like Joseph Smith´s and how she had prayed that God would send her someone to help her find the way. And what do you know? That same week, we knocked their door. I NEVER thought I would be one of the missionaries with the miracle story of someone praying for God to send them someone, and then we knocked on the door. I am blessed beyond... Ah. I love the Gospel. And the church is true. They are a very special family. I have seen miracles. My testimony is stronger than ever. I love you all. Pray for our investigators. I pray for you all, and hope you´re doing well.

 

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 

November 21, 2011

Thanksgiving??!! Wha?! Already? HOLY COW, the time flies down here! When`s Thanksgiving, Friday? Huh, I guess we`ll have to celebrate doing something... Haha.  It`s a little cold here in San Martìn, the weather can`t decide if it wants to rain or not. Lot`s of wind. About Thanksgiving and the turkey... No. Argentines do not eat turkey. I don`t understand it. Who ARE these people?? ;) There is not one turkey gobbler in all of Argentina. Some people don`t even know what it is! And so no, I will not be having turkey. Maybe I`ll buy a chicken and do the same thing.. We`ll see. 

About Christmas, ties and more socks are the only things I`m in need of right now. So you guys can just use your wonderful imaginations and get me something that will make me smile! Haha! I need a flippin` watch. Maybe I`ll treat myself to a watch for Christmas... Grandma is going to fly down and kill me when she reads that part!! I`m sorry Grandma!! 

Pday today we are having an Asado. I`ve been having a lot of Asado lately! Haha, I love MEAT! You`re all laughing or rolling your eyebrows right now... How did Jordy get sent to a place that throws cows on a spit and throws them over a pile of coals?? HEHE! ;) Anyway, we`re doing an Asado because a good family that has helped us a lot with missionary work is leaving for Misiones, Argentina. They were key in the converting of Miguel and Ruth, and so we`re going to have an Asado with them and help them pack up the house to leave. 

Wow, things this week have been crazy. We`ve quickly baptized all of our investigators, and are left with nothing! So we`ve been spending a lot of time knocking and trying to find news through the members and our own efforts. We found one lady named Marta Carmona. She is the sister of a less active member who has recently started coming back. We`ve been teaching her for the last week and a half. She`s progressing very well with the Book of Mormon. Reads every thing we ask and understands it too! She wants to get baptized, but there`s one problem... She smokes and drinks. That`s something we found out yesterday. She has her baptismal date planned for this Saturday. We`re going to need a lot of faith for it to happen! Also, our Branch President doesn`t like it if we baptize someone that`s never been to a Sacrament meeting, so she will probably be baptized in the coming weeks. 

We have another lady named María. She is the daughter of a recent convert. She smokes a lot, has a 5 yr. old daughter, and never had an interest in the church. Until Wednesday. We had been planning to put a date with her for a baptism, and it was all based on Faith in Jesus Christ. She needed to know that through Jesus Christ, she can have a better life, and also for her daughter. Ether 12:4 says that He who believes in God might hope for a better world. She had a Broken heart and an Contrite Spirit, and said, yes, I need to be baptized. She FINALLY had the excitement to be baptized!!! We were so happy, put her date for this Saturday... And then the tragedy happened. She is looking for work, and couldn`t find anything here in San Martìn, so she had to leave her daughter and mom and go to Neuquèn to harvest cherries... She won`t be back till the first of January. Nooooo!!! She finally wanted to be baptized, and then had to leave! We have been searching for work for her so she can come back, and found something that looked promising. We`re going to found out today if she will be coming back. Because then we could help her come unto Christ. 

We went by the house of a member family and they were having the birthday party of the dad who isn`t a member. They were having a GIANT Asado with a complete sheep on a cross roasting over a fire, the haunch of a cow doing the same thing, and 3 chickens roasting on a grill. All done with the coals from the giant bonfire they had. We were going to stay to try it, but it got too late and we had to get to the apartment. They gave us some in a tupper, I had lamb for the first time! It was delicious! 

Sunday we had to get up at 3:30 in the morning and get ready for the Stake Conference in Zapala, Argentina. It was a 3 hour bus ride there, we got there and had a wonderufl conference with the president of the mission and Miguel and Ruth, and Matius our converts. They all loved it! On the way back, I was out like a light. We got back to San Martìn and went to work right away. I was starving and VERY tired. It was a hard day yesterday. 

This is the last week in the transfer, E. Calvache might be leaving, might not. We`ll see next Monday if I have a new companion! Thank you so much for all the support, for always writing me and helping me. I love you all, and hope you all have an incredible Thanksgiving. Say hi to all of the family for me. I`m doing great. Pray for my investigators!!! Send letters please!! I miss you all, and love hearing from you. Brady, Bryson and Bethers family... I wrote you guys a letter about 3 months ago, but it never got sent!!! Please don`t think that I have forgotten about you guys! I love you all, and hope you`re doing incredible. Go to church! Jared, always be a good example! Melyn, I love you and Jordan and pray for you often. Dad, I miss you more than anyone else, and am paciently waiting for the Christmas call to talk to you! I love you! 

E. Cuthbert