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 

September 5, 2011

WOW.... WHAT A WEEK!!! I can´t even BEGIN to tell you guys the amount of stress, events, and just all around craziness we´ve had here in Esquel... Here it goes... 

I´ll just get it out of the way... Diego? No. He disappeared for a little while, and with some very interesting events that happened over the week, we didn´t have the opportunity to go find him. And so, regrettably... No, he was not baptized. Probably won´t for awhile now, but more on that later. 

Now, last Monday, after writing you guys, E. Rojas got VERY quiet. He put a big amount of distance between us, and ignored me whenever I spoke. We went back to the pension and I began writing some letters. He was still very quiet. We usually leave at 6pm on Pday to go teach, but I could tell he was angry with me, and so I told him that when he was ready to talk to me, then we could leave. He wouldn´t say a word until 7:00. He then began explaining to me that his feelings were hurt, because I apparently said that he didn´t have the faith or love necessary for investigators or members. I had only told him that he needed to work on his faith/love with Diego... But he took it a little bit to the extreme. Because of this, he had been crying in his bed when I was writing letters. I hadn´t even known what was wrong, and I was SO happy that I said I wasn´t leaving the pension until he opened up and told me what was wrong. We sorted it out, and then at 8:00 went and taught a lesson. 

Tuesday, in the morning we had District Meeting. Halfway through the meeting, we received a text from Lidia saying: Elders, I need your help. I have nothing to give my kids to eat, and they went to school hungry. I was so angry... We finished out the meeting, and then E. Rojas and I ran to the pension and ransacked our own fridge with all the food we had for Lidia and her kids. We had been talking with the Branch Pres. to get her a box of food for 3 weeks, and they went twice, only asking if she needed anything. Very vaguely offering help. Lidia, being very shy and not trusting them just yet, had said no both times, but then we received the text from her saying that she needed food. We went with our own food, and called the Pres. on the way there asking him to do something about this Now. He got angry at E. Rojas, and hung up the phone, saying he was going to call the Mission president... Bla bla bla. Anyway, after we dropped the food off, I went to Trevelin with E. Menghini, E. Barton´s companion for divisions. We got there and had a lesson with a guy named Gustavo. I was there a month and a half ago when they found him. He´s a heavy smoker, and loves gringos! We had a good lesson on the importance of not smoking, and he promised to stop. Also in Trevelin, we had a meeting with the ward mission leader in Trevelin. He´s LDS... but acts and speaks and pretty much is an Evangelical. Gosh dang it, he tried to teach me about the fact that we as people, because we know right from wrong.... Don´t have agency. Uh huh, right. I was counter_arguing him, backing up my side with scriptures and everything, but he kept ranting off about the fact that I was completely mistaken and didn´t know anything as a missionary. I almost exploded. But, we cut the meeting there, and left and taught some great families. Got back to Esquel on Wednesday and visited Vanesa Greniel, this lady with her two daughters. She is very open with us about her situation, which is a toughy. They have a hard time making ends meet, and I know exactly why! Vanesa drinks a lot on the weekends. A LOT. A TON. HUGE AMOUNTS OF BEVERAGES. Have you ever seen a pitcher? Yeah... a pitcher comes into the story in a little bit. Anyway, we had a good lesson about the BoM, and the importance of Baptism. She finally accepted a baptismal date for the 24 of September. We are going to help this family!!! 

Thursday morning was very slow. We had gathered all the addresses people had given us in the streets in a particular part of the city, and went to visit every single one. Turns out that every single direction that people gave us... Was fake. Hahahahahahaha, Oh, the life of a missionary. It´s ok though... I saw the most hilarious experience of my life... Walking down the street, we came upon a man staggering up the middle of the road. COMPLETELY DRUNK. This guy was just drowned in beer. He was staggering the whole width of the street, laughing, yelling, waving his arms... It was pathetic. He came to the sidewalk, and then began the real battle... The attempt of climbing the flippin´ CURB to keep walking down the road. He was swaying back and forth as he made many attempts to climb the curb, when finally.... He CRASHED to the ground, in a great, pathetic, drunken stupor. I almost DIED of laughter, only because he was so drunk, and even when he fell, his mouth wouldn´t stop yelling and shouting. It was hilarious. But also extremely sad... THAT is what I have to protect people from. Alcohol. It is vile, it is cruel, it is evil. I´ve seen children scared of their fathers because of it, I´ve been ridiculed in the streets because of it, and I´ve lost a baptism because of it. Alcohol is evil. Period. 

Anyway, we´ve been looking for a new apartment for a long time now, because the owners of our apartment have just jumped the price from $1,150 pesos every month to $1,500 every month. It´s ridiculous!!! So we´ve been looking for the last 2 weeks for a new place, but it´s so difficult, because we want to teach, and the search for a new apartment draws away from our time to teach! On Friday morning, E. Rojas says to me: Gosh, Elder!!! I can´t even study... We NEED to find a new apartment! Not 3 seconds later, we get a call from a member saying they had one for us! We went that morning to look at it. It was HUGE. It´s owned by a member, but she´s living down in Comodoro right now, and wanted to rent it out. It´s pretty much a house, E. Rojas and I were sold. The best part is that we´re only paying $1,300 for it, and it´s almost 3 times the size of our old one!!! We ran back to our apartment and began packing everything, cleaning... stuff like that. It reminded me of when we moved from Mapleton to ... Mapleton, Ha. Later on that day, we stopped packing and went to an appt. we had with Greniel and family to make the filling for Empanadas... We got there, knocked... And no one answered. We said we would wait for 5 minutes. About 2 minutes later, Greniel answers the door... half drunk. Oh no. She invited us in, and we... very cautiously, entered. She began saying she was so happy that we were there to help her make empanadas, but first she needed a blessing. She was feeling terrible, obviously because of the PITCHER of beer on the table that she had been drinking out of. Gosh flippin´ dang it! I gave her a blessing, then she told us of her experience with praying to HF to know if the message we had brought was true. She told us that after that prayer, she had seen only us in her head, and she said: I know HF answered my prayer... And that he sent you two here, to help me and my family.¨ YES, she was half drunk, but it wasn´t to where she would say just any random thing. She still had her wits about her and could relate things and communicate well. And so yes, she has had her answer and is anxiously waiting for the 24th... We made empanadas with a drunk woman... cutting onions, crying while doing it... Yeah... It was a very... Interesting day. I didn´t know what to do. I realized that although I feel ready to take on much more responsibility as a missionary, there are still experiences that I look to E. Rojas for.. because of his experience. But yeah. 

Saturday morning, the Elders from Trevelin came to help us clean up everything and move to the new house. We didn´t have a moving truck... And we were going to be moving in 4 hours!!! I said to E. Rojas... Che! Tenemos que flippin´ encontrar un flete!!! Dude! We need to flippin´ find a moving truck! Not 2 seconds after I said that, a Flete or Moving truck rounded the corner. I waved it down, and we scheduled the guy to come help us move. How LUCKY IS THAT?? Anyway, we got everything into the truck, and took it all to the house. The Trevelin Elders are so jealous of it. We got everything in, and then began to unpack and organize. It was too late to teach anyone that night, so we ran to a store and bought a bunch of beef and had an asado as our last night as companions... (supposedly)... ;) That night we got the call... No one was leaving Esquel. That never happens! Every single person in Esquel and Trevelin was staying where they were. How weird! I was happy, because it meant I would have time to enjoy the new house! An hour later, we get a call from the sister missionaries... An emergency transfer had happened, and the two of them were leaving Esquel. We were thinking that night, how weird!! Who´s going to replace them in their area, not knowing the members, investigators, or anything?? We found out the next morning who was going to replace them... 

Sunday morning, I got my shower interrupted with a call from E. rojas saying: District leader has called... you need to hear this! I listened through the bathroom door to hear that I, ME, ELDER CUTHBERT, was being transfered to the other half of Esquel as my next area... WHAT??!! I was in shock. My new companion, E. Sharp, gets here on Tuesday morning. I´m have very ... mixed emotions about everything. I´m very excited to get a new companion, and from what I´ve heard, E. Sharp and I will get along great. But we are both like aliens in the area. We don´t know ANYTHING about what´s been going on. Our first week will just be finding the Investigators, members, and getting to know the area. It´s a very interesting situation... But I´m excited, also. So yeah... I´m being transfered!! But not out of Esquel... Hahaha! This has NEVER happened before. It´s called a Whitewash... When the missionaries from an area leave, and it´s replaced with two that don´t know anything. It´s going to very strange for the next few days. So yeah. 

I´m in love with the Book of Mormon, I love teaching, mornings are as hard as ever, I love working out, missionary work is awesome, I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. I want you all to know that I´m doing great. Jordan, My bro in law... Thank you for the letter! It was a lot of help. Jared... If you´re going to get that ´81 Camaro... You have to promise me that you´ll ONLY race on Saturdays... ;) Simon! Kill it in football, Man! Mom, I love you more than ever. Melyn... I was thinking about before the mish when you and I drove back from the Temple and had that long talk... I miss my Sis. Ha. Dad... I love you so much. I hope you´re doing incredibly well, and that work is treating you well. Good luck on the house!! 

Send the letters... I´m letter hungry! Haha! Love you all... 

E. Cuthbert 

August 29, 2011

This is probably my last week in Esquel. The transfer ends on Sunday, and it´s very rare that companions stay together for more than 2 transfers. I need to buy some souvenirs of this beautiful place! 

The connection with the camera and the computer I´m using isn´t working, so once again, I don´t have pictures.... Gosh dang it, I have so much to SHOW you guys! The mission is an incredible experience, and I have many pictures of wonderful families, The ones at the top of the list are of course, Lidia and Nicol. I´ll tell you about them first... 

We´ve been talking to Lidia a lot lately about life, what she wants as a mother, for her kids, for herself, for her life, things like that. On many occasions, she´s told us very incredible things that she wouldn´t otherwise say unless she trusted us. I know about most of her life and the difficulties and trials that she´s had. Patricio... We couldn't find the guy for about a week, but then two days ago, we found them again. We found out from Lidia that their relationship as bf/gf has been going downhill pretty fast. Whenever we try to teach him, he calls a taxi to come pick him up with the excuse that he has to go somewhere. He leaves, and we have time to talk to Lidia about what´s really going on. She does not want to be with him anymore. Her experiences with us, and her desire to change and fix her life for the Savior are such that she doesn´t want to be with someone who´s getting in the way of her doing that. Patricio isn´t willing to leave. She has tried to talk to him calmly several times about how she does not want him in her life anymore, but he refuses to listen to her, saying that she´s just angry and doesn´t know what she´s talking about. We had a conversation with her on Saturday, in the which she told us of her firm desire to return for good to church with her kids. She knows that that´s what´s going to give her kids the examples they need, and the blessings she so desperately wants in this life. We were so happy, and excited for Sunday to come, to watch her come through that door. In the morning, I received a text message from her saying that she couldn´t come. She said she would tell us when we came by after church. When we came by, she sat with us and told us how Patricio had not let her go to sleep that night. He kept yelling, and talking throughout the entire night, probably drunk, and she didn´t get a wink of sleep. She was so tired, that she couldn´t physically go to church. I was so angry with Patricio... Lidia needs help with her kids... Sometimes her 6 yr. old daughter, Emily, goes to school hungry in the morning, because there isn´t any food in the house. It´s heartbreaking. I love that family to death. 

Inés, our convert... IS A ROCK!! She is now coming to lessons with us, and she´s helping us put commitments for baptism! She shares her testimony, and helps people understand that it is possible! She´s incredible. She´s also giving us information with almost every person that lives in her neighborhood! Haha, She truly was a blessing. In one lesson with her accompanying us, we went to the cousin of Lidia. Her name is Lorena... Argentine customs are very different down here. Halfway through our lesson on how the Gospel will bless her life, and why the BoM is important, she just LIFTED up her shirt and began breastfeeding her baby. Not a care in the world, still listening to us teach, but breastfeeding her baby. It wouldn´t have been so bad if she had had a blanked or something covering herself, but no, she had her baby on one, and the other was clear out in the open. I´ve never concentrated so hard on someones forehead.... Wow. Argentina... 

Mornings are getting so difficult to get up! I work so hard during the day, and never take a break. I do very hard work outs in the morning, and at night, I´m usually reading the BoM or studying something until about 11pm... Mornings really are a battle. If I get up, and start working out, I´m good. But in between getting up and beginning working out... It´s a test between body and spirit, every morning. And it won´t last for another year and a half! Hahaha! 

There´s a less active family named Familia Carmona. They´re a very kind, nice family. If you remember, there´s a picture that I sent you guys a while back of a family that we had a family home evening with... Laura, the mom is short with red, short hair. They´ve got two boys. They´re an incredible family. Laura was baptized about a year ago. She had returned to smoking about 2 months ago, and we´ve been working with them ever since. Yesterday we had an incredibly strong lesson with them as to what our life here is for, HOW we can use the Savior and his Atonement, and the blessings that await every one of us who are strong and pull through to the end. Laura began crying, and they committed to flipping their lives around and becoming strong in the church once more. I love so many families here in Esquel, it will be hard to leave if I do leave on Monday. 

Now, the last thing I´m going to talk about is Diego. This kid... We had a two hour lesson with him a couple days ago on why were were there. I asked him if he knew why were taught people. We spoke about the BoM, baptism, and his desires. He didn´t think the Book of Mormon was true, and so at the end of the conversation, I committed him to begin reading the Book of Mormon. I went home that night, just deep in thought as to what I can do to get this kid into the waters of baptism. He has said it several times... : I know I need to be baptized, I just don´t know!!!  The next morning, I prayed harder than I´ve ever prayed in my life to know exactly what it is that he needed to read to believe in the BoM, and believe that he needs to be baptized in our church. To gain a testimony... At the end of my prayer, DIRECTLY after... Alma 7 shot into my head. I immediately found it in the scriptures, and read the chapter 3 times. I knew that was what I needed to share with him. Last night, we went to his house, with the goal to read the chapter with him, feel the spirit, and put a baptismal date for the 3rd of September with him, the Saturday before I leave. We got there and began talking. Then, we began reading. Whenever he didn´t understand a verse, or sentence, we stopped and helped him understand exactly what it was that Amulek was saying. At the end of the chapter, I directed his attention to vs. 17. The question: Do you believe these things? I asked him the same question. He said: Yes. I said, Do you believe this chapter is true? He said, yes. I said, knowing this chapter is true, do you believe that the BoM to be the word of God? He said... Yes. I then directed him to vs. 14 and 15. We read them, then I asked him to be baptized. He asked when? I said, the 3rd. Then, he began laying down all his doubts, why he thinks he can´t do it. It´s been such a battle with him. I told him that if he does this, it will bless him more than anything. I testified with everything I´ve got. I layed down every scripture that I had, I have faith that he can be baptized. E. Rojas on the other hand... He doesn´t believe he has what it takes. Diego has a hard time committing. E. rojas saw that, and didn´t believe in him, and it began to show... Diego asked him why he was acting the way he was, or why he had the face that he had on... I was losing it all... The Spirit fell... The date was falling out of my grasp. He asked for a day to think it over. To pray more. OH, that´s another thing. After we read Alma 7, I directed him to Moroni 10, and we did EXACTLY what it says there. After the prayer, he told me: I felt something. Nothing big, or extraordinary, but I felt something. I am SO close with Diego. He KNOWS he needs to do it. With Faith, ALL is possible! Hebrews 11, and Ether 12... Incredible chapters on faith. I don´t know if Diego is denying everything, and will never be baptized, or if it´s because of the lack of faith of E. Rojas. I do know that until I leave Esquel, I will fight for his baptism, because I know he knows it.... Pray for Diego, each and every one of you. My prayer was answered through Alma 7, and he knows the BoM is true. I now ask all of you to pray that he can have the courage to recognize what he´s felt as the answer he needs, and that he may act on it. I pray that my faith, along with the faith of each and every one of you will bring about a miracle to Esquel. If we can do this... You will see a 22 yr. old named Diego dressed in white, this Saturday. I have faith in my Heavenly Father, that He answers prayers. I know that Diego CAN be baptized, he just needs to have the confidence to do it. I will not give up. 

Thank you for all you guys do for me, I love each and every one of you. Keep the letters coming. I haven´t gotten an actual, physical, letter in all my time in Argentina. Pick it up, people!!! Haha! I try to write each and every one of you letters, but they´re very expensive to send down here, and I´ve been out of money for awhile... I apologize! 

Love you all. Mom, has that package been sent? Watch my account, if it gets low, fill it... I never know when I´m going to have an emergency. 

Amor, 

E. Cuthbert