Week 74: HEY! I feel like I've been here before...

Heeeeeeellllloooooo!!!!

It's been another incredible week here in Argentina! I'm still loveing it here in the mission and!!!!!:...... We have a transfer!!!!! WHOO!! Haha! Last night I slept my last night on an air mattress because today I'm going to have an area again!! Yay!!! And I know my area probably sounds familiar because it might be... I'm going to Villa-Celina!!!!! (Or sometimes known in the mission as Villa Zion. Villa (pronunciation: Vee-sha Se-lee-na) means like ghetto.) WHOOO!!! Villa-Celina is the area where we went where there are a ton of people from Bolivia and Peru! It's going to be great! I'm super excited, and I'm going to be Zone Leader.

Last transfer we went there the first week of the transfer, we were there with Elder Jones and Elder Hernandez. I'm going to be on the other side of the ward, with Elder Gonzáles who is from Bolivia! It's going to be a super awesome transfer I'm super stoked. We are going to work a ton to be able to help the zone grow and to be able to help the ward grow a ton! We're going to work work work, and that's not all because then we are going to work some more! After being an ETM (traveling missionary) for 3 transfers I'm pretty thirsty to help tons of people repent and be baptized! AHH!!! WHOOO!!! Haha!

Anyway's, other than the transfer it's been a super great week here. We were in Villa-Fiorito this week. And I was with Elder Ribeiro again! yay! (but now he uses his moms last name instead of his dad, so he's Elder Branco) He was my second companion here in the mission and I trained him! He's progressed a ton, and he's still working super great as a missionary. It was awesome to be able to work with him this last week. 

In the ward on Saturday there were 4 baptisms. But last minute on Saturday, when we had everything planned out super well, there was a problem. I was with Elder Branco (Ribeiro) and the my companion Elder Cedeño and the other Elders, Elder Portugal and Elder Curo (we had a trio of missionaries as well) called us, and they tell us that there isn't water in the church or anywhere near there! AHH!!! So we start trying to change the baptism to do it in another church really close, but they have an activity and they tell we can't do it there! AHH!! So we had to move the baptism to a church super far away, in the stake-center, which was about an hour, hour and a half in bus. We had to run around all day to make sure that the clothes would be all ready, we had to do a quick service project in the morning and we had to run to all of the houses of the investigators who were going to be baptized and then we went with them all the way to the other church, in a ward called Banfield. Anyways. It was super crazy, and there wasn't anyone from the bishopric there so we called the branch president and he said that we could do it. So my companion conducted the meeting and I presided! Whoo! It was short, simple, but sweet! 

It was a great week, but now I'm super excited to be able to work once again in my own area! It's going to be GREAT! Anyway's I love you all! I hope you have a great week!!!

Chau!!

-Elder Slack

Waiting at the bus stop

The baptism that we helped plan and prepare for

Elder Slack is the one in the front

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Week 25: All for one and All for some

Hey!! This Wednesday I've been out for 6 months!! WOW! I can hardly believe it! The time is flying sooooo fast!! It's been so great here on the mission I love every moment!

This past week Elder Ribeiro and I, we've been back up and running to full speed! My toe is all good now, they took out the stitches and everything. Now I just have to make sure that I cut my toe nails really well for the rest of my mission so that I don't have to lose any more time resting! 

This past week has been a week full of everything and nothing at the same time. Every single day Elder Ribeiro and I, we head out of our pension all determined to work and find the people, teach them and change the life of every single person we talk with! So we did the same this week! We left, we talked with a ton of people, but almost everyday we had some sort of activity,  whether it was a district meeting, capilla abierta, we had to go to the hospital, we had our weekly planning, our ward mission correlacion, lots of things going on this week. With the time that we had we were out on the streets looking to bring people to God, teach repentance, baptize converts, all the good stuff. We worked sooo much this week, we were working working working, we passed by the house of all of our investigators almost everyday, we taught as many lessons as we could find, and then came yesterday. The last day of the week, we sit down to plan for today, we look at the week and how everything went, we count up the numbers from all of our key indicators/goals and!!!..... Wow, for all the work we have been doing the week looked almost like we sat around in our pench all day and only went working one day during the week. Hahaha! But I guess that's how it goes sometimes. We're still really determined and really working hard, we've got our goals all fixed and ready and we're trying to figure out some sort of new game plan, we're seeking out and getting rid of any disobedience, we're all ready to start off another week! 

It's been really good here in González Catán, the weather has been cooling down a lot, and now we are preparing for the winters, the food is still great the members are still great! I love being a missionary!!

This week as well!!!! Camila was baptized!! YAY!!!!! It was so great! She's been able to figure a few things out recently and has been able to come to church all on her own now, and she had her baptism yesterday!! My companion baptized her and it was really such a great moment to see her so happy and shining all day! It was a great feeling, and now she needs to come the next week on Sunday to be confirmed a member of La Iglesia de Jesuscristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Días!! Now we are going to try and work with her children as well, they are a little bit hard to work with, they have a lot of energy and are a little bit wild, but we're here to help them too! 

It's all great here in el Gran Catán! The time truly does fly and I'm trying to take advantage of the short time I have here to help the most people that I can! I hope you all know I love you! As well you should all watcht the church video about Easter! It's great!

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2016-02-1000-hallelujah-an-easter-message-about-jesus-christ?lang=eng

Chau!

-Elder Slack

P.S. A photo from the baptism.

Week 22: Hello World!

Hello to everyone! 

Sorry I haven't been 100% consistent with the letters, but hopefully I can get back on track.

It's been so good here in Argentina, a lot of heat during these past 2 weeks, but it's finally starting to cool down and we can get some good sleep in. There are the hints of fall coming on and the work continues.

This week we've been working a ton, as well we got to have 2 special things. First, I got to return to the hospital, yay!! We went back and we put a date for a micro surgery I have to have on my foot because I've got an ingrown toe-nail (I don't remember if I told you that or not). So that was great, I'll be returning the following week on Monday the 7th, so we'll have to see If we email Monday or Tuesday. The second, Elder Bednar came this week! It was sooo amazing! Elder Bednar a living apostle came and visited here in Buenos Aires. Our mission had the opportunity to go and see him live as he helped us learn so much about teaching by the Spirit and how it is that we can help our investigators learn. It was so incredible to be able to go and see him as we spoke with him. There were about 800 missionaries in the chapel with him, and as well there were around 6000 missionaries from all of the area south america south, which includes Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay! It was amazing to hear him as he taught us and feel the Spirit as we all learned together, there's been a lot of things that I learned that I still need to apply and change, it was so amazing though!

This week we've been working a lot with the investigators that we have, right now we have more or less 8 or 9 investigators. And we worked so hard all of the week so that they could all be ready set to go to the church this past Sunday, we went and...... Not one came. We went to look for a few in their houses, but there wasn't anyone at home. We've been thinking a lot about what it is that we need to change so that they can have the desire to come to the church and become closer to our Savior Jesus Christ. As we were thinking last night in our pension we were clueless. So we decided to go ask our Zone Leaders who are these 2 great missionaries and they work in the same ward with us and live next to us. So we began to talk with them and they gave us some great advice and we did a few practices and we are all ready now to start off another week strong and really strengthen the faith of our investigators that we have here in González Catán!

I've been learning so much here with Elder Ribeiro, my companion from Brasil, he's a "Capo" as they say here, which means essentially a "Stud". We'll just say he's a really really awesome missionary! He came so prepared here for his mission with so much energy and excitement to come and work hard! It's been such a great opportunity to be able work with him. We've got our differences and we disagree sometimes, but we are learning so much together and we are changing and becoming better and better people everyday!

Other than that, the weeks been pretty normal, lots of changing peoples lives, lots of happiness, lots of joy, and of course we can't forget that the food is sooooooo amazing here! The mission life is amazing, being able to dedicate all of my time to something that I learn to love even more everyday is such a great opportunity! I hope you are all great! 

That's all for now!

-Elder Slack

P.S. I robbed my companions camera and took 2 pictures, they aren't amazing pictures, but good enough! There's one of my companion and a selfie of him and I.

 Elder Ribeiro 

 Elder Ribeiro and me!

Week 20: The power of prayer!

HellllllooooooO!

Sorry to all of you who were desperately waiting last week for my email, we didn't have much time we had to go to an appointment and we did a lot of things that day, but, in  case you were wondering, I am still living!

This last week has been incredible! I'm learning so much here with Elder Ribeiro (my Companion) we don't always agree 100% on everything, but we work together really well and we are working towards the same purpose! He has been teaching me so many different things about the mission, even though I am training him, I have learned way more from him than I think I have taught him. It is such a blessing to be able to work with such a dedicated servant and amazing missionary!

This past week, we've been working with Camila a little bit, she's been progressing to the point where she reads in the Book of Mormon, but still she hasn't been to church in the last 5 weeks, so we're really hoping that we can help her out a lot so she come this next week. 

We had our zone conference during this past week, we reviewed all of the things that we learned in the world missionary training broadcast and as well we were able to learn a lot about teaching repentance and baptizing converts. There were a lot of things that I could see that I needed to work on still, and as well as I've tried to apply the things I've learned during this past week I've been able to see my progress and the changes and how much the spirit is helping me to learn and grow.

Elder Ribeiro and I, we've been working really hard in our area, really searching and looking for the people who are prepared to hear the gospel. during this past week at the end of one of the days where almost all of our appointments fell through and we were a little bit discouraged. We sat down to plan, and we began to think about something new that we could to do to be able to find more people, and to be able to teach and find more with the spirit. Elder Ribeiro had the great idea that every time that we have a lesson, or every time we go to search for someone, we can say a prayer before we begin and ask specifically for help so that we can find the person we are looking for, and that they can be ready to hear the message that we have prepared for them. We tried it out the next day, and as we searched and prayer, we were able to find 5 new investigators which is more than we had found during the other week before. It was a really great experience.

I learned that we need to plan well, pray and ask specifically, then go and have faith that we will find the people that need us. It has been a great experience being able to work here with Elder Ribeiro and being able to try new ideas and learn lots of different things. It's great being able to learn with 2 fairly new missionaries, we have so much to learn from one another.

The week was really great, I gotta go now, but until next week, If God wants (as a lot of people say here).

Chau! -Elder Slack

(Photos from an awesome sister in the ward Elder Slack is serving in. His camera got lost stolen back in December. I don't know who all the Elders are in the pictures, but it's sure good to see my son!!!)

Week 18: Portugués?

Hey hey everyone from down in South America! 

This week has been amazing! I'll start with the most exciting news! So, I went Tuesday, to go and find out who is going to be my new companion..... And...... It's Elder Ribeiro, from Brasil!! He is a stud! He is learning to speak spanish as well, because in Brasil they only speak portugués, but he is learning really really fast, he knows a ton more than I did when I first got here because portugués is really similar to castellano. He is really great, really excited to be here and he's not afraid to talk to anyone, he just goes and does it even if they don't understand him with his super thick brasilero accent! He's a super awesome companion really ready to go and get to work and I think we are going to be able to do miracles in the area we are in right now! (As an added bonus, he worked in several different restaurants in Brasil before he came out here for the mission, so he knows how to cook really great food!!)

So yeah, we came back from Aldo Bonzi (Where the mission home is) and we went right to work. This week was a little bit harder than at the start, I've learned that there were more than several things that I have to do now that my trainer was doing before. But after a few days I've seemed to have gotten things figured out pretty well. Now we just need to be a little bit more efficient about doing everything. But it's really great! I've learned a lot about prayer and faith and about how the Lord will always help you to be able to do the work that he calls you to do during this past week. 

I've just kind of realized that other than that this past week has been pretty normal. I've learned even more the importance of having a good plan. And as well about how we need to be very direct with the people we try and contact. Before I would come up to them and say something like "Hi, we are missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, and we have a message that we'd like to share with you if we could maybe come into your home and teach you something" And now I've learned that people are a lot more responsive if we just really say why we are here, what it is that we want and teach something that we believe. It's really great! I'm learning so much from Elder Ribeiro, he's a great companion. 

As well, this past Sunday, we were able to bring one of our investigators to church he is a very different case. His name is Demetrio and he had a problem, I can't remember what it's called, but he had something happen about 2ish months ago, and now one side of his body is really really weak. He can't walk and can't really take care of himself. When we first found him we were able to give him a priesthood blessing (If you don't know what that is, ask your local mormon friend, then say you want the missionaries to pass by your house to teach you more) And yeah, so we gave him a blessing, and he has been progressing a ton, when we first met him, he couldn't even move almost nothing without help. Now he can move his arm and his leg really well, and this week he is going to start some physical therapy so that he can regain his strength. So yesterday morning we went with one fo the few members of our ward who has a car, and we went and drove to bring him down to the church, it was really great to have him there and he really liked it, and said when he gets better he wants to come more regularly! 

This week, as well, on Thursday night, we had an activity with the ward that we are in, where they paid for a big bus, and we were able to go with Camila, our investigator, and a bunch of members to the temple, where we were able to have a lesson outside in the gardens of the temple and talk about the importance of the temple and the family in God's plan for us! It was so awesome!! (But then she didn't come to church Sunday so... Man tear)

And yeah, it was a normal crazy week in the life down here in Argentina. It was really really great though! I love every moment! I hope all of you are enjoying your lives! Know that I love you All! Chau!

-Elder Slack

So grateful to the Sister who shared this through FB!