Week 94: Birthday's and Learning

Hola!! Buen Día!!!!

It's been another great week here in Argentina, my time here is growing shorter and shorter, I've only got 3 weeks left. Shout out to Heber who finished his mission this week! What a stud muffin! 

This weeks been a week to remember, that's for sure! Lot's of miracles and blessings from the Lord. 

Last week were the birthday's of Samantha and Andres, 2 of our investigators that I found with Elder Gonzales several months ago. They have to get married still, but they've got plans. They were working a ton, so they couldn't celebrate their birthday's, so we decided that it would be nice if we celebrated with them. So Elder Pavón and I we put our baking skills to the test and we tried to cook a lemon cake with cream cheese frosting. The frosting came out well, the cake "más o menos" as we say in Español. Haha! We've got a recipe book here in our department that the mission gave to us before President Thurgood left, it's got a recipe to cook a lemon cake, but in the microwave. Well, me trying to be the professional cake cooker decided that it would be better in the oven. I think the ingredients aren't the same in the oven as in the microwave, but it was edible to say the least. We brought some balloons, the cake and a firework type candle and we celebrated with them. Despite their happy smiling faces as you can see in the photo, it was great and we all had a good little time.

The other day a worker came over to our pench to fix our ceiling that the paint and plaster was  all falling down, I don't know if I commented before, but everything they build here is built with bricks and cement, very interesting. So we had to stay in our pench almost all day Friday, but we were able to have a great weekly planning session with the extra time to kill.

I wanted to share with you guys 2 great things that I learned this week. 1st I learned the importance of falling. Sometimes the sidewalks are uneven here and I trip almost every day, but not that type of falling. Falling spiritually, I learned this week that sometimes when we fall it may be the hardest thing, it may be the most difficult to pick ourselves back up again, but that process of picking up is why we came here. We came to learn, we came to grow, and when we come into opposition we can have the resistance needed to grow and become stronger and better people. So when you fall, don't worry, the path back to God's presence isn't easy and without problems, it was made to give us trials and to push us to the limits of our abilities so that we can become more like him.

The other thing that I learned was about listening. We taught an older couple yesterday and frankly it was quite an interesting lesson. The wife loved to talk, she talked and talked and talked, and I kind of lost my patience. I kept thinking "this lesson isn't going anywhere" "What does this have to do with what we were talking about" or "look even her husband is beginning to fall asleep from this boring story" So, I did something I shouldn't have done. Right in the middle of a story she was telling us I cut her off and told her we had to leave. We prayed and left and we went on our way. I talked with my companion and he said that I shouldn't have done that, I shrugged it off with some excuse that we had more important things to do or something of the sort. As we went along, talking to several other people I began to feel the painful but familiar feeling of guilt as with every step I realized that truly what I had done was wrong. I tried to ignore it, but it became overwhelming as we talked with an older woman, she started to do the same thing and I remembered something that I had learned at the start of my mission. It doesn't matter what the person is saying, if they are saying it, it's because it's important to them. And it's true. If someone is telling us something it's because they feel that it is something important and relevant. I repented and have determined to listen even more. After all, I realize now that more important than the message we bring is the spirit that the people can feel when we are in their homes. The Spirit will convert them, not me.

Love you all!!

-Elder Slack

Week 63: The Triangle

Hey hey hey! We're back! It's been another amazing week here in Argentina, enjoying the HOT and HUMID summer weather. I hope all of you enjoyed your new years celebrations and are enjoying the weather wherever you may be. 

It's been a really great week to be honest, this week we were in an area that's called El Triangulo, which, if you can use your mental translators (this be word?) means The Triangle. Yup we were in The Triangle this week!! Whoo!!

It was pretty awesome, we were with 2 really great elders, Elder Pontelli from Southern Argentina and Elder Wilson from Syracuse Utah! El Triangulo is a place that's called a villa (vee-sha) here, like some of my other areas, but this one's one of the more dangerous ones, but thankfully we are always protected by God. It's always so humbling to see some of the circumstances where some of these people live, it's hard to believe sometimes, but I know that I'm here to help them, that God can bless them and their families forever. It makes me so happy to be able to serve such incredible people. I just loved working in El Triangulo this week, we were able to teach a ton of lessons, and I just loved being able to testify and teach about how Jesus Christ can change their lives.

I've been learning a ton about how we can teach repentance to the people. I've learned so much that all of life is dependant on our agency, or the choices that we make. We all have the ability to make decisions, and the decisions that we make are what will determine the consequences. I've been thinking a lot lately about something that my mom taught me and my brothers and sister when we were little. I think I was about 10 years old we were having family home evening one night. My mom was teaching us about agency and then she took out a popsicle stick, we all looked at it and we could see that it had some little words written on it. My mom placed it carefully on the table and then she explained that we were going to all play a game! On one end of the popsicle stick was written neatly Decision and on the other end of the same face was written Consequence. She told us to try and lift up the side that said Decision without moving or lifting up the side that said Consequence. At first it seemed pretty simple, I mean, who can't lift up a popsicle stick? But as we all tried one by one we began to realize that our mom was cheating! This was a game that you couldn't win! I was so determined to be able to do it I tried smashing down on one side and lifting up the other side but it always moved! Well in that time my mom explained to us that that's the way that life works, we all have our agency, we can all take whatever decision that we want, but we always have to remember that on the end of every decision is tied a consequence, that as we act and use our agency to do and to change, that we needed to always remember the consequence that will come with our actions. God will never force us to make a decision, we are completely free to do whatever it is that we want, but the consequences have already been determined and it's most likely that they are not going to change.

Well, how does all of that apply to repentance? Well, what the people need to do is act. We all act and make decisions everyday, but now, which ones are the right ones? Which decisions will lead us to the best consequences? Well, I've been reading the Book of Mormon a lot lately so I'd thought I'd share with you guys one of my favorite scriptures:

And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you. (Mosiah 2:22) 

That was the very first scripture that I used when I taught my very first lesson here in Argentina. Like it says, that when we choose to follow God, he promises that we will prosper, it doesn't matter where we are at or who we are, if we keep his commandments and we are obedient, everything is going to be alright. 

We are all sinners, it's super hard to be 100% obedient to all of God's commandments, only one person on this earth has done it, and he was the best person to ever live on this earth. Jesus Christ, he came and not only did he live perfectly, but he then suffered for our sins and died for us. Because he did that.. he made and exception to the rule, there is one way that we can lift up the decision and then leave the consequence behind us. When we do something wrong, when we mess up, if we go to God and ask for his forgiveness, he can forgive us. Simply, all we need to do is go and ask for his forgiveness and truly change the things that we are doing. When we repent, Christ erases the consequences of our actions. 

Anyways, so what do we do? Well we focus all of our teachings that the person can act, that the person can change, that the person can repent. Because I know that what is says in Mosiah is true, I know that if we keep the commandments we will prosper I have seen it and lived it and I love it. So I invite all of you to think about your lives, think about the decisions that you are making. Remember the consequences that you will receive, and think what does God want you to do. If you don't know, read the Book of Mormon and pray, there is where you will find the answer. Read it, just do it!

I love you all! Sorry for the long letter this week! New years was great! We didn't do a whole lot like on Christmas, I just cooked a bunch of pancakes and we watched the fireworks and we enjoyed talking a little bit. It's a new year! 2017! WOW! Time is flying, this year I'm going home! WHAT?! So crazy! Love you all! Until next week! Chau!

-Elder Slack

Week 23: Teach repentance!

Hello! It's transfer day today! And Elder Ribeiro and I will be staying together strong for another 6 weeks here in González Catán! It's such a great opportunity to be out here and serve 100% of the time! 

We've been working hard this week, we're trying with all of our efforts to be able to show the people the pathway to Christ and help them to begin their journey along that path. We've been having a few difficulties with our investigators, but we're learning along with them and we keep praying that they will have the faith to act and progress.

Remember Camila? We've been working with her a lot, she is really a great person and everything, but her situation is a little difficult. She is a little special, and we have to be really focused on our teaching of how to help her progress. Now we can really see that she has the desire to progress, but still has a few trials in her life to be able to progress along the path. It's really hard to see when someone has the desires to follow  Christ but some of their trials make it extremely difficult to do so, but I believe that it makes the prize even more worth it, when we have to work hard and push to be able to receive the blessings of God, we appreciate them even more. 

These past weeks we have been working a lot with a young man, named Alfredo, he's a great guy, he understands a little bit, but we're trying to work with him so that he can have the desires to come to church every week, it's really hard when he struggles so much with his family, but we are really trying to help all of those who will listen and show him that the blessings of God are so much more rewarding than the things of the world. 

As well, yesterday we went to church in the morning and we were there and then this young man showed up, we started talking with him. He tells us he's not a member of any church, that he has never been to an LDS church before, but that he found the church on the Internet and found it interesting and so he just came on his own! It was so cool to see how sometimes God just brings his children back to where they can feel his love, it really taught me how much God has a plan for everyone, and that really as missionaries we just have to do our part in faith and everything follows God's plans and timing. 

As well this week, we went out to do visits with the first counselor of our ward bishopric, we went with him to visit a family who are less active and part of the family aren't members, it was so great to be able to see as he testified to them how much repentance can help them in their lives. Truly when we have the knowledge of the gospel and the commandments and as we try our best to follow Christ, we will be protected and receive help in our trials. But as well the opposite, when we have that knowledge and we choose not to follow Christ we do not have the same promise, we cannot be protected and the only way that we can once again feel the happiness of the gospel is through repentance and Jesus Christ. Truly he taught me that repentance is so necessary if we want to receive the blessings God has in store for us. 

And yeah, it's been a great week! I hope you are all well! I appreciate all of your emails and it is so good to be here!

Love you all! Chau

-Elder Slack

(Picture courtesy of 

Maria De Los Angeles Fernandez Bevans)