February 1, 2010 --

My family! This week has been really tough, the hottest yet, and the most exhausting, but as i look back on it now i kind of liked it, haha which is a change, wednesday morning it rained so hard that we couldn´t leave the members house we were eating with, it was crazy, and then it just got hotter and hotter each day, haha which didnt bug me until friday, when inside my apartment was 97 degrees, which about killed me! Haha but it got hotter and sunday was about to the point that i couldn´t focus at all, neither could anyone haha, but at least i was teaching all afternoon and not out contacting, i probably would have died, haha oh and we havent had water since saturday afternoon so showering has been out of the question and all we have had to drink is the ice in our freezer, when were at our apartment, so its been pretty crazy, so hopefully our water is back tonight, its been tuff but as i look back i survived so its not that bad, i woke up today and my apartment was 91 degrees! at 6 in the morning haha, its usually 85, which is quite chilly for me right now if you can imagine! haha but its been worth the pain, i had a baptism this past weekend, i baptised one of the sisters, Yessica( or Jessica in english), it was pretty fun! it was a very small baptism, my companion and i, the two other elders in my ward, two litte investigators, and the best family in our ward who we asked to make us a cake and come welcome her, her family couldnt come and she had to leave one of her kids at home, we set the appointment for 7 pm saturday and at 7 45 she wasnt there, i was worried that she backed out but ten mins later she showed up and we had a very good baptism, i enjoyed it alot.
This week we have three promising families that want to be baptised, the gomez family is almost there, they need a few more lessons and need to attend church more and they will be ready, then there is another family, Silvia, who is very, very poor and they dont have a dad, we met them by visiting with a group of ladies in the street and one said she had a sick kid, so we went and gave him a blessing and he was better the next day, we talked and they are really excited to come to church, all are really wanting to hear the gospel, none can read so we are teaching them how to read and pray right now, they are prepared to hear us, and then a young couple, Vincinte, they found it a miracle that we decided to stop by their house and teach them, the husband was especially excited, they just had a kid and i feel like they will be ready in time, hopefully in this transfer. Ramon, the old man who is 72 and doesnt wear a shirt, will be married on febuary 12 and we get to be the witnesses and then the 13 he will be baptised! so im really excited for that! The sister of yessica, yisel, is asking for permission from the judge to be baptised because she is on probation for trying to sneak back into argentina because she forgot her papers here, her friend lives in paraguay which is like twenty mins from my apartment. So she might be baptised this weekend or the next, im pretty excited about that, my companion is very loving with the people here, very opposite of my trainer, and its amazing to see the difference of talking to everyone, we have encountered huge amounts of inactives in our area and people who have family who are members, which are the best people to teach because the spirit has or is working on them, the work here is progressing and i love teaching now, not only because we are out of the sun but because its so cool to see how interesting the gospel is to people who have never heard it, and i just love teaching people about the book of mormon! its crazy funny to see peoples faces when you say you have another book just like the bible, they wont believe and its really fun to testify of the book of mormon, most wont accept but there are a few who find it interesting and i love that, i love telling people about temples and about my testimony of temples, im so grateful for me calling before my mission! This week i have been addicted to the gospel of John, i love reading about christ, i used to never like the bible because everyone uses it and i always thought it wasnt as true as the book of mormon but i have realized that it is true, that it testifies of Jesus Christ, and i love reading about Jesus! It helps me so much. My companion has a mp3 player and there are alot of songs about Joseph Smith and Hyrum and ther was a song about their martyrdom, and it hit me really, really hard, and that day as we were dragging our feet under the killer sun and trying to catch our breath, because its really hard to breathe in this heat, idk why, i couldnt stop thinking about how i cant let Joseph and Hyrum die in vain, i kept seeing them in the final moments of their lives in the movie and it really helped me, that even though i was pushed to my limits that i wasnt going to give in to the heat and give in to despair and let Joseph Smith and hyrum die in vain, so that is my moto for this week and its helped me so far.
Man it sounds like such an awesome week for me at home!! Man i have so many friends and family who i know love me, and i cant express in words how much all of you mean to me, seriously, i dont deserve any of them and thats why im so lucky and im so glad that i have who i have, in time i will write everyone but im just getting used to the life as a missionary and ive gone from liking hours to liking parts of the day, and i know that soon i will love days and then weeks, and then months and then all of the sudden ill be home, time is starting to move, i feel like ive started in high gear so i dont have that much acceleraiton but im moving, there are days when all im living on is patience and faith, and prayer prayer prayer, i cant wait for the day when i can be like judd and andy and stop focusing on myself and trying to repair and build me, and start to repair and build my investigators, its starting and i am excited for the first time for the future, Febuary is supposedly the hottest month of the year and im starting to believe it, but i do not have fear, only the desire to endure and to start to thrive in the mission, its funny that ill be talking with someone and ill start speaking in english because i am so used to the language, Steph i miss you and it sounds like your life is great! Dont look forward to anything but only live in the moment! Live every second steph, your gonna miss this part of your life just like every part of your life in the future haha, work hard and live by the spirit!
Josh i cant think of someone who i want to be just like! I cant believe that time has flown since we last worked out, time is draggin right now but when i look back it flew! Your my hero, ill always be Rugerburget 2.0, ill never be as good as the original, know that i look up to you literally and spiritually and emotionally, i cant ask for a better friend to uplift me,
Amanda! Ill write you also, so give me a few weeks, life sounds great! Live up the cold because there is none here and i miss it so! haha i would love to have your job! Maybe ill try for that when i get back! I love you and your love for me, we had a lot of fun times Amanduh, the prom dance with the handicaps was awesome!
Grandpa and Grandma Cow! I cant stop thinking this week about the ranch, and building those cheesy log boats and the canal and the three wheelers, but most of all i just miss relaxing in the house with my grandparents and grandpas cheesy jokes and stories and grandmas endless love for me! I have been thinking about how much i cant wait to go back to the ranch and spend time with my grandpa and grandma cow! I love you so much, thank you for all of your love and support, i look up to you soo much!
Mom, idk about a evelope with padding, ill ask this week and see if it will work! I lvoe you and your support for me! Im trying hard to forget how delicous your food is because is hard to eat here sometimes because it cant compare!
Dad, you dont know how much i look up to you and your inspiration, i look forward every week to read what i can do better, i know you are recieving revelation specifically for me, more that i can recieve for myself, you are so in tune with the spirit, as shown by your vision of me in Argentina, i really cant wait to spend time with my dad when i get home, but ill have to wait and in the mean time try to become just a little bit like my dad! I love you
Collin, work hard, study hard, live your life, take every advantage possible to learn cool skills like tiling, welding, buildng things, yard work and all of that stuff, these are things that i wished i would have taken advantage of, of course you are much more handy than i ever wil be, i know that you will be far better of a swimmer, friend, and brother than i ever will be, collin i miss hanging out with you, more that you know, even though you only write a sentance to me a haha, take advantage of every situation, be what i couldnt be, the church is a great place to make yourself better, collin i feel like i lost alot of my life doing stupid things, dont be like that, you can and will be so much more than i could ever be, for that your my hero collin, more than i can explain.
Abbey and Hannah, my sisters, i cant explain how much i miss you guys, it kills me to know that hannah will be so different when i get back! I love my little sister and miss doing the little things with her, i talk about how you always want to know the color of apple i like, which is green, and i dont know why you ask haha, abbey your detailed letters are fantastic, i love your enthusiasm and your upbeatness, your going to go far in life and be someone great, if i can be anything like you i cant even imagine what i would become!
I love you all so much and ill talk to you again next week!