April 27th, 2015

Hello,

Everything is going great. So right now I am in my new area, Laferrere 2 in the Gonzalez Catan Stake and with my new comp Elder Portaro and he is from Lima, Perú. He has 4 months in the mission and one transfer in the area. And The area is huge so we are getting to know the area and people together. His last comp went home so he was a little trunky. We live in an apartment complex but the rest of our area is nothing like this. Its really big so we walk a lot! Laferrere 2 is a Branch so the church is small and not that many members go to church. Also some of the leaders in the branch are from other wards from the stake in order to help the branch grow a little. We are doing great and working hard.

We are working super hard, running around everywhere and already seeing amazing things in my 5 short days here. First we met some great new investigators: Ezequiel, Ophelia, and Felicia. We had a great lesson with Ezequiel on the Plan of Salvation because his grandma had recently died and he was super interested in our message. He accepted a baptismal date for May and so did Ophelia. We also had a great lesson with Felicia on the Plan of Salvation and we invited her to baptism as well but she said that she will move to Paraguay this week and doesn't know when she will get back. Aside from that, the lesson was very spiritual and she is an amazingly prepared person and already knows that Joesph Smith was a prophet! Wow!

Apart from that, not much else has happened. Oh, I forgot to say that Elder Portaro is a convert of about 2 years! That´s so cool! He was baptized when he was 20 years old and left on his mission when he was 22 and he just turned 23 on Friday! he´s so old! He´s awesome and is super happy and excited to be on the mission.

So this week we will also have our stake conference and then on the 17th of May we will not have normal church services because they will show the dedication of the Cordoba temple at the stake center. It is a super special event and only recommend holders can watch it. Wow, I am so happy that we will be able to see the dedication!

I've included pictures, these are of some member families that helped us out a bunch in the Marcos Paz area. We took pictures on the Monday and Tuesday before I left. One of the families is a less active family that we activated and another is of David, my convert, and the member family that helped us with the teaching and fellow-shipping. Then there is a picture of me and Elder Ortolano in the transfer meeting.

Ha ha ha, I think that´s funny that you put in the "dear John" part, that Camille Fischer has found a new boy to have a crush on, I think that was my only possibility of getting one, ha ha ha!

Have a great week!

Elder Giles

Elder Giles and Elder Ortolano

Elder Portaro

picture of our apartment

April 20th, 2015

Hey!

This week was alright. We are having trouble finding new investigators so we knocked doors and asked for referrals and stuff like that but we couldn´t find anyone. We taught one family: Walter and Hilda, this week and they are basically ready to be baptized so we are super excited for them. They went to church and we have a dinner appointment with them on Wednesday, well, my comp and his new companion because I am getting transferred out this week. :( I feel kinda sad and happy but it was great to work in Marcos Paz. I had a lot of ups and downs but in the end I feel like I grew a lot here spiritually. Elder Ortolano only has 2 months in the mission and now he has to lead the area and show his comp all the members and investigators and everything. I am kinda sad because I wont be able to see Walter and Hilda´s baptism but I know it will go well. Elder Ortolano is awesome.

Something interesting happened in Sacrament meeting: an old lady´s blood pressure started to rise a lot so she fainted in the middle of a member´s talk. The leaders in the ward picked her up and in 2 minutes she was on her way to the hospital. It was crazy how fast it was and then the member who was talking just continued speaking like nothing happened. It was crazy. We also had investigators there so hopefully they didn´t think anything of it....

Well the work goes on and the weather is starting to cool off and right now it is sweater weather. We expect that it will get cold next month so we are preparing for that.

So you guys are pretty busy! That´s good! And you bought Summer a car! A Honda Fit? Ha ha, I can´t wait to see Summer driving that! You should send me a picture. Where is she working? Is it far? That´s sad the Pathfinder is dying. It was such a fun car... I can´t believe how fast every one is growing up! Hannah and Mackenzie are finishing high school? That´s crazy! Hannah is going to BYU and where is Mackenzie going? BYU too? I am so happy for them!

Well, Have a great week!

Elder Giles

April 13th, 2015

Hello,

So this week was a little rough. We didn´t have that much success in finding and teaching our usual investigators so we knocked doors this week! It was fun and good practice for my companion. He does a good job of talking to people and knocking doors but just needs to work on what he is going to say. But we did have some good lessons with some less actives and we also ate Asado with a part member family. It was so good!

We also had a good lesson with a recently activated family. We went to visit them and in the middle of the visit, the wife´s non-member mom showed up. She usually goes to the Evangelist church but stopped going for a few months because she felt bored and unsatisfied whenever she went. So we had a good lesson with her talking about church and that the most important part is the Sacrament and that gives us the will and desire to go to church every week because we can be clean from our sins. Then we invited her to church. She wasn´t sure when she wanted to go but she felt the spirit during the lesson so little by little she will be converted ;).


On Saturday we went to visit our progressing investigators Walter and Ilda. We talked with Ilda because Walter was working and we asked her if she believes the Book of Mormon and church are true and she said yes! Then she went to church on Sunday for Sacrament meeting and listened to all the testimonies. It was a great experience.

Also, David, our convert from March, went up and gave his testimony too! It was awesome to see that his faith and testimony are growing quickly and that he had the courage to share it with the ward. Basically the weekend made up for the rest of the week!


It also rained on Friday which was great because it hasn´t rained for like three weeks. It is also announced that it will rain A LOT this week so we are "happy" for that. Ha Ha Ha!


We are working hard and loving the work! One chapter from the Book of Mormon that I love and read this morning is Alma 27. There are many times in the mission where I have felt like him: happy and joyful for the Lord´s blessings. And then there are those times when you get a little down on yourself but you have to keep moving forward and trusting in our Heavenly Father, and then everything works out!


Have a great week!


Elder Giles

April 6th, 2015

Hello,

I really enjoyed the General Conference, especially the talks by Elder Holland and Elder Christofferson. They are perfect for some of our investigators and I gained a new perspective on the Atonement and on God´s love and grace for us. I feel more love for Heavenly Father and His Son and I realize how great and special his sacrifice is and was. I liked that Elder Holland made a point about how in life we make a jump to grab the edge but all we do is scramble at the sand and loose dirt and then fall, but in my mission I have found the knowledge that our Savior will never let us fall. It is a great comfort to know this.

The rest of the week wasn´t that great because on Tuesday all public transport stopped so we couldn´t leave the apartment. The conditions on the streets are a little more dangerous so president didn´t want us to leave very far from the apartment. The other days we had many lessons with less actives and investigators. We had some good lessons filled with the spirit and we are doing better together as a team and Elder Ortolano is getting better everyday. He is adjusting very well to missionary life and loves every minute of it.

Other than that not much happened this week. Sorry this is kinda short but I don´t have that much time left. We are starting to move into Fall and I am happy to be a missionary.


Have a great week!


Elder Giles

Our district leader also came up with a fun game that we played. He had bought the big balloon and put in glitter and his comp was blowing it up with a bicycle pump (ha ha) and each of us in the district had to take turns sitting in the chair and answer a trivia question. It was fun and exciting. My comp in Rivadavia, Elder Ritchie ( who now is my zone leader, ha ha), had the balloon pop over him. It was funny.

So we had a district activity last Monday and we had chorizo sandwiches which is called "choripan!" It was delicious