February 22, 2015

Hey!

So this week was pretty good! We are working hard on getting more lessons and finding more people to teach and it is going well. The funny thing was that two of our investigators tried to drop us by saying that they didn´t want us to come by anymore and it was only after the 1st lesson. So to one of them we taught the Restoration and the other the Plan of Salvation and they said we could come back! They can´t run from the truth that easily!

But we did have a bummer this week: Our investigator Melody wasn´t baptized. She is ready and has all the lessons and everything but her mom doesn´t think that she is completely committed to being a member so they are going to wait until May when Melody turns 18. But David, another investigator, is progressing really well and is basically ready to to be baptized right now but we are waiting until baptismal date in March on the 14th. It will be great!

Then on Saturday we did service in a member´s front yard putting in a new gate and what we had to do is pick through the concrete and bricks in the ground and then make a hole for the new posts because the other ones were pretty old and insecure. Then after that we played soccer at the church with a bunch of boys from the neighborhood. Then Sunday was great because we had two less active families and a few investigators in church. One is the Galeano Family who is progressing very well! The father is now reading and praying and loves talking to us about the stuff he reads and also his younger daughter. This has been the 3rd week in a row that he and his daughter have come so it´s great! His wife and other daughter haven´t come yet but we hope the the Father and daughter will help and get them to come too! Then we had the Cortez Family come as a family! The mother and son were there for the whole time and then the Father came in halfway through Sacrament meeting directly from work! That was great!

My comp and I are doing great! The weather was super nice this week because there was a huge rainstorm on Wednesday. It rained like crazy with strong winds and it flooded everything. It rained heavy for only an hour and then calmed down and then Thursday through Sunday was nice and cold so it was a good break form the heat. Yes, everyone says that I look skinnier but I feel fine! I eat the same or I try to eat more but I just can`t gain weight. I haven´t been sick for a few months so I think everything is fine. I'm pretty sure I don´t have a parasite.... ha ha ha ha like bishop Bramwell had!

Have a great week!

Elder Giles

February 16th, 2015

Hi!

My comp and I are getting along really well and we are working hard. Our next transfer day is the 11th of march, the same day as Elder Smith´s birthday. Haha! That just stinks! Elder Smith and I are thinking that I might leave the area because I have a little more time than him and this is our 2 nd transfer together. But we will see what happens. I also love the new shoes! they fit so much better and I put the insoles in too and they work great!  I love the skittles! Finally something sweet to munch on! Also a bunch of members are asking to try them too...

For my B-day we ate like three cakes. The first one we went to a family´s house and taught our progressing investigators there and then after the lesson, we ate the cake he had bought me. Then we went to the other side of the area and there the family had invited a friend who wasn´t a member so we sang happy birthday, ate some cake and then gave a short lesson. I was just sick of cake after that, even though it was super good! then the nest day in the evening we went to another family´s house and they had a surprise cake and empandas so that was awesome. 

Another cool thing happened this week: The traveling assistants came to Marcos Paz for a few days. I`m not sure if you had that it your mission but the travelling assistants go from area to area to help the missionaries there and on Friday they came and on Sunday after lunch they left. It was the coolest thing because one of them was my zone leader from my first zone in Caseros and they both were Assistants to the president together. I was with Elder Webster from Utah and Elder Smith was with Elder Garay from El Salvador. It was super cool to have them here and I learned a lot from them. While they were here we found a bunch of great new investigators and a few families so that was great. They are great missionaries and left a sense of happiness and excitement in the ward. It was also a little cramped in the apartment because it is only meant for 2 elders... ha ha

So now we have two investigators who have baptismal dates: David and Melody. Melody is an investigators from a few months ago and left during the month of January for vacation and now is back so we taught her again this week and she really wants to get baptized so we set her date for the 21st of February which is this week! Then David is a friend of a member family and he is progressing very well. We taught him the Plan of Salvation with my wooden puzzle and it went well and he accepted a date for the 14th of March! He loves church and loves the gospel and understands everything very well. Also the Family helps a lot because they do a daily scripture study with him out of the BOM.

The work is moving along in Marcos Paz and I am happy to be a missionary. I know this church and Gospel are true and if we follow Jesus Christ and his teachings we will come to know God better and feel his love everyday.

 

 

I am so happy that you guys are called to be Seminary teachers! It will be a great calling! 

Have a great week!

Elder Giles

 

So the church in my ward is awesome because it has a grass field out back when usually the churches have a concrete basketball/soccer field. It`s really nice!

 Elder Smith and I with the traveling assistants: Elder Webster and Elder Garay

Monday, February 9th, 2015

This week was straight sun...


So this week was pretty interesting and it starts with Monday. So at night we were going back to the apartment from a lesson and in the middle of the road there was water so we went onto the sidewalk to cross, but in Argentina there is a type of gutter or small canal (called a zanja) between the street and sidewalk and it is usually filled with water and the water sits there for years and years because it has no where to go. So the zanja was covered with a green moss but at night it looks like part of the road so when my comp went to cross the street, he stepped right into the zanja up to his knee. Ha ha ha. I laughed for like ten minutes straight. He only got his left leg wet and the bottom of his pant leg and shoe and in his shoe was  black sludge that reeked. Ha ha ha.


Then on Tuesday we had a little time to knock doors before lunch and so the first door we knocked we talked to two teenagers and they let us in! They recently moved here with there family from a province up north called Misiones. That day we gave them a Book of Mormon and on Thursday we taught them and their family about the Restoration and they are interested. Then on Wednesday we had a zone conference in which president decided to show us the movie: Meet the Mormons. They are expecting it to come to theaters here in South America so he wanted us to watch it so we could talk about it with our investigators when it comes out. It was such a great movie and I love how it focuses a lot on the family and shows great examples of how the mother and father can work together to balance work, the family, and Church in order to achieve the true success of the family: Happiness.


Something else cool is that a member family brought their friend to church on Sunday so we started to teach him. He recently moved here in Marcos Paz from the Capital and he grew up in the Catholic church and was super active. He is a nice guy and is very accepting to us. Also a less active family we have been working with came to church so they are starting to progress too.


The work is moving along and we are working hard. We are looking forward to another great week and full of more miracles. Also my comp has been telling a few members that Wednesday is my birthday so we are going to have to eat A LOT of cake. Great.... ha ha ha!


I know this church it true and that the Lord leads and guides us to a better life.


Have a great week!


Elder Giles

February 2, 2015

HI!

This week was a little better than last week because we found our investigators again. Last week and earlier this week we weren´t able to meet with our progressing investigators like Lourdes and Maria, but Thursday we finally had a lesson with Lourdes and Wednesday with Maria. They are doing good but it is a little difficult to get them to go to church. It´s weird, there always seems to be some obstacle to stop them from coming. They and our other investigator Melody are all reading the Book of Mormon and praying aka, "progressing" and they have had the most difficulties. It is like the adversary is throwing everything at them so they can´t go and be baptized. It´s a little frustrating but we continue to move forward and find more people to teach. We were talking with some members this week and one of them said something interesting that living the gospel is for the brave of heart. There will always be difficulties in our lives but it´s up to us to make the decision to choose the right or the easy. The Church is true and even though it´s hard, it´s worth it.


We also had a cool experience with a less active member. Last week my companion gave him Alma 5 to read so we could talk about it the next time we came and so he read it and Alma 5 is pretty strong because Alma tells it straight and basically says that if you don´t follow God, then you are a child of the devil... And he actually felt worried that if he doesn´t complete with God, everything will be lost. It was cool to see that he took it to heart and we helped him put together a plan to get active again.

Well, I can´t believe that in 10 days that I will turn 20! It´s so crazy! Some members in the ward found out that I have my birthday soon so we are going to have dinner with them. I also went to the offices and they got my package!!!!!!!!! We are still in Ramos Mejia right now so when we get back to Marcos Paz we will open it. I am so excited!

That´s pretty sad that a few people died that we know.. At least we have the comfort of the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation to know that they are in a better place and that they can continue to progress and help others do the same.

This next week will be pretty sunny so we are going to work on them tans :)

Have a great week!

Elder Giles

So we played tennis with the Elders from Marcos Paz 1. It was fun!

these are some of the great sunsets in Marcos Paz

Buenos Aires Temple with my district