You Pray. What Else Can We Do?

Hey!

Haha wow you guys did a lot of stuff this week! I'm glad no one died on the skydiving trip! Well done. Haha and I can't believe Jaxon trusted Jordan enough to cut his hair! Very brave. Haha I kind of wished I had attempted to learn how to cook better before the mission, maybe you guys can trick Jordan into cooking for you (Jordan, pretend you didn't read that). And no Dad, I don't think I'll be going to any soccer games. Haha I'm a little bit worried about the world cup though. It starts in a couple weeks, and literally, it seems like the world kind of shuts down whenever there is a game going on here. I get to play soccer almost every monday though, so thats pretty sweet.

We got some cool blessings this week.  We've really been trying to find more people to teach. It seems like for a while we got stuck in this problem where we had a lot of people we could teach, but we couldn't get any of them to really progress. But this week the Lord totally blessed us, and we got more new investigators in this past week than I have gotten during any other week here in Rodeo del Medio, and possibly during any other week ever. So we're really hoping that we'll be blessed again and that they can start progressing. It seems like everyone we know is right on the verge of a breakthrough, but we haven't quite been able to get any of them to take that leap of faith to start progressing. Woot! Horray for helping people! We also had stake conference this past weekend, and our mission president and a 70 came, and basically the whole conference was about members and missionaries working together. Haha no pressure.

We had kind of a bitter sweet experience yesterday. We've been teaching Teresa for about 4 months now. Yesterday, she finally prayed with us for the first time! I was here when we first met her, and she's been wanting to get baptized for a while now, but we've been struggling with getting permission from her dad. Yesterday we taught her 2 younger sisters, and three of them committed to get baptized. The lesson was at 4pm, and after they said they'd all get baptized, we committed the 3 of them to go, together, to their dad at 7:30pm to ask permission. We were hoping that with all 3 of them, he'd give in. We told them we'd call them at 9 to ask how it went. We called at 9, to find that they had done what we asked, but...the phone call...well, when an investigator is crying on the phone asking you to pray so she can get baptized...you pray, I'm not sure what else we can do.

As a verse of the week, I was studying Alma 37:38-47 this week. I think my companion thinks I'm weird for reading that chapter every day for like half this week but, hey, I liked it. Anyway, I liked how in 41 it says that without faith and diligence, they couldn't progress. The cool thing about the Liahona, is that not only did it direct them to the end destination that they wanted, but Nephi also says that it guided them on a direct path throught the most fertile parts of the wilderness. Alma compares it to the words of Christ. Not only do they guide us to where we want to end up, but they help guide us through the best, most direct path. They still traveled in the wilderness, and it was way hard, but the Liahona kept them in the better parts. Kind of cool. Lots of cool cross-applications between the liahona and the iron rod (not to mention what Nephi says about the words of Christ in 2 Ne 31 and 33).

Well, I'm glad you all made it through your crazy week, and I hope you enjoy this upcoming week! Your first full week of summer! And happy Memorial Day (haha thanks for the reminder, I had no idea it was today)

Love

Elder Webster

My favorite little kid ever (Lucas)

Me and Lucas and his brother Jesus.

one of the concrete fields at the churches I told you about. (this is one of the few that is actually set up to play basketball too.)

My companion being cold

A whole bunch of puppies looking around in the trash

My serious face.

Staying in Rodeo del Medio

Hey!

Wooot!!!! Congrats Jordan!!!! That's so awesome about your mission call!!! I know you'll totally love it there! You'll have to email me pics and your weekly updates once you leave! And you guys are going skydiving today? Thats way cool! Don't die. Haha...seriously. And happy end of the school year to everyone!

Haha now I I feel like whatever I could possibly tell you guys will not be nearly as cool as what you guys told me, so with that in mind, here we go:

So with exchanges...I'm staying! Woot, 4th transfer in Rodeo del Medio! I'm glad I'll get to stay and keep training. Plus, I just feel like there's more I need to do here.

We had a fairly good week. It was a little different, we tried changing some things, and we ended up improving in a lot of the things we've been struggling in, but the stuff we normally do good at kind of got way worse....so we just need to find the right balance now. We had some cool experiences though. The one that comes to mind was last thursday. We were going to do a tour of our church with part member family, but they never showed up. But we had already set up the church for the tour, so we wanted to find someone else to invite. My companion made a joke and said we could invite the guy on the other side of the street, who happened to be digging through a giant pile of trash, collecting things and putting them in his backpack. I told him it was a good idea, so we invited him. And he accepted! Way interesting church tour, which ended with him telling us he does cocaine and wants to come to our church with his family. So....yeah, small, weird miracle. Lets see...oh, yesterday was interesting too. We went to work in this neighbor at night. We were wondering why no one was outside, but it turned out there was a soccer game. As soon as it ended, the street got filled with drunk people and fireworks. Haha so that was interesting. But hey, River won!

So, as a verse of the week, I thought of 3 Nephi 18:25. Here, Jesus explains to the Nephites that He had given them the example when He had invited everyone to come closer to Him and to learn that He is the Christ. He then explains that we should also invite others to come and know of Him, and that by doing so, not only will it be a blessing for them, but that it will help us to avoid temptation. I thought it was interesting that sharing the gospel would help you avoid temptation, but the more I think about it, the more sense it makes. Cool stuff.

Lets see, I think thats everything. And yes Dad, I finally managed to get a camera. I'll send some pics after this. No te preocupes. Have a great week! Don't die!

Love

Elder Webster

Another Good Week

Hey,

 It was great to get to talk to you guys on skype yesterday! Haha even though it took us a couple of hours to get a computer here that could do it. I think it was actually going better when I was skyping with that phone but, I guess the video was a nice tough. I suppose. But I'm glad to hear you're all doing well and preparing for a great week! Can't wait to hear about Jordan's mission call!!

 So we had a good week again (of course). Haha maybe someday I'll send an email that says we had a bad week, just to see how it feels. Nah. But seriously, good week this week. We weren't able to get everything done that we were hoping, since we got pretty sick half way through the week, but all-in-all, pretty sweet. There were 8 non-members at church this week which was pretty exciting. They weren't the people we had invited, but hey, everyone needs to go to church! We also met some cool people this week. We got the phone number of the owner of the gas station in our area. He had an iPhone! And spoke pretty good english! We also met a guy from Portugal that is here working as a truck driver between Brazil and Argentina. He had the craziest accent ever, and I couldn't understand half of what he was saying, in fact I think half of it was Portuguese, but hey, we got his phone number! We've also started working with a family of 3 that is way interesting. Pretty much the whole appointment is the dad yelling at us and quoting the bible at us for an hour and a half, while his wife yells at him to stop talking because she wants to listen to us. But, it turns out that they read from the book of mormon between appointments! And they gave us a cake! So we'll see where they go I guess. We also had exchanges this week. Honestly, there is nothing like walking down a dirt street with a Colombian in Argentina while hearing english music blaring from the little houses on either side. I'd love to do this forever.

 So with a verse of the week. Oh yes. I was studying in D&C 76:69-70, 75, and 79. Verses 69 and 70 is talking about those that will go to the celestial kingdom, and it says that they will be "Just men made perfect through Jesus". Verses 75 and 79 talk about the terrestrial kingdom and say that there will be "honorable men...who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus". As far as I can tell, there isn't a huge difference between a just man and an honorable man, but there is a huge difference between someone that has been perfected through Christ, and someone that is lacking in their testimony of Him. It doesn't say that they won't have a testimony, it just says that they won't be valiant in their testimony. It made me wonder... Am I valiant enough in my testimony of Christ...? Needless to say, I've got some goals and some room for improvement.

 Anyway, it was great getting to talk to you yesterday on skype, and I hope Jordan has a great last week of high school!! Good luck with everything, and I can't wait to hear from you next week!

Love

Elder Webster

The Worth of Souls is Great

¡Hey, che!

It sounds like you guys are getting pretty busy! I kind of forgot the school year was about to end, thats exciting!And you guys have quite a bit of travelling to do too! And that is way super duper cool that Derek got his mission call!! That's way cool! Yeah, I really hope Jordan's call gets there in time for mothers day, I was actually thinking about that this morning. And with skype, I think we're going to try to do it at 6-7pm here, but we may start trying to get it to work a little earlier than that, por las dudas. Hopefully everything goes smoothly this time! We're super excited to get to do that and I believe we'll be doing it in our bishop's house... Assuming that our plans work better than last time.

This week was pretty good here. Haha I feel like I say that every week, but seriously, every week is great, no matter what happens. We've been trying to work a lot more with members, and this week we had 2 or 3 times where we went with a member to a lesson, and the member told us it was their very first time going with missionaries, and after each lesson, every single one of them told us they want to come with us again! (In fact, one of those was Patricia!) So that was pretty sweet. One of those lessons was with Teresa and her dad. We've been talking to Teresa for a while, and she wants to get baptized. The thing is that she's 15 and needs parent permission, which...we haven't been able to get. Her parents don't mind her going to church, but they aren't convinced about baptism yet. Yesterday, Teresa and her 2 younger sisters came to church, and it turns out that while they were at church, the parents were talking, and they decided they might try coming next week. Also, the dad told us he's decided he'd be alright if she gets baptized, but he says that the mom is against it. We think there's something going on that he didn't tell us, but either way, we're hoping that we're on the verge of another baptism with her! We're just praying her parents hearts gets softened, and it would be great if they start coming to church too! Woot!

So, the verse of the week. This one has to do with something I was thinking yesterday. Its D&C 18:10, about the worth of souls. This is what made me think of that: So, like 6 weeks ago, we were having our sunday meetings in a little house. Yesterday, we had our sacrament meeting in a new chapel, and we had to open the back doors because we needed some overflow space! My companion and I were sitting near the back, and I was just sitting there looking around, and was thinking about everyone there and about all the crazy things that they've told me about their lives. I've been in this ward for almost 4 months now, and I've got to see so many changes in the members and in the ward. I was so happy to get to be there with them, seeing all these people that I love so much gathered together. It made me think about how happy Christ must be everytime we do even the smallest thing to follow him. Plus, it was great to see 3 young children get up to share their testimonies about their baptisms, and getting to see Patricia sitting in from of me, nodding her head to every word those children said about baptism. Probably one of the more spiritual sacrament meetings I can remember.

Well, I hope you guys have a great week! It sounds like you all have a lot going on right now, hopefully it all goes well! Haha today I think we're going to have a little 5 de Mayo party. Haha don't ask me why 3 gringo missionaries, a missionary from Columbia, and a family from Argentina are going to get together to celebrate a mexican holiday but...hey, it'll be fun! And, I guess I'll see you later! Haha literally!

Love

Elder Webster

Cold Water Baptism

Hey!

 Happy Birthday Jaxon and Dad!!! (again) Haha this week was also my companion's birthday. And JuanP's birthday. Haha so, lots of cake, which was nice. Those were some fun looking pictures from the fair! I'm glad you guys had a fun time! And I hope you have a blast at the fathers/sons campout! Those were always way cool. Haha and I'm glad to hear that my companion posted that he likes my spanish :) He's such a stud.

 So, guess what we had Saturday!? Yup, we finally had Patricia's baptism! Haha we still don't have hot water in the chapel, but the bishop finally gave in and decided we shouldn't wait anymore. So my companion and I were at the chapel basically all Saturday, heating water in a pot and in a teapot, using 2 electric heaters that we managed to get from some members so that we could have some warm water. Which...didn't work :) It was freezing! But whatever, it all worked out. Haha Patricia knew we were working really hard trying to get warm water, and she sent us a text in the middle of the day saying not to worry about the water, and that she didn't mind getting baptized in freezing water, as long as she didn't have to wait anymore. Way sick. We also had the baptism of our ward mission leader's son on saturday (he turned 8). It was a little awkward since our ward mission leader is really inactive and couldn't do the baptism... but...hey, maybe know he'll start coming to church. 

We're now working more with one of Patricia's brothers and his girlfriend. And we found a cool family this past week that we want to keep working with. And we got a reference last night that we are going to try to contact, who has actually been going to church in a different ward, but they just realized she's not a member and that she lives in our area, so hopefully that goes well. But yeah, its going good hear. Like always, we're trying to find more people to teach. Haha it seems like anytime people opens their door, it generally goes well. The only problem is it seems like we can go a day or two without anyone even opening their door sometimes. But hey, what can you do?

  So as a verse of a week, I was thinking of 1 Nephi 1:1. Yup. Classic. Mainly, I really like the implications of the words like "therefore" and "nevertheless". I also like how he says that he had lots of afflictions, but that he was favored of God (see the beginning of 1 Nephi 17:35 and Mosiah 10:13). Someone once said that trials aren't necessarily a reflection of our disobedience, sometimes they're just a reflection of life. JuanP told us this week that when bad things happen, we shouldn't ask "¿porqué?", we should ask "¿para qué?". haha that's kind of cool...but I have no idea how to translate it to make sense so...sorry. Just go learn spanish I guess:)

 Yup, so I hope you have another super awesome week! I hope everything is going great over there, and don't worry, its all good over here:)

 Love

Elder Webster

Me, Patricia, Benjamin (the 8 yr old), Elder Perez, and the bishop

Efficient And Industrious

Hey!

  Happy Easter! Haha it sounds like it was a pretty interesting week back home. That campout sounds like it was pretty fun and well planned, and haha I kind of almost forgot you guys would be doing all that Easter stuff there. Here, they basically celebrate from Friday to Sunday, they eat a lot of fish (the first time I've had fish here...it was a nice change) and...thats pretty much it. They sell some easter egg looking things at some of the stores, but from what I could see it isn't a widely celebrated thing. Okay, I take that back. They celebrate it, but I think they mainly just celebrate it by sitting around all day.  And WOOT! Jordan's papers are in, I can't wait to hear where he's going! I sent him another email, but I'm guessing he's going to Chile! And happy early birthday to Jaxon and Dad!

  So, Patricia's baptism....got postponed again. We still don't have hot water in the chapel. My companion and I went and found 4 different electric water heaters we were going to use to heat and manually fill the baptismal font, which I know other missionaries have done and its worked out fine. But we had an activity at the church on Friday and our bishop basically came up and convinced our investigator not to get baptized on saturday... telling her that our way wouldn't work well enough and that it would be better for her if she waited... so, thats a little annoying. I'm sure she'll still get baptized, and I know the bishop was only trying to help, and he says he's 100% sure we'll have hot water this week..we're just worried, because he said the same exact thing last week.. and we don't want him to talk Patricia into waiting for another month or something.

  Other than that, things are going well. We're starting to do weekly FHE in the church, and we're still trying to change how we work. Because before, we kind of spent a ton of time traveling to far parts of our area, and now we're trying to find more people near by so we can work more efficiently, with more people, and have a higher chance of them actually coming to church. Basically, before I would walk like 3 hours a day just trying to travel to places. We want to spend more time actually working and teaching. But, its all good.

 Haha training is actually pretty fun. Its kind of stressful, especially since we have to rely a lot on my spanish...which is a scary thought in itself, but I'm learning a lot.

  As a verse of the week I was thinking of Exodus 20:8-11. Yup, the sabbath day. I was thinking of it because like 2 weeks ago, Patricia stopped working on sundays so she could go to church, which was big, because she only worked on sundays. But last week, she ended up managing to get a new job, with more hours and more days, and that pays more per hour. Quite the awesome blessing for keeping the commandments. I was especially thinking about verse 9. Its a part of the 10 commandments that I think gets skipped over a lot, but right there it says that not only do we need to rest 1 day a week, but we need to work during the other 6 days. I don't think its saying we should be at work all 6 days, all day...but I definitely think that Heavenly Father expects us to be an "industrious people" that should be "anxiously engaged" in good things, all the time.

 So yeah. All good down here in the ol' ARG. I hope you guys had a great Easter and that you'll have yet another great week this week! Again, happy early birthday to Dad and Jaxon!

 Love

Elder Webster