I'm glad that I was able to find a way to turn the conversation back to the gospel and invite her

Thanks for the notes and the love, every week I look forward to hearing from my family. :)

 

So my new companion is Elder Kern, he is awesome and we will have a great transfer together. He is from Provo, UT and graduated from Timpview in 2012. He played football for the team and he has 3 months in his mission. He started on Jan. 16th. He was in the MTC 6 weeks and then he was waiting in Houston, TX for 6 weeks and then he was able to come down here. He speaks and understands well enough and we get along well.

 

It's funny to think that I already knew what to expect for him to say of what Argentina is like, haha, seeing that it's the fifth time that I have been with a new elder in a foreign country, including myself :) But luckily we were able to help him adjust good to the new country and we got to work, we had a good week.

 

I have helped him become a River fan and I hope that all that are in the sound of my voice become River fans, because the numbers speak for themselves, we are just better then Boca, ahead of them in the standings and we have the better stadium as well, just a better team overall.

 

So enough about Argentine soccer, more about the week that was up there in the sunny skies of Lehi.

 

Sounds like everyone, well everyone that wrote me a message... had a great week. ;) Thanks for the love and the fun stuff to hear.

 

Rachel, nope this last week we didn't have any baptisms, peoples' agency are getting in the way of their eternal happiness. It's a tough but satisfying work for those that do end up accepting baptism and then seeing them progress in the gospel.

 

Camryn, my mission is tough, but fun, I'm always tired haha, Yes, I felt the influence of the Holy Ghost this last week, it's funny that you have to ask for it daily to be there in every moment, because the Spirit gets offended easily. Great job writing and I'm glad that you had ice cream at school, what a treat! What is your favorite food? (these questions are for both of the girls) what are you learning in school? how many dolls and stuffed animals do you have now? how many times have you given mom a hug and a big kiss this last week? when was the last time that you made your bed all by yourself without being asked to? when was the last time that you served you family? do you know that i love you? have a great week!!

 

Braden, I hope that you can learn Chinese really fast, and then that you have a great week practicing and having fun in show biz. What's your favorite thing to do right now? how many books have you read this year? what is one thing that you are grateful for? have a great week!!

 

Alex, so it sounds like you had a great week as well!! That's awesome that you are going to Prom, looks like you'll have a great time. :) I'm also glad that you won your soccer game, if you serve in South America you would dominate because you are a great soccer player.  How many times have you read the Book of Mormon completely in your life? How does saying your personal prayers morning and night help you throughout your days and to be a better brother? How have you seen the influence of the holy ghost in your life? How have you seen that the Book of Mormon connects to our day? Have a great week and I love you!

 

Tanner, I'm sure that you were super busy preparing for your mission and that you were going to write me and then you just happened to run out of time at the last minute... haha, I love you and I hope that you have a great week! How's the last few weeks of school been and are you excited to finish up school in a couple of weeks? How has daily scripture study helped you be a better brother and a better son to mom and dad? What kind of missionary do you want to be by the end of your mission? What do you need to do to start that process? What's your biggest fear about the mission? well have a great week. :)

 

Jason, almost forgot about you haha, sup. Do you have swimming year round, do you have a break right now, or do you still practice? keep working hard in school!!! love you!!

 

That's neat that Josh was able to speak to Ryan, too bad that I wont be able to go and speak to Tanner for 30 min in GA haha, that's crazy that Lindsey is already leaving, make sure to give her a hug from me (or if mom wants to, that's alright, I know it's more of a girl thing), haha

 

That's an awesome quote from Pres Snow, it's true, we constantly need to be making good decisions, because the more little bad decisions that we make will take light little by little. Thanks for the note, Dad, and I love you so much!! What's one of the things that you regret not doing the last 6 months of your mission? or what is something that you changed and it ended up blessing you for the last bit of your mission? It's weird to think that I'im almost to that stage and that it's coming fast! almost too fast for me, oh well we will cross that bridge when it comes. :)

 

Mom, hi there :) love you!  ¿cómo está hoy mi maravillosa, guapa, divertida, feliz, obediente y fiel mamá? :) jaja yeah it was the same process as it was for the other two elders that I have picked up. It was fun, this time, while we were waiting to walk out singing, Hma Gulbrandsen walked in with a platter of hot empanadas, it was great because I hadn't eaten lunch. So I ate real quick like 5, and in the middle of an empanada, the assistants walked in like, saying, alright, you guys ready to walk out? So I quickly finished the empanada right before we marched out haha. Then we got our companions, I was feeling just looking at them that Elder Kern would be my comp. Then it was true, he's a capo or a jefe, as he says, and is doing really well. I'm really trying to enjoy this time with him and training him in the stuff that he needs, I think that this might be the last time that I train, so I'm taking full advantage of it. :)

 

Yeah, 51 missionaries are waiting and they have asked that we pray so that they can receive their visas and come down here. It would be crazy if they ended up all coming down. There would be alot of areas opening up again, like Constitución 2 and so that would make our work a little bit easier. Oh well, it's all in the Lord's hands. And yes, my group was the last group to come down without any problems.

 

Yeah I really believe that Elder Carreto just came for that purpose to help L-- get baptized, he really was key in those difficult times. Yes, we did pass by N-- a couple of times and he is doing well. Smoking really is hard for him right now, and he now has the desire to go and take out his time to be able to get married. We did find a couple of people this week and we were able to find the cousins of K-- and J-- on Satureday and T--, the 9yr old, came to church and is preparing for the 28th of April. Her brother A--, also wants to be baptized but he has soccer practice on Sunday right at 10 and so we were trying to help him decide between soccer or church. He´s 10 but really smart, so we invited him to pray about it this week, so we will see. Also we tried with G--, the cousin of L-- and he came to the first hour of church, but then all of the sudden he had the desire to go home, he's a little different and we tried to help him, but he didn't want to stay.

 

Also yesterday, this guy came with his member daughter that lives in another stake and he had been to church before and he liked it, we tried putting the fecha with him right next to the baptismal font, but he wants more time and wouldn't accept a fecha. So we are finding people to work with and that's exciting. We have been really diligent in asking for referrals from everybody and then going and contacting them. I actually am really grateful for the new apartment and we are adjusting to life over here. There is a bus that passes by within 2 blocks of our house that also runs through the main place where we are normally working at the end of the night. Though I have had to call and ask permission from President to get home late, we are far away, like 45 min. walking. haha Oh I'm going to miss this area when I leave, I still want to go back to Savio, but I'm growing to love this area a lot, :) the members are really warming up and it's fun to have people know who you are. haha

 

That's awesome that you were able to make empanadas and salad, though the only difference is that they don't have ranch dressing down here, instead they put oil and salt on their salad. :) But the rest looked like a typical meal, oh and the french bread is another thing that they always serve. Too bad you didn't have the Tang packet to drink Argentina juice, haha That's awesome that the song came on and that you were able to have that tender mercy of the Lord. (note from Mom....while I was preparing an Argentine meal for a youth missionary night the song "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" came on the radio....I couldn't believe it!! I loved it.) :)

 

I knew that Josh would say that, that's how he always used to talk, that's so weird to me that he is already home. When do Tanner and Michael get home? the end of this month?

 

I love that you ramble, it's the only time of the week that we have to ramble with each other. :) It's crazy to think that in 4 weeks we will be talking by skype. Well, I love you so much and thanks for always being the best example to me of how to live this gospel and to reap in the blessing from it. I now have my own testimony that it's the truth and the blessings that it brings to our lives. Have a great week and I love you!!!

 

So a little about my week. We had a good week. So yes, we did go to look for the newbies on Tuesday and we didn't end up getting home until like 5:30pm.

 

Wednesday, I had a good experience of fulfilling my missionary purpose. So we were at N--'s house and a friend of his ´´wife´´ walked in and we invited her to chat with us. She started commenting about some doubts that she has about God. Her mom died a couple of years ago and she doesn't really believe any more. So I wasn't able to share much with her, she was really closed. Then she started asking about my family and I was able to show them the pics of our family and testify that we really are a happy family. Then I was able to explain that we all are members of the church, and even my grandparents, then I was like, hey one of my grandpas was a convert to the church, and she asked about that, and I was able to explain to her what we beleive in with baptism, then I invited her to be baptized right then, she didn't accept but I fulfilled my purpose. I'm glad that I was able to find a way to turn the conversation back to the gospel and invite her. Turns out she lives in the Boca, weird that never happens... haha ;) oh well, we are now called Boca oeste. :)

 

On Thursday we all met in the Boca as a zone and we divided up to do district meeting for an hour and then we all met up again upstairs to watch the last half of the priesthood session in Spanish. It was good, I still understood everything, but I still want to hear it first in English to get the full spirit. It made me appreciate that the Lord really does want all of His children to hear His message in their own language. :)

 

On Friday we finally got a microwave, it's cool, it has a digital clock, and it's not a dial one, so that really cool. :) Oh the things that I have to deal with down here, haha ;) We did eat arroz chaufa, my favorite Peruvian dish, mixed rice and meat and hot dog bits and peppers. Don't worry, it's really good. :)

 

Saturday, we were trying to get A-- and T-- to come out to talk to us in their cousin's house right next door, so we went and bought a soda and mini chocolates to righteously bribe them out of the door. We had their eternal salvation in mind so it's alright. ;)

 

Yesterday, we had 3 people come to church and we have 3 fechas to work with for this week. Also I was learning Lunfardo, a Buenos Aires accent and slang that only the port people know and speak, so now I know how to say dog in Lunfardo, it's basically lots of words written differently. So like perro is dog, in Lunfardo its ropé, so a cool culture difference. It's also influenced from the Italian influence that's here in the city.

 

So now we are back again in the ciber, writing another letter to each other, so the weeks are flying. I hope everything is going great and good luck with everything this week. I'm constantly praying for you all. :)

 

Love,

Elder Ryan Pittard