The mission is expanding a lot

Hey there family :)

How's it going? I'm doing well and I will be enjoying 6 more weeks in Jose C Paz with Elder Gonzales.  So we sent the kids out the door and now it's just us two again and ready to work again. :)

So this morning I went with Elder Calderon to San Fernando to drop him off and return with the elder in Vucetich, haha I was surprised not receive a letter haha, I've just been so blessed from everyone that has sent me letters, oh and to remind everyone that might want to send a package...to be safe, it's better not to send a package after the middle of Sept to Arg, just in case that it gets held back and then arrives after I have left, so just so you know.

A little bit about my week. So we had a tough Sunday. Sunday was election day for Argentina, it's a must to vote down here, if you don't vote, you get fined, so there was a lot of stuff happening around that this last week. Argentine elders had to go and vote, or show that they were living more than 500km from their home, they have to vote in their home town. So these were only the preliminaries and I believe that the presidential elections are coming in Oct or Nov, so we will see if I'm here for that. But it made for a great excuse for people to not go to church. haha Since it was obligatory, many people thought to go super early to still have the rest of the day. There was acutally a good amount of people that came to church, B-- disappeared on Saturday and Sunday and so he wasn't confirmed yet, so we will be working with him for this Sunday. Also we had A--, a girl that we found this last week as part of a part member family, that wasn't baptized, she came and the other two elders brought C-- and her daughter S--, so we are waiting for those two baptisms for this weekend and the next weekend after that for A--.

We talked to an old catholic lady that didn't believe that the Book of Mormon was true and that Joseph Smith had just written it. We tried testifying but it's hard for them to feel the spirit when they aren't listening. She was so sure that Mary was the reason that Jesus left to go and preach, a little crazy if you ask me. We gave her a book, but she's been avoiding us lately haha. But we found the 9 yr old girl right next door, so for something we had to talk to her.

I went to the despedida this last Sunday, it was weird seeing lots of missionary friends going home, something that I never thought that would happen. Oh, and I heard some wonderfull news. K-- from Savio was there at the despedida with her two little sisters and she told me that her family and G-- and A-- are all getting sealed in the temple on Sept. 7th and that all of the elders that were part of that are being invited and so I'm invited to go to the temple on Sept. 7th. That's going to be a wonderful treat. I helped G-- get baptized who was the boyfriend of A--, the older sister of K--, so I completed the family. ;) So I'm super happy for that. So that's a basic run down on the week.

So funnny story, Elder Popoca was trained in Mexico by Elder Scott, who was in the MTC with me, the tall brown haired elder that was on the bball team with me, he graduated a year before me. So I decided to send him a message through email, so I guessed his email address and last week I sent it, this week I received an email from an Elder Joshua Scott that's serving in Brazil haha, oops wrong address. So I'll have to try again...
Well, just so you know, the mission is expanding a lot. We just made 3 new zones, splitting the zones in 2. So lots of cool changes are coming. Elder Johnson and Elder Stewart, 2 of my sons in the mission, were called to be DL's.

The weather has been milding out, yesterday though it was cloudy and windy and kind of chilly so we are starting to enter spring time.

Well it's time for me to head out, but just know that I love you so, so much!! Have a great week and read your scriptures.  I'm right now in Alma 51, I'm reading for the first time the whole BofM in Spanish, so I'll finish right before I come home.

I also want to leave you all with my testimony that I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and that the Apostasy really happened and that we are led today by Prophets and Apostles. The Church is true and Jesus lives!!

Love,
Elder Ryan Pittard

The Lord answered our prayer in helping this missionary

Hey there wonderful family of mine, thanks again for the notes and love. :)

Well another good week and I can't believe that the weeks are flying like they are. We are already at the end of another transfer and the next week will be the start of another one.  So thanks again for the love and support and thinking about me down here in the southern hemisphere.

So we had a good week like I said. Let me explain...

Tuesday me and Elder Gonzales had to go to San Isidro for the ZL meeting with Pres, we got there early and so we decided to buy an shake in McD`s and haha they only offer coffee and croisants in the morning, how boring! So I had to wait till lunch to eat something. We had a great meeting. Pres was talking a lot about the goal that we wanted to set as a mission and he had each of us think and pray about the goal that we want to set as a zone, then he had us explain how we arrived at that number, then we added that number up and we ended up with 165 baptisms and 154 confirmations as a goal. Last month we ended up with 81 baptisms and 83 confirmations, so we have a high vision but it's what we need to do to be able to acheive higher and higher goals. The zone goal is 20 baptisms and 20 confirmations. We acheived 13 baptisms and 11 confirmations last month and so we are going to break our slump. We already have lots of fechas for this next Saturday and Sunday.

Wednesday we had our Zone meeting which is run by the zone leaders, so we had to prepare for a 3 hour meeting and it went well. We focused a lot on the goal and how we are going to acheive that goal, the stuff that we need to do to have more people in church and with fechas. Then we went and had a wonderful day, lots of lessons and we had a great ward night. 15 people came and we were able to play a game of mafia at the end. It's funny because they really didn't understand that well. After each round you have to talk and decide who you think is the mafia, nobody was talking haha, we had a wide selection of age groups and people playing, but it was fun. Hma Farnsworth, the senior couple, made chocolate chip cookies and they were really good :)

Thursday, me and Elder Calderon had to bike out to the far corner of our area in the rain to pick up the food to take back home. We were biking to save money. It's funny because the day before, my bike seat became loose and so the seat doesn't stay up by itself, so I had to balance myself for 30 minutes there and back. But we ate a lot of empanadas and we were filled.

That was the day that we figured out that she isn't technically married by the state, she`s only married by the Catholic church, ugh, so she now has to wait and get married first. She seemed a little disappointed about that, idk if she wants to get married, but we will have to help her understand the law of chasity better. If she doesn't want to follow that we will have to drop her, and there is a possibility that she might be moving, she doesn't know where to, but she`s being kicked out of the house that they are renting right now. The landlord wants to sell the house and has given them a month to find a new place, so a tough situation.

Friday, to help and motivate some less actives come to church we played some backyard soccer, (like the computer game) with bricks as the goals and the walls of the houses were still in bounds and the pile of dirt and rocks was still in bounds, it was fun and we played for like 15 minutes, then they ended up coming to church, we also played with an investigator friend, we ended up teaching his mom on Saturday night, but she didn't want to commit to come to church, so he didn't come either. Her excuse was that she didn't think that her "husband" would let her come, that's the common excuse, especially when the husband isn't there.

Saturday we started our fast, that's a big act of faith especially for a missionary, because you know that you'll be hungry walking around, but you just have to have faith that the Lord will strengthen you in your afflictions. I loved what I read this morning in personal study in Alma 38:10-15, Alma's counsel to his son Shiblon, it talked about being patient in the afflictions and then being sober while teaching and inviting everyone to repent and come unto Christ. Be bold but not overbearing. haha

That night B-- passed his interview, but while he was in the interview I received a call from the junior comp of one of our DL`s and he was really mad and they were fighting, in that moment the JC didn't want to listen to my counsel, then me and Elder Gonzales called when we got home and he didn't want to listen to us again. He wasn't wanting to pray for help to calm down so that we could work through the situation. Then we were flipping through the pages of the triple, he heard that and was like, hey close the book and open it and read the first scripture that you see! We felt prompted to follow that and so that's what we did. The Lord is amazing in what He can do. He guided us to Alma 10:6, we opened straight up to that and that's the first scripture that I saw. It talks about Amulek hardening his heart and not wanting to listen to the Lord. The elder stopped right there and was quiet for a second and then we asked him what had touched his heart, he said, I know that Jesus is the Christ and that I need to repent and change. It was a change of 180 degrees! It was a miracle that showed me that really the only teacher is the spirit and that the right scripture at the right moment makes a big impact on the person. Of course they have to accept it, but we are going to have a lot more success using that process of asking for help and then following what the Lord guides us to do. The Lord answered our prayer in helping this missionary calm down and be able to change his attitude with his companion. They worked it out and they actually were able to have somebody come to church. So that was an intense situation. haha

Then Sunday, yesterday, was a good day. The baptism was stress free and everything worked out great. There was hot water, then afterwards I was miraculously able to get the pump working to drain the water. There were lots of people there to support and the weather was great afterwards. Also we were given a mini snack afterwards. :) Then last night we were with a recent convert family where the parents aren't members and the dad doesn't want to talk to us, but we were talking with the mom who is more accepting. But she started asking us questions about why we need to do baptisms for the dead, as I was testifying of why we need to do those, the Spirit taught me, I really felt the importance of those. It was cool. :) Then the zone as a whole improved in every category from the last week so we are excited and the work is moving forward!!

Oh and to remind you all that next Monday I won't be emailing you because next Tuesday is our p-day because tranfers are on Tuesday. Don't forget!!!!

So that was my week and now to answer some of your questions.

Braden, hola amigazo, my week was normal, my comp is doing better and my favorite area so far has been Savio, the best memories, but I've loved every area that I've been in some sort of way. With regards to this next transfer coming up, I'm not sure what will happen, if I'm staying or I'm going to another area for my last 2 transfers, so I'll be sure to let you all know. I think that I'm leaving, but anything is possible.

Rachel, yes we did find 6 new investigators last week, so we are looking for the people that really want to listen and act upon our teachings. There is a difference between just a new investigator and a chosen one of God that is ready to except the gospel and be baptized. Yes,  I still miss you :) and sometimes I do think about home, I'm not going to lie, it's something on the back of every missionaries' mind, but the difference is in the missionary that lets those thoughts stop him from working or not. So far I'm still working well. haha I'm promising myself that I'm going to work hard to the end to feel good with myself. We actually have been keeping busy schedules with set appointments, but there are some days where things fall through and no one wants to talk, but if we didn't have those days, we wouldn't enjoy the good days that we have.

Jason, ha ha im fine, have a great week. pie.

Alex, yes my week was super duper good . Recently the Lord has blessed us with lots of new investigators and success in baptizing B--. Good luck with the homework, I dread having to do that again soon.  I loved the logo that you painted on the wall, it looks great, almost as good as my BYU Y ;)  I'm glad that you have such great art skills. Keep up the great work and working hard with bball!! I can't wait to see you play this year!! haha That was funny what happened to Collin. And no cows!?, what were you doing all week? haha Take care man of the house until Wednesday.
Hey there Mom, la guapa de las guapas. :)  No word yet on the internet privileges or ipads, thinking on the security down here, it'll probably be a long, long time till we receive ipads. But internet might be next year, but I'm not worrying about it, I'm not going to be there when we can, it's not meant for my generation.

That's cool that you were able to connect with your friend and what a coincedence that it's the same mission as Tanner. Haha  That's cool that Gma and Gpa Hilbig were able to go on a trip and that they were able to see Megan. Man, Kalispell is connected to everything haha. You'll have to send me the picture. That's cool what Megan's mom said, it's true, she is a great friend to me and we could talk about whatever thing and we just laughed the whole physics class the whole year. She also shares my passion for BYU sports, mainly the bball, so we were able to chat about that.

Does Alex need glasses or contacts, I forget if he already has, I think you told me yes. And thanks for keeping me updated on everything, I still feel like I'm part of the family. haha.

Yeah I need to remind myself of the importance of baptism, it's such a common thing down here that sometimes we lose the sight of what is really happening. But I always feel the Spirit strongly in every baptism.

Haha I loved the pics of jumping onto the trampoline, that's crazy haha.  They are getting so big! Also I loved the shoes of duct tape, those are cool haha, I need some of those right now. haha.jk My shoes are holding up and yes, I will bring both pairs home to show everyone.

That's crazy that Courtney put her papers in and that everything is happening so fast. Hopefully I can see her one more time before she goes. haha My guess in Arg BsAs North... haha no, I'm feeling like somewhere stateside. New York.

G---, the tortilla lady, didn't come to church yesterday because she had to go to Capital to work, so kind of disappointing.

I don't think that I'll be sick of eating pancakes, I actually hadn't thought about that possibility. I think that I'll stick to cereal when I get home. I miss a good bowl of honey nut cheerios with real milk haha.

I love you mom, know that I always think about you and the family and that I pray for you every day and night. Enjoy what's left of summer and sleeping in. hahahahahaha

Dad, thanks for the message, that's cool that we are on the same latitude. :) Welcome to my level. :) I'm glad that everything is on schedule and that you are enjoying your job and traveling to foreign countries. That's cool, Australia, and the Australian accent haha. People in Argentina sometimes love to hear me say something in English, haha. They aren't anti-American here, completely, but they aren't like, wow an American! They are more like that with the Mexicans. haha They always ask them, could you make us tacos? haha  That's cool that you enjoyed the Sunday in the church and that it was the same that happens in all of the world.

That's cool about the Australian rules football experience. I don't think that I've heard of that before, it's always about Rugby. I will need to go one day with you on one of your trips and have these same experiences.

Yay for BYU football, I'm counting down the days to that, 26 days. :) I'm excited for this year and I'm glad that I can at least see the end of the season. It's hard having to wait until Monday to read the email, especially when they lost so many close ones last year.

Well, I love you all so, so much and I hope that you all have a great week and that Dad gets home safely on Wednesday, and that everyone says their morning and evening prayers, and that they can read from the scriptures everyday!!

I love each and everyone of you so, so much! :)

Love,
Elder Ryan Pittard

So to start off describing the picture, it's B--'s baptism!!! Yeah, we were super excited. This last Tuesday we were able to teach him really well on the Word of Wisdom and he had already stopped drinking a little while back and so we just had to commit him to stop doing that stuff and to keep learning more and more about the church. He didn't drink or smoke at all this last week and passed the interview with flying colors. He is super shy and has passed through lots of trials in his life, so I'm glad that we were able to help him with this decision. I'm glad that Elder Calderon was able to baptize him, they really have become really good friends especially since they are from the same place in Bolivia.

G--, the recent convert, was also really excited for her cousin. Her mom had come to sacrament meeting, but then had to go but was supposed to come back but didn't show up. She's dealing with some struggles and so she's always sad or emotional, but she loves that we keep coming by and teaching her about Jesus Christ. So we will see with her, she is now living with another guy and that guy would have to get divorced first to be able to get married to be able to be baptized. It's all a mess, that's why we should get married to somebody that really loves us and we really love them in the temple to insure the most success and happiness in this life. That's my goal!

Elder Popoca is still with us, he was taking the picture.

Yesterday we had the most attendance at church that we have ever had while I've been here. 110 people came to sacrament meeting, normally there are 70-80, but lots of less-actives came to church and the ward is starting to gain ground thanks to the recently called bishop. He has just barely called two counselors and an Elder's quorum president. That was cool to see in person because only the Stake President can confer those keys to the elder's quorum president.

Hey there everybody, here I am at our outdoor bbq, commonly known as an Asado down here :) It was delicious and a great way to finish fast Sunday. :)

 

It consisted of chorizo (sausage), meat (all parts of the cow), and blood sausage (which I didn't eat because I have tried it before and it wasn't my favorite thing to eat), and it also had some chicken on the grill. We ate it all with Peruvian hot sauce and potatoes and rice. It was the same humble Peruvian family that lives in the middle of nowhere in a wooden shack, but they were nice enough to treat us to an asado. It was really good and I was filled up, we also downed the greasy meat with cheap cherry soda, la bichy ahora, so we are eating good down here right now .:)

 

And yes, I'm still wearing my purple tie, every fast Sunday. It's funny because every youth wants to trade me ties, but this is one tie that I just can't give away. haha

 

It was a relatively hotter day, the last time that we went out there, just 2 weeks ago it was -4 degrees celcius, which is like 25 degrees F, and now it was probably like 15 degrees C, or for you North Americans, 60 degrees F, so a big climate change in just two weeks.

 

 

Well who is that good looking soccer player? the river plate player!! haha This was this morning right before we left. Yes, I did cut my hair this last week. Actually, Elder Calderon cut it, and then I finished up the details afterwards.

 

He is wearing the purple Boca jersey, our rivals, but it's funny that that's the alternate colors because it's nothing like the blue and gold that Boca normally wears. But I do like the dark purple, it reminds me of Lehi!!! Oh and I loved what Alex is painting, it reminds me of my glory days of room painting. :)  Lots of love!!

That was a mini blessing from the Lord

Hey there family!!! 
I can't believe that another week has passed and that we are super close to August already, once again... this second year is passing by faster then the first.

How's it going? :) always have to ask.

 

Well like you can imagine from the pics the second pair of shoes are starting to wear down and I'm holding on to the end.

 

 

I was able to glue it and it looks better now, but it's just a sign of oldness. But I'm enjoying the days that I have and I'm taking advantage of the time that we have left to baptize everybody!! So thanks once again for the notes, I love hearing from you every week without missing a beat. 

 

Well to tell you about my week, it was super normal. We had a normal pday but we had a fun experience on Tues at the Zone Conference. So we got up early and we were on the train that leaves from JCP and we took that to Palermo and then we were able to take the subte to the church, I remembered how to get there perfectly, I still recognize how to get almost everywhere. It has changed a lot though, just the faces of the buildings and the ads. But the conference was nice. We were able to listen to Pres and we talked about the pioneers and their sacrifice and that how we were out here to find pioneers and that some of the missionaries out here are pioneers in their families.

 

Then Pres has been talking a lot about thinking about the future, he's all about planning and thinking ahead. He had the office couple share their experience of how they met and how they knew it was the right one and all that sort of stuff. Pres has been talking a lot about marriage and preparing for that day and for finding the right one. I don't even want to think about that right now, it scares me that the light in the tunnel is bigger and bigger haha. I like the simple life that the mission is, responsibility is just around the corner and I'm going to have to prepare for that.

 

Then Pres gave the ZL's a time to share something, we were together with Zone Belgrano. So we were able to share and it was cool to think about where I'm at right now and how far I've come. Then we got a surprise, we were informed that we were going to go and take a bus and travel out to the 3 de Febrero park in Palermo where South America was dedicated for the work in 1925 by Melvin J Ballard. I didn't know that that was in my old area, of course I had been to the park before but it's not called that right now because they divided it up into lots of smaller parks, but we all took the bus and got there and then Pres read the words that were said in the dedicatory prayer and then we sang a couple of hymns, we were like 40 missionaries in the middle of the park. It was a sweet spirit to think that we are part of the fulfillment of those prophecies and that we are hastening the work down here where it all started in BsAs.

 

Then Wednesday I had to go to San Fernando to help Elder Popoca, the elder from Mexico, do some paperwork stuff for his Arg ID. Elder Gonzales didn't know how to get there so I had to go. We were able to get back home by 12:30pm so it was a quicker process. We ate lentejas with the Patriarch and his wife. Then walking home from lunch I found 25 pesos in the middle of the street and there was nobody around and so that was a mini blessing from the Lord, I hadn't been asking for money but he just blessed us with enough to survive the week to where I didn't need to take out more personal money. The ward was also nice enough to help us out and we had big lunches all week, but we had to teach the newer elders to learn not to think with their stomach and hold back on how much that they eat so that everyone can eat and so that we have enough to make it through. We did and we will be fine for this next week and month.

 

Thursday, so throughout the week so far we had been teaching G--, the tortilla lady that sells on the corner of the street right across the street from the church. She actually came to church yesterday and we are super excited for her. She has read a little bit and says her prayers. We believe that she's married and we have been teaching her at her stand on the side of the road, sometimes it's hard to teach right there but she has a tough schedule. But we were actually able to teach her once in her house, and she has a date for August 11th.

 

Friday, a member, P--, made us (actually we helped form most of them) but she made us 120 empanadas in the church. There were 6 there eating and so everyone had to eat 20 for their portion, I got there, everyone else, no. There was a ton that was left over, but I was super hungry and I ate a lot, I was stuffed, it was fun... :) Then just 2 hours later we were talking with G-- and having the daily contact with her to make sure that she got confirmed, and her mom who is totally supportive, invited us in to eat a plate of oven cooked chicken, over full!! haha Her mom can't be baptized because she isn't married and her "husband" has to get divorced as well, they don't want to do the paperwork right now.  G-- can be a really strong member but we just have to help her make the friends in the ward and have her family come to church as well, she's a pioneer for her family. We are also working with the cousin, B-- and he came to church on Sunday and we were able to put the date with him for this next Sunday. He will have to commit to stop drinking but I think that he'll get there.

 

Saturday, I had to go and do 3 interviews for a couple of areas, but we had a good weekend as a zone with people coming unto Christ and being baptized. It's fun to talk to people and to see the conversion that they have had.

 

Yesterday, I got to do something that I've never had the chance to do down here. We were asked to bless the sacrament for an older lady in the ward that has trouble walking and seeing and so we were able to do that in her home yesterday. Then I showered last night to be able to get up early to go to Retiro for the paperwork and now I'm back home writing you guys. :)

 

Oh, also in choir, the choir teacher wants us to sing a verse of Called to Serve in English, all of the missionaries, idk but I like singing in English again.

 

Alex, that's totally awesome that you enjoyed EFY so much!! Any cow's? ;) I'm glad that you were able to go with friends and that you enjoyed the dances. Don't eat a ton of junk food, counsel of the week... haha

 

Jason, thanks for writing to me and Tanner we appreciate the notes and the support from home. Thanks also for the inspired question, to answer that: blessing the sacrament for the older lady in the ward, it was super simple but super special at the same time. It was nice to know that we were instruments in the hands of the Lord to bring that saving ordinance to her so that we could help her out. That's too bad about being sick at your state meet, but you'll get it next time.

 

Braden, don't worry its a good lesson that you are going to learn and then you'll be able to look back on the experience later on and laugh, just like when I went golfing in the back yard in TN. Yeah you shouldn't be hitting golf balls at the house, yeah I wasn't thinking in that moment. haha Funny now, not back then when I had to pay for the broken window.

 

Camryn, thanks for the cute note, yes we have enough food, not as much as I wish we could have, but we are good, and yes I like the food down here. What's your favorite food? oh and thanks for the pic that you drew me when your primary class all sent me a note. I loved your note and flowers that you drew, and yes there are a lot of flowers here, not in the fields but lots of people have flowers in their front yards.

 

Rachel, thats awesome that you didn't break your head and that you had fun playing card games.
I played a version of Uno this last week with G-- and her friends, they were being rowdy and to calm them down we decided to play a game with them with their face cards that they had. We were able to talk to them as we played, of course I lost, they were cheating haha. Also that's cool that you get to sing almost a solo in the primary program, when is that again?

 

Tanner... oh wait he's not there anymore, but don't worry we've already written. It's fun to have another brother on a mission and having the same experiences that I've had. :) It's been 20 months since i've seen him face to face, what's another 20? haha

 

Dad, time traveler! Thanks for the love and support and for upping my self confidence. Sometimes I don't feel like I'm apt to be a leader, but the Lord helps and lifts me up. Thanks for the faith Dad. :) Enjoy the trip and take lots of cool pics, I want to see one next week. :)

 

Mom, she's not trunky, haha I didn't realize that today was the 100th day left. I remember the day before I was to enter the MTC and I was writing on facebook for the last time, I saw that Jordan Smith's mom had posted that her son had hit the 100 days left and was the next one to come home, haha. Oh how the time has passed by! And now he's married and on with his life. What will the next 2 years bring, it's fun and exciting.

 

That sounds like a great idea, I can help with the new deck with the new carpenter skills that I've acquired on the mission, also the computer programming skills and house building skills and language translation skills and the electricity skills and breaking things skills and cooking skills, lots of stuff that I've learned on the mission. haha

 

Wow, school in 3 weeks, crazy, and football in a month!!!

 

Well that's it from me this week and I hope that you all have a great week. Stay safe and get the tv back soon!! ;) haha

 

Love,

Elder Ryan Pittard

 

On the train this morning heading back home after a long day of paperwork, for him, I was just there. It was funny, there was a group of new American missionaries that were from the west mission that were there to start all of the paperwork and they were having trouble with their paperwork, so I was able to be there to speak with the guy that was kind of frustrated because he couldn't help them understand. I was able to help out, the issue wasn't resolved, but it was funny that they were all out there all on their own and that I remember when I was in their shoes, and so I'm glad that I was able to help them out. I was able to brag that I personally know Pres Carter haha. We had an hour and 15 min bus ride to the mission offices, leaving at 6:30am, and then we were standing in the train for another 50 min and then we were in lines for like 2 hours in the immigrations building and then we got onto the train that would take us straight to Jose C Paz. So the adventures of paperwork, I'm glad that I'm all done with mine. I've been in that building like 6 or 7 times.

Well here I am making pancakes for the band. Every morning I'm like this in my chair, sometimes I write in my journal, other times I'm talking to elders in the zone on the phone, or I'm reading the Liahona or just watching my pancakes rise, but it's been a year straight that I've had a hot breakfast, so I'm glad that I was able to acquire this life saving skill while I was down here. :)

Well after a long tough day we are still rocking and rolling. Haha. This is the tie that I bought in an out door market in Savio for 3 pesos, which is like less than a dollar.

We are surviving the deadly cold, a little exagerration but still...haha

Hey there, how's it going? :)  We are fine down here and we are surviving the deadly cold, alright exagerration but still... haha

Well, I'm doing great and I have some crazy news as well. So Tuesday night we got a call from the assistants informing us that Pres wanted every companionship of ZL`s to train the new incoming elders that were waiting for their visas and so for at least three weeks we are going to be cramped in our tiny pension with two more elder, buy they are great, Elder Calderon is my trainee for three weeks and he is from Santa Cruz, Bolivia and was waiting in the Cochebamba mission for 4 months. Elder Popoca from Puebla, Mexico is with Elder Gonzales, we are still comps but we are basically doing divisions everyday with them.

So now that brings up new problems that were not forseen. We first have two hungry mouths in the pension and all of the snacks quickly went away and we now are having to save the little food that we have until the end of the month, we have lunches almost everyday but we will have to hold out until the end of the month, also we will have to clean the clothes and be walking a lot more. So this will either be a very long week or a short week, depends on the attitude, right? haha So hopefully I have money to write to you guys next week. haha I think that I should.

Also, we received a second phone but the other group of elders frankly unwilling lost the other cell phone that very same night, so we still have one phone for the 4 of us, and then we are having two elders shower at night and two in the morning so that everyone can have a hot shower. So a lot changed this last week, haha but I'm learning how to handle the new situation and then analize it and then make the best decisions, just like in life right? This is reminding me a lot of living 4 elders in one tiny apartment in Juncal and Constitucion, so we should be fine.

So crazy story mom, that's awesome that you were able to see Tanner walking by, haha. I'm sure that you were happy about that. I'm glad that everyone had a great week and enjoyed the weather and activities. That's awesome that Tanner called so early, but I'm sure that he sounds really great and that he's ready for the challenges that will meet him in just a couple of hours. But he'll do fine and succeed. And yes he responded to my email that I sent him and he sounded fine, but I can't wait to see pics and read his first email home

So to tell you about the area. So we are not dividing the area, except that we are 4 missionaries in the same area and we can go where ever and work with whomever, but we do have areas where we are working more, I've been sticking more around the church and Elder Gonzales has been in the back woods area, like 30 blocks behind the church. But I still could go back there to help them out in a cita and they have been here helping us out. We aren't using the bikes because of the weather, it was raining off and on last week and the cold just enters our clothes haha, but we are blessed to be in the houses of the people next to their heaters teaching them.

 

We prepared R-- and G-- for their baptisms and I went to a couple of areas to do interviews, as a zone there was 6 baptisms and so that was a great weekend for our zone. We had a productive week here because we were combing numbers because we are still the same area. Out of the 15 new inestigators, none of them are progressing, we have been finding alot but we need to find the prepared people. It was funny Saturday we had a tiny lunch with the bishop and then in our three visits that day we were fed something and so that was a small blessing from the Lord. This week we have our zone conference in Palermo, so I get to go back at least once more.

 

Well, I sure hope that you all have a great week and that you are enjoying the heat, I'm actually grateful for the cold because I don't like the heat as a missionary. haha

 

Have a great week and know that I'm fine. I love you all so so much!!

 

I know that the Church is true and I know that Jesus Christ himself leads and guides this church. I know that the prophet has the power and authority from God and that as we read, pray and go to church we will always be in the right path.

 

Enjoy the week and take care, love the pics that you sent!!

 

Love,

Elder Ryan Pittard  

So this is the baptism of R--, and yup as you can see we are 4 missionaries in JCP2, so we are enjoying that. Luckily the water was warm and so it wasn't super cold. The wind was killing me in this picture.

  

The baptism of G--, we were super excited for her because she was a contact in the street when we were lost heading to lunch, but she was super prepared and she's only 12 and I had the privilege to baptize her and luckily once again in warm water. :)

 

Here I am walking through the neighborhoods of JCP, a cloudy Sunday morning with the wind bearing down, it was a cold day. They said that at noon it was -4 degrees C so we are fine, but a lot colder than last year.

 

We ate lunch yesterday with them, she is member and he is not. They are from Peru but have been in BsAs for a long time. They live in a tiny wooden house in the middle of a field, really far away from the main route. We got lost trying to find this house yesterday, because they are all like that and we had never been before. But we ate some really good rice with chicken and salad and all topped in Peruvian hot sauce, but the Mexican elder says that there's even hotter hot sauce in Mexico. Yeah I'm kind of taller then everyone, that's pretty normal down here. Oh and it was there that we saw "snow flakes", it was also just starting to rain as well. We quickly went home and changed for the rest of the day, but we are surviving in this deadly weather. ;)

                                                              

The Lord was trying our faith as every single one fell through

Well hey there :)  Thanks for the note and letters and I loved hearing from you all. :)  I sure hope that you all had a splendid week.

Well to first explain my week...

We had another great week! But it didn't start out like that haha (that's for Rachel) I know I use that a lot, because I want you all to know that I'm happy!

 

Anyways, Monday night was a crazy night, we didn't find anybody new and we received a call from the elders that live right around the corner from us that they were locked out of their pension. Well technically, the key wasn't working or turning to let them in. It's not the first time that it's happened. So we returned home and we got our key and we tried it but it wasn't working. So we tried cutting down the thin metal bars in the door window with some tools that a neighbor had lent them, nope. And it was 10 pm at night and the next day was 9 de julio, or their independence day and so there wasn't any locksmith open or avaiable at that time. So we had to have a sleepover Monday night. I offered up my bed and I slept on a mattress on the floor and we were able to make it work out. They left in the morning and were able to miracously find a locksmith to help them out and get back into their apartment.

 

Tuesday, long day, long story, so it's Independence Day and it rained almost all day. But when we left the pension there was no thought of rain or cold. So by the time that we were able to head over to lunch it started to rain, not pouring but it wasn't sprinkling either. I had on my rain coat and then just a sweater underneath. I was fine, or so I thought. So we get to lunch and we start eating these really good raviolies and then we sat by the open fire to share a spiritual thought, we were nice and warm and dry. But then I had to put back on my wet coat and by this time it was pouring and I got soaked, the rain coat was soaked through and it was starting to get cold. I thought that I was fine, that we would be in the houses of the people and that I could survive the day. Well we were able to teach R-- right there, but then the rest of the day it was a lot of walking in the cold while I was freezing. We were on the bus heading out to A-- and that's when my head started hurting. So we were walking around in the cold and mud for an hour and a half, A-- wasn't there, the crazy uncle was watching our every move and then another person that I knew over there wasn't home. So as we were heading back, my whole body was aching and I didn't feel good.

 

So I told my companion and we decided to quickly have a contact with G-- to have daily contact. Haha, I was out of that lesson, and as we were walking back to the bus stop in front of the church, I threw up right around the corner from the church, luckily in a field away from people, but I wasn't able to wash out my mouth because we took the first bus that was heading home and then we walked into the door, I changed out of everything into warm clothes and then I went to bed early. I was so cold, but I slept good throughout the night and I woke up the next morning feeling fine, or so I thought. I ate the pancakes fine and half way through my studying my head started hurting and I was just really weak. So I went and lied down and that was my story for most of Wednesday.

 

Yeah Iwas resting in bed when Tanner entered the MTC, I wasn't able to sleep much, but I remember looking down at the clock and it saying 4:32pm and that was a weird thought thinking that Tanner had just entered the MTC. But my companion was able to work it out so a member could come stay with me and his younger brother went with him to go and work. I felt a little bit better and I left at 6:30 pm to go and meet up with my companion. It was only my head hurting and I was able to eat whatever I wanted. I think that it was the combination of the food, cold and wetness all day that just had a negative effect on my body, but I'm good now. :)  I had lots of energy on Thursday to go and work. So don't worry Mom, I'm fine. ;)

 

So on Thursday we officially figured out that A-- lives just outside the official mission boundary. There had been a confusion on the ward and stake boundaries. So we weren't able to baptize him this last Sunday, he lives in the west mission. You need to ask Hermana Carter if the elders of the ward Jardines went and contacted the referral, haha, and tell her hi from me and that I'm just in Jose C Paz on the the other side of Moreno. So we were pretty sad about that.

 

Friday I went on divisions with a Colombian, Elder Florez, and we had a good day, but up until that point we hadn't found anyone in the whole week. So we went into Saturday with the determination to find lots of people, which the Lord blessed us with. We found 15 people in an hour and a half that all live on the same street, so a big miracle. Friday I had asked for a referral from a young boy and he set me up with these two kids that lived on the corner on his street, So we passed by and set up a cita for Saturday at 5. We passed by and we were able to teach the kid, his mom and like 5 of his friends that were there whom we invited. Then we wanted to talk to all of the kids' parents if possible and so we were able to find a couple people through that. We contacted this one kid's aunt and we left her a pamphlet and then we went to go and contact a couple that we had stopped on the street just 5 min before. We talked a little bit with that couple and they committed to come to church. Then we were walking back and I saw through the window, L-- with her sisters looking through the pamphlet that we had left her so we clapped and they let us in to share. 6 more new investigators right there and they all committed to come to church. So as we were leaving the cita we had found 15 news just like that. So it just goes to show that the Lord really is preparing people to listen. But he also is testing us for our ability to find them.

 

So we were super excited for Sunday, we were waiting for like 20 people to come to church and so we get out there to go look for them, because they all lived within 3 min walking to the church. But then the Lord was trying our faith as every single one fell through. G--, when we passed by, said that she was sick, but we were able to convince her that she would feel better if she at least came to the first hour of church. So G-- showed great faith and came to sacrament meeting and kept her fecha for this next Sunday. Then the Lord blessed us with 3 members who brought friends to church and then a boy showed up all on his own, so we ended up with 5 in church and lots of blessings. We were able to reschedule fechas with R-- and R-- who didn't come and so now we ended the week still with 5 fechas and 5 in church. We also found a 9 yr old boy that needs baptism and he will be baptized this Saturday, so we are waiting for two for this next weekend.

 

So now a little bit about your week...

 

Hey there Dad of two missionaries, you fit the title. That's cool that everything went smoothly for dropping Tanner off, sounds fun eating at Costa Vida, oh how I miss Mexican food! I loved the pics in front of the Mt Timp temple, super green!

 

haha of course Mom would want to try and see Tanner again haha, I'm sure that he is doing fine. That's fun that you and Jason are so involved in coin collecting. I'm glad that someone picked up your hobby to do it with you. Of course I already have the whole collection picked out and packed away, one step ahead of ya.

 

I'm glad that I'm a missionary now and not back then, (early Church history) it would be 100% different. Remember not to send anything after the middle of Sept, just because it might get here after I have left. Oh and two weeks ago I received the packages with the shirts and stuff, thanks for the nice new shirt what a gift!

 

To my wonderful mother who has prepared two missionaries that are currently serving the Lord, sup?

When I trained Elder Johnson, me and Elder Gonzales were training together and he came over for one night to stay with me and then we went and picked up our kids together. That was January 1st, so a long time ago. We leave at the same time so we both have lots of experience.  Elder Brown left the jacket and I picked it up, oh I forgot to mention it also poured on Thursday afternoon and I was wearing that jacket and it got my white shirt dirty underneath.

 

So out of all of the new investigators, only a couple are really progressing but that's what it requires to find the really ready people in Jose C Paz.

 

Yeah we haven't heard anything about the new dress standards, but some of the poorer Latin missionaries were already wearing whatever thing that they could bring or find, I think that's why they decided to make the change. Yeah I wouldn't want to wear sandles down here, that first would be weird and yes lots of mud. Don't worry I'm taking better care of my other pair of shoes and I'm cleaning off the mud everynight. So these ones should last longer.

 

That's nice to know that you are adjusting good to having another son gone, but don't worry mom, I'll be home soon enough and I'll bring back the balance, but yeah that would be weird not having Tanner around, I'm going to miss that guy.  I wrote Tanner a small note and sent him the pics as well. I'm thinking that I'll have to wait until next week to read his response, so anyways I hope that you all are doing great today and that you all have a great week!

 

I know that this is the true church and everyday my testimony is strengthened because of what I learn and the examples in the lives of others that aren't of our church. I'm grateful for the Book of Mormon and the words of the modern day prophets. Take care and I love you all so so much!!!

 

Love,

Elder Ryan Pittard

We found a lot of new investigators this week!

Hey there Family of mine :) How's it going? Thanks for the letters like always. :)  Wow, what a crazy week!!  First to describe the pic :)

Good memory, Mom, yes last year I was with Elder Carlson, who is finishing in August, and we belted the national anthem and so I decided to keep in form and belt out the anthem in my patriotc shirt. haha I think it's funny.

So I was having fun this last week and yes, we did missionary work. So to start off, we had a great numbers week, 18 lessons with a member present and we found 24 new investigators! :) So that was great. I was on divisions on Friday and me and this Paraguayan elder, Elder Peralta, capo, we found a family of 6 and they all accepted fechas!! We had found the family through this one girl who was outside of her house and we were lost trying to find lunch, we asked her what street we were on and then we contacted her. She came with her mom and her cousin to church all by themselves yesterday and we are super excited for them!!

Also on Monday we contacted a referral from this one member and we contacted the girl and then her mom walked up. We have been passing by ever since and they are super ready for this message right now. They also have fechas for the 21!!

Then we have been working with A--, the kid that came to church like 3 weeks ago with his older sister, he has a fecha for this weekend!!! So we are super excited for that. But we might have a problem from the crazy uncle that lives on the opposite corner, he must think that we are spies or something and we are here trying to steal away his family, idk but he ran us away, not with any weapon or anything, but he said that he would call the police (that's not such a big threat down here) but still. His mom loves the church, she came late yesterday to church, but she already signed the baptismal registry so he can't stop the work of God. :) Oh the things people do when they don't understand.

So yes, I did pass July 4th in the mission house, once again, it's just my lucky day haha. I was the only one that really remembered the day and who wore a red tie. Haha, even Pres had forgotten and he was just in the states. It was an awesome meeting with Pres, he spent a little bit of time to tell us basically his life story, from experiences on his mission to the after mission life and then getting married and then starting his own brokering business at like 26 yrs of age and then all of the success and failures that he has been through in his life. He is an awesome and inspired man and he was able to apply everything that he told us to mission principles and life principles. He told us, we are all going to die one day, so why not do something big?  We ate hawaiian chicken with white rice for lunch with a brownie with ice cream, so really great!! It's different being down here and not really celebrating the normal holidays but it's all good.

So for your letter...

Thanks Camryn for the letter and thanks for the day count haha, now I don't have to do that. ;) Yes I'm excited to see you guys again, but it'll come soon enough, just keep playing and having fun. It did rain a little bit this last week, but right now it's sunny and cold. I'm glad that you love going to church! Don't worry, I'm having fun! and yes I'm hungry and thirsty, we are going to go and eat a little something before we go and play soccer.

 

Hi there Rachel, I'm glad that you aren't stinky haha funny story. Alright here we go... my week was good and busy, yes it sprinkled in the night time, yes lots of sun and the weather was really nice and warm, weird for July, yes I shower daily, yes I wash my hands... most of the time, jk, yes I like my apartment, yes I like my companion, we have like 15 investigators right now, lots of work to do. My bike has a flat tire and we haven't been able to go and get it pumped up just quite yet, it gets super muddy out here and we get super dirty as well. Yes I like Argentina, but I'm glad that I'm just visiting haha, yes I'm having a blast!! Yes I like yams, in fact we just ate boiled yams this last week. This last week we were teaching like 3 new people everyday!! Yes I love my family with all of my heart. and yes I love you, you are one of my 6 favorite siblings. ;)

 

 

Braden, thanks for sharing that with me, I always loved EFY and I'm glad that you enjoyed it so much!! it's like going on a mission for a week haha, yeah isn't it amazing the difference between always being with the spirit and not and the importance of reading our scriptures daily and saying our prayers morning and night? I'm glad that you are realizing that right now, keep up the committment to keep reading daily!!

 

Alex, that's awesome that you did service with Dad and Rachel, I'm glad that you were able to do that. Well have a great week at high adventure and give Tanner a big hug for me. :)

 

Jason, 768 and 1024! and thanks for the note about swiming :) keep it up!!

 

Tanner!! congrats on finally making it to the mission!! good luck with the last day and packing up the room, it's a crazy feeling and then have fun watching your last movie and updating your facebook for the last time, and watching TV for the last time and eating dinner with your family for the last time, and there are lots of lasts but don't worry you'll be hitting lots of firsts real soon, just enjoy the moment and the MTC, you only pass through once and live it up, don't do anything too stupid, but have fun. Remember that you should do everything to get along with your companion and remember first observe then serve, that's a great thing to remember. Eat lots of MTC food!! and enjoy the devotionals that you actually get to go to, try and sit on the floor of the gym because the bleachers weren't made with us tall people in mind. Write in your journal everyday, it's worth it and I love the memories that I have from the first couple of weeks because I wrote every night in my journal, also take lots of pics. Remember that 30 min. writing time is a suggestion haha, just enjoy it to it's fullest. Remember, Mom, to send him a little note everyday just to say hi and the cookies that the dearelder can send are good too. :) Well all I can say now is that I Love You and thanks for the example that you have given me and I hope that you have a great mission and you'll be surprised how fast it passes, but you can't be thinking about how many days are left, you just have to take it one day at a time and just focus on the work and the people. Talk to you on the other side :) good luck!!

 

Dad and Mom, wow the time has flown by and now I need to go, but thanks for the notes and questions. I'm loving my new companion, it's a different style then Elder Brown but we are working really well together. We just had a zone meeting where we were able to pass the vision to the elders in our zone. 12 companionships is a normal number down here. I'm glad that you were able to have those moments mom and I loved the pic of everyone studying! Thanks for the love and I'm glad that you are my parents. :) If there were any questions that I didn't answer that you wanted answered, send them again next week and I'll try my best to respond. Say hi to gma and gpa, both sides and to Gma Wayment. :)

 

Have a great week and enjoy the weather, and don't cry too much, because they leave boys and they come back men.

 

Love,
Elder Ryan Pittard

 

Last Sunday with Elder Brown, there are lots of great people in this ward and they are super funny. I love the small town communities because they have really close wards. Hopefully I can stay here to finish my mission, that'll be fun. I don't really want to have to get to know an area again for just a little bit, but we will see. :)

Here I am standing outside waiting for N--  to get ready to come to church on the day of his baptism. It was cold and a member in the ward made me that blue yarn scarf and it's super comfy and long and it keeps me warm. This point of view is facing away from N--'s house and it's super close to the church. That is sand in the bag and there are building supplies lying around, like lots of yards in Argentina.

We were encouraged to go and find the miracles

Well as you all know, transfter pdays are crazy and I have 5 min to write to you all. I love you all so much and thanks for the notes of love and confidence.

 

So we baptized an 8 yr kid whose brothers were baptized like 8 months ago, so we had found him the last week and Pres Gulbrandsen in his last training encouraged us to go and find the miracles. So that was a great miracle, next week I'll send you all pics.

 

So I'm staying at least one more transfer, Elder Brown left, and Elder Gonzales came, he`s from Mendoza, Argentina and has the same time that I have, he has a little bit more time as ZL but it should be a good transfer. I definitely will miss Elder Brown, he`s a stud and we had a great time together. :) But now we are focusing a lot on getting the baptisms, we have new motivation and spirit in the zone. Two areas were opened again and now we are 12 companionships out here, so more missionaries and more baptisms.

 

Yes we did meet Pres and Sis Ayre yesterday and we all shook their hands and had a minute to get to know them better, They are awesome and I love them already. They are super laid back and easy going and have a great vision for the mission. This Thursday we have a ZL meeting with Pres so another opportunity to get to know him.

 

Well I know that this is the true work and I'm glad that you are all being blessed by this service. I'm glad that we have the gospel in our lives. :)

 

Have a great week.

 

Love,

Elder Ryan Pittard