Our zone is going to be split

Hey there family. :)  So a great week and sounds like you all had a great week as well. :)

So to start everything off we were extremely blessed by the Lord with 3 baptisms and 4 confirmations, J-- was confirmed and A--, G-- and M-- were all baptized on Saturday and confirmed yesterday, it was a great feeling to be able to help them out.

Last Monday it was really hot, we played soccer and I played so hard in the heat that I was left feeling weird, it's just that the climate is changing between freezing rain and super hot, right now it's freezing with a ton of rain. So it was a weird weather week.

That night we taught the Law of Chasity to E-- and we had to let her know that she still had to wait to be baptized. We tried hard to make it not as hard for her to take, but she took it hard. The next morning she called us and told us that she wouldn't be able to meet with us that day and that she would be calling us to set up another appointment, the normal sign of an investigator dropping us, we were so sad, we sent her messages and she explained to us that she felt so bad for living together without being married that she thought that God didn't love her, it was totally Satan working on her, but she listened to our counsel to read in the Book of Mormon and then kneel down and pray, she said that she felt like Jesus had put his arm around her and she felt so happy and peaceful. We were picking up the food for lunch and instead of heading over to eat, we went straight to her house to see how she was doing and she was a totally different person. :) The Lord had completely changed her heart and now she was wanting us to keep coming by and we were able to see them everyday of the week. :) We met her boy friend and he is a good guy, but we need to find a way to get to him so that he can see the importance of these things. M-- is progressing well and she has her date for this Sunday, so we are praying that all goes well. Yeah, then again two years ago, they received the pamphlet of the Plan of Salvation again when Mirta's husband was dying from diabetes. But no, they never searched out the church or anything, that's why the Lord was so strong in directing us to
them.

That was the coolest story of the week, we were able to see everyone every single day to have daily contact, which meant lots of traveling. So I was tired for most of the week, with the climate changing so fast I was sick a couple times in the week, I don't know why, but now I'm feeling better to write to you all.  Oh and after the baptism on Saturday night, I wasn't feeling well and I threw up lunch, but it took away the head pain, then they had me play the piano as a couple of members sang Christmas hymns. Don't ask me why, haha, it's what they wanted. But it was good to finally play the piano
again, I miss playing the piano.

Haha we got stuck in a torrential rain looking for lunch on Thursday. We got onto the bus to head home just soaked from head to toe, well not really, I had my rain coat on, but my legs and shoes were full of water.

M-- came to church with E--, we went to look for them and we were running a little behind and it was great to see them wanting to hurry up to not get there late. Investigators never are that worried to get  to church. We paid a car to take us and we got there on time. :)

So now the fun news, so this morning we received the weekly phone call from Pres Ayre and we were talking about the zone's numbers and then he was like, elders you should know that this Tuesday we are expecting 30 new elders to arrive and we are going to be dividing a zone to make  another zone. Our zone is getting split and he basically told us that we won't be comps next transfer, so that basically means that I'm for sure staying here in JCP or the zone close by. We are starting the last week of my second to last transfer, so crazy fun news!! I'll let you all know what happens.

As a zone we are at 21 baptisms for the month and 18 confirmations, we are 14 away from the zone record and 23 away from the mission record. We have 7 people set for this weekend and that would put us 7 away from the zone record, which would be huge because the record was set more than 2 years ago, 2 and a half years ago! Feb. 2011, and only once since then have they reached more than 30, March 2013, so we are setting history here in Sarmiento and now it's the last chance for a while because we are dividing at the end of the month.

This week we are having another mission tour from Elder Vinas, from the seventy and he is in the area presidency, so that will be cool to see him and learn from him.

Well family, the time has come to an end. Another emailing session has come to a close and we are getting to closer and closer, but I just want you to know that I love each of you and I hope and wish that you all have a great week this week.  Remember to send me lots of pics of the BYU/Utah game and have a fun week. Say your prayers daily and read the scriptures daily!! The Church is true!!!

Love,
Elder Ryan Pittard

GO COUGS!!!!! ;)

So this is the newly sealed family and four of the 5 elders that helped them get baptized. It was an awesome day and everyone was just so happy.

In front of the temple, probably the last time before the trip right before coming home, so it was a fun day and the rain stopped just a tiny bit to allow us to take pics.

I was able to baptize G--, he's 11 and he loves to play soccer with me at his house. :)

 

This is the pic of A--'s baptism, her dad did the efforts and was able to baptize her, then the two younger kids are G-- and M--, so we had a great day on Saturday, though haha the water was freezing and the air outside was freezing, but everyone was a good sport. Then afterwards we shared soda cookies and paraguayan soup, but honestly its just like corn bread with more flavors.  We were excited for both of these families and the progress that they have shown.

I think that they were angels of God sent to bless this precious family through their faith

Hey there how's it going? First of all thanks for the wonderful letters and notes and for the pics!

Well today I forgot my camera so next week I'll have to send you a bunch of pics, of the baptism and the sealing!! That was awesome!! More on that later, and just the normal week that I had. All of the
weeks are basically the same and I've gotten so accostomed to the schedule that it's going by even faster. I can't believe that I'm writing to you again, and that another week has passed.

So to start off, last Monday we played soccer, I had a header to score a goal, kinda cool and then we had our cita with J--.  All week she just wasn't sure of a decision, she would say one thing one day and then another thing another day. She never said no, but didn't say yes, yes!! I want to get baptized right now! Those are the best ;) But we kept on inviting her to pray and read and to keep preparing. She passed her interview on Friday and Sunday barely made it to Sacrament meeting so that she could be baptized. But she was shaking as we were in the water, so I had to calm her down and then I had to dunk her deep so that all of her bushy hair and her wide dress made it all underneath. She came up and just turned to me like she wanted to give me a hug. Sometimes I wish I could just to congratulate them, but we just stood their in the water for like 5 seconds and then she came out
smiling it was a great feeling!! Honestly, yesterday was just like any other day, I've been doing this for so long that sometimes the moment doesn't get to me as much, but every time that we are blessed by God to have a baptism, I am grateful for everything!!

Tuesday, we were running to pick up a lunch from a sister and we found the street, a part of the map that we´ve never been to, and we felt the strongest impression to talk to a family sitting outside on their gate, so after we picked up the food we went over and started a conversation, they were nice enough to listen for a bit but turns out that they are strong Atheists and didn't want to accept another visit. As we were walking away we felt the strongest impression to turn around and ask them for a refferrel, (or however you spell it in English) haha, and so we obeyed and we asked them and they directed us to a house across the street, we were tempted to come back another day, we were so hungry and it was hot!, but we went and contacted the house. At first there wasn't an answer, then we insisted on knocking on the window and this lady answered through the window and we starting
sharing with her what we do. She was accepting everything and wanted us to pass by again. She accepted a baptismal date right there on the spot!! Her name is E--. We were so excited and glad to have followed the impressions of the Spirit.

Then the next day we passed by and we were able to meet her mom, and turns out that the day that we had met E--, they had been doubting God and wondering if He really was there. The mom´s
husband died of diabetes 2 years before. They were very receptive, haha bought us a pizza, and we were able to teach them about the Plan of Salvation, and as we were teaching they were like
this is what I was needing to hear. Oh man, when I heard that come out of their mouths I was just rushed over by the Spirit and I was just so happy to be there and share with them, they said that they already had the pamphlet of the Plan of Salvation, we asked them and this is the story that they told us:

Interesting story that I think is really cool and shows how prepared the people are from the Lord. So E-- has 2 daughters a 15 year old, and a 13 year old.  When the oldest daughter was 1 yrs old, she got really sick and they were in the hospital for many days. It finally got to the point that the doctors told the mom and gma that the baby would probably die by midnight of that day. M--, the gma, was so sad and angry with God that she climbed to the top of the hospital and prayed at the highest point, a window at the top. She was so worried and emotional that she was like God, why do you have to take away my granddaughter, if you don't save her life and she dies I'm going to jump off the top of this hospital (crazy right?) She then says that she heard a voice behind her, she looked around and there were two men standing there, they told her, "Your granddaughter will be alright, she will live. Then they gave her the pamphlet, then directed her view to the ground below. And there they were, her E-- walking out of the hospital with Y-- in her arms. She was so excited that she rushed downstairs to see the baby. E-- said that while M-- was away two men came into the room telling them that it would be alright and that they could give the baby a blessing by the laying on of hands, they gave her a blessing and immediately she was better.  Everyone was so happy and excited, she went running with the baby to find the gma, they found each other and told each other their side of the story. They realized that it was the same two men that had comforted them and helped them. So they wanted to find the men and thank them for what they did, they searched everywhere and asked everyone but
they couldn't find them anywhere... wow, crazy no?

They remembered this experience and connected it when in Relief Society they talked about the laying on of hands. They don't remember if they were wearing name tags or not, but I think that they were angels of God sent to bless this precious family through their faith. I'll have to ask them to write it down, I only heard the story from Elder Gonzales, but the same, they are still very prepared. Now the thing is that we aren't sure where M-- lives, she doesn't live in that house that we have been visiting and E-- isn't married, but her two daughters we can baptize and we are working with her about that. But I know that the Lord will answer the prayer of faith of any of His children, I'm glad to be a part of His work.

So that was just the beginning of the week! Friday I had to do a difficult interview with a girl that was having suicidal thoughts, tough family situation, she still has to prepare for her baptism. But that was sad and to just see this daughter of God just sad and miserable, she doesn't show it outwardly but after a few questions she broke down. I tried to help her through the scriptures, but I couldn't seem to connect to her, that's what made it more harder for me. But that same night J-- passed her interview and so that cheered me up. :)

Saturday was a great day! So we got up on time and we were at the train station by 8:00am, we took the train 5 stations and then we took a long distance bus for an hour to get to the temple. We got there at 9:45am, I was told that everything started at 11:00am, so I thought, hey, we had a ton of time. But we entered and found out that it started at 9:30 and that we had gotten there late. So we went back to go and change, and we enter the locker room and there is one of the brothers from Savio and for our luck it had been postponed to 11:00. Turns out the sealing was supposed to be at 11:00, but we were able to go through the temple with Hmo y Hma C--, A-- (their daughter) and her husband G--, which I had the privilege to help him get baptized just over a year ago. Then as we were in the Celestial room we went striaght to the Sealing room and A-- and G-- were sealed and then Hmo and Hma C-- were sealed and then the rest of the family entered all dressed in white and they all knelt down around the altar and they were all sealed as a family!! :) It was an awesome experience that I'll never forget, also it was my first sealing, so that was interesting to see. I didn't cry, just because I don't normally cry, only for manly stuff like 17 Miracles and when BYU loses. Then it was also
raining a ton down here to on Saturday, the whole travel down there it was raining a ton, when we left the temple it was raining a lot, but it stopped just enough to allow us to take a couple of pics :) It was great to see like half the ward again and Elder Solum went straight to the airport from there. He had extened his mission for a month to be able to be at the sealing. What a way to finish the mission!! So then we took forever to get home, our lunch was 3 alfajores. ;) We are surviving down here.

So the rain made it all super muddy and now my shoes are muddy again.  It reminds me a lot of Savio. I'll try and be better at taking care of my shoes this time around. :)

So that was my week. Oh, the zone baptized 6 and confirmed 10, so now we are at 16b and 10c, so we still have 3 weeks to shoot for the goal.  This weekend we are expecting 8 baptisms, so here we go. This weekend we are expecting 3 ourselves. A-- is still preparing for her baptism, the dad is super excited to baptize her, he was inviting everyone yesterday at church. He really wants to baptize her and has done his part. Also, we are expecting to baptize two other kids from a part member family.

I love you all and thanks for sharing this moment with me. I hope that you all have a great week and I know that the Lord is watching over each and everyone of us where ever we are in the world.

Love,
Elder Ryan Pittard

The Lord is blessing us with people to teach

Thanks so much for the wonderful letter that you all sent to me, I'm glad that everyone had a great week and I'm glad that school is going well for everyone.

So to tell you a little bit about my week,

First we weren’t able have the baptism of J-- this last week, she still needs preparation and to take care of some things, but we are looking for this week, A--'s dad has also been coming to church and is preparing to baptize his daughter, so we are excited for that!!

This last week was a crazy one because on Tuesday we headed to San Isidro for the monthly leaders council with us ZL's, Pres and the AP's, both elders and sisters, it was great. We were able to meet the new area doctor and his wife, that would be a crazy mission, lots of travel. Then we spent a good amount of time talking about the monthly goal, we finally put it at 155 which would be breaking the all time September record, though President wants to break the all time mission record of 200, but he wants to build up to that. Then we were treated to an American bbq, but Argentine style, what I'm trying to say is that it wasn’t either the normal Argentine or American bbq, only that it was a combination of both. The meat was a little burnt but excellent, it was fun to see all of my mission friends again.

Wednesday we had the Zone meeting where we discussed the topics from the council and then we again were working through what should be our zone goal, the whole zone got excited to go for the all time mission goal of a zone in one month, 43, so we put our goal at 44!! So we are super excited because since they split 3 zones, us and one other zone are the biggest in regards to the amount of missionaries, and this month there are 5 Sundays in order to baptize, so all of the signs are in our favor, now we just need to go and find!! This last week as a zone we had 10 baptisms and so that was a good first week, right now we are only waiting for 5 this next week but there are a lot of possibilities.
 
Friday, so we did divisions with Vucetich so that we could interview their baptisms that they had, so Elder Popoca came with me and we had a great day, we made lots of empanadas and we ate them with a type of guacamole, delicious, then we had a good day teaching lots of people.
 
Saturday morning I had to go early out to San Ignacio to do some interviews and all morning I was doing that.

Sunday we got up early, it's fast Sunday and I'm not going to lie, it was hard not eating anything, luckily in church I was able to teach the Gospel Principles class about Fasting and that helped me remind myself of why I fast. 5 people came to church for us and there were a lot more that weren’t members but they live in another ward and they didn’t have interest in receiving the missionaries. We are trying to improve as a mission in only counting those that count. It's too big of a problem that missionaries have thinking that they need to have a lot of numbers, really high numbers, but honestly the numbers don’t help us if they aren’t true. But the Lord is blessing us with people to teach, this last week we only found 3 new investigators and two of them were yesterday, but they both accepted dates and we will see their progress.
 
To relate a miracle from last week was actually just last night. Our final appointment had fallen through and we had no one to go to, so we decided to say a prayer right there in the street and ask God where he wants us to go. So we felt like we should knock the door of some former investigator that lived right there, nobody answered, so then the thought came to my  mind to go and visit a recent convert that lived right around the corner, and it turned out that her friend was there and we were able to teach her and she accepted a date, so we were grateful for the blessing.
 
MOM!!! Love you!!  Good job with work and helping all of the those little kids behave, I can't believe that some kids are starting schooling so early, but that just goes to show how well of a teacher you were to us because you taught us everything!! Reading, writing, spelling, math, the gospel, and we were more well behaved, right? ;)
 
Sounds like a crazy week, really busy, but hey the days are flying when youre busy. Haha, I remember the cleaning your room talks from you guys, luckily I'm a neater person and I'm pretty good at keeping it clean. :) haha

Just yesterday we ate an asado and I ate blood sausage, don’t try it, it's disgusting. I'm not going to lie haha, but it’s a good culture experience. We ate well this last week, everything from Paraguayan soup to arroz chaufa, empanadas, the bbq at the mission house. I'm starting to round up haha. I'll need to run a lot when I get home!! We taught 18 lessons with a member this week. :)

Well, I love you all so, so much, have a great labor day and keep praying for me that I can perseverar hasta el fin!!!

Love,
Elder Ryan Pittard

So to explain, on Friday we were making empanadas, I was frying them in the pan and I miss handled one and it splashed down into the pan and splattered my finger with burning oil. Elder Popoca, we were on divisions, told me to put tooth paste on it so that there wouldn't be any marks or so it wouldn't sting, and it worked! And the empanadas were delicious!!!

 

and to explain the pic of me just totally tired after a long day of work, well that just explains it :)

 

 

 

So here's a cool view of our church that I snapped real quick, every time that I take my camera around there's the danger of it being stolen, but I'm able to show how the church is in Argentina. It's actually a light to this dark place, just misunderstood lots of times. Though the missionary effort is paying off. :)

I'm grateful for all that I have learned from these experiences, it's helping me to be able to live on my own and depend on me. :)

Hey there family!!! How's it going? Thanks for all writing me something and thinking of me this last week. :) I loved hearing all about your weeks and I'm glad that the first week of school went well.

 

So we had a great week here in Argentina, it was super hot the first part of the week and then it turned to bitter wind which made it colder for the weekend. I actually got a headache from the quick change of climate on Friday haha, but I survived. The days were starting off really hot, the sun shining and then by 3 or 4pm the clouds cover up the sun and it's super windy, so crazy weather.

 

So this last week we were able to find B-- and he was confirmed yesterday, also C-- and S-- were also confirmed, so it was a good Sunday.

 

We had a big miscommunication this last week with the father of A-- who is a less-active member, somehow we were understanding that he was wanting one of us to baptize his daughter but then we get to Saturday and he changed his mind or something so we had to postpone the baptism, maybe if A-- makes a ton of effort he can baptize her in a month, so it was kind of a downer to not baptize but at least she will be baptized soon. But we have to respect the rights and wishes of the father.  But we are expecting the aunt of A-- to be baptized this Sunday. She is coming up with doubts but we just need to help her receive the answer from God, she's really timid and doesn't really express her feelings that easily but we showed her the font yesterday and that animated her to go ahead with it next Sunday, so we are praying for her.

 

Talking about the guy that has the blood disease and if he doesn't receive a transplant he will die, he said that he´s not afraid to die, he doesn't think that he's done nothing wrong in his life and that all good people go to heaven. Our message would be perfect for him, but the only problem is that he doesn't want to listen. haha That's the toughest part of this work, teaching people that don't want to commit or listen to anything that you say.

 

Yesterday I did divisions with a member of the elders quorum presidency and that was a good experience, we met with a less active man that's sick and says that he can't come to church for that reason, but we were able to help him build his faith to come this next week. Then we were trying to visit the less active sons of this one member and she's super faithful but we found her in a bad state. She just needed somebody to listen to her and to give her a word of comfort, so that was nice to help in that sense. This member was a convert of just over 3 yrs and I thought the first time that I saw him that he was part of the high council. haha, so it's good to see some converts actually take it and run with it. haha.

 

Also last night we got back to the church waiting for everyone else to arrive and we heard rocks being thrown against the side of the church, so I climbed up into the tree that's right next to the wall that surrounds the church and I was trying to see who was throwing, but I couldn't see anybody, but luckily nothing was broken. The nerve of some kids, or even teenagers, you never know down here.

 

So that was basically my week, haha, just the normal.

Good luck this next week of school and don't forget to send me lots of pics of the BYU football game haha. The computer is threating to shut off so I'll send this part first and continue the other part.

 

Alright, hopefully it doesn't shut down on me...anyways to continue,

...yeah I never really had a problem about extreme anxiety, yeah I had rough days and moments, a couple of times I was thinking what am I doing here? It was more of the stress more than thinking about home, but the Lord has helped me and I have adjusted. I'm grateful for all that I have learned from these experiences, it's helping me to be able to live on my own and depend on me. :)

 

Well, just know that I love you all so, so much and I pray for you everyday, I hope that school goes well this week and that you say your prayers and read everyday. Have fun waking up early with me and Tanner. :)

 

I love you all so, so much. :)  Have a great week!!!

 

Love,

Elder Ryan Pittard

 

 

We did divisions with the assitasts and Elder DeFriez came and spent the day with me. We had a fun time together and we were remembering old times.

 

We first had our interviews on Tuesday and from there he came back with me and we had a great day. We had a wonderful talk on the 2 hr bus ride home, then we had a great lunch of a cold chicken salad, the first that I've had here in Argentina, then we ate fillet, or oven cooked fish, delicious and then we ate that with noodles.

 

Then we took a member with us as we took a bus over to the back part of our area. There we met J--, a less active that I talked to on the bus. We were able to meet his family and then find his neice that isn't baptized, she's a tough one to help accept a baptismal date, her mom is Mormon but doesn't like the idea of baptizing her so young. I haven't met the mom, but it would be a different story if I did. :) haha

 

Then we stopped to buy a donut on the side of the road close to the church and we got talking to the kid selling them and turns out that he's a cousin of a recent convert and so we were able to see him later on in the week. Then we took the bikes, it was starting to drizzle, and we met a member's husband that is suffering from a blood disease, and he's a nonmember, but he was also super tough to break through. It was raining while we were in the house and as we were leaving it stopped raining.

 

Then we went and said hi to C-- and S-- and made sure that everything was good for this Sunday for their confirmations. They are doing wonderful. Then it was starting to thunder and lightning and so we quickly made it over to the church, and as we were entering it started to pour. We had our PEC and then we got a ride home with a member.

 

So this is an example of a journal entry that I write each day, so I'll have lots of info to draw off of from the last two years.

 

 

 

Here I am walking in the street like 4:00pm in the afternoon in the cold, it was sunny but windy, so it was cold. But we were in the back part of the area on the dirt road. I thought that it was a cool angle and a different look on my mission. Those shoes have seen a lot of dirt roads. haha Those pants as well, I need to wash them, maybe next month... haha

 

 

 

So this is a cool pic, it's a three generation of Pittards...well, sons of Elder Pittard. Elder Stewart who is in Jose C Paz 1 is training a Peruvian and so that makes him my grandson in the mission haha. So it was cool to take that pic. His name is Elder Sandoval and has less then a month in the mission. But I was able to go with Elder Stewart this last week in his area and we had a good fun day together remembering good ole days.

 

I actually was a grandfather like 2 transfers ago but I hardly get to see them. Elder Barragan trained an American and now Elder Johnson is training, so I have 3 grandsons, and Elder Kern was sent to the south right before the change so I've lost contact with him, so he's the lost son. haha

 

I'm hoping that everyone comes to my farewell talk at the despedida and so I can take a picture with all the fruit of my loins. :)

 

 

 

 

 

That doesn't happen every day where the people are so willing to at least listen.

Hey there Family :) I love you all so so much!!!

Wow another week has passed by and I can't believe that I'm on the internet right now writing to you all again. :) It just seemed like last week that I was writing to you guys. Wait, I was! haha

 

 

So first to describe the picture, this last Friday I went to San Ignacio 1 for divisions and I was with Elder M-- from Chile. He's really cool and we had a great day together. We found this older lady and her grandson and they both came to church yesterday and so I'm excited for them. Elder M-- is a cool guy. He changed his life up and decided to serve a mission. He's 25 and was really different before, but now thanks to Jesus Christ, he's a changed man. Really humble, and only has like 2 months in the mission, so really young, but going to be a leader.

 

So other than the changes it was a pretty normal week. It was weird adjusting to it being just the two of us in the pension and having to go to all parts of our area; that's been the hardest change, having to figure out who are the most important people to visit out of the people that we had been visiting.

 

This last week we were also able to help the doubts of an older lady and her daughter to help them be baptized this last Sunday, it was a struggle but the Lord pulled through on us. :) She was evangelical, protestant basically, but this lady realized the truth of the things that we were sharing and what really helped her was reading the BofM. She was already being taught by the other two elders and I got the chance to come in for the last week.

 

Other than that it was a week of planning, talking to people, teaching in the streets and in their houses and inviting all to come to church and be baptized. So it was a normal week. haha

 

It was cool, we were in the poorer part of town way back behind the church, and we were sharing with the husband of the friend of a less active lady from Paraguay and we asked him if there was anyone else that we could share the message with right then and there. He said his neighbor, so we went to the barbed wire fence inbetween the houses and we called the neighbor and he was sleeping but was nice enough to accept a visit right then. He is really humble, he had been living in Argentina for 7 years and we were the first people to invite him to talk about God. That's almost unheard of  down here. haha  We were able to teach him, and his neighbor, and we invited them to church, they didn't come, but it was a cool experience because that doesn't happen every day where the people are so willing to at least listen.

 

Cool experience on Saturday night, so we had gone to contact a possible person to come to church, the daughter of a less active lady. Already one of the daughters was baptized last year and we wanted to see about the other one. Turns out the mom was having a tough Saturday night and when we stopped by M--, the recent convert, told us that it would have to be another day. But right there in the front gate we had her say a prayer asking for the Spirit to soften the heart of her mom. So she said the prayer and then went and called her mom, the mom yelled from inside, no, not right now, well actually in other words, but everyone gets the idea. Then we persisted and she came steaming out and told us everything bad that had ever happened with her and the church and she wasn’t happy, but all she needed was somebody to listen to her.

 

So after a little bit of listening she slowly started to soften up and by the end of the conversation we were laughing and we even committed her to come to church. She ended up not coming but when we passed by last night she wanted us to come in and talk, so slowly we are gaining her confidence. Next would be getting to the non-member dad, he's super Catholic and doesn’t want to know anything about the Church, he allowed the other girl to be baptized because she wasn’t technically his daughter but we are going to keep trusting in the Lord and His help.

 

Haha last night I was heading the soccer ball back and forth, well not that well, but still improving. Anyways, I was heading it back and forth and I headed it and it hit the light bulb hanging from the ceiling, we were in an unfinished room in the front of the house and the bulb burnt, so I had to provide the money for a new bulb haha, costly lesson to not head the soccer ball close to light fixtures.

 

It didn't rain on us this last week, it was actually a week of perfect weather and it was sunny all week, a good missionary weather week. Spring starts on Sept 21st down here so we are looking forward to the weather change, well half looking forward, but I'll enjoy the quick weather change before going back into the cold. haha

 

It was cool, we received a call from President this morning congratulating us for having 7 baptisms as a zone and 40 people in church as a zone. We had the most people in church and lessons with a member in the whole mission, so we are really improving, now we just need to improve the baptisms.

 

It's cool about G-- and A-- being sealed. Last night I was thinking about when he accepted to be baptized and how he had said no to that Sunday but then with a tiny grin said, I would like to be baptized on Saturday. We were all excited. :)

 

Well, just know that I'm doing well and that the work is moving forward. I love each and every one of you guys and I'm thankful for the blessings that the gospel brings into our lives.

 

Keep going to church!

 

Love,

Elder Ryan Pittard

 

 

 

haha I was super tired and decided to take a nap... haha, I wish... but seriously, we were waiting for the changes to arrive by email so that we could call the zone to let them know everything that was going on. It was the end of another transfer and now to start another one!!

 

 

 

 MTC comps back together again, just for the picture haha, He's still in San Fernando as AP and he's doing good, he's changed a little bit but personality wise. We are going to be doing divisions tomorrow with him so we can talk about old times haha. This was at the despedida on Sunday night, the other Sunday night. I can't believe everything that we've been through these last 21 months, but we definitely have changed. :)

 

 

So here´s the pic of the baptism, it was a great day and we were super happy to help them come unto Christ by being baptized by someone that holds the priesthood authority of God. C-- had recently lost her husband but was struggling to accept the fact that we can do baptisms for the dead, she was thinking that it wasn't just to give someone a free baptism, she didn't want to accept the fact that people can still reject this baptism. Finally we had to share with her Mosiah 4:9 which says that we don't understand everything that God does, and that seemed to calm her down.

 

They are a testimony to me of how the Lord opens the hearts of the people and softens them and prepares them to receive the restored gospel.

 

Yes, I know, I'm way taller than everyone else down here, but actually there´s a kid in our ward that has Russian origins that's like 6´8"... crazy

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!!