Hey there, how's it going? :) Can you believe that I only have so many times left to write to you
all? It's crazy how this has all flown by so so fast!! I sure hope that everyone is doing well up there in the north, starting to get a little bit colder and colder, and down here it's heating up. haha I'm glad that I don't have to pass through another summer, that was too much. haha.
I loved the letters and notes and just feeling a little bit closer to you!
So we had a good week, lots of things happened, well lots of just day to day normal things that I can't remember off the top of my head. That's why I write it down in my journal, I can't remember after that all of the details. haha.
So today is the holiday, dia de la raza, or human race day, they don't want to call it dia de cristobal colón, or Columbus Day, oh well, but still nothing is open down here, we are in a ciber that I've never been in before, we are lucky to be writing you today. It's hot today, lots of humidity. A family has invited us to eat an asado, an arg bbq so we are heading out to that after we are done writing. So we are being hurried through this day.
This last Monday we just had a normal afternoon, then Tuesday morning we were up and ready and we left the house at 7 am. We took the train from Jose C Paz up to Pilar, then a 45 min bus ride all the
way over to Escobar and we got there just in time at 9:30am, it was weird seeing all of the missionaries together, all in their white shirts and ties. We had a mini conference beforehand and then we walked over to the zoo, we had fun being together. We could go where ever we wanted with whomever we wanted as long as we were with our comps. We saw everything from fishes, sharks, tigers, and lots of birds. It was funny, we walked into this bird exhibit, the birds just walk around you, we walked through the big cage. We walked in and there were these parrots just sitting on the railing, we could've easily touched them, but we didn't want our fingers to get bitten off. haha It's nothing like an American Zoo but is a good step for Argentina. Then we waited in line for lunch, we hadn't eaten bfast, so we were super hungry. They provided 64 pesos for us to eat lunch, that wasn't enough
for me. haha By 4pm we were leaving and taking the same path home arriving by 5:45pm, so a good full long day!! I felt like a normal person just walking around the park, it was weird after not doing
something like that for such a long time.
So Wednesday we went to San Miguel for the district meeting, it was a good meeting, and as soon as we left the church when it was finished, it started raining. It wasn't torrential but it wasn't sprinkling and we had to walk 15 min. to the train station, so we got a little wet. haha That day it was raining the whole day, even into the night it was thundering and lightning and we had to go to the furthest part of the area to eat a dinner, so we were walking in the dark with the rain and storm all around, it was a fun experience.
Thursday was a normal day, though we found out that the dad of A-- and M-- fought with his girlfriend and they separated and now he's still nice to us but I believe that he doesn't really want
to come to church. It showed when they didn't come to church. We showed our faith by going out to their house to go and look for them, they didn't leave the house. We tried all sorts of things to get them to come to church, but we will just have to keep working with them. It's sad that it happened right now-- just before they need the saving ordinance of the confirmation, he hardens the hearts of
the people.
Friday we enjoyed a good day, normal day, oh also this week we found this awesome kid, a son of this less active lady that just moved here. We are also teaching his baptizable siblings. N-- and P-- came to church yesterday and they have dates for Oct 27th. Yesterday the Lord blessed us with 9 people in church, people bringing family members and people just showing up, it really was a blessing for us because that was only the second time that that has happened to me, having that
many people. Right now we have 5 people with dates, but none for this weekend, so we are going to be searching for the miracles.
Saturday, there was a baptism of a 8 yr old girl that was baptized by the reactivated dad, a ward baptism that we helped in. Then right afterwards we had a mini ward activity, we watched Only a Stonecutter, and then nobody wanted to play volleyball, they only wanted to play soccer, but that was only like 3 boys, so we got a huge game of Tip-It going and they all loved that. There were like 10 people on each team. I incorparated another coin, so there were two coins going around. :) I got some pics that I'll show you in a couple of weeks.
Sunday, it was a good day, we had to open up the back curtain to have enough space for everybody. We normally teach the Gospel Principles class, but yesterday Ornella was assigned to teach it, so it was nice to just sit and listen. E-- keeps on coming, she is so strong, just can't be baptized just yet. It's already been more then 6 weeks since we found her. Then we had a good afternoon, we were able to find A-- and M-- and we read from the Book of Mormon sitting on the grass in front of their house.
So today nothing is open, haha, on their independence day, there were more things open than on this holiday.
We taught lots of lessons, a couple to the family N--, N-- and them all, he's been coming to seminary with his active cousin. We also have been visiting this unmarried couple, trying to get them married so that she can be baptized. We also have visited with A-- and M--. On Monday night we made homeade pizzas with them,
I love you all so so much!!! Thanks for the wonderful letters and notes once again. I think about you and pray for you every day.
Alright, chau!!!
Love,
Elder Ryan Pittard
Monday, October 14, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013
I loved watching General Conference
Hey there family that I love so much. :) Thanks so much for the notes and the pics and the love that I felt for you all!!!
I LOVED THE VIDEO!! I was so surprised and I'm glad that it all worked out, it was funny to see you all, haha for a second I thought that it was a live feed, it was just a quick wish of mine haha, but then I realized that it was only a video but I loved it equally!! Wow, everyone`s voices have changed a lot!! You are all so grown up!!
I enjoyed my birthday in the mission field. This year we ate less cake, but that's actually a good thing haha We had lunch with E-- and M--, O--, who has become best friends with E-- was also there. We were all there, the four elders and we had a lunch of oven baked chicken and a potato salad, then we had a basic Argentine cake, premade thin cake layers stuck together with dulce de leche in the middle then peaches on top. I miss the American cakes haha, but it was fun being with friends and to see you as well, that was really special. That was really nice of O-- to set that all up.
Wow I can't believe that im 21!! I was asked last night, how old I was and I had to stop my self from saying 20 and I was like, wow, I'm 21 yrs old. So old haha, I'm not a teenager anymore. But I still feel the same as before.
I was able to gift my cd of the church hymns in Spanish to E-- and she was crying with gratitude. So I've learned that it's nice to recieve but that it's better to give. The feeling after gifting the cd was worth it. :) I've also given them a couple of the dvd`s that I have, and I'm sure that I can leave some other stuff with them.
Our week in general was chill, nothing too crazy happened, the weather has been between warm and cold, sunny and cloudy. It was supposed to rain on Friday but it was sunny all day, good weather.
Yes, we had the baptism yesterday inbetween sessions. That was the crazy story of the week I guess, one never has the perfect baptism where everything works out on its own. There`s a ton of stress haha. So we get to Sunday morning, we are watching the morning session and I ask the elder that is in JCP1, a different ward, if he was filling up the font, turns out that he still hadn't so we almost didn't
have a full font. Then after the session we were looking for a supposedly white dress for a 9yr old girl that the church had but we couldn't find it. The family was standing over my shoulders, stress, so
we decided to go and see if we could find anything in our church, we went in the car of the Farnsworth's, the older couple of the ward, they drove us over, and almost to the church I get this thought to call A--'s family, the 9yr old girl that was baptized Sept 14th, and to ask to borrow her own dress that she had used. Luckily they were home and were willing to share it with us. We arrived late and the families and the ward were waiting for us. We quickly changed into the white clothes. So all in all it all worked out. :) The stress-free feeling afterwards is totally worth it.
I really enjoyed conference weekend. I did something that I've never had done before in the mission. We got to the church in San Miguel on Saturday and no one had set up the English screen in another
room, so I had to watch the first session in Spanish, it's just not the same.
I also loved Elder Maynes' talk, also Elder Nielson's talk, the former BYU quarterback, lots of energy!! I loved the spirit that I felt from Pres Monson Sunday morning and as he closed out the sessions. Yah it was cool to think that we were just with Elder Viñas and it was fun to hear his English. I now know how they all feel, I speak in Spanish the same that they speak in English.
This morning we had a special leadership conference with all of the ZLs and DLs in San Fernando with Pres, we talked a quick 2 hours and then they fed us a mini lunch and sent us off, luckily we can
write to you all.
Well its crazy to think that in one month's time I'll be getting off the plane and giving you all a hug. I'm not constantly thinking about that but it's on the back of my mind. They haven't told us our travel plans yet, but they will tell you guys so you can be there to pick me up, so that it's not a RM experience haha. You still live in the same house, right? haha
This last week a member loaned me the institute book about the restoration of the church in the fullness of times in Spanish and that has been fun to read that and learn details about church history that I never knew.
Dad, yes, conference was great and I loved all of the talks. I thought it was interesting that most of the subjects that the apostles picked, we are living in a changing world. I also loved hearing that we now have 15 million members!! Remember when you were on your mission, just a couple of million, no? Wow, how much will we have in 20 yrs?!? Fun to think about.
I loved the talk by Elder Nelson, about learning to control our body in this life and that the purpose of life is learning how to control our God given appetites. Also how Elder Christofferson was calling all of the men and women to step it up. One could just feel the spirit when Pres Monson announced that, and yes, I thought that it was special that he mentioned so much about his wife. I really do appreciate all that you have done for mom and the example that you have set for me. I hope that I can be like you one day.haha A stud. I also learned a lot from conference, there are lots of things that I need to work on to become more like Christ.
Everything is going good with the four of us, we get along. I get along good with my comp and we are surviving with the four of us cramped in our pension.
Inbetween sessions on Saturday we did divisions, my comp went to go look for someone in another area while I waited with the DL to do the interview of our two baptisms. Then Sunday we were zooming around in a car searching for a white dress, then around 4:45pm we finally were able to eat lunch. jaja 15 min. before the last session.
Have a great week and know that I know that this is the true church!! I love each and every one of you so so much!! Have a great week and enjoy the fall weather and the upcoming fall break!!
Love,
Elder Ryan Pittard
I LOVED THE VIDEO!! I was so surprised and I'm glad that it all worked out, it was funny to see you all, haha for a second I thought that it was a live feed, it was just a quick wish of mine haha, but then I realized that it was only a video but I loved it equally!! Wow, everyone`s voices have changed a lot!! You are all so grown up!!
I enjoyed my birthday in the mission field. This year we ate less cake, but that's actually a good thing haha We had lunch with E-- and M--, O--, who has become best friends with E-- was also there. We were all there, the four elders and we had a lunch of oven baked chicken and a potato salad, then we had a basic Argentine cake, premade thin cake layers stuck together with dulce de leche in the middle then peaches on top. I miss the American cakes haha, but it was fun being with friends and to see you as well, that was really special. That was really nice of O-- to set that all up.
Wow I can't believe that im 21!! I was asked last night, how old I was and I had to stop my self from saying 20 and I was like, wow, I'm 21 yrs old. So old haha, I'm not a teenager anymore. But I still feel the same as before.
I was able to gift my cd of the church hymns in Spanish to E-- and she was crying with gratitude. So I've learned that it's nice to recieve but that it's better to give. The feeling after gifting the cd was worth it. :) I've also given them a couple of the dvd`s that I have, and I'm sure that I can leave some other stuff with them.
Our week in general was chill, nothing too crazy happened, the weather has been between warm and cold, sunny and cloudy. It was supposed to rain on Friday but it was sunny all day, good weather.
Yes, we had the baptism yesterday inbetween sessions. That was the crazy story of the week I guess, one never has the perfect baptism where everything works out on its own. There`s a ton of stress haha. So we get to Sunday morning, we are watching the morning session and I ask the elder that is in JCP1, a different ward, if he was filling up the font, turns out that he still hadn't so we almost didn't
have a full font. Then after the session we were looking for a supposedly white dress for a 9yr old girl that the church had but we couldn't find it. The family was standing over my shoulders, stress, so
we decided to go and see if we could find anything in our church, we went in the car of the Farnsworth's, the older couple of the ward, they drove us over, and almost to the church I get this thought to call A--'s family, the 9yr old girl that was baptized Sept 14th, and to ask to borrow her own dress that she had used. Luckily they were home and were willing to share it with us. We arrived late and the families and the ward were waiting for us. We quickly changed into the white clothes. So all in all it all worked out. :) The stress-free feeling afterwards is totally worth it.
I really enjoyed conference weekend. I did something that I've never had done before in the mission. We got to the church in San Miguel on Saturday and no one had set up the English screen in another
room, so I had to watch the first session in Spanish, it's just not the same.
I also loved Elder Maynes' talk, also Elder Nielson's talk, the former BYU quarterback, lots of energy!! I loved the spirit that I felt from Pres Monson Sunday morning and as he closed out the sessions. Yah it was cool to think that we were just with Elder Viñas and it was fun to hear his English. I now know how they all feel, I speak in Spanish the same that they speak in English.
This morning we had a special leadership conference with all of the ZLs and DLs in San Fernando with Pres, we talked a quick 2 hours and then they fed us a mini lunch and sent us off, luckily we can
write to you all.
Well its crazy to think that in one month's time I'll be getting off the plane and giving you all a hug. I'm not constantly thinking about that but it's on the back of my mind. They haven't told us our travel plans yet, but they will tell you guys so you can be there to pick me up, so that it's not a RM experience haha. You still live in the same house, right? haha
This last week a member loaned me the institute book about the restoration of the church in the fullness of times in Spanish and that has been fun to read that and learn details about church history that I never knew.
Dad, yes, conference was great and I loved all of the talks. I thought it was interesting that most of the subjects that the apostles picked, we are living in a changing world. I also loved hearing that we now have 15 million members!! Remember when you were on your mission, just a couple of million, no? Wow, how much will we have in 20 yrs?!? Fun to think about.
I loved the talk by Elder Nelson, about learning to control our body in this life and that the purpose of life is learning how to control our God given appetites. Also how Elder Christofferson was calling all of the men and women to step it up. One could just feel the spirit when Pres Monson announced that, and yes, I thought that it was special that he mentioned so much about his wife. I really do appreciate all that you have done for mom and the example that you have set for me. I hope that I can be like you one day.haha A stud. I also learned a lot from conference, there are lots of things that I need to work on to become more like Christ.
Everything is going good with the four of us, we get along. I get along good with my comp and we are surviving with the four of us cramped in our pension.
Inbetween sessions on Saturday we did divisions, my comp went to go look for someone in another area while I waited with the DL to do the interview of our two baptisms. Then Sunday we were zooming around in a car searching for a white dress, then around 4:45pm we finally were able to eat lunch. jaja 15 min. before the last session.
Have a great week and know that I know that this is the true church!! I love each and every one of you so so much!! Have a great week and enjoy the fall weather and the upcoming fall break!!
Love,
Elder Ryan Pittard
Me and My Companion
Monday, September 30, 2013
This last month we broke a mission record for confirmations in a month!
Hey there Family :) I'm so glad that you all had a great week!! Thanks for all of the notes and birthday wishes, I even kinda forgot how close was my birthday, I knew it was coming up but it surprisingly snuck up on me this time. haha. Yah I can't believe that I'm turning 21! I feel so old
and I can't believe that it's October again, exciting time of the year for me and for the family. :)
I'll try to answer all of the questions and include more details, haha I include all of the details in my daily journal that I've been keeping my whole mission. It's full of everyday details and the things that I've eaten, to funny moments and other moments that I don't want to forget. I get a laugh as I read about what I was doing over a year ago haha, For example, a year ago I was in Savio and we went to lunch with a Peruvian family after church and then we went with the young women's president to do a visit to a less-active young woman and then we went house hunting, looking for a house from a ref that we had received with Hmo C--, we didn't find it. Then when it was night time, we met up with
F-- at the plaza close to the C--'s house. He was late and came running up to us, which from the point of view of a nearby cop, looked like he was robbing us and he quickly drove over to see what was going on. haha It was all good, and funny. Then I ate ice cream and played a game of chess right before bed. haha I just read that today, but it's funny to remember all of the those experiences and have them ready to remember.
Tuesday we played soccer at our church. 12 young men came and we played lots of games, I scored 3
times, once on a break away where I manuevered through the 2 defenders to send it home with the left foot, it was a great feeling. I'm excited for the World Cup that's coming up next June, 2014 in Brazil. Everyone down here is super excited, especially because they think that Argentina should go far, but I think that Brazil will win it all. They will have home field advantage.
The weather this last week also was up and down we had days of lot of heat and then other days that it was rainy and windy which made it super muddy and cold. So the other 2 elders arrived on Tuesday night at around 11:30pm, we had to help them get situated and ready to go to bed, luckily they allowed us to sleep the 8 hours, so we were able to get our sleep. It's hard for the new elders that came in. He`s doing well in a tough situation. So the new elder is Elder Hicks from AZ, he has 7 months on the mission and he's training for the first time, his new comp is Elder Paricahua from Lima, Perú, he's a newbie that started Sept 11. So Elder Hicks just got moved up to senior comp and a trainer at the same time, starting a new area in a new place that he`s never been in and his comp is brand new, the only advantage is that he already speaks the language. So I got lucky that when I was moved up it was in parts that allowed me to adjust. So they have been getting to know the area better and learning how to get around. They are still without a cell phone, but luckily we have given them another set of keys.
Elder Carvajal and I are getting along really well. He`s an awesome missionary and an awesome guy in general! He was baptized when he was 17, three years ago, and he`s the only member of his family. His family doesn't really support him, but he has a lot of desire to serve and work. We work well together. He has a different teaching style than Elder Gonzales, which has been the only thing that I have to get used to.
We have been visiting the G-- family, they live on the edge of the mission and it's a long trip down there everyday but we have to have daily visual contact with them to help them come to church. We baptized recently G-- and M-- and now we are working on their half sisters A-- and M--. They are an awesome family and they always give us stuff to snack on haha. Like this stuff called polenta, I don't know what it's called in English but they cook it in hot milk and add sugar for a fun treat. It's like a corn mush, but not, I don't know how to explain it haha. Also torta fritas, I forgot what they are called in English haha.
This week for lunches we had a lot of spaghetti with red meat sauce. We also ate milenesa and one day we went to a pizza buffet that just opened up here around the corner from where we live. We didn't have lunch like 3 days this last week, and one day we made spicy spaghetti, the other day we went and had the pizza buffet, which was really good haha, but kinda leaves your inards destroyed. haha
With the division of the area that we did, I'm no longer technically on the side of M-- and E--, but we ate dinner with them on Thursday night, they are so up and down haha, the missionaries for them are a stabilizer, but they both came to church on Sunday and in skirts, when M-- was baptized Elder Gonzales came from the neighboring area to confirm her, she was threating not to be confirmed if he didn't do it, haha. It's sweet how they sometimes get so attached to their missionaries. They also came to the ward activity on Saturday night, which because of the weather, cold and rainy, hardly anyone came, but we made it a fun experience. For the activity we made popcorn, we were like 12 people, but we watched lots of Mormon Messages and then we played a type of hot potato game and then I taught them the quarter game. The one where you sit with the two teams on the opposite sides of the table and you pass it around and then you have to smack it down on the table without making it known where the coin is. It was funny, but they started to get the hang of it. haha
Sunday morning we woke up and it's pouring, no!! The worst sign for a missionary, especially in rural Argentina! So we had half the attendance this week with what we had the previous week. No one came to church as an investigator, so that was sad, but everyone put the weather as an excuse. I'm glad that we have access to a car haha, but it would be difficult to have to walk to church or to a bus in the cold and rain through the mud. It's difficult, but we still have to commit them better throughout the week.
So we also had exciting news!! This last month we broke a mission record for confirmations in a month, we were blessed in helping 201 souls as a mission become members of the church and receive the blessings of the Holy Ghost. So the whole mission is really excited right now and Pres is going to celebrate. We are going as a mission to a huge public zoo in Escobar next Tuesday. That will be our
pday, but I will still write to you on Monday, they have given us 2 hours to write to family and friends. It's exciting to accomplish something like that especially being an old elder in this mission. It's crazy to think that there aren't any missionaries with more time than me and those that are in my
group. Lots of experience. haha
Teaching this week was great, we are learning how to teach together but that's nothing, just the normal comp changes, but we are getting along really well, we like to quote church movie quotes together haha, super funny.
Well I've got to go, but thanks for all of the love and support and I'm sure that I'll have a great birthday. :) Enjoy conference and see you next week. :)
Love,
Elder Ryan Pittard
Oh, and another cool thing, a new elder that just got here in an area right next to me in my district is Elder Goff from Highland, UT. He knew Tanner from junior high, haha, small world.
Go BYU!!!
and I can't believe that it's October again, exciting time of the year for me and for the family. :)
I'll try to answer all of the questions and include more details, haha I include all of the details in my daily journal that I've been keeping my whole mission. It's full of everyday details and the things that I've eaten, to funny moments and other moments that I don't want to forget. I get a laugh as I read about what I was doing over a year ago haha, For example, a year ago I was in Savio and we went to lunch with a Peruvian family after church and then we went with the young women's president to do a visit to a less-active young woman and then we went house hunting, looking for a house from a ref that we had received with Hmo C--, we didn't find it. Then when it was night time, we met up with
F-- at the plaza close to the C--'s house. He was late and came running up to us, which from the point of view of a nearby cop, looked like he was robbing us and he quickly drove over to see what was going on. haha It was all good, and funny. Then I ate ice cream and played a game of chess right before bed. haha I just read that today, but it's funny to remember all of the those experiences and have them ready to remember.
Tuesday we played soccer at our church. 12 young men came and we played lots of games, I scored 3
times, once on a break away where I manuevered through the 2 defenders to send it home with the left foot, it was a great feeling. I'm excited for the World Cup that's coming up next June, 2014 in Brazil. Everyone down here is super excited, especially because they think that Argentina should go far, but I think that Brazil will win it all. They will have home field advantage.
The weather this last week also was up and down we had days of lot of heat and then other days that it was rainy and windy which made it super muddy and cold. So the other 2 elders arrived on Tuesday night at around 11:30pm, we had to help them get situated and ready to go to bed, luckily they allowed us to sleep the 8 hours, so we were able to get our sleep. It's hard for the new elders that came in. He`s doing well in a tough situation. So the new elder is Elder Hicks from AZ, he has 7 months on the mission and he's training for the first time, his new comp is Elder Paricahua from Lima, Perú, he's a newbie that started Sept 11. So Elder Hicks just got moved up to senior comp and a trainer at the same time, starting a new area in a new place that he`s never been in and his comp is brand new, the only advantage is that he already speaks the language. So I got lucky that when I was moved up it was in parts that allowed me to adjust. So they have been getting to know the area better and learning how to get around. They are still without a cell phone, but luckily we have given them another set of keys.
Elder Carvajal and I are getting along really well. He`s an awesome missionary and an awesome guy in general! He was baptized when he was 17, three years ago, and he`s the only member of his family. His family doesn't really support him, but he has a lot of desire to serve and work. We work well together. He has a different teaching style than Elder Gonzales, which has been the only thing that I have to get used to.
We have been visiting the G-- family, they live on the edge of the mission and it's a long trip down there everyday but we have to have daily visual contact with them to help them come to church. We baptized recently G-- and M-- and now we are working on their half sisters A-- and M--. They are an awesome family and they always give us stuff to snack on haha. Like this stuff called polenta, I don't know what it's called in English but they cook it in hot milk and add sugar for a fun treat. It's like a corn mush, but not, I don't know how to explain it haha. Also torta fritas, I forgot what they are called in English haha.
This week for lunches we had a lot of spaghetti with red meat sauce. We also ate milenesa and one day we went to a pizza buffet that just opened up here around the corner from where we live. We didn't have lunch like 3 days this last week, and one day we made spicy spaghetti, the other day we went and had the pizza buffet, which was really good haha, but kinda leaves your inards destroyed. haha
With the division of the area that we did, I'm no longer technically on the side of M-- and E--, but we ate dinner with them on Thursday night, they are so up and down haha, the missionaries for them are a stabilizer, but they both came to church on Sunday and in skirts, when M-- was baptized Elder Gonzales came from the neighboring area to confirm her, she was threating not to be confirmed if he didn't do it, haha. It's sweet how they sometimes get so attached to their missionaries. They also came to the ward activity on Saturday night, which because of the weather, cold and rainy, hardly anyone came, but we made it a fun experience. For the activity we made popcorn, we were like 12 people, but we watched lots of Mormon Messages and then we played a type of hot potato game and then I taught them the quarter game. The one where you sit with the two teams on the opposite sides of the table and you pass it around and then you have to smack it down on the table without making it known where the coin is. It was funny, but they started to get the hang of it. haha
Sunday morning we woke up and it's pouring, no!! The worst sign for a missionary, especially in rural Argentina! So we had half the attendance this week with what we had the previous week. No one came to church as an investigator, so that was sad, but everyone put the weather as an excuse. I'm glad that we have access to a car haha, but it would be difficult to have to walk to church or to a bus in the cold and rain through the mud. It's difficult, but we still have to commit them better throughout the week.
So we also had exciting news!! This last month we broke a mission record for confirmations in a month, we were blessed in helping 201 souls as a mission become members of the church and receive the blessings of the Holy Ghost. So the whole mission is really excited right now and Pres is going to celebrate. We are going as a mission to a huge public zoo in Escobar next Tuesday. That will be our
pday, but I will still write to you on Monday, they have given us 2 hours to write to family and friends. It's exciting to accomplish something like that especially being an old elder in this mission. It's crazy to think that there aren't any missionaries with more time than me and those that are in my
group. Lots of experience. haha
Teaching this week was great, we are learning how to teach together but that's nothing, just the normal comp changes, but we are getting along really well, we like to quote church movie quotes together haha, super funny.
Well I've got to go, but thanks for all of the love and support and I'm sure that I'll have a great birthday. :) Enjoy conference and see you next week. :)
Love,
Elder Ryan Pittard
Oh, and another cool thing, a new elder that just got here in an area right next to me in my district is Elder Goff from Highland, UT. He knew Tanner from junior high, haha, small world.
Go BYU!!!
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Wow, I want to be baptized like that!
Well, your waiting is done, the news is out... I'm staying. :) I'm really excited to stay in an area that I already know and that I'm going to be able to have my birthday here as well. :) My new companion is Elder Carvajal, he is from Chile and has almost a year and a half in the mission and he seems like a chill guy and a good worker and so I'm excited. :)
Today is transfer pday and so I don't have too much time because we started later :) but thank you so much for the news and pics. I loved it all, though I'm kinda bummed about the BYU game. Ugh haha oh well, don't worry, their good luck charm will be there soon. ;)
So first of all, there have been a lot of changes, the whole zone was changed up, we opened 4 new areas and split it into two zones of 8 elders with 2 districts. Elder Gonzales was sent around the corner to Vucetich and I stayed. Jose C Paz 2 was split and now we are JCP 2 and JCP 3, 4 elders in the same ward. So now we are going to be 4 elders in the tiny pension again haha, but I'll survive like I have before. We still haven't met the new elders that are coming, it will be an American, who was actually trained by Elder Barragan, so in mission terms he's my grandson and he's training so I have the privilege in my old age to have a great-grandson in the mission, haha. So I'm old. haha
We split the zone north and south and I'm taking the south part. Now we have to figure out how to divide the area, I'm thinking of doing it east and west and us taking the west side, the part that touches the west mission. So I'm now officially zone leader senior comp, so now I have that
responsibility haha, but now I'm going to "die" as a zone leader and I guess that's what the Lord wants me to do. :)
So I have to tell you all about M-- and how she was baptized! On Tuesday we received a call telling us that M-- wasn't going to be baptized, she had a doubt that she couldn't get over. We later found out that it was tithing. We were able to get through all of her doubts, giving up the Virgin Mary and knowing that the bishop doesn't recieve and use her tithing money. Then on Friday we had scheduled her interview and I received a message three hours before telling us that she couldn't be baptized, haha, it's passed so many times that I didn't even blink. We headed over at the time planned and I just sent in Elder Stewart to do the interview, after an hour she passed, turns out that she did have an abortion over 20 years ago and felt really bad about it, she was afraid that she couldn't be baptized for that but it happened so long ago and she really was repentant, so she passed with flying colors and she was super excited!! She even got one of her wayward sons to come to the baptism, with his wife and daughter, the daughter saw the baptism and was like, wow, I want to be baptized like that!! Now we have to get the permission of the dad... but we are depending on the spirit, but I think according to where I want to divide the area that they are going to be with the new elders, but they will be in good
hands.
So she left the font super happy and with a big smile and it went perfectly! :) Then after church we went far away to eat Peruvian food and then we went to the missionary farewell and that was a crazy
experience to think that's me in 6 weeks, what!?
We are also working with the cousins of G-- and M--, well technically they are half-siblings, same thing right, haha, anyways they have a date for Oct. 6th, we are excited for them because they already
have the signature of their father. We are working with him, G-- too. :)
Friday and Saturday night we got home late both nights, we were out doing late interviews. Saturday night we got completely lost, we didn't get off at the right stop on the bus, haha I think we might have
gone into another zone, but it was on accident haha.
Yes, on Thursday we had the mission conference with Elder Viñas and it was excellent to learn from him. It was just him with the half of the mission. He is a man that just uses the scriptures to answer questions and quotes from the prophets and Preach My Gospel, so like he said that we couldn't deny his words because they were the Lord's. We learned more about the work of Salvation, how the missionaries are in all of the 5 facets of this work. We learned about the importance of saving the members that have entered the temple but now don't have a current temple recommend. He had lots of missionaries stand up and bear their testimony on the Atonement and how it has blessed their lives, he used the scripture Jacob 4:12, it's like why shouldn't we talk about the Atonement, something like that haha. But overall it was a great experience.
We had a great experience Saturday morning, so we decided to drop in unexpected on this one companionship that is having troubles. We have their keys and we got all the way to their door, it was 8:30am and they were still in their jammies and they weren't studying, so we fixed that and then we had a good 2 hour discussion with them and hearing their complaints and concerns about their area. They think that the church is dead there, but using Preach My Gospel and the scriptures we were able to get them more excited to be more obedient and more diligent. They actually had two people in church, which is 2 more than normal. I was glad to help them in a good way, well it wasn't me but the spirit.
It rained a couple of times this last week and it's been colder and windy, not winter-like cold, but more cold than it should be in spring, it just hit and everyone was excited for the holiday, they
have a holiday and a day off from work for like 30 occasions... and they ask us why we earn so much money haha, it's a different economy, but I'm realizing that it's also a different attitude, don't get me
wrong, there are a lot of great hard workers down here, lots of them are members of the church, but it's still funny to see the culture difference.
This morning I did receive your packages, thanks for the bday gifts and candy. :) I love it and I'm already wearing the BYU shirt. :)
As of now we are at 26 baptisms and 20 confirmations, so we need 9 to break the zone record and we only have 3 sets, so we are going to need a couple of miracles haha, us in my area, we don't have anybody. But we are looking to having a couple on Oct. 6th.
Pres Ayre speaks to us in Spanish because I'm with a Spanish comp, but sometimes he speaks to me in English when I call him, but when two Americans are together it's all in English.
I love the scripture you sent and it makes me think of you also, because you were just in front of me to come down. Do you think that we met each other before, like hey Ryan this will be your earthly mother! one wonders, no? haha
Yes, I did receive a letter from Tanner and I'm glad that he is doing well and enjoying his time in the peach state.
Remember to send pics of this week's game and I hope that they win big!!
Have a great week family and we will be writing each other soon! :)
Love,
Elder Ryan Pittard
Today is transfer pday and so I don't have too much time because we started later :) but thank you so much for the news and pics. I loved it all, though I'm kinda bummed about the BYU game. Ugh haha oh well, don't worry, their good luck charm will be there soon. ;)
So first of all, there have been a lot of changes, the whole zone was changed up, we opened 4 new areas and split it into two zones of 8 elders with 2 districts. Elder Gonzales was sent around the corner to Vucetich and I stayed. Jose C Paz 2 was split and now we are JCP 2 and JCP 3, 4 elders in the same ward. So now we are going to be 4 elders in the tiny pension again haha, but I'll survive like I have before. We still haven't met the new elders that are coming, it will be an American, who was actually trained by Elder Barragan, so in mission terms he's my grandson and he's training so I have the privilege in my old age to have a great-grandson in the mission, haha. So I'm old. haha
We split the zone north and south and I'm taking the south part. Now we have to figure out how to divide the area, I'm thinking of doing it east and west and us taking the west side, the part that touches the west mission. So I'm now officially zone leader senior comp, so now I have that
responsibility haha, but now I'm going to "die" as a zone leader and I guess that's what the Lord wants me to do. :)
So I have to tell you all about M-- and how she was baptized! On Tuesday we received a call telling us that M-- wasn't going to be baptized, she had a doubt that she couldn't get over. We later found out that it was tithing. We were able to get through all of her doubts, giving up the Virgin Mary and knowing that the bishop doesn't recieve and use her tithing money. Then on Friday we had scheduled her interview and I received a message three hours before telling us that she couldn't be baptized, haha, it's passed so many times that I didn't even blink. We headed over at the time planned and I just sent in Elder Stewart to do the interview, after an hour she passed, turns out that she did have an abortion over 20 years ago and felt really bad about it, she was afraid that she couldn't be baptized for that but it happened so long ago and she really was repentant, so she passed with flying colors and she was super excited!! She even got one of her wayward sons to come to the baptism, with his wife and daughter, the daughter saw the baptism and was like, wow, I want to be baptized like that!! Now we have to get the permission of the dad... but we are depending on the spirit, but I think according to where I want to divide the area that they are going to be with the new elders, but they will be in good
hands.
So she left the font super happy and with a big smile and it went perfectly! :) Then after church we went far away to eat Peruvian food and then we went to the missionary farewell and that was a crazy
experience to think that's me in 6 weeks, what!?
We are also working with the cousins of G-- and M--, well technically they are half-siblings, same thing right, haha, anyways they have a date for Oct. 6th, we are excited for them because they already
have the signature of their father. We are working with him, G-- too. :)
Friday and Saturday night we got home late both nights, we were out doing late interviews. Saturday night we got completely lost, we didn't get off at the right stop on the bus, haha I think we might have
gone into another zone, but it was on accident haha.
Yes, on Thursday we had the mission conference with Elder Viñas and it was excellent to learn from him. It was just him with the half of the mission. He is a man that just uses the scriptures to answer questions and quotes from the prophets and Preach My Gospel, so like he said that we couldn't deny his words because they were the Lord's. We learned more about the work of Salvation, how the missionaries are in all of the 5 facets of this work. We learned about the importance of saving the members that have entered the temple but now don't have a current temple recommend. He had lots of missionaries stand up and bear their testimony on the Atonement and how it has blessed their lives, he used the scripture Jacob 4:12, it's like why shouldn't we talk about the Atonement, something like that haha. But overall it was a great experience.
We had a great experience Saturday morning, so we decided to drop in unexpected on this one companionship that is having troubles. We have their keys and we got all the way to their door, it was 8:30am and they were still in their jammies and they weren't studying, so we fixed that and then we had a good 2 hour discussion with them and hearing their complaints and concerns about their area. They think that the church is dead there, but using Preach My Gospel and the scriptures we were able to get them more excited to be more obedient and more diligent. They actually had two people in church, which is 2 more than normal. I was glad to help them in a good way, well it wasn't me but the spirit.
It rained a couple of times this last week and it's been colder and windy, not winter-like cold, but more cold than it should be in spring, it just hit and everyone was excited for the holiday, they
have a holiday and a day off from work for like 30 occasions... and they ask us why we earn so much money haha, it's a different economy, but I'm realizing that it's also a different attitude, don't get me
wrong, there are a lot of great hard workers down here, lots of them are members of the church, but it's still funny to see the culture difference.
This morning I did receive your packages, thanks for the bday gifts and candy. :) I love it and I'm already wearing the BYU shirt. :)
As of now we are at 26 baptisms and 20 confirmations, so we need 9 to break the zone record and we only have 3 sets, so we are going to need a couple of miracles haha, us in my area, we don't have anybody. But we are looking to having a couple on Oct. 6th.
Pres Ayre speaks to us in Spanish because I'm with a Spanish comp, but sometimes he speaks to me in English when I call him, but when two Americans are together it's all in English.
I love the scripture you sent and it makes me think of you also, because you were just in front of me to come down. Do you think that we met each other before, like hey Ryan this will be your earthly mother! one wonders, no? haha
Yes, I did receive a letter from Tanner and I'm glad that he is doing well and enjoying his time in the peach state.
Remember to send pics of this week's game and I hope that they win big!!
Have a great week family and we will be writing each other soon! :)
Love,
Elder Ryan Pittard
M-- was baptized by me and it was a miracle!! I Love the Mission!!
Monday, September 16, 2013
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. :)
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.
Monday, September 9, 2013
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
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
Monday, September 2, 2013
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 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. :)
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