Thursday, June 10, 2010
Jordan's June 7, 2010 letter
Dear Family,
Hey there! I´m very happy to be able to write you all this week- this week was a whole lot better than every past week, without a doubt. We taught twice as many lessons as the week before and we completed with our contacts for the week (for the first time of the transfer) and we´ve found a bunch of new investigators who really seem to have a future in baptism here soon. I´m glad with how everything worked out and I know now that we just need to keep pushing onward when times get tough; everything will work out fine if we put our trust in the Lord and do our best to obey Him and do what He wants done :).
The "highlight" of the week was a General Authority (from the first quorum of the Seventy) who came to visit us. His name is Elder Marcos Aidukaitis from Brasil, and man he was awesome! I´d have to say that out of everyone who I´ve heard from in my time in the mission, he´s the guy I liked the most. I guess the reason would be because it was all about missionary work and how we can get baptisms, and he shared a bunch of stories with us about his mission and it seemed more like a learning environment than a talk. I was really motivated by what he said. One thing I´m going to work on is "thinking like God" - he was saying how in our time here we need to learn to think like Him and be centered on the work, and not be thinking about any other thing while we´re out working. I really liked it because that´s something that I know I could work on - sometimes it´s easy to get distracted by other things - and I tried it out and I really felt like I´ve had more success out here since I´ve started doing that. He is an awesome General Authority! I learned a ton of stuff from Elder Aidukaitis (and he´s a really tall guy too!).
The work is picking up a lot more too. There´s some things that are going much better, some things that aren´t as good - we found some really great people this week and we have been really excited getting them ready to get baptized. Sunday sure was hard though! We were praying lots that people could come to church, and to show our part to the Lord we started to look for people right at 8:00A.M. It was cold! And it was way early (and, at least hear in Argentina, there is basically no one outside at that time of day...EVERYONE was sleeping) for everyone, but we went around in search of investigators anyways. We passed by everyone, including those who said they were really excited in coming this week - and NO ONE was answering!! Some answered and said "it´s way early in the morning, we´re all asleep...there´s no way we´re going to church today." I was starting to get really bummed, because we´d made tons of plans and it seemed like it was all falling through. However, after paying for a remis and driving around a bunch...we got one kid to come with us to church!! Woohoo! And he was just getting ready to head off to another church with his family - they told him it was fine to go with us, though, so he came and enjoyed church with all of us. It was great! I was super happy and grateful to the Lord for the success that He blessed us with on Sunday. It was awesome!
I also gave my testimony up at the pulpit on Sunday, actually for only the second time in Argentina. I was nervous at first, but when I got up to give my testimony I realized that it was basically the same thing that I did with every person on the street every day out here in the field. I love it because my fear of the pulpit finally left me, and now I like going up there! It was a good experience and I was very happy to do it.
Everything else is going great - Elder Anderson and I are getting along great and enjoying the work here in Buenos Aires. I´ve been a little low on money - today I had to pay the light bill, and it seems like the guys in the offices gave us less money this month than last month. At least I have peanut butter and flour! I´ll basically just eat that all week because I don´t have money for anything else basically. And cereal! Yay for cereal!
Dad is the best Dad in the world! I´ll be very happy to be with you guys again, without a doubt. Some Elders talk like when they get home that they´ll want to be out of there fast again - I guess that´s their idea, but for me I´ll be happy to be with my family again and to have more family adventures together! And my coat is working just fine - right now I´m just using sweaters, and I´ve got jackets and my trench coat. I should be fine even for the coldest of days. Oh and I sent Carson´s email recently so he´ll be able to read it today if he gets the time :).
That´s it for now! I love my family!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
Hey there! I´m very happy to be able to write you all this week- this week was a whole lot better than every past week, without a doubt. We taught twice as many lessons as the week before and we completed with our contacts for the week (for the first time of the transfer) and we´ve found a bunch of new investigators who really seem to have a future in baptism here soon. I´m glad with how everything worked out and I know now that we just need to keep pushing onward when times get tough; everything will work out fine if we put our trust in the Lord and do our best to obey Him and do what He wants done :).
The "highlight" of the week was a General Authority (from the first quorum of the Seventy) who came to visit us. His name is Elder Marcos Aidukaitis from Brasil, and man he was awesome! I´d have to say that out of everyone who I´ve heard from in my time in the mission, he´s the guy I liked the most. I guess the reason would be because it was all about missionary work and how we can get baptisms, and he shared a bunch of stories with us about his mission and it seemed more like a learning environment than a talk. I was really motivated by what he said. One thing I´m going to work on is "thinking like God" - he was saying how in our time here we need to learn to think like Him and be centered on the work, and not be thinking about any other thing while we´re out working. I really liked it because that´s something that I know I could work on - sometimes it´s easy to get distracted by other things - and I tried it out and I really felt like I´ve had more success out here since I´ve started doing that. He is an awesome General Authority! I learned a ton of stuff from Elder Aidukaitis (and he´s a really tall guy too!).
The work is picking up a lot more too. There´s some things that are going much better, some things that aren´t as good - we found some really great people this week and we have been really excited getting them ready to get baptized. Sunday sure was hard though! We were praying lots that people could come to church, and to show our part to the Lord we started to look for people right at 8:00A.M. It was cold! And it was way early (and, at least hear in Argentina, there is basically no one outside at that time of day...EVERYONE was sleeping) for everyone, but we went around in search of investigators anyways. We passed by everyone, including those who said they were really excited in coming this week - and NO ONE was answering!! Some answered and said "it´s way early in the morning, we´re all asleep...there´s no way we´re going to church today." I was starting to get really bummed, because we´d made tons of plans and it seemed like it was all falling through. However, after paying for a remis and driving around a bunch...we got one kid to come with us to church!! Woohoo! And he was just getting ready to head off to another church with his family - they told him it was fine to go with us, though, so he came and enjoyed church with all of us. It was great! I was super happy and grateful to the Lord for the success that He blessed us with on Sunday. It was awesome!
I also gave my testimony up at the pulpit on Sunday, actually for only the second time in Argentina. I was nervous at first, but when I got up to give my testimony I realized that it was basically the same thing that I did with every person on the street every day out here in the field. I love it because my fear of the pulpit finally left me, and now I like going up there! It was a good experience and I was very happy to do it.
Everything else is going great - Elder Anderson and I are getting along great and enjoying the work here in Buenos Aires. I´ve been a little low on money - today I had to pay the light bill, and it seems like the guys in the offices gave us less money this month than last month. At least I have peanut butter and flour! I´ll basically just eat that all week because I don´t have money for anything else basically. And cereal! Yay for cereal!
Dad is the best Dad in the world! I´ll be very happy to be with you guys again, without a doubt. Some Elders talk like when they get home that they´ll want to be out of there fast again - I guess that´s their idea, but for me I´ll be happy to be with my family again and to have more family adventures together! And my coat is working just fine - right now I´m just using sweaters, and I´ve got jackets and my trench coat. I should be fine even for the coldest of days. Oh and I sent Carson´s email recently so he´ll be able to read it today if he gets the time :).
That´s it for now! I love my family!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
Jordan's May 31, 2010 letter
Dear Family,
Hey there again! Today is going pretty good - I hope you guys are having fun with the family and all! We were going to have lunch with the other elders from Luján 1 at a pizza libre, but they never showed up. Well, first of all they never told me which one they wanted to go to...that was problematic! We went to the nearest one to the internet we were at (which is where I figured they usually went) but they never showed up. I´ll try and do something fun this afternoon to have a better day :).
This week was good! I had fun with Elder Anderson. We worked a lot and had better "numbers" this week. We were low on contacts which wasn´t good, and we´re still not perfect, but we´re getting better every week. I figure if we just keep improving every week, we´re on the right track. He is a really great Elder and he works well - I just need to work him better on his Spanish skills.
Elder Anderson is great though - he´s fun to work with and he´s never angry or upset by what goes on. That´s something I could learn. Sometimes it´s still easy for me to get frustrated at the work or at myself, or whatever kind of thing, so I´ll be trying to improve that. It sure is tough at times...it´s not easy, not at all. I´ll pray more to receive the strength I need to be calm and not get frustrated so easy, because man sometimes my head just hurts out here!
I got my map updated and everything! Now I have a good-working map to guide me around my area better. I am very happy about that. Also, with Daina...she moved!!!! Dang it! Her mom came in the night and hauled her off to live in another part of Luján - she is no longer in our area. The family she was living with sure was sad (me too), because man she is an awesome little girl and was really learning fast. We´re trying to get this family to contact Daiana´s mom to see if we can send the other missionaries over to continue teaching - we´ll see what happens. They live in my district-leader´s area, but they live waaaay far away, so we´ll be working around with that a little bit.
We don´t have any baptismal dates or anything right now. We´re still working with the people to see if we can find some possibilities, and it´s going pretty well so far! We´re finding great people, but man sometimes something comes up and they just bail out. I want to find the right people, so I guess I´ll just keep chugging away until I find them.
Congratulations Carson! Sounds like it was a successful graduation! I am very happy for you! I´m glad that you´re finally out of the "high-school realm" and off to bigger and better things, like shining your shoes for the military! That´s something I have to do out here every day as well. I´m extremely proud of Carson and all the accomplishments he´s having, and I know he´ll keep having them as he continues to work as hard as he´s doing. You´re my hero Carson!
The holiday last week was good – kind of crazy! But we ended it fun by ordering empanadas for lunch, so we were happy guys.
How was the Memorial Day party over at the Nuttall´s? Did you guys have fun? Tonight we´ll be ordering ice cream! I´m a happy Jordan- that´s something to look forward to tonight. What are you guys going to be up to? Something fun? Family activities? I hope you enjoy yourselves! Sounds like Carson really enjoyed himself this weekend - that was some serious partying! When I get home, I´m going to want to Nintendo it out with Spencer or something when he gets home, and with Kendall too - that sounds relaxing right now. But, for right now, I´ll just keep going at it here in the work.
I´m glad to be out here - I know the work is true, and I know the Lord is blessing you all for what I´m able to do out here. I have comfort in that hope of mine, because man I´ve gotten kind of frustrated lately. I´ll keep pressing on - the load just seems like a lot at times. I know the Lord will help me if I call on Him though - that I have found out here on the mission. He´s always there - we just need to call Him. I´m grateful for the Savior and His Sacrifice, and if we use it to our advantage He will bless us and we´ll always be happy.
I've got to get going. Ask Carson to share with you all my dreadful dog experience… the near-miss! I love you all very much and I hope you have an incredible day together with the whole family! Tell everyone I love and miss them and that I hope they enjoy their Memorial Day!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
Dog bite (almost) story from Carson’s letter
I haven´t had anything spectacular happen lately, but man there are some devil dogs out here! We were clapping yesterday at a house and I noticed that the dog that was usually chained out there was cut loose....uh oh. Once I clapped this ferocious white dog lunged at me with its teeth, but I dodged him and aimed a blow with my proselyting bag (which failed to hit it). I just wielded it like a weapon and backed away slowly, then jumped quickly across a ditch where I would have the "upper hand". It nearly bit my companion because he was slow to jump the ditch, but luckily nothing happened. That was pretty insane. I´m hoping I never get bit out here, but we´ll see...I´ve had some near-miss situations recently. It is crazy
Hey there again! Today is going pretty good - I hope you guys are having fun with the family and all! We were going to have lunch with the other elders from Luján 1 at a pizza libre, but they never showed up. Well, first of all they never told me which one they wanted to go to...that was problematic! We went to the nearest one to the internet we were at (which is where I figured they usually went) but they never showed up. I´ll try and do something fun this afternoon to have a better day :).
This week was good! I had fun with Elder Anderson. We worked a lot and had better "numbers" this week. We were low on contacts which wasn´t good, and we´re still not perfect, but we´re getting better every week. I figure if we just keep improving every week, we´re on the right track. He is a really great Elder and he works well - I just need to work him better on his Spanish skills.
Elder Anderson is great though - he´s fun to work with and he´s never angry or upset by what goes on. That´s something I could learn. Sometimes it´s still easy for me to get frustrated at the work or at myself, or whatever kind of thing, so I´ll be trying to improve that. It sure is tough at times...it´s not easy, not at all. I´ll pray more to receive the strength I need to be calm and not get frustrated so easy, because man sometimes my head just hurts out here!
I got my map updated and everything! Now I have a good-working map to guide me around my area better. I am very happy about that. Also, with Daina...she moved!!!! Dang it! Her mom came in the night and hauled her off to live in another part of Luján - she is no longer in our area. The family she was living with sure was sad (me too), because man she is an awesome little girl and was really learning fast. We´re trying to get this family to contact Daiana´s mom to see if we can send the other missionaries over to continue teaching - we´ll see what happens. They live in my district-leader´s area, but they live waaaay far away, so we´ll be working around with that a little bit.
We don´t have any baptismal dates or anything right now. We´re still working with the people to see if we can find some possibilities, and it´s going pretty well so far! We´re finding great people, but man sometimes something comes up and they just bail out. I want to find the right people, so I guess I´ll just keep chugging away until I find them.
Congratulations Carson! Sounds like it was a successful graduation! I am very happy for you! I´m glad that you´re finally out of the "high-school realm" and off to bigger and better things, like shining your shoes for the military! That´s something I have to do out here every day as well. I´m extremely proud of Carson and all the accomplishments he´s having, and I know he´ll keep having them as he continues to work as hard as he´s doing. You´re my hero Carson!
The holiday last week was good – kind of crazy! But we ended it fun by ordering empanadas for lunch, so we were happy guys.
How was the Memorial Day party over at the Nuttall´s? Did you guys have fun? Tonight we´ll be ordering ice cream! I´m a happy Jordan- that´s something to look forward to tonight. What are you guys going to be up to? Something fun? Family activities? I hope you enjoy yourselves! Sounds like Carson really enjoyed himself this weekend - that was some serious partying! When I get home, I´m going to want to Nintendo it out with Spencer or something when he gets home, and with Kendall too - that sounds relaxing right now. But, for right now, I´ll just keep going at it here in the work.
I´m glad to be out here - I know the work is true, and I know the Lord is blessing you all for what I´m able to do out here. I have comfort in that hope of mine, because man I´ve gotten kind of frustrated lately. I´ll keep pressing on - the load just seems like a lot at times. I know the Lord will help me if I call on Him though - that I have found out here on the mission. He´s always there - we just need to call Him. I´m grateful for the Savior and His Sacrifice, and if we use it to our advantage He will bless us and we´ll always be happy.
I've got to get going. Ask Carson to share with you all my dreadful dog experience… the near-miss! I love you all very much and I hope you have an incredible day together with the whole family! Tell everyone I love and miss them and that I hope they enjoy their Memorial Day!
Love,
Elder Nuttall
Dog bite (almost) story from Carson’s letter
I haven´t had anything spectacular happen lately, but man there are some devil dogs out here! We were clapping yesterday at a house and I noticed that the dog that was usually chained out there was cut loose....uh oh. Once I clapped this ferocious white dog lunged at me with its teeth, but I dodged him and aimed a blow with my proselyting bag (which failed to hit it). I just wielded it like a weapon and backed away slowly, then jumped quickly across a ditch where I would have the "upper hand". It nearly bit my companion because he was slow to jump the ditch, but luckily nothing happened. That was pretty insane. I´m hoping I never get bit out here, but we´ll see...I´ve had some near-miss situations recently. It is crazy
Friday, June 4, 2010
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