Hola Todos

Hola Todos!

This week was awesome! A little crazy schedule wise but we were able to do a lot of good. I went to the heart of Buenos Aires today in Capital to get my ID to live here. I had to sign some papers and stuff like that. So I wasn't in my area Tuesday or Wednesday. It was even outside of the mission boundaries in the East Mission so that was cool. I got to see the downtown city part of Argentina! Anyways, I am doing better than ever this week! We had 2 baptisms this last Saturday of Carmen and her Son Beto. I don't think I have ever told the full story of them and want to do that now. So Carmen is about 62 yrs old and has I think 6 kids who are all grown up and have their own families. She lives in a house with her son, Beto. Beto is handicapped and is about 40 yrs old. They have been having difficult times in their lives recently. Carmen's husband about a month before we talked with them, passed away. And she has been dealing with help problems as well. She has always believed in God and likes to pray but wasn't going to any churches. About 2 days before we met here she was having a real rough time with everything in her life. She told us later that  she was praying to God to help her feel better and what to do in her life. She wanted to know what Church to join to do this. She said that she felt a peaceful feeling and a feeling of comfort after she prayed and knew that God had something great planned for her. 2 days later, we show up on her doorstep.! She immediately let us in and was so kind and willing to listen. She was so prepared for the Gospel. This day was actually my first full day in Argentina or in my area 25 de Mayo. I was brand new in the field. We taught her the Restoration and the spirit was very strong. We helped her feel a lot better. In my broken Spanish, I was able to help teach the lesson and at the end i invited her to be baptized and she accepted! She even prayed at the end with us and said she received an answer that the Book of Mormon and the Church is true. And a month later, she was baptized! She came to church that next Sunday and every Sunday since. This past Sunday she was confirmed. Also, we got permission to baptize Beto as well! Carmen's testimony is so strong and she is already an amazing member and is even sharing the Gospel with her family and everyone she knows! She is definitely an example for all of us. Everyone is a missionary. I would challenge you to be an example of Christ and share the Gospel to those you know and meet. I was able to give a talk during the baptism meeting and just felt the love for them and their willingness to follow Christ. I know you will feel this joy as well when you share the gospel.

Also, another special thing was that another recent convert who was baptized a week before I came to Argentina was able to baptize her and Beto! it was super special to see that. That Roman, his name, who had only been a member for a month was able to do the baptism. The Lord is definitely hastening the work. We need to do all we can to help. While this Branch here in 25 de Mayo is few in numbers, we are doing all we can to strengthen the Gospel here. I know this Church is true with all my heart and that when we do our part and work with all the effort that we have, the Lord will help so much more.

Spiritual Experience of the Week: A lot of spiritual experiences this week including the baptism, but I also wanted to share this experience. So this week was a little crazy because of the schedule and we were struggling to find new investigators throughout the week. We didn't have many investigators and 0 that were progressing besides Carmen at the time. We were accomplishing our daily goals. But like the great example my companion was, we had faith that the Lord would put a family in our path if we continued to work hard. On Friday, again we weren't having much success but we didn't give up. We worked hard and had faith that we could find someone. near the end of the day, we decided to contact again a referral that we received from a member that we weren't able to find earlier in the week. They had lost a son to suicide about a month ago. At the end of the night we were able to get into their house, after convincing and testifying after awhile that it would bless their lives and help them to feel peace. We taught them the Restoration and the Spirit was very strong. Gustavo and mariela the parents came to Church that next Sunday! Which we have been struggling to get people to come to church. We were able to help them feel the Spirit, peace, and they accepted a baptismal date, un fecha.

Scripture of the Week: Helaman 12. (This is roughly where I am at in my Book of Mormon reading and fits good with this week, mainly the first verse.) We will be finishing the Book of Mormon has a mission next week during transfer meeting. I have loved this time I have had to read the whole BoM from cover to cover and have recognized and learned the importance of reading it in our lives and how much it can teach and bless us.

Fact of the Week: So there are these animals here called Mulitas, that look like Armadillos that are found here. I have never seen one alive, but they look pretty cool. Also, the terrain here is super flat, super. There is not a hill anywhere haha.

Funny of the Week; So there are some.....interesting people here I guess you could say haha. Some people are a lot different and are just funny to talk to and see. I dont have story in particular, but there are just some funny people here haha. Ah the people here are great, love them.

Anyways,

I am doing very well and continue to grow in the Gospel personally and I know i am helping other as well.

All is Well,

Elder Trent

The baptism!!!!!!

Us in Buenos Aires. When I went to get my ID

Beware of dogs

Hola Everyone!

I am doing good and loving the work still. This week has been filled with some ups and downs though. We now only have one investigator Carmen that is going to be baptized this Saturday instead of the expected 4. She is awesome and the most ready and prepared person for baptism ever. The other investigators weren't able to come to church and will need to be baptized in October. But we are still working with them and seeing miracles everyday! We had a special mission conference this week with the entire mission. WE traveled to Buenos Aires last Tuesday and Wednesday and Elder Teixeira of the seventy came and talked to us. I was able to learn a lot of how we can better help our investigators progress towards baptisms and how we can be better missionaries. We have been trying to apply what he said and have seen big changes in our days and how much more we are able to accomplish.

Spiritual Experience: This week was a little more difficult for me. I have been wanting to work and improve on a lot of things and I was feeling overwhelmed and discouraged at times. Added with that I am trying to adjust to missionary life still and the schedule it was a hard week. But I was reading in Alma 38:3-5 i believe and it helped me a lot as well as my companion. My testimony grew a lot this week and I was able to learn a lot. The scripture talked about how with faith and diligence, trusting in the lord and having patience, The Lord will help us in our trials. I know that it will take time to improve and be a better missionary, but with the Lord I can do it. I have already improved so  much with my Spanish and teaching,talking to everyone and I was able to realize that a lot more this week.

Fact of the Week: So there is something here in Argentina called a siesta. It is from like 2 to 5 in the afternoon. Its basically where everyone goes home and sleeps or relaxes haha. All the business close down and most people stop working. Its funny because everyone here is so focused on working and they always tell us that they don't have time to and that they are always working, when they go home everyday and chill, drinking mate or sleeping haha. But its the culture here. It hard to proselyte during this time because everyone is asleep haha.

Funny thing of the Week: So there are a lot of dogs here, a lot everywhere. Everyone has like 5 dogs in their yard or house, and there are strays dogs in the streets everywhere. And some of them are not so well trained, bathed, or nice. Its common for missionaries to get bitten once or twice in their missions. My companion told me this and I got paranoid about it a little haha. Im always looking over my shoulder and keeping an eye on the dogs that look mean. So yesterday we were riding our bikes to Church and a dog out of nowhere comes up beside me, barking and trying to bite my leg while I'm pedaling. I freak out and start kicking trying to kick it with my foot and watching it. But at the same time I was still trying to ride my bike. The dog wouldn't go away and I wasnt watching in front of me and I hit a parked van! Luckily I stayed on my bike and didn't damage the van haha. Meanwhile my companion is trying to help me and watching me flail around on the bike. eventually the dog gave up after we sped up after hitting the van. We busted up laughing after. I can just imagine what that looked like hahaha.

Until next week!

--

Elder Trent

This was from our Zone Meeting. Can you find me?

This is during a lunch that we had with the other ELders in 25 de Mayo.

They bought a portable ping pong set haha. 

The pench is the nicest in the mission by the way.

We had a dinner with a recent convert! 

he is so cool and strong in the gospel already! 

We had rabbitt! It was pretty good haha  It tasted like roast beef back home! 

We go on runs in this park sometimes in the mornings. The trees here are so weird haha

On our way to a special meeting we had with the whole mission. 

Elder Teixeira from the Argentina Mission Presidency came and spoke to us. We took a bus to Buenos Aires.

 Haircuts! Did he do a good job?

Another Great week!

Hola Everyone!

This has been another great week! Last weeks letter didnt go as planned haha. My keyboard stopped working and I didnt get to finish and edit what I wanted to say but oh well. We have seen a lot of miracles this week and I am learning and improving so much still! We have 4 investigators preparing to be baptized the 26 of September! And some others we are working and helping for October! We are  really focusing on strengthening the branch here. There are so few active members here and we have a lot of work to do! But missionary work is amazing! The church is all over the world.

Fact of the Day!: Everyone drinks mate here, everyone! Its a drink thats basically almost boiling water with some sort of plant thing in it. Its in a cup with a straw that filters the grass stuff out. Everyone always shares it with each other. its very unsanitary and is made from tap water which makes us missionaries sick, thats why we dont drink it as missionaries. I get offered it a lot during the day. It doesnt break the word of wisdom. But as missionaries we drink mate cocido which is basically the same thing but with just purified water with the grass stuff filtered out. So it tastes basically the same just not as strong. We put sugar and milk in it. I actually like it pretty well.

Scripture of the Week: In my 6 week Book of Mormon challenge I was reading in Alma and one chapter that I particularly liked is Alma 5! I have decided that its one of my favorites! It talks about a lot of different things that I would love to study more but mostly about how we can gain our salvation. I would definitely suggest you read it, I learned and got a lot out of it.

Funny Thing of the Week!: So this week after we went to a zone meeting for a day in another city, we had divisions with one of the zone leaders, who is awesome and funny by the way. He came to our area for 2 days and we had a trio. His companion went to another city. So we only had two bikes and I had to ride on the handlebars of Elder Lindquist for 2 days haha. Pictures three elders riding with helmets,(nobody wears helmets here) and me struggling to hold on while sitting on the handlebars haha! Some people would yell-laugh at us(they like doing that here). A lot of roads we go on are dirt roads too haha. I definitely got a work out and was sore the whole week haha.

Hey look! I did take a picture of something! We teach english on saturdays and this is our flyers!

What do you do on p-days?

Pdays for me are pretty stressful and I dont really like them besides writing home of course:) We usually write first and then go buy our food for the week. Then we make and eat lunch. And then we clean the apartment and then it just depends on what we need to do that week. This week we are giving each other haircuts aahh! I'm definitely scared for that. But my companion has done it a lot he said, so hopefully it will work out.

My companion actual cut his own hair this morning hah! He does it all the time and it looks pretty good...ish haha no it does.

How many emails do you read and send each p-day?

I read anywhere from 10 to 20 depends its so stressful managing my time on here. I only have an hour and I try to read everything but I usually can respond. But I read them I promise. Maybe in the future I will figure it out. But you are just going to have to get used to emails like this :( 

Do you get along well with your companion? Was he in the 25 de Mayo area before you got there? Can you print off emails to read later? 

I get a long with my companion really well! He helps me be included and pushes me a long with my spanish we try to talk as much as we can in the streets. I have a small notebook that I right words or phrases that I dont know that he says or that other says which helps a lot. He was in this area for 6 weeks before me so he knows it pretty well. When he leaves I will be leading the area so he is trying to teach me where to go. and I have to lead us to investigators houses which is super hard! You know that my sense of direction is horrible  now think of it in another country in another language haha! I can print off emails but it costs some money and I dont know how to. I just ask my comp and I will start doing that and during the night I will wright a response and then type it out next week. But I want to be focused on the work so just know it will be difficult for me.

What time do you wake up? We wake up at 620 in the morning which I dont like, I need that 10 minutes haha! We get up and pray as a companion and then personal prayers and then exercise.

How far do you live from the church? How long does it take to get there?

Its not that far on bike takes about 7 minutes. Its about 8 streets over and 3 to the left i think? We bike aloooot of miles in the day though haha.

Yes! I am very happy! I love missionary work. It is hard, but I am doing so much better than I ever thought I could. The Lord truly does make our weaknesses strengths. I am talking in the language to people and being as outgoing as I can.

President Robertson,

Another great week here in 25 de Mayo. I am still learning a lot and improving in the language, the lessons, and my knowledge of the gospel. This week in 12 semanas we were learning teach people, not lessons. This is definitely something I can do better on, because while I am speaking a lot better and improving in that area, my comprohention is progressing slower. At times I am thinking of what I can say to answer and ask questions and how I can participate more in the conversation side of the lessons we teach. I have been focusing this week on listening to the people and to the Spirit, understanding their needs so I know how to teach them. I has been a struggle but I have improved so much in these short weeks here. I have recently made a language study plan so I can better listen, talk, and communicate. This is helping a lot! Setting goals and constantly reviewing them is something that I have learned this week and how important it is. For personal, companion, weekly, daily, and monthly goals. In our zone meeting last tuesday they talked about goals a lot. 
I have noticed a big changed in my prayers and in my personal study this week. I wanted to make my prayers more sincere and ask for what the Lord would want me to ask for. I have been listening and studing more intently in my prayers and scripture study. I have gotten a lot more out of it in and have recieve more revelation on how I can improve and how I can help my investigators more.
This week we were able to set and also have four baptisms for the 26 of September! The first is Carmen. She is the most prepared and most progressing investigator we have for this date. She found her about 2 and a half weeks ago. She is so accepting and prepared for the Gospel. She has come to church every Sunday since we talked to her(2 times). She is definitely gaining a testimony. Then there is Sara and Marcelo. Sara has been our investigator for awhile now, but she is finally realizing that she needs to make some changes in her life. We are helping her to quit smoking and she really desires to stop. She is reading and praying everyday. The only problem with here is that she needs to come to church. She wasnt able to make it yesterday and today we are going to teach her the importance of coming. We are praying that she will be ready for the 26 of September. Her son, Marcelo, has a mental disorder and is a little slower at learning and understanding but he is doing well. If Sara is progresing well so is he. Our last investigator for the 26 is Milagros. She has been to church a lot but still needs to find out for herself that the church is true. She likes to study and so she likes studying in the Book of Mormon which is great. She comes to church when her uncle I think, Facundo, comes. Facundo is a recent convert. We are helping Milagros to prepare and help her progress for the 26 of September. Facundo is in an important time right now and is struggling with work. He is working on Sundays and needs to realize the importance and be more dedicated to strengthening his conversion to the Lord. We are trying to help him and find time to teach him when he is not working.
We have definitely seen a lot of miracles this week with the possibility of 4 baptisms for the 26! We are working hard for all of them and also in helping the branch here.
Thank you for all you do,

Hola!

Hola Everyone!

This week was great! I have been improving with my Castellano(Spanish) so much already! As a companionship, we practice in the mornings and then go out and apply it! Its great!

One thing that we are doing is reading the Book of Mormon as a mission in one transfer or 6 weeks! This has been great and I have learned so much from the scriptures of how I can improve and how I can help my investigators. I usually go in to my personally studies with a question or to find out how I can improve on something and think about it while I read-study the assigned reading for that day. Personal Revelation is real! I have learned so much! I want to challenge all of you to read to Book of Mormon in 6 weeks or what ever set time you want and do the same. Come in with questions and think of it throughout the reading each day. I know that we will learn what the Lord would have us do through our diligent study of the Book of Mormon. I know the Book of Mormon is true and I have realized recently how much it has bless my life and how I can tell others how it can bless theirs.

Spiritual Moment: As a companionship for this month we had the goal of 2 baptisms and 1 other baptism that had the potential to get the priesthood. We have been trying to pray and ask for things the Lord wants us to ask for instead of what we do. SO we felt we should change it because a few investigators wouldnt be able to progress in time for their scheduled baptisms. WE only have one secure baptism for this month. Her name is Carmen and she is soo accepting to the Gospel. We prayed and both received revelation that our goal should be 2 baptisms still but with no male baptism. It didnt make sense to use because our investigators have to come to church several times before they can be. But we trusted in the Lord with his or our goal. He was abled to help us softened the heart of an investigator that didnt have the desire to be baptized but had gone to church many times before. Her name is Milagros which means Miracles in spanish. She was definitely a miracle and now she wants to be baptized! The Lord blesses us for sure when we follow is guidance!

Funny moment: So here in Argentina, they greet with a handshake and a kiss on the cheek. As missionaries we only do it with the men. But the woman here dont know that for us haha. The first time it happened to me, A woman came up to me and shook my hand but then went in for the cheek kiss I didnt know what to say and she was just standing there with her head outstretched close to mine. And I was like uh ah uuh. Luckily my companion bailed me out with his Spanish. Next time I remembered to say Solo por la mano! (Greeting Only by the hand)

Our living room. We live in a nice apartment for this area.

Our bathroom. going to take some getting used to

An awesome investigador named Carmen likes to give us food :) 

We dont ask what it is, but it was good. Some kind of bread thing

OUr beds! I sleep in my sleeping bag. Thank you again for that its the best!

Sorry I dont have any photos of me! whoops i just realize that haha.

Making some lunch! SOmetimes we make noodles with tomato sauce with vegetables and ground beef in it. Dont worry I am actually trying to make foods that are healthy! We are trying to think and make lunches that are healthy with all food groups, tell grandma this haha.

We have gotten meals from some member like pizza is big here, also gizo which is basically a chicken leg and thigh and then with rice. the rice here is amazing! They put oil, cheese, and some other stuff in it but it justs looks like white rice. mmmhh!

Also some other stuff that i dont know what it is. WE have had about 3 or 4 member meals. Usually they just give it to use in a container and we come back to our apartment and eat it

we try and mixed it up with like chicken patty slash hamburger things we buy and other vegetables and fruits and rice and lots of bread. Ya we drink a lot of milk, its whole milk, which I have grown to like already didnt at first. WE have a water purifier to the left in one of the pics. Also we drink mate cocita which is super common here. except ours is different becuase were not allowed to drink mate. Its basically hot water with flavored grassed stuff and we had milk and sugar. Takes interesting but I like it. Sometimes we get offered mate but we cant have it because its unsanitary and we will get sick. But when we make it ourselves its okay. We also get offered a lot of soda like coke. its super popular here to. we can drink this.

OUr masterpiece lunch!

one of our bigger meals, but when you are exercising every morning and on a bike all day, I need more food! ahaha

This is our street we live on. Its in the nicer part of the town. There is actually two areas in this town that other elders have and they have more of the business of the town and we have more small businesses and houses on streets like this and houses on dirt roads that look a lot worse and sketchy than this, a lot.

This is where we study in the mornings!

I actually love this time to learn and practice what we will be doing that day!

 I feel healthy just have lost a lot of weight. They just dont eat as much as we do in the states. We have pancakes or eggs for breakfast and a bigger lunch but no dinner. We have actually now gotten a few meals from members! The argentine food is pretty good, but they dont give us enought haha! We exercise in the mornnigs like sometimes we will go and run to the park because it is safe here we can run. or othertimes we will stay in the apartment and do body workouts because it is cold. (it is the end of winter here and the startish of spring so its still pretty cold. I didnt really come prepared for winter here. But my comp has loan me warm stuff. somedays its really nice spring weather and I wear short sleeves other days not so much.) Ya I havnt been tired during the day really just hard to get up some days but after I exercise I feel great.

From last week,

President Robertson,

I am excited to finally be here in Argentina! I already love my area of 25 de Mayo. Everything is a lot different than Im used to, but the people here are very kind. Also my companion Elder Lindquist! He is a great example and has taught me so much already. It has been quite a big change for me these past few days. I am trying to learn as much as I can about the area, the members, investigators, and people here. I know it will take some adjusting to get used to it, but I am doing well. Change is sometimes difficult for me. There have been some tough moments, but I know its so I can grow. A couple of things I am focusing on is having exact obedience and also forgetting myself and going to work. Its quite an adjustment to make. Im doing self evaluations and trying to focus on the work and not about how hard it is for me. I have a huge desire to do this and to focus on how I can help the people here. I am lost most of the time of what is going on and what people are saying, but Im not too worried about it. I know that if I go to work and practice the language will come. I actually really enjoy practicing! I have realized that its very important to be constantly practicing with my investigators in mind. This week in the 12 week program, we have been doing the practicing sections and doing role plays. They have helped a lot! I have been able to give our investigators the baptismal commitments. Im growing to love personal study time, and I love that we are reading the Book of Mormon in a transfer. We were teaching an inactive member, Sebastian, about the importance of reading the Book of Mormon and how it will bless his life. Elder Lindquist asked me to share how it has blessed my life. And it took me a minute to think. I realized, I need to recognize how the Book of Mormon has blessed my life and how it can bless my life more. I need to strengthen my testimony and conversion. We decided as a companionship to focus on that during our reading during personal study. It was awesome. I was able to recieve answers and personal revelation of how much studying the Book of Mormon can bless everyones lifes and why we need to study it. We have seen miracles already! We have 5 investigators with fechas. The first full day here for me in 25 de Mayo, we found an older woman named Carmen. She is definitely a miracle! She was so accepting of our message and she accepted a fecha for the 26 of September. She is progressing well! Another investigator we have is Ester. She is looking for change in her life and wants to improve her life. She has a lot of struggles, but I think she is realizing that this Gospel will help her to be better and get better. Roger is another investigator we have who accepted a fecha. His sister is a member and was able to sit in with us. Having members there is much needed! There are so few members here, its hard to have members present in our lessons, but when we do their testimonies help so much. I am still trying to get to know our investigators and will explain a little bit more about them next letter.

Sorry i am not very good at expressing how Im feeling and remembering what happened during the week. I hope I was able to share what is going on with me and how our area is doing well. That is something I will work on for sure.

Thank you for all that you do!

Elder Trent

02 Sep 2015

President Robertson

Elder Trent,

Your letter was great. I am excited that you guys have several progressing to baptism. I know it is hard right now and at times it seems like you will never understand, but you will. It somehow clicks and you begin to understand more. I know the Lord will bless you for your efforts.

Un abrazo,
Pte. Robertson

From today,

President Robertson,

A lot of great things happened this week! I am doing even better than last week and have started saying more and more in our conversations. I dont think I have any problems concerns right now for you. Elder Lindquist is a great example and continues to help me and push me along with all aspects of missionary work. This week as a companionship we have been trying to work in unity more, because he knows a lot more Spansish, he tends to carry the conversation. Which is good, but we have been trying to involve me and practicing a lot with contacts and lessons of what I can say andor ask. I have noticed a big difference this week since we have been practicing this in the mornings. We get along great as a companionship and we are seeing miracles with investigators and inactives. Another thing I have noticed that could help strengthen 25 de Mayo branch is to work on less actives more. We have been able to teach a few families and help them realize enduring to the end. I love missionary work! The Lord definitely blesses us and we prosper in the land when we keep his commandments. I love the Book of Mormon Challenge, we have been able to better explain the importance to investigators of reading the Book of Mormon and how it will bless their lives. 
This month, as a companionship, we had the goal of 2 baptisms and 1 priesthood. But a few thngs happened and we only had 1 solid investigator that we were pretty positive will get baptised the 26 of September. Her name is Carmen. We have more fechas but they were unable to come to church this Sunday so they will have to be baptised in October. As a companionship we felt that the Lord wanted us to change it to 2 baptisms for this month. We didnt know who the second would be and how that made sense, but He helped us know what to say to an investigator named Milagros who has come to church a lot but didnt want to be baptized. The Lord softened her heart and now she wants to be baptized! She is definitely a miracle.

We are doing well here and trying to improve each day.
Thank you for all that you do.

Elder Trent