May 31, 2010

Congrats to Mags!!!! And tell her thanks for the email, I am glad I could be a help.

As well a congrats to Jessica

 

Well I sure am glad that all is going good at home.

Updates for the week:

Well the festivities of the 25th of May were quite awesome, we partied (as hard as missionaries can party) with the branch on that day and also ate a quite delicious sandwich, called Choripan. Imagine getting two small, but thick, bratwursts, and putting them on a sandwich and that's really about it, lettuce, tomato, mayo, a mustard. pretty simple. We also on the 24th went to the ward party for the 25th with the missionaries that work in Alta Gracia, and ate a food called Locro. It's intersting... and considering that I have had cow stomach now... Locro isn't my favorite thing actually.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also while with a family in the branch watched as the Argentina soccer team left for South Africa, and it was quite a party just in that house itself.

 

Health Update:

Well... the temperature of Argentina has been dropping, and with that.... my Asthma has gotten stronger. Won't lie... it scares me at times how easily I can be winded. It's interesting, before... I was never afraid of it. But now that I'm being part of such a big thing, such a grand work, and am always outside, always working, I'm terrified of what could happen. But, as I reflected on the fact that I reached the 4 month mark this last week, I thought of hike in the Narrows. I remebered the fact that it was 24 miles.... kinda like 24 months. But I still remember what Bro. Phil Allen told me at the end: "See, you can do hard things." I know I can do this work, I have found myself humbled by this and praying and pleading more for the Lord's strength to do this. I will continue to press on, and will continue to update. I would be lying and hiding too if I didn't tell you that the desire to go home has passed through quite often because of this.

 

Patricia and Silvio:

They're proving to be harder than ever, but a miracle did happen during one of the lessons this week. I spoke spanish! Not the best, but it worked. Patricia had a question about abuse and I talked to her about Wilbur. How we found him, how he was trusted in my care, and how we got his trust back. I finished it all off by saying there were two things involved in the entire process. The first thing was Time. We know it took quite a while with Wilbur, but in the end, it all worked out. The second, and most important thing, was the Love we gave him. I reminded her that Love is the greatest commandment and showed her how the 10 commandments were all focsed on Love. I know that was a big help for in that moment. The next lesson we had.... didn't go as well. She stopped us from teaching by bombarding us with questions and concerns about the gospel. We had exchanges this week, working with another missionary for a day, and before this lesson, E' Holbrook and E' Fontes went to try and commit them to marriage. They didn't get the commitment, and I think she bombarded us in this lesson cause she thought we were going to try again. It's hard and we are praying very hard that we soften her heart and strengthen her faith.

 

That's the week, and here are some pictures of the 25th!

 

I love you all!

--Ian

May 24, 2010

Oh my gosh.... School is ending already!? Time really has flown, I swear just a month ago I read Mags got asked to Prom. And Yay for her with all the grading problems she has had this year, I can't wait to hear how her next year goes.

A shout for joy for Brother Clark, one of the coolest men I know and even more so, it's way nice to hear about progress in Iraq.

The Asthma problem has lessend a bit (Largely a big thanks to Benadryl, need to give Aunt Terri a big high five for that, it really is a fix-all medicine.)

As for a bit of Cultural news from Argentina, tomorrow is Independence Day for them, and they're celebrating very hard for the fact that it's their Bicenntenial celebration this year. Also... and this is killing me... world cup excitement is building up and up and up, with stores and shops and families all in a buzz about it. It was quite interesting when a family in the branch started asking us who we thought was gonna win, because obivously, they want to hear Argentina, so we said them... and England had a chance. They joked around with us after that and it was pretty funny.

We're also about 3 weeks till winter here so yeah, we're getting pretty cold here and there.

We bundle up pretty good, and our pension is very well insulated so we're good there, but when it comes to washing clothes, it's absolute torture.

Now for the truly important stuff. It was interesting that Aaron gave Seth that advice, cause one thing that I have been starting to work on here is humility. Obedience, as you probably know without a problem, is not hard for me, but then there is humility. In Preach My Gospel, it has an activity where you can rate yourself in several key Christlike attributes and then make a plan to work on ones you need to work on. It was amazing to me that as I began to study this, and started to apply the teachings of the scriptures and of Christ himself to my life, that I have started praying for His aide more often, I've found myself being willing to change things, and lots of other things. I'm grateful for the changing power of His Atonement, cause I know that is what is helping to repent and to change who I am so I can become the missionary that the Lord not only wants, but needs me to be, here in Córdoba.

This week, we also committed Silvio (Patricia´s boyfriend) to baptism. It was a powerful lesson for this one, we watched The Restoration, and after, Silvio poured out his soul to us. They worried about getting married because they haven't seen any progress in their relationship, and don't want to make a mistake with a decision like this. His mother also treats Patricia pretty poorly and he doesn't want to put her in a situation like this. And this, the most important thing of all, he said that he feels like a man whose drowning and is looking for a way to be pulled out. That he's seen us and other missionaries walking around for quite a while, but he felt like now was the time to reach up for help.

We've been waiting for something like this for months now, and we know that it was the Spirit which moved him and Patricia to confess these things to us. They weren't able to go to church this week because they're just so far behind in things because of the accident, which we can really understand, but we are planning on getting them to commit to a date for marriage so that they can have a fixed date for baptism.

Well, those 100 days have passed, and this week I reach the 4 month mark... which if anything this is the scariest thing of all... I'll be home sooner than you know it. In fact, as a sign of the times, Elder Holbrook said to me friday, "Well you have enough time in the mission now, what is the first home cooked meal you want when you get back?" (Word for word there) so yeah... really weird...

Anyways love y'all much

---Ian

Ellie and I were able to catch him while he was still online, so we got to message back and forth. I sent him several pictures of Wilbur, the weather (it actually snowed that day!) and some other pix.

May 17, 2010

Beat you to the email this week!!!

Well, this week was the first week of this transfer and was quite a challenge.
To start the week off, Patricia and Silvio got into an accident on monday and so it was hard to get in contact with them at all. They're both doing fine now and that is quite a relief.

This week the temperature also dropped, and quite fast. We now are in 19 C weather every morning so I did break out the trench coat. It was pretty heavy at first, but now all is well and I can carry it around without a problem.

And now the really scary thing for the week.
My Asthma has come back, and hit like a train friday. On friday we went and visited Florencia to have lunch with her and Hector. They have a cat, and for the past while, she's been no problem for my allergies, just a few sneezes here and there. But this time was different. By the time we left, I could not breathe anymore, no matter what I tried to do, I could not feel my body inhaling or exhaling. nothing was happening. In other words, yes, I had an asthma attack. Now if I remeber correctly, this is the first one I've had ever, and it was terrifying. We called Sister Olsen and President Olsen to inform them and they told us to get to a doctor asap. We couldn't get to one until Saturday evening. We talked with the Branch President here in El Crucero, and he took us to a doctor and took care of everything. I know have an inhaler which is both for regular and emergency doses. We called the President after all this was taken care of cause they wanted to know the verdict. The verdict was that I should not be walking in the cold. Well as if to make the whole situation a little lighter, President Olsen laughed when I told him that and said "That's not gonna work." I was stunned at first, but after this morning and taking a dose with the inhaler, it looks like all will be fine. I will keep up on this and we'll watch and see how this part of the adventure will turn out.

Well not much happened this week, we weren't able to find anyone to teach this week so we are in a bit of a slump with our numbers.

And now for a question. I still have the speaker that I was gonna use for the Ipod Shuffle.... should I send that back or what, I can keep it for two years, it doesn't cause much weight problems so really what ever you'd like me to do.

Anyways ¡Nos Vemos! (and if you email me while I'm still on I'll get you another email back.)
-Ian

May 10, 2010

Well yes we did just talk (And I wasn't the last to finish yesterday.. E' Holbrook went for about 2 hours!!! His family is going to be coming to Argentina the last week of his mission so they were making sure everything was ready.) But aside from that here is the address for his family.

I wasn't worried about being homesick of anything, really, you all hear from me every week and I wanted to hear the lives of those who I don't get to hear from very often.

  

Anyways, it's another pictures day, and one of them will make you very, very jealous.

Here are some delicious empanadas, for these types, we get our a bottle of lemon juice, and pour it in the tops.

This is our radiator (That scary thing that makes weird sounds that's attatched to the wall) It is gas powered, like our stove, so we do have to use matches or a "lighter," which makes a small electric sparks, to start them.

This is our washing machine. However... it is broken. So we have to wash our clothes by hand. There is also no such thing as a dryer here, so everything is hung to dry, which become a little annoying when garments are needed.

This is our (Mine and Elder Holbrook´s) room. It is pretty nice, but we are still lacking light so we use the window for light, which by the way, the window is kinda inside the house, I'll get another picture of this in a short while. (Sorry, it's a bit outta focus)

 

and finally

 

In Argentina, there is a company here called Grido, it is an Ice Cream place, and as you can read on the picture. Yes, we can call and get it Delivered!!! By far, one of the coolest things here, and the Ice Cream is really pretty good. That, and we can get it by the quarter, half, or whole Kilo, so ya, if there's any reason you to come to Argentina, Mom, it's this. Grido also happens to have a store about every 3 blocks here. It's awesome.

 

Anyways, there is the Report of the week, I hope you can enjoy it.

¡Nos Vemos!

-Ian

May 3, 2010

Congrats to Mags, I hope she gets to continue on doing this, because it's looking like she really has a future in this.

Alrighty... Mother's day. What I'll be doing is calling you at 4-6 PM MY TIME from the church building in Alta Gracia (El Crucero) and I'll call your cell phone, so just be looking. I don't know what the number for the church is though, so... yay? (Of course)

And for the stories of the week:

This week, I came down with a sinus infection (Boo!!!) so I wasn't able to do a whole lot, I worked Monday and Tuesday, and only for a short bit with both, but not Wednesday because my face was in so much pain and I had so little energy that I couldn't do anything.

But on a brighter note, Patricia and her... kinda husband Silvio attended church this week and that was cause for much rejoicing for us. They didn't bring their kids this time, so we're gonna work with them this week to do so. Patricia loved it again and Silvio said he did as well. They also both said that they did feel really good (Super YAY!) so we know the Spirit is working with them right now.

Also for my scripture study "aha!" moment for the week, I am now in Exodus, and it is quite awesome to have actually read the story of Moses. Won't lie, I had moments of "The Ten Commandments" popping into my head, and more frequently, the songs of "The Prince of Egypt" constantly going in out. But the coolest thing of all was reading how Jethro helped Moses to organize the tribes of Israel, especially in the "judging" processes. It was nice to notice how they formed exactly what we have today. Good men judge small groups of their tribe, and if its a big thing, it goes up the chain till it reached Moses. I love that the church really has never changed, even in the Book of Mormon, a huge part of it all is the judges. Anyways, AHA!

I really don't have much to talk about this week, because I'll be calling you, and I can't wait to do so... even though it's only been a month since I last did so. But it will be great to here from Dad this time and from the rest of the motly crew.

¡Nos Vemos!
--QK Ian

Follow up message: Scratch that. I'll be calling the home phone.

April 26, 2010

Haha, it is nice to know that Kim and now the entire family has faith in me ;)

 

This week... won't lie, probably the hardest yet. My odd foot problems have come back and are as tenacious as me, refusing to heal or leave. I also was struck down with a cold, and very few new 'gators'. We weren't able to find Patricia this week, she was super busy so we worked on just finding people. In fact I made 18 contacts/invitations in one day.

 

I would LOVE to have your letters in the journal, as well as the pictures, that's one thing that I think will help make the memory of it all.

 

I received two letters this week!!!! I was ecstatic when I got them and read about all the experiences. In one of your letters you did ask if would send written letters with more details... but in all honesty, these emails would be the exact same as my letters.

 

But this week=PICTURES!!!!!! And I will add descriptions for each one.

 

That is Florencia, my first baptism. Absolutely golden (Even asking one time if it was a bad thing to pray all the time)

That's me and E' Winger at the MTC

That's the 1A District.

Those are my teachers, Sis. Smith (Served in Paraguay) and Bro Anderson (Dominican Republic)

From left to right: Elder Trigo(From Buenos Aires,) Elder Holbrook, and Elder Fontes (From close to the areas in which Dad served)

This is a sign in a place we visited call Villa Gral. Belgrano. It's a GERMAN town in Argentina, and there's a beer mug that I'll probably end up getting for Ben which he will love.

Well... Looks like someone is taller than Mags... scary, how's Maggie handling that?

 

I hope all is going well... I do miss being able to walk bare-foot in a house and a shower.

The food is getting better each day, we actually had a feast with a family, and it was asado, in which we had some terrific meats... it's something that I hope I learn to make to bring to the Viking Feast!!!! (SKOL!!)

 

I also this week learned something while reading the Old Testament (I started this last week or so). The importance of examples has always been a big part of my life. One story in the Old Testament really proves the importance of examples. Jacob, having heard his brother Esau was coming back, looking for him, started to run away, knowing that if they met, Esau would probably kill him. Esau caught up with him and they both halted. They then embraced. Both brothers had forgiven the other. It is quite a small moment, but there was someone watching it. After having been thown in a pit and sold into Egypt, then meeting those who did it to him a second time, being in a similar position and power as his father, forgave his brothers. For years, I wondered how was it possible that after all they had done to him, how could Joseph forgive his brothers that easily? It makes sense now, and now that I've seen the influence of all my friends and leaders in my life, remebering their examples, their quotes... all that they did, I know that it is the exact same as this.

 

Just a small testimony, but it's why the Church wants the best of missionaries, to set that example of Christ in the lives of ALL people.

 

Well, there ya go, hope all goes well!

NOTE:

I sent him pictures from Jessica's baby shower. Both girls were holding babies and Maggie is leaning against a wall, which makes it look like she is shorter than Ellie. (Truth be told, they are quite close in height.)

April 19, 2010

Wow... this has been quite an epic week and congrats as well!!!

Well, the main focus of my letter this week is Patricia fortunately. First and foremost... she has committed to Baptism!!! Patricia is a women that we've been working with for quite a bit. She lives in pretty humble circumstances, in a Barrio (which is also the same word for ward here) named San Juan in which most of this area is pretty small and humble circumstances, but there are still those that take pride in their circumstance.

Any-who, this last tuesday we planned to commit her that day but it wouldn't be an easy day. Most of the day was dark and cold, cloudy, and not very welcoming... like most of the people that day. But we stayed positive because we knew what may take place near the end of the day. When it was time to go to Patricia's, we picked up a member in the area who we asked to help us with this lesson, in which the member would give her conversion and baptism story. This worked well and we continued on by teaching Lesson 3, "The Gospel of Jesus Christ," which is just a really expounded version of AoF 4. We taught her and she took it all well. When the time came to extend the commitment, we did so (obviously.) She gave a small chuckle then said yes. When we extended the commitment, when she accepted it, and a short bit after, the sun broke through the clouds and brought a bit of light and warmth to this day. I know it really doesn't mean much, but it, in a way, testified to me she was honest in her acceptance.

This week we also taught her the 10 Commandments and Sabbath Day. One of the ways that they get money is that they (her family) make a certain bread here and then on either saturday or sunday, would go sit on the side of the highway and try to sell it. On sunday, we waited for her cause she had committed to come to church. When she didn't show up, we called her and didn't get an answer, so we went to look for some other 'gators' to bring to church. On our way back, after not finding anyone, we received a call from her in which Patricia said that wouldn't be able to come, but had decided, with her family, that they would stop doing this so the she AND her family could come to church.

It truly is amazing how much the Lord and the Spirit can work with some one and change what used to be normal for someone. This week we plan to work with her more to prepare her for baptism along with her family.

In a short miraculous story about how the Lord has helped me on my mission so far. I know that one thing that we were all worried about was my desire to play video games... alot, as well as fears of "withdrawls" from not playing them. Fortunately, I've not had any withdrawls yet, because I have been so involved with the work here, so invovled with my studies, so not invovled with my wants and desires. I see this as a my miracle of the mission so far, and know it is a good thing that this is happening. Don't get me wrong now, I'm sure I still have a love for games, but it has not hindered me here at all, especially since I was excited a few days ago to start the old testament. I feel that this has been a blessing and will always look back on it this way.

So now that I have been here 3 weeks, there's another interesting story of things that has happened. Earlier last week, we had power cut off to our pension.... so we had to do quite a few things in the dark. This was caused by first-off, we hadn't paid rent yet, and that the entire city had lost power. Now just acouple of days back it happened again. It's back, but we're trying to figure out why it happened this time.

Anywho, Gnocchi is here but is spelt a little differently ñoquis. It's just as good here and we had it twice this last week.

Well that's really all. How's Lil' Red doing? How's the end of Ellie's last year in elementary school shaping up? Any more mischevious things that Grif has done?

And about music, it's totally fine if you can't get it up here, but it would be awesome to still have something. But don't stress.

¡Nos vemos y buenas suerte! (See ya and good luck!)
---QK E' Asplund