Hello family and friends!
Hope you all had a great fathers day and what sounds like another busy week! Here in Argentina we are celebrating the first day as winter as well as Flag Day, which was supposed to be yesterday but got moved to today to not conflict with fathers day. I guess the biggest news for this week is transfers. I said goodbye to Santa Teresita yesterday, and will likely never enjoy living so close to a beach ever again in my whole life! I am in a new area called Parque Baron in the zone of Banfield (my first zone) with Elder Gundestrup from Riverton, Utah. I will likely get to do "intercambios" in Fiorito from time to time, and am very much looking forward to that. :) I haven´t been to my area yet, so can´t really tell you much about how it is, but I will definitely have to adapt to the busy/upbeat/crowded lifestyle of Buenos Aires again. It has really been a shock seeing so many people in the streets!
This last week with Elder McClurg has been great. It really was such a blessing and privilege to get to serve with him. We had 3 investigators at church yesterday, Julio y Carolina came with their family, and I gave my 5th and final talk in the area. Of course it was tough to say goodbye to the families and investigators I have come to love in the last 6 months, but it is good to know that they are in good hands with Elder McClurg! We have had some success in the area but it definitely has not come easily. We have several investigators who could be ready for baptism next transfer and it has been a great strength to me to be able to find and teach these people who the Lord has prepared.
We stayed in the mission home again last night and enjoyed tasty homemade cinnamon rolls Hna. Asay made for us. We spent the night in an apartment they have behind the mission home y thoroughly enjoyed walking around on CARPET. One of my zone leaders from the coast also stayed with us who is going home today and it was fun talking to him and hearing some of his experiences and wisdom he has gained in the mission. Woke up to a nice HOT shower and Oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins. Hermana Asay takes good care of us. :)
Today we had transfer meeting, the first one I have been to since I went down to the coast. It was great to see all my buddies from the MTC and my old companions. There is always a great spirit their hearing from all the missionaries who are going home and to hear from Pres. y Hna. Asay. It was extra special this time since it is their "farewell" as well as another couple from Orem who has been serving in the offices. Hna Asay also gave out hugs to every missionary. They will definitely be grately missed. It is weird to think that the President I will have for the majority of my mission isn´t even here yet!
Have a great week! Thank you for your prayers!
Les amo,
Elder Ian Wheelhouse
PS I got my package today and am looking forward very much to make some hot chocolate tonight. :)
Monday, June 21, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Rain rain go away!
Hello Family and Friends!
Sounds like we have had some similar weather this week! We´ve had a lot of rain these last several days but somehow i´ve managed to keep at least one of my pairs of dress shoes nice and dry thank goodness. I figure I´m a bit overdue for the colder weather and it was nice enjoying 2 summers in a row. (Elder McClurg has had 2 winters in a row, poor guy) Luckily I´ve got some good gear and when I´m all bundled up I stay good and warm. :) With transfers coming up this weekend, this could be my last week writing to you from the Coast!
This week we had to make yet ANOTHER trip to capital. Luckily we got to make the trip up there in a car with Elder y Hna Fitch who came down to the coast this week to inspect all the pensions. Mom you would be very proud, they even said we had the cleanest one! It was fun getting to know them and they even took us out for McDonalds, which after 6 months of not having any, tasted REALLY GOOD. They had some great stories and have a strong testimony of the importance of doing what you know is right even when you may not want to do it. They have a great missionary family, both of them having served missions in addition to this one, and 7 kids, 6 of which served missions. All 7 have been married in the temple and they are excited to be going home this next week with Pres. y Hna. Asay to be with their families again. That night we ended up staying with a couple of the office elders again and worked with them in their area for a bit. After we had a little pizza party before going to bed.
The next day we woke up bright and early to make the trip to capital so Elder McClurg could get finger printed again. There is a member who lives close to the offices that the mission always calls to run the missionaries around whenever we need to go to downtown (the driving here is INSANE). We went to the Church Offices of all of South America I think which is in Palermo (Very nice part of capital). We met some awesome Senior Couples, one of which teaches piano for their mission. We also found out that Elder Neil A Andersen happened to be there that same day, but we never did see him. We also had the lovely experience of going to an Argentine jail in downtown Buenos Aires where we had his fingerprints done. Definitely not a place I would ever like to visit again, but the officer who helped us was very friendly. One building we went to our Taxi driver parked his car in the far right lane of the street with his emergency flashers on because there was no where to park. He told me to sit in the drivers seat while they ran inside and told me if the police came to just say "ya me voy" and nothing else. Luckily the police never came!
Even with the rain and losing a lot of working time due to travel we had a pretty good week. The families we are teaching are continuing to progress but unfortunately still haven´t made it to church. Church this week was great. We had 2 great talks in sacrament meeting, one about controlling our Anger and the other about Fasting and Prayer. We hope to see some of our investigators in church next week for what could be my last Sunday here! Also we have the assignment to speak next week for Fathers Day. I´m assuming it´s Father´s day there as well? If it is, hope you all have a Happy Fathers Day!
¡Les amo!
Elder Ian Wheelhouse
Sounds like we have had some similar weather this week! We´ve had a lot of rain these last several days but somehow i´ve managed to keep at least one of my pairs of dress shoes nice and dry thank goodness. I figure I´m a bit overdue for the colder weather and it was nice enjoying 2 summers in a row. (Elder McClurg has had 2 winters in a row, poor guy) Luckily I´ve got some good gear and when I´m all bundled up I stay good and warm. :) With transfers coming up this weekend, this could be my last week writing to you from the Coast!
This week we had to make yet ANOTHER trip to capital. Luckily we got to make the trip up there in a car with Elder y Hna Fitch who came down to the coast this week to inspect all the pensions. Mom you would be very proud, they even said we had the cleanest one! It was fun getting to know them and they even took us out for McDonalds, which after 6 months of not having any, tasted REALLY GOOD. They had some great stories and have a strong testimony of the importance of doing what you know is right even when you may not want to do it. They have a great missionary family, both of them having served missions in addition to this one, and 7 kids, 6 of which served missions. All 7 have been married in the temple and they are excited to be going home this next week with Pres. y Hna. Asay to be with their families again. That night we ended up staying with a couple of the office elders again and worked with them in their area for a bit. After we had a little pizza party before going to bed.
The next day we woke up bright and early to make the trip to capital so Elder McClurg could get finger printed again. There is a member who lives close to the offices that the mission always calls to run the missionaries around whenever we need to go to downtown (the driving here is INSANE). We went to the Church Offices of all of South America I think which is in Palermo (Very nice part of capital). We met some awesome Senior Couples, one of which teaches piano for their mission. We also found out that Elder Neil A Andersen happened to be there that same day, but we never did see him. We also had the lovely experience of going to an Argentine jail in downtown Buenos Aires where we had his fingerprints done. Definitely not a place I would ever like to visit again, but the officer who helped us was very friendly. One building we went to our Taxi driver parked his car in the far right lane of the street with his emergency flashers on because there was no where to park. He told me to sit in the drivers seat while they ran inside and told me if the police came to just say "ya me voy" and nothing else. Luckily the police never came!
Even with the rain and losing a lot of working time due to travel we had a pretty good week. The families we are teaching are continuing to progress but unfortunately still haven´t made it to church. Church this week was great. We had 2 great talks in sacrament meeting, one about controlling our Anger and the other about Fasting and Prayer. We hope to see some of our investigators in church next week for what could be my last Sunday here! Also we have the assignment to speak next week for Fathers Day. I´m assuming it´s Father´s day there as well? If it is, hope you all have a Happy Fathers Day!
¡Les amo!
Elder Ian Wheelhouse
Rain rain go away!
Hello Family and Friends!
Sounds like we have had some similar weather this week! We´ve had a lot of rain these last several days but somehow i´ve managed to keep at least one of my pairs of dress shoes nice and dry thank goodness. I figure I´m a bit overdue for the colder weather and it was nice enjoying 2 summers in a row. (Elder McClurg has had 2 winters in a row, poor guy) Luckily I´ve got some good gear and when I´m all bundled up I stay good and warm. :) With transfers coming up this weekend, this could be my last week writing to you from the Coast!
This week we had to make yet ANOTHER trip to capital. Luckily we got to make the trip up there in a car with Elder y Hna Fitch who came down to the coast this week to inspect all the pensions. Mom you would be very proud, they even said we had the cleanest one! It was fun getting to know them and they even took us out for McDonalds, which after 6 months of not having any, tasted REALLY GOOD. They had some great stories and have a strong testimony of the importance of doing what you know is right even when you may not want to do it. They have a great missionary family, both of them having served missions in addition to this one, and 7 kids, 6 of which served missions. All 7 have been married in the temple and they are excited to be going home this next week with Pres. y Hna. Asay to be with their families again. That night we ended up staying with a couple of the office elders again and worked with them in their area for a bit. After we had a little pizza party before going to bed.
The next day we woke up bright and early to make the trip to capital so Elder McClurg could get finger printed again. There is a member who lives close to the offices that the mission always calls to run the missionaries around whenever we need to go to downtown (the driving here is INSANE). We went to the Church Offices of all of South America I think which is in Palermo (Very nice part of capital). We met some awesome Senior Couples, one of which teaches piano for their mission. We also found out that Elder Neil A Andersen happened to be there that same day, but we never did see him. We also had the lovely experience of going to an Argentine jail in downtown Buenos Aires where we had his fingerprints done. Definitely not a place I would ever like to visit again, but the officer who helped us was very friendly. One building we went to our Taxi driver parked his car in the far right lane of the street with his emergency flashers on because there was no where to park. He told me to sit in the drivers seat while they ran inside and told me if the police came to just say "ya me voy" and nothing else. Luckily the police never came!
Even with the rain and losing a lot of working time due to travel we had a pretty good week. The families we are teaching are continuing to progress but unfortunately still haven´t made it to church. Church this week was great. We had 2 great talks in sacrament meeting, one about controlling our Anger and the other about Fasting and Prayer. We hope to see some of our investigators in church next week for what could be my last Sunday here! Also we have the assignment to speak next week for Fathers Day. I´m assuming it´s Father´s day there as well? If it is, hope you all have a Happy Fathers Day!
¡Les amo!
Elder Ian Wheelhouse
Sounds like we have had some similar weather this week! We´ve had a lot of rain these last several days but somehow i´ve managed to keep at least one of my pairs of dress shoes nice and dry thank goodness. I figure I´m a bit overdue for the colder weather and it was nice enjoying 2 summers in a row. (Elder McClurg has had 2 winters in a row, poor guy) Luckily I´ve got some good gear and when I´m all bundled up I stay good and warm. :) With transfers coming up this weekend, this could be my last week writing to you from the Coast!
This week we had to make yet ANOTHER trip to capital. Luckily we got to make the trip up there in a car with Elder y Hna Fitch who came down to the coast this week to inspect all the pensions. Mom you would be very proud, they even said we had the cleanest one! It was fun getting to know them and they even took us out for McDonalds, which after 6 months of not having any, tasted REALLY GOOD. They had some great stories and have a strong testimony of the importance of doing what you know is right even when you may not want to do it. They have a great missionary family, both of them having served missions in addition to this one, and 7 kids, 6 of which served missions. All 7 have been married in the temple and they are excited to be going home this next week with Pres. y Hna. Asay to be with their families again. That night we ended up staying with a couple of the office elders again and worked with them in their area for a bit. After we had a little pizza party before going to bed.
The next day we woke up bright and early to make the trip to capital so Elder McClurg could get finger printed again. There is a member who lives close to the offices that the mission always calls to run the missionaries around whenever we need to go to downtown (the driving here is INSANE). We went to the Church Offices of all of South America I think which is in Palermo (Very nice part of capital). We met some awesome Senior Couples, one of which teaches piano for their mission. We also found out that Elder Neil A Andersen happened to be there that same day, but we never did see him. We also had the lovely experience of going to an Argentine jail in downtown Buenos Aires where we had his fingerprints done. Definitely not a place I would ever like to visit again, but the officer who helped us was very friendly. One building we went to our Taxi driver parked his car in the far right lane of the street with his emergency flashers on because there was no where to park. He told me to sit in the drivers seat while they ran inside and told me if the police came to just say "ya me voy" and nothing else. Luckily the police never came!
Even with the rain and losing a lot of working time due to travel we had a pretty good week. The families we are teaching are continuing to progress but unfortunately still haven´t made it to church. Church this week was great. We had 2 great talks in sacrament meeting, one about controlling our Anger and the other about Fasting and Prayer. We hope to see some of our investigators in church next week for what could be my last Sunday here! Also we have the assignment to speak next week for Fathers Day. I´m assuming it´s Father´s day there as well? If it is, hope you all have a Happy Fathers Day!
¡Les amo!
Elder Ian Wheelhouse
Monday, June 7, 2010
We're in the Capital!
Hello family and friends!
It´s fun to hear of all the exciting things going on back home! Sounds like everyone is keeping super busy and already getting started on the activities of summer. Always enjoy hearing from you all!
After a 5 hour micro ride yesterday right after church, Elder McClurg and I are here at the mission offices in Adrogue for the day. Being new in the country Elder McClurg had to go do some documents this morning, but it turns out that his fingerprint sheet "expired". So once again, $320 pesos and 10 hours of total travel time later... we have officially wasted another trip to the immigration offices. At least I got to enjoy seeing some Elders from my MTC group that I haven´t seen in a while. 2 hours of our ride down here were spent suffering through the featured movie, "Pan y Tulipanes", an Italian film with Spanish Subtitles. It was kind of cool being able to understand certain words and phrases that are the same in Italian.
This week there wasn´t much that really happened that´s worth talking about. We had district meeting in Dolores again this week, so we spent 4 hours on a bus traveling to and from that. The focus this week was using the Book of Mormon to do contacts. It is definitely something I want to improve on to use in the rest of my mission. It is definitely one of the most powerful tools we have and we definitely aren´t using it to it´s full capacity. Every person we talk to has some need or question that has an answer in the book. It makes contacts a lot more interesting trying to identify and answer the questions that people have.
Following District Meeting we did intercambios (exchanges) with the Elders from San Clemente and I got to spend the day working with Elder Hendricks (also from Orem Utah, went to MV). He is new to the area and has 1 transfer less than I do, but I learned a lot from the time we got to work together and we had a fun time talking.
We had some great success this week with our teaching and were able to teach more lessons than any other week from the last 2 transfers. Also this week we found a couple new investigators, both 20-30 year old guys from Paraguay. One of them is a nephew of a member family in our ward and we were really excited to start teaching him because we were SURE that it would be super easy to get him to church and he seemed really excited about the Book of Mormon. 3 days after finding him we found out he is already headed back to Buenos Aires to live with some friends.
We also have some investigators who are progressing really well and making good progress in the Book of Mormon! A lady we are teaching named Rosana was reading the testimony of Joseph Smith at the beginning of the book. She was really excited about the story of Angel Moroni appearing to him and she kept telling us that she feels really good whenever she reads. Another hombre we are teaching named Adrian is cruising through the book and is already in 1 Ne 11 after a week of reading and loved the story of Nephi and Laban as well as Lehi´s vision of the Tree of Life. I love the Book of Mormon and it is so awesome to see others recognize how great it is too.
Unfortunately it was another week without investigators in church. Ramon y Rosa were planning to be there but had unexpected problems with their car again. Also Jose has disappeared again, so as far as baptism prospects for this transfer... it´s not looking to great. We are seeing a lot of progress in the work and we will see some more success as we continue to work hard. I am hoping for another transfer in Santa Teresita to see some of the families we are working with get baptized in the not to far distant future.
Anyways, that´s my week! Say hello to everyone back home for me.
Les amo
Elder Ian Wheelhouse
It´s fun to hear of all the exciting things going on back home! Sounds like everyone is keeping super busy and already getting started on the activities of summer. Always enjoy hearing from you all!
After a 5 hour micro ride yesterday right after church, Elder McClurg and I are here at the mission offices in Adrogue for the day. Being new in the country Elder McClurg had to go do some documents this morning, but it turns out that his fingerprint sheet "expired". So once again, $320 pesos and 10 hours of total travel time later... we have officially wasted another trip to the immigration offices. At least I got to enjoy seeing some Elders from my MTC group that I haven´t seen in a while. 2 hours of our ride down here were spent suffering through the featured movie, "Pan y Tulipanes", an Italian film with Spanish Subtitles. It was kind of cool being able to understand certain words and phrases that are the same in Italian.
This week there wasn´t much that really happened that´s worth talking about. We had district meeting in Dolores again this week, so we spent 4 hours on a bus traveling to and from that. The focus this week was using the Book of Mormon to do contacts. It is definitely something I want to improve on to use in the rest of my mission. It is definitely one of the most powerful tools we have and we definitely aren´t using it to it´s full capacity. Every person we talk to has some need or question that has an answer in the book. It makes contacts a lot more interesting trying to identify and answer the questions that people have.
Following District Meeting we did intercambios (exchanges) with the Elders from San Clemente and I got to spend the day working with Elder Hendricks (also from Orem Utah, went to MV). He is new to the area and has 1 transfer less than I do, but I learned a lot from the time we got to work together and we had a fun time talking.
We had some great success this week with our teaching and were able to teach more lessons than any other week from the last 2 transfers. Also this week we found a couple new investigators, both 20-30 year old guys from Paraguay. One of them is a nephew of a member family in our ward and we were really excited to start teaching him because we were SURE that it would be super easy to get him to church and he seemed really excited about the Book of Mormon. 3 days after finding him we found out he is already headed back to Buenos Aires to live with some friends.
We also have some investigators who are progressing really well and making good progress in the Book of Mormon! A lady we are teaching named Rosana was reading the testimony of Joseph Smith at the beginning of the book. She was really excited about the story of Angel Moroni appearing to him and she kept telling us that she feels really good whenever she reads. Another hombre we are teaching named Adrian is cruising through the book and is already in 1 Ne 11 after a week of reading and loved the story of Nephi and Laban as well as Lehi´s vision of the Tree of Life. I love the Book of Mormon and it is so awesome to see others recognize how great it is too.
Unfortunately it was another week without investigators in church. Ramon y Rosa were planning to be there but had unexpected problems with their car again. Also Jose has disappeared again, so as far as baptism prospects for this transfer... it´s not looking to great. We are seeing a lot of progress in the work and we will see some more success as we continue to work hard. I am hoping for another transfer in Santa Teresita to see some of the families we are working with get baptized in the not to far distant future.
Anyways, that´s my week! Say hello to everyone back home for me.
Les amo
Elder Ian Wheelhouse
Monday, May 31, 2010
May is gone!
Dear family and friends,
Wow I can´t believe May has already come and gone. I think the colder weather is finally here to stay for the winter! I can´t believe you are still getting snow back home! It was good to hear that everyone finished up school and sounds like everyone had a pretty good finish! (Any news back yet on that scholorship Kristen?) Únfortunately I can´t send any "fotos de la semana" this week because the computer I am on won´t let me download my pictures.
It´s been another slower week here in Santa Teresita, but we had some good things that happened. Best of all we were able to set 2 new baptismal dates with a great couple we found the first week of the transfer (Ramon y Rosa). Really a testimony to me of the importance of talking to everyone. If we hadn´t talked to him at the bus stop we might never have found them! Also their 33 year old son showed up at their house right as we were about to invite them to be baptized. It was a little awkward at first but by the end of the lesson he actually seemed really interested (he asked if he could come to church) and we are hoping to start teaching him and his family soon. We are doing our best to talk to everyone but we are having a hard time getting into houses to teach which is pretty frustrating. Doing contacts it seems like no one wants to talk to us and the people we do set citas with are never home when we go back. However, we were able to find José after 2-3 weeks of not hearing anything from him and he still has the desires to be baptized and came to church this Sunday. He is the only one of our investigators who would be able to be baptized for our Sabado Blanco on June 12 so we´re hoping to help him work towards that goal.
Also this week we had the all-to-rare occurance of getting a ride from a complete stranger. (Not to rare for Elder McClurg, apparently in the Provo Mission the few missionaries that don´t have cars can PLAN on recieving rides wherever they need to go) We were walking down a street one cold afternoon and a younger couple pulled up to us in a newer Peugot 206 SW and asked where we were going. We told them the direction of the church and they told us they were headed that way and offered us a ride. We got in the back seat sitting on both sides of their 5 year old daughter (probably scared the poor girl to death). We had a good time talking with them and were able to share a brief message with them and leave them a folleto before we got out of the car. Didn´t seem REALLY interested, and apparently they aren´t home much, but hopefully we will run into them again and have another opportunity to talk. We were both grateful that even amidst all the people that slam their doors in our faces, it was nice to see someone who went out of their way to help us out.
Wednesday was our last Zone Conference/Interviews with Pres. Asay. We talked a lot about the importance of getting GOOD references as the focus for this transfer is Ch. 9 out of preach my gospel which talks about Finding People to Teach. Also, Pres. y Hna. Asay spent the last hour or so answering any questions we could come up with and shared some great stories/doctrinal insights. They shared the story of how they were called to preside in the Buenos Aires South mission by Pres. Faust, who at the time was going down hill health wise, after having been told by Elder Scott that they would most likely be called to the Montevideo Uruguay mission. Pres. Asay also shared something that was very meaningful for me right now in the mission. He said "Our abilities and talents aren´t as important to the Lord as our obedience. If the Lord wanted to he could send 5 year olds to preach the gospel and give them all the talent and abilities they would need to do so, but he calls us instead to test our obedience." Hna. Asay shared one of the greatest difficulties she had in coming to Argentina on a mission was the necesity to step outside her comfort zone in leaving her family and coming to a country where she couldn´t speak the language. She told us that leaving our comfort zone behind gives us a special opportunity to rely on the Lord and to feel him strengthen us in our needs.
Anyways, lots more I could share but no time to do so! I hope you all have a fantastic first week of summer!
Les amo,
Elder Ian Wheelhouse
Wow I can´t believe May has already come and gone. I think the colder weather is finally here to stay for the winter! I can´t believe you are still getting snow back home! It was good to hear that everyone finished up school and sounds like everyone had a pretty good finish! (Any news back yet on that scholorship Kristen?) Únfortunately I can´t send any "fotos de la semana" this week because the computer I am on won´t let me download my pictures.
It´s been another slower week here in Santa Teresita, but we had some good things that happened. Best of all we were able to set 2 new baptismal dates with a great couple we found the first week of the transfer (Ramon y Rosa). Really a testimony to me of the importance of talking to everyone. If we hadn´t talked to him at the bus stop we might never have found them! Also their 33 year old son showed up at their house right as we were about to invite them to be baptized. It was a little awkward at first but by the end of the lesson he actually seemed really interested (he asked if he could come to church) and we are hoping to start teaching him and his family soon. We are doing our best to talk to everyone but we are having a hard time getting into houses to teach which is pretty frustrating. Doing contacts it seems like no one wants to talk to us and the people we do set citas with are never home when we go back. However, we were able to find José after 2-3 weeks of not hearing anything from him and he still has the desires to be baptized and came to church this Sunday. He is the only one of our investigators who would be able to be baptized for our Sabado Blanco on June 12 so we´re hoping to help him work towards that goal.
Also this week we had the all-to-rare occurance of getting a ride from a complete stranger. (Not to rare for Elder McClurg, apparently in the Provo Mission the few missionaries that don´t have cars can PLAN on recieving rides wherever they need to go) We were walking down a street one cold afternoon and a younger couple pulled up to us in a newer Peugot 206 SW and asked where we were going. We told them the direction of the church and they told us they were headed that way and offered us a ride. We got in the back seat sitting on both sides of their 5 year old daughter (probably scared the poor girl to death). We had a good time talking with them and were able to share a brief message with them and leave them a folleto before we got out of the car. Didn´t seem REALLY interested, and apparently they aren´t home much, but hopefully we will run into them again and have another opportunity to talk. We were both grateful that even amidst all the people that slam their doors in our faces, it was nice to see someone who went out of their way to help us out.
Wednesday was our last Zone Conference/Interviews with Pres. Asay. We talked a lot about the importance of getting GOOD references as the focus for this transfer is Ch. 9 out of preach my gospel which talks about Finding People to Teach. Also, Pres. y Hna. Asay spent the last hour or so answering any questions we could come up with and shared some great stories/doctrinal insights. They shared the story of how they were called to preside in the Buenos Aires South mission by Pres. Faust, who at the time was going down hill health wise, after having been told by Elder Scott that they would most likely be called to the Montevideo Uruguay mission. Pres. Asay also shared something that was very meaningful for me right now in the mission. He said "Our abilities and talents aren´t as important to the Lord as our obedience. If the Lord wanted to he could send 5 year olds to preach the gospel and give them all the talent and abilities they would need to do so, but he calls us instead to test our obedience." Hna. Asay shared one of the greatest difficulties she had in coming to Argentina on a mission was the necesity to step outside her comfort zone in leaving her family and coming to a country where she couldn´t speak the language. She told us that leaving our comfort zone behind gives us a special opportunity to rely on the Lord and to feel him strengthen us in our needs.
Anyways, lots more I could share but no time to do so! I hope you all have a fantastic first week of summer!
Les amo,
Elder Ian Wheelhouse
Monday, May 24, 2010
Queridos amigos,
Sounds like you all had an exciting week with school wrapping up and getting all ready for the adventures of summer. This last week it has been overcast every single day looking like it was going to rain. The rain FINALLY hit last night and I imagine it will continue throughout the day today. I almost feel bad for all the tourists who came to the coast to enjoy the long holiday weekend for 25 de Mayo. Still nothing like it was in the summer but it has been different seeing so many people in the streets! One of Pres. Asay´s counselors came down with his family from la Plata and their family of 8 in church made up about 25% of the congregation.
We definitely had a better week this week even with losing almost a whole day due to a District Meeting in Dolores. In addition to having to leave at 6 in the morning to get there on time... In the afternoon our district leader was told that we had a bus that left the terminal in Dolores at 245 to make the 2 hour trip back to our area, so after finishing up our meeting everyone wanted to play futbol to pass the time before the bus came. When we got to the terminal at 215-230 we found out that the 2:45 bus didn't exist but that there was one that left at 200 that we had just missed. The next bus didn't come until 530 so we ended up sitting around in the terminal for a couple hours and talked to some people. We missed 2 citas that we had planned, but were at least able to save the rest of our night when we got back to our area at 730.
We made a special effort this week to talk to everyone and probably the best contacts we had were those we stopped in the street. Unfortunately the majority of the people we had set citas with weren't home... in total we had 12 citas that blew us off this week which was a little discouraging. We are working hard to have 3 people prepared for a "Sabado Blanco" coming up June 12 where 2 other areas in our zone are going to bring all their baptisms to our church and we are going to have a big baptismal service. We are already to crunch time as our only hope of having baptisms for this date are: José, who we haven´t been able to find at his house for the last 2 weeks, and any investigators we have right now or find during this week who will have to be in church the next two Sundays in addition to receiving all the lessons/keeping commitments. We are teaching some great people and have had some success finding some old investigators (including Julio y Carolina). We have been teaching a great couple named Ramon y Rosa the last week or so. We actually found him doing contacts while waiting for a bus and the first time we went to his house for a cita they were there waiting and invited us in. They have a 33 year old son who is handicap which I think has really humbled them, and they have been keeping all their commitments - reading/praying... we have yet to see them in church however. They have really gained a strong testimony of prayer and I honestly think that is their favorite part of the lesson each time we go over there.
It´s really a blessing for me being able to work with Elder McClurg. We are both learning and growing a lot, ad hopefully some of the ideas we have come up with will help this area continue to progress. He is a great teacher and I am learning a lot from him.
Hope you all have a great week! Congratulations all you graduates!
Les amo,
Elder Ian Wheelhouse
Sounds like you all had an exciting week with school wrapping up and getting all ready for the adventures of summer. This last week it has been overcast every single day looking like it was going to rain. The rain FINALLY hit last night and I imagine it will continue throughout the day today. I almost feel bad for all the tourists who came to the coast to enjoy the long holiday weekend for 25 de Mayo. Still nothing like it was in the summer but it has been different seeing so many people in the streets! One of Pres. Asay´s counselors came down with his family from la Plata and their family of 8 in church made up about 25% of the congregation.
We definitely had a better week this week even with losing almost a whole day due to a District Meeting in Dolores. In addition to having to leave at 6 in the morning to get there on time... In the afternoon our district leader was told that we had a bus that left the terminal in Dolores at 245 to make the 2 hour trip back to our area, so after finishing up our meeting everyone wanted to play futbol to pass the time before the bus came. When we got to the terminal at 215-230 we found out that the 2:45 bus didn't exist but that there was one that left at 200 that we had just missed. The next bus didn't come until 530 so we ended up sitting around in the terminal for a couple hours and talked to some people. We missed 2 citas that we had planned, but were at least able to save the rest of our night when we got back to our area at 730.
We made a special effort this week to talk to everyone and probably the best contacts we had were those we stopped in the street. Unfortunately the majority of the people we had set citas with weren't home... in total we had 12 citas that blew us off this week which was a little discouraging. We are working hard to have 3 people prepared for a "Sabado Blanco" coming up June 12 where 2 other areas in our zone are going to bring all their baptisms to our church and we are going to have a big baptismal service. We are already to crunch time as our only hope of having baptisms for this date are: José, who we haven´t been able to find at his house for the last 2 weeks, and any investigators we have right now or find during this week who will have to be in church the next two Sundays in addition to receiving all the lessons/keeping commitments. We are teaching some great people and have had some success finding some old investigators (including Julio y Carolina). We have been teaching a great couple named Ramon y Rosa the last week or so. We actually found him doing contacts while waiting for a bus and the first time we went to his house for a cita they were there waiting and invited us in. They have a 33 year old son who is handicap which I think has really humbled them, and they have been keeping all their commitments - reading/praying... we have yet to see them in church however. They have really gained a strong testimony of prayer and I honestly think that is their favorite part of the lesson each time we go over there.
It´s really a blessing for me being able to work with Elder McClurg. We are both learning and growing a lot, ad hopefully some of the ideas we have come up with will help this area continue to progress. He is a great teacher and I am learning a lot from him.
Hope you all have a great week! Congratulations all you graduates!
Les amo,
Elder Ian Wheelhouse
Monday, May 17, 2010
The NEW Santa Teresita
Dear Family and Friends
Wow what a week! Sounds like you already got the news about who my "trainee" is. I am very excited to be working with Elder McClurg and I think we will have some success here in Santa Teresita. That´s exciting to hear about all the missionaries who are getting home this month. Can´t believe it! It´s amazing how the time flies in the mission. Here´s a little about my week.
Monday after the long bus ride up to the mission home I enjoyed a nice homemade Hna. Asay dinner of Chili with homemade bread and honeybutter with some cake and ice cream to top it off. :) I spent the night with an Elder Zarco from El Salvador who was finishing up his mission and heading home the next day. It was fun talking to him and it turns out he served in Santa Teresita as well for 6 months of his mission. Also got to have a 1 on 1 meeting with Pres. Asay to talk about my area and he gave me some great counsel and expressed his concerns and hopes for the branch here. He told me I would have a great companion and that we will have a lot of work to do. When I finally got to sleep I slept GREAT and it was nice to be able to walk around without shoes on nice soft CARPET.
The next morning we had a great French Toast breakfast with 100% orange juice which was very tasty. We met up with the other missionaries who are training this transfer (including Elder Hinton) and had a trainers training with the Assistants and Pres. Asay. Had a good time catching up with Elder Hinton and some of the other missionaries we knew from the MTC. (I think we were all hoping to train Elder McClurg). Finally the new missionaries arrived from Capital and the assignments were made. Very excited to hear Elder McClurg would be my new companion! Unfortunately we had to eat lunch really fast and leave to catch our bus to come back to our area. We were both exhausted but had a good chat on the way to Santa Teresita.
We had a pretty rough first week and were sick for several days. We were still able to get out and work and had some success finding some great people. Elder McClurg already speaks spanish and teaches really well after serving in the Provo Mission for 6 months. He definitely speaks like a mexican, but that will change with time! It will be a big adjustment for him getting used to life here in Argentina based on what I have heard about how missionaries live in Provo. We don´t have a car, we don´t live in a nice apartment building/basement of a members house, we don´t have several families who want to give us dinner every night and sometimes we don´t even have lunch citas, people don´t honk or wave at us and shout words of encouragement... actually it´s quite the opposite. But it´s something every missionary here has got to get used to sooner or later. Also I find it funny to be "training" an Elder who has taught more lessons than I have and has baptized more people.
We are going to work hard this transfer to get the members here excited about missionary work and especially get our Branch President more involved. We both had the opportunity to speak in church yesterday (my 5th time speaking here in Santa Teresita). I spoke on Weaknesses and Elder McClurg spoke on conversion/witnesses. Preparing my talk I realized how many weaknesses I have, especially as a missionary, but realized how our weaknesses and trials are really opportunities to progress and grow given to us by our Heavenly Father and to humble us to recognize where true strength comes from.
Hope you all have a great week and that all you who are finishing up school can Endure to the End!
Les amo,
Elder Ian Wheelhouse
Wow what a week! Sounds like you already got the news about who my "trainee" is. I am very excited to be working with Elder McClurg and I think we will have some success here in Santa Teresita. That´s exciting to hear about all the missionaries who are getting home this month. Can´t believe it! It´s amazing how the time flies in the mission. Here´s a little about my week.
Monday after the long bus ride up to the mission home I enjoyed a nice homemade Hna. Asay dinner of Chili with homemade bread and honeybutter with some cake and ice cream to top it off. :) I spent the night with an Elder Zarco from El Salvador who was finishing up his mission and heading home the next day. It was fun talking to him and it turns out he served in Santa Teresita as well for 6 months of his mission. Also got to have a 1 on 1 meeting with Pres. Asay to talk about my area and he gave me some great counsel and expressed his concerns and hopes for the branch here. He told me I would have a great companion and that we will have a lot of work to do. When I finally got to sleep I slept GREAT and it was nice to be able to walk around without shoes on nice soft CARPET.
The next morning we had a great French Toast breakfast with 100% orange juice which was very tasty. We met up with the other missionaries who are training this transfer (including Elder Hinton) and had a trainers training with the Assistants and Pres. Asay. Had a good time catching up with Elder Hinton and some of the other missionaries we knew from the MTC. (I think we were all hoping to train Elder McClurg). Finally the new missionaries arrived from Capital and the assignments were made. Very excited to hear Elder McClurg would be my new companion! Unfortunately we had to eat lunch really fast and leave to catch our bus to come back to our area. We were both exhausted but had a good chat on the way to Santa Teresita.
We had a pretty rough first week and were sick for several days. We were still able to get out and work and had some success finding some great people. Elder McClurg already speaks spanish and teaches really well after serving in the Provo Mission for 6 months. He definitely speaks like a mexican, but that will change with time! It will be a big adjustment for him getting used to life here in Argentina based on what I have heard about how missionaries live in Provo. We don´t have a car, we don´t live in a nice apartment building/basement of a members house, we don´t have several families who want to give us dinner every night and sometimes we don´t even have lunch citas, people don´t honk or wave at us and shout words of encouragement... actually it´s quite the opposite. But it´s something every missionary here has got to get used to sooner or later. Also I find it funny to be "training" an Elder who has taught more lessons than I have and has baptized more people.
We are going to work hard this transfer to get the members here excited about missionary work and especially get our Branch President more involved. We both had the opportunity to speak in church yesterday (my 5th time speaking here in Santa Teresita). I spoke on Weaknesses and Elder McClurg spoke on conversion/witnesses. Preparing my talk I realized how many weaknesses I have, especially as a missionary, but realized how our weaknesses and trials are really opportunities to progress and grow given to us by our Heavenly Father and to humble us to recognize where true strength comes from.
Hope you all have a great week and that all you who are finishing up school can Endure to the End!
Les amo,
Elder Ian Wheelhouse
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