June 27, 2016

June 27, 2016

I am so grateful for the people here. Every day, they are so generous and they treat us so well. It’s hard at times to express how much I appreciate them but I try. I will pass along your message to them!

We have a group of kids right now that are really faithful. It amazes us. They are friends and cousins of Mauro. They show up to church every Sunday, walking from their houses which are about 10 minutes away. The thing is, is that the kids are really faithful, but a little crazy, too. It’s hard to control them because they are never disciplined and usually they only have one parent. But still we are amazed at their faith! 

Tell him (Brother Da Silva) I said hi back! Tell him "Bon dia." Our investigators are good. Some are progressing really well but others don’t have too much time for us.

This week was good! This week was the finale of Copa America! So everyone was updating us on who was advancing. Yesterday a team from Tucuman advanced up a division and it was crazy. It sounded like a war because of all the fireworks and noises! And then the finale of Copa America was yesterday, too. Argentina took 2nd and it’s kind of a sore subject. But yesterday there was no one in the streets! It was like a ghost town.

  

We have a baptism for Belen this week. She has been progressing amazingly well. She always has good questions and she always reads what we give her.

Daniel is doing well. He is being a missionary even before his baptism. He is 50 years old and is waiting on some paperwork before his baptism. He has been taking friends to church and has been talking to his son-in-law who is interested in the gospel. It’s an amazing thing.

Pablo, the brother of Mauro is working a lot right now. It’s hard for him to find time between school and work for us.

We are talking to an older couple! But it’s a couple! We are excited to be talking with them! His name is Oscar and they really felt the spirit when we talked about Eternal Families.

We had a conference with one of the Seventy, Elder Jorge Luis Romeu. We helped organize a minibus to be able to take our investigators and members to the conference. It was a success. We had 7 investigadores (investigators) and about 4 less actives assist with us! Elder Romeu talked a lot about the family. It was really good. He talked about family councils and the important roles of the mother and father.

They eat a lot of panza here. That's stomach haha. And, well, I am getting used to it a little more, but it’s still a little weird.

The weeks are going by so fast and in two more weeks it’s the end of my second transfer, and I believe with Elder Guzman, too. I am a little nervous and am trying to learn how I can be better still. I know I have a lot to learn, and I know that I need the help of my Heavenly Father, and my Savior every day. I’m grateful for your support! I’m grateful that you both served missions, Mom and Dad! :)

Much Love

Elder Wolf 

This is just a picture of one of the beautiful days here. There are two sets of mountain ranges, one is green and one is usually brown because it is rock, but it snowed in the mountains and so the range behind is white.

I found a pole with my name on it today. haha

This is just us in a house of Kadija with her family. Kadija was the most recent baptism we had, and her family is really welcoming.

June 20, 2016

So good to hear from you, family!!! I love all of you so much!!

Happy Father’s Day, Dad!!

This week was good! I felt like I was able to connect with the members a little more, and also with our investigators.  I have been feeling the gift of tongues more also. I know that it’s real and I’m so grateful for the opportunity that I have to use it. Just like any other spiritual gift, we have to cultivate it and make an effort to use it, then Heavenly Father will help us fill in the gaps. I definitely notice a difference in my language for the day when I have a good study session compared to when I don’t. 

This week Elder Guzman baptized Hermana Kadija. The kids right now are very receptive. The women also. But the men want nothing to do with church. It’s hard because there are a lot of families without a father here. I think, “Wow, this family really needs the priesthood in their home”, but it’s hard because the men don’t want anything to do with church. I realize now what a strength the priesthood was in our home. I am grateful to have a father that could be that example to me. I know that families are divine. 

We had the activity of Locro and it was amazing for investigators. We had about 4 to 5 new families there! Everyone in the ward was working like missionaries. The young men, the young women, the relief society and the elders quorum. This is how it should be. Yes we have missionaries, yes we are missionaries but we can’t do it alone. I am grateful for the families in our branch and for their ability to help us. I encourage all of the members to be missionaries. Help new people feel welcome. Just that alone can do a lot. It helps to have a member present in our lecciones (lessons) also! I encourage the members to see what they can do to bare their testimonies to those whom the missionaries are teaching!

We had a visit by Elder Texiera of the 70 and he encouraged us to use our agency more to think creatively and think out of the box! Activities are amazing for investigators! We have classes of piano on Tuesdays and people show up and learn! Also for example we had the Copita America Actividad (“little America Cup” activity) today! People always show up for soccer here, but it was a success also!

I’m grateful for the people in the Stead Ward and for their example and hard work!

Our investigators are good! Hermana Belen is more than ready but she wanted a little more time to prepare. There is one girl that is around 16 years old that came to church on the right Sunday. We had a really good lesson in Gospel Principals and afterwards she literally said that she wanted to be baptized.

I had the opportunity to teach gospel principals this past Sunday and it wasn’t too bad! :)

Anyway, I hope you guys have a good week!!

Much Love for you guys here in Tucuman!

Elder Wolf

June 20, 2016 - Pictures 1

We had a soccer activity and called it Copita America! We played and then had lunch today. We had a good turn out! The boy with us is named Josue and he and his family are faithful members of the church.

Here are some pictures of the elders in the pension! We had interviews with presidente (president) in our pension (apartment) and this is elder Guzman and I before the interviews.

 

We also had a bautismo (baptism) of hermana Kadija this week. Her aunt is a member but her family is not. Interesting story... Before we taught her she had denied the catholic communion. She liked the church and decided to be baptized. Her family is so welcoming but they are not members... yet Haha :)

June 20, 2016 - Pictures 2

We had an activity in the week with locro! Locro is a kind of soup that has stomach and almost every part of a pig or other type of meat also. This activity was amazing and we had an amazing turn out! The pot of soup was huge! Here are some of the members.


The older hermana is Hermana Pentucci and she feeds us every Sunday. She is so nice and she literally remembers everything about the missionaries.


And also this is Hermana Bianca.  Her family was recently baptized and they are really faithful.


Also Mario! He is a good kid, too!

June 13, 2016

I'm glad my Spanish translated over well! It's nowhere near perfect but getting better.

This week Elder guzman had to go to Salta for his papers and I recived another elder for an evening and then for the next morning too, temporarily. I was nervous because that meant that I had to present my area. But I did it! It went really well and I got to all the places I needed to be on time and we had lessons in the morning and they went well.

As far as investigators we had a lot to baptize but  a couple have been slipping through the cracks. 

Pablo is the older brother of Mauro that I baptized and he wanted to get baptized but now is working a lot. It is hard to get a hold of him and he isn't coming to church, but we talked to his mom and she said that he has been asking her when he can get baptized. He is really shy and it was really nice to hear that he still has that desire.

Same thing has happened with a girl named Alejandra. She is 16 years old. Her schedule is filled with school and work and her mom has been sick, too. We asked her if she still had that desire and she said she had some doubts and felt that she needed more time, but that she still wants to be baptized.

We have a baptism this week! A 9 year old girl named Kadija and she is so awesome! She has been reading. She actually denied the Catholic communion before we started visiting with her. We know she is making this decision for her and her family is really accepting and they love us.

We also have Belen. The college student the following week. She has been telling us stories of her testimony of prayer and she has been asking us questions. Like really good questions!! She is ready but she needed another week because she was a little busy this week.

We talked to a Judia (jewish man) and that was interesting. He thinks he is a prophet.

Today we traveled to Monteros to visit some of elder Guzmans people. It was beautiful and its more of country. We ate sugar care and I got to see their church building which was a little house! Things are good.

Hope your travels are safe and send my love to the family in Texas! Let grandma know that I got her letter and that I loved it!

Love you all

Elder Wolf

In a car squished but we only payed 50 pesos so it was worth it. Ha ha.

This is me eating sugar cane! Its super sweet.

June 6, 2016

(As usual, the stuff in italics are translated from Spanish, or are my editorial comments.)

Madre! te amo mucho! Estoy bien acá  en Tucuman, pero yo extraño ustedes también. Ahora tenemos un nuevo Elder de Brasil en la pensión. El esta teniendo un tiempo difícil con la transición. Estoy agradecidos por ustedes y por la abilidad que dios me dio para vivir acá con fuerza y con un conocimiento que ustedes me aman.

pero bueno, yo creo que mi español es un poco mejor, pero ahora English...

(Mother! I love you so much! I'm fine here in Tucuman, but I miss you too. Now we have a new Elder from Brazil in the pension. He's having a hard time with the transition. I'm grateful for you and for the ability that God gave me to live here with strength and knowledge that you love me.

But hey, I think my Spanish is a little better, but now Inglés.)

This week...

I got a question about the people here and how they give to us, so here is also more about the people.

The people are so nice they always give us this drink called mate cocido. A lot of gringos think its bad but I love it! It’s like a grass tea basically and we are allowed to have that form of it. We put sugar and eat it with pan (bread) and tortilla. The people are very poor and their houses are usually brick with cement floors. It’s a whole other world, but they are always so humble. A less active member always gives us dulces (sweets) despues the leccion (after the lesson) because she owns a kiosk. We have a ton of citrus in the pension (apartment) ahora (now) because almost everyone has a tree of mandarins or oranges and they give some to us. Also the paltas (avocados).  The children play marbles in the street, and are a little crazy at times. They always ask me how to say English words. It’s because I am a gringo...haha. The people here like their drama, too. Sometimes it’s hard to manage our time when they want to tell us stories haha.

This week I felt a greater bond with my companion and I’m so grateful for it. It’s hard living with someone else at times but it’s also fun and I’m learning a lot from it, haha. I took the initiative a little more this week. I taught the Gospel Principals class and creo que fue Bueno (I think it went well)!  Elder Guzman me aydo tambien (helped me, too). Pero si (but yes), we talk about cars and, no se como qualquier! a veces yo siento que es mas facil para hablar en español, y para pensar en español (castellano)  tambien. Haha yo se no es perfecto pero puedo ver la transición. (I think my class went well, Elder Guzman helped me too. At times I feel that it’s easier for me to think in Español. It’s not perfect but I can see the transition.) It’s a little frustrating at times because Elder Guzman asks me about English and sometimes I don’t know what the correct form is in English.

Other things that happened, We got to her the testimony of an investigator, and that was probably the highlight of this week. It was Belen and her testimony of prayer. Elder Starkey is our new district leader

I love you family!

Elder Wolf

In the street

Making oranges

In el colectivo

Elder Sarky y yo. He is in the area Universidad, hence the U and I am in the area Victoria Haha just a fun little picture.