Sunday, June 26, 2016

Transfers

¡Hola!
Me at sun down.
We found some great people this week, I got sick, and we had transfers. Whew!

Wednesday, I was sick and we didn´t go out. I´m doing a lot better, but I still have a cough that makes it hard to speak sometimes. Elder Felkins also got sick Sunday night, his last day in the mission. That was a little sad, and I sure hope he´s doing better now.

We found another really great family in Las Toscas. At first, it didn´t seem like they were going to let us teach them, but then the mother let us pass. She told us that her youngest child started doing rebelious things and she didn´t know what to do to help him. We taught them the restoration and how we can pray and God will answer us through the Holy Ghost. I taught that the Holy Ghost talks to us through our thoughts and feelings and how happy it makes us feel. The mother felt it. She told us, "I feel something good. I don´t know how to describe it, but I know that what you are teaching me is true." I know that Jesus Christ restored His true church on the earth. He called Joseph Smith to be His new prophet on the earth. We can know that this message is true if we ask God in prayer. He will answer us, because he loves us.

We shared the Restoration video with Samuel and Agustin´s family and Lilia and Julio. Julio is the brother of Samuel´s mom who is waiting to get married to Lilia so they can be baptized.
We had transfers. I´m not training yet, and I´m not leaving my area, or staying. My area got combined with the area of the new district leader, Elder Curtis. We now have his area, all of Avellaneda, and Las Toscas. It´s going to be a bit overwhelming and full of traveling. The Zone we are in now got small enough that Elder Curtis is the district leader for the whole zone. Normally there are just two. We will be busy!

My new companion, Elder Curtis.

Our old District.
Please keep praying for missionary work. There are people that are waiting for the invitation to change. Do all you can to invite your friends to learn more about Jesus Christ and his teachings. You will find greater joy and peace. You will begin to see more and more the great things God has done for you in your lives.

¡Hasta luego!
Elder Cloward


Me in Avellaneda.

Another short-long week. So much is happening and it is going by so fast!

¡Hola!

Another short-long week. So much is happening and it is going by so fast!

I had an appointment with the dermatologist (skin doctor) in Resistencia because I had really bad exzima. She prescribed me some creams and now I am all better. Whew! However, now I have a pretty bad cough :). I´m hoping to be in better condition in the next few days.

We made empanadas! They were sooo good! We had 12 each and I was very full afterward.
We found quite a few great people to teach this week. We went to teach the man I talked about in my last email. He turned out to be a builder. He´s been constructing an incredible house, with all kinds of unique designs very different from the box-like structure of most houses here. He invited us in and we sat down. He had a huge cup of wine and was watching TV. He was full of questions during our discusion with him. We did our best to answer them and teach him about Christ´s restored church and how he and his family can find more happiness in all of the confusion in the world. We shared with him Christ´s parable of the wise man who built his house on a rock (3 Nephi 14:24-27). Near the end, his wife walked up angrily and told the man to kick us out because she didn´t want people from other religions in her house. It´s going to be really hard to help this man overcome all of these obstacles, but he wants us to come back and he loves learning from us.

Last Monday, we had a family home evening with this great family. We taught them about temples and invited them to prepare to go to the temple. Afterwards, we played pictionary on my whiteboard.
Please pray for Milagro this week. She is 11, the oldest child in her family. She came to church this past Sunday and wants to be baptized. However, her parents aren´t very supportive and don´t see how important this step is in her life. We hope to help all of them progress together, because there are way to many young children in this city who got baptized and haven´t come to church since.

We ate icecream with Branco and his parents, Lilia and Julio, who have been waiting over a year so they can get married and be baptized.
This is the last week of the transfer and Elder Felkins is finishing his mission. That means I am definatly getting a new companion. I´m fairly sure I will stay in Avellaneda, but who my companion will be, I have no idea. I will write next Tuesday or if I end up training a new missionary, I will probably miss writing next week. That will be exciting!
God lives. He is real! He loves us. We have challenges in this world so that we can progress and become like Him. I love Him and His Plan of Happiness. Christ is our savior. I invite you each to do at least one thing to get to know Jesus and His teachings a little more personaly. If you do, you will find greater peace in your lives.

¡Hasta luego!
Elder Cloward




¡Hola!

¡Hola!

So much good work is happening here, but sometimes it seems so slow. I wish we could teach everything we need to in just a week or two, but in reality, the fastest an investigator can go from meeting the missionaries to being baptized is a month, and that doesn´t happen very often here. Change and repentance take a lot of time. We can´t change all at once.

I got to see my trainer, Elder Takapu, at our last multi-zone meeting. He´s really great!

Luciano came to church yesterday! We met his girl friend, Valeria, on the bus to Las Toscas about a month and a half ago, and since then, they have been very curious about what we teach. Luciano loved it!  I am so glad it was fast and testimony meeting, (anyone in the congregation can go up front and share what they believe) because the Holy Ghost was really strong. The second class talked about the Holy Ghost and its role. It was a perfect class because Luciano had had a question about the Holy Ghost before. We have a lesson with him and Valeria tonight and hope to help them progress closer to baptism.

We had several experiences where we knew we were in the right place at the right time. On Saturday, a man riding a bike stopped and asked us where we were from. He knew we were missionaries, and aparantly had stopped us because he needed help. He told us one of his neighbors every so often would roam the neighborhood with a gun and just rob people and break their stuff. This had happened several times to the man we were talking to and he was worried about his children and his wife. At the time he passed us, he had reached the conclusion that the only think he could do was kill his neighbor. His anger showed all over his face. Everything that we said to calm him, he ignored. Finally, Elder Felkins, my companion, asked if we could say a prayer with this man. Elder Felkins gave a beautiful prayer, asking God that He would protect this man and his family and help the man make good disisions. After the prayer, the man was visibly humbled. He was still angry, but he had hope. That´s what Christ´s teachings bring us: hope and peace. Jesus doesn´t take away our problems, but he makes them easier to carry. I gained a greater testimony of that with this man. We also won´t be going into that neighborhood after dark :).

God lives! He loves us. He wants us to return to live with him. He sent Jesus to teach us His plan of happiness. When we obey Christ, we are happy. I invite you to share the joy Christ has given to you with others. This will bring you even greater happiness and joy.

Be happy and make choices that with bring you the greatest eternal happiness!

Elder Cloward
McDonalds! It was good, but the Big Mac was really small. Normal hamburgers here, with eggs and other incredients, are way bigger.

Friday, June 3, 2016

A weekend of miracles!

¡Buen dia!

This week was really full! On Monday, we Skyped Alejandra and invited her to come to church. Because of her difficult situation being super far from the church and getting really sick, President Franco, the Mission president told us he would pay for the bus tickets. Alejandra was so excited. Right after the call, we talked to President Franco about our plan, and he told us that if it was possible, we should baptize her this Saturday, even though she hadn't gone to church. We couldn't wait to tell her!
 
On Tuesday, I went to Corrientes to get my DNE, my Argentine ID card that will make me legal for the next two years. It´s going to arrive in about a month.
Wednesday, the 25th, is Argentine Independence day. Traditionally, everyone makes big pots of locro, a type of soup with a corn and meat base. The branch had a huge activity and cooked a bunch for everyone.  I got to try a little bit and I really like it. Most people don´t because it contains mondongo, or cow stomach. It has a weird chewy taste to it. We only received permission to eat a little, because it makes some people sick.
 

My district at the locro.
The cooks at the locro activity.
Locro!
That same day, we Skyped Alejandra again and introduced her to everyone that was still at the activity. We invited them to be baptized this Saturday, and they said yes! Milagros was really nervous, especially because she is really shy and doesn't like to talk very much.
Saturday was a huge day. Five people had their baptisms scheduled and we were all really exited! It felt like three days put in one. As almost always happens with baptisms, there were a lot of problems to solve. Alejandra planned to stay with her sister who lives close to the church, but then her sister told her she´d be busy that day. Alejandra told us she would sleep in the terminal if she had to, she was that excited to be baptized. After scrambling to find a place for her to stay, and finding none, President Franco told us we could rent out a Hotel room.
On the baptism day.
We ended up having three baptismal services. Antonio, who asked me to baptize him, couldn't come when everyone else had their baptisms, so his service was at 2:30. Then Luz, the young girl that would be baptized told us that she was sick and she would have to come sooner so she wouldn´t be out in the cold. She was baptized at 4:00. Finally, Juan, Alegandra, and Milagros were baptized at 6:00. We were so happy for them! Not very many people came, but the services were each very special. My companion, two other Elders, and I sang a special musical number "Savior may I learn to Love Thee" and I directed the music.
Antonio, who asked me to baptize him.
Antonio after his baptism.
Alejandra and Milagros right after their baptisms. They were so happy!
All five of them were confirmed members of the church on Sunday and received the Holy Ghost. I am so happy for all of them and that I could be a part of their decisions to be baptized!

All of the five new converts and missionaries.
Elder Cloward