Tucuman - October 7th

Dear Family,

The internet in northern Argentina went down last Monday from the morning until around 6:00 - just the time when we start proselyting. They posted a message about it on facebook and reassured all the parents that their kids would write next week. I heard they also sent a letter, but it sounds like it didn't make it to you. Either way, I'm just fine! Better than ever, in fact. And there's LOTS to say!

Dad, I'm glad to hear you went to the priesthood session. There are a lot of members here that just watch it on the computer, but it's just not the same as going there in a large body of believers and priesthood holders to put ourselves in a spiritually conducive place. I loved the talk that the first lady gave in conference. It's those kind of women that understand the plan of salvation, and are just really cool. Like mom. Nice job on picking a wife, by the way. I was thinking about your awesome marriage during a lot of conference.

So... Lots of changes. I'm staying right here in Villa Muñecas for this next transfer. But I'm gonna be district leader of us, another companionship that's coming in to share our apartment, the zone leaders, and another companionship that's going in to share their apartment. It'll be fun!

LUCAS IS GETTING BAPTIZED THIS NEXT WEEK! We were sitting there during Bednar's talk and we got a text. "Elders, if you have time, come by my house. I've got some questions about baptism I want to ask before making the decision." I started teaching him my first week here, and he's gone to church almost every Sunday since then, but never wanted to get baptized and never had parental persmission. Well, now he's 18. So we went up, he asked what baptism is, and we told him. He said that he was thinking about the 22 of November, but decided he wanted to do it sooner. So we're gonna do it on Saturday. Woohoo!

Package! And my cool agenda with Caitlin art.

The package was great. I'm loving the music. Hopefully our neighbors haven't been bugged by my EFY. I had a slight scare when I plugged it into the cyber to get the songs organized a bit and the pendrive stopped working, but luckily I got it all copied first! Also, I'm newly addicted to tootsie rolls. I already finished a bag.

I talked to a Californian Jdub in the street the other day! So weird to hear a non-member speak English. The first time I've heard God's name taken in vain in English in a long time. It was a really fun conversation, though!

This week while watching Special Witnesses of Jesus Christ, conference, and studying conference, I gained a new appreciation of prophets. They really are so crucial. I took our mission president's challenge to be completely focused during conference, and not eat, draw, or have other distractions during conference. I had such an amazing experience. I felt... I dunno. It was a powerful spiritual feeling that wasn't quite the same as what I'm used to. It was much more peaceful than I remember feeling normally. With all the stress on the mission, it was very welcome. I just love prophets. I know they really are special witnesses of Him. I don't completely comprehend what that means, but I sure know that the word "special" is much deeper than it looks. I'm really started to realize the value of the church magazines now.

Between sessions we were encouraged to look for people to invite if we couldn't go back to work in our areas from the stake center. We missed the bus right before priesthood session, so we were stuck in the stake area. We looked all over, but there was no one to be found. I did a silent prayer begging for someone to talk to. And from that moment on, there were people running into us up until conference started. It's like they said in conference: if you want missionary opportunities, all ya gotta do is pray.

There was a lot of cool stuff that happened last week, also. We had zone conference where they talked a lot about repentance. Plus I tried to fix the sink after my success with the bed. Bad idea. Things are working now, and it's much cleaner, but I lost about 3 hours and it still drains at turtle speed. Oh well. Worth a shot!

The old district.

There is so much more I want to tell you guys about, but I don't want to make this letter TOO long. Let me just say that I'm still seeing miracles daily. This work is impossible without depending on the Lord. From DVDs that just happen to start working in Spanish, even though they're based in English, to running into people just when they're wondering why there are so many different doctrines, to people testifying of how the Elders stopped a demon haunting, to running into people in the street you thought you'd never see again, to phones starting to work without issues after dropping them in water, to members becoming available just when you need them to come with you, to a taxi driver who offers you a free ride when you're in a hurry, to kids recognizing you and telling you to come meet their families, the miracles of the Lord happen every day in his service. I love you guys so much, and I'm so grateful for your support, your testimonies, and your examples. Thanks for your patience for the letter. Until next week!

Landon