Tucuman - July 15th

Hello Beloved Family!

There were transfers today, but no one in our district moved anywhere.

Happy 9th of July! It's the independence day of Argentina. Or at least one of them. They look for every excuse to have a party and skip work. In our neighborhood it was really boring - no one did anything. Not even a firework. But there were a lot of people in their houses for the vacations, so that was great!

I found out that I'm really bad at soccer. Just so you all know. It´s a great way to make contacts on P-Day, though!

I found out this week that I really like having a knowledge of the gospel that I've built up over the years. We had a few investigators this week that had all kinds of questions, and the members with us tried to answer them all. Were they ever so confused. The gospel has the answers to just about everything, but you can't learn it all just like that. You have to build it up if you really want to understand it all. I'm so grateful that I was born in the gospel and given that chance.

We found a really awesome family! They totally recognized the spirit in the lesson and didn't even need our help! The dad did the prayer at the end and said, "That was weird. I don't feel like that when I do Catholic prayers." I love working in our Father's work with a member of the Godhead to help out. It just makes it so much easier.

I kinda lost my CTR ring on Monday. I said a prayer and we went back to look on the soccer field, but it was no where to be found. I kinda gave up. Then during the week one of the investigators that gave us ride back from soccer said that he found a ring in his car. God really does listen to prayers, and cares about even the stupid little things. I'm really grateful for that.

On the way to a lesson my companion decided we should take a shortcut. Normally we avoid those, but we felt like it would be better. We saved about 5 minutes getting to the appointment, and ended up getting there right before one of our investigators lit up a cigarette. Yet another evidence of the Holy Ghost helping in every moment of this grand work, if we're willing to pay attention.

I gave a talk in church again at a moment's notice. It was nice because I was able to give the same one I gave last time since I'm in a new ward. It was a fun reminder to me of the ability every one of us has to receive "daily or even hourly revelation" (Elder Bowen).

Well, thanks for the letters! I hope you all have a great week! Love you guys!

Landon

Tucuman - July 8th

Hey family!

Wow! This week was really great! We had a really cool zone conference and the whole mentality of the mission has kinda changed.

First off, we discovered yet another part of our area. Wow! It's like the states. There are no drunks and the streets are paved. The houses are nice and there are kids playing in the streets with their parents. It was really weird to enter into that different world. It's part of a really huge city that'll probably be it's own area once the missionaries get here finally.

So something that I don't think I said two weeks ago: Camila, the five year old girl with cancer to whom we gave a blessing, passed away due to the cancer. Her family was in a pretty bad way. This week we visited her dad, and were able to share a bit about the plan of salvation. They kept asking, "If she was so pure and innocent, and guaranteed to live with God, why did she have to suffer so much?" I felt like we needed to share the talk from Elder Bowen from October. David, Camila's dad, was in tears. It was so perfect. I'm so grateful for modern day prophets and for all those that they call. It was such a neat experience, and I know that through this, they're developing more faith in Christ, and really coming closer as a family.

A member gave us a reference a while ago. Really annoying kid. Don't know if I've said anything about him, but the first few lessons, he refused to read, pray, and kept asking "why, why why." Grr. Well, he's changed. A lot. Now he reads, says prayers, goes to church happily, and has a baptismal date for this Saturday!

We also found a former investigator! His name is Carlos. I would have sworn that he was a convert - he had a triple, a Book of Mormon, and a few other church materials, including a half-filled-out Duty to God. He just couldn't kick the cigarettes. But that's going to change! He came to church all by himself Sunday!

Something really cool happened. We had a really rough family go to church a week ago. This week we were dealing with all the reactions from the members. The majority were really scared. "I know that everyone needs the gospel, just be careful. This chapel's never been robbed and I don't want to change that." Then we found one sister that said "Hey, I've got some old church clothes that don't fit my son, and I want that family to have them!" What a difference! It was really cool! I don't blame the other members for making that kind of judgment, because they're not completely unjustifed, but how much better is the reaction of that sister!

So the conference talked a lot about the different ages of missionary work. In the beginning, it was all missionaries. Around '85, it changed to being working with the members. Now, it's no longer missionary work. It's the work of salvation. It's the responsibility of the members, who have the full time missionaries at their disposal to help them. We as missionaries now have the responsibility to help the members do their own work, and teach those with whom they work. I really love the quote from Elder Anderson in the last conference, where he really emphasized that the members need to pray to know with whom they can share the gospel. I realized that many times when those "names and faces" come to the mind, for the members here it's usually been "Hey, my old neighbor lives here now! I haven't talked to him in a long time" or "My best friend used to live here. I don't know if she still does." We've found some great people like that. Prayer is the best.

It also struck me this week that we have to make time for God. It's really struck me what 3 Nephi 13:33 says - to put first the kingdom of God. There's a lot of members that say "I don't have time. Come back on a weekend." I've really seen that the members who take 15-45 minutes out of their day to help out in the kingdom are much more blessed and happy than those who leave the work for when they think that they have some extra time.

Anyway, one last thing. I went on divisions with our ward mission leader yesterday! We visited a ton of less actives and I got to give a blessing. The power of the priesthood really is apparent in the ordinances. I didn't really know what I was going to say, and I said a few things that I wasn't really expecting. What really surprised me was when people started talking about it after, because a few of the things they mentioned I don't really remember saying at all. Priesthood power is real, and is such a great gift.

Well, Elder Ortega sends his greetings. Have a great week!

Landon

Tucuman - July 1st

Hey Fam!

So this week was pretty cool. The topic of temples came up a lot. Tori sent me a letter saying that her mission had a temple day, where they had stations set up all around the temple to explain to investigators about the temple. Also Grandma Willey sent me a letter that made me remember all the cool experiences I've had in the temple. Have any cool temple related experiences lately? Sounds like Caiti's getting prepped with the Family History!

I've been working a lot this week on seeing people how they can become, and not judging them. On Friday we contacted some snakes in the street. As they walked past, one of them said to me "My sister wants to go out with you. Does she have a chance?" So we talked to them about Christ and the gospel and got their address. We went by in a part of our area where we've never gone before and contacted their family of 10. Then, on Sunday, 4 of them went to church. Cool, right!? Freaked out a few members because they look a little rough around the edges, but everyone can change!

We had some really cool lessons with a family we're teaching - the Jimenez-Garnica family.  We taught the Word of Wisdom and they had a lot of doubts. The next day we introduced them to Malta - fake coffee - and they were living the Word of Wisdom! We talked to them about tithing and the mom started crying, and told us the story that in that morning, they didn't have money to buy breakfast, but her sister had brought something over, their uncle had come by with some food, and the teacher of her daughter gave her something to eat. She connected that to her obedience with the WoW and tithing in her other church. God really does care about every one of us. He prepares the blessings when we comply with what he commands.

Our gospel principles class was HUGE this past week! We had two less actives come, and both brought family members. We had a great lesson on the sacrament.

We had a fun lesson with a member present this week! A convert gave us the referral of her friend from a yoga class that she took last summer, so we went by and the referral's sister, who just happens to be an active member in another part of the city, was there visiting! Members have so much power in lessons! As missionaries, we can testify all we want, but when friends and family members add their testimonies, it's much more powerful.

Mom and Dad, thanks for teaching me to budget! It's really nice having money when everyone else doesn't because I budget mine. Last crazy thing - my companion's brother was called as a bishop! The weird part? He's almost a year younger than Craig! I tried imagining Craig as a bishop and I couldn't do it. That just seemed crazy to me. Hope you all have a great week!

Landon

Tucuman - June 24th

Hey my wonderful amazing beloved family!

I just want to say how cool you guys are. I love getting letters from every single one of you in a week. It just makes my Monday a million times better!

Anyway, yes, I saw the conference. It was interesting - no one showed up to open the stake center until five to the hour, and we got the picture and sound up and running around seven ten our time (ten minutes after it started). We missed most of what Elder Holland said. I was so glad to speak English, because they couldn't get the language changed until about 7:20. Such great messages! For now, we're not going to be seeing any changes here in Salta, but it'll happen in the next few months or years.

I got a hair cut this week! It was fantastic. There´s a member here that has a salon with all the toys, and she cut it for free! That was really cool.

Our baptism this week didn't happen. I don't feel too sad. She needs a little more time to prepare, and I'm sure that she and her family will get baptized eventually. Her dad didn't want to give her permission. Her mom is all on board, even though she's never gone to church, because she's seen the changes in her 10-year-old daughter. It just made me think of how wonderful it is to have two parents who love each other and are on the same page.

I went on a division with Elder Ingalls from Evanston this week! Their apartment has the nickname of "The Bat Cave." There were parts that really looked like a cave. I should have taken a picture. The problem is that I hardly take my camera anywhere. I'll try to improve on that.

It's been really cold and rainy this week. I'm very grateful for all the cold weather gear I've got, but it looks like MAYBE it might be sunny now. Maybe. The weather changes here are worse than in Utah.

I had an adventure this week with a brand new Elder. We went on exchanges for a bit during the baptismal interview and we got a little lost. It was kinda fun to be Sr. Comp in the lessons we had, though. My Spanish really is coming along, and I have a testimony of the gift of tongues.

I heard a fun story this week from a convert we ate lunch with. I like to ask how they came to know the church. He said the missionaries came by, taught him, and he prayed to God for an answer. That night, he dreamed that he was sitting there at a big table, with him on one end, and God on the other. He shouted to the other side of the table, "God, is the church true?" And said that God gave him a thumbs up. So he decided to get baptized! I really know that God answers prayers. We may have to have a lot of patience, and we may not recognize the answer until much later, or maybe even never, but I know that he answers them. If we're in need of help, strength, or if we just don't feel very good, we can ask Him for help, and he will help us. Always.

I love you all a ton. Thanks for being a great family. Mom and dad, thanks for all the family nights and taking me to church and teaching me stuff in general. It's really coming in handy now that I'm teaching a bunch of kids. Some of which are really old kids, but I'm very grateful in every case for the instruction I received in my home.

I hope that you all have a great week!

Landon

Tucuman - June 17th

Hey Family!

Dad, Grandpa Clark, and Grandpa Willey - Happy Father´s Day! I totally had no idea it was Father's Day yesterday until people tried using it as an excuse to miss church. It was great. We said, "What better thing to do on Father´s Day than go to the house of your Father?" It´s really fun to see people´s faces when you say something like that.

We had an RM give a talk in church yesterday. He used a story that blew my mind. I loved it! It goes something like this "A young man, around 15 or 16 went to get his hair cut. As he was there, the barber started chatting with him, and they started talking about God. The barber said, 'I don´t think that God exists.' The boy asked why, and the barber replied, 'If God really existed, why are there so many people suffering in the street? Why are there children who go without food, and so many sicknesses and diseases?' The boy didn´t really know what to say, so when his haircut was over, he left on his way home. Halfway back, he turned around and returned to the barber shop. He said to him, 'I don´t believe that barbers exist.' The barber was surprised, and asked why in the world he would think that. The boy replied, 'If barbers really existed, why are there so many people with long hair out in the street? Why are there people who have ugly side-burns and terrible hairdos?' The barber, a little flustered, said, 'Well they don´t come to me!' To which the boy replied, 'Exactly.'" After that the RM read Matthew 11:28:  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. It was so great! I´ve heard that question so many times, and I thought that answer was so great! 

Anyway, so I sealed two blessings this week. I´ve only ever done it once before when Elder Sant asked me to give him a blessing. It was kinda cool! The gift of tongues is a really cool thing - especially becuase in blessings you have to use a form of "you" that as missionaries we never practice. Lots of room for divine help.

I had an adventure this week! We crossed some railroad tracks and construction to get to the house of a member. I now have been to two of the four sides of my area. We also found the new housing development that´s part of our area. It´s like a whole different city. I could be totally off on the number, but it was something like 4,000 houses there, and growing.

One thing that I´ve seen a lot in this area are the little miracles that have to do with men being home. Men are never home. It was great in Jujuy because Alan came with us every day. Here there aren´t quite as many members to help out. Even so, it just seems to happen that when we show up to a house, a guy just happens to decide to take a break from work or show up for a few minutes. It´s great.

We had an awesome member reference this week. Her name is Maria, and she´s about 17 years old. We talked about the Book of Mormon the first visit, and watched the video of the restoration the second. After that, we asked if she read in the Book of Mormon. She had. We asked if she prayed. She had. We asked if she got an answer. She paused for little bit. I was ready for just about anything - "I didn´t feel anything," "I don´t really know, I´m not sure," but what she said was, "I don´t know why, but after I prayed, I felt really good." Ah! That´s a wonderful moment when you see the power of God work like that - when someone is so prepared that they recognize the answer the first time they ask! It was a great experience.

A couple interesting visits with various investigators this week. David, the young father of the 5-year-old with cancer (who declined again), has been reading a lot. He has lots of great questions. One of them was "Do you believe in exorcism?" His wife, who lives separately, had taken them to some universal church and he said it was just weird, loud, and he didn´t feel good at all. Great opportunity to explain how the true church of Christ is. I like getting questions from investigators. It makes me think, and oftentimes are things I never even considered. Another investigator, Lucas, didn´t have such good questions. He spend almost the entire lesson asking "why," more to be annoying than because he wanted to know anything. Just a testimony that annoying teenagers exist all over the world. We met another guy who didn´t want to know anything because "he is a church." I´ve heard that ever since the MTC and still am no closer to understanding what in the world people think. They do not have a prophet, 12 apostles, quorums of 70, bishops, priests, teachers, and the authority to perform ordinances dwelling in their heart.

I also met a Catholic lady who was trying to justify her idol worship! She didn´t want to go to our church because we didn´t believe in the Mother of Miracles (Maria) and all the santos, who apparently have to do 7 miracles before being named saints. I decided that by that definition, I´m a saint. Anyway, we read some scriptures in Isaiah about idol worship and in Matthew when Jesus said that we should only pray to the father. I love that face! The one where people have no clue what to say, because they know they´re wrong.

I know that probably sounds mean and not very missionary-like, but I´m just so glad to have the truth. I read Our Search for Happiness this week and it just reminded me how great and how simple the gospel really is.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week!

Landon

Tucuman - June 10th

Hello Family!

This week was VERY different. My comp is crazy, but in a good way. I think the best description I heard of him was the "loquito mexicano" that a recent convert gave to him. All the kids love him and everyone laughs at him (also in a good way). He´s always got a ton of energy, and it´s really fun being with him.

Me with my new comp

I´ve had to get used to a few things here in Tucumán. For one thing, it´s a little more dangerous, so I can´t wear my watch all the time. It´s killing me not knowing what time it is. Also, our neighbors have a rooster that crows. Every day. Really early. I´ve had desires to kill it a couple times this week. In addition, the schedule is different here. We do our studies in the afternoon instead of in the morning. I´ll get used to it quick, though.

The area here is huge! I´ve seen the bottom limit and that´s it. I´m starting to get to know it though... and I think I may even know it better than my comp. There´s not quite as many members that go to church here, but we have a Ward Mission Leader! And he´s active! It´s pretty great.

Something cool that happened: My first day here we went to give a blessing to the five year old daughter of an investigator. She has cancer. The blessing was so powerful. I wasn´t sure going in if it was okay to say that she was going to get better, but I felt so strongly during the blessing that she really was going to improve. When we went again on Friday, she´d improved! It wasn´t a ton, but it was something. Priesthood and fasting works!

We had fun with a 17-year-old member the other day. We went with her to four of her friends and invited them all to church. It was cool! Teaching is much easier when someone they know is there testifying that what we´re saying is true.

We also walked into a Evangelical gospel study this week. That was nuts. I decided that it´s possible to take the Lord´s name in vain in a prayer if you use it every third word. It begins to lose meaning. That lady was nuts... It was basically "Hallelujah! Read the bible, go to any church you want, and pray to God and Jesus will save you!" I´m glad to have a knowledge of commandments, and what it really means to have faith. We met another guy the next day who was very confused on that issue. "All we need is the sacrifice of Christ and we´re good. You don´t need to preach anything but that." I just don´t understand how people can believe in Christ, but not believe that we need to keep the commandments he gives us in order to take advantage of that sacrifice. It says that multiple times in the bible... Oh well. That´s why we´re here trying to teach them!

Me with the Zone Leaders

I finished the Book of Mormon for the first time in Spanish! That was cool. I like that book. A lot. Yeah, it´s a story, but you can apply it to any situation, question, problem, whatever, and the answer will be found. I know it´s true, because like every other time I´ve asked, I got an answer through my thoughts and feelings.

We found 33 new people that let us teach them this week! It was nuts! I think one of my favorite experiences with a new guy was with an 18-year-od named Marcos. He lives in front of the church. We talked to him at the house of a member and said we´d go by his house later in the week. Every time we went by he wasn´t home. We saw him Sunday and he said that he was just about to go to church at some other church. My comp said, "Go here! It´s closer, and you´ll like it better!" So he went! It was kinda awesome!

Anyway, thanks for the letters and prayers and all that. I really appreciate it! You guys are the best!

Landon

Tucuman - June 3rd

Hello Family!

So it was translados, err, transfers today, and I got transferred. I got moved from my ward in San Salvador de Jujuy to a province more to the south called Tucuman. I´m in a ward called Villa muñeca. City of Dolls I´m guessing is the translation? Anyway, very excited! My companion is Elder Ortega from Mexico City. It´ll be fun!

Good news and bad news: Manuel got baptized! 

Manuel's baptism

A week later than he wanted to due to the work trip, but he did it! His mom and sister also came to support him. That was really cool. The bad news is that our baptism for the next week couldn´t get permission from her mom. Ariana, that understands really well, even though she only had 14 years.

Kevin (Alan's brother) eating a churipan

We had a ton of people go to church this past week! We found this family that had member relatives in other parts of Jujuy. The parents weren´t too excited to go and decided not to, and I think the 16 year old daughter only went because we´re gringos, but the 12 year old son was super pumped! Both kids brought a friend to church and it was really awesome. Plus we had an investigator come who´s been listening to the missionaries where he works in another area. He wants to get baptized really bad, but his wife is really Catholic, and wants him to take their son to catechism, which just happens to conflict with the sacrament meeting. Annoying, but he´ll get there in these coming weeks!

We ate with Alan´s family yesterday and had a huge barbeque. 

It was really cool, because it ended up being my last week there. 

Me with Alan and Elder Jensen

Anyway, I usually go through my journal and write the highlights, but with packing and the 5 hour trip and all I didn´t do that. So basically that´s what I remember from this past week. Hope everything´s going well!

Landon

Me with the Benitez family

Me with my District