WE ARE VERY BLESSED AND PROTECTED

The big new is we had a family night where ALMOST no one came, but then at the end we got 3 people!!!  So exciting!! 

SO yeah this week was really good! We got to go outside a lot more and do more proselyting! We did a ton of tracting and searching for old investigators and trying to find new ones but not too much success. Eventually we have found some people that were walking into their houses right when we got there so it was good to be able to talk to them because otherwise they probably wouldn´t have let us in their house! Ha.

Also the new mission President gets here this next Tuesday! Really the only preparations that we are doing is cleaning up the offices, getting our hair cut and dry cleaning our suits (first time I have done that my entire mission because this is the first area where I have found one!) but yeah... Nothing very WOW. But it will be super fun! We are all super sad that the Thurgoods and the Mitchells are going. This week they said their goodbye´s to all of the zones and we got to Hug Sister Thurgood and Hermana Mitchell (which to be honest isn´t the first time cause we are in the offices, haha). And they gave everyone some oreos (reminded me of the cookie jar that Grandma and Grandpa Shields have in their house!) and also a Album of all the people that have been in the mission since last July. And we sang for them and it was just super cool! Lots of tears. LOTS. 😭😭😭😭😭

President and Sister Thurgood

My next mission president!

And this is weird because the most exciting thing that happened this week is that our shipment of phones and phone chips finally came for the mission!! We got 25 each and spent a couple hours filing all the information and activating all the chips and writing the numbers on the chips and figuring out which chip goes to which phone and blah blah blah.  It is really good because there are some areas that don´t even have phones!  One thing that has happened here in Argentina is that there has been a little increase in inflation so we have had a few more robberies than normal, haha, but luckily no one has gotten hurt! we are very blessed and protected from the Lord that none of the missionaries have been hurt during these months!

Well hope all of you have a fantastic week and I am happy to hear that Erin had a SPECTACULAR Birthday!!

Elder Ward

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

The new mission president comes in 10 days!! It is super sad that the Thurgood´s are going but I am excited that the Calquin´s are coming! This Tuesday, President and Sister Thurgood and the Mitchell's are going to come over to all the districts of 3 zones, then Wednesday they are visiting all the other zones and it will just be a take some pictures, cry a little, and all that Jazz. But they will be living in Utah, so I will get to see them!  I am SO grateful that I have gotten to know them. They are SUCH great examples in my life!

President Calquin will come 2 weeks before the next transfer but he won´t have to do any of the changes because President Thurgood and the Assistants are already going to have that done when he comes.  He just will be getting used to everything and the then next transfer will be interviews and luckily I am in the offices, because if I wasn´t that interview would be the only time I would meet the new mission president and then I would go home! CRAZY! But luckily I will be seeing him every Monday until the end of my mission.  I haven´t gotten any hints from President Thurgood that I am leaving so I can pretty much assume that I am staying here for the rest of my mission! WOOHOO!!

Elder Tobler and I are doing great!  He says to tell you the following... ¨We are doing Terribly... Terribly GOOD!!!¨

haha I just got a bloody nose right in the middle of writing you! WHODA THUNK!!!

We made a card for Elder Mitchell for Father´s day and this was our idea! It´s all the office people and the sisters that are in the ward.  Me and Elder Tobler are going to make him a cake tonight.

We are still working frantically to improve transfer meetings.  We are planning on calling in some buses to take a ton of missionaries to places that are somewhat close to their penches and then they just walk the rest of the way.  Because before we would ask for taxis for everyone and it just isn't really effective.  This week we have had at least 3 meetings about it, and this next week we are going to have one more with more people that are involved.  Then that´s it!  We hope that it will be a lot better for the new mission president and a lot less stress for everyone!

This week we have been trying to find some new people to teach. We have been talking with a ton of people and we have a couple appointments this week that could potentially be really awesome! Some of the main ones are 2 families that actually live right across the street from each other. The husband and wife are married (and that NEVER happens here) and they are very interested! So we hope that we can get them ready to be baptized! That is what we are looking for! The people that have been prepared beforehand by the Lord to listen to our messages!

I think that was it for this week. We didn't have too many lessons, just a couple with some less actives and some members trying to get some references from them. But yeah!

So Love all of you and hope that you all have a SPECTACULAR WEEK!!!

Elder Ward

P.S.  TELL ERIN THAT I LOVE HER SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO MUCH and that I hope that she has the best birthday in the entire world!  I can't believe she will be 12.  I miss her tons and I am so happy that she is going to be in Young Women's, she is going to love it!  She doesn't even need to do personal progress because she has already mastered all the qualities that they have in it and all that jazz!

No but seriously I think she should be exempt from doing it... She´s already PERFECT!!! LOVE YOU ER-BEAR!

P.S.S. HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO ALL YOU AWESOME DADS!!  THANKS FOR YOUR EXAMPLES!!!  DAD - CHECK YOUR EMAIL!

SOOO YEAH....

Ok so this week we found some new investigators! WOO! It is a family that were actually a contact from the sisters that are in our ward.  They set an appointment with them and it was super good! They had received the missionaries before but had never read the Book of Mormon!  So we talked a lot about that because they thought that we worshiped Joseph Smith more then Jesus Christ. But yeah it was a super awesome lesson and we going back Monday to see how it went!

Also haha so yesterday I had legal stuff to do in Imagracions and the apartment elders had some stuff to do over there also.  They took one of the elders companions because they finished early and they needed to go look at something over in their new pench, to see if it was all good so that they could move in. So me and the other elder went over there to their area to end the division and we found the elders standing in the street with 5 police and some old guy yelling at everyone.  Turns out that no one really knew where the apartment was, so they just tried to open every house on the block.  I guess they figure when they found a door that unlocked, then they knew they were at the right place. BUUT. Some of the doors here are super cheep and if the door isn´t locked you can open it with another key and they opened the house of the old man and he was freaking out because he wanted to know how they got that key and all that jazz.  Luckily the police were really nice and understanding or else we totally could have gone downtown for trespassing!! So yeah that was super super fun... Always an adventure being in the offices. 

We had a zone conference in the temple! It was super awesome and it was like president´s last goodbye and it was really sad but it was awesome. Lots of things learned. 

We also had a family night last night but the only people that showed up (surprise) were just the missionaries. AND then bishop entered and we were all excited and he told us that he had an interview and then he was leaving... SOOO YEAH... 

We had an investigator that just dropped us, her aunt (that isn't a member) talked her out of it and told her a bunch of junk and now pretty much she doesn't want to get baptized. But that was when we went by like 3 days ago so we will see this Sunday if anything has changed when we see her family that are members. But yeah that kind of put a dent in our plans!!

The new mission president arrives the 28th of June. We are feeling pretty stressed!   There are some things that aren't really the best and we want to change them now so that when the mission president comes he just thinks that that is how it always was. We are changing how and where we do the transfer meeting because the last couple have been a disaster and we are making appropriate adjustments to make it better!! But in the end it will just depend on how he likes things and how he wants it.  We are just ship shaping everything up here in the offices because there has always been a senior couple here and now that they are leaving we have to be a lot better and make sure we are on our toes! 

So yeah that´s about it. 

Love you all! Something that I wanted to share this week was about LOVE. When I was in the temple I read in Matthew 25:40-46. And they are really good! I highly suggest that you read it!!!

Have a good week!!!

Elder Ward

HELPING THE MISSION AND MAKING IT BETTER!

This week on Monday we had transfers. Elder Tobler and I like I said last week stayed the same. But the meeting was CRAZY!! 18 people didn't get to the meeting on time, we started an hour late, lots of people were angry (the taxis guys), everyone in the offices was way stressed out, and it ended like an hour later then usual. So this Friday we had a meeting with some of the members that work with calling all the taxis and all that jazz, and we had a ton of good ideas to change it around so that we can make this thing better. 

We haven´t had internet all week.  It went out on Monday and it didn't come back up until Friday morning.  We had to go over to the Thurgoods to use their internet because our half of our job requires internet. So that was super fun to chill out in the Thurgood´s house! They gave us lunch too!

We had a lesson with a family that was a referral from some members in the ward and now the little girl has a baptismal date! The parents are members but they are less active! So we are hoping to get the whole family on the same boat over to the celestial kingdom! WOOHOO!!

And so this was funny. One day we were over at the Mitchell´s house using THEIR internet.  When we were done, we had to leave to go over to the church to make our lunch.  Elder Mitchell asked us if anyone wanted to use the bathroom before we left. And me not thinking at all not even meaning the double meaning said ¨Go now, or forever hold your peace.¨ And everyone just burst out in an uproar and it was just a little later that I had realized what I said.  I was a little embarrassed because the Mitchell's were there, but they were laughing so I guess it´s alright... OOPS!

Hermana Mitchell is getting pretty trunky... Haha so on Wednesday (the first of June) we walked into the offices and she started singing to us ¨It´s June¨ over and over and over again, haha it was super funny. I think everyone is excited to see their familes. President wouldn´t dare say it, and President makes sure Sister Thurgood doesn´t say it. And the Mitchells just do what they want, haha. But yeah they are all super focused and all ready to keep helping the mission and making it better!

Love you so much!!!

Well have a good week mom!!! LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!

Elder Ward