It's a Small World Afterall...

I've been transferred to Quilmes 3 and guess what? One of the counselor's in the Bishopric, Hermano Gatica served with Cameron in Mendoza when Cameron was Assistant to the Pres. Pretty crazy how small the world really is. It's pretty weird trying to adapt myself to a new area. It just feels all funny. We have some really cool investigators though. Sunday was pretty cool. I taught a gospel principles class while my comp. went out and brought in the less active members. We had over ten in our class. The people here are so funny. As of last night we had to move our stuff into Quilmes 4. It's okay though because it just happens to be the nicest pench in the mission. It's crazy nice...the bathroom...works...the shower has pressure...and it's like...nice...not to mention that it's close to the Hermana's area which means we're sitting pretty. The only bad thing is, now we have to take a bus over to our area because it's so far away. Elder McConkie and I will be living with Elder Mickelson and Elder Bushman. Tomorrow we have Zone Conference. I'm excited for that...I can't wait actually. Hopefully I will get a letter, it's been awhile. I'll get a little motivational boost with or without it though. Pres. Asay always has amazing Zone Conferences. I'll probably even get an Alfajor (cookie) or something for my birthday! Yay fun!

Adios Solano

It's hard leaving these families that I have grown to love! Siguen fiel! Hasta la vista!

I LOVE to see the Temple...

What a blessing it is to see a Temple sitting on the hill in my own backyard! Even though this pic is of the Salt Lake Temple, I love the feeling that it projects. As if, heaven indeed is watching. That's how I feel as I look out my windows and see the glow of the Draper, Utah Temple that was dedicated this weekend by Pres. Thomas S. Monson. Spring showed her warm and sunny face on Fri. and Sat. but as you can tell by our hair and clothing below, Winter has decided to give another shout. Whatever the weather though, we feel safe and warm knowing that we have another House of the Lord nestled amongst our foothills keeping watch over us night and day.

Part of the Hall of Honor at Cameron Indoor....so cool. The court had the lights off or I would have gotten pics on the actual floor...but they have way cool stuff all around! It was dope!!!

March Madness!!

Hey Gavy!!

So that is Cameron Indoor where DUKE plays! We were there last week visiting Spencer and Missy. Duke is one of the coolest places I have been! Me and you have always liked Duke so I thought you would like to see some pics! I love you and miss you!

Denver Friends from the Past!

Gavin, although you were born in Denver, Co. we left for Memphis, TN at your tender age of 3. Here are some of the special friends that made living there so much fun for me. Kendal Mugleston, Ann Scott, Jill Lighten and Lauralee Douglas. You probably remember Drew Mugleston. He's serving a mission in Pennsylvania (I think). He may come back to play football for BYU. He is the new face on dearelder.com. It was so fun to get together and remember old times today. Somehow we have all ended up back in Utah. I guess it will always be the "gathering place".

Me Fui Solano...

Here I am in Quilmes 3! My new comp is Elder "McConkadonk" McConkie! He was with Elder Fafai in Solano B before I came. Now we are back together. I feel like the President has given me a gift to have Elder McConkie for my comp. The area seems to be a lot more "tranquilo" than Solano. The villas are scarrier because the ones in Solano were kind of "campoish" and here is like an old ruin "cityish". It's not La Plata or La Costa, but it's awesome. We have a WalMart in our area! It's only like 20 mins. North of Solano, not too far. I'm so happy to be with Elder McConkie. He just might be the nicest guy in the world. It was hard to leave some of the members in Solano though. I honestly didn't want to leave. At transfers it was awesome too because our names were pulled out of the bag to go on "intercambios" (where the Pres. spends 24 hours with a pair of missionaries) with Pres. Asay. I was just sitting with Elder Ingram and thinking how awesome it would be to be chosen and the next thing you know...our names, Quilmes 3 were drawn! We're going to learn a lot from him. I'm really excited. I think I will be stayinig here for awhile so I'm going to try and make myself comfy. Our pench is way nice compared to our last one. You have to think "Argentine" when I say nice. We have 4 fechas (baptismal dates) for this transfer here. Elder McConkie's a really good missionary. Did I mention I'm so excited?

So, yesterday we had a baptism fall through. We didn't have a key to get the "ropa" (baptismal clothing) in the church so it will have to wait until next week and I won't be there. I wanted to baptize him, but it's alright. Good things are here as well. I went from a really good progressing area, to a really good progressing area. The members here are really awesome I hear. I really liked the members in our last area. I kind of got a little too attached I guess. It was hard to leave. Esp. the family Gonzalez and Meza and Hermana Mary Lemos, who I'm pretty sure wrote you mom. She said she did, but you haven't responded yet. (I haven't received a letter or email from her Gav or I would have responded!) You still understand everything in Castellano don't you? Or did I get my brains from pops? J/k. I fault that part of my body. (He's starting to think in Spanish).

Haha, mom, you're quite the blogster. Do you have an addiction? Everyone here talks about how nice Mendoza and Cordoba is. Too bad it had to be me to come here. Haha, no, jk. It's not even about that. I LOVE IT HERE! It's definately not a vacationing spot, but the people need the Gospel, and we want to give it to them! Thanks for all you guys do for me. People always ask me if I miss my family. I just say, "of course I do, but 2 years will be nothing"! Can you believe I already finished a quarter of it? Time flies here! I guess it's the army time or something. My testimony grew so much in Solano. I'm so glad that I was born (started) there, but I can't wait to see what's in store for me in this area.

Who says a mission is all work and no play...

So, let's start with the "spiritual stuff"...I played golf today!!! It was only 50 pesos!!! It was awesome!!! It was a legitimate club. We traveled up to Ezeko to a place called Lomas. There is a golf club in Argentina haha...right next to the train. It was so rad! I saw a guy that looked like "Camilo Villegas" (an Argentine pro golfer) so I told him so. He just looked at me like I was an idiot. So, I'm pretty sure he's not too familiar with golf outside of his own club. I was swinging the club as hard I could! It felt so good to swing a club again "por fin" (at last)!!!

Well, Sunday 2 investigators didn't show up that had baptismal dates, so that's not gona happen. Ezequiel, an investigator that had a baptism date for this Sat. pushed it back so that his friends family could come. That's too bad because I may or may not be here because of transfers on Monday. We didn't have many super spiritual experiences or anything this week, but they're coming...I've got a hunch! We're reactivating one of the coolest members down here. Hermano Quintana is so funny. He would always goes on divisions but wouldn't come to Church. He thinks his back is his butt so I always go up and pat his back and he freaks out. It's so funny, and thanks to little Jose' Smith, we have more Jovenes to teach. That kid is a punk slash missionary slash Jose Smith for real!

Elder Bravo said my cheeks have gotten rounder, so basically, I'm fat now...Argentina and their food...it's the same thing all the time. meat, empanadas, pizza, meat, pasta with meat, milanesa, meat and meat...and eggs added on top of everything! Argentina is a funny place. I wish everyone could experience it.

The work in Solano is going really good. I think that wherever I get sent will be a down grade as far as the work goes. Some areas are going to have to be closed due to the lack of success and fewer missionaries.

To answer your questions mom...I'm not sure if there's a daylight savings time. I'm not sure of anything. All I'm sure of is that we have the scriptures and those never change, so I think I'll be set. Those pics of your mish are awesome mom. Your hair is sweet! You should do it like the first one on the blog. Bring back the "do"! Have fun on your next vacation. I know I will!

Not by bread alone...

We made cheesecake. It was so goooood! I wish I could cook! I also had to snap this pic of Elder Lewis and Bravo having a "friendly" discussion outside our pench.

Futbol Argentina Style

Still victorious...need I say more?

Service with a Smile

This week was pretty insane with our goal of teaching 50 lessons and all. We taught 60! It was awesome!! Our Zone averaged 49 lessons and we made the "Estrella" (the mission newsletter) again so I heard, because I still don't receive it. We taught a full week. We did 6 divisions only missing on Sunday. We found some great people to teach. Here are some pics of the service we did. We painted a school. The little kids are awesome...little punks!

Men in Black...

This week was pretty crazy. We did splits with Elder Scott one of our Zone Leaders. It was great. He speaks the language well and teaches really well too. Transfers are coming up but I really don't want to leave Solano. The Branch is awesome! People I will never forget. There's nothing I would rather be doing right now than serving a mission, even though you're going to Hawaii! It's definitely not the easiest thing in the world, but maybe the most satisfying thing in the world. Something good that happened this week...Jose' Smith (the little boy they baptized) brought 4 friends to play futbol on Friday and they all want to be members. We are teaching them. It is so fun to see him so excited about the gospel and he's only 9. Also, Gustavo the 13 year old kid we baptized is planning on going on a mission! We only had 30 something in Church this week because it rained "cats and dogs" and in Argentina, that's a lot more than when it rains "cats and dogs" in the states. That's because there are a million of them here! It rained pretty much for 24 hours and the streets were flooded. It was awesome. It was actually cool in the night and I got "coled"! Is that how you spell "cold" :) I'm forgetting everything!

Like Father & son

Elder Lewis and Chavez re-enacting Elder Lewis' dads mission pic

Helado (ice cream) anyone??

The mission leader, Adrian' bought the elders 10 kilos of "Crema del Cielo" ice cream. It wouldn't fit in their freezer so they had to be creative. Looks like they didn't have much trouble figuring out what to do with it! Adrian is an amazing member. He can't do enough for the work. He works full time and then spends any free time helping to teach with the Elders. We should only be so willing here!

Sites from Solano, Argentina

Building a Church, one brick at a time...

I wanted to add one more picture from Cordoba. In my first area we would meet on "P" Day to build this church building. We actually made the bricks! I doubt the missionaries do much of that anymore! Of course, every activity like this ended up with an "asado" which is an Argentine Barbeque!

Called to Serve Cordoba, Argentina 1975-77 Hermana Venna Whetman...

You may be thinking that Gavin's blog, has started to look more like a blog for me instead. Let me explain. Gavin asked Daris and I to send him some of our mission pics. As I began the search, I realized that I don't have very many good ones, as cameras, film etc...were much different back then. So, here are a few that I have found. I see many comparisons in Gavin's and Cameron's experiences with my own. These pictures have opened up the flood gates of great memories! When I received my call I didn't even know where Argentina was on the map! It has now become a big part of my life, as well as Cameron's and Gavin's. I'm excited to share this culture, country and wonderful Argentine people with my boys! Es la verdad!