Argentina ~week 43

So this week was pretty interesting, and great!

Tuesday morning we had district meeting like always. Then I was on exchanges with Elder Jones, our zone leader. And we visited a few families in his area.

Wednesday we tried to contact a few people in the morning. and then in the afternoon we returned to our areas. That afternoon we just visited some less active families.

Thursday we celebrated Christmas Eve. We went to visit a few less actives in the morning and then contacted a referral. At night we celebrated Christmas Eve (there they call is Noche Buena, and it's crazy with lots of fireworks and parties) with the Calegari family and has asado. We all had permission to even stay out until 10:30 (same thing for New Year's)

Friday we had to stay in all day except for Lunch and Skype. I studied alot in the morning to get caught up to finish the book of mormon before the end of the year. We had lunch with the Villar family, a really good family who we helped reactivate. But a few days earlier the mother had to go to the hospital so we had lunch with only the father, which was kind of weird. But we had asado again, and it was good. Then we went and skyped with our families, and then went to the church to play soccer.

Saturday my companion was sick all morning, I think from eating so much meat. But in the afternoon we were able to visit a few less active families.

Sunday morning we got our transfer calls. So during church they had me share my testimony. Also, Elba's husband came and he really liked it. He told us that Elba has gone to so many churches, and none of them helped her as much as this one. That night I went around to a few families to say goodbye, and everyone gave us Pan Dulce (Sweet Bread) which is something they only eat in christmas time. I don't like it, but I ate it anyways. At night we visited the Villar family to say goodbye.

This morning we had transfers. My companion Elder Rios, who I just finished training, is going to train now in my old area. And I got sent to El Cruce, which is the same zone I was already in. I'm with Elder Pruner from Canada, who started his mission like 3 weeks ago so neither of us knows the area and we don't have very many people to teach right now. Also, they split an area close to us, so two more elders are living with us: Elder Orellana who was my 2nd companion here, and Elder Espinola, from Paraguay who is as new as my last companion.

Also the wheels on my suitcases are breaking off, which made it very difficult to get to my new area.

Anyways, here are 2 pictures: Us with the Villar Family, and a selfie in our new pension.

Have a great week everyone and a Happy New Year!

-Elder Severtson

Argentina ~week42

I had a great this week today and I'm ready for Christmas!

On Tuesday we had District Meeting, and lunch, then we went to contact a few people then we had mission correlation meeting.

Wednesday we had exchanges with our district leader. I stayed in my area, and he got a flat tire on my companions bike so we had to do a lot of walking. Luckily we were able to contact a less active old lady, and he daughter who isn't a member. We invited her to read the Book of Mormon, and hopefully she will.

Thursday we finished exchanges in the morning. After lunch we went back to visit that family again, but only the older lady was there but it still went well talking to her. Then we visited the kid that we are teaching who's family has been members a long time.

Friday morning we did weekly planning and were cleaning and covering our bikes with tape (they told us to do that so they don't rob us). Then we had lunch with our mission president. He invited with because he lives in our area. He has a really nice house. We took a selfie in his house when nobody was looking, haha :)

Then we had a lesson with an investigator in the church, and that night we had our ward christmas party, and had permission from president to stay a little later and it was awesome.

Saturday we went to the open house with the whole zone in another area. In the morning we all went out to invite a bunch of people. In the afternoon we helped run the open house. Me and my companion had to show everyone where to go. At night the primary kids did a nativity which was cool too!

Sunday I did the confirmation of our investigator who got baptized last week. Her husband came, and liked it alot. The primary christmas program was that day too! Then we had lunch, and visited a couple of less actives and that's it.

Today was our zone activity and we played water balloon capture the flag and ate ice cream!

Anyways, have a great week everyone!

-Elder Severtson

Argentina ~week 41

So this week was awesome, and very busy. But, yesterday we had a baptism so it was all worth it!

Tuesday, we had district meeting. One of the best ones I've had, we played Jeopardy with questions that investigators could have and each team answered with scriptures. I learned quite a few scriptures I can use. Then we taught everything else we needed to, to Elba Gonzalez before the baptism. We had to move the baptism to Sunday because she had to work. Then we had missionary correlation.

Wednesday morning we had the baptismal interview for her. We had lunch with the Villar family, then we went to visit a few more families.

Thursday morning we went to visit a few less actives, then we were called and told that after lunch we had to stay in the pension all day, because the country was changing presidents, and sometimes people go crazy. So I read a bunch in the Book of Mormon.

Friday, my companion had to go do things for his Visa. So we had to get up really early to go to the mission office. I had to go back to my area with another companion, eat lunch and then come back again to pick up my companion at 2. They got back late and I was there until like 6. Then we went to visit the Barrios family. They've been members for a long time, then the son went on his mission to Brazil. During his mission, the daughter died of cancer, and the mom went inactive with the other son. She wasn't mad at the church, just didn't like to go because it reminded her of her daughter. Anyways, the son recently came back from the mission, and he helps us with a lot of stuff. And the family is going to church again. But the other son turned 9 so he has to get the discussions from us, so he's going to be a really easy investigator.

Saturday we had a Tormenta Blanca in the Platanos ward so we all went there to work for a few hours. After that we visited Elba Gonzalez and got everything ready for the baptism.

Sunday, we went to church. During sacrament meeting I played the piano as our mission president's wife sang I need thee every hour. It went really good. After church we had the baptism which was very spiritual. My companion did the baptizing and I will confirm her next week.

I've attached pictures of the baptism and of a bird farm close to our pension which has 2 ostriches if you can see the in the picture.

Have a great week everyone!

-Elder Severtson

Argentina ~week 40

This week was also kind of crazy, lots of things happened.

On Tuesday we had District meeting. Our district changed because President did a few changes in the middle of this transfer. Our district leader went to another area, so right now we are just one big district. That night we went to the church to have missionary correlation meeting. When we entered the church we realized that water had been leaking all week since the incident last sunday. There was about a half inch of water covering the floor of about half the church.

Wednesday we visited a few families in the morning. After lunch we got a call and they told us they were bringing us new bikes from the mission. So that was pretty cool. For about 5 transfers the elders in my area have been asking for new bikes and we finally got them. Then when we went out to work, my companion accidentally got us locked out, because our door needs a key to open from the outside and he left the key on the inside of the door. We had to call the rent owner to come open the door for us.

Thursday morning we went to contact a bunch of old investigators. After lunch we went to visit a few less active families, then went and paid our rent. That afternoon it rained alot, and we visited a less active family that has been progressing alot.

Friday morning we visited our investigator Elba Gonzalez who will be getting baptized this Saturday. We taught her the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom. She had no problem with any of that because she had been living like that all her life. After lunch we did weekly planning, and then had a reunion with all the missionaries of the zone because on the 19th there will be a church open house activity.

Saturday we had organized a service activity for our investigator. We announced it in sacrament meeting, and nobody showed up. Oh well, we were still able to help her just us two. After lunch we visited an old lady who turned out to be and old investigator from 2008. Then we visited another person who was a referral from a member. So they were 2 new investigators.

Sunday we had church. About 30 minutes before it started, they started calling everyone saying we had to go to another building because of the water incident on Tuesday. Luckily our investigator was still able to go. After church our lunch was cancelled, so we ate with the elders of the other ward. We found noodles and cans of meatloaf in our pension so we were able to prepare something. Then we met with Elba and taught he about tithing and fast offerings and she loved the idea of fasting and helping other people because she is the type of person who always helps others.

Anyways it was a great week. We were able to do everything we needed to, even though some crazy things happened. We are grateful for the baptism we will have this saturday and for the very prepared investigator we have.

Have  great week everyone!

-Elder Severtson

Argentina ~Week 39

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This week was pretty great. They don't celebrate Thanksgiving here so nothing too interesting happened, until Sunday.

So Tuesday, we had district meeting, then went to lunch, contacted a reference, and visited our investigator Elba Gonzalez. We taught part of the Restoration, and she told us alot about the trials she's had. She accepted a baptismal date for the 12th of December, and she's really excited, and so are we. Then we had mission correlation meeting.

Wednesday we visited a few less actives, and our other progressing investigator, Agustin. We taught him the lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Then we visited another less active family.

Thursday we went to set appointments with a few people. We had lunch, then went to visit less active families with the family we had lunch with.

Friday we had zone conference. They talked alot about the new Christmas stuff with the church. We have cards to hand out to people to invite them to navidad.mormon.org. President didn't talk very much because he talked in our zone meeting the week before about faith. After we went to visit some less actives but nobody was home.

Saturday we cleaned a little, and organized more stuff. After lunch we visited a less active who started going to church. Then we visited less actives with a member.

Sunday like I said was kinda crazy. Our investigator Elba Gonzalez came, and actually arrived a little early. She loves going to church, and looks forward to it all week. We had to help her know where to go. Also the ward leaders asked us to get the baptismal font ready for a ward baptism, even though I don't think it's our responsibility. We started filling it, and the water heater wouldn't work unless a button was help down, so the 2nd counselor shoved a knife in the side of the button to hold it in and said it would be fine. On top of that they asked me to play the piano, a song I never played before because it doesn't exist in English, and for that same reason it's not on the automatic player and wanted me to play it. They told me that halfway through sacrament meeting. So we had lots of things on our mind. When I went to play the piano, the pedal was stuck, and also a few keys, so I played horribly and a few people laughed at me. Then after sacrament meeting we saw that the kitched was full of smoke. Apparently the water heater burst into flames we heard from someone. One sister in the ward kept saying it was our fault, half-jokingly. After we got all that taken care of the baptism started. They asked me to give a talk about baptism right before it started, and made me lead all the music. I don't know why, but here, they always plan baptisms last minute. I gave my talk and it went pretty good. After that pretty much everything was alright. So it was a crazy day, but that made it interesting.

Anyways overall we had a great week. We were able to do lots of things and help lots of people. Sorry, I don't have any pictures this week.

Have a great week everyone!

-Elder Severtson

Argentina ~week 38

So this was another great week! We were pretty busy this week, especially since it's the beginning of a new transfer. And the weather's starting to get hot again and it's not even summer yet.

On Tuesday we visited a less active member, and had lunch with the Villar family, a family who we just helped start going to church again after 5 years. Then we visited one of our new investigators, Elba Gonzalez, and finished teaching her lesson 3, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

On Wednesday we had Zone Reunion. This zone reunion the zone leaders gave us and some other companionships assignments to speak like 15 minutes. This reunion was special because the zone leaders invited our mission president to speak too. Well, he spoke way too much, and we couldn't share what we prepared, but we were alright with that :). That afternoon we visited an investigator Augustin, who lives with a less active family (family Stocki) in our ward.

Thursday we visited some less active families, had lunch, and visited an "investigator" who's wife has been an active member for many years, and he's read alot of the book of mormon and gone to church many times, but never wanted to be baptized. Hopefully we can find something to say to him to help him.

Friday we had a meeting for new elders and trainers. That went until pretty late, and then we visited a less active member who recently started going to church.

Saturday we visited a less active in the morning, had lunch, and visited 2 more less actives that night.

Sunday was great, we had 2 of our investigators go to church (Elba Gonzalez and Augustin), and 2 less active families we've been working with for awhile (Stocki and Rocco). And we had the highest church attendance I've seen in this ward (100 people). After church, we had to be back in our pension before 5:00 because of the presidential elections and the people go crazy sometimes. So I stayed and read the book of mormon and got caught up to finish before the end of the year.

Anyways, we were blessed this week to be able to help quite a few people go to church. It was great to see that we helped so many people be able to go to church this week!

Anyways, I don't have any pictures this week, but next week hopefully.

Have a great week everyone!

-Elder Severtson

Argentina ~week 37

So this week was a great week. We were able to find several new people and go to the temple on Saturday

.

So Tuesday in the morning we had district meeting, I got a package from my family, and then I was on exchanges staying in another area. We ate at Burger king because we didn't have lunch, and then we just visited a few people.

Wednesday we finished the exchanges after lunch. Then we visited the Villar family, who we are helping reactivate. This sunday then went their 4th time to church.

Thursday in the morning we visited a less active member who asked the relief society to send us. She didn't have very much time, so she just asked us to give her a blessing and we're going to visit her again this week. Then we had lunch with a member and then is started raining like crazy. We tried to visit a few other people but they all canceled because of the rain.

Friday we did weekly planning in the morning. President sent a challenge to everyone to read the Book of Mormon before the end of the year, which is like 5 chapters each day. I'm on 1 Nephi 13 right now. after lunch friday we found a new investigator named Elva Gonzalez. She is a golden investigator. She told us how she always noticed how missionaries are so nice, and thought they were so important, but never talked with them until now. She's an older lady who loves to talk, and she told us she always feel lonely. After talking just a little bit she told us she wants us to come over like 3 times each week, and told us she wanted to come to church. We talked a little bit about faith, and gave her a book of mormon, and then had to go.

Saturday we got permission from our mission president to go to the temple with a family in our ward. We went there and my old ward was all there too, so that was pretty cool. We took some pictures, and I've attached a few below.

Sunday we had Ward Counsel in the morning. Our new investigator came to church and loved it and told us she was going to come next week and try to bring her husband. It was funny because there are a whole bunch of gonzalez families in her area, and none of them are related. After church we visited a couple. The wife is a member for like 20 years, and the husband isn't because he doesn't believe the Book of Mormon and has lots of questions about it. We helped him answer a few questions. Then we had a family night with another family, and that was it.

Anyways, there were lots of blessings this week, and we were able to find some new investigators, and help some less actives!

I'll send another email with a few more pictures this week.

Have a great week!

-Elder Severtson

Hola!

Training is going very good. We just finished another transfer, and we're both staying here for the next.

Argentina ~week 36

So this week was pretty interesting.

Tuesday after district meeting we did exchanges with the zone leaders, which went pretty well, then we went to missionary correlation meeting that night.

Wednesday morning we went to look for some old investigators, and found a guy in the street who wanted to talk to us, so we set an appointment for Saturday. We also visited a less active family who's daughter's boyfriend is interested in the church. So we talked with all them and shared the Restoration.

Thursday morning we visited a less active family, then visited a member whose dad isn't a member and we were going to teach him, but the dad wasn't there, hopefully next time.

Friday we were able to set quite a few appointments with old investigators. We also taught a man whose wife has been a member for a long time, but he never got baptized. He says he thinks the churches teachings are interesting, but won't get baptized unless he knows it's true.

Saturday morning another ward in our zone had a 'tormenta blanca' or white storm, where all the missionaries in the zone go to work in one area. After that we went and talked to the old man we met on Wednesday. And he talked to us for like 3.5 hours, and wouldn't stop talking. Whenever we tried to talk he would cut us off after a few minutes and keep talking again. Eventually we finished teaching the restoration, but he didn't seem to care about what we were saying and kept changing the subject.

And Sunday we had a meeting in the morning at 7:30 about Home Teaching. After that and church we had lunch with a member, and then went to visit a few less active families.

Today we had our District Meeting. We went to a place called Parque Pereyra and just took pictures and ate food. We didn't do much there, but we got some pictures.

Anyways, that's all for this week. Have a great week everyone!

-Elder Severtson

Argentina ~week 35

This week was pretty good.

Tuesday we had interviews with our mission president. That went well and we talked about Moroni 7. After that we had Mission Correlation meeting.

Wednesday was a day with lots of appointments. If all went well we were going to have 3 new investigators. Unfortunately all of them got cancelled, but we were able to set new appointments for this week, so hopefully that goes well. That night we taught a less active family.

Thursday it rained alot. We got a call from the relief society saying that a less active family was mad at us for always setting appointments, then not showing up. But we had shown up everytime and they never were there. Anyways, we were able to set an appointment with them and visit them that day. They also said one of their friends is interested in the church, so hopefully we'll get to teach him.

Friday we did weekly planning, and after lunch we looked for some old investigator families. We set a few appointments, nothing else.

Saturday we went and talked with someone in our ward who is preparing to go on a mission. Then she went with us like 2 hours looking for less actives in her neighborhood. There are so many, and she was looking through the list and found out her cousins are less actives, and didn't even know that. Hopefully that'll turn out well if we can go teach them

Sunday after church we had lunch with our ward mission leader, and two other elders in our district. We visited a guy who is a little bit less active because my last companion left his suit for him. The guy's dad isn't a member but goes sometimes with his son and likes it. He told us he never heard the lessons or anything, because he doesn't have much time, but we're trying to organize so we can teach him during one of the church classes. That night we visited our investigators Ramona and Manuel because they called us asking if we can give a blessing to them. That was good because it shows they trust us, and we talked about blessings, faith, and the priesthood with them.

This morning we had Zone Activity, and ate food and played a game throwing flour at eachother. I'll send you all the picture when I get it.

Anyways that's all this week. I don't have pictures this week either, but next week for sure.

Have a great week everyone!

-Elder Severtson

Argentina ~Week 34

So Tuesday morning we had Zone Meeting. On Tuesdays we normally switch off between 2 families for lunches. But this week one family gave us lunch to go, and after we ate, the other family called and said they were waiting for us. They forgot they gave us lunch the week before, so basically we had to eat 2 lunches, it was crazy. Also that night we had mission correlation meeting.

Wednesday morning we went to go visit some less actives people told us about, and we also talked with some old investigators. Anyways, we had a lesson with 2 of the old investigators that night so now we have 2 more investigators, but they don't know how to read so it's a little hard.

Thursday we did service moving dirt in the morning, and also contacted some old investigators. We talked with some recent converts that night too.

Friday we talked with some less actives who left the church because the church said they lost their baptism records and might need to get baptized again, so we're trying to see what we can do about it.

Saturday we found some more old investigators who told us to visit them this week, so hopefully that goes good. and we visited some other less actives.

Sunday my companion got a flat tire on the way to our lunch so we were walking and found a less active who invited us to give her a blessing and visit her later in the week. After lunch we contacted a few more references and had a meeting with our ward mission leader.

That's about all we did this week. Sorry, I don't have any pictures again, hopefully next week I will.

Have a great week everyone!

Argentina~week 33

First of all I want to say Happy Mother's day to all the mothers out there. Yesterday was mother's day here. I think we're the only country that celebrates it in October and not in May, haha

Tuesday we had district meeting, and we went to contact some of the referrals we've received and look for some old investigators.

Wednesday morning we were looking for a less active family someone told us about, but we couldn't find it because we received the wrong direction. Then we visited a less active family close by and they mentioned the person we were going to visit and it turns out it was their grandson, and he lives right behind them.

Thursday I was sick with a cold. We visited some less actives. At night we had an appointment planned to teach an investigator in the house of some less actives, but they didn't show up.

Friday we had weekly planning in the morning, and then we visited some less actives and looked for some old investigators.

Saturday we visited a bunch of less active families. We had an appointment planned that night with recent converts but they texted us to cancel the appointment. A few minutes after a family called us to invite us to come eat pizza with them.

Sunday was Mother's Day here in Argentina. We got a family to go to church the first time in like 5 years. Many people told us they didn't think the family was ready to come back, and that before lots of elders had gone to teach them but couldn't reactivate them. When we went we realized that they were ready now and we were able to help them with some problems they had. Hopefully they keep going to church now.

Anyways that's about it. I don't have any pictures today, but hopefully next week I will.

Have a great week everyone!

Argentina~week 32

So, like I said last week I started training this week! My new companion is Elder Rios from Paraguay. He doesn't speak English and he likes to play Hockey.

Anyways, Tuesday we just went and got our new companions. We received our new companions then got to ride in taxis to our pension. Then we went to the ward activity that night so he could meet the members.

Wednesday, we had district meeting in the morning. After that and lunch, we had a few appointments that got cancelled, but we tried contacting new people but nobody would answer the door.

Thursday we visited a few less actives. We are working hard with a family who used to be really active, and they are wanting to come back to church. That night my bike got a flat tire and we had to bring our washed clothes back which was pretty heavy, and most of it was uphill.

Friday we had a training reunion in the morning. After that we did weekly planning, and had a family night with a family.

Saturday we were working on organizing the area book in the morning. It took quite a while because elders in the past had put alot of things all over the place so we organized it and now it's alot better. In the afternoon, almost all our appointments got cancelled, so we tried contacting. We went like 3 blocks knocking on almost every door but nobody accepted us. My companion was a little nervous to try contacting because of all that so he didn't try yet. We had an appointment with recent converts that night.

Me and my companion are trying hard to get referrals from members because it's alot better than contacting. Also, the other day, some Elders gave us a referral of someone they talked to on the bus who speaks English, so maybe they'll like to talk to us!

Sunday after church and lunch my companion got a flat tire on his bike. Then we were only able to talk to people nearby.

Anyways, that's about it this week. Here are the pictures we took my companions first day!

Have a great week!

-Elder Severtson

Argentian~week 31

So this week went by like super fast because we were always going on exchanges and stuff because my companion was in his last week. We had to travel a lot, and my companion had to say goodbye to lots of people.

Tuesday we had district meeting, which went well. Afterwards we had a few different lesson with less actives.

Wednesday my companion had interviews for his last week. I was with Elder Rubilar in my district, and we worked a little in both our areas.

Thursday my companion got permission to visit someone from his old area in the hospital. Besides that we just taught a few recent converts.

Friday I was on exchanges again as my companion was in the temple. We worked in both of our areas again.

Saturday and Sunday we had General Conference. My companion said goodbye to lots of people also.

Today we had Transfers meeting in the morning and I'm with an Elder Kavea from Australia until I get my new companion tomorrow. I will be training someone tomorrow.

Here is a video from my birthday attached

Argentina~week 30

Last Tuesday we had district meeting and then I was on exchanges until Wednesday with Elder Thomsen from Canada who finishes his mission also next week. It was raining the whole time so it was kind of crazy.

Wednesday after finishing exchanges we had a few lessons and it was still raining like crazy. We got a new investigator, Jesusa, who used to be a jehova´s witness.

Thursday we had one of the zone leaders with us all day for another exchanges. We have an new investigator who used to be an investigator before, named Ramona.

Friday was kind of annoying because all of our appointments fell through.

Saturday was a pretty crazy day. In the afternoon we saw a guy doing yard work and we offered to help. He told us that God sent us for a reason and asked us to move a tarp covered with dirt and branches over to a field two blocks away. So we left our bikes there and dragged the tarp to where he asked us to dump it. As we were about to dump it, a drunk guy began running at us saying we can't do that. He started running at me first, trying to hit me with the glass bottle he had. As I got away from him, he began chasing my companion so I began to move the tarp to another field full of garbage. We were yelling at him that we were going to move it but he just kept chasing us. Then he ran at me again saying 'what are you looking at' so my companion started moving the tarp. So we basically just took turns moving the tarp so he would stop chasing us. He began chasing my companion again saying 'why are you laughing'. Finally we had got far away from the other field so he just left us alone. We dumped the tarp and went back to those people and started teaching them the restoration. About 5 minutes into it he told us they had to leave and to come back later. Anyways, that was a kinda crazy experience, luckily the drunk guy was old and slow.

Sunday was my birthday. After church we had asado with a family, and then had a few small lessons, it was a good day.

This morning we had a small activity and we played soccer, ate cinnamon rolls, and watched Saturday's Warrior.

After this we are going to a member´s family to eat cake for my birthday.

I've attached pictures of me and my companion in front of the church, and what I got for my birthday.

Have a great week everyone!

Argentina~week29

This week was pretty good!

Tuesday we had district reunion in the morning. Afterwards we came back to our area for lunch and then had to go to another area so my companion can do a baptismal interview.

Wednesday we had a few appointments with less actives and recent converts.

Thursday we had a meeting with Walter F. Gonzalez from the 70. I got to see my old companions because my old zone was there too. He gave us a plan that when we contact people, we find common ground and relate it to the Book of Mormon immediately, and not to spend time correcting the wrong things they've heard about us.

Friday we did weekly planning, and had a few more appointments with less actives.

Saturday we got a few new investigators. They seem like great ones too! We also contacted a few new people that seem to have good potential!

Sunday we had church, everyone that told us they'd go didn't. But we had some good lessons afterwards.

Next week we are going to try to to 15 contacts in each sector in our area (there are 7) for my companion's last real week! hopefully we can find some new people to teach from that!

Anyways, that's about all! I don't have any pictures today, but next week I will for my birthday!

Have a great week everyone!

-Elder Severtson

Argentina~week 28

This week again has been very busy looking for people to teach. The people here don't want to listen as much and it's way harder to have lessons.

Monday night we had a family night with a less active family.

Tuesday we had district reunion and then a few lessons with less actives.

Wednesday it rained a bunch. It was really cold and all our lessons got canceled. We were able to visit a few members still.

Thursday was great. In the morning we had an awesome zone conference. That night we had an appointment with less active family Villar who we've been trying to meet with forever. They had cancelled the last like 6 appointments we've set. We finally got in and they asked us why we kept coming. We had just been passing by everytime we were in the area. The mom told us they had been lying to us a few times when they canceled or just forgot. She told us she forgot we were going to come that day, until the night before she had a dream of us, and felt she had to let us in. We were able to have a great lesson with them. They still didn't make it to church, maybe just because it was stake conference.

Friday we were able to visit a member who lives just outside our area but goes to our ward. She's been a member like 20 years. Her son is on his mission and one of her daughters died a few months ago of cancer at age 22 or something. The son was able to visit her in the hospital but went back to the mission before she died and stayed there. He comes home in December. But this member hasn't been going to church because it reminds her of her daughter. We were able to comfort her and share our experiences. It was really cool because me and my companion both had experiences with that. His older brother died of cancer and my mom died of cancer, so we were both able to relate to her and help her our. Hopefully she can go back to church soon.

Saturday many appointments fell through again but we were able to visit a few people still.

Sunday was stake conference. Afterwards, we had to wait more than an hour for the bus to come. After lunch it was already like 4 oclock. Our appointments cancelled because there was a huge soccer game that night.

Anyways it was a great week. After continuing to work hard with all our appointments cancelling we had a few really good lessons and contacted a few new people that seem like they could be great investigators.

Here are a few pictures of our bunkbeds, my dresser, and our window view.

Have a great week everyone!

-Elder Severtson

Argentina~week27

This week went pretty good, except many of the appointments we had set had fallen through. Normally we have between 4 and 7 appointments planned each day. We were only able to have like 4 or 5 this whole week.

We have been contacting many people this week trying to find new investigators. We've been going through the list of members looking for less actives and for old investigators and also talking with their neighbors. We haven't found any really good investigators yet, but we have a few that want to talk more and hopefully that goes well.

This week they shut down all the trains to electrify them or something. They said it'll take up to 3 months. So now we have to take buses everywhere and it takes like 45 minutes instead of like 10 to get to the mission office where we go every Tuesday.

Even though almost all our plans fell through, we were able to get one less active to go to church yesterday, the first time in more than a year.

Next week we have stake conference, so that's kind of exciting.

I have 2 pictures this week. One is a building we pass by every few days that says communists. The other is 2 kids of a recent convert family named Tobias and Lisandro.

That's about it. Hopefully this week we will be able to talk with a lot more people. Have a great week everyone!

-Elder Severtson

Argentina~week 26

Everything is going good in my new area of Hudson, Quilmes. My companion is Elder Delgado, from California. He looks latino because his dad is from Mexico, but really he never spoke Spanish before the mission.

Tuesday we talked with lots of members and recent converts. I've been meeting so many people, it's hard to remember their names. That night we had an activity in the church.

Wednesday we had our district reunion in the morning. We talked with one of our investigators, and a few less active families. We don't have very many investigators so we're looking for more.

Thursday again looking for many investigators and less actives. In the morning my companion had a reunion of leaders because he is district leader. I had to lead my area in exchanges for a few hours. Luckily we were able to arrive on time to everything. In the afternoon we went looking for old investigators and less actives, and contacting some people at the same time.

Friday morning we had weekly planning, and taught a few of the less actives we found.

Saturday still we kept with looking for people. Luckily we were able to teach some of the contacts we had been making. We had the craziest lesson I've ever had. The day before we talked to a kid on the street about the restoration. He was trying to share what he believed but couldn't and told us to come another day to speak with him mom too. Saturday we went and he wasn't there, but his mom and I think his sister. They began telling us they are from the evangelical church and they are prophets. They began to ask us what we believe but everytime we mentioned the restoration and Joseph Smith they kept saying that they only believe in Jesus and not Joseph Smith, and never listened when we said Joseph is just a prophet. Apparently a lot of people think we believe that Joseph Smith is Jesus reincarnated or something weird like that. Anyways they kept asking us questions like about 'baptisms for the dead' and many other things, and trying to argue with us. Also, they kept interrumpting with things like 'The spirit is telling me to read this scripture' and reading something out of context or that doesn't make sense like 'My son, follow the path of Jesus and don't go astray' or 'whoever adds to this book will be condemned' and things like that. So I decided to start with something they'll agree with to start on common ground. We explained the Godhead and how God calls prophets to teach his gospel. After agreeing with everything about prophets and how Jesus established his church, we began with the apostasy and showing them that the bible says that there will be an apostasy. After teaching all that and the restoration and book of mormon it was clear that they understood everything. They ended up saying that they'll read the book of mormon and the next time we come there might be more people. Anyways we think they're just gonna invite their leaders to argue with us because they don't know what else to say. People can't prove us wrong no matter how hard they try, because the bible supports everything we say. It's why they always try to read things out of context.

Anyways, Sunday we had a video stake conference, and kept looking for people.

The people here can be a lot more harder and ignorant than before. But I love that they can't prove us wrong no matter how hard they try.

Sorry, I don't have any pictures of this area yet.

Have a great week everyone!

-Elder Severtson

Argentina~Week 25

On Monday after PDay we were going to a members house, and I got sick and threw up in the road from all the pizza we ate in the morning.

Tuesday, we have exchanges again. It went pretty good, we had a few lessons

Wednesday, we went to the doctor and they said I had a fracture in my foot. They gave me some medicine and told me to rest and I'm all better now. We also visited the people I baptized a few weeks ago, and the kid that we baptized Saturday.

Thursday, We planned a lot for the 'Tormenta Blanca' activity for Saturday, and had a few lessons.

Friday, we visited a few families. We visited the family that was gonna baptize their son Saturday and planned all that.

Saturday, we had an awesome baptism in the morning. We were able to get the dad to baptize his son. Then we had the tormenta blanca, when the whole zone works in one area for a few hours. It was good, but I think working in the fair is more effective. Then we visited a less active family we've been working with for a long time.

Sunday we went to church, I confirmed the kid that got baptized. and in the afternoon we packed and said goodbye.

Now I'm in Hudson with Elder Delgado!

Have a gret week everyone!

-Elder Severtson

This week was a good week. We went to the doctor Tuesday and they said they couldn't do anything for me and I had to go to a traumatologist. We went the Wednesday, and he quickly said he couldn't do anything because it was probably just a problem with the tendons. We asked for an XRay anyways, because the mission nurse told us to, and after that it appears that actually I had a fracture in my foot. They gave me some antiinflamatory pills, and I didn't walk as much and now I feel better.

The baptism went great saturday. I was able to confirm him on Sunday.

Today I got transferred to Hudson, Quilmes, with Elder Delgado. We have a way smaller area and we have bikes, so I guess I won't be walking as much.

Have a great week!