Various Photos

Here are some photos that Hayden just sent:

The Week of Rocks and Glass!

Well, where to start? This week was kind of slow other than the fact that Patricia is getting baptized! The end of the story is kind of anti climactic though because her mom still wasn´t giving permission but then our mission president said we only technically need the permission of her dad which we already had. But we we´re excited anyway and she´s is too, she´ll get baptized the 31st of july and i kind of hope she´ll pick me to baptize her. maybe i shouldn´t think like that but i can´t help it really. In other news, argentina passed gay marriage here, the first country from latin america to do so. The whole country is fired up about it and everyone is talking about it.

I told kaleb in his email that I have an awesome story to tell and i´m getting excited just writing about it so I guess i won´t wait any longer. So we were knocking doors in Palazzo, one of our cities in the area, and we weren´t getting a lot of people home. After about an hour, we contacted a guy in the street who said we could go by his house sometime and that he lived at the top of this gigantic hill about 100 yards off. He also said a lot of people lived up there that might by interested. Well i think he was messing with us because we decided to knock up there and, after trecking up the huge, steep hill (i´m so thankful I have my boots here, it´s muddy everywhere) we saw only one house up there. we realized he was lying to us but we decided to knock the house anyway because we were already up there. So we knock it and this guy comes out and starts yelling at us saying how we´re all evil and he didn´t want us there. I´m not sure if he meant mormons were evil or just all religions, but we were kind of stunned and didn´t knock what to do. While he was yelling, he was drawing like a cross in the air with his hand, implying of course that we were demons and I guess he thought he could banish us to hell or scare us off with the cross. When we didn´t move, he got more mad and I tried to ask him "did something happen that makes you hate us so much?" but all i got out was "did something hap--" at which point he let out a scream of rage, and, bending down, he picked up a log with nailes sticking out of it and hurled it at us. We were outside his fence, and the log didn´t really get close. I heard it hit the fence and turning to my comp, we just started walking away. Apparently walking wasn´t enough though, because he picked up another plank of wood, this one with a sharp pointy end and chucked it like a spear at us. It got kind of close but we weren´t scared because who can´t dodge a piece of wood. We were still kind of in shock that he was freaking out so much and then we came out of his house more and picked up a couple rocks and a glass bottle. At this point, elder whitaker said "oh shoot, run, go go!" So we booked it down this steep hill and it was a miracle in itself that we didn´t fall down it. While we ran, rocks hit around us and bottles were shattering right by us. I haven´t had a good adrenaline rush like that in a while and when we got to the bottom of the hill, he was up at the top, still throwing rocks and stuff and swearing at us. My comp just waved at him and we kind of watched as he threw his tantrum. He stood on the hill and yelled "this is Palazzo!" over and over. I happened to have my camera with me and I wish i had had the presence of mind to take a picture of the guy at the top of the hill but as it was, i only managed to get a picture of the hill where he was. Neither of us got hurt so the story was funny. If we had been hit, we both would have been really mad, but as it was, we could just laugh at the guy from the street until he gave up and went back to his house. He´s been the subject of our jokes for the last week though.

Other than that, not much more happened. We´re getting close with some people and might be setting some more baptismal dates soon. I´ll be sure to tell you about them when they come. I told you last week how it has been raining a ton and that weather lasted through thursday but was followed by three days of the best weather i´ve had on the mission. We went out in just white shirts and ties those days because it was so hot. It was excellent.

But anyway, anything else happening at home? is the mazda still running and did you find out what was wrong with the pathfinder? I haven´t gotten any package yet but they should arrive next week. We didn´t want to go to centro where the bolsa is today because it wastes two hours of our day and we´re both way tired. I think i´ll write some letters today to my friends like nick and brady and everyone so you can tell them to expect those in a few weeks. I´m sure kyle is so ready to go to japan. I´ll try to print off some pictures this week or next and send them in a letter home. It takes too long to upload them to the computer and the connections here aren´t that fast. This week was a long week but only because we didn´t have very many lessons. Next week should be better, but it´s way hard to get member lessons now that Kevin is gone. We saw him off at the airport and he was crying and stuff. I´m so glad I didn´t have to leave like that with my whole family at the airport. Calling was better haha. Anyway, i think that´s it. I love all the emails you´re sending and everything! Keep me updated on anything that happens! I love you all
love, elder newey

WHAT A WEEK!

First off to answer some questions. I don´t really listen to my ipod because elder whitaker´s ipod has a lot better music than mine. I should have done a better job of filling mine up with songs and stuff. But when christmas comes around, i´ll be set, haha. I got Nick´s letter today so i´ll write him back this week hopefully. We don´t have a lot of time to write letters unfortunately becuase every pday we have to travel up to centro to make purchases and do internet. The travelling wastes about two hours of our pday but we just use it to catch up on some sleep. About my investigators, i´ve told you about patricia. She asked her mom if she could get baptized and her mom flat out rejected it saying that she is too young to know what she wants and that she doesn´t know anything. I had no idea what to say to patricia becuase she was really upset that she wouldn´t be able to be baptized, but the inspiration came and I shared 1 nephi 3:7 where the lord gives no commandment save he shall prepare a way that that commandment may be accomplished. We also shared how it took three tries to get the plates from laban and then as a joke I told elder whitaker we might have to kill her mom on the third try haha. But yeah, she is going to keep asking her mom and we are praying her heart will be softened. We also have Carlos who accepted our baptismal committment a couple weeks ago. I think i told you about him but just in case...he´s living with a member so they are obviously breaking the law of chastity. The next visit we´ll be teaching that so hopefully he´ll keep progressing after that and they´ll get married so he can get baptized. He´s really awesome though.

So i gave a talk in church yesterday. The talks were about missionary work within the ward and my comp and I dropped the cane on our barrio. haha no, we actually weren´t very harsh but I did say something that hopefully will show them we´re serious about this. I said "¿Hay razones que no quieren compartir el evangelio restaurado con sus hermanos y hermanas quienes estén en obscuridad espiritual? ¿O solomente no les importa?" or in other words, "is there some reason you aren´t sharing the restored gospel with your brothers and sisters in spiritual darkness... or do you just not care? haha i was kind of proud about that and maybe they´ll start helping us more. We need the help too because kevin day who usually comes out with us is finally leaving for columbia on wednesday. But yeah they were good talks. On that same note, i want to challenge all of you to share the gospel with someone this week. It´s not easy but it feels good to get into the spirit of missionary work, and all you have to do is bear testimony and invite them to listen to the missionaries.

So this is the first day of a new transfer. Luckily elder whitaker is staying for at least one more transfer here. The world cup ended of course and spain won for the first time ever. No one really cared about the world cup after argentina got out, it was kind of funny.

haha on a little pride note, our zone leaders told me and elder whitaker that we´re leading the zone in numbers which obviously isn´t everything but it feels kind of good to get some recognition. I know i shouldn´t thrive on that but maybe it´s my competitive attitude that makes me want to be the best at everything haha. As long as we know we´re working hard, that should be good enough for us.

So holli and keith are moving? i still haven´t read holli´s email i just realized. I was going to ask what job keith found but i guess holli will tell me that in her letter.

I think that´s all that has happened here. It´s been raining like crazy and it´s only getting colder but i´m having a lot of fun. I love the people here, they´re the best part.

stay safe and everything good like that haha.

love elder newey

ARGENTINA LOST??

Yes, unfortunately, argentina lost. They not only lost, they got killed 4-0. That day we were doing divisions with the district leaders so I was with Elder Nelson from Arizona. He´s really good and we were knocking doors and stuff during the game. There were a ton of people who got mad at us while we were working during the game and then after, everyone said they were too sad to let us in. So yes, the whole nation went into mournig. They´re basically over it nowand at least we won´t have to work during any more games.

To answer your questions, yes i have brady´s email but i can only email my direct family so i will have to just write letters. Speaking of which, i just wrote a letter to Ryan and Kyle so tell them to watch for it. Ryan´s will get there after he is gone but his mom can send it on i´m hoping. On the subject of transfers, every yankee (pronounced shawnky, or everyone white american) has 16 transfers in the mission. usually, you´ll spend two or three transfers in an area. each transfer is 6 weeks, by the way. however, it is not uncommon to spend just one or four or five in an area. This is elder whitaker´s fourth transfer in comodoro and he´ll probably have another with me because he´s training me. Elder Nelson though, has only been in three areas, 4 transfers in each or 6 months in each area. I guess there are pros and cons to being in an area that long, but i think i would want a change after that long. Dad, you said some stuff about the testigos (or, as the jovenes here call them, the "testiculos" which i´m sure you know the meaning of) and how they like to argue with you. yeah, we always run across at least one a day and it´s hard to just bear testimony and leave but i know that´s waht i have to do.

So dad got released? They´re also supposed to be changing up the bishopric soon right? Dad is going to be first councellor, that´s my prediction.

Just some stories from this week. Well first, i forgot to tell you something funny. You know how the comedian jerry dee talked about the italians watering the driveway? yeah well argentines water the dirt. i don´t know why, but they just stand outside, watering the dirt. There´s no grass, no plants at all, they just feel the need to water the dirt and rocks by their house. Got to have clean dirt right? Also, i added a dog to my hate list. The boxers here are ridiculous. One almost attacked my comp and didn´t run away when we threatened to throw rocks at it so i ran at it like i was going to kick it and it backed down. but now i realize it probably would have been a better idea just to throw a rock at it instead of play chicken with it. It´s weird, because all of the stray dogs are really nice, they know they can´t get any food if they´re mean. The mean dogs are the ones who have a home becuase they protective of it and think you´re threatening they´re territory. but anyway, i bought some yogurt the other day for the first time and they come in bags like i´ve said i think. When i opened it, i realized it was drinkable yogurt and elder whitaker said that´s how all the yogurt is here. So i have these huge bags of drinkable yogurt and they reminded me of kaleb how much he loves drinkable yogurt and how he has the buy little cups of it for a ridiculous price and i can get a bag for about a dollar. oh, also, yes this week was the fourth of july. yesterday actually. We listened to the national anthem on elder whitakers ipod and did a bunch of patriot stuff, it was fun. The members were giving us crap because neither of us had an american flag tie, or at least a red white and blue tie. i might need to buy one down here if i can find one.

At church though, we talked to patricia who still hasn´t asked her mom if she can get baptized. She said she is going to ask her today so we´ll see. However, she brought her friend to church because, she said, "she´s my friend and i want to help her by giving her the gospel." That´s the true sign of conversion right, wanting to share it with others? It took me about 19 years to get that, it´s just really cool how she already has it. If she can´t get permission, she´ll have to wait until december to get baptized so we´re hoping sooner rather than later.

I just realized that Luke should have his call by now right? if so, where is he going? he put his papers in while i was in the mtc should he should have everything. I can´t wait to see where he´s going.

So that´s good that kaleb and kessa have gotten into a rythym of running every morning. occasionally we have to run to catch a bus or something and my legs scream in protest because i haven´t run in forever. I hope they have a good time at efy and youth conference. They both sound like a lot of fun. So there´s no work on where Lebron is going yet? it will be cool to see how everything works out.

Well there´s nothing much more I can say. I wish i could email you each individually but i just don´t have enough time for that. The time is flying though, it´s always weird to look back and think that it´s already monday again. I love you all, stay safe and stay strong

love, elder newey