Investigators

Elder Whitaker is counting down the days (speaking of which, did you ever get a response from his mom to my message?) until he goes home. Two of the elders in my zone, including my zone leader will be going home this transfer with him so our whole zone is getting shaken up. Everyone says i´m going to train but we´ll see what happens. I´d be content to train, since it can´t be much more work than being District Leader is which isn´t as hard as I thought it would be.

Did you ever look through some pictures of the brotherhood to send to me? I got that picture of kyle and darth vader which was awesome. the sooner the better though, with the others. because i´ll probably only have one more week with elder oakeson and i need to use his card reader to put pictures on my memory card.

an interesting story for the week. So there is a family in the branch and one of their sons got baptized right before i got moved over here. The mom used to be lds but she changed to Evangelica a ways back, yeah lame. But we were teaching her and her "husband" and they were both getting excited about the church and they actually went to church once and they loved it. Then their pastor got to them and convinced them to drop us which was kind of disappointing. The pastor obviously lied to them about us because she asked us one day, "so who do you guys believe Christ is?" The pastor probably told them that we don´t believe in christ and all the old lies like that. But, during divisions this week, elder oakeson and a member went by them to see Brian, the son who got baptized. When he wasn´t there, they planned on sharing a quick scripture and then leaving, but the mom started to tell them about a dream she had...so apparently in this dream, she was at the judgement or the last days or whatever, but either way, christ had come again and everything was set. Then two guys came up to her, she never said if they were missionaries or what they looked like but they told her that the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints in the only true church on the earth and that she was messing up big time. and that was the dream. pretty straight forward if you ask me. It obviously got on her mind though because she can´t stop thinking about it and now we have another "in" to start teaching them again. I´ll keep you posted on what happens.

about your question on whether i´ll have time here, if i do end up training here, i´ll be here for at least the next three months and there is no way i´m leaving this transfer since elder oakeson has been here for three already so yeah i´ll have plenty of time here.

did adam get the picture i sent him? i thought he would like it. anyway, i think that´s everything for now. if i missed any questions, well...let me know next week haha. Love you!

elder newey

Maggots and My Birthday

haha i like the happy birthday wishes. Josh´s was especially funny. I really liked Brady´s too haha. Yeah it´s weird that i´m half way to being 40...that´s seems pretty long away but when i really think about it, it´s really not at all haha.

Things are good with my new companion, he´s a little frustrated at the moment with spanish because it´s just hard sometimes. The members aren´t exactly the ray of sunshine he needs either, they aren´t very encouraging but I defend him from their jokes so maybe eventually they´ll get the message. If not, i´ll have to drop the cane because elder oakeson just told me yesterday that he actually hates going to church. something has to be changed. My apartment though, is better in some ways, and worse in others than the one i had in alto 2. It´s a good deal bigger, more open and we have two fridges so we don´t have to just share one as a companionship which is pretty cool. The bathroom isn´t as good as the one i had before but it´s not too bad. Interesting story about the pension though that i´m sure you won´t like but i think it is funny. the other day, we were going out to work, and elder oakeson notices a bunch of big rice-looking things around the door that are moving. Yeah, they were maggots and they were everywhere so we do some investigating, and turns out we forgot to take out the chicken bones of a lunch from a couple weeks before and the flies had gotten in and laid their eggs everywhere. Don´t worry, we took tons of pictures haha. It´s under control now though, and we have pension inspections this week so we´ll have to super deep clean everything today...

I did buy a new camera. It´s working fine, i´ve had it for a good month or so so things are good.

About the brotherhood pictures, I need a couple different pictures of the four of us if you can find some, and they don´t necessarily have to be recent. Then I also need a couple pictures of each of them alone in the picture. Then whatever else you find that you think I´ll like haha. I´m making them all something they can use on the mission and i need to pictures for it.

I´ll send Adam the picture today haha. Also, let me know when you put the money in my account for extra fast offerings. The woman´s name is Yanina and the members have really rallied together and have given her a bunch of stuff. I just saw her son in centro about an hour ago and he said his sister is doing a lot better. The last thing I knew was that she was even sicker than before and she still doesn´t get into the doctor until the 22 because of the healthcare system here. He said they are doing better though but i´m not sure if he was just saying that.

About the work in my area, we don´t have as many investigators as I did in Alto 2 but we have found a couple families who are really excited. The two families happen to be really good friends too which we didn´t know until yesterday so they can help each other get to church and get baptized and everything. I´m getting really pumped about them. The dad of one of the families has his mom who is a member and apparently, a few weeks ago, she talked to him for a long time about finding the truth and trying to make contact with the missionaries. This took place up in Santa Fe about 3000 kilometers away (that´s what he says anyway, i´m not sure how accurate that is) and his mom also said a really strong prayer for him that he would be able to find the truth in his life with his family. The day he got back to Bariloche, he was over at his friend´s house, and we happened to pass by in the street. He saw us and remembered what his mom had told him and prayed to happen but he didn´t come out and stop us to talk to him. Then, one day, we were going to an appointment and we were a little late so we didn´t catch the bus we usually do. So we waited for the next one, and this bus happened to be the one he was on. Then, as he says, we happen to stand right next to where he is sitting on the bus. He says it was just too much to all be coincidence so he started to talk to us, asking where the church is and we set up the appointment to go by the week pasada. that´s when we heard all of that story and we were pretty blown away. what a miracle right? His name is Marcelo and his wife is Roxana and they have a son named Franco and I´m thinking all will get baptized. I´m so excited.

It´s no problem that the package will be late, i´m just excited to get the letters. also, will the allergy medicine be in there?

I think that´s it for the week though. I hope i answered all of your questions. Love you!

elder newey

DL

I guess I´ll give you a report about what happened in transfers. Well, I got transfered...yeah, I didn´t want to but I guess it´s not that bad since I´m still in Bariloche haha. Yeah, it almost never ever happens but I got moved to a different area in my same district to be district leader. And, it´s like you said, I´m comps with Elder Oakeson who only has a few transfers out here. I´m way excited to work with him, we´re already way tight and I love the kid to death. We´re going to have a ton of success together and we have high goals for our district after my first district meeting as DL. I´m kind of dissapointed that I won´t be able to visit Lucas or Vanesa anymore but at least i´ll still see them at church. My new area is called Frutillar and it a branch, which is something new for me. It´s hard because we don´t have a lot of investigators like in Alto 2 and this week, we´ve just been knocking doors ALL day. It´s been a lot of fun...but the fruits will come.

It´s been really really hot this week. Talking to the people here, this never happens in December but we´ve had five days in a row that are just burning hot. It´s been absolutely unreal. We´re dying of heat and the people here are basically not wearing clothes, so that´s interesting in contacts and stuff haha.

I don´t have a ton to report this week, I´m just having fun sharing the gospel! Everyone remember to read the scriptures! sometimes we take them for granted and you don´t realize it until you meet people who have lived their whole lives without them and you see what kind of life they live without purpose and without faith. Love you all!

elder newey

December Wow!

Hey, i´m way glad to hear you´re off caffeine! I bet it feels good to not have that hanging over your head now.

So brother stoddard finally got released? he´s been there forever it seems like, and for good reason Kaleb is sad. Brother stoddard is so awesome but i´m sure brother lindsay will be good too. is the whole ward getting changed up with the new bishopric or are the callings about the same?

Yeah it´s weird that Kaleb is graduating this year. What´s weirder is that the year is almost half over. It wasn´t that long ago that you were waiting to start the school year. It´s weird how fast the time is going. I bet Kyle felt that a lot in the mtc--at least I did. That´s cool he´ll be in Japan next monday...or is he in japan now? i don´t know when he sent that last email so maybe he´s in japan as I speak. that would be cool.

I´m still waiting for the christmas packages since they didn´t arrive today but maybe the president is bringing the bolsa with him tomorrow to the zone conference.

Today, we did an activity with the zone where we went to a hill called Campenario and we took pictures and stuff up top. It was an amazing view and i got some sweet pictures of a hawk up there but i´ll have to send them next week since the cyber i´m in doesn´t have very good computers.

Lucas is doing good. We´ve had some rough week the last couple weeks since it seems like all of our investigators are dropping off, telling us they don´t want us to come back. Including, three fechas we had don´t want us to come back and they are so cold to us they won´t answer our questions as to why they changed so quickly and stuff. I think someone talked to tell and convinced them to change their minds or told them some lies about the church, but what can you do? We´ve been trying to find some new investigators to teach and we´ve been having some good success.

Well, Christmas is coming up fast and then we´ll be talking over the phone. thanks for everything and I love ya.

hayden.

Thanksgiving!!

It seems like none of us had a traditional thanksgiving dinner since we made burritos and mexican food haha. Elder Barcenas, my district leader, is from the US but his parents are latin so he was able to make the tortillas from scratch and the salsa was really really spicy which i´m not used to. I was sweating so much but it was so good! i miss spicy food haha.

We had the baptism of vanesa yesterday and it was excellent. We had a miracle with filling up the baptismal font too. The whole weekend, there was no water in the church, and it´s kind of hard to have a baptism without water so we were there before the baptism trying to figure out what we could do to get water there when my comp said that he was going to try one more time to see if somehow there was water. I was so confident that there wasn´t any water that i was standing in the font as he turned the knob. A little trickle of water started out which was all i expected then suddenly, water began to blast into the font like it never has before. Needless to say, i was humbled haha and the font filled us way faster than usual and everything was ready for the baptism. it was incredible. I think i´ll call my comp Moses from now on since it´s like he smote the rock and water came out, only in this case, he smote the...i don´t know, the brick? and water came out haha. I got to baptize vanesa and the water was really cold but it was awesome.

So about my face, there is still some swelling but it´s going away i think. The swelling in my cheek is mostly gone but now i noticed swelling back in my jaw so i´m giong back in to medical on wednesday to see if the gland is still infected. Also, the rash that i thought i was getting fromt the other antibiotics, was actually being caused by the ibuprofen which has never happened before. Is it possible to suddenly have an allergy to ibuprofen? it´s weird because the rash only appears on the left side of my face where the swelling was so hopefully when all the swellilng goes away, i´ll be able to take ibuprofen again without any problems. but until then, could you send me some tylenol, since that´s what i have to take now if i have a headache? also if you can manage, could you send me some claritin non drowsy? my allergies are pretty bad now that it´s getting warmer. If you can´t send them, i´ll just try to get something here from the pharmacies to work it out.

I´m going to try to put some pictures on now of the baptism so i´m going to end. I hpe you had a great thanksgiving and now we´re making our way to christmas! yeah, i´ll still be in bariloche for christmas. transfers are the 27 of december so i´ll just make it. just it´s not sure i´m leaving this next transfer either. love you!

elder newey

Our Investigators

Hayden before he left Comodoro Rivadavio

Hayden with Elder Justice who is also from Utah

To answer your question, yes, I have a microwave in the pension. Speaking of the microwave, my comp tried to cook a whole raw egg in the microwave haha. Of course, it exploded all over the place. It was so hilarious, I was laughing for days about it. But yeah, we have one so feel free to send the stuff. What is everything you have for my package(s) now? Could you send me a list of the things in them next week?

My investigators are doing good though. We just put four baptismal dates (we call them fechas) so we´re coming off a really good week. We´re excited to be having some good success out here. We have one investigator who just lost her 18 year old daughter to cancer to she is really angry with God now, but maybe it can turn into a blessing if we can get her into the church because of it.

I just sent off a bunch of letters today. one to you, with a letter to Brady in it, one to kyle, and a few others to other missionaries. If you don´t feel good about having brady email me, then he probably shouldn´t. Think about it but don´t ignore the feelings you get. Sometimes I want to hear from friends so much that it overpowers my better judgement. Let me know what you think.

ryan is getting his call this week right? Oh i´m so excited. I´ll be looking forward to next monday with a lot of anxiety. Kessa told me also that you took pictures of Adam as a ghost so I´d love to see them haha.

I can´t believe fax is 40 already haha. He doesn´t seem like he should be 40. It´s weird how fast the time is going by. I just completed 7 months yesterday. crazy. Before I know it, I´ll have a year out here haha.

Hey, another elder from Utah who is here with me just told me that two chapels got burned to the ground this week. What´s that about? Are we seeing more signs of the times?

But anyway, I´m basically out of time. Thanks for everything, and for the great email. How is kyle doing in the mtc? I´m going to get off now so I can send some pictures. Love you!

hayden

Another Week in Bariloche

I´m going to be looking at cameras today but we also have a zone activity so it probably won´t be until the end of pday. That´s crazy how much people are changing. Luke in the MTC, amanda pregnant...insane. I really liked Kyle´s email, and yeah, it´s all true. You don´t need to be able to speak well to transmit the spirit. I´ve been working really hard at trying to teach to a person and not at a person which basically means you teach by the spirit and not some memorized sentences about gospel truth. It´s been really good and we had an awesome experience with Lucas, who is 16.

He, first off, is completing with all of his compromises (i don´t remember the word in english haha. It´s compromisos in spanish haha). He read the restoration pamphlet and prayed and read 3 Nephi 11, but said he didn´t feel any confirming witness. I was like, crap what do I say? Then I heard myself saying, and did you pray after you read 3 ne 11? and he said he had not, at which point I asked him if we could pray right then and there, kneeling down and if he could offer the prayer and ask the specific question, "is the Book of Mormon true?" He did so and just to see an investigator pray on their own and really pour out their hearts to God is the most beautiful thing in the world. Then after he ended the prayer, we just stayed there for a little, kneeling on the ground. Then I asked "so what do you feel?" and he said, "I feel like a... a really strong... heat...inside me." So then we went to Doctrine and Covenants where it explains this feeling and he was way excited that he had received such a strong witness. Then we put a baptismal fecha and set up going to church with him that sunday. It was so incredible. I find myself thinking about him and how I can help him progress more, but in reality, he´s doing all the work himself haha.

We had a much better week, number wise. I feel like we worked a lot harder and you can see the results of it. This week was really warm and then turned really cold. I was bummed because I was tanning up so well. I´m going to be so dark by the end of the summer!

Oh my gosh! I realized I never thanked Adam for his card he sent me! It was so excellent! I really liked the pictures of the tigers.

So yeah, that was the week. Today, we were going to go paintballing as a zone but we have to put it off until the next zone activity because it takes too much time to go there and back but I was so excited for it. Now I think we´ll just be playing basketball so I´m still excited.

That´s it for the week! I hope everything is good there! love you

elder newey