Week 15???

Well I am beginning to forget how many week I have here. This week went by super fast. I feel like I was just writing. I closed my eyes and now I am here. My companion only has 3 weeks before he goes home and he is both really sad and really excited. I have been doing really well this week. It rained really hard two days here and I got super wet. I can tell that it is changing to fall because it has started to rain 2 times every week. This week I went to a new part of the area that I have never been to before and it was really high and I could look down and see all of my area. It was super pretty. I actually saw the autodromo, Car race track, but there was no one on it besides some horses. I learned how to make empanadas today and they are super delicious. Elder Fuentes the other elder in our house had his one year anniversary and he burned a shirt for that and I have a video but I can't get my SD card to work again because I am in a different lugar because it is carneval and everything is closed today. Well I miss you all so much.

Con Amor

Elder Black

Week 14

Hola todos,

I once again forgot my paper and I will have to try to remember what happened. This P-Day we didn't do much because Elder Barboza had medical and the doctor wasn't even there. This week went by really fast. Our recently baptized covert Luis has made friends with his neighbor who is a inactive and Luis brought him to church. I was really happy this week because we had almost 10 inactives and less actives come to church. I had a zone conference where the president of the mission came and talked to us and this is my second one in the mission and the difference in what I could understand was amazing. I could basically understand all of what was being said and the last time I barely understood the prayer. We had service this week at our ward mission leaders house and he told us that he just finished putting in his paper to go on his mission. He is 24 and a convert of 1 year 3 months. There was a huge rain storm that flooded all of the streets that was super awesome and we were walking down the street in the middle of a lightning storm. Also we had to move our new fridge and oven into our house so I can cook again YAHHH.... Food. Hmmm What else..... I got my camera memory to work again so I will try to send as many pictures as possible. It is amazing here and I miss you all so much.

Love Elder Black

My District

Salta

Salta

Elder Barboza and friend

Baptism Day

This is me and Elder Fuentes moving our kitchen in the back of a truck going really fast and it almost fell out a lot of times.

My trip to McDonald's and the best McFlurry I have ever eaten.

McDonald's

Baptism Day

Moving

My 3 kilos of dulce de leche.

The best meal I have had so far in Argentina.

The Hospital

Moving

The member that we did service for.

Week 13

Well I accidentally lost the paper with what happened this week so I will try to make it up by memory.

This week was pretty good. We didn't have a lot of time to work because we changed houses and that took up almost 2 days of the week. But this Saturday we had a baptism which is super awesome. I got to baptize him because Elder Barbozas arm still isn't functioning 100%. Lets see. We were actually early to church on Sunday because all of our investigators besides 3 couldn't make it.  I visited a McDonald today and had one of the best McFlurries ever. I also cut my hair because it was realllllyyyy long. Hmmmmmm I don´t remember too much but I learned how to solve a rubix cube and I cut my finger with my knife already. The youth here have the oportunidad to serve a mini mission for 2 to 3 weeks where they live and are the companion to a real missionary. I know that this work is so important and I know that there are so many people just waiting to here the gospel. It is something really special to watch the change in a persons life as they come to accept the gospel of Christ in their life. I helped contact our baptism, Luis, and watched him grow in the gospel that I know is true. Well I miss and love you all lots.

Elder Black

Week 12

Well I am really short on time and I might not have time to write everyone but here was my week. I made it through my first transfer in the field and it was much faster than in the MTC.

Tuesday

Now we can't use bikes anymore and we use buses called collectivos and they are so slow.  Today was the last district meeting with this district but I can't upload pictures because the computers here suck. 

Wednesday

We had a really good and busy day today with 6 lessons and one really serious one about baptism. I heard the song Big in Japan today and Alphaville was so out of place here. 

Thursday

I still haven't grown to like planning but it went well. I got to plan in my new planner and Elder Barboza planned in his last planner. One of our investigators got married today and he is now ready to be baptized. 

Friday

We had service where we moved a bunch of dirt again but we found a new house and we move in there on Monday. I met another drunk man that I couldn't understand and when I was watching the district today it switched to Spanish and it took me almost 30 seconds to realize it switched languages.

Saturday

I cleaned the baptism font and one of our investigators gained a testimony of the prophet which is awesome, but he was worried he had to cut his hair to be a member. 

Sunday

 Elder Dobson is leaving and I am super sad about that because he was awesome but he is going to be zone leader in Tucuman. We had 7 investigators come to church which is crazy and it was raining today and that was really nice and refreshing.

I know that the gospel blesses families and that our families are bound for eternity. 

Miss you all so much 

Love 

Elder Black 

P.S. I still can't get my pictures to upload sorry

Week 11

Well this week is un poco loco. But I am still doing really good. This is my week:

Tuesday

I had to actually cook for the first time today in a long time. I had eggs and pancakes made from scratch. And I was really wishing for some peanut butter and syrup but I made do with dulce de leche. I had a district meeting and I had to talk about our investigators and give a spiritual thought in Spanish.

Wednesday

There was a world wide missionary broadcast today. I still don't understand much, but it sounded pretty good. Elder Dobson received a package for Christmas today that was in the mail for 2 months.

Thursday 

There was weekly planning today but we still got a lot of work done. One of our investigators is still very much on track for his baptism on the 11 of February. For lunch I had 17 empanadas and a huge bowl of jello with bananas and I was so full I felt like puking the rest of the day. But the afternoon was really good I can defiantly see the Lords hand in our work here. There are so many little miracles that happen.

Friday

I went on splits with E Dobson today. So we were proselyting in his area today and that was really fun. Elder Dobson is an amazing missionary. We had service in the morning and E Mejia was killing some huge wasps and he sprayed a bunch of bug spray in a hole in the wall and lit it on fire and exploded out a chunk of the wall.

Saturday

Today was crazyyyyyyyyyyy. I don't remember much of what happened in the morning but to give a brief summary in the night my companion wrecked his bike and we had to go to the hospital because he separated his shoulder from his clavicle. So no more bikes until he leaves.

Sunday

We had 4 investigators come to church today and that was super awesome . We couldn't do much because of E. Barbozas shoulder but we checked out a possible new house and that looked really cool. 

Well I can't send pictures because the computer is being sucky.  This work here is wonderful and I know that God loves every one of his children and there are so many people just waiting out there to have the opportunity to accept it. I know that this church is true and that there is so much happiness and peace in sharing and receiving the gospel.

Love you all so much

Elder Black

Week 10

So I swear that  Argentina is literally a reenactment of the studio C 2 guys on a scooter movie. I have seen one with 5 people on it. This has been really good and for those of you who didn't know my birthday was on Sunday and it was a little strange to be turning 19. Oh well now for my week.

Tuesday

I went on splits with E Mejia and we had 2 members come with us but then we had the problem that we only had 3 bikes for 4 people but we made it work out in the end.

Wednesday

So I had kidneys for lunch today and they were not very appealing. They were chewy and had a weird texture and taste but I ate them all. We taught 6 lessons today and I felt like I spoke a lot in most of the lessons besides the one where I knew exactly nothing of what was being said for a complete hour.

Thursday 

Weekly planning....... yep this still isn't very fun but I made it through unscathed today. We have one investigator who is progressing really well he reads a lot in the scriptures. We spent a lot of our day today contacting new people which I am really bad at but it actually went well today.

Friday

We had to take E Barbozas bike to the shop today because he really screwed it up. Needed a new front derailleur. Then we had a service project where we cut grass with machetes which was pretty fun but what took 4 people 2 hours to do could have been done with in 30 minutes with a weed whacker. We had the most colorful meal of the mission today and E Barboza broke his newly fixed bike again, which is strange because I ride my bike a lot harder than he does and I haven't broken anything yet.

Saturday

Elders Mejias and Dobson both ate really hot peppers today and had to drink an entire blender full of banana milkshake each. We had a crazy good morning with 3 lessons before 3 but then in the afternoon almost all of our appointments fell though and we ended up riding around the entirety of our area, Also I had what are supposedly the best empanadas in Salta and I ate like 15 of them.

Sunday 

Well it was my first birthday in the field and I got water ballooned by the other elders and I opened my presents from the MTC. We had one investigator come to church and 2 really awesome lessons in the afternoon. I also ate an entire bag of yummy cookies for lunch, so all in all it was a pretty good birthday. 

Well I just want to end by bearing my testimony that this church is true and that there is some real power in the Book of Mormon and if you read a little bit each day you will be able to see the blessings in your life.

Love everyone lots and miss you all so much,

Elder Black 

And now for some pictures

Happy Birthday!

Egg and flouring on my birthday by my roommates.

Week 9

Hola Todos,

So I can't send photos today because my computer is being stupid but oh well I had a couple of good ones that I will have to send next week. Actually I have one but that is it. 

It has been really hot here and I just got finished with a soccer game and an asado (BBQ) fiesta with a bunch of other missionaries and youth from the ward. I also got super sun burnt so now I have really red arms. Alright now for my week

Monday

I had my strangest food today....Octopus. It actually wasn't awful it just wasn't super great. Also one of the Elders in my pension adopted a pet bird.

Tuesday

Zone Conference with Pres. Chaparo, which was alright but I didn't understand much of what was said. That took up most of the day and the mission president told me I need to teach more in my lessons.

Wednesday

We rode around a lot on bikes today. We had to fix one of them with a new rear cassette and I bought a spoke wrench cause all the wheels suck. We spent a lot of the morning looking for a new house because we have to move out and then for lunch we had one of the spiciest meals yet.

Thursday

I ate some deep fried cheese bombs called Empanandas con queso. They are freaking delicious. Another day of weekly planning, but in the night we had three really good lessons and got 3 new baptism dates.

Friday

Correlation was tonight and I think it went well but once again I didn't understand very much so we could have been getting told off and I wouldn't know. I found a simplified Hymn book which is really nice but it is in Spanish and it is hard to find the songs I want. I cooked some pancakes for some members today and they were really good especially with dulce de leche. Then we had some service afterwards and the member had a double bass that he let me play.

Saturday

We taught a new investigator that had a peacock for a pet. That was interesting. The other elders in our ward had a baptismal service that we brought an investigator to and I had to play piano for. Afterwards we went out for ice cream and I rode on the handle bars of E Mejia's bike for a while.

Sunday

I succeeded in not playing the piano because we were late to church because we were trying to pick up investigators and none of them were home which is really sad. I went on splits with E Mejia and we had one lesson with 13 niños which was really cool  and my companion wrecked his bike while on splits so I didn't get to see it and of course he wasn't wearing a helmet but I think he will be just fine.

Well that is it for now I love and miss everyone lots

Elder Black

The 13 ninos.