The work goes on

This picture was taken last week when Eric finally received the Valentine's package we had sent

Street view in Rosario

A view of railroad tracks in Rosario

Hey family, how is everyone!! I hope good! We're doing pretty good out here as well.

We've had some good progress with a new family that we found in the area that's called Barrio Las Flores, which you can imagine what that means. (neighborhood of flowers) It's a pretty villa area, but we found a huge family out there with a really nice house, despite that they're in the villa. (slum area) It is definitely one of the nicest houses out there, and the parents are actually married. The whole family is super receptive, and they're looking forward to coming to Conference this week. Unfortunately, as missionaries we can only go to Sunday's sessions of conference, which is all right, we'll just go find people during that time on Saturday to attend on Sunday. Anyway, that family's really cool, and we expect good things with them, and I assume much of that family will be baptized at some point, although it wouldn't happen during this transfer, but the next one.

Apart from that, we haven't had huge progress, just the usual stuff. Celeste should be baptized the 9th of April, and confirmed the 10th, my birthday, and the family is finally supporting that.

This week Elder Towner and I enjoyed something we haven't had in about a year and a half. Macaroni and cheese! Wow, thanks for sending that, I think it's a genius idea sending the sauce packet, and I'd love to get more! We bought some macaroni type noodles to make it with, and it came out just like mac and cheese at home. So thanks for sending that, and Elder Towner says thanks too.

I couldn't open the video of Maya you sent me, because I can't see it on these computers, so I'll have to wait until next week and try to get a real computer.

This area is very interesting because it's super easy to find like 100 people to teach in one day, but nobody really wants to progress. This whole mission is like that, but this area has even more than most areas of the mission. We're trying to work in better areas and with references more so we can overcome that, but with little success.

Just yesterday, however, we had an awesome lesson with the husband of an inactive member who wants to come back. The way it started was about a week ago, we felt like we should pass by this family who has a fruit and vegetable shop (verduleria) and who I had only talked to once, and it was with Elder Calvert. Well, we passed by there and the older sister came out and expressed her concern, a concern we see daily here. She wants to come back but feels it's too hard. Anyway, we set up an appointment in the church at 7 o'clock and she and her husband came, and we gave him a good tour and taught the restoration. He liked it although he's very shy. Funny thing is, he was converted in jail by one of those pastors that teaches in jails, and so he was pretty prepared, because he has desires to come unto Christ, which is what an investigator needs to accept this message. Many people know our message is true, but don't follow it simply because they don't want to follow all of it. In other words, they don't want to keep certain commandments, etc. It's quite sad, because many people we teach learn for themselves that it's true, but don't want to make an effort to change, so they try to trick themselves by saying the church isn't true, which no matter how many mental barriers they put up, it's still true and they know it. Well, either way, the guy's great, and he wants his new child to grow up a good girl, and he wants to support his wife, and he has lots of support to come to church, so we expect good things with him.

So in answer to your question, we're teaching in the church and not in the pasillos! (the really dangerous area) No, but really, we have stopped teaching in the pasillo just because the people weren't progressing.

As always, we do lots of walking, but my clothes are holding up just fine besides those things you mentioned. (shoes, socks and belt.)

One thing I'd really like is a few pictures of our motorcycles. Argentines love seeing the one picture I have of the motorcycle, and they'd love to see more, because pretty much everyone here has a motorcycle, they're just all really cheap and fake.

I will send lots of pictures next week, and will let you know how the mission conference was. I love you all and thanks for everything.

Love,
Eric

Hope it didn't have too many friends

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Heavenly Father is in control

Eric's companion, Elder Towner

March 2011 Mission Council at the Mission Home.

(I don't think Eric is quite as tall as he appears. I think he and Elder Bryce are standing on a taller piece of furniture.)

Hello!!! Hey family, how is everybody!!! It's great to hear from you again this week and to see that everyone's doing good. We also had an excellent week here. Some inactive people came back to church for the first time, and many of those were Melchizedek priesthood holders. Since I first got here, both our assistance (attendance) and priesthood has increased in the ward, which is always nice to see. Our ward has responded very well to the "15 Family List" which is just a list of 15 inactive or less active families that we try to reactivate. What happens is someone from the ward contacts them and asks if the missionaries can pass by. If the person accepts, we pass by and help them come back to church; or they can reject in which case we don't do anything and then we just add another family's name on the list for us to visit and teach and reactivate. It's a great system because both the ward and the missionaries are involved, and it helps the people feel more loved. It's working pretty good out here, although we were hoping to find more part member families doing this, so we could also get some baptisms, but for right now, just a lot of complete families or individuals coming back to church, which is good too.

Regarding your package, yes, I got it! I was told on Thursday that my package arrived at the mission home, but because of complications we couldn't go until Friday, which actually was a blessing because it turns out the elder who told me it was there was mistaken, and the package actually arrived Friday, just a few minutes before we got there! Funny thing is that both packages got there at the same time!!! So I got the Valentine's package you sent through the mail, and then the package you sent with the Kradolfers (kind friends traveling to Argentina) with the shoes! I already know you will, but please tell them thank you from me.

Thanks a lot for the packages, they're awesome. I'm especially excited for my new shoes, even Sonilda is. (the landlady) I'm excited to start wearing them, and expect them to stay in good condition because my area is paved roads. I learned about something very useful to me recently. You and Dad are going to laugh, because I used to think it was just something for old people, but now realize the importance of. It's called a shoe horn, and it's awesome. Elder Towner introduced me to his shoehorn and I love them now.

So I'm just really happy to have nice new shoes and also to have everything else you sent. Tell Dad I also got his book about missionary tools, which is a pretty basic book that teaches many things you already know, but helps you APPLY them better, which is something I need. I haven't read it all, but like what I have, so tell Dad thanks. Of course I also enjoyed his articles on the second coming, which had many fun facts I never knew. So thanks a lot for everything.

Other than that, life's been pretty normal. Japan's recent tragedy has stirred the hearts of many people, and seems to be a hot topic these days. I recently read in the book of Nephi that the Lord doesn't do anything unless it's for the benefit of mankind, for example earthquakes, floods, etc. It's obvious doctrine to a Latter Day Saint, but often overlooked when things happen. People have such a negative attitude towards disasters and deaths, and often curse God for these things! People often lose their faith when things like this happen, BUT others humble themselves, allowing the missionaries to teach them. Since that incident, we've found the people to be much more receptive, and many are accepting and listening to the gospel because of something that happened so far away. Many people listen now that never would have listened before because now they realize how powerful God is. Well, I can't say how exactly, but yes, even this disaster in Japan was for the overall good of mankind. Of course, try to tell that to some Japanese mom who lost her son, it'll be pretty hard, but just know that everything that happens on this earth was planned long ago by an all-knowing and loving Father. In fact, I would be much more concerned if these things WEREN'T happening. God stated in the Bible that in the last days, these days in which we live, that we would see such storms and disasters, thus his prophecy made about 2000 years ago is proof that the Lord IS IN CONTROL!! If storms and disasters weren't happening right now, then you could be concerned that the Lord really doesn't have control over the earth and that the prophecies made by John were nothing more than a hunch; but these things ARE happening and they're happening just like God said they would, showing He is in control of everything.

Well, that's the basic update, today we ate at Subway and are going bowling now. We're with the elders from Las Heras, and are now heading back to our area to bowl. I appreciate all you do and thank you for everything. Thanks for the packages and for writing!

Love,

Eric

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Not much time to write this week

Eric with Elder Gonzalez. This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago.

Hey everyone! It's great to be able to write again! It sounds like everyone's doing good, although it's too bad David's blackberry got stolen when he was in California.

Well, we had a good week here. The zone also had an awesome week, one of the best, we're expecting lots of success this transfer. We're teaching some pretty cool people right now and they are doing good. We've also reactivated several people and they all came to church Sunday, so that was good, especially because two of them are Melchizedek priesthood holders. We were also able to reactivate the sister of Celeste, so she has someone to go to church with and Celeste wants to be baptised and stay active, and they've been doing really well attending. The ward is doing really good.

Carlos didn't go to church this Sunday because of a medical incident, which he told us about on Saturday, so we're bummed about that. He claims that he is not living with someone (who he is not married to), but we now have a question about that and need to verify that. He definitely wants to be baptised and loves going to church, we just need to make sure he's living all the commandments. Other than that, we have just lots of good people and some not so good that we're teaching and hope to be able to help. (When Eric refers to the "not so good people", he means people who are not quite as receptive to the message of the gospel that they are sharing.) Overall things are going really good.

We had the leader training Tuesday, so we gave our discourse on how to invite people to church. It was good and simple, it was pretty fun.

Also, after reading your email, I called the offices but they said my package has not arrived yet, so hopefully it will soon.

We've been enjoying the area and the work here, and the members are really supportive. They're always really happy when we reactivate people, even more than when we baptise, so they should love us right now.

I really enjoyed and am still enjoying all the stuff (letters, etc.) I got from last week, and have already finished the book Dad sent on how to be a bold missionary. I really enjoyed it and took out a lot of stuff I'm applying to the work.

I wish I had more time to write, but I need to end now. I love you all very much and thank you for all you do. Thanks for always writing and keeping me in your prayers.

Love you,
Eric
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Finding new investigators

Hey family! Hello from the Delights!!! Hope everyone is doing good! I'm doing great out here.

Elder Towner and I are enjoying the area and the work here, and I'm quite happy to be able to stay one more transfer with Sonilda. (The landlady who cooks and cleans for them.)

This past Friday was mission council, and we enjoyed the LAST EVER mission council in the mission home, so it was pretty special. Mission council was pretty fun, although I expected it to be a little different than last time, but it was the exact same. Well, it was good though. We presented our vision of the zone, listened to talks from President and the assistants, and enjoyed seeing our old friends and hanging out. Then we played the Mission Cup (soccer) and I don't even remember who won, but it wasn't us. It was still fun playing soccer together with the other ZLs. After the soccer tournament, we do all the pedidos (stuff people asked for) and get all the mail, my favorite part.

First thing I'd like to do is thank everyone for writing me and sending me things. I finally received the book from Dad on "Becoming a Bold Missionary", the second time I believe he's had to send it because the last one I'm guessing got "lost" in the mail. And I'm excited to hear the talk on the cd that he put inside. I also got some dear elder letters from Aunt Lisa, Nana and Papa, and you, which were really nice, I love reading all the letters. I got the Valentine's Day card with the picture, and I got a letter from both Marisa and David which was also very cool. Then I spent almost 300 pesos getting pedidos for people in our zone, and probably won't ever get paid back all the way, but hey, that's just how it is sometimes.

So it was a pretty good week. The whole week went good, even though we really only had one day to work. Elder Calvert's hijo had a problem (Elder Calvert, Eric's previous companion, is a trainer this transfer, and his new greenie missed a flight connection on the way to Argentina.) So Calvert came back with us and worked with Towner and I for a day. We, of course, were in the terminal all day helping people get their buses and whatnot, and making calls to coordinate travels so nobody travels alone. After that, the 3 of us enjoyed doing all the ZL dats stuff until lunch Thursday, and then Elder Calvert met up with Elder Carillo, who also is a trainer this transfer, and those two went up to the mission home to get their kids.

After that, we worked pretty normal, and then Saturday in the afternoon until nighttime, we did divisions with the assistants which was awesome. I went with Elder Avalo, who's Argentine and is a really good guy, a good spiritual guy. He's a great guy because he doesn't act like a superstar assistant, he's just a humble simple guy who can really follow the spirit. I did almost all the talking even when we worked!! But he really is great at inviting the spirit and helping the people. We had an awesome evening and we ran around the whole time trying to pass by everybody, and we found over 13 new investigators. Elder Towner who was working with Elder Hardy, also found tons of new people, so we were waiting on probably about 30 new investigators to go to church, and about ten of those people had SPECIFIC PLANS to come to church with members, where the members were going to pass by the new investigator's house and walk with them to church. So we figured we'd have a ton of investigators in church this week! Well, Sunday came and we only had one of our investigators in church. But the Lord blessed us for our efforts, and we actually got 7 investigators in church, although 6 of them we'd never met before. They were new people that came to see the baby blessing of their friends, and we talked with them, and gave them a tour, and of course they loved it and we're now teaching them. So it was pretty cool.

Regarding the one investigator who came, he is a guy named Carlos. He wants to be baptised on the 19th and he's very excited for that. He's awesome because he's a very old guy, and knows the Bible perfectly and what's more important, he understands it. We believe he's a third Nephite, because somehow he knows everything about our doctrine even though he's never gone to church or talked to missionaries before. Well, a third Nephite doesn't need baptism, but maybe he's just testing us, so I'll do everything I can to pass the test, plus it's fun to teach him. Every time we teach him, he just teaches us and quotes scriptures the whole time, so we just let him teach himself, leading him in the general direction. I think the best part was when he came to church. He came with a member who uses a cane to walk about .0001 miles an hour. They both walked past the gate (all Argentina churches have gates) and Carlos immediately started raising his hands and like worshipping the church and doing a quiet prayer while waving his arms as if to worship the building. He continued doing this, walking at the speed of his handicapped friend, and praying until they finally got inside about 5 minutes later. It was pretty funny. Then after a great Sacrament meeting, he blessed us both by touching our hearts (he often does that) and then went up to our bishop and started blessing him. It was pretty funny because the bishop wasn't expecting it.

I better go now, so a quick recap to answer your questions. The zone is doing good, with a bunch of potential baptisms for the 19th. I didn't get your package yet, but I think people are still receiving packages, even if they're not prepaid. And regarding drinking the tap water, well, that's all we have here, we drink it daily. In the pench that's our only water supply, and we definitely can't afford to buy bottled water, so I don't know how to avoid tap water and I don't know if that's what was making me sick. I'd like to avoid tap water, it's just not possible. Also, in this ciber, I can't upload photos, so I'll send some next time. Today we went bowling. We played bad and unknowingly got charged about 100 pesos instead of 50 because it's a holiday, and places always charge more on holidays.

I love you all very much! Thanks so much for your support, letters and everything. I love you all and wish the best!!!!

Love,
Eric
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Staying in Las Delicias

Elder Calvert and Eric enjoying Burger King on their Pday

A treat at the end of a long week of hard work

The Burger King in Rosario, favorite destination of all American missionaries

A meal prepared by Sonilda the landlady

With Elder Buhl

Elder Henriksen and Eric on Pday

With Elder Vera

Hey family, what's up!!! I read the letter and it seems like everyone is exceptional!! I'm glad David and Steve are starting their new jobs. I'm doing pretty good out here, loving the area, and enjoying writing.

Well, firstly I will announce transfers! I'm going to stay as zone leader in Las Delicias. Elder Calvert is going to leave! So my new comp will be... Elder Towner!!! Yes, the Elder Towner from my MTC district. It seems I am bound to be with the two who left our MTC district early on, which is kind of funny because there are 200 missionaries here in our mission. (Both Elders Calvert and Towner spoke Spanish at a more advanced level than the rest of the MTC group, so they had been moved to a more language-advanced district.) So Elder Towner and I will be working in Las Delicias. No doubt he's excited to come to the best pench in the mission. The zone didn't have as many changes as there usually are in zones, which is too bad because I would have liked to have seen more changes, we have many elders who have been in the same area and with the same comp for several transfers and are kind of tired of it, but I'm sure it's all for the best.

So I'm very excited for another transfer in the Delights, and excited to be with Towner. I'm definitely going to miss Calvert, we had a very fun transfer, but I'm excited for this also. Also, my hijo's coming in to my zone and district! (Elder Larson) So I'm pretty excited to have him in my zone!!

The new district leaders in our zone are Elder Chapman, which makes me happy because we're good friends, and then the same Elder Osorio, and then another elder that might be a little more challenging, but we'll make it good.

Elder Towner and I are going to the Mission Home on Friday to present our vision of the zone, so I'll be able to check for packages and I'll let you know if I got that package and other stuff. Other than that, the zone's doing good and our area's doing good. I expect more success this transfer and I'm expecting baptisms in our area!!!

Tomorrow I'll be in the terminal all day long, until everyone passes through, so I'm looking forward to that!! It's not bad, though, it's fun to see everyone that passes. (Zone leaders help make sure all the missionaries catch their correct buses with all of their luggage.)

Sonilda's knee has gotten better (Sonilda is their landlady) which is very good for us, because it means she's in a better mood. She's had plenty of blowups but overall is a good person, VERY CRAZY but a good person. She still yells at everyone, but I've gotten used to hearing yelling all through our comp study. Sometimes I ask myself if she's yelling at us, herself, or another person.

I liked what you said about the smile and enthusiasm. I've seen that people really listen so much better when you share your message with enthusiasm, but sometimes I forget. That story reminded me so I have put the goal of being more enthusiastic in teaching.

Well, I better get off now. I want you all to know that I love you and appreciate all you do for me!!! If you ever need anything from me, just ask!! Admittedly there's not much I can do, but I'll do what I can!!

Love,
Eric
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