Weather's Changing, Sick Again!

Dear Family,

Well, guess what. . . I'm sick. AGAIN! This time it's because in one week it dropped 15 degrees Celsius! And I think I can finally say that I'm going to die in the winter months that are coming!!! I'm a major wuss to the cold now that I've had two summers back to back. It's barely into Fall and I'm so cold! ha ha! Humidity + cold wind = one freezing missionary!! ha ha! Let's hope that my pench during the winter months has itself a good working heater!

Well, with the changing weather, here comes Conference again here in Tomàs Flores! This ward has really grown to love me a lot! They are always saying how they don't want me to leave! We've been huge re-activators here! And at church we had three investigators! DANIEL FINALLY WENT!!!! Yes! Por fin! I'm so glad! That means we'll be having a baptism soon! and also, an inactive family came to church and to the ward family night. Awesome! I'm so glad that we're stating to have success again! We also have found a part member less active family that we are going to baptize the daughter and maybe reactivate the parents! I am praying hard for some miracles to happen!

So, here comes my confession of a life time. . . I'm actually really glad I got my eagle scout back home. Thanks to that, I was able to be a helping part of initiating the scout program in the Avellaneda Stake! Elder Porter and I were given time to speak at a big public meeting in the stake center and we were the only eagles there! People came up and congratulated us all day!! My prayers have been answered to start a program to help the youth and here comes a way to keep them away from all the drugs, alcohol, and evils of this worldly place. I love recognizing the blessings of the Lord.

Poor Elder Porter. We have had a lot of public speaking lately that has been stressing him out. We spoke at the scout meeting, then we spoke in church yesterday too! I also had to prepare the gospel principles class. All of those opportunities were really rewarding though! At the scout meeting, Elder Porter meant to say that missions are hard but thankfully we have companions to help us, but in his messed up Spanish he managed to say an unexpected joke and told the whole stake center that in the mission he has a companion and he's difficult! ha ha! He threw me under the bus but it made everyone laugh! Then, as I went up to speak, I told him that I loved him really loud and gave him a big hug and everyone laughed! It was great! We get along pretty dang well. Another thing, during the gospel principles class, I taught about the Atonement and the people really learned a lot! They kept saying how they don't want the teacher to teach it anymore because they understood it soo well! It was a strengthening moment with the language. I'm continually astonished at how fast I learned the language! I always new it would come to me faster and easier than other missionaries, but I honestly learned this language in just about no time!

Well, this past week had not a lot of teaching because we had tons of meetings and interviews and all types of things! But some of the greatest lessons we had were with this couple Flor and José. We had the shortest lesson ever with them. It was probably ten minutes, and they accepted to be baptized! The only problem is that we can't find them anymore. . . They're really young though and I think we need to get them married.

Another great lesson we had was with this guy named Tito. He is an ex-pastor that can't trust in any church because they aren't in accordance with the Bible! He brought up so many things that he'll love about the the Church of Jesus Christ. He just has one problem with accepting a book that isn't the Bible. He would totally love the teaching of the Restoration if he would listen a little more and not share so much. He is a great old man. We just need him to read from the Book of Mormon and feel the overwhelming Spirit it contains.

Also, I'm really starting to fear I'm going to need an operation soon. My foot, where I had surgery two years ago, is hurting me a lot. Every step I have a sharp pain and I'm walking with a big limp now that even worries my companion. It doesn't slow me down but sometimes it makes me stop for a second and shake my foot for a bit. I think I need to go get it checked out.

Alright, I'm out of time and out of stories for this week. I love you and miss you! I love hearing from you all! I'll talk to you in a week! Chow!

Love,

Elder Blake W. Cowan

Reactivating and Welding

Dear Family,

Wow, in about a week, I'll be eight months old!! I can't believe I've lived in Argentina for half a year now. Crazy huh?

First off, Mother, it's not quite as hot here anymore. It's autumn and getting a little cooler. Send the Reeses for my bishop! He'll love it! And no, I don't think I need anything else. Maybe just some really easy recipes. I'm getting tired of eating the same things every day.

I'm glad you got a lot of those pictures! I took a lot the other week so you could have some. And those were all taken with the old camera. I can only take five pictures with the new one before it says the memory is full.

Anyway, I'm really glad that Kevin had a great time on the trek being a big brother! It's honestly one of the things that has brought me so much happiness! I miss being a big brother and looking out for Kevy. I remember how we'd be in my room every night or sitting on the kitchen counter just talking. I still wish I would have done more for him and the rest of you in the family. The mission really makes you realize how important and how much you love your family. Speaking of which, long letters are fine. You always apologize for long letters, it's ok! I print them all out in the morning and come back in the afternoon to respond. That's how I don't waste my time.

This week was really average because people didn't want to be in their houses. ha ha! We had to walk a lot and didn't teach a lot of lessons. I tried my hardest though, as usual! The only part that I really didn't like was when I had to listen to Daniel talk for two hours outside the pench as he told me his life story and how he's in love with the member who lives across the street. That made me really tired and we didn't get to bed until midnight. He's ridiculous. He doesn't listen even if you tell him you have to use the bathroom or anything!!! It's impossible to leave without being slightly rude.

So, we found a few old investigators this past week that Elder Vergara and I had found. They're doing alright and some have had some mighty changes in the past few months. For example, Carlos. This Adventist kid that we found a long time ago. He went through a major operation to take liquid out of his brain or something and is recovering now. Maybe now he's been really humbled to accept our message! Also, his sister and girlfriend are now listening to us.

In the past two weeks, we've had about fourteen baptism dates fall because of church attendance. . . That is always the hardest one!! Nobody ever goes to church, if they do, they usually get baptized. We tend to reactive more than baptize, though. That's one reason this ward has grown to like me so much. I have basically visited 60% of the inactive members here and I visit about twelve more each week! By the time I leave, I think I would have visited every single member. That's just a big focus of the mission lately.

So, I learned how to weld on Saturday. I am now an expert gate/fence maker. I'll take a picture when we finish. It's super cool, really! I'm proud of our work! We're being kind of artistic with it too! I miss doing art! It's something I always enjoyed. I did cut myself pretty good with a piece of jagged iron that fell on my hand, but it's totally fine! It just bled a lot, but the cut is pretty small.

We did take out one more baptism commitment this week with a lady we found named Laura. She is really, really nice! She's about 55 years old. All we did was teach her about what the Book of Mormon is and read a bit of the introduction with her. She cried as I told her about the promise of the book and receiving a testimony. She said she would get baptized, but her husband is about to go through an operation so we have to wait a week till we can go by again. She is quite the animal lover too. She kind of reminds me of Grandma Cowan. She has all these animals that she feeds A LOT!!! There's this weaner dog that might be fatter than Franky. I'm not even lying! Also, she has ducks and she goes outside to feed the ants on the sidewalk! Ha ha! She's awesome!

Anyway, this week was kind of boring. We went to a lot of houses and nobody was there. We ended up walking around a lot this past week and not teaching much. This next week should be better though! And general Conference is coming up soon which makes me really excited!! I can choose to watch the Spanish translation in the chapel of the stake center or go into the side room and watch it in English. The English version is just better because they have more emotion attached to their words! Plus, I hear Spanish all day long anyway. ha ha!

Well, I don't know what else I could tell you from this past week. I get Carly's first package tomorrow! Finally! I'm excited for it. We also have interviews with president again and a few other meetings this next week.

I love you all and miss you! I do love receiving pictures from friends and family! I miss seeing everyone everyday! But I am so glad to be a missionary! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Blake W. Cowan

Another Transfer in Thomas Flores

Dear Family,

Well, first off, Mom, Mary Christianson didn't graduate with me. She graduated a year before me. Second, no it's almost impossible to buy a memory card here. I tried to look. Third, I'm sending home a billion pictures for you! Put them up on the blog or FB please! :)

So, this was a stressful week. I was stressing about transfers so much!!! I'm finally glad it's over. Now the question is if I should tell you what is going to happen . . . Oh alright, I'll spill the news since Dad was really wanting to know. Elder Porter is staying in our area, Thomàs Flores. And I am staying too! Here goes transfer number five in my first area!!! Holy cow it's a long time. . . I'll be here for TWO general conferences!!! . . . Just to give you an idea of how long I'll be here. Crazy, yeah, I know.

With me staying here, I have been thinking about the why. Why am I supposed to stay here in this area? Well, I've come up with a few conclusions. First, there are unfinished projects here that I need to do. Second, there are children of God that I need to find here and introduce them to the light and knowledge of our Savior and the message of the Restoration. Third, God is giving me the chance I prayed for to prove myself as yet a better, more worthy missionary. I want to live up to my complete potential always! Fourth, Elder Porter still needs lots of help with obedience, the language, and having desires to be here in Argentina. And fifth, but not the least, the people that I am meant to find in another area still aren't quite prepared for the awesomeness of THE Elder Blake William Cowan and his darn handsome, good looks and charming smile and let's not even start about them blue eyes . . . Alright, maybe there are only four reasons. But I sure like the last one! That one is staying. :) JK!


Anyway, there has been a lot of things happening this past week. First off, to tell you a bit with what's happened to Virginia, she's been having a tough time. She doesn't like it in the capital and she is depressed. Also, she's angry at God because she spent the night in prison. . . Well, what do you expect when you gather up a mob with weapons to go kick the people out of your house!? I swear, sometimes people don't think. Even the people I love so dearly. Anyway, she's alright. She just needs to have patience.

Some other things happening here in the good ol´ ward is that since I have gotten here, sacrament attendance has increased from 42 (average per week) to 72 this past week! Reactivation baby and baptizing! Woo! Let's just say that the bishop was pretty darn happy. He's demanding his M&M's and Reeses now though, mother. Ha ha! He's an awesome guy! He's turning 28 I think this month.


Also, we continue to find more people! We took out two more baptism commitments this week. One with a guy named, Máquina (Machine, I think it's a nickname) and the other with Martín. Máquina is quite the pathetic man. He's drunk just about all week long and he's miserable with his life. Good thing he has desires to stop everything he's doing and change his life! Anyway, he didn't go to church because he was drunk again when we passed by for him. He cried to me as I gave this grown man a hug and told him everything would be alright. Elder Porter just laughed at the sight.

The other man, Martín, is a good man, drunk though too, but he really starts to get on my nerves. He won't listen to me. Anything I try to say, he starts to talk and ignore that I am saying anything. We can't even teach! Another thing is that he talks to Elder Porter the whole time and Elder Porter finally had to shout at the man that he doesn't understand anything. Ha ha! It was a frustrating lesson. Finally, we got him to be quiet. Without teaching anything, I asked him if he would be baptized the 7 of April. He surprising said yes and that it'll be a good thing for him! Patience pays off.

Alright, here's the best story of the week--when I almost died. I'm completely honest when I tell this story too! So, we had a service project at the house of Hna. Gloria Zamora's house. We had to fix a roof! So I climbed up, being the lightest person, with Hno. Julio Gimenez. We were preparing the rook to put a membrane thing on so that the water couldn't fall through the cracks. So, as we were cleaning, we had to step on the rafters because this plastic/tin roof was about 30 years old. I barely missed the rafter as I was scrubbing the roof and CRACK!!! Down goes Elder Cowan! I fell through a roof!!!!!! Luckily, I was somehow watched out for and my foot landed on another rafter below and instinctively, I jumped off of it and onto the main roof again. It freaked me out pretty darn good. Anyway, I ended up staying on that roof for a total of 6 hours! Let's just say I got some pretty darn burned legs. Remember that time Trevor's legs got burnt on that river rafting trip or something like that? Yeah, I look like that! My nose is ok though.

I think that's about all. Oh yeah, we also played soccer with a few chorros (gangsters) the other day. It was pretty fun! Elder Porter doesn't play too well and hates soccer or any working out right now, but I almost scored! They surprisingly want to hear our message too! So next week, we are playing with them again and teaching them afterward.

Well, I am really thankful for all of my many, many blessings! I see the hand of the Lord in my life just like Nefi from the BoM. I am ever so glad to be a missionary and to share the eternal message of God's plan for us and his infinite love. I feel my Savior's love and the love of our Heavenly Father. I know that families are eternal and that we will all be together forever if we just do a few things that the Lord asks. I gave my life, my heart, might, mind, and strength to the Lord to make me an instrument in His hands. I see that happening each and every day as I continue to change. I wish everyone could see and feel like I do. The gospel isn't just a lesson or guideline, it's a lifestyle and it's happier than any other. I know that the priesthood of God works and blesses us.

I love you, my family and friends, and I am grateful for your support and love.

Till next week,

Elder Blake W. Cowan

P.S. Send me a picture of Justin's new hair look. I'm kind of intrigued by that. Oh and if Kevin gets pictures of his trip, I'd like to see him snowboarding or something! Thanks!
 

Happy Birthday Elder Porter!

Dear Family,

First off . . . HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELDER DEVIN BOYD PORTER!!!!!!!!! The big 20 baby!!!! Ja ja! It's fun having a comp with a birthday. My hijo, or son, is actually older than me! I am having fun messing with him. The members this night are planning something for him too. He's such a goofy guy! I'm sorry I tend to ignore your questions. I'm not perfect at remembering them all. I usually don't include too much about him in the stories because he is really quiet in lessons and visits because the language is really hard for him. He is getting better and I see improvements every week, but he lacks a little bit of self confidence in his abilities in the language. But we get along just fine! he's a really funny kid always trying to make me laugh! . .  which isn't all that hard to do. . . He likes Argentina though and the work. He really cares for the people here. And his girlfriend who has single-highhandedly planned the rest of his life. They've got like wedding plans already and they only dated for two months before the mission and it was kind of like Carly and I how they were separated by distance . . . Washington to Georgia. But they did hang a out a lot for a whole year before that as they were friends at BYU and dating each others friends.

The reason that Virginia's neighbor, the crazy lady, wants to kill her is because she is from Paraguay. The neighbor is just a racist and hates Paraguayans. Sad huh? The devil works in crazy ways. But the Lord's ways are always greater. Speaking of Vicky, we had quite the week with her. First off, we fasted with her on Tuesday. Yet again, another miracle has come to pass with this lady!!! She received a call from her ex-husband on Wednesday right after she finished her fast and Carlos told her that he had gotten her an apartment in Capital and that she and the kids will be moving there. Also, he has found someone to buy their house and he is also kicking the people out of the house this night. It's an answer to our prayers and fasts. It's just hard to say goodbye to this lady. Yesterday after church, I broke a mission rule and gave her a hug. Sorry. I couldn't help it! I am going to miss this lady sooo much! She is one of my closest friends ever! I have never met someone like her before. She's so great! She even got up and bore her testimony for me in sacrament yesterday. I cried like a baby. She has one of the strongest testimonies and you can feel it from her. All the members were amazed as she shared with them her history and conversion story. I can't wait till you can get to meet her. She is amazing!

Also, I want to congratulate dad on seeing Miley Cyrus in the airport! Ha ha! That honestly made me laugh so much what he yelled out to her! I'm completely proud that a man wearing short shorts reminds you all of me! I miss those babies. . . I want some short shorts!!! Ha ha! I miss running so bad!

Well, transfers are this next coming Monday. We get advised Saturday in the night if we leave or stay. . . They give us one day to say goodbyes to our wards and to our investigators. If you get called to be an assistant, zone leader, trainer, or district leader, it's possible that Pte. Stapley will call you earlier in the week like he did with Elder Vergara and me.

Well, a few things about this past week. . . We took out 8 new baptism commitments, 2 more that said yes to the invite, but no to the date. We found 14 new investigators, and taught tons of lessons!!! I loved it! We even did an intercambio with the zone leaders and I went into Avellaneda again! Elder Prately is giving me a lot of stuff before he leaves. He's going home. :( I'll miss him. He's an amazing missionary!
 


We also had a zone conference on Thursday that was absolutely amazing! Pte. Stapley taught us about the example of Christ and how we should be like him. Also, he taught about the Atonement. It was so spiritual and there were times that were absolutely funny! The role plays and practices were great!!! I got seated right between the stake president and both of the two companionships of zone leaders. (It was combined with Avellaneda and Banfield.) But President used me a lot and had me stand up and explain to everyone what I'm doing to be having so much success in our area. I have a feeling that President is keeping a real good eye on me. Afterward, Prately was joking that I'm going to take his place as a zone leaders when he leaves and I'm going to skip being a district leader. I honestly just want to be a regular missionary or a trainer. And I want Latin comps. :)

I am so happy to say that Ramona was baptized and confirmed this past weekend! She went from telling us that she doesn't want anything from the church then changing 180 degrees and getting baptized! WOW! The changes that the Spirit can bring upon people is amazing. That's baptism number nine! I am planning on baptizing a whole lot more the rest of my mission! I know the Lord will help me to do it too.

Well, I am having a hard time finding things to talk about right now. . . I'm sorry! But have to go too! I love you all and am so grateful for the consistent support and all the letters and packages a receive. Have a wonderful week!

Con Amor.
Elder Blake W. Cowan

P.S. I received the camera mom, but you need to send me new memory card because the one you sent me before doesn't fit in this camera. It uses a Micro SD Card. The really small type that we put into our phones. So, I still can't use it . . . Ha ha! Thanks though! I love the camera and it does take great pictures!!!