Dear Family!
I
am SO happy this week! :) I seriously love seeing the blessings from my
Heavenly Father. He knows me way too well. ha ha! I have been looking
forward to writing you all week to tell you about all the fun adventures
and blessings we have had. So, I'll start with last Monday. We had some
plans and they all fell through. Right when Elder Narvaez was getting
discouraged again, we called Hermana Paola and she invited us to go
eat dinner with all her work partners. So, we went! There, we found some
amazing people! Adrian, Jonathan, Flabio, Yanina, Marcos, Susana, and
Eduardo. They're all different ages, but everyone gets along and
everyone is so funny! They just a few bad habits like cussing and
smoking but they are such a happy group of people. We ended up staying
there for WAY too long and didn't get home to the pench until about one
in the morning. . . That was bad, but it was still worth it because we
were able to find new investigators. Adrian and Jonathan are really
interested and the rest listened very well and attentively when we
shared a message on Friday in depth. The only one that doesn't really
want to learn and listen is Flabio. He looks like Tom Cruise and is from
Spain. But he's really fun!
So Tuesday we didn't go to Dolores for district
meeting because it was canceled due to interviews with the president on
Thursday. So we got to go and visit a few families. We talked with
Javier Ferreyra in the church and he told us all the problems that they
have had and why they haven't been coming to church. Also, we talked a
lot about his brother, Cecilio that is the inactive counselor. We came
up with a plan to go help others come back to church. Afterward, we
visited Maria Elisa and the family and they were doing really well!
They're excited to keep going to church and help lift the branch out of
this apostate position. Later on we went and visited Cecilio Ferreyra.
He's always such a nice and fun guy. We decided to do a family night
with them and while others were watching a movie, Cecilio and I made the
pizzas for everyone. I got to say, one of the things I love doing now
is cooking! It's kind of fun and I am always in the kitchens helping the
hermanos with the food. Maybe I'll be good enough to make some great
Argentine dishes for you all after the mission. Anyway, Cecilio and I
were getting along just great as we made the pizza. Needless to say, it
was a great day and we had fun with the members!
On Wednesday, we went and ate an asado with Adrian
and the gang. That's a big honor! Ha ha! It was really good and then we
were all getting along so well that we decided to all smoosh into a car
and go the the chapel to play ping pong and snack on crackers. We
had a blast!! It was so much fun! They loved the chapel too! They
thought it was really pretty and they all were asking questions like
what does apostasy mean and Melchizedek and things like that! It was
perfect! So we actually stayed with that group of people ALL day long!
From noon till about nine at night. They were amazing and kept asking
amazing questions. They invited us to eat lunch on Friday again!
On Thursday, we traveled to La Plata for interviews
with President Stapley. I started with him and we talked for about 45
minutes!!! Usually interviews are about 10-15 minutes. SO everyone was
making jokes like I had broken some commandments and was going home. ha
ha! But that's not the case. We talked a lot about the area and certain
members that he wants to go visit in the next coming weeks. He gave me a
few scriptures to help me as a district leader and also he gave me some
advice with my companion. We talked a lot about Narvaez and his known
past of being disobedient. He used to have a PSP and a personal DVD
player and a bunch of toys. . .ha ha! Needless to say, he is leaving
Chascomus next week and I will be getting an amazing missionary. "One of
the best" according to President Stapley. He also is going to put
Narvaez as a senior comp but with the most obedient junior comp there is
in the mission. I was really grateful for having the opportunity to
talk with him a while. He also told me a few personal things about his
own life. Like when he was called to be a mission president and how
President Eyring had told him that he had certain missionaries that
needed his counsel and guidance. After that, President Eyring's
granddaughter was called to this mission! ha ha! And he told me how he's
a big baseball fan, and he's a big Yankee's fan too. (Laugh all you
want Car. ha ha!) Anyway, interviews were great!
After interviews we got back and went to a family
night with the Cabrera family. We only played one game of Uno but it
took almost two hours! It was ridiculous! But it was pretty fun! We have
enjoyed ourselves a lot teaching and getting to know the members
better. It's looking very positive that some are going to come to church
this Sunday. :)
On Friday we had lunch with Adrian and the gang
again. It was great! We taught the Restoration to them and they all
understood really well! Eduardo's mother was a member and the others had
great questions and wanted to learn more about the Plan of Salvation
afterwards. Then hermana Paola helped a lot with her personal testimony
of these things and it had a good impact on the lesson!. It was really
powerful with the spirit! Later, we taught Javier Ferreyra and his
family and it was an even more spiritual lesson! We talked about
testimonies and how we have to continually strengthen them like a fire
or they may go dormant. We used some key scriptures in Alma 5 to really
open up their hearts and make them susceptible to feeling the spirit. It
worked. They were blown away at the message we shared with them! And
they decided to get over their problems and committed to come to church.
I was so thankful for those lessons we had.
On Saturday, we had more exciting adventures! One
that I will never forget is that in the morning we were invited to talk
on a radio show called "Of Saints and Sinners." Ha ha! We got to talk for
two hours about the church and our beliefs. We received calls and text
messages and answered questions! It was amazing! They recorded it on a
CD for us and are going to give them to us on Tuesday. They also invited
us to go back and talk again in a few weeks. The spokesman guy,
Santiago, asked amazing questions and we ended up talking about the Restoration, the Plan of Salvation, temples and eternal marriages, blood
transfusions for a local problem with the Jehovah Witnesses, the 13
articles of faith, and the main commandments that distinguish us as
Mormons such as the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. It was
great! And Santiago was blown away at how we don't drink mate ha ha! It
was really fun!
In the afternoon, we went to the ex branch
president's house, Paul Ribeiro. He has a personal invitation from
President Monson to return to church. We went there and talked to him
and the family a bit. The interesting thing is that they taught
themselves basically! They are so excited to come back to church now.
They went out of town this past Sunday but are determined to go this
coming Sunday. They came to an activity that we had today though! SO
they are progressing very well! Such a strong, fun family. Exactly what
we need in this branch. We also visited the Oroño family again and they
are doing great, just tired because it was the Hermana's birthday and a
lot of people came to visit. Afterward, we went to the church to help
set up with Presidente Cignoli and talk about what we've done this past
week. The poor man is dead for not having slept much this past week and
working from 2 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon. He's such a good
man with good intentions to serve the Lord.
SO Sunday came along. And the most interesting this
is that Cecilio Ferreyra and Javier Ferrayra and their families came to
church!!! And just in time because Paola got sick and the family Zapata,
an old couple that always comes, weren't there. So we got up to 23 in
sacrament meeting again! We tied our record! It was nice to have had new
people in the church. We had a lot of kids too!! Elder Narvaez and had
to teach primary and WOW it's tough being in primary! ha ha! But it was
worth the sacrifice. Sacrament was great and everyone was so happy! I'm
so glad to have seen some success this week. Our only problem now is
consistency. If everyone who has came to church comes this next week, we
will be 40!!!! Our goal is thirty and I am praying that everyone has
the desire to go this week.
After church, I helped President Cignoli do tithing
and then I helped him cook lunch. We ate a ton! Elder Narvaez didn't
want to go work and he got his wish because Presidente Cignoli and I had
to go back to the church and do the trimester report and print off
things to pass out to the members today. Today we had an activity
devoted to the independence of Argentina today. We cooked and played
ping pong and soccer all day! Right now the members are watching 17
Miracles while we are writing emails. And a lot of members are there
including Javier and his family and Paul Ribeiro and his wife! Needless
to say, I am SOOOOO happy!!!! :) Looks like things are going to be
looking a lot more brighter here the next few weeks! Just a lot more
colder . . . brrrr. Winter has officially hit.
Well, I got two packages this week from Mom. Thanks
for the contacts and treats! Unfortunately, the foot pad things hurt my
foot worse, so I don't use them. But it's still not getting worse. So
don't worry! I'm good! OK, well I am grateful for all the letters I
received this week! I love hearing from my friends and family! The
pictures in the package and the ties were my favorite part! I hope you
all have fun in the sunny summer there! I'm enjoying using multiple
layers of clothes here! ha ha! It's the coldest weather I've ever
experienced in my life. Mom's going to die when she comes in August next
year. July and August are the coldest months. Well, I have to go!
Thanks for everything! Love you all! Keep smiling!
Love always,
Elder Blake W. Cowan
P.S. Trevor, get married already would ya? How many weeks has it been now?! Like four?! Hurry up!!!
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