Revelation

Dear Family,

Well, this week was pretty good! We had some great lessons and experiences. So with the changes of the house, I'm going to ask that you don't show me and I'll just be surprised when I get home! :) I do have to admit something, though, with college, if I extend the mission, I may not be able to do the first fall semester. I think that's honestly what I'd prefer to do because I would LOVE to extend my mission. We'll see what happens though!

So I'll start with the bad news. Mirtha is not going to be baptized in Chascomús. She moved last Friday to Varela and I'm passing the reference today. She's so desirous to do it though! I hope she'll find her way to the waters of baptism soon. So it's a bitter sweet week for that reason, but we have been finding other people, too, which is great!

Alright, this week was basically normal. We visited a lot of the same people and just prepared the group of girls better for baptism and we got many to be progressing better. We haven't been able to take out any baptism dates, though. We had one experience that was pretty great with Rosa Cabrera. She is the mom of many young less active members and she never was baptized for a complicated situation of divorce and marriage. But she used to be an active eternal investigator for a long time! So on Wednesday, Cecilio and Rebeca, the first counselor and his wife, left to go do some visits and stopped by her house. As they shared a message from the first presidency, there was a moment where they began to talk of the problems of Rosa. She shared that her oldest son was recently put in jail in Dolores. As they kept reading from the talk, there was a part that says when visiting teachers go to a house, the family is blessed as well as those faithful teachers. Then, at that moment, that oldest son called the phone saying they let him out of jail. Rosa knew right then that the blessing was brought through the faithfulness of Cecilio and Rebeca and for letting them come into her house and share that message. The lesson ended in tears and hugs. They both described that moment as definitely feeling the spirit and not being able to deny it. We passed by on Saturday and had a great lesson with her from the Sermon on the Mount and talked a lot about our relationship with God, an attitude of gratitude, and being willing to show our gratitude. She committed herself to go to church this next week because she was going to have visits yesterday. She told us that every time that she reads, listens to us, or thinks of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that it calls to her. I shared Rev. 3:20 that talked about the Lord standing at the door and knocking. It fit perfectly and she is deciding to go back to church and to help her children find their way back to church. So that was one of the highlights of the week for us! :) 

I had a leadership meeting this past week and I did it by skype this time. It was terrible! I couldn't hear or see anything. I won't do that ever again! It's worth the waste of time traveling to Buenos Aires. Anyway, I called someone and they filled me in on the details of what I need to do.

We did another sports activity and only two kids showed up. We played a bit of sports and then we left to go work again. The activities we plan always seem to back fire. ha ha!

So funny/scary story. After a long lesson and dinner with Paola, we were heading back to the pench late and we were going pretty fast on the bikes. Well, there was this scooter coming from the side street and this drunk/drugged kid came zipping around the corner and nailed right into my companion!!! Luckily he didn't get seriously hurt! The bike was destroyed, but besides that, my comp just has a bruised leg. I felt terrible, but it was one of those out of body experiences just watching it happen was so weird! Well, for now we don't have bikes. Luckily, the mission is going to buy us new ones soon! Oh, and the kid that hit him, which was totally his fault for driving on the wrong side of the road and speeding around a corner, just cussed my comp out and kept on riding. . . jerk.

Well, Mom, you were asking for experiences about personal revelation. Well, in our fireside with President Eyring a week ago, he was talking about a personal experience about calling the missionaries to their mission fields. He said it comes in a strange way. It's not very loud. He hears no whisper. He said that one mission just seems to appear a little brighter, a little different, a little more correct. But just barely! And that's how he knows. It is so slight that if we aren't prepared for it, we won't be able to do it. He made an interesting comment, though. He said that it is a very humbling experience knowing that such a decision can cause a young man's life to change drastically and he'll never know the outcome of that decision made within a few seconds! He said that we are either helping in this great work or we are in God's way. There is no in between. To receive personal revelation, we have to prepare, pray, study, and wait to let the spirit brighten something a little more. Revelation usually comes in the form of yes and no. We need to come up with the question, specify it, and propose our plans to God. In the words of President Eyring, one will just seem to appear a little brighter, just barely. Then we need to have the faith like a trusting child and just go with it even though the answer, or revelation was nothing extraordinary. That was something very interesting to me. It reminds me of how I received my testimony of this Church and this great work! The decision I made when I was 17 years old was like that. It just appeared a little brighter, a little bit better. The results show the truthfulness of that revelation.

Well, I know this isn't the most amazing letter. My mind is very blank this week. I'm grateful for your letters this week! I enjoyed them a lot, especially Dad's spiritual thought. I love you all! I am glad to be a member of this amazing Church, the Church of our Lord, Jesus Christ. 

Hope all is well! 

Elder Blake W. Cowan

Best Week of Mission!

Dear Family,

W.O.W. . .This past week was definitely the best week of my entire mission!!! It was amazing! I haven't ever been filled with so much love in my being before and I have never had such a desire to do the work of my Savior and Redeemer. I don't even know how I'm going to be able to describe this week in words, but I will try my best. First things first, I'll answer a few questions. One, no I was not allowed to take pictures at the firesides and cultural event because of security reasons and because the mission presidents wanted us to be a perfect example of being disciples of the Lord. So we avoided looking like tourists. Two, my foot hurts constantly. If I run it does tend to be more sore at night. It throbs from time to time, but it doesn't halt the work. Nobody would ever know it hurts me by the way I keep working and how happy I am! Three, yes please get me signed up for BYU Provo. If for some reason I don't make it in, I would not like to go to BYU Idaho. Not interested. I'd rather go to ASU, I think, or go run at some smaller medical based school. BYU Provo is my first choice, though. Four, I think I want Kevin to come to Argentina more than anyone else so he can have a sneak peak at the mission life and help in his preparation. Five, My companion would LOVE to get some pictures. He really wants some. Please send the package soon because we get packages and letters at big events and we will have interviews in a few weeks. It'd be nice to already have the package for that. Any more questions? If not, I'll attempt to describe my wonderful experiences from this past week. . .

On Monday, we had a great P-Day and afterward we went and taught two lessons to the group of girls (Zoe, Marisa, Jona, and Agustina) and to Mirtha. They are our five baptism dates right now. Mirtha is progressing so well! She's so desirous to learn more and to get into the water! The girls are still very excited for everything as well. We reviewed the Plan of Salvation and with Mirtha we read more from the Book of Mormon. We ended the day perfectly!

The next day, Tuesday, was the beginning of our crazy traveling this week. We went for our weekly visit to Dolores for the district meeting and it was great! We talked a lot about goals and our areas. We reviewed the plan for the weekend and then we talked a about a few other things and afterward we ate lunch and headed on our way back. It looks as if this month every companionship in our district will baptize! That's our goal. I hope it really comes to pass. We're a little worried about the Hermanas Widerburg and Rodriguez. After sleeping on the bus back to Chascomús, :) we went to the same two families as yesterday and taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how it changes us to not have desires to do evil. It was great! We invited all to go to our baptism on Thursday.

Wednesday was a great day! We taught six of seven discussions and it was packed full! We found a few new members with desires to reactivate themselves. One being Silvia. She's a thin, tall, librarian type looking lady. Very smart. We had talked for a bit with her the other week and we decided to talk to her about the scripture passage about faith and works in James. It worked out really well! We talked about the saving power of the Atonement and how we can all be saved through the merits of Christ and our own merits, meaning our deeds and works. She loved it! She put her own goals to get activated and is determined to do what's right.

We also had the opportunity to talk to some other families but most importantly, we began to plan the baptism in depth and make arrangements for that. We called everyone and their mom to go and to bring snacks and food for a mini celebration afterward. Everyone was so excited to have a baptism!!

Thursday came along and the preparation for the baptism started. We had to figure out how the hot water works, how to get the font to plug up, how to keep the water warm, make the programs, iron the clothing, and get the church clean, oh and buy some facturas (doughnut type things). We finally got everything done and we had about twenty minutes to just get our breath after having run around all day. It was all ready. A few members showed up early and then we left in a taxi to go find the group of girls who want to get baptized! They all came except Marisa because her parents wouldn't let her. We got back to the church and we started the baptism. It went along fine with the exception of crazy and irreverent kids. There were more investigators at the baptism than members! It was perfect! ha ha! All the girls that live with Ludmila in the house came to see the baptism! They all loved it and wanted to get baptized too!! We are hoping we can get permission from the parents and government to teach them all! We could have about ten more girls coming to church! Awesome! Well, anyway, at the baptism, my companion gave a mini talk about the Holy Ghost. I did my first confirmation in my life! It was pretty cool! I have passed on the gift of the Holy Ghost now! It felt so good to help someone else receive such a wonderful gift. 

 

After the baptism, we had a mini party and talked with as many as possible about the church and we wanted to get everyone involved. After a bit, we had to kick everyone out because we had to hurry and clean before the taxi came to take us to the plata.We BARELY made it in time! ha ha! That night we spent the night with the elders of Villa elvira A and we took all the mattresses and slept all in the same room!

On Friday we got up, studied, and then headed out to Banfield to get prepared for the fireside with Presidente Eyring, Elder Christofferson, Elder Ballard, and the Area Presidency. In Banfield, we had an entire mission meeting! Never done before. And we took a picture as an entire group! It was legit! I had so much fun being able to see everyone! It was pretty rowdy except for during the meeting. We finally were organized, got into our buses and headed off toward the West mission to get seated for the fireside. We sat and studied for about forty minutes and then President Eyring and his party arrived. We all stood up, of course, and it was amazing to see him! He was so tall and just full of love. Later on in his talk he shared with us a portion of his patriarchal blessing, paraphrasing that his gift is to transmit love. It was way cool! Anyway, Elder Christofferson spoke first. He speaks Spanish, so he went ahead and did it all in Spanish. He talked about our calling and the sacredness of this work and a few other topics. Afterward, Elder Ballard got up and addressed us with an amazing talk about his grandfather who is the general authority who over 80 years ago dedicated the lands of South America to the Lord and missionary work. He shared about how the first sacrament meeting was only about 10 or 11 people and there were only 4 members there and they spoke German. He then shared the prophecy that his grandfather shared about South America. He stated that this land would not sprout fast like a sunflower and then quickly die. He said, rather, it will start slowly and small like a great oak tree. And after years of hard work, South America would become one of the leading lands for the Lord's purposes. Then he explained that we are still in that small growing phase. It gave me a hope and vision of Chascomus and the rest of this beloved country, Argentina. I imagined in my mind thousands of saints and the power of a nation with the gospel truth. It was very comforting and I felt more love for my mission land. 

Afterward, we had the privilege to hear from President Eyring and it was just inexplicable. I have the hardest time coming up with words to describe this moment. It's something my soul will never forget for having felt the spirit so strong. He spoke to us about love, how he received his testimony and how we have such a sacred responsibility. He was so desirous to help us and to give us a portion of the spirit he felt. He also explained the way the spirit touches his heart as he calls missionaries to their missions. It is truly an inspired process! He finished talking about being happy. My motto in life has always been just to be happy and enjoy every moment! He hit right to my core. He helped me realize some things that are of most importance to me. 

 

That night, we spent it with the elders of El Triangulo and Don Orione. I was able to reunite with Elder Herrall from the MTC and to be with Elder Castillo again! We were a total of 8 missionaries in the immensive pench! They own an entire building and yard! It's a cool pench. That's were my daddy, Elder Vergara "died" [left from] on his mission. It was cool to be there! Anyway, we stayed up late talking and wrestling over all the mattresses in the same room. Ha ha! It was really fun! 

On Saturday we got up early and headed to Banfield for a zone meeting. We talked about the importance of the sacrament and that our investigators can feel it to be able to go to church. It was great to grow together and be as a zone again. Afterward, we went out to eat at McDonalds!! Americanness!! Yes!! ha ha! Then we headed back to the chapel to get ready for the cultural event that night. We basically did a mini mission meeting like the day before and we all got on the buses and headed off for the Independiente Soccer stadium. We got there and got into a big line waiting to enter in. So apparently, we showed up in time for the practices and we didn't know anything that was going on! So they told us to run onto the field through the tunnel and everything and we ran out to the middle of the field and all the youth there just went wild!!! ha ha! Everyone was clapping and cheering for the missionaries! ha ha! Then the announcer told them to stop and got order again. ha ha! It was a blood pumping adrenaline type moment, though! It was funny! So we got organized on the stands and they got us all ready for a practice. After the practice, we just had to wait for the real deal! As the sun went down, more and more people showed up at the stadium from all over! The stadium was filling up fast! I saw members from all over! Most importantly, I saw the members of Tomás Flores and I was so happy to see them! Some came and gave me gifts and to other missionaries! I got to talk to a few for a little while! With so many members coming and saying hi it was funny to watch when someone yelled, "Elder!!" and then six hundred missionaries turned to see who it was! Ha ha! It was cool though because we were like celebrities! 

Anyway, the event started and it was SOO cool! SO many youth dancing and singing and all the cultural dances were amazing! There was this one part where these two guys did this super cool boot dance! They were doing some amazing things and I hope I can get a video of that someday! Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to use our cameras, let alone bring them! But when we went down to get onto the field, I found myself with Elder Tanner Lebaron! It was way cool! He just got to the North mission a bit ago and it was cool to hear from him. Then we entered onto the field singing "Called to Serve" which in English has only two verses but in Spanish it has four! SO we sang a lot and it was amazing! I looked around and I saw thousands of saints and it was just amazing! I couldn't hold back my tears and I cried because of joy. I was so happy for Argentina that so many people were there to see such an event and that so many more members were all around the country. I saw a glimpse of that vision that Elder Ballard's grandfather had. It was beautiful. Afterward, we had to wait in the stands for a while and we saw even more members and missionaries from all over. I ended up being with a hermana who actually finished her mission today, Hermana Flores. She was just standing a little off from other people and she was just tearing up watching over all the saints thinking of leaving the mission. I wanted to give her a big hug, but obviously I can't, so I grabbed Hermana Widerburg and told her to go give her a big hug for me. It gave me a glimpse of what the end of my mission would be like. I don't want it to end and I'm only going to have 10 months left here in just a few weeks. . .

Anyway, after getting lost trying to find the buses and waiting for the last one to show up, we finally made it back to Banfield and then headed on back to the same pench for another sleepover. This night we were more tired, but still didn't get to bed on time because we were talking and telling jokes all night!

Sunday, we got up extra early to make it to Avellaneda for the re-dedication of the temple. We finally got there after taking three trains and dragging our luggage around the mission, ha ha! It was an amazing ceremony! I was glad to see it happen again! Then, afterward, my ward from Tomás Flores came up and just tackled me with a big group hug! I miss them all so much! It was wonderful to see them! I took a picture with most of them. They called me Uncle Cowan! ha ha! It was such an honor to be called a part of their family. They still want me to move into their ward some day, ha ha! It was so great to see them again! We finally headed off to the bus station in Avellaneda and then took off for Chascomús. We are back here and we were so tired yesterday that we slept like babies last night! 

We are now SOO excited to be back in our area and to work with our all!!! I know we will have more success now. President called me and told me that he will be coming for a day or two to work in Chascomús in a week. I'm really excited!! Anyway, we are on a spiritual high and it's amazing. We want to be the best missionaries possible and I'm just so happy!!! :) I love the gospel and I love being a missionary! I just want to spread this joy to everyone! Thanks for your letters. I hope you're all doing fine! I love you all!! I have to go because I went over the time to write such a long letter. Chow chow! 

Love,

Elder Blake W. Cowan

 

So Excited!!

Dear Family,

Well, I can't believe how fast that was for Jake to get engaged. . . I don't think I want to come home. I'm scared for marriage! ha ha! I like being a simple missionary. Anyway, this past week was actually really great! I enjoyed it a lot! It turned out a lot different than I expected, but it was great! If you are planning a package, I would enjoy a jar of peanut butter, I'm having cravings for it more and more. What I really want though is beef jerky!! Oh man!!! The members always say that was one of the best things that the missionaries have brought from back home and I am having some serious cravings for some of that! The contacts can wait. I won't need more for a long time. Maybe I'll go through the rest of the mission with the ones I already have! Who knows? 

Mother, get your foot fixed!! I understand your pain. My foot has been bothering me lately because I've been walking a lot with the broken bike. We also had to run to a lesson because we were really late and it was far away! My poor shoes are starting to look pretty old now. I've been trying to take care of them a lot but since I now wear them everyday, they're starting to break down more. I bought some new shoes and they hurt my feet worse and I can't return them . . .so I just stick with my one pair.

So I had some exciting news this morning. . . I, Blake Cowan, am actually gaining upper body muscles. Yeah, I know, a miracle, right? Well, I officially did 80 push-ups this morning without stopping! I just about died, but I'm getting a lot stronger from doing bits everyday! I also have been running in the mornings at six, waking up half an hour earlier. It's great to work out again! I have probably missed that more than just about anything besides people. So I feel better about myself.

Well, now to the missionary work. So throughout the week we have been teaching the group of girls everyday except for the weekend. Unfortunately. they didn't attend church, but they are progressing very well! They have been always so excited for everything! My companion, Elder Haynie, likes to teach them because he feels like he can talk to them better. The poor guy makes no sense in Spanish, though, sometimes. I am always reminded at how much the Lord blessed me to let me speak the language so quickly. Anyway, Elder Haynie is speaking better, now he understands a lot, almost everything. I hope he gets it down and is able to train next transfer. That'd be way cool!! :) Then I could be a grandpa for almost a year and maybe be a great-grandfather! ha ha! I'd be the first.

Well, Jefferson has been very odd this past week. He has a way of making people hate him. The poor kid left everything and to make things worse, everyone hates him! I'm not sure if he's quite telling the truth all of the time. But he has decided to move to Brazil with his Grandpa so that he can have support there. He just has to earn the money for the plane tickets. He said he'll have it in a few weeks, though. I hope he'll be of some use here in Chascomús and that he'll also be able to go on a mission someday.

We found Mirtha this week. I've been praying for a person to come along that is very prepared to hear the gospel and she is that person! She is the grandma of Ludmila, or mother of Yolanda Ferreyra. We met her the other day and took out a baptism fecha without any delay! She came to church yesterday and loves learning about Christ and how to improve her life. The previous week she was kicked out of her house and was sleeping in parks on the benches and whatnot. She's a very shy woman and wants to do what's right and just listens intently to everything we tell her. She is a great lady and she'll be baptized as soon as the temple dedication and stake conference is over. I'm very grateful that the Lord has prepared her and put her in our path.

On Tuesday, the zone leaders came and did the baptism interview for Ludmila. She passed!!! We are actually going to baptize her on Thursday because her family couldn't come on Saturday and we have permission to baptize and confirm on the same day on Thursday. Her dad, Javier came to church yesterday to be able to baptize her and he bore such a sweet testimony and he was very grateful for my comp and me. He kept calling us amazing and angels and was in tears thanking our Heavenly Father for the opportunity to baptize his daughter and now his mother-in-law who wants to get baptized. It was a great moment that made the trials worth it!

So, the zone leaders, Elder Beltran and Elder Espinoza, were a great help to our area! We were able to teach a lot of lessons and to be able to receive some great counsel. Elder Beltran and I were together for the day. He told me how President was planning on calling me as a zone leader and then they asked him to let me stay one more transfer in Chascomús because they wanted a good district leader because these areas in my district are very difficult. SO I stayed! That's why I felt like I was leaving and then at the end of the week I knew that I was going to stay. It was cool hearing about that, though. Elder Beltran was giving me all types of advice and everything to become a zone leader and to be a great missionary/leader. He helped me out a lot! And to top it all off, they both cooked some amazing chaufa! That's a Peruvian dish that's SOSOOO good! It's basically a tastier form of fried rice! I loved it! 

At sacrament meeting we were a total of 35! That's my second best number! I'm so glad! The members are having more desires to come to church and to help out more. They're starting to see that we work hard and are trying all we can to help them! I had to teach the Sunday school class again. It wasn't the best lesson I've given. I tried my best, though, with a 5 minute preparation! After church, I had to stay for a HUGE, LONG meeting with Presidente Martinez and Hermano Ariel Tartaglia, They came to review all of the finances of the past six months in Chascomús and I, being the secretary, had to be there. It. took. forever!!! And I was SOOO hungry! Ha ha! So to sum things up, I have to go fix a ton of the sheets and get a bunch of signatures and such. Yay for more work!!! :) 

Ok so this week we are going to travel a ton!!! I am so excited though! We have district meeting on Tuesday in Dolores and the hermanas are going to cook some American chicken alfredo! Yeah!!! ha ha! :) On Thursday we have a baptism!! YEAHHH!!!! On Friday I get to visit my old area, Tomás Flores and I get to go to a fireside with President Eyring, Elder Ballard, Elder Christofferson, and the area presidency. Talk about being treated right!!! YEAHH!!!!!! And then on Saturday we have the Cultural event. Maybe it'll be on the BYU channel or on internet and you might see me and 600 other missionaries entering into the soccer stadium of Independiente singing! Yeah!!!! On Sunday we have the re-dedication of the temple! :) YEAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you tell I'm excited?

Anyway, I'm so pumped for this week, month, and transfer. We're also going to have stake conference, president interviews, and general conference coming up! This is amazing! After general conference, things should calm down, though. SOO pumped!!! :)

Well, I got to go. Thanks for the letters and stories! I always love getting notices from home! I miss you all, but the mission is way too fun and amazing to give up for you. Sorry! :) Mom, these blue eyes are just going to have to torment you a bit longer. You'll see them within a year though! I love you all! Good luck with everything this coming week! Chow chow!!

Love,

Elder Blake W. Cowan

Story of Jefferson

Dear Family,

This week has been another trying one. It was a definitely growing time for me though. I was able to have a great talk with my companion about what we want to improve with and we are taking things really seriously here in Chascomús. I really didn't want to go another month without baptizing, but it seems like August will also be a "dry" month even though it's rained a TON!!!! So, the Lord saw it needful that I spend another transfer with Elder Haynie in Chascomús. We have lots of goals and expectations of this transfer. I'm expecting to see a lot of success!!!

So I don't know where to start with this past week. Let's just say I can't wait for the new bikes to get here!!! The bikes have been breaking down every single day, several times a day. From flat tires to breaking spokes, we've seen the works happen in the bicycle shop recently. Also, the rain and mud endure to bother us. I watched a lovely scene when my companion, while I was fixing my bike, tried turning around in the road and the bike slipped out from under him and her crashed into a ditch. And knowing me, the kind and helpful person that I am, I just laughed!! ha ha! Oh I haven't laughed that hard in weeks!! He's totally fine, but it sure cheered me up that day! 

Yes, Mother, when you come, it'll be very cold, wet, muddy, and don't forget, in Spanish!! ha ha! By the way, I've heard of a few parents that wanted to come pick up their sons and weren't able to because of flights and such. Make sure you plan well if you really do intend on coming here.

Anyway, I'm going to tell the coolest story of the week. So I don't remember if I've mentioned anything about Jefferson, but he is was the ray of sun light in our dark week. So I have been praying fervently for a miracle; or rather, a person to cause a difference. I believe the Lord is answering my prayers through Jefferson. So he is 23-years-old and as of seven or eight months, he is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. This is a summary of his story:

Jefferson is from Paraguay. There, he lived a wonderfully blessed life. He owned about five companies, had secretaries, assistants, and employees of all types. He drove a a new 2012 Toyota sports car, a big home, and lots of money. He was not the type of person to reach out to others. Very closed. Didn't like average people nor the richer class. He preferred to stay indoors and to work. He was dating the governor's daughter and dumped her because she complained that he wouldn't leave his house. He had only one best friend and he didn't tend to see him very often.

So one day while working at his office, he sees the missionaries walking by and curious, went outside and asked them to come into his office to talk for a moment. There, they chatted for a while, the missionaries explained their purpose and taught him the first lesson about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After the lesson, he asked the missionaries for a Book of Mormon and offered to take them to their next lesson several kilometers away.

As time goes by, Jefferson reads the whole book. He attends church. Does service. Gives references. Even threw a surprise party for one of the elders. He tried to buy them a car even!! He was generous with the members with his abundance and he would buy food, rent a bus on Sunday mornings to go pick up members to go to church and many other activities. He realized that in that time, he was happier giving what he had than keeping it for himself. 

He loved being there with the saints and wanted to join with them, but couldn't. His mother, infuriated by his decision to join a church, began to complain and when he didn't listen, she took away his businesses, his cars, and his money. She left him on the street with nothing to do and all of this because he wouldn't deny his testimony. So he gathered his things, bought a plane ticket and left to Argentina to get baptized. 

Now he has no money. Keeps getting robbed by his job, the house where he's staying and anything bad that could happen, is happening to this poor kid. He's got ten pesos to his name and has gotten to the point of house hopping, sleeping outside in the cold, and even begging for bits of food. He came to church on Sunday and saw that we were a total of 16 people. He then told me of why he chose to come to the small city of Chascomús. He said that when he was praying to know where to go so he could bless someone's life with his testimony, he looked up at the map of Buenos Aires, Argentina and saw the name of Chascomús. He felt prompted to come here to help. 

Well, he came and is already contacting the people and wants to prepare himself to serve a mission. He has a grandfather in Brazil with the money to serve and he wants to get as prepared as possible! So now he'll study and work with us! Meanwhile, we store his money in our pench so it doesn't get stolen any more and we keep praying and looking for a possible home for him.

I honestly believe he is the answer to my prayers! He's so excited to work and I feel like he will be the way to talk to the people easier and to baptize more! He wants to baptize SO badly! But I am very grateful to my Heavenly Father that he hears and answers my prayers. I have been blessed with His love so many times when I didn't deserve it and now more than ever!

Anyway, some other investigators that are still progressing really well are Zoe and Marisa (who's nickname is Nona) are so excited to get baptized!! Every time we go over, they are singing about going to church and getting baptized! It's amazing! Although they are only 10 and 8 years old, they are so smart! They know so much of the Bible and of our lessons. That's thanks to Zoe's mom who reads with them and helps them learn. Marisa comes from a very dysfunctional family. Her father in a drunkard and they have no job. They live in a tin house with dirt as floor. She lives basically at Zoe's to escape her reality at home. It's sad. But hopefully we'll be able to teach her parents and change their lives. Marisa's brother Carlitos is now studying with us too and he really likes it! Hopefully we can baptize him too!

Well, I'm out of time. It was a hard week for all of the trials we faced. One being the epidemic that is hitting Chascomús. Everyone is sick with the fever and chills except me and now my companion now that he's better. Well, family and friends, I love you all! I miss you but I'm so happy here in the mission field. My mission means everything to me. It changed my life and continues to do so as I help others change theirs. The Redeemer of the world lives and he directs this work. I hope you have an amazing week! 

Love,

Elder Blake W. Cowan

Rain, Rain and More Rain!

Dear Family,

I'll admit now, this letter will be really short. I spent a lot of time writing my president this week. I am very excited for this new start of a week! I got to wake up early, go on a run, clear my head a bit and I have done a lot of praying lately. I have been falling asleep on my knees lately. Ouch . . . I have been growing up a lot in this area. Chascomús has tried me in a lot of ways. I am taking advantage to refine myself and make the necessary changes to reach my true potential as a missionary.

Congrats to Kiki! You survived the Dennis reunion!!! ha ha! Those are always so much fun! I miss the old cabin! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!!!! :) 90 year-old and younger looking too!! Well, I honestly don't know. I haven't seen you in a year and a few months. I love you though! I hope it was everything and more than you had wished for. For your birthday, I'm just going to keep serving the Lord and help in the strengthening of the Kingdom of God. I know that's what you'd really want from each of us, your grandchildren.

Anyway, I loved hearing from Justin this week! It was one of the biggest highlights I've had in a while! Some of the best news I've received from home besides the crazy changes like an engagement.

Well, let's start talking about the week a little bit before I have to go. So we weren't having too much luck with our investigators this week. The rain causes problems. It has rained non stop ALL week! There are flooded houses, streets, and anything that can hold water is overflowing! SO that means that everyone's schedules were ruined and they all weren't home, or wanted to refix the lessons we had fixed previously. SO we didn't get to teach many this week.

We did get to teach Zoe and Marisa! These two girls are so much fun! They're about 10 and they are the cutest little best friends and have the grandest desire to learn more about our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Zoe's mom is a member and she is very supportive of them learning and getting baptized. They are so fun to teach because they love it so much and just eat up any information that we can give them. My companion is pretty happy teaching them too because he always understanding better what we are talking about and contributes more to the lessons. They will be baptized in September easily! We are going to try and baptize the girls and try to invite the father, who is very kind, to listen to everything and go to the baptism so he can feel the spirit and have a desire to do the same! :)

SO we all need to pray for Ludmila this week! We are trying to get her baptized this weekend and she has only had a few short lessons and it's all very complicated lately! Since she lives in the orphanage, it'll be hard to do the interview with her. I really want to see her get baptized so that we can end August on a real high note! Plus, I have been feeling like I'm leaving in the middle of training. Next week is the transfer meeting and I have been impressed to really focus on preparing my companion a lot so that he can know the area and get along just fine here. We'll see what happens. 

We had an amazingly spiritual zone conference the other day and it was all about reaching our potential individually as missionaries. It was exactly what I needed in the moment! I am so excited and ready to give my all! The bummer of the zone conference was that we went so late that I couldn't get to the bus or get a distance taxi in time. Neither did the elders and hermanas in Dolores. SO we all had to stay the night in the Plata! Elder Armstrong, Elder Brown, Elder Haynie, and I had to share two tiny mattresses Friday night and it was the worst night of my life! I didn't sleep just about anything. Then we had to travel back to Chascomús and we almost missed the stop because I was sleeping and then we crashed in the pench for a few hours because we hadn't slept the night before and then we went out to work and the bikes broke, then we had to go help clean the church. SO, we didn't get much done. 

Sunday was pretty good! We had 33 in sacrament meeting. We had a few lessons and then finished the day cutting our hair with Paola and she told me all the drama in her life and we had so much laughing about things. She's like one of my bestest friends and she's 33 years old and I only met her about three months ago!

Well, I'm out of time. I got to go! I love you all so much! Thanks for all the letters! I am so happy being a missionary! It's the best. I had a dream that Mom and Dad came to get me and I cried thinking about finishing the mission. I am no where ready to start the count down yet. I can't believe it's more than half way over. 

Till next week,

Elder Blake W. Cowan

Temple Open House

Dear Family,

Well, here goes another letter. I swear I was just here about two days ago writing. This past week went by all too fast! I can't believe how the time goes on the mission. This past week was the first week of the temple open house and I was blessed enough to go twice this past week! And holy cow . . . It's amazing! It is HUGE!!!! It made Mesa look like a McDonald's play ground! ha ha! I was surprised by the immense size of it! I'll send some pictures. So that was basically the theme of this week.

Starting with Monday night, we were blessed to find two more candidates for baptism. The brother of Alejandra, Luis and his wife, Constanza are now taking the lessons and want to learn a lot! We only were able to do a quick overview of the Restoration with them but Luis is pretty determined to become closer to God and they just had a baby girl only two weeks previously! Her name is Kiera. She's adorable!!! But anyway, we did a rough overview of the Restoration with them and they liked it a lot! They just need to start reading and praying. That same night we saw Gabriel and he said that Alejandra was sick from her pregnancy. But he said that he had been reading and loves the Book of Mormon and wants us to give him a few days to read more! So we gave him till Friday. Unfortunately, the past two or three times we have gone by to teach them, they have been sleeping, working, or not there. We haven't been able to teach them this past week. I REALLY want to find them this week! They need more spiritual food! ha ha!

Continuing on, Tuesday was an odd district meeting. The hermanas weren't there because they were at the temple open house working and so it was only the elders of Dolores and us. It was also a review meeting over one of the principles of PMG so it was kind of short. Afterward, we went to the pench of the elders and we all helped make lunch and then played cards for a while till our bus came and it was time for the elders to go out and work. It was great bonding time and super fun! At night, we tried to go find a few new investigators but nobody was home. We ended up going to Adrian's house late and spending time with his son, Jonathon, trying to convince him to go to the open house with us on Wednesday. He didn't budge. Then Adrian and Paola showed up accompanied by Ezekiel, the one kid who had gotten drunk the last time we went there. Anyway, we talked a lot about what we do in temples and why they are important and I shared my personal conversion story with them. It was great! Adrian was listening to every word and he always has such a desire to learn more about it. When I began to talk about the idea of eternal families. Ezekiel, whose sister has recently passed away, ripped out some paper and started to take notes on what I was saying. He decided that he wanted to come with us to the temple on Wednesday! Perfect.

So, Wednesday morning, Adrian went to pick up Paola and the others and came to get us last of all. They came late and I was dying wanting to get going! I was waiting by the window and going crazy with excitement! I couldn't wait to go! ha ha! Well, they finally came and we headed out on the journey. On the way, we saw an accident. A truck driver had fallen asleep and rolled his truck off the road. He wasn't hurt at all, but the whole truck was smashed and upside down. Unfortunately, the Argentine people are very disrespectful of things and in a matter of minutes, the people had scrambled onto the scene and started to take whatever they could manage to load into their trucks or in their hands. Everything was gone in a matter of minutes. And the poor driver still shocked couldn't do anything. It was so sad and I wanted to go out and help the man, but I couldn't. Anyway, we kept driving and stopped at McDonald's for breakfast. We didn't eat anything, but we sat and talked with Adrian for a while as he talked about how the problem of Argentina is the people and the corruptness of the government. Back in the car we headed off to the temple. After about a two hour drive of lots of laughs and fun stories, we made it. I will always remember Paola when she saw the angel Moroni for the first time in her life. She had never been to the temple before. She saw the temple and began to cry.

We got lost trying to figure out how to get off the freeway for a while, but then we got into the parking lot and we got out to start our adventure. Paola cried the whole time. When we watched the preview video of the temple and the explanation of the ordinances. Adrian and Ezekiel were sitting next to me and they were locked into the video! After the video, we got our guides and started our way onto the tour. The guide was this sweet older man. He bore his testimony throughout the whole visit. It was amazing. Paola was having such an amazing experience and it showed. Everyone kept asking me if she was an investigator and they were really happy to see her have such a great experience. For me, the best part was when we walked into the celestial room and there was such a feeling of peace. We weren't rushed on our tour so we were able to sit and enjoy the spirit of the temple. The last room we visited was the sealing room. There, we paused for a moment and the guide bore the sweetest testimony of the sealing power and of his family and wife. He had each person look into the mirrors to see the infinite amount of images and explained that the plan of our Heavenly Father is like that. Eternal. At that moment, Ezekiel felt the spirit and he began to try and hold back his tears.

After the tour, we went to the commentary tent were they were able to talk to many missionaries and fill out cards and get a few refreshments. I found myself there with President and Sister Gulbrandsen, the mission president of the north mission, and we talked all about their mission so far and about our families. It was super fun to see some people from back home! I tried to get a picture with them but they had already left to lunch by the time I had my camera. I had a great talk with Paola and with Adrian in the tent about the temple and they both could feel the spirit so much! Outside with Ezekiel, I was able to talk to him about baptism and about his sister and how she's waiting for him to go and do her work. It really hit him. Now, we need to sit him down and help him understand a bit more and to put his life in order. Too bad he lives in my FIRST AREA!!! He is from the area of Tomás Flores!!! I was kicking myself because I know exactly where he worked and everything! I don't know if you remember, but back in Tomás Flores, we were on the bus one day when all these kids came from behind a magazine rack and boarded onto the bus for free. Well, Ezekiel runs that magazine booth! He remembered when that happened too! ha ha! Crazy. I wish I could go teach him there too and not only when he is here in Chascomús to work during the week. Anyway, the whole temple experience was amazing! We had a blast and everyone who went felt the spirit!

Thursday and Friday, we taught a few families about the temple. They were kind of average days. On Saturday we went to the temple with the ward and it was PACKED! And raining! It wasn't near as special this time but it was fun to be with the branch and to bring Pte. Cignoli's little sister with us and teach her about the temple. She's 12 and isn't a member. We'll see what happens with her.

On Sunday, we were a grand total of 29. Went down again. . . I had to teach the elders quorum and give a talk and unfortunately, my companion was throwing up all the day before and he felt terrible. After church, we stayed in the pench and we weren't able to work. I read a lot of Jesus the Christ, watched a worldwide leadership broadcast dvd that I found cleaning the other day, and I did the datos and announcements till bed time. I was pretty bored, though, after a while.

My comp feels a lot better now and we are excited to be in our area and ready to work! I really want to teach our baptism fechas and to find new people this week. We are going to focus a lot on the goals this week. I'm super excited to work this week! 

Well, I honestly loved all the letters and emails that I got this week. RJ finally has his mission call and Dallin is really close to his! Whew!! ha ha! I am so happy! I can't wait to talk to RJ in Spanish!! It'll be super fun! I'm going to be away from him for a long long time, though! We'll be overlapping badly! Also, I loved hearing from Trevor and Kevin. I'm still waiting for Justin though. I'm sorry about all the misfortunes that happened this past week though! I hope things get better! I'm praying for you.

Well, I better get going. Time's up. I miss you all even though I don't want to finish the mission! I am sad that I'm coming up on my 13th month in just two weeks! I just wish the time would slow down! Les amo a todos!!! Cuídense mucho! Chow!

Love,

Elder Blake W. Cowan

Miracles Happen

Dear Family,

Well, I still haven't heard from Trevor yet. I understand he's all lovey dovey with Kiki right now though. Woo!!! I had an interesting week. It was full of funny moments, tough moments, and really spiritual moments and all the hard work paid off! But first, to answer a few questions, first, no I didn't know that Emily Blair has a baby!! And Taylor's getting married?! So weird. We have had to spend a lot of time teaching less actives and the active members to strengthen the branch. President told me that if I couldn't raise the asistance [attendance] of this area, he was going to close it. So we have gone from 12 to 36 in two months. Pretty good. Could be better though . . . But I'm grateful! We recently have started to teach more investigators this week. We found a few and they are amazing! I'll talk about them later. But it is a trial every day and it is currently the most difficult area in our mission according to the president. The area is a small city by a lagoon that is mainly a tourist pass by or a spend the night and keep traveling type place. It reminds me of where we stayed in Canada a bit. Very calm and there's not much around. In about fifteen minutes we can already be out of the city and into the giant plains. It's a big cattle farming area too. It's fairly cold too because of the moisture we get from the lagoon that is about five blocks from our apartment. We can go several days without seeing the sun and in the mornings and at night the fog is so thick you can't see the other side of the street! It isn't a poor area although there are poor families. The general living standard here is way above that of Tomás Flores closer to Buenos Aires. We aren't even considered the providence of Buenos Aires I don't think. . . People regard Chascomús as it's own place. It's great though! the people are a little proud though. They don't as readily accept the message like the humble people in the villas.

Alright, enough about the area. It's time to talk about some events this past week and about the investigators/members we've taught. So starting with Yolanda and Javier. Recent converts as of about a year ago, they are struggling a lot with money and just trying to feed their children. We have been humbled by them and seeing their strong testimonies. The trial we had this week with them is that on Javier was mad for a few things he sees in the branch that are wrong and he was discouraged, not sure if he was going to keep going to church. We visited them and resolved all problems and doubts and ended up laughing together. Their kids can't pronounce my name so they call me Elder Escoba! ha ha! That means broom in catellano and it's cute! These kids are so loving! Their daughter is unbelievably cute and I want to steal her! The saddest thing is that when we leave she cries so hard because I have to leave! It breaks my heart every time. Well, anyway, Javier has a daughter living in an orphan home because they can't afford her. Sad, huh? but she is now able to come with them to church on Sundays and we are teaching her. Her name is Ludmila. She's going to be baptized in about two weeks and we have only one time to teach her!!! I'm not sure how we're going to be able to do that. . . Anyway, she is very smart and has a desire to be sealed to her family and she's only 9!!!! What an example! I love her! She's super fun and loves us a lot. She ran over in the middle of testimony meeting to come sit by us and she was showing us the pictures she likes of Jesus and the prophets. Isn't she great? She'll be baptized, the family will get out of poverty, they'll be able to go to the temple and be sealed and it's just an adorable story all around. I'll send pictures of them soon! And this is the family that Elder Narvaez didn't want to visit because he said it was a waste of our time. . . Sure. ha ha!

So the other baptism we're hoping for would be Matias. He's very hard to teach. He's 10 and loses interest very fast. I'm not sure what we can do to help him. We told him on Saturday we were going to pick him up for church and then he slept in at his grandmas house and couldn't make it. It was a bummer, but we'll try to get him more excited to go to church and to listen more reverently. His mother isn't the best example, though, either. She does want to go to church, but she would rather stay with her boyfriend on Sundays. We're trying really hard to help them.

Alright now here's the best part of the week. Alejandra and Gabriel!!!! They're so amazing! SOOO prepared it is great. Ok, here we go. So on Wednesday we had plans to go find a bunch of old investigators and we were looking for Alejandra's brother, Luis. But we found them instead because Luis was working. So we go in without much insisting at all and we began to talk to them about their knowledge of the church. It turns out that Alejandra grew up in the house next door to the church and she used to go often as a little girl and played soccer on the field we have. For some problems, they had to move a little farther away. Anyway, we began teaching a lesson about how much our Heavenly Father really loves us. We were using the pamphlets and teaching, trying to apply every principle to them! At first they were confused as to why we were there and we explained why and, using some of the points from Preach my Gospel, we were able to show them how our message is important, centered in Christ and how to improve their lives. The TV was on and they were paying attention to it and us about equally in the beginning, but then we started asking some questions to get their interest. The inspired question that changed EVERYTHING was, "Have you ever felt the love of God in your life before? No, not really. Would you like to feel that? . . . silence . . ." Wow! The atmosphere changed. Their eyes were locked onto us. The television was obsolete. They listened, feasted on the words we began to share with them. Skillfully, we only gave them a portion of what they wanted to have them want more and more of this message. We explained how God loves us and how he gave His only begotten Son for each of us to be able to live with him again. And for that reason, we also have to Gospel - the things that Jesus Christ wants us to do in this life period. The questions touched their hearts and the room was filled with that amazing sweet spirit that speaks peace to the soul. We committed them to read the pamphlets and that we were going to come back on Friday. Gabriel offered his first prayer in his life to end the lesson and it brought a choking sensation and a tear to his eye. He was touched already by that amazing spirit, the Holy Ghost. We left the house speechless. Our excitement burst out after a few short moments and turning around the block. We were hugging each other and praising the Lord as the Sons of Mosiah had! It was awesome! 

Thursday was all too long. We didn't enter into a single home. It rained all day and we got unbelievably muddy. The bikes broke down. Elder Haynie's chain popped off 7 times. It was great though for our companionship and we quoted a talk we read the other day, "How lucky are we! We get to suffer in behalf of our Lord and King!" 

Friday came. Unfortunately, they weren't there. They left to a family member's house and partly worked too. Thursday repeated itself.

Saturday was filled with visits to members and trying to help them go to church. 

Sunday rolled around as it usually does with it's fasting hunger pains and nervous stomachs wondering if we would have success that day. The fasting payed off and the blessing poured through! We had 36, a new record here, in sacrament meeting! Rebekah came. Paola came. Slightly made amends, enough to keep assisting [attending] and not fight, and we had a wonderful lesson with Ludmila and her family after the sacrament service. We ate lunch with the branch president, President Cignoli, and we ended up spending a long time their helping him feel better because he was very heavy hearted with several things. He has had such a hard life lately and is exhausted. After some uplifting words, we parted to find Alejandra and Gabriel one more time. We went, we entered in, we taught, the Spirit returned instantly, and lo and behold, two more baptismal commitments! 

The lesson consisted in reviewing a bit of what they had read, talking to a few members of the family, and then teaching about the Apostasy and Restoration. We had planned to use the DVD, but for some reason, it failed. We taught the Joseph Smith Story with such clarity that it made so much sense to them! The need for a prophet and the power and authority of god - they could see the essential necessity of the two. We asked them to be baptized on the first of September and they accepted with joy! Alejandra recounted her desire when she was nine to be baptized in the church, but her parents, being Catholic of descent, denied her plea. Gabriel's enthusiasm also was apparent. He told us of how he's searched through other churches and never found what he looked for. He thinks that he has found it. They are going to read and pray from the Book of Mormon. 

Miracles happen. When the Spirit takes the lead in the lessons, that's when to earth begins to shake and the lighting strikes with deafening thunder, according to Elder Holland. Angels are on the Earth. They prepare the hearts of men to here this grand, restored message of hope of a Saviour. The Atonement works. A young boy really did see God the Father and His Son in a vision. The truth is back. 

As you have read, you can see we're happily working away. The Lord is comforting us in our afflictions and we have been able to use the tools the Lord has provided to work this part of His vineyard. I love you all and am thankful for the great example my family has shown to me and in helping me discover my personal testimony of this work. Stay strong, remember the Redeeming One, and serve others. Charity never faileth. Have a wonderful week! 

Love,

Elder Blake W. Cowan