Fifty Five Weeks

Hello Everyone!

This has been a very awesome week! (There was a baptism involved) :)

So first of all we had divisions on Tuesday and so I got to go work in Villa Tesei for the day. It was a cool experience but something that was really cool is that I got to say hi to a member that I knew from a previous area. Durning the time that I was in Libertad there was a member named Hernan that would go out and teach with us from time to time, but he got married and moved to Villa Tesei with his new wife and I hadn't really seen him since. Doing divisions in Villa Tesei though, I was able to see him again though, so that was pretty cool.

Another super fun thing that we did this week though was a Family Home Evening with Kevin, his mom, and one of his older brothers, Nico. We made tacos and tortillas (they don't have tacos in Argentina, it's a mexican thing) but I made a couple of salsas to bring along too. We had a good time cooking and everything came out super tasty, and it was a really fun way to spend the evening. I included some pictures of it, including me in an apron cutting up a potato (so my comp could have some vegetarian tacos).

Other than that though, there has been a lot of rain this week. It rained a whole lot on Friday, to the point where I couldn't even really see in the rain, and my companion and I got soaked. I had on a raincoat and my shoes were supposedly waterproof, but somehow I got wet somewhat even through the raincoat and my pants and socks got so soaked that it dripped down into my shoes, leaving water inside of them that couldn't get out because they were waterproof and left me walking in waterlogged shoes for the rest of the afternoon. What made it hysterical though is that while visiting someone I stretched my legs out (thus tipping my shoes back) and some water poured out on their floor (luckily it was concrete though - carpet does not really exist here). My shoes took some time to dry though the rest of my clothes dried quick and so meanwhile I wore my other pair. Yesterday though it was raining fairly hard again and so my other pair of shoes got wet too, though not as bad. Luckily though, the first pair were by then dry so I am now wearing them again haha.

Another fun photo then is what happened when my comp forgot that he had put a couple of Soy Hot Dogs in the oven for lunch and then we went out to work, coming back at night to a funny smell. Lesson learned - don't forget your Soy Hot Dogs in the oven for 6 hours - they come out Black and Hollow...

And now for the coolest part of the week - KEVIN GOT BAPTIZED!!! :D

It was a super awesome experience. We had to be in the church for the entire afternoon to fill up the font, as the service was at 7pm but when he showed up, he showed up in a vest and suit jacket, with dress shoes and his mom showed up in a nice dress (he has only made it to church thus far in a nice button up shirt and jeans). There was a good turnout of other people to though to be there and support him, which was awesome. He asked me to be the one to baptize him, and so we changed, got a few more photos and went to the service. He was super nervous, but his baptism went really well and he has really learned and grown a lot. I have seen a good amount of change in him, but not just him but rather his whole family. They as a whole are doing a whole lot better than when we had just first started visiting them and it really testifies to me of the truthfulness of what we do. I know that this is the path to be able to have lasting happiness, and to be able to get on just fine, no matter what life throws at you. I know that by following the things that we teach that you can grow closer together as a family and that you can really find a purpose in everything that you do. I have seen it time and time again since being here in Argentina, but it was awesome to be able to have such a blatant reminder with the baptism of Kevin, and I just wanted you all to know that.

The following day Kevin was confirmed a member of the church (once again is his suit and tie) and recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost. The family was doing great when we visited them later that afternoon but Kevin said he didn't want us to go (get transferred to a different area) and so I was a little scared of that with transfers happening today. Luckily though I will be staying in this area for at least one transfer more with Elder Dosdall (so we were informed today) and so I am looking forward to another awesome six weeks ahead of me.

Love you all though and hope that everyone is doing well!

Love,

Elder McCollum

Photos:

-Divisions

-Tacos with Kevin, his mom, and Nico

-Kevin, his mom, my comp and I dressed up for the baptismal service

-Just before the baptism

-Turnout at the baptismal service

-My companion's burnt soy hot dogs

Fifty Four Weeks

Hello Everyone!

I realized last week that in almost every email I say "It has been a really interesting week" so I am determined not to say it this week haha. I don't know why I do it, maybe I just don't know how to open a letter haha but I have enjoyed this last week.

First of all we can talk about a few people that we have been visiting I suppose. First of all we have Kevin, who is doing great. Talking with him and preparing him for his baptismal interview he said that he had prayed about whether or not the Book of Mormon was true and recieved his response that it was. He keeps up with all the commitments that we leave him and has a lot of friends in church already, and him and his mom came to church on Sunday without us even having to go to their house to head there together. This week we hope to have a family home evening with them to make Tacos and watch a church film and so we are super excited for that. (Side note is that Tacos don't exist here and tortillas don't really exist either, they're from Mexico and so they are just as excited to eat Tacos as we are).

This week we also got to know the Hermana Castillo, a member that is a little old and frail now and so it makes it hard to be able to go to church. She has a heart of gold though and so though we weren't able to because of the rain this last Sunday, we hope to be able to get her to the church (about 10-12 blocks away) in her wheelchair, and she is excited for the idea as well. 

On Thursday then we had to go to the mission offices so that my companion could get his DNI (Argentine identification) and so as he went to Capital federal to do all his tramites (paperwork) they sent me on divisions for a few hours with the Elders of San Justo, an area close by and right next to my second area. It was a lot of fun to be able to do that too, and my companion certainly enjoyed running about in Capital.

On Friday then, we had normal divisions with our district leader and my companion stayed in our area to guide it by himself for the first time, though it was very easy going because our district leader had to do two baptismal interviews (one for Kevin and one for Yesica, someone the other Elders in our ward were teaching that got baptised and confirmed this last weekend, and so is now a member). Both interviews passed, and so Kevin is going to have his baptism this coming up weekend and we are very excited for him. It will also be my companion's first baptism and so he is even more excited for that as well. I worked for the day too then in Hurlingham with Elder Hammond, our district leader's companion. It was a super cool day for us too because everything seemed to line up perfect and we were able to teach pretty much one lesson after another, finishing the day with 9 lessons. I had never before taught that many in one day in the mission up until now, but it was a super cool experience and I got to visit with a lot of really cool people.

Sunday then would be the last day of the week and that went really well too. In church we had two investigators show up (Kevin and Esteban) which was super awesome, as well as a few less active members that we like to visit from time to time. Afterwards too then we had lunch with Kevin and his mom and then went out to visit some families with the Hermano Le Pera, and that was a lot of fun. As we were visiting one family though we were sitting outside and a kid came up to us saying that he got baptized a good while ago but that he had stopped going and had fallen on some really hard times (losing parents and falling into addictions as well) and asked us to visit him some time. We went to where he said his house was afterwards but he wasn't there and so at the end of the day I looked it up in the ward directory and it checks out that he is in fact a member. Member or not I would have helped him, but it was kind of tough to see such a young person (20 years I think, or younger) that had fallen so hard. We are going to see if we can get in contact with him this week though and try and help him out so I'll try and give any updates on that later.

Sorry that this week I don't have any photos, but I hope all of you have a good week and want you to know that I really care for you all. 

Love,

Elder McCollum

Fifty Three Weeks

Hello Everyone!

So this has been a pretty interesting week again, but this time not so much for the holidays.

First of all, I can share about Kevin - a kid that is 15 years old that is progressing towards being baptized on the 14th of January. He is super awesome and super excited. The majority of his family (he lives with his mom and his siblings) are members but don't really go to church all that much anymore and a few of his brothers are going to a different church, but he was never baptized. We visit him almost every day though and he loves learning, and as we teach him he goes remembering things from when he was in the Primary as a little kid. We also passed him a bunch of cartoon videos that tell some of the major stories of the Book of Mormon (Living Scriptures, you can also find them on YouTube) to help him as he reads it to better understand and he has gone through and already watched almost all of them. The other day we visited him as well and his friend was over and so he went inside and found an extra Book of Mormon that they had and tossed it his way and made him sit there and listen to the lesson as well, which was super cool. His friend (Ian) enjoyed it though so we left him with his own copy of the Book of Mormon as well. 

This week we also had interviews with President Robertson and so that was really cool as well. We had to travel on a super hot day though in a public bus wearing a suit jacket so that part was maybe less cool. This Thursday though we get to go back to the offices because my companion has to get his Argentine ID and so I might be able to make yet another trip to Capital. We'll have to see though if it works out though that I can go too.

Speaking of heat though, it has been right at the 40 degree mark here for the last few days, peaking on New Years Eve at 41 (105 fahrenheit). That day we were outside in the sun from 3pm until 6pm more or less and I drank between 2 and 3 liters of water (from my Camelback :D ) and didn't have to go to the bathroom once, having pretty much sweated it all out since it's also super humid here too. Since it was New Years Eve though we had to be back insde earlier to avoid all the drunks and people in the street that might cause problems and so we were in the AC at around 7:00 at least. 

As far as new years then though, we didn't do all that much though they once again set off a lot of fireworks outside. They set off less than at christmas but I did find one in the street with the name "Lord William" on the side that had between 200 and 300 shots to send off (and fireworks here are frequently the kind that shoot into the sky as well, which was the case with this). It was massive though and so I nabbed a picture to share. 

One last thing too though is that I saw a drawing that I liked that a member was working on (he is learning to draw people/faces and started with the eyes, and is now working on learning how to draw noses better) and so I decided to give it a shot starting with an eye and I think it came out okay. Maybe I'll give it a little more practice to help me relax if we have a little more free time here or there cause it was kind of fun to do, but I included a picture so you all can judge for yourselves too.

Other than that though, there isn't all that much else new, so I hope you all have a good week and love you all!

Love,

Elder McCollum

Photos:

The eye I was working on learning on drawing as a start. The graph paper was attempt number one, my agenda was attempt number two but I'm not sure which actually turned out better haha.

New years even was so hot that even my legs were sweating. Included are photos of how wet my pants got. (I would have just taken a general picture, but you couldn't really notice it on my shirt since white looks the same wet and dry.)

The Lord Williams firework. Not sure who bought it, but I'm sure it was expensive and I'm pretty sure it probably made a pretty big boom.

Fifty Two Weeks

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas - this week has been pretty easy-going with the holidays. There weren't a whole lot of people that we were able to visit with the Holiday rush, and so this email will be mostly about Christmas in the Mission.

First of all, I had a pack of Peppermint hot chocolate that I got in my stocking for Christmas last year that I never got around to drinking before going on the mission, so I threw it in my suitcase to drink on a rainy day. A little while back too then when I was in Libertad, I got a candy cane from a member that lives here but is from the USA (candy-canes don't exist here, or really anything peppermint for that matter), and so in that moment I decided to save it with my hot chocolate to drink on Christmas day. It didn't survive as well as maybe I had hoped but it turned out very tasty all the same. 

Also, in our family we always ate Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast on Christmas day, so I made some of those (with A LOT of cream cheese frosting). They were also very tasty.

On Christmas day we had a very tasty lunch with a very nice family (Familia Alfonso) and for the afternoon we visited with the Familia Le Pera (photos included of both). Also, I wore my ugly sweater christmas tie all day long and didn't get a single comment on it. I guess Argentines don't do ugly christmas sweaters.

Other fun things too though are the heat here (included is a drawing of our back-up plans for one day - we had to work in an area where we had three appointments in a couple hour time-span but nobody to visit in-between and so we had to spend that time in the sun contacting. Also, I got to Skype with my family on Christmas day and that was a lot of fun too.

Last of all, and it's weird to say, but this week I will finish a year in the mission (30 December) and so I will give a review of my time up until now:

Areas:

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Provo MTC (6 Weeks)

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Chivilcoy (13 Weeks)

Atalaya A (6 Weeks)

Parque San Martin A (2 Weeks)

Libertad (16 Weeks)

Loma Hermosa B (6 Weeks)

Loma Hermosa A (3 Weeks and ongoing)

Companions:

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Elder Micah Casablanca (MTC, 6 Weeks, from Florida)

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Elder Dalton Groen (Chivilcoy, 6 Weeks, Utah, my trainer)

Elder Andrew Wolfe (Chivilcoy, 7 Weeks, Colorado, my 2nd trainer)

Elder Daniel Quezada (Atalaya A, 6 Weeks, Santiago Chile)

Elder Jacob McDonald (Parque SM/Libertad, 12 Weeks, California)

Elder Lehi Mayorga (Libertad, 6 Weeks, Mexico/Texas)

Elder Matias Dominguez (Loma B, 3 Weeks, San Juan Argentina)

Elder Italo Pinheiro (Loma B, 3 Weeks, Fortaleza Brasil)

Elder Nahuel Aguirre (Loma B/A, 2 Weeks, Salta Argentina)

Elder Jeffrey Dosdall (Loma A, 3 Weeks and going, Utah, my son in the mission)

Converts:

Diego Rojas (Chivilcoy)

Belen (Atalaya A)

People I taught that later got baptized:

Alberto and Aliana Suarez (Atalaya A)

Violeta (Atalaya A, daughter of Alberto and Aliana)

Cynthia and Marcelo (Atalaya A)

Hna Antonia (Mom of Belen)

Other than that though there isn't all that much new, and so I hope you all have a Happy New Year!

Love,

Elder McCollum

 

Fifty One Weeks

Hello everyone!

So this has been a pretty busy week, and yet another week of fun with my new companion. On Tuesday we had divisions for the first time, where another missionary came to work with me for the day and my companion went to work in the area of the other missionary and it went really well. Knowing that Wednesday was the birthday of my companion too then (he turned 19) I used my free time on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning to make a Jello cake that we could eat on Wednesday night, once I made the whipped cream to put on top. Well on Wednesday my companion came back (and didn't see the cake, so the surprise was going all good) and then in Lunch the member we were eating with offered him a choice between Flan and Jello for dessert, and he chose to eat Flan, explaining to me that he doesn't eat Jello because gelatin is made of Animal cartilage. It was then that I realized I made a mistake in what cake I was making. Well that night while he was showering I made the whipped cream to put on top anyway (whipped cream really takes a lot of whipping if you didn't know, and you can't buy it pre-made here in Argentina). I finished it just as he got out of the shower though and explained what it was and he was at least gracious enough to eat one piece (and the rest of the whipped cream I hadn't put on as topping). I ate about 75% of the cake then myself haha and gave the rest to other Elders that came over on Friday for a special kind of divisions. The two Elders that came over were travelling assistents to our mission president, whose role was just to go around the entire mission doing divisions with Elders to help train them in something (in our mission we are revising a little bit how we are teaching). So, on Friday then we had 4 Elders in our area, and we managed to teach 7 lessons and find 4 new people in just one afternoon, which was really cool.

Other than that though, there isn't too much new to report on (and I'm running a little short on time) but I hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Love,

Elder McCollum

Photos: Jello Cake, Handmade whipped cream, and the four of us on divisions Friday.

Fifty Weeks

Hello Everyone!

Lots to tell this week:

First of all, my son (the person that you train in the mission):

His name is Elder Dosdall, and he is from Centerville, Utah (about 15 minutes north of Salt Lake City). He is 18 years old and this is his first time away from home. He plays the trumpet, enjoys Math and Science, got a 36 on his ACT, was writing a Sci-Fi novel with his brother and his best friend before the mission. He hasn't gone to college yet, but got accepted into BYU for Aeronautical engineering (he couldn't decide between  Nuclear engineering or nuclear physics so decided to go with that) for when he finishes his mission. He is vegetarian since 13 months ago because he feels bad for the animals, but he is an herbivore in an entirely carnivourous country (seriously, they eat ridiculous amounts of meat here) so we'll see how long that lasts. I'm not putting pressure on it though, so it'll be on his own if he decides to change back. He is learning spanish very fast though and is already taking the lead in contacting (talking with new people for the first time and inviting them to hear our message) and the members are very understanding. One of my favorite stories was a little kid coming up to me in church and asking "How do you say Elder in english" "Elder" I told him (it's the same). He then looked at my companion and said "Hello Elder" then ran off smiling when my companion said hello back to him. I've also got a few photos and videos to share, so I'll get those up and then explain what they are later on (if I can upload them).

Other than that, it is a lot of fun being a papi (trainer) - It's a lot of fun being able to introduce someone to an entirely new lifestyle, country, and culture, and to be able to help him learn spanish. I've been trying to speak just spanish with him so that he can learn, and English only when he doesn't understand, and it gave me a chuckle when on his first day he said "I still haven't figured it out yet - is Spanish your first language, or is English?" It has been a bit of a challenge getting to know yet another new area though (which is huge by the way) while trying to be able to focus on him, but now I think that I've got it more or less down so it should be all good now. I will say though that any timidness that I had left in finding new people or sharing and teaching with them has pretty much gone out the window as a result of training and having to be the one to set the perfect example, and so now it is starting to become perhaps even more enjoyable to teach and work. Oh, and one nice thing about the area is that our apartment is one of the very few in the mission that has A/C, which is really nice seeing as it has been getting well into the 90s fahrenheit (30s celsius) during the day when we need to work so at least we have cool mornings. Also, for the two weeks that I was in a trio, my companions slept in the beds while I slept in my hammock to not have to sleep on the floor, but it is nice sleeping in a bed again haha.

Other than that, one of the coolest experiences of the week happened while teaching Roberto (the man that got in a car crash whose friend started sharing the gospel with him). We shared this video with him: https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-03-01-joseph-smith-the-prophet-of-the-restoration?lang=eng which is basically the story of the restoration of the gospel, the Prophet Joseph Smith, and the early beginnings of the church and after watching it, he said "I know this is true, there's no way it can't be" - it was a super cool experience and I felt like I was on cloud nine with how good I felt inside haha. (note - I reccomend that whoever reads this watches the movie - it's really good)

Also, while sitting in the room waiting to get my companion, I was able to talk with someone who is currently in my first area who was also waiting on a companion to train. He informed me that my very first convert, Diego has started reading the Book of Mormon again and though he isn't going to church, he is doing pretty good, so I was really happy to hear that.

Other than that though, there's not that much new that I have time to share, but I love you all and hope everyone has a good week!

Happy Holidays!

Elder McCollum

photos:

1&2) In the mission we have agendas so that we can note down all our plans for the day and all the things that we need to do, so I made a cover for the agenda of my son (the missionary I'm training). The front cover is subtle, the back cover not so much. The translation to English is "A son is born unto me" (Being born in the mission is your first area, and your first companion is your papi). I got a lot of enjoyment out of making it and hope that you all appreciate as much as I did.

3&4) First moments together - At the end of our time together, my papi and I bought matching ties. That tie is the one that I am wearing in the photo.

5) The expression on my companions face after inviting someone to be baptized for the first time. (They accepted the invitation). He exclaimed after the lesson "I'm a real missionary!"

Forty Nine Weeks

Hello Everyone!

First of all, the biggest news (and also the news that has me the most freaked out) is that this coming transfer, tomorrow, I am going to be recieving a NEW companion, and I am going to be training. I have no clue who it is or whether they are yankee or latino, but I will be finding out tomorrow. The poor refuerzo (reinforcement) that has no time in the mission at all that gets stuck with me haha, we'll have to see how things work out. The other fun thing is that it will be in a "new" area. I am currently in Loma Hermosa B, and when an Elder from Loma Hermosa A left in a flash, we ended up in a trio and had to work in both sides. Well I didn't pay all that much attention to the layout of things on the other side since it wasn't my area, and rather just followed the other Elder around, but now I am going to be staying over there (In Loma A) and my current companion, Elder Pinheiro is going to stay in Loma B and get a new companion as well. I'll let you know how things are going this next week though haha.

Other than that though, I have done a fairly decent amount of service this week. There is an Hermana in this ward that has a roof that has been leaking and so this Wednesday in the morning we climbed up top (most of the roofs here are flat by the way, like an office builiding or a school) and cleaned it up, swept really well and then sealed it up with liquid sealant that you roll on like paint. It was a lot of fun and the Hermana was very happy afterwards and so it was pretty gratifying as well. On Saturday too then, we went to visit an elderly couple at more or less 3 in the afternoon, the hottest part of the day, and they needed to cut the lawn out front so we helped them with that as well. To cut it they had an electric weed-eater though (almost everyone here cuts grass with just a weed eater) but I will say that electric weed-eaters aren't that powerful and the grass was pretty tall so it was a little laborious; I went to town cutting while my companions cleaned up the grass left behind. When I was halfway done then, the Hermano pulled out an electric lawn-mower to use instead (also with almost no power) so I mostly finished up with that but had to switch back to the weed-eater to go back over that part anyway. I will say though that we did get some funny looks from people going by and it is exhausting (and makes you sweat a lot) cutting grass at the heat of the day (31 degrees celsius, 90 fahrenheit) with 70-80% humidity in a shirt and tie. Again though, it was fun.

Spiritual experience of the week though is that there is an hermano that hasn't been going to church in a long time who has a friend that almost died in an accident going 200km/hour (120mph) but is still alive and now is trying to figure out why he is still here on earth, why he didn't just go straight to heaven and so the hermano told him that he could visit with us and we taught him in the house of the Hermano a few days ago and he said that he started to understand a little bit of why he is still here and what he might need to be doing. He said that he had asked his catholic priest as well as a couple other religions but nobody could give him an answer but with us he felt really good and is super excited to be able to visit with us again here this next week. For me it was a testament that what I'm doing is right and that I really am sharing the true, restored gospel with others. Lessons like the one that we had don't happen often but it was an awesome experience.

Last fun tidbit of the week is that we got to go back to capital on Friday as well to go to the dentist again for Elder Pinheiro, and so this time I was sure to take a few more photos to share. They are thus:

1) Graffiti of an old couple dancing the Tango - Tango originated here in Buenos Aires and I thought it was really awesome, so I'm sharing it with you all.

2) Statue of something; the truth is I'm not sure what (I think it's some kind of tribute to Spain and the origins of Argentina) but it was cool so I grabbed a photo.

3&4) Stadium of my soccer team here that we passed by (If you are in Argentina, you have to pick a soccer team because everyone asks what team you are from and they don't accept "none" for an answer. Also statue of a man outside wearing the jersey of the team.

5)Elder Aguirre and I took advantage of the trip to go out and buy dental and health supplies that you can't find in our part of Buenos Aires (capital always has more stuff to buy) while Elder Pinheiro was in his appointment (we left him with our choffeur, a member of the church so all was good).

6)We also found a lot more flavors of ramen noodles in capital than we can find here in our part of Buenos Aires, so we bought them as well.

And best photo for last - I felt as though my socks weren't getting very clean taking them to get washed, and so I decided to wash them by hand. The photo is how the water turned out about an hour after letting them soak - I changed it and it turned out the same again after another hour, so I kept going another 2 or 3 times with the same results. I am happy to say though that they should be clean by now haha.

Other than that though, I hope that everyone has a great week and love you all!

Love,

Elder McCollum