My Best Companion - Elder Pack

¡como esta mi querido familia y amigos?

Well MERRY CHRISTMAS, FELIS NAVIDAD!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the time of year were everyone is able to grow closer because even with all our differences, there is love through Jesus Christ our Savior.  I think that we should all take the time and read the birth of our Lord and Savior. (found in the new testament!)

So this week we had some fun.  Elder Cortés is awesome.  He might just be the best companion that I have had on the mission.  We work well together.  He and I are always having a great time.  We have one person that should get baptized in the next week (before the new year).  Her name is Genesis.  She is a daughter of a less active member.  We are also trying to help a brother stop his addiction to alcohol so that he can baptize his own son.  We keep trying to get his wife to let someone else baptize the son, so that they aren’t playing with the salvation of their son.  But, at the moment she hasn’t seen that this is a bad thing.  Please pray for the softening of her heart because we are trying all that we can on this side.  Anyone have any ideas for helping someone seeing the need to change because we could use the ideas?

So I don’t know what I want to tell everyone because I want things to talk about this Saturday.  But something that was supper funny happened on Sunday.  While we were finding a ride back to our ranch, we got a ride in the back of a truck were there was already someone hitch hiking.  This teenager was so drunk it was kinda sad and funny.  He was talking to us and walking around in the back of the truck.  He even fell a few times because he wasn’t holding on to anything, and I was worried that he was going to fall out of the truck.  Luckily he didn’t!

Well family and friends, that is all that I’m going to write this week.  Love you all and hope that you all have a great week.

Love ELDER PACK

Feliz Navidad - Sister Pack

Hola Familia!

   So I hope everyone is enjoying the cold weather and the whole Christmas feel in the states. It is pretty hot here in Corrientes right now! I got my first burn, and I am working on a shoe tan. It´s way amazing! lol. Christmas is so different here. The only time I have heard Christmas music was in our pension. Hermana Lythgoe and I are making missionary traditions this year! We put up our tree and wall decorations! thanks mom! also we listen to Christmas music from the time we get into our pension to the time we leave. We have our stockings hanging off a clothes line it´s a pretty awesome sight. I will have to send pictures. We had a Christmas party on Saturday with our branch.  We didn´t get to stay long because things start so late here! lol. However we got food from them and it was muy RICO! Some people have lights hanging up in their gates and it is way amazing to see. We think it is kind of funny to see all the saints on the nativity scene. We are eating dinner on Christmas Eve with the Family Baez. They are truly amazing. They take care of all the missionaries around here. Here in Argentina the Christmas Eve dinner is extremely important...food is their love here. And it is way amazing!

   I told you guys about our investigator Tamara last week and she is doing so awesome! She is progressing so much and she is searching diligently like Enos did. She came to all three meetings of church this week and in Sacrament we had the primary program which couldn´t have been better because she has two kids and the spirit was there like nothing else. It was a good day. We also may be having a baptism this coming Sunday right after sacrament for Leo. (keeping our fingers crossed)

   Our mission president said to take this time, while out in the field, to testify of the divinity of Christ. I think it is the most amazing thing that we have the calling to do this. People don´t have time to listen about the gospel but they do listen to our testimony this week.

    This week is kind-of tough knowing that I am missing the family stuff however I am so so so grateful for the opportunity to preach about Christ at this time of the year. Hermana Lythgoe and I are trying to find a Christmas miracle. Someone who is ready for the message of Christ’s gospel is fully restored. Well that is pretty much all my time I have today. I can say though, that I am very grateful for my decision to serve the lord. I know that Argentina is where I am supposed to be without a doubt in my heart. I hope you guys enjoy your Christmas and continue to be missionaries during this time because there is nothing better than sharing the love of Christ!

Love Hermana Pack

Sister Pack Builds Ginger Bread Houses

Hola familia!

First off, I am glad Ty is enjoying the field!  There is so much work to be done! I can hardly find time to eat here and now understand how Ty has lost so much weight! I think I have lost quite a bit too! lol

So it is my second week in the field, and I am still loving it with everything I’ve got!  Good sign right!? lol It is pretty hot here today I am not sure the degrees but I know that the humidity makes it pretty dang hot! lol. This week we decorated our pension with the wall stickers mom gave me (THANKS MOM) and our little tree is in the corner with our stalkings hanging on the clothes line above the tree.  It is quiet a hilarious sight. I have pictures I just need to figure out how to send them to you guys... I am a little afraid to put pictures on this computer and send them cuz I am not sure what kind of viruses are on this computer...

So remember those dogs I told you guys about... well every time we go down that street they ALWAYS ALWAYS follow us!  It´s kind of funny now.  At first scary, but now they think we should play with them. One day last week was pretty hard…Hermana Lythgoe lost her watch (she just got earlier that day) mine broke and I got pooped on by a bird! Haha  But it ended up being one of our best days because a woman let us in our house and she is now one of our progressing investigators! Her name is Tamara. She has two children and when we visited her at the beginning of the week we were unable to get a hold of her, so we came the day after and we had a lesson with her. In our lesson she said ´yesterday she felt no need for our word but today (the day we had the lesson with her) I am missing something.´ I cannot believe how much the Lord has his hands in the people we meet and when we meet them. I am so grateful to see the spirit work through me and my companion to help these people grow closer to our Father in Heaven. She not only read what we asked her to read, but she read more!!  And she is attending church with us this Sunday.

We are currently working with some other investigators (mostly older men) and one has a set date for January 5^th.  I guess he has been taking lessons from the missionaries since 1992! but he now feels that it is time to get baptized…he is golden!  We ended up doing ginger bread houses with him and some other brethren in the ward.  It was so much fun and they were actually more creative than us.

OH tell dad I learned how to put down a floor the other day at a service project! not the same type of floor as we have but it was still lots of fun.

Well, I love you guys and loving the work I hope everything is going well in the States.  Remember to think of Jesus Christ during this time of the year! I love you guys!

Love, Hermana Pack

Conducting Sacrament Meeting - Elder Pack

well hello family and friends,

this is the end of the second week of December, and well, that means we are getting closer to CHRISTMAS!!!!!!  yes i am excited for Christmas to tell you the truth. the only problem is i don’t know if anything is going to change here in the mission. my companion just told me that when it gets closer to Christmas people start thinking more of the virgin of guadeloupe (why guadeloupe? i have no clue). it’s sad if that is really what happens here because really Christmas is a time to remember our Savior not the mother of Christ.

the last few days have been kinda funny and kinda interesting. the last week was the "week of the saints" as my companion tells me. they had festivals for different saints throughout the week and today they finished with the virgin. (which one, i have no clue there are like 57 different virgins recognized nationally)

in this week we had a great time looking for new people and had some success. we will be working harder because the companion i have right now wants to work just as bad as i do. (our companion elder rodriguez changed area after the first night it was very strange to tell you the truth.)  in this week we fought to find food some days because well the people are going into vacation and they aren’t paid during their vacations.  they don’t really have enough food for us, so we are going to talk to the president.

yesterday i had my first opportunity to lead the sacrament service!!! hahaha it was very interesting. i didn’t really know what i was doing to tell you the truth because well it was my first time and i was thinking about a lot of different things at the same time. like our investigators, the girl that i have been " teaching" the pianist, (how well she was going to do the playing of i am a child of god), and well other things on the agenda it was interesting. but i made it through it with just my pride hurt!!!!! hahahahaha

i like moms idea of riding horses but i don’t think that the president will be going for that idea. and i just told my companion and he told me to tell mom that; su boca esta toda atascada de razón. and i think that one of my brothers can translate that for you mom.

well my family and friends that is all  that i have time for today.

LOVE ELDER PACK

New Companion (Three's a Crowd) - Elder Pack

hello family and friends,

so it’s great to hear all the experiences that sister pack is having down there in argentina. why you may ask? well to tell you the truth in the airport it was the same way for me. i got off of the plane and looked around and only saw spanish, the people only spoke spanish, the only thing that was missing was the banda music in the background completing the scene. when i got off the plane and went through check-in, i was supper confused and didn’t understand a word being said to me. (i am happy that those people had alot of patience with me and didn’t just throw me in jail hahaha) alot of the experiences that she is having, i have had and i can see the humor in them.

so today was transfers and neither of us got changes, but they sent us another companion why? who knows, only the president. right now we are looking for one more of everything: the table, a bed more utensils. all the things that he will need to live with us.  i got to buy my sweater today and that made me very happy because now i have my own!!!! sad part is i didn’t find a place to fix my camera, but in the next few weeks, i will be trying to find a place that can fix it so i can take pictures!!!!

so in the last week some experiences passed that were very interesting. on the last Monday,  we were helping sister angelica sell food from her stand at school and randomly a girl walked up to me and asked me if she could take a picture of my eye. well i was shocked and surprised and didn’t even know how to answer. luckily sister angelica saved me, telling the girl that there are things that we as missionaries cannot do because of the mission. it was great.

well that is all that i have time for at the moment.  i will hopefully have more time in the next week. love you all and hope that you all have a great week.

LOVE ELDER PACK

First Week in Argentina - Sister Pack

So I am finally in Argentina! It was the best feeling ever! We had 28 hours cumulative in the air over 2 days. It was kind of groosem but I am finally here! So I got a lot of letter about what it´s like here so I will try and tell you guys my experience so we landed in Buenos Aires in the morning on Tuesday as I got off the plane I could feel the humidity through all the airport wohoo for humidity! We went to customs and I barely understood what they were saying to me! lol We then drove around the city till we got to the other airport to take us to Resistencia, and let me tell you these bums are way more efficient then the USA bums... haha they have tents its hilarious.  We stayed the night at the Presidents house and let’s just say I have never seen a horse buggie cars mopeds and busses so wild in my life. There was a total of one stop sign in the part of the city we were in according to the AP. We had meetings and I received my trainer on Wednesday. Her Name is Hermana Courtney Lythgoe. She is from Arizona. We are having tons of fun and working really hard together. I realized the Spanish I learned in the MTC is extremely different than the language being spoken here. lol We have 3 progressing investigators that we are working with so we are doing a lot of finding right now giving me the opportunity to talk. it is quiet hilarious at times. Some funny things have happened since I got here in Corrientes. Corrientes is a city about 20 mns out of Resistencia.  We have two avinidas (paved roads) and lots of Calles( Dirt roads).  It is so amazing here.  I love it so much. There is so much character and lots of good music in the streets. Oh so I was going to tell you about my experience.  So on Thursday we were tracting, and we saw a sight I never thought I would see on my on my mission.  A naked man just staring at us with his hands on his hips... my compa and I gasped and started running and then laughing because while we were running 6 dogs decided to start following us and surrounded my companion.  It was kind of hilarious and scary at the same time.  Any ways this is Argentina.  Full of... character lol. I love it. I love the food and I love the people. I will have to send pictures of the wild horses in the middle of the city and a picture of our shower... I mean whole lol.  Well I love you guys and hope you guys have an awesome week.

                                                 Love Hermana Pack