Surviving the Summer - Elder Pack (8/20/12 Letter)

Hi Family -

Well this week felt really really long to tell everyone the truth.  We had no references and spent a lot of time walking the streets.  I did not like it all that much to tell you the truth.

But we are getting plans ready for this next week.  We should be receiving a few references. I think that I understand better now...in order to have work for the next week, I need to prepare it the week before hahaha.  This new area is hot just like the last one.  I am happy that soon the heat will have passed, and then it will be a little cooler for the last months of my mission.

Last week I had another appointment at the dentist!!!! and also this week.  I’m so happy that my teeth hate me so much hahaha.  Soon, all will have passed, and I will have learned new lessons in life.

We played a little hand ball today and soccer. During handball, my companion hit the ball over the roof hahahah, so we switched to a game of soccer which was fun.

All of you back home should really be appreciative of air conditioning.  The house were we are living is supper hot...I hate it.  It doesn’t let us relax at all, but we do have a washer hahaha!! You take what you can get.

I love you all and I hope that every single one of you has a great week.
LOVE ELDER PACK

Full Heart for My Friend Tess - Sister Pack (8/13/12 Letter)

Hey Guys!
Happy Dia de Niño! haha I don’t understand but here they seem to have a holiday for every single thing! We had dia de amigo the other month and dia de abuelo all they are missing is dia de perro! hahaha

So reading Ty´s email makes me feel like my life is easy! haha. I couldn’t imagine having to operate on my teeth here in Argentina. I remember my one and last experience in the sanatorio.... they told me to lay down turn around and before I knew it they had put a very long needle into my behind!  That was enough for me to stay healthy enough to not enter one of those places again! haha.

So we had transfers this week and well to a VERY DELIGHTFUL surprise Hermana Lopez and I stayed together here in Barrio IV. Unfortunately we lost a lot of our investigatores.. so we are back to square one again but I have a good feeling that something is going to happen. We just have to be obedient and praying all the time and I know it will come through! I found a scripture I really like in D&C 50:29 and 30:

“ 29 And if ye are purified and cleansed from all sin, ye shall cask whatsoever you will in the name of Jesus and it shall be done.
 30 But know this, it shall be given you what you shall ask; and as ye are appointed to the head, the spirits shall be subject unto you.”

Basically what I understood is if we are obedient that we will have all we pray for because our will is the same with the Lord’s will. So yep we have a few new investigatores that we found last week but none came to church, so we will be passing by a few tonight. All though this is so hard,I am full of joy like it says in D&C 18:15-16:

“15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
 16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!”

However there is a joy that I feel more as a member missionary weird right...

There is another joy that fills me this week to know that my best friend in the whole world Tess will be getting married in the temple!! I remember our countless talks about the gospel, the many shared church activities (where the bee stung her during Sunday school). Sitting in the grass in the front yard reading the book of mormon together when we were 7 or 8 years old.  These are things that fill my mind with happiness to know that I was able to share without knowing I was sharing the most amazing gift in my life with my loved one.  My heart is full!

I would tell everyone out there that you should put this scripture to the test and see if the lord will complete! Give a friend a Book of Mormon, invite them to a church activity or lunch with the missionaries, tell them how much you love them and how you know this gospel will bless their lives and then INTRODUCE THE MISSIONARIES! haha.  Well love you guys.  Love you mom tons. I am grateful to have this experience.  There is nothing like it in the world and I am grateful to share this with my little brother. the mas cupado hermano en el mundo!

                                                                                                      Hermana Pack

Transfer to Chaves, San Pedro - Elder Pack (8/13/12 Letter)

Hello people,

The most interesting thing happened to me today.  I felt like one of those missionaries from the movies they are always making in the church.  I received changes and well that surprised me to tell you the truth.  I was changed out of my area again so that the pres could put sisters in.  So when I made it to Chaves San Pedro, I started waiting for my companion in the bus stop.  I waited and waited.... about 2 hours for them to show up!!!!! Hahaha  It was the strangest thing to be without a companion for 3 hours.  It’s strange that they didn’t show up (because I told them last night what time I would be getting here).  So I started to call missionary cell phones that I know to try and find the phone of the missionaries here in San Pedro.  It took a few minutes and eventually I got a hold of the missionaries and they came for me.

On Tuesday I went to get my teeth done and tomorrow I will return to Madero to finish it up.  It was interesting.  I  hated every second of it, and well I had only one scripture going through my mind as I was being operated on: Ether 12:27. It is funny to tell you the truth. That scripture was going through my mind and I was offering many prayers... hahaha so this was the worst experience of my life... I think... I could be mistaken.

This has been a fun change.  I have learned many things during this change and well I am looking forward to the next one because I want the best for this new area.  We need to stay focused.  My new companion doesn’t have all that much time in the mission so it should be easy to work well.

This week we went to a less active member’s house and the grand child is very energetic.  She tries to kill the little dog they have, and I really do feel bad for it.  The funniest thing was when she fell through a hole in the table (because she was sitting on the edge of the table) and then started laughing and laid back falling through the whole.  It makes it even funnier that she was the one that broke the sheet of glass that was in that spot creating the whole in the table.  This child is a little crazy and it’s funny to watch her say strange things and well be a little disobedient.

Other things have happened throughout the week that I just don’t remember everything that has gone on.  I’m writing it down no worries mom. hahaha

LOVE ELDER PACK

Daniel's Baptism - Elder Pack (8/6 Letter)

Hello people!

This week, well, has not been the best one of my life. All though we are happy to have had a baptism, it’s not the best because my mouth is killing me.  But that’s life, I guess we pay for the things that we failed to do in the past.

So this week we focused on Daniel so that he would be that much more prepared for the interview and baptism.  He was already ready to tell you the truth.  We just made sure he was there still spiritually ready to be baptized.

So we went with a man that has had some contact with missionaries before.  I talked to the missionary that had been teaching him, and he told me that this guy had a great testimony that the church was true.  When we got there it seemed to me that he hardly knew what we were teaching him.  I know that the other missionary had told me what he saw in him, and I do believe in his words.  It just shows me the importance of doing the small things like reading and praying that help our knowledge stay.  Just like 2 Nephi 28 says if we say we have enough we lose what we had in knowledge.

About the baptism, it was great!  Daniel was late because he was at a single adult convention in Torreon.  Aside from the fact that there were not too many at the baptism, everything went well.  Elder Lopez baptized him and he only needed to be baptized once (no feet or hands out of the water)!!  We felt the spirit.  Then on Sunday, he was confirmed a member of the church.  It is awesome.

Later last week, we had a meeting with the presidencies of all the branches and districts.  We talked about how the plan and work of salvation is going to go.  We will no longer be contacting.  hahahha How fantastic!!! I don’t like contacting all that much to tell you the truth.  This makes me happy.  So we are going to get to work and baptize people!!  Let’s go.

Well, that is all I have to write today.  I have quite a pain in my head, but I will be OK.  I love you all, and I hope that you all have a great day and week!!!
s
Love ELDER PACK

Hermana Pack sends pics (8/6 Letter)

Hey Family!

   So another transfer has come and gone! I feel like I am getting so old in the mission! I am on the downhill slide! Way weird right? But with transfers here, we are playing the waiting game until tomorrow night to see what will happen. I have been here is Barrio IV for 5 weeks now. I love it. It’s really hard, but I have had my good times! It is hot here again... I seriously am not quite sure how I will survive this summer. I am not in my honey moon stage anymore of my mission.. haha, but I know it will teach me a lot so bring on the heat!  This week we had a hard week.  We did so much contacting and  a little bit of teaching.  Seriously we spent the whole day outside knocking doors Thursday through Sunday.  We need new investigators; however, we had 5 inactive members in church!  That isn’t something that counts for the mission, but It sure counts for me!  This week I realized how much our ward loves us. It has been such a blessing to have people who care about you. I think this week will be hard if I have to leave here. But where the lord calls me, I will go por seguro! I am sending a memoir of this area.

The picture of the best cookies I have learned how to make thanks to the Hermana Parker. TOTAL Elders want these cookies now.  They call with orders so I just started giving out the recipe. lol.  The funny story about this picture is that when I make them, I end up eating them says hermana Lopez, so this time she counted them out very carefully and put don’t touch sign on it.. haha it worked for a little while... lol

One of the other pictures is a packman that we found in our area.  It is way hilarious.  It’s me with the investigators!

Another one of the pictures is my baptism for here!  They will be getting sealed in May or June of Next year!!!  The rest of the pictures are self-explanatory!!

Love, Hermana Pack

Working Hard - Elder Pack (7/30 Letter)

Hello Family and Friends!!

This week went well enough.  We didn’t have any new people in the church.  That’s most likely because we are lacking some things in our teaching and maybe our work habit.  We are going to take a good look at that this week and see what we can do to change all that.

So we are teaching a less active member family that has a granddaughter who is very wild.  Every time we are there, she says the strangest things and tries to kill the little dog that they have.  For being two years, she is pretty smart hahahaha.  So they are not progressing like we want them to, but I guess that is how things go in life.  We need to find out why they don’t want to go to church and do the other things that they are supposed to be doing.  Hopefully with the help of other members, we will get them to come back to church!!  Also, the Val Verde family has some of the same problems, but I feel that they are closer to coming back to the church than the others.

Daniel is ready to be baptized, but he wants to wait until his godfather gets baptized.  We are trying to help him see that it would be cooler to baptize his godfather hahahaha.  Jorge has gone to a rehab center in Torreon because he can’t control his drinking.  It makes things more complicated as to if we can baptize Carolina.  We hope we will find great people this week that will love to hear this message.

I got a package and a letter from Dena!!!

Please everyone write the missionaries that you know and that you are supposed to be loving.  It will help them I promise you.

Well I love you all and I hope that you all have a great week!

LOVE ELDER PACK