¡Hola del pais de la factura!

Bueno, como podeís ver, tuvimos una buena semana acá en la misión Buenos Aires Oeste. Tuvimos la conferencía del Distrito de Mercedes, y tuvimos que viajar casí tres horas para llegar allá. La Hermana Carter sacó una buena foto de nosotros, ¿no?. Okay, voy a escribiros a vosotros en Inglés ahora.

Well, we had a great week this week. Oh Mom, to answer your question, yes, we do see spiders like that often out here in the countryside. That thing was the size of the palm of my hand. Gigantic. They´re not so common toward the city, but here they are. My companion had a piece of paper that he rolled up. He touched the spider´s leg with it, and, in a thousandth of a second, jumped and bit the rolled up piece of paper. I think my companion jumped just as quick as the spider did. Afterward, the spider just crawled up on top of the window pane slowly. I think it was sleeping when we bothered it. Spiders are evil creatures. I don´t even know why they deserve an existence on this earth. It says in Corinthians that: "In Adam all things die, but in Christ all things shall be made alive". When Adam was thrust out of the Garden of Eden, the earth fell under the circumstances of his fall. Which means that all things were now subject to death. So, does that mean that all things, including animals, insects, fish, and other creatures, will all be made alive and resurrect? Ooooo....deep question right? Tell me what you think.

This week, we went to District Conference, almost three hours away from our chapel in another city called Lujan (Loo-hawn). We left the church in our city at about 7:30 in the morning to arrive at about 9:30-10:00 for the conference to start immediately after. The conference was really good. President Carter gave a great talk and the spirit was definitely felt. We are in a district, not a stake. Which means that the Mission President is the presiding authority and is in charge of all of the dealing within said district. We all hopped on a big bus and traveled to Lujan. I took some pictures, but my computer doesn´t have a USB hookup right now. I´ll do it at the chapel later today. I took some pictures on the busride. It was way fun.

On saturday, we had a miracle happen. We were a little down because all of our really great investigators were telling us not to pass by anymore. Way sad. We would go by the house and they would say...yeah...we don´t want you to come by anymore. So, we were feeling kind of down. On saturday, we didn´t have anything to do, so we decided to pass by somebody who lived really close to our house. We had contacted this lady my first day in Chacabuco, over two weeks ago. We went by the house and rang the bell. The lady came out and said "come in!". We looked at each other with a look of disbelief and went into the house. She sat us down at her table and started asking questions about the church. She said that she had never spoken with missionaries before and that she wanted to know everything. We started speaking and she was way interested. She then interrupted us and said, "let me call my family in". She left and called her fifteen year old daughter and her husband. I thought, oh no, the husband. Because the majority of the men here are really stubborn, especially when it comes to the subject of religion. We continued and they just listened. We came to the part of the Book of Mormon and then the husband started asking questions. He asked "Okay okay, stop. Now, who is Nephi? Did he live before or after Jesus Christ?" I drew a timeline on my planner from Adam to us and explained where each of the characters were in the timeline of the world. Nephi 600 years before Christ, Moroni 400 years after Christ, and Joseph Smith in 1820. He said "Okay! It makes sense now!" They said where can we get this book? My companion and I, now feeling a little bit stupid, said that we didn´t bring any, but that they could read the pamphlet that we had left the last time. They said okay. We ended with a prayer and that asked how we do our prayers. They asked if we did Father in Heaven from chapter 7 in Mathew and we said no. We offered the prayer on our knees and it was amazing. They said, I like that prayer a lot better. They then started talking about marriage and how they could get married in a few weeks. We challanged them to Baptism and they accepted. The family is absolutely golden! So, we´ll be working with them a ton to get them into the water. You know, from your missions, when you meet a family that makes you say to yourself, this family is going to contain the next bishop, relief society president and young womens president? Yeah, thats this family. It was an amazing day that just lifted our enitre week.

On thursday, I had my first opportunity to do a baptismal interview, which is one of my duties as a District Leader. It was way cool and spiritual. Even though they aren´t getting baptized for a few problems, the experience was really spiritual. We had to travel for an hour in a bus to get to the area where we needed to go. But, it was a way cool deal.

Thursday is thanksgiving and no, Argentina doesn´t recognize the holiday. But, we´re going to have dinner with a member family and they are going to do a mini thanksgiving dinner for us. I´ll send pictures.

Gavin, I hope you shaved dude. That barba (beard) was looking gnarly. Did it hurt to shave? I bet it did.

Paige, I have my fingers crossed for you as you go into your interview. I hope it goes well and that you can get the job. Put tape on your eyes so you look chinese, it´ll increase your chance of getting the job.

Dad, I feel so bad. So, I hope this makes up for it....

¡Feliz cumpleaños!

I felt really bad for not wishing you a happy birthday when it came around. So, I hope that made up for it.

Well, I have to go now. Thanks for all the love and support you guys give me. I always love getting your letters every P-Day. Mom, good luck on your new calling that you´ll get next week. I hope its a good one. I love you guys and I´ll talk to you next week.

Vuestro hermano, hijo, y amigo en Cristo,

Weekly Letter November 14, 2011

Como andan bien?

Well, another week passes by in Argentina. Thanks for the letter, I always appreciate your letters, I love hearing from you guys. I look forward to it every week.

Paige, work will come eventually. Just keep going and be patient. It'll come through. Congrats on you getting into BYU online. That's awesome! Work hard!

Gavin, congrats on the Eagle buddy. Just get it done and don't procrastinate! Have fun in Ellensburg. I remember going there. It was a long day, but a lot of fun.

Thanks Dad for all the advice that you gave me. I'll definitely use it. Being a district leader is a lot of fun. I get to do stuff with my elders and help them out. It's tough, but I love it.

By the way, the answers to Bro. Wilson's email is as follows.

1) My parents helped me by always helping me place my mission as an ultimate goal. Like, if I wanted to do something, they always asked how it would affect my mission, such as finances or things like that.

2) I decided to serve a mission because I always had my mission as something that I would always do. I decided early to serve my mission, so when the time came, I didn't need to make a decision.

3) I decided to serve a mission when I was young. I always looked at the missionaries as my heroes. So, I decided to go when I was very young, probably about 8 or 9.

4) Serving a mission has built my testimony completely. I spend everyday from 10:30-9:00 at night sharing with everybody the message of the gospel. Testifying strengthens one's testimony more than anything.

5) The Holy Ghost is everything. It's the factor whether an investigator truly experiences conversion or no. The Holy Ghost is the deciding factor whether we find somebody who is truly searching for the Gospel. The Holy Ghost is what tells me that I don't need to worry about what I need to say in a lesson in order to bring that divine influence in what we are teaching.

6) I remember when we saw that a young girl came to church who we didn't know. We asked who she was and she said that she was a good friend of a recent convert who we had baptized. She said that she wanted to get baptized 2 weeks later. The only thing that she needed was permission from her parents. We went to her house but the lesson was unsuccessful because the father was a very strong catholic (like most Argentines), and refused to give his daughter the permission to get baptized. The young woman started to cry, but the father did nothing. A week later, this same young lady came to church and told us that her mother had convinced the dad to give her permission. We went to the house and taught the mom too. The young woman was baptized that same week. A definite miracle.

7) 10

8)The members help us quite a bit. The majority of my baptisms were member referrals.

9) My first week, we were contacting on the street and we contacted a very beautiful young lady about 20 years old. She said that she wasn't very interested in our message but she respected the fact that we were out teaching in the hot sun. She smiled and said good-bye. To be polite I stretched out my hand to shake her hand to say good-bye. She took my hand and pulled herself into me and kissed my cheek and walked away. I was beside myself and worried. A girl just kissed me! My companion was laughing and said that is how people say both hello and good-bye in Argentina.

10) Learning the language was difficult at first, but now I look back on that time and wonder why I didn't understand. Now, I can speak and understand as though this was my native language.

Well, we're working and doing well. By writing that little response, I've spent the majority of my time on the computer. Just know that I'm doing well. I'm healthy and without problem. The more time I have on my mission, it gets harder to find things to write about. I love you guys and I look forward to your letter next week. Oh also, Mom do you have a good recipe for fried chicken? Could you send it to me next week if you find it? That would be awesome.

Con amor y carino,

Weekly Letter November 7th, 2010

Hola!

Well, sorry for not sending pictures for a while, but now I sent you a ton.

First Housekeeping:

Looks like you guys had a pretty busy week. As always, I am glad to hear from you guys. I can't believe that I am already at 13 months in the mission! Time flies by so fast! Before you know it, I'll be home haha!

That makes me really sad about Bro. Bell. I hope everything works out for them.

Sorry that I'm not responding too much about what you guys did this week, I did read it all though and I pray for you guys every night that the Lord will extend his hand in all things that you encounter. I just feel so excited to share my experience with you guys, I can't wait!

Okay...here goes! I got transfered this week on Thursday. I got a call on Wednesday night from the Assistants and they told me that I neede to be in the offices at 7:45 in the morning for an interview with President. So, I arrived in Ramos Mejia and President called me in. He sat me down in his office and we said a prayer. He then told me, :Elder Rook, I have a special project for you. I need you to be a District Leader and lift a branch at the same time. Will you do that for me?" I was a little beside myself. I said okay and that I would do it. He told me that I neede to make my numbers everyweek, and be an example to the district of missionaries. He asked if there was anything he could do for me or if I had any questons. I just said that I felt a little sick that's all. He laughed and led me out of his office. I went to the gym where all of the elders were to start the meeting. I sat in the gymnasium and watched the screen as the pictures of other missionaries came up and the missionaries were whooping an d hollering as they found out where they were going. Then, my picture came up. I was going to Chacabuco out in the country...5 hours away from Buenous Aires. Out in the middle of nowhere. My companion is Elder Harriott from Panama who is an absolute stud. We came together to Argentina, so it will be nice to be with an experienced missionary. I said goobye to my son, Elder Abarca, who is training his own son right now which makes me a Grandfather! He was really excited to be training a new missionary. Elder Alema, my MTC companion was also made a district leader out in Campo, so we're in the same zone again. I got together with my companion and we got together with other Elders going out to campo (country). We went to capital to take a bus out to the country. A big two-story bus. We traveled with two sisters who were going in after a white wash (where both missionaries were taken out). It was a long bus ride, but it was so pretty to see what the country side of Argentina is like. On the way, we passed the giant cathedral in Lujan. I sent that picture too. It was gigantic! You could see it from miles away. We finally arrived in Chacabuco after about 5 hours. The sisters kept traveling for about another hour. The city out here is so pretty! It's like I went back in time about 20 years. The people are so nice and I still haven't seen a dirt road yet. The only thins is, there are no big buildings, so the heat is even more intense. We have bicycles, but they need to get repaired, but we'll have them this week. The people are awesome here! There are about 29 active members as of now. The Branch President is way cool, President Villalva. The zone is interesting, because we don't have meetings. We are all spread out too far that we don't have district meetings or zone meetings. We will have zone conference with other zones, but we'll have to stay overnight in another zone that night before conference. Crazy right? The pictures I took are really cool. That's my area. There are other pretties parts, but they are under construction so I'll take some other pictures later. I am so excited to be out here. All of the other missionaries talk about being in campo, but not many have the opportunity to be out here. It's like a different world here. It's nothing like Buenos Aires, which makes me happy. I was getting a little tired of being in the city.

Well I have to go. I love you all and I pray for you every night. I look forward to talking to you when Christmas rolls around soon. It will be weird, given that I can't speak english anymore. Tell Grandma I said thank you and that I love her a ton, and Grandpa! I love you guys. Until next week!

Su hijo, hermano y amigo en Cristo

Hola como estan?

Okay, I really don't have a lot of time, so I will try to make this quick.

Yes, I am getting transferred on Thursday from Laferrere II. It makes me really sad that I'm leaving. I gave my farewell speech in my ward yesterday and played a musical number of God be with You til we Meet Again. Pretty cleche right? But it was good.

I attached a zip file with a few pictures in their from our baptism on Saturday and some from my branch presidents' family. They are so cool and I'm going to miss them a ton. They want to come and visit me in the states in a few years. They said that if I want to return to Argentina, that I have a house to stay in. :-)

Mom, pray about your decision about going back to school. I personally think it would be good for you, and give you something to do while we are out of the house.

Congrats on all the future missionaries. Maryn and Tanner, I hope for the best of them. The mission is awesome!

Good luck to Paige on the job search, I hpe you find something soon.

Gavin, great picture you sent me. Keep it up with photography. Send me some pictures of Post Falls so I can print them off! :-)

Oh, by the way. Tell Chad to write me. On Wednesday, I wasn't able to go to lunch at his house because I was caught on divisions with another elder, so I wasn't able to see him before he left. I felt really bad that I couldn't see him. Tell him I love him and I hope to see him soon!

So, we had a great week this week. On Saturday, we had two baptisms, Samantha and Nely. Samanta was our miracle story that I told last week. I had the opportunity to baptize her and the spirit was so strong. He mom went and liked the baptism a lot. It was so cool to see an investigator grow in the gospel until the point of baptism. She is going to be a super strong member of the church. She also showed interest in serving a mission, but we'll see. That would be the highlight of my life if one of my converts served a mission. Nely was a member who's records got lost, so she had to get baptized again. She started to cry during the baptism. It was really cool.

We did divisions on Tuesday with my district leader and I went with his companion. The district leader lives right next to the zone leaders on the same piece of land. We woke up early in the morning to take some flour from the zone leaders apartment to make some scones. The zone leaders went to capital to do some immigration stuff, so we got the flour as they were leaving. What my temporary companion did not realize, was that he left the key to open the gate to leave the apartment in the zone leaders apartment, and the zone leaders left their apartment locked. And, we had no telephone to call anybody. So, we hung out in the apartment until the district leader and my companion came back. But, we still couldn't leave. So they went to the lunch appointment with Chad and we stayed in the apartment until the zone leaders arrived at almost four o'clock. Fun experience that definitely went in the journal.

Other than that, I don't have much to say. I'm just waiting for the transfers on Thursday. Kind of nervous because I don't know what's going to happen. I hope you enjoy the pictures and I hope you can open them on the Mac. If not, try Dad's laptop. I love you all and I look forward to your letters next week! Pray for me that transfers go okay!

Chau!

Que tal todos? Okay, I do have to tell you, that I am barely awake, because we just got done playing soccer with the Zone Leaders in their chapel, so it's really hard for me to write right now. But, I love you guys so I'm going to write anyway Mom, thanks for your letter, but you were right. I don't know if Chad told you, but I did buy a flashdrive to store pictures on so I don't have to limit myself when it comes to taking pictures. I don't know if you guys are storing the pictures I have sent you? But, I did buy my shoes and I tell you what, I am a way happier person with them. They are so comfortable, waterproof, and are made especifically for work. They're awesome. And yes, I wear my orthopedics everyday. Well, I found out that I am leaving my are early today. I guess President was a little angry about something that I did last week, and he wants to send me out early... Totally joking! Turns out that transfers are getting cut by a few days. It was supposed to be done on the 6th of November, but now its the 3rd. So, I have to say goodbye to my ward a sunday early. Really sad. I love my ward and I don't want to leave. I always get really nervous right before transfers. Don't know why. I think its because I'm leaving and I don't know where I'm going. Thank you so much for the money that you guys have deposited. It really helps a lot. I think that money at Christmas would be a lot better than a package, and easier. Entonces, quedense tranquilo {so, just relax}. Dad, below freezing weather would be amazing right now. Its starting to heat up here. We played soccer today and I almost died sweating. Its so humid I can't believe it. Its like you can feel the heat sitting right on your shoulders. Mom, this lady is picking up her son in my mission? If she is, what's her name? I know a missionary really well who's going home in January, who is from Utah, but I don't know if its the same family. I did get a letter from Matt. About 1/2 a paragraph. But, a letter nonetheless. Okay, now for my short week. We had quite a difficult week this week. My companion had to go to the hospital for a problem in his...its a man only problem. Anyway, we had to go to Buenos Aires. The hospital is right next to a gigantic train station called "Constitucion". The staion is enormous, probably one of the biggest buildings I have ever seen. We took two subways and a bus to get home at the end of the day. Fun day. By the way, my companion is okay. It would be really cool if you guys sent him a DearElder. He speaks fluent english so don't worry about not knowing spanish. His name is Jeffrey Phill Abarca. I'm sure he would love it. By the way, the area doctor checked my blood pressure and says that its still perfect right where it is. Makes me happy. 125/69 We had a few miracles this week. We have an investigator who has been investigating the church for a while, her name is samantha. We had a lesson with her in her house and her dad starting going off on how she didn't need to be baptized again because she's already baptized. And other things that aren't worth mentioning. He started trashing on the United States and stuff like that. I just had to keep my big trap shut. My companion asked Samantha to share her testimony. The spirit was so strong until her dad shot her down and made her cry. She's 14 by the way. Yesterday, she came up to us and told us that her dad has softened up to the idea a little bit and says that its her decision if she wants to get baptized. Miracle. My companion told me that he had a dream a few nights before and said that he saw that happen, in the exact same situation as it happened. Crazy. Tha Lord works in mysterious ways. We have another baptism on Saturday as well. A lady who lost her records and needs to get rebaptized. We are so incredibly blessed. What a week we are going to have! Anyway, I've got to go. Thanks for all that you do for me. Thanks for the letters and all the support. I'll write next week. I think I'm going to go and take a nap now Con amor,

Weekly Letter October 17,2011

¡Hola! Otra semana pasa, y estoy viviendo el sueño. Another week passes and I`m living the dream. Housekeeping. I used some of the money for a few pairs of pants for the summer time, given that many of my pants were trashed from last summer. The sun takes the color out of the pants so they`re not black anymore. So, yeah, that`s what I used a little bit for. All I need is about 75$ from you guys to buy a really nice pair of shoes. I will get my other ones repaired, but all of the missionaires tell me that it will only last about 3 months. I found a nice pair of shoes in my area for about 250$ pesos argentinos, which would be about 65$. But the ATM takes about 17$ pesos argentinos out at every transaction, so 75$ would be wonderful. I am in dire need of new shoes. :-) Today would be nice, since the shoe store is going to have a pair in my size either tomorrow or wednesday. We`ll see. Yes, Chad did tell me about the offer that you gave him. I told him that he should do it, because my family is the bomb. And, he would love North Idaho. Plus, he could take some of my ex-girlfriends on a few dates That was a joke. He`s a super cool guy and I think you guys would love him. I`m sure though, because he speaks another language, that he would be able to get a job up there. Especially because he speaks mexican spanish. I need to learn mexican spanish when I get back. I`m feeling a lot better. Although, I think I`ve got a cold coming on, so we`ll see how that turns out. Bummer, I`m sick and tired of being sick and tired. Gavin, Cafe Chulo would be the bomb dude. I`ve been there. They make the giant burritos. I went there with Tysen after we saw Star Trek in theaters. Congrats Dad on your email from the Pres. Now, if he can just promote you to a higher position. That would be sweet. You are in my prayers every night. I hope they`re helping. Congrats to Paige on the new program that she`s doing to get into BYU. I pray for the best and I hope that you can get a job soon. You`ll be going to BYU the same time I am! Crazy. Really sad about Bro. Bell. I hope that it all works out for their family. This week has been kind of punch in the face. We worked really hard but nobody came to Sacrament Meeting. Even though nobody came, I wasn`t disappointed, because I knew that we worked our tails off. With that, I realized that my time in Argentina is half-way done. I cried the other night because I didn`t want the time to go any faster than it is already going. It feels like I`m going to wake up tomorrow in my own bed, it seriously goes that fast. I also realized the other day that I`m speaking in a foreign tongue. That was weird. I think it was the first time that I realized that I can speak to a native Argentine, understand every word that he says, and then respond as though I have been speaking this language my entire life. It is really hard for me to speak in English to other people. Our investigator, Andrea, is studying English, so she came up to me in church and started speaking in English to me. It really caught me by surprise and I had no idea what to say. She looked at me funny and asked me if I understood. I said I did, but it has been a long time since I heard somebody else speak English. I tried to pray the other day in English and I couldn`t do it. I had to finish the prayer in Spanish. The gift of tongues is real, because I`ve experienced it. We haven`t been able to teach Andrea this week, because she`s been on vacations with her Mom and Grandma. But, we have a lesson planned with her this week. So, we`ll see what happens witht the baptismal commitment. It is gradually getting hotter. The humidity is started to set in and my sweat glands are not ready yet. I am not looking forward to summer, given that it has been pretty hot this past week, and it`s not even half as hot as it`s going to get when summer comes in January. Can you believe that October is almost gone? Before you know it, I`m going to be talking to you guys on the phone at Christmastime. I am amazed at how fast the time flies. I`m almost out of my second area and I`m almost at 13 months in the mission. Where did the time go? We have interviews with President this week. He`s probably going to talk to me about extending my mission. Since he said that he wanted to tlak about it after my year mark. I don`t know what to do. I don`t think I will extend my mission. But, I need to pray about it. I am really excited about interviews though, I love talking to President. Bueno, ya tengo que irme. Gracias por todo el apoyo que me dan y por siempre escribirme. No puedo creer que ya hace un año que estoy acà en Argentina. La misiòn es increìble. Ojalà que mi misiòn estê llena de èxito de ahora hasta el final. Pero, estoy seguro que va a ser asì. Tengo un testimonio del evangelio a lo cual represento yo. Jesùs es el Cristo, y Josè Smith fue su profeta. El Libro de Mormòn es verdadero y contiene la plentitud del Evangelio de Jesucristo. La espero la carta la semana que viene. Les amo a todos y saludos a todos en Post Falls! Su hijo, hermano, y amigo en Cristo Élder Garrett Brighton Rook "Yo soy el maestro de mi destino, you soy el capitàn de mi alma"

¿Que tal? I´m afraid it was kind of a bad week on your end, while on my end it was a really good week. It seems like I was just here writing you yesterday. Housekeeping first. I was really sad to hear about Steve Jobs. Great man. I hope Apple keeps going in the way its going. Last time Steve Jobs left Apple, it almost died. Quite a surprise about Bro. Bell. I´m just glad that he passed quickly. Hot Rod closed down! No! Now what do I have to look forward to? Good luck Paige with the job search. I´ll be praying for you. Congrats Gavin on your show man. I saw the pictures and they look great! Such a stud! Okay, about my week. On Saturday, we had the Baptism of Micaela. It was so awesome! Definitely a spiritual feast. We had two investigators come to the service. One of them is named Andrea. She was the young lady that we taught about two weeks ago who started to cry during the lesson. She absolutely loved the baptismal service and she cried during the movie of the restoration. She came to church yesterday, and cried during the testimonies. She is golden, but...she won´t accept a baptismal date! We don´t know why. She says that the gospel is true, she reads the Book of Mormon, she goes to church, she says that she felt the Holy Ghost at church and in the baptism, and she knows that Joseph Smith was a prophet. But, something is holding her back from being baptized. Some advice would be helpful from you ex-missionaries. I was sick this week and my companion too. Bummer. But now, we feel much better and are off working again. So, on Thursday, I completed a year in the mission! WHOA!!!! Already a year? We had Oreos and milk that night. Today, we are going to a all you can eat buffet with Elder Alkema, my MTC companion. Super excited. Chad Reeves is an ex-missionary down here visiting his girlfriend that he met in the MTC. So, he helps us out almost everyday. Super cool kid. I´ll get a picture with him and send it next week. Roxanna is a girl in the other ward who is assisting our chapel. She is a good friend of Chad´s girlfriend´s family. I´m afraid I don´t have much to write, given that, with time, the weeks get a little more usual. All of my unusual happenings have already happened 6 months back. But, all the interesting stuff, I do include. Thank you for the package that you are about to send, and I´ll be looking forward to it. I love you all and just know that I am doing well and my health is in good shape. The pictures of our baptism are our baptism, and a family home evening we had with Sister Dorilda. The lady that feeds us all the time. ´Twas a good night. Con amor sincero, Élder Garrett Brighton Rook "Yo soy el maestro de mi destino, yo soy el capitan de mi alma"