Week 5 Santa Fe Rural C/Oficina

Time is flying here in the office, it's crazy. We always have things to do, so it's just go, go, go all the time. It's pretty fun.

This week was traslados (transfers), so things were pretty busy. On Monday, we had a farewell lunch for all of the missionaries who were going home. Before that, to prepare, Elder Clayton and I went to buy ice cream for the week, since there were going to be various lunches and meetings, and Presidente Perez wanted to stock up. We bought 28 kilos (62 pounds) of ice cream! Jaja the face of the lady was priceless when we told her how much we wanted to buy. We had lunch with all of the missionaries going home in the mission home, along with the asistentes, us (the oficina), and Presidente and Hermana Perez. It was cool, especially since it was my first time in the mission home. It's in a private neighborhood well outside of Santa Fe that's pretty high end. It even has its own golf course! We're going to talk to Presidente Perez to see if one day for a special pday he could get us in to play golf for a little bit. :) After the lunch we all sat around talking for a while, signing journals and things like that. Hermana Perez asked me to sing for them as a farewell gift, so I did that too. It was a good day. Tuesday the new missionaries got here. There are only two this transfer, an elder from Utah and a hermana from Paraguay. We met them when they got to the mission office, and got to know them and talked to them for a while. They'll be great missionaries. That night we went out to dinner at a café with the new missionaries. Wednesday, we had the training meeting for the new missionaries, where they met their trainers and the leaders from the mission. That was my first time presenting all the financial rules of the mission, but luckily it was only two missionaries, so it wasn't a lot of pressure. We had lunch that day too. (I think I've gained more than a little bit of weight this week.) After that, we went back to the office and got everything prepared for Thursday which was Consejo de Líderes (Leadership Council).  Presidente Perez wanted us to give a presentation on the finances of the mission to all of the zone leaders, especially since there were five new zone leaders this transfer. We also were working like crazy to get things ready in the office, because the Area Accountant had told us that he was going to come earlier than expected to do a training with us, and he told us he was coming Thursday. So Thursday we went early in the morning to the mission home, gave our presentation, and then came straight back to the office, where the accountant met us. His name is Gonzalo Gomez Paz, and he's from Buenos Aires. I forgot to take a picture with him, sorry. But he was super cool, and he helped us out BIG TIME. I understand a lot of things a lot better now, and I have a much better grasp on my job as financiero. Not nearly as much uncertainty. He was with us all day, and when Presidente finished with his meeting with the zone leaders, he came and joined us, and we met for the rest of the day. I can't even begin to explain how helpful it was. Definitely a blessing for me. Yesterday we didn't have anything special, but we had a lot of work to do since we were a little behind with all of the things that happened this week. Today was definitely a long-waited pday, as we were very tired after a jam-packed week.

It has been a great experience to be so close to Presidente and Hermana Perez. They are amazing people, and their wisdom and spirituality help me in so many ways. I am amazed at how they take on all of the responsibilities of the mission, and I know that the Lord is helping them, because seeing all of the things that they have to do, especially Presidente Perez, I know that there's no possible way that he could accomplish so much without the help of the Lord. The Lord truly qualifies those who He calls.

One thing that has been super important for me this week has been reading the scriptures. It's so important to remember to read the scriptures every day, even when we are super busy and it seems like there is not time, if we make time for Him, He will make time for us. I know that as we put Him first in our lives, He will help us accomplish all of the things that we need to.

Have a great week!

Elder Meyers

Elder Blackmon, Me, Elder Thompson, and Elder Clayton on the street on pday

Waiting in line to serve the food to the missionaries during the mission conference

We bought 28 kilos (62 pounds) of Grido ice cream for the events this week, jaja, the lady looked at us like we were crazy when we told her we wanted 28 kilos

Me and Elder Clayton with Hno Italo, making the asado in the mission home

All the ice cream we bought

Selfie in front of the mission home

The mission home

In the mission home with Elder Blackmon, Elder Pearson, and the muertos (what we call the missionaries who are going home jaja)

Elder Maynard selfie with all of us in the mission home

At the mission home

Elder Hanson and I at the piano in the mission home

Asado cooking in the mission home

Me, Elder Jensen, and Elder Hanson

Me at the mission home

Santa Fe Mission home

Me getting ready to sing

Singing "Savior, Redeemer of my Soul" at the mission home

Getting ready to sing

                    

Me and Elder Henrichsen (new missionary who just got here), Presidente Perez, and Elder Maynard

Dinner with the new missionaries

Selfie with Elder Clayton at dinner with the new missionaries (I'm in the background)

Santa Fe Mission office

Week 4 Santa Fe Rural C/Oficinas

Another packed week! This week we had our two mission conferences to celebrate el primer aniversario de la Misión Argentina Santa Fe (the first anniversary of the Argentina Santa Fe Mission)! We spent a lot of time preparing and organizing the conferences, it all turned out great. The conferences were very uplifting and inspiring, and the lunches afterwards were super fun. The conferences were Monday and Wednesday, Monday for missionaries in the 5 zones in Santa Fe, and Wednesday for the 4 zones from Entre Rios. In both of the conferences, Presidente and Hermana Perez spoke, as well as the four asistentes. We also had testimonies from missionaries, and watched a slide show with pictures of all the converts since the beginning of the mission, as well as some videos of them bearing their testimonies. The mission choir turned out really well, singing Creo en Cristo (I Believe in Christ), and A Donde Me Mandes Iré (I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go). Presidente loved Creo en Cristo (I Believe in Christ), as that's his favorite hymn. He was smiling the whole time. :) I also sang Salvador, Redentor de Mi Alma (Savior, Redeemer of my Soul) as a prelude, and as an intermediate hymn, we all sang Called to Serve, which brought the Spirit in a powerful way. Afterwards, Presidente and Hermana Perez gave each of us a chocolate bar and a little booklet that we made that has a picture of every missionary in the mission right now (basically like a little yearbook), and then we headed into lunch. The cultural hall was all dedicated with pictures of missionaries and things that have happened in the mission, balloons, etc. It was awesome seeing all the missionaries again. There were three big cakes, and we lit the candles and sang Feliz Cumpleaños (Happy Birthday) to the mission- Monday, since it was the 4th of July, we also sang the Star Spangled Banner, and took a picture with all of the North American missionaries. Wednesday, after we sang, the missionaries who are going home this Monday (Monday is transfers) had to bite the cake. Lots of great memories and great moments. :)

Thursday, we had a giant group of missionaries who had tramites (mission business) in Rosario for DNI (our legal ID in Argentina), almost 40, so we rented two big vans and all went to Rosario together. We were there almost the whole day, but that was fun to get to know another part of Argentina. Rosario is a lot bigger than Santa Fe, so it was cool to spend some time there.

As far as work in the office goes, we still have a lot on our plates, but we continue to organize, file, and register everything, and we're working closely with Presidente and Hermana Perez to make sure everything is done correctly. It has been a great blessing so far being in the office, to be able to get to know Presidente and Hermana Perez better. They are incredible people, who are full of faith and confidence in the Lord, and who love everyone unconditionally. They are amazing examples for me, and I hope someday I can be more like them.

Something from the conferences this week that struck me were some questions that Elder Maynard asked in his talk. He invited us to ponder each of the following questions in our studies:

• How can we invite the Spirit to be present with us all day, every day? 
• What am I doing right now to accomplish that? 
• How can I invite the Spirit more in my life, and what do I need to change to do that?

Along with that was an example that Elder Robles gave in his talk. He showed us a monkey trap that he had made out of paper-mache, and he had put a banana inside. He then had Elder Blackmon come and try to take the banana out, but he couldn't take out his had while he had the banana in his hand. It's an example lots of us have seen before, but it is just as instructive every time. Elder Robles asked us, what are our bananas in the mission, or even more broadly, what are our bananas in our lives? What are we holding on to that is keeping us from progressing, keeping us from being the missionary (or student, or parent, or friend, or disciple) that we want to be? Each of these questions helped me a lot to really think about what I am doing with my time, the choices I am making, and what I can do to change and be better. As President Monson taught us in the last conference, "Our goal is to obtain celestial glory, and the choices we make, in large part, determine whether or not we reach that goal." The choice is ours, all we have to do is continually re-evaluate and re-examine our lives, so that we can continually improve the choices we make and recommit ourselves to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong.

I love you all! Have a fantastic week full of great choices that bring the Spirit!

Elder Meyers

Presidente and Hermana Perez lighting the cakes for the 1st anniversary celebration

All of the missionaries from the United States in the conference on the 4th of July

Lunch was pollo relleno (stuffed chicken, with sauces, chesse, ham, etc...) and garlic mashed potatoes, along with a salad beforehand, and ice cream and cake

Elder Gomez, Elder Fajardo, and me (Elder Gomez was my DL in Nogoya and Elder Fajardo was my MTC companion)

Me and Elder Marquez (Elder Marquez was my companion in Nogoya)

Me, Elder Gonzalez, Elder Marquez, and Elder Rocha (Elder Gonzalez and Elder Rocha were my ZL's in the Parana Sur Zone)

Elder Garibay, me, Elder Fajardo, and Elder Jaramillo (Our MTC district)

Happy 4th of July with Elder Thompson, Elder Blackmon, and me

Me, Elder Ramos, Elder Blackmon, and Elder Clayton with the cakes

Elder Maynard with his America socks and tie, and Elder Blackmon's little flag

A picture of Presidente Perez now and when he was a young missionary

Picture with a bunch of Elders from Entre Rios

Happy 1st Birthday Argentina Santa Fe Mission!

A bunch of missionaries in the office after the celebration.  Elder Hanson (5th from the right) has completed his mission and is heading home.  His parents were here to pick him up and took this picture.

Me, Elder Huerta (my first companion), and Elder

                           

                            Picture of all the missionaries during lunch in a capilla in Rosario

Week 3 Santa Fe Rural C/Oficina

Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes! I had a fantastic birthday! Also, thanks to all my family who wrote me cards and letters, I loved every single one. I wish I could write to each of you and thank you individually, but unfortunately there's never enough time, so just know that I love you and am grateful for each and every one of you. :)

Boy, am I tired. I don't think I've ever been this tired in my whole mission. But it's ok, because I'm having a great time!

We continue to work long hours in the office, preparing budgets and playing hide and seek with all of our receipts. The nice thing is that we can listen to nice soothing Tabernacle Choir music while we work, so it´s all good. I honestly don't mind financial work too much. It makes me a little tired sometimes doing it all day, but it's pretty cool to learn about.

On Tuesday, I had a busy, but awesome birthday. Definitely can't complain. In the morning I got up and opened my packages and letters, which all made me smile a lot. We went to the office then and worked hard on our budget closing all morning, and then Presidente Perez took us all out to lunch for my birthday! It was Presidente and Hermana Perez, us in the oficinas, and the four asistentes, and Elder Ramirez, who had been in the office with us while he awaited results on his exams (he ended up going home this week, which was sad, but good, because it was best for him, and luckily he wasn't too sad because he knew it was what he needed to do to get better, and at least he got to pass his last week well with us in the oficina). We went to the mall down by the river, which is quite big, and very nice. We went to the food court, where there was Subway, Mostaza (super similar to Burger King), McDonalds, a pizzería, and other assorted Argentinian food places. We had a blast, and I got a Subway sandwich, which in fact is just as good in Argentina. We also got McFlurrys with Argentine brand chocolate. It was great. We came back and had another four hour finance meeting with Presidente and Hermana Perez, and then finished out the day getting some things ready that they wanted us to do. That night, we ate a huge cake that Elder Ramirez made for me, with ice cream, and had a mini party. Overall a great birthday.

Today we had our rehearsals for the mission choir, and that was fun as well. We were in the capilla from 10am to 7pm, rehearsing, doing studies, and eating lunch. It came together really well, and should be something very spiritual for the mission conferences this coming week.

This week I was thinking a lot about how critical it is that we have the gospel in our lives, and that we live in accordance with the knowledge that we have, as well as the covenants we have made. We have covenanted to follow Christ, to be His servants, and to be examples of Him in ALL times, ALL things, and in ALL places. That means always, not just sometimes. And we have to live that example even when we are alone, because who we are when we are alone is who we truly are, and what we become in times of great stress. It's easy to keep the commandments and be great disciples of Jesus Christ when things are sunny and happy, but in the hard times, in the trials of life, we need that strength, which will only come if we are living the gospel in every aspect, and in every moment. Que vivamos como Jesucristo quisiera que viviríamos. :)

Thanks again for all of the birthday messages! I love you all! Remember Christ in every moment!

Elder Meyers

Me working on a normal day

Random picture of the office

Me and Lautaro, a super capo who accompanies us all the time, is a converso (convert), only member in his family, and leaves on his mission shortly

Elder Blackmon selfie with Elder Pearson

Birthday lunch! Elder Pearson, Elder Robles, Elder Blackmon, me, and Elder Thompson with Subway in the mall

Elder Robles

Selfie at lunch (it didn't turn out super great, but it's all good

Me and Elder Maynard

My subway lunch, with Lay's that were pretty much bacon flavored.  They were pretty good. :)

All of us with our McFlurry's

Me and Elder Thompson with my package and his toothbrush jaja

Pictures from our little cake and ice cream party that we had in the oficina (Elder Ramirez made the cake, and it was super good, it was chocolate and peach)

My birthday cake that Elder Ramirez made

Elder Ramirez and me

Me, Elder Blackmon, Elder Ramirez, Elder Thompson, Elder Clayton, and Elder Robles

Picture of the Argentina Mission Choir!

Presidente and Hermana Perez gave me a box of alfajores for my birthday :)