August 9th Weekly Letter

Hello Everyone. I have a lot to tell you. I have had quite the week here. It is great to hear from everyone. Your emails and fotos keep me going out here. It reminds me i still have a loving family and that im not forgetton. Thank you for that. I cant wait to see you all. But for now i will keep working and learning and growing :)

I forgot to mention that i got to train the new group of missionaries that came in. We gave some presentations and what not on how the mission works. It was fun. The new group is solid. But we ate lunch with president and it was a great time.

Ok. well this week. ummm. we ahve been working more in the area. We have found a new investigator. She is 23 and has 3 kids but she is super cool. She listens and knows its good but has trouble with her commitments to go to church and read. She is praying which is good. But also we have been to the hospital for my comps leg still. I think we are done going now.....i hope. 

Ok. well lets see. where do i begin this crazy week. monday and tuesday we prepared everything for the consejo de lideres that we have every month for the zone leaders and hermana training leaders. But so we gave a presentation in that meeting about the new re integros form and what not but you wont understand. Then we had lunch with them and thats the picture im in. After the consejo, we went to a late lunch because we forgot we had a lunch that day as we are just starting to eat with members again. but we ate again and i almost puked i was so full but they were mad we were so late at the beginning. By the end of our message we shared they asked us to come saturday today for another lunch. We already had other plans so next week better. By this time after the meeting and lunch, the rest of the leaders of the zones and sister leaders got out of the meeting and all starting booking it to the office i got about 20 calls in 5 minutes. We got back to the office and a tornado had hit with missionaries. Everyone was inside asking me question after questions and it was NUTS. But by the end i helped everyone with what they need and got them out of there. But it was wrecked after they left, the bolsa room.

After that at about 6 pm, we went to pay the sister who made the lucnhes for the meeting. Apparently she came to the office while we were at lunch and got offended and went home crying or balling as they said. So we went to visit her and see what happened. We payed her and turns out she was stressed and that someone told her we had no money so....ya but its ok now. 

After paying the hermana, we waited at the casa grande for the assistants to come back with the truck. We waited about an hour and finally they showed up. At 7 pm we loaded up the rest of the bunk beds from the casa grande because we are getting out of it and moving, and had to take bunk beds to the hermanas pension. So us 4 went and unloaded the beds at the sisters place. It was a little strange seeing an hermanas apartment....and being in there while they weree.....but it was good and we put 3 bunkbeds in the pension. We had to put them through the windows as there was no other way to do it. I will send picturees. Then we went home and that was the day. 

The next morning, Thursday we just started working in the office at 9 like normal when elder furlanich called me. He was out doing tramites at the migrations office with 6 hermanas. He called me and said the banks are all on paro. or on strike kind of. So none are open. He said we had to go right now to picke them up and go to plottier to pay the tramite. Plottier was the only place that you can pay during the paros. SO. we took the corolla and went to migrations and went to plottier. On the way, about 3/4 of the 20 minute drive, we see police in the street and a pile of tires burning and a bunch of crazy people running around......A company in plottier was on strike and they cut the highway off.....So we couldnt enter plottier by car. We drove right up to the line of guys and said hey come on just let us in we just need to pay tramites, and they said VAYAN! So we thought of a plan to get in. I dropped Furlanich and Castillo off to go into plottier walking and they did. They just walñked right past and through the line of crazy guys. i was a little nervous for them.....but hey went in anyways. We then went to wait for them to return. About 5 minutes in, we decided to go find a way in and we did. We found a dirt road that went to the middle of nowhere but eventually we got into plottier. Then we found the 2 elders who paid the tramite and returned on the same dirt road. I will also send pictures of the adventure. 

We get back and i had tons to do in the office. I got to see some of my best friends in the mission. From the MTC, bariloche, etc. They had to wait in the office until 6 pm to go on their bus back to their areas. you can only do tramites here in the capital. But they all helped me do the bolsas and stuff. It was great. After, we went to our pension and visited a few people. Then traveled back to stay at the casa grande. We got some pizza and then played monopoly until 11 30 becasue i had to take the assistants to the bus terminal at midnight to go on exchanges in Zapala. So we did that. Got homwe and went to bed at 1. Then woke up at 5 to take elder rodriguez to the termianl back to his area. Then we got up and made it to the bank at 8 pm. waited in 2 hours of fila, or the line, and the check we prepared was rejected because it was written bad or something....but then we went back to the office, then back to  the bank and payed it. Then we went o pick up some office supplies we desperately needed for president. Then we poicked up our lunch. Then i got back to the office and prepared all the bolsas to be shipped out. We had lunch with president and it was Elder Arnaudins Birthday. He is the old matrimonio missionaries. He and his wife. They are from Buenos aires, But then after lunchi sent the bolsas out and at 3 pm. we had out zone training meeting. It was good. from 3 to 6. Then we rushed after looking for a taxi for an hour to get to a noche de hogar that we had with a family. 

SIDE STORY: the bus system is also on strike here becasue something with the banks....but so everyone was using taxis this is why it was hard to get a taxi. I waved one down in the street and we got in and rushed to our appointment. 

We then arrived wt the family home evening to find 3 new investigators. Only one of them really listened but it turned out great. We shared how we cant follow satan and Jesus at the same time. And how eventually we have to choose. It hit her pretty hard and she is coming to our activity today at 4. Were going to play games and make Tacos. But that was the night. 

Now im here on p day and we actually have no p day probably. I want to get a haircut but we have no way to do it today. Im sorry if some thigns made no sense im taking very fast.

A little of what i have learned this week is that if we want to have success and be happy we have to be willing ot make sacrifices. For every goal there is always a sacrifice. Its a lot easier to do things when we think of our perfect example in Jesus Christ and how he gave the ultimate sacrifice to us so that we can have eternal life. We are always in debt. We need to always repent. And if we can just do our best we should have nothing to worry about.

Love you all i will send pictures now!!! ;o 

Elder Westensee

August 4th Weekly Letter

Hey everyone. Sorry i didnt write on p day. had no time and no place to write. But here i am now. A lot has happened this past week. A LOT. I will try explaining all of it.

On saturday i decided i will look for some new shoes as i have been painfully trying to use up my last pair and i have officially deemed the shoes as dead. 4 holes and ruined shoelaces was enough. Not to mention they didnt have insoles. But anyways i bought a new pair of nice ones i like. Maybe i will send a foto. 

Ok, now with the week

Sunday- We went to church in the morning and then went to a lunch after with 6 elders total. Elder Thurman and Elder Mena left the office and this was like the last day to eat with them and say goodbye. It was a great huge lunch. After, we began walking back to the pension to weekly plan. It was raining gently and cold. We were just walking tranquilo and a brown dog with a limp tail walked towards us very sluggishly. I thought nothing of it and neither did my comp. The dog started growling quietly and went behind my comp slowly as we kept walking. Next thing i knew, the dog had bit my comps leg and i started running a little just cause i was scared as it made me jump and i had adrennaline running. But then we just kept walking and i went back to try to peg the dog with a rock but he ran off. My comp was like oh my gosh! Ouch. I was like yas ya like that sucks. But then hes like.....ummm estoy sangrando afeull che! I was like yeah yeah right just a little spec or cut of blood. He lifts up his pant leg and Oh my sweet betsycakes I have never seen the inside of someones like outside....it was nasty. His pantleg was so bloody. Drenched in blood. We walked to the nearest corner and called the assistants to come get us in the ranger. I called them and they thought iwas joking and so i passedthe phone to my comp and he was so serious and like if you dont get here right now i will kill you type thing. Super funny cause they came in like 10 minutes and still couldnt believe it, then they saw his leg ahhaahhahaha they freaked out. We went to the hospital. Can i just say i am grateful for the healthcare we have. We went in and it was a full room and no one was at the counter.......odd. So we left and went to a private one where we got better service. But we went in and they said we needed 100 pesos to even be looked at. NOBODY HAD MONEY. So the assistants left and took out 100 pesos at an ATM down the road. Finally they got him in and bandaged it up. They couldnt put stictches as it was too open and too much risk for infection. So we have been going twice a day to the hospital to get his cut cleaned and re-bandaged. IT SUCKS because he is lazy as it is. NOW he has a reason to say well, my leg hurts we cant go out and work. So this week i just read a lot of scriptures and started JEsus the Christ again. That book is great by the way. But i feel guilty because I havent visited hardly anyone this week. But its an opporutunity to be patient. I am struggling to be positive cause he can totally walk and work but he just says he cant cause he is lazy :( What can ya do. This week i am having the ZL´s come with me to get some work done and help people!

OK. Wow that was long but thats what happened. I will send some pics this week as well. 

Another thing that happened this week thats crazy but funny.

I am in charge of the materials as you may know. I do the orders and wait for them to get here at the office from Buenos Aires. So. Monday, we take a taxi to the office after going to the hospital. We get there at about 8 45. I see outside the office a big truck that delivers the materials. I was so pumped to to see this truck as i knew we needed some materials! Now, this is the monday of transfers so there is about 10 missionaries in the office just hangin out and whatever. As i get out of the taxi i see loads and loads of baxes going in.....all the missionaries are looking at me with scared faces like ¨WHAT DID YOU DO!!!¨ I was like haha whats wrong elder? I go inside and what i saw i will never forget. BOXES UP TO THE CEILING IN THE MATERIALS ROOM COVER ALMOST EVRY INCH OF THE ROOM. we recieved that day 185 boxes of pamphlets, books of mormon and other supplies. I DID NOT order that many things. Bu8t i found the problem. I asked for 750 unidades or UNITS of pamphlets. a unit is a single pamphlet and they come in packages of 25. The lady on the phone put me down fro 750 Packages!!! So thats why we got so many. But I fixed it in about 2 hours with everyones help and now we have enough pamphlets for about 2 years :) This whole time iwas hoping president didnt come around hahahaha he never found out! QUe suerte. But i told him and he thought it was funny. 

Ok. I wish i was able to tell you some great spiritual experiences with investigators but at this moment i have just been having my own in my personal studies. But its alllll gooood.

Alrighty. Thats whats been going on. I am so excited to get back out there in the field today maybe with the zone leaders and teach people. I am very excited for this as I am dying inside just sitting in the pension all day. I have played the guitar a lot but its not fun to play when im not working. I like playing the guitar as a reward like from 9 45 to 10 30 but any other time i dont pick it up. 

I love you all i will send some pics. :) If you have any questions about anything let me know!

Elder Westensee

4th of July Family Letter

Wow. Funny how the 4th of july passed just like every other day.....literally had no idea. So i didnt really miss home too much. I love being cut off from everything i once knew. Its so strange. But so rewarding. And worth it.

I got an email today from my converts in bariloche. They are doing so well!!!! JULIAN and GERMAN are so great. they are going to get the priesthood soon! WOWOWOW. That made my whole mission right there. It was awesome. I love the work we do and to be able to see the miracle and blessings of the gospel. It truly is incredible the miracles i have seen.

This week was just another week really. We slept in the casa grande all week as we had tramites to do and banks to pay and other things. our pension is about 6 miles from the office, where the casa grande is 2 blocks. so we stayed there all week. 

This morning we played soccer in the backyard a little. it was really fun. My comp went to Bahia Blanca this week as well for trmites for spain. ummmm......i dont know what tosay.

Our area.....i havent seen it for a week. we are very busy and havent had to time to check on how it is. But we were able to visit some menos activos. It was great. They had the game on and i saw a commercial for IPOD 5s i think it was? Looked so amazing. so amazing. blew my mind. I forgot about apple. 

But.....in the lesson this guy was just mad. he is the guy with a cathider for 6 months now and cant get surgery because they dont have the equipo....but he prayed with us again and by the end he was smiling and laughing and a lot more happy. Sometimes people feel alone and that god hates them. Its quite the opposite. ANd all they need to do is feel the spirit and remember that god is there and love them very much. Anytime someone goes inactive or is having trouble its because they have forgotten how it feels to feel the spirit. Or they have done something to not be able to feel the spirit. We need to repent every day nad watch ourselves like it says in mosiah so we dont fall. SO heres a question for everyone...how many times a week do you feel the spirit in your life? We have to feed ourselves spiritually as well and read and pray and go to church. Even 10 minutes a day can change everything. JUst remember that! 

Not too much else is going on. Wow. i dont know what to say.....i miss you all and maybe will send pictures sometiem. Chao have a great week! miss you guys.

elder westensee

Family Email- July 28th

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a great week! I miss you all. Happy Birthday dad! Sounds like all is well back home. Same old same old. 

I have been pretty busy over here just working hard like normal. Im gettine pretty burned out physically and mentally. Im looking for my second wind. Its a tough assignment i have to be in the office. Its not like a normal missionary. Its interesting as i am on the computer everyday and dont feel too disconnected if that makes sense. I feel OF the world if that makes sense. But its a sacrifice im willing to take. Someone has to do it and i know i will be fine and i dont have to be here the whole mission. I am still learning tons however about the gospel just in a different manner and i have different opporutunities in the office to learn. 

This past week was great. Flew by. My new comp is a little bit of a challenge but not too bad. He is just a little pesado and unhappy all the time. I feel like he is just here for his girlfriend as he has no desire to go out and work like i do. Its really tough for me. I need to be patient with him. He is also struggling with the schedule. He is trying to lose weight as he has gained a ton and is almost unable to ride bike and stuff. But he has already lost 8 lbs with me so im pretty stoked about that. hopefully we can keep it up. But he eats a ton of crap and a lot of it. If you put a plate of brownies around him he will scarf down the whole thing. Its not funny because he really has a problem. He tries hiding it and acting like he didnt eat any. But i am trying to help him and keep him exercising. So thats what im working with these days. But he is a great guy overall. No problems other than he is a little lazy. 

Well. last saturday we went to subway for lunch on p day in the middle of downtown neuquen. They have TV´s there so we saw the Argentina game finish where they beat Iran 1-0 with a late Messi goal. It was intense cause everyone in subway was going nuts. But after we went out into the streets and it was scary. We started walking through a park where nobody was and watched the chaos as cars zooming all over the place yelling out the windows. I have never seen anything like it. Everyone honking and going nuts! I will never forget that moment.

We then went to get out of the chaos and got ice cream. IN the Gridos, thats what the ice cream shop is called here like a baskin robbins. But some guy asked me tons of questions about our religion and stuff. He was a preacher. He talked about how all we need to be saved is love god. We talked for a good 30 minutes. He started bashing Joseph smith and stuff. About every 10 seconds he would stop and say Amen? like a preacher does. Eventually I stopped saying amen. Because at first he was like ¨god loves us¨ Amen? I was like ....uhhh yes. amen. After about 10 amens, he started preaching false doctrine. He looked at me and i just stared at him when he told me AMEN? I just stared into his eyes. He said AMEN? again. He looks at his friend and started laughing and says again and looks at me ¨can i get an amen?¨ I said no, i am sorry but i dont agree with what your saying. then i shared my testimony and we kindly left the store after giving him a book of mormon and inviting him to read. I wasnt rude. I wast disrespectful. But im not going to tell him i agree, when i simply dont agree. 

I am very grateful for the experiences i have everyday. Small things like this are more of the experience I am getting these days. I love it so much. But these expereinces help me grow personally. 

Lets see.....This week was normal a lot of office work. We have a few baptisms coming up. One today at 6 pm. Leandro. He is so great. he has a strong testimony. He plays guitar and just is a capo....and Octavio will be baptized in Julio. But thats about it for our area. We are having good success. Im very excited for our area.

I wish i could tell you tons of stories from this week but i am out of time. ok one more real quick.

So as of late i have been driving a lot. To banks, and to migrations for tramite work and other things. taking people to the terminal, etc. But we have a toyota corrolla and a ford ranger 2013. Its so sick. The ranger is a manual so you know i love driving it! Its turbo as well ;))))))) anyways. I have been driving a lot and its going well. Its sketchy as crud, has there is no stop signs and people are nuts. Also, no lines on the road. But heres the funny story. Were in the garage and the truck is parked behing the corolla. And its parked about an inch away from the corolla. Very close. I got in and started the ranger. I let off the clutch....and BANG! It jumps right into the back of the corrola. I thought the car was in neutral but it was in 1st!!!!!! oh my crap. We banged into the car and then i put it in reverse and backed out about 3 feet. My heart sank and i felt like crud. At first i wanted to get out and run away haha. But then i was like....lets...say a prayer...haha. So we did. My comp kindly offered it. Then he says amen and we both just book it out of that car to look at the damage....Turns out there is a tiny scratch no mas. SOOOO lucky. I thought we went deep into the trunk with how hard we hit it. So lucky. And i was thinking..its the other elders fault for parking too close...but then i realized. if anything that helped me do less damage. I would have picked up more momentum if it wasnt so close! So wow. Scared me pretty good but everything is ok and i can still drive! But that was funny cause i had to show president and the other old elder what happened. They werent mad. They kinda laughed....so ya. That was funny.

That was my week! Things are good. Im skinny still. Love you all.

Elder westensee

Weekly Email. July 21st.

Hola everyone. sounds like life just keeps rolling along. its good to hear from everyone and that things are good. im not going to lie some days i get very trunky! or I miss home. But its not a sad trunky. Its just like oh man that sounds so good right now type thing. Like lifting weights and hangin out in the movie room. Hangin out at BYU with tyler, going up to the hot springs (im referencing the one time i went with tyler at night and doug and james), just stuff like that. Golfing, skiing, food, cars, THE WORLD. But then i remember, oh wait...i dont have to worry about anything like that.... its nice sometimes. But then again i miss it. 

This week was a good week. We had transfers. Elder Real is now in the pension. He is from Spain, Barcelona. As my companion of course. He is really funny. He talks like a barcalonean..i think thats how you say it. But he knows english really well. He says some really funny stuff and the fact he has a lisp makes it even funnier. I think im going to start a quote book. Like for example he says in a wispering voice (i have a 1000 farts) or ¨"I need help i will pay you 1000 dollars to help me"

He is really funny. But anyways its hard at the same time cause our schedule is very riggurous and he has trouble physically. He is a little overweight. So when we get back to the pension at about 6 at night he is too tired to go work. It kills me i cant just go out and work i dont feel good when we dont work so its a challenge for me. But igual we get to work a little so its ok. I have just been staying positive and happy and making lots of jokes. I hope i can keep it going cause everything is better with jokes. 

but.....im just sitting here eating some facturas. in the office. its pretty tranky around here.

i will tell you a little about the week. 

we looked for a pension a few nights because the big house the mission has is getting too expensive so we are looking for 4 new pensions. Our pension is demasiado far away so we are lloking for a new one as well. No luck. the economy here is trash. The dollar now is 12 pesos. climbed 4 pesos. its nuts. We got to work a little in the area but nothing too spectacular. we have 4 citas en la noche so we should be able to get some work done tonight. Im excited. we have a member who is coming as normal as well. we dont do much work anymore just us 2, always there is a member. But Octavio and Luis are doing ok. well see if they arrive to their fechas. Octavio i berleive will be baptized maybe not now with us but someday. im hoping he decides to change sooner. he is a smoker. but still he loves the churchand comes with us to church. 

But thats about everything......i will answer some of the questions now from mom.

In the office.....its not a matter of how many weeks i have left...its a matter of months. and as of right now im looking at 4.5 months more. i hope 3 months maximo but i dont know...

On P day we clean in the morning and study. Then ride bikes to the office which is to the pioint where i am now. We email and clean the office a little. Then we do compras or groceries and then....take a nap in the big house down the road or play cards or chess......then we go back at about 6 and start working in the area. Today we are planning on going to subway for lunch. But today i had to be here at 9 like normal cause yesterday was fairiado or holiday...so we have to work today with the business that ships out materials for us. So im just waiting for them to come right now. Argentina plays at 1 o clock today in the world cup its crazy outside. lots of hustle and bustle. There is a huge screen in the middle of the street right outside the pension so maybe well go catch a little of the game haha! just kidding its dangerous for gringos to be outside people are crazY! but thats a normal p day just looking for somehting to do mainly...

As far as friends go, yes i making a lot of friends and will definatley look up a lot after the mission. Theres some awesome sisters as well. But like elder hill, nobmann, quinonez, bennette, thurman, slavens, etc. theres a ton of friends that i would like to find after the mission. I think i want to room with elder hill if i decide to go to BYU. BYU idaho frineds i have a whole new slate. Elder langford, ogden, and a lot of sisters. Im so torn on where to go to school it sucks. But yes i am getting to know a ton of people and will look them up after for sure.

Apartment is tiney but ok. Yes warm enough. Its just a little smal and far away....we have to carry the bikes up a narrow staircase every morning and night when we use bikes. then we put them in the tiny kitchen hardly enough room to walk around. 

Snow here in neuquen is rare. But in my last area which i dearly miss they are getting dumped on....its a sore subject cause bariloche was the best area i have had and did great things there and now im sitting in an office allday...the weatehr is warmer here. But bariloche is world renown for chocolates and ski resort catedral. Its a great area! 

Thats about it. ... I feel like im running out of things to say. Although i am not working tons like before in an area, i still am learning a lot about myself as a person and what i want to become or be. I am learning a lot about the scriptures as well and how to be a better missionary.

I have been especially reading in alma. i have learned that we are nothing and that we are just the instruments. With this knowledge we just have to prepare ourselves to allow the spirit to work through us. Also we need to have the faith that the spirit will guide us. Faith and fear cannot co exist. 

Well have a great week yall. hasta la proxima semana!

elder westensee

p.s. i like questions! and fotos

Week 6 In the Office

Hello greatest family in the world! I love you all. We had a crazy week. Nuts about berries, Animal style week. So busy, so weird. I will try to explain it the best i can.

Estaba pensando a enojarles y escribir solomente en español porque necesito practicar! Cada dia estoy hablando en ingles y estoy perdiendo todo que he aprendido. Que lastima! Entonces, solo quise decir esto y bueno, regresamos a ingles.....

So. Well start with just expereinces. I dont want to go day by day cause i dont remember. 

This week was fun and absolute infierno as well. Its transfer week in the office so everyone is working overtime and stressing. 

We all got to go in the president office and see the tablero or the....board of missionaries and the changes they made. I stay here and will be a DL as well as financiero of the mission. IM excited i already know what im doing basically. I will be with elder Real from Barcelona. He has a barcelona accent. look it up it sounds like he has a lisp, which is part of the accent. He is funny. He whispers in my ear all the time ¨I have a thousand farts¨ i just start laughing cause he knows english well but his accent is a lisp and he is just a funny guy. We will be in the pension far away about 4 miles so we will have our bikes still.

I have been starting to try to do P-90X some more and more. I have been killing my abs and arms more or less. But i was sick and its hard to recover quickly so im taking it easy and trying to eat more everyday. I am now officially bug free. Thank you all for your prayers i feel strengthened. I was worried for a while there. But everything is better and im getting a little better as far as eating. 

This week we had some great lessons. One night we were going around visiting people and it was about 8 30. I said ¨elder i have to go home its too dangerous, its dark and i had a dream im going to die and ohhh i cant do it elder we have to go back to the pension¨ I was just messing around acting like an old campanion i had. But in the midst of joking around and just kind of walking from appointment to apointment we stumbled upon a red porton. I was like hey, lets go visit Luis and set a date! ANd my  comp was like Elder, we have tried for 4 and a half months to set a date, he is catholic and will not listen and will not accept anything. I liiked it. I said you know what elder ok. ok i will do it. Lets go in there and do this right now. My comp was like ok, but just watch! You wont set a date.

I loved the challenge. This guy is 91 years old and has trouble hearing but is very sweet old man. Love jesus very much but just doesnt understand that his catholic baptism was not like that of Jesus Christs baptism. Anyways, we went in and were going to teach. On my way walking in a leaned to my comp and smiled and said dude, i got this dont even say a word, and hes like, ok. lets see this then. We were both very happy and kind of playing around a little the whole night and this ¨challenge¨ was part of the fun. 

I went into that guys house with absolute confidence and i said whatever came to my mind and just threw it out there and shared a scripture in the book of mormon. I dont know what i said or how i said it but i literally felt someone else talking for me. After speaking to him and throwing it all down and testifying, he sat there silent. He then said ¨you know what, you changed my mind¨ i will read this book and pray about it and i will prepare to be baptized. He said he felt something he has never felt before. He is excited to come to church sunday and start preparing. We left that lesson jaw dropped. 

We got back to the pension and just starting talking about what happened. I just told him i dont know what just happened or how i did that but it was amazing and we were pumped. What a lucky opporutunity we have to be instruments in the hands of the lord! We know that we are nothing! But in gods strength we can do all things! 

So that was a cool experience.

We had some other good lessons and successes but that one stood out. 

We had an asado last night. we were watching the guy cook it and he would just feed us like dogs with pieces of meat. It was sooooo good. best meat i have ever had. 

but hey it was good to hear from you all and see those pictures!!!!

any questions? let me know!!!!

CHAO CHAO 

elder westensee

Day 367- "Bug"

So it looks like i have been out a year! wow time flies when your having fun. Its been a good chunk of time and i have learned a lot. Looks like the cabin is coming along nicely. Thats exciting. Tyler is also coming along nicely with his muscles. He needs to help me out. I lost 7 pounds this week and i will tell you why in a sec. But sounds like all is well! Im glad a year has passed but im excited to keep going and im not looking back.

this week was interesting. Last sunday is when it all started. I went to bed saturday night with a stomach ache and didnt sleep well at all. Got up at about 5 30 and just had terrible....it was bad. I didnt throw up though. But then we got up went to church and i was just feeling crappy. We went out at 5 and i was just dying. We were with a youth from our ward as an activity where we had to get so many lessons and pass out book of mormons as a game there were many things to this game. But whoever had the most points won at the end of the night. So were just going around and teaching and finding and im just dragging behine feeling like crud. I make it back to the church and i just am sitting there wanting to die. I get up and run to the bathroom and just throw up 5 times. I felt so much better after. I thought i was better so i stayed and finished the activity that night and felt good.

Monday we got up and it was a normal day. Did office work and all sorts of fun things.....I still had really bad diarrhia. I dont know i coulnt eat very much. But just kept trudging through everyhting.

This whole week i have had stomach aches and diarrhia really bad, worst in my life. I have crapped my pants 3 times this week. Ya ya ya its funny but its uncontrollable! I didnt realize how crazy it could get. And as to this day i still have it really bad. I have lost 7 pounds.

Its not that i am "sick" to where i cant function, but i have bad stomach problems. I can still do things and  function normally but when i got to the bathroom its just straight up water. I have called the nurse and she told me to buy yogurt and gatorade and some pills so i did. But its still really bad. So i think i might have to get an antibiotic cause i have a virus.

Couple of funny moments though- We were leaving the office at 5 o clock and we were both just tired and super drowzy. Were just walking and im like "man im so wiped" we both just thought about the day for like 2 seconds and started laughing cause i went to the bathroom about 7 times. haha. We have been quoting that for a while now.

Also our bathroom doesnt have toilet paper, We keep forgetting and its not easy to just go out and but tp. it takes a lot casue the place to get it is far away so i have been dying just showering after everytime.

Last night we were doing p 90x ab ripper. We started and i thought i was done being sick, ya know. I start doing some ab ripper and 25 seconds in i crapped my pants. Full on legit nasty. Ran to the bathroom laughing and so was my companion. But it sucks at the same time cause there was no toilet paper. So i just got in the shower again. This process happened a few times this week.

Its been rough. I hope i can get better im getting thinner. I can feel it. My pants are a lot looser. I am going to pack it on when i get home. I am determined to lift hard and gain weight. I think about it every day and am starting to exercise in the mornings.

Well, im sorry all i talked about was poo but thats just how it was this week and maybe how its going to be next week. But just appreciate the food over there and the sanitation.

Transfers will be a week from monday so that should be interesting to see. im staying basically but my comp is going.

Our area is doing good. we have a baptism coming up- Octavio. He is 71 and loves the church. He is quitting smoking and is determined to get to his date. we found him just walking on the street and started talking to him. cool experience to teach him. His feet are shaped like bananas. But hes great!

Any questins? love yall

elder westensee

May 24th

Hola Familia. Another week has gone by....well. 5 days. My p day will be saturday now. Well. Its hard to explain. We do our shopping and cleaning and writing family saturday mornings until 1. Then on monday we have p day from 1 to 6. To spend time with our district which is just us and 4 hermanas. But still it should work out ok. I hope everyone is doing ok with health and what not. 

This week was interesting. Monday we just hung out wrote our families in the office and then went to the casa grande down the road, where the asistants live and where the bunkhouse is with 22 beds. We took a nap on the couches for 2 hours then went to grido ice cream. It was good. Then we worked in the office all night until 9. Pretty lame.

Tuesday we went to the office like normal in the morning and then went out to work at 5. We went with elder furlanich so us 3 with a member to a menos activo family. It just so happened that this day was the day her father passed away a year ago so it was very emotional for her. But we shared heleman 5 and had everyone go around and share their testimony about Jesus Christ. it was great. Then we had cake and sprite. Then went home and went to bed.

Wednesday we stayed over night at the casa grande cause we had to stay up until 1 30 to pick people up at the bus terminal. We then went to bed at 2. Got up at 6 to do the tramites work and went all day just working like normal. We went back to the casa grande to saty again. So i was wearing my suit for 3 days straight. I slept in my suit pants causei had no other clothes or toothbrush or anything. It was rad. Then thursday we had zone conference all day with president. I already knew the entire meeting as i helped plan it and the asistents are basically my companions. But still it was good. from 7 am to 5 pm. It was good. It flew by.  We had some good lunch. I met a sister from herriman high school. She graduated in 2013. Hna. maynard. she played basketball and she is cool. But ya it was a good conference. After, we went to the office and i did the bolsas with materials all night for the next day to ship them out. 

Thursday....oh wait, this was the conference day....

Friday we were dead and had racoon eyes from the week so we just worked in the office all night as it was busy. we went to subway this week at least.....Also on friday 8 elders and sisters came to the office to do visa work and so we ate lunch with them....well...they ate my lunch haha but oh well i got subway....but anyways an elder there ,elder rasmussen is still in bariloche. He told me whats going on in my area and also that Sergio, the guy from Australia i found, i dont know if you remember, but he is getting baptized today. I found that out cause elder rasmussen is baptizing him. It sucks kind if cause he was my friend i wanted to be there for his baptism, and we found him, I remember no one was talking to him so i went over and invited him. But man i just feel like crud missing out on that baptism. I taught him the first 3 lessons in english too. But oh well. Its not important who does it as long as its done. Also, i found out german got baptized along with the family of 5!!! Makes me very happy but inside it sucks. I wanted to be there as i worked my butt off to help those people. Im learning some pretty good lessons thats for sure. 

As of right now we dont even have an investigator really .we have no time to go out these days. But its ok im doing fine. I miss the field more than i miss home. I am not a person to sit inside all day by myself and pack bags and sort mail. So for that, i am a little bummed. But im doing ok. Its only another 4 months and i will be out again in my natural habitat. 

But ya. its getting cold here, and just staying busy. I miss you all and love you very much. 

On a side note, theres a ukelele in the casa grande where we stay half the time. I am learning to play that too. I lvoe instruments now i dont know whats going on. I want to learn to play the violin and cello and stuff. Kind of weird desires but i dont know. For now well just stick with the guitar and UKE. 

Love you all....any questions? Have a great week! Im running out of stuff to write. 

Elder Westensee

May 19- HOLA

It was a good week. Very tranquilo which is always good. I am getting a little more used to the office but still would rather be out and about. But oh well. Im getting over it. So this week was full of fun news from home :) IM e xcited for the cabin and a few othjer surprises that were gonna keep on the DL. But im glad everyone is doing good i loved skyping. Just so You all know Saturday will be my preffered day to email. I am not saying every saturday but the majority, yes. So expect for that.

Keegan Call, a good friend of mine is now an AP in the mission in North Carolina. He is a capo. I miss him im sure hes killingit out there, BUt i was happy to hear about him. I hope doug is doing well too. And lindsey. its been a while since i heard from lindsey. but ya.

This week not a whole lot happened. Church was good and things are going. We have some good investigators but had to give them away cause it wasnt our area. i had no idea we were wroking in the other area but now i know and now were not leaving our area. So were kind of looking still for more solid investigators but we have found a few maybes. 

This week we had exchanges on Thursday night and friday. did it with the zone leaders and it was good. we all 4 of us went to Centro, the city with highrises and worked. We stayed in the pension that is 8 stories high so that was fun. The deck outside was sketchy as there was a short railing and a long way to fall so i stayed on the inside more.....but it was fun. I met a recent convert who has tatoos on every part of his body....and apparently he worships satan now....not sure how he got baptized.....but oh well. It was a good exchange.

I really dont remember much from this week......we are seeing changes in the asistencia in the church we had 97 sunday. We hope to get 125 by the end of the transfer. Its fun seeing changes in the work. 

Wow. I really dont know what to say here.....im just going, everything that happens is just normal to me now so i just forget it......haha

I havent been playing the guitar hardly at all cause we have no time. So i think im getting worse. And i havent been able to study so im losing a little of my teaching and confidence in sharing but its ok. I am still settling in in the office  and getting used to it all.  

Later today we are meeting up with the district to hang out finally. so that will be fun. We have us and 4 hermanas. only 1 gringa and my comp who is gringo but still it shouldb e fun. 

love you all. good luck with everything. Stay safe and healthy. Read Heleman 5 9-12. Remember we are saved FROM our sins and not IN them. chao!

Elder Westensee

May 5- Hey Everyone

Hola Familia. This week was nuts about berries. I say that cause i met an hermana who also knows about zupas. Kind of fun to talk about zupas. I miss zupas. I lvoe zupas. I want to go to zupas. Anyways. This week was busy. A little dissapointing but also uplifting.

First off, i am being transferred to Neuquen Centro Limay. I am going to be working in the office. I dont know if i am excited or not. I never wanted to be an office elder. My district will be all sisters. 6 sisters and my comp and i. My companion will be elder Thurman. He is cool i already know him. Very chill and hard worker. Everyone says that all the capos go to the office but well see. I still will have an area but i will only be able to work from 6 to 9 pm every day. I will be doing tramite work and training stuff and financial help as well. My spanish is pretty good so i think thats why i am also going. But im happy and willing to do what the lord needs of me and i have no problem going to Neuquen. I will miss barloche. Que lastima que tengo que dejar MI amigo German. No llego a su bautismo pero va a bautizar sabado...but its ok. I still feel a part of it. German missed his baptism this friday but is going to baptize saturday so i will miss that.

This week was good. Very tranquilo and we didnt work a whole lot in our area. I went on exchanges with the Zone leaders. It was good as always. We had fun. Also we had Elder Vinas of the 70 to talk to us about the atonement. There is a lot more to the atonement than we think. I learned a lot. Makes sense, everything. But more than anything i go off the feelings i get in those meetings it was great. 

Lunes..... P day was dumb. hate to say it but we did cyber and went to the stake center..... and sat there all day. At least i got to talk about zupas....

martes..... the las tdistrict meeting we played games as normal and had some good talks. Im going to miss this district they are great. Then we went and found some new people to teach and set some dates as normal. 

MIercoles. We had choir practice and i dont remember wehat else sorry. Its all getting to be more or less the same...

Jueves we got elders from El bolson to stay with us to attend the meetings with elder vinas. It was a great experience. They are fun elder puente de mexico and elder Moser from califdornia. I talked with moser about sports all night and everything. He knows tons about sports so it was fun. 

viernes...oh today was the vinas meetings. all day we were at the stake center..

sabado. We had the whole stake at the meetings it was good. We also got ther transfer calls. It was fun. 

Sunday....we had anohter meeting with vinas and it was good....lots of the same stuff but good. Then we said by to everyone in the zone and now im here... 

i packed last night and this morning my clothes barely dried in time. I dont know if i c¡told you but i have been washing my clothes in a bucket with soap for 3 months. its cruddy. Then we hang them by the heater to dry. 

I am excited to skype on sunday. im going to send pictures now. I leave today for neuquen the 7 hour travel at 3 pm today. 

love you all thanks for the support. Miss you all. Chao. 

elder Westensee 

April 28 2014- what's Up- with pictures

Hola Familia, 

What a week this was. Busiest week in a while. I think i passed out twice this week. I am glad things are good at home and life is just going. The blazers are doing good and thats all that matters haha. Just kidding. I miss you all and i love you all.

P day we went bowling again and just hung out. I played horse in the stake center against this sister from lone peak. She is super cool. She beat me and i was trying actually. BUt that was P day. oh and i played ping pong....

This week was great like i said. We achieved what they call ¨the standard of the mission¨ which is a set of numbers you have to achieve to have the standard. We did it.ANd now the zone leaders are buying us facturas!!!! Julian was baptized saturday. I was able to do that and what an experience. It was great. HArd work paying off. We have another Baptism Friday. German. He wants me to baptize him because i found him with figueroa my last companion and he knows me really well. But i am trying to have my comp to be the one so its even. My comp es mas capo he visto en mi vida en serio. El es la razon por todo del exito. BUt well see when friday comes i wouldnt mind baptizing again. 

All is well. Every day this week was non stop go. go. go. NO time to think rest or do anything. Fastest week of my life. LIFE. not just the mission. BUt it was very hard work and i am feeling it right now. Hopefully we can repeat again this week the standard. 

Well im not going to lie. IM not sure what else to say here. Im getting tired of writing i feel like its the same things...

This week we have been planning our branch activity. oh, sunday we had 72 people in church which was also a record for us. But we are going to have an activity thursday. Everyone has to bring a different creative pizza to share. Also we have assigned the young men, women, primary and other groups to do a skit or song or dance. It will also be a talent show night. SHould be great fun and we will have a lot of investigators there becasue it will be a party mas que nada. BUt we have seen a change here in this branch it really is something amazing. The hand of the lord has definately been the reason we are seeing all of this. i just cant explain how much better it is. More love and it feels warm in the church now. 

For the activity i will be playing the guitar and me and 3 other elders will be singing a song from Chile called NO TENGO PLATA. Its a funny song and people will like it. I have been playing the guitar a lot and getting better, Not good, but better. I just bought a KILLERS and KEANE guitar book to help me learn. ITs a little more advanced but its pushing my guitar playing so thats cool. I love the guitar and every morning and night a play it and sometimes during lunch. WHenever i can really. I will be buying a nice guitar when i get home for sure. BUt well see. 

I will try to send some pictures of the baptism and everything this weeek. If you have any questions let me know im running out of stuff to say! 

Love you all! Cuidense! Y Recuerden que tine un salvador que les ama! 

Chao!

Elder Westensee

p.s. hows lindsey

Julian y Yo en el bautismo!

Mis Zapatos Rotos! Una Porqueria!

In the morning waiting to go to Centro in collectivo (bus)

the zone (almost everyone not quite)

this is where we email CYber

a little of the area

more of  neighborhood Nahuel-Hue close to frutillar

when we played in the rain, i was taking foto

April 21st 2014-hey hey hey

miss you all. Keep the commandments and you will be happy i promise. SOunds like they are building a new church and school in herriman? thats gonna be nuts. New stoplights and what not! Man it didnt change then when i leave it changes a ton. oh well it will be fun to see everything. 

This week was nuts. Very challenging for me. The most up and down i have ever been. 

P day we went to a ski resort. Or ski town. like a tiny park city but crappier haha. It was cool. we went to the top and after ate some waffles with berries andcream. So good. It is pretty big ski area. we can see frutillar from the top of the ski hill. it was pretty good day.

Went on exchanges on thurday with elder shearer from layton. Were good friends but the4 transfer wasnt great. Really boring as crud. But we had a few tough lessons and thats what put me down big time. I was very down. I could hardly talk. I felt like a stone. I had no feeling or expression. But i just kept going. 

This week as well, the day before exchanges, we had interviews with president. My interview was good. I didnt have much to say as normal. But he shared some good stuffwith me. Also i remember he prayed for me and i remember hearing in his prayer that i will have mighty miracles in the coming days. Well he was right. After this meeting is when exchanges happened and i had those cruddy meetings so i was just wondering what those miracles meant. 

Then saturday we planned in the churchwith the sisters. Sister Rainsdon from my district MTC and sister mcchesney. they were on exhanges the sisters. Normally its hermana aguero de paraguay. We planned for our activity may 1. a night of pizza and talents. Should be great. Were going to play and sing a song for it.  BUt Sunday was busy. 

Sunday. Went to the church early at 8 am to make the invitations to the activity. Then we all spoke in church. I spoke with just a book of mormon and my thoughts. I was rushed and my spanish sucked cause I was just going fast becasue had 2 minutes but na awesome story to tell. Anyways some people loved it and some said they didnt understand but what are you gonna do. I liked it so hah. haha no. but it was ok. Then we went after to see Julian, our 16 year old investigator. 

We found julian in febuary my 2nd day in bariloche. He has a lip ring, emo hair and wears chains and stuff. But he is excellent. He is capo. He always comesto church and likes it. He had a baptismal date for march 8, 15, 21 and april 19th. They all fell. So he always kept pushing it off. We went after church to visit him. ANd in the week he had gone to youth conference in the mountains for 3 days with the youth. We heard he loved it and was super happy. He bore his testimony as well. So we went to visit him. It started off normal. He was annoyed that we were there. He said i want to be baptized MAS ADELANTE. more in the future. BUt i was tired of hearing that so i told him how i felt (with love of course) and then after a little bit, he commited to may 10.Then i said. oh wow thats too bad. He said why? whats wrong with may 10? I said, im probably going to leave bariloche and be transferred. Cause i am most likely gone. He said...oh....and said. Ok. Lets do it saturday cause i want you to baptize me. AHHHH! When he told me this, i am serious, i felt a fireball in my chest. The same fireball i felt with president in my interview when he said i would see mighty miracles. Unbelievably great. I almost started tearing up. It was powerful. He is ready and finally hes going to be baptized.

This story just shows what hard work can do. And the scripture in eter 12;6 is true. I have been trying so hard to get baptisms for 10 months now and finally. We have arrived. ANd the great thing is were having another one after julian as well. So rewarding. I have had baptisms before of course, but this one i feel responsible for. we found, we taught, we converted. I am very content and excited. The church is true. 

That just about does it for this week. Always when i have a cruddy day, its followed by a great experience or miracle. Eter 12 6 seriously is true. JUst keep pushing and you will see what happens. This principle and the atonement are what keep me going in the mission. I would be gone home if i didnt understand these principles. 

Anyways i am doing good. Its ups and downs. But at the end of the day, i will be on top and have learned a lot. 

Love you all. Dont be sick i pray for you a lot. And think about you everyday. CHAO!

Elder Westensee

p.s. tyler, andrew, derek, dustin, blake, got any good ideas for trainings? district meetings?

April 14th 2014

hello everyone. im gassed. im tired. i was so tired yesterday after church we went to the pension to study for an hour and my comp went to the bathroom and i just plopped on my bed in my coat and with my bag and next thing i knew it was an hour later. I felt so sick in the night too like nausea. But i was fine and we continued on like normal. We fasted for our branch cause its struggling bad. BUt were seeing improvements. This week was great. we almost acheived the standard. only 2 companionships in the mission achieved it last week. So ts hard to get the standard but were closer every week. We have some baptisms coming up as well. So its exciting. 

SOunds like your all doing great i love and miss you all. 

This week was a quicky like normal as the days flew. it rained for a week and a half, but this week in the middle it stopped. There was bad flooding here and worse in neuquen.

Monday we played soccer in the pouring rain and got soaked. But it was great i have pictures. IT was a great p day. Then we went back and had a family home evening with a family.

tuesday we had district meeting in the morning. It was a good meeting. I didnt plan a whole lot but just talked the whole time and trained in a few things. After we went and didnt have any lessons but did some contacting and had some success.

wednesday we went to centro in the morning to pay the rent of our pension. It was good no problems. We had lunch with president alarcon hes the president of the branch. He has had a lot of problems with members and interviews and stuff. So we shared a message about love about what the prophet spoke about. He was quiet and didnt say much. But he warmed up to us and we had a good time. Then we had a lesson with sergio. From australia in english the lesson was. It was cool. He loves the church but wont commit cause he is not 100%. He had questions like if christ came tomorrow what would happen to us? or what is the celestial kingdom like and where will it be? These are questions that we answered but dont have a consice answer to them. We cant say exaclty how things will happen or how it will be. SO that was tough a little. But we had to give them to the elders over in pioneros cause he moved there. 

thursday.this day always sucks. so boring and kills. Weekly planning. Lots of rejection after and dropped appointments. But itsl ike this every week. We stopped by the guajardo and had a great lesson and commited them to come to church. 

friday busy day lots of lessons and menos activos and some new baptismal dates. good day normal work great experiences. not sure what to say..

saturday great we found some new people. We were walking and a guy started talking to us from his car and said he will come to church sunday....a little weird but hey well see! We had a lesson with German, our 21 year old capo investigsdor. he is going to be baptized si o si. but great lesson with him. we found him walking home one night we bumped into him and he said to come over. 

sunday. We had 3 investiggadors at church so that was good. Then lunch with a weird kid from the other ward.....he took forever to make the food too and we were starving. The guy was a weirdy but nice and were grateful for the food. Then we tried to visit some others but they werent there. IN the testimony meeting at church president alarcon got up and shared a great testimony and cried a lot. You could tell he felt bad for what he had done with some people. But now we feel more love in the branch so its great. He had an interview with a man he yelled at before and the man left the interview in the middle mad. This time it was different and wasa great interview and this man will noew revieve the priesthood. great miracle there. becaue we are in the middle of people being mad at each other and now were on the same page as them now. 

It was a great week. I will send pictures of our baptisms. They have been hard to come by here in these days but were almost there finally! Its a great reward!

Love you all. Take care.

elder westensee

April 7th

hey everyone. thanks for all the birthday wishes last week. You flooded my inbox it was classic. But speaking of floods were having some major issues in the mission with rain. Its been raining a week straght. Where i am at were fine, but in neuquen they are flooded big time. But i like listening to the rain on the tin roof at night. 

But i saw pictures of the cabin and it was crazy! SO much different i cant even understand. General conference was incredible. Nothing mind blowing but just so powerful. I liked Bednars talk the most if you were wondering or the bishops talk about olympics, maybe it wasnt the bishop but oh well. I liked IT! During the conference i couldnt believe the thoughts i was getting. I was recieving revelation or something.... I was thinking about college for some reason every talk said something to direct me to colege. I would tell you what i am now thinking but then i d have to kill you. Just kidding, im keeping it to myself though because i change a lot but maybe this time it will stick. Still plenty of time. well see. Also about what profession i should persue. It hit me hard. SO that was a cool experience. 

Well crud this week was just a doozy. perhaps the longest week since argentina began. Well start with P day.

I emailed in the morning. Normal day. Hna gonzales made me deep fried oreos, sooo goood. Then we went to the stake center and chilled. We walked around centro and hung out. At about 4 or 3 30 assistents called elder shearer saaying he had to go to neuquen in an hour to do tramite work so he can be legal. So out of no where we had to stop p day and take him to termainl to be companions with elder pacheco. Then we went home and had a noche do hogar with flia navarro. Very good but no investigators came but still strengthened the members. Then we moved a mattress from the other pension so pacheco could sleep with us in our pension. 

Tuesday. The day began. We did compras in the morning for a while until lunch cause we had no time with the emergency of taking shearer to the terminal. SO then we went ot lunch. The night came and we had a great experience with flia guajardo. We taught the word of wisdom and they are determined to quit smoking and drinking. They have a good family but they are very rough around the edges,. But we then offered blessing and then left. Super powerful and great. Then we were running late. had to go to the terminal to go to neuquen for the lideres training meeting with president and all liders. So we hurried home in a taxki and booked it for the terminal of buses. I barely made it. Quinonez my old comp was with me the whole tiem and we sat by each other on the bus. We slept all night on he crappy bus.

wednesday. 4 30 am. we made it to neuquen and it was pouring rain. I got soaked and so did all my stuff. We went in the terminal and waitied until 7 to start walking to the church for the meeting at 8. We had the meeting all day from 8 to 5. i was sickas well. ear infeccion and sore throat and stomach pains. 4 others in my group were sick as well form bariloche. Elder Nobmann was out of his mind sick throwing up and crying in pain. glad i dodged that ONE. Its always great to hear from president very powerful man.  Then after the meeting i went on splits with the assistents and we went ot a cita and set 2 dates. Good time. Still raining though this whole time. We went back to the mission home and hung out played guitar and cooked rice with spices and crud. it turned out ok. Then at about 11 me and elder mena the assitent went to take the other elders to the termainl. we hung out there until 2. I couldnt go back to bariloche cause i had tramites the next day. SO We went back and got to bed at about 3. I got back to the mission house and it was all dark. I just felt around until i found a couch or something and slept there. my suit has been slept in 3 days in a row haha gross. 

thursday. I woke up at 6 and traveled to centro for a bit with elder furlanich. We did tramites waiting and doing paperwork and fotos until about 12. Then back to the office. I had nothing to do so the presidents wife asked me to clean the patio. It was raining and again my suit was trashed haha. BUt i was cleaning the patio and it stopped raining, President came out and started talking to me. Asking me questions and just talking for a little while. The i went ot eat lunch in the office. There was a break room type thing. Hnas Rojas and gutierrez were there. Hna rojas was just with me in bariloche but she went to neuquen so we had lunch. It was odd cause they told me to eat lunch with 2 hermanas....it was odd. But so good. Soup with mashed potatoes i was sick as well very nasaly when i talked. Soup helped. Then out of nowhere elder thurman, an office missionary bursts open the door and yells WESTENSEE, WESTENSEE, and i was like ya whats up im in here eating my soup. He came in and was like we gotta go now!!! SO we rushed to the terminal to make it back to bariloche. I just made it. This collectivo was nice. The chairs reclined! A little bit. didnt sleep much though as i was sick and my neck hurt. But i traveled alone! It was a nice 8 hours!!!!!!!!!! Then i got back to bariloche greeted by freezing air and rain. We took a taxi stright to the familia griffith for pizza. We finsihed and went to get a ride back home but his car wouldnt start. he was getting mad. then out of nowhere he just says super mad ¨F word¨ WHAAAAT. I jusy about pooped my jimmies for real. I got out of the car and called a taxi. We were alte to the penison because of this and i was so tired i didnt even care.

Friday. Woke up at about 4. I was super ill. not sick just ill. I just felt beat up and i was just sitting in a chair givin up. Done fighting. Then i went back to bed at 6 until 9. 10 00 we had zone training and the whole time i was dying. BUt then we finished the meeting and did a little work in our area. we visited flia guajardo again. 

Saturday. General conference all day in english. Still a little sick as well.

Sunday. General conference again all day. Soo great. Then during hte first session with 20 minutes left, a weird guy came in and sat next to me. I didnt say anything until after. then i was like hey....you speak english? he said yes, yes i do. HES FROM AUSTRAILIA. HIs name is sergio. born in Uraguay and lived in sweden and knows 6 languages but likes english the most. HE is great. I figured oh hey your a member right? OH no....hes not. Then i asked why he was here and he said missionaries in Buenos Aires told him about it. So he came here in bariloche with us! He lives in the ski resort town in catedral. Its nobodys area so i hope we can terach him this week. The problem is that its very far away- about 1 hour in collectivo. But he wants to learn and know the truth. He said if i myself could meet with him and teach him in english. CRAZY right! Well see how it goes this week! I am very excited.

Well. that was the week. I lvoe the mission. But it takes sleep away and doesnt give it back. You just have to endure the hard time and eventually it will make up in time. Remember that the lord answers your prayers in his OWN time! Be patient and the lord will bless you! Love you all. ANY QUESTIONS?

Elder Westensee

Can you find Evan ?

What about now?

See him ?

Back of his head.