January 14 2014- hello hello

Hello Hello! Just so yall know i had 24 emails to read so i will be rushing this email i apologize. I love all the emails though so i cant complain. Love the pictures too! SOunds like your all doing great and going to deer valley and...ya. Thats all im going to say about that haha. I miss that. But guess what! I am loving the area right now were about to explode. The members are getting excited here.

This week i found out some astounding news. In the last 2 years, our area has had 4 baptisms. 4. in 24 months. So the attitude here for the members is that we never have baptisms and never have investigators at church! NO!!!!! We have been surprising everyone with the people we bring and the people who show up. Its fun to see. I also get to speak in church next sunday(yay) but really its gonna be a good one to excite everyone. Oh, another thing i found out is that the stake president here stole tithing a few years ago and so now there is a lot of bitter relationshipes withing the church, about the church, its really a sad sad thing. I pray for this area. We are doing all we can to strengthen this area. I love the challenge.

Not much else is new. We have been rejected pretty hard core this week by some poeple on the street laughing at us and throwing beer at us, but i love it it drives me to work even harder. We are seeing miracles which we never thought we would see as well. We have a lot of success and i am loving it. I dont have time to share all the stories about our lessons but just trust me that they were heavily spiritual and i could feel angels in the very room.

A sad little bit is Elder valdez went home because his mom is sick. I loved elder valdez he was a capo. Im going to miss him. But i hope you all can stay healthy and safe really. I lvoe you all very much and miss you. 

A big change occured for us this week at zone training. We have a new schedule! hallelujah. We wake up at 7 am now. 8 30 to 9 30 is companion study. Then we go out to work. Then lucnh at 1 pm. Then after, personaly study then language then 12 week. The we go out again at 4 30. This is because the ciesta here is a problem. Everyone and their 10 dogs are all sleeping form 1 to 5. Everything i closed and no one listens. So now we have a new schedule to work with hopefully we will see more success.

I am loving the mission. Its very hard and emotional and tasking. I feel like im just getting pounded on everyday. I feel like im aging quicker. But thats a blessing cause i look like im 15.But i am loving the things i get to learn and experience its going to fuel me for the rest of my life. I love this goepel and i love thepeople of argentina!

Wow. Sorry for the lack of info this week but not too much else is new. I love you all and appreciate the support and look forward to your emails every week!

Have a great week!

Cuidate! Love,

Elder Westensee

January. 6, 2014- Peanut Butter

Hello everyone. I hope you enjoyed the holidays. I miss you all. Sounds like skiing at deer valley for 35 bucks was pretty sweet. I bet derek was happy happy happy haha. ANd andrew of course. But i hope everything goes well for tyler and lindsey and derek and everyone as sdchool starts and work continues. The first week back always sucks. But its all good!

This week was great as far as numbers. We set some personal bests. But still we arent seeing the fruits. We have so many investigators but are lacking in baptismal dates. It will come as we are patient and focus on their needs.

Not too much stands out this week. Just normal. We had new years. We went out to the balsas de las perlas, where the river is that i was tellin you about at night, and had an asado with Chivo again. Pretty good but im sick of just meat and bread! Oh well.  Great fun though as we were taken home in a tiny car with 6 of us including he driver so 7 of us. I was on the bottom and my leg was dying. But it was great fun.

This week we had a lot of lessons. Good and bad and just ok. Diego is preogresing still but ican tell he still has doubts. So i shared with him that is he prays with a specific question he will recieve a specific answer. Like ¨is my baptismal date supposed to be january 25¨ stuff like that. Not sure well have to see with him. But he is changing and its great to see.

Horacio. This guy is nuts. We ad a very spriritual lesson with him and for the first time in my 3 months here with him he said he felt something. He still denies it though that its anything of god or the spirit. His wife cries and share her testimony every time cause she isa member and  has a great testimony. She didnt have that testimony before tho. She was strengthened from just listening to our lessons to Horacio. Anyways, i believe he is going to accept the gospel soon. We are really working hard with him.

Something i am going to focus on this week is the Holy Ghost. The holy ghost is everything. We as missionaries have to explain to people how it works. We have another investigator of 18 years old named christian. He beleievs we are all just energy. Which is true in a sense. So its hard to explain that the stuff he feels in our lessons is the holy ghost testifying of the truth. He believes ion the bible so were going to work with that and hopefully guide him in his way to understand and find for himself that this church is true.

Its been frustrating. I am not the best teacher. Partly cause the language, but more just because I really have a hard time rememebr ing everything and parts of the lessons and answers to their questions. Sometimes it sucks some days are really depressing. Then we just have a great lesson and were on top of the world.

ANyways, not too much exciting going on here. Just..... eating some mantecol and trying to find peanut butter today. I really miss peanut butter. And mentecol is like peanut butter candy bar with the consistency of like.....i cant even explain. Smooth, really crumbly like chex muddie buddies almost in a candy bar.... I love it. But i hope i find peanut butter to eat with apples.

Thats about it. I love you all. I miss Doug, in Paraguay and I can relate to what hes dealing with right now. I want to hear from lindsey too! I know shes busy with school, but i dont care, I still want emails they are hilarious. I hope your all doing great andrew and tash, and heather and kevin, and tyler and derek and everyone. I thionk about each and every one of you a lot.

Cuidese

Con amor,

Elder Westensee