Hello all.
I am at the same cyber that I was at with Cabranes when I sent my first batch of 15 pictures home. Just an fyi. You were probably wondering.
I loved the Casey comment. I do think about that kid a lot, us both being in Argentina. O what I would give to be his comp!!! If that happened, chau, game over. I love you Casey and pray for you;)
Memory cards/cd/pen driver: Sent
New memory card: comprado
Elder Wetzel has it all, secretly secured with duct tape in his backpack. It should arrive Wednesday evening at 9:06, when his plane touches down in Idaho Falls. And uhhgg, I wrote down all his mothers info, but left it in Justo!! I did write your stuff on the outside of the package. So try to contact her, or wait for a call from her, or just wait it out till next week.
Harrison, so great to hear about a couple of your dating adventures. Planning is the key, and a good looking date helps. Bet you can’t beat the record Casey Hare and I set: 7 straight weekends of dates in a row! Bring it on. No way you can pull that down. No one beats the Casey/Jackson duo. The Argentines.
Saydi, good on you for studying Spanish. I love it. I need to do that too!
I love you Amanda. . . . and the rest.
Dad, are you really losing it up top? And Mom! You’re only 47! Who would’ve known.
So you’re probably waiting to hear what I know about transfers. But let’s just wait it out. First some experiences from the week.
I was on divisions . . ALL WEEK. I arrived in Villa Mercedes Sunday night and didn't leave till Friday night. I worked with 4 elders in the 4 different areas in this Huge zone. And lived in all the penches. But only 1 day of divisións was originally planned, so it was fun living off the 1 pair of socks and etc. That’s life in the mission, and especially being a missionary in Justo. You just never know where you’re sleeping next, who you’re working with, or where you’re eating, if you do! It’s fun. Keeping it real. I did divisions with the zone leaders and the other 2 companionships in the district. And Wetzel worked it out there in Justo for the week. It was great, and we saw miracles.
The first is a real cool story, but way hard to tell. Hindsight is 2020, and looking back, I can see that the Lord has been preparing this first one since Elder Cabranes and I found the new with the bloody half chopped off finger, if you remember that story. Well, we were in the area and had 30 minutes to buscar nuevos, so I remembered where he lived and we went to knock the door. But he wasn't there. Which put us standing right in front of the mono blocks (a Big apt complex, but nothing like the states). So the spirit decided which one to start knocking. (Yes we knock doors often, not a ton, but bastante. So Grandpa, don´t worry, we do knock doors. Just referring back to my hatred towards knocking puertas months back. And it is just the sweetest feeling when the person says, si, pasen!) Anyway, the second door we knocked let us in. And they were inactives. The elders had felt inspired to look for one of them earlier that week, carolina, but had no suerte finding her in her work. But an employee fb her and told her the Mormons had came looking for her. So . . she came to church that Sunday! What faith. But the elders, 2 days before that Sunday, didn´t really talk with her a lot and still had no idea where she lived. But it just so happened that the Lord put us right in front of her mono block complex, and we knocked her door, when bloody finger guy didn't answer. And so they let us in, and we had an amazing lesson with them. I promised her an inspired blessing about the word of wisdom and it just went from there. We invited her to repent and come unto Christ. It was so cool to watch how God put that puzzle together. It’s cool being one of His pieces. And she came to church again this week, with her kids! Éxito!
Also with Elder Yasan, we were hurrying to a lesson in jardin del sur, but just had to stop as we came around a corner and saw the moon. It was an incredible sight. A HUGE luna, hung perfectly over a green field, lined with trees, with vacas lecheras comiendo el pasto. It was unreal! It is just a snapshot in my mind.
With Elder Esescano I invited myself into this guys house and we had a sweet lesson about God, trials and at the end gave him a blessing for his rapidly deteriorating health.
I got pretty close to milking a cow this week. That is definitely a missino goal.
With Elder Esplin, the zone leader, we had the best luck with la musica! In the street we heard “Welcome to the jungle” (I had to tie my shoe as we walked past that parked car) “Sweet Child of Mine . . . . AND . . . . JOURNEY!! “Don´t Stop Believing,” and I don´t stop believing, I believe there is a prepared person in Justo . . . I believe that I CAN DO THIS. It is possible. I want to teach, so many people, about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But that was such a good song, probably only heard it for 7 seconds.
Even though that miembro menos activo that came 2 weeks ago, hugo, said ‘si o si’ he was coming this week, he didn't show. That was disheartening. Neither did Carlos. I don´t know why. He is progressing, and we threw down the plabra de sabiduria, and he totally agreed. He’s dope to stop smoking. Don´t worry. Folk in the campo go a little slower. He was super committed to church and had ganas to it, but just didn't come. I asked him a sweet question Saturday morning with Wetzel. I say, “Carlos, what blessing have you received this week for coming to church last week, and reading the scriptures” . . . and he responded. And told us some pretty sweet stuff that had happened to him. Like finding more work! And in Justo, wow, once in a blue moon. So he is receiving the blessings for keeping the commandments. And now just needs to continue on this path that leads toward the temple. Lets go CARLOS, you’re my pride and my joy. I know you can do this. With my son, I plan on going by Thursday and taking the whisky out of his house. That should be a fun first experience. (Carlos doesn´t drink, it’s his friends that they drink when they come over.)
We hit an all time low at church. 4 members, 2 missinoaries. My comp gave the first talk, and I gave the 2nd (the branch president let me know 30 minutes before hand!!). My comp blessed the sacrament, and I passed it. And of course, I played the piano. It went well. And my comp Wetzel said about every prayer. And now I can say I have been to relief society twice.
I say this every week, but Justo is just a different life. I cannot even imagine life in your ward. Hundreds of members, faithful, that come every week, whether it’s raining or not. Unreal.
It was a good last week for Wetzel. We got 7/7 abrir la boca! That last day, Sunday, he so did not want to do them, so we made a deal, I did 15 and he did 5. Done. Wetzel died in style. And this morning, 3:30am we put him on a bus to Mendoza. And tomorrow he gets on a plane to the States! Now that is truly an unreal thought: Going Home. It must be said that being with a dier, I have thought a lot more about home. About life in the states. We had a good talk about cereals yesterday. And a garbage can that gets taken weekly! A DISHWASHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s been a long time since I’ve thought about one of those. But I still can’t get it through my head that a dishwasher also Dries the dishes. No way.
We have had some intense Truco sessions this p day. And at 11ish we played our classic partido of futbol. Which is when the assistances decided the call to tell about Transfers! And . . . . I’m Training.
Even though I wanted kinda to leave Justo, I didn´t get my hopes up. And sure enough . . ‘Elder Ostler . . se queda.’ And then they told me that I’m training. I couldn´t believe it. That is the last thing I wanted to do in Justo. But I have accepted the will of the Lord. 6 more weeks working Justo Daract . . with my newbie. I can’t believe it. Really can’t. But I was dropped as DL, so that’s sweet. Not that I didn´t like it. . . you know, just a little less responsibility and problems to solucionar.
So I’m training. I travel to Mendoza Wednesday in the morning to pick up my son. Ahhh, just a new kid, full of Faith, Fresh from the states. He’s going to be my best friend. I’m going to raise him well. I’m going to be so obedient, so diligent. And just believe the Lord will bless us with miracles in May. And I just pray, that in June, we can baptize together. It’s a daunting task, training in Justo, but if the Lord thinks I can do it . . so do I.
I just hope Carlos has a couple more pigs for us to kill. Yeah . . enjoy those videos. I’m pretty sure there are a ton of videos for you to watch. Just a little by the way comment. And President is a big believer of greengos training gringos, and latinos training latinos. So chances are slim to none, pretty much just none, that I will train a latin.
It’s fun to think of my newbie, just sitting in the MTC, freaking out, because in 24, he will board a plane to Argentina, where the Lord has called him to serve a mission.
Now for some random thoughts I wrote down this week. Working and being in Villa Mercedes in comparison to Justo Daract makes me feel like I am in NYC. So much movement and so many people. So many houses. It’s great.
I want to be a better missionary. I want to work harder and be more diligent. I want to put off selfishness, and serve the Lord with all my heart, might, mind and strength. I want to be better.
I want to take the words casi, and tratar out of my vocabulario.
O . . and send marshmallows if you are looking for something to replace awful skittles in the packages. Those would be GREAT after an asado. When I was on division this week I cooked for all the elders, and at least elders Esplin and Yasan told my they loved it! I made the classic Skinner hamburger and onions for Yasan and spaghetti for Esplin. O, the members spaghetti here is So Much Better than that junk we call spaghetti in the states. They are masters at the tuco. I love it. So watch out. I’m a rising chef.
Great picture of your zone Amanda. I loved that. Frisbee!!! I haven´t touched one of them in for ever.
Wow, I guess I have kinda run out of things to say. Let’s see, I will definitely be looking up Regina Spektor after the missino. And I miss Owl City.
How did piano practice go this week boys? Harrison, how well can you play the himnos? Good mowing news too. It’s good to hear that the grass is being cut.
We are making some good work on the skit I am in charge of. We perform in front of a bunch of primary kids el sabado en la tarde.
News, we got a brand new calefón . . . it is now possible to get burned while taking a shower in the Justo pench/church.
It’s getting cold, the long sleeves and sweaters have been busted out. And the iron in the pench is probably the worst iron ever made. It should be called a stain. OOOO the pain. And in the missino, the ironing board is your bed. But if you dry your clothes right, you don’t have to iron. But it just seems every single time I put my clothes out to dry, it rains. Here in Justo we get about one day of rain a week. And the whole city has just been losing power recently. This week it happened again, and I mean everything just goes out. But this time it was only for 5 minutes, not the 40 minute one we had a few weeks back. But that was a sweet 40 minutes. You could just reach up and touch those stars. I love the southern sky.
Wellp, I love you my family. Live like you believe, and SHARE WHAT YOU KNOW WITH YOUR FRIENDS. That would be sweet if you would put a monthly baptism goal as a family. jajajajajajaja. But really, I hope you are sharing the Gospel with your friends, or just with people who look sad in the streets. Why Not?
Tomorrow I get to eat lunch with the San Luis Stake Patriarch and the only temple sealer in San Luis. I’ve eaten with him before, and they are a sweet old couple.
Well, it’s about time for me to get going.
I love you family and enjoy that carpet under your feet!
Elder Ostler
Tell Ben O to be a beast!
