Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Happy New Years!

Hey everybody! 

This week ended up being super awesome! We had a lot of good stuff happen this week. It was Christmas week of course. So, we got to skype home on Christmas and that was super legit! It was awesome to see my family and grandparents and cousins and aunts, etc. And,I even got presents. haha Even though I´m 6,000 miles away I got a legit all blacks jersey, hockey blanket, and quote book. thanks a million Mom and Dad and Tessa. 

And then we had the branch activity on Tuesday and that was pretty fun even though we had to leave early to get back to the apartment in time, so we didn´t get any food. Then, we had the zone activity with the missionaries on Wednesday, Christmas Eve. We had a Ping-pong tournament, Grido icecream, and a white elephant gift exchange. Elder Giles and I won the ping-Pong tournament, but there was no time for the final game so we dont know who the real winner is. And I gave a sledge hammer as my gift and got a little pottery bird thing. 

On Christmas we passed by la familioa gomez and had a great time we them. I gave them gifts as well, that I hope they like... I gave jorge and Patricia a book in English to learn, I gave Cintya a mate cup, Celeste gum and chapstick, Mauricio a hat, and Brisa some playing cards and chapstick. Than, as a family gift, I found my favorite tv series in one of the stores here and gave it them as a present. I gave them 5 seasons of the tv series 24 along with one of my missionary tags. So, that was awesome and they really liked it. And, to top off the awesome week, we had a White Christmas. We had the baptisms of both Delicia and amalia and all went well with those and it was a great way to finish off a great week. 

The quote for this week comes for the new year. We are all usually setting goals and this is a quote that comes from President Thomas S. Monson. It reads, "When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement accelerates." I love this quote and how applicable it is to everything that we do in this life. We must measure what we are doing if we want to get better and we must hold ourselves accountable as to whether or not we achieved what we were going after. Thank you to everyone who wrote me thi last week for Christmas, I hope you all have a great New Years, and I hope to hear from you all soon.

Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine

Monday, December 22, 2014

Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone! 

This week was a good one. Everything has been going well with the investigators as well. We are on track to have a white Christmas with the baptisms of Delicia, Amalia, and Aldana this week. So pray that everything goes well for that to happen. 

I´m super excited this week for Christmas Eve and for Christmas. Mostly because I get to skype home. Thats super important for Christmas, the family. Be grateful that you are with the ones you love and be appreciative of that constant gift. 

This week we had a couple of cool moments like picking mangos from the tree of a member and then them letting us take a bag home for helping, leading the baptismal service and playing the piano for the missionaries in Quitilipi, and just talking about and sharing Christmas traditions. I wanted to keep it simple this week. Just remember to focus on what is really important and take time this Christmas, whether you celebrate it or not, to be grateful for all you have. 

The quote from this week comes from what I wrote down while listening to Eduardo  Gavarret and it says, "Make the decision to act and to change your life today." It´s really straight up. And, with the fact that we are at Christmas, we can make the decision to give a gift to Christ. To give Him, as our gift, our personal dedication and commitment to be better people and live how he wants us to. Have a very merry Christmas, remember why we celebrate this holiday, and I hope to hear from all of you soon. See you next week with pictures.

Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine

Monday, December 15, 2014

White Christmas!!

Hey Everybody!! 

This week was definitely a good one. I don´t have a whole lot of news or little details, but what happened was exciting. On Saturday, we had the white night and had the baptisms of Ezekiel and Yamila. Aldana was still on a trip with her aunt and uncle, so she wasn´t in town. But, the other 2 baptisms went really well and it was a good night. There were 6 baptisms overall and it all went smoothly. I played the piano for the baptismal service and a good amount of people came and it was really nice. And, Amalia and her baby are doing a lot better, and it looks like they will be home by Christmas. So, Amalia and Aldana should both have their baptisms on December 27th if all goes according to the plans. Also, Delicia is doing incredible. Her back hurt this week, but she still made the effort to come to the baptism and to church. she is progressing really well and really fast and she just accepts everything and really understands it. It´s so awesome to see. So, she should also have her baptism on the 27th. 

Other than that, we had grido and some pizza this week and that was pretty good. There´s this place called the gringo loco, the crazy white person, and their pizzas and burgers are super good and they are really cheap. Other than that, we are still playing ping pong every p-day and we´re getting kind of too good. We just write emails and then spend like all the rest of the time playing ping pong haha. That´s about it for this week though. 

The quote I wanted to put in this week was something that I wrote down while listening to George Klebingat and it reads, "It´s not possible to see or do something bad or perverse and expect to feel virtuous." It´s a really simple quote and holds a lot of truth. We cannot fill our lives with things that are known to cause misery and expect to be filled with happiness. Anyways, thanks to everyone who wrote me this week, I hope that everyone is getting the Christmas spirit and really trying to focus in on the true importance, and I hope to hear from you all soon.
 
Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine
 
Top: Us with Ezekiel
Bottom: Us with Yamila
The train tracks
All of the baptisms.


Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Christmas!

Hey everybody!! 

This week was a good one! We started out and didn´t have district meeting since the zone leaders traveled on that day and we just didnt have it. Then, on Wednesday, La hermana Urban gave us a bunch of mangos from her tree which was legit because mangos are my favorite fruit and they are really good. Then, Elder Giles was going to have to travel to Cordoba for 3 days to do his visa stuff, but his papers didn´t come in, sohe didnt go anywhere. No exciting news from cordoba haha. 

Then, I titled this letter Christmas for 2 things. First, because its December clearly, and second, for the reason why I didn´t email yesterday. It was another argentine holiday and we had a zone meeting in which they focused on Christmas. The church gave us these new pass along cards and is having us use this cool christmas video from mormon.org to contact and teach the people and it has gone really well. I really like they video and recommend it to anyone who is interested.

And, as far as the investigators go, we have both good and bad news. The bad news is that the dad of la familia ramirez is still being lame and won´t let them go to church. The good news is that Delicia, Ezekiel, Guadalupe, and Claudio came to church and Delicia, Claudio, and the kids of la familia suarez want to be baptized. And the great news is that if everything goes according to plan this week, then we will have the baptisms of Ezekiel, Aldana, and Yamila this week! So keep them in your prayers. 

That´s all the exciting news this week and the quote this week comes from what I had written down when Neil L. Andersen spoke and I wrote, "we can´t be that great of a help to others unless our own personal faith is both present and unwavering." I like this and it applies to all our lives. We cannot help others in something we are not yet proficient. Thank you to everyone who wrote me, the computer won´t read the camera so we´ll hope for pictures next week, and I hope to hear from you all soon.

Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine

Monday, December 1, 2014

14 months!

Hey Everyone!! 

I had actually hit 14 months already when I wrote you guys last week, but hadn´t noticed it. Crazy how fast the time is going. We´re already in December!!! It´s Christmas time! It´s just weird to me that in 30 days we will be entering 2015, the year in which I come home from the mission!!! Weird stuff for sure.  The mission spans over 2013, 2014, and 2015, and I´m almost done with both the 2013 and 2014 part. 

Anyways, the highlight of this week is that we finally got a hot shower. I don´t know if I had mentioned, but we have just had freezing cold showers for the last 2 months. And, Thursday morning was the first time that I have had a semi-legitimate shower in a long time. So that was pretty awesome. 

I don´t have a ton of time, so I will just updates on all the investigators. Amalia is still in the hospital...for no reason, but should be back this month. Her kids are still doing well and came to church and are on track to be baptized the 13th. Then, la familia Ramirez is also doing well. We have been praying for them and they even talked to their Dad and were going to come to church this week, but I don´t know what happened, they never showed up. La familia Rodas is doing well and still like when we visit but live forever away and it´s hard for them to come to church. Then, I did divisions this week with Elder Lee and those went well and he´s a cool guy. 

We had district conference, like stake conference, this week. So, just a ton of members and the mission president talks. I played the pìano both saturday and Sunday and played the organ for the choir as well. It was some good stuff. Oh, and we´ve been playing ping pong every P-day in the church and so we´ve been getting pretty good at that. 

I´m kind of out of time today, but I still wanted to put in something that I wrote down while listening to Dieter F Uchtdorf. It reads, "We have the promise that God will talk to those who come unto Him and humble themselves and sincerely search for an answer from Him." I love the promise and how applicable it is to all of us. I´ll send pictures next week since I´m out of time today. Thanks to all who wrote me and I hope to hear from you soon.

Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Sáenz Peña‏

Hey Everybody! 
 
This week was really good, but not all that eventful. The biggest news is transfwers. And, they went exactly the way I thought they would. I´m staying here with Elder Giles to finish his training. So we are going to be here together for sure until the very end of December. I will officially be in Sáenz Peña for both Christmas´on my mission.  
 
We had a pretty good week of work. Not the best that I´ve ever had, but definitely not the worst. Amalia is still in the hospital, but said that she would be back this week. Her baby´s name is brayden, but all spanishized. La familia Ramirez is doing well and they are all excited to come to church, there´s only one problem. Their Dad freaked out at them last week and the Mom and the Dad got in a fight and the Dad said that if they kept going to church that he would kick them out of the house. Olga already said that they were going to break up, but at the end of December so that the kids could finish school and she could have more time to find a place to live. but, until that happens, it looks like they can´t come to church or they´ll be sleeping on the street. :( super sad. So keep them in your prayers. 
 
Oh, and I saw Luciano this week. Luciano Pereyra. He was really excited to come to church and wants to get baptized on December 13th. And we are preparing a lot of people, like Facundo, Amailia, aldana, Ezekiel, yamila, hernan, gladis, and Diana to be baptized on december 13th. So, that should be an awesome day. The zone has made plans to set all of our investigators dates to the 13th to try and have a great big baptismal service of like 10-15 people. So, that should be really awesome. anyways, that´s pretty much it for this week. I know it was kind of boring. 
 
Anyways, the quote I wanted to put in this week comes from the notes I wrote down while I was listening to D. todd Christofferson and it says, "We can choose the kind of person that we want to be, and if that person is worthy, then God will help us achieve that goal and become that person." I love that. We can be whoever we want, but if we choose to be who God wants us to be, then we will have his help. Thanks to everyone who wrote me this week and I hope to hear from all of you next week!
 
Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine
 
P.S. sorry there are no pictures this week...computer probs.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Transfers!

Hey everybody! 

This week was pretty good. On Tuesday, we had the multizone conference. So, there were nlike 60 missionaries and we all just had the training with president and that went well. It was a pretty long day, but at least we weren´t outside walking in the rain all day. 

Then, on Wednesday we had lunch with la Flia. Urban. That was cool and we bought 2 little plants from her to put in the apartment. And, right before we left, it just started to pour. It was like crazy heavy rain for like 10 minutes and then nothing. It was super weird. But, I´m glad we didn´t have to walk in the rain. And, rosana and Samantha had moved (I don´t know if I already said that), but we got permission to go to their house even though it´s like one street out of our area. They are doing well, but they both don´t have the best health and it´s hard for them to walk to church. And, we didn´t have the baptism of Yamila this week. She traveled again. On Thursday she went out of town and she won´t be getting back til tomorrow. So, I´ll keep you all updated on what happens with her. La Familia Ramirez is still doing really well. We started teaching them the lessons again and they are doing really well. They are probably my favorite family that we are teaching. Once again, Amalia didn´t come to church this week. But this week she had a real reason. Her baby was born on Wednesday!! So, she is still in the hospital and we will go by her when she gets out. It´s weird though because it´s almost been a week and the baby still doesn´t have a name... 

Anyways, there was another baptism at the chuch this week from the other elders and I played the piano for that. So, before I played for that, the music director didn´t know I could play the piano. And, now that she knows, I am playing the piano again in sacrament meeting and for the choir that will sing at the end of this month and next month for Christmas. 

And, transfers are technically tomorrow!!! We´re pretty sure that neither one of us will change since I am the trainer of Elder Giles, but we will see what happens. I´ll let you guys know next week. Hopefully I´m still in Sáenz Peña with Elder Giles. That´s pretty much all the exciting stuff that happened this week. 

So, while D. Todd Christofferson was talking I had written down, “Even though God will love us no matter what we do, that is not excuse enough to act against our moral conscience and do what we want.” I love this. Simply because we can always go back to God or because His love is unconditional doesn´t mean that we just do whatever we want all the time and expect to recieve countless blessings from it. Thank you to everyone who wrote me this week and I hope to hear from you all soon.

Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine

 A frog in the rainstorm on Wednesday.
At la Familia Ramirez´s house with their firend Damian


Monday, November 10, 2014

Baptisms

Hey Everybody!!! 

This week was super cool. On monday, after P-day, we found this cool pizza place that had Hawaiian pizza, the first time I have seen that in the mission, so we got it and it was incredible. That was like a highlight of the week. And, we did divisions with the zone leaders this week. I went to their area and worked with Elder Reynolds. Those were kind of weird. Elder Reynolds is a good guy, but he´s really pretty awkward. 

Then, Elder Giles had his birthday on Friday. I got him a white tie for his baptisms, since I knew he needed one. And, one of the other elders got him icecream from grido...and they both caught him totally off guard. It was super awesome and he was super appreciative. Then, we had pizza and icecream to celebrate (and yes, we did get another Hawaiian one). :) 

And, one of the main stores here had black friday this last weekend, so when we went to get refreshments for the baptisms, everything was like buy 3 get 2 free. So, we scored big with soda and cookies and all that fun stuff. Lucia suarez and her family are doing well, along with Amalia and her family. But, none of them came to church this week except for Lucia suarez, and she´s already a member. So, we´re gunna work really hard this week with her family and Amalia´s family to excite and encourage them to go to church. 

Anyways, onto the baptisms of Yamila and Olga´s kids. The bad news first. Yamila didn´t get baptized because she traveled to her grandmas house this weekend, still not really too sure why, so we had to change her date to this coming saturday. So, we shall hope that all goes well for this week. But, all of Olga´s kids were able to get baptized and it went really well. I baptized both Facundo and Alejandro, and Elder Giles baptized Fiorella. And, they had been playing soccer this whole week with a ghetto tennis ball, so Elder Giles and I bought a cool nike soccer ball and gave that to them as a gift after the baptism. That was really cool since we knew that they wanted that more than anything, but are a really humble family and just didn´t have the money. They are an awesome family. And then, on Sunday, I was able to do the confirmation of both Facundo and Fiorella, and Elder Giles did the confirmation of Alejandro. 

Anyways, that´s about it for this week. The last time I watched conference I watched it in spanish and took notes in English. So, the quotes aren´t really quotes, they´re more like thoughts or translations from when I was listening to certain people. So, when I was listening to Boyd K. Packer I wrote down, "Those who look and listen will see and feel that the hand of the Lord is still outstretched to us." I love this and it really just gives a sense of hope at any point in life. Thank you to everyone who wrote me this week and I hope to hear from you all soon.

Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine
 
 Elder Giles Birthday Pizza

 Baptism Pictures


 Us with the family after the baptism with the ball we gave them

 

Monday, November 3, 2014

Halloween!!

Hey everybody!

This week went pretty well. First off, last monday after we finished writing, we finally got A/C in the apartment! It feels incredible and I´m so happy to have that now!!! But, on tuesday, Elder Giles got like crazy sick! So, we didn´t leave the whole day, not even to go to district meeting. So, that was sad to see him that bad. But, he got a little better and we were able to go out and work on wednesday.

Wednesday was awesome and we got a lot of teaching done, but it was followed by a rougher Thursday. Thursday was just a lot of walking with not all that much success, so it made for a really long day. But, Friday was better. Not the best Halloween of my life, but it was still fun. We Got a big bag of candy to give to all the kids, even though they don´t celebrate halloween here. But, the kids didn´t mind. They loved it. And, we bought these ghetto avenger masks that we also ended up giving away to a group of kids. And, we found m-m minis, tic tacs, and an oreo alfajor that we got for ourselves to celebrate. So, it ended up being a pretty cool day.

Olgas kids are still on track to get baptized this saturday, along with yamila (the cousin of a recent convert), so we should have 4 baptisms this week and I´ll let you guys know how that goes. Amalia and her kids are also doing well and progressing towards their baptism. The only bad thing was that the week kind of ended on a low note. Yesterday was super rainy all day and no one really came to church and it was harder to teach. But, it wasn´t too bad overall I guess. Anyways, that´s about it for this week, I think.

So, the quote I wanted to put in this week comes from Thomas S. Monson. It says, "We face many serious challenges in the world today, but I assure you that our Heavenly Father is mindful of us. He will guide and bless us as we put our faith and trust in Him and will see us through whatever difficulties come our way." I love this quote and how clear it is in how we can find comfort and direction in the messed up world we live in today. Thank you to everyone who wrote me this week and I hope to hear from you all soon.

Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine

 A bird on Elder Giles leg.
 Mud after the rain.

 Our ghetto masks on halloween haha

 Us with Facundo and Damian (Facundo is olga´s oldest kid)

 A tiger painting.

Monday, October 27, 2014

13 Months!!

Hey everyone!!! 

This week went really well. First off, la familia Gomez gave us dinner on monday and it tasted awesome and they still buy me Secco pomelo because they know it´s my favorite soda here. And, I was able to meet up with Catalina Gonzalez this week, the first mom and daughter that I baptized in the mission. That was really cool, and they introduced us to their neighbors, la familia Rodas. They´re really cool and one of their sons came to church this week with us as well. He is 11 and his name is Hernan. 

And, we found out this week that Olga is actually, most likely, going to break up with her boyfriend when the kids finish school in December and then get her own place. But, 3 of her kids have a baptismal date for the 8th and we´ll hope that everything goes well with that! :) And, Amalia and all of her kids are doing well. We helped them get the water again this week. Those things are super heavy and it took like 2 or 3 hours, but we felt good to do it for her. Like, her oldest kid is 9 and she is pregnant and there is no man in the house. So, it feels good to help her with that and we told her that we were going to help her with that once a week with that. But, they had to travel this week, so they couldn´t come to church. But, we still have a baptismal date with them towards the end of november, and I know that they are going to be able to get there. 

Also, we had passed by a less active family on Tuesday while I was on mini divisions with Elder Lastres. Another member, hermano Rojas, helped us out and gave a ton of references to us and went out to work all night with Elder Lastres and I. And so he brought us to this family. The Andreani family hasn´t come for a while, but they said they´d like us to come back. So, we went back on Friday with Elder Giles and they didn´t pay  attention at all and were laughing at Elder Giles since he couldn´t speak spanish (even the mom) and it was really bad. We could tell that they don´t want our help right now and we aren´t going to pass by for a little while until they are ready to mature and progress. 

Oh, and on friday, the other elders got some awesome asado, barbeque, from a member and shared with us,and it was some of the better beef that I have yet to have here in Argentina. Although, it was a bit fatty. But, it tasted good either way. So, it was a good week overall and I´m still really excited for the progress of the people that we are teaching and can´t wait to see them take the steps to follow Christ more in their lives.

The quote this week comes from Marcos A. Aidukaitis and it reads, "First, we can know the truth by observing its fruits...Second, we can find truth by experimenting on the word ourselves." I love this quote and how it shows us that we can know what is true and good by watching and then putting into practice the things that we see. If something is good, than it´s consequences will be good, and when we act in the same way, we will experience these consequences. Thank you to everyone that wrote me this week and I hope to hear from you all soon.
 
Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine

Monday, October 20, 2014

Skype!!

Hey everybody!!!! 

This week was super awesome! The only bad things were that it was crazy hot this week...it hit 130 degrees twice, and we only have a fan right now in the apartment, no ac. And, one of the nights a ton of bugs bit Elder Giles. We had to leave the window open because it was too hot and he got like a hundred mosquito bites. It was weird because I didn´t even get one. 

But, the work in our area is going well. We are teaching a ton of really good people and I am really excited for the success that we are having and will have here. Olga and her family are good and ready and want to be baptized now, we just have to wait until they get married. So, we will hope that that gets done soon. Some of the other really cool people that we are teaching are Amalia and her family, carlos and his family, yamila, and samanta. Amalia and her family came to church this week as well and really liked it. She is a single mom with 4 kids and one more on the way. 

Oh, and last week I forgot to mention that President Franco permanently changed the schedule. So, we now don´t have to be outside working from 1-4 like normal just cooking in the sun while everyone is asleep. We will work in the morning from now on and then do our studies during the siesta. Also, on friday night the branch had a music how. A bunch of people sang and played instruments and I even got the chance to go up and play the guitar and sing which was awesome since I haven´t done that in so long. It was a really fun night and it´s nice to be back in a big church again with a lot of active members. 

And, last but certainly not least, I got to skype home yesterday!!!! It was mothers day here in Argentina yesterday and the mission president decided that we should all get to talk to our families, and not just the argentine missionaries. That was super awesome and I loved getting to see my family yesterday! It like made my month and will make it that much easier to make it to Christmas til the next call. That´s about it though. 

The quote for this week comes from L. Tom Perry once again and it reads, "Obedience is a choice. It is a choice between our own limited knowledge and power and God´s unlimited wisdom and omnipotence." I love this quote and how clearly it puts into perspective how little we know. By following the commandments, we trust true wisdom over our conceited selves. Thank you to everyone who wrote me this week and makes the constant effort to stay in contact with me and I hope to hear from you all soon.

Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Transfers!

October 14, 2014

Hey everybody! 


This week was kind of crazy! On Tuesday Elder Aguirre got bit by something on his lip that made it swell up really bad for the zone conference and it was giant all day until we got back and he put some ice on it and it went back to normal. 

Then, they called us for transfers and told us that both Elder Aguirre and I were leaving Piranè, another whitewash, and that we were both going to be trainers. So, we got all our bags ready and then headed to Resistencia on Wednesday where I met my new companion, Elder Giles. He`s from Heber City, Utah and he´s really cool. So, we had the new missionary training all day on Wednesday and then traveled on Wednesday night. So, I`m now training him in Sáenz Peña!!! I got to come back. But now I am in Centro, like downtown and not in Ensanche. I`m in the big church now. The only problem is that when we got here we didn´t have an apartment. We took the place of sisters and 2 companionships were living right next to each other. So, they changed it to elders, but we can´t live in the same building as sisters. So, we had to look for an apartment for 2 days and finally found one and it´s pretty good. I´ll send pictures when I can. We finished getting everything moved over yesterday. It´s been really cool here working again and being a trainer. 

And, it´s super cool because I`ve already seen Eduardo and his Mom, la Familia Mercaso, Ramirez, and Gomez!!! It´s been so cool. They were all super happy and excited to see me and it was good to see them all again. And to top it all off, it was a holiday yesterday, so everything was closed and we could´t write. Plus, today we didn´t even get a full p-day because we had interviews with President Franco and had to be with him from like noon til 5. But, it´s all been fun. We´ve had grido, icecream, empanadas, pizza, and milanesa this week to get my new companion use to stuff. And, the area has awesome people. La familia Ramirez is really cool and they´ve come to church a couple times and we are now working with her to get married to be able to get baptized. Then, there´s Amalia and her kids that
we´re working with, Carlos and his family, Yamila, and Rodrigo. They´re all the most accepting people that we are teaching and they are all really cool. I´m super excited to work with them and see the success that will come. 


The quote I wanted to add in this week comes from L. Tom Perry again. It reads, "It has been said that someone who is all wrapped up in himself or herself makes a very small package." I love this quote and it made me laugh. We can´t be so conceited that we find ourselves better than everyone else. Humility, even for those who are great, goes a long way and shows true character. Thanks to everyone who wrote me this week and I hope to hear from you all this week!!

Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine

(His email about sending pictures)
I promise that ´m trying to get them on here...sorry.
Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine

Monday, October 6, 2014

General Conference!

Hey everybody!! 

This week was really cool! First off, we got another baptism!!! It was a complete surprise to us. We met a family last week who had recently moved here from about 2 hours away, la familia escobar. Anyways, we found out that the 11 year old daughter, Ayelen, wasn´t baptized. And, she had received a lot of the lessons from the missionaries already and was ready to get baptized since she had already been to church like 10 times. So, they just had to come to the church here one time and we had to reteach her everything in a week as like a review. Then, we had her baptism on Friday since General Conference was on saturday! The other elders of pirane also had a baptism and Ayelen wanted our district leader to baptize her, so he did both baptisms.That was really cool to have happen this week. 

And, it was awesome to see General Conference. Although, it was the first time that I had to watch it in spanish. That´s fine and all...it´s not like I don´t understand, I just didn´t like not hearing their actual voices. And, the internet was really slow here. We just watched it in the church on the computer screen and it froze like every 10 minutes haha. But, it worked out okay in the end. 

We did divisions this week which went well. I stayed in my area and worked with Elder De La Peña and it was good. At the end of Tuesday and all day Wednesday, Elder Aguirre got really sick. He felt super weak and like couldn´t walk and almost wanted to go to the hospital. But, he didn´t have to. He was feeling better on thursday after some rest. He´s still not 100%, but he´s better. Speaking of Elder Aguirre, transfers are tomorrow!! Although, I don´t think anything will change. I think that I´ll stay here and so will Elder Aguirre. But, we shall see and I´ll let you all know next week. 

La Hermana Amarilla came to conference on saturday and Sunday and she is doing really well. Her kids still haven´t gotten a big enough desire to wake up and come to church, but it´ll happen. We still have to visit with her and reteach the lessons, and her kids listen when we teach, so someday they´ll show up to church. And, La familia Aguilar, the family who had one of their children pass away, also came to conference. They seemed to really like it and we are working towards the baptism of the Dad on October 25th. So we´ll hope and pray that all can go well with that. 

The only other news is that it´s starting to get really hot here. The worst day was Friday. It was like walking around in a sauna all day. But, I´m on my last summer!! :) The quote I wanted to put in for this week comes from L. Tom Perry and it reads, "Those who rely solely on themselves and follow only their own desires and self-inclinations are so limited when compared to those who follow God and tap into His insightg, power, and gifts." I love this quote and this emphasis it puts onto how little we really know. We may have certain beliefs or opinions, but we aren´t that knowledgeable and we must learn to rely on help and guidance from God. 

Thank you to everyone who wrote me this week (you know who you are :D) and I hope to hear from you all soon.
 
Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine
 
P.S. I got the computer fixed and now it´s...PICTURE TIME!!!
just kidding....I got the pics onto the computer, but can´t get them downloaded to email.....but we´re getting closer.
Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

1 Year!!!!!!

Hey everybody!! 

 I officially hit one year in the mission this past Thursday!! I´m over half way done! Crazy how fast the time went and I´m sure that it will go even faster now that I´m on the downhill part. Now, there´s only one bad part to that. There´s an urban legend in the mission that every missionary is magically forgotten after one year. People write to them and everything is going well and then they hit one year and nobody writes them anymore except for their mother. So, please don´t let that happen to me. If you´re part of the email list then that means that I would love to hear from you and hear whats happened in the last year and what all is going on. 

This week ended up being a really awesome week. I hit the year mark on Thursday, so we did a little celebrating that day. The work day went well, and then we finished it all up with an awesome dinner. I bought 2 new shirts and a cool hat that day and then for dinner I bought a dozen empanadas, 3 hamburgers, a pizza, a 2 liter of soda, and a pound of ice cream....and yes, I did eat it all :D haha And, as like a one year present...Francisca Amarilla got baptized!! That was super cool to have happen this week. She was ready this week and everything went really well and a lot of people came to the baptism. Elder Aguirre baptized her and it was good to see that she could finally decide to do it. So I hit one year in the mission and then had a baptism two days later. On Friday, we did mini divisions so that Elder De La Peña could do the interview, so I got to work in the area of Elder Zúñiga for a few hours until the branch activity and that was fun! The branch activity went well. A lot of people came and the game was really fun. 

Overall, a ton of stuff happened this week and it was all exciting and fun. I´m just tired now from everything last week. But, I´m still excited because we are working with the rest of her family to get baptized and I really hope that all her kids and grandkids can get there too. So, I´m pretty happy with how the week went to hit my one year mark. 

The quote I wanted to put in this week comes from John U. Teh and it reads, "If we are not careful, we will begin to chase after the temporal more than the spiritual." I love this quote and believe that a lot of thinking can be done in respect to this. The material things that we have in this life are not nearly as important as the happiness we gain from being true, honest, and virtuous people.Thank you to everyone who wrote me this last week and for everyone who wished me a happy one year mark and I hope to hear from you all soon.

Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine

Monday, September 22, 2014

Formosa

Hey Everyone! 

This last week was pretty good actually. On Tuesday we passed by a part member family whose little boy just passed away and so we´re helping them to understand the plan of salvation and the parents are really determined to come to church and get to the temple to be able to be sealed to their child. And, Elder Zúñiga from the other part of Pirané was with us all day on wednesday because his companion had to travel to Resistencia for the day. It was pretty fun being in a trio for a day, but there is definitely not enough room in any of the apartments for 3 20 year olds to be living. But, it was only one night. 

So then we had to travel to the capital of Formosa on Thursday for a special conference from Carlos Gonzalez from the 70. That was pretty good, it was just a ton of traveling for one day and we had to wake up at 4 AM to leave. And Elder Aguirre was a little sick for the last part of Thursday and then Friday until about 3. So, that was the down part of the week, but he´s all good now. 

And then we had the branch activity on Friday and had empanadas again and I always love those. The game was fun and we got to eat a ton of empanadas because they are super cheap here in Pirané, only $2 a dozen. The bad this week is that we had to stop teaching la familia Benitez. They are still good people, but they weren´t progressing. They just wanted us to come over as friends and they didn´t really want to learn anymore about the gospel. But, la hermana Amarilla came to church and it looks like we´ll have her baptism this saturday!! :D So, keep your fingers crossed. Also, we are going to call the stake president or something about getting a piano here, because we just sing the hymns acapella and most the people don´t even know the hymns or can´t hit the notes if they do. But, we probably won´t get one, at least for awhile. 

Anyways, the quote I wanted to share this week comes from William R. Walker and it reads, “The more connected we feel to our righteous forefathers, the more likely we are to make wise and righteous choices.” We can all look into our past and find an awesome great grandpa or grandma or uncle or something and we can use their example to be better people ourselves. I love this quote and how it encourages us to do family history and to follow the good examples that others have given us. Thank you to everyone who wrote me this week and I hope to hear from all of you soon.[ Still waiting on the pictures ): ]

Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine

Monday, September 15, 2014

Pirane

Hey everybody! 

This week went pretty well overall. We had to travel to a place called fontana on tuesday to go to a meeting and it´s about 2 hours away, so that was a long day, but it was a meeting. And, the assistents to the president came to our area and did divisions with us for 1 day and we got a ton of teaching done with them. We got to work in both areas of Pirané and we found some cool new families and we´ll see how they progress. We had the branch activity on Friday and we made milanesa sandwiches. Elder aguirre and I spent about an hour before the activity to cook everything and we did about 70 sandwiches! It was a good activity and we had fun playing some guessing games and just talking with the members. 

La familia Benitez, Amarilla, Elsa, and Elisa and the coolest families that we are teaching right now and they are all doing well. They are accepting our invitations and reading and praying to get an answer. The only problem is that this week it rained a ton on Saturday. And, since no one has cars here, they were all going to walk to church. But, the roads are like sand here. So, when it rains there is always like 2 feet of mud, and so they couldn´t come to church yesterday. But, they are all really cool people and I know that they´ll make it to church this week. Nothing too exciting really happened other than that and things are just going well here. We are still finding a ton of new people to teach and I´m excited for the success that we´ll have here. 

Oh, and the computer that we use can´t read my camera for some reason. so, this week I´m going to see if we can move my pictures onto another device and then send them that way, because we haven´t had pictures now for like a month, but just know that I am taking pictures and I´ll get them up as soon as I can. 

The quote I wanted to put in this week comes from Boyd K. Packer and it reads as follows, "I wish to share with you those truths which are the most worth knowing...like most things of great worth, knowledge which is of eternal value comes only through personal prayer and pondering." the message I love that we can take from this is that of an eternal perspective. If we take a step back and think and truly ponder on what is important in this life, we will find more easily the things of true value. Thank you to everyone who wrote me and for all being patient with the pictures and I hope to hear from you all soon.

Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine

Monday, September 8, 2014

Pirane week 2

Hey everybody! 

This week was pretty good overall. We´ve been playing basketball every morning and I love doing that. And, most of the latins here can´t play basketball or don´t know how. But, Elder Aguirre is actually really good and it´s fun to play with him. On friday we had to travel about 3 hours away to a city named ibarreta to go to a zone conference. That went really well and I got to see Elder Cannon there since we got put into the same zone! He´s not in my district, but he´s in my zone. So, I´ll get to see him once or twice every month. And, we had the branch activity on Friday and that went really well. We got a ton of empanadas and soda and got to eat those while we listened to a spiritual thought and then watched a bunch of mormon messages from mormonmessages.org. So, it was a fun activity and it really helps the area out to do the activity every Friday. 

Also, we found a ton of people this week! We found 21 new investigators!! The people here are a lot nicer! Only one person in 2 weeks has turned us down and not let us share the message. Leonicio is still doing really well. But, his boss made him work all of saturday and sunday. So, we´re going to try and do his baptism as soon as his boss gives him some time off to be able to do it. And, we were going to have the baptism of Amarilla, but it changed. We ended up talking to her whole family and they all really liked what we taught and want to be baptized together as a family at the start of october. So, that will be a lot cooler with 5 or 6 of them! And, we found a new family, la familia Benitez. The kids are really cool and want to come to church and learn and everything and there are 6 kids. The parents are also really nice, but they don´t really want to come to church and they smoke and aren´t married. So, it will be a little harder with the parents, but we are still going to work with them and see what happens!! 

That´s pretty much it for this week and the quote I wanted to give you guys this week comes from President Thomas S. Monson and it reads, “We cannot truly love God if we do not love our fellow travelers on this mortal journey.” I love how important it is and how magnified it becomes that we must all help each other to overcome the difficulties we have to pass through in this life. Thank you to everyone who wrote me and I hope to hear from you all soon.

Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine

The computer is refusing to read my camera...so we shall hope for pictures next week. :(

Monday, September 1, 2014

Crazy Week

Hey Everyone! 

This is a long one, I think, so get ready. I got transfered against all odds!! even though I wanted to stay in Goya and train, it didn´t happen. I got transferred to Formosa to a place called Pirané. I was sad and a little upset to have to leave Goya, but when I got here it got better. My new companion is Elder Aguirre from Columbia and he´s super cool and we like basically all the same things and so far we get along really well. So, they "whitewashed" goya, which is when they change both missionaries, since Elder Mauricio went home and I came here. So, I said goodbye to everyone on Tuesday since I found out monday night and it was sad, but everyone was home so I got to see them one last time. I said goodbye to la flia Cuevas and she gave me one of her homemade baskets, la familia vera, la familia Melgarejos and their neighbors, and then finished off the day with la familia oviedo and la hermana bought us a chocolate and strawberry cake and it was the first time I had/saw strawberries in almost a year...it was pretty awesome. And then I had to leave at 3 am since it was 10 hours in 3 different buses and I didn´t get there til 7pm. The apartment was pretty cool, but it had a ton of spiders that I had to kill (I don´t have a fear of spiders anymore in case anyone was wondering) and I even found a nest. And then on day 2 I saw a cockroach...and I went to kill it, and 20 big ones came out of the same hole which was gross. So, we bought cockroach killer and aired those bad boys out and they were running everywhere and it was pretty gnarly, but now the apartment is bug free and looking good :) And, it´s like a billion degrees hotter here. It´s technically winter and I´m sweating like crazy even when I´m just sitting doing nothing. But, I love the new area. The people are super nice and receptive and they have a branch activity every friday with games and food which is really fun. Also, there is a basketball court close to the apartment and I am companions with the only latin who loves basketball and doesn´t like soccer, so we play basketball every morning. And, we went looking for some old investigators of the church that had come to church twice and we got them super excited and they both came to church and it looks like they will both get baptized this week. Their names are Amarilla and Leonicio. Different families, but both super awesome and if all goes well this week, the next time I write you they will both be baptized. And I met some really cool members, La familia montiel and la hermana Pastor. The only bad thing is that la familia montiel lives over an hour away walking. but, la hermana Pastor wants to go out teaching and contacting with us every day. It´s super awesome. And the branch president here is really cool and super humble and I already love the guy, he´s so cool. And, people think I´m good at spanish or something. Everyone that I´ve asked where they think I´m from have said Spain, Italy, or Buenos Aires and that´s always cool to hear and not have them call you a gringo. The church here is really small...it´s basically a big house, but the members are awesome and I´m super excited for this transfer here and I hope that elder Aguirre and I stay together for awhile. I´m kind of out of time, so that´s pretty much it for this week, but the quote that I wanted to add in this week comes from Gary E. Stevenson and it reads, "Your [life] will pass quickly, and you´ll have eternity to think about what you did in this life." I love this quote and the eternal perspective it gives us on the choices we make and how they will affect our eternal happiness. Thank you to everyone who wrote me this week and I brought my camera, but forgot my cord to connect it, so I´ll have a ton of pictures next week!!
 
Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine

Friday, August 29, 2014

11 Months!!

Monday, August 25, 2014

Hey everybody! 


Today officially marks 11 months in the mission! Crazy how fast it went! Like I said last week, we had a multizone conference on Tuesday. That went well and I was assigned to play the organ for that which was fun to do. It was a good day and it was good to see some old, familiar faces. And, this last saturday, we had another fun branch activity. It was kind of like the last one where we threw the football for awhile and then had lunch and then a small talent show. All went well and we had locro for lunch. Locro is like a soup thing with veggies and cow. But not normal cow. The stomach, tripe, kidney, leg, and tail of the cow. And after a little bit, we didn´t want anymore. Mostly because some of the pieces still had skin and hair on them...So Elder Mauricio and I just left real quick and bought some chocolate and coca-cola haha. And, for the talent show I was able to play a couple songs on the piano and then do some card tricks which was fun. 

Elder Mauricio is now officially gone. He left this morning and I am staying with our zone leaders until the other changes happen tomorrow. I´m hoping that I stay here and that I get to train a new missionary. La familia Melgarejos made us dinner twice this week to say goodbye to Elder Mauricio and that was good. They are doing well and their neighbors are coming along as well. They are accepting what we teach, but their kids got really sick last week and they couldn´t come to church because of that, but I have faith that they´ll get there! And, I got a couple cool hats this week and I forgot to take pictures. I´ll get some pictures and get those to you next week. 

And, we took a picture with all the soda that we had in the last 7 weeks. I think that you´ll all be impressed with the picture! That was pretty much all the exciting stuff this week. The quote for this week comes from Jean A. Stevens and it reads, "We can trust that He will help us, not necessarily in the way we want but in the way that will best help us to grow." I love this because it shows us that some of the trials that we pass through are necessary in order to learn certain lessons. But, once we have learned what is required, the Lord will help us get back up and get to a stronger position!! Thank you to everyone who wrote me, I hope you all enjoyed summer, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine
 
 The cow tail with hair.

 Me metaphorically killing Elder Mauricio

 The soda we had.

 Don´t worry, I got one coke zero to not get fat.
 Taking out the garbage-2 trips is for wussies.

 The last dinner we had.

 Elder Mauricio and me  before he left.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Last Week

Hey everyone! 

This last week went pretty well. First off, we´re getting kind of excited because it is the last week of the transfer. So, Elder Mauricio only has 7 days left in the mission which is exciting.  And, tomorrow we have to go to Resistencia to go to a multi zone meeting, so that should be pretty fun. 

But, this last week went okay with the people we visited. We visited la familia Perez and they are doing well. Her husband works at sea for 45 days at a time, so she is super busy since he is gone. And, la familia Melgarejos is still going strong and Lidia goes out teaching with us when she can, so that´s pretty cool. And, their neighbors are coming along well. They weren´t able to come to church this week, but they are really accepting what we are teaching and moving along well. And sister Cuevas is okay, but she just doesn´t feel ready for baptism, so we can´t really do a whole lot more with her to help her decide. So, we´ll just hope that something happens to change her mind. 

And, I got my haircut this week. I don´t have pictures yet, and the computer is broken anyways, so I´ll send some next week! That was pretty much it this week, nothing too exciting.  The quote I wanted to put in this week comes from M. Russell Ballard. It reads, “Without the completed action, the commitment is hollow.” I love this and how it applies to everything we do.  We can´t commit to something and not follow through with it!! Thanks to everyone who wrote me and I hope to hear from you all soon.

Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Baby Blessing


Monday,  August 11, 2014

Hey Everyone. 
This week went pretty well. I forgot to mention last week that I got to do the baby blessing for sol! Lidia asked me to do the blessing, so we did it in church and that was pretty cool to do, even though sol was squirming around the whole time. And, this last week we had a little moving to do. We use to rent 2 apartments in the building, but we are now down to 1 since no new missionaries came and the contract ended. So, Elder Mauricio and I had to take all of the furniture, appliances, books, shelves, etc. from the lower apartment and move them into our apartment. So we took a couple hours out on Tuesday and Wednesday to get all that done. 
Our 2 convert families are both doing well. This week we found out that la familia Gomez is moving a couple of streets down, but those couple streets make them not in our area anymore and the other missionaries will have to go by their house instead of us. So, that was kind of sad, but it´s a better house for less money, so it makes sense. And la familia Melgarejos is also doing well. They actually fed us dinner like 3 times this week which was really cool and we even had a Family Home Evening with them and their neighbors and watched a movie on the restoration of the gospel and it turned out to be a really cool night. Their neighbors are doing well, but can´t seem to wake up on time to get to church, but we´ll work with them on it. And la hermana Cuevas is coming along well and starting to get answers, but this week she was unable to come to church. She has diabetes and started feeling really sick on Friday and hasn´t left her house since then. So, we´ll hope she gets better. And, since it is prohibited to play any sport other than volleyball and ping pong, I gave my old cleats to la familia Vera. I brought them thinking that I would use them, but I can´t. So, I decided to give them to the family as a gift and they can use them for soccer. 
Anyways, that´s about it for this week and the quote comes, once again, from Dieter F. Uchtdorf. It reads, "We sometimes think that being grateful is what we do after our problems are solved, but how terribly shortsighted that is. How much of life do we miss by waiting to see the raIinbow before thanking God that there is rain?" I love this quote and how clearly it shows us that we should be thankful before, and not only after. Thank you to everyone who wrote me and I hope to hear from you all soon.

Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine

A cute picture of Sol.

Every one of those dots is a good sized spider...
we found a hive...my fear of spiders has basically disappeared

Monday, August 4, 2014

10 Months Forgotten...

Hey Everyone.
 
I just wanted to start out by letting everyone know that I forgot something last week. I forgot to mention that I hit the 10 month mark in my mission!!! :) So that´s cool. This week was pretty good I guess. Even though we are technically in the middle of winter, this week was super hot. For 3 days in a row it was crazy hot and really humid. This just means that this coming summer is going to be killer... 
 
Anyways, this week we had some good things happen and one sad thing. We found out this week that the boyfriend of natalia refuses to get married and doesn´t want to learn about the church, so we can´t really do a whole lot anymore with her or her kids which is sad. But, we have some good news with la hermana Cuevas. This week she came to church again, the 4th time, and she really likes everything we teach. The only problem is that she doesn´t feel ready for baptism and can´t receive an answer, yes or no, from God. So we are really just hoping that she can receive an answer to be able to take that step. And, this week she showed us how to make canasta. I don´t really know what that would be in english, but it´s like homemade wooden baskets. So that was cool. And we had a good week with la familia Melgarejos. We had a family home evening with them and their neighbors and that went well. We had a good lesson about the restoration of the gospel and then had a good dinner. 
 
And, I don´t know if I´ve already said this, but I will anyways. Elder Mauricio doesn´t know how to ride a bike, a motorcycle, or a car. He just knows how to walk haha Because, no one has a car in his country, not that many people have a motorcycle, and his mom never let him ride a bike. So, this week we tried to teach him how to ride a bike at the house of la familia melgarejos before we ate dinner. And, it went okay I think. He can now at least go in a straight line, he just falls when he has to turn. So, I´m hoping to have fully taught him by the time he goes home!! :) 
 
That´s pretty much all that happened this week, and the quote I want to include this week comes from Dieter F. Uchtdorf. He said, "There is one thing we can do to make life sweeter, more joyful, even glorious. We can be grateful!" I love this quote and it´s one of the principles I feel most strongly about. Being constantly grateful not only shows humility, but also a true appreciation of the efforts of others. Showing gratitude doesn´t take much, a verbal thank you, a written letter, an email, etc. are simple things that we can do in our everyday life to show gratitude towards others, even if it is an action that may have been expected. Thank you to everyone who wrote me this week, I hope summer is going well, and I hope to hear from you all soon.

Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine

 The snake we found while walking.

 Me and the snake

Monday, July 28, 2014

Branch Activity

Hey everyone! 

This week was pretty good! I started off the week early on by doing divisions on Tuesday. I went with Elder Valdez and we went and worked in his area for the day. It went pretty well and I liked getting to meet the people in his area. Elder Valdez is okay. He´s not my favorite to work with and it´s always weird teaching the lessons in a way that you´re not used to, but he´s a really good guy and we shared some cool stories. Then, I felt kind of weird/sick for part of the day on Tuesday and most of Wednesday. I think it was probably something I ate. But, it wasn´t that bad and I´m all better now. 

And, this week was really cool because of the branch activity that we had on Saturday. A ton of people met up at the church and there were different activities going on, lke soccer, cards, musicians, and football. Yes, real football. I brought my football to the activity and everyone seemed to love it, especially all the white missionaries. So, I loved playing catch for the first time in a year with someone that could actually throw a football. And, I did some magic tricks with the cards, played the guitar, played the piano, and even played a little soccer. And there was a giant lunch at the end with pizza, sandwiches, chicken, etc. etc. And they even had hot dogs (even though they were uncooked and they only use mayo as a condiment...at least they tried. 

And this week we found two cool families to teach. One is the neighbor of la familia Melgarejos and they came to they activity and really enjoyed it and they are already really good friends with Lidia, so I´m excited for them. The girl is 28 and the guy is 22 and there are 4 kids, ages 9, 7, 2, and a baby. But, the baby is the only biological child of the guy that she´s living with. And the other family had listened to missionaries before but now want to learn more and the mom´s name is Natalia and they have two kids 8 and 6. So, we will see what happens with them. And la familia Melgarejos made me happy since they were they ones who originally shared the gospel with their neighbors to get them interested! :) 

And the quote I wanted to share is from two people. The first part is from Charles Swindoll and the second part is from President Thomas S. Monson and he reflects on what was said by Swindoll. Swindoll said, "Courage is not limited to the battlefield...or bravely catching a thief in your house. The real tests of courage are much quieter. They are inner tests, like remaining faithful when no one´s looking,...like standing alone when you´re misunderstood." And President Monson stated, "He who stands steadfastly for that which is right must risk becoming at times disapproved and unpopular." I love both of these and how clear they are on what real courage is. That real courage sometimes requires losing something; that it´s not always winning. Thank you to everyone that wrote me this week and I hope to hear from you all soon.

Les Quiero,
Elder Joshua Clarine

 The mold that started to grow in the apartment from the humidity(Don´t worry, it´s gone now.)

A cat on top of a car in a car dealership...ghetto

 The field where we played and threw the football.

The lunch at the activity.