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.

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

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

 

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.

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

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

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