Week 71 - Retiro

Tanner didn't send a letter today.  We did get to talk to him.  He is doing well.  He stayed in the same area, the Congreso Zone in the Retiro Branch (the slums, Villa 31).    He got a new companion.  His name is Elder Armstrong.  He is from Highland UT.  He has been in the mission just a month shorter than Tanner.  He has been a member all his life.  He has an older sister who is married and has a daughter that he has never met and a younger 16 year old brother.  He says that he liked being on student council and to go skiing.  He is going to go to BYU after the mission.

They were supposed to have Abigail's baptism on Saturday, but she called 2 hours before she was supposed to be baptized and said that she wasn't ready.  They had a zone conference with 5 zones this week at a stake center in the city.  The 5 zones are all zones that are located in the city.  The other 4 zones are the country zones and they had zone conference another day.

We talked a lot about basketball.  Since they fired the head coach at Idaho, he's trying to figure out what he wants to do.  UVU and BYU are both showing some interest in him.  It's going to be fun to try and do the recruiting process with him on a mission.  We will keep you updated.  It's hard to tell what Tanner thinks about it all.  He just kept saying, "It's a lot to think about".

He's down to less than 7 months, but who's counting.  Oh wait, I am!! 

Week 70 - Retiro

We had a good week, with some interesting things that happened.

On Thursday morning we are sitting there talking when Elder Higueras (a missionary from the other companionship, that serves in the same branch as Tanner) starts picking at a scar/scab thing on his leg and then somehow it starts bleeding a lot.  We thought it was nothing at first but then he starts bleeding more and more until finally we decide to take him to the hospital.  It turns out he popped a vein in his leg so he was in the pension resting for a couple days after that.

We had stake conference yesterday and some really good talks were given.  The Area 70 had all the investigators raise their hands and then gave them a council "bauticense" (be baptized) then paused for a monument and said "haganlo no mas" (wait no more).  It was crazy.  We had a big asado (roast) on Sunday afternoon.

This weekend we are gonna have the baptism of Abigail if everything goes well.  It was a pretty solid last week of the transfer.

Obelisk in downtown Buenos Aires, 12 blocks from their apartment

Congreso Zone

Outside the apartment?

Elder Higueras

Elder Higueras

Week 69 - Retiro

On Tuesday we went out with Elder Jones who is a former General Authority who is now on a mission with his wife serving in the Area Offices.  It was pretty crazy because this dude knew a lot of stuff.  He was President Zuniga's (my mission president) mission president 25 years ago and President Zuniga was his Assistant.  We went and visited a couple of families with him and it went really well.

On Thursday we had our interview with the president and he was just roasting everyone basically because the mission isn't having as much success as it should have.  On Friday we had the Leadership Meeting with the zone leaders and sister trainers in the mission home.  Basically there were shots being fired and everyone had a lot of different opinions.  I don't know. I just think that sometimes nothing really gets done in meetings like this.  Less meetings, more working would be better.

Saturday morning we had the baptism of Ruth Choquemamani in the morning. Very few people showed up.  Us, the Elders Quorum President, another member, Ruth, and her mom.  Even though there wasn't a lot of people there it was really nice anyway.  Elder Rodriguez baptized Ruth and she was super-excited during the whole thing.  At the end, someone from the Relief Society showed up to support.  The crazy thing that happened at the end is that the stake had a temple trip and all the members that went to the baptism were also going to the temple. So they invited Ruth and her mom to go and Ruth says that she can go, but the mom (who's not a member) says she can't because she has to work.  But in the end we learned that Ruth's mom ended up going to the temple (we had never taught her, barely even talked to her) and not Ruth.  (Ruth's mom just sat outside the temple.) Sounds like the mom had a great time and now wants to know more.

On Sunday it was fast and testimony meeting and Ruth got up and bore her testimony about how good she felt and how she wanted to invite all her friends and family to church.  We got really excited about that.  It was a very good week and we saw a lot of miracles.

Baptism of Ruth Choquemamani

Baptism of Ruth Choquemamani by Elder Rodriguez

Church Video that Tanner's Dad (Kirt Christensen) appears in, being set
apart by Bishop Steve Willis, from about 2002 in Provo, UT

Week 68 - Retiro

This week was very good!  We got all the details wrapped up and on Saturday of next week we are going to have the baptism of Ruth the Peruvian lady we are teaching.  We also are teaching another girl who is 20 years old who is gonna get baptized the 16th of November.

On Wednesday I went with Elder Salas to his area to do some baptismal interviews.  We did divisions with the Assistants on Friday and I went with Elder Smith, my friend from the MTC.  We got to drive around in the car all day which felt really weird.  On Sunday we had a lot of people in church and Ruth was going to have her baptismal interview in the 2nd hour with President Palmieri (a member of the mission presidency) and I was crapping my pants because she didn't arrive at 9:30.  So I was super nervous all during the sacrament because I didn't want President Palmieri to get mad at us.  Then finally I jumped out of my seat when Ruth showed up at 9:50.  It was awesome.

This weekend there were the Presidential elections in Argentina and everybody went crazy so we had quite a lot of interactions with drunk people.  They always come and talk to me and ignore Elder Rodriguez because I'm so tall and white.  One guy came up to me asking for a picture then like 7 other drunk guys all came in for the picture and it was super funny.  But anyways it was a very busy exciting week.

Week 67 - Retiro

We did divisions all this week and found a bunch of good people.  We started teaching a family from Haiti the other day and they are really nice and everything.  It's a little difficult given that they don't speak much Spanish and we don't speak French but we are working on that.  We went to a less active and found his niece who turned out to be really interested.  Her name is Abigail and she actually came to church.  One of the things I like about the Villa and Buenos Aires in general is that it is really diverse.  This week I counted and we talked with people from 14 different countries.  It was pretty crazy.  One thing that is kind of making it hard for us is that the Villa is that it is about a 20 minute bus ride to the chapel so it's kind of hard to get people to go to church.  We are teaching a Peruvian girl named Ruth who is on track to get baptized the 2nd of November but she's having some setbacks.  Anyways this week went well.  Nothing to complain about, just super busy which is a good thing.

He sent in the chat the countries of the people that he had talked to:
Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, USA, Nigeria, Senegal, and China.

Week 66 - Retiro

This week we did divisions with Retiro 2 which is the other elders in the branch and I went with Elder Higueras this huge Bolivian guy.  It was an interesting day because one dude pulled out a gun and was showing us it in the middle of the street like it was nothing.  On Thursday we went and had a zone conference in the mission offices.  Sunday was good.  I introduced myself in sacrament meeting after only like four people asked to take photos with me.  We are going to have a baptism in two weeks of a Peruvian lady.  Yesterday she got up out of nowhere to give her testimony and I was really scared that she was gonna do something crazy, but it was actually good.  She talked about how nice the church was and everything.  On Saturday we had lunch (I think that is what it says, can't read his handwriting) and there was this less active guy that was a self-proclaimed rapper so I tried to rap battle him.

Week 65 - Retiro

This week was pretty crazy.  We had transfers on Tuesday morning and I got transferred to the Retiro branch in the Congresso Stake.  I am with Elder Rodriguez from Salta, Argentina.  Our area is the Villa 31 which is basically the biggest Villa in Buenos Aires.  The branch from what I have seen is very good.  In the Villa it's a whole different world.  There are people from everywhere in the world and it's always crowded with a ton of people.  We are teaching a couple of people who are going to get baptized soon we hope.

On Thursday and Friday we had a leadership meeting in the mission home and then on Saturday and Sunday it was General Conference so we didn't have that much time to work in our area.  We live in the middle of one of the most transited areas of Buenos Aires which is a huge change from my last area.  Elder Rodriguez is a covert and the only member from his family and we get along well.  It was a really good week and I feel like there is always something interesting that happens in the Villa.  Oh yeah, I forgot to say that we are allowed to drink matte now and all the Argentines and Uruguayans went crazy, but I tried matte and it sucks.

[Family Note: Here is some more info that I got from Tanner from talking to him]

Like he said, his companion is a convert and the only member in his family.  He joined the church when he was 13 and went for a few years.  Then he went inactive for a while, but started coming back shortly before coming on his mission. He has 6 brothers and sisters.

If you couldn't tell Villa is a nice word for slum.  His area is the biggest slum in Argentina.  Google Villa 31 and check out the crazy pictures.  He says he doesn't live in the Villa.  He said his branch has about 130 people that come regularly, but that they are all very new converts and there is no leadership.  His building is shared by 2 other wards and he says that the wards are smaller than the branch (like 60 and 70 members who attend), but they are much more established.  I put a couple of photos in from google images.  The freeway runs right over the top of the Villa.  It is also right next to the nicest neighborhood in BA.

Week 64 - Pacheco

On Tuesday we had the last district meeting of the transfer, and the 4 missionaries that are finishing their missions gave their testimonies.  It was really nice.  That afternoon I did divisions with Elder Valdivia, the Elder that was in the Salt Lake City West mission before.  So we went to mutual and played volleyball with the young women and met one of the friends that they had brought.

On Wednesday I went with Elder Miranda to his area and we walked the most that I have walked in a long freaking time.

On Thursday, it was a long day.  So we do weekly planning in the morning and then we go to make sure everything is alright with the baptismal font.  So we start cleaning and it is super dirty because the windows were left open so there was a bunch of dirt.  So I end up in the font with water up to my shins cleaning the font.  It was pretty fun actually but it took a long time.

On Friday we had the baptism of Diana and everything was going according to plan.  The baptism was going to start at 8:00 but Diana and her husband ended up coming at 8:50 so we did the baptism super fast.  It was actually very spiritual and a ton of members came to support .  It was awesome.  

Sunday was awesome.  Diana was confirmed and now her husband Erico is a little bit more motivated to keep investigating the church.  On top of that it was the primary program in the ward and the kids were awesome.  Also Diana and Erico have 7 year old twins so they were able to participate.  So that made them and us happy.  It was a very good week.  I got sunburnt because it started to get hot this week and elder Chajchalac keeps calling me a red neck every 5 seconds.  But anyways tonight there are transfers so we will see what happens...

Week 63 - Pacheco

This week went well. On Tuesday we had interviews with President Zuniga.  We are also finally going to have a baptism this week.  On Friday, one of our investigators Diana is gonna get baptized.

She's really awesome and super excited.  She's 27 and lives with her husband and two twin daughters who are seven years old.  We found her because she was an old investigator like two years ago and was just super humble and ready to accept the gospel this time that we came.  It was kind of funny because she lives in the Villa which is like the poorest part.  We had a lesson with her at 8:00 pm on Saturday and the Villas at that time on weekends are usually a little crazy.

So in this Villa there is a huge volleyball court and there was a ton of drunk people playing and then they saw me and went crazy and invited me to play.  So I played for a little bit and it was fun.  But anyways everything is going well.  The members are treating us very well.  They Bishop had us over for lunch on his birthday and we had a ton of food.

Bishop Jaramillos' Birthday Party

Cooking Asado on P-day

Week 62 - Pacheco

This week went well.  On Wednesday we had a zone conference with Elder Villar from the 70 and it was really good.  He talked a lot about his mission and how being obedient helped him.

On Friday we had a leadership meeting also with Elder Villar and it was interesting to see the vision he has for the mission.  In our area we have been seeing a lot of cool things happen.  We started teaching a family of a mom and two daughters that had listened to the missionaries and gone to church about 2 years back.  That was when the mom and dad were together but when we talked to the women, Diana, they were separated for 4 months.

On Sunday morning they show up to church  Diana and her 2 daughters with the husband.  Apparently he had come home on Saturday night and they had reconciled and want to do things right.  Now they want to get baptized so they can get sealed in the temple.

Also on Saturday night it was about 8:15 and our appointment had just canceled on us so we were like, let's go visit this old investigator.  So we went and his name is Juan and he went to church the next day and he wants to get baptized now.  So those were two miracles that happened this week.

Elder Willie and Tanner

Week 61 - Pacheco

This week went well we did divisions twice, and I went to different areas both times. This week we are trying to find a ton of new people, all the people we talk to tell us, "Hey come over whenever you want, its okay" and then we go and we never find them , but anyway we are working hard with the ward members and we did a huge family home evening last night and it went super well.

This week Elder Villar from the Presidency of the Area is coming so we are going to have a Zone Conference with him again.

I got to go with Elder Telis on Friday, my trainer, and that was fun . Anyway, I don't have much to say, same ol, same ol basically. :)

Tanner down by a river in his area

Tanner and Elder Tellis, his trainer

Luisa

"Chiky" cookies, a Costa Rican brand, all the way from Guatemala for Elder Chajchalac

Chiky" cookies, a Costa Rican brand, all the way from Guatemala for Elder Chajchalac

Leadership Conference

Week 60 - Pacheco

On Tuesday of this week we did divisions and I went with Elder Miranda, and we went to the mutual to practice with the youth on how to invite someone to church in preparation for the activity that we planned on Saturday.

On Wednesday, we did divisions again and I went with Elder Gerber. We went to the stake center that evening to watch the President Nelson devotional.

[FAMILY NOTE: President Nelson was in Argentina.  He spoke at a stadium that only held about 10,000 people so a lot of the members didn't get to go and just watched it broadcasted from churches.]

It was awesome.  For the first 30 seconds of the talk President Nelson was using an translator but then he was  like "Sorry, I would like to talk in Spanish" and then gave a 15-minute talk in Spanish.  He talked about tithing, word of wisdom and temple attendance and about how if we kept these commandments we would be blessed.  It was a very good devotional.  When I was there Veronica and Omar, two of my converts from Boulogne came and we talked for a while.  Veronica is getting ready to go to the temple.  And plus they made us pizzas which was awesome.

On Friday we had a Zone Conference and Elder Chajchalac and I gave a presentation about working with the members for about 30 minutes.

Saturday afternoon we did an activity with the youth in the ward.  We went with them to a huge park that is close to the chapel and we gave out cards with them for invitations to the church.  We handed out about 200 invitations in about 45 minutes and the youth got really excited.

On Sunday night we had a huge FHE in the Bishop's house.  We had everyone that was there, name one person that hadn't come to church in a while, and then we had a list of about 30 names.  Then we committed the members that were there to go and invite everyone one of these people to church next week.  Then we played some games.  It was a big success actually.  Today for p-day Elder Savage is gonna teach us how to cook steak.  But this week went by really well.

FHE at Bishop Jaramillo's House

Elder Chajchalac and his short socks

Cooking steaks

Tanner, Elder Savage, Veronica, Omar, Elder Tellis

Zone Conference

Week 59 - Pacheco

This week was very good.  I got a new companion.  His name is Elder Chajchalac from Guatemala. He's a really good guy and he's pretty funny. 

So on Tuesday morning we were doing the transfers and we were waiting for all the missionaries to get there. Then we had to go with the mission secretary who is in charge of finances. We went to the bank with him and we each took out 50,000 pesos so that was an interesting experience. 

This week went well. We have been talking to a lot of people in the street and stuff. Also our area got split and there are sisters on the other side of the ward. So they took like half of our investigators. Yeah this week was good. We are teaching a ton of Paraguayans so that is giving me a chance to practice my Guarani. 

Overlooking "Los Troncos" neighborhood

Eating arroz chafe

View of the neighborhood

View from the rooftop of the apartment

View from the rooftop of the apartment