October 21----Pretty Darn Good Week!

Hey all!

Well this last week was pretty darn good!! A lot of good stuff happened and I learned a lot this past week. The beginning was a little sluggish and slow but we made it through and had a great ending. For the first part of the week the adversary was really working hard on my companion, our investigators, and myself. It seemed like a lot of our investigators were slowing down in their progression and we did not really know why. Also my companion was a little homesick as our ward mission leader took a vacation to Uruguay (where he is from) and met his family and took pictures with his parents and siblings and worst of all, his dogs. Haha I though it was funny but he was pretty homesick because of it.

 I'm doing good with that but this past week Satan really tried to get me discouraged about everything. It was really hard to stay happy and upbeat as he was hitting me with all he had. I was getting frustrated with the language and not being able to help or talk with people perfectly, because mom gave me her perfectionism. I was starting to think that I should have gone somewhere else on my mission, which is not realistic at all as I was called here by a prophet of God. It was tough though. But with study and prayer we both were able to get over his pushing on us and we had a great weekend. I will talk more about this weekend later.

Well this Thursday is my one month mark here in Argentina. To be perfectly honest the first month was really slow haha. The mission is definitely the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, much harder than West Point. But I have also learned much more in the short time I have been out here than I ever have in my life.

 I receive revelation literally every day from the Holy Ghost for me, for my investigators, and for the work. It is so crazy as I literally feel so much closer to my Father in Heaven out here. I can tell Satan is working so hard out here on everyone and everything to try and slow the work down but it is just so amazing as the Lord always wins and it all just keeps pushing forward. It is seriously a literal battle with sin. Every day we are out there fighting against sin and evil. It is amazing to see the power of God and his hand in every aspect of the work. It is definitely the most amazing thing I have seen in my life to see people´s lives change as they receive the faith and hope that comes from knowing the gospel of Jesus Christ. And besides, the evidences that Satan is doing everything he can to stop us only strengthens my faith that this Gospel and Church is true and that with God, all things are possible.

Well back to this weekend. Saturday was a great day as we worked in the vineyard. We taught a bunch of great lessons and had real success with a few new investigators. I also prepared a talk as I had to give one yesterday in sacrament meeting. I talked about member missionary work and how important it is to get the members involved. It actually went really really well and my Spanish was really good as I talked. I just kind of joked around on the pulpit about how I was new and to forgive me if I make mistakes. Every time I couldn't think of a word I just kind of laughed and explained what I tried to say. The members loved it and a lot of them came up and told me how much they liked it and loved how hard I am trying to learn Spanish. It really strengthened my faith and helped me to know that I really have learned a lot of Spanish and can say what I want to without too many errors!

 We also were really excited as we prepared the chapel for our first baptism together as a companionship. That´s right I said it. I HAD MY FIRST BAPTISM YESTERDAY!!!!!! It was by far the best experience of my life. Her name was Wendy Geraldine Cuellar Perez. When she asked if I would do the baptism I about died. I had no idea how to say her name correctly. I literally wrote it on a sticky note and put in on the back of my badge and recited it and the baptismal prayer all day. haha I was so nervous that I would somehow mess up. I was literally less nervous being a range safety with 200 new cadets than I was getting into that font!!! The cool thing is though that as I was getting dressed in all white I just had this comforting feeling come over me that the Lord would not set me up to fail and that he will especially not let me fail in doing a sacred ordinance like baptism. Besides, I have never had a bad experience when I was dressed in all white!! It was so cool and the baptism went perfectly. They said I even had the accent down perfectly as I said her name and the prayer. Haha that is what a day of saying the same line over and over again will do for you! But yes it was amazing and as I lifted her out of the water I felt like I didn´t have to do a thing. I seemed as though there were angels there lifting her out. It was soooooo cool. I wish I could explain how happy I was as I walked about of the font. Wow is about all I can say! I am so glad that I was able to do that and I will remember it forever.

We should have another baptism this next week. It is actually a ward baptism though as the girl is 8 years old and her mom is an inactive member. So the number will not come to us but it is ours in heart though as we reactivated her family and we will be performing the ordinance. My companion will probably do the actual baptism for her but it is all the same to me! I will attach some pictures that we took in another email. They are a little blurry so sorry for that but they are all we have!

Anyway I am doing good and having fun. I am still healthy and what not. I had a bit of a cold this week but it wasn't too bad. It is starting to get warmer and humid here so I sweat a bit but its not that bad yet. My body is so confused because the temperature is going the wrong direction haha. It is all good though it will figure it out.

I´m glad that Barry is back and doing well. Thanks for going to his homecoming and Marshalls this next week. I am sure they appreciate that! Also thanks for getting their emails for me.

 I am glad everything else is going well too. I hope all continues to go well with the move in of Dave and Kelly and hope their home goes up well! I'm glad Dad is getting right on into the retired life and having fun. He told me that the Traverse had to have a lot of work but was covered by warranty. That´s good or that would have been expensive!

Well anyway thats really about all I have for this week. Just plugging along and doing the work of the Lord. I´ll let you know next week how everything else is working out! Oh yeah and about the investigator who got offended, well it all worked out and she decided to get baptized. You may be asking why we didn't

baptize her though. Well it turns out that she was baptized years and years ago in Bolivia as a kid and she forgot. Haha so she is already a member! Wow that is crazy how that one turned out. My companion and I laughed so hard about that.

Well anyway I hope that everyone has a good week and thanks for all the updates. Love you all and talk to you next week!!

Love,

Elder Zollinger

Elder Zollinger, Sister Perez, and Elder Pereira

Members and family at the baptism

October 14

Well it sounds like everyone at home is doing pretty good! Thank you to those who wrote me and told me how everything is going. I was writing this email and lost my internet, so I had to spend 15 minutes trying to figure it out. So sorry if it is a bit shorter than usual! Sorry about the whole Monday/Tuesday thing this last week! I am so lost I have not know what is going on for 3 weeks now haha I feel like a lost puppy who has no idea where he is or what all the weird people around him are saying. But oh well it is starting to get better and better! Thank you for your prayers as well I can definitely feel the strength I receive from them each day.

This past week was interesting. We got to write home Monday but it wasn´t actually Pday, so we just wrote home and worked the rest of the day. Then Tuesday we had a mission conference and then President Ayre took the entire mission to the largest zoo in Argentina. It was way cool and a good break from everything. He even paid for everyone to get in and gave us money for food and drinks. It was really nice of him and we figured he used almost $5000 USD of his own money!! Needless to say he is a pretty successful guy haha. But yeah it was way fun and everything. The day was really tiring though because we had to get up at 5 to get there on time by taking buses and trains and then we didn't get home until 8:30 that night. It was pretty much a waste of a day but hey I will take what I can get!

Other than that our week was like a roller coaster. We had some really good things happen and some really bad. We had two of our investigators who have been living together for 10 years and have kids agree to get married and baptized! That was really cool to get them on that path and we still have a lot of work ahead of us with them, as they didn´t go to church because they were up all night at a party drinking... but we haven´t taught them the word of wisdom yet so we can´t really blame them haha. Oh well at least now we know what we need to teach them! They are amazing though and have a lot of faith so I am confident that they will progress and be sealed in the temple in the Lord´s due time.

 Also we were supposed to have a baptism this week but our investigator got really offended by two church members yesterday and she told us that she wants to put of the baptism for a while because of it... we were devestated and we are trying to mend the situation but we really just need to pray for her heart to be softened and realize how strong of a testimony she has. Hopefully we can figure it out this week and go forward with my first baptism saturday. I will let you know how that goes! It is funny to see how when all you do is think about your investigators all day every day, you really start to get emotionally attached to their progression. It is all I have to do all day is think about helping others come to Christ. When they fall or make mistakes we really do get downright sad. Then when they agree to baptism or make good decisions I feel so happy I can´t hardly describe it. I think that might be part of the reason why the language frustrates me is that I am so attached to the progress of my investigators that it kills me not to be able to tell them what they need to hear or just talk with them and be their friend.

Days here are pretty busy. We get up at 6:30 and study time starts at 8. Then we have companionship studies from 9-11, then language study from 11-12. We almost always have lunch with a member and the other two elders in our ward. Then we have teaching appointments rest of the day until we get back to our pension at 9, plan for the next day, and get to bed by 10:30. There was an all night drinking party in the apartment above us last night though so both my companion and myself are very tired today. Hopefully we will get some good sleep tonight!

I am doing good. There really isn´t much to complain about! I am finally starting to get in the groove of things even though I still struggle to have a regular conversation with someone. I honestly think I need the gift of patience more than I need the gift of tongues haha. I can tell that I am improving though it will just take time. I just expect perfection too quickly so I think the Lord is trying to teach me something here haha.

It is so weird to hear that Barry is back home. Please get me his email so that that punk will finally email me. I havent heard from him in nearly 2 years!! Also tell Joel to email me too I havent heard a thing from them since I left. I talked to Marshall today and he said he flies home next tuesday and is way sad to be leaving. I am sure they will all do great at home though. It is just weird and kinda sad to see them all coming home just as I get started.

It sucks to hear about the government and West Point. I guess it is a good thing I am out here now and not there. Keep me updated if I will still have a school to go back to when I get home or if they end up shutting it down haha.

There really isn´t much going on around here. I am doing good and really haven´t even gotten sick yet, which is suprising for someone coming here from the states. My body is doing really good with the adjustment. I think the two years of West Point and Army food made my stomach able to handle anything this place throws at me haha. 

But really there isn´t a whole lot to report on this week. Just enjoying the mission life. We did hear that the old mission president´s wife, Sister Gulbrandsen, has breast cancer. They asked us to keep her in our prayers as she goes in for surgery this Thursday. I didn´t ever know her as President Ayre got here before I did, but it never hurts to keep our fellow saints in our prayers even if we don´t know them personally.

Random thing, I don´t know how to use the key bank card... haha not many places around here accept debit cards. That and I think if I pull money off of it we will get a big charge from the bank for the money change. I will try it this week and see, hopefully we don´t get charged an arm and a leg!!

That´s about all I have for this week. Just chugging along finally starting to get the ole train rolling. Keep up the prayers for me, they are really helping a lot I can tell. Thank you all for your love and support! Also I should finally be able to send some emails with pictures this week, so stay tuned! Love you all!

Love,

Elder Zollinger

Tory at the Zoo

Tory at the Zoo

Tory's Apartment

Tory's view at his Apartment

Hola de la Gran Misión Buenos Aires Norte!

So I know that last week I said that I would write Tuesday, but suprise! Tomorrow is indeed our Pday but today is our email day. Not sure how that worked out this week but whatever haha. 

So this past week was a pretty good one! We have been having some success and have found some pretty good investigators! Right now we have about 25 investigators total so we are being kept very very busy. We sometimes have to go on splits with the Ward Mission Leader and some priests in order to keep up with all of them. It is tough though because we have not had a baptism and will not have one this week, so we are trying to figure out what we could do better with them to get them to take that first step onto the straight and narrow path. We decided that we are going to have to drop some of them who are not ready for our message and are just not progressing so that we can focus on those who are ready and willing to do what it takes to have the truth in their lives. It is a very hard decisión to drop somebody, to just take them off your list and know that, at least for now, they rejected the Gospel of Christ when you did everything you could to bring it to them. But I know that eventually they will know of its truthfulness, either in this life or the next.

Also I am amazed at how much better General Conference is when you are a missionary. Haha I was looking forward to watching every session almost as much as I used to look forward to watching a Husker game or a Brand new movie. It is amazing how much you can pull for your life from each and every talk that is given during that event. Every single one of them is inspired of God for us at this time I know it. Luckily for me the stake here is amazing and they set up a small TV to watch it in English in a classroom in the stake center where we went to watch conference. I was so happy to be able to hear it in a language that I can actually speak haha. Myself and 3 other Elders, including my second companion in the MTC, and two Sisters watched it in English. We were able to watch all for sessions and our Ward misión leader brought us food to eat inbetween sessions. He is a boss and he does a ton of work for him. His name is Carlos and we are very lucky to have him working with us in the San Cristóbal Ward. If any of you didn´t get the chance to watch any of the sessions, or even if you did, I know you will learn so much if you go back and watch or read the talks again here soon! Like President Monson said, this last conference was one of the best ever!

This last week we had to go pay our rent directly to the company because the guy who usually takes the money to them was not there. So we took a bus right into downtown Buenos Aires. If I wouldve known I was going there I wouldve taken my camera! It is beautiful there and they buildings are absolutely amazing. We went right past the national capital and a bunch of other buildings. Its pretty much like going right to the national mall in Washington D.C. It is like a whole different world there. The buildings are huge and extremely architechual, a lot like stuff you would find in Europe, and everybody is White. Here in my área pretty much everyone is either Peruvian or Chilean, so everyone is kinda darkish. But just a short busride away it was like I went to Europe. Crazy how that Works. I was still the only guy with blonde hair though cause almost everyone in Central Buenos Aires is of Italian or Spanish descent which gives them dark hair. All the Germans live in a different sección of town haha.

Also here is something really cool! There is a guy in my Ward and his name is (get this) Lucas Zolinger (it only has one L to keep that sound cause with two L´s is makes a shhh sound here). Haha when he saw me and looked at my nametag he was like what the?! He himself is from Brazil but  you can definitely tell his ancestors were German or Swiss cause he is White but has just lost the blonde hair due to him Brazilian mom. He is a great guy and he is fluent in English, Spanish, Portugese, and is learning German. So needless to say we get along really well! He told me that his mom has done family history work and his ancestors came from a town called Zollingern (i think) in Switzerland during World War 1 and some also came later after World War 2. They all moved to and live in Northern Brazil but he came down to Argentina for school. The school he got into is really good and you have to be fluent in English and Spanish to get in. Anyway he is really cool and I just thought you might like to know that we still have relatives as far away as Argentina!

I am glad things are going well back home and Mom is healthy. I have been keeping all the fam in my prayers and I try to pray for each one individually so hopefully that has been helping you all. I´m glad that Dad has been enjoying his retired life and I am certain that he will remain busy with stuff to do around the house. Maybe by the time I get home the shop will be built and the Jeep will be fixed and I can take it as my homecoming gift! Haha I can dream can´t I? Anyway I am sure that the Lord answers prayers so if you all need anything just ask him for it!

As for me, I am doing good! I still can´t hardly understand anybody but I think that I am getting better. Either that or I am just getting used to not understanding anybody... haha. But yeah it is going good! It is frustrating not being able to understand people cause I really just want to help and serve them but that is really hard when you cannot understand them. I hope that I can learn either Spanish or patience quick cause with my high expecations of myself I start to get frustrated that I cannot do much. I am sure that within a few more weeks (or months) I will be able to do whatever I need to do and speak with people. I can usually speak and say what I want I just have a hard time undesrtanding what others say to me. Oh well though I am pretty sure the Lord is just trying to teach me patience, which is something I have not ever had... Just keep up the prayers for me to learn quick and I am sure it will come with time.

So I am pretty sure that Barry comes home this week right?! It is so weird to think that he will be getting back and I am just getting started, but I am so happy for him. Please Please go to his homecoming or even stop by his house and get him to write me cause I haven´t Heard from him in forever! Also, if you see Joel tell him to email me cause I have not Heard from him yet either. Also I am pretty sure Marshall comes home in about two weeks, so make sure to stop by and see him too. I know that is a lot cause you are all busy but at least go to their homecomings for me please!

Well there isn´t really a whole lot else going on around here. We have a misión conference tomorrow so that should be fun. I am pretty sure that the misión president is taking us all to the Buenos Aires Zoo. It will be good to see my friends from the MTC and also meet some new people. It should be good and I am pretty excited!

So anyway thanks to you all for your love, support, and prayers on my behalf. I can feel their power every day. I know that this work is true and is lead by the Lord himself. I look forward to hearing from you all again next week.

Love always,

Elder Zollinger

October 7, 2013

Hola de la Gran Misión Buenos Aires Norte!

So I know that last week I said that I would write Tuesday, but suprise! Tomorrow is indeed our Pday but today is our email day. Not sure how that worked out this week but whatever haha. 

So this past week was a pretty good one! We have been having some success and have found some pretty good investigators! Right now we have about 25 investigators total so we are being kept very very busy. We sometimes have to go on splits with the Ward Mission Leader and some priests in order to keep up with all of them. It is tough though because we have not had a baptism and will not have one this week, so we are trying to figure out what we could do better with them to get them to take that first step onto the straight and narrow path. We decided that we are going to have to drop some of them who are not ready for our message and are just not progressing so that we can focus on those who are ready and willing to do what it takes to have the truth in their lives. It is a very hard decisión to drop somebody, to just take them off your list and know that, at least for now, they rejected the Gospel of Christ when you did everything you could to bring it to them. But I know that eventually they will know of its truthfulness, either in this life or the next.

Also I am amazed at how much better General Conference is when you are a missionary. Haha I was looking forward to watching every session almost as much as I used to look forward to watching a Husker game or a Brand new movie. It is amazing how much you can pull for your life from each and every talk that is given during that event. Every single one of them is inspired of God for us at this time I know it. Luckily for me the stake here is amazing and they set up a small TV to watch it in English in a classroom in the stake center where we went to watch conference. I was so happy to be able to hear it in a language that I can actually speak haha. Myself and 3 other Elders, including my second companion in the MTC, and two Sisters watched it in English. We were able to watch all for sessions and our Ward misión leader brought us food to eat in between sessions. He is a boss and he does a ton of work for him. His name is Carlos and we are very lucky to have him working with us in the San Cristóbal Ward. If any of you didn´t get the chance to watch any of the sessions, or even if you did, I know you will learn so much if you go back and watch or read the talks again here soon! Like President Monson said, this last conference was one of the best ever!

This last week we had to go pay our rent directly to the company because the guy who usually takes the money to them was not there. So we took a bus right into downtown Buenos Aires. If I would've known I was going there I would've taken my camera! It is beautiful there and the buildings are absolutely amazing. We went right past the national capital and a bunch of other buildings. Its pretty much like going right to the national mall in Washington D.C. It is like a whole different world there. The buildings are huge and extremely architectural, a lot like stuff you would find in Europe, and everybody is White. Here in my área pretty much everyone is either Peruvian or Chilean, so everyone is kinda darkish. But just a short bus ride away it was like I went to Europe. Crazy how that Works. I was still the only guy with blonde hair though cause almost everyone in Central Buenos Aires is of Italian or Spanish descent which gives them dark hair. All the Germans live in a different sección of town haha.

Also here is something really cool! There is a guy in my Ward and his name is (get this) Lucas Zolinger (it only has one L to keep that sound cause with two L´s is makes a shhh sound here). Haha when he saw me and looked at my nametag he was like what the?! He himself is from Brazil but  you can definitely tell his ancestors were German or Swiss cause he is White but has just lost the blonde hair due to him Brazilian mom. He is a great guy and he is fluent in English, Spanish, Portugese, and is learning German. So needless to say we get along really well! He told me that his mom has done family history work and his ancestors came from a town called Zollingern (i think) in Switzerland during World War 1 and some also came later after World War 2. They all moved to and live in Northern Brazil but he came down to Argentina for school. The school he got into is really good and you have to be fluent in English and Spanish to get in. Anyway he is really cool and I just thought you might like to know that we still have relatives as far away as Argentina!

I am glad things are going well back home and Mom is healthy. I have been keeping all the fam in my prayers and I try to pray for each one individually so hopefully that has been helping you all. I´m glad that Dad has been enjoying his retired life and I am certain that he will remain busy with stuff to do around the house. Maybe by the time I get home the shop will be built and the Jeep will be fixed and I can take it as my homecoming gift! Haha I can dream can´t I? Anyway I am sure that the Lord answers prayers so if you all need anything just ask him for it!

As for me, I am doing good! I still can´t hardly understand anybody but I think that I am getting better. Either that or I am just getting used to not understanding anybody... haha. But yeah it is going good! It is frustrating not being able to understand people cause I really just want to help and serve them but that is really hard when you cannot understand them. I hope that I can learn either Spanish or patience quick cause with my high expectations of myself I start to get frustrated that I cannot do much. I am sure that within a few more weeks (or months) I will be able to do whatever I need to do and speak with people. I can usually speak and say what I want I just have a hard time understanding what others say to me. Oh well though I am pretty sure the Lord is just trying to teach me patience, which is something I have not ever had... Just keep up the prayers for me to learn quick and I am sure it will come with time.

So I am pretty sure that Barry comes home this week right?! It is so weird to think that he will be getting back and I am just getting started, but I am so happy for him. Please Please go to his homecoming or even stop by his house and get him to write me cause I haven´t Heard from him in forever! Also, if you see Joel tell him to email me cause I have not Heard from him yet either. Also I am pretty sure Marshall comes home in about two weeks, so make sure to stop by and see him too. I know that is a lot cause you are all busy but at least go to their homecomings for me please!

Well there isn´t really a whole lot else going on around here. We have a misión conference tomorrow so that should be fun. I am pretty sure that the misión president is taking us all to the Buenos Aires Zoo. It will be good to see my friends from the MTC and also meet some new people. It should be good and I am pretty excited!

So anyway thanks to you all for your love, support, and prayers on my behalf. I can feel their power every day. I know that this work is true and is lead by the Lord himself. I look forward to hearing from you all again next week.

Love always,

Elder Zollinger

Tory and Elder Pereira

Tory, Elder Pereira in San Cristabal

First Week in Argentina

Hey all!

First of all, if there is spelling mistakes in this don’t blame me because I am typing very fast and the Spanish auto correct is on this thing and I don’t know how to turn it off haha. Ok so I just typed up a gigantic email and right as I was about to press send I bumped the computer and it reset.... yeah.. my luck. Now I don´t have much time and I lost the email I was going to send. I´m sorry about that!

 Pretty much all I was saying was that things are going very well for me here. I am having fun and just adjusting to the missionary life! My first area here is called San Cristóbal. I do not know if you can find it on a map but it is pretty much right down in the heart of the city. This city is absolutely gigantic.

 I love it though mostly because I love the people, especially those whom we are teaching. I do not think they taught me Spanish in the MTC because I cannot understand a single thing haha. It is actually really frustrating because I have so much I want to say and I want to communicate with the people so bad but I have no idea what they are saying or anything! But it is ok, I will learn as I continue to work and have faith.

My trainer is a great guy. His name is Elder Pereira from Uruguay. He is 24 years old and was a professional soccer player before his mission and was even invited to be on the Uruguayan national soccer team. So yeah he gave up a lot to be here! He is a great guy and is fluent in English which has really helped me a lot because his Spanish, like everyone’s here, is extremely fast and if I did not know better I would think they were speaking Italian because they have such big accents in their words. Haha but yeah it is good and really is a beautiful language.

My area is pretty poor and so it is very humbling to see people who have so little strive to give us so much. It is so hard to eat in their homes because they cook these huge meals with courses and desserts and they have just so little to give. It is amazing though and even though I cannot understand them I love them to death and I know that they love me back, even if they are making fun of my blonde hair, funny name, and inability to speak their language haha.

Other than that everything is going very well. We walk a ton, work very hard, and are actually having quite a bit of success! This last month actually broke the mission all time record for confirmations! That was pretty cool to do even though we didn´t have a baptism ourselves this week. I was able to stand as a witness in the baptisms of three converts of the other two missionaries serving in our Ward though, and that was a cool experience. Also we found some new investigators Saturday night and they came to church with us yesterday. It was really cool and they were crying during the confirmation of the new members and we will be going back tonight to teach them some more. I will let you know how that goes!!

Everything is going very good for me here. I had a lot of things in my email that I lost that I don´t have time to type again, but just know that everything is going well and I just need prayers for me to understand the language and be able to speak it with people so that I can bear to them my testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel of Christ. I love this work and I can promise you that the Lord is leading it, I have seen miracles already happening every day for my companion and myself in this work. He really is "before our face, on our left hand and our right, and his angels round about us, to bear us up" (D&C 80ish something).

But basically all I have time left to say is that I love you all, I am glad that Mom is doing well and that everything is working out. I am grateful for all your prayers and support for me. I will try to send you some pictures next week because I can´t figure out how to do it so fast. I love you all though and don´t worry about me I am doing well and am protected!!

P.S I will email on Tuesday next week because we have a mission conference on Monday!

Love always,

Elder Zollinger