ARGENTINA COMODORO RIVADAVIA MISSION

LETTER #11

Hey Mom!!

WOW! lot´s of questions this week. I LOVE IT!!! :D

1.My week has been good. Things have been getting better dispite all that happened last week. We watched the christmas devotional in spanish and I understood ALL of it! :D :D :D The spirit really helped me a lot this week. The spirit placed us in the right place at the right time we needed to be. It´s interesting how the spirit works with us because I´ve seen it in more ways that I realized. I love it here aside from all the fetching heat xD haha I´ve been sweating for the past 6 days xD hahaha it´s about in the high 80s the wind helps but there hasn´t been much of that.

2. Christmas isn´t much different. They don´t have as many decorations on the streets but the members decorate a lot. :) This season makes me happy. It just feels so weird having it in the middle of summer xD haha

3. This is my last week with Elder LeBaron. :( I´m here in puerto madryn until january. I´m going to miss him. I´ll also probably see him around another time though. This week he hit his year mark. We burned a shirt xD haha

4.When we talk on Christmas for skype we will either be at a members house or at a Cyper cafe. There is a 3 hour difference and I´m still not sure how it will work. I´ll figure it out though cause i´m not sure.

6. America first does not work in argentina I tried it again and it rejected my card. My comp used a chase card and that worked fine. Maybe you could hide a card in between two pass along cards and send that to me. I also learned that if you send a package through UPS since they are a worldwide company. It will for sure guaranteed get here. You can also insure a package you send through the USPS. Or Duct tape the crap out of a package xD haha. The first two options would be better though xD

7. I love Churros although Churros are mexican, people in Argentina like them a lot P: I think I may get fat with all the trips to the panaderias and the churro places xD hahaha

8. My comp and I listen to john shmidt on his pendrive and a LOAD of other music. The rule is we can listen to it if it brings the spirit. I´ve listened to disney and a lot of other songs in spanish. I bought a pendrive and I am going to start filling it up here pretty soon. Missionaries like sharing music xD Look up Sons of Provo, they're pretty great xD hahaha Here in argentina we read the Liahona magazine. It´s almost a mix of the friend and the ensign and the new era all put together. :) They send it to us. That makes me happy that brynn is starting to play more Transiberian Orchestra.  That makes me happy that you think of me when you all listen to it x) 

Below  is an exert from a friends letter that Kolton is responding to.  I wanted to add to Kolton's Blog so we all could enjoy:

It´s interesting how the spirit works. I noticed that the spirit will guide us with out us consciously knowing what´s going on. :D Yesterday we talked with an investigator and she´s been having health problems. I felt impressed to share the Joseph Smith revelation in Liberty Jail but the spirit had a more specific part in mind. When I got to the scripture that I thought it was I felt another impression. It said "Keep Reading" So i did and when I got to D&C 122:9 I felt it again "That´s the one" I shared it and even if I tried I could not tell you what I said because they were absolutely not my words. I´ve had many other experiences which I have written in my journal. The lord loves his missionaries.This much I know xD hahaha "ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you". This promise could not be any more true! :D Remember to start with prayer and after you pray stop and carefully listen. You will receive revelation and the lord will speak to you :) 

Below is an exert from a friends letter that Kolton is responding to.  I wanted to add to Kolton's Blog so we all could enjoy:

I started my papers and it didn´t feel like it was really going to happen. It felt like it was far enough away to really think too much about it. Then the call came and it started to feel a little more real for me. It read Argentina, Comodoro Rivadavia Mission and I thought that was so far away. It just didn´t feel real. I remember looking at the day counter to see where I was at. It read 130 days. I though "okay, That´s a lot of time until I have to leave".  Next thing I know I was leaving for the MTC the next day :O Time flies by on wings of lighting. IT´s true :D Next, I remember walking through the MTC and getting my plaques unpacking and getting ready for the welcoming devotional. It felt a little more real. I felt that as soon as I finished unpacking my bags, 6 whole weeks had already passed and we received our flight plans. Oh MY! It got a tad more real xD haha Now I´ve been here in my area for almost 12 whole weeks and my infield training is over. I have 1 more transfer left until I leave Puerto Madryn for another part of the mission. Three months have already come and gone since I left the MTC. It still feels like yesterday when I opened up my call and found out I would be coming here. hahaha before i know it I will receive my papers to come home xD hahah..........knock on wood..... This has been the most marvelous and the hardest thing that I have ever loved to do. I am gratful to my lord and my savior for this time I have to get to know them personally. Jacob described it exactly when he said "This life/Mission will pass as if it were a dream" That´s how it´s felt this whole time. Time is precious here in the mission field. In the mission you will come to understand the power of the atonement. I thought I knew it before the mission but I was not even close. You will come to see it in action and it will change your life as well as the lives of those you will teach.

My mission has been not even close to what I expected xD hahaha It is so much more wonderful and life changing than I could have ever imagined or comprehended. There have been hard moments here on the mission but they make the sweeter moments more sweet. Grace is the enabling power of the atonement. There was one day where my legs were hurting and I had a lot of pain. I did not want to take one more step. I said a silent prayer asking for help to be able to walk the rest of the way. I felt my weary limbs receive their strength and I was able to continue working with my all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spGtVY6L5jY

This video with Henry B. Eyering and Jeffery R. Holland really helped put things into perspective for me. This truly is what the mission is all about.

Con todo el amor en el mundo

Elder Kolton Elmer

p.s. Tell the sibs thanks for the letters.