Letter #94

Hey Guys 

If you want to continue writing me please feel free to shoot me an email at kolton.elmer@gmail.com I look forward to hearing from you guys. You are the best!!!! For my fellow missionary friends, keep in touch with me and I will try to be at your homecomming. :) For my other friends. I guess that I will see you in the airport VERY soon. ;) I start the voyage tomorow morning. When we get to buenos aires will will get to go to the temple and then I`m off to the states. I love you guys so much and I will see you all very soon. :) 

Con Amor

Elder Kolton Elmer

p.s. Misión Argentina Comodoro Rivadavia es la mejor misión del MUNDO!!!!! AGUANTE LA MISIÓN PIBES!!!! 

Hey Mom :D

I can`t believe that in 2 or 3 days I will be hugging you. Prepare yourself for the best hug of your life! :)  I`m sure going to be thinking a lot of the plane ride back. I still don`t feel it hitting me yet but I feel that when I get on the plane it will all come down and get to me. Ah GOOD NEWS. When I get to Buenos Aires president salerno arranged for us to go to the temple. That will be a nice experience. :) I will have lots of fotos and things to tell you about in a couple of days. I will see you soon :) :D 

Con Amor

Elder Kolton Elmer

Letter #93

Hey everybody. 

I don´t have much time left to write so I will make it quick. Here at the end of the world we almost had a baptism yesterday but she got sick. We will see if she get´s baptized this sunday. This next sunday is also a sad one seing that it will be my last here in Argentina. It´s wierd to think that the mission has gone by so fast. I just want to write you guys and tell you all thank you for all that you do and for the love and support you have shown me as i´ve been serving. Thank you all for your friendships and I will for sure continue to write you guys even after I´m gone. 

On a more spiritual note. I want you all to know that wheather you are on a mission or not that the mission for me doesn´t end in a few days. This is only the begining. I know that Jesus Christ is the savior and redeemer of the world and that this is his church. I am greatful for the little period which he gave me to serve him. His gospel is the only way we will have peace and happieness. The mission has literally changed me. I am no where near the same person as I was before. I know that God used me and was able to change me for the better. For those who are at home. I will see you in 8 days. For those who are in the mission. I will try to be at your farewell. I will see you all soon :D 

Con Amor

Elder Kolton Elmer

p.s. I will write for a little bit next monday so I will be able to read your letters. In the morning on tuesday though I will allready be on the plane. 

Hey Dad.

Backbacking huh? That seems like a pretty fun idea. Count me in!! This week we almost had a baptism but she got sick. Hopefully this week we will end with a bang!! About the mate, You should see some of the teeth of these people. since drinking mate i always brush my teeth afterwards. I can´t wait to see you guys in 8 days. I don´t have much to write this week. I will let you know if she get´s baptized next week. :) I will see you guys soon. 

Hey mom :D

It seems like you guys have 1 more time writing me. I will be in Comodoro on August 1st. At 19:00 we are having dinner with them and the next morning I´m off!! :D Wow!! How on earth did I come to this point. :) hahaha I´m trying to hold on and it´s been difficult but I´m trying my best. :) There´s not really much for me to write this week. We almost had a baptism but graciela got sick. I´ve been a little ill as well but it´s getting better. Hopefully this week I will be able to end the mission with a BANG. :D I´ve still got lots of things to do. 

It seems like you guys are really excited.  I guess I will see you in 8 days. Sorry if this letter is pretty short. I don´t really have much to say for this week. We´ll have plenty to talk about when I get back though. :) 

Con Amor

Elder Kolton Elmer

p.s. I will have you try mate when I get back ;) 

Letter #92


Hola a Todos!!!!

I hope you all have had a fantastic week. Here`s our week summed up. :D This week we placed 4 baptisimal dates!!! We have been super busy lately with all our investigator. If things go acording to plan this week we will have 4 baptisms. We hope that graciella and her grandkids will be able to be baptized. This week we have been facing a bit of oposition but it has only served to make us stronger in spirit and testimony. It`s sad to see just how hard people can be but I just remember that it`s not my job to soften their hearts. That job belongs to the spirit. The best we can do is invite them to do something with their faith and share our testimonies. We have done a lot of that this week. I know that this church is the only true church on the face of this earth. This gospel is truly precious. I love being a missionary and sharing it with others. I`m down to 13 days left so i`ve got to make the best of the time I have. Next week will be my last letter to you guys so ´till then I hope you guys have a great week and know how much I love you all. :D 

Con Amor

Elder Kolton Elmer

p.s. I hope you guys enjoy the photos of Mate (mah-tay) I`m seriously hooked on this stuff. :D We drink it every day!!

Yes, That is a grapefruit in the last photo. :)

Hey Everybody. Here is our new mission president and his wife. President and Hermana Salerno. They´re from Buenos Aires and they are super cool. I hope you guys enjoy the photos :D 

Con Amor

Elder Kolton Elmer

Hey Mom :D

From your letter I can get a glimpse of how excited you guys are for me to come home. WOAH!!!! It`s going to be jam packed when i get home. It`s better that way though. I hope to be able to do a temple visit before I head out. I`m really looking forward to spending time with you guys again. 13 days goes by really quickly so I guess we will see each other before we know it and I will tell you all about the things I can`t write in the letters. :D I don`t really know what else to write. WOW!! There`s just next week and that will be the last letter. I guess I will write the group letter tell you about the investigators. I can`t wait to see you guys in 13 days. See you guys soon. :D

Con Amor

Elder Kolton Elmer


Hey Dad. :D

Nice photos!!! I hope you guys have had a fun week. My investigators are doing well. Things are starting to get...interesting. I`m not trunky or anything. Things are starting to get complicated with our investigators. We invited 4 of them to be baptized this week so that is a huge highlight. :) We have been super busy. I`m almost too busy to think about going home yet. Wierd right? i will write more about all that happened this week in my group letter. as for now i`m doing great. I hope you guys enjoy this comming week. I guess I will see you guys in 2 weeks and tell you all about the things that I can`t write xD haha have a good week dad. :D

Con Amor

Elder Kolton ELmer

Letter #91

Hola a todos!!!

Happy belated 4th of july to you all. Also happy 9 de Julio. On saturday It was argentina´s independance day and they celebrated 200 years as a country. We enjoyed empanadas and other argentine clasics.  I love argentina!! 

This week has been a week of huge changes!!! We beat our record for baptisms AGAIN. Last month we has 43 people join the church and this past month we had 45 baptisms. President Rogers ended his time as our mission president and on friday and saturday we got to know Presidente Salerno, our new mission president. They seem like really good people. They are Argentines.  

Previously with president rogers we weren´t allowed to drink mate (ma-tae) but now with our new mission president being argentine it is aproved!!!! I was going to send a few pictures of me drinking mate this week but I forgot my camera in my apartment so I will share them with you guys next week. Just so you guys know, mate is the traditional drink of argentina. It is a type of herbal tea. They put the yerba inside a gourd with a metal filtered straw called a bombilla and they pour hot water over the yerba and there you have it. :D 

As with our investigators. Our family of 7 people is going well. All they need is for us to invite them to be baptized and they will be all set. We also have Jennifer who can be baptized this weekend but we have to be sure they did all their papers to get married. We will let you know if we have a baptism or not this week. We also found a new investigator named Victor. We were contacting and he let us in. When we started off the lesson it didn´t seem like he wanted much to do with the church but as we used inspired questions he totally changed his mind. We left him a book of mormon and told him to read and ask god. We havn´t been able to find him yet to follow up but we will see if we can find him this week. We have another family but we haven´t heard anything from them yet. 

This week reality decided to slap elder elmer across the face xD haha In our zone conference I shared my last testimony with the other missionaries. The spirit was super strong. The main goal of our mission is that we are working towards having a temple here in the patagonia. I know that one day there will be a temple here and that the members will be able to enjoy the blessing available through the covenants we can make. I know without a doubt in my mind that this church is true. I kind of don´t want my mission to end but I´ve still got 20 days to enjoy being a missionary. If I think about it this way. As disiples of christ our mission never really ends. I love you guys and hope you all have a fantastic week. :D I´ve still got the next 2 pdays to write you guys. I´ll write you next week. 

Con Amor

Elder Kolton Elmer

Hey mom. :D

I am doing allright. LOTS OF COOL CHANGES HAVE HAPPENED WITH THE NEW PRESIDENT THAT I CAN¨T WAIT TO TELL YOU ABOUT!!!!!! For me the time is getting harder to stay focused. I am holding on the best i can. Can you believe that from today I have 20 days left. Honestly, it scares me. I know though that the changes will inevitably come but I am excited and nervous at the same time. Nevertheless I am still working hard and trying to get our investigators ready :D 

I´m glad you guys are having such a great time in Utah. Tell everybody how much I miss them. When I get back to see them it will be a blast!!! I´m happy to hear that you guys arrived safely to Utah. After being in the mission and being transfered for more than 24 hours at a time in a bus. 9 hours doesn´t seem like anything now xD hahaha  I am happy that this week has been good for you guys. Enjoy the rest of your time in Utah!! Send me lots of Photos! :D I was going to send photos this week but I forgot my camera in the apartment. I will send them next week though. For now. I hope you guys stay safe and enjoy your vacation :D 

COn Amor

Elder Kolton Elmer

I will see you guys soon ;) 

Hey Dad. :D

It makes me so happy to see that you guys are enjoying yourselves in Utah. Man! I wish I could be there. I will be in the next 20 days xD haha My work isn´t finished here though so i´ve still got lots of stuff to do. There is so much to do when I get back. I´m excited for the change and sad to leave this country behind. I will always remember argentina. :D There are so much things and stories that I have to tell you guys :D I will write more about a few things that happened this week. We got to know our new mission president and he made some really excited changes to a few rules we have. I will write more about it in my group letter. :D Have a good week dad :D 

Con Amor

Elder Kolton Elmer

p.s. I will see you guys soon. 20daycountdown!!!!

Letter #90

Hey Everybody.

I am out of time so here is a quick update. This week we are going to invite our investigator to be baptized with her grandchildren. They will be 4 baptisms if they accept. :D Our other investigators are doing well. Some are progressing better than others. On friday I hit my 23 month mark. Where does the time go?! I love the mission and I´ve learned so much. There are still lots of things to learn. This week I learned about the necesity of works in this gospel. I like to compare the grace our savior gives us to piano lessons. Someone has allready paid the price of our lessons. We go to our piano lesson every week but just going to the lesson is still not just enough. We need to practice or we won´t get better. The day of the recital will come and if we aren´t prepared it will be a very sad day. It´s the same with christ´s atonement. If we don´t practice it we won´t know how to use it or get better. Our works are the things that will help us in the end. I hope you are all doing well. I hope you have a great week everybody. :D 

Con Amor

Elder Elmer

p.s. Four weeks Left! :O :O

Hola mamá 

I am doing well. With the time ticking down it gets harder and harder with each passing week. I´m trying to keep myself focused though. Our investigators are doing well. They weren´t able to come to church this week but we are going to find them and invite them to be baptized this week. Our other investigators are doing allright as well. Some are progressing and others...not so much. 

Baptisimal interviews are pretty fun. I will show you the questions when I get back. They are in the first pages of our agenda. 

I hope you guys have a great time in Utah. That will be fun to see everyone again. Be sure to tell everyone that I said Hi :D Drive safe!!! I hope brynnon is getting more used to driving. She will need to drive me around everywhere because i think i forgot how to drive. xD haha 

I´m happy to hear that you guys had a great week. Tell Lyndon that I said happy birthday!! :D I´m so greatful for the united states. The government here is different with a lot more problems. It just makes me more greatful for my own country. 

Well, It seems like you guys have a super busy and fun week planned. Tell everyone I said Hi and I hope they are all doing well. I don´t really have more to say in this letter. Now I only have 3 weeks (pdays left) Time is just ticking by. I will be sure to tell you about a lot more stuff wen I get back. :D For now. Have a good week and tell everyone is Utah Hi for Me :D 

 Con Amor

Elder Kolton Elmer

Letter #89


Hola mi querida mamá :D

It´s wierd to think i only have 5 weeks left but i´m more charged and excited to work than ever. It seems that as the time passes I get more excited and anxious to work. We have been super duper busy this week with getting to know the other missionaries. There are 2 new sisters and 1 new elder in the zone. The new missionaries have a certain spirit about them that´s nice. :)

 The other elders in my district also had a baptism this saturday. They have been baptizing a ton!! With all the baptisms that they´ve had. They´ve kept me busy with doing baptisimal interviews. 

On sunday all the members that went to the temple shared their testimonies. I could feel the spirit very stongly as they shared their experiences. The temple truly is the lord´s house and I am excited to enter once again in 5 weeks. The blessings of the temple are divine and I know they are true. The members that went have really served as a great example for me. I can´t wait to see you guys and tell you all about these wonderful experiences and to hear about the things that have happened in my absence.

I´m glad that you guys are getting everything all situated for my homecomming. I think it´s a lot better getting back and having everything begin all at once. haha It will be a trial for a little moment to get adjusted to everything but in the end it will be good for me. I would much rather have it be that way. :) 

For now that´s all for this week. I will write my group letter to tell everybody about graciella and her family. 

Have a good week muver dear. :D

Con Amor

Elder Kolton Elmer

p.s. Now i remember the mice story. xD haha 

p.p.s I will look on facebook to see if I can recover those photos. :D

Letter #88

Hey Everybody

I´m going to make this letter short and sweet. We had our transfers and it is for certain now that I will be spending my last 6 weeks in the area i´m in now. I am in Trelew in a ward called union 1. I hope all you guys are having a great day! :D

We found a new family to teach. They came to the church twice and they also came to a baptism we had. They are so nice and we are going to invite all 8 of them to be baptised this week for this comming month. :D The work is going onward. Have a good week you guys. I know this church is true and that the lord is working miracles in not only our area but throughtout our whole mission. "He aquí, Yo estoy con vosotros hasta el fin del mundo, amén."

Con Amor

Elder Kolton ELmer

p.s. On June 30th president rogers goes home and the new mission president will be comming. :D

WOW!!! There is just so much news happening since our last letter. Dang!!! Where do I start? 

Thanks for the birthday wishes :D I feel old! XD hahaha On sunday we ate empanadas with the guerrero family. They are super great members and they made me a cake and everything. I´m pretty sure they sent the photos to my facebook or yours. Idk I´ll have to check :D On my birthday a lot of the members took a bus to go to the temple in buenos aires. It´s so wonderful to see the sacrifice some of the members make to be able to go. The bus ride is about 24 hrs long and they stay in buenos aires for about a week or so. They should be betting back around saturday. If only we could go to the temple that would be cool. I need to go when I get back!!! :D 

I´m happy you guys enjoyed father´s day. That gorcha pork roast sounds really good!! When it comes to food when i get back I´m good with anything american. i miss a good ol´ american hamburger. I will probably want to eat anywhere. I´m not picky :D I will cook argentine for you guys when I get back too so that will be rico. :D 

Our week has been so busy. Our new investigator, graciela, has come to church twice and this last time she brought her grandchildren. In total they are a family of 7 or 8 individuals. This week we are goign to invite them all to be baptized. :D They are for sure our biggest miracle this week :D 

I´m happy that you guys liked the photos :D It´s been a while since I´ve taken some mainly becuase comodoro rivadavia was so ugly xD haha I will try to take more photos from here on out.  In puerto madryn i´m pretty sure that those are humpback whales. idk. I will send more photos especially with these 6 weeks I have left!! Transfers came and it looks like I will be staying here in trelew to end the mission. I love this place and we have so much work to do. I´m not homesick just yet. xD haha 

President rogers leaves aregentina june 30th. When you see them you have to tell them that I said Hi :D 

I got grandma and grandpa´s card with the 20 dollars. :) In cash I have about 65 bucks  In pesos i have a ton so I think i´m good for travel.

That will be cool if you get the flagpole in the new house. I´ve bought an argentine flag and I think it will look really nice. :) I am also thinking about buying another argentine flag that will be super big. You´ll see when i get home ;) 

Con Amor

Elder Kolton Elmer

Hey Dad. 

Happy father´s day!!! I hope you enjoyed your feriado. :D Thank you for the wonderful example you have set for me and how much you have taught me. I love ya dad. This week has been a really good one full of miracles. We are planning on placing 7 invitations to baptism with our new family we found. We have so much going for us in our area. 

I hope you guys continue to like it in colorado. :D I will bring back an argentine flag so you guys can put in on the flagpole you guys are thinking about getting :D Thanks dad for all that you do. 

Con Amor

Elder Kolton Elmer