July 25, 2011

Hello,

     How's everyone?  Wow, time is really going.  I'm almost at 10 months.  We had two people in church; one that is progressing, her name is Estella Bustos.  Shes kinda weird but thats ok, she has a fake eye and she likes to talk.  She is an older woman that lives sola.  She believes that certain rocks give off good energy too.  she also believes the Book of Mormon gives off good energy, so that's a step.  I gave another talk yesterday on charity,  I think it went pretty good.  I sure am grateful to live in Utah where the church is so strong.  I have had members tell me that they have been hurt more by other members of the church than anyone else in their life.  It's so sad because church is supposed to be a place where we go to feel better and to be with others who share the same beliefs as us.

      It's really great how much we learn as missionaries in one week.  We learn many things that will help us not only in the mission but also to be better husbands, fathers, and future leaders of the church.  I have already grown so much in the mission and I still feel like I'm one of the new guys.

      Speaking of the change of the presidents, I think if we see a change in the way things run it will be this next week, because the zone leaders are going to their first meetings with him, and thats usually when things change is in those meetings.

      Well I just got you a bunch of new pictures up on the Costco website, from tranfer 5 and some of 6. When I get home I will have to explain to you what they all mean and who they all are.

       Elder Drennan is my comp.  He is from Folsom, California, the same place as the Folsom Prison.  We get along really well.  The other day we got sixteen peso milanesa sandwhiches, they were the best sandwhich I've had in this country.  I took a picture of half of it.  They are huge, and it equivalates to 4 dollars.

       Our other 4 best investigators kind of stopped answering our calls when we went to their house, so we are a little confused.  That's what's hard is people don't tell you to your face that they aren't interested and then you try to get a hold of them and they just get more annoyed.

      I haven't really thought too much about souvenirs.  I'm thinking I will do that stuff the week before I go.  I do have a goat horn that I wrote Malargue on though.  I will get some mates, and some jerseys, maybe a bottle of wine or two, and some steak knives, I don't know we will see.

      Yeah the computers kind of suck, but the one I got today is pretty good.  Yes I live in La Consulta.

      I'm good with clothes and everything.  I sleep great; I don't even know where I would find an animal skin, maybe that will be something to get as a souvenior.

      Are you guys at the cabin where I wrecked that four wheeler?  Tell everyone hello for me.  Sounds like you are all having a good time.  When we went out there as a scout group there were some drunk guys who had a flat tire too, they had driven on it for quite awhile.  Speaking of drunk people, I'm so glad that public intoxication is illegal back home.  Because here it's not and teenagers drink right in front of the cops but they don't do anything.  Oh and did I tell you that the other day we walked up to a guy and a girl and asked him what he was up to, and he said smoking marijuana, and sure enough he was rolling a doobie right on a street in broad daylight.

     The only unusual animals I have seen are the dogs.  They are everywhere, and they all are jacked up. There is one close to our pensh that turns in circles randomly when he is walking.  All the dogs close to the ice cream stores are super fat, and we saw one go and sniff horse dung, and then it plowed it's head right into it.  It was way gross, but we laughed for awhile.  The bunny tasted better than chicken, maybe more like goat, or it could have just been how it was seasoned.

     Right now I'm reading more Preach my Gospel , and I'm in 1st Corinthians.  I love the four gospels and Jesus the Christ, they really changed my perspective on him.

     Well hope all is well and hope you enjoy the pictures.  The picture of white and yellow stuff in a cup is milk I bought from a store, then I put it in a microwave and all this butter came to the top.  Not sure that's normal.

Love,

Elder Wharton

July 18, 2011

     I'm so sorry to hear about Justine's death.  I can't imagine how difficult that would be.
     I spent the last hour trying to load photos and I almost had it and then nothing.  So, you might be a little disappointed.
     Being a district leader is going good.  Our district does really well.  We still haven't been able to get anyone in church though.  I live in La Consulta, 64 ejercito de los andes oeste, I think.  We are doing well, and me and my comp are getting a long really well.  Remember the video of Blaine reaching into the hole in the bathroom, I almost did that but instead the land lady said she will get it fixed.  When we shower and use the bathroom, nasty water starts to come up from the floor.  But she should take care of it today.
     This week we had a little competition in the zone and we did really well.  We got 32 news with 16 baptismal fechas.  Most won't progress, but some of them will be pretty good.  We got into a house of an Italian guy, who spoke French, now he speaks Italian, English and Spansih.  He showed us pictures of his trips to Italy and they looked sweet.  The buildings look so old and gothic.  He went to the biggest cathedral in the world.  He spoke a little Italian for us too.  They are super Catholic.  Their son is training to be a fighter pilot, but all the planes in Argentina are like what we used 50 years ago.  He talked about how Argentina compared to the states and Italy has no organization and it's dangerous and there is a lack of respect.
      I also did divisions with an elder in my district from Peru.  He says they eat like giant hamsters up there; he also showed me a picture.  I ate some kind of bunny meat with bread at some inactives house.  It was way good, they said in summer if I'm here they will take me to hunt bunnys with dogs.  Another inactive family eats armadillo and they said if I'm here in the summer I can go with them too.  Anyway, the area is really pretty, it's snowing right now.  The mountains are huge, jagged rocky, and snowy.  We have nice houses in the area, and vineyards and orchards around the outside of the town.
       Being a couselor here pretty much just means that I help count tithing.  But it's pretty cool to see how careful the church is with that.  Then we take the cash and a card to a pago rapido, or fast pay and they swipe the card and all that money electronically goes to Salt Lake City.
         We have a few good investigators, Janina and Evan.  Janina is a cop and they are super nice and happy.  They lost a daughter after a few months of having her.  There is alson Analia and Brandon; they are all really nice.  We just need to help them get to church.
         Well, I am thankful for the package and the prayers.  I love the real candy, and the gravy and spices.  I really wish the computers here didn't suck but, I will have to try next time.
         Oh, the American Cup is going on too.  Argentina already lost but it's cool to walk by houses and you can see every house has the TV turned on to the game, and when you knock on the door, they just say ... Do you want to come in and watch the game?   It sure is a huge thing here.  Thanks so much for everything. I'm going to go now and hopefully get you pictures the next time.
Love,
Elder wharton
i will be praying for the barnecks.

New Area-La Consulta-July 11, 2011

Hello,

    I can't tell you anymore about Malargue.  I left there Tuesday at 1 in the morning.  I am now in the zone Valle de Uco.  It's in between Mendoza and San Rafael.  My area is called La Consulta, and my comp is Elder Drennan, he has 2 transfers. I also found out when I got here that I'm the district leader.  It's my first time, and I'm not too sure what to do, but I am learning.  The area is super pretty and it's smaller than Malargue.  The city is really clean, and nice.  I told my comp it looks like it could be in the states.  On the outskirts of the city there are big fincas, or grape vineyards and every once in a while there is a big winery. The huge Andes Mountains are really close.  They are very jagged and snow capped.  It's warmer here than it was in Malargue.  The mornings and at night before getting to the pench it's pretty cold.  We have a giant old two story house that is our church building, but once again our assistences or people we have in church is like 20 or 30 and there are about 300 and more members in the area.  We eat with an inactive family named Popik.  His grandpa was in the Ukraine.  He went to England I think, and then got on a ship which he thought was going to the US.  Turns out it went to Brazil, so now he lives in Argentina.  He speaks a bit of English, supposedly he was president of the rama once, but now he's inactive.  We have a few people we are working with in the area. Janina, Analia and Brandon.  They are the ones that from what I can see are the most promising.  So there is a lot of tracting to do.  I don't think it's possible to get rid of tracting down here. It's what we do most of the day.

     Oh,  so I'm also a counselor in the rama.  We help the president handle the tithing.  I was sitting at the table to do the sacrament.  I did the sacrament. and then the president handed me a letter that said. ¨"you need to introduce yourself and talk about the obra misional, you have 15 min" so luckily I had a small talk on the obra missional in my backpack, so I spoke and added some parts to my talk.  It sure was exciting.

     We got into a house and taught a guy a great lesson on the plan of salvation.  He seemed really interested, and we put a baptisimal fecha with him.  He told us the next day (Sunday) to come and get him for church, so we did, and no one answered.  We started walking away from the house, and then some drunk people came up to us and started telling us how good the wine here is and told me to drink some.  Then behind the drunk guy I saw the guy who we had the great lesson with stick his head out the door.  So I went towards the door and said hey, and then he closed the door and didnt answer it.  We kind of deal with stuff like that here.  People just don't turn out to be how they seem a lot of the time.

      I'm glad to hear that Steve got home safe.  It sounds like you guys will have a lot of fun at the wedding and in California.  I went to the Six Flags in Ohio and it was way fun.  That was for the Scout Jamboree.

      Tell Kylee happy b'day for me.  That's so crazy; she's growing up.

Oh yeah and my area is like a 40 min collectivo or bus ride away from the other missionaries in the zone, so once again we are kind of away from everyone.  But at least I see them once a week.  Well thanks for the letter.  I hope all is well back home.

     I tried to send pictures today but the computer wouldnt pick it up.

     Yeah so we met President Avila and his family.  He has 3 kids here with him.  He doesn't speak English though.  But he seems pretty good, I just got to meet him briefly and then he gave a talk on the plan of salvation, and related it to the mission.

Any who, I love you all.  Thanks for the letter.

Oh and I picked up the package from the offices this week, and I'm not sure how long it was there.  So, yeah I got it.  It was 71 pesos to pick up.  Thanks so much, the socks look way nice, and the gravies will be sweet.  I'm way excited for the seasonings.  Thanks for the candy and especially the hymn book, and shirt.

Love,
Elder Wharton

July 4, 2011

Hello,

 

So, I'm still here in Malargue but not sure if I will see change or not.  They still haven't called us.   All the Sepulvedas came to church.  We had six in church on Sunday, which called for honorable mention in the mission news.  No one else is really progressing.
 

I totally forgot that today was the Fourth of July.  Yeah freedom!  Yeah America!  I haven't spoken or heard anything from President Avila.  The change of mission Presidents has been pretty much unnoticable.  Not even any emails from him or anything.

 

 We had all the Videla (Sepulveda) Family, Tamara Munoz, and Hermana Ortiz in church.  The only thing holding back the Videlas/Sepulvedas is that they aren't married.  They need to start trying a little harder.  If they pushed themselves they could have been married by now.

So one lesson we had was kind of cool or interesting this week.  We got into a house where the parents are inactive members but none of the kids are members.  The kids were the only ones home.  They were all teenagers;  3 boys and 1 girl.  They were all smoking and the house was full of smoke.  At first they laughed and made little comments.  But I was really straight with them.  I said look, we're kids just like you but there are more important things in life than just hanging out with friends,  I told them that God was the most important thing.  And by the end of our lesson one of them said the prayer.  They were asking questions, and they were answering our questions.  I said to them, look at yourselves, we're all talking about God, pretty cool.  We talked a little more with them about what things were interested in and what the diffence is between cumbia and reggaeton.

Another pretty good lesson was a guy who (outside of his house) asked us why do people call you Mormons?  We started to explain and he said you know what, come on in.  So we went and talked to him his son, and his wife about where the Book of Mormon came from and about prophets.  He said I had no idea about prophets today.  So, I showed him some scriptures in the Bible that talk about the function and neccesity of prophets.

So it's way cold down here.  I'm not sure what the tempurature is.  I just know its super cold.  It has only lightly snowed once in the city.  But several times up in the mountains; they are covered with snow.

We found a sweet place to eat the other week; it's called Barneys Panchos (in other words Barneys Hot Dogs.  And it's Barney as in big purple dinosaur.  They have real Mexican salsa, then I ask for their other chile sauce and hot dog and mayo and their other chile sauce, with little french fries on top and the hot dog is wrapped in cooked ham and melted cheese.  It's way good.  Food is kind of a big part of the mission.  We bought empanadas from a guy who everyday he rides his bike up and down the streets in town yelling, "EMPANADAS... EMPANADITAS...CALENTITAS.... EMPANADAS."  My comp remarked if he did that in the states he would have a movie made about him and his dedication.  I so far haven't had that much weird food.  Blood sausage and the other day an older lady that makes lunch for us and lets us take the pot home and eat it, decided to throw cow stomach in with rice and potatoes.  The first piece wasn't that bad, then the second, then after the 3rd I decided it wasn't very good.  It's been sitting in the fridge untouched ever since.  When we make food in the pench it's usually noodles, sometimes we do spaghetti, and garlic bread.  The crepes were great, just like momma makes 'em.  Today I actually went and did crepes for some of the members.  They liked them, but they didn't get the difference between them and pancakes.

President Rastelli the 1st couselor in the mission presidency came out to Malargue and spent church here.  We didn't hear his class because we were teaching our investigators in the other class.  But it was fast and testimony meeting, and as soon as he realized that we had investigators in church, he was up bearing his testimony, which was perfect and simple.  We could tell that it was specifically aimed to the familia Videla.  Afterwards he came and introduced himself and talked with them a little bit.

Other than that not much new.  Just keep praying for the Familia Videla.  Hope all is well back home.  I will send pictures when I can get to a faster computer.

Love,

Elder Wharton

June 27, 2011

     Well lets see, we dropped the twins because they didn't have interest.  I'm beginning to think the Seventy is not going to come.
     Interviews were great.  President told me the only reason I'm down here in Malargue is because he knows he can trust me.  He said to enjoy the time here in Malargue because it's such a special and different area.  He said we are pretty much here to make sure the church does everything right and no major apostasy happens.  We talked a little about my future after the mission, career wise. (Not as much as I would have liked though.)  President asked me if I liked my area and would be okay with staying on more traslado here.  I told him yes.  He's just way awesome; he said to contact him when I get home.
     President Avila will be here within the week, so it ought to be interesting.
     The Sepulveda family got a moto, or scooter.  Saturday we went and she said she was going to get everything ready to arrive at the church and she was excited and said the whole family would be there because they have a moto now.  Sunday came and they didn't show up.  We will go visit them tomorrow.
 The Elders Quorum president still didn't come to church.
      San Rafael was pretty fun.  We ate in a little cafe in downtown San Rafael.  We had pizza which is just different here, it's good, but not the same. I am beginning to not mind eating green olives though.
     You said you went camping in daddys big truck?  What big truck?  Which reminds me, will you send pictures of all the mowing stuff, trailer, truck, and mowers.
     Lillie looks so different now, how old is she?
     So lets see what else?   Today in the morning I tried doing pancakes and hash browns, the pancakes sucked, and I'm not sure why; they were really dense, but the hash browns were good.  Hermano Munoz took us out to a river and a mountain with a cross on it today too.  Malargue is really pretty and has lots of things to see outside of the city.  Anytime now lots of tourist are supposed to start coming for the ski  resort Las Leñas.  We have an airport here in town.  It snowed a tiny bit last Tuesday.  Here in the city, it's starting to feel like Christmas time.  I put a little tree up, and Iwrapped my bed with lights.
       We did have one surprise in church yesterday: the granddaughter of the familia Muñoz came.  She said it was the first time in like 2 years.  She has not been baptized yet.  We eat lunch with their family on Thursdays.  When I first got here she would get up and start doing the dishes when we would share a scriptue, or just leave the room.  Now she listens and comes to church so we will find out what progress there is there.
     You know the old fox shoes I brought here on the mission. I think they might last me the whole two years. They had two big holes in them but I sewed them up today, also the inserts had holes in them, so I replaced them with cereal box.
     We went to an inactive family last night, who showed us pictures of them with the missionaries and in the church and all the good times they had.  But of course they got offended and didn't have a real testimony. Now she listens to all religions and so of course she believes that donating blood is a bad thing, thanks to the JW's. I don't get how people can leave the church, especially when it's because they got offended.  I don't know if I told you about the inactive lady who I talked to on the street... well she told me she worked many years with inactives and she knows all about it, that the people aren't perfect but the church is.  She understood that by not going to church she was not fulfilling her covenant, but she said, "I won't go back."  I said well then you know what the consequence is, and she said yes.  (Meaning pretty much the loss of the celestial kingdom.)  Her pride was so strong she was not willing to go to church to renew her covenant with God.  There are so many inactives here. I think some real apostasy must have happened a few times, because I don't know how else you can go from 120 active members down to about 30.  Anyway, it just helps me to know and see that I never want to leave the church.  It builds my testimony more in the church not in the other members.
        Speaking of, how are things back in the home ward?   About how many actives are there?
Anywho... I love you all.  Thanks for all your prayers, letters, and examples.
Love,

Elder Wharton

P.S. Now that the dune buggy sold, how much money am I short to pay for my mission?
 

June 20, 2011

Hello,
     Nobody really has gardens here, some people have potatoe and garlic fields though.  Our area is the largest in the mission, technically it's all the Department of Malargue, but we just stay in the city.
     The Seventy hasn't come yet, so we will see if that really happens.  In the meeting for Argentina, Boyd K. Packer spoke (his 13th time in Argentina), Neil L. Anderson, Elder Civit from the seventy, and the primary president.  They talked about staying active, paying tithing, serving missions, and going to the temple, and the Holy Ghost, it was pretty good, but the video cut out half way through so we were just listening to a lot of it. Tomorrow will be my last time with the president for interviews.  He and President Avila might be together for an hour or two on the 30th.  The change is really fast.
     Kind of a funny story about Clint, but sad too, don't make yourself sad for his bad actions.  One day we will all be ressurrected and Clint will thank you for all you did for him, for all the care and love and sacrifice that you have made for him in this life.
     The Sepulvedas still know the church is true and want to progress.   Satan has worked hard and kept them from coming to church the last 4 weeks.  Something always happens, the first two times someone in the family got sick, then their roof leaked, and then Andres' family came to visit.  They didn't get the papers done because she didnt get payed on time.  We are just continuing to work with them.  We aren't supposed to give people money for anything, but I have seen missionaries do it.
      In San Rafael (where I am now) we play soccer and eat.  It's just nice to be with other missionaries.  We havn't seen any ash in San Rafael or Malargue.  Is the volcano still going?  
       Anyway, this last week was the fastest week of my mission.  It just flew by.  Things are going good, there is always work to do.  Sometimes we just don't see the results.  None of the menos activos or investigators showed up to church on Sunday and there were several that said they would make it.  That's just how it works out sometimes.
          I don't remember too much of what happened this week.  The branch here is really weak, the Elders Quorum president has gone inactive and apparantley doesn't have ganas to do anything.  We are going to go visit him this week.  We are teaching some twins, David and Lucas they are 17 years old.  Both are very Catholic and have gone and done missionary work in other areas for a few weeks.  It's pretty sad to watch them try and explain saints and the trinity.  It's so unclear and just doesn't make any sense.  They said they were going to come to church but we went by the house and they either weren't home or didn't answer us. We told them we would go to the Catholic church if they came to ours.  Right now their interest is just in getting to know.  They really don't have any desire to investigate; they are just curious.  We are just praying  the Spirit can give them that extra push.  They are pretty cool.  I tell them my classic joke (chiste) Cual es la differencia entre una vaca y un Argentino?..... una vaca da leche, y un Argentino Dale Che.  It's because everyone in Argentina says Dale, Che!!!   (Which is like let's go, or let's move or hurry up.  It has lots of meanings. Che is this famous revolutionist in their history.  So everyone calls anyone CHE for Che Gueverra.
     Well I really can't remember a whole bunch the week just kind of all merged together. I'm way excited for interviews tomorrow.  Anyways sorry for the weak letter
Love,
Elder Wharton
P.S. What's up with Bishop McBride?

June 13, 2011

Hello Family,
        Well that's news to me, they never told me I was a senior comp, so I just assumed we were co- companions.  So to answer your questions it's going good!  I think being senior comp is just to say you make the final decisions and report to the district leader; it pretty much doesn't mean anything.  I should have another Latin comp sometime.  It sounds like the Wharton family reunion was successful.  That's great that so many were able to get together. It sounds like it was a lot of fun.  One of the things I miss most is being in the outdoors, especially campfires.
     I will finish with the BOM this week; I think then I will start it in Spanish.  I am also trying to read Acts to Revelations there is some pretty interesting stuff in Acts I didn't know about.
     So the family that is closest to baptism has hit some bumps in the road.  The dad doesn't have his documents he needs to get married so he has to buy new ones and wait for them which is more time and money he doesn't really have.  Their little girl who is closest to getting baptized has apparently been acting up, so her parents sent her to live with the grandma for a week, and that has been time when we couldn't teach her.  She came back the other night, but apparently they got into an argument right before we got there, so we are working with that.
     There is also the familia Rojo that we met with once and we will continue passing by Norma Hernandez who has epilepsy and  mental problems.  We were walking one day and she followed us and asked us to come to her house where she told us, she saw us walking by and thought we must be men of God so she asked for our help.
     We helped three inactive members come back to church.  Familia Lobos, the mom and the son, the son served a mission in Buenos Aries like 20 years ago, and also Hermana Alfonso who  hasn't been to church in a few years.
     So here's a funny story.  We were walking to a house and a drunk guy on a bike stopped us and told us he can't stop drinking and he needs help.  So we tried the best we could to get his address from him, we got his mom's address which will help.  But anyways this guy was wasted, he skipped work that day and spent the morning drinking.  When I shook his hand to leave he grabbed my hand and gave it a big, wet, alcohol 8 second kiss.  I just said, "oh crap" in English and my comp just started laughing.  I could see saliva on my hand, so I went to the closest member's house and washed my hands.
           I'm up here in San Rafael right now, we took a bus at 6 am and came up for p-day.  We leave to go back down at 6 pm.  It's been a while since I had seen the other missionaries.
Thanks for everything.  You are all in my prayers.
Love,
Elder Wharton

June 6, 2011

 So lets see if I can remember any of your questions. 

     Yeah the time flies really fast, today is my 1/3 mark!  That still means I have a lot left, but it's crazy how fast the last 8 months have gone.  The rama is alright here; there are definitely improvements that could be made such as home teaching and more people having callings, but they have apparently improved a ton.  Next week is a special broadcast to all of Argentina from the Apostles and First Presidency, so that's pretty exciting!  We might have an area Seventy visit the rama.  We are still teaching the Sepulvedas; he needs some documents to get married and his daughter just needs a review of what she's learned, the daughter will probably be baptized this or next Saturday.

     I like doing service, it's relaxing to me.  I actually really enjoy doing manual labor in the mission, because it's really rare we get to do much. All the service I have ever done in my mission is for members, usually people here won't accept help but members sometimes will because they understand.

     The woman with mental disabilities we are going to go over there with a member and get his opinion on it.

     I finished Jesus the Christ and I will finish the BOM again in about 14 days, I have started reading Acts and I'm going to finish the New Testament.  I want to start reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish cover to cover.

    Each day it varies a lot how much we walk but I think one day we marked it and it was like 13 miles but that was a lot.

     It's cold in the apartment, but at night I sleep fine we have plenty of blankets, and we have a little electric heater we turn on in the room before we go to bed.  It's just in the morning and at night the kitchen and study rooms are cold.  I just need to bundle up is all.

     The main reason I don't use the debit card,  I don't have anything to spend money on.  I don't think my comp has a sleep disorder, he does snore sometimes though.  The other night he was kneeling on his bed praying, and he prays for a really long time but then like 10 minutes into his prayer he started snoring.  He often falls asleep during his personal prayer.

     I think Hermana Perez would do a card for free we just have to spend the time to tell her what we want.

    Anyways we have started English classes I don't really do anything but be there my comp likes doing it. We will see how much success we have with it.  So, this week I invited a rather punk looking  kid to the English classes he said,  "Wow it's like you fell from the heavens.  I need help with my English."   It was just funny to me that he said, it's like you fell from the heavens.

     Oh and last night President Lindahl called and told us to write you and inform you (if you have heard anything about the volcano) that we are really far away from it, like 200 miles.  Apparently there is a volcano  spewing a bit of  lava, but I haven't heard anything about it other than that.  He just doesn't want our parents thinking we are in danger of dying from a volcanic eruption.  Anyways that's all I can really think of this week.

Love you all, thanks for everything!

Con Amor,

Elder Wharton

Chile volcano keeps spewing ash, grounding flights across South America

June 14, 2011 | 12:38 pm

The Puyehue volcano on the border between Chile and Argentina continued to spew ash over the Andes and Patagonia regions of South America on Tuesday. The eruption is now entering its 11th day and shows no sign of stopping.

Flights were grounded from Argentina to Australia and New Zealand as ash clouds that could harm jet engines blanketed the region and moved west across the South Pacific. Flights were also being canceled in Santiago, Chile's capital (link in Spanish), as well as in Brazil and Uruguay.

The Associated Press said "booming explosives echoed across the Andes" on Monday as ash and lightning rose from the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic complex, which is in southern Chile just west of the border with Argentina. Activity at the volcano began on June 4. Thousands of nearby residents have been evacuated.

  

May 30, 2011

Hello,

     How goes things back home? 

         
My comps have been:

MTC-Elder Nordblad from Palmdale, California

Zonda/Libertador, San Juan-Elder Petersen from Logan, Utah

Libertador-Elder Allen from Idaho

Salto de las Rosas, San Rafael-Elder Boyle, Texas/Utah (one week)

Malargue-Elder Martinez from Buenos Aires, Argentina

Malargue-Elder Stufflebeam from Orem, Utah

         So the names of the people we are working with are Andres, Norma, Rocio, and Kevin. Norma and Andres should be going to "sacar un turno" to get married this week. They weren't able to come to church because Andres went to Mendoza for a neices kinsey and Norma woke up sick. but they are really great people and pretty humble their house is one room and a bathroom.  They just bought a new stove/oven and put in a tile floor, Andres works construction. I did get to keep the letter that he wrote.

          We were knocking doors the other day and some lady came over and asked us what we did and she told us to come to her house.  She said as we walked by she could tell we were men of God.  She says she would like to get closer to the gospel, but she may have some mental issues.  It's hard to teach her because she doesn't respond very much and she is really monotone.  She is hoping that God will change everything for her.  She has had a rough life; she was physically abused as a child and has seizures as a result.  Her husband and kids left her and she is on the verge of losing her home.  We are not sure to what extent we can help based on her mental condition.

           Today we did service again since there isn't really anything else to do for p-day here.  We hauled logs out to a house in the campo so that they could heat their house and water.  Afterwards the Hermana Munoz cooked us fideos and carne.  They are an awesome family the Hermano Munoz is a funny guy he is always saying some things in English to us, like hasta la bye bye, or mucho thank you.  He is way funny; he used to work at the airport here in Malargue.   He said the population here is like 27,000, not too many.  It's starting to get colder, but still we haven't seen any snow. 

            My Spanish doesn't seem too bad now.  I am able to understand most things and talk to most people.  Every once in awhile I will be way lost but usually I understand.  Things are a little harder it seems for my comp right now but he is doing pretty good.  We went and got ice cream the other night even though it was way cold. 

             The other night the rama did a dinner we ate locro which is a soup with beans and chorizo and cow parts, it was way good.  Apparantley they eat it on their Day of Independance which was the 25th of May. A lot of the elders in the rama spent a long time making a ton of it and less than 15 people showed up, part of which was bad announcing and also just because people don't show up.

              Tomorrow we will be eating with a guy who is a member and his girlfriend is not.  They have two kids together but it seems like after his 18 years of inactivity he forgot that getting married is a commandment because they don't have much interest in doing so.

              I have been reading a lot latley I am in Helamen 8 in the BOM and reading about 4 chapters a day. I'm also about 90 pages away from finishing Jesus the Christ, which if you haven't read I would recommend it.  I have learned so much about our Savior. 

              On Sunday morning we went to a ladys house who's son is a member, to walk with her to church. She said she would be there but following the norm she wasn't home.  So we went to church alone this Sunday.  We did the sacrament like normal, and sat on the stand to do so.  My comp has a really hard time staying awake during church.  Being that we were on the stand all the members saw, and now he is pretty much known as "the sleepy missionary."  Another lady in the rama, Hermana Pacheko, recently moved back to Malargue from Mendoza Centro, she has been good to get us references and tomorrow we will go to see some of them.

              There is another lady in the ward, Herman Perez, who is pretty old, she washes all our clothes and sews what is torn.  She also cooks for us on Wednesdays.  She always fills the same pot with a bunch of good food and bread and we go to her house to pick it up.  She likes to make cards for people and said she could do one for me before I leave, we will see.  She has a dog that always has a hoody on.  My favorite thing to do is pull the hoody over the dogs face so it can't see;  it's funny to watch it try and figure out where it is and how to take the hood off.

              We have also been visiting a lot of people that are inactive.  Lots of them just slam the door on us and tell us they left the church and are testigos or evangelicals.  Many don't go to church because they let themselves be offended.  We ran into one lady the other night who told us she got baptized 5 years ago and after the baptism stopped going because of complications with her family and the religion.  Then her husband got a disease, which made her have to start working and have less time for the church.  But she was super nice and said she would love to go back to the church again.  We will visit her this coming weekend and see if she really has the desires to go to church. 

                I have had more meals in this area than any other area too.  We eat with members almost everyday of the week, which is nice with our money and then we actually get to eat something good instead of the noodles that us missionaries can make.

                It's pretty cold in the mornings and at night in our pension.   Apparantley we aren't allowed to use the gas heaters when we are asleep.  There is really no point in turning them on for an hour at night and a few hours in the morning.  We have a little electric heater that we turn on in the room before we go to bed and in the study room in the morning and it works pretty good.  I mostly eat cereal in the morning, corn flakes with added sugar.

                 We are also planning on starting English lessons some time this week.  A lot of the members have shown interest and my comp said he did it in his last area.  I'm not really sure how to teach English, but it can't be that hard.  We will see how it all works out.

                 It's been pretty fun with Elder Stufflebeam; the last week we have brought up some funny memories from the MTC and people that we knew there.  That's the part I liked most of the MTC-all the other people.  The best part was right before bed when we got to relax a little and just talk.

     This week I had two other cool experiences one was we talked to an atheist for about an hour, he was way nice and he just enjoyed talking on the subject.  We left him with a Book of Mormon and he said he would read it.  We got to the point that he said he could be wrong.  I asked him how he would feel if he got to the next life and he found out there is a God and how he would feel being the main example for his daughter, because she is atheist too.  It's pretty sad to think that he doesn't believe in something more.

     My other experience was with a Testigo de Jehova, it got me kind of mad.  The first thing he said to me was,  "How many books are in Psalms?"   I of course had no idea and said,  "What does that have to do with anything?"   He said,  "How can you preach if you don't know these things?"  I told him that we will not be judged by our knowledge of the Bible but by how we apply it to our lives.  I bore my testimony and wasn't going to mention Joseph Smith, but for some reason I blurted his name, so I thought it must have been for a purpose and bore my testimony of the restoration, which was the good part.  Among other things, I told him he was like a pharisee, and that counting the books in the Bible has no purpose.  That we would be judged on our actions.

     Well im pretty sure this is the longest letter that I have ever written and perhaps may ever write. I hope ya'll enjoy it. 

     I am so grateful that you are all in the gospel, it has been such a blessing to me in my life.  There are lots of people who don't have that benefit.  You have all been great examples to me.  I am grateful to you, Mom and Dad for teaching me, and raising me how you did.  I am grateful for our Savior and his teachings and the prophets that we have today. 

Love,

Elder Wharton

May 23, 2011

Hello,
     So transfers came, and I'm staying in Malargue and my new comp is Elder Stufflebeam, we were in the MTC together. We will learn alot because we have the same time in the Mission.
    I'm pretty sure we will be able to baptize this family of four.  They should be gettting married in a few weeks and then baptized.   They are awesome and we have seen such a change in them.  We had tacos at there house the other night and my comp played the guitar a bit for them.  The dad, Andres gave us a letter thanking us for sharing the gospel with them.  He is way awesome and the letter is way awesome too.  Other than that there is not much work in the area.  The elders that were there before didn't do much apparantly so we need to find a bunch of news, so we can have people to visit and to teach.  There are some really sweet people in the branch.  The president is a stud a lot of his family is inactive including his wife who wants nothing to do with the church.  But he is always cleaning the church or in his office studying the scriptures or visting members.  He has only been a member for like 5 years.
      I loaded more pictures up to costco under transfer 4 there are pictures of gauchos, Los Catillos de Pincheira (rock formation), and the family that we are teaching, the kids are way sweet.  This letter will be pretty short but hope the pictures make up for it.
Love,

Elder Wharton
p.s. When is Fathers Day?

May 16, 2011-Malargue

Hey Dad,
     I heard it was your birthday and it sounds like you had a pretty good time hiking for your b-day.  It sure looked sweet from the pictures I saw.   For p-day today we helped a member take some logs for firewood out to one of his houses out in the campo.  I think they have about 7 turkeys out there and a bunch of chickens some horses and chivos.  Afterwards, the member took us on a drive to see some of the pretty landscape.  We saw a real guacho out herding his chivos.  I put some pictures of him up on the costco.com website. I am uploading the pictures to the Transfer 4 album.    

     It's looking like we are going to baptize a family this month.  They need to get married first but they are excited and want to get married and  baptized.  Their last name is Sepulveda, and I think mom has relatives named Sepulveda.  They are really poor and super awesome.  This week we are going to make tacos at their house.

       The work here in Malargue is kind of slow.  Oh,  I ate asado 2 x in the last three days.  The first one I ate more blood sausage and decided it's not too bad, but it's not really good either.  I like chivo, carne and normal chorizo.

        We just walk. I dont think they will ever give us bikes.   But we will be getting a new mission president in about 7 weeks.

        Spanish is still coming along.  I think it might be harder for me than a lot of other people, but oh well.  I've got a lot of time to practice.

       I'm not sure if the pictures will load; the computer here sucks!

but I will try next week if not.

Love,
Elder Wharton

Malargue

Are you serious?  Osama is dead how sweet is that?  He has a lot of answering to do over there in the spirit prison.  Yeah, I was only in Salto for a week and it was really pretty.  I havn't seen any fincas here in Malargue, but we haven't really gone and worked outside the city too much.  It's a really small city and it's all ours.  We don't have district meetings really because the closest missionaries to us are a 3 hour bus ride away.  But the area is really cool.  We can see the snow capped mountains from the pensh window.  They don't look that big because they are far away but they are pretty big.  I think higher than Timp and there are lots of trees in the city.

Me and Elder Martinez are getting along pretty well, he plays the guitar and sings really well.  He tells me stories in his broken English and I tell him stories in my broken Spanish.  I am definitly getting a lot of practice. I sure don't feel like I know as much Spanish as I thought I did either. I feel like I'm back in my first few weeks of the mission field again, where I didn't really understand much.

We are seeing a lot of cool things happen here. I'm pretty sure we will have some baptisms.  A lady named Norma told us that now is her time to go to church and she knows the Book of Mormon is true.  She has to get married first but her and her husband both want to get married.  She has two kids that also came to church with her. 

We were walking the other day and a police officer came up to us and said, "Hey I'm a member and we just moved here.  My wife and kids are not baptized can you come by our house to talk to us?"  So we did and he seems to want to come back to the church and she really likes the idea of eternal families. 

P-days here kind of suck though because there are no other missionaries to play soccer with or anything. There is a lot to do here but it's all expensive apparantly there is a really nice ski resort called las lleñas. I'm sure I will be able to go somewhere cool and get some cool pictures. 

The branch is really small here like 50 or less people attend church.  There are tons of inactives just like everywhere else in South America, but there are some really kind, good families in the rama.

Tell Uncle Tim happy b-day for me.   I hope you all enjoy your time up there in California.  It's pretty cold here in Malargue and we aren't even in winter yet. Last year it got to -4 during winter. I think I will be sending you another email this week and calling you quickly to set up everything for the call on Mother's Day which is next Sunday, right?  Anyways hope all is well back home. I'm trying to work as hard as I can and be as obedient as I can.  (Just thought I would share that to make mama proud.)  Anyways I love you all and thanks for your emails, have you put any pictures up on the costco website for me?  I would like to see the new lawn care equipment too.  By the way how is that going?

            

I know that The Church is true and that God lives and Christ is our reedemer and for us he suffered but he knew what he was doing.  He is the only way that we can make it to be an eternal family.  I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that he restored the church and translated the Book of Mormon, I know that Thomas S. Monson is the living prophet today.  I have also gained a testimony and will continue to gain a testimony that the hardest things are usually the best things for us.  Christ knows what we can handle and how to best help us grow.

I love you all thanks for your letters.

Elder Wharton

Salto de las Rosas--San Rafael Zone

      Ok, so a lot has happened.  First off I'm in my second area.   It's called Salto de las Rosas and it's about six hours south of where I was before.  I'm in Mendoza now, but not the city area.  I'm about 3 hours south of Mendoza, Mendoza.  The zone is San Rafael.  My comp is Elder Boyle, originally from Texas.  This area is super, super pretty.  I'ts really campo or fieldy, there are a ton of grape fields or fincas.  This is the last area in the mission that had bikes, and we need them, but President doesn't want to risk us getting in an accident.  We walk like 3 hours or more to get to a house.  It's a lot slower work than it was in downtown San Juan.  But the people here are awesome, many of them are illiterate.  The church is actually in our pensh.  We have a little room with a pulpit and our church is only 1 and 1/2 hours long.  We teach Elders Quorum.  We are supposedly a branch of a branch, so we call ourselves a leaf.  There were like 18 people in church on Sunday.
   
     Our shower is a bucket that you fill with water and then plug in, after about thirty minutes the water is hot, so you unplug it and turn the valve and then you have about 7 minutes.  The pensh is pretty poorly insulated so it's really cold in the morning.

     I put some pictures up under "Transfer 4" on Costco's website, and there are also new ones under "Transfer 3."  You will see how pretty the area is.  The thing is there are not too many people; but it's great, the people are super nice and friendly.  I heard the area I'm in is one of President Lindahl's favorite areas in the mission.   He loves it and thinks it's really pretty.

     I don't really know what's going on with old investigators or anything but I got a picture with the convert, Jessica and her grandma, the familia Contrerras and Cristian from Grido.  I don't have much more time left to email but I put a lot of pictures up, so you will see the huge fields that go on forever.  It's really cool.  It's apparently one of the most campo areas in the mission.  I'm also learning a bit of cooking here, I can now do a decent spaghetti and pastel de papas thing.  It's made with empanada shells then mashed potatoes then meat, more potatoes, sugar and cinnamon. Then baked in the oven.  It's pretty good.

      Well I'm gonna cut it short, thanks for the email, and hope you enjoy the pictures, I'm sure I will have more to tell you next time.
Love,
Elder Wharton

Elder Wharton and Elder Peterson

President Lindahl and Elder Wharton 12-7-10

April 11, 2011

     Hello, so I'm here in San Juan sitting at a cyber and on the wall it says "prohibido fumar," and yet right across from me a guy is smoking.  Weird how that works. Anyways it's the end of another transfer, I will tell you next week if anything has changed or if I'm in the same area or what.  So lets see, Elder Harvey the Zone leader that I have been living with for the last 4 months is now an assistant.  It was really a blessing to be able to learn and work with him. So we haven't been able to get a hold of Silvana again.  I'm sure some day we will be able to get another lesson with her.  We found a family whose two oldest kids have been baptized but the parents haven't and neither have the three youngest kids.  We are planning on going back to their houses and watching a church movie.

     The streets here are pretty much all paved and most have sidewalks but the sidewalks are all jacked up, so part of the time it's broken tiles, dirt and rocks or the road, we seem to walk in the road alot.  All the homes are right next to each other.  They are seperated by a cement wall, and the houses are more long than wide like back home. But everything is made out of concrete and brick.  Lots have fences so that's when we clap, there are lots of dogs everywhere, and yeah I'm in an urban area compared to the other areas in the zone.  Our area is probably one of the richest.  It for sure has some of the richest people, but we don't really try to much, because they look at you through their cameras and say nope.

     Here is an orgulloso moment so I went on splits with Elder Hyer (the other zone leader who has 1 year and 2 months) and we talked to this lady.   In the end she wasn't interested at all but we asked if we could end with a prayer and she said that she wanted me to do it because she could understand me better than the other, so that made me feel really good, but I still need to learn alot more.

     Let's see what else is new?   We met a lady named Fani who can't walk very well because she got in a car/moto accident.  She is super Catholic but super good.  We said a prayer in the first lesson and when I looked up from the prayer she was crying.  She knows her family might not like her talking to us, but she told us that she knows it's ok.  She read the folleto we left with her and loved it, the next time we went by she asked where she could get a Book of Mormon, so I pulled mine out and handed it to her.  She loved it, she held it against her chest and said how beautiful about 30 times.  This last week she wasn't able to make it to church but hopefully this next week she can get there.  Elder Allen and I are doing well, we work really well with each other and we really get along.  So, can't complain here.  I really can't remember much else of what happened this week, it really flew by, but I just don't remember.  I am writing in my journal about every other day, but I think no matter how much I write in it, I will wish I had written more.  That's really cool that you guys got the Rossetta Stone.  Maybe when I get back we can be a bilingual family.  We met a guy and his wife today on the bus, the guy is from French Canada, and his wife from San Juan, they both speak, French English and Spanish.

             We went to this kid, Cristian's house, he works at Grido, the huge ice cream enterprise down here.  We taught him a little and he listened to the first lesson.  Maybe he will take the initiative and pray to receive his answer.  He is really a cool kid and really nice, he wants to go to the states someday.  Anyways I know this email was kind of lame, I just can't remember much.  The weeks seem to mold together.

Love,

Elder wharton

April 4, 2011

Hola, 

     How's it going up in cold Utah?  So here it is still pretty hot but a lot nicer than 118 degrees.  Well general conference was awesome, although I think that to follow the prophet I am going to have to look for a wife a little sooner than what I was planning.  Conference was really awesome.  I listened to all the sessions and only fell alseep during one speaker.  I made sandwiches and drank coke during the first session.  It was also really dissapointing; all of our investigators knew about conference and we spent three days just focusing on telling people about conference and none of them came.  So that wasn't so cool, but there isn't much I can do but keep on working and finding better more commited people to teach.

     I don't think that I will be getting a Latin comp this next transfer either.  The ZL told me that the mission doesn't have a lot of Latins so chances are I won't get one.  I have a feeling that I will be staying in this area for another transfer with the same comp Elder Allen.  I'm ok with that because he and I get along really well.  We have some people that seem pretty good right now too.  So, if I stay maybe we will be able to get some baptisms.  I will find out what happens next Monday night, so you guys will probably know in two weeks.

     Well the familia Contreras is really flojo but we put a baptismal fecha with her friend her name is Andrea and her mom died several years ago.  We told her she could be baptized and then do baptisms for the dead for her mother.  There was also a reference we received this week named Fabian, his dad died on Friday, and he was having a really hard time with it.  Hopefully this will be a time when he can accept the gospel.

     I did divisions with another kid from the zone this week.  He and his comp don't put very many fechas but here in our mission we are supposed to put a fecha bautismal the first lesson that we have.  The day of divisions I put 3 of them pretty much on my own.  It sure helped me to feel like I was doing well, for the small amount of time I have.  Speaking of time I will complete six months in the mission this Wednesday.

     We watched conference in English (all the Amercian elders and some of the Latins that spoke English) in an upper room in the church.  I'm grateful for that because I actually get to hear the prophets voice.

     I have gotten to know my area pretty well and most of the ward members too.  Have I mentioned that I hate alcohol and how the Catholic Church slows the work. Speaking of, I went to misa the other week not sure if I told you that or not.  But we just watched them recite a bunch of memorized prayers. It was good becasue then when people say, "No I'm Catholic,  we say,  "That's ok we went to misa last week!"

      We finally went back to this lady named Silvana who is awsome.  We shared the restoration with her because she said she already knew the plan of salvation.  She loved the Book of Mormon and she was so excited and anxious to learn more about Christ coming to America.  She should do really well, but she always leaves town on Sundays, kind of hard to progress if you don't go to church.  Anyway she lived in LA for a while. so it's kind of fun to talk to her about the cultures.

     Oh and one story.  So one of the fechas that I put was with a guy in another area during transfers.  He told us that he has a drug problem and that he wants to change but doesn't know how.  So we talked to him about baptism and how he can wash away his sins and start over and have the Spirit to help him with his addiction.  He gladly accepted the fecha and seemed excited to read and prepare for his fecha.  About two hours later we were walking by a different house and he was outside and wasted.  He yelled at us "I'm really drugged right now."  It was really sad to see that just hours after that he had given right back in.  But maybe the other missionaries can still help him get baptized.

     Anyways, thanks for your letters and pictures of all the snow, that's really crazy.   Love you all and thanks for selling the dirt bike.

Love,

Elder wharton

ps  How much money do I still have to pay for the mission?

P-Day Hike

New Elders Arrive at Mendoza Argentina Mission Dec 7, 2010

March 28, 2011

Hello,
    So I don't have a ton of time but I will try and answer your questions. One person from the four of Villavicencio's came to church this Sunday her name is Antonella and she has fifteen years.  She seemed to enjoy church so we are going to try to get her to general conference and then baptize her.  It might be difficult though because she only comes to stay with her grandma on the weekends.   The people that asked lots of questions we haven't been able to talk to them but we will soon.  We have found all these people by knocking doors--usually it's clapping though. Right now we only have Antonella as our progressing investigators.

           I will get more pictures with people the day before I leave the area.  That's when I will go visit them, tell them I am leaving, and take pictures with them.  I might have had my last asado yesterday because the family who feeds us asado has a wedding coming up, and I might leave this area before we go back.

         For general conference I'm not sure what's going to happen but I will tell you next week.  I am still doing my personal and comp studies, sometimes it's hard because there is so much I want to study but not enough time, and I haven't decided whether to do it in Spanish or English, when it's Spanish, I get less out of it, but I'm sure with time I will understand a lot more.

         My testimony is good.  I know that Joseph Smith restored this the true church and that Christ is at the head.  I know that God lives, knows, and loves me personally, and that challenges are given to us so that we can become stronger.  I believe that the mission is the best place for a teenager to be. 

          We haven't moved yet.  I can get socks here if I need them.  I have given up on the Propets brand shoes until I can find and buy some shoe inserts.    The blog thing looks cool, do friends and family know about it?

         You will have to ask Kurt how my Spanish is, I wrote him a letter and part was in Spanish.  You speak pretty well though.

         The bee sting is fine.  I'm doing good, will you remind me next week to write about Baby. And sorry but I probably won't use the recipes they are too difficult and I don't even think I could get all the ingredients down here. I haven't had hot food since I've been here.  In all the fruit and vegatable places I haven't seen one jalepeno.

Anyways love you and thanks for your letter.  Hope I answered most of your questions.

Love,

Elder Wharton

MTC Pictures Oct. 5, 2010-Dec. 6, 2010

MTC Pictures Oct. 5, 2010-Dec. 6, 2010 Provo, UT

March 21, 2011

Hello All,

    So I got a lot of letters but I figure I better write you all first.   It sounds like the world is going crazy, now the US is involved in Libya, and you are talking about regimes that I have never heard of, I thought it was just the Taliban.  I have heard of the nuclear stuff in Japan though.  That will probably have some damaging effects.

     Anyways good to hear from you. I will start just writing you back about my week and answering your questions instead of responding to everything.  I love your letter, I laughed several times.

     So, last week we found some pretty awesome people, especially the familia Villavelencio.  We put four fechas with the four that were there and they all seemed really excited, and understanding about the restoration.  They couldn't come to church yesterday because of a kinsenera (quinceanera) (not sure if that's how you spell it, the fifteen year old girl party).  But they will be able to come next week, and then to conference.  I'm way excited for conference.  I have heard lots of good things about conference in the mission.

      So lets see, last week we also talked to a lady and her husband who had tons of questions about the Mormons, which is the best, I love answering peoples doubts about our faith.  They asked about tithing, the mission, baptism. They thought that Mormons all had to be in bed by ten, not just the missionaries.

      There really are so many things that I could tell you but there really isn't enough time.  The key will be writing in my journal, which I have done pretty good but I'm sure when I'm done with the mission I will wish I had done better.

    Oh and Austin Walker told me he got his mission call, to Sao Paulo Brazil.

  This blog thing might be pretty good maybe you could give the blog website to my friends and family and then they could go and read my letters and then write me through you.

    I think we might have to start looking for a new pensh though because our prices are about to go up.

Me and my comp are doing really well, we get along great and I'm speaking a lot more, but I really thought I would be a lot better at Spanish at this point in my mission than I am.  I guess having a Latin comp might help with that.

        We talk to lots of people all day, it's pretty fun when you get into houses and can talk with people, become their friend and learn about them.  And best of all is when they understand the gospel.

          One funny thing that happened was there was a lady who I talked to and she said she didn't want to change religions because she didn't want to disappoint her parents, so I kind of told her that what God wants might be a little more important.  She didn't get that and she was just talking so I said you're just like the Lamanites, and she said "claro" and kept on talking so that was kind of a lost cause.

      I got stung by a bee this morning, it flew on my head when I was sleeping, and then I moved it with my hand and it stung me.. that woke me up real quick.

       There is so much to tell you but I really don't have time, so hopefully next week I will have more time.   Hopefully my friends see this letter but I want Spencer to know that I have gotten his letters and haven't had time to send my letters back.  And tell Michael that I am proud of him.

Anyways I put pictures up of the bat that was in our pensh, and the huge hot dogs, mom will die when she sees those ones.  All of my neices need to stop growing, Kylee looks completley different, and is she wearing makeup?  What the heck?  And Lillie has tons of hair!

Anyways love you.  Talk to you next week.

Love

Elder wharton

Mon, 14 Mar 2011

So, I think my new comp, Elder Allen has brought a new energy into the area. It's weird, the week before I felt like there was nothing to do and no one interested and now it seems like there are lots of people to teach.  The key will be getting them to understand and feel the importance of the gospel enough to get them to act by going to church.

       Let's see nothing really crazy happened this week, but I was talking to a young kid in a park and I could hear all of his friends behind me laughing and saying stuff, so I asked the kid, "Do you want me to talk to your friends?" He smiled and said yes, so I turned around and started towards his friends.  One of the kids took off running and others darted behind people.  At first they were scared but then they realized I was just going to talk to them, so I invited them to listen to missionaries.  They didn't really listen to a word I said.

       Elder Hyer I don't know that well, he is just starting out as a zone leader so he is trying to learn.  I haven't talked to Familia Cricco this week.  But no progress has happened because I haven't seen them in church.

        Only one member of the Familia _______ came and he doesn't even live in the house, he hasn't been there for any of the lessons.  We have decided not to go to them very much, because they say they want to do better but they don't even try.  We had lunch with them last week and the dad poured himself some wine right in front of us.  So when I shared the scripture,  I also, “ bajared the canya,” or “dropped the cane,” which is like told them how it is.   I told them that as missionaries we can't help them; they know what they have to do to come back, and all they have to do is start doing the simple things.

         On Friday, at Familia ______’s we just ate raviolis and chicken, so I guess I was saved. (Didn't have to eat cow testicles after all!)         

I will be washing my socks in a bucket for a bit.

We are teaching some people that used to live in the states but they always go out of town on Sundays so we have to work on that.

Anyways love you all.

Love,

Elder Wharton