June 27, 2016

It was a pretty great week here in Parque San Martin. 

We focused a lot this week on meeting new people to work with and it went super well! We found a great new family that is from Bolivia we are going to start teaching and also several families that are members of the church that are inactive. My companion and I are both super excited to start working with all of them. 

Currently we are helping two people stop smoking. So thats been actually super fun as well! Our investigator Silvia is doing great too! She is still sick so we were only able to visit her once this week. 

Oh and shout out to Korey Smith. This week even some of the members down  here were watching the youtube video about the parody to the song Hello by Adele about the life of a missionary.

I dont have much time to write so this is it for the week. 

Elder Townsend

June 20, 2016

Luis got baptized this week! It was so awesome! Just super cold haha. I was actually the one who got to baptize him so that was great too. For the baptism I made brownies. Lets just say its pathetic how much argentines love american desserts haha.

This week was pretty crazy because we had a lot of stuff going on, but we still got a lot of work done. The only down part of our week was we couldnt visit our awesome investigator silvia this week because she is super sick:(

Oh and we are starting a new tansfer today! I am staying in lovely Parque San Martin with my brasilian companion Elder Vicente! We are super excited to be able to stay together but not so exicted for the cold weather and fewer hours of daylight that awaits us this transfer but it is what it is haha. 

Oh and we are in a trio right now too. One of the elders we live with finished his mission so his companion is hanging with us until he gets his new companion tomorrow. Its been pretty fun. All three of us gave talks in church yesterday haha. 

Well I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Townsend

June 13, 2016

It was a great week full of a ton of missionary work. We had several great lessons with a lot of our investigators and were even able to find several new investigators this week.

On Tuesday we did divisions. It was a great day. I stayed and worked in our area with another elder that came to the mission with me. We had several great lessons during the day but the highlight of the day were these three new investigators we found at night: So it was late and we had just finished a lesson with one of our invesitgators. We started headed back to our apartment becaue we had about a 40 minute walk and it was super cold outside. And while we were walking I recognized this house we passed by and I felt we should go clap it. So we head back to the house and they end up letting us in and we teach an awesome lesson about the restoration to these three brothers! It was so great! These brothers were so excited to learn and hear our message it kinda freaked me out haha. When we started talking about Joseph Smith they were literally on the edge of their seats exploding with excitement and anticapation, like they were watching a soccer game or something haha. It was a super great way to end the day!

On Wednesday we also found an awesome new famiy. They were a reference from there cousin that lives in Oregon that is a member and married to a returned missionary. They are super great and we are excited to start teaching them as well.

Our progressing investigators Luis and Silvia are doing great as well. Luis is on track to be baptized the 17th of June. He has quitted smoking and is really prepared. Our only concern for him is his neighbor Carlos who is a really bad influence. We stopped by Luis´s house the other day at night and Carlos was in there all drunk and smoking right in front of his face! Carlos really wanted to talk to us so he sits us down and we end up having a "grown up" talk with him. So hopefully we resolved that problem... Silivia came to church for the second time this Sunday! She is so awesome! We are so excited for her to keep learning and are really hoping we can set a goal as a baptismal date this week. 

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Townsend

June 6, 2016

This week went went. Nothing too crazy happened but we got a lot of good work done here in Parque San Martin.

We have two investigators that are progressing very well currently. Our first one is named Luis. He is so awesome. He has a baptismal date for the 18th of June and we think he will make it. We have been helping him quit smoking and he come so far. He hasn't smoked since Saturday and he is still doing so well.

Our other investigator is named Silvia. She is the best. She came to church for the first time this Sunday. She is reading so much in the Book of Mormon and really has a true desire to learn the truth. 

The week was pretty normal. We had several great lessons and found a handful of new investigators. The weather here this week was so aweful though. Super cold and rainy. Before being a missionary I never paid to much attention to the weather but it really has an impact on everything now haha. I dont know a better way to say this so will just throw it out there; a really large part of our area is just so ghetto and unpleasing to look at haha... And when it is dark and rainy its almost so bad its funny haha. I wish I could describe it better but thats all I got haha. But my Brasilian companion and I are hanging in there!

I hope everything is going well back home. Take care and have a great week!

Elder Townsend

making empanadas at a members house

May 30, 2016

Pretty great week. 

On Tuesday we did divisions again. I stayed in my area and worked with another elder. It was such an interesting day haha. I know our area decently well for only being here for two weeks but not too well haha. And our area is almost impossible to learn because the house numbers are all messed up. So needless to say we did a good amount of walking haha. I don't think the elder I was with was that accustomed to walking and moving around so much haha. The poor guy was dead at the end of the day.

On Wednesday was 25 de Mayo! It was a great day. For lunch my companion and the other companionship we live with bought empanadas to celebrate. There is this really nice buisness chain down here called empanadas de 10 and we ordered an empanada of every single one of their flavors haha (they have 25 flavors). We then cut every single one in 4 pieces and we all ate each one at a time and then took notes and gave them ratings. We are now proud to say we have tasted every flavor and we can in detail describe each one. For you future costumers out there I highly recommend you stay away from the bacon and plum flavor....

The rest of the week was pretty normal. Our investigators are doing great. Last sunday was stake conference which was awesome. Oh and during one of our lessons yesterday afternoon this drunk teenage girl riding a moped fell into the sewage stream thing on the side of the dirt road. Oh how I love this country.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Townsend

May 23, 2016

It was another pretty great week.

On Tuesday this week I got to go back to my first area Merlo 2 to do divisions! Aww it was just so weird I cant even explain it. I was actually kinda reluctant at first but it was a great day. I got to see some of the people I met and catch up with them. It was awesome. I spent the day with an elder from Peru. He taught me that in Argentina if there are shoes hanging from telephone lines that means someone sells drugrs near by. And that was completely new information to me! I dont know if thats what it means in the states, I always just joked that it meant it was the ´´hood´´ but here it actually means something! haha the funny part is I checked the telephone lines when I came back to my area and I realized that almost every block in our area has shoes hanging down from the lines...so thats awesome...

On Thursday us and the other elders we live with learned how to make empanadas!! It was so awesome! A family in the ward had us over and taught us. Argentine food isnt anthing too special but empanadas are heavenly. So it was super awesome we all learned how to make them.

On Saturday the other elders we live with had a baptism planned. So my companion and I arrived at the chapel about thirty minutes before the baptisms to practice a song we were going to sing and the lady who was going to get baptized still hadn't come! So the elders went out to go look for her. They eventually found her and apparently her boyfriend almost died the night before and is in the hospital. She was emotionally recked and she just couldn't get baptized so we ended up having a small activity in the church with all the members that had come for the baptisms. Haha the whole day was just such a rollercoaster but it all turned out pretty well! I learned that day as a missionary you always have to be prepared haha.

The missionary work in our area is going well. We have several great investigators that are making such great progress. We are really excited for them. 

I hope everyone has a great week

Elder Townsend

It was a great first week in Parque San Martin! 

There are a lot of new changes so I will explain each one seperately:

My new companion is named Elder Vicente. He is such a great guy. He is from Brazil and he is the only member in his family of like 12 haha. He is going home fairly soon so he has a lot of experience and I have already learned so much from him. He doesn´t speak english like at all but I am doing my best to teach him before he heads home! 

The ward in this area is so great! They all love the missionaries so much and are always willing to help us out. I would say it is probably the strongest ward I have been in so far. They are the best!

The area itself is ok I guess haha. We share the ward with two other elders and our area is... well.... just fine. Its mostly suburb-ish. It is hard to explain what it is like because I have never seen anywhere in the states that compares to it. Its not anything like a suburb in the states. Its almost all dirt roads and pretty hood- ish. Its just kinda filthy and dark everywhere haha. I´ll just say its not very enjoyable to the eyes and I will leave it at that haha... Its pretty dangerous in some areas and with it being almost winter here it gets dark pretty fast which isn't good. We have already had some....ummm....interesting experiences so far this week but we are working on finding investigators in the few places of our area where there is light and its less dangerous so we don't run into even bigger problems in the middle of winter when it gets darker even earlier.

The missionary work in the area is going fairly well. There are a lot of less active members so we are working with them. We really could use some new investigators though so we are working on that. This week we found this great 17 year old kid named Thomas so that's awesome!

Our apartment is definitely the nicest one I have been in! Which isn´t saying very much but at least its an upgrade! We live with the other elders in our ward so that's pretty fun too!

Well I hope everyone has a great week!

Take care!

Elder Townsend

5-9-16

First off Happy Mothers day to all the moms out there! You guys are the best!

This week went super well. We had some fantastic lessons with several investigators with a lot of potential. 

The new transfer starts today and there is a lot of work here to do. The only thing is I won't be here......because I got transferred! Last night we got our transfer calls and I am going back to the stake of Merlo wear I started! But instead I am going to be working in an area called Parque San Martin! I have no clue what it is like but from what my companion and I have heard it sounds like it is in the city. Which kinda stinks because I have really enjoyed how nice and calm Marcos Paz is but on the bright side I wont be using bikes! 

I´m really excited to leave but also super sad. This area has been so great. I was super depressing saying goodbye to all the ward members yesterday. And even worse was saying goodbye to Gladys and Agustin. Being a missionary is so bitter sweet that way. 

Today as a district we are going to make tacos and we are all super excited! It has been a long 7 months without Mexican food. But you know what they say, sacrifices bring blessings...

Well I hope everyone has a great week!

I love you Mom!

Elder Townsend

May 2, 2016

Such a great week!

On Tuesday we had a zone training. It went great. We learned a ton and we also had our interviews with our mission president. It was a great day. It is always super nice to talk with other people in English haha.

On Wednesday and Thursday it was super cold! Like really really cold!!!!!

The humidity is just so awful. It makes it so whatever you do, you just can't get warm. I had like 6 layers on the whole day but it didn't help at all haha. And it just really stinks because it went straight from being super hot to super cold. Its a struggle but we are hanging in there. 

The rest of the week was pretty normal. Nothing too crazy happened.

But on Saturday AGUSTIN GOT BAPTIZED!!!!! It went so great! So many people came and everyone had a great time. He was so happy and excited the whole day. He is such a cool kid. My companion and I are going to miss him so much. It has been such a blessing to be apart of his conversion. We are so excited for all the great things he is going to do in the future!

Life is great, the church is true, and there is no greater joy or satisfaction than sharing the gospel.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Townsend

From April 25, 2016

It was a pretty awesome week!

First off I just want to say that every week it is getting harder to write these haha. I am going to keep doing my best but everything is just kinda normal now. The weeks just goes by so fast and its all a blur. It´s a struggle. 

On Tuesday we had divisions! I left my area and went to another area in our district. It was a pretty great day! We taught several great lessons but the best part was I got to spend the night in their apartment!! It wasn´t nice at all but compared to what I have been living in it was like a five star hotel!!!! There shower actually got warm and had a bit of water pressure. It was a piece of heaven. I will never forget that day.

On Wendnesday night we had a family home evening with a family in our ward. The sister missionaries in our ward and my companion and I brought some investigators and it was a really great night. We had a great lesson and our investigators really enjoyed it. The highlight of the night though was the sisters´investigators... So after the lessons we were all just chatting and joking around and then all the sudden the sister missionaries started to talk about how good of a singer their invesitgator was. They convince her to show us and then all the sudden she starts singing this chorus of an Ariana Grande song! In perfect english and everything! Our mouthes all just dropped! The rest of the night though my companion and I just felt so messed up haha. It has just been a while since we had heard something so feminine and american....

On Friday we had the baptismal interview of Agustin!! He did so great and he is getting baptized this Saturday!! He is so excited and we are too! 

I hope everyone has a great week

In case anyone is wondering we only saw 7 dead dogs this week, it was a record all time low. 

Elder Townsend

This week went so well!

On Tuesday we taught our invesitgators Gladys and Agustin the word of wisdom. I was pretty stressed out inside because you just never know how someone will react to something like that, but they both accepted it so well!! They really just understood that we have that commandment for our benefit and we show God our obedience and our love by keeping it. It was so awesome. That visit we also met Glady´s ¨significant other¨. He is always working and is usually never home, but luckily he was there when we came to their house. He is really nice guy but right now doesn´t have a lot of interest. Gladys and him have been together for 8 years but still aren´t married. Its a bummer because Gladys won't be able to get baptized until see marries him. My companion and I still have a lot of faith that everything will work out though! Their son though Agustin is still on tract to be baptized the 30th of this month! He is such a stud. Gladys and him both came to church again this week and loved it.

The rest of this week was pretty normal. Nothing too crazy happened. Our other investigators are progressing well and we are hoping for at least 2 or 3 baptisms by the end of the transfer. We had a lot of really good lessons this week and we are staying really busy. 

At church on Sunday I had to give a talk haha. We have sacrament meeting during the last hour of church here, and right after the first hour of church the bishop came up to me and said someone bailed on them and they needed another talk and then asked me to do it. I was kinda stressed because I only had about 5 minutes to think about what to talk about because we were busy the rest of the time until sacrament meeting taking care of investigators during the second hour. But I honestly think I gave a decent talk! I decided to do it on prayer and the scriptures and somehow it all came together. My companion felt so bad for me but couldn't help from laughing as I walked up to the pulpit with just a Book of Mormon in my hand haha.  It actually ended up being like 15 minutes though and everyone said they really enjoyed it! I still have no clue how I did it haha. God really helped me out with that one thats for sure. It really just strengthened my testimony that when we do our part and work hard, God will make up the rest.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Townsend

It was such an awesome week!

On Tuesday I did divisions with an elder that came with me to Argentina. It went so great. We taught a few lessons and later in the night we passed by the house of this kid named Franco. He is a friend of a member and we had been teaching him and he was going to get baptized but then all the sudden he disappeared. So for the past two months we have passed by his house and he is never been home. But we passed by and we saw him outside dragging this horse around and we were able to get a lesson with him!!! And the best part is he had been reading in the Book of Mormon!!! He read up to Alma!!! So in the lesson we just kinda talked to him and apparently when school and work started things got crazy but now they are calming down. So of course we set another baptismal date for the 30th of April!! So we will see how that all goes!

Our Investigators Gladys and Agustin are progressing so well too!! They are so great. Agustin is so excited to get baptized and Gladys had been kinda reluctant to commit to a date but after she read Alma 32 this week, that all changed. She totally wants to get baptized now!! She said that chapter just answered so many questions she had and it helped her understand what she had been feeling during the past little while when she has been praying and reading about the Book of Mormon. We are so excited! They came to church this Sunday too and the absolutely loved it!

We have so many people progressing it is awesome. This area is going to see a lot of baptisms in the next few months.

The funny story of the week:

So last night we were at the top of our area visiting this family. We then got a call from this member family that needed to get into the chapel to get there bikes and they didn´t have keys. It was a time crunch because it was around 7:00 and we had a family home evening planned with this family and Franco at 7:45. So we quickly finished our visit and headed down to the chapel at the bottom of our area. We rode so ridiculously fast haha. It was pitch black and freezing cold but nothing was going to stop us because we wanted that lesson with Franco so bad!! So it would normally be like a 25 minute bike ride but we rode up to a block away from our chapel in like 7 minutes and then all the sudden a huge ball of chain wire got stuck in my companions back tire. We stopped and tried to get it out but we couldn´t so we started walking to the chapel to deal with it there. Then all the sudden this old Argentine just walks over to us and starts telling us how to take it out. We try to follow his instructions but we couldnt understand anything he was saying so he eventually just started to try to get it out himself. He couldn´t do it and then all the sudden he pulls out this steak knife and just starts wacking at the wire like crazy. While I was watching him I was pondering on how weird the situation was but at the same time I just felt really grateful and impressed with how nice this guy was for helping us.... So in like three minutes or so he finally gets it out and then he looks up and asks us how much we are going to pay him. We then just started to chuckle because we thought he was joking.... But then we realized, he wasn´t joking.... We had absolutely no money on us so we told him we didn't have anything but we were really grateful for his help and then this guy just starts to freak out. I still don't understand everything that happened but it was just a really weird, awkward messed up temper tantrum with an angry Argentine cursing and waving this knife around. It was so funny my companion and I just stood there like fools because we had no idea what to do. He eventually finished and just marched off and my companion and I just looked at each other and we both started to die of laughter.... It was just and unforgettable experience... This country is just something else. And in case your wondering that guy wasn´t homeless. He was a well dressed man with a nice car.... I love Argentina

Well anyway there is the story. I hope everyone has a great week! Be safe and carry around extra cash to give to people that help you out because if not, who knows what will happen!

Elder Townsend