24 November 2009

New Companion

How are things going back in the homeland? Are the chestnuts roasting on an open fire yet? I think we have successfully scared Jack Frost away from Jujuy for a decade or two with the heat that has been going on here. Ha-ha. It is rather warm, but it rains every once in a while to keep things under control.

Everything is going fantastic here. The biggest piece of news it that I have yet another new companion. I tell ya, I’m going through them like they´re going out of style! On Thursday past we received a call saying that on Friday my comp, Elder Willeitner would be going to an area in Tucuman that had been closed for 14 months and would be reopening it with another elder here in Jujuy.

Then the big chunk of news… Elder Rose is now a proud father of a little baby missionary. My kid´s name is Elder Macovichuk from San Diego, California. He just got to Argentina about 4 days ago due to his VISA. So I’m training. What a trip, no? It´s fun though. Everything is way good, he´s fun and he´s learning and he speaks a decent amount of Spanish.

As for the investigators; we had success at church!!! Half of the Ruiz family finally came, as well as Monica and a kid named Alejandro Vilte and another man named Eduardo Farfan. All of them have a date to get baptized in the middle of December right before the holidays. I am super excited because they seem like this time the things might actually just work out good.

17 November 2009

Campanion Respect!

We had a fun Zone activity today up in one of the other areas. We all went up early and had a capture the flag water balloon war. We had a blast. Or at least me and Elder Willeitner did, and then after wards we went and got something to eat and headed back to Perico where we got ready to work.

So the last couple of days have been kind of not so fun because I have been a little sick. I successfully gained the respect of Elder Willeitner (that's what he says at least) by teaching a lesson, going out to the street, puking my guts out, and then continuing to work for the rest of the day. Hardcore right? Ha-ha, I feel a little bit better now, but I'm still a bit unwell. Other than that though, everything is fantastic.

The baptism this weekend went really well. It was a super rainy day but that was good because Perico really needs the rain a lot. The mom and the brother of the girl that got baptized were there to support her and there were about 30 people that showed up to the service. It was really cool. Busy and difficult with the rain and all that, but what can you expect. It has gotta rain some day. It hasn't rained since but hopefully it'll pick up again soon. But yeah, so Lorena was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. It was a super satisfying experience.

As for the other investigators that we have, there are a few that are progressing; they just lack going to church a little bit more. The rain kind of killed attendance at church on Sunday. Not just for investigators, but for members too. And on the way to church we also ran into the father of an investigator family drunk in the street. So they need a lot of help and a lot of prayers. But yeah, things are looking good.

Things might be changing a little bit in the companionship's in the mission a little early this transfer but that is more news to come. Listo (means I am ready). I think that is all. I will talk to you all later. Big hugs and kisses for everybody. Take care of yourselves. Love you a ton.

Elder Jeffrey Rose

10 November 2009

Bee Hunting!

Elder Willeitner and I are doing good. He has 16 months in the mission. He´s from Sandy, if I didn't already throw that in there.

We have a baptism planned for this weekend. Her name is Lorena and she is the sister of Ricardo, the guy who was baptized the week before. We gave Ricardo the priesthood in church last week, which was way cool. Elder Willy and I also gave talks in sacrament meeting, on very very short notice I might add. And our ward mission leader was just changed, it is now Fabian, a kid who just got back from his mission in Buenos Aires about a month ago. He´s way cool.

As a thank you to our ex-mission leader we have been over at his house in the morning the past two days helping him dig a trench in front of his house. Thanks to Brother McGarry I have some good experience in that field of work :).

Last Thursday we met the new hermana who arrived to the mission recently. She was born in this zone (that means she started her mission here). Her name is Hermana Hanson and you may be surprised to hear that she is from the Morgan hill Stake. She is from Hollister (she lives in San Juan Bautista). I know her family but I never met her, but we had a cool chat about people and stuff from back home. This past week has been pretty busy and we have been working really hard. We have been going along with this goal that we have of following every single one of the mission rules and purifying ourselves of the things that we do that don't allow us to have the spirit with us. It has really made a big difference and we are only a week of the way there but I have noticed changes and more things happening in the work. Things are fantastic here. Just thought that I would let you know that I am extremely happy and though I am tired, I have the force to move on because I know why I am here.

Today was p-day and I tell you what we did with a bit of caution; don't want to freak anyone out. But today we wet bee hunting!!! There is a member of the church here in Jujuy who makes a living raising bees and harvesting the honey. So we went up there with him today and had a barbecue up in the hills and then helped him out with the bees. He had the suits and everything for us to use and then we went and helped him harvest the honeycomb. I now have found my path in life! I am going to raise bees in the backyard!! Ha-ha. It was way fun and the fresh honey is super yummy. And I only got stung once! Yeah for me. Good thing I’m not allergic :). So everything is just fantastic here. We´re working hard and we’re smiling and trusting in the lord to guide us. I love you and trust you to do the same. Take care and don´t do anything I wouldn't do :).

Elder Jeff Rose

03 November 2009

President Has Created a Monster!

Hey Everyone.

Pay attention, here is the official update for the week. This time, the full length version :). Starting with yesterday and going backwards. Monday was Transfers and my Birthday. woohoo! I’m not a teenager anymore. Weird.... so Elder Gamarra got sent to Salta and my new companion is Elder Eric Willeitner, the weird thing is that he came from Monterrico, the next area over; the shortest transfer ever. Not to mention that there are rarely two missionaries with the amount of time that we have together in a companionship. And the reason I say that president has created a monster is because of our personalities and interests. Before the mission we were the same people. I know that I said that about Nicholls, but this is even crazier. The biggest thing that we have in common is rock climbing, we were both huge into it before the mission and now it is going to be a topic of conversation. He is from Sandy, Utah and we know some of the same people from BYU, and also he has a friend that is going to be going to the MTC soon and will be going to the California San Jose Mission. I’ll get the name for you later and see if you know the person when they get there.

But anyway, the day was good, just a lot of driving back and forth between the bus terminal and Perico and Monterrico and back and forth. I got egged and floured during lunch; that is one of the Argentine traditions on birthdays. And on top of that the 2nd of November in most Latin countries is the Day of the Dead, which means that there were parties everywhere and it seemed like everybody was celebrating my birthday with me :). I didn’t get to do much celebrating though so I will be doing that today for p-day. Thanks to everyone for all of the birthday wishes. I really appreciate it.

On Sunday (remember we are going backwards through the week) was the confirmation of Ricardo Tolaba. It was the first opportunity that I have had so far to confirm someone. My other baptism I was in the water and in the circle, but never did the confirmation. It was cool. His younger sister Loren who is also receiving the lessons was there to support him on Sunday. We had a couple of other people in church as well.

On Saturday was the Baptism of Ricardo. His mom, dad, and sister were there along with me and Gamarra, and a couple of the guys from the young single adults that he is friends with. It wasn’t a big group, but it was a cool; more intimate sort of for the people that were there. Everything went really well and I was super happy that he had the support of his family.

Friday was a normal day, we had an activity that night to try and get people to bring their friends but there wasn't a great turnout. We did have Ricardo´s interview that night though and that is also when we found out about transfers. Earlier in the day we had a lesson with Ricardo and taught him the last few things that he needed to know for his interview and to be able to be baptized. He was such a stud and I am constantly amazed at how completely ready he was right from the start and he has already got a strong testimony and doesn’t hesitate to share it with others. He constantly calls us ad tells us about his latest "mini-mission" and how he went to his aunt´s house or his friend´s house to share the gospel and ask if they want to hear from the missionaries. He already wants to serve a mission and I am literally just blown away by how amazing his conversion process was.

Now on to Thursday... we had our district meeting and took some pictures and everything so that we could have a photo of the whole zone together. Wednesday we had the special conference with president and sister Northcutt and with Elder Zivic and his wife. Elder Zivic is in the area presidency of South America south and he is way cool. He talked to us about a ton of stuff, and raised the excitement in the group a ton. It was a great spiritual experience and I had a great time. I felt like I could conquer the world after wards, or at least that I could conquer my area.... :) so yeah, that is the wrap up of the last week.

And now to answer the random questions of the week… Holidays: way different here. The ones from the states that they try to copy here just don´t work (like Halloween) and the ones that are unique to this country are highly religious and take over the cities. The Word TRUNKY: yes it is a word. It means to get to a point when you stop working as hard and are thinking about home a lot (I’m not there). My BIRTHDAY: it was good, I enjoyed it, and I am a perfectly happy 20 year old kid. (Still a kid!) Me and my comp are doing great. I would say it is kind of an Elder Mike Rose and Ben Chase combo, although I don´t know how that was but if it was completely amazing then that´s what it is. I Love you all a ton, thanks for your prayers and your thoughts. Take Care. Be Smart. I´m thinking about you.

Elder Rose