HASTA LUEGO TUCUMÁN. HOLA SALTA!

 HOLA,

I have been transferred! I am now in Mitre 1, which is in Salta Capital. It is about 5 hours away from Monteros. I am now about 20 minutes away from the Mission Office. This area has about 150 people attending in the Barrio. I am no longer part of a Rama. We have an actual chapel, with a font! This area has a lot of investigators and the members are very willing to work. We should have members with us a lot. The reason it is called Mitre 1 is because there is another compañerismo en our barrio also. Our District Leader lives with us in our pension. He is going to train, he will have his hijo this Wednesday. They are in Mitre 2. I think it will be fun living with another compañerismo.

I have a new compañero. Elder José Barboza. He has 3 transfers left in the mission. He is from Lima, Peru. He will help me so much with my Spanish. He is a stud, and I will learn a lot from him. He is organized and has a good attitude. I am excited to work in Salta. I am really going to miss Monteros. It was weird. I had this weird feeling all week that I was going to leave. Which is very uncommon. Usually you stay one or more transfers more after training. Elder Cloud is now District Leader in Monteros. 

I am really going to miss Familia Sanchez, and the Familia de Jose. Eva accepted to be baptized this week. She will be baptized on Dec 8 which is the Day of The Virgin Mary. She is leaving her Catholic roots behind on a symbolic day. Shes theatrical, I am sad I will miss her baptism but I am excited that she will be baptized. Leonel has been a really good friend to me and I will really miss messing with him. I hope he serves a mission. He would be great. I really hope José continues to progress in the Gospel, and become a priesthood holder. I will miss the opportunity to see him recieve the Priesthood in December, but oh well. I know he is in good hands.

I am going to miss Elder Cloud. We had our ups and downs but I really learned a lot from him and we taught well together. He has taught me a lot about the work of a missionary and helped my spanish to be up to par. I know he will amount to great things.

Funny Interesting Things

Elder Cloud were on a bus and a whole team of a 16 to 18 year old Womens Soccer Team came on the bus. I have never really been sexually harrassed before in my life, but man in Argentina its an every other day occurance. On the bus they kept yelling stuff at us cat calling us or so to speak. Telling us to stay on the bus. And two smacked my butt......... Dude, they are ruthless here. WE WERE IN REALITY IN THE SNAKE PIT.

I have decided I am going to buy one jersey from every area in my mission. I bought a Club Atletico San Martin Jersey. I had Leonel get it for me and to my suprise he got my last name put on it and my number in football (1). 

I have definitely gained weight here, for some reason in the beginning I was losing weight like crazy and then I have gained it back. I have lost a lot of muscle and gained fat. I havent had a healthy meal in like 4 months. Everything is either greasy, fried, oily, or sugary. I am being more careful about what I eat when I have the choice to pick what I want to eat. But with lunches its rough.

When you have gained weight, THEY WILL TELL YOU. (Elder Batman, usted es a poco mas gordito) YA FUE!

Miss you all, Love you guys! You guys are in my thoughts and Prayers.

CIAO

Elder Batman

 

WASSUP BOODEE

​​​​HOLA FAMILIA, AMIGOS, Y CHANGOS.

This week had a lot of work, and we're chugging along. We are teaching a lot with members and there testimonies and willingness to work has helped out a lot. Right now, we've kind of hit a wall with finding new investigators. Any of them we've found are either not progressing or are never around. We're gonna try some different things and see how it goes this week. VAMOS

The Mom of José has a lot of interest in the Gospel. She said seeing her son being baptized was one of the greatest feeling shes ever had. She was curious how I felt when I baptized her son. I told her that it was one of the most amazing experiences I have had in my life. She said that she has seen the change in her son and that he has been such a blessing in the home. She wants José to be a missionary some day and bring the blessings to other people. She likes to read the Book of Mormon. She is just so busy and hard to find. She is the sister of our other investigator Hector. The two families are close. One problem we have though is that Josés Mom, Feliza. and Rosa are SCARED OF GOING UNDERWATER. That is one road block ahead of us right now with progressing towards the goal of baptism.....

On Saturday, we forgot that it was fast Sunday the next day. So we didnt start our fast until 10 o clock in the night Saturday. Normally we start at like 4 on Saturdays so we can eat Dinner on Sunday. Yesterday was the real struggle. We had investigators and members offering us food and juice and water, and we had to decline because of our fast. Fasting when it is that hot and humid out was so hard, but the purpose of my fast helped me to endure. BUT MAN I WAS THIRSTY. My testimony of fasting has grown tremendously in the mission, and I have seen the blessings that have came from it in abundance.

During testimony meeting yesterday, José bore this testimony. And that was one of the most powerful testimonies I have ever heard. For an 11 year old boy, he is incredible. His testimony of how the Gospel has changed his life and his testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ was a feeling so powerful. His testimony really motivated a lot of the member of our little branch. They were all so moved by it. I am so proud of him and his progress. He will be a missionary some day.

This weeks been hard. I really believe The Lord is testing me, he wants me to work harder. I believe that he really helped us with our baptisms earlier. But now I believe he wants us to work much much more for it. We are making the changes necessary to find success here. I will keep working. I love this work but it is so hard sometimes. I wish having the ability to do what I want to. But Its okay. I chose this and I love it and my testimony of my savior grows more and more each day with the work. I am seeing miracles big and small every day. My testimony of prayer has grown tremendously and the importance of searching the scriptures. We really need all the help we can In these last days.

Funny Things

I am becoming a Tucumáno with my Spanish, I am developing there kind of way of speaking spanish without even realizing it. It just kind of comes. Tucumános are very slang heavy in their Spanish, I dont say thaty because as missionaries we have to speak proper and formally, but I defintely got the Tucumáno accent down. An example of what a Tucumáno says (I DO NOT TALK LIKE THIS)

Normal Ha Visto (Have you seen) Tucumáno Habeatoh....It took me so long to understand them, I finally can.

Our Elders Quorum President, Patricio, is learning to become an English professor. But hes going to a school that learns England English. Its really funny to hear him talk and the words he says. Hes got a long way to go, we are helping him out. But picture a Latino trying to speak in a British accent, its hilarious.

Dani, one of our members, says a lot of English slang to me that he sees on the Internet. Since he has a Latino Accent and pronounces it as such its funny to hear. He says Whats up buddy to me but its like WASSUP BOODEE. I am teaching him the ways, but its really funny.

I really got to work on not being so sarcastic, oh well, VAMOS

Todo bien acá, Les Quiero. Nos Vemos.

Elder Batman

Fotos

Elder Clouds drawing for my Missionary Autograph Book.

BAUTISMO DE JOSE 

Batman Baptizes

Hey Guys, this week was pretty great.

Jose was baptized and it was awesome. I did the baptism and it was a great experience. Getting a baptism is like a spiritual high. Its great. Jose is excited to progress more in the Gospel. He loves to read the Book of Mormon and come to church. His Mom is interested in learning more after seeing the change in her.   He can become a Deacon in December 24. I am excited for him. I believe he will be a missionary some day.

I am reading right now El Libro de Mormón and Jesus The Christ by James Talmage. I am learning so much from both. Jesus The Christ is in English, it´s huge but I am learning so much about Christ and his ministry. I invite you to read it, I have learned so much about our Savior from it.

Hector, one of our investigators, is progressing well. Hector is a bit simple, he got in a motorcycle crash years back and suffers brain damage. His memory isnt good and hes a bit slow. He cant read well because of his sight. BUT HE IS THE MOST RECOGNIZING OF THE SPIRIT. He can´t learn by knowledge, he learns buy how he feels. The Gospel is changing him for the better. He would smoke 20 cigarettes a day and now hes only smoking 3 a day. PROGRESS. We taught about Eternal Families in Gospel Principles at Church. HE CAME TO CHURCH TOO, STUD. He loved the idea that he can be with his wife forever, but hes not married. (like everyone else in the freaking country) After hearing that he said he likes the idea of that and wants to get married and evenutally sealed in the temple.

I gave him a blessing the other day, my first one, to help him quit smoking. That is one of the most spiritual experiences Ive had. I was scared and nervous to mess up, but every word came to me without thought.

The next day he said he smoked, but he said in the middle of smoking he was like, Why am I smoking? And he ashed it. And said he didnt smoke the rest of the day. He says he doesnt feel like a desire to do it anymore. And that prayer has helped a lot. Ive never thought that in a million years this 50 year old man would ever progress in the Gospel. That testifies to me the importancia of the Restored Gospel, and how it can change ANYONE.

I am a sarcastic person, and people here think my sarcasm is hilarious or they take it seriously. (Latino Humor is dry and not very funny...) I have taught people sarcasm, in particular Eva Sanchez. She says sarcastic jokes now and its really funny. I have taught her well. I might have created a monster though...

Funny Things. 

The Elders of Famailla and us had a feast last monday. 1 and a half kilos of Chicken Milanesa and 3 kilos of Ice Cream. That was not a good decision...

A member wanted me to listen to a song that he had that was american. It was Juicy J. (Juicy J is an american rapper, for those who are over 30)  It was OG Kush, he played it after our lesson. It was really funny because I would never pictured that happening.

All is well here. Love you all

Elder Batman 

Las Cucarachas

​​Hey Guys,

 

This week was alright. We had a Zone Conference this week and Presidente y Hermana Chaparro taught a lot of how to use our time better, remembering our purpose, and recogonzing the Holy Spirit more. It helped a lot, I learned a lot and I have a lot to work on. But that's how it always is, no? Elder Cloud y mi showed a practice for the Zone. We did well and Presidente was impressed with my growth in the language of Castellano and that I teach 50 50 with my companion.

 

Jose is going to be baptized this following Saturday. He has said that he wants to be bautizada by Batman. I of course accepted. He is going to be mi primero bautismo that I do the ordinance. His Mom, was not about us teaching him at first. But now she listens to the lecciones and reads with us and she talks to us and she liked now that we are teaching him. She said "that my son has changed for better. He used to get in fights with the kids in the barrio all the time but now he's more calm and nice and he''s a lot kinder to me and everyone." This testifies to me how the Gospel of Jesus Christ really is a gospel of change and happiness. I think after the baptism of Jose she will take part in the lessons also.

 

I am working hard and the time gets faster and faster everyday.

 

Interesting Things:

 

I am starting to forget English a little bit. I probably have some typos in there that are not exactly correct in English, sorry. My spanish has gotten a lot better and I am very confident in it. It's a great blessing.

 

We sprayed Raid under our Kitchen Sink and There was I kid you not like 20 something cockroaches that came out. We have pictures. It was so gross. We got most of them and cleaned where they were hiding under the sink cabinet.

 

I taught Leonel to play American Football. He can actually throw a pretty good spiral. He plays rugby though so he understands the similarities of the game.

 

We got a less active teenager to come back to church with the help of the Savior, Fellowshipping, and Talking a lot about Halo 3.

 

​FOTOS:

 

1-2 The Massacre of Las Cucarachas

3. Elder Utai and Elder Cloud

4. Our Zone Leader, Elder Mendez, He finished his mission.

5. Elder Brundage and Elder Rich

6. My Scriptures

7. Noche De Hogar

 

Love you all,

 

Elder Batman

DON'T MESS WITH THE STRONG ONE

Hola Famila y amigos.

I got my first baptism this week!!!!! Leonel Sanchez. It was an amazing experience to witness. I am so happy and excited for him. His Mom sadly didnt get baptized this week but I am confident she will be in time. I can see Leonel being a missionary in a year. He is very funny and I consider him a great friend of mine.

We have these investigators, Rosa and Hector. Who are progressing very well. They said something great that testifies of the Holy Spirit. In translation she said " I am 50 years old I have talked to Catholics, Evangelists, and Jehovah's Witnesses all my life but talking with you guys I feel like I've known you all my life and the message you guys teach is oddly familiar with me.'' They are progressing and said they were going to try to quit smoking. But they didnt come to church........Grr.

Jose is progressing really fast. He should be baptized this next Saturday but his mom is hesistant and wants him to take more time before making this decision. Which is really understandable. We are going to talk to him tonight. Familia Sanchez has really been a great support to him also. We are thinking of maybe having Leonel baptize Jose.

I had Divisions with Elder Brundage, our district leader. Elder Brundage is very funny and we are very similar. We get along great and I learned a lot from him. He has helped me with my spanish and taught me some different things in teaching. We have the same humor its kind of odd haha.

We found this family who is friends with our Branch President. They are great, and want us to come back. They seem to have interest, I have confidence with them. We can use the Branch President as a member with us to help.

I played Soccer and Basketball last Monday with the Elders in Famailla and a lot of guys there who arent members. It was fun. Argentines are really good and aggresive at soccer but not good at basketball. I am not very good at basketball but I totally put in work against them. It was really funny. They play so different than Americans.

Funny Things:

Elder Brundage and I were contacting and a group of kids started Yelling WTF and were asking us what It meant. We told them to ask their english teacher. It was funny and caught us off guard.

A drunk guy was giving us a hard time in Barrio El Tejar (The rough part of our area) another Drunk guy came up got in Drunk Guy number 1s face and said HEY DONT MESS WITH THE STRONG ONE HIS NAME IS BATMAN. The roughest area in El Tejar, A lot of people know my last name. It's been helpful.

I love you guys, all is well here. You guys are on my mind all the time. Miss you.

Elder Batman

Persistence

 

EVA AND LEONEL SANCHEZ ARE GOING TO FINALLY BE BAPTIZED THIS NEXT SATURDAY. They have been investigating the church for 7 and a half months. They are in a part member family. Jose and Daniela Sanchez are members and are very active and strong. Eva and Leonel come to church every Sunday with them. Eva has known the church is true and enjoys reading the Book of Mormon and coming to church but has been afraid of change and taking the step to baptism. Leonel has slowly progressed and accepted a date to be baptized on the 15th of October a couple weeks ago. He was wanted to change the date back to a different day. We fasted for them to continue on this path and help them to find the answers they need in this gospel. During church Eva talked with our Branch President and us and she finally said she wanted to be baptized with her son on the 15th. I am so excited for them. I truly love their family. They are amazing.

 

That happened at the end of the week which were great blessings. But this week has been the hardest week so far. I have learned a lot about myself and my purpose as a missionary. I have a lot of Pride and I need to work on being more humble. I know through work and much faith in the Lord he will help me to become more humble. We had investigators drop us this week which has been disheartening but its okay. We have been tracting a lot and not had much success. We will keep working with persistence and see what we can always do better.

 

The work is hard but I am learning more and more.

 

 

Funny Things

 

We got a ride from one of our members, Dani, he started playing Tupac in the car and it was weird to hear rap music in the mission. It was hilarious and asked if he understood what was being said. He said no.

 

I got my butt grabbed twice this week by women. Im telling you the thirst of the snakes here are real.

 

We got called Amish?

 I messed up cutting my hair and had to fix it so my sides are really short. It is not mission appropriate. It will grow back. Leonel said I look like a gringo Cristiano Ronaldo......

 

I love you guys, I think about you guys all the time. I hope all is well with you all.

 

CIAO

 

Elder Batman

Conferencia General

This week has been the best so far. Our investigators are all progressing. We had 6 investigators come to a session in Conference. We had at least one at every session. They felt the spirit so strong and for some this is their first time coming to church. We have been focusing our attention on progressing our investigators, in weeks past we found a lot but our investigators werent progressing. Now they are making steps toward baptism.

 

I{ve taken Conference for granted all my life, I am spirtually edified. Conference was great, I was able to watch it in English for most of it. My favorite talk was about Sincere Prayer from Juan A Uceda of the 70. At times its easy to go through the motions in prayer. I loved it. Pray with sincerity always and with your heart, not your lips. His story on the Inca Trail was awesome.

 

I have come to realize the Importance of the Spirit in the life of a missionary. The spirit has helped us to find people who are ready to recieve our message, kept us out of harms way, and helped me to understand the needs of people. If we have faith the spirit will help us with what to say. I have never felt the spirit so much in my life until now.

 

I am more comfortable and confident with Castellano every day. Its amazing how the Lord truly blesses us with the ability to learn the language quickly.

 

We replaced a scrap metal roof...... with more scrap metal, For an Elderly Lady in our branch.

 It was interesting and tons of spiders and bugs all over it. I got some bites...Im living though.

It wasnt too hard but it was great to do service.

 

Funny and Interesting Things

 

Every Man in Our Branch Tried To Arm Wrestle Me. None were victorious.

 

We had a blackout last night. THUNDER STORMS ARE SO LOUD HERE. SOUNDS LIKE SHOTGUNS ON THE ROOF.

During the Blackout a guy went outside to sell flashlights. (smart guy)

 

Ive been told I have parasites probably in my body already. (Great)

 

I HAVE NEVER SWEAT SO MUCH IN MY LIFE, ITS SO HUMID. And its not even the worst of it.

 

Pictures

1 DANIELA SANCHEZ

2​​ POST CONFERENCE MEAL

3 THE ROOF BEFORE

4 THE ELDERS OF MONTEROS OLD AND NEW (Elder Gongora, Elder Bigler, Elder Cloud)

 

ALL IS WELL, MUCH LOVE

 

Elder Batman