Symbolic

Hey guys,

We had council of leaders this week in Salta. It was awesome President showed a lot of excitement for the temple that will be built in Salta but also said that we as leaders need to do a lot more to show our appreciation to the Lord for this wonderful blessing. Our mission can do a lot better and we are improving but President and the Lord expects a lot more of us. It was good to see some good friends and the spirit is so strong in those council meetings. We can really feel that President does love us and wants us to be our best.

This weeks been crazy arranging stuff for the conference we have tomorrow and stuff. Franco Cardozo, our recent convert, lost his brother this week. He asked if we could go to the viewing and funeral for his brother. It was my first funeral ever. Never had been to one. There was a lot of saddness in the family. A lot of people that were real distraught. Franco was sad but had peace because he understood the Plan of Salvation that God has for us. Eventhough we lose loved ones, we will see them again after this life. It´s all part of the plan. It was a somber feeling to be there.

This week was difficult in terms of numbers we couldn´t find hardly any new investigators and we couldn´t get anyone to church but there were plenty spiritual experiences to come by.

Sunday night we had a family home evening in the Chapel. We had a little activity planned. The sisters had prepared banana bread and we had everyone sit in a circle. Elder Utai went around the circle one by one to every person and asked if they wanted a piece of banana bread. The first accepted and Elder Utai said ´´Elder Batman, can you do 15 pushups for the piece of banana bread that he took.´´ And I crank out 15 pushups. And Elder Utai goes to the next and the next and I keep doing pushups. People are laughing at me and trying to look for ways to make it harder for me so I´d have to do more pushups. Then one person who saw that I was struggling thought to not take the piece of bread so maybe I wouldn´t have to do more pushups. Elder Utai looks at me on the ground and says: ´´Elder Batman, can you do 15 pushups for the piece of bread she didn´t take?´´ And everyone was confused why I still had to do the pushups. There were people who were still laughing and making fun of me struggling to do pushups. Some people were somber and quiet and started to tear up and started to notice what was going on.

 There were 16 people present in the circle. I had to do 240 pushups. By the 10th person I was struggling a lot to do them. I was shaking and gasping a ton. Some were still laughing when it got to the 15th person. Then Elder Utai decided to read a scripture.

´´As it says in the book of mormon:

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

As Elder Utai closed that scripture. There were few in that room who didn´t have tears in their eyes. This activity was designed to represent a small minute part of the Atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I, being the one doing the pushups for everyone who had taken the bread, which symbolized Christ paying for our sins for our salvation. And those who chose not to take of the bread, I still had to do the pushups because eventhough some choose not to follow Christ and be saved through him. He STILL PAYED FOR US.

On the last set when I was at 225 pushups. I was struggling a ton. To hear Elder Utai say read that scripture I started to think ´´ Christ had to suffer the most pain and suffering of all for each one of us and I can´t even do 240 measely pushups? I collapsed and I was so emotional. I started balling and thinking of the sacrifice that he did for us. It was a surreal experience and something I´ll never forget.

I know Christ suffered for ALL OF US. The least we can do to repay him is follow his path and obtain salvation through him. 

Thank you,

I love you guys.

Élder Batman

Rama Pizarro

San Ramón de La Nueva Oran, Salta

La Misión Argentina Salta

"You Know Martial Arts"

Hey guys, how´s it going?

Well another good week here in Oran. It just seems here like new investigators are just popping out of the woodwork. We knock and they invite us in. We have been really focusing on talking with everyone and being bold in our contacts. We are finding a lot through this way. Funny story: Elder Utai and I were walking through Barrio Caballito during mid day. (it´s like the sketchiest part of our area) And a man drunk and drugged out of his mind stops us and blammers on asking If we are from the USA and stuff and about Donald Trump and we say yes but we are missionaries and we are in a rush right now so take this card and have a nice day. And we keep walking and he screams back to us ´´CHICOS WAIT¨ and we come back to talk to him and he asks ´´DO YOU GUYS KNOW MARTIAL ARTS?´´ and I said yes because I boxed and wrestled and took Muay Thai for a bit and also if a strange man in a sketch barrio asks if you know martial arts I´m gonna say yes because he´s probably trying to rob..

So I said yes and then this guy over here says ´´ALRIGHT, I WANT BOTH OF YOU TO FIGHT ME ONE BY ONE RIGHT NOW´´ and we asked ´´Why?´´ and he said ´´YOU AMERICANS HAVE BEEN KILLING EVERYONE IN THE WORLD AND ITS TIME FOR ME TO PUT AN END TO IT.´´Elder Utai and I are pretty big guys and we did like our odds, but as missionaries and representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ we said with power (and in spanish of course) that ´´we are not here to fight or ´´kill´´ we are here to share a message of peace about or savior Jesus Christ and we will not fight you sir. Good day.´´ And we walked off. Weird experience. But yeah things happen.

We have been inviting every new investigator to be baptized on the first lesson and it´s crazy how many people are saying yes to us. We have a lot of people preparing in th coming weeks.

Aylen, Vanesa, And Abi are three girls that showed up to church last week invited by a member and Aylen has been attending seminary ever since. They are really prepared and have a lot of questions and are preparing to be baptized on the 28th of Abril! They attended church as well this week. BLESSINGS

Well we have to go to Salta today for a leadership council. The zone´s good. the district is good, life is good. And the mission is good. I. My comp is awesome and we get along and work well together. ALL IS WELL TODO BIEN

LOVE YA

Élder Batman

Rama Pizarro

San Ramón de La Nueva Oran, Salta

La Misión Argentina Salta 

ENFERMITOS

Well, this week has been interesting. Elder Utai is super awesome. We get along great. Super obedient, spiritual and a great bold leader. He is super funny and we have a lot in common. It´ll be a great transfer. I am learning a lot from him!

Well we got the flu this week. I had it for a couple of days then Elder Utai had for a couple of days. We only missed one afternoon of work because we were just dead exhausted. It´s been real hot lately. And having the flu in the heat like that was just too much. So we rested up and now we are better. Not 100 percent but better.

We´ve been focusing a lot on finding investigators. We have seen a lot of miracles in finding. We were able to find a good amount of investigators this week to which we know will progress and grow. 

Saturday night, we had already been fasting, and it was a really hot day. We were covered in sweat from riding our bikes so much in the blazing heat. We had so many appointments and they either cancelled on us or weren´t there when we got there. It was quite frustrating, but we kept moving and working. Elder Utai and I, noticed a man sitting on the corner of the street, smoking a cigarrette. We walked by and then we both felt the strong impression to go back and talk to him. We talked to him, and his Mom came by as well. His name was Gustavo and we started talking to us. He started telling us how his life has been the past few years and his Mom told us as well. (He was currently drugged up at the moment) We talked a bit and made an appointment to come back tomorrow when he was sober and more able to hear and comprehend our teachings. We taught a very powerful lesson to him and his mom about Faith in Christ and how he can help us break our addictions and problems in life. How he can help us to change and become better. I know these things to be true and testify that God loves us and sent his Son for us so that we may always have the way to change and become better as people and as disciples of Christ.

Also miracles, none of our investigators we had commited to come to church had come. BUT, a member had brought a long 3 people to church for the first time. They supposedly had been attending seminary and really like the church! We are going to visit them Thursday. The Lord really blesses us when we do our best and our keeping his commandments and rules.

I am loving the time I have as a missionary and want to take advantage the time I have.

I love this mission.

I love the Gospel.

I love Argentina.

And I love how the Lord is molding me into the man I need to be.

GRACIAS!​​

ELDER UTAI AND I NOW.

ELDER UTAI AND I AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MISH.

Élder Batman

Rama Pizarro

San Ramón de La Nueva Oran, Salta

La Misión Argentina Salta

Salta Is Getting A Temple!

Well, as many have heard watching General Conference. Salta, Argentina. My MISSION! Is getting a temple in the near future! It was such an amazing experience to hear our beloved Prophet, President Nelson announce Salta, Argentina as a new site for a temple. 

Our branch was ecstatic and gasped when President uttered the words that a temple would soon be built in their province. There was not many who didn´t have tears in their eyes of joy. They have sacrificed so much for so long having to travel really long distances to recieve the great blessings of the house of the Lord, the Holy Temple.  

It really motivates us even more to know that we are working to something even more greater. That we can help others to be baptized and partake of the saving wonderful ordinances of the Holy Temple that will be close by soon in the future.  What a blessing!

General Conference was really edifying for me and I know without any doubt in my heart that President Russell M. Nelson is a Prophet of God. The solemn assembly was really an amazing moment to be able to have sustained President Nelson as our Prophet, Seer, And Revelator. I know God reveals his words through the Prophets today as he has in the past.

The talks really spoke to me and helped me to find answers that I really needed and to keep going giving my all this last 3 months that I have left. I know I can, and will give more. I loved Elder Bednar talks about being meekness like our Savior.  

´´Meekness is an attribute developed through desire, the righteous exercise of moral agency, and striving always to retain a remission of our sins.” 

“Meekness is strong, not weak; active, not passive; courageous, not timid; restrained, not excessive; modest, not self-aggrandizing; and gracious, not brash,”  

“A meek person is not easily provoked, pretentious, or overbearing and readily acknowledges the accomplishments of others.” 

“Meekness is an essential aspect of the divine nature and can be received and developed in our lives because of and through the Savior’s Atonement,” 

“He will guide, protect and strengthen us as we walk in the meekness of His spirit.”

It really impacted me a ton. I must strive to become more meek. I have a lot to work on but I know through the Savior and his atonement and through willing change I can become more meek. 

I was able to baptize a little girl in Colonia Santa Rosa for the sisters due to lack of priesthood. It was awesome. I baptized her in a little plastic pool thing and it was a really spiritual experience.

Transfers are today and Elder Wilkes is shipping off to Salta. He has been my favorite companion to this point and one of my best friends. I learned a lot from him and we worked well together and had a great bond. I´ll miss the guy. We´ll definitely be in touch as he lives close to me in Utah.

I am stoked to have ELDER Wade Utai as my new companion! I have known him for awhile in the mission. He´s from Taylorsville, Utah! He´s Samoan and he´s bigger than me. We are good friends and have had a blast whenever we´ve been together in the mission and the Lord decided to put us together as companions! I will be his final companion!

New chapter, New transfer. And 3 months to make the most of the last 2 transfers I have left of the mission.

#4thQuarter

Love you all!

Élder Batman

Rama Pizarro

San Ramón de La Nueva Oran, Salta

La Misión Argentina Salta

The Extra Effort

T´was a good week.

WE WERE SO CLOSE TO MEETING OUR BAPTISMAL GOAL AS A ZONE AND WE WERE ONE SHORT! Two areas had some preTtty locked in baptisms that ended up not making it at the end. It was a little bit of a let down but collectively as a zone we worked hard and felt the blessings of the Lord. Next month we will work even harder to make our goal.

Well the sisters of Oran had planned a baptism for a family. They were progressing well. And then the day of their baptism. A huge storm happened. The streets flooded. And they decided not to go. We still had needed to do their baptismal interviews so we rode on bikes to their house with lightning flashes and rivers in the street. And we get there we do there interviews and we convince them that they need to be baptized that day. Well come to find out there wasn´t power in almost all of Oran and it would have been extremely dangerous to go to the church without lights and without power in the church. So we decided to do the baptism Sunday Morning instead right before church.

We get to church but the family never arrived. The sisters were calling and calling them and they kept saying how they were tired and that some didn`t want to get up and that they would just get baptized next week. Some were cooperating but the others were being difficult at the time. Their house was really far from the church and the baptism was going to start in 20 minutes. Elder Wilkes and I decided to bike 20 blocks to their house to get them up and motivate them to get to their baptism. My new bikes handlebars were not put on right when we recieved the bikes this week and the handlebars became so loose that I could not steer. I decided to use my own TIE and tie the handlebars to the bike so that it would at least stay straight. #Magiver

We get there and we talk to them for a bit and told them how the Lord wants them to be baptized now and that they will be eternally blessed. The whole family after some talking, got up and dressed and dashed of to church. The family of 3 got baptized. It was an awesome experience. We had to give a little extra effort to help that family be baptized. The advesary puts great detours sometimes for people right before they are about to do something great. We must be resilient in these detours and keep giving effort to move along and help others.

We did exchanges with the assistants. I got to be with Elder Carreras. Hes awesome and we got to find some new investigators together in my area. It was good to learn from him and recieve the advice he had for me. He says President is happy with what we are doing in Oran. That made me feel better about the work here.

Jorge, one of our investigators, said he prayed to find out if the church was true and felt an amazing confirmation of peace and comfort. It was awesome. We can all find out for ourselves if these things are true through faithful prayer and honest searching. He and his ''wife'' Noelia (I had explained a story about her) couldnt make it to church but they are progressing greatly and are preparing for marriage and baptism in April. Also Laura, our recent convert, has invited us to teach her mom Nancy. Nancy is very prepared and progressing greatly.

A lot of potential here in Oran! We are working hard!

Love you all.

FOTOS

ELDER WILKES

BAPTISM LAST WEEK OF THE CARDOZO FAMILY!

Élder Batman

Rama Pizarro

San Ramon de La Nueva Oran, Salta

La Misión Argentina Salta

The Godfather

Well, this week was awesome!

FRANCO and LAURA got married!  AND THEY GOT BAPTIZED WITH THEIR DAUGHTER MORENA!  They asked my companion and I to be the witnesses of the marriage. In Argentina, there is a tradition to call the witnesses of a marriage ``the Godparents.`` So I am the ``GODFATHER`` of Franco and Laura. (PADRINO in Spanish) Marriages in the US are so long. Literally the marriage service took like 10 minutes here.

They got married Friday and then Saturday they got baptized. I baptized Franco and Morena and Elder Wilkes baptized Laura. It was awesome. A lot of members showed up and supported them. They were glowing. They were so happy. It`s the first family That The Lord`s ever permitted me to help to baptize. I know that families are forever and that the step they took to be married and baptize will help their young family.

Laura`s Mom and Sister attended the sunday service for their confirmations. They loved it and want to keep attending and learning more. Franco and his wife our giving us a lot of referrals to teach other people. I know that they will be a strong united family in the church. The Cardozo family have a special place in my heart. They are so special. And I know that God loves them and has a great plan for them.

On top of planning the marriage and baptism and teaching all the lessons they lacked, nothing much more happened. But we have a lot progressing for April for baptism and we are excited to harvest.

Everything is good over here. No photos this week. Sorry. The cyber won`t let me. 🙁

Love you guys!

Élder Batman

Rama Pizarro

San Ramon de La Nueva Oran, Salta

La Misión Argentina Salta

#Miracles

Hey guys.

This week has been pretty crazy. We´ve seen the Lord´s hand working in our area this past week. It´s been such a blessing. Franco, Laura, and Morena are going to be baptized this Saturday! It´s been a heck of a ride with them. They will be getting married this week! #WeddingPlanner They had been progressing amazingly and have been so excited but they gave us a scare.

Friday, Franco called us and told us he needed to talk to us and told us that him and Laura were not going to get married anymore. Due to benefits they could recieve with housing and with schooling if they stayed unmarried and living together. (Freakin´ Argentina) They asked if they could be members of the church without being baptized. (because they love church but said they´d need to wait to be baptized) All of that in front of us I wasn´t sure what to say. I was on exchanges with one of the District Leaders of my Zone. We started to explain the importance of marriage and the law of chastity and obeying the commandments and how whenever we are about to do something big that will help us come closer to God (like baptism) The adversary always tries to throw in a stumbling block or a trap to detour us. We also talked about seeking first the kingdom of God. We were explaining all the reasons why they needed to. Then Franco pauses. And asks ´´Can we say another prayer? I´ll say it.¨ We of course let him do that. And he began to offer the most sincere prayer of giving thanks. He had been praying so earnestly to recieve a feeling of forgiveness for the grave mistakes he had made in the past. He had felt like he was unforgiveable. Than one day while he was taking a hot shower he was praying again, and felt a cold peaceful feeling. He said he cried and was just so happy. Franco said a thought came into his mind. He recieved a manifestation. The thought said ´´Keep my 7th commandment and you shall be blessed.´´It shook him to his core. He asked Laura, to look up the 7th commandment of the 10 commandments. But Laura got confused with the commandment thinking the 7th commandment was the 7th verse. So they thought it was ¨Don´t take the Lord´s name in vain.¨ Franco was so confused by it and then we explained that the 7th commandment was not the 7th verse but rather it was in Exodus 20:14 ´´Thou shalt not commit adultery.´´ (OR IN OTHER WORDS TO KEEP THE LAW OF CHASTITY). Laura began to cry when she figured out that , that was the what the Lord wanted of them. They only fault marriage and being united as a family. The Lord wanted to bless them. And they just had to be willing to take that step. We testified that God loved them and that he wants them to take that step of marriage and then take upon them the name of Christ in baptism. They prayed about it and knew that to be true. They are excited for their baptism this Saturday. I know that God is a God of miracles and works miracles around us everyday. I know that our Father in Heaven worked these miracles because of the Love he has for us as his children. What a blessing.

We also found a woman named Noelia this week who let us in. She is a member of an adventist church. We taught the restoration and really testified of it with power. She said at the end, ¨I know this is true.¨ We asked why she felt it was true. She said that the other day not long ago. She had a dream that the same man who baptized her in the adventist church came to her and said. ´´ Noelia. We´ve been wrong. This church is the real church.´´ And she said he held a blue book in his hand (the book of mormon) and that the he said ´´ELDER WILL COME.¨ She had let us in because of our name badge. And saw the Book of Mormon I was carrying. She heard the truthfulness of the message we had testified. She is preparing for baptism on the 7th of April.

I love being a missionary and love being in this work of great miracles. I know God lives and is among us. And that the grace of Christ is sufficient for all of us.

It´s been a great week. 

I love you all.

FOTOS:

When you´re area looks like Vietnam.

Welcome to the Jungle.

Élder Batman

Rama Pizarro

San Ramon de La Nueva Oran, Salta

La Misión Argentina Salta