Dec 29th - Jan 4th 2015

Hello everyone!

I hope  you all had a very happy new years and have great ambitions for 2015! 2015 being the block year that I am in the mission field, Ive set a lot of goals to help me take advantage as my time as a missionary. 

This week was super super good! The big news of the week is that I got a new companion! I didnt change areas, I am still in Barranqueras, but I am now with Elder Mudrovich! He is from Chile. He has a year and a half in the mission field. He has been zone leader, district leader, trainer, everything. So I have a lot to learn from him! He is really great missionary. The lessions that we have had with investigators so far have been really good. He is very intune with the spirit and makes everyone lesson we have a very spiritual experience. He also has tons of advice for me always to help me improve. But most of all, he is a super fun loving missionary that loves to joke around and we have a really good time. Since this is a new area for him, and ive been here for awhile, all the responsibility fell on me this week to make the plans for everyday and to take iniciative and control in the leccions. It has been a slightly stressful week but I have grown A TON here in this first little week! I know that these transfers were inspired from God.. Im learning a lot more now that I have the opporunity to have an equal part in making the plans for the day and talking in the lessons. I am super excited for this time I will have with Elder Mudrovich!

This week we had two investigators come to church! First, we had a lady named Lidia come  that we have been teaching this past week. She is about 60-70 and lives with her family. This past sunday being testimony meeting in the sacrament meeting, she surprised us all when she got right on up to the pulpit and bore her testimony that she knows that God directed Elder Mudrovich and I to her house to teach her and invite her to the church, as if we were angels! haha. It was so happy to hear her say that! And we also had another lady that came to church by way of invitation of Irene.. She came all by herself because she felt very prompted by God to go! HOW COOL?! Just like Enrique! We are so blessed to have people in this area that just show up to church by themselves! We had a lesson (I cant remember how to spell lesson, is that right?) with her later that day.They both have a baptismal date for the 24th of January.

For new years Eve I was sitting in a bus terminal from 10 in the morning to 10 at night waiting for Elder Mudrovich to arrive. He ended up never arriving that night, so I had to go sleep in the apartment of some Elders nearby. It was actually really fun, we made popcorn chicken and watched the restoration video. Argentina goes crazy for fireworks on new years, never in my life have I heard more fireworks go off at midnigt. 

Well, thats about all for this week! I am excited for the challenges and the growth ahead! I hope you all have a great week, thank you so much for your emails!

Love, Elder Miles

More December Pics

​The first photo is us with Carlos and Enrique (and Irenes grandson). It is my favorite picture ever. After that is Elder Nava and I at the ward party with all the really good food, and then a picture of our zone. 

December Pics

Here is Carlos and Irene at their baptisms! In the second picture, Irene is the grandma in the wheelchair, and in the back is our ward mission leader and his wife, and Irenes grandkid that hugged me and wouldnt let go the entire day.

Dec 29, 2014

Hola hola!-

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas! I had a really good week myself. Last P-day after I wrote my emails, we had a zone christmas party. It was way fun, we had super good food and played games. And then of course on Christmas day skyping the family was amazing, that made my whole christmas for me. Other than that on christmas we just played Uno and Jenga in our apartment and some members brought us some really good food! 

On friday we had the baptisms of Carlos AND Irene!! WOOOO!!! It was an amazing day. Irene decided that she would rather just be baptized the sooner the better so we baptized them both on friday. I bapitzed Carlos, and Elder Nava baptized Irene. It was a super spiritual experience for me and it was really nice to see the result of all our hard work... I am especially happy for Carlos because I know that this is going to change his life and he is going to find true purpose and happiness. He is super dedicated and has such a strong testimony. After the baptism we had a ward year end party where the whole ward came to the church and we ate empenadas.. the best food in Argentina. Carlos, Enrique, Elder Nava and I sat together and we talked amongst ourselves the whole time, Enrique and Carlos became best friends. The four of us will be super good friends for life. In that moment I really realized how far I have come and all the good that has come about from so much trials and tribulation.. but it is all definitely worth it. It was probably one of the most happiest days of my life!

Other than that we werent able to work a ton this week because we had to return to the apartment early every night for safety reasons, but I think I had the best week of the mission so far. Elder Nava and I are super amigos, I am super happy we have been able to become such good friends. 

Transfers are this week, Im going to find out whats going to happen on tuesday and then on wednesday we all change! I am super happy to face the trials that will surely come.. I have learned to love the hardships because there is something I always will learn. 

I am going to try to attach a lot of pictures in an email and send them off! I hope you guys all have a great week and a happy new year.. 2015 is the year that I will be in the mission field for then entire year, I am stoked for 2015! I hope you guys all have a good week! 

Love,  Elder Miles

Dec 15 - 21, 2014

Hola todos! 

Feliz Navidad!

I hope you all will have a super merry christmas! For my immediate family, I will skype you guys on Christmas day around4:00-4:30 Argentina time. I cant remember what the difference is, but ask Matt, he knows. I am super super excited to be able to you guys!

To answer many of your questions, unfortunately Christmas isnt really a thing here. First of all, the majority of familys dont have money for gifts and stuff, so most families just get together and have dinner or something. But its nothing like Christmas in the states! And also, there is a thing here called saceos, which is where a bunch of people get together and raid stores and steal everything in the stores, and a lot of peoples houses get robbed too. So people avoid buying things because its just hectic! If you have seen Hot Rod, its basically what happens in that movie. So yep, merry christmas. BUT, as missionaries, everyday of this coming week we get to return to the apartment two hours early, for safety reasons. So that will be really nice to have to extra hours of rest. On Christmas day, Elder Nava and I might go visit a few lonely people in our area that dont have any family, but theres pretty much it! But we have been listening to a lot of Christmas music so I have a lot of christmas spirit on the inside. 

HEY, im 19! Quick, which Taylor Swift song sings about being 19 that I can sing to myself? Today is super mega P-day birthday, because today was P-day as usual, and after P-day ends today at 6 we have a missionary christmas party. So its like a super long fun P-day. Elder Batt and Pena bought me two super good alfajores for my birthday, I almost cried. 

Carlos is getting baptized this Friday!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOO! I am so super excited!!!! We are super amigos. He is 19 years old, a really cool guy. After his baptism he is going to move to southern Argentina where the rest of his family lives. He has a super strong testimony of the book of mormn and he even said that after a little while of being a member of the church, he wants to serve a mission someday. So he is another golden investigator like Enrique that we have been blessed with. We also have Irene that came to church this sunday, and she committed to being baptized on the 3rd of january. She is the grandma that had her grandson run away last week. She really really likes the church even though she doesnt really understand the book of mormon or Joseph Smith. But she is really nice and funny and will be a super good member of the church. 

This week it rained every day of the week but it was a really nice break from the heat we have been having. I am going to attach a photo of us in our rainboots and jackets. This week we just knocked a lot of doors, found a lot of new investigators, and we are preparing Carlos and Irene for their baptisms.  Elder Nava and I are really good close friends now and life is a lot more happy. Transfers are next week, im super excited to see what happens. 

Thats about it for me this week, I hope you guys all have a super good Christmas! If you havent watched the church sponsered short Christmas video He is the Gift, I highly recommend it. I have cried two times watching it, which is very unlikely of me. I just want to say that I know that Jesus is the Christ, that he suffered for each one of us intimately, that through Him we can find peace and happiness in this life if we let Him in. I know that sometimes its hard to see that having a relationship with Jesus Christ is going to make you more happy, but I promise it always will. I recommend to everyone this Christmas to take a little bit of time to think about the Savior, to read the scriptures about his atonement. I promise that there is hope for better tomorrows and a better world if we understand the Atonement and we are doing the things the Savior has asked us to do. I am super grateful for everyone of you that have played a role in my life to help me be where I am today. I wish you all the best of Christmas from here in Argentina!

Mucho amor,

Elder Miles