I’ve had a string of new companions this week. Last Thursday, Elder Arias arrived. He’s a service missionary who is about to complete his mission. He’s spent most of the previous 2 years living with his family in Jujuy. Until now, his service has consisted mostly of helping members with their family history, but he’s helping us as a teaching missionary until this upcoming Thursday, so he will have been with me for a week in total. The regular companion also changed. Elder Hughes left for a town in Northern Salta, and Elder Grow from Sandy, Utah, is my new companion here in downtown Salta. Our friend Lucio got baptized on Saturday! Almost 30 members […]
It’s Been a Minute
A lot has happened since I wrote last. Some highlights include: Despite the occasionally weird food, I’m having an awesome time here. I’ve grown so much closer to the Savior through serving the people of Argentina. I’m grateful for the time that I still have left to be able to help people grow closer to Jesus Christ. Elder Hansen
Getting the Ball Rolling
It finally feels like we’ve the back rolling here in La Loma. We have some awesome friends who are getting ready to get baptized in the next couple of weeks: Lucio, Exequiel, and Jesus. Jesus found the missionaries through a Facebook ad. Last weekend, he watched several sessions of General Conference and was super excited to meet with us. During our second lesson with him, he agreed to be baptized in a couple of weeks. Then he came to church yesterday and had an awesome experience worshipping with the members. The time is flying by, but I’m so grateful for the opportunity that I have to be serving the Lord here in Salta. Have a […]
General Conference and Pizza
Our area is kind of large (I think 2 miles by 2.5), and we spent most of the week running around to make it to supposedly confirmed visits that ultimately fell through. We had two baptisms lined up for this upcoming Saturday, but we haven’t been able to teach our friends enough, so we have to move them a bit further out. We were trying really hard to get people to watch conference this weekend, and we actually had a lot of success, which made me feel a lot better about our days in red. Most of our converts and 3– we need to confirm that– friends watched at least one session. We had a […]
Pumpkin Spice Curry
We found out this week that Elder Hughes and I will be together for the next 6 weeks. Neither of us are sad about it, at least to my knowledge… Elder Hughes has been having some problems with his feet, so we’ve spent a couple mornings inside to let his body rest. I found some curry seasoning, so I made some curry. Unfortunately, the only sauce we had was pumpkin based, so the whole curry had an underlying taste of pumpkin spice. It was still good though. We’re working hard to get some momentum in La Loma again and we’ve been finding a lot of interested people. We’re excited for the opportunity to use this […]
Back in Salta
t’s so crazy being back in Salta. I miss being able to hear donkeys from our apartment in Cafayate, but it is so nice being able to find things like frozen chicken breast. Our area hasn’t really been worked in since Elder Schaub got sick a month ago, so we’ve got a lot of work to do, but Elder Hughes and I are ready for it! Sorry for the short note again, but have a great week! Elder Hansen
Leaving Cafayate
This morning I left Cafayate. It was bittersweet, but I’m excited for the new opportunities that I’m going to have in my new area: La Loma, right next to my old area in downtown Salta. Sorry for the short note (short on time), but here are some photos from my last day in Cafayate yesterday. Elder Hansen
Hard Work and Gratification
When I first got to Cafayate, I was able to help Josue get baptized. Since then, Josue was ordained a priest and has helped us teach 2 of his nephews, Bruce and Uriel. This weekend, Josue was able to baptize both of them. Watching Josue’s joy was genuinely one of the most gratifying experiences that I’ve ever had. It means more to me than even my proudest accomplishments in the army or my other life endeavors. I read a quote from Elder Eyring recently that has become very meaningful for me. He states that the Lord’s work and glory aren’t to run an efficient organization. His work and glory are our progress. I have been […]
Time is Flying
These week came and went relatively uneventfully. Nothing super crazy happened, but some brief highlights include: – Despite pouring rain, Josue came with us to make visits all afternoon on Saturday. – Elder Espinoza and Elder Tarawa got food poisoning. Somehow Elder Kinghorn and I were fine, so we went out and visited people while they slept. – I made brownies for a game night we had on Friday. Everyone loved them! – We got to ordain Tiago as a priest. He’s hoping to be able to baptize his best friend soon. – We visited a member who works at a wine cellar and she gave us a tour. -Church this week
La Serenata a Cafayate
This week a huge folk music festival called The Serenade at Cafayate happened. Unfortunately, the park where the festival happens in about 2 blocks from our house. Needless to say, it has been a pretty loud weekend. A fun tradition with The Serenade is that everyone throws water balloons and buckets of water at people walking in the street throughout Cafayate. This led to some fun moments this week trying to keep our heads on a swivel and outrunning those trying to soak us. People were crammed into the houses of friends and relatives, tents put up in empty lots, or sleeping in their cars on the side of the road. In another series of […]