Austral and a Big River

Greetings,

This week was an interesting week. We had another super decent
attendance in church this week. We had 81 people in Sacrament meeting
and 4 were investigators. Little by little right? Yup. They tell us
it is a lot better attendance than the last 2 months, probably because
vacation time is ending, but I like to think maybe we had a little to
do with it. Haha. This week they reorganized the elders quorum and
so now we have an active elders quorum president and they announed
that our 1st counselor in the branch presidency was now authorized to
do interviews and things and that hopefully we'll have a new president
sometime soon... haha. Interesting. Anyways, still getting used to
the area and we were able to find 10 new investigators last week, but
only 2 of them were really good, but unfortunately they called him
last minute to work sunday morning and so they didn't come, but they
should come next week. We just gotta start the snowball rolling here
and then we'll be rollin with it. Anyways, pretty sure I'm getting
fatter here cuz everyone just eats all the time cuz there isn't
anything else to do so they are constantly giving us food and there is
more money here (even though it doesn't look like it... haha).

OH! Epicness!! I almost forgot to put this!!!! Gosh... Last week
Elder Hunt and I passed by the beach to see it and we found a
penguin!!! Yup! Touched a little penguin!!!! Hahaha! Epic. Best
thing ever. I guess it is really rare to see them over here too.
Gosh. It was so funny. Yup. We had to touch it cuz he was just
snoozin and I think he enjoyed it and he stood up a couple times for
us too. We were so disappointed we didn't bring our cameras.
Anyways, I guess I should throw out that we are helping a lot of
people build their houses here. Funny. Well. Love you all! Keep
safe and read the Book of Mormon! Holler! (more pictures follow in
the forward from Elder Hunt)

Keninek

Hey everyone,

This week Nate asked me a bunch of questions that explain the area
better so I'm gonna put them here with my answers. Enjoy.

it was saying that it has a similar climate to Alaska?
I've never been to Alaska, but I would guess that it is pretty
similar. It hardly snows here in Rio Grande, and it is super windy in
summer... pretty cold... yup.

What in the world?
Hahahaha.

Do you have a car to get around the island or are you pretty much just
working in Rio Grande and getting around on foot?
We're just in one little part in Rio Grande. I hear you can look up
the street Keninek on Google, it's the street we live on and the
building that the church rents out for the church is also on it. It's
really different here because most of the members have cars, but we
basically just walk around on streets of little rocks all the time and
get blown around by the wind. Haha.

What's the inside of that house you are living in like?
Pretty decent. Unfortunately the plumbing sucks so we have to throw
our used toilet paper in a bag. Laaaame. We have two heaters and it
is hard to balance the temperature. Haha.

Any differences in the food in that area?
No, because hardly anyone was born here. They're all from the north
of Argentina, so they talk a little bit different than the people in
Capital, but that's because they talk different than everyone else,
and I am pretty used to hearing just about every accent.

By the way, how is your Spanish?
Good.
Feeling pretty fluent at this point?
Pretty much, at least in normal conversation. You start asking me
about car parts or something weird and I'm still learning those.
Every once in a while I don't have a word, but I can get around it
easily now.... yup.

Anyways, this week was pretty decent. We're still trying to get the
work rolling here. We received over 30 names from members of people
who we could share with, so hopefully this week we can start teaching
all these people. This week President Gulbrandsen came and we had
interviews and a little zone meeting (it's interesting because our
Zone and District are the same thing... 6 Elders. Haha.) It was
really good. Then I guess he went on Saturday and visited some
members and they really appreciated that. Then he came to our
sacrament meeting on Sunday and talked about the Sacrament and how we
need to keep going to church even if another member offends us (seems
to be a pretty big problem here...), it was really good and one of the
less active members that we helped to come was crying and he really
enjoyed it so it was really good. We also had an attendance of 77
which is pretty decent. Our goal is to get over 100 consistently and
then there will be a reason to build a church here, because right now
the church rents an old supermarket... haha. Anyways, President gave
us permission on Friday night to visit our inactive branch president
after 9 and we went and it was a really good talk and everything and
he committed to go on Sunday, but unfortunately he didn't go. In my
interview President first asked me who should be the new president and
then told me to start praying to know who should be the new
president.....!!! I was like... What??? Haha. But yeah, hopefully
everything gets settled soon. Also, we were looking through the
records and discovered there were 3 baptisms here last year. Haha.
So we are looking forward to getting the missionary work rollin here
again. A little over a year ago an Elder had over 20 baptisms and so
we know it is possible. A lot of the members have lost hope, but we
are trying to raise their faith so they can try to share with the
people they know again. Oh crap.... I think I'm gaining weight
here.... Hahaha..... lame. Oh well, what are ya gonna do. At least I
might start fitting in my clothes again. Haha. Anyways, things are
good and we're looking forward to making them better. Thanks for all
your support! I love you guys! Let me know if you have any
questions.

Tierra del Fuego

Hey everyone,

This week was insane. So I called all my converts and stuff on Monday
and said bye, and then at 1 the office elders called and said I
wouldn't be able to leave til wednesday because they had a problem
with my ticket. Anyways, it was weird still being in my area, but I
was thankful for being able to see and say bye in person to almost all
my converts. Then on Wednesday I had to wake up at 4 20 AM and rolled
out to the airport at 5. Then I flew to the middle of nowhere for 2
hours ish (Trelew in Chubut) and had to sit in an empty tiny airport
for over 9 hours. Then I was feeling sick and super thirsty. It was
horrible. Then I got down here(Ushuaia) in 2 hours and slept with
the Elders there. Then Thursday morning I left in a big beefy van to
Rio Grande (where I am now). It took like 3 hours to drive here.
Anyways, I arrived at the church for a meeting and left my bags just
inside the doors and everyone came out to greet me. It was pretty
crazy. Elder Hunt is a baller. Official. Then we went to our
apartment and saw all the notes the old elders left... Unfortunately
there aren't any maps of our area. A map doesn't exist. Hahahahaha.
Awesome. So anyways, we called a member and he drove us around to
members almost all day (something super weird for me because like 3
members in Buenos Aires had a car). And we went through the days with
members learning the area and we are doing pretty well with it now.
Unfortunately I was moderately sick, but I'm almost all the way back
to full health now. The members here are super helpful and nice.
People build their own makeshift houses, but the insides of the houses
are nice. A lot more technology here. Anyways, this week we are
excited to put the shoulder to the wheel and get the members working
hard so we can have success here in the coming weeks. They left us
with about 2 investigators so we are about starting from scratch, but
there was an Elder here a little over a year ago who had over 20
baptisms, so there is potential, we just have to get everyone working
together. Anyways, I don't have too much time left so I better just
leave it at this point until next week. I'm gonna attach a couple
pictures. The mountains are in Ushaia, Rio Grande is flat and
desertyish. The house is ours. Haha. Well, love all of you! Lend a
hand to someone this week! Haha. :)

Transfers... and the pictures from the baptism

Hola todos,

Well. The time has come. Haha. I'm still in Constitución.... Until
Wednesday. Hahaha. I got transferred to the south! Yup. Anyways,
they had problems with my flight so I don't leave til Wednesday. It
is going to be horrible. Wednesday morning I have to be at the
airport at 4 30. Yikes. Then I have like a 2 hour flight and an 8
HOUR LAYOVER. Yup. By myself. Gonna be psycho. Anyways, then I
have another 2 or 3 hour flight. Ave maria o como los mexicanos aye
caramba! Anyways. This is how I found out. So yesterday we went to
the farewell of the missionaries that were leaving in the mission
offices then we left and hopped on the train when we get a call from
the assistants. My comp answers and they ask him to pass the phone to
me. So he passes me the phone and the assistant says, Elder Trayner,
are you 100% obedient to the missionary handbook (this is all
translated)? I said yeah. He said, good, because the Lord has called
you to be senior companion in Austral, in the south. Your companion
will be Elder Hunt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hahahhaha!!!!
I couldn't believe it!!! My MTC comp, Elder Hunt, is going to be my
comp down there! So crazy. Love the guy. Anyways, he then explained
the area. He said the whole south of the mission has been dead
lately, especially Austral. So they whitewashed (took out both the
missionaries that were there) and are putting me and Elder Hunt in.
They said a year ago one of the other assistants baptized 10 weeks in
a row and the assistance in sacrament meeting was about 100-110. He
said nothing really happened since then and now they have an
assistance of about 50-60. So President wants us to get it back to
how it used to be. So it could be pretty rough at first, but I'm way
excited to work with Elder Hunt and it should be a good ward. Crazy
right??? Anyways, so I'm still here til Wednesday and tomorrow we'll
be a trio for a day. haha. Funny stuff.

Anyways, I'm really excited to work and to have another area and I'M
GOING TO THE SOUTH! Haha. Pretty crazy. Yup. Well, hopefully I can
get any packages that are here before I go... Haha. Well. Love you
guys! Talk to you next week from the cold and wind! Keep safe! The
gospel is true!

The Baptisms of Gaston and Nicole!!

Hello everyone,

Another fantastic week goes by here in Constituciòn, hopefully this
week isn`t the last because there are transfers next week. We'll see
what happens, everyone is telling me that I'm gonna leave. Haha.
Anyways, this week we had 2 baptisms, but I forgot my camera so
hopefully I remember next week. We had the baptism of Gaston Miranda
(the 9 year old stud who recently moved here) and the baptism of
Nicole Caimi (the 81 year old woman). Everything went really well and
we had good participation from the ward. We are hoping for the
baptism of at least the dad of Flia. Medrano, the others are being
frustrating and the dad ended up coming to our ward alone yesterday.
Annoying.... It's been getting harder to trust people when they say
they are going to do something. Anyways, that's the news here for
this week. Hopefully I don't get transferred next week, but we'll see
what happens.

Back at home I hear Bailey almost died!! That's horrible, but we
can't lie, the dog is a fighter. Thank goodness she should be ok.
Well... not much else this week. Let me know if there is anything you
want to know! Love you guys! Keep safe!!

The Baptism of Yarine Cordova

Hola todos,

Hey so I didn't remember if I ever sent the pictures from the baptism
of Herminia so I sent one of those too. Anyways, everything went well
with the baptism of Yarine (shah ree nay). She ended up asking me to
baptize and confirm her and it was a smaller service, but it was kind
of sad too because it was like the farewell for the bishop's family
who were good friends with all of us. Anyways, we are excited to work
with the new bishopric and they are all really dedicated and willing
to work hard, so we are really excited. They even called a ward
mission leader!!!! Hahaha. Epic. A young man named Gonzalo just
started his mission papers and he was just called on Sunday. We are
excited, especially me because I've never had one. Haha. The stake
is also really excited and just implemented a new plan. If the wards
cooperate and do what they ask, I think there will be a lot more
success this year. It's just kinda tough to get everyone to work
together and to commit. Oh well.

Anyways, this week we have 2 baptisms. Nicole Caimi, an 81 year old
lady who lived in the U.S. and Venezuela and has lots of interesting
stories, and Gaston Miranda, a 9 year old stud that recently moved
into the ward whose dad is pretty inactive (but he came to church
yesterday!!!). Love it.

Did I tell you guys about the girl that walked into the church last
Monday morning? Anyways... On pday last week we went to play bball in
the morning (which we never do) and it just so happened the a 18 year
old girl was just inside the door talking to a member of our ward and
saying how she had a mormon buddy in Mexico and how she was really
interested. Yup. Her name is Rosio and she came to church on
yesterday. We are excited to work with her and it's funny because she
lives right above Carla (who we baptized like 2 ish months ago that
lives in the building where we used to live??). Epic. Well. Until
next week. I love you guys!! Keep safe and sisters- you better catch
me next week! Haha.

Hola de Constitución

Hello everyone,

Elder Trayner here, writing from Buenos Aires. Hope everyone is doing
well, and from what I hear everyone is doing well. This week was
another good week here. This week we have a kind of interesting
baptism. Yarine Cordova is going to be baptized because somehow her
membership record got lost and there aren't witnesses. Then the
following week we have at least 2 more and we are hoping for 7. On
the 27th we have the baptisms of Nicole Caimi (a really old lady who
has had a really rough life, but feels really happy with the church),
Gaston Miranda (the 9 year old who just moved here a couple months
ago), and we are also working really hard so that the Medrano family
(with the 2 young twin girls) can get baptized. They just struggle to
understand and they don't trust in what they know they have felt. It
is kind of frustrating, but we are expecting them to be able to be
baptized the 29th as well. These are our baptismal prospects at this
point.

Ok. So my whole mission just changed yesterday... They released
Bishop Villalba!! He is leaving to live in his other house in Azeiza
(where the temple is here). Now we have Bishop Casariego who was the
counselor. So crazy. I can't believe him and his wife are leaving.
We are going to miss them a lot. Also, a returned missionary who did
an epic job as the young men's president, Fabian Cardozo is leaving.
Lame. But we are working hard with a lot of people and the Lord is
blessing us to meet people that are really prepared and also people
that are members that fell away a long time ago. We are trying to
bring them back, but as it explains in the Book of Mormon, once they
have had the light and rejected it once, it is really hard to bring
them back, but we are trying really hard, but we understand it is up
to them to make their own decision. It is really hard to see when
people realize what they are missing out on and how they don't have
the happiness that they need in their family and then they don't come
to church to be able to change their lives. So dumb. It happened
this week with a few people. We went to some former investigators and
they told us how they were even worse off now than they were before
and how they realized they needed to find the help of God, and how
they had seen how the Gospel and our church helps people change, but
none of them came. Also, we found a man the other week who has 8 kids
and he isn't happy and he told us he really wanted to go and he didn't
come. And the worst was the dad of Gaston Miranda (the 9 year old who
is gonna get baptized the 29th) didn't come. It is so frustrating
sometimes. I just want the people to just fulfill what they say and
finally change their lives, but in the end it is their choice. Lame.
But I understand we are doing a good job here and the ward really has
changed, and that makes me really happy. I hope that this year can be
a year even better and I know that the Lord called our new bishop and
it must be for some reason, so we are excited to get working with him
and the new bishopric now.

Anyways, I just want to invite you guys to change the things that you
know that you need to change right now. Don't put it off, because it
will never happen. That is something I have learned here. I have
also learned the importance of being true to your word. I am so happy
for the opportunity I have to be here in the mission and I really have
seen a lot of miracles that the Lord has performed here in the ward
and this area. It's tough when there are changes, but I know the Lord
is looking over us and He always has His hand in our lives, even when
we don't realize it. Anyways, I want you all to know that I know the
Book of Mormon is true, and that by reading the book, by pondering
what it says, and by praying to God we can all know it is true. I
know that Joseph Smith was a prophet chosen by the Lord to restore His
church on the earth. I am so greatful to know this church and to be a
part of it, and it really has changed my life. I hope we can all
recognize the influence of the Lord in our lives and see how much He
really does bless us. I love all of you guys and I want you to know
that each one of you has changed my life, and for the better. I have
learned something special from each one of you. I love you all.
Don't forget that it is us who leave the Lord, not the Lord who leaves
us. Keep safe and look forward to hearing from you all next week!