First Christmas in Argentina

The Molina family on Christmas eve. 

This week I got to experience an Argentine Christmas. The first thing that was different was that here in Argentina, and in most of Spanish-speaking america, Christmas is celebrated the night of the 24th. On Thursday the whole mission had permission to stay out until 12:30 at night, for a missionary that´s pretty late. My comp and I celebrated Christmas in the house of the Molina family eating roast beef sandwiches, fruit salad and at midnight we make a toast with apple cider. Also something that´s different about Christmas here is that everyone throws fireworks at midnight. It reminded me a little bit of the fourth of July. 
And the best part of the holiday season as you´ll see in one of my pictures is that it comes in the middle of the summer and, I am melting in the heat. Yesterday it reached 100 degrees and this whole week we´re expected to have temperatures in the 90s.

Me melting in the heat after church on Sunday

Something that I learned this week was that we can take advantage of every moment to preach the gospel. This week had several big events:  Christmas, the Christmas call to the family, and transfers, (I stayed in the same area) but Elder Gomez and I gave our best to be able to find new investigators and find people to help out during the month of January. We didn't see all of these other things that we had the opportunity to do as an excuse to not do our work, but instead as things that would give us the energy and spirit to continue working. 

Happy new year! 

Elder Lulich 

A box of goodies that the relief society sisters gave us for Christmas.

Teaching with the Youth

This week, due to a weird series of events I got to spend three days in my area with one of the teenagers from the branch as my companion. His name is Agustin Salinas and he is 16 years old. It was a great experience being able to show one of the youth what missionary life was like. Luckily Agustin was super willing to learn and try out new things. I learned a ton. It was especially inspiring to hear when Agustin testified in the lessons and, without fear, shared what he felt and knew. I look at this experience as an answer to a prayer and an opportunity that the Lord gave me to reflect on my labors as a missionary. 

Agustin and I in the branch´s Christmas dinner with Gabriel.

On Saturday I had another opportunity to work with youth. The stake had an activity where the youth spent a day with the missionaries. This time I was with Elder Gomez again and we were accompanied by a kid named Ezequiel. My favorite part of the day was after the activity when all the youth got together and shared their testimonies of missionary work. It really inspired me to see how they viewed missionary work as such an important thing. Sometimes I take for granted  the fact that I´m a missionary and I forget about the magnitude of what I do. The testimonies of the youth after the day that they spent with us really helped me remember that it is a giant blessing to be a missionary and work side by side with the Lord.1

I thank God for the great gift He has given me to carry the Gospel of His Son to His children. 

Merry Christmas! Que tengan una linda Navidad, y que puedan recibir el regalo de Jesucristo más plenamente en sus vidas.  

Elder Lulich

Here´s a picture of a special lunch that we had today with the zone. A sister (the one in the middle) from Canada, who is originally from Argentina, holds a lunch every year during Christmastime. She was so sweet and just loved to serve. 

The sister made apple pie for us. It was a delicious little piece of home. 

When people say," this is the smallest violin in the world and it´s playing just for you" they are talking about this violin.

Christmastime is here!

Sorry I´m writing a day late. Yesterday we celebrated Christmas with the entire mission. There was a training from Presidente Alliaud and the assistants, a big barbecue (asado), a talent show, and after it all we spent the whole afternoon playing soccer. It was great to see all of the missionaries together and all of my ex-companions.  

Here´s the giant asado that the mission made for all of us. Mmmm... 

This week we arrived at a sister´s house and she told us that she had been waiting for us. Her husband (who isn't  a member of the church) had suffered a stroke a few days before, and after being in the hospital for a day or two had recovered enough to be able to return home. The sister asked us if we could give him a priesthood blessing. We said yes. Then she asked her husband if he would like a blessing and he accepted. It surprised me a little bit that he accepted because I was remembering the first time that we ever passed by his house and said hi to him. We greeted him saying, "Good morning Brother, how are you?" and he responded, "I`m not your brother." But this time when we came by he was willing to receive a blessing.

After the blessing the Husband asked if we could read him something from the bible. We read him James 1:1-4 and had a nice conversation about faith and patience. It was amazing to see how all of a sudden this man who didn't even want to greet us was listening to us and saying how God was a "God of miracles". It really was a testimony to me that the Lord touches the lives of people and gives them the opportunity to accept Him. May we realize it when these opportunities come and take advantage of them.

Have a great week,

Elder Lulich 

MATE

   

Happiness Should Depend on One Thing

I always love the fast and testimony meetings that I hear as a missionary. Church members always go to general conference with a question in mind to be able to receive revelation. I believe that the same thing can be done every Sunday at church, especially on the Sunday of testimonies because it´s an opportunity to hear inspired words from every member of the congregation. This Sunday my spirits weren't so high because one of the people that we are preparing for baptism didn't show up. So I was sitting there in the church pew contemplating my "unprofitable-ness" as a servant of God (Mosiah 2) and feeling bad about myself when the testimony meeting started.

Listening to one of the testimonies I got a good reply from God. One of the members told a story about a girl who spent a weekend with her great aunt. The girl noticed that her aunt was happy despite not having many things that generally make people happy ( a husband, kids, a big house). After asking the aunt told her that her happiness came from living the gospel of Christ. 

That story helped me get a little bit more realigned. I know that I am an unprofitable servant, and I´m always going to be. I know that I need to improve some things to be a better missionary. But what I remembered then was that I should be happy because of the opportunity that I have to work in the gospel of Jesus Christ, not just for the result that I (with a bold, capital I) wanted to see. 

Have  good week and remember two things. True happiness comes from living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Don´t limit your happiness. 

Elder Lulich

This is a chapel in Cordoba called the"Capuchina"

Asking for Help

 What I learned this week is the importance of asking for help, and I had to learn it the hard way. On Saturday afternoon we had the baptism of Lorena. Saturday morning we were running around doing all the last minute preparations for later that day. The first thing we did was go to the chapel, clean out the baptismal font, and start filling it up. A baptismal font takes about 3.5 hours to fill up if you want warm water. When we opened up the faucet just a little stream of water was coming out so we figured that we would be fine to leave the water flowing while we did the other things we needed to do to get ready. So we left the chapel and focused on making sure that everybody came to the baptism that needed too. 

We got back to the chapel at 3:30 with Lorena. There were a few members waiting outside because we had the keys. As we walked in I told a member,"Let´s hope that the font hasn't overflown." And she called back to my companion who hadn't heard jokingly,"Elder the font overflowed!"

Our ward mission leader Hermano Arévalo

Then we walked around the corner and saw the water creeping down the hallway... The good news is that the chapels in Argentina don´t have carpeted flooring, all tile. The bad news was that we had to clean it up and it was our fault for leaving the font with the water running. Although it was a big mistake that we made, cleaning up the water also was a blessing in a way, because it was kind of funny to think about what happened and it helped me get out the stress that I had built up that morning. While we were drying the floor, a member told me, "you should have asked for our help. We could have stayed and watched the font." 

A lot of times I feel bad asking for help I think that I´m bothering others or that it would just be easier doing it on my own, but the truth is that asking for help takes maturity and wisdom. I also didn't realize it but other people are actually willing to help me, all it takes is the faith to ask. God put us all here together for a reason, we can be saved on our own, we will always need the help of others.  

After all the members helped get rid of the water we all sat down to watch the baptism. Everything turned out well and the spirit that always accompanies saving ordinances was felt once more. 

Have a great week and learn from your mistakes!
Elder Lulich  

       

Here´s a picture of what we did last p-day. we made something called bombas de papas (potato bombs) they are breaded and fried balls of mashed potatoes stuffed with ham and cheese. mmm. it a super easy recipe that I´m sure that mom could find online if you guys want to try it. 

 This week I found m&ms in a grocery store. They cost quite a bit, but it was cool to see American candy.

Preparing for Christmas and Attending the Temple

They haven´t decorated yet for Christmas here in Argentina. And I haven't really seen any Christmas-themed things in stores yet. It's a little weird to have a warm holiday season. The tradition here in Argentina for Christmas is to stay up until midnight on the 24th and open all the presents then. I've heard that they set off fireworks too. I think that we are going to have permission to stay up until midnight on Christmas, but I'm not exactly sure. On the 14th of December we're going to get together as all of the missionaries in Cordoba and have a talent show and conference that's going to be a lot of fun. 

This week I went to the temple for the first time here in Argentina. I listened to the session in Spanish and it was great because I understood everything. Since the temple is still new there are about 4 senior missionaries from the united states and the parents of a sister missionary were in the session too, so I also got to hear quite a bit of English there too. But the language spoken doesn't really matter (as long as I understand it) because the spirit is exactly the same. Going to the temple really helped me see, once again, the bigger picture of what this work is really about, and how I can fill my role as a messenger of God.
Thank you for all the support that you give me. It´s good to see that you´re all having fun. I love you all.

Tyler       

Just enjoying a nice pebete (sandwich).

Fruits of our Labors

This week was fantastic. This Sunday we had the highest attendance of my whole time here in Parque Liceo. Some people who I had never seen in the chapel on a Sunday morning showed up to Church. And Elder Gomez and I had a new investigator there as well who is preparing for baptism. Her name is Lorena. It was a great feeling to see them all.
Recently we've been doing weekly Family Home Evening activities in the chapel and each week they just get better. This week a sister who is returning to activity came to the activity and brought a lot of her family with her. We had a great time there in the church talking about service and having an activity based on the story of the Good Samaritan. There was special spirit there in the chapel that night. When I left I felt that the activity had been a success. And that feeling was proven to be true when the people who went on Wednesday showed up at church Sunday morning. 

I know that Lord can bless us to see the fruits of our labors when we do our part. These "fruits" are a gracious gift from Heaven. As a missionary I know that the success that I see (when I am blessed to see it) is not mine to claim. Seeing people progressing in the gospel is a success as much for me as it for the people making changes in there lives. Overall it is a success for God and His work of blessing and saving His children. 

I hope you all have great week. And may you have the chance to see the hand of God in your lives.

Never a Regular Day

This week was the last week of the transfer here in Parque Liceo. Elder Gomez and I will be staying for six more weeks here together. This week was pretty great. One lesson that I got to relearn this week is that everyone deserves to hear the gospel and we can´t judge who will listen just by looking at them or the situation that they are in. This week I had the chance to preach the gospel on a muddy road in the rain to people living in cement block houses, contact a man and get invited into his house to look at the paintings his wife had made before passing away, give some words of comfort to a man drinking wine who wanted to know why so many terrible things happened in the world, and talk about the first vision with some kids who came up to us wanting to hear the mickey mouse impression of my companion. There is never a regular day in the mission field and I love it. This week, after talking to that man who was drinking, I commented to my companion how awesome it is to be a missionary and be recognized as a messenger of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I know that everyone needs the gospel of Jesus Christ. And how do I know that they need it? Because they live in the world. The twisted and unforgiving and dark and uncertain world that we live in needs to anchor itself to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the only true constant that we have.

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matthew 7:7)

Elder Lulich   

I came out a little crazy in this picture, but these are the sons of Mabel Robles, one of the members in our ward. Their names are Andres and Lucas.

Like a Big, Sweaty Blanket

It´s been raining here, and the heat of spring has started. This morning when we left to do our shopping the humidity was like a big sweaty blanket in the air...mmm. 

Something that the mission president has said is that faith is a Heavenly gift and requires sacrifice. When we make a sacrifice and go beyond what we would naturally do we we exercise our faith and there by increase it. President explained this to us with the story in Luke 17:5-10. Our president is a pretty inspired man. He has a special way of explaining the gospel. It´s even better being able to listen to him now that I understand everything he says. ha ha.  A favorite scripture of this week is Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

If there´s one testimony that I can give of the mission it´s that I am able to see how the hand of the lord can take something weak and inapt and turn it into something capable of great things. I know that when we forget our own pride and work to fulfill the will of the Lord he will help us do whatever he sees fit. He doesn't want us to remain the same as always, in His mercy He gives us each day as an opportunity to improve. A lot of times I think to myself, "Am I taking advantage of this opportunity?" Thinking about how desirous the Lord is to help me improve and how unappreciative that I must seem when I don´t put in my part really helps me always try to do my best. The mission is the best place because it gives me the structure to really recognize what I can do better and the chance to change. 

I hope you all have a great week

Elder Lulich   

Martin's Testimony

Something really cool that happened yesterday was that the new convert Martin shared his testimony in church. We had told him before sacrament meeting that he was free to go up and share what he felt, but I thought that he would be to scared to do it. I was really happy when I saw him stand up and walk to the pulpit to share his testimony. He shared with us the story of his conversion. How, after quite a while receiving the missionaries in his house, he finally decided to read and pray. He shared how the night that he prayed he had a beautiful dream and woke up with a special peace. That was all the answer he needed to know that the church is true. His testimony was very special and very spiritual because it came directly from his heart. And that´s what a testimony should be.

Here´s a picture, ask Kylie to translate it for you. In the house of a member I saw that they had a little thought bubble that said this so I had to take a picture with it.

Why Not? ¿Por qué no?

This week we got the chance to go to two missionary conferences one of them on Wednesday with the mission president and the other on Saturday with the general authority Elder Walter F. Gonzalez. I have to say that after this conference I have an even stronger certainty that the Lord directs his work and he wants all of his children to be able to know him and know their place in the world. 

Me and my trainer Elder Sparks. I was able to see him again in the conference on Wednesday. He´ll be going home next transfer.

In the conference with Elder Gonzalez we talked a lot about how we can increase our faith as missionaries to be able to bring about the Lord´s plans. One thing that I've been thinking a lot about since Saturday is a question that the Elder asked: "why not?" It´s a pretty simple question and there are a lot of ways that it can be answered, but what I've been thinking most about is, "if the Lord has great plans for his children here then WHY would they NOT be fulfilled?" 

This isn't a complaint, great things are happening here in Parque Liceo, I see miracles every day of people who are learning more about their Father in heaven. I can see that the hand of God is in this work. This question is more of a motivation for me. It helps me think about the things that I am doing that keep the plans of God from coming to pass. How can I deliver this message better? How am I getting in the way of the investigator? How useful am I as an instrument of the Lord? 

The question "why not?" can be applied to all of us. We all need to ask "why not?", set goals that will stretch us, look for ways to improve, and exercise our faith in the Lord by doing everything possible to achieve the impossible. I know that the Lord has the power to make us better people. I know that as we try to see things the Savior sees them we´ll start doing the things that he does and we´ll end up being as he is.  

A New Start

This week Martín got baptized. We had the baptismal service on Saturday and it was really nice because a lot of the members came to watch and support Martín. I got the opportunity to baptize Martin. The original plan was that an elder who had served here before and taught Martin would come and perform the baptism. But on Saturday, about one hour before the baptism, he called and said that he wasn´t going to be able to make it. Martín said something that I really liked, he said, "there´s nothing stopping me now from being baptized. It doesn´t matter if Elder Souza baptizes me, whats important is getting baptized." He had it completely right. What´s important is being baptized and doing it for the right reason. Martin has told us in earlier lessons that he wanted to be baptized to show God that he really has made a change in his life. That´s what baptism is all about. It´s a new start. It´s a promise between us and God that we are willing to give up our worldly and sinful life and live a spiritual one instead. We promise that we will follow the commandments and teachings of his son Jesus Christ and he promises us that he´ll be with us in the path, guiding us through the power of his Holy Spirit. I know that everyone can benefit from this promise with God, being baptized in his manner. I know that the spiritual life that God offers us is really the only life worth living. 

I am so grateful for the opportunity to help people get to know their place in the plan of God. I wouldn´t trade this time for anything else.

Have a great week. 

Elder Lulich

Happy Mother's Day!

Yesterday was mothers day here in Argentina. I think that this is the only country that celebrates mothers day in October. In the sacrament meeting one of the speakers spoke about albedrio (agency) and explained how Mothers help their children use their agency correctly by showing them the path to take. We saw the proof of this in the afternoon when we met with a sister who is in the process of reactivation. She had been inactive for about 15 years and during that time her kids followed her and became inactive. Now she has put the goal of coming back to church and one of her daughters is following her example and now is planning to get married and bring her young family into the gospel. The Mom told us that she feels bad for having become inactive for so long, but her example shows me that God is always going to do everything possible to bring his children back to him.
I hope you guys are doing well and thanks Mom for being my guide!

Tyler 

A Crazy Transfer

P-day at the creek.

Sorry I haven´t written for the past two weeks. Let me tell you what happened. The first time was my fault, I just didn't have time to write ( I technically shouldn't be writing now, but I think that if I went three weeks without writing a letter some people would begin to worry a little more than normal). But last week was just about the most crazy p-day of my mission. I got transferred to a new area after only three months in Villa Dolores. I was pretty sad to be leaving. I got sent to the city of Cordoba again to a place called Parque Liceo. There were sister missionaries here before, but they had some security problems so they took them out and sent me and my new companion Elder Gomez here to blank the area. So on Monday the sister missionaries gave us the address of the apartment and sent us on our way. When we got to the pension the first thing that happened was that the taxi driver told us to be careful. He said, "take care chicos, here they´ll rob you in your own doorway." So that gave us a great first impression. Then when walked up to the door of the apartment we saw that it was completely destroyed. We entered and there was literally nothing inside, no beds, no stove, nothing. The cellphone that the sisters had left us couldn't make calls so we went to a place where you can make phone calls and called the secretary of the mission telling him about our situation. He was aware and he came by with the mission car and took us and our luggage to the mission home. He told us that people had entered in the apartment several times and that we were going to live with the office elders until they closed the contract for a new apartment. We ended up living in the apartment of the office elders until Wednesday. So Monday I didn't really have any time to write. 

Me on the roof of the office elders pension with the temple in the background

Now we are in a great pension in another part of town. I've gotten to know the area pretty well in the past week. It's actually really nice despite the bad first impression that we had. The members here are great and glad to have us. We have big shoes to fill here, the sisters baptized 4 people in the three months that they were here, after 2 years of no one being baptized. We have a baptism for this Saturday of the dad of one of the young women in the branch. His name is Martin and is so ready to be baptized and make this big change in his life. I´m really excited for him.

My new comp is Elder Gomez, he is from Honduras. He has a gift of taking with everybody. In the week that I've been with him I've learned so much from his example about how to be "cool" with people and testifying at the same time.

This is going to be a great transfer.

Have a great week!

Finding Through New Members

We've just started to work with a friend of two girls, Micaela and Candela that recently got baptized. This boy's name is Rodrigo and we are trying to get him to go to seminary with the girls. That´s how the girls ended up getting baptized, they started going to seminary and they ended up loving it. We are hoping that the same thing happens with Rodrigo. Seminary here is held in the afternoon after school three days a week. 

I still haven't gotten the things that you guys sent me. But that's because I only get the chance to see my mail one time each month, during the zone meetings. This next week we have a zone meeting and I'm hoping that the zone leaders bring the package. ¡Fingers crossed! 

It's good to hear that Zach and Emry are getting put to work. How did you guys teach me to love to dig? That´s something that I miss sometimes, being able to go out and take out a stump, or cut wood, or pull ivy.

Love you guys,

Tyler

One of the families that we eat with every week. Along with Hermana Medina and  Hermana Oviedo.

 The mountain where we went for p-day today. 

Rocking the World

This week I experienced my first earthquake. You all may have heard that there was an earthquake in Chile. Well it was strong enough to make the floor sway a little bit here in Argentina too. It was a little frightening but it was over in about three minutes so there was nothing to worry about. 

This Saturday we also had interviews and a little training from president Alliaud. I was feeling a little frustrated with the work here in my area. We've been finding a bunch of people to teach, but then they seem to disappear between the first contact and the first visit. It was making me feel pretty ineffective as a missionary. But I always love the training's that we get from president because he helps me change my perspective to see that this work is very gratifying. I realized as we were travelling back to our area that in this life we should be grateful for the chance to feel the heartache that comes after having done everything possible and still have things not turn out as planned. In these situations we are proving that we have righteous desires. So I shouldn't get frustrated with myself or with the area. I should just keep loving the people and giving them every opportunity (and the best opportunity) to come unto Christ.   So I'm really excited for what we can do this week. 

Have a good one!   

Here's me with the other famous missionary of the region, Cura Brochero

#MormonesNoMuerden

This week I was able to sing to a few people in contacts and it was surprising the way that they reacted. I was pretty scared that we were just going to make them feel uncomfortable. It seemed that after we had shown our confidence in them by singing for them, they were able to have confidence in us and listen to our message. I suppose it´s part of exercising my faith so the people will exercise theirs. 

Another thing from this week is that Elder Garrett and I have started a propaganda called #MormonesNoMuerden (Mormons don´t bite). What we do is that we take pictures with people and then ask them to put them on facebook with the hashtag MormonesNoMuerden. We've only done it with a few people so far, but it´s a fun and easy way to get the members to think about missionary work. 

Yesterday I gave a talk in church. In this branch we are assigned to speak every second sunday for 15 minutes. It's a little nerve wracking, but I really enjoy speaking and if I plan everything out well then it's not hard at all to speak for the whole 15 minutes. I spoke about how the commandments of God are one of the forms that he blesses us. The commandments protect us and (together with the grace of Christ) allow us to progress. If we look at the commandments as a blessing then we´ll be able to walk in the paths of the Lord and find that we understand him a lot better. I hope you all have the help of the Lord this week. 

Endure to the End (of everything)

This week we had some tough days, but I have rule. Every hard day has to end well. For example Friday, in the morning all of the people that we contacted were pretty direct with us in telling us that they were not interested in hearing our message. That´s alright with me, it helps me not have to pass by another time and have them not be in the house. But it´s always nice to hear people who are a little bit more receptive. The whole morning went like that. And in the afternoon two of the visits that we had planned were cancelled. But we continued working with good spirits. We were able to have a great unplanned lesson with an investigator that we had found the week before. She really showed confidence in us and told us about the struggles she having right now. My companion and I were able to testify of the healing power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it seemed to really help her. Then both Saturday and Sunday we had unfruitful afternoons, but were able to find new families to teach in the last contact of the day. This week I really tried to focus on not letting my fear overcome me. I have no problem contacting random people, but sometimes I pick the people I feel more comfortable contacting to talk to. But I know that the lord will help me and support me as I stretch the limits of my comfort zone.

I´m really growing to love the members here in Villa Dolores. I can really see  how much they desire that their little branch may grow and that their families may be strengthened. I´m glad to be part of the process that allows these things to happen.   

This picture is from today with two chicos that we made friends with. We had gone to a BMX park in the town and raced them a few times (they always won). 

 Here´s a picture of a member here. She is about 90 years old and her house is full of paintings that she has made.

English Class

This Thursday we got to teach an English class for a Sister in our ward. She is an English teacher in a local school and she invited Elder Garrett and I to come in and give a little presentation. We taught about 60 students, all in their senior year.
Because the presentation was in a public school we weren't able to talk about the Gospel, but we invited them all to the class that we teach in the church, so we'll see if that goes anywhere. It was pretty wierd for me to be in a high school again, especially playing the role of teacher. After the presentation, we mingled with the highschoolers and answered the other questions they had. We both felt pretty famous because everyone wanted to take selfies with the two gringos with blue eyes.   

This week has been pretty hot. I´ve already got a pretty funny tanline from the high collar of my dress shirt. Technically spring is just starting, but we´ve already had a few days of 80+ degree weather. And the people here say that it's just going to get hotter as we get into summer. So that´s something to look forward to (weak cheer).

Me and my companion were pretty sad at the end of the day yesterday because we weren't able to get any investigators to come to church. I know that I've got to respect the choices of the people, but at the same time it makes me sad to see that people don´t want to make a commitment with the Lord. But now Elder Garrett and I are more determined than ever to improve ourselves as missionaries, so that the people can understand even better the important message we share. 

Cuídensen 

Elder Lulich

A Successful Week

So here I am starting a new transfer with a new companion, but I´m still in Villa Dolores. My companion´s name is Elder Garrett and he is from St. Louis. He just got finished with about 7 months of working in the mission office, so he is pretty excited to get back to doing some regular missionary work. I'm sure that we're going to have a lot of success together. 

This past week was pretty awesome. On Wednesday we found out that one of our investigators, Martina received permission from her father to be baptized. Elder Aniel and I were super happy because it was something that we had really been praying for. Martina got baptized yesterday. The service was really special because she had many people in the church there to support her. Her uncle, who is a member of the church was able to baptize her and her aunt gave a beautiful testimony. It was also amazing to see how excited many of the members were for her as well.

It is so great to be part of God´s work. Not everything about being a missionary is easy, for example this week I was present when someone got word that her father had passed away. It was pretty hard to see how she took the news, and try to help. However there is a joy and a peace that comes from helping other people. I know that this Gospel is true. 

Have a great week

Don't Lose Yours Heads!

I don´t have time at all but I wanted to send you all this lovely picture that I took at a museum this last p-day. Just to show you that I´m still having a lot of fun out here in Argentina. We worked hard this week. And I testify that I could never get anything done in this work if I didn't have the Lord´s help. He is my greatest resource.

Have a great week!

Elder Luich

The Gratitude of the Hermana Arguello

Hola Familia,

 Funny story about the Mother´s Day call.  I took the money out of the account and sent it off to the sister in Santa Isabel. But then at the Zone conference last week Elder Mendoza came up to me with the envelope with the money. He told me that he tried to give the money to the sister but she wouldn't accept it. she had written a little note and put it in the envelope. The note said that it wasn't necessary that I gave them the money because they receive enough blessings from God. (This is the family that also gave us lunch every single Wednesday). She also wrote that I should tell mom that she did a good job raising me. Thanks Mom, and Dad. 

Thanks for the emails too. It really is inspiring to see your positive outlook on the unexpected things that come up. I know that it´s the perspective that comes with the gospel.

I´m doing good. Elder Aniel and I have a lot of fun. Sometimes too much. I have to tone back my nonsense once in a while. I still haven´t gotten the package. We have to wait for zone meetings to get packages because the zone leaders get the mail from the mission home. Thanks for the birthday wishes! I´ll be getting a special lunch with the family of Micaela, the girl who got baptized when I arrived here.

I love you!

Tyler

Biking in Cura Brochero- a town that run mostly on religious tourism. 

Zone Conference and Reunions

The conference this week was so awesome. I learned a ton and I got to see my old companion Elder Mendoza and ask about how things are going back in Santa Isabel. This week we´ve also been preparing a youth to be baptized. She is the friend of some of the young women in the ward and is super ready to be baptized. It made me super happy to hear her tell us during one of our visits of how she´s been doing nightly prayers with her mom. Her mother is also an investigator of ours, but needs a little more time to progress. I´m sure the baptism of her daughter will help her a lot. This week between the zone conference and CDs about missionary work that I got from my grandpa I´ve also been learning about how to ask effective questions, questions that really get the investigators to open up with us. Now in my missionary I´ve got the teaching part down, but what´s just as important as teaching is making sure that the investigator understands and feels the message. So I´ve been asking a lot more questions about the feelings of the people. "and how does it make you feel to know..." "how do you feel when..." and stuff like that. It make seem silly but I sure have seen a difference in my teaching and in the way that the investigator receives the message. This work is making me stretch in ways that I never thought I could. And I think that the best part is that I am bettering myself for other people. I am trying to improve every day so that the people here in Argentina can have the missionary that they need to be able to comprehend, feel, and act upon the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When it´s done for others the work is so much sweeter. 

Have a great week! 

Elder Lulich

I saw Elder Mendoza at the conference. If it looks like he's not happy in the photo it's because he's a little sassy and it took some convincing for me to get a picture with him. haha.

Baptismal Interview Surprise

This week went by pretty quickly. On Tuesday night we took a four hour bus ride to get together with the other missionaries in the zone. We´re pretty isolated out here in Villa Dolores. 
 I have a bike now. It is so much nicer. Elder Aniel told me that I would get "thunder thighs" before the end of the transfer from riding so much. We baptize people here in the chapel of Villa Dolores. There are a few areas where the investigators get baptized in the river, but not here.  I´m doing pretty well with Spanish now. There are still some things that are hard to express, but I feel pretty fluent. 

 We played soccer with some of the young men this Saturday. That kids arm is in a sling and he still plays better than me. Ha ha

On Friday the Zone leaders came to Cura Brochero with us to do a baptismal interview. The investigator was really ready for her baptism. She has been coming to church out in Cura Brochero for about 2 months now. I spent the day with one of the zone leaders and elder Aniel with the other. All of the plans we had made for that day fell through but success is a choice so the Zone leader and I spent the day contacting and talking to people in their doorways. We ended up finding several new people to teach, one who had even read parts of the Book of Mormon. When the Zone leaders had to leave we all got back together to get our companions back and I asked how the interview went. Elder Aniel started to laugh and said that the interview went great, but afterwards it came up that the investigator wasn't married she had been living with her pair for 30 years so we assumed they were married. So she wasn't ready to be baptized. This taught me a lesson that we really have to be preparing in every moment. Our mission president always says that we need to be focused on everything at the same time. That´s how real lasting growth happens. God often puts little tests like this to see how dedicated we really are to achieving our goals. It´s up to us to decide if the test will make us stronger.

Make your week great!

Elder Lulich

Cura Brochero

It always seems like the days and the weeks end with something special. I like to think that it´s God´s way of saying," Good work today." I mentioned in another letter that in this area we work with two branches one of 45 people and one of 15 people. The little group of 15 people live in a little town an hour by bus from where we live. This town is called Cura Brochero. It is named after a pastor who helped many people in this part of Cordoba and who is actually a candidate for becoming a saint right now. We can only work in this town 2 time a week because of the cost of travel and the time it takes. Because of the little time we spend there it is difficult to find people and help them progress. Yesterday after the service here in Villa Dolores we headed over to Cura Brochero to gather up the investigators to see who would go with us to church. We passed by all the people we had contacted and begun to teach and none of them were a able to go (or they didn´t want to go). The service was at 6 and it was about 5:45 and we decided to pass by one last person to see if maybe he could go. When we talked to him, Fabio, and told him that the church would start in 7 minutes he said, "Great I´ll go put a sweater on and we can walk over there." It really was a miracle because he hasn't been in contact with the missionaries for about 2 and a half weeks. 

One thing I've learned from the scriptures and my experiences here on the mission is that, in order to receive blessings, I need to show my sincere desire to the Lord through my efforts and obedience. In reality I can´t accomplish much on my own, I can´t control external forces to make things work in my favor. All I can do is try to align my will with the Lord´s, work as hard as I can, and wait in faith that the Lord will help me achieve my goals. That how we use the grace of Christ.

I wish you all a successful week

Elder Lulich

And for inspiration during the week here´s my companion contemplating the sunset