July 15, 2013

This week has been nuts, but way fun. We were in Capilla del Monte (which is north of Cosquin) on Monday for pday, hanging with the district. Hermana Suarez cut my hair :) and we had a lunch deal with a member there in Capilla del Monte. Then Wednesday we went to Cruz del Eje which is more north than Capilla del Monte, for a zone meeting, we then stayed the night as a zone (minus the Hermanas) in Cruz del Eje, and then the next morning we all went to Cordoba to a big conference of a few zones with the new Mission President, Presidente Alliaud (Aleu). He’s super great and very excited to start progressing as a mission! I’m excited too. We had a few opportunities to give blessings to the sick in a little hospital in Cosquin. A member had some friends who needed help and so we said sure and came right away to help, and all of those we blessed are home now and getting lots better! :) A few of which will be future investigators :) the power of God is real and I will never deny it. The spirit that was felt was so strong and nobody could have denied that. We have a promise baptism for this week, his name is Mauro and he’s way cool! He’s 19 years old and wants to be a missionary! So exciting. he’s a stud! Last week I was on an exchange with Elder Fields from California. He’s super cool and we just kind of clicked and now we are way good friends, he goes to BYU Idaho as well and so we have lots in common! He told me on Monday, that he slipped pres a 20 so we can be comps, and I said, 20 pesos or dollars and he said dollars duh, they will do anything for dollars here haha! He’s a goof ball I love him. Overall I’m great, happy and improving! One thing President Alliaud said was that the moment we stop improving we are fried. So true! In all moments of life this is the case! I love my Savior and I will serve my Master!





Elder Nelson

Hermana Suarez starting to cut my hair...and Hermana Barretto doing...
well I'm not sure what haha

Jolee, just know my hair is in good hands :)

We call ourselves the 3 Nephites, because we are the only three white kids 

in the zone haha!   Elder Fields, me and Elder Petersen

July 8, 2013

Thanks for the quick update! I love hearing from the family! I’m glad you guys had a fun 4th of July, Elder Petersen and I were at a members house and I was writing the date on something and it was the 5th..and i said Elder! Yesterday was the 4th of July...we totally spaced it, here it’s the 8th of July, so we were all Argentina programmed. ha Well right now in Argentina, the kids are in winter break haha. It’s been so cold the past few days. Makes it hard for clothes to dry! ha It’s weird to me to be in July and be cold haha. This week we saw lots of miracles. On Thursday we fasted to find families. It was a fast that was a bit difficult for me because my body was tired and yall know what happens when I go without food, my body quits working! Haha. I couldn’t focus, and I was kind of complaining a bit, so I went to the roof of my apartment and prayed out loud for help, and what I thought would end in a warm happy feelings of sympathy, I felt more of a slap wakeup call saying Jared, when did this fast and work become about you. It makes me think of John 21, if we love him we will feed his sheep. This work is not about us, it’s about the Lord and his adored sheep that need rescuing! The next day we found many potential families to teach. Such a great blessing! We have been teaching this 19 year old kid named Mauro. He’s cool, he’s really interested in the church. Yesterday he met with Pres Paez (The branch Pres) and he said he wants to serve a mission and go to the temple and is excited to be baptized on the 20th of July! Way cool! The work is progressing every day and little by little we are helping the Master Sheppard bring the lost sheep beck to the Fold. I love the gospel and this work!

Elder Nelson

I love this!

Zone Leader Shumway, he goes home tomorrow 
for surgery on his knee

July 1, 2013

This Week was crazy, we went to President Salas` last talk in our zone conference, we worked hard and really tired to search for families, and we had a baptism yesterday! We will miss our Loved President Salas, he will be awesome in his new calling and I’m so excited to meet the new pres Alliaud (I think that is how it’s spelled). We have been teaching a family named the Dias family. They are cool and as we taught them the restoration, Brother and sister dias had wet eyes. I pray we can keep helping this great family. We worked with Ayelen, the girl of about 21 years old who we have been teaching for a while, get to baptism. She is who we baptized yesterday and she was so happy. She wants to serve a mission and I know she can. She was a referral from recent converts in the branch, and we taught every lesson with her in the home of the recent converts. There is a power in lessons when they are taught in the member’s homes. This is really how people convert and stay converted. It’s not just a blessing to the elders of the investigators, it’s a blessing to the members as well. I would highly recommend it. :) We also have seen lots of blessings in the way the branch is growing. Right now the branch has a goal to be a ward soon, and now that’s what we are working to do with reactivations and solid convert baptisms. We are baptizing, but not a lot of Priesthood holders to support a ward, so now that’s our goal. I love this work. I vow to give all I have to the work of the Lord. I need blessing in my life from the Lord, and I know it would be unworthy of me to ask of such blessings without doing His work. I love my master and I will serve Him


Elder Nelson



Elder Cuevas and I, he lived in our apartment in
Cosquin when i first got here


Bus ride back from Big multi Zone conference in Cordoba


Downtown Cordoba Capital


Ayelen (Ashelin) shes so cool! I'm gaining weight can you tell ha, the food here is so bad haha


District foto! :) We climbed the Mountain today

June 24, 2013


Hola, what a week! I’ve never worked so hard on my mission and been so tired. But it's good! We are seeing miracles in the Branch because of it. So this week we have had lots of ups and lots of downs. We have had really great lessons with people and then they either disappear or ignore us. It’s sad to see. When you learn to love people so much and have great lessons with them and see improvement and then see that they don’t want to talk to you or listen to the gospel, it’s just kinda sad. There is a lady named Ines who we have been working with since before I got here. We set a plan with her to quit smoking, come to church and be baptized. We felt so good in the lesson. We gave her a blessing of strength to quit and the spirit was so strong. But now, we try to find her and she either doesn't answer the door or her phone. We love her to death, she’s so cool. We are preparing to baptize a girl named Ayelen on Sunday. She is super cool and super prepared. Her mom passed away when she was younger and she has always wondered where she was. We shared the plan of salvation with her, and told her where her mom is right now. I remember saying to her that right now as Ayelen was hearing the lessons from us, her mom was hearing the lessons from missionaries in the spirit world. I feel that to be true, now Ayelen is excited to be baptized for her mom someday! So exciting. There really is no greater joy than the joy of sharing the gospel! I am doing well, just so tired. I’m gaining more confidence in the language which is really helping me become such a better missionary. Communication is key and now I can communicate lots better with people! Elder Petersen is great, he’s got lots of drive and I love him. he’s (Elder Petersen(lucas)) from Susanville, Cal and he’s a jokester! Way fun! I love this work, last night we watched the broadcast! Its so exciting the changes being made, I’m so lucky to be a missionary right now. We watched it in Spanish so we couldn't hear the actual voices of the Prophets and apostles but we could still feel the strong spirit! I love this work, anyone who chooses not to partake of this great work is missing out in the joy and happiness that comes from it! This is the work of the Lord, this is the purpose of why we are here. When I really think about that, nothing else really matters. I love my Savior and I feel so blessed, insufficient, but blessed to represent Him. I love you all!

Elder Nelson




My district from last transfer....Elder Oquendo from Columbia, me, Elder Gilman, Elder Parejas from Peru, Hermana Barretto from Uraguay, Hermana Suarez from Chile



Ha Ha Ha!




Favorite treat! (After cereal of course!)




The "guys" from La Bella Pizza! The Best Pizza!

June 17, 2013


Wow, what a week. So a few weeks ago, Elder Gilman and I found a less active lady and talked to her. Her name is Norma Bustos and she has 4 unbaptized kids. Saturday we just baptized 3 of them. Marcos 14, Veronica 11, and Santi 9. They are so excited to be members and the family is starting to go to church together. We had 6 investigators in Church yesterday. A kid named Mauro (19 yrs), Ayelen (20), Estela (Madre of Miguel) Mercedez ( a nice lady who loves us) and Augustina a granddaughter of a member. All are great and really progressing well. It’s been chilly in Argentina. Thursday we had a really Hot day, but since then it’s been pretty cool. The Branch is doing great. We are now focusing on reactivation to make the branch a ward. We had transfer calls Saturday. Elder Gilman is going home and now, which is sad but good at the same time, I wasn’t a fan of being a last comp, it makes you think about your last transfer and home ha, but now i have Elder Peterson as my companion! He’s From California and is way cool. I’m excited to get to know him more. He is the District leader! We are both excited. He was elder Waldrons trainer! I’m doing great, every day I feel more that this is the work of the Lord. The language for me is getting better. I’m speaking it and studying it lots. The freezer in our Apt what all frosted so there was like no space, so we tried to defrost it and water leaked everywhere, so we tried to put buckets in the fridge to catch the water, but that failed, and then we found that long ago Elder Jassmans jello exploded in the freezer and all this melted jello was leaking...it was just a big mess, but now I think we are okay ha.





I love this work, I love you all!




6 months Tie....(This Mom is shaking her head!)




The family of Norma Bustos




New Comp Elder Peterson



Baptism. Veronica, Me, Marcos, Santi and Elder Gilman

June 10, 2013

Wow, what a fast week, but a good week also. We are going to complete a less active family on Saturday baptizing 3. Marcos of 14, Veronica of 11 and Santiago of 9. We are so excited for this family. The mom, Norma, is super cool and is starting to come back to church. I love this family and seeing the change and the happiness in their lives is so great! Norma is good friends with Miguel’s mom Estela. We have been teaching Estela too. Things are going great! There are so many ready people here in Cosquin! We found a granddaughter of a member by chance of being at the member’s house at the same time. Her name is Augustina and she is way cool. I think she’s 17 or 16 and she understands everything well. Like I said, there are so many cool things happening. We had interviews with Pres Salas on Monday. They were so good and so motivating! I’m ready to keep working and having fun. The mission is Fun! 

Me and Mario, a guy we are teaching, he is a goof! We Love him!

June 3, 2013

This week has been good! We have worked hard and found success. To be honest I really can’t remember much from this week, but it was good. ha time just flies and all the stuff just mushes together. But cool thing on Friday, There was a mission conference in Cordoba Capital with Elder Cook of the 12. It was so cool. We had Pres Salas talk, who is a Seventy, Elder Zeballas of the seventy and Elder Cook of the 12. It was way cool and such a good pick me up booster! Elder Cook talked on various topics, mainly helping others keep commitments like to read the book of Mormon and pray and go to church. As people begin to do these things they show their faith in the Lord, they begin to repent, and the Lord blesses them with a testimony. This is not just for investigators. This is for all of the children of God. kinda cool! Anyway at the conference I saw Elder Waldron from my MTC district, and my MTC comp Elder Michalek!!! oh I love those two. There’s something about the guys that have been there with you your whole mission! I love them!

Creepy story, today we went to the cemetery. Argentine cemeteries are different. There are tombs above grounds and one tomb was open and there was an open coffin and on top of the coffin was a skull. Someone’s freaking head!!! Kinda weird but whatever..WELCOME TO ARGENTINA! ha

Love you all!

Elder Nelson

A big old tomb

Goofin' around a bit at an Argentine cemetery