July 30, 2012

Hey dad!
Sound like you have a lot going on there! It’s crazy that Jason is leaving on his mission now. I guess he will be entering the MTC this week?....I have some good news to tell you but I’ll “spill the beans” in my letter to Momma. Hope you are doing awesome back at home!
Love you!
Elder Travis Dillon Myers

Hey Momma!
Sounds like you had your hands full last weekend and I am sure it was a BIG H !

Yeah, I feel like I am going to be a lot like grandpa when I get older (but will include the Body of a God Program to his Total Man). I would have loved to have attended the wedding reception with you…maybe not for the environment itself but more to see your reaction!  I have news this week! We had a BAPTISM for Celeste Avila, a 10 year old girl. After her less-active mom starting coming back to church, Celeste desired to be baptized.  I wish I could send pictures but, as always, the computers are not that great here and I am unable to send pictures. Anyway, because our church is just a house, it doesn't have a built in baptismal font, so we set up a big plastic pool thing inside and attached a water hose to the kitchen sink and waited for it to fill up. Also, the brother in the branch that was suppose to give the talk about the Holy Ghost couldn't make it, so I had to prepare a quick talk. I also ended up confirming her a member of the church. It was the first time I had ever done that so that was pretty exciting.  We had a pretty cool experience this week with Andrea and Walter, a couple investigating the church. Andrea is ready to be baptized but Walter (who reminds me a lot of Brandon Packard) wanted to investigate further before he made any commitment to be baptized. Well, last time we went over there we basically just answered questions he had and left challenging them to read 3rd Nephi chapter 11. When we returned last week, we ask them if they had completed their Book of Mormon reading challenge, Walter got all excited and started to explain what happened in the chapter but as he did I could see that he was beginning to tear up. As we continued talking, we found out that that night they had received an answer to their prayers. We learned that Andrea had seen the Savior in a dream She said it was so real that she woke up Walter and told him about her dream and as a result, they talked for awhile about the importance of going to church. Walter was pretty shook up by the experience but now he KNOWS that what we have taught him is true. It was a powerful experience for all of us and I was happy that I could be a part of it in some small way.  I guess that's all for now. I love you and I am so happy to hear how you are all doing.Love you!
Elder Travis Myers

July 23, 2012

Hey Dad!
Thanks for the encouragement! I started the D&C this week so I hope I can finish it in the next 2 or 3 weeks. Every time I read, I realize how much more I need to learn about the gospel.. Here is a question I have come across. In my reading I have found a lot of footnote references to the History of the Church. Was the History of the Church written by Joseph Smith? How many volumes are there? I don’t think this question will make a difference for me in a 1000 years from now--- but I was just wondering. I want to read it when I return... in a year.  That’s funny to here about Spencer. I can’t imagine what a Korean Sacrament Meeting would be like. Our Sacrament Meetings are kind of different because there is only one young man in the Ward. Because of the shortage of Priesthood, one of the missionaries always blesses the Sacrament. We also have to give the Elders Quorum classes every 2nd and 3rd Sunday. Sometimes we even have to teach Primary. I am a full believer that a primary teacher is one of the hardest callings in the church! I have realized that the world is really a small place. There is a Woman’s Shoe Store here on the main street. Normally I don’t look at the advertizing posters in the shops (because you never know what you are going to see) but one day last week I had to turn around and take a second look at this certain model on a poster I looked at it for a bit and realized, I went to High School with that girl! There was Sarah Bledsoe from Santa Fe on an advertizing poster in Justo Daract, Argentina! That was kind of a weird experience.. Also a few weeks ago I saw some guy wearing a "TEXAS CITY" jacket. Hopefully I can feel right at home here! I guess that’s about it for now dad. I just want to tell you that I LOVE YOU DAD!!!
Love ,
Your son Elder Travis Myers

Hey Momma!
Thanks mom! I started the D&C this week and after I finish it---- NO MORE READING IN ENGLISH! I think I can be more productive on my mission when I am able to speak more like a native. I don’t know why but I feel like my Spanish has gotten a lot better in the past few weeks. It’s still not perfect but people are not really giving me weird looks like they used to when I spoke to them.. That feels good.  Thanks for the fruit and spices! The Mission is really stressing for us to have an emergency 72 Hour Kit. I just finished a little one today, but I could always use more food! That is awesome to hear about how much you and dad love each other. Maybe a little TMI but it’s alright! Love you both! No, the members haven’t really heard my singing voice. I will be talking to someone this week so that I can work up something for Church--- I promise.  Recently I found out some good news! First, as you know, when I was serving in Malargue, there were not many people attending church. .Last week while I was in a interview with the Mission President, he told me that 70-80 people were now attending church! Even better, a less active family, that Elder Caro and I got to be friends with (right before I was transferred), are going to the temple to be sealed as a family within the month! And in San Jose, the guy Elder Smith and I baptized, is not only super strong in the church and sharing the gospel with his family, but is also planning on serving a mission! That is some of the best news I have ever received!. "How great shall be your joy". What a true statement.Well, I don’t have much time but I want you to know that I love you and that the Church is true. You can’t find joy like this anywhere else and it is a joy that lasts forever.

Love you forever!
Your son,
Elder Travis Myers

July 16, 2012

Hey Dad!
You met someone from ¿Buenos Aries? That’s pretty cool. Yeah, I am finally starting to be able to tell the differences between accents here. There was a new Elder from Mexico at Zone Conference and I thought he sounded different. Dwight might go to the Rockets!!!! That’s awesome! They need a superstar--especially Dwight. An Elder here told me Steve Nash went to the Lakers. I think I might have lost a little respect for him after that, but you have to hate the sin and not the sinner right? hahaha!  Love you dad!
Your son Elder Travis Mairs (Myers)

Hey Mom!
Well I actually have some news this week. First of all, I finished reading the New Testament yesterday!!! I’m going to start the Doctrine and Covenants shortly. Also, we have transfers this week and Elder Biggs is leaving Justo Daract and Elder Day is going to be my companion. Apparently I will be considered the "senior companion". I don’t really know anything about him but I will up-date you a little more next week. He’s a lucky Elder, not because he is going to be my companion, but because Elder Biggs and I have quite a few potential baptisms coming up. He is coming at a good time. We had a Zone Conference this week and I now feel better prepared to serve.  Our mission president is awesome.  I received a wonderful package from Patrice this week. My joy was full and still is. It is way harder to do pushups with the perfect pushups (the ones Patrice sent) but hey, no pain no gain huh? I think that is how life is anyway. As far as the missionary work goes, this was kind of a rough week. But you have to have tough weeks to find out how you can improve, right? I am glad I was sent to Argentina for this reason. My mission is not a mission where it is easy for the people to make changes in their life so that they might be baptized. I have learned that you always have to change yourself in order to help others make changes. Every week I feel like a different and a better person and I must say it has been the best one year of my life so far. It is not easy but like someone said (that the Savior said,) "I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it." (That one was for mom.hahaha) Well I love you a ton and thanks for sending me recipes! I am becoming quite the cook now if I do say so myself.
Love you!
Elder Travis Myers

July 9, 2012

 

Dad,

It’s all good here. Sorry to hear about your duck not surviving! I had high hopes for
it. I was just telling my companion about El Rancho Cima (which would mean the top ranch or something like that.) The peaches ya’ll purchased in Fredricksburg sounds delicious! Enjoy the peaches! Nothing is really new here, but we did see two stinkin’ cats in a tree this week! I started drawing pictures in my journal of the things I experience and see. A drawing of the cats in the tree definitely was one of my journal entries I made this week.
Love you dad!
Elder Travis Myers

 

Hey Mom!
About the chocolate syrup. The first two days I don’t think I have ever had so much chocolate milk in so little time--- but now I have got a grip on things and am using it with moderation. Word of Wisdom!  That’s so awesome how you and dad are exercising and eating super healthy foods. That
salad sounds delicious. I think I can find about 4 of those ingredients for the salad where I am--but I will look around. Also thanks for the thought about loving the country. I have known a few missionaries who might need something like that. I was reading the letters of Paul in the Bible and one part that really stood out to me was when he said he became as those he was teaching to bring more souls unto God. To the Jews he was a Jew, to the Romans he was a Roman, and I would assume to the Argentines he would have become an Argentine. Paul knew what he was talking about!  As far as my reading is going, by next Monday, I should be finished with the New Testament. I plan on reading the D&C and then finish reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish. After I do this, my goal is to only read the scriptures and Preach My Gospel in Spanish. I speak better than I ever have in Spanish right now, but I think until I speak like a native, I won’t be satisfied. I know we learn from our challenges and I believe speaking like an native might be one of my challenges.  Well, I love you and God be with you till we meet again!
Love,
Elder Travis Myers

JULY 2, 2012

 

Hey Dad!
You caught a duck? hahaha! That’s awesome! You should name it Patito. (it means little duck) Me and my companion have been trying to catch the gophers and the big rabbit that live in our yard, but they are too fast for us. Maybe someday... Anyway, it seems like I have been updating ya’ll with my exercise program maybe a little too often but I just wanted you to know that I started doing 230 pushups every morning. Three more weeks of that and technically I should have the "Body of a God". I don’t know if I´ll be at that point in 3 weeks but who knows.!?

Even though this is a short letter today, I just want you to know that I love you a ton and Happy 4th of July from Argentina!
Love, Elder Travis Myers

PS- I don’t know how I forgot but---HAPPY LATE FATHERS DAY to the best
father a son could ask for!!! Love you dad!

Hey Mom!
Thanks for the package! I can’t wait to make tacos! Don’t worry about not sending the Hershey bars. They have pretty good chocolate here and sometimes at the big grocery stores they have a small American shelf where you can find candy bars etc. You may not be happy about this but I just couldn’t help myself today. I was shopping today and was looking at one of the "American Shelves" and nearly started dancing when I found a large bottle of GENUINE HERSHEYS SYRUP!!!! Now that I think of it, I’m pretty sure I did dance a bit. I purchased a bottle and my companion even purchased a bottle! I still remember the time when we were at the grocery store and you were about to buy a bottle of Hershey’s syrup (because Donny was coming over) and then put it back on the shelf because I wouldn’t promise you that I would not pour chocolate over my ice cream. I just had to tell you that. I love you so much mom!

Love you!
Elder Travis Myers

 

June 25, 2012

Hey Mom,
Thank you sooooo much for sending the recipes! We made SLOPPY JOSE’S today and they were SOOOOO good. My companion usually doesn't comment too much on his food but he told me "These are pretty good", I can’t tell you how happy I am to have a pot of Sloppy Jose's in the refrigerator. Also, thanks for sending the Taco Recipe today.. I think I can get all the ingredients except for the garlic salt and cumin. They put oregano on everything here so there will be no problem getting that spice.
Here’s my BODY OF A GOD PROGRAM for anyone who is interested. It works and it takes the full 30 minutes we have for exercising in the morning.
BODY OF A GOD PROGRAM
The first week or two you kind of have to work into it but afterwards...
Week 1-3
50 Wide pushups, 35 regular pushups, and 20 close hand pushups 80 crunches
Week 4-6
65 Wide pushups, 50 regular pushups, and 35 close hand pushups 100 crunches
Week 7-9
80 Wide pushups, 70 regular pushups, and 50 close hand pushups 120 crunches
Week10-12
100 Wide pushups, 85 regular pushups, and 50 close hand pushups 150 crunches
Maintaining "The body of a God"
120 Wide pushups, 85 regular pushups, and 50 close hand pushups 180 crunches
***With the crunches you can just do as many as you want, just so you keep doing more and more. Also it is good to run 3 times a week Because we walk all day long here, running 3 times a week is not necessary…
Anyway, I am doing good here. I am loving the New Testament and have finished reading Matthew and Mark. We are having so much fun here in Justo Daract. Our Mission President has basically given us permission to just go out and have fun with the people. So, we are now playing soccer with the kids in the streets and they love us!. They call me Hercules. I don’t mind. hahaha. It seems like the word is getting around in this little town that the missionaries are actually cool As a result, people are just coming up and talking to us. We are working with some people so please-- pray that they will be home when we go and make our visits!!!! I have heard many missionaries say, "If I had only done this or that before the mission…” I can honestly say that if I had not gone on a mission, I never would have truly understood who I am and what I am suppose to do to become the person God wants me to be…I am running out of time now... I love you mom! Thanks for Bishop Larson’s talk! I am going to use that!
Love you!
Elder Travis Myers

PS. Dad, I took most of my letter writing time writing to Mom Just wanted to let you know that I am going to try my best to send you an alfajor. Alfajor’s kind of remind me of Hostess cupcakes! They are so good that I have to buy one every week and eat them with milk.
Well, love you dad!
Love your son
Elder Travis Myers

June 18, 2012

Hey Dad!
Sounds like you had an awesome week living the country dream! That's awesome that Mark Burkey got his mission papers in!!
(Tom wrote Travis and told him that he did not think they would be having the traditional Father and Son wrestling matches any more since Travis is getting so strong with his exercise missionary program- This was Travis’ response: RMyers)
We are definitely going to have a wrestling match when I get back. I still think you could take me. I don't have your moves! hahaha.(“We pray for you several times a day…” Part of Tom’s letter to Travis this week.)
Thanks for the prayers. I think I can feel them. Every time we have a bad week, I can feel everyone praying to help me out. This week was no exception. We presented quite a few more lessons than previous weeks. In fact, we went from having 2 progressing investigators last week to 9 this week. It is probably the most investigators this area has ever had! We are going to try to set a ton of baptismal dates this week. COME ON AGENCY!! Everything is going good here. I think I finally figured out how I can progress as the Lord wants me to. It took me awhile to figure that out. The answer was pretty simple and it is found in Preach My Gospel. I learned that I needed to FIRST, have a goal, SECOND, make plans to complete the goal in a reasonable time period, and THIRD, to DO IT. Like Grandpa’s TOTAL MAN, it works with everything-----spiritual, physical, mental, etc Well, I love you and I always love to hear that everything is going great back home.

Love you!
Elder Travis Dillon Myers
PS- I think I might be ordering another name tag that says ELDER MAIRS. No one can say Myers right and that's how it would be spelt here. Love ya!

Hey Mom!
I don't have a ton of time right now but I love you alot. I finished reading JESUS THE CHRIST and I think I will probably finish reading The Pearl of Great Price this week. I have never read The Pearl of Great Price from cover to cover and so I decided, why not now?. I wanted to read Jesus the Christ, The Pearl of Great Price, The New Testament and The Doctrine and Covenants before I hit my mission year mark. I think I will be able to make it! I also want to finish reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish. I have a lot of goals now and with Gods help, He is making them possible..
Mom, I am looking forward to eating some of your tacos again. We tried to make some the other day but... they were not the same. Anyway, I love you so much and hope you never forget it!!!

Love, your son,
Elder Myers

Received June 11, 2012

Mom!
Sorry my letter was so short last week. I’ll try to fill you in a little more this week. As far as personal progress goes, I am almost finished with JESUS THE CHRIST. I have about 70 pages left and seeing as we have a lot of free time this P-Day, I might even finish it today or tomorrow. We don't get a lot of lunches from the members so we cook a lot and I just use the extra time I have for reading (during the siesta).
By the way, I might need some recipes. I'm not exactly sure what to ask for but if you think of anything, I will be so grateful if you can share some recipes with me!!!
I just started the third cycle of my morning workouts.. I keep you updated on my progress so you can tell Grandpa... I am now doing 205 push ups every morning. It KILLS but it seems to be working. It’s kind of funny, because when I was in the MTC, I could only do about 7 push-ups before I had to stop. I have been trying to memorize a scripture everyday for the past 3 weeks now. I told myself that if I don't finish a year of memorizing, I won’t be "saved". I'm pretty sure that is false doctrine but it keeps me memorizing. Anyway, enough about that. This week was both good and bad. NO ONE WAS HOME. We went by our investigators houses about 30 times each this week and they always gave us a "better" time to come back. For some reason everyone tells us they are bathing or cleaning the dishes... at all hours of the day. I know we are told to be clean, but POR FAVOR --no one needs to be THAT clean. As far as lessons go, it was the least amount of lessons I have had in my whole mission. I kinda got down a few times about that but on the bright side, it made me think a bit more about how to get people to listen to us. This week should be better. As far as FOOD goes, this was the best week of my mission. As you know the Ostler Family came by to visit some families and the church. They left us Girl Scout cookies, Reeses, Ritz crackers, ingredients for Smores and ROOT BEER!!! Then we had a Stake Conference and the Mission President brought mail and what did I receive?--- A marvelous package from Laurie filled with all kinds of American Goodness!!!! Now I know one reason why I was sent to Argentina. I ate nearly all of it within two days. So good!!!! Well I don't know what else to say now. We had a good & bad week but those kind of weeks happen so.--- I just have to figure out how to make future weeks better. I love you a lot and I hope you have a great week. Keep working hard and keep progressing! I love hearing how ya’ll are doing and just as you said,” It’s a shot in the arm to hear from you every week.”

Love ya!
Elder Travis Myers

Hey Dad!
It was so awesome to hear about you sharing the gospel with one of your co-workers.! Way to be an example of the believers Dad! You always are. I gave mom most of the scoop for this week but thought I’d answer your question about the exchanges we had with the Mission President. The first thing the Mission President did was to buy us Lunch and Ice Cream. He gave a pamphlet to the owners of the ice cream shop (Now we have reason to go back more often!). We also went to the Branch Presidents home and talked a bit. After that we split up. I went with Elder Moon(from the mission office) and we tried to find some people he had taught when he served in this area. The President took Elder Biggs and another Elder from the office and tried to teach some people in another area, but like always, no one was home.. Then they left. I thought they were going to do something crazy but it was actually pretty normal. Well, I guess that's about it here. I love ya and it’s great to hear the things you are doing. I promise I´ll send more pictures soon. We'll take some today.¡Te amo a vos! (I love you... Argentine style)
Elder Travis Myers

Received June 4, 2012

Hey Mom and Dad!
I have to make this letter quick!!! I just want to say that everything is going great this week. We have definitely seen the effects of your fasting and prayers. We have found a ton of new people to teach and I believe we are only going to progress from here on. Some of these people are SUPER ready and are asking all the right questions. Like I said, I'm short on time but I am going to try and write a nice long letter next week. I love you!! The work of the Lord here is rolling forth!
With as much love as I can fit in a tiny letter,
Your son,
Elder Travis Myers

Received May 28, 2012

Hey Mom!

I saw your pictures this week! You look beautiful mom! Best of all you look really happy. Like my companion Elder Vega said, "When you look good, you feel good". Love you mom. The work is still moving along here!. Some days are really slow but other days are just awesome. It is kind of funny how many excuses I have heard in the past few days why people can’t listen to us. "It’s dark and I’m afraid!" (Justo Daract is probably the calmest city in all of Argentina) or "It’s getting late and it’s freezing outside!" ....”We know. We have been walking outside all day..”. Oh well, some people choose not to listen to our message, but there are others who are ready to hear the Word. I am finally getting used to this place. I don't know if I have said this or not but Justo Daract is a lot like Santa Fe in almost every way--- just more Argentine. Interesting piece of information for the week--- The mission President and two of the Elders from the office want to come work with us for a day. I don't know why they want to take the 6 hour drive over here but I am praying that we won’t have a slow day and that more people will let us in that day. This should be interesting week. Well, I love you a ton and I hope you have a great week! I’ll let you know if something crazy happens.

Love from your son,
Elder Travis Myers

PS- You can tell grandpa I am doing 150 pushups every morning, except Sundays of course. I'm doing a workout made up by this super fit military missionary called the "Body of a God Program" Every three weeks you go up in pushups. I don’t think it would be an appropriate idea to send pictures but I’ll just tell you, I think its working.Love you Mom!�

Hey Dad!

How is my best friend doing? It is all good here. I’ll try and answer a few of your questions this week. One question from last week,--- yes there are mosquitoes here but not that many. Since I have been here in Argentina, I think I have been bitten only 2 times!. I killed one yesterday. The mosquitoes are not nearly as smart here as they are back home. We do have a bunch of flies though. Sometimes after lunch, Elder Biggs and I take time to kill around 10 mosquitoes each. Living in the church is pretty cool, I guess. People walk in at random sometimes and I hear they also steal our food occasionally, but I hide my good stuff on Sundays-- so it’s alright.
My companion is from Gilbert, Arizona. He´s pretty cool. Washing an area means to basically re-assign the two missionaries (who have served in a specific area ) to another area and replace them with two more missionaries. The new missionaries in the area work as if “from scratch”. We are walking a lot right now and trying to find people to teach. Hopefully, in a short time we can spend more of our time actually teaching. Just so you know, I think you would really like it here. You probably would not like living here but I believe you would at least love to visit in this area because there are about 20 doves that live in the trees around our house/church. Also, Argentines have a talent for making cars run forever. There are a whole bunch of old Fords and Chevy cars on the roads. They also have a ton of little cars called Fiats that look like VW bugs. Fiats are twice as small as the VW’s and have only two seats. We cooked some BB-Q today Argentine style. It was great!!!! I hope things continue to go well there. I love you dad,
Your son,
Elder Myers

Received May 21, 2012

Mom and Dad!
Sorry but I think I will be combining my letters to ya’ll this week….First of all, THANK YOU FOR THE FRUITY PEBBLES!!!! That’s the best birthday present I have ever received. I made a bowl as soon as I opened the package. And, THANKS EVERYONE for all the birthday wishes!!!!!

It was awesome talking to you all. I still think about the call every once in a while. So much has been going on here that I don’t really have too much time to think at all.

Here´s a surprise for ya’ll. We got a call Wednesday morning from our zone leaders about "SPECIAL TRANSFERS". We thought they were kidding but as they continued to ask if everyone was there to hear the changes, we found out they were not . Two elders came in from another country and they put one with Elder Smith. I had to say goodbye to everyone, wash my clothes, pack my bags, and leave the next morning for a place called Justo (Hoosto) Daract.

Once again, like my time in Malargue, I am in a city that feels like I am in the middle of nowhere. I´m about 6 hours away from where I was and about 10 minutes from the border of Cordoba. I could walk to the border of the mission if I wanted to. Pretty crazy huh? Amazingly, it is super green here. Grass is everywhere!!!. Justo Daract is a really small town with a small branch of the church (20 active members).The church is a house, and we live in one of the rooms of the church. It seems like the Mission President is sending me to all the furthest areas of the mission. Wonder what I did? hahaha. I’m sure there is a lot of missionary work to be done here and so if there’s a will, there is a way!!

My new companion’s name is Elder Biggs. We actually have spent the same amount of time in the mission. He got special transferred here two weeks ago. We are basically washing the area. There’s a lot more I want to share but because I am out of time, I guess I will just have to wait till next week.

Love ya’ll,!
Elder Myers
PS- For those who speak Spanish, I made a new slogan for the area. HLJ-D (Haga Lo Justo Daract.)

Received May 14, 2012

Thanks Dad!
It’s good to know everything is just running smoothly back at home. It was great talking to you all. Can you do me a favor for my birthday? Can you ask grandpa what it was like to be a patriarch? I have always wondered what that must have been like and I never did remember to ask him. Well, I guess I don't have much to say either but know that I love you guys and that I miss you alot. At the same time, one thing I know I can count on is that everything will be just the same when I get back---full of love.
Love you dad,
Elder Travis Myers.

PS- Tell mom I love her, she looks beautiful and Happy Mothers Day!
(Evidently Travis did not receive the letter I sent him on this day.Rachel)

Received May 7, 2012

Hey Mom and Dad!
First I want to get the skype information out of the way…
I think I should be online at 5:30 PM to set things up and I think everything will be all good to go at 6:00pm (which should be 3:30-4:00 PM your time) I bought a cheap microphone headset today (just in case I need it)…Well, I think that's everything! Because I was not given that much information this time about the skype call, I ended up doing a lot of extra stuff--and so now-- I am already running out of time for my letter writing this week. I will just have to fill you all in on Sunday.
It is really crazy that we will already be seeing each other again. It seems like it wasn't even that long ago when we were talking to each other..I love you Mom and Dad. I can’t wait to see and talk to you again!
Love, your son,
Elder Travis Myers
P.S. By the way, I have a birthday surprise for Grandpa! I started doing push-ups a few weeks ago, and now I am doing about 100 push-ups every day for my morning exercises. He should like that!
Love ya!

Faith is growing EVERY DAY!

Hey Mom and Dad!
I hope you don't mind, but I will probably combine my letter this week. I have a little something to share. I think the mission is getting better and better. We had a Zone Conference this weekend and I feel like Elder Smith and I are going to baptize just about everybody now! Just saying… My companion, Elder Smith, and our district leader have been really sick here lately and so I have been working with Elder Sanchez from Chile. One morning we participated in a service project. We basically cleaned dirt for a couple hours. (We took all the trash, bricks and rocks out of the dirt). That was pretty fun. After the service project we took a bus and some man with a horrible hernia in his stomach started talking/yelling at us and everyone on the bus could hear him. After he settled down, some guy in an orange shirt asked us "Hey! are you missionaries?"... IN ENGLISH!!! I was shocked! We started talking to him and our conversation went something like this:

Us: Yeah we’re missionaries! Where did you learn English?!?!

Him: Oh, I lived in the states for 12 years. My parents just wanted to move back to be with family.

Us: Sweet! What part of the states are you from?

Him: Utah!

Us: (Jaws dropped) What part of Utah?

Him: Orem. All my friends are Mormon.

Us: (Even more shocked) And you are not a member?

Him No.

Us (In our minds)- Not yet!

We ask him for his address right when we were about to get off the bus. He only had time to give us two street names before we had to get off. Even though we did not have his full address, we were so pumped! Later on that day we were on our way home and for some reason we walked a little further away from where we normally go for the bus stop. As we were walking, a bus passed from the opposite direction and as I looked, I saw someone in an orange shirt, waving at us. It was the same guy! Not only that, but he got off the bus a block from where we would have looked for his house. After jotting down the correct street name, we went back to the bus stop. In our eyes, that was every bit of a miracle. If that day did not go exactly as it did, we would have never found that guy again. The mission is starting to be full of experiences like that and I am so glad I am here. I feel like my faith is growing every day. Miracles have not stopped. God is the same yesterday, today and forever and He will continue to be a God of miracles forever. Well. I guess that's the story of the week. I love you all and I hope YALL are doing great as always.
Love you!
Elder Travis Dillon Myers

April 9th Letter - EASTER 2012

Hey Mom!
I just want to say I love you. I'm glad you had a great time this Easter. I thought of you while we ate fish (It is an Easter tradition here). I chewed every piece very well and found two sharp bones in my mouth. I didn't swallow one… so don't worry. This week we found a family that lived in Florida for 8 years, and they love speaking English with us. I think it was kind of a tender mercy from the Lord for us to meet them. We also saw a miracle this week. I wouldn't share this with too many people but there is one lady that we are teaching that has sleeping problems. She wants to know the truth and also she REALLY wants to be able to go to sleep. There is a littler more to the story but, …we explained to her about priesthood blessings and she desired that we give her a blessing so that she could sleep. As we administered to her, we felt the Spirit really strong. We passed by her house two days later…and she said she was sleeping regularly now. What a blessing. I love being a missionary!!!! Well I guess that's all for today. I love you mom and I can’t wait to talk to you on Mothers Day!!! (the day before I turn 20! I won’t be a teenager any more!) Love you mom!
Your son Elder Myers
PS- I bought a cow foot cup today!!!

Hey Dad!
President Eyring said in the past conference that once he prayed for a trial and soon after-- he received it. Well, I did the same thing. I prayed for a trial to see how God wanted to strengthen me. About one day later, I was assigned to give a 15 min talk in sacrament meeting. Yes, in Spanish. I fretted over it for some time but Sunday came and I gave it. Once I was there, I had to cut my talk even more, so at times I had to improvise. I was feeling kind of proud that I had completed the task but afterwards, when I asked if everyone understood me, one person said" Yeah, just about everything except when you spoke English." I didn't speak any English… That kind of lowered my self esteem but whatever….. I always have something to work on right?. I love you dad and I hope you get some sleep!
Love,
Your son Elder Travis

Hey Hey Hey!
Patrice! Hows it going? Sounds like everything is going just dandy! Thanks for the pictures! I knew mom was going to do something big on Easter. If it’s mom, it has got to be a BIG H! hahaha! Thanks for the testimonies. I'm always surprised by the things that Adam says. He is going to be a great missionary. Also, thanks for the testimonies of Rachel, grandma and grandpa. I love them and miss them alot. Mom too. I believe the Gospel (evangelio) IS her blood. She knows how to make any situation gospel related and because of her example, I think its helping me out alot here. This week we were talking to this one girl who hasn't prayed and didn't really know how to pray, (even though we have taught her how to pray a few times). I could see the lesson was getting off topic the other day when she started asking us if we knew how to dance and stuff like that. I then said. “I am a horrible dancer.”( which is SO true). Her response was, “You just need practice.” I am pretty sure she was trying to see if we would go dancing with her, while on the other hand, we were trying to get her to pray (cause the dancing was NOT going to happen). I then thought of a very mom thing to say. "You know what also needs practice? Prayers! Would you like to practice a prayer right now?" It may have come off a little nerdy but IT WORKED! All thanks to mom. Well, I love ya Patrice! Hope you have a great week! Love, Elder Myers

April 2nd Letter - General Conference

Hey Mom!
Sounds like ya’ll had quite a week! General Conference, Birthday Parties, talent shows crazy kids... the fun just doesn't seem to stop does it? I´m glad you enjoyed conference. I know I did. Our investigator that we have been working pretty hard with went too. HE ATTENDED ALL THREE SATURDAY SESSIONS!!! And.... HE FINALLY ACCEPTED A BAPTISMAL DATE! His only problem now is that he doesn't want to get in front of the ward to get confirmed. (He has a fear of getting in front of people) But other than that, he IS getting baptized and confirmed. I really like the word confirm. Before we receive the Holy Ghost, our foundation seems to be a little shaky. But, after we are confirmed and receive the Holy Ghost, we are set upon a FIRM FOUNDATION, with the possibility of the constant companionship of the third member of the Godhead. It really is a remarkable thing to be confirmed, and I am so glad that I will get to witness this process in our investigator. I can not say I have had many baptisms, but to see a change of heart like we have seen with this child of God, makes it all worth it. Conference was great. All the English speaking missionaries got to watch Conference in English in the "upper room" of the church. I think that watching General Conference with a group of English speaking missionaries is about the closest thing you can get to a MISSIONARY SUPER BOWL. When speakers were announced, or if one of the general authorities said something REALLY apostolic,--everyone would just go crazy, do some high fives and then quickly write everything down that they thought was important for them to remember. It was awesome! I really liked the Prophets analogy of the toy boats that just floated down the stream, going where ever the current took them…. I learned that unlike boats that get trapped and cannot finish their race, we can (by making right choices) ALL finish our race on earth and receive eternal life. Sure, there might be whirl pools every once in awhile, but through the gospel of Jesus Christ, we can get out of them or dodge them all together. God has provided us a wonderful plan with a wonderful reward…Well I love you. I would like to thank EVERYBODY for the pictures. I haven't even been gone that long (8 months a few days ago) and I am already surprised by how much everyone has grown…especially the little ones.
I love you!
Elder Travis Myers

Hey Dad!
Well, I think I wrote most of what happened this week in my letter to mom. Just want you to know that I love you and I can’t wait to talk to ya’ll in a few weeks! Love you dad!
Elder Travis Myers

PS Elder Smith and I are working hard and having fun!

Sick in Argentina

Hey Yall!
This was an interesting week. Yesterday I was pretty sick. We had a Sunday lunch at the bishop’s house and after we ate lunch, I started feeling bad as we were walking to a less active members home. (Not like the Spirit was prompting me not to go, but more of a bad feeling in my stomach.) Well, we ended up going back to our apartment. Soon after we got back to the apartment I threw-up everything I had just eaten and then some. 12 times!! It was a bad night. At least today is a P-Day and I’ll get some time to recuperate.

Also this week we were "attacked" in a sense by a drunk man. We were on our way back to the apartment and some man yelled out "MORMONS!!!" A man came stumbling out towards us and said he became a Mormon 20 years ago. I did not feel like we were in any danger so we stayed and talked to him. As we got a closer look, we noticed his shirt and hair were soaked in beer. At this time he started grabbing our wrists, kissing our hands, and asking us to pray for him. We were kind of afraid to leave at that time because we had no idea what he was going to do. I ended up saying a prayer so we could leave. As we were on or knees, people were watching us from their houses. After I finished praying, apparently it was his turn to pray. The man began singing, crying, trying to speak English, and who knows what else he was trying to speak.. Finally, he told me that I needed to put my head on the ground and to push my head in the dirt while I prayed. That is when I decided it was time to leave. We jumped up, pulled our hands away from him, and started walking away as fast as we could. Elder Smith and I could not believe that happened to us!! It was an absolute journal experience. Only in the mission!!!!

On a more spiritual note, this Sunday we were kind of upset because none of our investigators could make it to church (because they were out of town or something.) However, just before the sacrament, three kids that we had met that week on the street showed up. Our older investigators couldn't make it to church, but 3 new ones did!!! Sometimes you don't always get what you want but the Lord always provides.

Mom and Dad, thanks for sharing your weekly experiences with me. And mom, I just about burst out laughing when I heard about your "Emma" experience.(R Myers Journal 3-26-12 … I went to Vidor last weekend. I got to visit with the Harris', Doughty's and Mama and Daddy. Patrice needed some help cleaning her house, so I helped her for a few hours getting the house ready for company. As I was cleaning,3 year old Emma came from another room, holding up a "used" diaper and said, with the diaper dangling high above her head, "Grandma, this is disgusting." I told her to throw it away as quick as she could and she did. When we went to her room, she told me, "Grandma, this room is so messy!" She helped me clean and I must admit, she did a pretty good job picking up toys, shoes, etc. She is sooooo cute and soooooo smart and friendly…)

I´m glad the family is about the same as always. EVERYTHING is still a production, and that's just how it should be. I have been telling a lot of stories about home lately. Everybody wants to meet the mom and dad of Elder Myers I love you two. I sent a post card a while back and I am not sure if you have received it or not. I hope so. I love you all

Your son,
Elder Myers

PS- Have you sent my address to the institute? I think Brother Chidister wanted my address before I left and I don't think I gave it to him. I probably should have given my address to more people. I don´t get too many letters outside the family. Oh well. Love ya’ll and I hope you have a great week! Elder Myers

Teaching and Learning

March 19, 2012 Letter received from Travis
Hey Dad!
***Well I can’t send pictures this week. I think the computer may have given my card a virus... let’s hope not. Anyway, this week has been crazy for Elder Smith and I. I actually think our Spanish ability is exactly the same and we are studying like crazy to improve our language skills. Sometimes we can go into lessons and understand everything and other times... well, we don't. It’s a good learning experience for both of us. We have been seeing just about everything you can think of. We saw a wreck where a guys trailer popped off and hit some mans bike right before he jumped off. Another time we were in a bus when a car ran into us. Thankfully no one was hurt, but the sound of the crash was just really loud…Elder Smith and I are trying to work hard and do the Lords work. That's all we can hope to do. Well, until next time!
Love, Elder

Hey Mom!
I´ll try to write two letters again. Dad told me that if I don't have a lot of time, to combine my letters to ya’ll, so I did. The mission has changed things up here lately about reporting numbers and such and so I have had to take more time finishing my reports. One of our investigators is SOOO close to making the commitment to be baptized. He is just waiting for a confirmation. He has even fasted and has read 1st Nephi twice and is starting 2nd Nephi. Because of his diligence, he is gaining more underlining of the gospel and he likes what he is learning.. He is basically a member already. I have had to kind of take over all the responsibilities of Elder Vega. I have been busy with a lot of things and I forgot to call Elder Vega to find out what time we were suppose to give a scheduled lesson on Friday. We are not allowed to carry the phone with us and so it looked as though we would not be able to make connections with a guy we had made arrangements to teach. Any way, we continued to work and while we were searching for some investigators that were referred to us, we heard "MYERS!" At first I was surprised because no one usually can say my name correctly. My name is always “Me-ers” --“Me-shers”--“My-shers”,--“Myers”--and my personal favorite, “Me-go.” Well, the investigator we were scheduled to teach (the one we didn’t know what time our appointment was)was the one who was calling my name. He just so happened to see us. and when he saw us, he rode out of his way on his bike to ask us if we were going to meet with him that day. From him we found out what time we were suppose to teach him that day. God continues to show us that His hand is really in every part of this work, even letting us know the time we are suppose to teach That was a pretty cool experience for me. Thanks for the stories Mom When I get home I want my own autographed paper plate!
Love you mama!
Elder Travis Myers

PS I think I am getting kind of sick. My voice has dropped about three octaves but all is well. I probably sound like Brother Roberts right now.

Samuel the Lamanite Experience

March 12, 2012 Letter received from Travis
Hey Mom and Dad!
**Well I have a surprise for you two. We had a baptism this week! We baptized a 9 year old boy named Lionel. It was kind of a surprise for me too. His dad is a member and his mom is Catholic. At first the mom did not want her son to get baptized but we continued to visit this family in their home quite a bit I believe the reason she finally allowed Lionel to be baptized is because she started feeling more comfortable around us. In fact, she is now even going to church.. I will try and send pictures of the baptism. That's basically the main thing that happened this week.

**Oh, one day while we were on the bus, someone on the outside of the bus, tried to spit on us. Thank goodness they missed! I think I know how Samuel the Lamanite felt.(while the stones and arrows missed him, the spit missed me!)

**The news for this week is.... I'm getting a new companion! His name is Elder Smith and he is from St. George UT. I don't really know that much about him but I do know we are about the same height and he has had one transfer ahead of me. I think we have about the same speaking and understanding ability of the language. We have no choice but to get better at the language now. That should be fun!

**Well, really that's about all the news for this week. Everyone is going crazy, getting ready for the new transfers plus, we are praying to see some miracles happen with some of our investigators. It is possible we could have about 3 baptisms next month and I am going to try hard to help that happen. Thanks for the news from home! Write ya’ll in a week with more news!
Con amor,
Elder Myers
**PS- Hey dad. to answer your question about the lady that said she needed to be baptized, well, she has some things to work out before she can be baptized.. But that is one reason why we are here—to help people prepare for baptism. I´ll tell you if anything good happens! Love yall! Elder Travis Dillon Myers

Loving the Work of the Lord

(Pictures taken by Elder Myers...he calls these "The Second Coming". They are SO beautiful!)
March 5, 2012

Hey Mom and Dad!
…This week a couple of interesting things happened. First off, Monday, one of our investigators apparently had a dream about me. He dreamed I was in the mountains of Bolivia, all dressed in white. I am not really sure what that was suppose to mean but we are going to continue working with that man. Also I went on exchanges with Elder Sanchez from Santiago, Chili, who was kind of having a bad week. Well, to put it simply, we went into this one house and taught four people about the restoration of the gospel. We asked them that IF they received an answer from the Lord that the things they were learning from us were true, would they be baptized by someone who has that restored authority. All of them said yes! . I think that boosted the confidence of both of us. It was one of the most spirit filled lessons I have ever experienced. One man that was in the corner of the room moved his seat right next to us just so he could hear better and was saying things like "Why haven’t I heard this before?” Everybody was on the edge of their seats, including Elder Sanchez and myself. It is experiences like this that testify to me that I am doing the Obra del Señor (work of the Lord). Every day I love the mission more and more. We have transfers next week so this might be my last full week with Elder Vega. I hope not, because we have been seeing some true miracles here. We´ll see. I Love YALL!
Love,
Elder Travis Myers

Head the promptings of the Spirit...

(Pictures sent by Travis from Argentina!)
February 27, 2012 Letter received from Travis

Hey Mom and Dad!

…As we were walking to the bus stop last Sunday, we got the impression to start walking a little faster. After a few seconds of walking faster, I felt like I should probably start running to the bus stop. Well, I started running kinda half-speed and as soon as we got to the end of the street, the bus passed in front of us at full speed. If I would have run a little faster, for sure, we would have caught the bus. As a consequence, we had to wait an extra 10 minutes for the next “collectivo” Although we made it to church right on time, it was a little learning experience for Elder Vega and myself.. Sometimes we (the missionaries) get feelings from the Spirit to do things and if we don’t act with all our hearts, we “miss the bus”, if you know what I mean. Thankfully this experience had no real consequences, but others might, so I learned it is always important to be in tune and act. Anyway, I believe I might be running to the bus stop more often. I love ya’ll!

Love,Your Son,

Elder Myers

BAPTISM in San Jose!

Hey Mom and Dad!

*I have to combine my letter to ya’ll today because I had some trouble sending the pictures. I´m still not exactly sure what pictures got sent because the computer was giving me some problems.

*We had a great week! There were 5 investigators that came to church yesterday, and we also had an awesome baptism. Because of the baptism for this one girl, about 5 or 6 more less active people came back to church and one of them gave a testimony that brought everyone to tears.

*We have been trying really hard to keep up with the mission expectations and well, we have been seeing miracles. One day a lady basically came up to us and ask, ¨Do you two baptize? My two kids and I need to get baptized. What do I have to do?” My jaw dropped! I have always heard stories about some people who are prepared and ready to receive the gospel, but wow! That was more than I could have asked for!!!. Also we went with one of the young men in the ward (named Diego) to visit one of his friends. We were only able to talk to him for about 5 minutes but to our surprise, Diego’s friend came to church on Sunday. He made new friends with all the members in the ward and is excited to come back next Sunday. I am loving it in San José!!!!

*I don”t have a lot more time to write but I want you all to know that I love you and that all is well. Talk to ya later!
Elder Myers

The City mall...

Christmas Post-Card from Travis, Received February 13, 2012

Padres! (Parents)

…I was just telling my companion the other day (in Spanish) how weird it was to finally be on a mission. It seems like my whole life revolved around the fact that I would some day be a missionary ---Well, here I am, trying to teach the gospel to a people I can hardly understand. All my life I can say that I was raised by “goodly parents” who showed me the way I should go. Anything of me that is good I owe to you two. “Yall” are the best parents and best friends I could ever ask for. I thank you and I love you with all of my heart forever.

Love, your son,

Elder Travis Dillon Myers

P.S. Merry Christmas

February 13, 2012 E-Mail Received from Travis

Dad,

*San Jose is going to be great. We are baptizing a girl this Sunday after church, and we are working with this one guy who wants to know if the church is true but is scared of what his friends and family will think if he joins. We FINALLY committed him to church for next Sunday (which is perfect because we have a baptism that week). There are also a couple of other people we have met (through inactive members) that we hope to teach...

*I have been on exchanges twice with Elder Vasquez (the one from Mexico who doesn't speak any English) and we actually had some productive days. Good news is that since I have been here in San Jose, I think I have learned a lot more Spanish.

*My companion Elder Vega (from Peru) is a super hard worker and I think we are going to see great success in this area. He is about 5´4"or 5´5"-- so sometimes I kinda look like his body guard.

*That's about all from me this week. I will be sending ya’ll some recent photos. Love ya’ and thanks for the News!
Love,
Your Son, Elder Myers

*P.S. In Malargue I lost a lot of weight but I think I have gained some of my weight back. I started an exercise plan here and have been exercising in the mornings.

February 13, 2012 E-Mail received from Travis

Hey Mom!

*Guess what? Out of the 20 lessons we were challenged to teach, we taught 24 lessons to less-active and recent convert families! And then, about 8 people from those families, went to church yesterday! We still have more work to do but the Lord commanded and He provided a way for us to accomplish the things He ask us to do. How cool is that?

*Today we (along with some other missionaries) went to the city mall (It’s called "shopping" here) for P-Day. We were looking for some cheap soccer jerseys.. I have to say, that the mall was REALLY nice. I would have to compare it with some of the nicest malls in the states. We even ate in a two story SUBWAY. Oh it was wonderful! Good times!. Some places here are actually very modern.

*Sorry I can’t write that much this week. I want to spend most of my letter time sending ya’ll some photos. I love you!
Your son Elder Myers.

*PS I will not be able to send photos this week. Computer problems---I’ll try next week

Reminder of home...

Hey Yall!
*…I am out of Malargue and now in San Jose. San Jose is in the suburbs of Mendoza.. We left Malargue at 3AM in a van because the buses would not get us to San Jose early enough. I had NO space to move in the van but it was alright because a bus ride would have probably been the most uncomfortable 5 hour ride of my life.

*After we arrived safely, I met my new companion. His name is Elder Vega and he is from Lima. Peru. The first thing he said to me was "What;s up bro?" He speaks perfect English. He spent 2 years at BYU studying business. In our apartment, there is Me, Elder Vega, Elder Vasquez from Mexico (who doesn’t know any English), and Elder Sanchez from Chile (who speaks English almost without an accent and he has never even been to the states.) It is pretty fun with these elders.

* The San Jose area is really small and compact. It takes us about 10 minutes max to walk to the next appointment compared to Malargue’s 1 hour max. The work is good and we are going to work as hard as possible to meet the mission goals, which is to be received by 20 people into their homes and to contact 20 people every week. Included in the mission goals, we are also challenged to visit 20 recent converts or less active members every week starting next week. We are going to have to start running from house to house to meet that goal. Ever since I got here, the mission goals have been constantly changing and getting tougher and tougher. But it’s possible—1 Nephi 3:7 7 … I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

* While I was looking around in the church last Sunday, I saw a print of the Houston Texas Temple on one of the family history posters. I took that as my SIGN that this is the place where I am suppose to be right now and I am pretty excited about working here.

*I got to see Elder Stufflebeam again. We are now in the same room writing our e-mails. Other than that, some random facts about my area,

1. The ditches smell REALLY bad

2. The Ward is really strong with about 80 people showing up every Sunday,

3. The weather is pretty hot but there are a ton of trees. San Jose kinda reminds me of

Texas, (but just a little colder). It’s nice.

4. We use the bus a lot to get around and there are a TON of buses.

5. We have an air conditioner in our apartment which is awesome!

*That’s about it for now. I’ll be sending pictures next week. The computers are really nice here and they take memory cards. I love it here and I love all of you!
Adios!

Elder Myers
PS Today we got a couple of missionaries together to celebrate Elder Vegas’ birthday. We had a Bar-B-Q (or as they say it here--asado). It was incredible.

PPS Everybody loves seeing pictures of my family, so if you can send some for me to print out that would be great! Once again-- love you! Your son Elder Myers