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