Missionary Project Update:

Hey Mom and Dad!
Well, I must say, our big missionary “miracle” project did not go exactly as planned, but I do believe it went exactly as the Lord planned. We saw too many miracles for this not to have gone as God intended. I thought I knew what real faith was before my mission. I was wrong. Within the past few weeks, I have learned more about faith and have had to exercise my faith more than I probably ever have had to in my entire life. In the scriptures we learn that after the Lord called Enoch to preach repentance to the people, Enoch ask the Lord, “Why is it that I have found favor in Thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech; wherefore am I Thy servant?” Like Enoch, I can hardly talk (the language) and some of the people here
don't even like me! A few times I have wondered to myself-- how can I possibly do all this?¨ So, this is what happened last week with our Missionary Project (which was to invite as many people as we could possibly invite to the main plaza of Malargue, to hear 3 missionaries, including myself, to teach about the Restoration of the Lord’s Gospel) We ended up getting publicity through the main radio station in the District of Malargue (not just the city) and from another local radio station (which I thought was kind of humorous because they were playing Alan Jackson before our commercial.) We got Elder Stufflebeam to announce our activity in his radio voice. It only cost us around 40 pesos total (equal to about $10 US dollars.) AND we got a TV commercial, which was completely free!. I have written down all the miracles that happened day by day. Sadly, we encountered some problems on the day of the activity. As huge dark clouds were lurking over the mountains, we moved 120 chairs, a chalkboard, and a podium in the back of the Branch Presidents truck (yes, they somehow all fit into his pick-up truck. I have a picture to prove it.) Then it started to rain pretty hard At first I must admit I was a little down and couldn’t help asking ¨Why is this happening?¨ --but then I began to remember what had already happened to make this come to pass. So we, (the elders and the Branch President) said a prayer. After the prayer we were off without any complaints and the rain eventually stopped. We drove to the plaza and when we got there, we set up all the chairs, etc. Right before our activity, we encountered another problem. Because of the storm that was suppose to happen, the city turned off the power in the plaza. With no power, the sound guy that came (for free) did not have anything to power the giant speakers he brought. We had about 20-30 people in attendance (which was probably the largest activity the Church has ever had here) A few of the members attended the activity and the only members who brought their friends were the ones who were recently baptized. But even though we were without the power speakers and had a lot of empty chairs, we sang a lot and I believe our talks went very well. I think the Lord got his point across about how important it is for the members to be involved in bringing their friends to the missionary activities. The missionaries can do all they can, the branch president can do everything in his power, but without the help of the members, missionary work is always going to be slower than God intends it to be. I hope this activity showed the members how much they need to be involved because that is what I believe the end result was suppose to be for this activity. That being said, a lot of the members told us that the reason they did not attend the activity was because they thought it was going to rain. We assume many others thought the same thing. We are going to have two more of these activities, and hopefully with the help of the members, it will be even a greater success. I love you both and I thank you for everything you have prepared me for. I needed every bit of it, especially now.
Love you both so much,
Your Son Elder Myers

PS- I don´t need vitamins. I've inherited quite a few from Elder Davenport and from my MTC companion, Elder Swarts. Thanks anyway! Also, I just bought some hair clippers, so I should be getting my first missionary haircut in Argentina today (I know, my hair is a little too long but I am trying to repent of that... for good.)

Learning the PIANO!

Hola. I don’t have much time this week because of a mission project I have been working on -but know this, by the end of the week I will be helping teach the first lesson in front of a fairly large audience of people in a language I don’t completely understand! Awesome huh? My new companion is Elder Kammerman and he is a very good Elder. He only gets to be here for three weeks because of military purposes. Here is some advice for those of you wanting to go on a mission. LEARN TO PLAY THE PIANO! (One of the Elders in our group, Elder Luke, is teaching me how to play the piano. It would have been better if I had learned to play the piano before my mission) Also, do every thing you can do to improve your memory because having a good memory is so useful in the mission field. To help improve my memory, I am trying to memorize a scripture a day and I can already see improvements. And last of all, study the scriptures-- because if you study the scriptures you will be basically set! That’s all I have time for today! Love you and talk to you later! - Elder Myers

ZONE CONFERENCE & a Baptism!

(Elder Aidukaitis of the Seventy)

Hola! Como le va? Bien? Bueno. Well, it has been another crazy week here. First of all- my companion had to go to Mendoza for a district meeting. He will be gone for 2 days. While he is gone, I will join the other two missionaries (Elder Luke from Colorado and Elder Stufflebeam—And yes, that is how you spell his name) Just so you know mom, Elder Stufflebeam has a great narrator voice-with no accent! I’m not kidding! He could be on the radio. Other elders always try to get him to tell stories because they just want to listen to his voice. So, I think I found your narrator for Christmas on Both Hemispheres! (Dad, There’s not much to say about our apartment except that we live on the second story of a Shoe Store) We took a trip to San Rafael for a Zone Conference and we got to hear from Elder Aidukaitis of the Seventy. He taught us how we should plan. He flat-out said (in Spanish of course) that none of us knew how to plan. He challenged us to take 6-7 hours this week when we do our weekly planning. He said that if we would do that, we would learn how to plan.. Our jaws basically dropped. He, the mission president, and the mission presidents wife, gave us a ton of great advice and I already feel like a better missionary. Lastly and the best news of all was that we had a family of three get baptized this week! I didn't do any baptizing, but I gave the baptismal talk and surprisingly enough I don't think it was that bad! Also, we (the missionaries) participated in a special musical number before the baptisms. During the baptismal service we could feel the families happiness. Afterwards, the father went up to my companion and said with tears in his eyes, "I feel like all my guilt is just gone". They are an awesome family. I could literally see the changes in their lives as I got to help teach them. They are like new people. To think, the wife didn't even believe in God before the missionaries found their family, and now she might be one of the strongest converts in the whole mission. I'm more excited than I ever have been. This is what missionary work is all about, talking with people and trying your best to make them as happy as they can be.

I love it here! - An excited Elder Myers
PS- Random fact about the Argentine culture: People are amazing on bikes. Everyone rides bikes and they hardly ever use their hands (even when turning). If they do use their hands, it is usually because they are holding a big box or something

Travis' Response Note to Mom’s letter:
Hahaha! I love you mom! By the way, I probably weigh less than I did in high school. We walk ALL day. but I'm trying to keep some muscle and work-out in the mornings with those bands I got before I left. Most of the time I just feel real stiff and just stretch --but its all good. I would love to be a part of your Spanish/English lessons. I’m glad to hear about the choir. "What would the Lord want you to do?" (Note from Rachel: When Travis was home, I encouraged him to be in the Ward Choir. He really did not want to be in the choir and when he hesitated I ask him, “Travis, what would the Lord want you to do?” Reluctantly, he would attend the Choir practices.) I love you tons Mom!

Travis' Response Note to Dad’s letter.
I would LOVE to go to any fish restaurant right now. The only seafood I've had here is squid and tuna and that was only because my companion couldn't believe he could find squid and I was craving some tuna. The squid sandwich was disgusting. Most of the time, we usually just have noodles and meat. The meat has actually been going up in price here so we don't get as much meat as I first thought we would. We are fed pretty well though. Love you dad! Your son Elder Travis Myers

Presidential Election in Argentina

Wow--Crazy week. Yesterday was the presidential election in Argentina and the people were just going crazy last night. Here, everybody has to vote and elections are a HUGE deal. Apparently they found out who won last night and so everybody got in their cars and honked their horns all night long. Great tradition! Also there was basically a drum line on the main street of Malargue (Ma-Larg-Way) and because we live right off that same street, thankfully we heard all of the celebration. I was so tired last night that even with all the noise, I was able to fall asleep within 5 minutes. I believe it is a gift to be able to sleep through noise. We had the best preparation day possible. A family that is about to get baptized, and who really like the missionaries, decided to take us to the most beautiful place in all of Malargue. I'll send pictures later but look up "Las Leñas" if you have the chance. It was awesome! While there, I made a small snowman in the mountains. More good news! We found a family that looked moderately interested in hearing the gospel. We started knocking on the doors (If they have a fence you just clap really loud as many times as you want. I can now clap fairly loud) and we taught this lady a short lesson at her door. She said we could come back! So excited! More good news! I'm starting to understand and talk more with people. One time I was listening to this guy and from what I could understood, he was telling us that he drank so much soda that his feet started to swell like pumpkins and he had to drink water to get all the sugar out. After that conversation with this guy, I was thinking I needed to practice my Spanish more because my translation of what he was saying was ridiculous. As it turned out, my translation was correct! That is exactly what he was saying!. The Doctor actually told him he needed to drink water to get the sugar out of his feet. All is well here and its great to hear from you! Talk to you later!

Elder Myers

PS- Here's another note for Kami. I heard all the big cooks here (Like the Martha Stewart’s of Argentina) just put a ton of alcohol in everything. You have to be careful with the ice cream (helado) here because a lot of it has alcohol. I do have another favorite food here---Pastel de papa. It's one of the best foods in Argentina. ¡Es muy rica!

COLECTIVOS, SEQUIAS and barking that never ceases...

(Colectivos)
(Sequias)

Hey Family!
I´m glad to hear from everybody! I liked the pictures and letters muchisimo (very much). The language is coming along a little better. I am trying to talk more in the lessons. At least the people we teach seem to understand what I´m trying to say.
We had a lot more lessons this week, mainly with less active members and quiet a few of them came back to church this week. Oh, I gave a talk in church this week about prophets and why it’s important to follow their words. I guess it was alright. I´ll keep it to see how bad it actually was after my mission. hahaha. It was really windy this week. I had to walk sideways at what seemed to be a 45 degree angle just to stand up. There are about 3 dogs of every kind to every person. The barking never ceases. I think a dog tried to bite me a few days ago but it missed (kinda funny). The dog was pretty little so I´m not sure it would have hurt that much anyway. One thing that's pretty interesting here are the buses, called colectivos. They are two-story buses that are more like miniature planes. We took one this morning for our Preparation Day to the city San Rafael. Because we are so far away from everybody, we are allowed to take trips outside of our area twice a month. San Rafael is pretty awesome. A Cyber (pronounced see-bear in a Spanish accent) is where we go every week to e-mail. They have a lot better computers there. I was going to send pictures today but... we woke up 10 minutes before our colectivo was to leave and in all the rush, I forgot them.

Because we live so close to the mountains, they have some ditch like things called sequias, which are usually about 3 feet deep and a foot or two wide. These sequias channel the water all over the city. Here we are challenged to talk to 10 people a day. One day while we were at the sequia, I noticed one family walk from the road to the sidewalk. It seemed they were trying to avoid us. I needed to talk to one more person to fill my quota for the day and it was nearing the time to go back to the apartment (pension or in missionary terms Pench). So, I decided to pick up my pace a bit, jump across the sequia (say-key-a) and say hello to the family on the sidewalk. I´m not sure they were so happy to see me but I was just overjoyed! Yep, things are always getting better here and I think I´m almost getting used to things.With my Spanish improving, I even think the members are starting to like me a little better.
Love ya!
Elder Travis Myers

PS- Note to Kami. Look up the recipe for Dulce de Leche. Put it on anything!!! Awesome!!

Mom and Dad,
I´m glad to hear it´s raining again! Mama, I loved the story you told about going to church in the Rain. I love you both and have been thinking about "yall" pretty often. Don't worry--. not to the point of home sickness. I try to work harder when I think about home, so don´t worry about me.
Your son Elder Travis Myers

Keep praying for me!

(Food Travis talked about in this letter...Noquis)

Hey Everyone!
Okay so this was more or less crazy. We're having a ton of luck with people in the streets and everyone seems to want to hear the gospel. However, when we go to their house we either find out the address does not even exist or they are not there. We haven't been in a single new investigators house. We then always end up giving practice lessons at a members house. I guess we're just not having much luck. Next week I think we are going to actually visit someone new, but just in case, pray people will be there. I still can hardly understand anyone and some of the members of the branch don't like me as much because I can't understand anything they are saying to me. Oh well. I made a study plan so I'm not really worried about it. Donny will be happy to know I made my first cardboard, Ensign picture scripture case. I need to buy some more tape, but I must say it looks pretty sweet. Also, I got sick at the first part of the week, and then the day after I started feeling better we had a hailstorm. It was kind of funny. We were buying milk for a member, dont ask, and as we were walking back it just started hailing like crazy. I'd say fruit-loop sized hail. No rain. It covered the ground in a matter of five minutes. It looked like it had snowed! Also, I got to go on exchanges with the other new missionary who has the same amout of time out as I do. Surprisingly, we didn't do too bad and we made it through the day. As for the ward, there are about 40 people attending church and about 600 members. That's something we plan on working on. The food is pretty good. We mostly make it ourselves, but the members feed us pretty often. I've had things called ñoquis which were awesome (Kami might want to look them up) and beef filled green baby pumpkins with potatoes...that was interesting. The people are great, the kids shout "Heelo! Wha chour name?" - and things like that. Yes, I have been called a giraffe. Some kid took our name tags for about five minutes. Dogs are everywhere and only one of them looked like it would have bite us so that's all good. Well, I can't write everything down here. I've already seen miracles happen here, but I dont really have time to write them all. I'm keeping up with my journal so don't worry.
Love all of you!
Elder Myers

PS We don't get to wash clothes much, but I'm suppose to wash them today... Love ya mom and dad!

He's serving in his first area! Malargüe, Argentina!

(Look how close he is to CHILE!)


(Dirt road in Malargüe - on Wikipedia it says that the city is known for its traditional dish, the chivito (baby goat), so I thought this picture was appropriate!)

Padres! (parents)

It’s great to hear from you. And, it is really difficult to type on a Spanish keyboard, but all is well. Please don’t give me any more wonderful food descriptions. (like the dinners you had with family last weekend) I can’t take it.!

The airports in Argentina were fun. Before leaving the MTC, I finally got to the point where I could understand the language pretty well and then when I arrived in Argentina, I found out that the myth was true! The language we learned at the MTC is NOT the same language the people speak in Argentina! People talk so fast and so slurred. It’s unbelievable! That was kind of a shock to me.

We finally got to Mendoza, spent the night in a little house lined with razor wire, and we all had a blast! We woke up the next morning, had a little bit of breakfast, got some training, had lunch, met our new companions, and then had some more training. There is apparently a new pilot program in the mission field where we (the new missionaries) take the lead in the lessons. WE invite people to baptism in the first lesson and WE also start the Restoration lesson.

On to my companion. His name is Elder Davenport and is from Idaho. When I asked him where we would be serving he said, ...”I will tell you later.” I soon found out we were heading south, to a place called Malargüe, the furthest area away from Mendoza. It was a really fun- six hour- bus ride! We are 6 hours away from the mission home and the closest missionaries to us are three hours away. There are 4 missionaries here (including me) and we do a LOT of walking.

The first day we walked a lot, presented one lesson, and had a meal at a members house. I didn't understand a word anyone said that day, but about 6 people on the street gave us their addresses.

The second day we walked by about ten houses and no one was home. We didn't get a single address from anybody. My legs have never been more sore. At least I'm getting stronger!

Although I can’t really understand the people that much... I try to talk to the people on the streets. Any time they say something. I have to turn to my companion for help. There isn’t much grass here so my shoes and basically everything else that I wear has a nice layer of dirt on them. Yes mom, there are dirt roads. All is well though so don't worry because I'm starting to understand the people little by little.

One funny story for the week. We talked to this really happy guy who knew a little bit of English. When my companion asked him where he learned it, he said something that I couldn’t understand. (Imagine that!) Anyway, we continued our conversation with him. Afterwards I asked my companion where the guy had learned English. "He learned it in prison Elder. I’m just glad he didn't kill any body!" Fun huh? Well, we are protected and that guy was too nice to us to do anything anyway.

Love you all and I love it here!
Elder ¿Misheres? (Myers)

PS Tell Brother Roberts I have already had four alfajores and I am buying my milk in bags Also, I got to watch General Conference in English. I loved it. It seemed to me the talks were all about missionary work and I plan on using every bit of advice I received! Love yall!