Doing A Good Turn Daily

This is the house of familia Priess. Br. Priess (in front taking the picture) is the 1st counselor in the bishopric and his wife (far left) is he relief society president. She washes our clothes! We went to go pick up our laundry and they were having a party! Behind me is Bishop Vera. They invited us in and gave us pizza.

It's always a fun week with Elder Dominguez! It is getting freezing here. I walked to church yesterday with 6 layers of clothes on.

I had the opportunity to do some this week that I never thought I would do. I helped an old lady cross the street. I thought that situation only happened in movies or in books! We were waiting to cross this really busy street when I saw a lady with a cane next to us. I asked if she needed to cross and if I could help her. She said "Si por favor mi querido!"  (yes please my dear!) She took my arm and we accompanied her across through the traffic. It was something so small but made me feel so good doing it. It reminded me of a poem quoted by the Prophet Thomas Monson. "I have never felt regret for preforming an act of service, but I have for not doing so." I cannot imagine how I would have felt if I had walked away instead of offering my help.

E. came to church yesterday! For 2 weeks in a row he has come. He asked how soon he could get baptized! We were so surprised to hear that. He will be baptized on the 4th of June if all goes well!

We are working hard not hardly working here in Merlo!

Elder Gygi

Mother's Day Skyping

It was a great week, especially because I was able to Skype with my whole family! Crazy how awesome technology is. Mom and Taylor (and Brigham, who I count as my family) in Arizona, Sean in Utah, Dad in Washington DC, and Me in Buenos Aires. I was so happy that I forgot to say Happy Mother’s Day!! Sorry mom... Feliz Dia de Madre!

We received the news on transfers. Both Elder Dominguez and I will stay here in Merlo 1 for 6 more weeks! I am very happy that I get to finish his training. 

We had a great miracle on Sunday. We invited our investigators to church but they never showed up. We were disappointed that they didn’t come. Just before sacrament meeting started, however, a man named E. walked in the building from off the streets. We had never seen him so we introduced ourselves. He just moved here from Brasil where he attended church twice with the Elders there and was surprised to see the same church here in Merlo. He stayed for the meeting and really enjoyed it. We were extremely happy for that!

Something funny happened this week also. We had just picked up lunch from a member (milanesa sandwiches!! Yessss!!!) and were walking back to the apartment to eat. A guy on a street corner stopped us and says "You guys are Jehovah's witnesses right?" We said no we're Mormons! He the asked us what Bible we use. I told him we use the Reina Valera (standard version of the Spanish bible). He happily said "Great that's what I read everyday!" He was very interested and we talked for a while and gave him a pamphlet about Joseph Smith. He then asked if he could take a picture with me. "What why?" I asked him. "Because I’ve always wanted to a picture with an American!" he replied. Haahaha so I took a picture with him and he gave us his address to visit him later! 

2 months ago, Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve visited our mission. I have been thinking recently about something I leaned. A missionary asked what we could do to be more effective. He said to us that we need to get out of the way and let the Lord work. Stop fighting against what He wants us to do. He then quoted a scripture that says, "Lose your life in the service of others." I have been pondering that scripture. It does not say, "lose 1 day, lose 6 weeks, lose 2 years in the service of others." The Savior taught us that he shall lose life for the Gospel’s sake shall find it again. I have learned that I am not serving a 2-year mission. I still have a life full of devoted discipleship to give as an offer the Savior for his for me. And that still is not enough to repay him. I know, however, that it is better than giving nothing.

I love this Church and the opportunity I have been given to serve.

Sincerely
Elder Gygi

Selfie Haircuts

Jared did not write a letter on P-Day. However, we did discuss our Mother's Day phone call on Sunday. He did send the following photos. He gave himself and his companion haircuts. Fortunately for Elder Dominguez, short missionary hair is able to hide a bad cut and guys' short styles grow out quickly :/

Selfie Haircut

A stake activity where Jared was able to see D. who was baptized in March.

April 25

Tomorrow I will finish 8 months in the mission. It has gone by very fast. I learned something this week. The concept of "Costco" is very hard to explain to anyone who is not from the United States. I know, I tried. The conversation with my comp Elder Dominguez went like this: "So you're saying that you can buy toilet paper in packs of 30, 5 gallons of ketchup, a hot tub, and a flat screen TV all at the same store? Why would anyone need that much ketchup??" I was just laughing this whole time! He could not understand why such a store exists. 

I do not know if has been on the news in the states but there was a recent tragedy here in Argentina. The was an electronic music festival and a bunch of teens decided to take a new drug. 3 died and more were hospitalized. That is already bad but one thing to know about this is that some of these kids weren't even drug addicts. They just thought, "My friends are doing this so I guess I'll try it." And look at what happened. What I learned from this is that it is not worth it to touch drugs or alcohol even once. A scripture that have been trying to memorize this week is 1 Corinthians 10:13:

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

No matter what, there is always a way out. If you have to leave a party and walk home, so be it. There's your way out. I have a testimony of that.

Elder Gygi

Merlo Sunset

It's Getting Cold :/

Not much to report this week. Also the keyboard on this computer is terrible. We had a good week with a lot of rain and cold weather. I am not prepared for the cold. 

We found a new person to teach this week. Her name is M. Someone told us to go visit her brother because he is interested in the church. We went but he was not there. We started talking to M, his sister and she had a lot of questions. We asked to come in and help explain our religion to her. She let us and we taught her the story of Joesph Smith and gave her a Book of Mormon. Elder Dominguez is very exited. He just loves to teach people! 

All is well here, I continue to gain weight eating pasta, barbecue, and pasta every day! 

Sinceremente,
Elder Gygi



Jared thinks Otto will listen better if he teaches him the following spanish words:
sentate - sit
piso- floor (lay down)
fuera - go outside
cucha - doghouse



Sister Sarah Stratton, thanks for teaching Jared to love playing the piano!

We Were So Lost

¡Buen dia! 

We had a fun week! Elder Dominguez is adjusting to the missionary life. It is tons of fun to be a trainer. This past week we got so lost. Both of us are brand new to this area so we have no idea where things are. Sometimes we just get on a bus not even knowing where it goes! The other day it was about 8:00pm and we needed to start heading back home. It was dark, cold, and rainy. We saw a bus coming that said #504, which we have taken before and vaguely knew where it went. I said to Elder Dominguez, "I think this is going to take us the right way, lets get on." So we got on and were going for about 15 minutes. We could not see out the windows because it was so dark and rainy. We both felt that we needed to get off. So we get off and we do not recognize anything. We were by some train tracks and a forest and there were street names I had never seen. Strangely, however, I did not feel the least bit worried! I said a prayer that we would get home safely. Both of us felt that we should just start walking. After about 15 minutes of walking, we come to a church. The sign in front says ´The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.´ We ring the doorbell (it was all locked) and 2 other elders from our zone come out. They looked very confused to see us. We had traveled 20 miles out of our area! We explained that we were very lost and they showed us what bus to take and where to go. We made it home safely. 

I am grateful for the power of prayer and the guide of the Spirit in my life. I know I had that experience for a reason. 

Elder Gygi

My Hijo, Elder Dominguez

 So I am in a new area with a brand new missionary. My hijo, Elder Dominguez, is from San Juan, Argentina! He’s a great guy! The fun thing about having Latino companions is that I will suddenly realize that I haven’t spoken English in like a month. I am very excited to train him. We are in a new area, Merlo 1. It’s a bigger city area. 

Conference was great! Anyone that didn’t watch I encourage to go watch it online! Especially the final talk given by Elder Holland. This conference was a unique experience. I watched the first session in Spanish. Then we figured out how to get the TV working and found it in English. So 8 American missionaries were crammed in a small side room in the church listening to words spoken by God’s prophet. Definitely a spiritual experience to remember. I know that God has a chosen prophet here to guide us. I know because I have heard him, and I am following his counsel.

Elder Gygi

A sole of 1,000 miles!!