I am sending you pictures right now... Some are from yesterday, eating lunch with the Familia Loza, some at the house with the sunset, and some at the terminal, and then some when I arrived in Viedma with the big river... I love this place already... :)
So yeah, about 20 minutes ago, I just arrived in VIEDMA my new area. Don't you love how on some random Monday, I all of the sudden am in another part of the country? haha. OH and get this--I had another traveling adventure... at two in the morning, about 50 miles outside of Santa Rosa, the bus broke down. We had to wait until 6:30 in the morning for another bus, that already had people in it, to come get us. And then when I arrived in Bahía, I had to get on another bus that took me to Viedma. I was the only one to go to Viedma and when I got here, there were no missionaries that were there waiting for me because nobody let them now when I could have been arriving... I thought it was funny. Go to the map and look at where Viedma is in relation to Santa Rosa... I am sending you pictures right now... Some are from yesterday, eating lunch with the Familia Loza, some at the house with the sunset, and some at the terminal, and then some when I arrived in Viedma with the big river... I love this place already... :)
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Yeah, Thanksgiving was just a normal day, I think we ate spaghetti with chicken... that's it :)
So, Mirta didn't get baptized this week... she just didn't want to. We are pretty sure (but maybe not exactly sure) why, so we are going to visit her soon so that we can help her out. And maybe she could be baptized this week, let's pray... Ha ha, yeah, about the 3 weeks email... I am super bummed out. This means that after the 18th of this month, I will only have 6 months left... Qué Garrón.. We'll see what happens.. probably going home earlier... So, I have something I'm asking for... There is a guy from Brazil that sells Brazilian hammocks in front of our house on Saturdays and I really want one... they are really cool... I think I can talk the guy down for the price. It will be between 80 and 90 dollars. And if it could be this week that would be wonderful, because... I could leave this Sunday... don't know yet, but it's possible... Mom thanks for everything... I gotta go now, and take advantage of all the time possible... Love you!!! P.S. So yeah, big news, I just got an email that says I'll be going home the 18 of June in stead of the 6 of July :( Apparently because of the age change, they cut the time down in the MTC, which affects the transfers in the mission also... because of that cut in the MTC, they are going to cut 3 weeks of the mission for everyone... That's pretty rough for me... I really wanted to go all the way until July.... do all 24 months... (to Wyatt from the Mission Office, forwarded home)
Queridos Elderes y Hermanas, Estoy escribiéndoles para informarles de unos cambios que hay en sus fechas de relevo (el día que terminan la misión). Todos sabemos que los candidatos para la misión pueden salir a los 18 años (hombres) y 19 años (mujeres). A causa de eso el tiempo en el CCM se ha acortado. Ese cambio del tiempo en el CCM también cambiará los traslados en la misión. Esto solo afecta los misioneros que terminan su misión después de Enero 2013 y adelante. Los nuevos traslados son, Marzo 26, 2013 Mayo 7, 2013 Junio 18, 2013 Julio 30, 2013 Sept 10, 2013 Oct 22, 2013 Dec 03, 2013 Enero 14, 2014 Feb 25, 2014 Abril 08, 2014 y continuaran en ese orden hasta su fecha de salida. Eso significa de todo los misioneros van a terminar sus misiones en otra fecha. Su nueva fecha de relevo es 3 semanas antes de su fecha actual. Menos los misioneros que termina el 5 de marzo de este año. Ellos tendrían 3 semanas añadidas a sus misiones. Aquí tiene dos ejemplos, Si yo iba a terminar mi misión el 05 de Marzo ahora voy a termina el 26 de Marzo Otro ejemplo, Si iba a terminar su misión el 28 de Mayo ahora termina el 7 de Mayo Elderes y Hermanas sé que muchos van a querer hablar con el Presidente para cambiar sus fechas de salida, especialmente los de Marzo. Algunos van a quiere extender sus misiones y otros van a querer cortar el tiempo de sus misiones (los de marzo) pero el Presidente les pide que entiendan la situación y que respetan la decision que él ha tomado para el beneficio de la misión. En casos especiales pueden hablar con el Presidente para hacer unos cambios. Si tienen preguntas por favor mandenme un email a este correo. Gracias por su entendimiento, Elder Gonzalez So this means that I get three weeks of my mission cut off...... NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! I don't know if I'm a special case but I really want to see if I can get the extension to my real departure date... (from Mom to Wyatt) Haha, Wyatt! I don't even read Spanish, and had to run this through a crappy online translator (worse than Google Translate) a paragraph at a time, and even I can understand that you're not "a special case" for this (although you are most certainly special to ME!), evidenced by the THOUSAND other names that this email was sent to, and the fact that they said it was for everyone based on scheduled departure dates. And even though you would prefer an extension to your original departure date, I also read the part where they said, "we know you'll want to speak to the President and request an extension, but we really think this is the best way to handle everything for the mission, based on recent changes." Obviously, they are adjusting schedules to accommodate all the new missionaries that will be coming in after the announcement in General Conference. It's ok to have mixed emotions... Hope you're still writing me a letter and just not counting this FW: as your communication for the week... :) Hey Mom,
Congratulations to Hannah and Georg for their baby... Let me know what her name is... :) We had a really busy week last week, and it was pretty good. Thankfully our investigators went to church this weekend and for sure, one is getting baptized.. And that one is Mirta. And it's possible that her daughter Yesica gets baptized also. And then next week, it's possible that the other daughter will get baptized. Just so you know, today is 7 months in Santa Rosa.... Wow. I hope everything is ok over there... Love you Mom :) YESSSSS Packages on the way!!!!! We went to go to the terminal to get the packages for the zone, Elder Howard and I (another Elder whom I live with--he's one of the zone leaders actually), I WAS really hoping for a package... and there were six big boxes that we picked up, and none of them were mine.... but I didn't lose faith... So I'm really glad they're on the way. I know you hate typos... I imagine that you correct a lot of the things that I try to say in my emails haha. Wow, Wilder decided to cut his hair.... So it was really long in summer and in the cold winter he cuts it..... Well sounds good whatever he wants haha... Btw, it is really hot here today. Santa Rosa is like a humid field where the sun just pounds on you.... luckily the new internet place is nice and cool. Ok so we are trying to help five different people get baptized at the end of this transfer... we have 3 weeks left. We are trying to help Mirta and her daughters Mikaela, and Yesica. Also, Emanuel, and Lucas. They are the investigatores that have asistences at the church at the moment. Emanuel didn't come to church unfortunately and is difficult to find lately... Lucas... Lucas's wife was getting frustrated that Lucas was talking so much with us. We tried inviting her at one point but she didn't want to know anything. So he has been relatively difficult to find also. Mirta, Mikaela, and Yesica are a little timid and unsure if they want to get baptized yet... But the good news about all of these people is that they love the church and have desires to go, some more than others... More specifically, Mirta thinks that this is the true church and her daughters really enjoy being there. Especially because the members treat them really well. But yeah, the only thing is is that the baptism thing hasn't quite sunk in, so we're going to try to resolve whatever the doubt is. And then with the others we are going to try and find them during this week. Something super cool happened this week in the district. As a district, we arrived to a total of 34 new investigators. We don't usually do that and we are going to keep going up. (from Walker to Wyatt)
YOU AIN'T GONNA BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED TO ME YESTERDAY... After Mom finished choir practice she came home, Eileen is the Choir Leader so she was the last out... On her way home she saw a lady struggling to walk with her crutches because of all the snow we've received these past few days, so she and Reid took this lady home, she lives on the corner of Independence and Miami, on the south east side, in that brown house. They noticed that her sidewalks hadn't been shoveled so she stopped by our place just before dinner and asked me if I could go over there and do it because they were in a hurry to get back to the hospital (Kayla and Matt had their baby). SO I went over there and get like 1/2 way done then this guy walks out and demands that he gives me money, and I told him it wasn't necessary and that I was doing it just because it felt like the right thing to do. He then asked me my name and I introduced myself, his name is Larry English and he's a Vietnam vet. He then asked me if I was LDS and I said yes, then he said that he wanted to know more about our church.... But here's the thing bro, I was already going to go out with the missionaries later that night... so I got his phone number and told him that I would stop by a little bit later with the missionaries and he said ok. He went back inside, THEN ELDER COMACHO AND ELDER ROUTHIER CAME WALKING DOWN THE STREET.... I couldn't believe it! They were on their way to dinner and so I told them my story and they gave me the English speaking missionary's number so I could contact them. The English speaking missionaries names were Elder Medvecsky and Elder Logan, so we went back over to Larry's house at 7:00 and we had a pretty good talk. He talked a lot about himself and his past, which was kinda a stretch because he talks slow and so much... Haha but anyway we gave him a Book of Mormon to read and he said a prayer and it was so sincere, the spirit was strong let me tell you brother! So we're going back to Larry's house tonight to talk more about the gospel with him. Great experience for me. Oh and I've got some exciting news for you... One of my friends from USU got her mission call last week, to Bahia Blanca Argentina! She leaves in February, so if the visa doesn't back her up she'll be down there before you leave. Her name is Alison Vincent, she's pretty cool! I hope to hear from you! Love you man. THE CHURCH IS TRUE *Bro. Sweat Voice* Yeah I heard about the Obama thing. Whenever we're walking in the street and we go to talk to people, about every other person asks us what we think about the eleccions... We evade the subject if possible.
That mission apartment of Grandma & Grandpa's looks really nice... It seems like an apartment where they would put 4 missionaries down here, haha, and it would be like the Ritz Hotel!!! The apartment that we are living in actually is one of the nicest apartments in the mission. Thanks for the update on Wilder's Eagle Project. I would love to go to Africa with Andy one day, I think that would be one of the coolest things ever... You think Wilder's already forgotten how to drive? Don't be surprised if I've forgotten also haha... The ATM thing... No, it didn't give me a receipt either. Sorry, I think we're in the hole with this one. It was one of those ATMs right in front of the bus station that just always gets banged up, and I'm not sure if there are any cameras.. ya está... Elder Cross and I have this investigator named Emanuel. He is super cool, he's a capo. He came to Church by himself yesterday and to the young adults activity that they had also. We met him two weeks ago and that's when we taught him the first time. We taught him the whole lesson on the restoration and he whipped out some doubts as we were teaching him. He had been to the Evangelical church and the Jehovahs Witnesses, even got baptized in the evangelical church but as he said, "It didn't fill him." Because he's been looking for the thing that "fills him" that is really going to bless him, or in other words the church... The second time we taught him was Saturday in the afternoon at the church. We can't go to his house because his mom doesn't want us to go there at all. Not really sure why she doesn't like us... But anyway while we were teaching him he said that he had already read like 200 pages in the Book of Mormon, in two weeks!!! And he believes it's true... If he goes to institute we're pretty sure he'll get baptized. We have a bunch of investigatores that we have to see and teach this week, and we gotta make sure they go to church. It's pretty fun... and it's looking like in the last two weeks of the transfer we could be having a few baptisms, we're going to make sure there are a lot... (BIG photo !!!! :) So we are really excited to be working... After practically 3 conferences, I am really excited. My three favorite things in Missionary work... Baptizing, Finding new investigators, and Teaching... Best ever. Love you Mom!!! Ok, so yeah, last week my letter to you was a little lame. Sorry about that. I didn't have as much time as usual because I was commenting some more things to President that the time kind of slipped.. Sorry about that...
The Mission President had all the leaders come to Bahia Blanca for a leadership conference which was Monday and Tuesday (today). So I didn't get p day, which pushed the computer time to today. Not for any other reason am I writing to you a day later. Just that they had us in a conference and working instead. Thanks for the pictures, your Klingon costumes were pretty cool looking :) And I was really happy seeing the photo of everyone by the temple. Also, I forgot to ask, what exactly was Wilder's Eagle project with the old computers...? By the end of this transfer (4 and a half weeks) I will have had 7 and a half months in ONE area. That has never happened to me before and in a lot of cases is very rare. Why I am here this long is vague to me also. Probably because God just wants me here, or he still has stuff for me to learn, or there are a lot of people that he wants me and my comp to find, not sure... with that being said, I'm glad I'm here :) The money thing, yeah, I know I was super vague. But what you sent was just fine.... The only problem is, is that when I went to go take it out, the ATM had an error. It didn't give me my money but withdrew it from my account... If the bank can to anything to fix it, that would be great because here they can't do anything about it. That's what the office Elder that manages the funds told me. Luckily the church money came... I'm doing fine and I am taking care of it. This last Sunday there was a family of investigators in church... They are wonderful. The mom's name is Mirta. Ill give you the low down on all my investigators next week. This is the only time I have in a week to hear from my family, Super important for me. I read and even re-read things that I receive even print things out. I Love you. How's grandma's back doing? Hasta luego.. :) Este cómo es.... Wow, Wilder will be working at Camp Steiner that's super cool. My tip for him, get ready to work. But it'll be fun also.
The transfers came, but I'm still here in Santa Rosa!!! Looks like there's still a lot of stuff I need to do (as I figured). By the end of the next transfer I will have seven and a half months here in Santa Rosa. Now that I have more time here in Santa Rosa, I guess I'll be able to get you some more pictures :) We had our Zone Conference this past Friday and the Stake Conference here in Santa Rosa... they were both really fantastic. I need something... We heard from the Asistentes to the President that our money for the month isn't going to arrive on time... and they don't know when it is going to arrive. So I have had to use most of my back up money on food and such stuff.. But I did also buy a couple of souvenirs :) a knife and a mate.. and an Argentine hoodie... But what I need is a little bit more money in case our church money doesn't come. Can I have some, haha...? And just so you know, it costs me about 5 dollars every time I take money out of the ATM, and they don't accept cards here a lot.. just wanted you to know that... Love you Mom!!! (To Wyatt from Walker): "Dear Elder Koeven, you are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Spain Madrid Mission, and will report to the Spain Missionary Training Center on March 20, 2013." VIVA ESPANA! Is that exciting or what? It's the Spain MTC as well! March is a little ways away though but it's alright, just gives me some more time to prepare and get myself geared up for it! You and I will both be able to speak Spanish to one another! Nicholas Shrum had his farewell today, only had to wait a month and a half to get out there! If you're not aware he'll be serving in San Fernando, Calif. He'll do a good job, too. I bought El Libro de Mormon the other day! It's going to be quite the adjustment for me! I'm confident in my ability though, no challenge is too big. I am so pumped to get over to Spain to take the restored Gospel of Christ to them. CAN'T WAIT. Mom was pretty devastated that I wasn't going to be gone before Christmas, guess that means I'll be able to skype with you again then. That's something to look forward to! Hope to hear from you soon! Adios! Love, Walker Mi Hermano! No me diga!!!! That is so tight..... España!!!!!! My mission president and his wife are from Spain... No way!!!!! That is so sick... Keeping the out of states tradition, haha ... fantastic. Man that is so cool... What are you doing lately... Working at the Sandwich shop or....? What are you going to do in order to start learning Spanish? I have an idea, find everyone you know and start trying to learn Spanish from them... Go buy a verb book and learn how to conjugate the verbs and go get a Spanish dictionary Start learning the grammar and just start trying to say stuff correctly. Also try to build the accent. That's how I learned the best... Immersion and just talking ALOT. We are always talking to a ton of people so it's good practice. Spain MTC, that's super cool!!! The MTC in Provo is just a mall of missionaries... it should be a little more different in Madrid I imagine... but then again I don't know anything about the Spain MTC. (By the way in Spanish, MTC is El CCM...) You may be super close to the temple also!! Another thing to help in learning Spanish is reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish out loud... You will have the biggest headache the first time but there really is a power in the book and it will make your Spanish better as you read it over time OUT LOUD. I think it even helps if you plug your nose because you use your tongue more to talk instead of your nose... In Spanish your tongue moves like crrrrazzy... Have this word ringing in your mind also.... BAPTISMS or even.... BAUTISMOS....BAUTIZAR.... VAMOS A BAUTIZAR.. HAY QUE BAUTIZAR.... LO MAS IMPORTANTE PARA MÍ ES BAUTIZAR... Don't forget also... You want to be a super good teacher when you walk in to the MTC and in the field... You can't think you are the best thing that walked in Eccos, but you have to really want and try to be a good teacher :) Study the bible, Book of Mormon, and that chapter 3 in Preach My Gospel... Me he puesto metas de mejorar también. Siempre estamos tratando de mejorar y debemos anhelar mejorarnos... Y ahí vamos a sentir contentos. Usted tiene que hacer todo para que pueda enseñar con claridad con el fin que sus investigadores entiendan que necesitan seguir los compromisos que les dará para que ellos sean convertidos seguir a Jesucristo... This will be the best... All this Spanish preparation and when you get into the field... Don't be lazy, Don't be prideful :) Study Spanish, and study the scriptures :) Chow!! Get started on the Spanish!!! |
RIGHT NOW, WYATT IS IN:Viedma, Rio Negro, Argentina Archives
April 2013
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