Nate's quick email...

         (Nate sent a quick email from the mission office in Resistencia this week, he was quite busy this first P-Day and didn’t have a chance to write too much. He did send a few pictures home though. They are of his last week in Formosa. He was going to write another letter explaining what happened to him this week, what with the visit from Elder Packer of the Seventy and also with being transferred to the mission office, but he didn’t get a chance to get back to it on his P-day. I guess we will hear about it in his letter to us next week.)

         He did, however, respond to our letters from the previous week. I had asked him if it was alright for his investigator A, to send a video of him that she had already sent to me, I was concerned about mission rules and I wanted to see if that was okay, and he said,) A, is fine to send the videos to you. A, had surgery this week so she didn´t make it out to church on Sunday. (He had also been bitten by a dog, the previous week and I was concerned, so I told him that I am sending him a dog whistle and he said,) Thanks for getting the dog whistle, the dog bite wasn´t a big deal, it was hardly a wound, to be honest. It healed super fast and I am fine, Haha! Don´t worry about the dog bite.

           Elder Ashby paid for all the Taxi’s we took to the hospitals for my dog bite with mission money and it all will get reimbursed to him. We get money back when we travel, and that will be part of my job in the office. I have to give the missionaries money from all of the travel they do in taxis, buses and other things. We also couldn´t move into that new pension before we were transferred out, so now the zone leaders of that area are looking for a new pension for the elders who were transferred there. We were able to contact most of the 36 references that we had for the activity before we left Formosa.

         I am in the mission office now and it is a completely different experience than what I’ve experienced on the rest of my mission so far. Sorry, I don´t have a ton to say in this letter because I am going to write another email to talk about the office more. I wish I could show Elder Ashby some of the pictures we took last week, but I am with my new companion now. Maybe when we get home from the mission I can show them to him. Everyone down here loves cool ties, I can´t wait to get the ones that you are going to send to me.  Love and miss you all!

Chau,

Elder Pendleton

(Looking forward to his email this week, hope it’s a little longer, he didn’t even tell me who his companion was! Haha!)

Last week in Formosa...

Transfer day on the way to Resistencia with Elder Ashby...

A visit to the Resistencia, Argentina Mission by Elder Allan F. Packer of the Seventy, he is the eldest son of President Boyd K. Packer...

Mission office... Elder Afane and I

First P-Day in Resistencia...

Picture of me next to a mural of "Rango"...

Saying Goodbye to Formosa and a great companion!

This week Elder Pendleton was transferred to the Mission Office to become the new Financial Secretary over the mission. He will still be doing missionary work along with his other duties as the secretary.

His companion, Elder Garrett Ashby was called to become the new District Leader for another area in the mission, the Santa Fe area. He is going to be an awesome District Leader!

They have had a great time serving together! 

Nate's P Days, when he is allowed to write home, will now be on Friday's so if you want to write to him, you will need to do it before that day. He will be sharing more with us about all the changes that he has been making tomorrow (Friday), but I wanted to share a few pictures from his companion, Elder Ashby's last letter that came this last Monday. 

The last picture Elder Ashby took in his first area, Puerto.

 (Elder Ashby, Elder Pendleton, Hermana Hall and Hermana Coleman)

  

Black Name Tag Picture - P Day at Laguna Oca...

I think we were supposed to go that way?!?!?

I didn't do that.....

Elder Ashby saying goodbye to Formosa...

Esta semana fue un poco loco, Hahaha! or This week was a little crazy, Hahah!

Hey, Everyone,

Esta semana fue un poco loco, Hahaha! or

(This week was a little crazy, Hahah!)

         It all started off with us doing an activity for our area and that made it possible for us to get 36 new references to contact and then also this week, I got bit by a dog!

 The dog ran out of the house of a menos active (less-active member) and it attacked me, so the lady of the house gave me some stuff to clean myself up and then we still had the lesson after that. I then had to call the Mission President about it and he said that if there was any blood you have to go to the hospital, so I went to the hospital. There were a few other missionaries there because one Hermana was getting surgery that day and another one was going home because of back problems, so it was a real party! I was sent to another hospital, because of a misunderstanding on their part, and that hospital didn´t end up helping me there with what I needed, so I went back to the first hospital and the lady at the desk was explaining all sorts of medical terms in Spanish that I didn´t know, but I finally figured out that I needed to talk to this guy and he gave me a paper to use to go buy the shot and antibiotics that I needed. We had to go to a Pharmacy to get them and  they gave me the shot medicine on a block of ice and I had to take that back to the hospital to have them give me the shot. The nurse told Elder Ashby that he had to wait outside and then I got a shot right in the butt cheek, and I was on my way. It was such an inconvenience! We had to take six taxis to get it all figured out, but that’s what happens when the health care is free! Hahaha! Everything is good with that now. It was a funny story, but anyway, Friday the 13th had its revenge.

On that same day we had an investigator drop us and then another Evangelical woman gave us a really weird prayer after our lesson and was trying to preach to us and then after that she swooped in and tried to give Elder Ashby a hug, Hahaha.

Elder Ashby explained it this way in his group email:

He said;

“But this week has been pretty crazy, we received a bunch of references through an activity this week, so we´ve been trying to connect with them all week. There´s a ton of them that don´t have any interest really, we swung by one house that everybody had told us had a lot of potential and had some investigators that were sure to progress and all that, and it turns out that the family in the house ended up being Evangelical people that just wanted to preach to us! So we had to stand there politely while she spewed the whole ´we just have to worship God how we want´ and ´organized religion isn´t important, its just the love of God and through His grace we can do whatever we want and be saved´ stuff. Then she gave us a really weird prayer, then tried to hug both of us. It happened so fast that I couldn´t escape all the way, so she got an arm around me before I snaked away.” 

It was pretty awkward. We then had this drunk dude stop us and give us some really nasty piece of something to eat. He was like, try it, try it. It tasted like flour and sawdust, right after we got rid of him, we spit it out and went home to our pension.  

This week we also found a new pension (apartment) and we are going to move into it very soon because the contract expired on the one we are in. I am pretty excited! The new one is brand new and super clean!!! It was crazy trying to do all the legal stuff for it in Spanish. 

Alright, so to answer all your questions, mom;

Hermana Hall´s companion is Hermana Coleman from Payson, Utah.

(Last week was Mother’s day in Argentina so I asked him if every holiday was as big of a celebration as Mother’s Day is down there.)

He said;

Literally, every holiday they have here, is huge. It could be Flag Day and they would go out and get wrecked and drunk (obviously talking about those not of our faith)

I said in my letter to him;

“Your stories made me laugh this week. That guy in his underwear is a little creepy too, I hope that he doesn't get too weird. If he does, just stay away from him. I do hope he feels that the blessing you guys gave to him helped him and that he will feel the spirit enough to change his life for the better. I am proud of you for overlooking a person's faults and for trying to "looketh upon the heart". Just be wise!”

He said;

Yeah, that dude was weird, but trust me we talk to more weird people than you can count. I can´t tell you how many times I have been hugged by a drunk guy or have had some weird dude yell at us about how he can read our minds, there are just a million strange stories.

Our Ward Mission Leader and Bishop are helping us with the missionary work. I also spoke about missionary work in Sacrament Meeting this week again, which is an opportunity that I get quite often. I also teach Gospel Doctrine once in awhile.   

 My shoes have been holding up but they are not going to be usable after the mission that is for sure! Hahahahahahahahaha!

 I just read the part in your letter where you said to not get bit by a dog, well too late for that! Haha! You should send a dog whistle to me that will repel them! That would be great! I have also been throwing green, unripened Mangos at them this week since I got bit, Haha.

I also went to a key place this week and the guy there just gave me a bag of keys that don´t work on anything down here, so I have plenty of keys to bring home to you now! Haha. (Nate knows I love cool looking keys!)

I am glad that you were able to go out with Elder Ashby´s mom! I like the picture of you guys trying to pose like us. I am jealous that you went to Red Robin. I would kill to get me some Red Robin food right now!

I love you and miss you all! This week was crazy, but don´t worry I am doing fine, and I am just going to keep pushing through, Endure to the End!

Chau!.

Love,

Elder Nate Pendleton

Missionary work...

Old Apartment vs New Apartment! I'm excited!!!

Dog Bite... Not too bad...

Our Mommas......

Keys to the Kingdom....

Working hard, and you meet all kinds of people on your mission...

         Yeah, I am truly blessed to have been born into this church, I always think about that. This week has been hard for me because I feel like maybe I am not studying hard enough or don´t know enough about how to teach and

that’s why I don´t get baptisms. A lot of other missionaries are starting to get baptisms and we are still burning though investigators like a wild fire. We find a lot of people but not the ones who act on what we tell them. There are always people willing to listen, but to act, it just seems like it doesn´t happen. I feel like maybe my studies are not focused enough or maybe I am not obedient enough, but I am trying and that is what matters. I am just such a perfectionist.

         The reason I asked you for those scriptures is not to “bible bash” but to increase my testimony and to teach with more power. I am always trying to be an example. It is tough, too, because the Stake and President are pushing a lot, to work with members and get baptisms. I ask so many members for referrals and for help, but it just seems useless maybe I just need more practice in doing that. I hope I can get my Spanish better too, because to be honest the people probably understand Elder Ashby more than me because I still talk really closed mouthed and in Spanish you gotta show your teeth like a horse, to pronounce the words right. It has just been a perfectionistic struggle this week and I am also really tired of my area, I have been here for almost half a year and it is just the same old story everyday, even though I am trying to change the way we do things to work better and to get more baptisms. We also fasted on Tuesday and on Sunday for our area because we are just tired of not seeing success.  

         We pass by A’s, house every once in a while just to see how she is doing. We had a super hard lesson with M and M because they didn´t understand the concept of the Book of Mormon. At one point he was like, it couldn´t have been written in the Americas because it wasn´t called the Americas back then, and besides back then the whole world was one continent. I was like no Pangaea was way before the Book of Mormon, but they just were not understanding, and the next lesson we had we invited them to be baptized and they said they can´t and I asked them ´´You can´t or you don´t want to´´ They said they don´t want to, so we probably won´t get any further with them and they are really Catholic, but we will pass by and see them again. I am still learning people skills but I don´t know if it was my fault that they didn´t accept baptism, but they said they had read up until Jacob in the Book of Mormon but I doubt that, but even if they did they didn´t pray because they still don´t have that answer from the Spirit. After that lesson, I accidentally stepped in super deep mud and covered my shoe and pant leg a little. Haha. Then we saw another dogfight and this kid got in there and started punching and kicking the dogs and then this dude with a 4 by 4 piece of wood came in and just put the smack down on those dogs. Haha. He got some big hits in, Haha.

         We have two people with a baptismal date. One has some mental disabilities, and we don´t think she needs baptism and she doesn´t understand anything we teach, no matter how simply we say it and the other is this guy named A and he is super nice and he understands really well. We just need to get him to church and he needs to read or he will never have the testimony strong enough to accept tithing and other hard commandments!

         Then we found this other dude and he let us in to teach him so we went into his sketchy house and we sat in his room and he had this towel around his waist and he just took it off and was just sitting in his tighty- whities Hahahaha. We started to teach him, reluctantly, and then he asked us to pray for him but he wanted the prayer where we touch his head. We explained that it was called a Blessing and he said he can´t sleep at night and that the right side of his body hurts really bad, so we gave him a blessing of health and it was Elder Ashby´s first time doing it in Spanish, but we finished the blessing and a short little lesson and we left and came back another day and he said he had been able to sleep better and that he doesn´t hurt as much anymore, so that was good, but he is just a really interesting dude. I don´t know why he didn´t have pants on? Hahaha. Crazy?

         Also, we have been smelling pee by our doorstep lately, and just today we saw the neighbor kid come around the corner from where our door is and we just look down and he had just freshly peed on our porch, like right on the wall next to the door! Hahaha. What kind of place is this! Hahaha. We were laughing so hard, but we are also kind of mad that he has been peeing right there, Haha. Whatever, other than that we just had really normal lessons and I think our lessons have been getting better. I used to be too nice and they would never act so now I am a little more aggressive when I testify and really blunt about things. I don’t know what´s better? I do it with love though, because I just really want them to know that they need to act. The lessons are going well and we have found some new people this week.

         (I asked him if the bugs were out more because of it heating up down there because Summer is coming and also if he was getting tan) The bugs are pretty much the same, but I will send a pic of my farmer’s tan-line. Haha. I feel sometimes that I am in a Top Gear episode when I am walking around down here, I just imagine music and watch the sunset go down over the palm trees and stuff. Those are the moments when I am the most happy on the mission.  

Anyway, that is pretty much it. I love you and miss you all and I want you to know that we are working incredibly hard down here in Argentina, and that I know this church is true!  

Chau!

Elder Nate Pendleton

A picture, A sent to my mom this week of my companion and I...

My muddy shoe!!!

Me in front of another mural, there are a lot of them here...

Garbage fires are the norm down here...

 Another interesting car down here, if you can't tell, I love cars!

General Conference was awesome...

            We watched all of  General Conference in the Stake Center in Formosa. We watched it in English and not in Spanish. I really wish I could just repeat everything that was said to my investigators, it would help them so much, I’m sad that none of them came out to it.

            My favorite talks were:  President Russell M. Nelson: 'The Book of Mormon: What Would Your Life be Like Without it?' and Brother Tad R. Callister’s talk "God's Compelling Witness: The Book of Mormon"

It was nice to hear some truth, and not have apostasy always hitting me in the face, like it does down here! I also loved Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s talk: 'Be Ye Therefore Perfect — Eventually' Also, Elder Dallin H. Oaks talk:'The Plan and the Proclamation' He dropped the bomb on the world, in his talk, I loved that! I loved how he said;  “Those who are not of this world, are hated by the world.” There were so many great quotes,  I just want to use all of them in my lessons with my investigators. It is already hot here, about 100 degrees on average, but it is going to start to heat up even more! I’m so glad that you and dad got to go to Mirror Lake. I love that road,  it is so fun to drive!

            We have worked so hard this week, but our numbers are lower than ever! We had so many people cancel on us, and we don´t have anyone even close to baptism yet. Our mission president has made a change and he has said that our investigators only need to go to church twice before they can be baptized, so that will help. That is awesome that Landon Anderson got home from his mission, and that Cole was ordained as an Elder this week. I hope Cole chooses to go on a mission, that would be sweet.

            My mission has helped me to live on my own and to really understand the purpose of our lives, and that is, to live the gospel and follow the leaders of the church and Christ. I also learned that being lazy is not okay! I just have so much drive to follow my dreams and work hard in my life now, because if I can do this mission, I can do anything!

I love the gospel and it is such a blessing in my life, and I was so lucky to be born into it. I don´t know what I did before this life to deserve the life I have now, but I sure am blessed.

             Sorry, I really don´t have many funny stories of what happened to us this week. It was a pretty boring week, but I will send you what pictures I can.  I miss and love you all!

Chau,

Elder Nate Pendleton

Bad Quality Picture of us watching General Conference...

Taken from Elder Ashby's Group email.

The picture of the tattoos on my face was of us messing around after an activity.  We got this gum that had the funny fake tattoos in them. Haha! It was super funny, everyone had them all over, Haha.

Also, we saw this sweet Nova with a Body Kit, Haha.

Go to this website to add your Resistencia, Argentina Missionary's blog! Alex, the website administrator is great to work with!

http://preparetoserve.com/argentina-resistencia-mission/