Elder Kevin Page

July 12, 2010

2010-07-12T21:45:00.001-06:00

Hey Everyone!
Things are going fine in Mission Paradise. The mission is awesome as always! Elder Montierth and I are doing much better. The work is still slow but we are working with all of our might to get things rolling here. We are having problems with getting investigators to church and teaching with members. That has a direct link to it. We aren't doing so well with referrals either which only hurts us. But, we have great faith and are working hard. I'm still very focused and am working like a horse. I will not go home with any energy. If I do it means I didn't work enough. This week is our "Game Week." If we don't get people to church this week they can't get baptized before I leave. I so want to baptize everyone in this area. The people aren't extremely nice here but they aren't as mean as in other places. I'm happy and I'm just worrying about getting our investigators to church. That is the big goal for this week. We are working with two families right now. We haven't been able to get them all to church which is the problem. We have two baptismal dates for the 24 of July but we want the whole family to get baptized too. They are: Rosauro, Erica, Marinel, Bryan, Jordan, Kevin, and Estela. If we can get everyone going to church that family will be a blessing to everyone. They are from Uruguay and moved to Argentina for work reasons. They are great! Erica is the best and is going to church every week but nobody else is. The other family that we are working with is the Heredia Family. They consist of 7 people, 5 of which can get baptized. We had a wonderful first lesson with them but they didn't go to church and today they weren't able to listen to us. So, those two families are our big focus for the transfer. I want them all to get baptized and receive the blessings that are awaiting them. I think I need to be straight with them by being super bold and telling them all to get baptized and not try and do it the nice way. I don't really know what to do and I need some inspiration that I'm still waiting for. I know it will come and I will be patient. I just hope and pray that those two families will get baptized. That is my only wish right now.
So, that's all I have for this week. I hope you are all doing well. Please pray for us and all of the missionaries in the world!
Love,
Elder Page

July 5, 2010

2010-07-05T22:01:00.001-06:00

Dear Everybody!
I hope you all enjoyed your holiday weekend. Sadly, Argentina wouldn't even think about mentioning nor celebrating the 4th of July. But, they do have a holiday the 9th of July which will suit me just fine. I will sing the Star Spangled Banner all day long.
Well, let's see what's new. My companion is a good kid and he is improving. He's doing things without me telling him and he's talking more. He still doesn't do dishes or clean or anything else like that. I'm just taking it with patience because there is no point in getting frustrated with him. I'm only going to be his companion for a few more weeks and so I'm going to make it good. President said that I need to help him gain more self-confidence and do things for himself so that's what I'm doing now.
The mission is just as great as ever! I don't want to leave. The work here is still tough but in my interview with President he told me that I was there to change it around and get some people ready to baptize. That's what I'm doing!!! We are fighting each week to get people to church and have people listen to us. It's tougher than I thought it would be but we are getting there. We still have Erica and her son getting ready for baptism and tonight we are passing by a referral that we received from the 2nd counselor in the ward. I'm excited for that lesson because I have a feeling that they are golden and will be the answer to my prayers. My mission has never been easy and I'm glad it's been that way. I've learned to be much more patient with myself and with others. I've learned to accept things that I can't change and better the things that I can change.
The fun stuff for this week was that on Saturday we got to watch the Argentina-Germany soccer game in which Germany killed Argentina 4-0. That part wasn't so fun but afterwards everyone asked us if we were Germans and I don't know how many threats people have shouted at us. It's funny to me because only the teenagers and drunk old men ask us. I've had the desire to tell them that I am from Germany and found out what they would do about it but that wouldn't be too smart. So, I'll just keep on thinking about what could have happened. Things are great as always. I'm still working hard and finishing the way I should!
Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Page

June 28, 2010

2010-06-28T22:38:00.000-06:00

Hey Everyone!!

Things are doing alright with the baptism goal. We annouced it in church and some of the members thought we were crazy so I shared with them some scriptures about faith. It was interesting. Our baptisms for this week didn't make it. We moved the dates for 24 of July, which is when they want to get baptized. Another one is smoking 20 cigarrettes a day. So, the elders before us didn't really help out as much as I had hoped. The area book is ridiculous and so out-of-date. We've spent the last week walking around clueless about where to go. I don't like white washes at all. I just wanted to work hard but now I have to take care of my district, plan everyday by myself, and guide an area that I don't even know. Elder Montierth is a good kid. He knows a lot and is progressing. I'm doing most of the work but I'm hoping that he'll step up without me having to tell him to do something. So, we are doing fine but things could be better. I've got 5 weeks to make the most out of this one so I'm not going to waste any time. We received a really great referral yesterday and we went with the family to give one of her neighbors the Book of Mormon. That made my day! I've never had that happen before. The area is good and we have found some great people but it is going to take more work to get them progressing. We have many possibilities but I don't know how good they are because we've just taught them all once. I pray that there are the elect people among them. We are working very hard and last week was a tough one as far as success goes. We didn't see much progress. But, we have the faith and we are being patient. Hopefully something changes quick. We still have a family preparing to be baptized. They have their baptism dates the 24 of July. We are passing by tomorrow to see how they are doing. The mother showed up to church alone and that worries me a little bit but I still have a good feeling about it. I can't really judge anything by the first week because we had a meeting all of Friday and there were 2 soccer games during the which we had to stay inside. That hurt also. It will all be fine in the end. I'm not too worried.

I will continue to work hard until the end! I'm giving it all I have and I will not go home with regrets.

Love,

Elder Kevin Page

June 22, 2010

2010-06-28T22:36:00.000-06:00

Hi Everyone!!!

So, it's been a very long time since I've sent an update. Sorry for that. Being in the office required more time and dedication that I had thought. Office elders are NOT lazy! So, now I'll give you the scoop.

Yesterday I did get transferred out of the office!! I'm glad to be back doing the normal missionary work. Sometimes the office just drove me nuts. Now I have all the time I want to focus on people. I now really appreciate the time that I have with investigators now. My new companion, Elder Montierth, is from Safford, Arizona. He has about 4 months in the mission. He's really cool and I'm happy to be working with him. We got whitewashed into our area, called Atalaya. That means 'light house'. We supposedly had 3 baptismal dates for this weekend but we went by yesterday and I could tell they weren't very firm. I'm praying that we can really set a date for this Saturday or even Sunday and help them feel ready. This transfer we have a goal of baptizing 14 people. It is an extremely high goal but I believe with all my heart that it is possible. I'm pleading with the Lord every night to grant me the desires of my heart. We are starting a special fast today after lunch and placing our plans in front of the Lord. I feel confident about the goal but I'm nervous about failing. I try not to think about it. Right now the mission is about to explode and I want to be a large part of it. For that, we have the goal of 14 baptisms. I want to complete with my goals and be the very best I can be. Obedience and diligence is the key mixed with hard work the company of the Spirit. Please pray for us to be able to do this and for our investigators. We are working with Erica, Rosauro (Row-sou-row), Juan, Kevin, and Roberto. We have plans to work with Beto and Abril. Pray for them too so that they feel prepared and worthy of being baptized. Erica, Rosauro, and Juan all believe the church is true but want to wait a month or so before getting baptized. We need them in the church now!

I hope you all enjoyed Father's Day. In our ward there were a ton of people that showed up. More than I had ever seen before! It was great. I all said goodbye to everyone in Haedo before the transfer.

I'm staying focused and I have never felt better than now. I feel like I have all the skills needed to blow apart this place. I'm working harder than ever and I am becoming more dependent on the Lord. My prayers have improved so much. The blessings of a mission are way too good. I just hope Heavenly Father is in agreement with our goal of baptizing 14 people. I feel that it is right and I want to do it so much. I pray that it is His will and that I am worthy enough for Him to trust me and work through me.

The mission is great! I don't want it to end but sadly it will. Please remember all the many blessing that the Lord gives us. I have learned to be more grateful for the little things that happen. Well, I hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Love,

Elder Page

Jan. 18, 2010

2010-01-21T22:03:00.000-07:00

Hello Everybody!
I hope that you are all doing well. Has school started back up yet? I´m sure it has so I wish you all well in your studies. The mission is just delightful! I keep very busy here in the offices. There are a million things to do and only six of us to do it. To be honest I didn´t really expect to be so busy. I figured that being in the office ment more of a chilled-out relaxed work but that is not true! There is a lot of high-stress work here. It is nuts! Either way I´m enjoying being here and seeing how everything gets done.
Some cool news that is going on here in the mission is that we are on pace for a record-breaking transfer!! We have the goal to baptize 200 people this transfer and so far we are on track!! We have 28 baptisms so far and 170 baptismal dates! The good news is that we are at the very beginning of the transfer so there is much more work to get done. Also, there is going to be a marvelous baptism in a couple of weeks. An area in the mission is going to be baptizing a pastor from the catholic church! The man accepted a baptismal date after reading the Book of Mormon five times. He received it as a Christmas gift from a member. Where there is a will there is a way. The only big complication is that he has to write the Vatican to renounce his membership and title as pastor. We are all very excited about this baptism. It´s something very memorable for the whole mission and it is nothing less than a miracle.
Well, I hope you are enjoying this time in your lives. The Lord wants us to be happy and to receive all the blessings of exaltation. Don´t give Him excuses for not blessing you!
Have a wonderful week!
Later,
Elder Kevin Shepherd Page
Secretario de Materiales
Misión Buenos Aires Oeste

Jan.6, 2010

2010-01-21T22:02:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!
So I have five spare minutes that I can write. Right now I have just been called into the offices as Secretary of Materials. The job is harder than it sounds. I have to take care of a ton of stuff. I have to make binders for the new missionaries coming in, do presentations for the mission, and do all of the mail and missionary items (i.e. pamphlets, Books of Mormon). Not to mention there are a ton of reports that I have to do about baptisms and stuff like that. It is a heavy duty job. I was really surprised to be called into the offices because usually they call younger elders to be there. I have 17 months and my companion, Elder Palacios from Chile, has 10 months. So I am one of the older guys here. There are several perks to being in the offices. For example, on Monday we had a steak dinner with the President and his wife. It was absolutely delicious. Then we had a spiritual office meeting on how we can improve the mission. It was the bomb!
So we have a rule that we go out and work from 4-9 pm after getting the office work done. I still haven't stepped a foot in my area because I'm doing things slower and the elder I replaced left me a ton of work to do. I'm just trying to get through this week and the next and then things will be more calmed down. Until then I'll be burning the midnight oil trying to get everything done.
Also, our area has been whitewashed and so we are going into a place we don´t even know. The sisters who were there told us that there are three investigators with baptismal dates and that we just have to help them overcome their problems with the baptismal requirements. I hope it will be as easy as it sounds.
Well, I gotta go and get to work!
Later,
Elder Page

December 28, 2009

2009-12-28T14:48:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!
How are you all doing? I hope things are just great back home and that you enjoyed your Christmas. I enjoyed my Christmas even though it didn´t feel like I thought it would. It was very hot and not as many fireworks were lit off like I had hoped. However, we missionaries all got together as a zone and enjoyed Christmas together. We watched some Christmas movies and then played soccer to end the night. It was fun. We also had a chicken and mashed potato lunch before going back to our relative areas. It was fun and it made it hard to get back to work the next day. Ok, it wasn´t hard, just mundane because nobody was outside and we just rode our bikes up and down the streets. Talk about fun huh? On Saturday we had our Branch End-of-the-Year Party. Let´s just say that the brother in charge of it didn´t do his job and Elder Sabey and I had to take control of everything. We made several supermarket trips for dinky little stuff that the members forgot. Come Sunday, there were still pieces of food in the kitchen and several things to clean up. It was less than exciting to say the least. But the good news is that most of them went to church the next day so I won´t complain.
We aren´t going to have any baptisms this transfer because our investigators didn´t go to church yesterday. Bummer. They will likely get baptized next transfer (which is in a week) and become members of the most awesome church in all of the world. Tomorrow I have interviews with President Benton. That will be great! I just love talking to him and getting to know him better. He is quite an awesome guy. He always gets me excited about the mission.
I really enjoyed the phone call!! It was great to hear all of the voices that I´m used to. I had some trouble figuring out who was talking for a while better after a couple of minutes I was back on track. I don´t think I could have asked for a better present than to talk to you all. Sorry for not having too much to say. Things don´t really change in the mission and I didn´t know what to talk about. I could go on and on about the branch and the mission but it eventually ends up being all the same stuff that I´ve already told you. Either way I´m glad you enjoyed it too.
I hope you have a great New Year´s. I hope you guys make some good goals and get them accomplished!! I have several things that I want to change and I´ll do it.
Later,
Elder Page

December 22, 2009

2009-12-22T18:07:00.000-07:00

Dear Everyone,
Things are going pretty well. My comp is awesome and I enjoy working with him a lot. Our branch is doing much better. Elder Sabey and I have activated a part family and an ex-branch president so far. The assistence in the chapel is growing a little bit higher each Sunday and we are finally forming bonds of unity in our branch. If things continue then all will be well here in 9 de Julio.We had our mission Christmas party yesterday in the offices. We had to travel Sunday after church to get there and we got back at about 1:00 am today. I´m still a little tired but it was well worth it. We had a presentation of skits, a Christmas gift exchange, and a barbeque to top it all off. Plus, I got to see all of my good friends. For your information, the only Christmas tradition in Argentina is not to have Christmas traditions. That was kind of a joke but normally the people light off fireworks Christmas Eve after eating a big barbeque dinner. It´s not much but it´s something. It´s better for me because when it´s hot outside and you don´t see anything that makes you think of Christmas you just don´t get that trunky.
So yeah, things are moving right along. I should have another transfer here in the country but I might just get sent back out to Buenos Aires because a ton of missionaries left early in order to make it home for Christmas. We will see what happens.
Well, I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. Enjoy it!! Remember that Jesus Christ should be our main focus in our lives, especially during this Christmas season. I hope you all feel the Christmas spirit and do some service for someone who just doesn´t have as much as you.
Later,
Elder Page

Dec. 14, 2009

2009-12-14T12:25:00.001-07:00

Hey Everyone!!
The mission is doing just fine. Elder Sabey and I are working hard and are getting a lot of stuff done. Last week we worked on activating a couple of families and all of them came to church on Sunday!!! Finally we have some progress. We also have investigators who are doing well. We have a baptismal date with a girl named Milagros, and one member brought her daughter who is not a member and also a friend who is really interested in the church! Things are looking up for us right now and I plan on keeping it that way. On Saturday we had the first counselor of the mission presidency come and do some activation visits with us. He is a pretty interesting guy. He is very serious and seems almost grumpy but he knows how to commit people to go to church. The visits turned out well and we had a good assistence in church on Sunday. We are slowly moving forward but there are still many obstacles in we have to get over.
This Saturday we have our End of the Year Party in the branch. Seeing how there is no planning commitee, guess who gets to do it? Yep it´s me. I somehow just get stuck with most of the responsibility here. It´s fine because we have things just about organized and ready for the party. I wish I would have paid much more attention to the ward parties at home. Take notes on these things people because they will only help you in some future calling.
Well Christmas is coming up. Next week we are the Christmas P-Day for the mission where we all go to the offices and have a party. It should be fun and I´m excited to see all my buddies in other areas.
Things are great! I´m still excited to be on the mission and I realize that time is still to come up on me and that I need to work harder than ever now. Please pray for me to be able to do that. Hope you are all enjoy Christmas vacations!!
Later,
Elder Page

Dec. 7, 2009

2009-12-07T12:14:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody!!!
I´m so glad that you had an awesome Fast and Testimony meeting. I wish we could have one of those. During our meeting, everyone had gotten up and said how happy they were in the church. Being the way I am, I got up and said, "I am so glad that we are all happy. I am happy too but I am not content. Look around you and see the empty chairs. What families are not here today? Let us be happy but not content." Then I advised them to call up the families that didn´t show, find out why, and then invite them for the next Sunday. We will see how it works out.
I hope the Christmas Devotional was good. I wasn´t able to see it due to the hour that it was put on...bummer!
I´m glad to hear that the family is doing fine. That always makes me feel better.
Elder Sabey and I are doing well. We just actived a part-member family and hopefully we will get the whole family baptized. We are passing by a lot of old investigators. There seem to be some promising results from those visits. However, not one investigator we taught came to church and our baptismal dates all fell because of that. It´s heartbreaking to watch an investigator not progress like they could. It absolutely tears my soul apart. I want so bad for this branch to progress and become a ward but it´s taking more work than I imagined. It is possible though and I never lose hope! We should never lose hope. It helps drive our faith which leads us to righteous action. I have learned that many times from the mission. Discouragement should only lead us to working harder and rising above the obstacles in order to complete what is important.
I want to leave you with a quote from Elder Bednar at the close of his remarks. He said, "Elders and Sisters, IT IS ALL TRUE." Those words gave me an assurance of what I am doing is the right thing. I know this is where I need to be because it is all true. Never forget that. Never doubt and never ever question. Doubt comes from Satan and is the end result of a lack of faith. Stay strong and steadfast and always keep the faith!
Later,
Elder Page

November 30, 2009

2009-12-01T12:14:00.001-07:00

Hey Everybody!
Life is good right now. I´m really enjoying my new companion, Elder Sabey. We get along very well. He´s very cool and fun to be around and we both work well together. He is what I needed to be honest. We have big plans to change things here in the branch. I am extremely excited! I hope you enjoyed Thanksgiving. We didn´t have any celebration here and the day was kind of lame because I was thinking about turkey and pie the whole time. What I wouldn´t give for a slice of pie.
The mission is good. Last week we had some pretty big rain storms the whole week. It made it tough to find people and get stuff done. We also had a ton of meetings with the district presidency about how to manage a branch. I have learned a lot from this experience. Yesterday (Sunday) the rain almost stopped our church meetings. The building was flooded and the lights were out. For about an hour we cleaned up the place and got it ready for worship. We only had 19 people there and we started a little late waiting for people. Luckily for me, the speakers showed up so I didn´t have to wing one again. That made it easier for me! I´m having to do much of the branch work for now because my companion is new and doesn´t know everything. In a couple of weeks it won´t be so difficult to get things going. Well I don´t have much more to say. Things are going fine and I´m just absolutely loving the mission! I hope all is well with you all.
Later,
Elder Page

November 24, 2009

2009-11-24T21:39:00.001-07:00

Hey Everyone!!!
Life is going by just fine. Time is just moving right along as we get into the holiday season! I always get a little trunky this time of year because of all of the family gatherings...wish I could be there but I´m doing a great work out here. So yesterday we had transfers. That meant that me and my comp had to travel 5 hours to get to the city. We travel in a micro, which is a double-decker travel bus. The ride is always long but it gives me time to think about things and also for naps every now and then. That´s why I didn´t write you yesterday. After Transfer meeting got over and me and my new companion, Elder Sabey, hopped on the first micro to 9 de Julio. Let´s just say we got home at 1:30 am. To tell you a little bit about Elder Sabey, he is from Littleton, Colorado. He is the youngest in his family and right now his parents are serving as mission presidents in Ghana, Africa. He has one more transfer than me in the mission and he just barely came out of the offices to be the new branch president. He is very cool, clean and organized, and an all-around good person. All I can say is...FINALLY!!! We are going to work very well together. He already has some very good ideas for the branch and how we are going to carry out our callings. Let´s just say I´m very content with transfers.
As for Thanksgiving...doesn´t exist here. Go figure! One of the best holidays of all time and Argentina doesn´t have it. However, luckily for me there are two older missionary-couples in my zone that are going to cook us a turkey lunch next Tuesday when we have our District meeting. Better late than never I say. I will be enjoying it that´s for sure!
Well, I hate to admit it by my time here in the mission is coming closer to an end. I only have, get this, 6 transfers left including this one, and 8 months is all that I have to finish. It is going by quite fast, especially with all the responsibility of the branch in our hands. Before you know it I´ll be home in August. Well, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and don´t eat too much turkey!!!
Chau,
Elder Page

November 16, 2009

2009-11-16T21:08:00.001-07:00

Hey Everyone!!!
Life doesn´t ever slow down, huh?
It sounds like life never changes back home. Mission life is the same, hard but very rewarding. So Elder Gómez and I have been teaching quite a few people. We have an older couple that aren´t married but like church. I don´t think they are going to get baptized. The whole law of chastity thing really kills us out here. People just don´t understand the importance of getting married. We also have a 15 year old girl named Silvina. She is the niece to a recent convert but changes her mind a lot. She was supposed to get baptized last Saturday and it didn´t happen. We have another youth, Julian, who is 14. His dad is a member but the parents are separated and the mom doesn´t want anything to do with the church. Sadly, he´s living with her so we have to do some convincing for that baptism to happen. There is an older lady named Raquel who is very receptive to our messages but didn´t come to church last week. We need to verify on her. Also, an old investigator named Jorge always comes to church but doesn´t feel ready enough to get baptized. We teach him the lessons once a week and hopefully one day he´ll ask us to be baptized. And last, but not least, a lady named Cecilia. She´s probably the best but the hardest to find. She´s very busy and works a lot but we found her doing service at a school. She has 2 kids, and one of them can get baptized. She told us she was going to church last week but she didn´t show up thanks to all the rain that poured in the morning. There are several other people we are teaching but that would take up way too much time to tell. Long story short, we are teaching a lot but no baptisms.
My companion Elder Gómez is from New Jersey. His parents immigrated from El Salvador. He speaks English and Spanish fluently. He´s a cool guy but very lazy. That´s the only downside. He just wastes way too much time and has no idea of time or money management. That hurts us sometimes when we have lessons and when we show up "late" to the church. Late for me is 8:30 a.m. (church starts at 9 a.m.) but he likes to show up 10 minutes before meetings start and get everything ready then. It doesn´t give us a good image either but he doesn´t seem to care. However, he is leaving this transfer and I will get a new companion in a week. I already know who it is because of the importance of his assignment as Branch President. His name is Elder Sabey and he is just coming out of the offices. He just has one transfer more than me so we are pretty equal on time. I believe he is from Colorado if I´m not mistaken. I´m excited to work with him! The area is the same. Our good "friend" and ex-counselor told everyone not to come to church anymore and has continued to spread rumors and lies. Let´s just say we´ve had some low assistences lately and not many people like us. Oh well, it´s a shame that the situation has gotten out of hand but hopefully we´ll be able to fix it. Other than that things are fine. I´m trying to stay excited and happy but it´s hard. I just keep on working and working and hope things come out all right.
Thanks to Mom for the package, I just got it last week!! The Reeses are all gone and some of the peanut butter. I haven´t cooked up the smores yet but I´m getting around to it. Have a wonderful week!!
Later,
Elder Page

November 9, 2009

2009-11-11T12:20:00.001-07:00

Hey Everyone!!
Just like most of you, life is busy but nothing really significant happened this week. Things just continue to go on as always in our little branch of ours. On Sunday, the speakers didn´t take enough time and I was ask by the President (aka my comp) to talk for 15 minutes on whatever I wanted. The thing is we both knew I was going to talk because I looked at him, and him at me, and gave me the nod. Surprisingly, I can now just get up in sacrament meeting and give a decent talk without any preparation...in Spanish. I certainly do feel good about myself for that. Today for P-Day we went and played golf with two other elders. It was quite interesting. We only played two rounds because everyone lost their golf balls and one elder even broke a club! How about that? The very exciting news for me is that on Wednesday I have interviews with President Benton and next week Elder Bednar is coming to talk to our mission!!! It´s going to be a question-answer type of meeting. So , if you had the chance to ask an apostle anything, what would it be? I personally need to start thinking about some questions that I can ask because I rarely even have questions or doubts about the mission or life. Go figure...
Life just goes by as always. I now almost have three months in 9 de Julio and surely I´ll have three months more. I think the best word to describe those next three months might be long-suffering. I like to think of this place as my own personal Zion´s Camp even though I probably won´t suffer like those faithful men who served with Joseph Smith.
Well, I´m sorry I don´t have too much to say. Keep it real and keep living the gospel.
Later,
Elder Page

November 2, 2009

2009-11-02T18:39:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!!!
How are you all? This week for me was kind of tough but I do have some pretty cool stories! So our 2nd counselor officially got released. He is still talking bad about us missionaries which is a shame. It sad to see something like that happen. Things are really busy here. First off on Friday there was a huge storm that passed through here. There were many houses that had the roofs torn off and several homeless people after the storm. It gave us the opportunity to do service and donate needed items in behalf of the church. Everybody here exaggerated how bad the storm was. They made it sound like a tornado had passed through or something but it was still bad. Also, on Tuesday night, coming back from Buenos Aires, we were involved in a crash. The travel bus we were in was cut off by a car, in which the car hit the front bumper of the bus. After that, the driver had to slam on his brakes to avoid a stopped trailer in the road and we slid off into the embankment and into a ditch. The bus almost tipped over on its side but luckily it did not. It was quite an interesting experience I tell you what. My companion was pretty scared but I just sat there bored as ever. I personally thought it would have been cooler had the bus tipped completely over. But hey, we can´t have everything we want, can we. But don´t worry, I am just fine and nothing happened to me or anybody in the bus. It just gave some of the people quite a scare.
This week one of our investigators showed up to church for the first time solo! We took out a baptismal date with him that same day for the 21 of November. His name is Juan Carlos and is a good man. I am very excited for him and it´s great to see the work move forward here.
I hope Halloween was fun. It doesn´t exist here. I just had a boring Saturday night in the apartment dreaming of treat-or-treating. Oh well...
So, that´s the news from me. I hope everything is just going fine and that you all don´t miss me too much!!
Later,
Elder Page

Oct. 26, 2009

2009-10-26T23:09:00.000-06:00

Hey Everyone!!!
What´s up? Things going well? I surely hope so. Anyway, life is interesting here. The rumors have calmed down quite a bit but the damage has already been done. From the looks of it I´m going to be leaving 9 de Julio sooner than I thought. I don´t know but it could happen. President told me that if it´s just too much to handle than he´ll get me out of here. It´s ridiculous if you ask me. Our second counselor, who was doing all the rumoring, was released on Thursday by the District Presidency. I feel so bad for our poor branch and for our recent converts. They have so much faith to stay in such a mediocre church. Working hard helps me forget all the problems that I´m facing right now. Elder Gomez and I are great. We have bike races a lot and have almost died several times racing in the park. It´s pretty funny to watch to missionaries booking it down the road and then suddenly braking and almost falling. I can only imagine what the missionaries in the States are doing with their cars!
Well, keep the faith and never give up. Have an awesome week!!!
Later,
Elder Page

Oct. 19, 2009

2009-10-22T07:16:00.000-06:00

Hey Everyone!!!
Gosh time is going by pretty quick. October is more than half-way over. Soon it will be time to make a call for Christmas. Just so you know yesterday was Mother´s Day here in Argentina. I thought about calling my mom but that just wouldn´t be right. I would feel too bad doing that. So we had a bunch of rumors start up again in our branch. They were bad, really bad. There is one member who is talking to all of our recent converts and get this, he told them to not let us in nor talk with us. He also told them they could have the triple combination scriptures because they were new and should only have the Book of Mormon. It´s a big fat mess. What´s even worse is that the District President is thinking about taking him to disciplinary council. I know he´s going to be released from our branch presidency too. It´s terrible. All the rumors are really hurting our poor little branch. Also, we had the 1st counselor of the mission come and do visits with us. He told us that we should STOP baptizing people here even though Pres. Benton is against it. I´m confused that´s all. Our president and zone leaders want us to baptize, I want to baptize, and then we get told not to. BLAH!!! Yeah, that´s just a little tast of the church in Argentina. Nothing can go right.
But hey, life isn´t that bad. I´ll only be here for 4 1/2 more months. I have a suspicion that we might get flashed out of here with all the problems that are going on.
So yeah life is just fine. The mission is always good. I´m a little frustrated because there just isn´t enough time to do everything. We need to do visits in the branch to keep everyone unified and our mission leaders hound us for good numbers. Right now I haven´t found out how to do both really well but it will come around soon.
Well, that´s all from me. Have a wonderful week!
Later,
Elder Page

Oct. 5, 2009

2009-10-06T12:19:00.001-06:00

Hey Everyone,
Who all loved conference?? ME!!! I will agree with you all and say that it was certainly the bomb! The speakers threw down hard core on everyone. I was lucky enough to see the Saturday sessions in English. I wasn´t able to see Priesthood Session, yes I´m still bumbed about it, because of traveling circumstances. Conference is Spanish is weird because I understand everything they say but it just doesn´t hit me as hard. I think that I still receive revelation in English which made it hard to take good notes. But, the messages where absolutely awesome!!! They really stepped up the spirituality level.
Sadly, there is no Halloween celebration here. The people sort of know what Halloween is but don´t do anything about it. How lame huh? What´s even more ridiculous is that they have holidays for just about everything...but don´t celebrate the American favorites like Halloween and Thanksgiving. Oh well...
So the mission life is good. We had some more rumors and back-biting in church so we had even more interviews with the District Presidency. Of course everyone is on our side, minus the rumor-spreaders. Anyway, after several cane droppings we received apologies from those members and hopefully all will come out well. Today we had our Zone activity. We have 2 missionary couples in our zone and they made us a classic "Sunday Dinner" which consisted of roast beef, Idaho mashed potatos and gravy, and ice cream. It was delicious!! We also got to watch "The Other Side of Heaven" while eating. It was definitely what I needed to keep me going. At least some people want to give us food here. Also, on Wednesday we have interviews with our dear President Benton. He is so cool and an inspiration to me.
Well, I hope you all really enjoyed conference. Now, let´s put it into practice and share the gospel with EVERYONE!!!
Later,
Elder Page

Sept. 28, 2009

2009-09-28T21:45:00.000-06:00

Hey Guys!
This week was very good!!! We had 2 more baptisms here in 9 de Julio. We baptized 2 girls named Micaela and Jazmín. Their parents aren´t married and their dad is kind of a bum but their mother wants to get baptized. She has to convince her husband to get married first though. So we are seeing some success here and we have a couple more people who should be getting baptized in a couple of weeks. We'll see how that goes down. Also, September is pretty much done. In two days I will hit 14 months on the mission. The time is going by really fast. I don't know how but it does. Also, Elder Bednar is coming to our mission to speak!!! He is my favorite apostle and I hope I get to see him. Sometimes they don't let the elders in the country go to those meetings. I'm going to beg President to let us go.
Well, I hope you all have a great week. Enjoy General Conference because we are going to hear some cool stuff!! The speakers are always so inspired to answer our questions. Be ready to receive some great instruction!!
Later,
Elder Page

Sept. 14, 2009

2009-09-16T21:10:00.003-06:00

Hey Everyone!!
How are you all doing? I´m doing just fine. Life in the mission goes on as you all know. This week was especially rewarding. We had 2 baptisms on Saturday!! It was a really good baptism. We got to baptize a family: the mom and the dad. I baptized Gabriel, the dad and Elder Gomez baptized Vanesa. Before I came here, Elder Gomez and his old companion baptized Maria; who is Gabriel and Vanesa´s daughter. It took a little work to get them to the water. They received a testimony really quickly but couldn´t stop smoking for some time. However, Elder Gomez and I made a special tobacco tea that helps people quit smoking. We bought some bagged tobacco and boiled it and gave it to them to drink. Apparently the tea gives them a bad taste in their mouths and makes them throw up after smoking a cigarette. Either way it worked!!! Before they drank it they made me take a sip. It was so gross. If that´s anything compared to smoking I recommend to never smoke. Wow it was nasty.
So as for some interesting news we had a huge fiasco in the branch on Sunday. Supposedly some members called our District President (who is like a Stake President) and told him that we as Elders were hanging out with the young women a lot and that my companion was interviewing them almost every week in his office. Obviously this did NOT happen. The people here are crazy. I´m a little mad at the moment. From what I got out of it, the 2nd counselor´s family and one of his friends want my companion out of here so they made up the rumors. Well, long story short, on Sunday we spent all day in church being interviewed by the District Presidency and we got everything settled. Does stuff like that ever happen back home? I don´t know because I´ve never heard of something of that nature happen. I´m sure somewhere it has happened but still.
Anyway, other than that "incident" things are going great. We still have 4 more baptismal dates here and are looking for more. We are working really hard and I´m losing a little bit of weight because of all the bike riding that we are doing. I like to say that the Lord gives a little and he takes a little, and luckily for me he´s taking a little bit of weight away.
Well it´s time for me to go. I hope things are well for you all. Have a wonderful week!!
Later,
Elder Page

Sept. 7, 2009

2009-09-16T21:10:00.001-06:00

Dear Everyone,
Transfers were really exciting!! Elder Gomez and I are tearing it up here!! I taught the YM and YW last Sunday. It was interesting. There were a couple of roudies in the room so I played the hard drill sargeant on them in class. I ended up taking them to Primary so they could "play with the kids." It was funny. Now that I´ve got them on the leash I´ll be able to teach them without any problems.
As for working in the country...I LOVE IT!!! We have to take buses everywhere far away and we ride bikes in our area. The people are still kind of mean but not as much. The ones who listen to us are awesome!! Our biggest challenge is getting people to quit smoking but other than that we are exploding here. We are going to have 2 baptisms this Saturday, maybe 4, depending on if the people smoked. Right now we have 9 baptismal dates and 6 went to church on Sunday!!! I´m absolutely loving it. Here we get a lot of referrals because we participate in a radio program called Angels Among Us. People call us at the station if they need help or something like that. We get to help out many people and it´s great!! Half of our baptisms are coming from the radio!!! We have a couple of families that are great!! I´m truly blessed to be here in 9 de Julio. I hope things are going well for you all.
Later,
Elder Page

Sept. 1, 2009

2009-09-01T21:41:00.001-06:00

Hey Everybody!!
Things are going great here in the mission. So yeah we finally had transfers! I got sent out to the country where we have fields and cows. To get there I had to take a 5 hour bus ride. Crazy huh? My area is called 9 de Julio. Here we have a branch. My companion, Elder Gomez from New Jersey, is the Branch President and I´m his 1st Councilor. It´s really interesting. Half of our responsabilities are taking care of the branch. Elder Gomez said that we have to do tithing and all that jazz. It should be really cool. I am very excited. We already have a few baptisms planned and we are working really hard. Elder Gomez is my mission brother. Elder Sosa, my trainer, also trained Elder Gomez. I´m just really happy to be somewhere else and with someone else. Also, we are the only two missionaries who have bikes in our mission!! I never thought I would ride a bike here but this area is the "Pilot Area" for the bikes. I like it a lot. Contacts are kind of weird because we have to stop in front of people to talk to them. Either way, I like it. My area is huge. It covers a lot of ground. It´s going to take me a while to get these streets memorized.
The mission is exploding right now. We broke another record with 192 baptisms in the transfer. It was awesome!!! I´m a little nervous for my first Sunday here. I don´t really know how a branch works so I´ve got a lot of learning to do. I have the assignment of teaching the young men and women class. We will see how that goes. But yeah, I am very content with transfers. I hope you all are doing well. Good luck with school and all that good stuff. Be strong and KEEP THE FAITH!!!
Later,
Elder Page

August 25, 2009

2009-08-28T15:18:00.001-06:00

Hey Everyone!!!How are ya´ll doing? I´m doing just fine. I´m kind of fighting it right now because my comp is getting on my nerves but hey, all I´ve got to do is make is 6 more days and transfer meeting comes up! I´m excited to get a change but I´m going to miss all of the members and friends that I´ve made here. This week was fine. There wasn´t anything really crazy that happened. I got sick Friday night with stomach flu and I threw up all Saturday but now I´m fine! Gotta love the stomach flu huh? I guess it was bound to get me sooner or later. Life as a missionary is always the best. Sometimes there are the ups and the downs, usually more downs than ups, but all of the good times and hard work paying off makes up for everything bad that happens. Also, sometimes when I get down, I read about the pioneers and the early Saints because they went through the worst of the worst. If they were able to stay strong so can I. I´ve gained a strong testimony of prayer. I know the Lord hears and answers our prayers according to our faith. He strengthens us and provides us with the hope that we need to keep moving forward. Never forget that our Heavenly Father is always waiting to hear our voices.I hope you all have a great week!!Later,Elder Page

August 18, 2009

2009-08-18T18:35:00.001-06:00

Hello Everybody!
Things are going fine. Life just continues to go on, no? Right now I think that the time ticks by really slow. I´m excited to go somewhere else and deal with other people. After a while you just get tired of hearing the same excuses over and over. And I´m excited to have a different comp. One that is more sociable.
Today we had our zone activity. We played ultimate frisbee for a few hours and my body is sore. It hurts to walk. Can you believe it? My body is getting old...AHHHH! Either way it was a lot of fun and I had some stress to sweat out. Also we celebrated a member´s birthday today with a lot of cake. It was really yummy.
Nothing really funny happened this week. But, when I was walking in the street I ran into the roof of one of the alters of the virgin Mary. It gave it a fat cut and it hurt for a few days but now everything is all good.
Well, I hope you are all doing fine and I hope you are all ready for school!!! Enjoy it.
Later,
Elder Page

August 11, 2009

2009-08-11T22:13:00.001-06:00

Hey Everyone!!!
I hope you are all doing fine. I´m well. I´m a little frustrated with investigators but that always happens. With a good attitude and a mountain of faith things will get done. I´m so grateful to be a missionary and to share the gospel. Nothing better has even happened in my life. There is absolutely NOTHING that compares to this!!
Last week I had a hard time getting through the days. I was fighting it for a long time. On Sunday, we passed by 7 investigators to take them to church and only one showed up. But one is better than zero. Also, we´re going to have a baptism on Saturday!!! WHOOP! Gotta love baptisms. So yesterday we had interviews with the President. He really boosted up my excitement for the work. He said I´m doing well and that I´m doing a good job.
Also, three more weeks and I´m moving to another area. I´m ready to go but I think I can handle three more long weeks. This one is practically half-way over. I am learning to be much more patient with everyone and way more bold. It´s definitely a skill that I´ll be able to take home.
So the temple is going to be closed here soon in December because nobody is doing temple work. It´s terrible. They are even postponing the building of the temple in Córdoba, Argentina. It´s not good that´s all I know. We need more faithful members in the church. I think it´s partly our fault as missionaries for not teaching about the temple as well as the members. Well, I´m glad everything is going well. I´m doing great as always. I´m on a diet and only eat one plate of food for every meal. Gotta watch the figure you know.
Have a wonderful week!!!
Elder Page

August 4, 2009

2009-08-04T18:32:00.001-06:00

Hey Everybody!!
So word on the street (and the date) tells me that the rodeo just came to town. Oh man how do I miss the rodeo. I remember a year ago, haha, that I couldn´t go because I was heading off to the MTC. So I´ve missed another one. What can ya do?
The mission is treating me just fine. Today we had Temple P-Day. It was really rewarding. After doing the session, they asked us if we could stay longer and participate in sealings for families. It was really cool. The sealer was a nice guy and told us some of the more interesting things about the sealings, such as the words they use and the blessings that are promised to a couple. It opened my mind a little bit more.
So I´m still working harder and giving it all I got. I get so tired some times and I always have troubles waking up at 6:30. Every now and then I get leg pains from walking so much. My flat feet don´t help at all either. Oh well, it´s not all that bad. At least I can walk!! We have several really good investigators. Our problem is church assistence. I don´t know what more I can do for these people. I commit them and commit them and pass by on Sunday but nothing. If they don´t get to church they can´t get baptized. It´s one of Satan´s powers here. Our goal for this week as a companionship is to have five investigators in sacrament meeting. Please pray for that miracle! On the bright side, we should have a baptism next Saturday! It´s always exciting to have a baptism.
So I´ve got 4 more weeks in Morón. Yeah, I´m counting down. I hoping for a change and quick! Walking the same streets over and over is getting boring. The same thing happened in La Perlita. 6 months in the same place is just way too long. On the bright side, I will be missed. All the members are sad that I´ll be going. I have made some really good friendships here. As for new news, next week we have interviews with Pres. Benton. That will be exciting. They are always wonderful and I love to chat with The Pres. He´s a stud and a spiritual giant. I always get a second wind after talking with him.
Remember to stay positive. Everything always works out with a good attitude! I know God will bless you all with His love and support if the faith is there.
Later,
Elder Page

HUMP DAY! ONE YEAR MARK!!!! July 30, 2009

2009-07-30T22:16:00.000-06:00

Hey Everybody!!
Today, Wednesday, I´m writing because yesterday we had a special meeting. So our P-Day is today!! We had a special conference with Elder Zivic, from the Seventy. It was a good conference. I liked it but I´ve had better. He seemed to focus more on numbers rather than spiritual matters. It wasn´t what I was expecting but it turned out fine anyway. Just in case you all forgot, tomorrow I´ve got a year in the mission!!! I´ve been wearing the same shirt for a week now and it´s dirty enough to burn! I´m excited.
Nothing much has changed. Things just keep moving along as usual. The work is always good even though I talked to a lot of cranky old people last week. I was talking to one in the street just telling him who we are and he says, "are you going to follow me all the way home?" I said, "Sure! Isn´t that what you want?" He gave me one of those looks and I stopped following him. Also, yesterday a guy asked us if we knew the name of the dad of the virgin Mary (my comp knew) and then reminded us how important it is to know the word of God. It gave me a laugh. Well things are going just fine. An elder made me a whole jar of peanut butter the other week. How about that? It was good but not as good as store-bought. However, it was good enough to eat. Oh how I miss the good things of America. I guess one more year and it´s all good! Anyway, have a great week!! Thanks to those who sent me letters!! It´s always exciting to get them.
Later,
Elder Page

July 21, 2009

2009-07-26T21:23:00.000-06:00

Hey Everyone!!
Today is a good day but there is a bunch of rain. There is absolutely nobody outside right now. It´s kind of nice. Nothing changed in the transfer meeting. I´m going to spend 6 month in Morón. One of the members told me that she feels bad for me but is extremely happy that I´m still here. What can you do when you´re just so loveable? I never thought I would have that problem hahaha!! Just kidding.
So I really miss cars. I wouldn´t even mind having a bike. Anything...walking just gets dull sometimes. So yeah, there´s nothing super new this week other than the pouring rain and cold weather.
So we all know that the mission life is a little different than regular life and we leave some things behind. For me there are 3 things that I really miss: 1. Family and Friends 2. Television, music, and video games. 3. English. I also miss a well-functioning ward where more than half of the members aren´t inactive. Also, the friendship in the ward. Here people who live a block away from their kids don´t talk to them because of something that happened more than 30 years. It´s a shame but hey, it´s Argentina. Well, life is still great. I finally got the point (I think) to my kid that he doesn´t know everything. I´ll be able to handle him a month and a half longer. The weeks go by like nothing in the mission. Hope you all have a good week!
Later,
Elder Page

July 14, 2009

2009-07-14T16:26:00.001-06:00

Hey Everyone!
I hope you all had a fantastic week! I´m pleased to inform you all that last week was really good for me! We found a really good lady, Raquel, on Saturday and we already put a baptism date for the 8th of August! She´s one of those golden contacts you always hear about. Also, we are having a baptism this week on Saturday! So I´m pretty content with myself right now. Things are going swell and I´m enjoying the mission as always. The only real bad news is that I´m getting tired of my kid. He thinks he knows everything and can never be wrong. I found out the best way to deal with it is just let him talk and talk so he feels he´s right. But, I have learned how to be really patient. I guess there´s a plus to everything huh? But yeah, transfers are next Monday and I´m hoping for a change. My guess is that it won´t come until the upcoming transfer. Either way, I was thinking that it´s not too bad to only suffer a couple of months in the mission. The time will go by anyway. Speaking of time, I´m closing in on the year and you know what that means...only 1 year more! I would definitely say that the time has gone by fast and word in the mission is that the 2nd year always goes by faster. I guess we´ll find out!
So, today I went into the city to buy some ties. I am now a tie-buying fanatic now just so you know. But anyway, a lady stopped us in the street because she was trying to get us to sign up computer classes and language classes. Well, we told her no and then she spurted back, "For being friends of Jesus you two are bad." It gave me a good laugh. As for spiritual experiences, yesterday is a winner. So, it was late at night and there was nobody in the streets. So, I stopped by a member´s house to ask if any less-áctives lived close. She pointed out a house and gave me the name so I went to check it out. I knock on the door and she lets us in. It turns out that she was having troubles going back to church and so she prayed until 2 in the morning to see if God wanted her to go. Well, long story short, she took our visit as an answer and she´s going to church on Sunday! It was pretty awesome! So that´s about all that has happened this week. It was a good one and the mission is awesome. I figure all is well and another transfer with my kid will help me a lot with developing more patience and learning how to control my "angry thoughts" hahahaha!!! That was a joke, ok, half-a-joke. But still, I think I´ll be able to deal with it.
Until next week.
ELDER PAGE

July 7, 2009

2009-07-09T12:27:00.000-06:00

Hey Everyone!!!
This week was a very good one. As always, I tear my area up. Sometimes I just see more results than others. The things that I have control over are always completed. Sometimes we don´t get as many lessons as some weeks but it´s not because we aren´t trying. We continue to work hard and we were rewarded with a baptism on Sunday. I don´t know how much of the news you watch but the whole "pig flu" thing is pretty big here. All of our meetings except for Sacrament meetings have been suspended for this whole month. We aren´t allowed to shake hands or work if we are the least bit sick. I´m not worried at all. I personally think it´s just a mental thing. You´re sick when you want to be. Either way, I´ve got the Lord´s protection and I´m pretty confident that He wants me working, not being sick. I missed having a celebration the 4th of July but my zone leaders called me and sang the national anthem and I proudly joined in the song with my hand over my heart. God Bless America! This Thursday is Patriot Day here but there aren´t going to be any parties due to the dreaded flu. So everything is just fine. The transfer has only 2 weeks left and so we´ll see my fate once again. My guess is that I´m not going anywhere. I don´t really want another transfer here just because 6 months in the same area really gets you sick of the place. Either way I´ll do what I have to do! Well, hope ya´ll have a good one.
Later,
Elder Page

June 30, 2009

2009-07-02T15:38:00.000-06:00

Hey Everyone!!
I hope you all are enjoying your summer break and the sun. It´s starting to get a little cold here in Argentina. It´s tougher to find people outside. I´ve noticed that Argentines are afraid of a couple of things here. 1) The rain. 2) The cold. 3) Americans - they all think we are CIA or something. Either way, the mission is still just great!! I had my interview with Pres. Benton yesterday and he said that I´m doing a good job! I haven´t done anything special, just work. That´s the key! Work and The Spirit. Together they can´t go wrong. My kid is doing good. I´ve learned a lot from him and vice versa. We´re doing very well together.Things are just fantastic still and I´m enjoying every second of these 2 years!!! We´re going to have a baptism the 4th of July so while you are all celebrating at home just remember how much I´ll be celebrating here! I´m glad to be on the mission. Some of the members also told me that Michael Jackson and Farah Fawcett died. What´s the deal with that? It did leave some space for some "spirit world" jokes with the members. One little girl asked me, "Where´s Michael Jackson?" I whipped out a scripture in Alma that talks about the spirit world and had her read it. Then she said, "Oh, I bet he doesn´t like that" after reading about spirit prison. Okay, you can only get so funny in the mission. At least I laughed at it. Other than that, things are pretty normal. Time keeps ticking away on me. I´m getting a little nervous that I won´t have enough time to do everything I was hoping. Well, that´s all I´ve got for ya´ll this week. I hope you all have a spectactular 4th of July!!
Later,
Elder Page

6-23-09

2009-06-23T18:32:00.000-06:00

Hey Everyone!!!
How is everything? Things are still just going fine in Argentina. There aren´t too many changes to talk about. My kid is pretty cool. We are working really well together now and we have a few good things going on in Morón. We´ve found a couple of good investigators and we are working with them a lot. Also, one of the part-member couples in our ward is getting married and then the wife will get baptized!!! Finally! Also, an old investigator, Pablo, quit drinking after I don´t know how many years. He´s been sober for 22 days. We went by him yesterday and he said he wants to go back to church!! So, we´ve got a few good things happening. Hard work always pays off in the end and hopefully I´ll be able to see a few people get baptized. That would be sweet!!
How was Father´s Day? I hope turned out well. Here, nobody was in the streets and it gave them an "excuse" not to listen. Bummer, huh? I don´t know how many different excuses I´ve heard. One is too many. Also, we contacted an old man the other day who told us that we needed to get "real jobs". He wasn´t interested to say the least. That about sums it up for this week.
Later,
Elder Page

6-16-09

2009-06-17T11:32:00.001-06:00

Hey Everyone!!!
The mission is just great. Things are going well with my kid. He´s interesting. He didn´t have very many friends and so he doesn´t really talk a lot but that´s changing. The only problem with him is that he thinks he´s smarter than he really is, a little prideful, and thinks he is always right. Sounds kind of like me huh? I think a couple of months will change that for him. Being a trainer is good. I´ve learned a lot already, which is a good thing, and I´m excited to learn more. My area hasn´t changed. The people are still a little tough and nobody is progressing like I want. We are going to have a baptism the 27th so at least something good is going to happen.
How does time fly? When I leave this area I will have completed the year and just a little bit more and it´s all downhill from there! So things are going well. I don´t have anything to complain about. The work moves onward and I´ll keep doing the best I can. Hopefully these people will catch on to the fact that the Church is true and change their lives.
Well, that´s all for now. Hope you all have a great summer!
Later,
Elder Page

June 9, 2009

2009-06-09T21:04:00.000-06:00

Hey Everybody!!!
So, we just had transfers on Monday. We had 172 baptisms this time!!! That´s awesome!!! The mission record is 179, which we set 2 transfers ago. The work is really growing here. Also, for other news I got a new companion...emphasis on the NEW!!! I´m a TRAINER!!! Can you believe it? 10 months out and I have this wonderful opportunity to grow from what I can learn from my greenie. His name is Elder Cortes from Columbia. He´s 23 years old and got baptized 2 years ago! I´m very excited to work with him and to see what happens. Also, something else, I´m sure you´ve heard of Elder Aidukitis. Well, my area recently received a referral from him! President Benton came to contact him with us but unfortunately wasn´t home. I´ve called the house many times and I finally got an appointment with him for tomorrow night!! I´m very excited to see what comes of it. Right now we have one baptism date for the 27 of June. He´s a kiddie dunker like the majority of my baptisms but hopefully it will help his mother get baptized. She´s not married yet and that´s her problem. I´ll get it done.
The work is awesome and growing every day. The Lord always blesses us with opportunities to share the gospel. Please don´t waste your chances to share this wonderful gospel with nonmember friends and family.
Later,
Elder Page

June 3, 2009

2009-06-03T13:53:00.001-06:00

Hey Everyone!
So things haven´t changed in the mission. We´ve found some decent investigators and I´m excited to see what I can do with them. I really just want to be so successful it drives me nuts!!! I don´t think I´ll ever reach perfection...I´m always lacking a little something. But hey, that´s probably how I should feel since I´m only human, right? However, transfers are in 6 days and I´ll be getting a new companion so we´ll see how it is. I´m just excited to get another change. Change is good, especially in the mission.
Nothin really special happened in the last week. One kid told me and my companion that we should be careful because the punks like to rob Mormons but I´m not too worried. Like I have money to give them, I don´t even work for cash! People here will do anything for money.
Today we also had our zone activity. I wish I would have played soccer when I was a kid because I absolutely suck. Who would´ve know soccer would come in handy? But, we did play ultimate frisbee too and I owned so it was still fun!!
Well, that´s all for this week. Until next time.
Later,
Elder Page

HAPPY BIIRTHDAY!!!

2009-05-26T21:21:00.001-06:00

Hey Everyone!!!
Well, I just turned 20 but I don´t feel any different...what can you expect? I´ve had a pretty good day so far. This morning I got up, cleaned the apartment a little, and played some ping pong with my companion. Then, I went to a member´s house where we had my birthday party!!! We ate a lot of cake and had a good time. I really miss being home for stuff like this but hey, what can ya do? I´m having enough fun here anyway. Also, Pres. and Sis. Benton gave me a call to wish me a happy birthday in the morning. So everything is going just fine.
The mission life is fantastic as always. We finally got a baptismal date set for the 27 of June. His name is Cristian and he is 7 right now. We´ve been teaching his family and so he will be the first to be baptized. I´m going to have to work really hard to get the parents baptized because they aren´t married yet. That will be a struggle and we´ll see what happens.
I´m doing really well in general. I haven´t been sick lately and I got a second wind to start working really hard again so I´m excited and ready to see what this week has in store for me. Just so you know I´ve gained about 10 pounds so far. I´m not exactly fat it´s just that my muscles are going away and my belly is a little chubby. That just means more situps and jump rope!!
As for good stories, I was in divisions with my district leader doing contacts and a guy stopped us in the road. We went over and started talking to him. Well, after about 5 minutes this man´s friend comes over with a big glass jar full of...guess what...weed. It was huge!! Even funnier was that he then said, "Hey, it´s nature." Wow!! I´m pretty sure I´ve seen just about everything here. Argentina is interesting to say the least. Well, hope you all have a really good week!!
Later,
Elder Page

May 19, 2009

2009-05-19T17:24:00.000-06:00

Hey Everyone!!
Wow things are just crazy aren´t they? I´m going to be 20 in a week! I hope that doesn´t mean I have to grow up because it´s not going to happen. When I hear 20 all I think of is responsibility...YUCK!
So the mission always has it´s ups and downs so I can´t expect every day to be perfect or every area to be prime for baptizing. However, there is still a lot of changing that can happen in my area and I intend on making those changes. Luckily I got to go to the temple today. I had to wake up at 5 a.m. to get ready and take a bus for about 45 minutes but it was worth it. I always feel much better after going to the temple. It was a nice spiritual booster.
The week was a little difficult. Everything I´m trying here just isn´t working. We pass by our investigators every Sunday and they don´t come to church because they just don´t realize how important it is. It´s so sad. Sometimes all you can do is inform the people so they can make their own decisions but, for the most part, they don´t choose the right one. But the mission is always good. I love serving the Lord and helping people realize their full potential in life. Things are fine and I´m still just having blast!!!
Later,
Elder Page

May 12, 2009

2009-05-12T16:28:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone!!
This week was really good for me because I got to call my mom!! To be honest I never thought I would miss my family this much. I think part of it has to be with being in Argentina. I just miss America in general. However, this mission is going just fine. Last week really sucked because after I went to the pizza buffet on Tuesday, I got really sick...go figure. So, Tuesday night and all of Wednesday I was out of commision thanks to stomach problems. On Thursday I had my interview with Pres. Benton. He is an awesome man. He told me that I have already changed the area I´m in and that my next obstacle is to get our investigators to church on Sunday. That´s turning out to be pretty tough. A lot of people are stubborn and flat-out lazy, not to mention not everyone has the convenience of cars here. That´s probably the biggest reason. They don´t want to spend money to take the bus. But that will change with some time.
Well, while talking to my family my lovely sister told me that my car blew up. That really sucks. I don´t want to worry about stupid stuff like that but nowI won´t have anything to get me around when I get back. Just great huh? It´s just another thing to worry about that´s all. The work is starting to get harder here now that winter is coming around. It gets dark early and people are afraid of the cold here,which really isn´t that cold. So we´ll see what happens as far as the work goes. I´m still doing my part and working hard so I hope all goes well.
Well, that´s all for this week. Have a great one!!
Later,
Elder Page

May 5, 2009

2009-05-05T20:46:00.000-06:00

Hello everybody!!!
I hope everything is just fine with you all. Things haven´t changed at all in my area. I´m still working hard but the people aren´t as receptive as I would like. This week kind of sucked to be honest. It was tough because in our area there was a big air show Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and so everyone was there. I spend a lot of time walking around in the streets trying to find people. Even worse, since the air show was on Sunday, all of our investigators and HALF of the members ditched church to go to the last day. Those kinds of things just seem to happen in Argentina. The members aren´t as faithful as they should be but it has really got to be hard to be a member here. There is so much worldly crap surrounding them that it´s not even funny. Satan has a really strong hold here but we are breaking it little by little. Out of all these people here there has got to be at least 1 person who is trying to live a righteous life and is just waiting that I taught to him. As long as we stay strong in the faith the Lord will bless us more than we can ever imagine.
Well, that´s it for this week. Still no really awesome stories but I´m trying to fix that. A couple of punk kids threw rocks at us the other day but that´s it. Nothing too bad.
Later,
Elder Page

April 28,2009

2009-04-28T21:08:00.001-06:00

Hey Everyone!
This week went just about the same as every other week. The days are long and the weeks are short. But still, the mission is good. We had our transfer meeting this Monday and...no changes. I´m still in my same area of Morón 2 and I´m still working with Elder Alvarez. So, I guess we´ll just keep working hard and try to get some baptisms. Right now our investigators are few. We have a family of Bolivians that are listening to us but they didn´t go to church. We also have another family that goes to church (the wife and kids) but the husband is a bum and doesn´t go. They aren´t married and she´s almost quit smoking so the baptism isn´t quite there yet. Either way, the work continues and if I´m obedient the Lord will put people in my path. I talk to everyone in the street and I get called a lot of bad names. I don´t know if I told you this but the other day I did a contact with a guy just sitting on his porch. Well, he told me to stop talking and that he would shoot me if I ever talked to him again. It was actually pretty funny because I didn´t understand all of what he said so I asked him to say it again. Yeah, I don´t think I´ll go by that guy again.
Other than that my area is pretty calm. Nothing really crazy happens. The big thing that´s even close to scary is all the diseases and sicknesses that are going around here right now. For a month or so a ton of people have contracted Dengue from the mosquitos and just recently a new sickness came here from Mexico. Apparently it´s some kind of fever that is getting everyone sick. But don´t worry I´m still fine.
So that´s my life in a nutshell right now. I´m just living in the mission routine and doing all that I can to help these people out. I´m still really excited to be on the mission and do my part in this great work. The Lord always takes care of those who are obedient. When you do what´s right there is nothing to worry about.
Well, I hope you all have a great week!!!
Elder Pag

Mission Pics!

2009-04-22T19:12:00.010-06:00

April 21, 2009

2009-04-21T20:27:00.000-06:00

Hey Everyone!!!
Well things are just great still! The awesomeness of the mission never changes. I´m still working my tail off in my new area but the people here are kind of stubborn. They don´t like to listen and the investigators are few and far between but there´s still hope!! My companion and I are working and working and working so things should change in a couple of more weeks or so. Patience is a big asset and frankly I don´t have it. I get frustrated too much because the people just do things that make me mad. It´s hard to explain but when you end up talking to people in the streets all day every day the frustration comes. However there are always the benefits of the mission like studying every day and finding a "golden investigator". This is truely the best and the worst of times.
This week was decent. Today we had our zone activity because we´re coming up on transfers next Monday. I still can´t believe that this one is almost over. The time flies by faster than you think. It´s nuts!!
Well, that´s all for this week. Until next time...
Elder Page

April 14, 2009

2009-04-14T17:11:00.000-06:00

Hey Everyone!!!
Things are just cruising along here in the mission. My new area is tougher and it´s taking more work to get stuff done than I thought. I´ve finally accepted that it´s not my decision if someone else gets baptized. It still makes me mad that some people don´t realize how necessary baptism is or that they´ve "already been baptized" but I´ve come to the conclusion that I can only do my part. I can´t force someone in the water but I still think I can get them real close. We´ll just have to see. This area needs a lot of change still. We´ve pretty much cut our loses on those people whose baptismal dates fell through and we´re in the hunt for some new people. We´ve already found a couple of really good investigators so I´m excited to see what´s going to happen.
Also, today for P-Day I went golfing with the Zone Leaders. Argentine golf is interesting. First off we had to get in through the Army base here. Also, the green looked about the same as the rest of the field. There weren´t any left-handed clubs so I had to golf right-handed which gave me a good excuse to suck it up. It was a lot of fun and I had a blast anyway. Well, that´s all for this week.
Later,
Elder Page

April 7, 2009!

2009-04-07T18:39:00.001-06:00

Hey Everyone!!
I hope you all had a good Spring Break. I´m still totally loving the mission. Nothing tops this experience. I feel so good when I have done all that I can to help someone change their lives. It´s really disappointing at the same time. People are too laid back here. If you were on vacation here it would rock but I´m talking about people´s SALVATION!!! They just don´t seem to click that they need to change in order to get to heaven. It is frustrating, especially the people who have baptism dates and fall through. They just don´t take these things seriously enough...AHHH!!!! I never realized how much stress goes into the mission. I need to take a week off or something...but then I would get behind in the work. Freak!! I need a day to vent or something...oh well. I guess it´s a good thing that I´m preoccupied about souls instead of music or movies huh?
How about General Conference? I really liked Elder Perry´s talk about the members being missionaries. It was a nice booster. Also, how many talks were given about the temples? WOW!! Elder Bednar really gave an outstanding talk. Those were my two favorite talks.
Also, this week I spent most of the time sick. Not enough to keep me from the streets but it made it miserable to work. I just got over a nasty cough/cold thing and I´ve moved into the sore throat stages. Oh well, let it all come down on me then.
Just so you all know I only have 2 more general conferences here in Argentina. The time flies that´s all I know. It´s just more motivation to work harder that´s all. I´ve only got a year and a half to do everything possible to change this place. Wish me luck!!
-Elder Page

March 31, 2009

2009-03-31T13:49:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone!!What´s up?? I hope everything´s well and that you are all enjoying spring break. (It´s about that time of year right?) Things are just moving right along. The days just fly by here. It´s really crazy. It´s hard to believe how fast the time goes. Yesterday I celebrated 8 months in the mission!! Hoop hoop! Ok it´s not that much time but still...This week nothing much happened. The work is really nice in my new area. It was almost like I was prepared in my last area with really hard work so I would know how to do things better here. Anyway, last week we took out a baptismal date with a man named Domingo. He´s gone to church 3 times already and he´s ready to get baptized. If everything goes well he´ll be in the water the 11 of April. We were going to do it this week but it just so happens we have General Conference!!! I´m pretty excited for it because I´ll be able to watch it in English this time! Today for P-Day I learned how to cook empanadas from scratch!! One of the members helped us cook! It was fun. I also bought 3 ties today. They all look really nice and they were dirt cheap!! That´s one thing I really like about Argentina. Dollars automatically triple in value here. It´s pretty sweet! But anyway, things are going great and the work moves forward!!!Well, I hope you all have a great week.Later,Elder Page

March 24, 2009

2009-03-24T17:51:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone!
Things are still just going as usual. There´s always too much work and never enough time. The mission is still awesome though! I´m finally understand almost everything that people tell me. One day my ears just opened up and now I can carry on a conversation with just about anyone I want. I still speak ok but there is always room for improvement. Some people say they don´t understand me but that´s because they don´t want to listen to us.
My new area is better. The members are stronger in the church and there isn´t so much arguing or apostasy here. Also, the Relief Society always has someone feeding us and the members offer us food when we are there. I´m not going to go hungry here that´s for sure. Life is going pretty good. We have a lot of good things going for us. So far we are working hard but there´s room for improvement. I´m ready to see the changes.
I love the mission. I never thought it would be this cool, or this hard. When you have people running through your mind all day it gets pretty stressful. Nobody really knows what a missionary goes through unless they´ve done it themselves. It´s hard but so rewarding.
Well I hope you get everything done that´s important. I´ve learned how to prioritize on the mission. I never realized how important it is to prioritize.
Well, I hope you all have a great week!!
Later,
Elder Page

March 17, 2009

2009-03-17T17:57:00.001-06:00

Hello Everyone!!!
So time is flying just as normal and we had our transfer meeting on Monday! Finally I got a change!! I moved to a different area called Morón 2 (not Moron because there´s an accent). It´s nice not to have to lead the area. I had a good 6 months in La Perlita but it was time for a change. Elder Lee and I ended up with 1 baptism which we did last Saturday the 14th. It was pretty good.
Now I´m with Elder Alvarez, who´s a fake Latino. He´s from Layton, Utah. His parents are latin so he understands and speaks Spanish really well. It´s a nice help when I don´t understand everything. But the language is coming right along. I´m learning more everyday and I´m doing better. It´s getting easier with more study.
So how´s everyone doing with the time change? I don´t know if you all knew but since our seasons are opposite here I got to sleep-in an hour last Sunday. It was really nice. That hour of sleep you guys are losing is what I end up getting! So it´s all balanced out.
Well things are really great! The work is moving forward here. Last transfer our mission set a new record of baptisms with 179 new converts! It was pretty sweet! I´m loving every second of being here and eveything is just fine. I hope you all have a great week!
Later,
Elder Page

March 10, 2009

2009-03-11T18:45:00.001-06:00

Hey Everyone!
Just so you know the time is going fast. The mission is still rocking awesome as ever!!! Elder Lee and I are still working really hard and I´m excited to see what happens in the next transfer. I should finally get a change this transfer. After a little while I get tired of walking the same streets over and over. Luckily it´s been really interesting this time around. We´ve had our ups and our downs, but things are still good. I want to leave this place better than it was. So far we´ve done it. Next transfer the elders here should see 3 more people baptized!! I love just knowing that I helped change a little part of the world. It´s really cool. Also, today for our P-Day we went bowling!! That´s a real treat here. Not everyone gets to go bowling. It made me miss home and just being able to do what I want when I want. Right now I´m just trying to work really hard and be obedient. I don´t want to disappoint myself because I´ve put high expectations for my mission. The only way I´ll do it is to stay focused and work my butt off. But hey, I´ve only got 2 years while I´m still young and fresh to work my body. I want to come home dead tired. The mission is so important. Sometimes I wish I could go back to Day 1 and change all of the things that I didn´t do. There´s always a little bit more that I could do and I don´t realize it in the moment. That´s one of the things I want to change.
Thanks to all who sent me letters! It was a nice power booster. I feel kind of bad for not writing back but I don´t have time nor the money to do it. It costs a good 5 pesos to send a letter to the states. Maybe one day there will be a letter in the mail to you guys. But if not, forgive me now and don´t be afraid to write. I´m still updating the blogs which kind of counts, right? Well, thank you all and keeping fighting the good fight!
Later,

3-3-09

2009-03-04T22:46:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone!!!
Things are just chugging along here in the mission! I never imagined what came with being a missionary. It´s harder than I thought. You won´t believe it but I´ve learned to be mean with people who don´t keep their commitments. I like to use the method of breaking the down and then bringing the back up. It seems to work out really well. Also, I have acquired the nickname "Maquina Page" or in English "Page the Machine." Don´t ask me why they call me that because I haven´t figured it out yet. Either way the work is moving along. Right now we have 5 baptismal dates even though some of them have a lot of work to do. Things are going awesome though and Elder Lee and I are working as hard as ever. Seeing some success really gets me going. My area has really been turned around just from a little hard work and a lot of help from the Lord. I´ve seen miracles already. We found this lady, Maria, who was stuck in her Catholic traditions with her kids trying to convince her to be Evangelist. We taught her one day and she accepted everything we taught. She has a lot of doubts about the church because her kids tell her what the Mormons believe. We end up doing damage control after every lesson. It doesn´t matter because she´s changing. This is probably the first person here I´ve seen start to change their life and experience the TRUE conversion. It´s so awesome!!! But yeah we´ve really got a lot of good things going for us.
When I had interviews with the President he hinted to me that I would probably be leaving the area so we´ll find that out in a couple of weeks.
Well I don´t have any really crazy stories this week. After a while all the things you think are crazy just turn out to be normal here. The other day we contacted a drunk who had a stab wound in his chest. It was...well...Argentine. Anyway, that´s about everything here. It´s still hot but not as hot as it used to be. It´s starting to move little by little into the fall (which they don´t have here) and eventually into winter.
Good luck with everything and have a great week!
Elder Page

Feb. 24, 2009

2009-02-24T15:41:00.001-07:00

Wow February is alreading coming to an end. The time is just flying by faster than I ever thought possible. I´m doing really great right now. The mission is treating me swell. I have no clue what I would do if I wasn´t here. I think my life would be a mess. I feel that this is where I need to be right now. For an update on the investigators and fechas (bapt. dates) Elder Lee and I are really going at it strong. I´ve been for 3 transfers and I´m in the 4th so I´m going to be leaving my area. We put the goal of 4 baptisms for this transfer but I think we are only going to have 3. We had a big rainstorm Saturday night so it was really tough to get all of the investigators to church. We ended up passing by all of our b-dates 2 times with Remis (cheap taxis) but we got all of them there! We had another gator that is really good but didn´t show up. We were pretty bummed about that. But we had a really good week and we are going to have a baptism on the 7th and two planned for the 14th. 2 of the 3 are really solid but they other has a lot of work to do. He has a lot of faith. He told us that he drinks, smokes, and has a cup of coffee every now and then but he still accepted his baptismal date and is working hard. He´s already smoking 5 less ciggs and has the hope that he can quit altogether. It´s amazing to see the faith of these people. They haven´t ever heard of our message but are willing to change in a heartbeat. Of course there are others that are stubborn. We do get rejections here but most people are cool and will listen to us. It´s really great to see the work go forth in an area with so much promise. I don´t know if I would be able to handle any other place. The missionary work is hard but here in Argentina we see success really quickly which is a blessing. So I´m really loving being here and being a "soul-saver" as I like to call it.
Elder Lee, my companion, is from good ole Logan, Utah. He went to Logan High, played football, and went to USU before the mission. His the youngest in his family (I think) with 2 older brothers (RM´s) and a sister who is serving a mission in Mongolia. He has 1 more transfer than me so we are one of the youngest companionships in the mission right now. But he´s a hard worker, obedient, and very spiritual so we work really well together and we are seeing a lot of changes in the people and we are having a lot of success!! It really great!
The gospel is true and it will never let you down. In your troubles comes the grace and true love of God to lift you up and carry you on His back. One thing that I´ve learned from the mission is that sometimes you have to hit rock-bottom so that God can lift you up higher than you ever thought. I´m seen many miracles happen and the Lord´s work come about first-hand. I´m grateful that God has trusted me to be one of His holy servants, an instrument that He uses to fulfill His eternal purpose. Without His power I would be nothing out here. I know that God lives. I know that this is His Church. Stay strong and never forget the Lord´s hand in all things.
Later,
Elder Page

Feb. 17 2009

2009-02-19T14:27:00.001-07:00

Hello!!!
I´m doing just fine here in Argentina minus the heat. It´s just really hot all of the time and when it´s not hot it´s humid. Anyway, things are still good and the work moves onward!!
Elder Lee and I have been working really hard. We finally had an investigator in sacrament meeting and luckily she loved it! We have a baptismal date for her on the 7th of March. Things are progressing in the area. We have 3 baptismal dates now and we plan on getting another this week. It´s awesome to finally see all of the work pay off. It´s hard to get the ball rolling on the mission but once you do and you start getting some good things going even better things happen! If you haven´t noticed yet I´m absolutely loving the mission! There is nothing better than seeing people put in effect the Atonement of Jesus Christ and change their lives in order to follow the plan that God has in store for all of us.
Nothing really exciting happened this week. I do have kind of an interesting story just to tell you all how Argentina really is. So we have these less-active members who are 10 and 12. We went by their house the other day and it´s huge!! It turns out their parents have quite a lot of money. So, I asked the bishop where this guy got all of his cash. Get this, he told me that the whole family is a family of robbers. I didn´t believe him at first but then I saw the house and there is no way that they could have such a nice house with the type of "work" that they claimed to do. Anyway, welcome to Argentina. Also, the wards here are quite different. I´ve spent a lot of time trying to fix relationships in the Relief Society because the President likes to drop the cane on everyone in front of the whole ward. There are many offended members (mostly women) in our ward who don´t go to church because of this one person. The more faithful members go to church but still skip Relief Society class. It´s really ridiculous but it happens often in many of the wards here.
Well, I´m doing great and I´m glad to be serving the Lord. I have seen a lot of miracles here I´m sure there are a ton more just waiting around the corner.
Remember to keep strong in the faith and never doubt the Lord even in the time of trial. He´s always there watching, sometimes we just have to look up and realize He´s there.
Later,
Elder Page

Feb. 10, 09

2009-02-10T15:43:00.000-07:00

Hello People!!!
From the things I´ve been hearing about America I´m really glad to be in Argentina. Geez I guess we know what happens when Elder Page leaves the country. Don´t worry, I´ll be back in a couple of years. Today we had our Temple P-Day which was awesome! I really enjoyed it. One thing that always makes me feel better is knowning that our church doesn´t change no matter where you go. It´s almost sad to think of all the other churches (or branches of churches) that just don´t share the same beliefs if you go somewhere else. It´s just another testimony of the TRUE church of God. My testimony has grown so much here! I never thought that the mission would be such a life-changing experience but when you have the opportunity to share a testimony everyday it really grows. I never realized how important it was to share a testimony until now. It´s the one thing that can´t be argued because I really know that the church is true and that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet of God to restore the same church that Jesus Christ himself established.
Elder Lee and I are really putting forth an effort here. We are working really hard and have set the goal to obey every single one of the mission rules because the Lord blesses the obedient. Hopefully I´ll be able to see the blessings sooner than later (baptisms) but as long as the work in my area progresses I´m satisfied. We have some really good things going for us and we just need to get our investigators to realize the importance of committing to live the Gospel.
I´m really loving the mission. My testimony grows stronger every day and I know that this is the Lord´s work. I know the church is true and that we are led by a living prophet who receives revelation from our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the head of the restored church of God.
So Valentines Day is coming up. As for Argentina and V-Day, they don´t celebrate it. Truthfully, the last thing this country needs is a day dedicated to love. I see enough of that yucky junk every day in the streets. Crazy Argentines...
Anyway, keep the faith and don´t lose hope! The Lord will always bless you if you´re doing what´s right.
Later,
Elder Page

Feb. 3, 2009

2009-02-03T21:35:00.001-07:00

Hey Everybody!!!
How´s it going? Things are really great here in Argentina! I have officially completed 6 months (YAY!) and I´m doing great! So I finally "killed" Elder Rupp and he´s going home. I acquired several things that he wasn´t able to fit in his bag. Talk about luck, huh? I got a jump rope, slippers, hair clippers, first aid and shoe shining kits, a fanny pack and a couple other things. I´m very content with what I´ve got now!
So the big news about transfers...I´m still in the same area but now I´ve got a new companion!!! His name is Elder Lee from Logan, Utah. Like me, he doesn´t have very much time in the mission. He only has 1 more transfer than me. I think it´s awesome that President Benton would trust two of the young guns in the mission to work an area. To be honest, I´m really excited to work with him! Both of us are excited and ready to go! I plan on doing a lot of baptisms this transfer that´s for sure! We´ve got a lot of good things going for us. We got one baptismal date with an investigator, Silvana, and I´ve got plans to get more, about 5 or 6 more if it all works out. There are just some investigators that need to get married and after that BAM! All I know is that it would be awesome to get all of these people baptized and THE SOONER THE BETTER!!!
Well, that´s about all I´ve got for this week. I hope everything is going great and remember to have a great week!
Chao,
Elder Page

Jan. 27, 2009

2009-01-27T18:06:00.000-07:00

Things are going pretty swell. I´m still doing just fine, working hard, and having fun. I don´t have anything to complain about. This is the last week for my companion and it´s just about driving the both of us mad! Gosh! I didn´t know how hard it was to kill an Elder. But the good news is that I´m going to get all of the stuff that he´s leaving behind!! I´ve given him suggestions about what he should and shouldn´t take. We´ve spent a little bit of time getting his "coming-home" suit ready. I´ve spent the last couple of days missing home with him.
The work is good. Our ward is a little bit ragged and so I´ve been spending a lot of time patching up relationships and ridiculous stuff like that. The good news, we had a family come to church on Sunday!!! They have 5 kids and 2 of them are over the age of eight. They really liked church and so we´re going to see what comes out of this one. I had my interview with the Mission President last week. He flat-out told me that I´m going to stay one more transfer in La Perlita and that I need to get things ready to really work hard. I´ve done almost everything that he asked me to do, I just need to get the list of Part-Member families done. So, I´m going to spend 6 months in my area and the only surprise will be who my next companion is.
I don´t have anything super crazy to tell this week. I´ll see if I can change that next week. Remember to stay strong and keep the faith!!
Later,
Elder Page

Jan. 20, 2009

2009-01-20T17:53:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!!
Everything is going just fine here in Argentina! Elder Rupp and I are still working hard. Our dream of a "White Saturday" has kind of been impided as the people who were receiving our message just kind of stopped listening...It´s a bummer but we still have one baptismal date for the 31st! Hopefully we can get that baptism done (he´s a really old investigator who just needs to get baptized). Anyway, I am still really enjoying my time here!! And guess what?! Come January 30 I officially have 6 months under my belt! I don´t know where the time has gone...it´s really crazy! I´m going to have to find a way to celebrate it. Maybe with a really successful week and some baptismal dates! That would be sweet!
I feel that I have a good grasp on the basic gospel principles now and I absolutely love to teach!!! Sometimes I won´t leave a contact unless I can get a lesson in. I feel a little bit like Alma when he said that he wished he could preach the gospel to everyone. I´m even thinking of putting in a request in order to be the 4th Nephite Elder teaching people!!! Who knows, it could happen!
The language is coming. I speak better everyday but I still don´t understand very much. That´s why I have a companion. I just ask him what they tell me so I can respond. Eventually I´ll get this language down!!!
I have a pretty interesting story for ya too! So I was in Divisions with an Elder in his area. We contacted this guy who was trying to put his key in a door. I went up and asked him if it was his house. He told me no, but that we could go around the corner with him to teach a lesson. As we were walking around the corner, a man whacked our contact over the head with a broomstick and then shouted some mean words. Anyway, turns out that our contact got pretty drunk in the morning and didn´t show up to work. The guy who whacked him on the head had some reason to do it I guess. Well, we taught the man anyway and left him to sleep off the wine. It was a little interesting to say the least.
Well, things are swell! I´m loving the mission more everyday. A lot of times I wish I had more hours in the day to work. It´s a shame that I have to sleep and it´s ALMOST a shame that I have to eat! But anyway, things are just moving right along and I´m having a blast!
Chao,
Elder Page.

Jan. 13, 2009

2009-01-13T21:44:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!!
I hope everything is just fine at home. I´m doing great. Nothing much has really changed. The time still moves and I just work work work!! I don´t have any problem with that though. I love the work and I´m just glad to be here.
Hmmm, I really don´t have too much to say. Nothing changes on the mission. I´m glad that you are all receiving such awesome blessings!! That´s pretty sweet!
I do have a pretty funny story though. So Elder Rupp and I were talking to a 7th Day Evangelist the other day. We got on the subject of the Book of Mormon and why he didn´t believe there were other scriptures in the earth. It was funny because he said that he believes in the Bible and that his church is based partly on the book of Revelations. We showed him where it says that an angel came out of the heavens and brought forth another set of scriptures (book of mormon). Guess what his answer was to this? He tolds us that his church "doesn´t accept that teaching in the Bible." He said it without any shame or anything. We were like, Freak, you guys don´t believe in the Bible? Well he didn´t have an answer. People here really like to pick and choose what they want to believe from the Bible. I´ve learned a lot about the other churches here. What they do and don´t believe and stuff like that. It just strengthens my testimony about our church because everything that´s in the Bible we believe. We don´t pick or choose what we want to follow, we just do it!
Oh, my companion and I got challenged by some members in a game of basketball today. The bet was if we won, they had to buy us a kilo of icecream and do divisions with us for 5 days. If we lost, we would´ve had to make them breakfast American-style and buy them icecream. Well, we played today and we won 21-4!!! It was a blast and now I´ve got divisions with members!! It´s pretty sweet!
Anyway, I´m having a blast and I´m loving the mission!!!
Later,
Elder Page

Jan. 6, 2009

2009-01-06T21:25:00.001-07:00

Well Hello Everyone!
This week was a decent one, full of meetings, and good stuff. Elder Rupp and I are working really hard. The time is still going by quickly, almost too quick. Elder Rupp is getting trunkier every day but we try and keep each other in line.
After we taught one of our investigators, we built a mini-house for him. It took us about 6 hours but now I can build a house if I need to! Okay that was kind of a joke, but still.
We are trying to change our area but it´s really hard. We´ve got some major problems in the ward and our investigators still aren´t going to church. However, we´re still keeping a good attitude and we have our hopes up for a lot of baptisms this transfer! It´s going to happen if it´s the last thing I do!!
Stories...well Elder Rupp and I we taught the first lesson to a bunch of girls (mistake). All they wanted to do was flirt and find out about America. I swear, if you´re white here your social status is automatically bumped up with the women. They just love to talk and flirt and crap like that. Well, we challenged them to go to church but they wouldn´t say yes. Long story short, they didn´t show up but we saw them the next day while walking down the street and one of them said "I love you Page." FREAK!!! The girls here are sneaky snakes...it´s ridiculous. Anyway, that´s all I have.
Things are just fine. The work is good. Life is great!!! I love to work and work and work!!! Remember you´re nothing without God.
Later,
Elder Page

Dec. 30, 2008

2008-12-30T14:24:00.001-07:00

Hello Everybody!!
So the mission is on fire right now!!! Elder Rupp and I are tearing it up!! We are working harder than I could have ever imagined!!! We finally have something going for us here. We´ve found so many new people that the Lord has prepared it´s crazy!! We took out 3 baptismal dates last week and we are going to take out 2 more this week!!! Elder Rupp wants to have a "White Saturday" before he goes home and so that´s what we´re working on. So far we have 3 baptisms set up for the 31 of January, which is the day he´s leaving.
Our Christmas here was more like the 4 of July. We went to a member´s house and ate some steak and then we went to our apartment. Here everyone lights off fireworks when it hits midnight and it´s absolutely ridiculous. Elder Rupp and I stayed up on the roof and watched them all! It was fun!! I´m excited to see all of the fireworks for New Year´s!!! It should be good.
I don´t have any really crazy stories this week. Everything that I thought was crazy at first is just normal now...go figure. But the best thing I´ve seen is the people that Elder Rupp and I have found in the past week. Some of our investigators talk like they´ve been waiting for us forever. It´s absolutely awesome to see people taking the necessary steps to baptism and not doubting anything we teach. It´s amazing and a miracle to say the least!
The mission is awesome! I´m loving every second of it!! I´m so glad that I made the decision to serve the Lord and bring His children back to Him.
I wish the all the best in 2009!! I hope you´ve all set good goals for the upcoming year...I know I have!!
Later,
Elder Page

Dec. 23, 2008

2008-12-23T11:17:00.000-07:00

Wow this week was definitely the BEST week of my mission so far!!! It was so awesome to perform a baptism! The girl I baptized, Noelia, is 9 years old and in a part-member family. The baptism went really well and I didn´t mess up the Spanish either! There´s no way that I can described how awesome it was to baptize someone. It reminds me of the scripture in D&C about "how great shall be your joy if you bring but 1 soul unto me". That´s what I´m feeling right now!! It´s really great because I got a second wind from it and I want to work harder than ever now!!!
Christmas in Argentina is celebrated the same with presents and junk but it´s different. The people have trees and lights, but it´s just not as big here. There isn´t really a "Christmas Spirit" it´s more of a party-time for everyone here. I also miss the snow. It´s going to be a bummer to not have a "White Christmas".
Elder Sosa got transferred out of our area. He didn´t go too far but he´s in a different place. He spent a good 6 months in this area. I´m staying here and I received my new companion, Elder Rupp, who is from Boise. Get this, he´s going to DIE in my area!! This is his last transfer in the mission. Crazy huh? That means I´m probably going to have a lot of time here, it could be another transfer after this one. FREAK!!
Well, that´s it for this week. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!!
Later,
Elder Page

Dec. 16,2008

2008-12-16T16:43:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!!
Everything in the mission is fine! I´m loving it!! I don´t have a lot of time today to write so I´m keeping it short.
Time is flying by and it´s really crazy! We´re coming up on another transfer on the 22. My companion has 6 months here in our area so he´s more than likely going to book it. I´m probably going to stay in La Perlita for 1 more transfer and then change areas, at least that´s my guess. Things are great and I love the work. It´s tough at times and the heat sucks but I still love it all!!!
This week I have some quality news!! I get to do my FIRST EVER BAPTISM on Saturday!!! How cool is that?? The girl I´m baptizing is 9 years old and is in a part-member family...I´m looking to change that too. Anyway, I´m pretty stoked for it!
That´s all I have for ya´ll this week. I wish you all a Holly Jolly Christmas!!!
Later,
Elder Page

Dec. 9, 2008

2008-12-10T16:25:00.001-07:00

Hello there!!
This was pretty good. Elder Sosa and I busted our butts to get all of our goals accomplished and we eeked out our numbers by a hair. It was crazy! The work is moving along and it´s exciting to see changes in the area here!
Oh boy do I have a story for you this week. So I was on divisions with an Elder in a different area and we did a contact with a person in the street who told us that she wanted us to come to her house later in the day, but that´s not the crazy part. Well, so as we were going to this lady´s house, we saw a bunch of people gathered around, news cameras, and police everywhere. It turns out that on the same street that we needed to go to there was a huge drug bust!! The police found 3 thousand kilos of marijuana in the back of someone´s house and they confiscated it. Long story short, we weren´t able to visit our contact but there aren´t any more drugs on that street anymore. Argentina is crazy!!!
As for baptisms, we have one scheduled for this week and one for next week. The later is a secure baptism but the former is sketchy. Every time we´ve passed by his house he hasn´t been home and we really need to stay in contact with him. We´re going to work extra hard to make sure he get baptized!
Anyway, things are great and I love this mission!!! The Lord has blessed me in more ways than I can count! Remember the Lord only blesses you if you´re obedient. Put that one to the test and see how it goes.
Later,
Elder Page

Dec. 2, 2008

2008-12-02T17:37:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!!
I hope everything is just peachy with you all! The mission is always good! I love the work, it´s so awesome!!! Last Sunday we had our Stake Conference! It was really good. President and Sister Benton came from the Mission Home and spoke to us and it was just flat-out great!
This Monday we had a Zone Conference and I learned a lot from it. Also, today I went to the temple for P-Day!!! It was a nice spiritual booster. I did a session and it was all in Spanish but I understood most of it and went through everything just fine. It was nice.
I don´t have any funny stories this week...bummer. That puts a damper on things. However, it rained like crazy all of Saturday and Sunday. Some streets were a little flooded and the dirt roads had huge ruts in them! I tell you what, nothing like a bit of rain gets missionaries working faster to get things done!!!
Well, I hope all of you had a good Thanksgiving!! I just worked all day, which was pretty awesome, but they don´t celebrate Thanksgiving here. Oh well...looks like I´ve got Christmas to look forward to!
Anyway, stay strong and keep the faith!!
Later,
Elder Page

Nov. 25, 2008

2008-11-25T15:46:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!
Things are still going pretty swell on the mish. I don´t have anything to complain about! Things are just fine.
I love to talk to everyone here. I don´t understand jack squat but I fake it and then just keep on talking about what I want to say. It´s really funny. My companion and I are really working hard. We´re getting things done and doing a lot of good stuff in our area.
The humidity here is enough to kill someone. Everywhere I go I ask for some water and juice. The people are really nice and always give us something to drink.
We´ve got 2 baptismal dates right now and we´re working for more. The people here are interesting. Sometimes they don´t seem to understand that they need to change. Everyone claims to be true to their Catholic roots but don´t go to church or anything like that. It´s sad to watch people shut down our message. I guess some people just aren´t ready yet.
I have a really funny story for ya´ll...So Elder Sosa and I contacted this lady who said really loudly that she didn´t want to listen to our message (Don´t laugh yet that´s not the funny part). However, there was a guy, a drunk guy, across the street who yelled at us that he wanted to talk to us. We quickly whipped out a Word of Wisdom pamphlet and started talking to him. He was more drunk then I´ll get out! He was slurring his words and everything. He told us he didn´t want a pamphlet and that we should talk to him with our mouths and not with some paper. Then he asked me what my name was. I said, "Elder Page" and he didn´t believe me. I showed him my plaque but then he said, "That´s not a name. What´s your name?" I brushed it off and asked him what his name was. He told me it was, BON JOVI!!! WOW!! I said, "I know Bon Jovi and you´re not Bon Jovi!" Then he continued to insist he was Bon Jovi and I just said he wasn´t. It was so funny!!! Holy crap!
Well, I don´t really have anything else for you all. Everything´s great! I LOVE the mission!! Just remember to keep a strong testimony and don´t let anyone change what you KNOW is TRUE!!
Later,
Elder Page

November 18

2008-11-18T20:26:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone!!!
The time is really flying by!! I´m a little worried because I´m already accostumed to mission life and it´s only been 7 weeks in Argentina. The language is better. Everyone tells me I speak really well but I still don´t understand anything. It´s like I hear the words and I know what they mean but I can´t process it in my brain fast enough to answer. It´s a little frustrating but I don´t care anymore. I just try to say what I feel needs to be said.
Right now the mission is good. Elder Sosa and I are teaching a lot of people and finding new investigators everyday! Our main problem is getting people to church. It´s so disappointing to watch someone with a baptismal date not go to church because then we have to change the date and bring the hammer down on them. That´s our biggest problem. Right now we have 1 baptismal date (2 dates fell because of lack of attendance), and 1 baptism lined up for the next transfer. We´re pretty stoked! We were promised that if we did all of our contacts everyday we would double our baptisms. So far we´ve kept our end of the bargain and we are going to keep it up. I can´t wait to see the blessings come!!!
Nothing really crazy happened this week...bummer. I feel just a little bad that I don´t have anything really absurd to tell you. There was this one guy who, when I shook his hand, he kissed it...a little weird but nothing too dramatizing. I´m used to all the crazy stuff now and so it´s not as crazy.
I do have something awesome, in the last transfer our mission had 135 baptisms!!! That set a new record of baptisms in that transfer!!!
Anyway, stay strong and keep the faith!!!
Later,
Elder Page

Nov. 11, 2008

2008-11-12T17:05:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone!!!
Things are moving right along here! I just completed my first ever transfer!! How about that?! Let´s see, Nothing changed...I´m still in my area, La Perlita, and I´m still with Elder Sosa. I really feel bad for him because he´s put in 4 1/2 months here. We´re really trying to stay motivated together and make good things happen this upcoming transfer. We did come out of the last one with 1 baptism which was good but we want more!!!
The other day, I did my first anointing in Spanish. Elder Sosa told me everything to say but it was still good. It´s an interesting story. We did a contact with this guy and we were in the middle of teaching him when his wife came out and asked if we could give her sister (I think) a blessing. So we did and we used it as a good teaching lesson about the power of the priesthood. I hope something more comes out of that one.
This past week all I´ve heard is Barack this and Barack that. It´s kind of annoying but everyone here is really thrilled that Barack is president (because they all hate Bush) and hopefully that will help my rep out on the streets. One of the members told me, if I understood correctly, that Barack took a stand on marriage saying that it is only lawful between a man and a woman. If it´s true then great! I don´t know anything else about Obama but it sounds like he´s promised some big things...I hope it all works out.
Other than that everything is same old, same old. The language is still a trial. I understand a lot sometimes but other times it all goes over my head. Everyone says that I speak very well (but I think they´re all lying) and Elder Sosa and I have switched up the sections that we teach. It´s really hard for me because these people don´t know anything about the church or the bible or a lot of anything and so explaining things simply has been tough. Also, they seem to be content with their life and don´t really want to change. I thought once we told all the Catholics here that they don´t baptize the right way they would do something about it but no. Oh well, it´s just frustrating sometimes how stubborn people can be when you know that you´ve got something wonder to tell them.
Things are good and nothing has really changed. I still get fed a lot and Argentina is as hot as ever!!
Well, that´s all for now. Good luck to you all!
Later,
Elder Page

Nov. 4th

2008-11-04T17:51:00.000-07:00

Well everyone how´s the weather in America? It´s very hot here...the humidity just about kills me. However, it´s great for contacting because I can ask for a glass of water and then start talking to the people!! I´m understanding a lot more these days! It´s not all there but I can catch most of what´s being said and I´m really contributing to the lessons. I taught one all by myself the other day!! Just thought I´d give myself a pat on the back.
The mission´s treating me just fine. The missionary support is good in my area. We get fed every day for lunch and every now and then we get a dinner. Most of the people are willing to listen to us but once in a while someone says: "Te agradedezco" whichs means thank you (but "no thanks" is implied). I like to say "De nada" (your welcome) and keep on talking. It kind of funny until the person just walks away. So I´m coming up on 1, yep count it, 1 transfer!! Hoop hoop! I´ve got quite a few more, lucky me :) and I´m excited to see what the Lord has in store!!!
Oh I have a good story for this week. So my companion and I contacted this guy who told us that he knew a lot about the Mormons. He told us that his boss used to be a branch president but now has distanced himself from the church. That´s not the crazy part though. So, while talking about how Jesus healed people through his priesthood he piped up and told us that he´d seen his boss do that...only with slightly different circumstances. He said that his boss put his hands on a DEAD cat in the street and told it to get up and walk. Lo and behold the cat got up and walked away...yeah. We didn´t tell the guy that his boss probably shouldn´t have done that we just said, "Yeah, our church really does have that same power that Jesus has." Anyway, the lesson turned out really good despite the "healing of the cat."
Well, I wish you all luck with whatever ya´ll are doing.
Later,
Elder Page

October 28

2008-10-28T17:15:00.001-06:00

Hello everyone!
Yup it´s me again!! Well I don´t really have anything new for you all this week. The last week was really slow and little progress was made in our area. We did find a family of four that was pretty interested in our message. That was pretty cool. Anyway, this week is going to be a good one!! I´m really excited!! We´re going to commit 3 people to get baptized!! It´s going to be sweet!!!
Let´s see, on Sunday I had 2 lunch appointments in a row!! I thought I was going to burst after that! I get fed really good here to say the least. There isn´t really a main staple here. They cook a lot of different stuff. The thing I eat the most is Milanesa which is the equivalent of fried chicken strips. It´s a filet of breaded chicken that you cook in the oven. It´s pretty good. They also have beef milanesa too but I think the chicken is better. Also the empanadas here are awesome!! That´s basically a home-made hot pocket that actually tastes good! They fill them up with beef, chicken, or ham and cheese and add either potatoes or eggs to it. The ham and cheese is the best! I eat a lot of milanesa, empanadas, rice, potatoes, pasta, and eggs. I won´t ever go hungry here!!
Spanish is still hard. The people still speak fast but I´m understanding a little more. The other Elders here said they didn´t really understand everything until about 4 or 5 months in so I don´t feel too bad. I still get to teach parts of lessons and participate when I can. Man there are a lot of people who ask about America. All I tell them is "Barack Obama" and "No Sé (I don´t know)" which answers all of their questions. It´s pretty funny. Also, people here LOVE The Simpsons. I´ve seen 4 or 5 episodes while at dinner appointments. I don´t understand them but I´ve seen all the ones they show so I know what´s going on. ALF is pretty big and the other day a man asked me if I ever watched ¨Mr. Ed¨ That always makes me smile.
Well, that´s all for now!
Elder Page

October 21!

2008-10-21T17:11:00.001-06:00

Hey!!
Things are fantastic here in good ole Argentina!! I´m loving this place more and more everyday...well, except for the humidity. We´re coming into spring here (that´s right I get to skip a winter) and it´s looking really beautiful. The weather is nuts! It changes so fast. This morning we had a torrentional downpour and so Elder Sosa and I just stayed inside and had a long personal study. It was kind of nice.
My confidence in the Lord has grown so much here. I feel closer to Him everyday. I know that I can´t really speak Spanish and I am getting better but heck, I can barely understand what these people say. I thought Argentine Spanish was supposed to be clean but they cut off letters here and there and sometimes even words! I´m slowly adjusting to it. I can speak okay, but sometimes I forget words in the middle of a lesson and I feel stupid after but oh well. That´s why I have a native comp. He does a really good job of explaining what I want said.
As for cool news, we had a baptism on Saturday!!! The bishop did it. It was pretty cool to say the least. Oh, and yesterday we got a baptismal commitment too! Everyone´s really receptive to the gospel here which is a blessing but a lot of them struggle with smoking. We´re working with 2 people right now to get them to stop but so far no luck. We´ll keep on trying hard.
I didn´t really have any crazy experiences this week. I did get asked for drug money again and a bus almost hit me but that´s really it. Nothing really cool.
So things are chugging right along here and I´m loving every second!! Thanks for your prayers!!!
-Elder Page

Another Email!

2008-10-14T20:08:00.001-06:00

14 October 2008
Dear peoples of America:
Argentina kicks butt!!! It´s a shame you all aren´t here...
Things are still up and running! We have a baptism this Saturday and we´re looking for more!!! I try and try to speak to people on the streets but I usually don´t understand what they say back. It´s a little frustrating but I catch more words everyday and I´m participating more in the lessons! Also, we have a baptism for this SATURDAY hoop hoop!! We have some other dates but we want MORE!!! Hard work really pays off in a way I never knew out here! It´s sweet to see the Lord answer prayers based on my faith and obedience because I´m ultimately determining how much the Lord can bless me out here.
Yesterday our mission got a visit from Elder Russell M. Nelson!!! It was the bomb!! We got to shake his hand and say hello and then he gave an inspirational talk!! His main point was that ´God uses the unusual to do the impossible´it was really good. We were going to go back to our area and work after the talk but one of the Elders lost his companion and we spent all night trying to figure out what to do. Elder Sosa and I just had him stay the night at our pench and we got it all taken care of this morning. It was pretty heart thumping!
I´ve seen some pretty crazy things already! Some I won´t say because they´re...well, inapproriate but the other day this guy stopped us on the streets and was just talking to us. Then when we said goodbye he tried to give me a kiss on the cheek (that´s what they do to say goodbye and hello here so don´t get creeped out!) but it´s not allowed for missionaries. I just gave him a funny look and didn´t let him pull me in with his death grip. It was interesting to say the least and even more weird because I had no clue what he was saying.
So I get fed a lot here. I´m going to get soo fat!! Wow I love the food and the people!! They´re all so talkative and I bet it will be awesome when I can finally carry on a conversation with them haha!!!
Anyway, things are well. Life is good and I´m loving Argentina!!!
Later,
Elder Page

Coming from Argentina!!!!!

2008-10-08T23:21:00.001-06:00

Hello there readers!!
Things are moving right along here in Argentina! I´ve officially been here for 1 week!!! Hooray for me!!
I had the opportunity to watch General Conference in Spanish...I didn´t understand a lot but what I did understand was awesome!!! What great leaders we have in the church!
For everyone´s info my companion and I are in an area called La Perlita. We have a lot of good stuff going on!! My 3rd day out we got a baptismal date with a lady named Monica. We taught her a short lesson about the restoration and then we committed her to be baptized!!
Yesterday, when we did a follow-up for her and she told us how the Bible is a good book but that it didn´t have everything that she needed...BAM! Right there we whipped out a Book a Mormon, read Moroni´s promise, and got her to commit to read and pray about it! It´s amazing to see how the Lord prepares people in a way that they readily accept the gospel!!
Anyway, we have 2 other baptismal dates, Carlos and Hector, and so we spend most of our time with those investigators prepping them for baptism. Carlos reads everything we ask him to and he´s fulfilling all of his commitments!!! Hector is really trying hard to quit smoking. He made it 5 days in a row this last week and he´s trying really hard to stop. I know he´ll be able to do it.
Wow, I´m so lucky to have this opportunity to teach and share the gospel with the wonderful people of Argentina!! I couldn´t have pick a better place to serve!!
The food here is absolutely awesome!! Words can´t describe how good it is and the ICE CREAM!! Holy cow I don´t know how they do it but it´s the best ice cream I´ve ever tasted!! This place is just too awesome!!
Anyway, that´s all for this week! Everyone stay cool and remember that the Lord can help you with ANYTHING if you ask Him and if you show the faith that´s required for it.
Later,
Elder Kevin Page

LAST MTC Letter!!!!

2008-09-24T17:23:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone!!!
Things are really getting wild here at the MTC!!! If you don't already know I'm flying out to Argentina on Monday the 29!!! I'm so super stoked that I can't stand it. The days are long coming up to it and I just can't wait!! I'm really excited to get to Argentina and watch General Conference there. I'm going to invite tons of people to watch it when I'm there!!
So cool news, this upcoming Sunday our district has been given the assignment of prayers and ushers for the evening and so I volunteered myself for a prayer. Not too many missionaries get to do that and so I'm excited for that.
Also, I set the MTC record for most Pop Rocks packages placed in one's mouth. The winning number was 5. It was pretty funny. I wasn't able to completely finish them and so I ended up spitting them all out into the garbage can. But it was still cool.
Well, that's all from me this week. The blog should stay up and running while I'm in Argentina. I've been told that there are a ton of internet cafes all over the city so things are bueno. Thanks to all those who have written...letters are the joy of every missionary's life in the MTC. In the field it's going to be a different story though. I'm so excited to finally get to teach and change someone's life!!!
Until next week.
-Elder Page

Incoming from the MTC!!!

2008-09-17T16:54:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone!
Things are fine and dandy here at the MTC!! My time is starting to wind down here and soon I'll be in Argentina!!! 12 more days it's Adios to America!!!
For cool news, Elder Uchtdorf spoke to us last week and this week Elder Richard G. Hinckley spoke to us. All of the talks are fantastic and it's awesome to hear General Authorities speak to us each week!!
For the Daytonites, I've seen Elder Jolley and Elder Roberts. Elder Jolley and I like to tell each other jokes in Spanish and stuff like that.
The Spanish is coming along. It feels like I've already forgotten some things but I'm always learning new things.
Oh, something cool. Every Saturday when there's a BYU football game I can hear the cheers and the announcer. It's pretty sweet! That's as close to the outside world that I've been for a while.
Anyway, life is good. The mission is sweet and I'm loving every second of it!!!
Laters,
Elder Page

Coming from the MTC!

2008-09-03T16:45:00.000-06:00

Hey everybody!!!
Hope things are well with you all! Things are still honky donky dandy here at the MTC. I have only 4 weeks left until I get to go to Argentina!!!
The language is coming along. It's difficult but possible. I don't really have a problem with saying what I want but I still need to learn more. As for cool MTC news, yesterday at our Tuesday Night Devotional we had a surprise speaker. Elder Quentin L. Cook came and spoke to us about Preach My Gospel and how to effectively teach investigators. It was a nice surprise.
Other news...I'm pretty much the champ at 4-square these days. A few weeks straight of playing and you get pretty good. I've got a signature backhand that is almost impossible to hit back! It's a lot of fun!!
Anyway, I hope things are well with you all! Always remember that the Church is true and don't let anyone tell you differently. I know it's true and I can't wait to share it will the people in Buenos Aires!!
Paz afuerza (gringo translation of Peace Out)
Elder Page

More letters

2008-08-27T21:05:00.000-06:00

Hello there!!!
Things are just great here in Provo!! The days are longs but the weeks are short. I don't know how it works but it does. There really hasn't been anything new happening lately. The language is coming along and the MTC is still awesome!!!
Something that's cool is that I'll be able to hear the BYU game going on!! That should be pretty sweet!! Today our zone gets a new district with 5 elders and 4 sisters. It's always exciting to get some new faces here.
Other than that nothing especially awesome has happened. The MTC is an awesome place and it's hard to top anything that goes on in here. Anyway, I love you all and remember that the church is true!!!
Laters,
Elder Page

Crazy Kid!

2008-08-20T16:01:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone!!!
Things are looking up for Elder Page :) I'm still loving the mission and all of that!!! So, I've already had some crazy mission experiences...1st I was dared to suck one of my District elder's big toe. Needless to say I'm $10 richer!!!
Also, my companion and I were studying one day and I asked him what chaulk tasted like. He said I couldn't do it...well, I had a white tongue for a little while.
For all you West Siders, I saw Elder Brett Jensen come in today. He's living in the same building I am. It's pretty sweet to see buddies come in and out of the MTC.
Oh man, the best is yet to come!!! So yesterday at our MTC devotional we had none other than Dallin H. Oaks come and speak to us!!! I love being here and everything that goes with it!!!
Just as a reminder, I've completed 1/3 of my MTC experience!!! 6 weeks and I can go to Argentina and teach the people!!!
Love ya'll and remember that THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!
-Elder Page

More Letters Please!

2008-08-18T08:57:00.003-06:00

We've recieved word from Elder Page, and he requested that we all send him letters to the MTC. This is his MTC address in case you've forgotten:

Elder Kevin Shepherd Page
MTC Mailbox #283
ARG-BAW 0929
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo UT 84604-1793

Hi Everyone!

2008-08-13T17:57:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone!!!
Things are going great in the mission field!!! I'm absolutely loving it!! So I haven't got too many Dear Elder letters yet...I'm a little sad. Ok so it really doesn't bother me. There's no way I can be sad on my mission. I'm having an absolute blast here!!! The Spirit is so strong and I love it. It's already been 2 weeks in and I've only got 7 more until I go to Argentina!!! The language is coming along. It's difficult but hard work is paying off!!!
I don't have any really cool stories yet but I have been dubbed as "the rogue missionary" because I was kicked out of gym for a day. That's what happens when you get into 4-square. A word of advice, DON'T DIVE WHILE PLAYING 4-SQUARE!!! Well, at least don't get caught. Next time I play I'll be a little bit more careful.
Anyway, thanks for reading and just remember that the church is TRUE and NEVER EVER EVER....EVER pass up the opportunity to do missionary work no matter where you are.
Love you all,
Elder Page

Letter from the MTC!

2008-08-08T23:50:00.002-06:00

Hello everybody!!!
I've officially been here in the MTC for one whole week now!!! Things are going soooo great :) I'm so happy to be here and have the opportunity to serve the Lord.
The Espanol is coming along. All the Elders that my comp (Elder Bunn) and I testify to say we are super crazy with the language. It's pretty cool. The food isn't quite like home but it's still ok. Anyway, life is good; everything is going great, and I'm having a blast!!!
Love,
Elder Page
P.S. I'm only allowed to e-mail once a week so if you don't get anything back from me it's because of that reason. Elder P. over and out.

This is Elder Page's new Email address....We had the option of giving him everyone's email address or just giving his out to everyone! ElderKevinPage@myldsmail.net

MTC!

2008-07-30T22:44:00.004-06:00

Today we took Kevin (Elder Page) to the (MTC) Missionary Training Center. It was a lot of fun! He was extremely excited, and he fidgeted during the whole program because he wanted to serve so badly and get to work right away! It only took him 3 seconds to give us hugs, and then he left out that door as fast as possible.

Missionary addresses

2008-07-29T23:39:00.003-06:00

So here are the important addresses for all those who want to write :)

MTC Address***
Elder Kevin Shepherd Page
MTC Mailbox # 283
ARG-BAW 0929
2005 N 900 E
Provo UT 84604-1793

Letters to the Mission Through "Pouch" Service
Elder Kevin Shepherd Page
Argentina Buenos Aires West Mission
POB 30150
Salt Lake City UT 84130-0150
USA

Packages to the Mission (for goodies** and such)
Elder Kevin Shepherd Page
Argentina Buenos Aires West Mission
Ballesteros 1076
1706 Haedo
Buenos Aires
Argentina
**Goodies are referred to as packaged goods. Baked goods will go bad by the time the package gets to me.
***I updated Kevin's MTC address so you can send stuff now!

Missionary pictures...

2008-07-29T23:23:00.012-06:00

Smile

Gotta love the good book!!!

"I'm glad they called me on a mission!!!"

Looking my best :)

Reading my favorite verse

The Call

Yeah, I'm a little excited

Leaving for the MTC!!!

2008-07-29T00:21:00.000-06:00

So I'm heading out to the MTC tomorrow and I'm really stoked!!! I won't see all of you for 2 years, which is sad, and I shall miss you all! May my spirit linger with you and my memories live on. Remember, the church is true. Thomas S. Monson is the true and living prophet and the Book of Mormon is the WORD OF GOD!!!