Llegó! (I Arrive!)

(We received a bonus email today)

Chilling in the office for a bit today and look what I found!

I will open it when I get to my area tomorrow.. or maybe right now, not sure. Anyway, thanks so much!

Love you :)

Elder Jolley

Me and President Flores (Pedro Luro Branch)

 

Me and the Flores fam. Some of the nicest people. I love my branch in Luro!

Had to say goodbye to my neighbor/friend Mario as well. One of the nicest guys and he makes me laugh so hard.

I told him we should take a funny pic and he said "Ok let´s pretend I´m chewing you out for not paying the rent again." Haha

Don`t get comfy ;)

Felìz dìa de Gracias! :)

Wow... what a week! So many things have happened.. and again I wish I could just put a GoPro on me so you guys could experience all the amazing things that I am experiencing with me, but I will do my best to fill you in.

So last week, we started a new transfer. I love Pedro Luro, I love my district (even though we had Hermana Mercado and Hermana Chesler leave us which was sad), and I was sure that Elder Staples was my witness that "the blessing comes after the trial of your faith." haha! And it`s true. He`s awesome and we had a great week in Pedro Luro in every aspect. We found some great investigators named Olga and Domigo, an older couple who are super cute and so nice! Domingo had a stroke a year ago and is paralyzed on the left side. They are both so humble and listen so well. Olga was a contact from me and Elder Sotelo, and told us she wasn`t interested the first time we came by. Then this week I was going through old contacts and we decided to passed by. When she came out I said "Hi Olga!" She kind of had a surprised look on her face and let us in without argument and we had a great lesson on the restoration. At the end I asked "Olga, why did you let us in this time?" She told me that she was really impressed that I remembered her name. Small and simple things my friends. :)

 On Saturday we went to mow the lawn of Olga and Domingo, but it ended up raining super hard right as we began. So we walked home and enjoyed the rain for a few minutes before changing and going to the temple prep class that night. I love rainstorms! It was so beautiful. Also lightning struck right by our house while I was standing outside and it was SO loud. Highlight of the week ;)

 Temple prep class for the branch. We stopped by at the end of the day to say hi to everyone. Glad I did because it was the last time I saw some of my beloved friends from Villalonga!

Elder Staples LOVES ice cream, so we celebrated a good day last week with an ice cream cone from Grido before heading home for the night. Mm...good stuff ;)

Anyway, long stories made short, I had a great week. I was loving my area... I finally had a good opportunity to reorganize and clean the house, so I was loving the house... my companion was great and we were working good and getting along... I love the branch here and all the members. I was soo... comfortable :) Maybe a little toooo comfortable? As President Kimball said: "Apparently the gospel is to comfort the afflicted... and to afflict the comforted." So yesterday afternoon after we left from lunch after sacrament meeting that morning, we received a phone call from President Cifuentes asking for me. I answered "Hey President! What can I do for you?" He then informed me that he was making an emergency transfer and that I would be leaving today (Monday) to Olavarria to be a zone leader...what?? Last thing I had on my mind haha. I was in shock for the rest of the afternoon haha! So yep! Here I go this afternoon at 6pm for my new area to be a zone leader... and my new companion will be Elder Yeates (American). The Lord is definitely keeping me on my toes out here. ;)

Yesterday afternoon we traveled from Pedro Luro to Bahia Blanca and stayed the night. Then this morning I had an interview/training session with President Cifuentes and the 3 AP´s. My love and respect for President Cifuentes continues to grow so much. He told me that he specifically felt that I needed this and that it was a preparation for things later on. Then he and the AP´s proceeded in giving me some great advice and counsel for my calling. I can feel the weight of this responsibility and can tell it will be hard... but I also know that if the Lord trusts me enough to call me, then He will prepare me and help me in the process as well. I´m excited!

Not too much else besides that. I hope you all enjoy your Thanksgiving. I wish I could write all of my family and friends personally to tell them how much I love them and am grateful for them, but just know that if I had time I would! I really am so grateful for all the examples, love and support I have in my life. It´s huge to me and I thank you all for that, sincerely.

Love you all. Happy Thanksgiving! Wish me luck :)

Elder Jolley

Transfer!

This will be a bit of a short one again. Sorry!

So I slept about 2 hours last night because we had transfers! Lots of chaos, but so fun to see good friends from other areas as many pass through the bus station. 

So I will be staying here in Pedro Luro with a new companion, Elder Staples! He is from California and is a super nice guy. I`m seeing a rotation in Latinos/Americans in my companions haha, but it`s ok, I don`t mind the mix up. I`m super excited for this transfer and I`m ready to dig in further into this area and hoping to see results!

Love you all. Have a great week!

Elder Jolley

Luisa and Ronald are married!

 In the Villalonga family´s van after the wedding to go celebrate with an asado. This is Camila. 5 yrs old and so witty/cute!

All the ladies preparing the asado after the wedding. Yum! (The guy on the right is the Dad, Luis. Super nice...but hardly ever says a word and just sits in the corner and giggles at our jokes every now and then. haha!)

 Me and the married couple! The beach was not supposed to happen... they didn`t tell us before that we were going anywhere far. They just said "Want to join us for lunch?" and we said "Sure, thanks!" So we got in the car with them and after like a 1 1/2 hour drive we pulled up at the beach. We were a little caught off guard... but we had know way to leave or anything so we just ate lunch with them there and we were only at the beach for like a half hour.The beach was made of all these colorful pebbles that were super pretty.

 Burying kids in rocks... this is Alba. Please zoom in and look how hard she was laughing. haha!

Found a shell that looked like a tooth. haha!

 Camila and my plaque. She says she wants to be a missionary someday :)

 Tarde blanca!

 The newly weds got baptized! So happy for them. Didn´t get to baptize this time around, but I was there when Ronald got out of the font and he looked at me and said "I feel free." Such a cool experience.

Picture with our district and our zone leaders

 Picture with both the Hermanas

 Me and Hermana Tovar

 Me and Hermana Mercado

Me and Elder Aquino

(He is my zone leader. lives in Alyssas' mission area and goes home tomorrow!) Good guy

 Last Zone Meeting before transfers

Our District

Hola mis queridos. Last week of the transfer!

Well, seasons are officially changing here in South America and it is HOT! Apparently the worst hasn`t even come from what I have heard so I will be looking forward to some hot/humid months to come. Luckily we will be able to walk around without jackets here in the next week or two. Also there are mosquitos all over that eat me at night, as well as tiny little may flies everywhere that for some reason like to fly up my nose/ears/mouth while I`m talking to people in the street, making me look even more special than I already do. ;)

Not a lot of time today (story of p-day, sorry), but a few updates:

- We have a baptism! Luisa from the Villalonga family is finally getting married this week which means she can be baptized (shout out to the law of chastity). This Saturday we have whats called a "Tarde Blanca" (white afternoon) where our whole zone will baptize their investigators at the same time. Luisa and her husband will be baptized on Saturday after their wedding on Thursday and I`m super excited! Not really an investigator-investigator for us, but we have still taught her a bit and it`s equally exciting.

- No updates with Angeles and Romina. Hard to find them home.

- I made my first "bus contact" last week! On the two hour bus ride from Bahia to Pedro Luro, I talked with a kid named Anzel that sat next to me for the whole ride! I was nervous at first.. because if it doesn`t go well then I have to awkwardly sit next to them for the rest of the ride, but I decided to sacrifice my comfort and go for it! It went well and we talked about the Book of Mormon and the restoration. He was a friendly guy and I know he felt the spirit, I was praying so hard for him to accept the Book of Mormon, but unfortunately in the end he said "I`m just going to stick to the bible.. that's all I need." NOOOO!! Too bad... but it was good practice, and hopefully one day that conversation will help him to come into the gospel.

- Things are going SUPER well with Elder Sotelo. I have been praying a lot lately for the Lord to soften his heart and to help us get along, and to give me patience. The beginning of the week last week he was being even more stubborn than he usually is... annnd I cracked. ha! I came down on him a bit for like 15-20 mins. straight about how we need to get along so we can have the spirit, and how we need to be better in general, and how I just want us to have a good time and enjoy our companionship as we are obedient and as we work hard. In the end I expected him to fight back... but the only thing he said was "ok... I`m sorry. I will try harder to get along and be friendly." My jaw about fell off. Ha! I just said "...thanks." and ever since we have been getting along! WOO! That was such a cool answer to my prayers and a huge blessing that I was so grateful for. 

I love you all so much. Remember always that no matter how many times we fall, the Savior is always there to lift us back up. We just have to take His hand.

Elder Jolley 

 Last week for P day we went with a couple sisters to play (basically) pickel ball at an indoor court in General Cerri. That was super fun, and nice to take a little break from soccer as well.

 Made no-bake cookies! I finally found peanut butter last week, and decided to make a batch for our zone last Tuesday. I hate to brag... but they were de-rishish. ;)

 Today we went to a buffet called Bamboo for lunch as a zone to celebrate the last week and the departure of a few missionaries (including Hermana Mercado from my district). Super fun and the food wasn´t too bad!

Another great week in South America!

This will be a short one again, sorry. This week wasn`t crazy exciting, but it was a good one. I ate cow stomach, we had a couple really good lessons, and we had our first solid follow up appointment! Woo! 

Last week we had a super cool experience on Monday after P-day. We were contacting in a park here in an area called General Cerri, and all the sudden a car pulled up next to us on the street. A guy got out and introduced himself as Maxi, an less active member. He said "Elders! What a blessing... my daughter needs a blessing and I just prayed to find someone to help and here you are!" I guess his daughter has been acting weird lately and has been getting scared for no reason and has been having weird panic attacks. She`s about 3 years old. So Maxi asked us to come to his house where his daughter was in about a half hour. When we got there, we chatted with him and gave his cute little girl a blessing. We told Maxi that blessings depend on faith and that he needs to show his faith by reactivating himself in the church so that he and his family can be blessed. He broke down in tears saying he knows he needs to be better and that he wants the gospel back in his life. I was grateful to be able to help him. I have always heard the "the right time, in the right place" stories from people's missions, and I`ve definitely felt that before in my mission in different ways, but that was a cool experience to know I was the answer to someone's prayer as a servant of God.

We had some great lessons this week and our follow up lesson was with Angeles and her sister Romina (the family where the mom argued at everything and we taught them about the restoration the first time). The mom was there for about half the lesson as we went over the restoration again and argued again quite a bit, but it went a lot better than the first time! They accepted a Book of Mormon from us and we have another appointment on Wednesday. They`re hard... but I know that they felt the spirit as we taught and that the daughters are interested at least... as well as the mom... but she won`t admit it or show it right now haha. 

This past week, I had some rough spots as always, but I also had a few times where I just felt SO happy. I find myself smiling as we are walking in the street, or sitting on the bus, and I know that happiness comes from my obedience and work/sacrifices. It`s hard and I still have a lot to improve in so many ways, but I can feel that I am progressing. I just need to motivate myself and be diligent enough to continue in that progression. 

I love you all! Have a great week.

Elder Jolley

P.S. Look up the talk "Living the Abundant Life" by Pres. Monson. It`s a good one :) bye!

P.P.S. no pics this week, sorry.

Hey family!

Well.. I basically just barely wrote so there isn´t too much to update and I am low on time so I will give a quick sum up.

This weekend we had interviews with President Cifuentes. We met with him and his wife on Friday morning and had a chat before interviews. Probably the highlight of my week. President Cifuentes is the best and it gives me such a boost every time I see him and his wife. Not sure what I did to deserve such a solid guy for my mission president, but I´m super grateful and I know I will learn so much from him on my mission.

Saturday we had a branch activity at our little chapel/house. We had a pretty good turn out and such a good time! We ate asado, played soccer, celebrated "el dia de la madre," and just had fun. We also had a random Karaoke session and cake .:) It was fun to just hang out and feel somewhat normal for a little bit.

 Cooking Asado with Branch President Flores

 Branch Activity. Huge Asado with all the members (including the family from Villalonga). We played soccer after and celebrated ´Dia de la Madre´ after with cake. Yummm! 

ASADO! Seriously the best. enjoy my remix:

"This is why I´m fat...this is why I´m fat...this is why, this is why, this is why I´m fat." 

After the Asado, Elder Guzman (he and his wife are service missionaries who live in Bahia Blanca and attend/help with the branch here on weekends) randomly went on a Karaoke spree and sang like 7 songs. I admire his courage, but he´s tone deaf and the songs he sang were awful. Everyone just awkwardly sat and listened and clapped between songs. By the third or fourth song I had to walk into another room to laugh. I was so confused haha!

Funny stories: 

1. There is a sister in our ward from Bolivia that takes pictures of me ALL THE TIME. I have no idea why and it's so awkward, but every time I turn my head she has her phone out taking a pic of me. I never know what to do so I usually just walk away...

2. Apparently I am betrothed... at the end of the activity, this 14/15 yr old girl from the Villalonga family comes up to me and puts her arms out to give me a hug. So I quickly just gave her a "strong double high five" and pushed her away to avoid the hug. She just laughed then asked "You're going to come visit us after your mission right?" I said "I don't know, we´ll see!" and she goes "Good! because I want you to be my companion!" or something like that. I wasn't listening all the way and just said "Ya ya sure." So she ran off and about thirty seconds later my brain registered what she said... and then I felt super uncomfortable all weekend haha. Not sure where that came from, but no thanks!

Yesterday was elections in Argentina and the President sent out a message saying no one could leave the house to work after church because of elections. So after church yesterday we sat in our house. That was nice, but also really long haha. I got to catch up on my  journal and do some reading though, which was nice.

That´s it for my weekend! Hope you all have a great week! 

-Elder Jolley

Found a "cool shell" at the beach, then the next day I noticed it was open.. then would close as I walked by. Ha! I was so confused at first... then realized I found a living clam. So we boiled it and I ate it. Didn´t taste as good as clam chowder., but it wasn´t bad!

Hey everyone.

Wow this week and a half has been nuts. I was talking with Jackson a while ago about how emails are so hard because no matter what we say, no one will really understand what we`re experiencing out here. I could go on for hours with details, but I guess I will just start from the beginning and do my best to fill you in. 

As far as the mission work, it`s a bit frustrating right now. Our days are seriously filled with contacting.. and rejections in our follow up appointments with previous contacts. People listen here, which is really nice, but it`s just that no one does anything. We have so many contacts that go soo well, then we go back for a follow up appointment and we just get fed a bunch of excuses as to why they don`t have time or whatever else they come up with. Last week we had exchanges with the AP`s, and Elder Carhuaz and I got 25 new investigators (new investigator means like.. address and phone number and follow up appt). That's awesome, but almost every follow up that we`ve made since then just evaporates. AH! It`s so hard when you know someone has felt the spirit, but they reject your message anyway, or don`t act.. one of the hardest things in the mission.

Exchanges with the APs went well, but the APs, and some other missionaries, like to shoot for "same day baptisms." Basically where you just get someone really excited about baptism in the first contact, then drag them to the chapel and make it happen. It`s like selling the gospel and it makes me mad. Elder Carhuaz tried to do it with one of our contacts and I cut in and shut it down. He was pretty bugged at me after that, but I don`t think it's right. I realize that some people may be ready earlier than others to make that commitment, but without church attendance and at least a basic understanding of the restored gospel... no, that doesn`t fly with me. 

We were walking down the street and my comp said "Look! That dog looks like a lion... take a picture with it!" so I did :) and it actually does look like a lion...

Contacting all day and talking with so many different people from different religions, you get a lot of mean comments about the church. Lately I`ve been struggling with a lot of doubts in the back of my head as to why missionary work is important and a other things like that. I still know the church is true.. and I`m learning to doubt my doubts before I doubt my faith just like President Uchtdorf taught. I know for sure that no other church brings as much clarity to life than ours though. It was funny the other day as some Jehovah`s Witnesses knocked on our door in the morning during studies. I opened the door and just gave them a big smile. Their eyes got a little wide as they saw my tag... then we began "the battle of the pamphlets." Haha! I was nice and heard out their messages, then responded to each one with the truth. They just got angrier and angrier with me as I defended the truth, and in the end I got one of them to take a restoration pamphlet (which is against their rules.. jehovah's witnesses can't take pamphlets from other religions). I win :) haha

Another time, while we were contacting, we started talking with a young mom who lives with her parents. Her mom is an Evangelica and walked in right as we were teaching about the first vision. She flipped, saying that Joseph Smith was a terrible man and all that. It turned into the usual argument, us helping them to see the purpose and importance of prophets, them telling us that prophets don`t exist and how only the bible is true (which was written by prophets...what??). She was super angry and fought every single thing we said. After she finished her rant and it finally got silent, I just bore my testimony that I know this is true. After I finished the room stayed quiet, and she took the pamphlet and said she would pray. Yes! The power of testimony is real :) She then saw a picture of the Book of Mormon on the back and started to get all riled up again haha. So I said "Just pray about what we talked about, and we can explain the Book of Mormon later." She wouldn`t set an appointment with us... but we`ll pass by :)

Yesterday we had pday as a Zone and went to the beach in Monte Hermoso. After traveling the night before and going to bed super late, we woke up at 5 am and met up with everyone in our Zone to take a bus at 6:30am. We spent about 6 hours hanging out and playing soccer and other games at the beach. It was so nice to be in the sand and hear the ocean (even though we couldn`t swim... that was a temptation of a lifetime wow). In the morning I was trying to teach the sisters how to do a two person cartwheel. Elder Barros overheard and told me he knew how. So I had him come over and do it with me so we could give an example. He started and we did one revolution just fine, then as he was bringing me up in the air for the second time, he collapsed for some reason... sending my face right into the ground. OUCH! Haha Now I have a bruise/cuts around my eye and on my forehead. I was fine and just laughed my head off on the ground cause I was so confused. One of the sisters caught it on video. It looks pretty bad and I was lucky I didn`t break my neck... it's a good thing God likes me haha :)

 Never was the best with jump shots

 Doing some meditation with Hermana Flores (left) and Hermana Recio (right).

After hanging out some more and taking some pictures we had lunch, then after everyone just chilled and I decided to take a nap. I don`t know what it is about the beach, but my naps always go a bit too far haha. I ended up pulling a "Cancun" and slept for like an hour and a half. Annnnd now I look like a burn victim because my body hasn`t seen the sun in 5 months.. haha. We were at the beach for quite a while though so every white person got pretty burnt. Poor Hermana Chesler looks like a tomato haha. 

 Me and the Zone at the Playa

Had some sushi for lunch.

After we got back from the beach, Elder Sotelo and I had to go to a baptismal interview before catching the bus for Pedro Luro at 8. On the bus we passed out again. I was so tired from being in the sun all day and messing around. Sooo we ended up missing our stop in Pedro Luro and ended up in Villalonga. Shoot! It was too late to catch another bus for Pedro Luro so we were stranded... so we called the Villalonga family and they said they had an extra bed because one of the sisters was out of town. We got to their house... got laughed at because we missed our stop... then got laughed at more because I`m so sunburnt... then they showed us to the room. One of the sisters brought me a REAL aloe vera plant and a cold wash cloth for my burns (apparently there is Aloe Vera here.. who knew?). That was heavenly and really helped me to feel a bit better. I was super grateful for that and for their loving hospitality to us. I think Heavenly Father was just shaking His head at me all day yesterday haha... he knows me too well and I`m so grateful for His patience towards me.

View from a bridge we cross in Pedro Luro every day to get to our house... not bad :) This river is huge and reminds me a lot of Jordan River where we go bridge jumping. Every time we cross the natural man inside me says "jump! jump!" it`s a daily battle...

Well! That`s (more or less) my week! Wish I could just have a camera on me so you guys could see all the crazy/funny/amazing stuff that happens here, but emails will have to do. I love you all! The church is true... remember to rely on the light you have until more comes and to always doubt your doubts before your faith.

Elder Jolley

P-day last week at the Fair in Bahia Blanca