me encanta san luis

san luis, ampya

that is where i am now!!! and it is awesome!!! i love it. i dont think i have such a good and fun first week in an area in todo my mission. i love it here. it is pretty flat but i have a pretty big green mountanin range in my area. my area is huge. i can take a bus for like three hours and still be in it. but we work only in areas of success and where we are doing good. but there are active members in the far away parts. it is super super green and we really windy. my area is like at the base of the mountains and is all like up hill. gives me a sweet burn in my legs but it is all the more meaningful to get in a house to rest them up a bit.

the zone is alot smaller then my last. 6 companionships and two distrisct leaders. so it is alot faster to verify. the district leaders are good. one of them is his first transfer as a DL and only his fourth in the mission and is a gringo so we got to help him a bit, but he is a stud and works really well and knows how to do things, and his comp is an ex assistant. then the other this is his second transfer as a DL and has 18 months in the mission so knows things but still needs help understanding some things. and is a latin, so a little better. but we have hermana missionaries in the zone and that makes things alot tougher. cause if they are not happy no one is. and they are tough to make happy at times and even tougher to motivate to get good numbers and to do everything. but they are doing good as of right now. my comp is elder fowler. he is a totall stud and i love him. he is from denver colorado. has one transfer more then me and is going to go to BYU after the mission. and is one of those other elders that played football before the mission and is begging me to try out and walk on somewhere or to send out my films again. haha so we will see about that. but we play catch at night at times, he has a nice ball. he played QB in high school, and swam on the swim team. very cool elder and will be a really good friend of mine forever.

so this week i got here and we went to work. it was alot of fun and visited some people we are trying to help to get baptized. and they are really good. families incomplete, one family the rofin´s they have 4 kids that need to be baptized and the dad. then another lady her husband used to beat her but now he is cool and has a big desire to be in the church. and we put a fecha with him for christmas, and we will see how that all goes down. we have lunch everyday!!!! a change, so i am really excited for that. and even better somedays we have two lunches in one day. the members love the elders. before it was the sisters, but changed like 5 months ago for elders and they love it and the members already love me, i have cracked a few jokes and played soccer with them and stuff and they love us.

we got a reference on wednesday and went to find it on thursday and a convert of elder fowlers, from last transfer, silvio is his name (whole family got baptized 2 weeks ago) totall stud and amazing family. he saw us and offered to give us a ride to the house so we went looking for it and could not find it. then we couldnt find it but we kept going and we finally found the block of where this ref. lives. and we were on the wrong side of it and the tire blew out. so we got out and worked on it and fixed it all and it was in the ciesta, when everyone sleeps but we were working anyways. and after an hour of working on it and fixing it. we kept going and got to the house and the kid answered and got his dad and we were let in. and silvio came in with us!!! and shared testimony and taught amazingly!! then we found out the guy is a baker and wakes up at 4 in the morning and sleeps the afternoon till about 6 then gets up to sell some more and stuff. and that is when we got there. if we got there an hour earlier he would have been sleeping still. but the tire blew out... and this family, WOW!!!!!! they are amazing!!! and the dad wants his whole family to hear it and follow it and stuff. and we taught and just was amazing then they invited us over for breakfast the next day with them. so we went and then they invited us over for lunch an asado after church on sunday, and they would drive us. and so we went and they are absolutely amazing. the family naveda is there name!!! and they are great. on wednesday we have dinner with them. it is the dad, eran, mom alejandra, daughter florencia, son nauhel, and other son that is leo. all but leo can be baptized and we are thinking of doing it on christmas for them. it will be awesome!!!! it is another family i know i was supposed to find. i feel so loved and stuff by them. i really feel like i am at home they are amazing!!! they are my family here.cant wait for more to come..

silvio and his family have invited us over for christmas and stuff to celebrate with them so we will be party hoping but i think that might be where i will be to have you all call me. for right now probably just on the cell phone we have is where you will be calling me and the number is....

265 283 5240

and i will send the other email for the area code and stuff but i think you all know by now. but if anything changes i will let you know. silvio wants us to talk on skype at his house... so i dunno if it will happen or not. but this is the number for now.

tilisarao 1043

barrio policial nuevo

san luis...

that is our address papi if you want to try and find where we live on google earth like you said you did. it is a way cool pensh. it is a house!!! with AC!!! hahah i love it its the best!!!

well i got to go i love you and miss you take care and have a good week. tell everyone hi.

con amor

elder bigelow

ps. dad it was super cool. a kid in my last area i forgot to tell you sent in his mission papers the week before i got there and got his call 3 weeks before i left so he waited 4 months and i got to be good friends with him and he will serve in venezuela. in the barcelona mision. right where you served i assume, in the northern of venezuela and has part of the island of trinadad and tabago. i have pictures and his email. he wants to email me. small world though huh!!!

hola familia mia

well sounds like it was a crazy and fun week with lots of happiness and sadness all in the same time for everyone. sorry to hear about the losses, but thats what is so great about the plan of salvation that we have. it is straight from god and is perfect, we are here to have these trials and to learn and progress from them so that someday we can make it back to the presence of our heavenly father. and some of us are ready a little earlier then others... but we all will make it back someday.

this week was a good week a little crazy at some points but still really good. last night as i was varifying with the zone for all of there numbers and things, i talked to the assistants and found out that i am getting transferred. so on wednesday i will be in a new area with a new companion. i have mixed emotions about leaving my area and my zone. i am super happy cause now i might get fed a few times a week. but sad because i wont be able to pass the holidays with the members i have grown close with. i am going to the third other province (or state) that our mission covers. and it is called san luis. i will still be a zone leader and i will be with an awesome comp that i lived with before for about a week in alvear, elder fowler who has one transfer more then me. he is from colorado. he is a stud i am super excited to be with him and i am going to a zone on the up rise and has alot of potential so we might but i fully expect to win the cup again while i am there. so as for christmas and calling home. i dont know exactly where i will be calling from or what the number will be. but i will send you the email that justo we got today from the mission explaining some of the things. but when i get to my new area and know what we will be doing i will let you know. it will be alot of fun. on wednesday i have to go and travel again, and it will be another long bus ride. this time six hours. but in a direction i have never gone or even passed by going before so that will be cool.

so this passed week nothing to big happened. it was a pretty slow and boring week. up til the weekend. because on friday we had interviews with president lindahl. which as we know always can be something exciting for me. but nothing really big happened. he told me i might be leaving the zone and we talked about the future and stuff after the mish a little bit then it was over. nothin to special. but then after, the stake president was there he is a stud i love him and his family!!! asked if us and president could come with him to a meeting he had with a big group of government leaders, doctors, lawyers, and leaders of churches here in san juan. president had to return to san juan and could not make it, but sent us in his place to represent the church and the mission. told us he had the confidence in us that we would do what he would. so we went on friday night. and WOW!!!! it was big, with alot of very well off and high up people. but we talked got to know each other and showed we are normal people not scary or bad in anyway. they had alot of respect towards us and alot of respect for all you the family we have for raising us and helping us to be such good people, as they said. they were very impressed. it was alot of fun. a couple women from iran were there in a religion called bajai... i guess its like judism but not quiet, and its all immagrants from iran. she wants us to come over and talk to her and get to know her family. really though she wants us to date her daughters and marry them.... haha she was all over it and wants us to marry them way bad!!! haha or atleast have a child with them she says... hahah super funny lady and very wealthy and some odd ideas but is a good person. overall all the people had respect for us and our age and the things we are doing and were very happy for the help we give to members of there faiths. it was alot of fun and special experience for us to have.

then on saturday, elder bills (who goes home you need to go to his homecoming) had a baptism and we had to run clothes to him but the investigator never showed up it was funny. but after we took soap to our ward mission leader so our clothes could get washed. and on the way back we saw some crazy things.... we saw these kids dealing drogas and just super drugged up and not know anything that was happening super sad but as we continued two kids were in this little alley way inbetween two houses and were taking hits of cocaine. and around the corner a big gang fight broke out!!! it was the most extreme crazy like 15 minutues of walking i think i have had in my mission. so much of satans work going on right before my eyes. i couldnt believe it and felt super sad for the people.

then on sunday a special experience. a lady in the ward that has been super sick and like dieing of cancer for the past few months. my first week here we went to her house to give a blessing of salud. as she was getting ready to go to mendoza for treatments. the doctor told her it was bad and was going to die within a month or two. to enjoy her time and get ready to go... the time passed and nothing happened till this past weekend she went back to mendoza and had more exams and they could not find any trace of the cancer. it was so awesome to hear that and to see the joy she and her family had to have that and there testimony of the faith in jesus christ his atonement and the priesthood power.

i know that jesus lives. without a doubt in my heart i know that he lives and ministers today in his church on the earth. i know that faith is action. that without action faith is nothing. i know that the priesthood or athority from god has been restored and any worthy boy or man can recieve it and have the power of god in there hands. i know its true and i cannot deny it. i love you all and miss you and will keep you informed for the phone call. i hope to talk to everyone i can... take care

con amor

elder bigelow

ps elder kevan bills address... (great mission friend and big BYU football player)

474w. 4630n.

provo, ut. 84604

RKB@aol.com phone number....1(720)971-7876

i believe his homecoming is in a couple weeks goes home tomorrow. he will email me i believe so i will try to give more info.

GANAMOS!!!! con un RECORD

well we won the cup!!!! and we also broke the mission record with 27 baptisms this month. the record before was by two legends in the mission of 26. we had 7 baptisms fall on friday night and saturday. but it still worked out pretty well and we broke the record and today here in mendoza we came for consejo for zone leaders and we won it and president was super happy. we broke several records this month but this was the biggest one obviously. i dont think i have ever worked so hard and been so exhausted in my life. it was a tough month but as you can tell it paid off. and with more still to come for december.

well that is super cool about amy cate and her mission call. i have a friend in the houston texas spanish speaking mission. leaves in july or augost though. but she still might get to know him. elder steve richards is his name. i didnt even know she was thinking about serving. but that is super cool. she will love it and do very well.

i am super glad to hear about all the fun and good times you had on thanksgiving and this week. i ate brownies that i made with some doughnuts and juice on thursday night after a crazy day of work. so not quiet as good as yours but still it was good and i had a good time with it.

so on tuesday we went to bless the home of this man. and had to do it at 12 30 at night. and he has no light. so it was a little crazy just a candle lit in this small little apartment. and right before we got there i guess it was crazy he said. he told us that his bed was shaking and pictures came off the walls and stuff and the candle would not light... so that was sketchy. but we talked and then blessed the home and it was super spiritual, and you could just feel the presence of god in the home and that the bad feeling had left. he was super happy and grateful for it. and then the next day he got a job. and then friday night decided he cant be baptized anymore for his work.... it was super hard to accept and hear. it is just so funny how satan works, every single moment that us, the servants of god, leave a house satan enters to tempt them and pull them away with enticing worldly things. for this we need to baptize everyone as fast as we can so they can have the holy ghost and have that companionship of a god figure to help them with satan. and then the members can help with keeping them in church and strengthening there testimony. but our job is to baptize. the job of members and a little of us to a certain point is to retain. but i have learned that i was called to bring people to salvation and that is through baptism for the remission of sins and gift of the holy ghost. the biggest gift god can give us in this mortal existance. people cant recieve salvation if they dont get baptized. so for that i felt really sad for those that fell and did not get baptized, cause i feel i failed as a missionary. but i know its ok because someday it will work out. just hopefully sooner then later. cause the second coming is close.

but this week was a great week.and a great month. next week is transfers so we will see what happens there. and thanks for all you have done for me i love you and miss you. tell everyone hi. and amy cate congrats and about my friend there. take care and have a good week.

con amor
elder bigelow

Mucho Trabajo

November 22, 2010

thanks for the emails and the annocnments i am happy to hear everything that is going on!!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!! that was my first meal wiht a member last year was thanksgiving. i am not really looking forward to doing much. maybe making a bunch of desserts in the pensh with the other gringo i live with but we will see what we will really do.

so these past two weeks i dont think i have worked harder in my entire life!! the mission is going for a record of 1000 baptisms, and everyone is working super hard and all the zone leaders are competing hard hard hard to win the cup. and i have been doing all i can with the zone to bring the most posible success we can and teaching them alot of things and everything possilbe. the past two weeks i have woked in my own area for about 4 hours in totall and the whole other time was in other areas with my comp helping the elders out and preparing investigators for batism. and thus far it has worked alot. we talked alot about the price we are willing to pay for the lord. and i have been paying it trying to have success and break records here in the mission. leaving my area behind and barely eating if eating at all some days. and we are in the norhern province of our misson and everyday it is over 100 degrees. and we dont take breaks for anything. we are just going and going and going. but i have been sleeping like a baby every night just to wake up to leave earlier and work longer. and it has been working out. we had a record of investigators in church with a baptismal date, then the mission has seen for one week. so that was really good and we are expecting to have a huge last week of november to win the cup we hope. we have been in the lead the whole month and this last weekend we have alot of possibilities of people to get baptized and us to go up even more and to break some records so we will see what will haplpen i am excited and a little stressed but i am loving it. it is so much fun.

last week i went out to this little pueblo next to the mountains. it is all bolivians here to work in the vineyards and stuff. and they are super humble and amazing people. i dont think i have been in such a humble beautiful place before in my life. but we used bikes and went and rode everywhere to visit everyone we possibly could. we put 8 fechas and had one of the most amazing day i have had in my mission. we went up to the base of the mountains in the vineyards in the middle of no where to teach this lady and her husband. and has had a hard team because her dad died 13 years ago and was not sure what was with him and stuff. i started explaining the spirit world and that he is recieving the exact same lessons as she is and she started balling and said to stop that she never had heard anything like that before and felt such a burning in her chest that she did not know what to do. i explained how she will see him again and that they will both be happy for excepting the gospel of christ in there lives and live together forever. she balled and said she knew it was true. we then prayed on our knees on the dirt floor and when we were done it was a mud floor from all the tears that fell. she prayed and it was amazing. then and there asked to know if it was true and the church is true and if her dad is happy with her taking these lessons if he is to. and she balled and balled and we all felt the spirit so strong and knew the presence of god was in the room and and it was unbelievable. she is getting baptized and has never been happier. it was amazing!!!

we then went to this lady whose two sons recently got baptized and we taught her at her house. where there are like thirty bolivian houses all smashed in the space of where one house should be. she is so humble and poor no beds or chairs. just tarps on the floor with a blanket. she is 35 and had her first son at 14. we taught her sitting on the floor indian style. and the spirit was so strong as my companion and i testified of christ his resurrection and that we all can live with him again through baptism and a remission of our sins. and she was not sure of baptism before but after she could not wait another day, and got baptized the next day. and she weeped at her baptism and it was so special. such a special special night and experiences with her.

then this week i went to work with elder bills, my old zone leader, but now is in my zone and going home in december. he has this family who is ready for baptism but wouldnt get baptized or come to church for several weeks. so i went out to help him. we read doctrine and convenants 9 prayed alot and alot. and we recieved revelation to talk about the law of chastity. and so we went out and taught it and found out that, it was that for the problem. and the mom did not see it as a problem and thought god would forgive her. and before i knew it i was speaking and explaining an example to her, that i didnt even know where it was going, but she was blown back and said ok i understand. and she looked at us and smiled and decided to obey it and be baptized. then right then the phone rang and her mom found her a job. something she had been looking for for months and god blessed her with it right as she made the desicion to be baptized and obey this commandment. it was so amazing and her with her two kids are getting baptized on saturday.

then the priceless other experiences we had this week in interviews and helping the other misionaries has been some of the best experiences in my mission. and my area is not even seeing success. but i am more happy then ever because my zone is taring it up and everyone will look again and think twice of san juan and know we are serious and mean business and who ever wants to come here had better be ready to baptize!!

tomorrow i am going to a mans house named miguel that has evil spirits in his house. and has some really sketchy stuff that has been happening so we are going over to give the home a blessing and he asked especially for elder ruiz and i. so i hope and pray that all will go well. and i know i will be protected and all will go well. i have dealt with worse and experienced worse. but with the power and authority from god, nothing will stop us. even more special this man is preparing for his baptism saturday as well. we are going for a record breaking weekend and will finish off our secret plan we have been working with and finish off a record month if all goes well and we are hoping it does!!

i love this work and am having a blast with it. i love you all and miss you!!! have fun on thanksgiving. telll everyone hi, and to enjoy the great food!!! and to keep an eye out for cute girls for me hahaha i love you all and hope you have a grateFUL week!! and i hope i do to....

con amor

elder bigelow

ps i got letters from the teachers quorom and stuff thanks i will be replying soon. and packages, i will keep an eye out for i am good with things for now. maybe G´s i could use. and i want a REAL salt lake jersey, and maybe a new utah jazz shirt with the new symbol.... but if not all is good

viento zonda

well this week went by super super fast!!! i could not believe it on saturday i thought it was wednesday. time has just been flying and we are doing so many great things that i cant even keep track of the time or the things we are doing. i swear there is never enough time to do it all.

i am suprised it was such a blow out with utah and tcu. but that is an interesting little game and things that happened. i hope tcu and boise state play in the national title game. i cant believe it about hamiliton. i am totally shocked and amazed. kinda sad to be honest also. i heard some things from some people. but never thought it would become like this. i guess the alta program will be going down the drain for a little bit then. which is really sad. but oh well things happen sometimes i guess. and to lisa that is fine if sean and lindsey are wearing my clothes and stuff. all they are doing is collecting dust and stuff in my room. just my important things i would prefer them not to wear but i dont think they even would anyways. but it is all good, im not using them and when i get home i will need new clothes anyways and i can wear seans to maybe.... i thought the iggs and eggs joke was funny. its true though, and super funny. sean will accept it someday haha

so this week, i think i worked with my comp in our area together for about 1 hour in the whole week. we had divisions and meeting in mendoza and had to help other areas and stuff. but it was still good. we had good success anyways in the area. and we went with a member, a return missionary who gave us a reference to some of her old neighbors and so we went with her to teach them. and after the opening prayer we asked if you knew you could live with your family forever and see them again after this life what would your reaction be.... and the head of the house broke into tears and said he would be happy and do anything cause his wife passed away six years ago and has felt so lonely, and needs god in his life to help and accompañar him in all the things he is doing and in his daily life. and wants to be with his wife and his kids again. way powerful lesson and started off great. this return missionary is amazing. she is the bomb helps us so much and just gives references like crazy and is totally involved in the work still. and she is not even in our barrio. so that is even more awesome with all that she is doing for us.

thanks a ton dad for the advice on the leadership and help i can give to the zone, i will use some of that stuff tonight in our zone meeting and in helping the district leaders in there district meetings tonight. i am super excited for the zone and the things we can do. we had some little problems with some elders but we fixed them and got things all going well and i think we will be on the same path now and headed for the same success that we want and konw we can have. president is very excited also and expect big things to be coming from us here.

yesterday we had a hard storm of viento zonda. which is wind that blows like 60mph and is SUPER hot!!!! it was like 42 degrees celcius and then with the wind it was like 50. i about died!!!! i have never been so hot in my life. it was so hot at night sleeping that my nose started to bleed and like wouldnt stop i swear. it has been super hot. it is like i am working in lake powell in the middle of july but it is not even the time for the hottest temperature here yet. but i am loving it!!! its fun and just such a good experience. the girls dont have like any clothes on here as it is and in this weather its less. everyone thinks we are crazy walking in ties and long pants and stuff it is great. but i am getting pretty tan i think and is doing good. but all is going well. thanks for all the prayers. that is crazy that i am the only missionary in the ward tell everyone hi and thanks for all they are doing it is appreciated, and i hope it continues. i am glad everyone knows me and stuff, easier to get started on dating after the mission haha i dont know anyone especially girls, they all are getting married!!! hahaha but seriously thanks for everything.

anyone in the temple you see that i know or knows me tell them hi. and find me new friends haha love you all and i hope you all are getting ready for the hollidays, they will be super fun and good!!! miss you and love you!!!

con amor

elder bigelow

Monso!!!

November 1, 2010

well this week we had a pretty good week. we are doing something in the zone that we have not done before and it is to help every single area to find more investigators and to clean the ward registros and stuff. and we have jsut done it in two areas so far, but wow we had so much success and saw so many miracles and blessings from it, it was amazing and we are expecting to have big things happen here in november. the mission is going for a thousand baptisms for the year, and we are at 830 right now and so we are close and have alot of big plans for november and for the things that could happen!!! i am really excited and absolutely am in love with the work right now. i am so anxious to get out of the pensh and go work and to get things done and to get our investigators to progress and to help them to answer the questions and problems they have with things. it is so much fun now and always something different!!!

in the week we are teaching this girl named carina, she is 23 and has a 4 year old daughter and lives with some inactive recent converts. we are helping the family come back to church and carina to accept the gospel and come to church and be baptized on the twentieth of this month. she is really nice and good to teach. but she has about a 55 year old boyfriend that she just moved out from living with, and he has been coming over to see and talk to her and to eat and stuff. and he is a totall jerk and sad sad man. i have no idea how he got carina, she is pretty cute (and has all of her teeth), and this guy is UGLY!!! he has like black hands from smoking so much and woking on cars and pretty sure just not taking a shower in the last about five or six months. he has holes all in his pants, shoe lace for a belt and a shirt that has one button and has stains from everything on it, nasty greasy hair that is falling out and is almost balled and missing teeth. but the other day i had been praying alot for carina and what to study in the morning in my personal study and i first went to preach my gospel but didnt find much. her questions are about baptism and the rusurrection and spririt world stuff. and after not finding anything in pmg i went to the book of mormon and was flipping through the pages and stopped accidently on 2 nefi 9 and just started to read a little and the first three verses i read were i think 21-24. and just like talks about all of her questions and was amazing. really guided well. and i told my comp and we went straight there first thing in the morning so we could teach and hopefully not have the boyfriend show up. so we went and i shared it and shared my testimony and she then said, ¨so in order to enter the kingdom of god, i need to be baptized..., and i can follow the example of jesus and be resurrected?¨ YES YES YES we said so happy and we went into explain more about it and then HE walked in puffing his is cigarret and just acted like he owned the place and ruined the spirit and becasue of him sunday she could not come to church and was just satan in the form of a man i swear. he has the worst arguements ever and i have dropped so much cane of him in scripture and in testimony and still he is so dumb!!!

we have this other investigator family that we found, they are awesome!!! and there are about 20 of them that live in the same house well different houses all conected to the dad/grandpa. and all the nieces and nephews come running when we go over and they sit and listen and love us. we are really working on the grandpa he is the clave to everything. if we can get him to church and baptized then everyone will follow and they will all do the same. and we had a great lesson with him saturday night and he said he would get baptized if it is true and wants to come to church and get to know it. so we will see, i was super excited. but on sunday he never showed up and so that was a bummer but it was cause his daughter had a baby so he had to go and stuff. so it is understandable i guess. but he is a good guy we just need to find him more and help him a liffle more. and get him to church. but he is good and we are really trying to help him alot.

i loved your email though dad thanks alot for that. you always have good advice and know what to say. it was a great email and i am really excited for this patient of yours and the things that could come with her. wish i was there secretly to teach her and to help her out and stuff with you and lisa. i wish she was my investigator. she sounds like she is golden now and ready to really learn and stuff. i cant wait to hear what comes of it all and stuff. remember to be a better listener then talker that is the important part and to ask inspired questions... questions that come from the soul, that she will answer and teach herself. but i know you two will do great with it and i am really excited to hear all about it.

this month of october also we put the highest goal in consejo at the beginning of the month and we got our goal.we did not win the cup, but we broke the record of highest goal set and met in a consejo by a zone!!! so that is cool. it was 14, and we got it. but tomorrow we go to mendoza again to have consejo and we will put an even higher goal, and shock everyone. we are thinking between 18 and 24 is what we will put. and with our plans that we have, we think we will meet it and break it big time and break the record in the mission of most baptisms in a zone in a month. we are pushing to break 30 or 40 in november. it will be a month of monso milagros!!! i am super excited to see what happens. keep us in your prayers and pray for us to have more faith and the faith to have miracles in our companionship and in our zone.

dad i strongly appreciate your advice and your help on everything. i have learned to rely on the lord and his will more then i ever have in my life and i cant go away from that now. i dont even want to think about coming home. it scares me to death and gives me sick feelings. so for right now thanks for all of your help and advice but for now it is enough and all i need. i just want to be focussed on the work and not have coming home early or even the thought of coming home come in my mind. but i will have you know those trips sound super fun and i am super excited. the lake powell one if i come home the time i would be assigned would not be till about sept. 28 so i will miss out on the lake powell trip most likely on the new houseboat. but everything sounds great and i would love it all, sounds like a blast!!! and the ideas and help you have for school and stuff sound really good and would be greatly appreciated!!! i love you all so much and am so happy to have you in my life and all mean so much to me and all you do for me. the prayers are heard and felt. keep up the faith and good work.

con amor
elder bigelow
tu favorito argentino

feliz dia de la madre en argentina

well yesterday was mothers day here in argentina. only country in the world that i am aware of that has mothers day in october. but whatever. so with that, our numbers in church were really low. not only in the zone but in the whole mission. but it was ok we still had a pretty good weekend in the zone with 10 baptisms and confirmations. it was tough cause i had to go to mendoza twice for the meetings with the 70, and i had to go work in other areas help out some elders. and go do interviews for baptisms. on friday we were out till about midnight trying to get this family all interviewed out in the middle of the campo. but we got it done and all went well. we are doing really well and having alot of fun.

the meeting with the 70 was awesome. he is in the first quroum of the 70 and i believe will be in the 12 here in a few years. he is awesome and had alot to say and help us with. i got to work with him and do practices with him and teach everyone with him a few times. and that was a very special experience. that is cool you got a pictured of me with him, what did the note say and what did you write him back dad... he talked alot about numbers and how we can make our mission better and how it starts with us the leaders to help all the other missionaries and alot of interesting ways to bring people back to church and to get people baptized. i am excited to use the things i learned and have alot of new plans and goals for my mission that i hope to see more success. he is from brazil and his accent in spanish kinda sounds like arnold swartchiznager is speaking in spanish. it was interesting but still a ton better then my accent and my ability to speak.

i learned that our mission every month is in the top 4 in our region in baptisms. and in argentina, generally 1, 2, or 3 since january. so that makes me feel good cause i know that i had a good part to do with some of that and stuff. so that is cool. and we are still on the uprise and i hope that by the end of my mission. mendoza will be back and be respected and be at the top of our region always.

i had a good week with all of that that happened. i also went on divisions in this area called zonda. i have worked there a couple times and know it well. but they needed special helpe and so i went out there to see what i could do and see what was happening. it was awesome. its an area surrounded by mountains up in the mountains. just a little valley with vineyards and stuff. it was cool. but alot of great experiences. we put fechas and found new people to teach an just tore it up. i loved it. some awesome experiences with alot of people. i loved it.

this week is a little wierd we will have transfers this week a week early cause president is going to cordaba to see the temple get dedicated and all the elders from peru have to go cause there visa is up. so we are ending a week early. and i have no idea what will happen. i hope i stay here for two more transfers, i love it so much and dont want to leave at all. but on wednesday we will find out and on friday we will do changes. so next monday i will let you know what happened and where i went. i also got a letter from the shurtz that was nice tell them thanks. do you still get together with them.... and i got other letters and i guess about 9 of my friends are married or engaged!!!! wow that was really wierd to hear that and think about that stuff. i still cant really comprehend it to much. but whatever. all is good. sorry it is so short i got to get things going and all the argentines have to call there moms and i need to get a zone meeting planned out. but i love you and hope all is well.

con amor

elder bigelow

Dear Bigelow Family,

I wanted to send this photo of your son today in zone conference with Elder Aidukaitis (First Quorum of Seventy). Elder Bigelow was participating in some practices that the missionaries were doing, and ended up sitting there for around 20 minutes. He and his companion are doing a wonderful job, and we appreciate their great leadership here in the mission. We just wanted you to see him in action, doing his best. You should be very proud of him. We see great growth in him every time we see him. We send our love, and hope all is well back home.

Love,
Hermana Lindahl

This Week

well we had our interviews with president last monday after i got done emailing you. and WOW!!!! it was amazing!!! the spirit was so strong and the things that he said to me were and are so special to me. it was one of the most memorable and nicest things i have had in a long time.

we had a really good week this week. we had a baptism on saturday and it went really well. it was of this 16 year old kid and he is a totall capo!! he also recieved the aaronic priesthood yesterday and will be blessing the sacrament next week and has a strong desire to serve a mission. he is a real stud and am way happy for his desicion. his name is lucas. and we found him last transfer. we were walking in the streets and found his mom and stopped her after crossing back and forth on the street two or three times to stop her and talk to her. so we finally did and we started just teaching her then we got him involved and now he is baptized and we are having a harder time with the mom becasue the goes to church that is right infront of her house. she claims to have prayed and read the book of mormon and not felt anything and it is to far for her to walk to church it is just to easy for her to go infront of the house. it is a little tough. but we are still working with her and the plan is to have lucas baptize his mom here in the next couple of weeks. so we will see what we can do.

we are still working with a couple in active families and the other day we were on divisions and i was working in my own area and i found a inactive family with a ton of kids and stuff that are not baptized. but the dad wont let them get baptized. we had a super spiritual lesson with them and put a fecha to get baptized with one of the daughters that is really smart and has her head on straight. she is very intelligent and understood everything very well. but the dad said no to her coming to church and to be baptized. she is 14 so she has to have his permission. i just wanted to cry when i heard theat the next day when we went by to visit. i was so excited, then so sad. it was hard but we are going to give up. we just need to find the dad and get him to have confidence in us and realize the importance of this and for her and the family. he is not a member, nor has any interest in religion. he thinks it is all politics and we are just out campaigning for the mormon church.... really hard in the head but we will keep up the faith and see what we can do.
so on saturday at the baptism, the girlfriend of lucas came and she cried at the service then came to church and cried during the testimonies that were givin (which were way good) and now wants us to teach her to and help her. so we are really excited for that to see what we can do there and if we can help her to have this same happiness.

this week, tomorrow i go to mendoza again for a meeting with all the leaders in the mision with elder adukitis from the 70. he is one of our area authorities and is here in the mision and wants to have a meeting with all the leaders in the mision. so that will be good. kinda scared though cause i here he drops some serious cane!!! he is from brazil and he gave one of the prayers in conference so that is cool. and elder anderson from the 12 will be here soon to dedicate the ground in cordaba for the temple and might come visit our mission but we dont know for sure. so lots of excitement going around the mission right now. especially cause we are going for record breaking numbers this year. trying to baptize 1000 by the new year. and we are doing pretty well and on track. so we will see.

but all is good i miss you all and am very excited for all that is happening there with you. when do you have to plan the weeks for the house boat cause i want to go sometime when i get home... but we will talk more about that later. miss you love you take care

con amor
elder bigelow

Que supresa

wow i was not ready or expecting to hear that news!!!! so the bigelow family now has a houseboat! alright that is awesome!!! i am way excited right now. to bad i wont get to use it for a couple more years. but it is alright. i am just way excited for it now. sounds like a really fun weekend alot like mine was. with conference and the amazing spirit and testimony building experiences that there were to hear the words of a prophet of god and his apostles here on the earth today and the personal revelation we were able to recieve and answers to our prayers. it was so amazing!!!

alright so you want to know about my pension, my comp, and my investigators... well i will do my best to describe them all and give you all the information i can think of about them. i have kinda lacked on that stuff i guess and i cant really think of what to say anymore. so it is good that you have questions and thoughts of things you want to hear about and stuff so i know where to go with what i am saying now. but i did also recieve four packages. two from mom and dad, one from beccy, and one from grandma johnson. so thankyou all very much i loved it and was way excited and everyone in my pension was very jealous that i have people who love me so much. i just told them that they are now realizing how important and vital to the function of the family i was and is bribery for me.... haha but seriously thanks it meant alot!!

alright so for my pension. it is actually really nice. i like it alot. it is pretty big as well. there are four of us living in it and it is in a three story apartment building and we are on the third floor. we have hot water and a small shower that we need to squigy the floor everytime after showering but it is fine cause it is a pretty good shower. and we have a bidé in our batheroom still like all batherooms here. but i have come up with a few invention ideas for it that i may use after the mission to make my millions... and we have two bedrooms where we sleep a small bancony in my room where we can hang clothes to dry and put my comps smelly shoes out there so that the whole room does not stink up and we can smell the air fresheners i have got from beck. thanks it is coming in great use these last couple transfers with my last two comps smelly feet and shoes. and we have a way small kitchen that two at a time cant even fit in it, but we are all big guys to so that might be a problem, but it is small. and we have our study area and i have a sweet view of my area out the window right infront of my window, helps me to remember to study for my investigators and people i will see in the day. and the apartment building is orange. and that is about all i can think of for right now. but it is really nice, i would live in it outside of the mission also.

my companion, his name is elder hopkin. he is from boston. he is way cool guy. football, basketball, etc player from his school and background. he is the youngest in his family and has 14 nieces and nephews. and his family all is members and strong in the church. he went to byu before the mission for a year. is way smart and wants to be an accountant. he is a big guy also. a little bigger then me, and eats alot. he has one transfer more then i do in the mission. so six weeks more is all and is a capo. works hard and speaks very very well. most people think he is argentine or some latin descent. so that is cool. we get along great and are working well together. we could not believe president put us together becasue it was with his zone and him that i was competing with in augost to win the cup and then we got put together. our zones baptized the most in the mission last transfer we had 23 and his had 22 so we are expecting big things to happen and president is also he is expecting us to make the zone explode and this pilot program we are starting and testing out here to explode and take off from us. so we will see. really good elder and good friend for me.

in my area and the people i am teaching. we are always looking for people to teach and new experiences to have. but we have one maybe two baptisms on saturday. and teaching some really cool people. one of our investigators names is fabrisio, he is 20 years old and wants to change his life so he can get work and have a better life. he is adicted to marijuana. and we are working with him to stop that. at night he goes out and fights in the streets to get money so we are woking with him to stop that and to have a better life. he loves talking to us and is a really good guy. this kid who is 16 is getting baptized on saturday, and maybe his mom but she has some doubts about the need to be baptized again in a different church. but we are woking with them and they are really cool. we talked to them in the street last transfer and went by there house and taught them. it was funny we wanted to talk to the mom, maria is her name, but she closed the street when she saw us. so we crossed to, the she crossed back so we did also so then she stopped and said well they must have something important so say. haha it was funny so we will see if we can get her this week to or no. and now we are also teaching this kid ivan, he is from salta, and we got the reference from the salta mission it was weird but really cool to go and see what was up with him and what we could do. so we did and he is cool, a little need of confidence in the things and just really busy cause he is 20 and in school and working and doing alot all the time but wants to know more about the church so called his mormon friend in salta and told her to call us and send us. so we went, and we will see what happens there. and also we are teaching this family where the parents are members but have not been to church for 13 years and they have 10 kids and only two are baptized, so we are working to reactivate and baptize them. four came to conference over the weekend so we will see i think we will for sure get a couple atleast to come back and be baptized and stay. the dad is really pridefull and stuborn. he has a big problem with that we need to take the sacrament every week. he says it only slhould be once a month. but we will see what we can do with him. then there is our golden investigator that we have. her name is yesica. she is 19 and has a strong strong strong testimony of the church understands everything. comes every week to church reads the book of mormon and does it all just has a problem with her friends making fun of her if she is mormon and her dad wont except and will be mad if she gets baptized. so it is tough but we are woking hard with her and doing what we can. we have others, but they are not really progressing right now so we will see what we can do and we hope to find more this week and do more with them and help them to come closer to their savior.

this week was a special week. to be able to hear conference and feel of the spirit that was there. i really loved it and they talked alot about the prophet and we need to follow him and his teachings and our pride and choices we make. i loved those talks from priesthood. by monson and uchtdorf. they were ones to rembeber forever!!! my testimony was strengthened this weekend. and i want you all to know that i know that we have a living prophet here on the earth today, just think about that... what a blessing to have a mouthpiece from god to speak to us. i know that thomas s monson is a true living prophet of got and that he was called of god. i know joseph smith restored the gospel in its fullness through the gift and power of god and that through him the authority of god is on the earth again today and if excercised with faith and correctly we can work miracles. i know all this through the book of mormon i know it is the word of god and like joseph smith said through it we can become closer to god and that it is the most true book on the earth today. through this book we can know everything, if the church is true, if we have the authority, if a prophet lives today. all through reading and praying over this book. i know it is true!

i love you all and miss you. take care and your in my thoughts and prayers!!!

con amor
elder bigelow

nothin much

September 28,2010

well last week was a fun and interesting week. we did service a couple of times and that was alot of fun and i really enjoyed it. then we woked a little bit and found some cool people. but it was very limited work becasue my companion was sick all week. and we could not leave the pensh. so that was pretty tough for me to be confined inside and not be able to leave or do anything it was horrible. first time in a long long time that i have had to be inside for 24 hours and it was not just one day but it was multiple days in the week but it was alright i got some things done and i had some good talks with my comp and we got to know each other alot better and that was really good and fun exchanging stories.

i am in mendoza today for the next three days again for a zone leader counsel so i will be able to pick up my mail and things and i know that i have at least a couple packages waiting for me in the offices so i will be picking those up on wednesday i am excited about htat.

so on saturday we had to dig a foundation for a house and that was a service we did it took the whole morning and it was super hot outside. alot of hard work with shovels and picks but it was actually alot of fun!!! and on wednesday we moved a flower pot thing that was huge and that was the service that we did then and then the rest of the week pretty much we were confined to the pensh. but we like i said made the most of it.

but all and all it was an interesting week. i dont have anything else to really say sorry, just nothing happened cause we had no chances to go out and work. but conference is this weekend and i am WAY excited!! it will be alot of fun and SOOO good to hear the prophet and his apostles speak and for the members and investigators to hear as well. this is the best and strongest ward and stake i have been in in my mission. so it will be extra enlightening. i hope all is good i love and miss you take care.

con amor
elder bigelow


ps... i didnt really get robbed. it was a tree branch that hit me. haha

milagros...buenos y malos

September 20,2010

this week was a really good week. here we in a new transfer and i am still zone leader and have a new companion and he is from boston. really cool guy and we have about the same time. he has a little more then i do. but it is fun and we have a totally new zone and it is young and we are excited with the potential that we have to go and win the cup this transfer and have a really successful fun transfer together.

wednesday this week is the 22 my birthday. i will be working so dont think i will be out partying. no big deal. but just thought i would remind all of you that has wedding aniversaries and all that stuff surrounding my birthday. so that you can remember and not forget again........hahahha just joking but it will be good i have service to do and some really good appointments already planned. no one in my area knows. we are just not telling anyone.

but on tuesday last week it was morera— last day here in san juan after 9 months in the province. so it was pretty sad for him and we went and visited some of his converts. and one family, the ruiz family. they are super poor and live in this back alley way with a side path that breaks off and goes a ways back and with other houses then you get to theres in the back corner. its a little sketchy but they are awesome. we talked and visited and one of them had a headache and so they did this thing called a cucurucho... or in english it translates to cone.... i had always heard of it and stuff but never actually seen it and wanted to see it really bad. its a medical treatment that they do here.... haha they get a news paper and roll it into a cone shape and put the point generally on the head or the ear (but later found out anywhere that you have pain) and the light the big end on fire and hold it there. and when smoke starts to come out of the flame, that means that the bad air or pain is leaving your head or that part of the body. and that is the medical treatment. it is hillarious, but it is the culture. i love it. i got to see it in person and the described it to me and i got a couple pictures. there also is another one with a had a cup of water and an egg they do i am waiting to see. haha i love it its the best.

but we had an amazing week elder hopkin and i. we went by this lady that was a member reference, and when we got there we talked to her and told her that we needed to talk to her and bring more peace and joy into her life. and she started crying and told us that her son died two months ago in a moto accident. and so we got in and taught her a little bit and bore lots of strong testimony and shared tears together. and afterwards she felt alot better and had a smile on her face and told us that it was the first time in two months she had been able to have a smile on her face. it was a way good lesson and super spiritual for all of us i loved it. we didnt have a lesson planned, and we did not follow a single lesson outline, we just followed the promptings of the spirit and he guided us the way that we needed to go. super good way to start off the week.

then the other day after we had lunch and bought some stuff for the zone and to help us to verify a little better we were on our walk back to the pensh and i dunno why but i took us on a different path back one i never had taken before just to see the way it was and how it is. so we went that way and at this time there never is anyone on the streets they all are taking a nap and sfuff. but we were approached by a woman as we were passing and she stopped us and asked if we were sent by god... i thought she was drunk or something. but we told her yes and she broke down to tears and then told us that her mother had died two days ago and she had been praying to have someone from god come to help her to deal with this thing that had happened in her life. i was so shocked!!! she then asked us to pray for her and to help her and ask god to bring peace in her life and to help her to understand. so we bore testimony again and with no one at all in the street. we knelt and prayed with her and it was very special moment for all of us.... something i dont think i will forget.

so here in san juan the people are very visionary and dreamers. they have dreams of god and jesus and things all the time and it is very interesting to hear and talk about with them and this last week we heard alot of that type of things. but one that was very interesting is that this lady had a dream about 7 glowing trees that god showed her and that is was important to her. and then he showed her 7 angels that he said were his chosen. then she saw happiness and sadness in her own life. and it was interesting but my comp and i kinda explained about the seven dispensations of time and how that works and that she would be happy with the gospel or could be sad without out. not and interprtation but just trying to help how ever we could. and it was a good lesson.

and the other day the assistants came back up here and the mision is going to start a pilot program here to work and get help from the members casue we are doing so well and it is the top zone in the mission so we are going to be starting that. it was really cool. then that same night we had stake priesthood meeting and it was awesome the stake president had me come up and explain how we beat the goal we set last year to get 148 baptisms in the stake and today we have 152 that we beat it last month and are still growing on it. and so i explained that and bore my testimony and it was a really good meeting i loved it, super spiritual and reallly focussed on the youth and how they need to serve misions and go out on splits with us. which we do with some of them and it is really good lots of success and fun time for all of us.

all and all this week was a really good week and i loved it. the spirit was with us guiding us and helping us in all that we did. i need it more though and more of its help. we are trying to get inactive families reactivated and we need them to feel the spirit and more then anything our investigators and the zone to have the spirit stronger impressed on their hearts and minds. i love you all and miss you very much. have a party for me on wednesday, eat cake and celebrate cause we all know the 22 of september is the best and the favorite child was born that day... haha

con amor
elder bigelow

Translados

August 13, 2010

Well this week is transfer week and I am still zone leader here in san Juan, but my comp is leaving and I am getting a new companion, he has one transfer more then me and is a gringo, I am really excited we will have a lot of fun together and have tons of success. All is going well though. I was really happy to hear from all of you today and hear that all of you are doing so well. Sounds like everyone is having fun in all sorts of different ways. Austin has inspired me to want to do a triathlon after the mission. I have it written down as one of my goals and aspirations. And Ben gave me some really good laughs with that video. And everything was good to hear especially that Alta won, and that byu has a sweet schedule and will be really fun to watch.

This week nothin to big happened. We have this lady Maria and her son Lucas that we are teaching and they are great. I am loving it with them and they are progressing well and we expect them to be baptized here in the next couple weeks. I sent home a dvd with an elder that finished his mission today and he will be mailing it to you so expect it here in the next week or so. And all is going well. I got bit in the back of the leg the other day by a big dog, it was right below the butt and it was really weird it ripped my pants but not the garments.... and it got my leg... but I dunno I had the mesh ones on so it probably just went through one of the little holes is all. But it hurt really bad and the day before my comp got bit in the hand by a boxer dog. So we had a good week with the dogs it appears.

We went up to zonda yesterday for church in this tiny branch from our ward. And it is in a house there and we go every week. But yesterday about thirty people came and I was sitting in the dirt it was a lot of fun and very interesting I loved it. The church is growing and doing so well here I love it and love to see all the success that is taking place and am very proud to be apart of it all. Such a special experience to see it and be with it.

I dont have much time I need to go and do meetings with the zone and get the elders ready for their transfers and tell everyone who is going and who is staying. But I love you and miss you tons. Take care and let me know asap when you get that dvd and letters.

Con Amor

Elder Bigelow

Su Favorito Misionero

September 6, 2010

Well this week was a good week we found a family of 10 that are inactive and only 3 are baptized. So we will be starting to work with them a lot and see what we can do to reactivate them and hopefully baptize there 7 other kids in the family. They are super nice and accepting of us when we come over and it has been good. The dad, wow...... he is the biggest man I have ever seen. He weighs a good about 400 pounds I kid you not!!!! And last night he got out of bed and walked to the kitchen 3 feet away and broke into a sweat... and the best part is he was shirtless. It was pretty funny. I could not look at him with out laughing a little bit and feeling just so absolutely scared for his health. But we will see what we can do to help and keep them happy.

So last week at consejo it went really well it was a good time. And president had all three zones that were battling all month of august to come up and to get a picture with the trophy. It was good. I felt good cause I knew we had the most baptisms in the mission so I felt a sense of acknowledgment that I won the cup. But it should be on the mission blog if you want to look it up and there always are lots of pictures and updates about the mission on it. So if you don’t look at it you should look sometime.

Pretty crazy that on Wednesday the last of my close friends leave on the mission and go to the mtc. Seth Beccerra goes to the mtc on Wednesday so I wont see him for three years. Wow that will be crazy and some big changes in our lives. I just barely got his letter so I wont be able to write him back only to the mtc I can. haha

This last week we also had a cool lunch. The daughter is now living in Utah in Orem but moving to St. George to get married in two weeks to a RM haha that served here. But like 3 or 4 years ago. But still a little sketchy. But she took down the address and the phone number of the house to call or visit or something if she wants to tell you all about San Juan and things like that. She was really nice. So don’t be totally shocked if an argentine girl calls the house or something sometime. I don’t know if she ever really will. But just for in case now you know.

That is too bad to hear about Alta. it is all because they don’t have the defensive coaches there anymore. They went to cottonwood to coach there last spring. So it was no suprise to me that they lost to Cottonwood or Bingham or Timpview. They are not that good this year and we all knew it would be this way especially if the defensive coaches all left. They were the lifeblood of the team success. But byu I am glad to hear is doing good and at least won their first game. And that Utah won that is good. What did byu decide to go independent or are they in a conference...

Thanks for the packages I will be looking forward to them and be excited to get them. It does not feel like it is my birthday and I doubt it ever will on the mission. But I am excited and I will become an old man... haha

So what is the news on Jason Bilanzich.... has he got a call or left or anything yet....

All is going well I miss you and love you and are always in my prayers. Tell the ward and everyone I say hi. Thanks for everything I really do appreciate it and feel it each day. Stay strong and do all you can.... I love the story at the beginning of the book of Mormon with Nephi and Lehi and the family when Nephi and his brothers go to Jerusalem again to get the plates and Sariah complains. But then testifies when the sons return and never ever again complains. What an example. Really good story, and strong testimony in the prophet and in God. Something good to have and think of now that conference is coming up. Love you take care

Con Amor

Elder Bigelow

(We all won the mission cup, but we had the most baptisms. 2nd to last on right is my comp)