la ley

this week we had a good week. we worked good. and president called us to talk to us. and it sounds like elder williams will be going home even earlier then the rest of us. at the beginning of august. so you all can go to his homecoming. he lives close! so that would be cool and he wants you all to go really bad. but i will let you know more about taht when it gets closer. and it sounds like i will be leaving the area and going back to be a zone leader. and help to enforce alot of new rules that the area presidency has put in. and to probably finish my mission as a zone leader president told me. but as we know anything can happen.

this week we had to go and to teach maxi. we have had a hunch he has a problem with the law of chastity with his girlfriend. so we went to talk to him and told him about and was shocked. and so we put a cita with him for another day to explain it more throughly and with more time. so we did and had a great lesson with him. it was a little bit of a cane drop for him. but it was really good and he still came to church and on frieday will be baptized! we are way excited! and he is doing really well and excited also. he will be a great member and really strong! i can see him serving a misison here next year. and being the future bishop of albardon! he is a huge stud and doing all the right things right now in his life and is finding alot of happiness that he has been looking for. its was special the family of his always texts him and reminds him not to smoke or do anything bad and to remember his baptism he has. its way special for me to see everyone doing this for him and the excitement that everyone has. i have grown really close to him and we really connect well and am way excited for him. another super cool baptism!

we also are teaching several other people and they are doing well just not progressing how we can see them. they wont come to church cause it is cold and it is a long travel. so that is difficult. but i know some good things are coming for the area and that we have some good investigators if they will only come to church. we have reactivated this one family that was baptized two years ago and they are really cool. the girls go to seminary every morning at 6. and the mom now has a calling to be a sunday school teacher. so that is cool and to see them doing well and coming back to church and how happier they are. i had to give another talk yesterday in church. my third one in this area. its so wierd, people get scared and dont come when they get assigned talks. and we get asked to do them for 10 to 20 minutes. so i have learned that really well how to give a talk and to teach off the fly here on the misison from all my areas and alot from here in albardon.

i am really appreciative of the prayers and thoughts that are givin by the ward and the families. it means alot to me. i have had some problems with food or something not sitting well or something i really should NOT have eaten. but i eat it anyways and i know that the prayers of blessing me with health and strength are felt cause randomly the bad stomache pain will go away and i will be feeling alot better. and i know it is from the love and the power of prayer from everyone back home. so thanks and i greatly appreciate it and hope for it to continue till the end of my mission. and i know blake ziser will feel it as well and love it! he has alot ot look forward to. argentina is a great place and the buenos aires misions always do well. the mendoza mission has managed to top most all other missions in argentina the past two years! so its not the best misison in the world like mendoza but it is close... haha but who is to brag.....

life is good. i am loving it! and having a ton of fun everyday! let blake know i say congrats and that it is the best time he will have in his life. i didnt believe it before.... but i am a strong believer of it now! it trully is the BEST two years! i love you all and miss you! take care.

con amor
elder bigelow

feliz dia de la madre

ell that was really good to talk to all of you yesterday! i had some good laughs and it sounds like everyone is doing great! like i said it still has not hit me that this was the last phone call home. and im sure it wont ever it wont hit me that i am even going home till i am in the plane probably. its just wierd how i have adapted to life here and i feel it is home and that i am never leaving and i dont ever need to leave... but im sure it is that way with most missionaries i dunno for sure though. i hope it is not out of the ordainary. life is good. today will be pretty short since i talked to you all yesterday.

but just so you know we had one of our investigators come to church yesterday. his name is maxi, he is 21 and just a way cool kid! not a typical argentine kid, has his head on pretty straight for the most part. smokes a little, and has a girlfriend. but we are helping him and he is going to get baptized the 21 of this month. and i know he will be a great leader in the church and a great missionary! im way excited for him. i did divisions last week with elder roberts in my area. and we had some really good heart to heart talks and have become the best of friends! and we taught maxi. and that night we put the fecha down and committed him to baptism and i took his cigarrets from him. and i will have another convert that had to quit smoking. most of them have had to quit smoking in my time on the mish. but we did a fast for him and gave him a blessing that he will be able to quit and he has not touched one since! and is happy and excited and says he has not had any desire for them! im way excited for him and know it will be great and he will become great in the church!

well it was great to talk to all of you yesterday! i miss and love you all! have a great week! happy mothers day to everyone i couldnt say it to!

con amor
elder bigelow

feliz dia del trabajador

well thats cool you went to saint george... i am currently in saint john... haha sounds like it was a fun trip and i hope that sean got his work done and was also able to learn a few things and changed a little aobut his form of thinking and doing things for the better. i know lisa is hookin him up with friends to have and hang out with. and hopefully she will do the same for me for girls to date and things haha

well this week went great! we had a pretty good week. we went to mendoza for zone conference my last one with president and hermana lindahl. that was kinda wierd. but it went really well and i learned a few things and had a pretty good talk with pres. lindahl. and he says he would really like to come to my homecoming and stuff that it would be a special priveledge for him and stuff. so that made me feel really good and happy. i also told him that you would like to go to his homecoming and to meet him and stuff. so he said he will give me the information before he goes home and i will pass it along to you all. and then you can go and hear him speak and meet him and talk to him. i am pretty sure it will be in provo.

also this week we did divisions and it went well. we had some reallyl special experiences and i was able to have some fun outside of my area and just really work with all my energy and not have to worry about my companion so much and all that. so it was a really big relief for me and alot of fun! we taught some really good lessons and the spirit was really strong and we also were able to give some really powerful blessings that gave me alot of ganas to keep going and to just keep working. even though it was super super cold and the wind was blowing and i didnt bring a jacket or anything i just had my sweater vest. but it was alot of fun and really rewarding.

one of our investigators(alba) told me the other day that she needed to talk to me but away from her kids and stuff. the kids all are members and she has been an investigator for three years but cant be baptized cause she lives with a guy and is not married. and cant get married till he gets a divorce from his previous wife. which he does not want to do... it is a really complicated situation. so she tells me this and i stepped outside to talk for a second with her and she told me that one of the kids living at the house she cant take anymore.... but does not know what to do cause it is not her kid it is the kid of the guy she lives with and neither him nor his wife want him around. and alba is the only other option but she cant take care of him cause she has no money for that. and he is a terrrible influence on her kids! it really made me think back to when i was home and the things taht were happening then with chris and how his desicions are not the best or for the best influence on anyone.... and the other problem was that her boyfriend figure that lives there. will not allow her to go to church anymore or listen to us anymore. but the thing is he is never around always working or buying drugs and women and bad things. he is a terrible person to her, with the way he treats her. so we left after she told me that and i told my comp and we studied and prayed about it. and went back the next day and we had some cool personal revelation! i shared about the way i have been raised and the problems that have occured in the house with my siblings and what has happened with them and even though it was hard what had to be done was they had to be kicked out. if they did not want to work, study, or obey the rules of the roof.... and so they left. and with her boyfriend, if he does not want her to be happy and do the right things he cant be the right guy. we shared about nefi when he cut off labans head and how it was better one man die then the curruption of a whole nation! better that two men leave the house then the curruption and fall of a whole family! was how we applied it. and my companion and i both decided what we want in our families and how we need to be with rules and things.

i grew up thinking all the time that i hated the rules that i had and i would never put them with my kids or if i would even have rules for them in general. but i know now it was for my better and that i will have those rules and maybe even more strict of ones so that my kids dont screw up as bad as i did in the same ways i did or anything like that. so that they will be happier and better off. i thought back to rebellious times when i wanted to leave and go live with my mom and i fought with lisa and dad. and i feel really bad for that sfuff. i was in a home where the spirit dwelled and that helped me to grow into a good person. jsut like in church, the more obedient we are the happier we live and the easier things are... the more obedient i was at home the happier i was and more fun i had. thankyou so much for all you did for me and helped me. sorry i was a pain at times but i regret it now and really see the happiness i had and how easy things really were for me. especially when i was obedient.

yesterday was the day of the worker and is the only day all year where there is no bus´s at all! so we had basically no one in church. but one of our investigators maxi... he came and that was a way good suprise he came in the cold on his moto. the testimonies that were shared were super powerful and he loved them and felt the spirit of them. it strengthened him he said and was really happy he came. but super hard day to work cause there was no busses to take us where we needed to go cause our area is huge! but it was alright. i cooked a roast yesterday also. i have made a few throughout my mission. i am prettly well known for cooking in my penches. so i cooked one for my comp and some brownies. he loved it and it was one of my best. i switched things up a bit from what i usually do. but it worked out for the better. we got to talkin and is it true that missionaries get money to help with there schooling at there homecoming.... cause if so, that would help me out a ton and would really need the help! but i dunno if that is true or not and really happens....

well i dunno if you are planning on calling me or not for mothers day next week.... but if you are. i will be in the chapel with my comp and you can call me at 730 in the evening argentina time. i dunno what that is there but you can figure it out... and call me at 0054 264 491 2568......

that is the number for argentina, then san juan, then for albardon.... so call be about 730 in the evening time on the argentina time. if you are planning on calling. if you dont call, that is fine. i will just email you and monday and see what happened or what we can do.

well i hope you all have a great week. and taht all is going well for you! thanks for everything, keep us in your prayers. they are felt and needed always. love you all and we will be talkin

con amor

elder bigelow

feliz pascua

well easter was good. got an excuse from an investigator that her tooth hurt so she could not come to church and when i told her taht my dad is a dentist and i know how to check teeth and asked to look at it and see how it was she told me the pain went away and there was nothing to be seen in her mouth anymore! so that was a little funny, never heard taht excuse in my time here in the mission but just about all others yes. so there is a first time for everything i guess.

but this week we had a good week. nothing to special happened. just the same old work work work schedule! but we tore it up still. just a little hard cause the catholic church makes it a whole week holiday that no one works or goes to school or the buses dont run as much. so it was a little tough but it was really good. i still had fun. and we found some pretty cool people see what we can do with them. one lady is a missionary for the catholic church but disagrees witha ll its teachings so we will see what will come with her. and that is about it.

dont send like any more packages by the way the argentina government is in a fight with the postal service and they say any packages in the mail they are going to open and take out any food or new clothes that are in it. that started a couple weeks ago. just to let you konw... but letters and things are still fine. so if you send a package be safe about it.

things are great. just a little tough with a super trunky companion. but i am fighting through it i think i will be away from him soon and be able to have the comp i want and area i want hopefully. but we are doing well. i am really loving it here and am realizing how big of changes have come into my life from my time serving the lord. it is so special to me and will always be something of so much importance of what i have done here and the people i have met. and the work continues and is still going forward. thanks for all your thoughts and your prayers and help with school or work or whatever it is greatly appreciated. i love you all and miss you. im sorry to hear about donna but she is in a better place and is happy there. take care and have a good week

con amor

elder bigelow

Aconcagua de vuelta

well sorry i did not write yesterday. but president lindahl has been promising my companion for awhile about the possibility of going to aconcagua and seeing it since he never has. and he called last week and told us that we can go and to be in mendoza on sunday night and to go on monday for pday. so we did it and it was a very long trip. we had to do it the tourist way and so it was a lot longer trip. but we had a totall blast and loved it. suprisngly enough it was not as cold as what it was when i went in january with all the zone leaders in the mision. but it was alot warmer. we got some good pictures and were the only people on the trail all day. till we came back and got to the tourist building. but we were with this guy from germany that is traveling the world. he is 26 and speaks no spanish. but speaks english perfectly. so that was cool we were around him and saw him several times through out the whole day. it was alot of fun. and we did not get home till like 12 last night and so there was no time to do any email. that is why we are doing it today.

but last week we had a great week. we worked and went to the vargas family and taught them a couple of times. the ones that lost two children. and they are doing good. they are super excited for baptism. but it will be delayed from the original date of the 30th of this month till whenever we can. cause we found out that they need to get married first. so we might baptize the kids first then the parents, or wait for the whole family. we are still in that deciding process right now. but it will be 7 baptisms from this family. keep them in your thoughts and prayers.... but we had some really good lessons with them and they were really excited to come to church on sunday and we were too... and sunday came and we waited and waited and no one showed up... so i called alberto the dad and asked what was up and he said he could not come because his tooth hurt.... WOW first time i have heard that excuse in my mission. and his wife couldnt cause her blood pressure was low.... she could feel it... little frustrating how this culture is sometimes with all the excuses and things they give. but i talked alberto into coming and he showed up for the sacrament. he really enjoyed it and the councilor in the bishop brik talked to him after and he loved that. and really enjoyed church now we need to get the whole family to come and to try and commit them to baptism and to marriage. that will be tough but i know that we can do it with the help of the lord. nothing is impossible with him. so we are in that right now helping them and trying to get them to be happy and excited and have the desires to get married and baptized. so please keep them in your thoughts and your prayers.

we also had maxi this week. he is doing good. he is a little upset because his dad left his mom this week. he tends to do this from time to time. he earns alot of money but never gives any to the family either and so they are dirt poor. and he does some really really bad things with that money that he keeps and doesnt give to his family. so we taught maxi about the commandments and the family. and how he cant be like his dad when he has his family. first off he needs to marry the girl before having kids and he needs to be in the church to strengthen the family and keep them united. he liked that. he is a really great kid. 21 years old, and he is smart. just needs to do the right things.... he is kinda struggling ahora. but we need to get him to church and to get baptized. he knows it is true. just doesnt come to church and literally thinks that it is impossible to quit smoking... he only smokes 1 to 5 a day. and can stop easy. but his mentality makes him think that he cant. so we are there with him trying to help and get him to realize the things he knows and needs to do and to actually do them!

the mission is reading the book of mormon again as a mission thing the celebrate the translation of it by joseph smith. and we are going to read it in 66 days. now we are on day like 5 i think. but i am ahead of the game and learning a ton. it is great. it really is true that you learn something new everytime you read the book and i am learning something new everytime i open it up! i love it and am gaining a stronger testimony of it.

im glad to hear that conference went well and that you enjoyed it. this week is ward conference here in arbardon. so that will be good. what time does our ward start now... i imagine there is alot of new people i dont know. but tell everyone i say hi. and everyone i know that i say hi. especially tell Jd Barnes and his family hi. i looked back on my letters from them the other day and it really made me feel good and get myself going again. so tell them thanks again for the letters they wrote. i hope everyone has a great week. i miss you and your in my thoughts and prayers often! love you all

con amor

elder bigelow