Letter Dated January 14, 2013

Dear Mom and Dad;

Well thanks for the email.  Seems like all is going well over there.  So its kinda weird, this might very well be the last email you get from me.  I'm not sure if we get email time next week.  I'll guess you'll see, ha ha.  If I do, I'll probably write you something.

So anyway we had a pretty decent week here in Terrada.  We did have the baptism of Rafael.  That went pretty well.  But apparently there is some confusion as to which ward he belongs to.  He might belong to a different ward.  Cause what they did here is one side of the street is from one ward and the other a different ward.  I thought the whole street was ours.  So apparently he lives on the wrong side of the street, ha ha.  But nobody told us anything until he got baptized.  Even the members who went with us to visit him, and the Missionaries from the other ward when we did divisions . So I guess we will see what happens.  It's not a big deal, since he got baptized, ha ha. 

Lets see.  We had 4 investigators go to church this week.  That was pretty good.  All 4 should get baptized in January.  We hope to have 2 this week and two more the week after I'm gone.  So we are pretty happy.  We have had lots of baptisms here.

Other good news.  My companion had to get glasses.  With all the dirt streets and wind and such he was having problems with his eyes.  So that was interesting.

Oh yea, I did get the package from the achievement day girls and the cubs, ha ha.  I got it last Tuesday.  It was a surprise, I didn't think I would get anything else, ha ha.  But it was a nice surprise.  It had Reeses.  I like Reeses.

So Silvia and Thomas should get baptized this weekend.  It's not 100% sure, but almost.  We are working lots to get them there.

Solanj and Martin are the others that are close to baptism.  They just need a little bit more.  But they are pretty excited about the church and learning and such.  I think it will happen.  They have already gone to church two times.

Then we have a few other good investigators, but most of them just lack the desire to go to church and such.  But we will see if we can get them there.  Sometimes it takes lots of time.

We did divisions this week, with Elder Watson (Sherlock Holmes eh? from Spanish Fork Utah) and Elder Malgarejo (from Peru).  I was with Elder Watson in my area.  It was kinda fun.  We did lots of contacts those two days we were together. 

Anyway we are going to have a good week this week.  Gotta finish good.  I can't believe it's the last week.  I try not to think about it too much.  But its hard not to.  That and my companion likes to tease me about it, ha ha  ;)

So I'm not bringing home all the stuff I left with.  I hope that's not a surprise.  But I'm giving lots away to members and other missionaries and what not. I'll probably come home with like 2 or 3 white shirts, my suits, some ties and my shoes.  Which are falling apart a bit, ha ha.  Uh, I guess cause my companion from Ecuador, Elder Gonzalez doesn't have coat for winter, I'm giving him mine.

I'm planning on leaving my poor little sleeping bag...whew.  I used that thing for two years, ha ha.  Actually it's in pretty good condition seeing as its been used so much.  Other then that I don't think there's really anything big I'll leave.

And as to food I would like, well, I would like to cook and eat brownies and ice cream when I get home.  That and I would love to eat some Orange chicken.  That doesn't exist here.  :(.

And I forgot to tell you what happened Friday.  The Family Maldarama ,that we helped to baptized the two kids Giovanni and Valentino, invited us over for a family night.  And we went of course.  We taught a lesson, played a little game, and then they asked us to help them move some stuff outside.  So we sent out to do it.  While I was leaving the door, they attacked me with raw eggs and flour, ha ha.  You can imagine how fun that was huh? Ha ha.  Nah it was good.  I laughed.  I was quite surprised.  And pretty much a mess.  I have a few pictures that they took and my companion . Sometime I'm sure you ll see them.

 That's all the experiences this week.  Anyway, have a good week.

See ya soon.

Love ya

Elder Obray

Letter Dated January 7, 2013

Dear Mom and Dad;

Happy New year! its 2013!

Sounds like you guys had a good time visiting the family. That's good news.

Yea, I almost got the leather scripture cover, but they are in Mar Del Plata... That was my first area...ha ha.  And I didn't really think to much about buying them at the time, ha ha.  O well.

I bought some gifts today.  I got all the Soccer jerseys.  And a few other things.  I think I'm pretty much good.

So we had a really good week this week.  We had 8 investigators go to church.  Went super well.

Rafael, went and he is going to get baptized this Saturday.  So that should be good.  We are pretty happy about that one.  He is an older guy of like 53.  He lives alone and just loves to go to church, ha ha.

Then Silvia, Thomas, and Ruben,  they all went to church.  So Siliva and Thomas are getting ready to get baptized the 19.  They are doing pretty good.  Silvia just has to quit smoking.  Thomas is ready, ha ha.

Then a couple we found, Solanj and Martin.  They got married three months ago.  Really good people and they loved the church.  They are planning on getting baptized the 26th of January.  So that's pretty good.  We should have baptisms every week.  Even after I'm gone, ha ha.

Then we had the granddaughter of a member. She is bringing all her grandchildren to church so they can grow up well,  ha ha.

Then the husband of a member went fro the first time.  That was good as well.

So we are pretty happy with the things that are going on.

So we had interviews with the Mission President.  That was really good.  Then on Friday we had a really good zone conference.  He talked about the change of a leader.  Anyway it was pretty good.  I enjoyed it.

My district is doing pretty good as well.  We had 21 investigators go to church in our district of 4 companionships.  That's what a Zone gets, ha ha.  So I'm pretty happy.

Honestly I can't think of much more that happened.  The Pages sent me a letter asking when I would get home, ha ha.  I figure you guys can answer that one better then I can, ha ha.

Anyway, have a good week.  Hey, while I was writing this, a guy just robbed the cyber where we were at.  But don't worry, he didn't do anything other then take money from the lady.  He didn't even look at us in shirts and ties, ha ha, weird.  Anyway I felt bad for the lady at the register...

Anyway, have good week.  I'll talk to you next week.

Love ya,

Elder Obray

Letter Dated December 31, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad;

Well thanks for the email.  Things here are going pretty good.  Nora and Magali got baptized.  I am trying to send you a picture of it.  I hope it uploads, ha ha.  Anyway, that went super well.   I also sent you a picture of the Argentine barbecue.  We ate it for Christmas.  Pretty good.

Oh hey, and Happy New Years! its already 2013.  I can't believe it, ha ha.

Yea, I had an interesting chat with my sisters and their husbands.  Kinda interesting, ha ha.  Logan would always give some advice then say " that's what your dad would say" , so I guess Logan and Dad think alike, ha ha.  I thought it was funny. 

Anyway, Christmas went good here.  It was kinda a dull day.  NOBODY was in the streets, ha ha, til like 7 in the tarde.  Woooooo.  I am guessing new years will be the same.

So we are still working on Ruben, Silvia, and Thomas so that they get baptized soon.  I hope it happens, but we will see.  If not it is alright.  We are also teaching a guy named Rafael that we hope to be able to baptize as well.  So things here are going pretty well.

This week I have my last Zone conference.  That should be pretty fun.

To be honest I'm just not sure if much else happened, ha ha.

But that's alright.  Hey they sent me an email of all my flight times, I am guessing you got that one as well.

We taught a guy this weekend name Enrique.  He is the brother of a recent convert.  He came up from wayyyy down south for Christmas break and everything.  So while he was there we talked to him.  He was really difficult.  Honestly he just didn't listen to what we said.  We were about to quite trying and go find someone who wanted to listen, when we decided to have him give a prayer with us and ask God if he should listen.  Surprisingly he agreed to do it.  When he prayed the Spirit touched him, and he started to cry. Well, he is now very open to listen, ha ha.  It is neat to see how God works.

That's all I got really.

Have a good week and such.  Don't make any brownies without me, ha ha.

Love ya´ll (your in the south now, right?  You have to speak with ya´ll right?)

Elder Obray

Letter Dated December 24, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad;

Well, I guess maybe we will talk, ha ha.  I have to call on the 25th, they didn't give us an option this year.  I am planning on calling at like 6 in Argentine time. so I don't really know when that will be where you guys are, ha ha.

Anyway, yea I got the letters now haha. o well.

So the activity went super.  I'll try to send some pictures that I got taken so you can see what happened. In the morning we went and sang some Christmas songs in the big park, and the main shopping center.  That was pretty fun.  Then we went and ate lunch together and talked and such. We had a pretty good little talent show, we did kinda a secret Santa exchange of gifts. That was pretty fun. It was good.  I got to see some of my missionary friends again.  Some of them I might not be able to see again.  That might be a bit sad, ha ha, but o well.

What else happened this week. So Nora and Magaline are going to get baptized this week. We are all pretty excited about that. Should be really good. We have been working along time with them.

Also we think the 12 of January we should have two more Thomas and Silvia. They both agreed to do it that day.

We had an activity in the church this week as well. That was pretty neat. we did a live nativity seen with the primary. we invited allllll the people who lived next to the church. And a few of them came. That was great.  Sparked some interest in some otherwise difficult neighbors, ha ha.

We built a dog cage this week.  Mixed cement by hand.  1st time I've ever done that one, ha ha.  Its not a lot of fun under blistering heat, ha ha.

We are teaching a guy named Rafael who could also get baptized.  He wants to.  I guess we will see what happens.  He is a nice guy, with lots of medical problems.  But he likes to read.  So that's good.

So the whole Mayan calender was a big joke out here in Argentina.  I was hoping that all the people would think it was the end of the world and repent and get baptized, but nobody really paid much attending, ha ha.  O well.  I'm sure someone will come up with something else right?

Anyway, that's about all I got to say today, uh, I have lots of pictures but its taking along time to upload cause all the computer cybers are closed and the church computer is slow as a snail at half pace. Maybe 1/4th pace.  Whew.

So I sent 1 of the choir when we went to the park to sing.

Uh.  Feliz Navidad!  I guess tonight we are eating with a member and tomorrow is a pretty relax day. Should be good.

Nos vemos manana? (Its, uh, see you tomorrow) (I had to think there). Maybe, ha ha.  If not next week well just have to email.

Love ya

Elder Obray

Letter Dated December 17, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad;

Hey, I Hope you had a good week.  I didn't get a email.  But I figure everything is alright.

Anyway, so this week was a pretty interesting little week.  The pictures I sent will help explain.

First, I was with Elder Perkins, then Tuesday night we got a phone call that told us we were going to be in a trio and train a new Elder.  So that was a surprise.  We were both going to train one person.  Okay, ha ha.  So we worked as a trio till Saturday.  Then Saturday night they called us again and told us Elder Perkins was leaving to another area and was going to train another Elder.  So now I am with Elder Gonzalez, training him.  He is from Ecuador.  A really good missionary.

I hope that makes sense.

So some good news.  Nora is going to get baptized the 29th.  We are almost sure.  She wants to, she went to church Sunday with her sister who will probably get baptized the same day.  We are pretty excited.  The mom is a bit more difficult.  She doesn't want to get baptized twice, ha ha.  We will see what we can do.

We found a girl named Solanj.  She listened to missionaries before, but then she moved and lost contact.  Now we found her doing door contacts.  She is really good.  Even better.  A little bit before we passed by, a member had passed by and talked to her about the church.  Perfect,  ha ha.  She was pretty excited.  We were too.

This week we also taught Delcia and her daughter and granddaughter.  They said they were going to go to church, but they never actually got there.  We were a bit sad.

Good news.  Thomas and Ruben went to church again.  We are planning on baptizing Thomas but we aren't sure when yet.  But its going to happen.

We were out working this week.  And we were doing a few street contacts.  When Elder Perkins talked to an older guy in front of his house, he gave him a pass along card, then he saw the wife inside and asked if he could go give one to her, he said yes, so we entered the house and started to talk.  Kinda a fun way to get into a house I thought.

Tomorrow we have our Christmas activity, should be fun.  I'll let you know how it goes.

What else happened this week.

Uh.  We found 16 new investigators.  That was fun.

Uh,  I talked to one of the sister missionaries who is in Castex.  Sounds like everyone is doing pretty good over there.  I was happy to hear that Gabi and Natalia and Melani are still active.  But sad cause Antonia still doesn't have permission to go to church.  But I guess they are getting closer to her getting permission.  The sister missionaries can pass by her house now.  So that was some good news.

Well I am tired.  And we got lots of work to do.

Anyway, I hope you have a good week.  And things go well.

I haven't heard when we can call home yet, but I'll let you know.  Don't worry.

Love ya,

Elder Obray

Letter Dated December 10, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad;

Well we had a pretty interesting little week.  Hope your ready for it.  Ha ha, well maybe not that interesting.  But a little yea.

The pictures I sent, are 1 is my district of 8 sister missionaries. 

First things first this week, we had transfers.  Elder Fernandez left for Mar Del Plata, he is going to Villa Belgrano, probably the most dangerous area in the mission.  Whew. But still not that dangerous. They just rob the missionaries in the street if they have watches or anything of value.

Also my district got changed up pretty good.  Seven of the sisters missionaries left and two elders came into the district and 1 sister missionary.  So what I am trying to say is that they closed two areas. 

One of the wards is obvious why. The hermanas apparently got a threat from a crazy guy. So President took them out and put in Elders, ha ha.  And the others they took out. 

So now in my district we have me and my new companion Elder Perkins from Colorado.  Elder Watson and Elder Maldarejo, Hermana Pomora and Hermana Linco.  So its a bit smaller.  Which will be nice ha ha.

That's the big news.  I guess I wont have to deal with any more transfers, this is my last one :(

So one of our investigators had a baby this week.  Danelia had a baby.  That was good for the family.

A nineteen year old named Christian, who is Evangelical, read a bit of the Book of Mormon and told us he felt the spirit and knows its true.  Now the problem is, he doesn't want to change churches, ha ha.

Delicia, told us she is going to get married.  She just has to wait for some papers.  But it could still be a little while.

Nora couldn't go to church this week, she was sick (she is the 7th day Adventist)

We found a new investigator named Mari.  She had talked to the missionaries before and told us she felt like she had received a sign from God and might just need to get baptized, ha ha.  Very good.  (I would explain more, but I'm not sure how she connected what happened to sign from God, it would take forever to try and explain it, so ill just leave it there).

Silvia told us she was going to get baptized.  Maybe in January.

So for Christmas, what we have planned the 24th is we are going to have dinner with some members.  The 25th  we have yet to plan.  As a mission. we are going to celebrate the 18th, they haven't given us much in details.  But we are going to sing some Christmas songs in a hospital and in a huge park.  More then that I don't know.  I guess might know more in the future.  I'm a bit jealous that the missionaries in Tennessee got to listen to an Apostle, ha ha.  But that's how it is.

About calling home, I am planning on using skype. but I don't know if it will be 24 or 25, they haven't told us much about what we can do yet.  I'm sure at one point I'll let you know, ha ha.

Anyway that's about all I got.  I guess I'll email again next week.

Love ya

Elder Obray

Oh yea, Elder Perkins was born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.  Then lived in Knoxville for a few years, but they moved when he was 4.  So that is it.  :)