Otra semana terminada

I hope that everyone is doing awesome this week! I am missing the Arizona weather, but am finally adjusting to the cold. It’s spring here now, but it is snowing more than ever. Wednesday all the missionaries in Bariloche worked in one neighborhood, and it snowed all day! More than anything it makes for beautiful scenery. The neighborhoods in which we serve are pretty poor, but all you have to do is look up and see the huge mountains covered in snow to feel blessed.

This week we continued to work with a family that stopped receiving the missionaries about a year ago. Elder Candia randomly found their teaching record a few weeks back, and we stopped by the day after. They live in a really dangerous neighborhood in our area; we can only go there during the day because at night it is just not safe. This week we didn’t plan much in terms of what we would talk about, but rather decided to ask them what they needed. Sometimes it can be hard to find out, but in this lesson the mother of the family told us that she wants to change her life. It was a powerful moment and then we talked about the Savior and that through Him everything can change for us. I know that is true. We now have agreed to pass by every Friday and talk to them.

One of my favorite things to do here is work with less active members. We do it a lot, and twice this week we talked with a brother in the ward who can’t come to church because it is hard for him to walk. He is a guy that always makes me feel like I am doing my job as a missionary. Tuesday we shared a scripture from 3rd Nephi and talked about how we can be healed in all ways if we have faith. Sunday we administered the Sacrament to him and afterwards just visited. He has a lot of history, and we learned last night he was at one time a well-known singer in Chile!

Last night we met with someone that we worked with a lot when I first arrived, but haven’t seen for more than four weeks. It was a sad visit because he told us he doesn’t want to learn anymore. (He was progressing a lot and had set a date to be baptized.) We hope to start the lessons again and find out what happened soon, but what I learned from this experience is that we can only invite, we cannot force. I knew that before, but last night proved it to me.

I grew a lot this week. More than anything I am learning to be more humble on my mission. The Lord wants everything that I have to offer, and I’m slowly but surely learning how to do that.

Finally, please thank all of the youth in the ward for their letters. I felt so much encouragement from them. I almost cried reading the one from Will Wulff. He asked if I had brought anyone closer to the church, it felt good to honestly tell myself that I have. I almost died of laughter from what Coleton wrote. A continent away and he still kills me! 

I love you all and hope that this coming week is a great one.

Elder Kauffman aka Jack

¡El Hobbit!

This was a great week. It continues to be hard to find new people to teach, and we only have a few investigators progressing, but I love being here. I know my success is based of my diligence, and my diligence is increasing with time. I really want to teach people. It's exciting and I am grateful for the plan God has for us.

My Spanish is continuing to improve. My district consists of missionaries from various Spanish-speaking countries (I am the only gringo), so it’s all that I hear. I’ve recently started to drop most of the “s” sounds when I speak and overall I feel really confident. My mouth feels funny when I do speak English, and I think that it had to physically adjust, because when I speak Spanish I hardly have to move my jaw.

I felt like a hobbit this week. The scenery here reminds me of the movie and we are always walking. Serving the Lord so far has been quite the adventure! It is very clear to me now that everything we teach and do is centered on Jesus Christ and His teachings. I love Him and am coming to know who He is rather than just know things about Him. He is kind and He is willing to lift us when we need it. I have to lay my burdens with the Lord a lot here, and it feels good to do so. Everyone can do that.

I love you all!

Elder Kauffman aka Jack

Hola mi familia y amigos

Hello everyone!

I hope that all is well with each of you. Thanks for the emails and for the updates. I am writing a little later today as this was our P Day of "limpieza," a day to clean the apartment. It was rather dirty, but Elder Candia and I did a great job tidying things up.

It's always hard to know what to write because a lot happens in a week, but I made a note of some experiences in my planner so I would not forget. First just a note about my first zone conference, it was great. President Lovell is a super spiritual dude. We talked about integrity and the importance of finding joy every day of our mission. 

After zone conference Elder Goar from our district left for another city so Elder Candia and me were with Elder Moreira from Uruguay for four days. We worked hard every day, but we also took advantage of the free time we have here. Elder Moreira is a master chef and made awesome food for us while we played a board game called "TEG" which is an Argentine version of the game "RISK."

Saturday we attended a baptism for a boy named Tomas. It was a great experience to see someone entering the water of baptism to make a covenant with Heavenly Father. It was a really humble service with very few people, but the Spirit was strong. I tended the door and greeted people as they arrived. 

At the end of every day here we evaluate our "numbers," and account for the lessons we had with investigators, with less actives, references received and contacted, etc. Numbers wise, this was a rough week, but yesterday really made up the difference. After church we randomly ran into a young man who told us that he wanted us to come talk to him and share a message. We obviously accepted and talked about the importance of the Atonement, and that God is our loving Heavenly Father. After sharing he opened up to us and said that he was baptized about 4 years ago in the Mormon church, but is scared to come back. We are going to stop by his house this week and bring him with us. It's true that people are put into our path for a reason. I'm excited to help that young man come back to church.

Right after the lesson we visited a less active sister who was really sick. She asked if I could give her a blessing. I was really nervous to do it in Spanish but really felt the spirit helping me the whole time. We finished the day by administering the Sacrament to a man in our ward who can't come to church because he has difficulty walking. 

All in all yesterday was a day full of ministering, and really doing what I know the Savior would have done here in Frutillar, Bariloche, Argentina. I am growing here and coming to know my Savior more and more as He invites me to do His work. 

One of our messages in Sacrament meeting really impressed me. Put simply, it was an invitation to replace the word "problem" with the word "challenge." A problem, it was put forth, is something we may not be able to fix, but a challenge is something that we can work on and even have fun with. It's something I'm going to try to do more here.

I believe in Christ and every day He helps me. More than anything serving a mission is exhausting spiritually. I am always reading scriptures or watching and listening to something to learn about the Gospel. During the day we have to really work to find people we can help, but every day when I pray I feel recharged. I love the Lord and I love each and every one of you! Have a great week.

Elder Kauffman aka Jack

He terminado mi primer traslado!

Hola familia!

This has been a great week with a lot of new experiences. In our district of 6 missionaries for this transfer (every six weeks there can be a change in your area of assignment) I will be the only English speaker. I am pumped because that means almost ZERO English. We will have three Elders from Chile, one from Uruguay, and one from Spain. I can say anything I want in Spanish, but it can be tough listening to people. They speak fast and use a lot of jerga (slang)!

September 2014 Bariloche Zone Conference

One of my favorite lessons this week was with a family that lives quite a ways from our "pension" (guest house), and after many attempts we finally found them while they were home. They started taking the lessons a few years ago, but for some reason stopped. We began our lesson by talking about the Savior, and the prophecy in Alma Chapter 7, verses 11 and 12. Me and Elder Candia bore testimony of the fact that Christ has come to the earth, that he lived here, ministered here, suffered and died here, and for that we can live with our God again forever. Through the Gospel we can achieve that. 

It was such a simple lesson but I know that it's true. The family is interested in hearing more, and I can´t wait to see how we can help them. 

I love to see people progress here, which to be honest isn't something we have been seeing a lot lately, but we are trying our best which is all that matters. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior, and that everything I am doing here starts and ends with him. It is important that people know that. John 3:16 keeps me going.

This week I felt a peace I have never felt during our sacrament meeting. It made me think of the promise in my mission call, that through dedicated service one can find more joy than they ever have before. 

Im excited to be here and to work! I love everyone and hope that everything is well back home. 

Elder Kauffman aka Jack

Una más semana en la misión

Hello to everyone,

I hope all is well back home!

This was a great week with a lot of good things happening. I could really feel that me and Elder Candia were doing the Lord’s work. I’ll share a few experiences!

This week I studied Alma Chapter 17 almost every day. It’s a good guide to missionary work. After being a faithful servant Ammon gains the trust of the people, and once he does that they are receptive to his message. I prayed that we could have an experience like that this week, and yesterday it happened! 

All of our appointments cancelled yesterday, and while we were thinking of something to do we saw a husband and wife moving a huge pile of dirt in their front yard. We asked if we could help and they accepted. It felt good to get to work and help somebody. We were there for about an hour shoveling and afterwards the family was more than willing to listen to a short message from us about how God is our loving Heavenly Father. 

I am excited to see how we can help them progress more, but again at the end of every day I am feeling satisfied if I am doing something that the Savior would do. There is nothing quite like it. 

This week I had a major increase in gratitude, as one of our lunch appointments cancelled, and me and Elder Candia had only a little money to buy food. All we could afford was some rice, bread, and ketchup. While I thought that I was not going to enjoy the meal, during our blessing on the food Elder Candia just gave thanks for everything that we do have; our mission, our Gospel, and our Lord. After that blessing I never thought that I could enjoy a plate of rice more than I did!

I love the hymn, "Because I have been given much," or here "tu me has dado muchas bendiciones senor," because the lyric is true. Now more than ever I can see how much I have been blessed, and for that I am willing to give all of my effort here. 

The days here can be hard. We walk a lot and it can be very cold, but when we have the opportunity to sit in someone’s home and talk about the truth that has been restored to the earth, I’m happy! 

I know my Savior lives and that this work centers on Him and His gift of the Atonement. There’s nothing more important than that.

Have a great week!

Elder Kauffman aka Jack