Week 3 - Jujuy

Monday, April 14, 2014

Buenas Tardes. 

Voy a empezar a contestar sus preguntas.

 [In our letter to him, we did ask a lot of questions, so you probably won’t understand some of his answers.]

1) Yes I did get to stay and watch the Priesthood. 

2) Elder Acevado, he is from Logan Utah. His dad is from Guatemala. Elder Alvarez is from Honduras. [These elders are the ones he shares his apartment with].

3) The apartment is good. A lot smaller than Frias. But its good. I have a bed and mattress. I have to buy a new frame because mine is broken. We have a washer and a dryer that just gets all the water out and we have to hang up our clothes.  [Maybe he meant to say he does not have a dryer?].

4) The church here is about 10-15 minutes away walking. The stake center is about 20-30 or so in a taxi. Church starts here at 9:30 until 12:30. 

5) My schedule is 30 minutes earlier. We get up at 7 instead of 7:30. And in Jujuy they dont have a set time for the siesta for everyone to sleep. Places are still open. 

6) Sight seeing I have no idea. We have a downtown place thats cool. 

7) The sister was right. Usually you clap. But we will knock doors with your hands but it is usually just clapping. [We heard from a sister on a YouTube video who served in the Salta Mission that instead of knocking on doors . . . you clap, and we asked Alec about this.]

I am glad you guys had a good week. I was happy to know that David got his mission call. Please tell him that I am thankful for his desire to serve, he will always love these two years for the rest of his life and that I am proud of him and love him. 

So I will tell you a little about my week. I dont have a lot to tell. Just a couple events. 

One night we had a huge deep doctrine talk it was super interesting. We talked about all sorts of things. We also know when the world is going to end and when Christ will come :) It is the 6th of April 2025. So we still have a little bit of time left, haha.

In church yesterday a funny thing happened. We were sitting up in the front and a kid was up playing in the front. He fell over on his side and then rolled on his back. Then he didnt move for like 15 seconds and looked like he had died. Then a sister got up and was checking him starting to worry. Then the kid jumped up and screamed because she scared him.

I have a little more but I dont have time.  

I love you all so much. I will see you next week. 

Elder Dawson

Week 2 - Jujuy

Monday, April 7, 2014

Hola! Como Están?

Si yo tuve una buena semana. Me gustó mucho las conferencias Generales. Aprendí mucho y estoy muy agradecido por el tiempo que tuve allí. 

So it sounds like you have all had a busy week! 

So I had an alright week. Not a whole lot happened. We had some good lessons with a couple of people. We tried to find a bunch of members in the directory of the branch in Los Perales. It was a super rich area that we were searching in. We saw a HUGE house that was like three stories and and a huge pool and had a almost three story high slide to the pool. It was giant. I also made an amazing discovery...I saw Voldemort!!! It was literally him...bald, tall, white, the menacing face. Everything. I know where he lives..We also saw a dinosaur dog. It had a wierd deformed head. It was super wierd looking.

I dont have much to write this week but I will write more this coming week when things are rolling a little smoother. 

I love you all very much!!

Oh by the way dont send packages. There is a problem with packages for almost everybody. The church is doing what they can to get them and they are saying dont send more packages for now. I can just withdraw money and buy things when I need too. 

But thank you very much! 

Oh yeah! Sean needs to email me still.!!!

Alright! I have to go!

Bye love you all!

Elder Dawson

Week 1 - Jujuy

Monday, March 31, 2014

Buen Día!

Están haciendo muchas preguntas! :) 

So the transfer was good. It took about 7 or so hours to get from Santiago del Estero to the terminal en Jujuy. It is a lot bigger than Frias. I am in a Branch still. There are two companionships though. We live with two other Elders. It is a good sized branch. Almost 100 people I think that attend regularly. My companion is interesting. He is kind of a nerd...But he is cool. He has 16 months in the mission. But geographically we are close to a bunch of tall mountains. And yes it should be getting a lot colder. This past week I have been cold almost every day because I am used to the heat now.

My area is made of of neighborhoods. Chijra y Los Parales. Los Parales is a rich area. Super awesome houses. Chijra (chi- like in Chip and jra- like hdra) and Jujuy (who-huoy) like buoy (water buoys - dont know how to spell it but with the sound of H) I dont know if I did it good. 

I have been meaning to write both Casey and Alex but its hard to find the time. I really hope that they make the decision to go [on a mission]. It is something that they will never regret and will bless their lives eternally. 

I am excited for General Conference. I will be watching it at our Stake Center. 

But I will be doing my best to send pictures now. But I have to go! I love you all very much!

Tell Sean to email me!

Chaó!

Elder Dawson

TRANSFER TO JUJUY!

Elder Dawson was transferred yesterday, March 24.  He is now in Jujuy (north of Salta) and his new area is called Chijra. His companion's name is Elder Shellenberg, and he is from Arizona and has 16 months in the mission. We are eager to hear how his first week goes in his new area.

Week 24 - Last week in Frias

Monday, March 24, 2014

Buen dia!

So right now I am in Jujuy. My new area is Chijra. I have no idea about it only that it is a big place. It is definitely different from Frias. It is only my second area here in Argentina. Only my third area in the mission. 

I will start by telling you about my last week in Frias. 

Monday we talked with Florencia the hija de [daughter of] Debora. She had to come to church this week in order to be baptized the other Saturday. 

Tuesday we traveled to Santiago to have Zone Training. It was a good meeting. We had to leave early in order to catch our bus back to Frias. That night we talked to Florencia again. We talked to her and also Daiana who is her aunt. Daiana is also the sister of Debora and also Claudia that are now my recent converts. We invited Daiana to be baptized on Saturday and she accepted. She was excited to do it. 

Wednesday we had a great day. We had a lot of lessons. Nine lessons with investigators. We also received 10 referrals. We talked a lot with the people and were asking everyone for people that they knew we could visit. 

Thursday it got cold and it started to rain a little while we were working. It was just drizzling but it was cold and we didnt have our jackets or anything. But we had a good lesson with the Zingales Family. He studies a lot about the church. He had studied about all the history of the church and he had some questions about exaltation. We had to explain a good bit about that. But to us it seems that hno Marcelo [Bro. Marcelo] has lost his fire. He wants to take things slow and one thing at a time. He wants to know every detail possible. He is relying a lot on the knowledge of men. We actually talked about that in Zone Training. We need to teach him the doctrines of the gospel more clearly. He needs to understand now and act now! He is a great guy that really wants to make the right decision.

Friday it was still a little bit cold. We talked to Daiana a little bit more before her baptism on Saturday. She was excited for it. Her family is also happy for her. 

Saturday! We worked hard and got nothing. But we walked a lot and contacted a lot trying to talk to someone. But in the afternoon we had the baptismal service of Daiana Moya. It was great. She was happy, all of us there were happy. She is my last baptism in Frias. All part of the Moya family. 

Sunday we didnt have a lot of success either. We had a couple lessons. In the afternoon during studies I started to pack some of my stuff. Then we left to go remind people of church. We had church and we didnt have a single investigator there. It was sad. Especially in my last Sunday there. But we had the confirmation of Daiana. I gave a talk. I cried a little, some of the members cried. I was surprised to find that a lot of the members liked me a lot and were sad to see me go. We took some pictures said goodbye to some of the people. 

I leave Frias with a happy heart and hopes for all of my converts. I leave with nine converts. Heiler Renteria, Carmen Medina, Erika Alomo, Claudia Moya, Eliana and Pablo Luna (kids of Claudia), Debora Moya, Agustìn Moya (son of Debora), and Daiana Moya.  

I love the Moya family so much and I hope the best for them. I will be so excited to see them again when I will be able to return one day. 

So that was pretty much my week. 

I am glad to hear of all the things at home. Its weird to hear of Andrew and Sean growing up. It will be even weirder to see them in a year. 

I hope you all have a great week. Tell all the family that I love them! 

Hasta Luego! Chào!

Elder Dawson

Week 23 - Frias

Monday, March 17, 2014

Buenas Tardes! 

Como están? Estoy feliz que tuvieron una buena semana. Especialmente que tuvieron la conferencia de Estaca. 

So first yes I am doing a lot better. Nothing happened at all the next day. Just started working again like normal. Elder Purser was in the MTC at the same time as me and the McAllen mission. But he wasn´t in my zone there. But we still knew each other. But Claudia and her family are doing a lot better. A bunch of them came to church again yesterday. It was great. 

My super good week!

Monday we worked like normal. We had a good start to the week. Taught five lessons, received a couple referrals and contacted them. We ended the night at about 12 or so preparing all of our stuff to go to Santiago in the morning for Zone Conference. We had to be up at 4 am and leave the apartment at 5 am to get to the bus. 

Tuesday we woke up late. We didnt hear the alarm or anything. We were suppose be up at 4 but we woke up at 7. We completely missed the bus and had no way to get to Santiago. We called a couple people to see if they would be able to take us there. Nobody was answering. So our last option was a Remis which is a taxi. We hurried and got prepared and called a Remis to take us. We had to be in Santiago by 12 o´clock. The Remis came and got us and we were off to Santiago. The bad part is that it costs a lot to take a Remis there. It was $500 pesos. Which is about $80 or $90 dollars. A lot of money :( 
But the conferencia was super super great. It was pretty much all about "acelerar la obra", "espíritu de urgencia". Accelerating the work, a spirit of urgency. It was super great. What the lord expects of us is to talk with more people every day. Doing a lot more contacting with people that we see in the streets and asking every single person for referrals, those that they know that we can visit. It was so great.

Wednesday we returned to our area and started working. We had a great day. We had a lot of excitement to be able to apply the things that we had learned in the conference. We had 9 lessons that day and received about 10 referrals. For lunch that day we had cow tongue. I dont remember what the dish was called but it was cooked with vinegar, oil, and it had carrots and a couple other things with it. It was all right. Not like tacos with tongue which are super super good. 

Thursday we had our weekly planning all day and in the afternoon we worked. I heard a couple American songs that were oldies. It was interesting to hear them. I dont know if the guy knew English and just liked the songs or not. I am pretty sure that he does know English. That night we talked a little bit more with the daughter of Debora about baptism. She is 10 years old, and super awesome. She will be getting baptized Saturday. Well she wasnt able to come to church yesterday. But we have to talk with President Levrino because she can still get baptized. Possibly two other people from the family. 

Friday we walked a ton. Almost everything failed. All of our lessons. But we were able to contact a lot. We received 11 referrals that day.

Saturday we also walked a ton but we were able to have a little more success than Friday. We also received 11 referrals again and contacted a lot. We were walking down a street in some fields and we saw a super super big pig. I took a couple pictures of it. It was really tall. It came up to my waist. Which is pretty much the [waist] height of Andrew and dad also. HUGE. The biggest pig that I had ever seen in my life.

Sunday not a lot happened. We had a couple lessons in the morning and had church in the afternoon. Seven investigators came to church. It was really good. We had a good number of people in total at church including Claudia and a number of people from her family. 

We ended the week with 31 lessons which is the most I have had in a week. We had 44 referrals. We found a lot of new investigators. And we are going to work harder this last week of the transfer. 

Transfers are on the 24th and I will most likely be changing areas. I will let you all know where I will be. I have six months here in Frias. Time to say bye...

But thats all to my great week. I am excited to start another and a new transfer. 

Also on the 24th. I complete 11 months. Wow. 

I love you all and hope you have a super week also. Besos :D

Les amo mucho! Chao!

Su hijo, 

Elder Dawson

Week 22 - Frias

Monday, March 10, 2014

Buenas Tardes! 

Como estan? Estoy feliz que tuvieron una buena semana! 

Its interesting to hear about all of the changes that have been happening back home. It sounds like there are a ton of church activity going on. It will be interesting to see how the ward is when I return. 

So yes we have been able to go and visit with Claudia more. She is doing a lot better. Still a little bit sad but she is doing a lot better. We are working with them a lot. She is a super great person. 

I have zone conference tomorrow. Usually when we have district meetings it is every two weeks but sometimes we aren´t able to do it because we will be doing other things or its not worth the trip of 3 hours there and 3 hours back. But we usually try to do it when we can. I dont know anything about the mission. I am at the very last area. Three hours away from anyone. I will learn a whole lot more when I go to a different area. 

Alright, so here is my week!

Monday we started out not to well. We weren´t able to really get anything done. We walked a lot. 

Tuesday we were able to do a little bit. We had only two lessons the whole day but we were able to find five new people to teach. For lunch we ate with the Ballespín family. We had steaks and pig. Just slabs of meat, with a salad and bread. The pig was super good! Then that night at eight we had to travel to Santiago because my companion was going to travel to Salta again. When we arrived we got a call from the secretary that he won´t need to go because they lost one of his papers and it will just be a waste of time. So we stayed that night with our district leader Elder Santa Maria and Elder Purser who is from my group. He was also with me in the other mission [Texas McAllen]. 

Wednesday we arrived back in our area at three in the afternoon. We have a good day of working. We were able to have a number of lessons with some people, we received some referrals, found a couple others to teach. It was a good day.

Thursday was alright. We did weekly planning all day and for lunch we ate hotdogs with guacamolé with Pepsi! Yum Yum!

Friday we worked a ton! Had some really good lessons. We received a bunch of referrals and contacted all of them. We found some new investigators. We set a couple baptismal dates, and we had some LARC [less active recent convert] lessons. It was a great day.

Saturday! Woohoo! Baptism of Debora Moya! She is also the sister of Claudia. But she got baptized and she was excited for it. Some of her family members came for her baptismal service. It was really great.  

Sunday was interesting. So it got pretty hot yesterday and in the morning I started to feel a little sick. My stomach hurt but it wasn´t bad. I ate KiPi (thats not how it is spelled but that would be how its pronounced) and it was really good. Then in the afternoon we worked and went around to visit a couple people before church at six. We contacted a person and later we left and were walking down the street. I walked to the side of the street and threw up three times. Once we went out to work I felt bad. At church afterwards I threw up three more times. My companion said I looked completely yellow. During church a storm came through super fast. It didnt rain but there was a ton of lightning. That also a reason for why a bunch of people didnt come to church. We only have two investigators there and also Debora was confirmed which was good. But in the night I felt a lot better. 

And right now I am doing fine. I dont have any problems. Just need to make sure that I keep drinking enough water.

Well I will talk to you all next week. Tengan una buena semana! Les amo mucho! Chao!

Elder Dawson