Week 95, Nogoya, Argentina

Saying good-bye to those he loved
(before he left Venado Tuerto)

This is Marta, the lady we baptized.

The Taulet family, a family we were teaching.

The Destazi and Villalba families together.

President Cassinelli and his wife

His new area... Nogoya

This is the church, a rented house and
this is my new companion, Elder Romero.

So I'm here in Nogoya! It's been great so far! Before transfers I was telling Elder May how I had never been in a little town, far away from missionaries and had to cook my own meals.... WELL.... the time has come! I got to Nogoya on Wednesday and we visited the Branch President. He's an older man with a mustache. Him and his wife are way nice. They live on the other side of town and we don't have bikes so my feet were killin! haha So the branch is small here but it has a big heart. Yesterday in church we had an attendance of 20 people. The church is actually a rented house from the 1800's I think. Not kidding. haha It's cool though! My comp and I both had talks yesterday about missionary work. I compared the tree of life to how we need to invite everybody to try the fruit because it's SO GOOD! I gave the example that Mom once shared with me about how the gospel is like a plate of cookies that we must share and in the end we enjoy them even more! I found two scriptures that I wanted to share. Alma 36:24 is one of my new favorites.

24 Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

Alma describes the joy that he felt by repenting of his sins.

Then in Luke 22:31 and 32 is my OFF THE PRESS FAVORITE!!!!

31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

 I love how Christ said that he had prayed for Peter that his faith wouldn't falter and that once he was storng and converted, he had to help his brethren. We need to help others while at the same time nurture our faith or testimony. I love this work so much and I love Nogoya!

My new companion is Elder Romero from Chile. He's legit! He speaks great english and is a Harry Potter fan. hahaha We're gunna have some fun together! 

LOVE YOU TONS!!

Elder H

(Elder Hjelmstads Mom) These are some of the questions I asked him to find out about his new area.

1.  Tell us about your new comp...
My comp is Elder Romero from Chile. He's way great. He loves harry potter and has a super testimony.  He's quiet but not shy. Great guy with a great heart.

2. Where is he from?
chile

3.  how long has he been out.

9 months

4.  how long has he been in your area

2 transfers, or 3 months

5.  what are his hobbies?

harry potter. ahhaha

6.  Tell us about your new area

It's a city in the middle of nowhere. It's a pretty good size though. There used to be a bunch of members but now the average atttendance is 20. 

7. Tell us about your travel to your new area?

I left venado at 4:45am and got to Rosario at 7:30am.  I then took a bus alone to paraná from 8:20am to 11:15am. my comp showed up at 12:30 and we took a bus to Nogoya from 1:30pm to 4:00pm. lots of buses

8. Is it safe? yupppppppppp

9. What kind of farming do they do? (I looked it up and it sounds like dairy? Anything else?)
my comp said there's a lot of chickens?

10. Did you get any packages???

I got my birthday one!

11.  How's the weather in your new area? It looks like it's about the same just a couple degrees colder? But you are between to rivers so does it feel even colder?

it seems pretty much the same.

12. What are your plans for Pday?

ciber, eat, wash clothes by hand.

13. Is it a poor area?

no not really. it's pretty old! lots of old houses and newer ones too

14. What are your living quarters like?  apartment? Bathroom? Is it old new, nice or yucky?  Etc.

i forgot to take pics but its alright. not the best but not the worst. 

Week 94, Venado Tuerto, Argentina

   

                           

(Service: Cleaning up someones backyard)

                            

(Josh's Mom: This is the Branch President that has taken such good care of our Son.  He has posted pictures on fb for us to see and feed the missionaries often. We are forever grateful.)

(I'm pretty sure Elder Hjelmstad made this banana bread)

(These are pictures that were posted today on fb by some of the Argentine people Elder Hjelmstad has gotten to know while serving in this area. He made some visits today to some of them to say goodbye. I know he is sad to say goodbye to these wonderful people. He will miss them)

Elder Hjelmstad and his companion Elder May.

alrightyyyy well I'm getting transferred! I'm going to the city of Nogoyá, Entre Ríos! My comp will be Elder Romero and we have the whole city to ourselves! I'm excited and a little nervous at the same time because Venado Tuerto has been such a blast and I've grown to love the people here. We will see how the Lord wants me to help the people in Nogoyá. 

This week was great! We got to go to Rosario on Wednesday for a training meeting. We talked about developing our faith and the faith of others by doing things like keeping the commandments. We talked about how we must help others to make changes in their lives by helping them do things that maybe they haven't done before. Then we learned about how to recognize the Holy Ghost and how we must seek it diligently all day long. President Giuliani said something that I loved. He said, "Prayer is more than an event, it's an attitude." I know that we all need to be more sincere and focused in our prayers. I'm grateful for the chance that I have everyday to get to know God, our Heavenly Father, even more. The Lord loves us and longs to help us. Last night we had a lesson with the Taulets and they were talking about all the financial problems that they're having. They told us of all the stuff that they're going to do to earn some extra cash and we stopped them and read Mosiah 2:41. 

41: And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God.  For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.

Like the scripture says, Those who obey, receive. We told them that God wants them to live comfortably and happily but on His terms. We testified that God is going to help them as they keep the commandments, especially keeping the sabbath day holy. I have such a big testimony of obedience. It's like the electricity. When we pay the bill, the lights work. God will and wants to take care of us but we must first trust in Him and His way. That is the key to the "Abundant Life."

Love you all!!!

Elder Hjelmstad 

Week 93, Venado Tuerto, Argentina

Family,

I am so thankful for the skype call that we could do yesterday. 

I was thinking about what I should write today because we just talked yesterday and I just wanted to say THANK YOU. I sometimes don't get to write that much and I don't express my gratitude enough, so I wanted to make sure you know how much I appreciate all you do for me.  I want to thank each and every one of you for your letters and love. I am so blessed. I know that I am the missionary and person I am because of the people I know. I once heard that, "Behind a great man, is a  greater woman." Yeah for Mother's day! I'm so grateful for moms. I know they are ordained of God and a VERY SPECIAL part of his plan. I'm so thankful for MY mom. I will forever look to her as my example of christlike attributes. I'm so excited to see her! Anyways, may we honor our Mothers more. I've never felt worse than the time when I got mad at Mom for drying a dumb sweatshirt. How dumb was I. Sorry Mom. haha :/ alrighty well I love all of you very much and hope you all have a great week!

 

Love you TONS!

Elder H

Week 92, Venado Tuerto, Argentina

This is what the streets look like in our area,
Venado Tuerto...

My awesome companion, Elder May.

This is Sivlia, one of our investigators.. 

(Elder Hjelmstads Mom: These are some random pictures that I got from an Argentine friend on facebook...)

 helping with a move...

A Ward/branch party...

  

(Elder Hjelmstads Mom:
I love that laugh... I can almost hear his deep laugh :)

Time to say good-bye, and get the real party started...

Alrighty, this week was good! We had some great lessons and met some great people as well. The only down part of this past week was the rain. I do NOT like the rain. haha but I only have 3 more months to soak myself everytime it rains. 

This week we taught the Taulet Family and they told us they had read a ton of scriptures and recognized all the blessings that the Lord has blessed them with. We left the plan of salvation pamphlet with them as homework and then returned a few days later. They read and pretty much understood everything! We testified and cleared up some things about the resurrection. Yanina said that she had never even thought that we lived with God before this life but when she read it, it felt right. They were content with what they had read. We then asked them the question, "What now? According to the plan, what's next for you two?" they responded, "Baptism." To me that was a miracle from God. I know that the Lord can touch peoples hearts and help them in their weakness. They had always been wishy-washy about baptism but liked learning and listening. But through learning about the plan of salvation, they felt a new need. I liked how mom said in her letter that she was so grateful for her knowledge of the plan of salvation. I too, am SO grateful to know that God has a plan and purpose for me. I'm grateful to know that death is only the end to this mortal journey and the beginning to our immortal journey. 

Thanks for everything!

one last thought... I loved this quote that my companion, Elder May, shared this week. "The Lord doesnt call the qualified, He qualifies the called"

LOVE YOU TONS!!!