week 24 Santa Fe, Argentina

Last monday (our p-day) we were hangin out in the pinch and it was SUPER HOT and the cold water from the shower was coming out hot. So I had the idea to fill up buckets of water and pour them on me.

I miss swimming!!

This is my desk top

FAMILIA!!

Alrighty! Thank you everybody that wrote me this week. :) I tried sending a video but it didn't work. Just pictures this week! (Hopefully they work.)

So this week went by really fast! And Dee´s more than half way done now! CRAZINESS. But I'm doing good! Our area is a little slow again but that just means we have a lot of work to do! But were teaching a guy right now that is a walking miracle! Ezekiel is 21 and let us come in, we taught him about the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and he accepted the invitation to be baptized if he received an answer through prayer and the Book of Mormon. He told us that he wanted to quit smoking drugs and wanted to find out if the church was true! SWEET! We went back on Tuesday and he had read 162 pages of the Book of Mormon and hadn't smoked!! Sadly, he couldnt come to church, but he asked us all about it and what we learned and everything. We realized that the people that listen to us are the people that are humble enough to change. Here, just like in the U.S., nobody wants to change but when people let us in and listen with intent, that's when it's different. Anyways, we went to a baptismal service with him last night and he loved it! A good ending to an alright day! I was kinda bummed because nobody came that we invited and committed to come to church. The talks were about families and I may or may not have cried when we sang "Families can be Together Forever" at the end. haha but since nobody came to church I started to think about how important it is to go to church. I think going to church everyweek is like going to the gas station, to refill us with the strength we need to keep going! But the truth is, that it's even more than that. We should go to church to receive revelation and the answers to our prayers. I heard once that Church is like 3 letters from God. If God sent you three letters, would you want to open them? YES!!!! It's the same with the 3 meetings we have at church! 3 topics that we can really gain from! We need to have a learning mindset when we go to church. As humans, we forget a lot of things, and often have to remind ourselves. I love the scriptures, like Helaman 5:12 that says "REMEMBER, REMEMBER, that it is upon the rock of your Redeemer that you must build your foundation." We need to remind ourselves of the promises we've made with God and all that we have learned! Every week at church we get a little reminder of what we need to fix. I know I have a lot of stuff that I need to remember.

I'm trying to think of something funny that happened this week.....oh yeah! Sooo yesterday at the baptismal service we were waiting for the guy that got baptized to get changed and it was kinda awkwardly silent. So I decided to play the piano a little, for the time being. Then Bro. Niz asked me if I knew how to play a hymn and I told him I knew number 15, so he said alrighty were going to sing it right now. (I was really regretting quitting piano in this moment.) We started off and it was alright.... and then I was missing a few notes here and there...and then some keys don't work...and the people dont know how to sing...and the song has 4 verses. Basically...train wreck. I was dying laughing the whole time when I was playing the piano. haha oops. I would try to join them singing but then would distract myself and mess up. hahahaha good times.

So, it's pretty dang hot here and we dont have air conditioning. If you open the windows the mosquitos eat you alive (there are no screens on the windows) and we only have one fan for 4 missionaries because the other elders fan broke. We decided to move our mattresses downstairs so that we could all enjoy the fan. haha oh and on Saturday, I counted 38 mosquito bites. Kinda a lot. But if you don't touch them you're good. Just can't think about them. Like 25 of them are on my ankles cuz when we teach people at night the mosquitos love my blood in my ankles. Yup.

Alrighty, well I don't really have anything else! I love you all sooooooo much and

I miss you tons! Have fun in the cold :) I realized, I'm living the endless summer!

LOVE YOU!!

Elder Hjelmstad

week 23 Santa Fe, Argentina

Elder R., Elizabeth, Lorena, Elder H. and a ward member

before the twins baptism....

FAMILY!!!

This week was HOT, and good!

We had the baptism of Elizabeth and Lorena on Saturday and despite a few set backs, it was really good!! The baptism was supposed to start at 5:00 pm and we went to their house at 4:40ish to check up on them. They were almost ready, so we told them we would see them at the chapel and when 5:00 came around, nothing. 5:15...nothing. We sang a lot of Hyms. haha finally at 5:30 they arrived and changed and everything went smooth from there! Karina, the girl that we helped baptize 6 weeks ago, gave the talk on baptism and did an AMAZING job. The spirit was so strong when she bore her testimony and told the girls how proud Heavenly Father was of them. David, a member of the ward, baptized both of them. After the baptisms Elder Rivera and I gave a little talk on the Restoration of the Gospel. I love baptisms! They're miracles!

We're helping a couple, Isabel and Martin, get married, and we have a new man, Ezekiel, that will get baptized on the 28th if he receives an answer that the church is true. Something that most people find it interesting is that there can be a TRUE church. ONE. Because theres ONE GOD. I'm thankful for a loving Heavenly Father that has put His church back on the earth.

So, remember when you guys asked me what has been the funniest thing that's happened and I didnt have an answer? IT happened this week. We're teaching a guy named Antonio and his wife (not married) and Antonio is a crack up. He's super fidgety and has some crazy stories. This week he told the best one yet, and acted out every single part. He started telling us a story that when he was 19 he went to the circus and they were giving 1000 pesos($200) to anybody that could wrestle and pin a GORILLA. He started acting out the whole entire thing, exactly like Kramer from Seinfeld with all the fidgetiness, while blabbering in spanish the whole time. I was DYING laughing!!! He was talking about how stong the Gorilla was and how he would get so close and then the Gorilla would Karate chop him and then he had to try again. Sorry if this isn't funny, but it was the funniest thing EVER!!! Only in Argentina can you go to a circus, and fight a Gorilla. hahaha

Another funny thing was when we showed up to a members house and he was watching Chuck Norris movies. ha

So, this week I got the best surprise ever when I received a package from the Lyons! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Despite all the amazing candy and goodies, my favorite part was the November Ensign with all the conference talks! Conference was the first weekend here and I didn't understand ANYTHING. It's been really really nice and fun to read all the talks. I can't even pick a favorite, but something that really stood out to me was this quote that I think is in Elder Cooks talk about trials. It says,"Theres no chance, no fate, no destiny that cancircumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul." I LOVE THIS!!! In his talk he talks about that at times people choices can affect our lives in negative ways but we have the choice to allow it to affect us or not. Bad things happen in the world, but that doesn't mean, there isn't a God. There needs to be opposition in all things. Without the sweet, we wouldn't know the salty! We have the chance to choose and therefore, we learn. I know that as we make right choices, it becomes more and more easy to make more correct choices!

And I cant believe that Dee has been out a year! CRAZINESS!!!! That really blows my mind. Time is flying by.

Alrighty I dont relaly have anything else.

I remember when Kegan said when he got to Jamaica, that the only time he wasnt sweating, was when he was in the shower. Yup. That's a fact. It's possible. haha I don't like humidity!!

K I love you all!!!

Elder Hjelmstad

Week 22 Santa Fe, Argentina

Happy New Year!!!! 2012!!!!

Josh Christmas Morning.....

Josh's Companion opening the gifts we sent him... Gotta love his smile!!!!

He is so happy...

Coming back after playing some ball

Josh, his Companion and another missionary he lives with.

Hey family!!!

I'm doing great here in Argentina! Still hard for me to believe that I'm here in a different culture, speaking a different language but it's kinda cool!

So first off, calling you guys was so fun! Except, I realized after we hung up, that you guys didnt even talk! I was rambling the whole entire time! And Seriously I'm doing great! I don't know why I cried so much. haha. But mom....I might not be in a safe area but everybody looks at me like I'm a giant and joke that I'll never get robbed, cuz everybodys scared of me. Oh and my comp knows a little karate. haha! but this week was good and went really fast again! I hope you guys enjoyed hearing about Argentina and how we do things down here!

So, I dont have that much to write about this week, but we saw a lot of miracles this week! We have a ton of people that we're teaching that aren't married which is interesting because in order to be baptized, they have to get married first! But we have 3 couples that are looking into what they have to do to get married, so that's great! We're teaching a lady, Paola, that didn't believe in God when we met her but now she believes and prays every day! She says that a lot of the guilt that shes carried with her has been alleviated since we've been teaching her! It's really cool! Next week the twins are getting baptized, so were really excited and so are they! It's so cute!

My little thought for this week is about Promises from God. I love when God promises blessings in the scriptures. In 2 Nephi 9:43 it says that there is "Hapiness that is prepared for the saints." I love this because I know that it's true! Then in verse 52 it says that we have to LET our hearts rejoice. Our hearts are Celestial, but we live in this crazy world filled with sin! We have to apply the scriptures, keep the commandments and then our hearts will rejoice.

Then I love in v. 41 when it says that we need to come unto the Lord, but the way is narrow, because it is His way. It's straight, we have to follow Him exactly because it's HIS path! Then it says that there is no other way for "He employeth no servant," it's necessary that we follow Christ and not a deceiver. After the death and resurreciton of Christ and the deaths of his apostles, the church, or path that He set forth, was destroyed because the authority left when the people rejected Christ and His disciples. People looked and looked for the Lords church but couldnt find it and in turn formed their own. Right now there are a million different churches, and millions of paths that "men" have made. I'm thankful for a loving Heavenly Father, that has put His gospel, His path, back on the Earth with a living Prophet, like in times of Old with Prophets like Noah, Moses, and Abraham. I'm thankful for the chance I have to be here to share this with the people of Argentina!

Anyways, I love you all! I hope you all have a safe New Years!!

LOVE,

ELDER HJELMSTAD

Week 21 Santa Fe, Argentina

The twin boys, Benjamin and Israel.

(Notice how dirty Josh's shoes are???

Looks like they have been walking on some dirt roads!!!)

Decorating a little Christmas tree with Georgina, and her twin boys,

Benjamin and Israel.

Josh's companion helping decorate the Christmas tree

Elder Hjelmstad and his Companion

"Yesterday we had our special Christmas conference and it was perfect!"

President Giuliani and his wife Sister Giuliani

FELIZ NAVIDAD EVERYBODY!!!!

I can't wait to talk to you guys tomorrow!!!! woohoo!!!

So, I feel like I just wrote you guys yesterday and not much has happened in the past 4 days! First off a BIG THANK YOU to Lexi and the Jorgensen family for that package of goodies! I shared them with all my latino buddies and they were in heaven. haha and Addison I finally got your letter! Woohoo! and a big thank you to the Lundquists for the card! I love you guys! Thanks to the Maderis family too!

So, on Wednesday we had the funnest time decorating a little christmas tree with a less active member, Georgina, and her 2 twin boys, Benjamin and Israel. I was super excited and even though it wasnt the same as up there in America, it was amazing. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!! oh and we took pics!

Yesterday, we had our special Christmas conference and it perfect! We heard from President Giuliani and I learned a ton of things that I can do better in! I'm so grateful for President and his advice, leadership, and the revelation he receives for our mission! After we heard from the assistants, Elder Buhl and Elder Troncoso. I look up to those guys so much. Elder Buhl talked about how Heavenly Father works in simple ways and talked about how basic and humble the circumstances were of Christs birth. When he was talking I started thinking about how perfect and peaceful His birth was. I think we can do a better job at maintaining the reverence of Christmas! Then Elder Troncoso talked about how we have a huge potential as missionaries and as children of a Heavenly Father! I'm so grateful for a Heavenly Father that loves us so that much, that He has a plan for us to attain all that He has and more. We have so much to be grateful for and God has much more blessings to give us if we would just be obedient! Then Sister Giuliani talked about how we, like the 3 wise men, need to give Christ something. She said that we need to give Him something that would be a sacrifice, like the 3 wise men and their expensive gifts. She went on to say that what better thing is there to give than ourselves. President closed and bore testimony of the Savior and we need to make Christmas personal and and apply it all year long. I LOVE CHRISTMAS! I'm so grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ and all the He did that we can return to live with Him and our families after this life. I'm thankful for a loving Heavenly Father, and a loving family. I'm the luckiest guy in the world!

Gracias todos por su apoyo, amor, y oraciones. Yo espero que todos de ustedes tengan una Feliz Navidad con sus familias. Les extraño y les amo!

LOVE,

ELDER HJELMSTAD

Week 20 Santa Fe, Argentina

Elder Hjelmstad with his homemade advent calendar and "Christmas tree".

(All decorated with lights and ornaments, with messages from home written on the back).

Service:

Painting houses at Christmas time!!!

We believe this is Josh's apartment?

Taking a shower with buckets... "Karma!!!!"

It’s Christmas time….

Sooooooo Transfers are today and we just found out that Elder Rivera and I are both staying! 6 more weeks of the Chile-Cali duo! Crazy crrazzyy. I will probably be here for 6 months now since Elder Rivera only has 2 more transfers after this one! We have a lot of work to do still! Oh and my American buddy, Elder Hull is leaving to a different area and another native is coming, so my Spanish is going get a lot better because I wont get to speak English...ever!

So Christmas here is going to be interesting! I can’t wait to call you guys! I’m going to cry, so have the tissues ready. Here in Argentina they celebrate Christmas Eve more than Christmas! It’s called Noche Buena or Good Night and they party and eat super, super late in the night! My comp said that people start eating dinner and stuff around 11 or 12! Crazy! So we’re probably going to visit some members and then take some food back to the pinch. I want to buy a watermelon. haha (Christmas colors!!) Oh we finally put up the lights and ornaments on the cooolest Christmas tree ever!! I have pictures too! NOBODY listens to Christmas music here, which is a big bummer. But I love that you guys are doing all the Christmas stuff together. It really makes me happy and thankful for all the traditions and memories that we have! I’m SO GRATEFUL for my family! I hope that we all can remember our Savior at this time of year and all that He did for us and continues to do for us.

So on Sunday, we were all taking showers and when it came time for Elder Hulls comp to shower the water just turned off for no reason. haha So he had to shower out of a bucket. It was pretty funny. haha but then... KARMA. On Monday we woke up and still had no water, so all of us had to shower with buckets and when it came time for Elder Hulls comp to go, the water turned back on and he got to take a shower. RANDOM but so funny and a memory made!

So this week Elder Rivera had to go to Rosario to do things for his visa and the only person that I could stay with was a member of our ward! He’s like 22 and is doing all the stuff for his mission papers but is super shy. We went out all morning and taught some people and I was basically having to do everything. It was very humbling. haha We taught this one lesson to a family and I totally was tripping all over the place with my words and questions. But overall it was really good! I learned a lot and have a ton to learn.


Our investigators are doing pretty good! This week at church we saw some miracles! Graciela is really smart and really wants to receive an answer if the Book or Mormon is true but had never wanted to go to church with us! After teaching her on Saturday night, she kind of surprised us when she said that she was going to come! She came and loved it! We had the primary program, which was really cool cuz she loves kids. We also had a couple come that totally surprised us and the twins, Elizabeth and Lorena came too! I REALLY hope and pray that we will have baptisms this transfers. They’re coming!

I’ve had some pretty cool dreams this week! haha I was joking with Elder Hull about how dreams here are like the movie Inception! Were living in Argentina but at night were living back in America with our families! I had a dream that I was hanging out with Ty and we were talking about what I was doing on my mission. Then I had a dream that Dee and I were talking about all the experiences that we’ve had on our missions and then I had one that I was just at home chillin. I love dreams!! haha

So I was trying to think about something that I could share with you guys. I went through all the stuff that I’ve read and nothing really stood out. The only thing that I thought I could talk about was.... CHRISTMAS. I can still remember perfectly last year on Christmas Eve when we sat down with the lights off, candles burning, and read about Christ’s birth in Bethlehem. The girls were tired and wanted to go to bed but we focused on the real meaning of Christmas and read and bore testimony of the little baby Jesus. Afterward I showed Mom the song "Mary let me hold her baby," and then we went to bed. I remember feeling different when we were reading. I remember thinking; THIS is what Christmas was all about. I know now that the best thing we can do as a family during the holidays is focus ourselves in Christ. I hope that you guys can do the same thing this year and enjoy time together as a family. I’m so grateful for the birth of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I’m so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father that loves us so much that He has a plan for us and thanks to this plan and Christ, we can return to live with God and our families FOREVER. I’m thankful for my eternal family. I have the best eternal family!

I love you all sooooooooo much. CAN’T WAIT TO TALK TO YOU!!!!

With Love and Christmas wishes,

Elder Hjelmstad

p.s. Shout out to Addison! I’m still waiting on that letter! We get mail on Friday and I’m looking forward to it!

week 19 Santa Fe, Argentina

Josh and his companion...

showing off their Christmas stockings sent from home!!!

"I scream... You scream... We all scream for Ice Cream!!!!"

(We think it's from one of the Ice Cream delivery trucks he talked about.)

Taco seasoning packets sent from home!!!!

(He's in heaven)

HOLA FAMILIA!!!

This week has been pretty different! On Tuesday, I had to go to Rosario to do stuff in order to stay here in Argentina. Hopefully, I wont have to do it again soon. But for tramites, or the stuff we have to do, we go to this government place that's basically is like the DMV and yes it's just as horrible with all the numbers and waiting in lines and stuff. While we were waiting there I was talking to an Elder in English and all of a sudden we hear a girl from behind us say, "Do you guys work here?" IN ENGLISH!!!!! We both got freaked out a little bit and it turns out that she was from Chicago! Pretty dang random, but cool. Then on Friday, I started not feeling very good in the afternoon. My throat was hurting, I had a headache, blah blah blah. Turns out I had a fever and was FREEZING when we were walking home at night when it's still really hot. That night we went to the hospital and waited to get a shot, but after 45 min and Ibuprofen, I felt a little better. I rested Saturday morning and was out walking and teaching Saturday afternoon! Miracle!

So Christmas here isn't the same, but I get really excited whenever I see any type of Christmas decorations! Lots of people have little tiny Christmas trees that are so simple and so great. Nobody puts up lights on their houses sadly, only inside their windows at times, but it's all good! I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!! AND 13 DAYS TIL WE GET TO TALK TO MY FAMILY!!! WOOHOO!

So this week I was reading in the Book of Mormon and the word "heart" really kept popping out at me. I started to realize or try to understand why in the scriptures they always use the heart to describe the desires of the people. I then realized that this life is basically a war of hearts. Every day, every decision, we're either softening out hearts and giving them to God or hardening them and turning away from God. Dad and I always talked about this and how there's two sides to every single little thing. When Elder Holland spoke to us at the MTC, he said that if we could give Jesus anything to pay him back for what He did for us, we should give Him our heart. I think that Christ never had any problem giving His heart to God. He knew His purpose and he aligned it with Gods, "This is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." I hope we can all try a little harder to make our Heavenly Father proud with our choices. I know that if we do, we will be happier! I really hope to learn how to give my heart to God.

So for Christmas here everybody paints their houses! This week we're going to help 2 different people to paint their houses, in the HEAT. It's so weird that were seriously having Christmas in June, basically. But it's different and kinda cool too! We do fireworks for the 4th of July and they do them for Christmas and New Years!

So were teaching a preaty good amount of people and they're all doing way great except the challenge for everybody is to come to church!!! I've already learned that IF they have the faith to come to the church on Sunday, they will get baptized. Eva, the cute 81 year old, has a friend named Perla and she accepted the invitation to be baptized as well! We're so excited for them, but the only thing that we have to figure out is how they are going to get together the money to go to church every Sunday. They really want to go but they have to use a taxi because they live far away. We're so spoiled with our cars and such. Only two families have cars in our ward. The rest ride the bus, or a vespa to church. By the way, I saw 5 people on one scooter this week. Record for me. haha. But seriously going to church is so important and essential and not something that we should take for granted! The twins are doing great too, just their mom needs to start coming to church again! Missionary work sure isnt easy. Lots of this, "aww man." ha but it's okay! I love how it says in Alma 17:16 that they preached repentance that PERHAPS one would listen. Oh and Karina, the girl that got baptized is doing FANTASTIC!! Super strong and has tons of friends. Also, some less active families are starting to come out to church! So cool!

and last night....WE MADE TACOS!!! SO GOOD!!! Pancakes for tortillas or course.

Well I have to go...

I love you so so so much and pray for you everyday.

Love you!

Elder Hjelmstad

week 18 Santa Fe, Argentina

Josh and his Paper Christmas tree sent from home

HOLA!

I gotta make a birthday shout out to my best bud in France, Elder Davis! Happy birthday! and second to my BEST CUZ, TYLER!!!! WOOHOO Happy Birthday TY!

So...20 days til Christmas! Sadly, the only difference here is the little fake Christmas trees that stores put in the windows. :( But its all good! We're startin to decorate the apartment which is fun! Thank you so much mom for the advent calendar and Christmas tree! SO COOL!! We need to buy glue to put up the ornaments and lights.

This week... nothing really big happened. Just doin the Lords work down here in Argentina! We're teaching this family and they're grandma and they're so nice and listen pretty good! Their grandma is 81 years old and is so humble and sweet and feels really good when we pray. It's so fun to see people progress in their knowledge of Heavenly Father and all that they have in store for them. I know that Heavenly Father has so many blessings in store for us if we would just be obedient and ask Him for help. Another cool experience that we had, was when we passed by Natalia´s house, a girl that's 14 that weve talked to before, and we started talking about church and prayer. She's never had religion in her life and we taught her how to pray and she says that shes tried a few times! woohoo!! We then showed her the temple magazine and she kept saying Que hermosa, or How Beautiful. Then we talked for a little bit more and were about to leave when she said in the most innocent voice ever, "You guys are leaving?" (in spanish of course).. but it was so touching, how she really wants to learn more about Heavenly Father. It's really sad when we meet people that have no faith in God. We are so lucky!!! We have so many blessings it's insane. Never take it for granted.

So another cool thing, was that I finally weighed myself! And I'm proud to report that I havent gained weight!!! Pretty much a miracle because all they do here is eat bread. Carbs, carbs, carbs. It's really good though! haha but we walk a ton so it helps a little.

My favorite scripture this week was from the advent calendar. In Mosiah 3:5-8

it talks about Christ coming to the world to heal the sick and afflicted as well as atone or suffer for our sins. I definately know that we need to do a better job about focusing on Christ during the holidays. Nothing is better than a gift from God. We have already received that gift too! But each person opens it in their own time and takes advantage of it in different ways. Some dont even open it, some open it and then put it to the side, some open it and play with it for a little bit then move on to something else, and some people open it, cherish it, and use it every single day with reverence. I hope all of us can focus a little more on Christ this year!

So another "Argentine Update." I've never drank so much juice in my whole entire life. All they do is drink juice. Water and Tang (Yes they use the same Tang) It's pretty good, but most of the time I just want water! haha but it's fine. Sugars always good. haha and we saw 15 people riding in the back of a truck today. Totally legal. So is J-walking. Pretty sweet.

Elder Hull got sick this week and went to the hospital and they told him to lie down and the lady just pulled down his pants and stabbed his bottom with a needle. Then while laying there with his bottom hangin out Elder Hull started talkin to her about the church. What a champ. haha

Welllllll I hope you all have a great week! I love you all so much! Look at some Christmas lights for me!

Con Amor,

Elder Hjelmstad