Week 31 Santa Fe, Argentina

Eva at her baptism

Woohoo! Eva got baptized! Kinda crazy but it ended up being a really spiritual baptismal service. We had everything ready and were waiting at the chapel at 5:00 when the baptism started at 6:00. Eva and her family got there at like 5:20 and 2 minutes later I realized...We didn’t have her baptismal clothes...We quickly ran to the pinch (10 min) and grabbed them and walked super fast back. We got back at 5:45 and waited for the rest of the members to come and stuff. We invited a ton of people but only very few came but it didn’t matter because it was all about Eva. I baptized her and even though she swallowed a little bit of water, she felt great! When she walked in after she had changed her clothes she said, "Estoy bien" (I’m good) with a smile. It was really great to see another daughter of God be baptized in His church. I’m so blessed that I’m here to witness these miracles.

This week I don’t really have much to talk about but I read something this morning when I was studying that I loved. I was reading in the Bible in John when it talks about Lazarus rising from the dead. I’ve always loved this miracle and I don’t really know why. I was thinking about it and it’s really similar to how, thanks to Jesus Christ, we will all rise from the dead in the resurrection. Every single one of us will live after this life to be judged before God, thanks to Him. Because this is possible we have the potential to live with our families forever. How amazing is the Atonement of Christ. Also I believe that in every one of our lives, we come to a point when Christ saves us. From physical danger, as well as spiritual danger. I know, that is how it was for me. I know that Chirst still works miracles because I know that I am one. I’m so grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ.

K I have to go! Sorry it was a shorty. I love you all so much and will send you the pics of Evas baptism and then Ezekiels thatll happen this weekend.

LOVEEEE YOUUUU!!!

Elder Hjelmstad.

Oh something cool. ahha so the first counselor in the bishopric couldn’t pronounce my last name so he said "Elder HLJ." HLJ means ctr (choose the right) in English! haha Haz lo justo. I thought it was cool! Anyways chao!

Week 30 Santa Fe, Argentina

Family!!

Woohoo! Yesterday was another holiday, so everything was closed. So, we got permission to go to the cyber today so donttt worry!

I’m happy to hear that everybody’s doing good besides Jade being a little sick. We’re doing great here in Liceo! Today I completed 5 months in my first area! Crazy! It’s really hard to believe that I’ve been here for so long. I wish I could’ve baptized more people in these months but this month were going to have at least 3! I’m stoked! Eva, our little Grandma, is getting baptized this Saturday! I’ll definitely send you some pics. She’s so sweet and cute! haha

Ezekiel is doing great! He’s all lined up to get baptized on the 10th. He told us that he wants to be a missionary last week and I’m so excited for him! Then Sergio is getting married on the 16th and getting baptized on the 17th! WOOHOO! We’re really progressing! We have lots of people to teach but some of them need to get married before they can get baptized. :/ But it’s all good!

This Sunday was Stake Conference and we planned to meet Ezekiel at our chapel to walk to the stake center. We went to the chapel and he wasn’t there! NOO! We called him and… nothing. NOO! We booked it over to the stake center and then 5 min later he showed up! MIRACLE! He said he didn’t even know where it was but found a guy in a shirt and tie and asked him where the church was! haha soooo cool! He’s changed so much and were so excited for his baptism.

I really have a testimony that every single person that wants to change, can change, thanks to the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He took upon him all of our pains, weaknesses, habits, addictions, and sins. He did all that for US! It’s always there for us to use. We just have to use it. We need to repent and move forward!

This week at our Zone conference, they asked for a strong elder and everybody yelled, “Elder Welsh”(he played football for BYU)! They had a bag of candy and went around the room asking every person if they wanted a candy or not, but no matter if they wanted it or not, Elder Welsh had to do 6 push-ups for that person. He was sweating like crazy and ended up doing about 350 Push-ups! I know it’s nothing like what the Savior did for us, but it was even hard for me to watch him do all those push-ups for us. It really made me think of the Atonement. I was thinking of how important was it to me, and what good it does for me. I sat there for awhile and then AH-HA. Answer. The Atonement allows my family and I to be together forever. I’m so, so, so grateful for the Atonement and love that Heavenly Father has for us.

So my pants officially have died. I’m saving my gray pants for winter but my blue and black pants are totally faded and my black pants ripped… ya you know where! haha I was playing with a little kid and squatted down to talk to him and heard...Rippppp. ohhh shooooot. haha So I went to the store yesterday and bought some new pants that are basically indestructible.

Anyways, I love you guys so much! Thank you for everything! I’m so lucky to have you guys. 7 months down! CRAZY!

Week 29 Santa Fe, Argentina

The Companions!!!

Elder Hjelmstad and his "Greenie"

Mom's not there to do his laundry!!! Haha

(look at those pants!)

Josh is feeling the "Latin" flavor!!!

HEYY!

Another week has gone by! Craziness. This week was actually pretty good! We had more lessons with members and, teaching a new guy, and have people that we need to go back and see! I wore Andrews cool tie this week, which means that I had to invite someone to be baptized. We went to a teenager’s house that we had talked to before with his cousin. We taught him about the restoration and then he accepted the invitation to be baptized if he receives an answer from God if the church is true! I was way excited but...problem...haha we don’t know his name! We know his brother’s name and his cousins, but his names so weird and hard we didn’t understand it! But were going there tonight, so I really hope he’s there and we can find out what his name is cuz I feel bad!! Another cool thing this week was when one of our investigators, Ezekiel, told us that he wants to be a missionary! He’s only 20 years old so he could definitely serve a mission in the coming years! That made me really excited cuz serving a mission is so fun because you are blessed just as much, or even more as the people that you serve. I love being a missionary!

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to talk in church, which was really fun! I wasn’t that nervous too! I was given the open topic of missionary work and choose to talk about something we lack in our ward...LOVE!! I talked about how Christ said that the greatest commandment was to Love God and the second greatest was to Love your Neighbor. So first off we need to love God and if we love Him, we are going to love our fellow brothers and sisters like it says in 1 John 4. But how do we love our neighbor? By serving them temporally, as well as spiritually! We have all these blessings and we need to share them! When we come to the understanding and have a testimony, we will realize that we need to share this JOY! Dee and I always talked about how we would feel selfish if we DIDN’T go out and serve a mission! After I read from President Eyring´s message, "How great shall be your Joy" from the Feb 2011 Ensign. I love this quote, "Few joys in life are sweeter and longer lasting than knowing that you have helped others take the restored gospel of Jesus Christ into their hearts. Having that joy is the opportunity of every member of the Church. When we were baptized, we made a promise that we would “stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that [we] may be in, even until death, that [we] may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that [we] may have eternal life” I love the beginning because there really isn’t anything better! I know that we can do it! I know that the most important part is just being an example, being different. I’m thankful for the good friends and sister missionaries that my parents had to guide them to the truth. I love being a missionary even if we have to sleep wet in 100-degree weather and walk miles a day. It’s great! And going fast!

I love all of you guys and hope that you can all be an example to the people around you and don’t be scared to share what you know is true. You’d be surprised that a lot of people listen.

I love you so much!

Elder Hjelmstad

p.s. Mississippi Girl by Faith Hill came on in the grocery store today, I sang the whole thing loud and proud. haha

Week 28 Santa Fe, Argentina

"Look Mom"

(We don't know why Josh sends us these silly pictures?

One picture this week and this is it? Beggars can't be choosers, I guess! haha)

FAMILY!!!

Happy Valentines day!!!!

Alright, so it's kinda stressful being the trainer! I’m always worried about the lessons and being on time and stuff so it sure makes things fun and crazy!

This week was pretty good! 5 investigators came to church and we're moving towards some baptisms! Elder Smith is doing great and is a really good companion. He helps me stay focused on our purpose of inviting others to come unto Christ and be baptized! I really hope we can have some baptisms together! He has trouble talking in Spanish but is learning fast! I need to stop speaking English, so he can learn faster; it’s just been nice to not have to think every time I talk. But I like talking in Spanish! We’ve already had a handful of cool and funny experiences together.

On Tuesday, we ate cow stomach soup. Lets just say we ate just as much juice and bread. haha Then on Saturday, we were teaching about how we don’t drink, smoke, etc. Elder Smith didn’t know some words, so he was like acting out how if we don’t drink we can run and not cough. Basically, looked like a monkey doing charades and we all laughed about it. haha then yesterday, after church these 2 dogs followed us EVERYWHERE!!! We walked like two miles to a house, went in, and they waited outside and then followed us to lunch and then back to the pinch, another 2 miles. Then we studied for a few hours and then followed us the whole afternoon! haha seriously it was so crazy! We felt bad so we gave them water. haha

Church was really good yesterday! 5 kids in the ward went to the local EFY (Especially For Youth) or church youth camp and they bore their testimonies and it was super great. It made me think of all the great experiences I had at the EFYs I went to. I LOVE EFY! I know that it helped me go on a mission. Then the Stake President talked about how strong the spirit was in the testimony meeting at EFY and how happy everybody was because they were living the gospel! He bore testimony that the gospel is the key to happiness and that by obeying the commandments of God we can be happy and have JOY! He said something that hit me pretty hard. He said, "We don’t have to wait to have Joy in Heaven, we can have it right now!" All we have to do is keep the commandments! I know this is so true. I KNOW that the commandments are for our benefit. I know that we will be happy if we obey them.

In Mosiah 2:41:

“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.”

I read that scripture almost every day.

I love being a missionary and bringing this happiness into the lives of others! I love watching them change because they know that this is true. I love families. I want to baptize a family! It’s coming.

I love all of you and thanks for everything!!!

Elder Hjelmstad

Week 27 Santa Fe, Argentina

Mission President Giuliani, Elder Smith, Elder Hjelmstad, Sister Giuliani

HOLA!!!

Happy Birthday Grandma! I love you!

This week went by pretty fast! On Wednesday, Elder Rivera said bye to everybody and then early in the morning on Thursday we went to Rosario to pick up our "Kids." In the mission, we call the trainers the "dads" and the newbies the "kids". So we got there, waited for a little bit, and then they called up Elder Smith and then they called me up! He is from South Carolina and is a really great guy. He went to BYU before his mission too! After eating bbq chicken at the mission home, we went to good ole Sante Fe! haha I told him all about the crazy stuff that we see here and what to watch out for and everything. ha It's fun but at the same time... scary! I'm always going to remember when we got into the taxi at the mission home en route to the bus station, I was like, "Alrighty, now I have to manage to get us home," and felt a lump of responsibility on my shoulders. The past few days we've passed by our investigators and members to introduce Elder Smith. His spanish isn't very good and it's hard for him to understand, but it's okay cuz thats how we learn! He's excited and helping a ton. I'm not gunna lie and say that I don't miss my little chilean in our lessons. The lessons that we've had have been complete miracles. The people that we have found have been complete miracles.

Seriously, I know that our Heavenly Father doesnt give us anything that we can't handle. Do I feel inadaquate to be training? Yes. How am I doing? I have no idea. By miracles. I know that Heavenly Father is helping me so much, helping my companion, and the people of our area. I'm completely humbled and almost overwhelmed but I KNOW that I'm not doing this alone. I can feel and see the prayers of you guys and the "tender mercies" that the Lord is showing me every day.

Sooooo what were the miracles that have happened? So the neighbor next door to Diego and his family has always been really nice. We have always wanted to teach her. On Friday we were walking by their house and she called us over and wanted to get Elder RIveras Email for some reason. Then later Diego told us that she's going go to church with them this next Sunday, MIRACLE #1. Next, last week we received a referral from a member of his daughter-in-law, but he didn't tell us where she lived. On Saturday, I wanted to go by her house and while we we're contacting we clapped at a fence where there was a couple drinking mate and turns out... It was her! We established a good relationship, talked about prayer and are going back this week, MIRACLE #2. Lastly, we were walking by a house, that we always walk by, and there was some little kids hanging out and they told us to knock on their door and talk to their mom so..I was like, "sure"! She answered and we told her we wanted to share a message about Jesus Christ with her and she was really nice and let us come in, even though she only had 5 min. We shared a scripture and then made an appointment for this week! MIRACLE #3. So these are few of the miracles that we see, including when it poured hardddd for the 3 hours when we were in church and not a single drop before or after. I know that Heavenly Father loves us and knows us. I know that He's a God of miracles. I know that He doesn't give us anything we can't handle.

I love you guys and miss you guys like crazy!

Thank you so much for your support.

LOVE,

Elder Hjelmstad

Week 26 Santa Fe, Argentina

Camila and Elder Hjelmstad

Elder Hjelmstad and Augustine giving us a "thumbs up"

Elder H, Elder R, Diego and family

Elder R, Camila, Maria and Augustine

Hey! 6 months down! SUPER INSANE!!! It’s flying by!

So, I haven’t gotten my new companion yet but I know we’ll be staying in Santa Fe, so I’m going to have about 7 months here! crazzyy!! But I don’t know who he is or anything until Thursday, so next week I’ll tell you all about him!

This week we saw some miracles again! Eight investigators came to church!!! So that was really exciting and fun but the only downside is that none of them have a baptismal date set because they need to get married first! :/ But they’re coming along! At church we talked about temples a lot and about the example of Jesus Christ in our lives and how every single day we need to push ourselves to become a little more like Him! I know that as we do the little things like praying, reading the scriptures, and going to church, we will increase in our love for others and will grow closer to our Heavenly Father!

We ate something really good this week! It’s called Ñoqui. Look it up on the Internet! It’s mashed potatoes that they make into noodles and then have this super good red sauce and cheese on top! I’ll try to get the recipe cuz it’s so good!

So this week we taught the Plan of Salvation, or the Plan of Happiness a lot. It made me think about it in general and the questions that we answer, like Where did we come from, Why are we here, and Where are we going after we die. We’re so lucky to have this knowledge! Thanks to a living prophet and the Book of Mormon, we have these answers! Heavenly Father loves us so much that He has a perfect plan for us, his children, that allows us to attain ALL that he has. I’m so grateful for a Heavenly Father that knows us personally and desires our happiness. I love the scripture in 3 Nephi 28:10 that says .......

10 And for this cause ye shall have fulness of joy; and ye shall sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea, your joy shall be full, even as the Father hath given me fulness of joy; and ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one;

Christ suffered for our sins so that we can a FULNESS OF JOY like Heavenly Father! I know that Jesus Christ died for each and every one of us and thanks to his Atonement, we can live with God again, together as an eternal family! I know that we lived with God before this life and I know that we came here to gain experience and a body like God. I know that thanks to the resurrection of Christ, all of us will live after death with a body of flesh and bones and be judged according to our actions. I know that through the Atonement of Christ we can become perfect! I know that God loves us SO MUCH.

Thank you everybody for your support and letters and everything! I really suggest that everybody read this article by a living Prophet. I know that if we do these things, we will be happy, even in the rough times! I know that god wants us to be happy! http://www.lds.org/liahona/2012/01/living-the-abundant-life?lang=eng

You are all awesome! I love you!

Elder Hjelmstad

P.S. Josh has sent us two short videos. If you would like to view them they are found on the sidebar to the right of this blog. enjoy!!!!

Week 25 Santa Fe, Argentina

Alrightyyyy, things are about to get interesting...

Elder Hjelmstad is going to train a newbie!! yupppp! Gunna be crazy! I got a call on Wed night from the assistants to the President and they told me that I had been called to be a trainer! I couldn’t believe it! There are 27 new missionaries coming from the MTC on Feb 1! I’m super scared and super excited at the same time. haha but it's going be fun and totally crazy! We don’t know where yet so I could stay here in Santa Fe or go somewhere else but we think I’m staying. But ya! Crazy!

We had a training meeting with the Mission President on Friday and it was amazing! We talked a lot about using the spirit in everything. In the scriptures it talks about how we must "Teach by the spirit, or no other way." It's true! Most of the people that we talk to have never had spiritual experiences in their lives before. We have the responsibility to help them feel, know, and do what the Lord wants for them! I’m so grateful for this sacred responsibility. We also talked about the power of a testimony and how that no one can fight against a testimony. We talked about how in order to gain an opinion, or testimony, we first need to hear the opinions, or hear people testify of what they know is true. I want all of you guys to know that I know that this church is true. I know because I have prayed, read the Book of Mormon, and felt the Holy Spirit testify that it’s true. I know that anybody can find out for himself or herself that it’s true too. I know that this message brings light and hope into the lives of those that accept it. I know that by obeying the commandments of God, we are happy. I know that families can be together forever. I’m so grateful for the chance I have to be in Argentina to share this message with everybody!

So this week we did service and it was so funny. There’s this old single lady that’s super funny and she asked us if we could go trim her bushes and trees and so of course we said yes! We showed up and she had a dull AXE and a MACHETE!!! haha Elder Rivera got the machete and I got the dang axe. haha It was so funny. We forgot the camera though :( But yeah I’m never going to forget trimming shrubs with an axe. ha only in Argentina.

Other funny thing this week was this week in Sacrament meeting they asked if I could lead the sacrament hymn. I said sure why not! problem...no piano. Usually I just look at the hymn first to remind me how it is in English and then sing in Spanish but...I forget to figure out what hymn it was before I got up. I had no clue how it went. It was HORRIBLE cuz everybody was lost through the 3 verses. Oops! I felt bad cuz I totally destroyed it. The members were laughing at me. haha

I found a scripture this week that I love. It’s different because it makes you think. It’s Helaman 12:6 It says…

“Behold, they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide.”

I was thinking about this a lot... about the times when I ignored the advice given to me, or when people tried to help me and I didn't listen. I have really gained a really strong testimony of the commandments and all the guidelines that The Lord has provided us. Just like this scripture says, God, in His great goodness and mercy, has created these things to help us, but we "will not that He should be our guide." I know that we're happiest when we obey the commandments! I know that God loves us so much and wants the best for us!

Last thing....

We found a COCKROACH this week. Not cool. Were going to buy some raid to make sure there isn’t any more of them. I freaked out like a girl.. I mean... like a missionary.... haha

So if anybody wants to write me through DEARELDER.COM that’s fine with me :)

I love you all and hope that all is good at home!

Les quiero,

Elder Hjelmstad