Nothing says Christmas in Argentina like snails on the sidewalk!

¡FELIZ NAVIDAD! I hope you all enjoy tomorrow with your family and loved ones!! 

My second week in Argentina has been pretty good! The work is slow, but steady, and I try my best to do my part that the Savior asks me to do each and every day, and I find myslef loving what I do everyday!! 

This week we taught one of our investigators, Norberto, who was suppossed to be baptized here soon but fell and broke his hip a few weeks ago! He is ok, but needs some time to recover. He is a sweet old man who talks in a high pitch voice, so it is a little fun to talk with him. We also had a lesson with Analia and her husband. Apparently, her sister is a member in the United States and she has been to the U.S. to visit her and some of the temples!!! She likes the peace and calmness that comes from being on the temple grounds, and is slowly believing the things we teach her!!! She just needs to come to church haha! We also had a family home evening with a recent convert named Norma, where we made pizza and read some scriptures about Christ´s birth! It was so fun!

We also had a lesson with a woman named Celestina, and she told us how her pastor always told her to "Ask of God" whenever she doesn´t know a scripture or what to do and I thought YESS!! That is the core of our message about Christ, is to ask of God for guidance, and he will reveal it to you (James 1:5). I have talked to a lot of people, and I try to look them in their eyes and see what the Savior sees, and I felt that love Christ has fpr all of us in them,  that they are beautiful children of God who need the love and support that comes from the Gospel. It was amazing!

Also, summertime means a lot of weird things happen here. There are so many stray dogs that roam the streets, but they have been to nice to me for now. There are aslo a lot of snails that we find on the sidewal, especially if it has been rainy. They are huge too! I feel like I am at the beach haha! Also, everyone here sips their mate every evening, and they are pretty friendly, always willing to talk to you, which is nice as a missionary. Even if they do not want to hear our message, they always are willing to have a good convo with ya, and that makes it fun to be here. Also the power cuts in and out of our apartment a lot, so it gives us plenty of fun moments to test our faith.

This week we had a zone conference, in which a bunch of missionaries get together and learn how to be better missionaries, as well as to catch up and get to know each other. This time it was Christmas themed, and we sang hymns and read the corresponding scriptures, which was so cool! Our mission president also received inspiration to write us a poem, which reads:

Twas the day before Christmas throughout Santa Fe, the weather was humid with the suns scorching rays. The land was lush green from the downpouring rains, unslowed they left early to go searching again. The missionaries were teaching the people with care, in hopes that conversiones soon would be there. They speak of a Savior who came here to save, to rescue us all from the grasp of the grave. With a love so sublime word could scarcely define it, until came the Spirit tom purely refine it. To carry it deep in the hearts of those hearing, filling them all with God´s love so enduring. So young and so good they carry God´s power, to all who will listen with the Spirit they shower. They so deeply love these people they serve, and yearn to give them the joy they deserve. With tired bodies worn from a day filled with walking, they arrive to their rooms and pull off their wet stockings. They each say their prayers before climbing in bed,and oft fall asleep before pillow meets head. But unheard in the night is a voice kind and fervent, rest well tonight, well done my dear servant.

Powerful, right? Well, I will talk to you all next week, but I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOO MUCH!!! Keep being amazing people, and have a Merry Christmas!!! 

Argentina...the land of sunflowers, hailstorms, and big bugs...wait isn´t that Kansas?

¡SALUDOS DE ARGENTINA! It is so good to finally be emailing you all from my mission! I have so much to catch you up on!

My journey to Argentina started off with an early morning trip to the airport, then a 9 hour flight to Buenos Aires. We rode in a 787 dreamliner, which had great leg room, tinted windows, a groupchat function on the screen in front of you, and more! Easily the best plane ride of my life. And I flew economy too! First class seats had their own pod of luxury haha

We get to B.A. around 9:00 p.m. local time and received a warm welcome of rowdy soccer chants. Gave me chills to be there! We get through customs no problems, hop on a bus to our hotel for the night (we passed by the temple it was so pretty!) and got maybe 90 minutes of sleep before we needed to leave for our next flight to SANTA FE!!!! Talk about a crazy few hours! Luckily, we managed to get everyone at the airport on time.

So we get to Santa Fe on Tuesday in the morning, and man was it hot and humid! The Paraná River (which leads to the Atlantic Ocean in the south and the amazing Iguazú Falls in the north)runs through my mission, which makes the already hot summers even hotter, but nothing I´m not used to.

In fact, this part of Argentina is very similar to Kansas. Firstly, there are thunderstorms frequently, including two hailstroms in one day my first day here! There are also wide fields of sunflowers, cows, other farm animals, big bugs, you name it!!! It legit feels like home!!

On Wednesday we had a meeting going over the policies and rules of the mission, and I found out who my first companion is and where I am serving!!! My companion is Élder Marcos from Lima, Perú!!! He goes to BYU Idaho and studies electrical engineering, so he knows a lot of English! But we speak almost entirely in Spanish so that´s fun. He has been on his mission for 6 months.

Currently I am working in a town called San Cristóbal, which is in the northwest corner of the mission, a 3 hour bus ride from Santa Fe. The town reminds me of Hutchinson, and everyone here is pretty friendly! Most evenings they are outside of their houses drinking an herbal tea called mate, and they always wave at you just like small town Kansas haha!

As for the work, there are only 20 active members in the branch here, so most of our time is spent visitng families and individuals who are members but don´t come to church often. Our schedule is wake up at 7, work from 9:30-12:30, eat lunch and study from 1:00-4:00, then work from 4:00-9:30. We take a break in the afternoon due to the siesta, but it is nice because that is when it is the hottest in the day

Missionary work is tough, and there are times when the road in front of me seems impossible to travel. But I have felt the love of our Savior Jesus Christ change me these past few weeks, which is helping me learn to live more humbly and meekly before God. All the walking, hand washing our clothes, everything I am capable of doing through Jesus Christ, who strengthens me EVERYDAY to do His work. 

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!! Please take the time this week to tell someone in your family, a friend, whoever, that you love and care about them. I promise doing so will bless you so much!!

A Meeting with the President of the CCM...

¡Saludos todos! I am so excited to email you all this week! I hope everyone has been doing well and is excited for Christmas!

This is my last week here in el CCM, which is great but also a little sad because the last 6 weeks, México has been my home, and all the people, missionaries, etc have been my family. But I know I am needed in Argentina, so I will be ready to serve with all my heart, might, mind, and strength!!!

A lot of our time en el CCM is teaching lessons to our teachers, which is nice because it allows me to not only learn the gospel of Jesus Christ better, but it allows me to become more fluent in Spanish! My abilities to teach en Español have improved so much, it definitely is a testament that the Lord is on my side, helping me out as I prepare to serve Him!

Today we went to the Temple (#3 time for me YAY!!) and I just love the Spirit on the grounds and inside. The promptings I receive from the Spirit while I am at the Temple are powerful, and it makes me want to work harder, more diligently as a missionary and a servant of Christ.

So a few days ago, the CCM President, Presidente Bennett, stops me and says, "When can I meet with you in my office, Élder Englebright?" Now don´t worry, I was not in trouble; instead, he wanted to meet with me to know more about my conversion to the Gospel and how I was able to turn my life around and serve a mission in 15 months! Crazy!!!! I sat down and shared my story, and he shared some of his childhood and we both have something powerful in common. Both of us should not be here. We should be having all kinds of problems, addictions, trouble with the law, dead, or worse. But by the will of our Heavenly Father, His plans for us were different than the route we were previously taking. And to realize that kind of blessing is a miracle everyday, and we are here at the right place, and at the right time. Amazing! He truly is the best CCM president ever!

And finally, at the Tuesday devotional, we heard from President Bennett and his wife give amazing talks over such powerful subjects. Perhaps my favorite from the devotional was the Parabola de los ganistos. When President Bennett was a missionary in México, he would set really hard goals, and when they would meet them, they would enjoy a delicious Ganisto (choclate, raspberry filled twinkie, it is AMAZING, but not as yummy as pengüinos :) His talk inspired me to set higher goals for my mission, working even harder than I thought I could previously. It is so important to not just preach the Gospel and baptize, but also to love and support everyone you come in contact with, helping them out in any way possible, even if it is something simple, like a hug on a bad day.    

Anyways, I leave Monday for Argentina! I have to wake up SUPER early, and the plane ride is long, but I can hardly wait to be where the Lord needs me!! And I encourage everyone to read the scriptures, and focus on the Savior this time of year (Luckily the Church has the #LightTheWorld program to help focus on the Savior this time of year. Go check it out and participate!) I LOVE you all so much! Keep being amazing people!!!!

 

It´s beginning to look a lot like Navidad....Sort of

¿Qué pasa, calabasa? I hope everyone is having an excellent week!!!

This week in the CCM was really amazing! So many awesome missionaries and people all around! I always feel so blessed to wear the name of the Savior Jesus Christ above my heart everyday!

Since Christmas is a month away, the CCM is getting prepared by putting up all their Christmas decorations around the campus. They have lights on palm trees, poinsettias next to tropical foliage, it is so cool! Even though I am in México and it does not look like it is close to Christmas, I can still feel the holiday cheer! 

Classes are going well, and my Spanish skills are getting better everyday! It is incredible how much I have progressed in just 1 week! I feel pretty confident in teaching and testifying to our personas interesadas, so much so that mi compañero Élder Gomez is saying that I am speaking fast like an native Argentine LOL!!! In fact, my whole district tells people that I am from Argentina, and it is funny to see the faces of the Americans who see me in a Latino district speaking fast Spanish, but with an American last name that no one can pronounce! I also have fun teaching them some English here or there. They are so great!!

One of the most peculiar things happened to me y Élder Gomez this week. El Presidente del CCM, Presidente Bennett, was in the kitchen one night after dinner washing and sorting all the dishes, in his full suit attire too! He asked for our help and for 20 minutes we helped clean and sort dishes with the CCM Presidente!!! Talk about being a true servant!

Also, my money collection has been growing! I know have bank notes and coins from Bolivia, Paraguay, Chile, Perú, Colombia, and ARGENTINA!! Élder Noto, who is from Bahia Blanca in Argentina exchanged some Argentine pesos with me and it was cool! He has the castellano accent as well! My goal is to try and collect them all! (Perhaps I played to much Pokémon when I was a kid LOL)

Also, I have been feeling the Spirit so much here in the CCM. The promptings and guidance I receive on how to be a better servant of the Lord Jesus Christ makes everyday worth working hard and trying my best. At times it is difficult to understand the language, or communicate properly in Spanish, but I learned that when I put all my trust in our Heavenly Father, and covenant with Him through prayer that I will try my hardest and be willing to sacrifice everything to be successful and work hard, He will bless me with the ability to communicate and help the people aquí in El CCM and abroad in Argentina and the world!

That about sums up my week...thank you all so much for your prayers, emails, support, and especially love. Being a missionary is not easy, but I am constantly reminded by the Spirit just how blessed I truly am to have amazing friends and family such as you all. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! :)