"Elder Morel Left This Morning / Big Black Trash Bins"

Moe, Morel, Drummond & Harris

Oct 29, 2018

We didn’t get a chance to teach Lucas this week, but he did say that he has been reading and is very curious about the Book of Mormon. Elder Morel left this morning so I’m chilling with Elder Harris and Drummond today; we have a lesson with him tonight so I’m gonna bring them, its gonna be wild. A woman showed up at church yesterday and she was very interested! What a miracle! I’m ready to hit the ground running this transfer; we are gonna have some baptisms! 

This week was crazy trying to get Elder Morel ready to go home. We got some sweet haircuts on Monday after emailing; we talked to the lady a ton about the church and basically taught the first lesson, she was awesome! We got her info and passed it to the Elders in the area that she lives in. 

It is kinda funny and flipping weird, but a lot of people just pee out in public. There are big black trash bins here and there around the city and sometimes people literally just unzip and start going on the trash bins, and not just homeless people. We have seen guys wearing jeans and blazers going right next to a giant park and street; we saw a woman bending over holding up her little two year old son’s pants so he could pee on it. It’s pretty crazy. 

I did splits with Elder Cantos and Bravo this week while Elder Morel was doing algunas cosas and that was honestly pretty fun. When I went out with Elder Bravos we were in San Fernando (province, people are more in need) and it was so fun! We taught two lessons, got three referrals, set up three return appointments, and got one new investigator in literally an hour and fifteen minutes. It was so fun! Literally those are usually pretty similar to me and Elder Morels weekly numbers, but Elder Bravo and I did it in an hour and a half. I am gonna kick it into gear this transfer, I don’t care who my companion is, what area I’ll be in, or how bad my Spanish is, we are gonna do some serious work this transfer.

My Spanish is improving and it’s been really great! I love Spanish, it is just so hard to understand people sometimes. The thing about being here is that there are people from everywhere: Venezuela, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, calquier país. So there are so many different accents here and everyone talks different. It is coming though!

I took a video of Elder Morel leaving! He made the cake from the cake mix Joni sent and it was actually super flipping good.

I took a pic of a dope tree, and a pic of our zone. Our zone leaders weren’t in the pic though.

Love you fam!!!

Our sweet haircuts

Zone Conference

Elder Morel is going home

Dope tree

If you are viewing this from the email subscription, to see the videos, click on the blue link down there that says "Elder Preston Moe in the Argentina Buenos Aires North Mission." It will take you to the web version of the blog where you can watch the videos.

"You're Ridiculous"

Saying Goodbye

"I Just Need to be Patient"

Mon, Oct 22, 2018

This is Elder Morel’s last week. I’ll most likely be receiving a new trainer here in Belgrano, but you never know! hahaha

President told me he spoke with Pres. Bell and let him know what was going on with all of my transfers and different companions! I have 110% faith that everything that has happened has been the will of the Lord. I have been able to see his hand very clearly in my mission progress. I don’t know exactly what he has prepared for the future, but whatever it is, he is making sure I’m ready.

Dear Great Grandpa! Hey you old guy! Thanks for thinking about me and making sure that all those crazy grandkids stay in line. I love you and will be sure to climb up in a few trees for you. Love you Grandpa Harold!

Wow that is super weird that its fall there! Hahaha, I forgot. The weather has been very back and forth here. One day it’s super sunny and hot and the next day we are wearing sweaters! It is warming up though.

Holy crap!! Madi and Tanner are getting married, wow that’s crazy! Tell them I am super happy for them and wish them the best! That is wild.

The Jackmans are super nice. It was so fun to go over and be with them for a little bit. Her brownies were so good and we only talked in English!! I sent a pic of us with them. But yes, it was crazy being with English speakers and at the same time kinda hard though just because I feel like I could be an amazing missionary, but first I have to learn Spanish to be able to communicate!!! After leaving though I realized how much of a blessing it is to be able to learn Spanish. I have always wanted to and now I am!! I just need to be patient and have confidence that the Lord will make me just as good of a missionary in Spanish as I could be in English.

Tell Ashley I personally say hello and tell her to make sure her sister Sarah stays in line.

Funny/crappy story:

We got a referral from the office this week and we called the lady and set an appointment to meet with her later that day!! Hahaha what a miracle!!! We were so excited to teach this new investigator. We showed up and started talking to her and treating her like an interested investigator only to figure out that she was born in the church and is an active member in our ward. She works in the Primary and usually sits in the back of the chapel in sacrament meeting so Elder Morel hadn’t noticed her before. So that was pretty embarrassing. "So do you know much about the church?" "Have you ever heard of the Book of Mormon?" We definitely noticed her this week at church! hahahahahaha 

Visit our church building on Google maps. We walk everywhere, and I’m doing calf exercises every day so you know I’m going to come back with beautiful calves.

There is only like one family in our ward that lives in a house; everyone here lives in apartments, it’s crazy.  We have an investigator named Lucas that we taught our first lesson to last Monday. It was so awesome and the spirit for sure led the conversation. We have another appointment with him tonight.

Love you guys, talk to you next week!!

Elders Moe & Morel

Elders Moe & Morel finger puppets

Aunt Joni's & Gma Dora's care package

Snacking on soy butter 

To see the videos, click on the blue link down there⇩that says "Elder Preston Moe in the Argentina Buenos Aires North Mission." It will take you to the web version of the blog where you can watch the videos.

"I Am in Belgrano!!"

Street Contacting - Finger Puppet Version

This was the video he made to show us how his street contacting goes in Belgrano. "Elder, Lets contact her. Hello, we are missionaries of ... no, no, no, no, no! I don't want anything!! I am Catholic, Catholic, Roman Catholic! I don't want! Mormons... Elder, what happened?"

"She's Call'in My Name"

"No One Really want to Talk to Us But It's OK!"

Elder Morel & Moe - Members from the States visiting
Argentina sent us a picture of Elder Moe after
delivering a package from family!

Oct 15, 2018

It was a great week this week! I am super excited to be with Elder Morel, and the fact that I am brand new helps us focus on the work because I ask questions that spur conversation about experiences Elder Morel has had on his mission. So we talk a lot about past experiences instead of plans for the future and him going home soon. He is helping me a ton with my Spanish, he is not a lazy teacher. He takes time to teach me new verbs and phrases and we practice using them. 

The work here has been very different than in Tigre. We contact so many people in the street whenever we are walking. I have had to learn (and am still learning) how to bear short and simple testimony to try and help these people feel the spirit. A lot of people that we contact don’t live in our area so we are having a hard time finding investigators but we are still working.

We tried inviting people into the church to see what it looks like instead of just street contacting and one guy said yes! We did a little tour of the church with him and used the pictures to bear testimony of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon. It was awesome and we will probably try it again this week.

It is a lot harder to find people to teach here because no one really wants to talk to us but it's ok! We painted ties and name tags on a couple of finger puppets and made a little movie to show you guys how some of our contacts go on the street. I hope you will enjoy it whenever I get the chance to send it. Elder Morel and I are always having a blast. He tries to wrestle me, but I win every time. He deserves it though because he makes fun of my calves. This week he saw this dog he thought was really cute so we stopped and talked to the lady who was walking the dog and asked her about it (before bringing up the restored gospel of Jesus Christ), and then when Elder Morel was in the middle of petting the dog, it took a fresh dump right in front of him HAHAHA I was dying.

Tell Hunter and Ian to start hyping up the stake dances, they can do it! A little bit of bad news this week, the internet was out in Belgrano so we are emailing from another area and they said the computer has a virus so not to send pics and I forgot my card reader so I am not gonna risk it. I promise next week you guys will get videos and pics of Blegrano.

Love you Family!!

"HE IS MY NEW TRAINER!!!" and in Belgrano!

Elder Moe's new companion, Elder Morel!

Oct. 8, 2018

Thank you for the pictures!!! I love them! hahahahaha Ok Mom, sorry I'm probably not going to be able to answer all your questions this week because I have lots to tell you!!

I have AMAZING NEWS! I didn’t just get to see Elder Morel at conference....  HE IS MY NEW TRAINER!!! (Elder Morel, from Paraguay, was an exchange student while living in Salt Lake at the same time that my brother Brinton was serving his mission there a few years ago. Elder Morel, not an Elder at the time, would go out on splits with Brinton. They were great friends! After graduation, Elder Morel went back to Paraguay and ended up getting his mission call to Buenos Aires Argentina North Mission!)  Saturday morning, Oct 6 – third week in the field, President called and informed me that an Elder in another area had just gone home for personal reasons mid transfer, and he felt inspired that I needed to move there and take his place.  He told me to get packing. Within an hour I was leaving Tigre in a taxi. I arrived at the apartment building and my new trainer was nowhere to be found. I was so worried and stressed. Then a missionary walked into the door and the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders as I saw the face of Javi Morel!! I am so so so so excited to be here, and this emergency transfer has been such an answer to my prayers. I am so happy here and so ready to work! Elder Morel and I have already been able to become pretty tight and he is helping me a ton with my Spanish. Because of the unity in our companionship, I feel like I am a lot closer to the spirit and the language has started coming faster and my love for missionary work has increased. 

Belgrano is capital, meaning we are literally in the big city. It is super cool, VERY different from Tigre, but very cool. The people here hardly ever want to talk to us hahaahah! But with the Lord’s help, we are about to tear this area up. Our pension (apartment) is sweet, you should be receiving a video in the drive (the computers are much newer here:)

No, I have not gotten sick! I have been very good physically! I have been sleeping great! No, I have not had to use my sleeping bag. I probably will during the winter, but for now sheets and the soft blanket I got when I arrived are more than enough.

I got to watch conference here in English with the new crew!!! I am now in the Belgrano-Norte Zone! There are two stakes in our zone (Belgrano and Norte); this is where all the general authorities of the area come to church hhaha! It is a super nice building and has a family history center right next to it. 

We walk a lot! We walked a lot in Tigre too! But I like it! Me and Elder Morel just talk to each other while we walk, its fun! Sometimes we talk in English and sometimes in Spanish! And sometimes we just talk in both haha! He is a very good teacher. 

There is only a sliver of bad news...  this is Elder Morel’s last transfer. So we only have three weeks together. After that I will probably get a new trainer here in Blegrano, but I will most likely be the only one of us to have been in the area before so I will have to lead the area. Oh well, President just told me not to think about it and focus on our work here right now!

I loved loved conference. I felt the spirit so flipping strong when President Nelson was announcing the new temples. It was so good, a few stood out to me, I’ll share notes next week. I love the new home focused church supported schedule. I couldn’t stop thinking of Becca the entire time. I knew that you guys would follow this new counsel and that Becca will benefit a ton from it. The blessings will be tremendous. Becca will be able to become so so so so strong through this home study, She will enter the mission field as a huge force to be reckoned with. Oh gosh, I love the fact that we have a Prophet on the earth. 

Love you dad, I talk about you all the time. When people compliment me on my spanish I just tell them that my dad taught me a lot before I left. While definitly true, you are also my scapegoat to humility. Thanks hahaha! love you!

Elder Moe

Finally able to send some pictures! Lots of these are from the CCM, a few are from my three weeks in Tigre with Elders Correa and Orellana, and the last are with Elder Morel in our new area of Belgrano.

Staheli, Gage, Armstrong, Moe, Tolman

Elders Moe, Smith and Armstrong

Elders Tolman, Moe and Gage

In Tigre!

Elder Moe, Orellana and Correa

Watching Conference with new companion, Elder Morel!

Elder Moe & Elder Morel

Belgrano!

Guacamole!! Video

Happy Birthday! Video

"Mid Shin Deep in Poopy Sewage Water"

Oct 1, 2018

Thank you so much for the email and pictures. I have felt your prayers thank you so much. The fair! Hahah I love the pics! Oh, and I found my photo album! 

Funny story for the week... A lot of Tigre is really nice but there are definitely some more impoverished parts, and the sewage system is weird here. In some of the poorer areas, there are random holes in the ground that open up and fill with poopy sewage water.  Anyway, it was dark, probably 8:30sh and we were leaving this lady’s house and she was letting us out of the gate and I stepped aside to get out of the way of the gate and SPLOOSH!!! My right leg was mid shin deep in poopy sewage water. It was dark and I couldn’t see the hole. It was actually super funny. ha ha. (don’t worry mom I cleaned out my shoe and put some more mink oil on it, they are like new again)

Yes mom I bought a proselyting bag from the mission home.

This week has definitely been better than last week! The language is still a grind but for sure getting better. There were a few times this week I was able to testify and felt the spirit really strong. 

People are being prepared!! It has been amazing to see how the Lord leads us to those He has prepared to receive the gospel! 

Yes the Villalvas! We eat lunch with them at least once a week, they are awesome and super nice. 

It has been raining on and off for the past couple of days; my boots and rain coat have come in clutch, thank you so much mom! I don’t mind the rain because I’ve got the stuff to weather through it. 

I love you all, thank you for all the prayers! This Church is the Church of Jesus Christ and He lives!! Love you guys

Dad, the card reader for my camera didn’t work. I tried and then I had Elder Correa try and the computer doesn’t have some kind of user or something. Idk that’s what Elder Correa said. I will try and find an adapter to buy next Monday but my fear is that it’s the memory card that the computer isn’t reading it because the computer is so old. I will try again next week and if that doesn’t work ill just have to ship you my memory card once it is full. Thank you for trying and for the help, I have been praying I’ll be able to find a way. I love you.

Elder Moe