February 24, 2014

This week, we saw an old guy urinating on the side of the street. No, he didn't look homeless or anything. He actually looked a bit stylish. But fashion aside, he was just doing his thing out there.

I fought three big cockroaches. I had killed one earlier in the day in the bathroom, and when I came back for it, there were two others eating it. Needless to say, I prevailed. With the Lord on our side, we can overcome all of our challenges and all of our enemies. 

Rained a ton this week, straight flood. Some of the dirt roads were just like a straight up river. So wild, so gross. Didn't drink the water for like three days because when it floods, the sewage can mix in with the water.

We had a mutual night this week! It was supposed to be soccer but it got rained out. So we had like two young women, one teacher, Tito and Sylvia Rodas, us and our ZLs, and two of the sister missionaries. We played that game where you have two groups and within your group, you choose a movie. Then you send a person to the other group, who then has to draw the other team's movie for your team in order to guess it. We played boys vs. girls, which was a terrible idea. Lot's of hormones, almost had tears. Not really, but it got waaaaay competitive. I drew like 4 times and got three points for our team, two of which they took away. Women. Ended in a tie and a discussion of how we are all equals and the many blessings we have in our lives hahaha. It was great.

This week we made tacos for Tito and Sylvia Rodas, using a taco seasoning packet that I got from Mom! Suuuper delicious and they loved it. But the people here are straight BABIES with spicy stuff. Hermana Rodas was almost crying just from the SEASONING. Holy smokes haha.

February 24, 2014

This week, we saw an old guy urinating on the side of the street. No, he didn't look homeless or anything. He actually looked a bit stylish. But fashion aside, he was just doing his thing out there.

I fought three big cockroaches. I had killed one earlier in the day in the bathroom, and when I came back for it, there were two others eating it. Needless to say, I prevailed. With the Lord on our side, we can overcome all of our challenges and all of our enemies. 

Rained a ton this week, straight flood. Some of the dirt roads were just like a straight up river. So wild, so gross. Didn't drink the water for like three days because when it floods, the sewage can mix in with the water.

We had a mutual night this week! It was supposed to be soccer but it got rained out. So we had like two young women, one teacher, Tito and Sylvia Rodas, us and our ZLs, and two of the sister missionaries. We played that game where you have two groups and within your group, you choose a movie. Then you send a person to the other group, who then has to draw the other team's movie for your team in order to guess it. We played boys vs. girls, which was a terrible idea. Lot's of hormones, almost had tears. Not really, but it got waaaaay competitive. I drew like 4 times and got three points for our team, two of which they took away. Women. Ended in a tie and a discussion of how we are all equals and the many blessings we have in our lives hahaha. It was great.

This week we made tacos for Tito and Sylvia Rodas, using a taco seasoning packet that I got from Mom! Suuuper delicious and they loved it. But the people here are straight BABIES with spicy stuff. Hermana Rodas was almost crying just from the SEASONING. Holy smokes haha.

Saturday and Sunday we had to be in our pension at 7 because Carnival was in our area right outside our pension. This is the big celebration that is in Brazil and parts of Argentina. Or all of it. Not sure exactly. We had heard mixed things about it like that it was dangerous and that there were always people without clothes dancing around. So we were told to be in our pension early to avoid all of that. Super long weekend.

Used another beef marinade packet that mom sent me. Made some delicious steak sandwiches. Holy smokes, that's one big thing I miss about the states. Flavor.

I have also been talking to Elder Sotelo about his Incan heritage haha. I always joke with him and ask him which Book of Mormon characters are his grandpas. But, he was telling me some cool Incan stories that totally line up with Book of Mormon events. He was also bragging about how big Incas were.

And Saturday, we had the BAPTISM OF PABLA!!! Holy smokes, it was fantastic. This family is so awesome. She arrived with Milagros and said that no one else from her family was coming. Then her sister, brother, and nephew, Sebastian, all showed up. She was soooo happy! I baptised her and it was straight righteous. She was nervous, but everything went well. Then, we had a problem Sunday. She got offended by something someone said about her. This investigator of the hermanas, who isn't a member, was saying something about her not receiving the Holy Ghost or something. Anyway, she was hurt and sad and didn't show up to the beginning of church. Milagros told us what happened and we sent Elder Murphy and Sotelo on a rescue mission to her house. I had to teach the gospel principles class, so Elder Beach and I held down the fort. They went and talked to her. She was confused about why we are so cool but there are people in our church that say and do bad things (this isn't the first time something like this happened with her). They told her that the church is perfect and the people aren't and just kind of comforted her and what not. Her sister, who isn't a member and smokes a ton, was like "Lets go! We are going to the church." So the saddled up their scooters and motorcycles and off they went. Elder Beach and I left sacrament meeting to wait outside for them. Pabla rolled up on her scooter, her sister and her nephew on their motorcycle, and Elder Murphy and Sotelo in a taxi haha. It was soooooo cool. We got them inside and confirmed her. SOOOO SWEEEEET. I am soooo excited for this family. They are so strong and I know that they will be rocks in the branch. There have been a lot of obstacles put in their path, but they are more than down to power through. Straight miracles here.

Anyway, I have to go because Elder Sotelo needs to use the computer and he is being really obnoxious right now. I love you all and I'm so grateful for all of you! We had a bad computer situation today so I will probably be able to send pictures from this week tomorrow. Peace and blessings.

LOL (Lots of Love),

Elder Sipple

A bad picture of the storm this week.

 

STREET RIVER

 During the mutual activity. Totally destroying Juanchi.

 

 Made tacos for Hermano (second counselor) and Hermana Rodas. Righteous.

PABLA!

 After the confirmation of Pabla!

 Some of the steak we made using the marinade from MOM WOOOO STRAIGHT TASTY

Just another week in Clorinda la Lindaaaaa! February 18, 2014

February 18, 2014

I think the worst thing ever is being sick in another country without your mom there to take care of you...this was my Monday night/Tuesday. It went away by Wednesday, which was nice. But it was a pretty weird week. I saw a dead puppy and watched a kitten die, which was the worst. Then, Elder Murphy and I almost got a free microwave, which is unheard of here because no one has microwaves, especially missionaries. So we were all stoked and hyped up on dreams of cooking food in just a matter of seconds. The sister of Hermana Rojas (the wife of President Rojas) had given her the microwave because she was just going to throw it out. Hermana Rojas told us about it and said that it needed one new part. So we looked all over and finally found a store that had the part. We spent 90 pesos and we were sooo stoked. We returned to their house with the part and huge smiles. Hermana Rojas said that she was having a technician come and look at it just to make sure it was all good. Now it was just a waiting game. We were already making all these awesome plans to make other missionaries pay to use our microwave. We were making plans for whoever doesn´t get transfered to take it with them. We were fools. When we got to the church the next day, Hermana Rojas told us that the microwave had exploded. So, heck of a week.

But Paula was at church which means that we can baptize her this Saturday! Wooooo! We are waaaay excited for her and I think that she´ll be a strong member. She came to all three hours of church which was really cool. She was telling us how she doesn´t want anyone to make a dessert for her or anything. She just wants to get baptized and then peace out haha. Oh well.

Another funny thing (that I´ve already talked about) is the shirts here. One of the investigators of the hermanas, who has been to church a million times and hasn´t been baptized, was wearing a shirt at church that had a Playboy bunny on it and said "Sexy Girls" underneath it haha ahhh it was so weird.

Another investigator, who is dating the mom of an active family, invited us over to their house for asado after church. We were soooooo stoked! Beef, chicken, chorizo...sooo much good food. It was righteous.

I´m also a professional tile guy now. We have been helping Tito Rodas put tile in his kitchen. Elder Araya from Chile was kinda bragging about how his dad did tile for his job and how he knows how to do all of it haha. This led to me, Elder Murphy, Elder Morrin, and Elder Araya doing some tile work in Tito´s house. And really...we have been doing pretty well! Elder Araya knows a lot about how to do it, but can´t really perform. He also cut himself using the tile cutter yesterday haha. Anyway, we have been doing that for service for the last two P-Days. Pretty righteous.

We also made a life-changing discovery this week. Crema de Bon o Bon. There are these treats here called Bon o Bons. They are suuuper delicious. It´s like a chocolate outside and a wafer/creamy inside. Anyway, at the supermercado, we found a container of the cream from these treats. It´s like a peanut butter or Nutella type of thing. We went nuts! It´s like straight heaven in your mouth. Holy smokes. Anyway, that was neat.

One OTHER weird thing is that all of the things in Argentina are made in Argentina. I heard that this started with their current president. All of the appliances, cell phones, food, cars, everything. The president has contracts with all of these major companies so that she can have their stuff made in Argentina. This means that all of the stuff here is pretty much garbage haha. And they sell it for waaaaaay more. Everything here says "Industria Argentina" on it. Anyway, just a fun little fact.

Not a very busy week since I was sick and we had a lot of other stuff going on. But one thing that was really cool is that we received a ton of references from Hermana Rojas. But the catch is that most of them are inactive members haha. But still, they have members of their families that aren´t member of the church, so we are excited about that. We also played a game where we had to talk to everyone we passed while walking. We took turns so I would do like every other house. Everyone is always sitting outside so it´s easy to talk to them. The rule was we had to bring up something about the church. It was awesome and we taught a bunch of lessons! This also led to another realization that I am happiest when I am sharing the Gospel with other people. We were having such a great time teaching and talking about the church with the people here in Clorinda. Seriously, missionary work is a fantastic way to feel the Savior´s love for you and for the people you teach. A main focus of the church right now is member-missionary work. We all can be missionaries every single day. There are so many opportunities to share the Gospel that we don´t even realize. So, my challenge to y´all is to look for those opportunities to share the Gospel because I know that if we do that, we will be so much happier in our lives and we will be able to bless the lives of others. Anyway, heck of a week here in Clorinda. Thank you for your love and prayers! Stay sweaty.

Love,
Elder Sipple

 Caution: Machines Working

Caution: Men Working

 Sweet Sunset

We have this sign hanging on our bathroom door. "Don´t bother me - I am singing and dancing." 

Sweeet floral print shirt I bought here 

 #TileGuys #TilesNSmiles

Soooo we were trying to take a sweet of the Cochinitos Mojados. Obviously The Beatles came to mind. What we didn´t realize is that we got photo-bombed hardcore hahaha. 

Original Cochinitos Mojados 

 Asado with Elvio!

Que Leche! February 10, 2014

Howdy.

Aaaaalright. So last week, we found this big guy named Job. He is old and is aboriginal. Super cool - I kind of think of him as the Pocahantas of the area. He loves God and told us that he believes everything we teach him. He doesn't have a religion but he loves the Bible and, like I said, loves God. So that's a pretty promising start!

Also this week, we were walking in the really poor part of our area and saw some kids playing soccer. We stopped and talked to them for a bit. They were kinda awkward at first, so we started to play keep-away. After that, they tooootally opened up to us and they all wanted us to come to their houses haha. Super awesome!

Remember Hermana Perez? Good. Well, they bailed on us for church again. They all said, " Si o si. Sin falta. Estamos asistiendo a la iglesia Domingo." Pretty much, they said they were for SURE coming this time. But sadly, they didn't show up. I know it's hard to return to church after so many years, but dang. We've been working so hard with them and trying to get them to come to church with Josue so that he can be baptised. Oh well, we know that we are doing all that we can.

Now, remember Alexis? Things are improving with his family. Last week, he went to Buenos Aires with his mom and brother. They are still there because of some sort of problem, so he couldn't come to church. But we called him just to see how things were and he said that he talked to his mom and brother about us! We were a little scared haha. We didn't want to lose him! But he said that his mom is down with it and wants to come to church with us too! Sooo REAL. So we are planning on meeting up with him this week and catching up a bit.

There are drunk people in this cyber right now...yelling and laughing haha. It's so weird. They have a TV with American movies and people just sit here and get drunk.

On a different note, this lady that we were talking to had a bunch of grapes. She offered me one and it was a SLIP SKIN. DANG. Tooootally shot me back to Grandma's backyard in the summer. 

Saturday was Ezequiel's birthday. The family invited us over for food and stuff! A bunch of the neighborhood kids were there. They made pizza and these little sandwiches with A FULL mayo haha. Anyway, it was super awesome and totally strengthened our bond with their family and a lot of the other neighborhood kids. Ezequiel had some bad teeth that he had to get pulled, so he was out of it haha. He was waaaay sick the whole week. On Saturday, he was just weird...like a wall. We thought it was just him being weird or the medicine. We talked to the family yesterday and they said it's not the medicine. He's just crazy! Like he wakes up every five minutes in the night and says that he has pain in a different part of his body, then goes back to sleep. He also said that he saw his little brother who passed away. He said he was in all white and kept saying, "Vamos a cielo. Let's go to Heaven." Suuuuper weird. So we told them that we could bless him. They said that if he isn't better today, they want us to do it. We also taught them about the Priesthood again and how we hold this very real power. We taught them again about how it was restored and explained it a little better. They said they didn't know if we could bless him or not, which was our fault for not teaching that. But hey. Anyway, so that was cool and weird.

Oh yes, the dogs here. There are some cool/cute dogs, but they are all just disease-ridden haha. But Ezequiel's family has a little puppy that I accidentally fell in love with. So...

Anyway, we are working hard! This experience is amazing and I know that my life will and has changed, along with the people we teach. Thank you all so much for everything. If I don't see you in this life, I'll see you at the tree. PAZ.

Love,

Elder Sipple

Re: Dogs

It's so sad because sometimes there are these suuuper cute dogs, but really, they're just street youths and so dirty. Sometimes puppies are just sitting there in the street. :/ Haha. But the puppy that Ezequiel's family has is soooo cute. So sweet. I named her Carmela, which they obviously loved. Then we named another one of their girl kittens Cowboy.

Photos from this week:

Panorama

Garbage Sunset

                                                         

 Soccer with those rascals

New Zone

Murphy holding me...yikes :/

                                                                 La Capilla - from my bald days

February 3, 2014 Hoooola Chamiiiigos

This week's update:

I started my fitness program this week. It's called "21 Months to Sexy." It is an adaptation of the fitness plan "6 Months to Sexy" that all of the missionaries with 6 months left use. I give myself two weeks.

Transfers happened and.......6 MORE WEEKS IN CLORINDA LA LINDAAAAA WITH ELDER MURPHY! 6 more weeks to work work work work work.

We got a new ZL. His name is Elder Beach and he is from Springville/Cedar City. He know Christian and some of his old friends. He's nice and he's a pretty cool guy. We still have Elder Sotelo, so that's a blessing. He's such a great leader and teacher. Heck of a guy.

Other news...I printed out a picture for Romona of her baptism. It was the one with her family, me, and Elder Murphy. When I gave it to her, she started freaking out and saying "Que hermosa! Que linda!" amongst other things. Seriously, she was freaking out haha.

We found some incredible asado walking back to the pench one night. Beef so good, bring a tear to your eye...sweet cherry pie. It was so dang good.

Still making preparations to move in to our new pension! The people here do such sloppy work with construction haha. So toy. But hey, I'm grateful to have a place to live. We bought our new fridge and oven/stove today, so we can finally live there. It was so funny, just these two gringos in Musimundo! buying a fridge and an oven.

We are trying to start a new phrase here in Clorinda. we always say "Que leche!" or "Haciendo la leche!" It basically means "cool" or "doing work." Que leche. Or "Eso es la leche!"

Elder Sotelo is always singing "Rockin' around the Christmas tree," but he only knows the "rockin' around" part haha. He heard it during the performance of the assistants and secretaries at the Christmas activity. I started singing the complete line, but apparently he didn't really understand it because now he sings "Rockin' around...the Krispy Kremes" hahaha. Sooo funny.

Saturday was the baptism of Ezequiel, Milagros annnnddd.....ABUELA LOPEZ! LINPIA LOPEZ! They wanted to have her baptized with her grandkids, which we didn't know. Their aunt was kinda poppin' off about it and saying how she was mad at us haha. Just a misunderstanding, and their aunt really does love us. We have a baptismal date with her for the 22nd of this month. Anyway, we had to call President and ask for permission because she hasn't come to church with us at all. She is there for every lesson and listens every single time. The problem is is that she is old and can't walk very far. She also has cancer and some other sicknesses. She had listened to missionaries before when her son was baptized, but her family said she didn't really like them. But years later, when two gringos who can't speak Castellano arrive, she has a total change of heart and wants to be baptized. Her family told her after we started meeting with them that she just loved us and wanted to be baptized. I seriously love this family. So anyway, we nervously call president, which is always scary because you need to have a plan and know every little detail and little piece of information. If you stutter or say "uhhh" when he asks you a question, he will tear you apart haha. So Elder Sotelo called, gave him the info, and he said yes, she can be baptized! The only condition was that she needed to be baptized by the branch president or her son who lives in Paraguay and is a bishop there. They don't have a lot of contact with the son, so President Rojas did it. It was sooo awesome. We sent a taxi to her house and totally took care of her. They all came the next day for the confirmation. It was seriously so amazing! The baptismal service went super well. We had a lot of people there and had great talks from the members. Elder Murphy baptized Milagros and Elder Beach baptized Ezequiel. I didn't get in the water, but the important thing is that they took this important step and have a desire to follow God's plan.

Sunday was a weird day haha. Church was great and we confirmed Milagros, Ezequiel, and Abuela. When we went up to confirm them and stand in a circle, the branch presidency was waaaay confused. They had never done it like that haha. So we showed them how we stand in a circle and everyone puts a hand on the person's head. Sunday was also fast and testimony meeting, so that was great. But listen to this. So some guy who isn't from our branch just walks in, picks up a toddler, kisses him, puts him down, and makes his way up to the pulpit. This is all in the middle of someone's testimony, so we're all just like whaaaaaaaat the heck. He gets up onto the stand and starts shaking hands with everyone. When his turn rolls around, he gets up and says "I talk really loud because I can't hear!" Haha he was suuuper loud, but his testimony was great. He said he is from Buenos Aires and is (allegedly) a temple worker there. After he finished, hand shakes round 2 began. Someone else was bearing their testimony and he was just up there shaking hands and talking super loud haha ohhh man. Then he turns to the congregation and yells, "SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!" Then he casually made his way down the aisle, picked up the same toddler, held him, kissed him, put him down, shook our hands, wished us luck and peaced out forever. Hahaha weirdest thing EVER! Long story short, our testimony meeting went for an hour and a half. Then when we got back to the pension and opened the door, there was a bird flying around and trying to escape through the closed window haha. Just a day in the life.

Then later on in the evening, we talked with la Familia Perez for a bit. They are that inactive family I have told y'all about. We sat outside with Hermano and Hermana Perez for a bit and just talked. Then when Hermana Perez left to go get some soda and treats, Hermano Perez, who is always joking and is kind of weird, starts casually asking us what we can and can't drink. Like coffee and tea and stuff. He obviously knows because he's a member, so we're just like what the heck. Then he says, "Well what about cigarillos?" We tell him no, and then he goes, "She smokes, Romona smokes them! That's why we don't answer the phone before church!" Hahaha soooo sly, Hermano Perez. So casual. So he starts telling us to ask her about it and we say no because we don't want to offend her. When she got back. she sits down and he goes, "Yeah so the elders asked me if you smoke because you smell like cigarettes." She looked sooo shocked and we were just like "Liar! We didn't say anything!" So it just turned into a big game of who could throw the other person under the bus haha. She was cool about it, though. She said she smokes occasionally but wants to stop. So, we told her we can help her and also that through faith in God and working to quit, she will be blessed. We are making plans and goals for her to quit and we are going to get President Rojas to come bless her and talk with her because he used to smoke a lot before he was converted. Also, Hermano Perez dubbed me the king again beacuse he thinks my Castellano is better than Elder Murphy's haha. He is always saying that I'm the king, I speak faster, learn faster, and I'm "mas capo." We all just laugh about it, but it's kind of awkward at the same time. I'm not saying that any of that is true, just relating the story. ;) 

After that, we met with Ezequiel, Milagros, their aunt Paola, Abuela, and the rest of their family. They aaaalways keep saying how sad they'll be when we leave and how they don't want other missionaries. We just tell them we don't want to talk about it right now and that we can talk about it later when the time comes. It was heart breaking! I got a little teary eyed when we were finishing our little lesson with them. It really is true - you leave a little piece of your heart with the people here. They're an incredible family and they are super prepared for the Gospel. I'm so glad I have had the opportunity to teach them and help them grow and progress. I think about Abuela and about how in a couple years, she'll be able to go to paradise. How happy she will be! These are the kind of things that make me so excited to serve the rest of my mission. Being able to bring this message of love and truth to these people is an incredible blessing. As we teach them and help them, we are being taught and helped in return. My testimony has grown so much stronger. The best way to learn is through teaching and the best way to develop love for someone is to serve them. Those sayings are absolutely true and I am able to see that every single day.

Share the Gospel! Don't be afraid to talk to a friend or a neighbor. Think about the people you may know who could use the Gospel in their lives right now. Help out the missionaries. Give them references and contacts. It makes their work easier and can bless so many lives. Thanks for all your support and all of your love. I'm loving serving and working every single day. Obviously we have off days and yes we get discouraged. But doing this work has made me happier than I ever have been and through that, I know that this church is true and that this message is of the highest importance! SHARE IT, SON. ¡Vamos hacer la leche!

Love forever and ever,

Elder Sipple

#Argentina2k14 #CochinitosMojados #LaLeche #Sweaty #PomeloCrew

#PedroPomeloComeBack2k14 #TheStruggle #EarthWormCrew #TrabajandoAFull #NewPench #StackinCiens #GringoLife

Photos from last week:

#TheGuyzz with Tito Rodas, the member of the branch presidency who likes pop punk and stuff! He was listening to Blink when we got there and loves Newfound, Taking Back Sunday, etc. He is waaaay cool. Elder Naumann got transferred. :/ But he's been in Clorinda forever and a half, so good for him. He is the brown one, obviously.

Had to get a good hilarious face in there. These are before the baptism!

Me with Ezequiel, Milagros, Abuela, Paola (Tia), Graciela (the mom of Ezequiel and Milagros and Sebastian) and Sebastian after their baptism!

Meet Lourdes. She is kind of an investigator. She is the relative of an inactive family. We have been teaching her while she has been here for the summer. Anyway. I told her I would give her two US dollars if she ate two small limes whole. I owe her two US dollars.