Another grand week in Roca....

¡Buen Día! Sorry I forgot to write last week! I got busy!

Well, the life in Roca is rough. Not going to lie. Our area is still a bit dry and we don't have much going on. As far as investigators, we have one and we are probably going to drop him this week because he doesn't come to church. So that will bring us from having at least one person to work with to an official zero. Prayers for Universitario D Please! Thanks!

This week was a little exciting because we went 4 days without power! So Tuesday morning the power went out and we couldn't figure out why. We figured it would come back so we didn't worry. Later we checked the cramped mailbox for our apartment complex and turns out we have a light bill. So the next day we went and paid that. Then we thought for sure we were in the clear. So we wait and still no light. We call the company and they tell us we have to wait 24 hours for it to be restored. More waiting and then nothing. So we finally on Friday go to the company and tell them whats going on and what do they tell us "Our records show you have light." Oh that's great but we don't so please fix it! So we talk to like 5 different people and finally they send guys out to go reconnect everything. We get a call a couple hours later from our neighbor who is a member and he tells us they couldn't do it for fault of payment. So we go back AGAIN and tell them that and show them that we paid and then the fix it. Needless to say at this point, all our food in the fridge had gone bad. The life of a missionary.....

Also last week was my birthday and I want to thank everyone for the birthday wishes! I Love you and and thanks for making my first birthday in the mission a good one! My district made me a cake and we celebrated a little bit so that was fun! 

For our free day last week we went to a big River that is close to town. It was really nice. We played fútbol and enjoyed some relaxing time. It was nice. I forgot my camera so no pictures, again. Sorry! Next week!

Thanks for all your support and love! I appreciate every one of you! Keep on doing what the Lord has planned for you. He knows so much better than we do. I´'ve been trying really hard lately to change my will to be the Lords will. I invite you all to do the same. Although that will be a little hard as you are not a missionary, but I encourage you to try anyway. The Lord truly knows best and as we submit completely to His will, we make miracles through the guidance of the Spirit which can teach us all things. Keep up the good work. ¡Hasta ver!.

Elder Clifford

Week One in General Roca

Salutations! ¡Espero que todo esté bien en sus vidas!

Well, this week has been rough and felt so long! My new companion, Elder Muñoz and I are getting a long great. Although there is a bit of a language barrier, we are doing fine. Everything is great.

Ok well not everything a great. Our area is pretty dead. O sea, we don't have a lot of investigators right now. I guess a couple of weeks ago, they went through all their investigators and had to drop a lot of them because they weren't progressing. So where does that leave us? Bored. That's where that leaves us. But we are still working as hard as we possibly can to get this place us a going again. 

We pretty much have just one investigator. He and his son are investigating right now and are pretty capo. They both seem to really like everything that we have taught and we have pretty much taught everything. The only problem is that he has yet to come to church. That means that we cant get him baptised because they have to go at least 3 times before baptism. But we have hope for him and he wants to be baptized so we will see what this next week brings.

The ward here is pretty great. We have a bishop so that's a huge step up from Centenario! But its a fairly big ward of about 80 active members. We get lunches with the members every day which is great too! They are all very nice and have been really welcoming. I miss Centenario bunches but I know my time is Roca is going to be just as great.

Advice for the week: Keep on pushing through. This life is too short to spend time unhappy or unsatisfied. When things are bad, do something positive. When you don't want to do something, go in head first and give it 200%. That's the only way to get through the tough situations. We all have tough situations and they are what make the good ones even better. Keep going. Confide in the Lord. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows what He's doing. I love you all. Until next time!

Elder Clifford

P.S. Thanks for the letter Sis. Burnham!

"Y, Elder Clifford se va a Roca!"

Well, the time has come to say goodbye to my dear Centenario. Today, I head to Roca which is about an hour east of Neuquén. My new companion is Elder Muñoz. Yup, a Latin. That means goodbye English. This next few weeks are going to be a ride on the struggle bus, BIG TIME. But I'm going to learn so much and I'm excited for a change. Ive heard only wonderful things about Roca. I guess right now its pretty much the promised land for baptisms so that good. But, a la vez, it is the hottest place in the mission. That's just perfect. I'm literally going to die of a heat stroke. That's not a joke people. I'm also going to bathe in sunscreen (which is really expensive here on top of anything) so that I don't get skin cancer. But really, don't be too surprised if some of my future emails involve heat stroke and skin cancer. Its a possibility people.

But I am super excited to get to know more people and a new area. I know that my time here in Centenario had been hard but I've loved every minute of it and it has been a big learning experience, but Ive got way more learning to come.

I am super sad to leave my dear Centenario though. Ive really grown to love the people here. The ward is amazing and the work here, although extremely slow, has been fun. I'm so grateful for the time Ive had here.

This week was pretty dead. I'm officially calling our area here in Centenario dead, meaning that we really have nothing going. All the investigators we have aren't able to meet with us and we are having a really hard time find people. This week we tried focussing on finding Menos Activos but we had no luck with that either haha. Its been a struggle this last week but I love this area dearly and I am sad to leave it. 

Once again, thank you so much for all your support and love. I feel your prayers and support. I love you all. This is hard experience. Its a struggle everyday, but I wouldn't change any of it. Its amazing and I love it. Keep on doing great things. This is the Lords work and it all comes in his time. "Terror, Triumph, and a Wedding Feast" by Jeffery R Holland. Go read it. Go prepare yourselves. You can do anything with the faith in Christ. 

Elder Clifford

The One with my First Baptism!

It has been a whirlwind of a week, I must say, but I am loving every minute of it. The mission is hard stuff man, but oh so rewarding.

So this week I had my first baptism. The baptism we had on saturday was great. Three people got baptised. Ours is the older woman. She is the sister in law of a member. Like I said last week, she has some mental dissabilities, but was very happy being baptised. It was great. In the other picture with the woman, the man and the kid, the little boy also got baptised. The man is the one who baptised them both. The boy is the grandson of the same member. Needless to say it was a big day for her! But that baptis was wonderful! Everything went more or less smoothly. I got to help baptise someone which was fun! I dont have a picture of him, but he has a problem with with his head and so Elder Shearer baptised him but I was also in the font and helped him go under and made sure he didnt hit anything because it literally could kill him. It was crazy but it all went well in the end. 

We also had a super cool lesson this week. So here in Argentina, we make appointments with people but 90% of the time, they arent at there house and it just gets us no where. So early this week we did exchanges for a day and the other elders setup a cita with a menos activa and her sister. What I didnt realize was that we were going to have the cita in the chapel because they said the house was not a good place to talk. So in all honesty I had 0 faith that they would show up. Its hard enough getting citas in houses let along in the capilla. But the time came and it was a miracle. They showed up! The menos activa is super nice and wants to return but just is a little scared to. They both have sons about the same age and want their sons to be raised in the Gospel. They are super great and that and the baptism was really a highlight of the week. It was great.

Also, I forgot to mention last week, and dont freak out because Im fine, but I got assaulted for the first time! Its basically like my initiation into the mission! These guys came our from a walkway and grapped us. They were digging through our pockets and looking for a phone but our phones are so hideous here that they didnt take it. They just got angry that we didnt have anything good. Then a car drove up and they ran off. Nothing happened. They didnt take anything. It was funny more than anything haha.

But other than that, this week was pretty slow. Not much is happening in our area right now, but thats how it goes. Our investigators keep dissappearing for days on end and we just cant get a hold of anyone. But thats just how it goes. The mission is hard stuff but we battle through and live to see another day and that is a blessing in itself. This week I have been thinking alot about putting complete trust in the Lord. He can see the complete path. A lot of times we want to see the fruits of our labors, but most of the time, that is not His will. We just have to realize that the fruits DO come, but just not when we want them too. Everything comes in His time, and as we stay obedient to his commandments, it all comes in time whether we get to witness it or not. Keep that in mind. I love you all and am forever grateful for your support.

Elder Clifford