Hey, I am doing great down here! Me and my companion get like 17 lessons in a week right now, which is good but I know we could get more in if we set more appointments. We get a lunch every day, a pretty big lunch too...the only bad things is that I feel so tired after it. For breakfast and dinner I eat frosted flakes or crackers with a thing called Dulce de Leche, really good the dulce de leche is. I dont think we have dulce de leche in town. It is like carmel but for breads and it is so good!
Every p-day I play soccer for like 3 hours with a bunch of Southern Americans, I am getting pretty good now. I could probably play for "REAL" in Salt Lake if I wanted to when I came back haha. No, not really but my skills are improving! With the Spanish, I can read it and understand it for the most part. I can understand other missionaries, but the people are still hard to understand and I am not good at talking really. I have the missionary vocabulary, I only have the Spanish necessary to teach, but even then it is hard to say what I want to, but I am improving. We work A LOT with the ward mission leader, Carlos Matos, hes a capo (stud). Hes a very sincere person too. Working with the members is all we do here. I havent knocked on a random door yet. When I went on divisions with another missionary I did but other than that we work completely off of references of members and anyone that will give us a reference. We do a lot of walking, (I changed my name to Elder Walker for this reason). haha. The only other heat I can relate this to is in wrestling room after practice down here. Once you step out of the shower youre damp for the whole day, and I feel like Napoleon Dynamite after he did his workout video at his house with his Pegasus shirt on, haha. Worst part is that everyone says it is only Spring. My companion said that hes still sweating from Christmas last year, haha.
My district has Peruvians, one Bolivian, a Chilean, and me and Elder Roberts from the United States of Murca. I am learning to manage my money a little better. One cannot simply go out and buy everything at once here, because we need to save our money to pay for the bus throughout the month, and I have just started hand washing my clothes because its like 100 pesos for someone to do it for you and we have 900 pesos for the month, it works out good if you know how to use it. I am going to be the biggest tight wad when I come home haha. That is ok though.
This week was good, we havent had any baptisms yet. My companion said were serving in the hardest area in the mission our zone is, and a lot of people have a good bible background down here which is one thing  I wish I knew better, how to use the Bible and Book of Mormon together to testify of Christ. When you use both, the people seem to be more receptive to it and accept the message better.
All in all it was an average week, all the days seem to blend together and time goes fast. I am very happy that the Lord allows me to serve in this great work. When I arrived with my group of 33 missionaries our mission had like 270 missionaries. We now have over like 300 I believe! The president is a busy man, but I believe there is no better person for the job hes got to do! I know the Lord is hastening the work, that he is helping us as missionaries to succeed and the mission presidents and their families too. It is a great blessing to be alive today in this time. I want to write more and could. I will write again next week, but for now I got to go.
love you all, have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Chou
Elder Wikstrom

Elder Holland went to Argentina to speak to the missionaries! (3 months on his mission)

I dont have much time at all, but I just want to tell you things are going good! We had the opportunity to hear Elder Holland from the Quorum of the 12 Apostles speak. He came down here! The weather here is getting really hot and humid! Its like that one song...its gettin hot in here! haha. Food here is good. I serve in a ghetto, water isnt the clearest but the people know how to cook some good food. It is a pretty beat up area a part where I serve but they are all good people, most of our work seems to happen in this ghetto area. I thank you for your mail and encouragement. Time is flying by here. For those of you who dont know, the name of my area is called Munro. Its like the size of Garland City with as many people as New York City! Elder Holland gave a great talk on being deeply converted. He said that we need to have deep conversion, that we need to look to the Lord to solve our problems and that the Lord give us many gifts in life, and we need to accept the gifts from the Lord cause to deny a gift is to deny the giver. For me this talk spoke of accountability, being a representative of the Lord in such a real way that this is real life and that this is the most important work there ever was, the salvation of the human soul. God loves all his children and knows all his children. His grace is sufficient for all the come unto him, there is no one that the Lord has commanded on this earth that is not allowed to partake of His grace and have eternal life and salvation! I know this to be true because the spirit testified to me when I heard it!
On the other side of things, it is getting hot down here! Think of what it would be like to have a picnic on the tin roof of a house in the middle of August and then think of here. Its not really that bad, but it is hot. We have been trying to get this family to church, we had a prayer with him, he said he felt like God wanted him to go to church but he didnt go. I dont know what else to do if he felt that way and didnt hearken. We talk to a lot of people. It is so crazy to know what they need. Its like you can read their feelings and give them exactly what they need sometimes. We still havent had any baptisms but we are working hard to get them. I find it surprising on how serious it is to do what the Lord asks. How one single decision can seriously change your life and even your salvation. In saying this, I know that commandments and rules are given to protect and give agency not to restrict and take away.
People can recognize your countenance, in other words they can see your light. When you have an eye single to the glory of God it shows and people can recognize it, not physically but spiritually. I know this letter is really unorganized and its just crammed with information some of which may not make sense, so I apologize haha.
People down here also drive really crazy. I am surprised I havent seen an accident. There was once this drunk guy directing traffic and helping people across this really crazy street and no one hit him and he was out there without a care in the world.
Having nothing to do with the paragraph above, life is way different here, but the people are good people and a very religious people. It is difficult to convince them of the truth when theyve known something other for their whole lives, but I know that when they recognize the truth it is the spirit testifying to them cause it would be hard to give up something you have done your whole life for something two 20 years old told you! haha. I got to go for now!
I love you all!
Elder Wikstrom

They had to get up early (3:30 am) to go hear Elder Holland speak

A group of missionaries that went to hear Elder Holland

The bus ride to hear Elder Holland

Another Christmas Package

I wasnt sure if Brady had opened his Christmas pkg I had sent to the MTC and I wanted him to have something to open, so I sent this. I wasnt sure it would make it on time since I was slow sending it, but it made it to the mission home in a week and a half! I was trying to keep it under 4 lbs to save on shipping costs and avoid customs.

Hey Mom thanks for the letter! I am doing good. This last week was hard. I figure I have hard weeks cause I am obsessive about things. Other than that, I am really doing honestly great! I have a good time here! Members here are a great part of the work here! I am surprised on how much I can learn about life and the gospel in the Preach My Gospel book, like WOW! I wish I would have read it sooner in life! We spend a lot of time in a ghetto. Me and my companion always say that this is our hood and these people got love for us! haha. Lots of people dont like the ghettos but I love it! We do need to find other investigators other places though too cause the ghetto is a little far from our house and the chapel so its hard to get people to go to the church. I drink the water here with juice mix. Its clear so I figure its good. And cockroaches are freakin nasty little buggers. We clean hard core in our house to not have them, but have them sometimes. They can get big and freakin ugly! Uh...but I am happy to be in the same area with the same companion again cause I want to learn more. I dont want to be the oldest guy in the area yet. They have a thing down here that you can drink your coke and return it to the store and trade your bottle for another coke and less money and the coke companion takes your bottle and uses it for more coke to sell. Germs dont exist to people down here haha. Like seriously. I eat lots of Twix candy bars cause theyre 4 for 10 pesos which is fairly cheap for here. I dont have many pics of the city cause I dont want my camera stolen. I dont even wear my watch or temple tie tack or ring out of the house especially if we're going to the ghetto. We walk fast, too, with a purpose. I havent had any problems. My companion asked me what this one guys said to me, but I heard nothing and obviously understood nothing too. He said for me to forget about it cause it was either bad or mean. haha. I love if the reason why I am hated is because I am doing something good! The ghetto is like DWS for us. Everyone has a lawn chair, music, and is grilling meat. They like to porch sit and watch the world go by also. This is why this is my people! haha. Life is really good. I am glad you got to see Elder Defriez, he is a stud and glad I got to see him here! He is a great example and a great leader too, and for him to give a compliment means a lot cause he is a sincere feller. If you want to you can send a dew and some candy down with them. I have all that I need. I have enough clothes too cause I can hand wash my clothes in the sink outside and clean water! Its a drag sometimes to be doing the same routine all day everyday, and I feel like the Lord is tired of hearing my sorrys and my routine prayers, but I am sincere and I can feel that He gives me comfort and blesses me. I just feel like a burden to the Lord all the time. I realize that is the devil though. I am thankful for the mission and for the atonement. I am also thankful I chose to go on a mission and that I was deemed worthy to be here and I am very thankful for the blessing I had at the MTC that told me I am where I am supposed to be. Life really is good. I just want to let you in on all the good stuff! I hope this doesnt stress you out cause I am really fine and doing probably better than you think I am doing, thanks to the Lord answering all yours and mine prayers! I just hope things get better in this manner and that I will allow myself to chill out and have a good time and work hard and let nothing detract me from doing the work and doing it good and with power. I pray for you at home and I hope you all keep in touch with Connor and Dallin Jensen at Kents, and Austin Lee when he gets home next October 31st . I thank you for your love and support and the language for me is honestly getting better! I am thankful for my family and the way they are and for each member of the family! I love you guys and share these things in the name of...oh wait...hahaha
I love you very much, all of you!
Brady

Hey,
Ya we havent had any baptisms yet, but our zone wants to break the all time history record 14 baptisms and confirmations by doing 16 this month. I have a zone leader who looks a little like Dwayne Johnson haha. I write in my journal and account for every day since Oct. 2, 2013! I am teaching people but it always seems to go nowhere. We have a lot of baptism dates and then no one keeps the date, so ya. I havent gotten a baptism yet. I figure out Im in the hardest part of the whole mission like hardest area to baptize people! haha. I like it. I dont want it to be easy, but every baptism is the Lord's baptism not mine so even if I get one it isnt cause of me.
The temp here is heating up but not much. We still have the cool air breeze in the hot sun, but the most terrible is that when it rains it stays hot. It is like you cant breathe haha. I am staying in Munro with Elder Espinoza for this transfer again. He is good. I learn a lot from him. I am able to have charity and Christlike attributes cause sometimes when I get mad for no reason, I remember how it is how I would argue with you or dad or brothers and it is just cause I want to be the one that is right...so it honestly is good, he knows quite a bit of English for a native, surprisingly.
I havent bought anything for my birthday yet, haha. I havent found the time yet. Food here is expensive. I am able to eat with members all day, I can wash my clothes in the pension if needed and I get 900 pesos a month which goes fast cause I need to learn to manage it better, but I still have my money.
I am overall happy cause even though I have my struggles and my worries, I am overall happy cause I am where I want to be really and I didnt up and leave you guys like I didnt care about you, I up and left on a mission because I care about you guys! I love you all. I eat a lot of candy. One of the members who makes such good food, like a HUGE platter of potatoes and slabs of roast beef, gave us some American candy. It is amazing how they visited America and they gave me some candy for Halloween, which yes they do celebrate but not like we celebrate. It may be cause Im a missionary but dont know. It just is amazing how selfless that family is!
I love you so much, I got to go baptize!
Love you! :)
Brady!