hey i forgot to tell you last week so i am able to tell you today that on friday were going to the temple as a mission and then afterwards we are doing a zone activity and so i wont be able to write today maybe not even on friday but on tuesday, because there are transfers this next week. i believe i will be in another area but just so you know nothing happened. dont worry.
Love you all
Elder Wikstrom=D Have a great week family!

Despedidas

Matias and Elder Wikstrom

The Great Mission Experiences

"i about passed out on the couch. I went to donate blood and they pricked my finger and i felt dizzy, they talked to me like a little kid and told me i was ok. I was like CALLATE haha no i wasnt like that but its funny, the elders make fun of me if i see blood i pass out. they always say ooo watch out a drop of blood and they hold me up haha"

"a service project of painting a hospital we did i sanded walls with my hand and a sand paper and then painted it. it was fun, we ate lunch after."

"hey mom did you know that my shoes are getting destroyed but i found like a brand new pair here in the pension! Blessiiiiinnggggg. Igual everything is ok i am just really hard on my shoes ya know. i still use them all!"

This week was long for me. we have been finding new people to teach though. We are teaching 2 families in specific but the couple aren't married. One of the couples are really awesome, the dad wants that his kids can grow up in a safe environment and not the same way he grew up, he wants to go to church and hes reading the book of Mormon and has a lot of great questions too. Hes praying and progressing pretty fast for as little time as we've known him. He was working Saturday night and got home at 6 am but still went to church with us at 9 in the morning on Sunday! When we showed up it was funny cause he was like lets go lets go and the whole family was running around like it was home alone, i remember a lot of my own house too when we were all in a hurry to make it to church but we all made it and they liked it and said that they'd come the next week. When we first met the guy he said that he wouldn't get married now because if he gets married he feels like his wife will treat him less like a king and hes not wanting to get married until he had his own house and was settled down and comfortable but after we talked to him he changed his mind and asked what the goal was, we told him marriage and baptism and accepted a baptism date and to get married too to his wife, all we have to do is keep progressing and things will be alright! The other family that we were teaching is a family that has a young mom and dad, they aren't married but have a little daughter. they have been fighting a lot and have already thought about separating, (shes planning on moving to Spain with out him) and at first we were like ok, but then we realized that the gospel is to help families and so we talked to the guy and he went to church yesterday with her and the daughter! I have a lot of high hopes of helping them get married and have a happy family with the gospel in their lives. The gospel blesses families. Its amazing to see the progress of these people just as they accept the gospel in their lives. The gospel truly changes lives and makes things more peaceful and better in all aspects. I have seen it in these lives and have a true testimony of this.
I have also learned by reading and also experience too that faith that is indestructible is necessary. we will all have our moments and trials that will seem endless and well want to give up. the only thing that may carry us through sometimes will be our faith, but if our faith isn't based on the teachings of Jesus Christ who is the rock then when the storms and the winds and rains and floods come we will not be able to endure through to the end. life is hard, i have learned, we came here to progress and that's what were here to do!

Pictures

Elder Wikstrom, Elder Gomez (from Chile), and Elder Thurgood (From Utah)

13 months!

Hey mom, I think I will be writing to you and then I will have to go cause the missionaries are going to bbq and play soccer. When you're an elder in the capital there are tons of activities cause we are all close together here. But I thank you for the talk you sent and for your email also. I hope one day there will be more time. Lately I feel like there is never time like we always have to be running somewhere or doing something, sometimes I get bothered and just want to stop and relax but I know like Henry B Eyring said that when we get to that point we must push on and remember Christ and how he endured to the end.
We have like 2 investigators. a lady from Bolivia and a lady from Haiti. The lady from Bolivia is taking the lessons really well and yesterday was her 3rd week in church with us in a row too! The only problem is that she is living with a man and they're not married and she has a daughter with him but she has lots of problems with him and his mom and wants to leave and move to Spain but the law here makes it so that if she leaves the kid stays with the dad cause he won't give permission, and the lady from Haiti is her friend and she also has a baby and lives in the house of the kids dad but the dad already left them and moved to Brazil so she is able to be baptized just doesn't have as much desire as the lady from Bolivia. It's really stressfully tiring the whole situation and I was studying today looking for spiritual guidance on what to do and I studied all about obedience today. I learned and have already been told by the Lord many times that my success will be dependent on my obedience, on the mission and for the rest of my life and that this is a principle I need to apply to my life as well as to my mission. I am going to be better, your verification helps me remember what I need to do and for that I thank you very much mom! I sometimes struggle with the desire to keep pushing forward I just want to take a rest sometimes but I must keep going. I am just tired of working alllllll day and neeeeeeever having a baptism but for the least I know that it's dependent upon me. I feel like I work but I am not doing absolutely anything and I just wish I could have more success like some of the other elders. I know that it is all dependent on me though and my diligence and obedience more than anything the obedience! That is why the mission is beautiful cause it helps you to recognize that yes you can even in bad conditions that no one else could support but you. I want to make the necessary change but it's hard but I will still just have to do it. I need to quit complaining. for the less I don't complain to anyone but in my own head and in this email to you. I just want to make the best of my mission and feel like I am throwing it all away. like I am letting the Lord down cause I am unfocused. Through much prayer and work I know I will be able to understand. Thanks mom I love you and recognize that you have always been praying for me so that I can do it and be obedient!
love you mom mucho!
Elder Wikstrom :) :D

It's a nice day today in Buenos Aires! I hope you are all enjoying a nice day where ever you might be. This week has been intresting. We did divisions for 2 days with the zone leaders and I went to the Villa Carillo with Elder Peterson. Two gringos in the villa sometimes isn't a good mix but if you speak good Spanish they seem to leave you alone a little more. haha. The villas are full of people that are ready to hear the word of God, people who are really humble and accepting. It's really awesome to teach people that really want to learn the gospel of Jesus Christ and live it. Something I learned from Preach my Gospel in chapter 4 about receiving guidance from the Holy Spirit is that sometimes we depend too much on Revelation. or on God's help. We want him to make all of our desicions when really we came here to learn to choose for ourselves. He will help us but he can't guide our feet if we don't move them. We need to trust that we've been given all we need to make our decisions and make them. Don't be afraid to choose for yourself, just pray to always choose what will help you and others come closer to the Lord and if we are doing our best to obey his commandments and live worthy at all times then well be guided sufficiently through all we need to pass through!


Thought it was good to share, now I am going to go eat at a meat buffet!


Ill talk to you all later!


Love Elder Wikstrom

I had a great week I am happy, I hope you did too. I love the zone I serve in. its the beeeeest. We met a Bolivian lady who we have been teaching and a lady from Haiti. we also met a couple from Cuba. It seems like they all are a lot more receptive to the message. The Argentines are a really tough mind set people but they will listen you just have to help them see why they would need what you have. It can be tough sometimes but it's good to learn and grow in testimony. We were talking to the ward mission leader and he says that people who live in comfortable setting often have a hard time seeing why they need God. I feel like my whole mission I have been in areas with many people that are like that that live in a comfortable setting. I have to learn something anyways, I grow a lot in testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel finding the reasons why they need God. God gave so much for us. I hate having a problem with waking up late cause I feel like I am trying to sow something but I am reaping something else and I know that the problem of waking up and exercising has something to do with it. Thanks for always verifying with me and helping me out mom. I love the mission I just want it to be a joyful memory spiritually too. I don't want to have any regrets of the mission when I get home like I didn't give a 100% of my abilities or hard work. I want to improve on that now.

Are things up there raising a lot in price or is it the same when I left. I think gas is cheap here cause they're friends with the commies haha but its like 13 pesos like a $1 something for us but not sure if it is rated at the gallon here the us something called nafta and the system of the car is different here. but just curious. aaannnnnnnywayyssss happy to hear you're all there and well. brings joy to the soul.=). thanks mom I love you and tell dad I love him too and miss him. tell the chicken nuts to get a email and email me. he doesn't have to write a lot but that way well be in contact. just a thought.

Love ya mom and dad

Elder Wikstrom

Elder Micanquer, Elder Wikstrom, and Elder Thurgood