Elder Rose - Argentina Resistencia Mission Nov. 2021 - Nov. 2023

 Luke has found that Christmas is very different in Argentina than at home.  First of all it's summer there so the weather feels different.  In the area that he is in they don't really put up Christmas trees, and they treat it more like New Years where they start firing off fireworks when it turns midnight.  Last year the area he was in he was a lot closer to the members and so it felt like more of a celebration.  This year a family had them for dinner and then they left.  It didn't feel like Christmas Eve.  And then no one signed up to have the missionaries for Christmas dinner.  And to top it all off he's sick!  In fact a ton of missionaries are sick!  They had a multiple zone conference and I guess the chicken wasn't fully cooked and all of them are sick with Salmonella. :( HOW SAD!!!!  So Luke has had diarrhea and others have  been throwing up.  What a sad Christmas :(   One fun thing is that Luke and his com...

 Luke was so excited to share with us the amazing baptism of the Veron Family!!!!  It was the father Abel, the mother Debra, and one of their kids (the other is too young).  Luke said this is the coolest change that he has seen in a person ever.  Abel was from a rough city that was full of gang violence, drugs, etc.  and that was a part of his life.  When the missionaries first met him he didn't have a job and even threatened to commit suicide.   Now he has embraced the gospel and made huge changes in his life.  In fact Luke said he gets up every morning at 5:00 am to read the Book of Mormon!   Luke was able to give Debra the Gift of the Holy Ghost and said this is the first time he has ever done that.  Luke was so excited for all the ward to come to a baptism of a family and then he found out there was a stake choir concert.  He was so bummed!  But then it rained and the concert was supposed to be outside and so the ...

 Elder Rose was in good spirits today with quite an eventful week!   One of the highlights this week was is an event called Light the World.  Our church hosted many other churches in the area and it was a night of musical performances.  President Reber gathered the missionaries and they all sang "Silent Night."  Luke said it was awesome and really brought in the Spirit!  And then Sister Reber played the piano and sang and again the Spirit was so strong.  And then the other churches had some fun upbeat songs.  Luke laughed as he told us that one church had a song that sounded a lot like Justin Timerlake or something.  He cringed as they set up their DJ equipment on the sacrament table!  One of the AP's, Elder Rodriguez, leaned over and said "They're desecrating our church!"  ha ha ha!  The event started at 7:00 and most of the missionaries had to leave part way through to get home on time but Luke and Elder Pretti were ther...

 What a great day on Saturday for Francisca to get baptized!  Luke describes her as an angel.  He pictured her baptism to be so peaceful and pleasant but as she was getting up out of the water she started to choke on the water and stuggle :) So not quite how Luke pictured it going, ha ha ha, but that didn't take away from the beautiful covenant that she made and the beautiful ordinance they witnessed.   Before she was baptized Luke asked her how it was going without smoking and she told him it was not an issue anymore.  So grateful our prayers for her have been answered!  She is so excited about the gospel and Luke said she is the first one to church every Sunday.  In fact she gets there so early that the other ward is still meeting and so she goes in and sits down and listens.  She gets two sacrament meetings in one! :)   Next Sunday they will have another baptism for a lady named Ellie and her son Leo.  And then on the 17th t...

 Today was so busy between Luke getting his hair cut and playing soccer with his zone, and me playing Pickleball and running errands, we only got to talk for a bit.  But Elder Rose is in good spirits and loving his new area.   The funniest thing is that Natalia, a sister from his first area, who thinks Elder Rose is her adopted son, drove to his ward on Sunday to see him!!!  She was so excited that he got transferred closer and so she made the trip and brought 2 of her kids.  Funny thing is that Luke was speaking on Sunday so she also got to hear him speak! :)  He said it was so fun to see her. There is a family they have been teaching, the Veron family, that Luke and his companion were considering dropping because they weren't keeping their commitments.  But then they surprised them and came to church!!!!    Also an update on their friend Francisca, she is still doing great with her goal to stop smoking and she has accepted to be baptiz...

 What an awesome surprise today that Luke got to call!  It was so fun to see his smiling face on this awesome family day!   He got to his new area in Resistencia on Tuesday.  Cute Ramona and Ernesto got up at 4:00 am and took him to the bus station.  They are doing really well and Luke is hoping in the next month or two that he will hear that they finally achieved their goal to get married and baptized.  They are now reading 4 chapters in the Book of Mormon each day and they said they have felt it bringing them closer to one another!  I love how the Book of Mormon changes lives! Luke is loving his new area.  His companion in Elder Pretti and he loves him!  This is Elder Pretti's last transfer so Luke gets to help him finish up strong!  He already met one family that they are teaching.  It is a husband and wife that are already married (hallelujah!!!)  and their 2 kids.  When he first met them they started their meetin...

 Well Luke is getting transferred this week and is headed to Resistencia.  He is going to miss Formosa, but it has been a great area with a lot of success and great people that he loves and will miss!  So this week he spent a lot of time going around and saying goodbye.  That was until it started to DOWN POUR!  This time even his scriptures got soaked :(  And his new shoes :(  Hopefully he can dry them out and they'll be ok.    So here are some of the pictures of his goodbyes... This is Juan - he is a cute kid from the ward that loves helping the missionaries.  Once a non-member came into the church and he ran to get Luke and his companion.  His mom Estella Morinigo,  is a single mom with 5 kids.  Luke loves Juan and gave him one of his ties.  This is Jared and Joelle.  Jared is the Ward Clerk and Luke is always having to bug him for ward lists.  And Joelle is always going on splits with the elders and Luke ...