10-1-12

The Last Letter

 

Chapel in Salto de las Rosas where Elder Valle worked last week

hello family,

well mom´s letter almost made me cry in front of my computer screen. but yeah, it has been a great week. we have seen lots of improvements in the zone and we got the highest amount of people contacted this week in the whole mission. it was one of the best weeks of my mission for sure. this week is full of conferences and general conference...so, i won´t be doing a lot of street preaching this week ): but thats okay.

 Visit to Salto de las Rosas where the missionaries ride bikes.

i feel so good about my mission. about a week ago, i was thinking about all the people i have been able to help baptize and confirm. the Lord really does bless us too much sometimes. i was praying the other day for all of them and felt a beautiful spiritual confirmation from the Spirit that my Heavenly Father had been pleased with my service. i can´t even say that i did all of it, mainly because without the spirit it would be impossible. i am dying inside knowing i will have to leave the faces off all the people i have taught. today i get to go visit some people in mendoza with my comp and say goodbye for the last time.

Goodbye dinner given my members

 i´m so nervous about living in the states again. i have grown to love my parents for all their decisions they have made to get me where i am now. i understand everything they have to tried to teach me now. a lot of things make sense and i think that i will be hard to not think they are the perfect parents for me. i will miss mendoza more than i can say, but i know i will have to come back some day.

This is the very super fun gospel principles class. This group of ladies are all like best friends and sometimes its hard to teach because they love talking and... yeah. there is eliza the recent convert, roxanna the reactived single mom who is now a crazy good missionary, jacky the amazing eternal investigator i found...only eternal investigator because she isnt married yet. its hard to do that out here, sister mesa...the other reactived less active girl.

 it gets me teary even having to write this right now...but yeah. i am excited to see you guys, don´t get me wrong. i think every smell, sound,area, apartment and spanish words have come to be somewhat sacred in one sense. it has been my way of preaching the gospel for two years. i can´t imagine doing it any other way. i am going to do my best to pay off the debt that i am in with my Heavenly Father for this experience. We all owe him more obedience than we think but i know that i have the family and friends to help me do so. I love you guys, i can´t wait to see you! Have a great week!

Elder Valle


9-24-12

9-24-12

hello everyone

Asado

this week has been a good one. i wish that i could write you guys how much we have done in such short time, but i figure that me coming home in a few short weeks should yield your patience. afterall, stories told in person are always better. we had a great week as a zone, we were able to get the missionaries to do lots of work! we got special recognition in the san rafael zone because we had such a good week. so many good things are happening in the work of the Lord, and i hate having to leave it in it´s best state. however, it does feel good knowing that i can leave my area (lots) better than i found it. good feeling. these next couple weeks will be a little crazy becuase i have so much to do and so little time. this week we had 21 references contacted (which is ton for our mission), so you can imagine the work we did this week. i have slowly been giving away highlighters, flashlights, and other random missionary accessories knowing that i will have more of that when i get home. i honestly still have a hard time thinking that i am coming home so fast.

Eliza, recent convert bringing her friend to church

i love being a missionary! i am so excited to see in what ways i can share the gospel when i get home. i won´t be a missionary, but i will be a member and fresh off the mission field (watch out ladies...haha. no, just kidding). BUT REALLY: i am so excited to go back to people that i know could accept the gospel.

Service Project

this week has been a gold week...we have found some amazing people to teach with great needs and great reception! me and my comp have been getting super excited about everything. i don´t really know what else to write. oh yeah, president gave me permission to visit my converts in mendoza on monday. so next week will probably be my last email as a missionary, so if there is anything that i need to respond or say to you, inculde it in next weeks email. any congratulation and words of appreciation will also be accepted. oh mom: can we eat carne asado tacos when i get home? with the meat and cilantro (MMMMM), onion, and your amazing salsa. ranch wouldnt be bad idea either (: just an idea. thanks. thats it for now. i hope that the photos made up for my short writing (: i love you guys, and i can´t wait to see you. i still have lots of work to do in the couple weeks, wish me luck. miss you guys!

With Mate

oh yeah i was eating these stale, fake cheeto things when my tooth broke. out of all things...ah. dental care has taken a toll on me these last few months. but i´m doing good. un abrazo,

elder valle

 

9-17-12

hey guys,
everythings doing good down here in san rafael and we are finding lots of solutions and ideas to get the elders and sisters to contact more references and to be able to baptize more. we are having lots of difficulties and even a little problems gettin the baptisms to happen but it shall work out. i love being optimistic about so many thigns, but i also need to have a good balance with that and reality. i am hoping that i can learn that soon. this week we had interviews with president and we were able to have a way good charla. we talekd alot about my plans for after the mission...that was weird. we are planning stuff for after the tenth of october and it stinks becuase they are way good ideas too. ug. anyways, i´ve been studying a lot lately the chapter six o preach my gospel. it has been super humbling. ifeel like humilty is defenitly the hardest trait to develop. i have had a constant struggle to develop that my whole mission, but i know that God will give me more oppurtunites to find that.

Local Shoemaker that made Jay two pairs of shoes

i also am super excited to see you guys in cascade. that shall be fun! really, a lot didn´t happen this week. can´t think of anything crazy. jackelyn is still helping us with lots of thins int he missionary work and we are finally getting to a point where we can depend on her for lots of help. its incredible. i think i will send you guys photos for the little that i´ve written today.

Elder Henry B. Eyring at the Buenos Aires Temple Re-dedication Cultural Celebration.
Jay got to see it by satelite.

i hope you all have a great week! can´t promise and crazy souvenirs, i am running out of money (: haha
love,
elder valle

9-11-12

Dear Family,
One month left...yeah, i know. It still have lots to do, so be patient. Haha.
Cool, I am glad that the arrangments are made for my royal return. ha.
anyways,
things are going great down here in san rafael. we are still super focused on baptizing and meeting aour goal again...we the people to do it, but the missionaries are going to have to work extra hard to get it! the good thing is, we have all the missionaries on our side, wanting to win too. many times in many other zones, the missionaries don´t like the zone leaders just becaus they want the goal so much, but after lots of work, we have been able to get lots of the missionaries just as excited as we are and i hate knowing that i´m going to leave an area right when all the missionaries start doing what many zone leaders wish their zones would do. its great though.
Weve had to drop the Herrero family, just because they are getting a little cold to the message and not receiveing us that often. so, we might give them a shot in another time...we will go by today, to see if they really in it to win it or not.
the rededication of the buenos aires temple was great. the cultural celebration was spectacular and the rededication was great too...my convert eliza, went and got the card to go, so did walter vaness and many more for sure (: good feeling. i will send more pictures, later.

i find myself battling with two feelings constantly, in my few weeks left in mendoza:
1: i am kinda nervous to come home. not because i´m not ready to go home, mainly for the reason of having to live like i did before or maybe even take on new tasks like...yeah, big decision stuff. i guess i don´t feel like the "returned missionary macho man" that mom always refers to...haha. when you come home, you are a man. maybe, i will just have to see what it´s like coming home. i try not to think about it, but it´s natural when you start putting baptismal dates for october 13th...oh wait, i´ll be home....(WEIRD).
2: i´m going to miss this place too much. i love being with the members of the argentine wards and branches. there are so many people that i wish i could bring with me to the states. we would just sit and talk all day about old experiences and eat asado and drink mate. yes. so. i´m going to miss so many people here. my converts from guaymallen and the cabrera family are planning on coming to the airport to mendoza to say goodbye, we will see if thats possible. i hope so. i would die to come back to chile (because thats the closest temple) to see when vanessa and walter get sealed...that would be the best (: who knows if it´s possible. anyways. i hope you guys all have a great week and keep being great at your callings and being super strong in the church (:
love,
elder valle.

9-3-12

 know you guys are all excited to see me, but calm down. i still have five weeks to baptize people....tranquilo. jaja.
okay, this week was especially good for san rafael. i have never felt so on top of everything and so obedient that i can start counting the blessing left and right. so we went down to mendoza this week to go to the zone leader conference (about twenty of us) and we were on of the only two zone to meet the goal and the only one to break the goal! it was way exciting. i definitly feel like everything that i have been doing differently and all the changes in the zone have defintily helped the zone. i will always be in debt to my Heavenly Father for blessing us with good ideas and the baptisms that we had. it was good. so anyways, before we had gone down to the mission meeting, presidente ávila called me and we talked for a little bit and said something like this:  "elder valle, we have seen a huge improvement in san rafael over the last few months, and basically whats happening in the your zone, we want to happen in the whole mission. so, we are going to give you time in consejo to give a little presentation about the things you are doing and tell us what zone leaders can do to have successfull zones and have happy elders and sisters". i tried to not let the compliment go to my head, so i agreed and started thinking. i was so happy that someone was finally seeing the fruits of all my ideas and recognizing the changes we have made in san rafael. i was so happy. i kinda said a little prayer and thanked my Heavenly Father for the help. so on friday, in mendoza i gave a presentation about all the "marketing" stuff ive been doing to get the zone pumped. i talked about using the district leaders and the slogans and the zone calendar...just new ideas that worked in san rafael. i don´t like attention, but i had no problem giving out ideas on how to help the work of the Lord move forward. it´s the best work there is. so, it was cool (: it was a good friday. then we ate tacos. it feels weird knowing that my group is the next one to leave.
the flia. herrero is doing good. they are having a hard time getting to church and keeping comittments, so keep praying for them. our amazing investigator sent us a text message this morning that says...." les cuento una gran noticia o más bien, un milagro de Dios...maxi mi hijo se quiere bautizar en nuestra iglesia con mí mama". me and my comp were in the bank taking out money and he wouldnt let me see the text message until we left the bank because he knew i would scream and look weird in front of everyone. thanks elder wixom. haha. but yeah, we are super excited! and she sent us another text a little bit ago about inviting her freidn sonia to start hearing the lessons in her house. she is more of a missionary than all of them members combined. she is on fire, if she could get baptize right now, she totally would. so we are fasting and praying and working with her so that she can help us find more people to teach and she takes the missionary work so seriously.
we are doing good. i am still trying to figure what to buy you guys for recuerdos. if anyone wants alpargatas, you must send me your argentine shoes size, si no, no tendrás. ja. so get on it. also, i love you guys. i´m not trunky. i have never been so obedient before. not that i´m disobedient. but there are little things and to the book things that i have been better at. it feels great. i can defintly count all the blessing of doing so. thanks for everything. miss you guys.
love,
elder valle.

8-27-12

 

 

we had a great week in san rafael.
mother nature in southern mendoza has been quite the bi-polar lady lately. we have been seeing changes in weather and in success. just like our showers, our goals are broken too. that´s right, san rafael beat its baptism goal for the first time in almost three years. you know what that means? it means im a great leader...no, just kidding. but our missionaries and our new and improved way of leading the zone is working! thank you Heavenly Father. me and my new comp have been on the same page since page one and our way of getting missionaries pumped is just as equal as our taste of music. i guess you could say our way tof doing the missionarry work and meeting its goal has been very influences by our advertising, marketing and visual taste. with our posters and two hour long converstations about the physcology behind missionary work, we have been able to do somethings. i don´t say any of this to make me look good, of course, but the Lord has blessed in ways unforseen. it has been good. we have felt good. for september, we have also put in the new slogan and signs for the zone this month creerlo. hacerlo. san rafael.

 

 i will send you a picture later (: it has been fun. this friday we get to go to consejo and see all the zone leaders again. it is feeling weird knowing that i will be one the oldest missionaries there...the next group to leave (:  me and my comp might be getting a long too well. but its good because we are both pushing each other to be more obedient...even with tiny stuff. like sometimes i will start humming or singing a michael buble song in the street, and even though he loves michael buble like i do, he will start singing a hymn. so then i just start singing michael buble versioned hymns. haha, it´s weird. but it´s cool. you guys understand me (: haha. anyways, we have been doing good.
pray for the family herrero. they are a great family and we consider them gold. me and my comp found them cleaning their windows and they let us in. when they invited us to sit on the leather couches (it´s been a looong time) all the kids came over with chairs and sat like perfect little argentine kids and listend to us. the mom was like..."okay, whats your message all about". (gold silence...) and they are doing great. we gave them lesson "0"....which is just starting teaching and heling them understand what we do and we even give the charlas. it was a great week. the zone broke the goal and we are happy but obviously not satisfied because a new month comes and that means just as more work, and especially more (: thanks for everything guys. have a great week!"

Elder Valle

8-20-12

this week has been good. not a lot has happened, but alot has. this week i got my new comp.yeah, i was with another elder named elder zanabria from spain. his comp had also gone home, so we stuck together for a couple days til our companions got up to san rafael.

Elder Wixom

 my new comp is elder wixom from st. george utah. and to be honest we get along incredibly well. i would name off all the reason for why we are and how well we get along, but i will just name a few. we love the same kind of music (michael buble, norah jones, indie stuff) and we both love graphic design. his dad actually does it for a living. also, we bothe want to do advertising after the mission and we both have the same dream job...haha, church advertising. uhmmm.what else. we both play piano by ear, we actually wrote a way sick song on pday i will have to send to you. it was pretty sick. also, we just both are simple obedient, so there is no weird awkwardness of fights about being obeident. we just do it. and we both know when to laugh and when not to it has been great. also, we have found lots of the same ideas, and we are just on thesame pagea s far as leadership and doing missionary work. we are trying to focus alot on changing san rafael. and it´s changed a lot, and its getting better. he just barely went up as zone leader, so i am doing zone leader training again. he went up at 16 months just like i did, so we both have the same feel about the mission and stuff. it has been a good week. we have been going to other areas securing baptisms and trying to make a lot fthings happen. last night, me and my comp did this thing in the zone called a white strom. its where all the missionaries in the whole zone get together to go out and work in onew area for just 3 hours on pday. almost the whole zone. this area we went to was called caudro nacional. we went out for alittle bit, and all came back to see how we did. in total we found 28 new investigators just for that one area! hahaha. so we are going to do it next week in a different area...normally for the struggling areas (: we are super excited. we should also be getting our baptismal goal this month which is super exciting. next week i start my last transfer and i just gotta work my hardest. it shall be good. i´m gonna send you guys some pictures too

I was walking in our area when I heard drums. so i knocked the door and asked if i could play.
man...i am sooo rusty. it´s been forever. i still did good though

 

(: thanks for everything (: we had meeting yesterday so i coudlnt write yesterday (: love you guys!
elder valle