Huge Letter

Mis seres queridos,

Well, you guys got to see your fair share of cool things! Let me share with you the GLACIERS! They were amazing! On top of that, we saw a huge chunk of ice fall... about the size of a house! It was like the movies... all slow motion... even the water spraying up from the lake. It was insane. I hope we can come back one day as family so you can enjoy it!  On the way up.... All the snow! The picture outside of us... it was VERY COLD and VERY WINDY out there... if you zoom in you can see hair being pushed up....

I think I said last week that I needed to buy boots... This is why --> After one day of work... (he sent pictures of his shoes) I bought some boots for 415 pesos... There wasn't enough money on my card so I bought them with cash that I pulled out from Calafate. Just so you know what's going on with the expenditure of the money I pulled out.

Alright... so I realize it's been 3 weeks since I've written an acceptable letter... so here's what happened; two weeks ago we went to Calafate (People say it's like Park City, Utah, huge tourist attraction) and then we scooted on up to the glacier about another hour north. We went with a member who had a convi (a van with lots of seats!) with the zone. We had lots of fun talking on the way up... It took us about three hours to get to Calafate. Once there, we got the elders there and started the drive up. The snowy landscape was incredible! The mountains were amazing and in places the mountains were orange from the reflected sunlight... it was so beautiful! The glacier was up in the mountains so we hit a windy road up (at least it's paved now... it wasn't a little while back). When we turned a corner and saw the glacier it was jaw dropping! You need a VERY BIG glass of root beer to put the piece of ice in it. Basically yea. So we got up to parking and President was there waiting for us with his wife and his son Brad. While we walked down to the observation balconies, President pulled us aside one by one to a balcony so that we could have our interviews. What a special experience! I am sure that will probably never happen again. While waiting we talked with Brad about his mission and what he did. (Let's just say he was very successful in the Philippines.) We were inspired and uplifted and received some very good ides. Now that part is to put them to practice. After everyone was done, we said good-bye and headed back down. We got some sandwiches at a local grocery store and headed back down to Río Gallegos. We got home around 10:30 or 11 and we were very tired. It was an amazing experience.

That week went well. We struggled a bit to find our investigators but everything turned out to be all right. The shocking moment came right after church. We were standing in the halls trying to set up some appointments and we got a call from the office elders advising me that my plane to Ushuaia would be leaving tomorrow and I would be going to Río Grande. Can you say shocked? We were just finishing week 2 of the transfer and I thought I was home free for at least until September. I guess not. Anyways, that was sad news. So we finished the day as normal as we could. That night I packed everything up and was filled with mixed feelings. Going to a new place and then leaving a place I had come to fall in love with. There are some amazing people there. Anyways, my plane left at 1 on Monday so a couple we are teaching and the Vera Family came to say good-bye. That was tough, but what are you going to do about it?

I got on the plane for an hour and then we were in Ushuaia.... NEVER thought I was going to ever go there! Well, I was only there for a couple hours, but hey! I was there. I took a van up to Río Grande at 5 and enjoyed the ride up.... the only bad part was that I was sitting above a heater. SOOOOOOO HOT. That wasn't fun with my jacket, suit coat, sweater, and shirt... Ugh. I was able to take it off but in doing so, my nametag (in Guaraní) fell off (yes David, I wear it sometimes...) and the magnet strip on the back of it fell into a crack that leads to the frame. So I still have the important part, I just can’t wear it now. I tried super hard to get it back, but we would have had to take apart the whole floor for it. Anyways, after the ride I got to the apartment around 9 and we left to go teach a family a couple blocks away. We finished teaching, came back, planned and I hit the sack. Traveling is tiring! I am still tired. 

All right, now we've gotten to this week. I am in Río Grande in Tierra del Fuego (for real this time). This area is amazing. Apart from being COLD.... it is ready to burst. We had two people come up to us and contact us... one a member from Corrientes another a former investigator that wants to start listening again with his girlfriend. This place is ready for a lot of work. I am in Centro (basically down town) so that is sweet. We have a ton of people to teach and baptize... we just have to help them progress a bit. :D I am SUPER SUPER SUPER DUPER EXCITED! Río Grande is really an amazing place and there's going to be some awesome stuff happening. The branch president is amazing; as well with almost every member I have met. There's going to be some great stuff. I'm excited! :D

Well, it was snowing earlier but now it's stopped. I am happy and things are going great.

Now to all the stuff you are doing. That's pretty sweet you were able to talk to a lot of people. So the Genesis is the Kat's replacement? Pretty gnarly. Hiking and Canoeing! I miss that. There's going to be a lot of stuff to do... After hibernating for the time that I can. I think I can take power naps with Dad now... haha.

Send my love to Kyoko and all the family. That's some tough stuff. We just need to trust in the Lord and His Plan for us.

Well, that's all I've got now.  I love you and hope all is well. Thank you for all the stuff that you for me. I really appreciate everything. Talk to you next week!

Elder Michael C. Watson

Misión Argentina Buenos Aires Norte

La Mejor en el Mundo y Lo sabes!

Transferred! Further South...

HEY!

So I am not dead... just in Tierra del Fuego... For reals this time. I am in place called Río Grande with Elder Finlay (He's from California... ROCK ON! :D) I flew down to Ushuaia and took a four hour van north up to Río Grande. It was a sweet drive. Lots of mountain ranges and snow. Something that wasn't in Río Gallegos that much. This will be fun. Oh... I am going to have to buy boots because the shoes that I bought won't work too well here.... Seeing that they are broken with my eccos and rockports. But I can take these to a shoemaker and he can fix them. But boots are kinda necessary I guess.

Leaving Gallegos was hard. Right in the middle of a transfer with lots of good stuff going on. I got a call after church yesterday telling me I was going and basically had my last day to do things. I am going to miss the Vera Family a lot as well as our investigators.... But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.

Well, I will send more next week with lots of pictures of the glaciers- They were fantastic! A block of ice the size of the house fell off and it was amazing. I just couldn't get a picture of it because my batteries died after like 5 minutes of use. (I charged them for like 3 days.... I need new ones too.) Hope you are all well!

Love,

Elder Michael C. Watson
Misión Argentina Buenos Aires Norte
La Mejor en el Mundo y Lo sabes!

Short Letter This Week

Dear Family,

Well, this week is going to be a small letter. We are going to Calafate tomorrow (an area within our zone – 2 ? hours away from the city...) to have our interviews with President and to go see the glacier Perito Moreno. :D Usually the Elders from Calafate to come see us... but now we are going to go see them. Sweet!

So Elder Simper and I are going to stay together for another transfer! That'll be fun. :D We are going to have an amazing month - lots of teaching and baptizing. By the way... Our mission broke the record for most baptisms in a month in the history of Buenos Aires Norte - 146. That's more than double of last July. We are really focusing on planning in chapter 8 of Preach My Gospel and getting people to go to Church - members and nonmembers. Our job is not to only baptize but to lift where we stand. I am learning some great stuff that will help me for the rest of my life.

This week we taught a lot about becoming who God wants us to be rather than what who we think we want to be, inspired by the talk from General Conference. Ser o Hacer - To be or to do. We can do the things without being. We can become the thing by doing. We become holy and pure by keeping the commandments and making sacred promises (covenants) and staying faithful to said promise. When we are baptized by someone who possesses the holy authority of God (The Aaronic or Melchizedek Priesthood), we are cleansed of our sins and we make the promise to keep the commandments and to always remember Christ. Since we are not perfect, we must renew that covenant (or make it again) by partaking of the Sacrament every week. If we do not partake of the Sacrament, the Holy Spirit will distance himself away from us until we purify ourselves. It's simple, the Spirit cannot dwell in unclean temples. We cleanse our temple (1 Corinthians 3:16-17) by repenting (which includes humbling ourselves (Mosiah 3:19)), being baptized if you haven't been and if you have, partaking of the sacrament, bearing your testimony and participating in the missionary work. The important thing is that we become like Christ - and the way we become, is to do. So let us make sure our to do switch is on now and not later. And if you have a doubt, what do you need to do to obtain an answer? The response is to ask God in the name of Christ if it is true - and if it is, the Holy Ghost will answer that prayer because it testifies of all truth.

It may sound like we've got some hard stuff to do. We do. But our Heavenly Father does not expect more than what we can give - every effort is pleasing unto him. We can make the ride and ending better by having a great attitude. BE HAPPY! The glass is half full, not half empty and it's always a good day. Look for the blessings - there are SO many. Usually they are just hidden. And what fun is it if it is obvious? Looking for them makes them all the more worth it.

Anyways, I am happy to be here and to do the Lord's work. I have SO much time to make a difference and that's what I am doing. I love you all and thanks for all that you do. "If Your Happy and You Know It" is a great song. As well as "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes!"

Love you all! Thanks for all that you do for me. :D

Elder Michael Watson

Walking on Water

Hey all!

Well, this has been interesting... Transfers are on hold for a week. I don't know if it is only for the south and the ashes from the volcano or what... but we've gotta wait a week. That's fun stuff. I hate transfers.

Wait.... yesterday was Pioneer Day? That's cool. We watched Legacy yesterday with the Vera Family. Haha. What a coink a dink.

This week we did a lot of service. We've been helping the Vera Family with their upstairs room. Putting up Dry Wall and fiberglass. Fun stuff! Haha. I can totally build a house when I get back. Well. Maybe. The cool thing is that a couple we are teaching wanted to come with us to do service. How many investigators offer to do service with us? Not many! That's WAY awesome. Anyways, that was fun.

We are really focusing on working in harmony with the members. It is MUCH more difficult but I know it's worth it. President Gulbrandsen showed us a graph.... If the mission is totally obedient and do everything they should alone, we would baptize around a 100 people a month. If we add on members helping us, that would be 200 people a month. When we get to the point where WE help the MEMBERS with the missionary work, we would have 300 baptisms a month. That means every missionary would have at least 2 baptisms a month. So we are trying to get to the second category first. It's going to require a lot of waking up on the member’s part. It's going to require a lot of change. We can't keep doing things the way we are used to doing to doing them, but it will require adaptation and effort. It's not easy to do missionary work, but it is worth it. Some of the greatest joys in life are reserved for the missionary work. As members, if we get involved with the work, doing what we can to help, not only will they be MUCH more successful, but our lives with be filled with a greater measure of the Holy Ghost. And who doesn't want that? Sure, it means we have to get out of comfort zone. We can help to save the salvation of all those who are around us and help ensure our own personal salvation and the salvation of our loved ones.

I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It has an inspired promise from God that you can read it, ponder its teachings and ask Him in the name of Jesus Christ if it is true. How great a promise! To ask the most Supreme Being in the universe that has all power and He will take the time to answer you personally. The way he will answer is personal and unique. But the Holy Ghost will testify that it is true and you can know it without a doubt. Well. That's about it for now. Next week we'll find out with if I stay or not. (Imagine a pouty face).

Love you!
--
Elder Michael C. Watson
Misión Argentina Buenos Aires Norte
La Mejor en el Mundo y Lo sabes!

Walking on Water

Well, I am going to start out with the usual phrase - It's cold. Like... I crossed the pond next to my house.... Like literally walking on water. That was a fun experience. The wind was pushing me and it was rather hard to walk. But it saved like .... 2 minutes? If that's worth it, haha.

Well, this week flew by. I was reading dad's journal entry and I realized that my journal writing is lacking.... ALOT. Gotta make that change. We had Zone Conference on Thursday by Skype. That was fun. We learned alot about having a prayer in our hearts as we are teaching and working, asking for Charity. For me it's pretty difficult to think of two things at the exact same time, but it does help you to feel the Spirit.  We also learned some great stuff. I can't wait to go over my notes with you to show you EVERYTHING that I am learning. It is so amazing.

We found a couple this week! The girlfriend is a former investigator and already had all the lessons! :D The boyfriend is amazing! Soooooo cool! :D They just have to get married and ya stá (That's it?) We've got to teach him everything, but he didn't even freak out about the law of chastity or anything. He just accepts it. The Lord is really preparing people to hear the Gospel --It's just our job to find them and teach them (it's actually part of the members´ job to help find them, but more on that later). We also have another couple that have almost completed their divorces and can get baptized in September (that may seem like a long time but they've been going to church for a year). They are really excited and so are we. :D

Well, that's about it for now. We are getting a better relationship with our branch - so that's good. And that's about it for now. Love you all. Talk to you next week!

Love,
Elder Watson #2

--
Elder Michael C. Watson
Misión Argentina Buenos Aires Norte
La Mejor en el Mundo y Lo sabes!

Learning and Teaching

Hey all!

A boring week is all right - it's good that you are healing Mom and it's good to keep Dad busy.

This week went by fine - we had lots of training meetings and lots of things to do so we were plenty busy. Being a zone leader sometimes feels like I am not a missionary - just running around and doing a LOT of errands. But hey, it's part of my responsibility now.

Yesterday was a good experience. Basically, President called early while we were sleeping so that we could get on our knees and pray for the Lord to bless the members and investigators to come to church and so that we could receive revelation on what we could do to help them get to church. After the prayer we called investigators and some members, etc. to no avail. Anyways, we gathered a report for the Zone and related it back to President. President then told us some success stories as well as his point of view on the activity - that it was a demonstration of who had oil in their lamps and who didn't. I learned that I need to be doing the small stuff daily to have the wondrous results that my Heavenly Father has planned for His children. By way of me, He can bless the lives of those who live in Seis de Abril. Now it's up to me to live up to His expectations and llevar a cabo (bring to pass) His desires for the people here. This works for everything - we need to be doing to little stuff every day so that the Lord can bless us - both in the small everyday matters and with miracles.

Elder Simper received a score of talks from his parents last week. (MAIL CAME! Thanks for all the stuff! :D) We've been listening to Michael Wilcox and he is awesome! We've listened to  - "The Fourth Watch" and "Walking on Water." Both of them are pretty sweet. I would definitely recommend listening to them - they certainly helped me out.

I've been learning more and more about becoming a missionary of action and of faith. It's been a real wake up call but it's helping me a ton. It's kind of hard for me to make decisions, but I am definitely learning (slowly but surely) of how to live the commandments rather than just follow them. It requires a LOT of action - more than I am used to but it's helping me to grow up.

Like I mentioned, I've been listening to Michael Wilcox - and he brought up a point I had never thought about. I thought that our Father might be slow to forgive or that it requires a ton of work to receive forgiveness. While it requires a lot of work, he will forgive us immediately - just like Christ taught we should forgive someone seven times a day if they are truly repentant, Heavenly Father will forgive us seven times in a day because He would not command us to do something if He does not do or had done it. Now it's not an excuse to sin - it's more of how merciful He is and His desire to help us grow. I've always been hard on the justice side of things - living the law and being perfect. While those are commandments, realizing the merciful side of our Father, it has helped me to come closer to Him. The only reason to fear His presence is if we are wicked and unrepentant. If we are striving to live the gospel, repenting as necessary, and really give all of our efforts - there is no need to fear. Just like D&C 45:3 states (I think) that Christ is our advocate and He will help us to overcome what we could not. We are not perfect - but we can be through the merits and blood of the Lamb.  I started to read 2 Nephi 9 today and thought a lot about the Atonement and apply it to one of our investigator who is waiting for a sign to be baptized. In my studies for him, I found many things that helped me - how about that -> studying for my investigators actually helps me; a fulfillment of a promise President Gulbrandsen gave to us.

I am really learning so much out here - sometimes I feel like my head will explode with so much information. But I enjoy learning. :D I hope you are well and aren't hurting a lot. I love you a lot!

Love,

Elder Michael C. Watson
Misión Argentina Buenos Aires Norte
La Mejor en el Mundo y Lo sabes!

Happy 4th of July!!!!!!!!!!! The Weather Outside is Frightful... Wait - that is Christmas Music.

So we started off this morning in a very special way. Calling the American Missionaries in our zone and singing them the Star-Spangled Banner to start off the day. :D And then we listened to a WHOLE bunch of American music - America the Beautiful, Amazing Grace..... stuff like that! :D

You also know you are in the bottom of the world when there is snow and ice on July Fourth. That's right... It SNOWED! It snowed on Friday but it's all gone - but the ice is EVER present. For instance yesterday morning I completely biffed it. It reminded me of a time when I was walking with a couple of friends at BYU where I biffed it hard when I told them I would catch them and we fell down together...(Smart thing for a California boy to say.) But this time I just hit the ground hard by myself. But it was all cool. More cold. But yea. Anyways, let's just say that's what the weather is like. COLD! I am kinda tempted to put my tongue to a metal pole to see what would happen. And then again.... that's probably not too smart.

So this week went by really fast. But it was really good. I had a really good self-analysis this week and with the help of Elder Simper I totally was able to make some decisions to better myself. We also had a leadership counsel where all the zone leaders get together to discuss what's going on in the mission and how we can get better. We are in the south so we get to participate via Skype. It was pretty neat. We have another one on Tuesday and Wednesday so that'll be fun too. We have a couple of investigators that are progressing and they have baptismal dates for the 16th. We are pretty excited to be working right now. We've got a whole bunch of good stuff going on. We talked to President this morning and that was VERY enlightening. It was amazing. He shared with us an experience he had recently when he was meditating on the Atonement and the importance of going to Church. Basically, making things short - The mathematical process of The Gospel of Jesus Christ is Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ which leads to Repentance which leads to Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins by those who hold the authority of God (Priesthood - Article of Faith 5) thereof which leads to the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying of hands by those who hold the Priesthood. After all that we keep doing the process (equation) until we die. That's the letter of the law. Now here comes the Spirit of the Law. What is Our Father's purpose for us - "To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" Moses 1:39. We gain the ETERNAL LIFE by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel. We become as the Father is by leaving the evil and cleaving unto everything that is righteous. Basically if it does not coincide with the Father, we should leave it. Now. But how can we become like the Father - again, another process. We desire to change, so we are baptized, leaving the old person behind and starting over again. We go to church to unite the family, and to further the changing process. We are literally trying to leave the natural man behind. All of him - desires, flaws, mortality. Mortality is already taken care of by the Atonement. Our desires and flaws are part of our decision to change. We decide to repent. We decide to go to Church. We choose our environment (our friends, homes, work... basically everything.) Is what we have inviting us to come unto Christ? If it doesn't, should we have it? Does it invite us to become better people? I know it's a hard decision to make - we have grown to love many things that are good. But we must think about better and then BEST. How would we feel if Jesus Christ should come into our home? Would he be comfortable? Would everything inside be appropriate for a perfect being to behold? There might be a lot of sacrifice involved - but I declare unto you that it is worth it. It is worth every bit - why? Eternal Life and Eternal Progression are things that are not worth giving up. Having the eternal guilt that things COULD have been better? Not for me. The mission has changed a lot of my points of view - but I have one goal- to become as close unto Christ as I possible can. I won't be perfect - but I can try to be. You may ask, what's the point if you cannot do it in this life? My point is that you reap what you sow. You spend your whole life sowing, you will spend eternity reaping the benefits. Is that worth 100 years of hard work? You Betcha. We are in the world but we are not of the world.

So yea. I've been realizing a lot of great things and I hope I am helping your testimonies to grow and flourish. I know I am not perfect and I do not know a lot - but I do know this - Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. He died for me. All He asked me to do is to take my cross and follow Him - be obedient, follow His example, do my best and let every thought glorify the Father. Easy, right? If it was easy, it wouldn't be of God. The things he requires are simple, but yet so difficult. May we always choose to do what is right (CTR). To judge the right from the wrong is as plain as day from night. Now choosing to act upon what is right is the test.

I love you all. I really do. I know I come down hard every email. I am sorry if I offend anyone. If you feel hurt or angry, I apologize. But I also ask and even invite you to do something if you feel so. What is it that makes you hurt? Is it in accordance with the Savior and His teachings? I make mistakes of which I am fully aware. But my belief and resolve is this - that we leave the natural man and become like a child - submissive, meek, humble, willing to submit to all things. Leaving is a process. You have to unlock the door, turn the handle, pull open the door, step through and close the door. (Locking it is a GREAT idea) But as we are leaving the bad and cleaving unto the good, please don't look back. And ripping off the Band-Aid is much better than slowly tugging. Just keep your sight forward to the goal - Eternal Life with our Family and loved ones, our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ and our Beloved Heaven Father. May we do this, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

_ _
Elder Michael C. Watson
Misión Argentina Buenos Aires Norte
La Mejor en el Mundo y Lo sabes!