Pictures (Mom's Highlight)!

Our beautiful chapel

Labor Day asado, Rosa is standing by us. On the right are two of the 5 Tobares boys that came and Faustino (my converts)

Presidents breakfast, we ate like kings and queens!

Great job keeping my head down

Me crying

Pictures

Beautiful never ending vineyard

Winery, on our tour

Our zone at algodon

Little Fruit stands that are everywhere, tons of fruit!

Zone Conference

May 3, 2010

Hey momma! Had a busy crazy week here in Alvear. The mission changed cell phone services which isn´t a big deal for most but for us that live a billion miles away it made things interesting. I had to travel to San Rafael alone! So weird being alone for a whole hour and a half I felt like an alien. We´re always with our companions 24/7 so that was weird. I had to round up every cell phone from the elders here in alvear and take them to san rafael where they were taken to mendoza where i had to wait all day for the zone leaders to get back with the new phones. Weve got em all now but man was it tough to go without a phone for a day and a half. We talked about how technology is really changing the face of missionary work, i can see how much different it was only 15-20 years ago when they didn´t have cell phones to confirm meetings, appt´s, etc! We had the baptism Saturday that was successful. Rosa is going to get baptised this saturday, she had a few things she had to work out. We´re really excited for her, she´s a great lady. I´ve developed such a strong love for the people here. Especially those that we work closely with. I am really praying for Rosa to be able to be baptised Saturday because i feel like this is very possibly my last weekend in Alvear. Transfers are next wednesday! I loved the grad pictures, CONGRATS! I know and remember all too well the stressful nights you had studying and you totally deserve it! Looks like a fun day, and i´m seeing in every picture Kyler is in that my wardrobe is in full use! PUNK! It´s karma that he rolled his ankle :) hehe. I feel good today, things seem to change daily if not hourly. I´m on such an emotional rollercoster here, i´m trying to keep it all together haha. Its just how the mission is. Satan is definitely working against us, but we are working equally as hard to bring this work forward. Its so amazing to see the light in peoples eyes and to see people change their lives. You´ll have to remind me to tell you about Faustino when we talk on Sunday. I´m planning on calling from here at about 8 30 Argentine time, so it should be 5 30 at home. I´ve got the 2 calling cards that are a bit less than an hour so i won´t have too much time and i´m not in mendoza this time where i can go buy more. So it´s those two cards no more! Anyways I´m super excited to talk to ya! Talk to ya sunday! GO JAZZ!

April 26, 2010

I´m excited that your graduating! I bet your so very very exciting. Pres. Lindahl wrote you a letter?! What else did he tell you? Do they send stuff out often to you? I´ve always been interested to know if they did that or no. I´m so mad that the computers we´re using today don´t have the capacity to send pictures because I did the unthinkable last P day. We were in San Rafael after conference and stayed the night for P day as usual after conference. We were deciding what to do. We heard that the San Rafael Zone was going to this place called Algodon Wine Estates. It´s a big vineyard and wine factory that apparently is in the process of building a resort there. So we headed of in a bus to Algodon. We walked through some BEAUTIFUL vineyards to get to the wine factory. As we come up we see a sign.... it says GOLF COURSE, BODEGA with an arrow. I ALMOST DIED. I ran to see if it was true and it surely was.... beautiful green grass, with a hole in the ground and a stick coming out of it with a yellow flag on top. It couldn´t have looked more majestic, I felt like a needed a Zanex again. Elder Leal captured the moment with pictures of me crying on the green. I went straight to the pro shop and reasoned with them to let me rent the only left handed club they had, an old rusted out 6 iron. And then i paid 10 pesos to hit 50 golf balls. My life is complete.. i can die now. HAHA! But really it was so great, I´ll never forget it. They thought they could keep me away from the game but they were WRONG! Hehehe. I hit a couple beauty's, only after i whiffed on the first swing! I´ve got pictures of it all. We kept going to the restaurant and as we´re walking out comes a familiar figure we all know... Pres Lindahl! We were all kinda like... what the crap?! But apparently Pres and Hna Lindahl always stay there when they travel to San Rafael for Conference. He paid for the 35 of us to eat a FIRST CLASS breakfast. With fruit plates and scrambled eggs. They brought it out all nicely and the fruit was sliced and places so that it looked like food art. I felt like i was in the states for a moment. They had some clay and grass tennis courts as well. This place was wayyyy out of place here in Argentina, just super super super nice! It was great. Anyways we also have a good note of news. This saturday we´re baptizing 2 little kids from previous inactive families, and a really awesome lady named Rosa. She´s an incredible women whose been so prepared to receive the gospel. She´s a spunky little old lady. 65, and drives a pink car, and has bleach blonde short spikey hair. She´s got such a sweet character, and is caring and loving. She´s going to be a great member here in Alvear. We talk soon!!! I´m so excited, i´ve got the calling cards and everything. Not sure when we´ll call the 9th is a busy day for us. It´s stake conference, and we´re hoping to have a baptism that day as well. But i´m sure excited!!! Love you all so much keep me updated!!! Andrew Campbell emailed me and is a bank teller now for a bank, and tested out 16 credits at USU in spanish! Looks like this spanish really will be a blessing to me if i keep working hard here! Be good!

Elder Campbell

April 19, 2010

So hello from San Rafael! We just finished up with zone conference and it was absolutely amazing. I always leave feeling like a new person. Things I learn in these conferences I´ll take for all of my life. President is really teaching us how to be men, or women in the case for the Hermanas. He´s an amazing man, I´ll never take for granted every second I have to learn from him. The scary thing about the whole thing is that his wife Hna Lindahl is probably a better public speaker. She has everyone in the chapel with wet eyes every single time she speaks. Incredible! I won´t forget about telling you the story about the little girl, no worries! It´s all written down in my journal. We´ve actually had our heart ripped out this week with her situation. Her mom an inactive Catholic refuses to sign her papers for baptism and says her daughter can´t be baptised. So sad, I´ve shed some tears and spent a lot of time praying for her, satan is working. The sad thing is that the mom is never even home, she´s never seen how special of a spirit her daughter really has. I´m just praying for the opportunity to speak to her one time, i know that the spirit will testify to her. The opposition truly is working hard against us. We just have to keep fighting the good fight. With the Lord on our side, and working in his work we know that we´ll always come out on top, sooner or later. President and I have been talking alot about life after the mission, things I want to do and goals that I have here in the mission as well as out. I´m starting to prioritize and feel like I´m saving my own life out here. I´m loving every second of it as well. I believe my time with Elder Leal will be short, he´s a really great missionary and is ready to take his own area. Sadly, i am selfish and have absolutely loved having such a dedicated yet easy fun loving companion. It makes life so less complicated when your happy. I´ve made the decision to be happy no matter what happens to me here in the mission. Most days we feel battered and bruised mentally, but there is always that day that you find one of God´s elected people, and it makes it so worth it! I got my package today! Totally loved it. Anyways, the relief society president washes our clothes for us. The people that are well off have these ghetto washer things, but everything here is basically hang dried unless your a baller. I searched and searched for cameras, finding sadly that olympus cameras here are all over 1000 pesos. So i ended up buying a cheap Samsung for 700 pesos (the cheapest i could find). I´m not liking how the bank looks, it killed me to buy it. But thank you for it and I think you´ll enjoy the pictures just as I will. I´ll definitely send some next week! Love you all so much, take it easy. Stay safe and say your prayers!

Elder Carson Campbell

Chicos April 11, 2010

i attached the final photo taken by the camera. Beautiful view next to the house of the Tobares boys that we baptised.

April 12, 2010

Sounds like Utah and snow in April! How stupid it is! Haha, we had a really good week of work here in Alvear. I´m really enjoying having a companion that can speak spanish really well. It´s so much funner to teach and talk to people in the street when we can both speak well. A definite transition from training. That was so hard! Now i´m here in a new situation and new responsibilities! Elder Leal is a good missionary and we´re having fun together. We found a lot of people ready to hear the gospel and this saturday we have a baptism of a little 10 year old girl whose father we just reactivated. She wants to be baptised so badly and is such a sweet spirit. I told you last week that we had an amazing experience with her in our first lesson in their small little home. I´ll have to tell you that story when i get home. The mom of Jazmin is Catholic and is giving us a hard time. She doesn´t let us in when she is home, and we still have to wait this week to see if she will give her permission to be baptised. The father can sign her papers but we feel like we really need the approval of the mother. She doesn´t know about the church, and she has never been. Shes just from a Catholic tradition laden family like the millions here in Argentina. She isn´t active in her own church but for some reason is being a bit hard. We´re praying and fasting that she will open her heart so that her daughter can be baptised saturday. I had my first district meeting as a district leader last week and it went well. Life is a little more hecktic in leadership positions. You have your area and everything that brings as far as responsibility, then caring about the other areas as well and trying your best to help the missionarys in your district. It´s been challenging and I feel a bit overwhelmed at times but i know the lord is helping me and i´m just trying to have as much fun as possible and wear a smile in every moment I can. I didn´t know if you were realizing buuuut, Mothers Day is soon coming! The Hermana´s had a conference in Mendoza and I was smart and had them buy me two calling cards that we used last time. I believe the 9th is mothers day right? Thats the last day of the transfer! I´m excited to talk to you! On a sad note, the camera slowly by slowly stopped working. It´s 100 percent done now and wont even turn on :( I don´t know if we have any money at home to buy a new one. I know I can buy them here for the same price as back home, so if you want me to be able to send pictures home still or are making a mission scrap book tell me if you can afford to put a few hundred dollars on my card and I´ll start looking for a cheap olympus camera. I´m thinking I´ll have to buy some sweaters here shortly as well. They cost bout 140 pesos for decent ones, so about 30-40 bucks. I know i have some money on the card now but i really wanted to have that in case of an emergency. Anyways let me know about that next week! I love you so very much i´m short on time and have to go. Hermana Lindhal started a challenge in the mission to read the book of mormon in 64 days (the same amount of time it was translated in by Joseph Smith). The mission provided us with english investigator copys with two highlighters, blue for doctrine, and red for the words of christ. She´s also challenged us to do this yearly with a new copy and pick different topics to highlight for the rest of our lives. And to buy a bookshelf to keep all the book of mormons over the years. Kind of a neat deal she´s doing. Anyways got to go. Love you all, and I´m praying nightly for you. Tell me whats going on in the home!

Elder Campbell

April 5, 2010

What a crazy week here in Argentina. Holy Week is very heavily celebrated here as you can imagine being a very Catholic country. The Catholic church had activities every day in the big plaza in front of their church. Friday they actually had a man dressed as Christ carry a cross down main street. The whole city followed behind somberly, many crying. I think it´s so sad how lost these people are. yes they are showing their respect to their Savior I can respect that. But what is sad is that Easter Sunday everything was back to normal, everyone back to work. They focus so much on the death of Christ, his crucifix, the crying and wailing of all the women here, and seemingly forget or overpass the most important part of the atonement. THAT HE ROSE, THAT HE LIVED! That he broke the chains of death that held us bound! He gave us eternal life! It´s the reason we don´t wear the cross, because we celebrate his life, and the fact that he lives now. Proselyting has been nearly impossible this week especially because we had transfers and General Conference. Elder Leal is a funny guy, we are so polar opposites which is what makes our companionship so fun. He loves super heros, pokemon, and that sort of stuff. He is really talented with clay and makes his own figures of spiderman, and batman and all those guys. I´ve been enlightened as to the life story of spiderman but i just find it so awesome that I have the opportunity to life with someone from another continent, so different than me and that we together have one cause. To find Christs children! Our little pench is packed full again today. The new zone leaders came into town with the other elders from Alvear and surrounding areas. We´re having a big meeting tonight to start of the new transfer strong. We´re going to go play some soccer at the church and make french toast for lunch :) oh young boys and our amazing cooking skills! Being a district leader has already brought its new responsibilities and challenges. I have some Hermana missionaries in my district and its a running joke that no one wants to be a district leader over Hermanas haha. It´s been fun, and I´m learning a lot giving advice about their areas and finding ways to help them with their work. General Conference was absolutely amazing wasn´t it?! Conference here for us is like Christmas. We all get giddy, and especially here in Alvear. We all have to go to the stake center to watch it and we´re all so spread out that the other elders had to travel in for the two days and sleep in our tiney tiney pench. I´d say general conference is as close as you can get to anything ´vacation´ish´ for us. We had a big long table set up and we cooked our lunches together in the chapel in between sessions. Everyone brought their own food and we basically had a smorgasbord of goodies. One elder in our zone, Elder Briceño from Peru is a cook, he went to culinary school before the mission. He cooked up an amazing lunch yesterday for us!! The members brought a tv and we hooked it up and another separate room and watched the broadcast in English for us gringo missionaries. I´ll send some pictures. Conference really central ed on Love. I think its a sign of the times. The apostles are worried. The scriptures say that in the last days ´even the hearts of men will fail them´, how much were we spoken to about having soft hearts and being loving in everything that we do?? SO MUCH! The world revolves around love. Without it there is no restored church, no atonement, and no eternal life. Without love missionary work does not go forth. Without Love we are nothing! I think last week i wrote you some quotes about love. I spoke about it last week in sacrament. Anyways, absolutely LOVED conference! This week is a big one for us. We have a few investigators that are close, and just need that last push from the spirit to join the church. It´s possible that Saturday we´ll have a baptism but all in the lords will. We also are on the hunt for a bigger pench, direct orders from the mission home. So we´ll see how that goes as well. I feel like i´m a seasoned vet at finding homes now since Chesley and I had to do so in Trapiche. Anyways have an amazing week, I love you all and am praying for you daily. If you only knew how much i think about you all!! Besitos!

Elder Carson Campbell