Hola Mamía y familia!

Elder Jolley and Elder Lopez in Bosques

¿Cómo están? Feliz día de San. Patricio! Ha little different, but el mismo sentido no? Me and another elder americano in our Pinch had fun celebrating yesterday the best we could. We wore our green ties and that was about it! It isn´t really a huge "holiday" here. We pinched los latinos in our apartment for not having green and they kinda got bugged.. oops! Guess it´s something that stays there en casa.

We´ve had a great week! Elder Lopez is a stud and we get along really well. He´s got a funny humor so we spend the whole day laughing which has been really fun. Bosques is TOTALLY different than La Plata. Fa! It´s like I´ve gone to a completely different mission! The biggest difference is just how the area is.. a lot of dift streets and tons of streets. In La Plata I got a little lazy and sometimes got used to taking taxis.. so now I´m paying for that, ha I´m super tired! We´re working hard to find new people here. We tried working last week with old investigators and didn´t really find any success with that so we´ve got like 29 pages of less active members that we´re gonna go through and try and rescue some souls! I´m excited, it´ll get me to know the area si o si! I´m locating myself a bit more everyday, but still have the great risk of getting lost if I were here solo! Dad asked if I stayed as Zone Leader, that´s a yes for ya! Unless President Thurgood changes things when he comes I should stay a zone leader until I leave. I like it! I´m always learning new and better ways to work and especially love the missionaries that we have in the zone! We´ve got some incredible Elders right now in our zone! Our zone is one of the leaders in the mission as far as baptismal fechas so you can imagine the quality of Elders we´re talking about! Haha I´m excited to be here and to learn how to be more like them!

Ah so you guys heard about el Papa! Bergoglio el Argentino! We had heard about that earlier in the week. To be honest it wasn´t that big at all.. All the Catholics recognized i,t but it was super indifferent. Everyone is "Catholic" here but how involved you are is another story. It was cool! :) GO Papa!

Had a cool experience this last week, a guy came to Buenos Aires from the MTC in Provo to do some evaluations here and I started asking him about home and he said that he knows President Nally and also that he has done some evaluations with Ryan in the MTC!! Small world. We had lunch with him and had a great time talking about how things are going back home and he really helped us learn about our Missionary Purpose! Sounds like there is a ton of changes in the Missionary Program and from the sound of our ward, things are seriously picking up!

Getting low on time! I hope that you guys have a great week. This week I´ve learned a lot about the Atonement and how to trust more in the Savior, how important it is to trust Him! I also learned that our prayers are heard and we´re always being taught. I´ve been praying and working to be more understanding and loving in my life and in my work. Sometimes it has felt like I´m ALONE! Some of the hardest times where we ask, "God, where art thou??" This week it was like that. The Atonement for me isn´t just an event that the Savior passed through in His life, but it´s a power that He obtained to help us and lift our burdens. Instead of focusing on bringing the "event" of the atonement in my life, I´ve learned to allow the Savior Himself to enter and allow His spirit be apart of my day. When I can do that, then I see the true affects of the Atonement of Jesus Christ take place in my life. I couldn´t learn that until I was willing to recognize HIM as the only one capable of helping me and of course being humble enough to do it in His way. It´s a process that´ll take a lifetime but how grateful I am for my mission that is teaching these eternal truths and practices!

Hope you all can allow the Savior to come into your lives and try and be more like He is. By doing so the Atonement can mean something more in each of our lives. I know that it´s true. :)

Elder Jolley

(Editor's note: Eler Jolley did not send any specific info about his pictures.)

Elder Jolley and a little friend

 

A ride on the train

 

Elder Jolley and Elder Jarvis with an Argentine family

 

Elder Jolley and Elder Jarvis with the members

 

Elder Jarvis and Elder Jolley with member missionaries

Hi Family!

Ah, how good to be writing you all! Thanks for your emails and thanks for your love... Thinking of you all and having in mind what we value has been a strength that I can´t explain. Kendyl, congrats on your championship!! :) 1 down, tons to go! Haha and Skyler.. ;) good! I loved seeing the house, I think I remember seeing that back when I ran around the neighborhood. I like it! :) The grass.. make sure you get some good fertilizer down this month!

Well it´s been a funny week, I´m exhausted! Right now in the mission we are improving our Faith in order to receive miracles in our lives, so wanting to help our zone get the idea we put the goal with our District Leaders that every area would be have an exchange and be focused on how we´ll be more sanctified and what miracles we´re looking for. I had some incredible experiences and we´re hoping to have great results come from it. I really love the story of the Brother of Jared, how hard he worked to complete a commandment of the Lord. What is even more impressive is his surety that he had qualified for the Lord's blessings:

2 O Lord, thou hast said that we must be encompassed about by the floods. Now behold, O Lord, and do not be angry with thy servant because of his weakness before thee; for we know that thou art holy and dwellest in the heavens, and that we are unworthy before thee; because of the fall our natures have become evil continually; nevertheless, O Lord, thou hast given us a commandment that we must call upon thee, that from thee we may receive according to our desires.

3 Behold, O Lord, thou hast smitten us because of our iniquity, and hast driven us forth, and for these many years we have been in the wilderness; nevertheless, thou hast been merciful unto us. O Lord, look upon me in pity, and turn away thine anger from this thy people, and suffer not that they shall go forth across this raging deep in darkness; but behold these things which I have molten out of the rock.

4 And I know, O Lord, that thou hast all power, and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man; therefore touch these stones, O Lord, with thy finger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness; and they shall shine forth unto us in the vessels which we have prepared, that we may have light while we shall cross the sea.

5 Behold, O Lord, thou canst do this. We know that thou art able to show forth great power, which looks small unto the understanding of men.

That's the idea, that we all can do our part and humbly go before the Lord with the surety that He will "touch" our understanding and show us how to do as He has asked.

Unfortunately I´ll only be able to hear the results. On Saturday we got a call from Presidente Stapley and got our transfers. I have left Villa Elvira. :( I´m now in an area called Bosques in a city called Florencio Varela. My new companion is from Uruguay, a capo named Elder Lopez! He has one transfer left and is working hard. When I came here he was telling me about all the work that they´ve done and all they hope to keep accomplishing. Saying goodbye yesterday to investigators and members was weird. It was a total flash back to Fiorito! I think I felt the same and right now I look forward to working very hard to get to know the area, members and keep the work going here. I live in a 4 man apartment again, it´s a nice place! Bosques is a LOT different than La Plata, it reminds me more of Longchamps- a little bit more open, lots of trees and it's a little bit of a poorer area. The people are very nice, today I´ve been saying hi to everyone and ya get a warm hello in return. I am totally lost right now as far as direction goes, but that´ll change. We live pretty close to the train station and I think the church too?, so that´ll be convenient. I´m excited to get to know the place and especially the members.

Well, short on time. Gotta get going, but want you to know that I love profundamente al Señor y se que Él nos ama. Al ir a la Iglesia nosotros somos alimentados por al resto de la semana. Llegué a querer y comprender aun mas la Capilla esta semana. Las cosas que aprendimos fueron las cosas que yo esperaba. I know that our Heavenly Father restored His church and the fulness of His Gospel to help us find our way in life. All my love!

Elder Jolley

Hey guys! :)

Thanks for all the emails.. sounds like everyone is moving up there. Kinda crazy all the changes, but glad that it´s still the same family right? We´ve got transfers this week. I´m not sure if I´m gonna leave.. I´ve been here for a while so the idea of leaving seems weird just cause Villa Elvira where it's at! We´ve got a lot of changes right now in the mission, getting ready for President Thurgood, we´re trying to get everything top notch and ready for when he and Hermana Thurgood arrive! There a ton of zone leaders going now in the next 3 transfers so anything could happen. I´m kinda in between everything, I´d love to get to know another area and start fresh somewhere, but I also know that there is still a lot that I can do here! It´s nice knowing a lot about the area, you can measure your efforts and see where more is needed and where you can continue working hard. There is always a lot of care that the Lord's vineyard needs! This last week we´ve been trying to tighten loose ends and get ourselves to the point where we´re able to work hard and be effective. With the baptism of Abril we spent a lot of time with the members of our ward. We´ve been doing new things with them to help them be more involved in missionary work. The Lord has truly blessed us to have "special events" where members can bring their friends and invite them to get to know the church! So.. hay que aprovechar! :) The baptism of Abril was SO good! Miracles por todos lados.. wow! Unfortunately la abuela de la Hna. Ortiz Martinez passed away this last week so it has been an especially trying week for them. In the end though it was awesome being able to help them feel the spirit of Christ in these hard times.

We´ve been working hard to help more and more get to know our message- we´ve got a lot of room to grow, but thank heaven we´ve got the gospel right!? :) We´re happy, healthy and dedicated to the work of the Lord! We´ve gotta get going right now, but I´ll have more for you guys next week! Love ya tons!

Elder Jolley

A BAPTISM!! :)

Heey!! What changes the Lord can make in a week!! The whole time factor iscrazy... just nuts but if we are seeking the Lord's will and following His spirit, wow how effective our time will be!! This week we had an incredible Zone Conference about "La Fe hasta Milagros" the whole theme of this conference was to understand faith and be able to have the desires to do hard things! (easier talked about than applied). For most of the week I had been study and reviewing my notes and trying to take everything in and doing everything and become a Son of Mosiah... Slow down! It became difficult. I learned about Pavilions that come between us and God! What is most important is that we are listening and seek His guidance in our lives and not putting other motives above our Heavenly Fathers. He knows what we need and knows when and why He does things. What a special trial!! Later in the week, thinking back on the things that happened I was filled with gratitude for a firm knowledge that Jesus Christ is real! As we never loose sight of that we can do hard things and we are promised that those who build upon the Rock of Christ "will not fall."

Alma 38
4 For I know that thou wast in bonds; yea, and I also know that thou wast stoned for the word’s sake; and thou didst bear all these things with patience because the Lord was with thee; and now thou knowest that the Lord did deliver thee.

5 And now my son, Shiblon, I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

Well as for the week, we were busy getting things ready for Florencias baptism! Couldn´t love the Flia. Cejas more! This family is so special and has come so far.. complete change in who they are! A couple months ago the family was in wrecks and for having accepted the Gospel and applied it in their lives they have all been baptized, re-activated in the church and have goals on getting SEALED as a family!!! :) The baptism was great, Florencia had a wonderful experience and as of today left for Buenos Aires with the Young Men and Young Women to do baptisms for the dead for 3 days!! Ha baptism, confirmation, temple ordinances... not a bad weekend for her! We are thrilled!! Her brother Agustine is a member and at the baptism has been a little rebellious, he comes to the church but it´s a matter of "getting the toe wet and jumping into the water" I was sitting with him during the baptism and at one moment you saw his face change, I asked him afterwards what happened at that moment and he told, "che, algo me tocó en ese bautismo.." The next day he had an interview with the bishop and later took the decision to "jump in" and was ordained a Priest! Haha. I love being a missionary!

The coming week, we have another baptism of a little girl (9 years old como Draya) named Abril who is getting baptized! We´ve been working also with her and her family! The flia. Ortiz Martinez. We were happy this last week, we invited them to come to a couple ward activities that we had. They got to know more members and I believe had a great time. We had to leave before the activity even started.. sometimes activities start really late here so it doesn´t exactly fly with mission schedule. But they stayed and hung our with our amazing members! The ward loves this family and are super excited to support Abril next week in her baptism!

I wish I could let you guys in on everything that goes on but.. time doesn´t stop!! We´re going right now to a Zone Activity at the church! :) A little Fútsibol!

Have a great week! Know HOW MUCH I love you guys and thank you for everything!
Elder Jolley

Elder Jarvis and Elder Jolley enjoyed some hot dogs over the stove

The Florencias baptism

Hi Family! :)

Feliz Cumple Dray!! :) 9 years old ya.. Wow! I can only imagine how much you´ve grown!

What a week! We´ve been bastante occupied.. We´ve had a ton of things that have come up this week that have kind of gotten in the way of being able to work. Elder Jarvis had to take care of some visa issues so we had to make a couple trips up the Buenos Aires. A bad feeling was had for the train after this week.. demasiado tiempo sentado! Ha it was a lot of traveling and a lot of time that we didn´t think we were going to have to take. It gave us a great opportunity to work on our contacts though. When we got to certain station close to La Plata we decided to get up and start talking with the people. I wish you guys could have the train experience in Argentina. There are tons of vendedores.. people that sell random things.. that hop on and walk through the whole train giving there little shpeel and then the get off. One after the other they follow in this line and each has there opportunity to catch the attention of the people. It is amazing all the different types of people that you see, the different voices and how each gives their presentation. Well one of our goals as missionaries is to catch the attention of the people and make them happy right.. so the 2 Mormon Americans hop in line and take part in the sales line! :) It helped us a lot and was fun at the same time! There is always something good that you can do when bummer situations come.

We were sad that we didn´t get to do a whole lot of visits this week, it really put a slower feel to the work here. We are super excited for another couple baptisms that we´re gonna be having this week! Florencia, the daughter of the Flia. Cejas this week is going to be baptized. It has been so great to see her progress. When we first were meeting with this family she was so shy, or just didn´t want to participate at all because she stayed in her room the whole time that we were there. A few weeks ago she started to come and listen a little bit more and when she told us that she wanted to get baptized we were SO happy! She has been watching her family change and knows that it comes from God. She also has been reading and praying and has been able to feel the spirit in her life and personally has been able to make changes like her family. She still is super quiet but it´s a ton better. We´ve been working with the Young Men/Young Women program in our ward to help her feel welcomed to the church. Los Jovenes have been great missionaries, they´ve gone to look for her for mutual and also gone to visit her and read scriptures! That is one thing that Villa Elvira has, our members are incredible. Abril is la hija de la familia Ortiz Martinez. She came up to us on Sunday and told us that she decided that she wants to be baptized. She has 9 years and talks like she's 30. She is super smart and on several visits she asked us to talk to her not like a little child but a grown up... well excuse me! :) haha. We´ll be finishing up teaching her and we´re hoping that she´ll be the foundation for her family, that through her desire to go to church also her family will continue to make their way back in the church.

On Saturday we had a sweet activity in our Stake. The area presidency has started a program called "Visitor Center in the Chapel." They want to bring the same spirit that is felt in Salt Lake to those who live in Argentina. It is an amazing program and the spirit was felt so strong! I gained a huge respect for Sister missionaries. After standing there, my feet hurt! Fa.. I felt like a baby, but it takes some skill to know how to stand for hours! What Elder Jarvis and I were able to do is give a little presentation at the Baptismal Font. Groups of people would come in and we would take 10 minutes and teach them about the Ordinance of Baptism and help the people feel the spirit. With a few investigators that came they were touched so greatly by the spirit of the chapel and the whole program that they accepted a baptismal date then and there! What a special experience! :) It went from 4-8 on Saturday and really was a huge help for us there.

Well family I´m out of time, but I wanted to thank you for your letters and for all the things that you guys are doing there to be such a great example to me here!

Love you guys tons!
Elder Jolley

 Damian Avila and his little sister Mité's baptism

 Visitor Center in the Chapel Program

A BAPTISM!!! :) Wahoo!

Hey family! ah.. how refreshing to have a baptism. The Lord really has taken us for a great "journey" to be able to get to this point. I took a minute today and thought back on everything that the Lord has put in our path to first take us to the bottom, second to purify us, and last to become the missionaries that He needed us to be. Words can´t explain how grateful I am for these last 6 months. I wouldn´t trade them for the world, but it sure was time for a baptism! Haha. Damian Avila (el hijo de la familia Cejas) and his little sister Mité made the decision to get baptized this last week. The original plan was to wait for the whole family, but as we taught them about the blessings or baptisms they made the decision to get baptized before so that their family would be more fully blessed by the spirit of the Lord in their house! Damian is 9 and Mité is 8.. they are awesome kids and it turned out to be an excellent baptismal service! The stake primary choir (super official right!..) came and sung for them and were there to welcome them into the primary. We had a few investigators there and we all felt the spirit really strong. I believe I told you about Karina and her son Jhordan (shordan). They were able to be in the baptism, afterwards I talked a little bit with Karina and she said that she had never seen something so beautiful and the whole time just felt joy! She is progressing incredibly!! From the first time she prayed she had her answer that this is the Lord's church and that it´s true and from that moment she has been super sensitive to the spirit and can recognize it in her life! The baptism went really really well and look forward to the end of the month when another daughter of the familia Cejas will be baptized. I loved the testimony of her mom in the baptism, " Estoy re feliz que mis hijos hayan tomado este decisión para bautizarse y que por medio del Evangelio nuestra familia es cada vez más unida. Espero el día cuando nos sellemos como familia!" GENIAL!! They have the Gospel as their base and the temple as their goal! :)

Sigo en Villa Elvira! :) I´m super excited to be doing another transfer in Villa Elvira and SO excited to be working with Elder Jarvis, my new companion. We´ve known each other in the mission. (When I first got to Argentina he was in my district.) He is a stud Elder with a lot of ganas para trabajar and continue the work here. He just got called to be a Zone Leader so I´m thrilled to hear his fresh ideas! He is from Mesa, Arizona. A heads up for the Nielsons, he and his family are Mountain View Torros! I don´t know if they would know the Jarvis Family?? I´m super excited for the new transfer. This one is only gonna be 4 weeks because of changes in the mission program so RIGHT TO WORK for us! :)

Elder Villalba ya se fue.. wow it was super hard to say goodbye to him. In the end we became super good friends and we saw and felt the Lord's hand many times while we served. It was also a weird transfer meeting having to see 4 of my 6 companions head home. Elder Lewis, Elder Merritt, Elder Mines and Elder Villalba are all headed home together... I´m left a little solo.

Well family we´ve got a packed afternoon and we gotta get to work. I wanted to share with you guys a couple scriptures I found on Sunday. We talked in Sunday School about the fall of Adam and Eve. I am so grateful that they did!! We learned that by them falling the marvelous Plan of God was put into play and because of their separation we now can know about the merciful gift of the Atonement. As we talked about how it must have felt for them to have experienced spiritual and physical death, I thought a lot about the many times in our lives when we feel like we "die" or for one reason or another are separated from God's love. It happens a lot. In Moses 5 the angel of the Lord teaches Adam what the "remedy" for our personal falls is- the Savior of the World. I love Moses 5:10-12

10 And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God.

11 And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient. 

12 And Adam and Eve blessed the name of God, and they made all things known unto their sons and their daughters.

Gracias a la Expiación de Cristo nosotros podemos encontrar gozo en nuestras vida y ser consolados por todas las bendiciones que nos proporciona el Salvador. I know that it is true. I have felt this redemption in my life and have been redeemed of the fall and with all my heart I want everyone to feel as I do. We must continue with steadfast faith in Christ until the end! This is the true church and the Book of Mormon was written to convince us the Jesus is the Christ- it has that evidence.

Have a great week! Love you ALL tons! :)
Elder Jolley

Hello family!! :)

Who knew it was superbowl weekend??.. hmm. Hope that you are all doing well! I´m short on time this week.. so sorry. With this being Elder Villalbas last week we´ve been taking care of different things (cleaning the apartment...) we´re kept busy! Elder Villalba is such a stud.. so proud of the Gaucho! He is such a good buddy and I´m sad to see him leave but couldn´t be more grateful for the time that we´ve been together. In Villa Elvira we´re working harder than ever and "I believe in Miracles", the Lord has truly opened up the heavens for us! We had one of the most incredible Sundays. We had 5 Investigators show up in church and 2 less active families!! Some of the hardest trials that we´ve had is having the people be interested in the Gospel message. They are free to accept or reject what we teach. This week we´ve found more people that are READY and INTERESTED in the Gospel!! :) what an incredible joy that that has brought into my life! The familia Ortiz Martinez, such capos, came to church and were able to get to know members and just be in the chapel after many years! They have hit some speed bumps, but I know that they are willing. Each time we go I´m convinced more and more that we were sent to their home! Their daughter Abril accepted a baptismal date for the 23 of February.. I was on an exchange the day that they invited her with some Elders in our Zone but was so happy to hear about it! That same day Elder Villalba and his companion contacted a reference that we received named Carla. When I was with Elder Mines we had seen her a
couple times but as far as teaching we never were able to get very far. When they passed by though she told them that she wanted to listen to our message and said she was willing to prepare herself to get baptized as well!! :) Ha.. viste?? Last night we finished our day and our weekly goals with a lesson that an hermana in our ward had set up for us. She had a friend named Martina, she is a single mom with the cutest little daughter named Zoe.  Martina went to church yesterday and said that she would love to talk with us. We talked to her about the things that happen in our lives and the decisions that we can end up taking. We felt to share with her the experience of the Sons of Mosiah:

24 For, said he, I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit.

25 And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters;

26 And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.

She had been looking for a change of perspective spiritually and when we invited her to prepare to be baptized she willingly accepted. My favorite moment of the day was the prayer that she gave at the end of the lesson. We had explained to her that when we pray we will know that God hears and answers us by the feelings that come to our hearts. She began to pray and in the middle of the prayer just stopped... for a moment it was just silent but then she continued and finished the prayer. After we asked what had happened, she said that she had felt something different than anything she´s ever felt before that made her feel so good inside. Wow! My testimony that the Lord works with us is so strong. I honestly say that "as to my own strength (or ability) I am weak" but the Lord is capable to do all things! He really has opened up the windows of Heaven for us. I am eternally grateful and filled with so much love for my Savior. I know that this church is true and will go forward in the time and ways of the Lord! It is better that way!

Love ya family! :)
Elder Jolley