1st Baptism!!!!

Well today was a fantastic week!!!! On Sunday we had my first Baptism which was so cool! A 9 year old girl names Valentina! She is so awesome! But her baptism was quite funny... 

So I got the chance of baptizing her which was so cool! But little did I know, she was scared of water... She spent like 4 mins just walking down into the font and calming down and then after the prayer like 10-11 mins freaking out! It was sooooo long hahahaha! But finally she trusted me and she was baptized!!! It was such a great experience!!

Then to top off the best day ever we found 2 golden investigators!!! Walter and Nora! They are about 50 years old have 4 kids and are married!! Yes they are married! I repeat, married! Its a real problem down here haha! But seriously, we gave walter a folleto at his gate and then just asked if we could come in and talk more! He lets us in and we talked to him and his wife for no kidding over 2 hours!!! It was seriously the greatest thing ever! The entire time they were so intrigued and wanting to know more! They asked so many great questions! The gift of tongues is so real! Spanish is sooo hard all the time but during the lesson I was able to speak so much better! After teaching them the lesson we asked if we could pray with them, us first and then them, to ask if these things we have said were true! And their response was, "we already know these things are true, we have no doubts!" hahahaha it was awesome!!! We prayed anyways, all 4 of us said a prayer and the spirt was so strong! Nora started crying. It was awesome! They both agreed to be baptized on the 12th of February! I am so excited for them!

So ya Argentina is great! I love it here and the food is soooo good! I eat a ton for lunch which is needed because breakfast is super small and dinner is non existent haha! Right now I eat .25 of a potato, some oatmeal, and a banana for breakfast! Serving on rations! Its awesome lol! If the pilgrims could do it, why cant I! Love you all! Love to hear from you! This church is true! Christ is our savior! I am a living witness of him! I promise this gospel will make you happier if you just let it in! I am so greatful for this time to serve in Argentina and know I am meant to be here! Love you all!

-- 

Con Amor,

Elder Zaugg 

The Nasty river that I am very curious why people swim in it!

The Ukulele I bought this week lol! It is so fun to play hahaha! My Comp is teaching me! 

 Mate, pronounced Ma-tay! What everyone used to drink mate here! 

 My mission mom Mama Salgado! She is seriously so awesome! She helps me ton with Spanish and makes us food all the time! She considers the missionaries her own children!

Valentina after the baptism! 

2 of the 3 dogs that are practically our pets here in Carlos Paz! They are so crazy hahah

Primero Semana en el campo!!!!

Welllll i love Argentina!! Its super fun and surprisingly not too hot! It really is a beautiful country and the people are really awesome! Tons of people are willing to talk to us!

Well the first day was a ton of traveling lol! We flew from Utah to Atlanta then to Buenos Aires then got on a different plane like an hr away from the main airport to cordoba! In total it was around like 18 hours of traveling! Not too bad lol!

Wednesday was super fun! We met our trainers! Elder Alvarez!!!! he is a latino from the states! he speaks English which is a blessing hahaha! I realized that the MTC doesnt actually teach you any spanish lol! I dont understand anyone but thats ok! I just smile and nod my head lol!

too much happened this week for me to share it all so ill share a few great things! 

I got really close to a part active family the Salgados! They are so nice and help me with spanish a ton!! One of the men in the family gave me a Boca Jersey and a gift! It was such a nice gift given he doesnt have much! I love this family so much!

Well contacting is so hard because i dont understand anyone lol! But its super fun! On saturday we were in a poor neighborhood and we clapped, yes we clap here instead of knocking, and this large dog came sprinting out of the back yard and jumped up and bit my butt!!!!! hahahahaha he didnt hold on or anything so it wasnt too bad it was just funny that 3 days in I already got bit on but lol!

My area is Carlos Paz which is like an hour ourside of the city! Its super pretty here! Lots of aweomse people and also a lot of ¨snakes¨ which are girls that dont dress well and just party hahaha! But ya its a super fun area besides that lol!

We might be having a baptism this next sunday! If "V" comes to church! If she comes we will baptize her after it!

But ya Argentina is awesome! Spanish is crazy hard! We only eat like 1 to 2 times a day  but every meal has bread in it so i might gain some weight! :) Love you all! Ill send some pictures! Church is true!

-- 

Con Amor,

Elder Zaugg

Elder Mercier and Elder Zaugg

Elder Mercier wrote: "GENERAL ZAUGG (Elder Zaugg) Yes he is alive, and was born into the best zone in the mission....You're welcome Sister Zaugg

CARLOS PAZ CORDOBA

Your missionary has arrived

Queridos hermanos y hermanas,

Hoy día llegaron sus hijos a la misión Argentina Córdoba.  Nos complace a decirles que están seguro, sano,  y animados para trabajar en la obra del Señor.  Aqui tenemos fotos de cuando llegaron a la casa de la misión con el Presidente. Ellos van a tener la oportunidad para escribirles luego en la semana o en la semana que viene. Muchas Gracias!

Today your missionaries arrived at the mission Argentina Córdoba.  We are pleased to tell you that they are safe, healthy, and excited to participate in the Lord´s work.  We have here photos of them with the President when they arrived.  They are going to have the opportunity to write to you later in the week or in the coming week. Thank you!

oficina de la mision

Argentina Córdoba Mission Office

Gay Lussac 5270, B° Villa Belgrano 5009

Córdoba Capital, Córdoba

Argentina

Atlanta Airport

A very nice woman stopped to take these pictures.  She knew their mom's would love to see how happy they were.  She was running later to her flight but said she could not go by without stopping because of their smiles and countenances.  I am so grateful for nice people!!

Elder Mann took this of Cutter as he was calling us at home! :)

Saying Goodbye to  Elder Gappmeyer as he goes to a different mission in Argentina

Saying Goodbye to Elder Smith as he goes to a different mission in Argentina

Last week in the MTC...

Well it is finally here! Only got 3 more days here! When I look back at it, The MTC has been super fun! It has felt like a long time but this past week flew by! The saying is so true, the first 3 days feel like 3 weeks, and the last 3 weeks feel like 3 days! It really is crazy how the MTC changes how time actually works...

Well this week was pretty dang great for many reasons! On sunday we watched the Joseph Smith movie! Ive seen it a ton of times but not quite like this! As a missionary I feel the Spirit so much stronger! And the spirit was so strong during this movie! It was awesome! I love Joseph Smith and all that he has done for me!!! Especially translate the Book of Mormon! This book is so true! I know this without a doubt in my mind! On tuesday this week, I finished the Book of Mormon! I learned so much from it! I have never read it like I did while being here in the MTC! A super cool experience I had with the Book of Mormon actually happened yesterday! So after I finished i prayed real hard to gain a stronger testimony of it! I already knew it was all true I just wanted a stronger testimony! So nothing happened for 3 days. Then Friday during In Field Orientation I got to role play with an elder going to Brazil! He bore his testimony and emphasized on the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon! I dont think he realized how strong his testimony was but it truly was an answer to my prayer! God put this elder in my path so that I could hear his testimony and feel the spirit so strong! I almost cried while he was bearing his testimony! I love how God answers our prayers! I promised you all that if you want to know the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon for your self, take Moroni's promise to heart and read! Invest your self in the words and ponder them in your heart! As you read, pray to feel the spirit and to gain a testimony! We have to have faith that we will receive an answer before God will give us an answer! I challenge you if you dont already have a testimony, or you want a stronger one, read the Book of Mormon! It will help you so much in your life! It will answer your questions and help you get through hard trials in life! God loves you and wants you to be happy! Jesus Christ has been through all of our trials and continues to go through them with us even if you feel like he isnt there. I promise he is there and is just waiting for you to ask for help!

Thats all the spiritual knowledge I got for you guys this week. Not sure how on here needs it but I know someone does! I love you all and hope your lives are amazing! Know I pray for you all every night and hope the best! Email me if you have any question about the church or in your reading! I would love to help you out! Love you all!

-- 

Con Amor,

Elder Zaugg

One more week !!!!!!

Well we finally got our travel plans!!!! I will be heading to Argentina in just 9 days!!! The 16th! I am so excited to get down there and start sweating and loving the people! Mostly Sweating probably haha! 

This week was super normal! We seriously to the same thing like everyday haha! But I definitly had a very sad experience this week... Yesterday, Elder Hansen and I had our last lesson with Diana our investigator. All of us were so sad. We were almost crying at the end becauase we all knew it was the last one.... But to end the lessons well. She finally accpeted Baptism! Diana is so amazing and I know that she has such strong Faith! 

So something funny that happened the past two week... About a week and half ago, in the middle of the night, my room was sleeping like good misionaries should be doing. And all of a sudden we hear a super load noise. I instantly jump, still in bed but just start looking at the door. It sounds like the enitre MTC Cleaning ladys are outside our door vaccuming. IT WAS SO LOUD! Now at first Elder Hansen and I did think this was happening outside our door and we were so confused. By the way, this is at 2 15 in the moring hahaha. After about 2 mins of this going on E. Hansen finally gets up to check out what the heck is going on. Turns out, other elders in our zone got one of our keys and put a vaccume in our room in the middle of the night... We were so mad hahahaha but it was hilarious! We didnt find out who it was until the next night. So obviously when I found out, i wanted to do this hilarious prank! So i teamed up with the culprits and pulled the prank on the new district in our zone! And let me tell you, IT WAS HILARIOUS! The entire room woke up... The loud noise of the vaccume went on for like 3 mins! They could not figure out how to turn it off hahaha! So finally they opened the door and unpluged the vaccume from the hallway! The next 30 mins consisted of them checking every stall and walking around the whole building trying to find us! We were just chilling in our beds dying! It was a great time and a fantastic story! 

Now I know this was probably not a great thing to do as a misionary but you have to fill your days with fun somehow! I have to tell you that I dont reccomend any of you doing this. But just know, I would not be dissapointed to find out if you did :)))))  I love you all back home and hope your new year is starting off great!! Spend a little time each day serving someone!  Tell your family you love them often! I sure wish I told my family more!

-- 

Con Amor,

Elder Zaugg

 New Year Party Drink

 Elder Hansen and I playing with balloons

Failed room check