Ciudad de Famoso Ramos!!

Oh it is crazy how time flies by and everything that changes! It was a great week full of miracles here and there. It is amazing how diligence and obedience make such a difference in the work here. Even the smallest little rules make such a difference and what we are really working for. We had a meeting about how we are the ones that put the goals and show if we are searching for those who are ready to be baptized and the importance of praying for this in every prayer. We didn’t have a baptism on Sunday but the ones we have been struggling with like the mother of Lucas has her date set for next Sunday and has stopped smoking for a week. Last night we had one of the members of the bishopric come and bless their house. Most of the family was there and it was so spiritual, he blessed each person that was there individually. Before he started the blessing he explained about the priesthood and a little more of the restoration cause there were some brothers of Lucas that we have never been able to teach or were kind of cold with us and one of Lucas´ friends was there as well. While waiting for the bus afterwards we talked with him about what he had thought of the blessing and the church he started saying he wanted to change his life. His grandpa just recently passed away and his family is falling apart he smokes a lot cause he gets so discouraged... he is Jake’s age. I was able to talk to him about grandpa and the plan of salvation and baptism. He was crying and I was as well it made me think of Jake and how it would be so hard for a 16 year old to go through such difficulties.

Earlier this week the husband of Beatriz has decreased his smoking a LOT!! Last week President Benton gave us money to buy him the nicotine gum and when we went in to the pharmacy there was some other gum called chicle laxante and so before I took a moment to think what laxante meant I asked my comp what is chicle laxante with a voice that everyone could hear in the small store and she replied with a big grin its what you need to go.... hahahha my face went bright red from the realization of what it was... oops

Yesterday the whole family came to church and Beatriz received the gift of the holy ghost. The mother of Lucas came as well and another investigator.... who is eternal... haha but he hasn’t attended for a long time.
So last night we invited Alejandro to be prepared on the 17 of July for his baptism and the next week he will be able to baptize his two boys! This family is so amazing!! I can’t get over how prepared they were to receive the gospel in their lives... They are all like little children after each Sunday wanting to share what they each learned....ya Alejandro has his challenge with smoking but he has shown us his willingness to stop and nothing is impossible with the lord! It truly is amazing to see these people change and start to be enlightened with the truth in their lives... the view becomes clear of why we are here and what we are doing with our lives as - clear as daytime!

Sam will set up his email in the MTC... it’s one of the first things he will do when he goes! Good luck with everything Sam! Do what I said and you will be happy... hahaha. I love you all and have a great week saying your farewells to your future Spanish speaking Hobbs! Hey Sam, Argentina recently won Mexico in the Copa Mundial!!! woo hoo!

FELIZ DIA DE PADRES!!!!

Oh what a great letter to read of my family!!! ... people look at me weird cause we come to local stores that have computers and I sometimes laugh outloud at the stuff thats going on.. haha . Oh we ended this transfer amazingly well! Beatriz was baptized last night at 5:30 in freezing ice cold water in the church. We had the water running right after church and the mission leader had left the pump on to drain the water cause there was old water and he is new. So when he showed up at 4 he saw it was all empty. Luckily we showed up at the same time and then others to start pouring in water. We were in the women’s bathroom filling up buckets of water and so was our ward missionaries in the other but it was all good in the end. It was perfect for her kids to see and her husband since we´ve been working with them as well. Before her baptism we went over to their house and had a delicious barbeque for fathers day and for her big day!

Hermana Salazar and I are together another transfer!! with new goals and a new view thanks to our president and Elder Aidukaitis. Something that I remember from general conference... I was questioning before was how can I gain more faith or strengthen it.. someone had said that it is through obedience and righteousness. It is so true in this life... the more willing we are to give our time and everything that we have, the lord is more willing to bless us and strengthen us into what we can be what He sees in each of us. We have a view high and it is all possible with our savior.

The mother of Lucas is good. We are learning patience with her but she is still in the progress. Its interesting how many difficulties a family can have but I know someday this family is going to be eternal. His brother could be baptized this transfer as well he has been going to seminary with Lucas! Today there were tons of elders that left for home... half of them were from the mission. It makes me feel old! This week I’m going to have 9 months in the mission! How crazy to look back on what has all happened. I’m so grateful for my companion and feel so blessed to work in this area.

Wish Sam good luck for me and that I need his address for the MTC and his mission.. that would be nice! I love you all and are so grateful for your examples! It’s sad we don’t get to call our fathers on fathers day but how I love my dad with all my heart!
I love you all have a great week! Que Dios les Bendiga!!

Saren and Beatrice
Beatrice's kids
Hermana Salazar

A Week Full Of Rain!!!!

Today it is raining and pouring with the old man snoring! Yes winter starts here on the 21st of June! It’s weird that it is winter without snow but I love when it rains we always have a good time in it! This week we started off with a family home evening with the mother of Lucas who we´ve been preparing for her baptism at the end of last week. We played the if I were .... I would do... game! It was way fun and we used dad’s feather example with our words and actions! So thank you for all those ideas! During the week we found out that the mom has been smoking.. so we postponed her date of baptism. Now we want to work with the father more and the brother, so she can have more support from the family and that she doesn’t feel alone. Her son helps her a lot but the more involved her husband and other son the better it will be! They are a great family who have been through a lot. It makes our lives seem so cushioned and so simple with the things that others go through.

On Thursday we were walking on our way back to our apartment and I sprained my ankle from stepping weird on the side of the curb! It was my lucky right ankle that I have sprained almost every year of my life! ( yep the same one from falling down the stairs with Katie and Sarah) hahahaha. So it is all swollen like a baseball but its all good! We went in the next day to the famous hospital posada here in Argentina which is in our area! We went in the emergency and there were tons of people but the lord blessed us and somehow bumped my name up at the top to be x-rayed and then to see what I needed to do. There were some little old ladies that were way upset that I went before them for the x-rays, so it was quite an adventure! While we were waiting this guy came running up to me and asked if he could speak to me. He was a member and asked if we could contact a lider in the church to come and give his son a blessing cause he was going to have surgery done for his heart. We contacted a member from the ward to send up some men of the priesthood. In the end we were meant to be there for something! The doctor said my ankle was all good.
Then on Friday we ate these old sausages from two weeks ago called chorizos. My comp was sick on Saturday night.. so we were quite the companionship of the handicapped gringa and the latina with a bad stomach ache.

There was a guy that showed up at church on Sunday! He told us the elders contacted him at the bus stop and he had the impression to come that day. He has a 6 year old son and is divorced, so this week we are meeting with him in the house of our mission leader! It was disappointing with the mother of Lucas this week but there are still so many miracles everyday that we are so blessed to be a part of. This week we are preparing Beatriz for her baptism! It is crazy how fast this transfer has gone by. I feel like it was my first week here.

Well I hope you are all well and have a great summery week! Next week is another new transfer, I hope Hermana Salazar stays with me!!! It has been a blast and a privilege to be her companion and her aunt! I love you all and be good!

(THANK YOU LOPEZ-ZIMMERMAN FAMILY FOR THE PHOTOS!)

Visiting authority

I'm so happy to hear that everything was wonderful with grandpa's funeral and. He was truly a great man and a hero in many eyes as well as mine. I know he is right with me thrusting his spiritual sickle with mine and shedding forth miracles.

We truly had an amazing week and ended it off amazing! On Tuesday in the afternoon we had a conference with Elder Aidukaitis of the seventy. He came and taught us many great things! I left with my mind and my heart really open to what we could improve and work on! Especially about faith! He is a great man and talked to me a little bit afterwards about grandpa.

Then on Thursday we were trying to put some dates with different investigators but the lessons were not quite what we planned.. we ended the night a little frustrated and sad. But I kept thinking the weekend is not over! We are going to get dates and have baptisms cause this is God's work not ours! And Friday we did! We put a date with the mother thats been having a hard time coming to church and she came on Sunday! So her date is for this Sunday thats next! Then the other is another lady that I was talking to you about with her husband who didn't want anything to do with us but it was her birthday on Saturday and she told us she wanted to be baptized!! whooo whooo! So her date is the 20th. We are hoping to put some dates with her son's cause they all came yesterday... its amazing how the lord works through his little missionaries. Both of the ladies that have fechas received blessings after church cause both are going through some difficulties, but it was exactly what they needed. The spirit was so strong and so powerful. It truly is the authority that christ had when he went out performing miracles and healing the sick.

Oh thank you dad. I love your letters always. I can feel your love and your voice through them. I am so grateful for the gospel and here on the mission there is nothing compared to the sweet miracles and mercy of our dear heavenly father, how he does love us unconditionally and pours down those blessings, just by our simple willingness to obey and follow His Son our Savior. And His perfect plan. This experience I will never forget and what happened with grandpa. How I can be right here in the service and help others have the peace and comfort that I have. THank you dad for everything you have given me and how your work time and love has shaped me into who I am. I love my badge that some may have a hard time saying Hobbs well actually everyone hahha, but im proud of who I am. I love you dad so much and pray for you all. have a great week! and wish Maisie happy birthday and congrats to Heston and his victory in baseball! haha!

Well i cant write too much more today... we are kinda short on time but I love you all and have fun on your trip mom! That is so exciting and on an historical adventure! Send me some pictures!ª

The passing of Grandpa Hancock

On Thursday May 27th we lost our beloved Grandpa Val. He had been out weed-eating, a farmer who can never sit still. He had his dialysis treatment the day before, came home and rested a bit and then went out and planted the rest of the spring crop. My brother Blair helped him get the weed-eater going and turned to get gas in the other machine. Blair heard the weed-eater stop and saw dad slumped over on the ground. Dad never regained consciousness. He was a man of the earth that wanted to wear out not rust out and he went out with his boots on. Dad was 81 years old.
President Benton was the one that Saren heard the news from and he allowed her to call home for strength and comfort. She also sent the following note that was shared at grandpa’s funeral:

The president suggested that I should write some of my feelings down of my wonderful grandpa who I loved.

His Legacy Lives on Strong.
Last year for his 80th birthday mom had the great idea of making a little tribute film. Little did I know how much time it would take and patience especially with how mom gets an idea and there´s no other way you can make it when she has it painted vividly already in her mind. She had all the different black and white pictures of moments of grandpa’s life on the farm, as a kid, his mission in Copenhagen Denmark, moments with his children, and their families. They had to be scanned on to the computer then transferred to my laptop then all in order and in harmony with the music. But as I was loading up these pictures it hit me hard of what a legacy my grandfather brought there in West Weber. Of how his vital decisions and his dedication radiated through his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. What he did day in and day out on the farm and in the house with the gospel central to life on the farm. He did exactly what it says in Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when his is old, he will not depart from it.

How true is that in our Hancock family! How that scripture was exemplified on Sundays with all of us together surrounding this old farmer with his posterity at his side laughing, talking, and cherishing every moment with him. What man would not want that? To be surrounded and know he is loved to look in the eyes of his grandkids, his legacy. Someone told me here on the mission that you wont know that you were a successful missionary until you look into the eyes of you grandchildren. It does radiate in our family, his example and what a great leader Val J was.

Sometimes it’s hard here in the mission to keep on going. But whenever I get discourage or frustrated I remember the blunt short powerful words of grandpa the night before I left for the MTC. Two things that make a great missionary is - pray hard and work hard then famous of all is - getter done!
I am so grateful for him and the great impact he has had in my life. The great hero he is in my eyes and I know in so many others. I know exactly where he is. With his sweet Margaret Ellen rejoicing she has been patiently awaiting her hubby at the back door coming back from a long days work on the farm. I know this to be true. I testify of it everyday and today as well. The plan of God is real and alive and we are in it! Our Savior is central to this marvelous plan. Through Him we will be united as an eternal family. Our grandpa led the way and now it is our time to follow him and keep on following in those farm boot foot steps. We may get stuck in the manure or kicked by a cow. But never stop... getter done.
I love you all and hope you are all good. It’s hard to think he passed away but he’s not too far. Just on the other side of the veil. I love you all!