Traditions of Our Fathers // Apr. 2, 2018

Hey fam! 

Well this week was filled with so many exciting events and I will make a sad attempt to relate what all happened. So to start things off...

[Gringo listening to the conference in their native tongue]

We had multi-zone conference in corrientes on wednesday. It was a typical and was pretty fun. But an hour into the training, Elder Cortés(from our zone) got sick... well he had been uneasy for a couple days and he got anxiety in the 3 hour shuttle ride and by the time the conference started, he wasnt looking very good. He spent an hour in the bathroom and finally president sent him and his comp to a medical clinic to get checked out. Turned out that he had an ¨Ataque de hígado¨ and they gave him some medication. Sister Patanía(presidents wife) didnt want him to travel with the rest of the zone. So I stayed with him in corrientes capital for the night and we traveled thursday at noon. There was an exciting change to mission rules. Now, there is a list of 55 approved movies that we are allowed to watch. Ranging from toy story, Emperor's new groove, to coco and moana.... So I will be making   trips to the local ¨Video Club¨ here in Goya and buy as many pirated  disney movies as I can.       [^^ Group of us at the multi-zona]

General conference was historical and amazing. We had a great time watching the conference from the family history room in our church as gringos. There was an endless supply of donuts made by Elder Rubisch, A sad excuse for peach cobbler from Elder Keicher, and some amazing zuccini and apple bread from the hermanas. Needless to say conference was uplifting physically and spiritually. I had so many favorite talks and loved and the new progams and reorganizing of organizations. To me, it is a way to break tradition and focus on the center of the gospel. In the book of mormon, I have been taking to notice how much it warns us about the ¨traditions of our fathers¨ and how such traditions can cause us to fall and miss the point of the gospel. I feel that our Heavenly Father wanted to break such traditions in our church so that we, his servants, can hasten the work more effectively. Without a living prophet, such revelation couldnt be recieved. 

Well I am drawing a blank on what else to relate. The work is moving along. We had an investigator come to the sunday morning session who hadnt gone to church in over 2 years. It is an investigator that we dropped because she wasnt progession at all and was flat out lying to us . But we decided to go back this past week and invite her to conference. andshe went! So we will be doing some following up with her. Joaquin wont be baptized this saturday abecause we need him and his dad to come to church first. So I´ll keep you updated on that! 

I hope you all have a great week and will follow the prophets adivce to really study these conference talks as they come out!  have a great week! 

Elder Keicher

[FHE with the Rodrigues family]

[Me with one of my favorite comps in the mission]

[This was my friday lunch!!]

[The zone (most of it)]

Goya Vision // March 27, 2018

Happy Monday! 

Another week down and things are starting to roll again in our area. I made my second TV/Radio apperence on Argentine AIR. This time it was a TV interview on your local ¨GOYA VISION¨ tv channel. This past week, the branch president and his counselor gave a church tour to two ladies. Well turns out that they were incharge of a parade against abortion that took place yesterday. But they asked our church to provide a representative to appear with them on a TV interview talking about the issue on abortion. Well, the branch president got cold feet and told us to do it! So we went and did our best. It was nerve racking though because we were talking about a sensitive subject on TV representing the church.... I wasnt too excited but everything turned out fine!  

[GOYA VISION studio]

We suffered a bit of a dry spell the past 2-3 weeks but this past week was very productive and we will be seeing some results here in a couple of weeks. If you rememeber last email I talked about the leadership conference in Resistencia. Well part of this conference the mission president gave us a new initiative to put into action in our zones. To explain, we were tolded to print off 2 lists, ¨New converts from the past two years, and ¨children older than 9 that havent been baptised¨. We then use the branch directory to find these people and their families and try to reactivate and/or teach their unbaptized kids. Well, it worked!! We picked 3 families to visit, One we found and had a lesson. We have to go back and follow up. Another family we found and turns out that all are baptized but they gave yus a reference to their nephew that is 10 and has yet to be baptized. So we went over to that house the next day and initiated teaching with them. And the father wants to baptize his son. Turns out that the 10 year old(whose name is Joaquin) is the only child in their family who isnt baptized. So we put a baptismal date for the 7th of april and will be working along side with the family to get everything arranged and ready for that date. We have a FHE tomorrow night with them! 

[Us with the Rodigues family]

This week we have Multi-Zona in corrientes capital on Wednesday. I also love recieveing there trainings from president. They always drag on but its nice to see other missionaries and travel with the zone. and of course we will be watching conference this weekend and are super excited for that. It is actually perfect because in corrientes captial there is a wal-mart, so we can buy somethings to prepare for conference Saturday! 

We also came across another less active this week that got baptized 5-6 years ago and then went completely inactive a year after getting baptized! She basically ran us down in the street and wanted us to go visit her. When we arrived to her home, she brought out all the pictures of her baptize and while showing them to us, began to cry. It was a very tender moment as she looked up at Elder Teves and I and said, ¨I want to go back¨. The spiritual hunger and emotional pain inside this inactive sister was so real. It really hit me when she then went on to tell us about the death of her son that happened 6 months prior. I couldnt find the words to comfort her as she continued to relate how since then has fallen into a smoking and drug consumption habit. As my companion and I sat with her all we could do was thank her for her running us down and opening her mouth. We promised her that she would recieve the help she would need. We read with her Alma 7: 11-13

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictionsand temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. 12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.

That was the week. Enjoy conference and we´ll meet back here next monday! 

Elder Keicher

[The hermana Rodgriques  taught me how to make a classic argentine ¨Guiso arroz¨]

[Found my first GOAT since Ibarreta]

WORST internet connection in the world // Mar. 19, 2018

Well the truth has finally been revealed. I´m not talking about what happened in 1820 nor am I referring to the fact that I finally found the source of the stereotypical cricket noise in our apartment(shockingly it was a cricket underneath the fridge). No, I am talking about the fact that it has been proven that Argentina has the As I was passing by businesses the other day, I saw the completely reliable ¨Todo Noticias¨ news channel headlining what I have known since august 2016. But now it has been made official. Just today I waited 2 minutes after clicking on an email for it to open up. But I dont intend on going on about this so let´s move on the what happened in the week! 

So I will let you guys in on who Sandra is because I imagine you have seen her blast feeding my comp and I on facebook. She is an investigator we are teaching right now. Her three sons got baptized the 3rd and 10th of February and right now we are working with her so that she can get baptized. She has to either get married or get separated from her novio. The problem is that they dont want to get married because they both have government pensions for being single parents. So if they get married they lose that pension. The pension runs out to be like $250 dollars or 5000 pesos. But we put a date with her for the 14 of april and set the goal that she could make a desicion by that date. She has a great testimony and has gone to church like 8 times since we found them in January. But yes, she has the habit of taking pictures of us during our lessons and then uploading them to ¨face¨. We are also trying to find more people because that is an issue right now. The branch is going through a transition so we are finally going to get a branch mission leader to work with this week.

This week we had leadership conference in Resistencia! We got up there Wednesday night and the next day we had our meeting. Presidente Patanía announced that the 1st presidency sent a notice saying that they wont be sending out as many missionaries to the mission... mostly because the amount of missionaries going home is a lot higher of the amount of missionaries leaving for missions right now. Apparently a lot of missions are closing and missionaries are being focused in different parts. He talked to us about the difference between effective and efficient. Making the point that even though the amount of missionaries in the mission are going down, we need to be efficient and maintain, if not increase, the amount of work we are doing, despite the drop in numbers. When I got to the mission there were 180 missionaries in this mission and when I leave there will only be 130. Thats 25 areas that will have been closed in 2 years. Our zone has 7 areas in it and its the biggest zone in the mission with the smallest having only 3 areas. Just realities that the church is facing right now and the hand of the adversary in our lives. 

We had lunch yesterday with a family. They made us an argentine BBQ... this is a common experience that usually I dont mention in my emails but this BBQ was different because afterwards we went to their backyard and in the middle of the yard there was this random matress. I couldnt resist this golden opportunity to capture what I see on the daily but at this point has become normal to me. Seeing this matress in the middle of the yard didnt strike my attention at first but then I thought that if this was my first week, I would be caught off gaurd by such a scene that you may only see in west virginia. 

Well that was the week! Saludos! 

Elder Keicher

Water just started spewing out mid prayer // Mar. 13, 2018

Hey fam! 

So this week was transfers. Honestly this past week felt like the moment in Deal or No Deal when they are about to reveal to the contestant if they chose the million dollar brief case and as the suspense builds, Howie Mandel declares, ¨...we´ll be back right after this break¨. Well I was expecting a lot of things to happen to the zone, but there was basically no change. So I am in my third transfer with Elder Teves in Goya and this ¨break¨ will last at least 6 more weeks. 

So this week we had a little complication in our apartment. Wednesday morning my companion and I were literally saying our prayer before leaving for the morning and water just started spewing out of out water heater  in mid-prayer. Obviously the water leaking out was boiling hot lava water and we couldnt figure out how to get it to stop. We put a huge pot under it and thought we would just wait for it to drain all out. But 15 minutes passed and water was still spewing out. At this point there was water all over the apartment and I started looking for the water vaulve in the apartement. So we got the water turned off and spent some time cleaning the apartment back up. But it was quite the inconvenience

Considering it was the last week of the transfer there was a lack of motivation amongest a lot of the missionaries because we were all expecting something to happen. We had a great lesson anyway with one of our investigators named Azucena. We were in a lesson in which, my companion and I decided to figure out what her need was. Well, turns out that the problem was that she didnt want to open up to us while her husband was there. Because he got up after 10 minutes and left to go run an errend and while he was gone, she completely opened up to us about some serious things that she has kept in for more than 15 years. It was a great experience and we were able to get the ball rolling with her. I´ll have to share that experience more deeply later on. 

So this week we will be going to resisetencia for leadership conference with my comp and this time the district leaders are coming with. So it will be super nice to change up the routine. Plus going to resistencia makes me think of my first six months in the mission so its always nice to go back. 

Right now I am reading the Book Of Mormon, and this time I decided to use a study manual and I am really enjoying it. It really makes you read and see certain scriptures in a different light and with different background information that helps you understand the context and meaning of the scripture. 

So that was my week. I didnt really take many photos this week, but I´ll be sure to take plenty this week. Love you all! Have a great week! 

Elder Keicher

I got a bracelet made from a sister in the zone! 

DON'T DO DRUGS // March 5, 2018

Hoooollaa Fam! 

So these past week was super fun. I´ll start off by talking about the activity we had last Tuesday. The whole Zone went to Bella Vista and we did a Back To School supply drive. We went around all Tuesday morning asking for donations from the community. It was a success and we got quite a few things. The first house we knocked at, this old lady let us in to escape the heat, and while she was looking for stuff to donate, Elder Dension and I noticed that there was an odd noise coming from her back patio. We looked in the back and saw a huge cage with 24 tweety birds. The old lady went on to explain that not only did she have 24 tweety birds, but she also has 8 grown dogs. It was fun spending the morning with ELder Denison. His older brother served in this mission as well. 

After the activity, we ordered pizza and ate in the church. But there was a little problem because the front gate of the church was locked. So we had to crawl through this small hole in the fence that kids use to get to the soccer field. So there is a picture of that. 

So we did divisions on thursday with another area. I went with  Elder Rubisch from Utah. It was really fun because he is my ¨Grandson¨ because Elder Taylor trained him. It was fun talking with him. He taught me a little about chess. But our one day exchange turned into a 2 day exchange because Elder Hannah and Elder Teves went to Esquina to do an interview. So Friday night, We went to the branch activity where we watched Coco. It was SUPER good. Absolutely loved that movie. It was also really cool because obivously we watched it in spanish and the movie takes place in Mexico so it made a little more sense. But then again I've never seen it in english. 

So there was a freaky situation this week with a family in the branch. They are a family sealed in the temple but a couple of their kids struggle being good, gospel obedient kids. Well, one who expirements with drugs had an episode in which he flipped out at 1am in the morning. He apparently was speaking in tounges and acting really weird. Well the situation didnt get better and Saturday night we did a special FHE with the fam and their kid. The kid was acting really weird and I could feel a weird presence in the air. Well long story short, we had a normal FHE... but turns out that the dad was getting super worried and scared that his son was possessed so he took him to a pastor of a near by church to cast out the spirit in him. It was a weird situation that you usually see in some type of scary movie. So the lesson here is DONT DO DRUGS. and that way you wont be susceptible to evil, unclean spirits... and you´ll live longer. The WoW is true along with all the commandments. And like King Benjamin says, happy people are those that keep all the commandments of God, because they are blessed temporally and spiritually. 

Love you all. I hope you have a great week. 

Greetings from, 

Elder Keicher

I Got Photos // Feb. 26, 2018

Hey fam? 

Another week in Goya! This week was pretty normal. I got a bunch of picture for you guys this time. So I got this camera from hermana Hall who unwisely bought a camera thinking that hers was broken... turns out, she had to put differents in. So she bought a new camera here and then figured out the battery situation. I made a deal with her 2000pesos and my waffle iron and slapchop in return for her camera and an alfajor. So today I am redeeming myself and sending a lot of pictures. 

This week we went to esquina again because they have been having baptisms every week so far this transfer. But it was frustrating because who got baptised what this girl named Carla who I had interviewed 2 months ago but didnt work out because she didnt think that Joseph smith was a prophet. So we had to postpone the baptism and told the elders to teach her a little more deeper. But she ended up get baptized this past weekend. 

So I was talking with Elder Hannah this week. He is a missionary in my Zone and was also in my MTC district. Well we were talking and we are almost 100% positive that Uncle Dee Carter helped him get on his mission. I attatched a picture with him. 

We are going to have an activity this week in Bella Vista. The school year is starting up again so we are going to so a school supply drive and donating everything to the city council or a school. I am pretty excited to do it. There isnt that much to say... I got 3 cards back that I sent for christmas that didnt make it. One to makcenzie, one to Gma & Gpa Keicher and the last to gma karen and gpa ron. So i´ll see if I can resend those this week. 

Well sorry for the short email but enjoy the pics I guess! Love ya!! We are entering week 5 of the transfer,. 

Elder Keicher

In Goya Without a Camera // Feb. 19, 2018

Hey Fam how are you doing

Well this week was a lot of fun. This past thursday we had multi zone conference in Corrientes. It was a super trip with the zone. The training by president Patania was super good... one of my favorite multi zone conferences in the mission. Unfortunaly I had to play the piano for the meeting. So I chose two of the 5 songs i knew. it all turned out great and afterwards we went to the mall in corrientes. There we ate McDonalds and you wouldnt believe who I found in the mall. While we were eating our meals, I saw these two incredibly tall black guys walking around the food court. This took me by suprise because here in Argentina, the only black people you see are the dudes striaght from africa selling watches and jewerly in city plazas. So I went up to them and asked where they were from. one dude was from New York and the other from Florida. They are here playing basketball in the argentina basketball league. One told me he had played in puerto rico and china. And the other, this was his 4 year coming to argentina to play. They stay for 8 months and then go home for 4. So we took pictures together... but super weird talking to americans that 1 arnt missionaries, and 2 arnt even members of the church.

The work in our area has kinda stalled since our baptisms... we have a lot of people but this week with multi zone conference and divisions in esquina, we lost a lot of time in our area. So we are going to have to recuperate this week. But we are really excited becuase yesterday they changed the branch presidency and we had a really good branch council last night. There is a lot more drive to get things done and strengthen the branch. So we are excited.

Unfortuntely my camera is broken and today, I am getting my new camera. So from now until june Ill be sending photos home each week.

Well that was my week, pretty basic nothing crazy to relate. No more funerals to report so things are improving. I talked to Elder Freeman at the multizona and we were talking about maxi. Elder freeman is asistant the the president now and he had just gone to ibarreta the week before the accident. It was pretty rough on him too. But yeah. Have a great week.

Love you and happy valentines day

Elder Keicher