Hasta Luego Presidente y Hermana Ayre :(

Hello Everyone! 

Hope you all have had an awesome week! This week was pretty sad because we had to say bye to President and Sister Ayre...which was pretty hard. They will be life long friends, and always family! One of the many things I learned from President Ayre is vision in life.

When I got to the mission, he asked me to tell him my goals in 5 years, 10 years, and 20 years after my mission. And he helped me to realize that there is nothing that can stop me from reaching these goals in regards to my career, goals in the church, and everything else! If we live the way we are supposed to live and put in the effort, there's nothing we can't accomplish. I have come to realize that a lot of the things that he stressed for us to do has more to do with the habits we will have after the mission, to help us throughout our life. I am very grateful to have had this opportunity to serve with him! But President Smith is gonna be awesome as well!!

Not much happened this week because we were running around to all of the meetings we had with Pres leaving, so not much to talk about from my week! 

We had a meeting yesterday that we brought investigators to. It was kind of like a farewell thing for President Ayre, and it was focused a lot on the Restoration. There is a reason that this is our principle message, that can bring happiness, joy, and hope to anyone that chooses to pray and follow the answer that they get. How much comfort we have to know that the same church that Jesus Christ established, with the same authority is on the Earth now..so that we may progress and live with Heavenly Father again with our family. I love teaching this simple, but powerful doctrine, that families can be eternal! That is why we have the restored Gospel, to reach Eternal Life..and to have true happiness together with our families.

I know that God is our Heavenly Father, and that He sent His son to die for us, so that in His perfect plan, we will be able to live eternally with our families! That is the biggest hope I have in my life, and know without a doubt that it is possible through the Atonement of Christ..which motivates me everyday to do what I do 

I love you all!

Elder Yeoman

Saying Goodbye to President and Hermana Ayre

Elder Jenkins (former companion)

Selfies with President Ayre and Elder Saez

Nothing like a cold Dr. Pepper straight from home!
Thanks Mom!

Elder Bustos (My first Zone Leader)

Elder Ayres (My MTC companion)

Elder Kelly (former companion)

Ward Mission Leader Hermano Majorana

Feliz Dia Del Padre

 Hello Everyone!

Well first off, I hope that all of you guys had an awesome Fathers Day! It was Fathers day here in Argentina! I have the best dad though ;).  Even though I wasn't able to celebrate it with my dad, I definitely thought about all the things he has done for me throughout my life. A big part of who I am today is because I always had him as an example and as my biggest role model! And one thing that I always tell my dad is that Heavenly Father gave him to me so that I can understand better the love He has for me! Because it is hard to even think about the love my earthly father has for me, even harder to think about my Heavenly Father! But my dad is the best man I've ever met and my whole life I will always strive to be like him!

This past week I had the opportunity to go to the temple again (gracias a mi compañero) and yes everyone,the rumors are true!....I got to see Elder Stafford (one of my best friends from home)!!! I was hoping and praying all week that I would be able to see him and right when I was walking out of the temple he was walking in! The Lord is always aware of His children, and even though it seems small and insignificant, it was a miracle that we got put in the same place at the same exact TIME! He is doing great, loving it, and he got to talk to my comp who is a native spanish speaker to see what it is like a little bit!! I felt so much peace and comfort in the temple, knowing that it is the House of the Lord! It's a place you never want to leave.

I had the opportunity to give a talk in sacrament meeting! The Bishop set up that this Sunday was a missionary work sunday..so the 4 missionaries spoke! He told us to pick what we wanted to talk about. I decided that I was going to talk about the excitement of Preaching the Gospel....how we as members have to be pumped! And more specifically, what helps me to be excited and pumped, and that is to truly know and understand the Doctrine of Christ. What helps to get me pumped is learning and applying the Doctrine of Christ. If we learn and apply the Doctrine of Christ, we gain a testimony that it is the only way that we can reach Salvation, and the Lord has given us all the opportunity that we need to be able to do it, based on our diligence in following Him and our consistency in living the Gospel. That has been one of the things that I most cherish from my mission so far, the unwavering testimony that I have gained through study and application of the Doctrine of Christ. This has helped me to overcome a lot of challenges, difficulties, and trials that I have faced, giving me an incredible amount of joy and hope! I can truly say that I know that the Gospel is true because I strive every day to live it and I feel in my heart the joy and hope that comes from this knowledge! 

Honestly, I can't imagine my life without this knowledge, without this hope that if I live the doctrine of Christ I will be able to live Eternally with my family, Heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ! How much hope that brings and strength to continue to do my best everyday is incredible! 2 Nephi 31:17-21

17 Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.

 18 And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive.

 19 And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.

 20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

 21 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen.

What joy this truly brings me, and I testify that this is true! That this is what can truly bring us peace and happiness! Jesus Christ lives, and made it possible for us to overcome all and return to live with Heavenly Father again! 

Now, we must share this joy, this happiness, this hope with all..that they might be able to truly know of the true importance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! 

I love you all! 

Elder Yeoman

Elder Yeoman and Elder Stafford (a great friend from home) who is in the Argentina MTC
and will also be serving in the Buenos Aires North Mission beginning next month. Elder Yeoman
has been looking forward to seeing Elder Stafford for months!!!

One of the wonderful families in Elder Yeoman's ward in Derqui!

Cake for Fathers Day on Sunday!

In deep thought!

Elder Yeoman and Elder Avalos together again! (he was Elder Yeoman's trainer)

Elder Farnsworth and Elder Yeoman

The AWESOME Elders of Derqui!!!
Elder Yeoman, Elder Saez, Elder Farnsworth and
Elder Avalos

Aguante Argentina

Hello Everyone! I hope that this past week was great for you all!!

This past week was a good one! My companion and I had some good success finding a few new families to teach! We are very excited about that and looking forward to working with them! 

We were on our way to an appointment when my companion felt that we needed to contact a house..so we stopped and a woman came out that looked a little distraught. It turns out that a couple months ago her husband drank himself to death and she was left with 3 kids of 12, 9, and 4. We began to talk to her about the gran plan de salvacion and how we have the opportunity to live with our families for eternity. I feel so blessed to be able to share this message with those that so desperately need it and are searching for something that they dont know where to find it or what exactly it is. She told us that she felt that God sent us to her and that what we were saying was true. Walking away from this lesson, I started thinking a lot..about how we got to this point. The day before we were supposed to visit someone that lives close to this family, but they called and cancelled on us and said the next day would be better. If we had gone the day that we were supposed to there is a good chance that we would not have met this woman and been able to help her through this tough trial and difficult time. I know that the Lord is always preparing people, and always preparing a way for them to recieve the Gospel. We will be visiting her and helping her progress so that she and her family can enjoy the great blessings of the Gospel, and the peace and joy that comes from knowing the plan that Heavenly Father has for us! My comp is the man!

Yesterday we were visiting members that had a reference for us, and as we were talking to them, their daughter and her boyfriend comes walking in. They are a young couple with a daughter, but are not married. We felt prompted to share a message with them. It turns out that she was baptized a while ago but they had a fallout and were not married..but now they really want to be married and him be baptized and they asked us to help them in the process of civil marriage. Again, Heavenly Father knowing His children and what they need in every moment! 

A lot of the moments like this here are things that just happen because the Lord wants them to happen and it is His work, but often times those experiences are the ones that leave you without words...even though maybe I was just in the right place at the right time, I was able to help someone! We all have the opportunity to have these experiences, not just missionaries.

I want to share a scripture that I shared with my mom and I'm sure you all know it already but it is one of the most powerful scriptures there is, and one that brings a lot of comfort to me. We all feel sometimes incapable of getting through some problem, trial or hardship, but through Christ and His Atonement, we really can. I have a very strong testimony that we have trials and weaknesses so that we may become the sons and daughters of God that He needs us to be, and that we are on the Earth to become. We can always get through it, and this is why: D&C 122

  7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

 8 The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?

I think we can all answer this question easily, that we are not. Why could we ever think that life would be perfect, when the only one that lived perfectly paid the biggest price, and suffered the most. But with this knowledge we also know that we will receive the strength we need day to day, through His grace and mercy to become the people that we need to be, and live happily. I know that if we are living in the way that Christ has commanded us to live, according to His doctrine and His Gospel, we will always be able to find peace and comfort through our trials!

I love you all and hope that you all have an awesome week! Thanks for all of your love and support! 

Elder Yeoman

Tired and Muddy!

Dulce de Leche is one of the finer things in Argentina!

Those poor shoes!! So much MUD!!!!

Finally caved and bought a scarf! It is getting cold in Argentina!

Elder Yeoman and Elder Saez 

No hay que comer el barro Elder!

Hello Everyone! 
I hope you all had a wonderful week! This week was a good one getting used to the new area and the new ward! The ward is great where I am serving right now, the members are very missionary work oriented and that makes all the difference! I think that we as members take for granted a lot our role in this great work. If every member contributed to missionary work, I think everyone would be shocked at the difference that it would make! 

To explain my subject a little bit..it was like my 3rd day here in Derqui and my companion and I were looking for a member's house and we had to go through a ton of mud to get there. So I decided to stay on my bike to get through it...and shortly I realized that I made a mistake. I can't tell you guys how it happened but the next thing I know I'm diving face first into the mud haha...and then my comp turns around and says "Elder Yeoman, why are you laying down on the ground?" I said "Elder, so it would be more fun!" haha. He thinks I'm the man now for saying that, so we are still laughing about it! 

Right now we don't have anyone in the teaching pool. but we have talked about some things we are going to do to change that and get things rolling here in Derqui. Oh, and I think I'm in Parque Patricios 2.0 because they give us so much food here! 

We have changed something in our mission that I want to share with you all because it is something that we can all learn from and apply! So in the mission, we put goals, goals for the month in the zone and for companionship. But last transfer we changed our focus from monthly goals, to daily and weekly goals with more emphasis. This was a change that I loved! Too often we get caught up in our long term goals that we forget about the things we have to do to reach them! In the mission, our daily goals are what help us to reach our weekly goals, which help us to reach our monthly goals. Or, instead of working for the month, we are focusing on working for everyday..It is a principle very important. 

As we strive every day to live the Gospel, to read our scriptures, to pray, to focus on these things on a daily basis, that is progression. As we stop thinking about tomorrow and focus more on today, that is when we will progress, when your faith turns to action, which turns to blessings and progression.

Everything is our decision. Heavenly Father has given us the perfect plan, with the opportunity to receive all the blessings possible, our effort and obedience is what brings these blessings and helps us to accomplish the purpose of Heavenly Fathers plan. Sometimes we take for granted the little things like prayer, scripture study, or family home evening, and don't realize the blessings that we are missing out on.

I really love Mosiah 2 when King Benjamin speaks to his people..He makes it very clear what we should do, and the outcome of doing it. In Mosiah 2:22 it says something very simple that I love to share with those that I teach:

22 And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

Heavenly Father just wants us to keep His commandments, and if we do so we will prosper in the land. This includes scripture study, prayer, and family home evening! We are not asked much, and given everything!

I know these things are true, that we have a loving Heavenly Father that sent His son so that we may, through grace and mercy, live with our families Eternally is the greatest thing we could ever be given. And we have everything we need to get there, how lucky are we?

I love you all and hope you all have a great week!

Elder Yeoman

Elder Yeoman and Elder Farnsworth

Derqui Elders after and afternoon of soccer!

Elder Farnsworth and Elder Yeoman emailing home today!

Elder Yeoman and his companion, Elder Saez with
church members in Derqui! They have been so welcoming
to Elder Yeoman.

Chau Boulogne!

Hello Everyone! 

I was transferred this morning from Boulogne! It was a great 5 months where I truly learned a lot and progressed in a way that I never could have imagined! It was an incredible experience and everyone I had the privilege of meeting there will be missed! I am now in an area more to the North called Derqui! (Dare-key) for you gringos haha. I’m super excited to be here and to work with these people. To describe where I am..basically think of a movie or a tv show that its all mud and dirt, and like a super small town..in the middle of nowhere! And I'm going to be riding a bike here..haha thats weird! My new companion is Elder Saez from Chile..yup we broke the gringo curse haha..my first Latino companion. Also, I am now living with another companionship..and the other companionship is the one and only Elder Avalos and his comp, Elder Farnsworth. Elder Avalos was my trainer and Elder Farnsworth is a good friend of mine that got here with me in Argentina, so it will be fun!

But my last week in Boulogne was a great one! Lucas was finally baptized and man was that special! We have worked with him for a while and it was very great to see him take this great step that will guide him throughout his whole life as a new disciple of Christ. The process of teaching Lucas was an experience that taught me a lot...I felt the love of the Lord for him every single time we had a lesson, and I could feel how much he wanted to follow Christ and be the best he could be. It is things like that, seeing the changes that people make to follow Christ that is so special! It is really an incredible thing! 

I think that in Boulogne I learned things that would have been hard for me to learn anywhere else. I was talking to some of the members before I left and I told them that Boulogne has something special..something that you can't really find anywhere else. It was a great experience being able to serve those great people, and trying my best to help the ward. There is not a more bittersweet feeling than leaving an area knowing that you did your best, and helped people to better their lives.

 I never thought that I could ever experience what I have experienced in these last 10 months, or grown how I have grown..through my weaknesses, trials, and difficult times..because we all have them. But I have grown to figure out more the Why of everything..and the Why is because I love my Savior and I want to be like him. I have grown to love the process...becoming. It is a miraculous thing that we have only because of Christ’s Atonement and the Gospel. 

I love my Savior, I testify of Him, and I am His representative. I know that He lives and loves us and knows us perfectly. The only way we can truly be happy is to live in the way the Savior wants us to, and strive to be like Him through our faults, weaknesses, and problems..and that is Life! 

I love you all, thank you all for all of the support and prayers, and I hope that if any of you need anything, that it will show up in my inbox every Monday! 

Elder Yeoman

Welcome to my new home in Derqui. If you look closely, you can see the bikes we are going
to be riding!

This is the road in front of our house. All mud and LOTS of it!

The baptism of Lucas on Saturday! Such a GREAT Day!

My Zone of Awesome Elders while I was in Boulogne!

More AWESOME Elders! 

Elder Phair and Elder Yeoman

La Casa del Señor

Hello Everyone!
 I hope you all have had an awesome week! This week was really special as we were able to go to the temple and have a Zone Conference after. It was a very great experience, and we were able to talk about something that I have truly come to love in my mission..becoming more like Christ! We talked about Faith, Hope and Charity..which are all related. 

I have been very blessed to not only see all the changes in the people that I have the privilege to serve, but also in the person that I am. In Preach My Gospel, it says that more importantly than what you do is the kind of person that you are. I think the base of everything is a love for Christ. A love for Christ is what truly drives a missionary to do what we do every day. As we love Christ, we of course strive to be obedient and diligent, and want to follow Him in all that we do. My increased relationship and knowledge of Christ is what makes my mission personal, through all the trials and dificultades that I go through, I come closer to Christ.

I think all of the treasures in life are without a doubt found in the Gospel. I like to think of it like this....WE are all Sons and daughters of Heavenly Father, who knows us perfectly. He knows that the only way for us to be successful in this life is through His Gospel, which will give us all of the joy and neccesities that we need to accomplish the purpose that we all have, to live with Him again with our families.

I hope that all can realize this gran plan that we all have, and can come to truly love the Savior. I love my Savior. I know He lives, and am proud to represent Him full time.

Hope that all have a great week!

Elder Yeoman

Temple trip with the Zone!

Buenos Aires Temple

Elder Yeoman at the Buenos Aires Temple

We arrived at the temple before the sun came up!

P-day last week with Elder Kelly and Elder Phair

The power of a missionary!!! ;-)

Boulogne Boomin'

Hey Everyone!! 
Hope all are well and have had an awesome week! This was probably one of the craziest weeks I've had on the mission, but asi es! Our baptism this past weekend fell through, which was pretty hard because we have been working with this investigator for a long time and have felt very strongly that he has received his answer and is prepared. We got to Saturday which was the day of his baptism and he was still saying that he wasnt ready to take on this huge responsibility. We encouraged him and told him that the Lord will give him all the help that he needs. We were unsure if he was going to get baptized or not, but my companion and I said "We are going to go through with all the prep stuff and we will not call it off." It got to be about 20 minutes before his baptism and he still hadn't called and we hadn't heard anything from him. We then called him and he said he couldnt make it. We were pretty upset, but for some reason it just wasn't the right time for him.

We finished working that day and talked to the Bishop, who said that if he comes to church tomorrow, we can do the baptism then. We are not allowed to go into the part of our area that he lives in, so we wouldn't be able to go get him Sunday morning. We finished planning that night and prayed for a miracle. We came to church and he didn't show up. Sacrament ended and we were walking to gospel principles class and a member comes up to us and said that he brought his friend. We took him to class with us and he then said "I came here once about a year ago. I have read the Book of Mormon, and this is the path for me." I was absolutely shocked. I looked at my companion and we knew that this was in fact a miracle from Heavenly Father..maybe not what we were expecting, but he will be baptized in 2 weeks. 

I really thought about this whole experience, and sometimes we expect things a certain way and at a certain time, but we truly aren't in control of that. What we are in control of is how we live our lives so that we may be able to truly see miracles and understand more the ways of the Lord..because He will always give to us what He knows we need, in the time that we need it. Sometimes that may be different than what we think.

I am very blessed to be a part of this work, the Lords work, and to be His representative. I know that we are where we are today with our struggles, afflictions, and trials, because that is what we need to progress and carry out our purpose, to become like Christ.

I love you all and hope you all have a great week!

Elder Yeoman

I know this is from last week but Jace didn't get to
send any pictures this week! Barbecuing Argentina Style with
Hermano Domingo!