Well this will be the last time in a while were i will have the opportunity to email as a missionary

  Well this will be the last time in a while were i will have the opportunity to email as a missionary. 

  So i was thinking of what i would be putting in this last email and i have had a real big difficulty of what i could write. The good thing is that this last week has been one of the most interesting weeks that i have had here on my mission.

   So i think i have told all of you that it seems to rain a lot here, well this week it has sure passed all the norms of usual rain storms. San Francisco flooded! YAY! well not really i don't think we should be celebrating that but we have had some real big problems due to flooding this last week. Some of the small town close to us are still under about 3 feet of water and some towns are evacuated because the town is completely under water. This part of Argentina is not really well planned so when they have problems with flooding they just send it to other small towns. So not only do the small towns get there own rain but the rain of everywhere else. San Francisco was only flooded for about a day and a half. The rain started coming down on Tuesday night and didn't stop until Wednesday in the afternoon. We were officially not able to leave that day but we had a lunch so we were able to go out and trudge through the flooded streets to get to the lunch. I have a few videos that i will be sharign when i get home. The few pictures i do have ill send.

    Anyways what i think that i could do now and what i think i would like to do so that those who may ever read this email may know of the testimony that i have received while serving the lord for the last two years.

    Two years may seem like a long time for a lot of people. They can do a lot of things. A lot of opportunities have slipped away because of the decision that i took two years ago. Not only that i decided to leave to a foreign country where i would have to learn a completely new language and just hope that i would be able to communicate with them. But something that i do know is that the opportunity that i took at this moment in my life was the best two years that i have experienced as of now.

   I have seen a lot of things during these two years. And for those who have been reading the blog maybe you have read a lot of what i have seen. But the things that i have seen of a lot further than just material belongings and experiences that are funny or maybe fin interesting, but go a lot deeper to a spiritual conversion that has made me the better man and missionary that i needed to become. I am more of a man who trusts in God instead of trusting in his own abilities. I have become a man who rarely before doing anything turns to his knees and to his god before he does any sort of decision. I have become a man who knows what true sacrifice is. I have become a man who now knows what it meant for our father in heaven to sacrifice his only son so that i may have to opportunity to be  happy. And not only that i have now become a man who knows how to truly apply the atonement of Jesus Christ in my life.

   These things that i have listed are a few of the things that maybe i have become, but truly i think the thing that i learned the most was just the fact the i truly learned how to forget myself and just serve those around me. I stopped thinking about what maybe i would want or need but just to look at my companion and the people around me and thinking to myself "how i can i serve this person today" This change of thought has made me a true disciple of Jesus Christ. I will follow him until i die.

    At this moment in my life i have made a covenant with my god and savior to never leave behind the things that i learned these last 2 years. It has been a lot and to put it all into this letter would probably make it  a lot longer than it would need to be. But what i know is true and i know that these 2 years have been the best two years. I loved the mission and i'm hoping that the day i get home i will be able to put my shoulder to the wheel again and continue to work in this great work of my father that is in heaven. I know that i can be just as Nephi was in the days of old and respond to whatever call of service and say "i will go and do the things the lord commanded" i know that i have been called to serve and now that the time is over i will have to continue in the service in a different form. I know that my savior lives and i know he has helped me in every possible way. I love you all and until next Wednesday!

     Elder Cameron Jay Cook

we just had a load of surprises thrown at us in the blink of an eye

 well this week had to be a very interesting one because we just had a load of surprises thrown at us in the blink of an eye. Monday morning we were told that we would have to do informes this week which just means that i have to do my job as district leader and tell presidente about the district. Well i couldn't do that because i hadn't done an exchange with one of the elders so we had to do a quick exchange there from Tuesday to Wednesday so that i would be able to complete my job. 

Exchanges for me are really fun because i get to take a nice bus ride to a little town called Arroyito. The bus we take is like taking a plane. Nice seats a movie that usually is going on and a nice quite rumble of the engines. It makes for a fun ride. But it was a super cool exchange because on of the elders has quick make root beer extract. and lets just say 3 Americans that have all desires to remember something from home we made root beer floats that night to celebrate the exchange.

   After the exchange we had to travel to Cordoba to have a conference with Elder Gonzalez. He is the area president for south america south area. it was super cool to hear from a general authority. We are very blessed in this mission to hear from sooo many people. The weirdest part was to see every single one of my companions. It was hardest to say goodbye to my Latin comps. Thye are the ones that i probably will never be able to see again. Or at least the hardest people to speak to after but we still hope and i am going to try my hardest to keep in contact.

   This week we also had a baptism in the ward of a young mother who truly was converted to the gospel. She had left a lot of things behind and i know that with all my heart i was very blessed to have seen the big changes. I may not have been the biggest part of her conversion but i know that i was blessed to see faith in action and a true change in the heart of a woman who has gone through so much. I love the gospel for that. we see so many things.

  I love you all!

  Elder Cook

FELIZ CARNAVAL

   well alright so carnaval isn't as near as big here as in other places. TO be honest we think Carnaval is just a place where people party and just live as it says in 2 Nephi "Eat Drink and be Merry for Tomorrow we Die" but here it is just a day to be absolutely lazy and have another reason to not go to work. IT is amazing how a whole city will shut down just because of a national holiday. Not even super markets stay open for these type of things. I miss my 24 hr open stores....

   This week has been one of the most rewarding and happier moments of my mission. These last couple of weeks we have been trying to prepare some things to make our last couple weeks be really worth it. We set up a branch mission plan and it has sure had its results. We have been recevieng member refereneces like crazy. People are creating lists of 5 to 10 people that we didn't even ask for. They just already have them thought of and are ready to help the missionaries find. 

  Another thing that has happened this week was that I was calling one of my old areas this last week and it came up to the topic of a less active family that i was teaching while i was over there. They had a 22 year old son that i became really good freinds with. To be honest the whole family were good friends of mine, but when i talked about the family they told me that the eldest son is now preparing to go on a mission. I shot up inot the air and i think i almost hit my head on our ceiling. We had been trying so hard with that family and to hear that they are now going to send a missionary out into the field just makes me the happiest guy on earth. I truly felt the promise which reads in DnC 18 "15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

 16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!"

I have truly felt the joy that is promised of sharing the gospel with others and seeing the work of the lord progressing as it is brought to every nation and people. I love this work and at times liek these i cant imagine being anywhere else. At times like these i wish i could be a missionary my whole life, but the lord as his time and he has his ways. His thought are not my thoughts and his ways not my ways. I love this work and i am going to take advantage of every moment that i have here as a missionary. I love you all and i hope that you have a wonderful week!

   Elder Cook

A week of things to do and probably could have done a lot more

 A week of things to do and probably could have done a lot more.

    First off, A week of more rain. Tuesday and Sunday we were swarmed in by the rain. Tuesday was the worst because it wasn't like the usual rain that we have here in San Francisco. So the pattern of the rain here is usually like 1 or 2 hours of rain and then the sun comes out and we all die because of the heat and the humidity. But Tuesday the rain was just going on all day long. Which was a blessing but at the same time a terrible thing. I have come to learn that Argentina does not have any sort of draining system that isn't just moving the water to other places of the city. Everyone here is just willing to tell you that we live in a gigantic hole. The water just flows right in to San Francisco and there is no way for it to leave. We have ended up walking through a few rivers on our way through the streets.

  It was funny because on Tuesday we had planned to work in the ares that is absolutely horrible on rainy days because the main street seriously becomes a river and it is all just pure mud as you fight through the streets. As we got to the street we were thinking of how we were going to cross. We then had a gigantic blessing because a man showed up on his motorcycle and took us across the river. It was super cool. First time being on a motorcycle for a bit and also just cool to be ferried across a river on a motorcycle was an interesting idea.

   Another thing that happened this week was for sure the amount of meetings that we ended up having. It was amazing that almost every night we had some sort of meeting that took our night away from working out on the streets. With the new year we have a lot of meetings that talk about what they are going to do different this year and the hope is to see a stake by the end of the year, or at least a branch that is strong enough to be a ward by the end of the year. We have the people and we have the will power but the only thing now is that we stick to our guns and we start what we have finished.

   I am super excited for this next week. We have some good plans and some really good lessons set up with the people that matter. I love you all and i hope that everything goes well for the week!

        Elder Cook

One week leads more to the other

So one week leads more to the other i think would be a good title for this last week. The first week of the transfer we have been trying to apply a lot of things from the one before and we went to a lot of members houses to get some references and maybe have the opportunity to get new investigators. Through that we finally were able to get to know our Elders Quorum president who has been super busy these last 3 months. When we finally got to meet with him he told us how much he has on his plate and he asked us for help in visiting members as well as getting our own list of families to visit. He asked us as well to act as counselors to help with the activities and specifically the family history side of his responsibilities. It has made things super interesting because for the next two weeks we have nothing but pure reunions for the next 2 weeks. It makes me realize how much i have learned about how the church runs here on the mission.

   Talking about family history, the district and the mission have put a huge focus on family history and has made sure that we can help others get theirs started and just through exploring i have learned a ton and i have also realized how much i should have learned this a long time ago. Maybe i just wasn't listening but i feel bad that i don't know as much as i probably should. I have a huge bloodline of pioneers in my blood, but some people i would have never guessed were converts when i thought they were members their whole life. I know now the importance of that and i hope to do a little bit of repenting when i get home.

   Well i really don't know what to write. I am running out of more and more ideas and my desire to share the small little things just comes to a close as i think that a lot of this could be shared in a later day. But anyways i love you all and i hope that everyone has just an amazing week!

   Elder Cook

I have started my last transfer as of today

So it is official...i have started my last transfer as of today. The last six weeks of the mission has started and i dont feel any different. I was walkign aroudn today and jsut filling out my planner and as i got to the end i reaized that this would be the last one i woudl have to prepare. It was weird because through out this week we have been mentally preparing one of the people that we were living with to go home this week. You could tell that it was on his mind a lot and that the mission is just an amazing experience and something hard to leave behind, the people and place that you have grown to love especially. Finally it came down to last night and you just finally come to realize how much you love the mission and that i want these next 6 weeks to be some of the best weeks that i have had on my mission and from what it seems like we as a companionship we might do it. 

   i am stll with Elder Chuquipoma. We are getting more and mroe open with eachother and more and more liek firends. I have dfenitly been privileged to have him as a companion, especially to be his first compaion here on the misison. I feel bad that he will be my last companion but i feel like we are both learning a lot from this experience. 

   Somethign that was cool this week though is that my companion adn i became official  bakers again this week and we ended up doing a service for some investigators cooking home made bread and a doughnut like sweet called bolas de frayle. We were there cooking with them for the whole morning and they then left right after to go out adn sell it. These people are super nice to us and tonight they are offering us a asado because they feel like we are cool people and that we have already become friends so he invited us over.  

   So i am sorry that i don't have too much time this week but i just know that my mind is still a little fired from not getting a ton load of sleep just because i stayed up helping the other elder get his stuff done and making sure he had cleaned out everything that he was going to leave behind. I may have only slept a good solid 2 hours but i know what i was able to feel and see in that missionary is what exactly i needed to make sure that these last couple weeks for me are going to be the best! 

   I love you all and i hope for the best!

           Elder Cook

Another Tuesday email

 Another Tuesday email! yeah i know it seems bad that i have sent sooo many Tuesday emails here in San Fran, but it isn't my fault. With the parties and all that stuff in December but yesterday we had a storm that knocked out all the power in San Fran for the majority of the day. It went off at about 2 in the afternoon until 10 at night so there was no way we were all able to get our emails out this week.

   Talking about the weather this week, lets just say it has been one of the hardest weeks of my life. This week we have had hot weather. On Sunday it rained which means we always have a ton of humidity, the worst part is that sometimes after a rain storm we only have to wait a few more days and we will have another storm or maybe just a cold wind to wipe out all of the humidity, but this week we didn't have anything. It seems that we were swimming more than anything else. It made somethings just super hard, especially for my comp who cant really stand anything of just hot weather. It has been affecting alot the speed he walks and jsut the ammount of time he talks in a lesson, the hotter it is the less he talks.

   So there was a major miracle that we had this week that i wanted to tell you guys about. So about a week ago my comp went out on exchanges with one of the Zone Leaders and they found a person buying some sweets on the streets and they invited us over to their house. We went over and it is a family of about 10 people all of which are super interested. This week we will be helping them with a service to cook some of their sweets on Saturday and then on Monday they are going to be "paying us back" with a barbecue. My comp went to go see them again last night and they said that they feel that there is something different about us and he feels like we are already his friends even though we have passed by twice. It is amazing how sometimes there are just certain people who you need to find at a certain time.

   Another miracle, WE HAD SOMEONE SHOW UP TO CHURCH! It has been a long time since we as a companionship have had someone had church.This Saturday we had a lesson with a family that we had found that live out in the boonies of our area. We hardly work over there jsut because the peopel are a little more humble and usually cant get to church without a lot of help. But We had a very strong spiritual lesson and the dad came. We ahd a future preisthood holder come. It is amazing how the lord blesses us with hrad work. IT has been rough but we see the fruits. I love the mission.

   I love you all and i just love the mission. I truly enjoy every day and every minute, even though i come home just drenching wet from the sweat and the humidity in the air, i don't care because i come home satisfied and feel the approval of God in my life.

  Until Next Week!

        Elder Cook

I was in Arroyito the first half of the week

Well lets start with the beginning of the week, I was in Arroyito the first half of the week. As a district leader i have the opportunities to have exchanges with the elders and i always love that part of the calling because you see a lot of miracles. While i was their we found a Colombian family and they ended up giving us lunch only after a door contact. It was super cool and they ended up being super nice and that was only one miracle of the day. The second one was somethign that i realized after a lesson. I was walking away from a lesson feeling as normal as ever. My companion for the day looked to me and said, "I really liked the promise that you made at the end of the lesson." I thought about what i had said the whole lesson and i couldn't remember a single word of what i had said.´I just realized the truth of a promise that is made in the scriptures. The words will be placed in your mouth by the spirit in the moment that you need them. I haven't noticed it my whole mission but sometimes i just blame it on a train of thought, but really with learning a new language and trying to actually teach people about the gospel sometimes not a single word of a lesson has been mine but just the spirit speaking through me. I am the vessel and the spirit is the voice. I was very humbled and was very thankful for the two years that i have had to be that vessel after that day.

    Other than that this week has been pretty much a normal week. We keep finding people but it has been super hard to bring people to church these last couple of weeks. Mainly because it seems to me that Argentine people have a huge difficulty to get out of bed and walk to church when storms are on the horizon. And it hasn't helped that we have had a rain storm almost every Saturday or Sunday for the last 4 weeks. GRRR but yeah know part of the mission.

   So i already talked about how i like exchanges but another thing that i do like about being a district leader are baptismal interviews. I was able to do one this week for a girl that wants to get baptized. I cant tell too much about it but i can tell you what i felt during the time. It is a privilage to see the people truly bare their testimonies and how they feel. This girl had been through a lot and she had found that baptism is the only option that she seeks. and to share with me what it meant to her was amazing. I talked about Repentance with my district this week and it helped me realize what grand part of the work that we have to do when we call people to repentance. We are the call, we have to do it. It sucks sometimes but then you truly do see the blessings when they know that it is from God and that he is doing it because he loves us.

    Anyways i love the mission. I wouldn't trade this experience for the world. I love it

Elder Cook

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

       Yeah 2015 is here...that means a lot of things....that the mission is truly coming to an end....that scares me sometimes....i love the mission too much...i don't want to leave....

    The good thing about the new year is that you truly go into an introspection mode where you think of who you are and where you want to go in this life right. And as missionaries we truly think more about the spiritual side and how we are spiritually. IT was really interesting this week because what i truly felt was that i was figuring out how i could keep my spiritual goals but involve them to fit my goals that here in a bit will be more of what missionaries call Worldly goals. Our president is very good about us keeping our visions set forward so that we never are lost. I feel very good and i feel like what i am learning now is going to be worth more than anything else that i could ask for.

    Well we passed the new year with some very good friends of ours in the ward the Acosta Family. They are very kidn to the missionaries. One of their daughters especially just is so grateful for the missionaries. They were less active as of a year ago-but the missionaries have found them and started getting the whole family active again. They have become super excited and were even more excited to have us all four over at their house for New Years. They treated us like kings they had a us sit down as they finished up the food and then gave us some of the best food i have tried here in Argentina. They had an asado with what they call here a Picada which is just basically a buffet of appetizers. It was sooo good. i love the food here. I am absolutely surprised i haven't gained more weight than i have now.

   Anyway i am so grateful for this new year because it is just another year full of miracles and just hard work. I have a lot of goals to just finish out as strong as i possibly can and i am so excited that i can share it with the people i am right now. I love my companion. I love seeing a new missionary and how he has the faith to do pretty much everything. We have been working so hard and i am getting just so tired, but i continue on.

   I love you all and i hope that everyone had an amazing new year.

         Elder Cook

A week of partying and a week of just absolutely hard work

A week of partying and a week of just absolutely hard work.

   So Christmas week is always an interesting but always rewarding week. ANd that is for two reasons. You always do have families getting together so you have more opportunities of finding new people that may have never heard the gospel before, and two the fact is that when families are together usually they don't want two strangers knocking their door and asking if they can come in and share a Christ filled message with them. Yes a few may let you in but the majority of those people not so much. But the few people that doo answer are very elect peopel and we know that they will most likely progress.

    So to start of the week, it has been a very interesting experience to train. First off sometimes you just realize that the guy sitting next to you sometimes just doesn't understand why you do the things you do. I may do something or say something and he then asks me why i do what i do and i realize that it isn't something that he does on a regular basis. For example today he asked me why i was getting in proselyting clothes if it was a p-day, then i realized he doesn't know what we do on a p-day. This was his first p-day that actually didn't have something weird like a Christmas conference or traveling so he was able to experience something normal and he doesn't know what to do.

   Also part of the week was a great filled Argentine Christmas eve dinner. We ate with a family here that i have grown quite close with (the Martinez Family) as well as they invited me to come have dinner with them. Brother Martinez cooked us up a barbeque with half of a pig, a goat, and a good rack of ribs. It filled me up fast. he let me help with the barbecue as well but it was more just a watch and learn experience because he cooks his asado a little differently than i have seen before but it sure saves money but it takes a golden eye to make sure you don't over cook your meat.

   Also this last week though we had a Christmas conference with the whole mission there. It was so interesting because i saw companions from the first part of my mission and realized how old i am because the majority of them are now past their year mark and making fun of me because i will be going home soon. I thought it was quite an interesting experience and kind of out of body thing where i just couldn't help but think to myself on how tired i was as i went around talking to people.

  Well finally it has come to the new year and i am getting pretty excited to start the new year. Start a new part of my life and see what life actually has in store for me. The new year is all about resolutions, and i have made a few, and i know that i will keep adding to the list as time goes on. But anyways i love you all and i hope that life just keeps giving out the blessings. I love you all!

    Elder Cook

...my companion is Elder Chuquipoma. He is an Elder from Peru

   Well i am guessing that you are all now trying to figure out who my new companion is.Well my companion is Elder Chuquipoma. He is an Elder from Peru. I am already in love with the guy. He is an awesome elder and i am super excited to be his first companion here in the feild. He has the fire like none other i always feel bad when we really have soemtiems nothing to do but we get a lot of thigns done. This week we put 2 dates with peopel to get baptized. It was amazing the miracles that we found when we just put ourselves to work with the blind faith that we were going to find the miracles that are waiting for us.

   Yesterday was the christmas confrence for the mission and ti is oen of only very few oportunities where the mission gets together. And this is the whole mission all 246 of us get together and we just have a blast. This Christmas they had a talent show and i was actually able to sing in it with one of my good friends here on the mission named Elder Toledo. It was super cool we sang Mary did you Know with a mixture of Spanish and English lyrics. It was super cool and though it may not have been the perfect performance i was super happy about it and it was fun.

    Well i am super excited about Christams. This year we will be celebrating it with a member family and the man of the house invited me to come learn how to cook the asado (barbeque) we will be cooking a full pig and a goat instead of the traditional cow. i am super excited because i have never cooked something so big before so i am quite excited to learn. 

  I love Christmas on the mission because it just give me time to think about Christ and just read the story and think about what opportunities and moments that i have as a missionary to share the good news that is Jesus Christ and that he was born so that we could actually be saved from damnation. From eternal suffering. From Death itself, And he opened up a door so that my family can be together forever and that i could go around for these short 2 years and tell people that they can receive the blessings.

   I love you all and i hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

         FELIZ NAVIDAD

            Elder Cook

i officially have been called as a trainer for the mission

What a week!

       transfers have ended and i officially have been called as a trainer for the mission. I will be receiving a newbie straight from the MTC. I will be taking a long bus ride into the city on Tuesday to make sure that i can be there Wednesday morning. I cant wait to get my new companion. I am super excited i get to have the opportunity to train a new elder. To be honest i am super anxious to receive him though because i will forever be his first impression of a missionary and that can create a bit of pressure but you know what i am super excited the same and i just hope that whoever my companion is that i can just have an awesome transfer with him.

Something about this week that i have learned though is that it is sometimes just the best to find the best part of life and just keep working your butt off until you just cant work no more. We kind of hit a dry spell this last week and just couldn't find anybody who wanted to receive our message or even wanting to talk to us and all the people that usually talk to us for some odd reason just weren't home or we just never caught them at a right time. It made things very difficult to work but as always when you work you find miracles.

  The miracle for this week has to for sure be a less active woman that my companion and i started teaching about 3 weeks ago. We were told by the ward to start passing by her because she had expressed feelings to come back. SO what happened Her visiting teachers passed by and then a week later we did pass by and we had amazing spiritual lessons focused on the sacrament and its cleansing powers. Next thing you know we see her at church. She had come by herself and she was welcomed into the ward with open arms. It was absolutely awesome to see her there, and even she looked even happier to just be able to have us there with her to congratulate her on coming back to church. Sometimes you just feel so cool to be part of these stories that you just know God has more plans for the people than the things that sometime we have planned for them.

But more than that this week was just a week to kind of get to know my companion a little more. Elder Weller and i probably got a lot closer in this last week than we got any other week. We just kind of let our feelings about some things out and it made the week as hard as it was better. I don't know what it is but i think that the companion is made for more than just a testimony and a teaching companion, but more for somebody that can just help you through a hard a difficult time, someone that can just be at your side when you tell him i am having a hard day. And the greatest thing is that i didn't just have him, i had my zone leaders, i had the other 2 elders in the pension, and then i had the best of all God and Jesus Christ right next to me telling me to just keep moving forward. They are all their to help me to succeed not to fail. Never do they do something to see us fail. Friends would never do that, and just to think God gave us Jesus so that we could have the opportunity to bounce back when we fall. The gift was his to give and ours to receive. This is the time of gifts but he gave something to us that we can hardly give back in return. But we can sure think about it. Christmas is a week from now and i just have been focused so much on Christ and what he did for me. I love the mission and i love the offering that i could give my loving savior after what he did.

   I love all of you and i hope to talk to you all and maybe even see some of you in a week!

 Elder Cook

Every week here in San Francisco is becoming more amazing

Well another week has flown by and every week here in San Francisco is becoming more amazing. This week marks the end of another transfer which as i approach people are not afraid to point at me and help em recognize that i only have 2 transfers left after it.....The mission has flown by and we have someone going home from our pension so it just kind of freaks me out to see it happening. Just keep the focus and the goals still set to work as hard as i can!
    This week was somewhat slow. We have been trying to work hard and focused but the hot spring afternoons just make it seem like the longest day of my life. The sun and humid air of the area is not as fun. We have been having heavy storms blow through the area and we were caught in them on more than one occasion. But as wet as we get the day of the storm isn't the problem it is the day after when the blazing hot sun comes out. I have come home to the pension a little darker every day.
   Good thing about weeks like this is that as hard as you work you may not see as much success but you see a lot more bigger miracles than just the small graces that you get from the lord. This last week we were able to focus on the Christmas message with some of the members and they all were super excited about it and have been sharing it everywhere they can. We are holding a Christmas night on Friday night to watch a few Christmas things and then next week we have the Christmas activity for the branch. CHRISTMAS IS HERE!
   but finally i would like to put something that God has shown me every week since i have started the mission. He loves us. When we show our love for him, he shows it even more. So as always we had fast Sunday this last week. We as missionaries here start Saturday  after lunch and then goes till Sunday for lunch. Well lets just say that was a trial. Hottest day yet of the spring, hunger wrenching my stomach, and no one wanted to listen to us that day. We had very little success. But we continued on with the faith that we would see something. Sunday comes around and no one. Very little people because of another storm that hit us right after Church. Worst news was that our lunch for that day canceled on us because their fridge broke so they lost all they food that they were going to make for us. It was rough, but something that we did end up seeing was that after Sunday right at the end of the night, we go to a new investigators house and we teach her the Restoration and she ends up in tears telling us it was the message that she has been looking for to unite her family. We have a lesson with her today and we are super excited to see what continues out of it. But it was just a testimony builder that God loves every single one of us and though he may try my faith i know he does a lot more for me than i could ever imagine, especially since he already did something for me which i can never pay back which was send Jesus to all of us right?
   Anyways i love you all and i will talk to you all next week!
          Elder Cook

Bikes again...and more rain storms...

 Bikes again...and more rain storms...
        Yes the title is so true. This last weekend was filled with a cold front, a huge rain storm, and us being on bikes. So i didn't tell you guys in my last couple of emails but this area actually has bikes to ride on for proselyting. The two bikes we have are not in the greatest shape but it helps us from not getting robbed while we are not looking. But anyways this weekend we decided to take the bikes for a good spin to make our long distance travel to the Province of Santa Fe an easier trip.
   Let's just say that Saturday reminded me a lot of how florida felt like on a weekly basis. We had recently got out of lunch when we look to one side and see a gigantic front of gray and stormy clouds coming straight towards us. I knew from past experiences that in about an hour from when we left we would be hit with a gigantic rain and thunder storm. Well we decided that it would be best to go look for a house that we may be able to take shelter in. All the members we looked for in the area were already asleep for the Siesta and the regular people that we talk to as well. So we took the chance and went to go look for somebody. Right before the storm hit we found a house of a potential investigator that we have been trying to find for the last 3 weeks and we finally found her. She let us in and she told us to take cover in her house until the rain calmed down.
   First off, that visit was amazing. She told us her faithful story of her family and how she lost her son to a tumor in his liver. We were able to share the whole plan of salvation and as well as share some scriptures from the Book of Mormon with her in the hour and a half that we were there during the hardest part of the storm. It was super cool and showed me that the lord truly has his ways of realizing his work.
   Through out the whole day we had moments just like that were just as it started to rain hard we were able to get into a house before the rain started pouring down. That is until the end of the night when we finally had to make it home. The rain came pouring down the worst it had the whole day and ti showed no sign of stopping. I had no jacket and nothing to really cover myself. So what did i do, i took my bike saddled up and took it like a man and tried getting to our house as fast as i could. Lets just say the puddles that i splashed through may have covered about half my calfs. By the end of the trip my shoes were filled with water and i was absolutely soaked. We all just took our time to take off our clothes and dry off a bit. it was a fun little moment. 
 Anyways i know that as much as we all love the cool mission stories i would just like to share with you all a video that really has changed my thoughts on this season. It may not be in the states, and i may not be seeing a white christmas, but what i am able to see is a Christ Centered Christmas. I am really able to focus on the true meaning of christmas and the true gift that we have received this season. I am going to leave you all with a video of what the true gift was for all of us and then invite you to think what this gift has given you! i love you all and i hope that you all have a great miracle filled week!
He is the Gift
   Elder Cook

Receiving instruction from President Alliaud

What a week!
     First off to start. I went back to the city! well not permanently
but we had a conference this last tuesday so we spent all of tuesday
between travel and receiving instruction from President Alliaud. It is
really cool to listen to our president. As you listen to him you
really just feel that he has the vision in mind and that he has the
keys to guide this mission. As well he announced something that will
be starting this week. Sneak peek of something that you all probably
wont hear about until after Thanksgiving, but there is going to be a
huge push on the missionary front with a christmas focus. The
initiative is called "He is the Gift" it is super cool and we will be
passing along the missionary spirit with everybody trying to get
people to just listen to a message about the birth of jesus christ. I
am super excited.
   Also something of the week is that it flew by fast. We have been
working super hard this last week and it shows when you leave and the
next thing you know you look up into the sky and the sun is already
setting. My comp and i are really just starting to get into the swing
of each other. We are getting along really well and we are working
like a really well oiled machine. It has taken some getting used to
just because he himself is still getting used to the language and me
to a comp that needs to talk more. I realize that i like talking a
lot..woops but we are getting better and we are really now just
finding the miracles and getting us ready for this next month.
   Last but not least i wanted to talk a second to think about
Thanksgiving. I may not be celebrating it this year but here is
something to think about. Isn't it weird that in the states we first
have thanksgiving and then we have a full month of thinking of Christ.
I think we may need a little bit more of a humble heart to give thanks
to our savior before we think of what a gift he actually is and was.
This week i will be fore sure thinking of what kind of thanks i have
to give every night for the things we have. This is a season to give
thanks. In my studies i have really seen that true humility does not
mean to be poor but it just means to be thankful and recognize that
God is the source of everything that we want and need in our lives. I
am thankful for this time that my God has given me to teach and preach
the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. The fact that i get to do
everything in my power to really help the people here in Argentina so
that they may fully realize the gift of Jesus Christ. I love my savior
and i love my God. I love you all and i hope that you all have a
wonderful and cold thanksgiving. Enjoy it because i wont be able to!
       Elder Cook

A week full of miracles again

A week full of miracles again.
   I don't know how these things happen but i feel like the lord has
just blessed us with a handful of miracles that we have all not been
able to comprehend at first.
  First off.....(drum roll) WE BAPTIZED. Yes a women that should have
been baptized about 2 weeks ago was finally baptized. She was
baptized yesterday after all the meetings and classes. It was a pretty
cool experience to see her. We didn't know who was going to do it until the 
last moment and a lucky priest that the parents are trying to put
a missionary focus on him made him do the baptism. IT was a little
weird experience and kind of a funny story from my point of view but i
think that may be for another day.
   Another Miracle. We put forth the work and we find the people that
are waiting for us. Last week we were walking through a part of the
city that is kind of far away from where we actually live. Far from
the church as well but the cool thing was we tried to visit every
member possible that we knew and that was listed. But the good thing
was that we found two people and we didn't even teach them. We came in
sat down in their houses and the first thing we heard was elders i
know it has been a long time since i have come to church but i will be
going this week. We sat there looking at each other and kind of
humbled but happy to be there at the right time. and not just that 1
of those people came and on her bike in the 90 degree weather that we
had sunday morning.
   Last miracle of the week was news that i heard from my ex comp. So
a miracle that i told a few emails ago, in my last area, of a woman
that had some family problems and that we helped her out. Well we got
there and she wanted to be baptized right? well i got the news that
she was baptized and not only that, her dreams were completed as she
was confirmed a member and the first time she took the sacrament she
received it from her son that has been a member for 4 years already
and has been her example and testimony bearer for the longest time. I
wish i could have seen it but i guess there are just some things that
we will never will see until the next life. I am just happy though
that i was able to be part of it in one way or another.
   Well i can't really tell you what will be in store for next week,
but i just cant help but realize how much my loving heavenly father is
truly looking over the work and is helping his servants who take their
time to do it. I love this work. i love leaving and being under the
hot sun and in the humid air because i know without a doubt that i
wouldnt be happier doing anything else but this. I love being a
missionary!
   Elder Cook

UNA SEMANA DE MILAGROS MIS AMIGOS QUERIDOS!

UNA SEMANA DE MILAGROS MIS AMIGOS QUERIDOS!

Wow i can't believe all the things that i have seen throughout this week. It was amazing. Another week of us being guided by the spirit to be at one place at the exact right time when God needed us. Something that reached us though was with an investigator that is a student here at the university. She and her three friends found the missionaries about 3 weeks ago and they all three received the book of mormon. And now 2 of which have already finished the book and the one that hasn't finished accepted to be baptized after talking to her parents. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! God truly does prepare his people to receive the gospel.

   Another miracle of the week. So we came over to some members house and we were talking to them for a while and right before we are about to end the lesson a women comes in and sits down on the lesson. We then start summarizing the lesson for this stranger woman and she ends up needing the lesson that we were giving. She was  having problems with her husband and having a ton of difficulties. And right there we were talking about how we needed to endure the problems that we may have as hard as they may be. We set up a lesson for the next day and it was amazing.

   Next miracle. We go to this same members house to teach this new miracle find we had, well she didn't show up but in place of here the member told us of a different women who was going through some family problems and sent us over to go visit her. We knocked on the door and she looked at us invited us into her house and i don't think i said a single word for an hour and a half. She talked our ears off telling us nothing but her life story and all the problems that she has gone through. She loves the church has studied it before and wants to continue with us. It was absolutely amazing. I loved it! We are going to be passing by her this week.

   The spirit works its ways and i love the mission for that. We are guided to the right people at the right time. I LOVE IT!

   I know i have very little time left but i got to use it to the max. I keep serving the lord with all m might mind and strength using everything in my power to help those who really need it!

  I love you all and until next week!

      Elder Cook

A week of flying emotions for sure

A week of flying emotions for sure. Transfers have come and gone
and so did After a good solid 6 months in Parque Capital i have
finally left the area. And with that i am also officially outside of
the city which i think will be a good thing. I have gone through my
whole mission here being less than an hour away from the main city of
Cordoba and now i am about a good solid 3 hours away from the city in
a city called San Francisco. Yes like the one that is in California.
But i am still in Cordoba. It is especially weird to think that this
may be my last area in the mission. Even weird is the fact that in my
pension right now we have 6 elders and 4 of us are ending our missions
in the next 4 months. So it will for sure be a weird way of ending
things.
   This last week has been just a whirlwind of emotions knowing that
transfers were just around the corner. We kind of just went around
making sure that we could say goodbye to everybody that we would want
to. The worst part is that after 6 months you have a lot of people to
say good bye to. But it was also nice because we were able to see the
majority of them.
   But there is a miracle out of all of this. As i talked about in my
last weeks email the spirit has a weird way of guiding us to the
people that need us the most well we saw a miracle after that moment.
It all goes to the Loza Family. The Loza family is an interesting
story but to make it short they are one family that has been trying to
baptize themselves for a good solid 4 years but it has been hard
through marriage problems and just the fact of jobs and a lot of
things. Well this last week the wife of the family, the only one that
isn't baptized saw the fact that the lord has a hand in her life. This
last wednesday we went over there for dinner and she started
explaining how she was so affected by our teachings and that she
started reading the book of mormon and that she finally made a promise
with god and that she wants to be baptized. It is really hard for her
to go to church  for her job but she wants to try with all her might
to get baptized. It was a serious miracle and a true change of heart.
One of the cool things you get to see as a missionary. It is sad that
i wont be able to see it but i just feel happy that i got to be part
of it.
   Well as i look at the time i have left i am going to take advantage
of every minute that i have left.  I love the mission and i love
serving the people . I love it here in Argentina and i just love the
fact i get to see people really changing and taking upon themselves
the name of jesus christ.
  I may miss my old area but i just know that i will be enjoying my
time here in San Francisco. I love you all!
  Elder Cook