Don't be distracted by the praise of the world.

This week some of the people we are working with were able to show up to chuch for the first time.

Feliciana, mom of Elian and Luciana, is now having lessons with us. She is looking into joining the church too and is excited about everything. This week she was able to show up to church for the first time in a long time. She and her husband had been talking to missionaries a long time ago. They even got married and then the missionaries left and no new ones came. Her husband drinks a lot now though and isn't too interested in hearing us. We are hoping that she can help her kids stay in the church now too.

Anselmo is the boyfriend of a lifelong member. They have 3 kids now and we are trying to help him work toward getting baptized. Getting married is an obstacle, but we are working with them to help them be able to build their family around the gospel. He is also really working to stop drinking. He feels quite a lot of social pressure from his buddies every weekend.

Brother Arguello is a member that made some mistakes and has distanced himself from the church a little. He is trying to get back to feeling right with God and get back active in the church. This Sunday he was able to go and set up an interview with the branch president. We are hoping to be able to help him and his family have the peace of the gospel more in their lives.

Nothing much out of the ordinary happened this week. We were able to have interviews with president and that was a very good experience. We are working hard on being dedicated to the work and helping the people out.

It is also really interesting to see the struggle to change from the outside. One of our investigators named Javier stopped doing drugs when he almost got killed. He is now healthier and told us that he is having the temptations again. He said his old friends don't like that he doesn't do drugs anymore. From our perspective it is so easy to see that the struggle is between good and bad but to him it is so much harder. Remember our choices are between good and evil. Moroni said, "Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies because of the praise of the world?" (Mormon 8)  Let us not let the praise of the world distract us. 

Love,

Elder Dallin Skouson

Reading the Book of Mormon is the key to knowing if it's the truth.

Everyone, 

So, this week and last week quite a bit happened. We found a guy named Javier last week who was way deep into drugs and drinking. He's the nephew of a less active returned missionary sister in our area. He got stabbed by one of his buddies and was in the hospital for a few weeks. He said he woke up and never wants to touch the things he used to do again.  He is really looking to come closer to Christ and has been working toward it. He is reading the Book of Mormon and is making better friends who will help him avoid the temptations instead of going toward them.

We also have been talking to a family Ortis who is really excited to go to church and to talk to us but they just can't seem to read what we leave them. It's sad because reading is the key to knowing if it's the truth and they are actually looking for the truth.

Kate made a birthday cake for Dallin.  Ryan made the Argentina flag.  We sent him this picture.  We wish he could have had some with us, but we're super grateful he's where he is right now.  He liked the picture though!! :) It's hard to believe he's 20.

Yesterday for my birthday we were able to eat some stake and chicken with one of the member families in our area. They had 3 birthdays in their family this week and one of them was yesterday too, so they invited us over. It was really good, but they really like a lot of fat on their meat and it sometimes is a little hard to eat it.  We are also probably going to buy something more to celebrate today because we can shop better today, but we will see.

Also, I had a parasite and that was not very fun. I have recommitted to not drink any of the water and have been buying a lot more of it in bottles and boiling it. I hope that will help in the future. I took a drug and now feel much healthier. 
Editor's note: Elder Skouson didn't tell us that he was suffering with diarrhea for two months!!  We just noticed that he'd lost weight when we saw him and talked to him at Christmas time. We are so grateful that he is feeling better! 

Elder Dallin Skouson

Elders Whiting and Skouson with the Rojas and Noguera families. They are
such great members. We are also teaching their family!

Not the usual letter

Everyone,

My family sent me some questions to answer and this will be my letter for the week.  

Does it rain a lot in your area?

Not too often. When it does rain it rains a bunch like as hard as it
does when it does hard in Ohio, and there is not very good drainage.
There's a lake outside our apartment in the street every time. And
the people here don't have to worry about driving in snow. Just mud.

What do the people do for work in your area?

Construction a lot, or working in farms,  also selling things. There
are tons of houses with windows to the street (kiosk) that just sell
random food or drinks or kids toys or laundry detergent...

How many people are there in your branch/ward?

About 60 show up every week to sacrament. I have no idea what the
actual membership is.

Are there a lot of dogs where you are now?  Do people have dog's for
pets or are there just homeless dogs?

There are a ton of dogs, and people do have them for pets and there
are a lot of homeless dogs too. the pets usually are cleaner and the
homeless ones never get washed.

Do you have a complete bishopric? RS, Primary and Young women's
presidencies in your branch/ward?

We have a branch president with at least 1 counselor and a secretary. RS president with again at least 1 counselor.  primary president,  I believe there is a counselor.  Young Men pres. called yesterday.  Young women's  pres.---YM president's wife also called yesterday. There for now isn't an elders quorum pres.

Do you have grocery stores like ours?

Not as big as ours. There are more of them and they are smaller. There
are some that are bigger and the sad part is that there is only 1 open
between 12:30 and 4. they also don't sell as many things I don't
think. There are a lot of super markets that sell food and other
random household items. I did find Nutella today though! I was
excited.

Do many people have cars?  How do they get around?

Tons of people have motorcycles. Very few have cars. They walk or take
a motorcycle. There is always a kiosk close to their house so you can
get milk and hotdogs within 2 blocks of anywhere.

Do they eat a lot of ice cream?  Do you get yourself a treat once in
awhile/what?

Ice cream not a ton. They have these little things like hostess treats
called alfajores. They are just a cake with dulce de leche and then
another cake thing. You can get them for anywhere from 2 to 9 pesos. I
buy those every once in a while.

What did you get yourself for Christmas?

I bought a few little treats. I also bought a wallet that says
Argentina. I'm also thinking of buying a tie.

Do people always comment on your height?  What do they say?

Yes.  They will sometimes say 2 meters or they will ask how tall I am
or things like that. They often will just say you're so tall and your
companion's not. 

Do they have milk like we have?

Nope. You can only buy by the liter and it is in cartons or bags. There
isn't skim milk either only whole and partly de-creamed. The cartons
don't need to be cooled before you open it and the bags do. It also
doesn't quite taste right.

Have you talked to President Franco much?

Nope. Just 1 interview and one more this Saturday. I just said hey in
passing in our multi zone conference. He has 250 or so missionaries.

Do you ever get to go to the temple on your mission?  Or no because
there isn't one in your area?

Nope. they used to send the finishing missionaries to the temple in
Buenos Aires but they changed and now they aren't

How big of an area does your district cover?  Your zone?  How many
missionaries in each?

Our district I'm not sure. We have 2 districts in Clorinda. My zone is
Clorinda and 2 other little cities outside. I think they are called
Laguna Blanca and Primavera. There are 2 missionaries, 1 companionship
in each of those 2 cities. and there are 6 companionships in Clorinda
alone. 1 of them is a trio of sisters.

Will you tell us more about your new companion?

He has red hair, (Go Kate) and is a very good missionary. He is focused on the people. We have really good lessons---The spirit is there and we follow it.  And, when the people listen they can feel it. I think it helps that we are very obedient and focused on the
people.

Has he been on his mission a longer or shorter time than you have?  Is
he tall or short or average?

He has been here a year and a half. He is shorter than I am. I think he's on the
shorter end but not super super short.

Thanks for the questions.  Sorry I didn't have time to write another letter this week. 

Elder Dallin Skouson

Christ won't fail us.

Everyone,

So, this week we had the new year. We were in the apartment at 7 and at about 5, I wasn't feeling the safest in the streets.  But Saturday was a lot calmer than normal because everyone was done partying for a while I think.

I also have thought a lot this holiday season about how lucky it is to even have a family to spend the time with. There are a lot of people who are suffering from all types of things in the world. Also, it is so important to look to Christ for our happiness. He won't fail us.

We also had transfers. I am now with Elder Whiting. He is from Arizona. I'm still in the same place just with a new companion.

We contacted a woman named Leaz a while back and she has been wanting to stop drinking. We were able to invite her to stop and help her think of what she could do instead. She also was able to make it to church and everything was just right for her there. She already knew a member so that helped and they were able to sit together. She even felt comfortable enough to make a comment in Sunday School. I think she had a good time even in the testimony meeting. She said she liked how everyone was like her and had struggles too.

She also has said that her dad was a missionary and preacher. He once said to her that it is important to not let one man's actions keep you from your own salvation. Do the right thing no matter what other people do. I believe that is some of the best advice that we could take. Moroni said, "rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been."

Good luck going back to School, Work and everything else.

Elder Dallin Skouson

Goodbye to our threesome.  Elders Simmons, Skouson, Vergara.