I am in Argentina! Surprise—Surprise!!!

Hello everybody!!! 

Como le va?? 

I´m in Argentina!! Haha Surprise surprise! ;) Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I'm doing great! My President is awesome and so is my Companion! My Area is called Catamarca. Ha ha! At least I think that's how you spell it. Anyway, it's one of the more sketchier areas of Argentina!….. but truthfully…. I love it!  Even though the area is very poor my apartment is actually great. The people are pretty poor in our area, but they are so so nice, even when they don't want to hear what we have to say. (Which is very few;) Ha ha! ) It is hot here and very humid.  I LOVE it here! 

As far as what I need? I think that I am OK. I do not need anything in particular. Well, maybe a cook book actually. :)

Anyway, My companion´s name is Elder Rivera, He is from Peru and he knows just about the same amount of English as I do Spanish ….sooo.... not much!  Ha ha! It can get pretty interesting. However, I love em!! He is super, super funny. When he speaks English it's actually pretty darn good....and super funny! But yeah, he´s my ´Papa and I´m his ´Hijo´in the mission. It's super cool. 

Also, We got three baptismal dates this week already. I don't think it will be like that all the time but ….wow!....I mean wow! It has been amazing. There has been a lot of ups and a lot of downs this week and that will never change. But, it's amazing. I am learning so, so much from being here and I´m so glad I made this desicion to serve :) 

I am kind of in the middle of learning Spanish and forgetting English so....I don't know how to speak basically. Or spell...or anything…. Ha ha!  Oh well! ;) 

Another thing is that I got to go to the temple the first day I got here!!! It is Sooooo beautiful and I am so lucky. There are some missionaries who have been here for a long time and still haven't gotten to see it. 

One other thing, the people here in Argentina are so funny about the way I look. They act like they´ve never seen it before. Not to be prideful or anything but, they think I´m the most beautiful thing ever;) 

Also, there are alot of ´Snakes¨´ Here in Catemarca. The first time an Elder told me that I thought he was being serious!! haha and I aked him if they were poison and could kill me. He just laughed and didn't say anything, Through time I realized that ´Snakes´are the girls here who 'like'  the missionaries 'a lot'   Ha ha! . Anyway, my companion one day told me, "Don't answer them" (meaning the snakes) and I said,  "Why?" ....He said in his broken English, "Because lot of girls want you to be their girlfriend." Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!  It made me laugh so stinking hard. Anyway, when the "snakes" say anything to us now we just say "Hola" and ignore the rest and keep on walkin'. 

On a better note, a lady came into the chappel yesterday after sacrament. Her name is Ana Maria. Anyway, she flat out came up to us and said she wanted to be baptized. She had never talked to the missionaries before then. So, we have a lot to teach her but, she wants to do it! It was seriously a miracle. So, me and Elder Rivera call her Hermana Miracle ;) Anyway, I love you all so, so very much and I miss you everyday. I pray for you everyday. And I can promise you this, The Savior is with you every second of the day. 

You must have trial and affliction before you can press forward. This is how we grow, learn, and gain eternal life. I was reading in Preach My Gospel  this morning and read this, "The home is the best place to teach, learn, and apply principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. A home established on Gospel principles will be a place of refuge and safety. It will be a place where the Spirit of the Lord can abide, blessing family members with peace, joy, and happiness." This is solid doctrine. The gospel of Jesus Christ has, and will continue to bless me and my family. I am so blessed to have been rasied in such an amazing family. I am so grateful that I know how to raise my family. I am so grateful to have this Gospel so I can use it in my future family. Because I will use this. It is what Christ has given to each one of us to lift us up and quite simpily just make our lives as close to perfect as we as human beings can get. I love you guys so much. You are amazing!!!!!!!!!!!! I´ll write you all next week! 

Love Elder Welch :) 

MTC Buddies

The MTC district. I think that is their Spanish teacher in the middle. 

MTC —last photographs

Elder Jugo and Elder Rivera at the Cordoba Temple Open House!

On the bus ride to my new area. 

My new district

I have no idea what this photo is about He gave no explanation. Who knows! 

Welcome to Argentina!

Dear Sister Welch,

            We are pleased to inform you that your son has arrived to the Argentina Córdoba Mission perfectly well.  We received him in the airport yesterday and we came directly to the mission home where we had a welcome meeting and a traditional dinner for this area.  They spent a night in a hotel  that is close to our home. He just recently met his companion and they are preparing to go to their area together. 

We are extremely grateful to receive a noble spirit like your son who is so consecrated to the Lord.  Thank you very much for all that you have done to prepare him.  We will take care of your son as if he were our own child.

Love,

            President & Sister Alliaud

Notice the new Cordoba Temple in the background….what an exciting time to be in Argentina!

I KNOW I CAN DO THIS!

Hey!!! 

Hey guys so I get to write again today.  Since Tuesday there has been a few things that have happened! First of all we got to host all of the new missionaries again! It was so fun! (again) except this time there was one Elder who made me cry a little bit! It was so sad to see him leave his family. It was his aunt and his cute little mom who you could tell loved her son so much. They gave a hug and both just started to cry. It was a very bitter sweet moment. However, I reassured the mom that we would take very good care of her son and that everything would be okay. After I said a few things like that she calmed down and said one final goodbye. This brought back a lot of memories of my 'drop off' day. The best thing was that it reminded me of you mom and dad.  You are seriously so amazing to me and I am going to tell you the same thing right now that I told that Elder's mom. I am in great hands and The Lord is with me, as I leave for Argentina in two days and throughout my mission just remember that. Also, remember that I love you all so very much! You are amazing! 

He got reassigned to Anaheim California, he says he would rather be going to Austalia right away, but he is super excited. And that his plane ride is shorter...for the moment ;) haha but yeah he's excited! 

Yes, three of the missionaries in my district are on the plane with me to Buenos Aires,  and 1 sister of those three is traveling from Buenos Aires (Where we land) to Cordoba with me.  

Tell Lori that our Branch Presidents name is President Goodman. (He is amazing and looks like Gordon B Hinkley :) ha ha ha

Mom and Dad, thank you so so much for all of that stuff!  I love the new I-pod and the one you sent before too! They work great! And thank you for the Peanut Butter! :) :) :) Oh!!! and I am doing so well on the weight on my Luggage so I don't think there is anything to worry about yet. :)  YES I found my calling card and I LOVE YOU FOR THAT!!! We didn't make it to the store today to buy the phone cards before it closed and it doesn't open again till after we leave so its a miracle!! :) I love you so much and I'll call you from the airports.  

Oh!!! One more thing! The new district is here!! THey came Tuesday and me and Elder Bunnell welcomed them that night and gave them a tour of the campus. They are super cool and I'm glad I got to spend the little time I could with them. There are 5 Elders and 4 Sisters! Funny thing, the other day the sisters tried to guess my age and they thought I was twenty!!! ha ha! That was super funny! Anyway, that's all for now! I love you all and I am always praying for you!! 

Con Amor, Elder Jugo 

It is going to be hard to leave these guys!
To answer your question about how I feel as I get ready to leave to Argentina?
Well….I am getting nervous but I know I can do this! :) 

Me and Elder Bunnell Eating Kangaroo Meat! (Getting him ready for Australia) ;) 

Another Sweater Weather kind a day. 

I'm going to miss these guys :/ But Its okay :) We're moving on to great things :) 

Mahh Sleeeeperzz:) Thanks Mama:) 

Us at Smiths.....Suuuuuper weird to be out in the real world haha!

Hello Everyone! 

This week has been quite an eventful week! I'll try and keep it short. Our District leader went home on Tuesday because of some personal issues. he really missed his family and had some pretty bad anxiety. He prayed, fasted and prayed some more. The outcome was very sad to our district and our zone. However, just like the other Hermana that left we all know that God has His hand in all of our lives and we trust that this Elder made the decision he felt was right. 

After he left we had a lot of leadership changes in our zone. I am very happy to say that me and Elder Bunnell were called to serve as Zone leaders on Tuesday :) I was very surprised and very nervous at first. I know now that being in a leadership position really means nothing. The main point that we all need to know is that it is how we all work together as a family or in this case, district and zone. I am having a great time here...truly I don't just say that every e-mail or letter I send just to say it. My testimony, specifically of our Savior Jesus Christ has grown immensely. I really do stand on holy ground here and I am sad to leave it in 6 days. However, I am soooo excited :) I cant even express in words how excited I am to be in Argentina and get the chance to love the people there. 

I got the chance to teach a member of the church who lives in Argentina over a Skype call the other day. It was amazing!! She recently received her mission call to Sydney South Australia! The crazy thing is, is that that is my companion's mission! What a coincidence huh? Anyway, It was a super cool opportunity :)

Another thing that we got the chance to do is host the missionaries on Wednesday. So, I was the Elder who welcomed the missionaries while at the same time stole them from their families;) soooo...kinda a bitter sweet moment ;) Ha ha!  chiste! It was actually super super fun and me and Elder Bunnell signed our district up to do it again tomorrow so I am super excited about that too! Anyway, sorry this letter is so short. I wish I could tell you every second of everyday because this is truly a once in a lifetime experience. An experience only you yourself could enjoy if you were here in my shoes. So, once again whoever is reading this e-mail and thinking about serving a mission please, do it. 

Ummm I think my visa is going well. they haven't said anything about it. So, I guess no news is good news! Ha ha. Another missionary in my district however probably has to get re-assigned :/ His background check didn't go through I guess but, we got to go out of the MTC this week and we went to Smiths Because he needed a money order. So they sent us out in the real world ha ha,  it was soooo weird to be in Provo. Like…REAL Provo!  Ha ha! It was amazing!:) and super weird!

And yes, I am getting along with everyone! It's going to be so hard to say goodbye to everyone!! Like seriously...It was super hard to see the other district leave yesterday and today:( I really hope we can all see each other after the mish! Ha ha anyway, today Elder S and Hermana C showed up to our Temple session...it was amazing to see everyone together in the celestial room once again. It was great. Ummmm oh! Hermana C told me to tell you that you are the cutest because of what you sent her mom:) so that was cool :)  

Oh! and I got to see Grandpa again this morning! I gave him a big hug! It was the best thing ever:) I only saw Grandpa. Which kinda stinks for Grandma because she's told me in every letter that she has been looking for me every Tuesday since the first time I saw her! ha ha. But I just saw Grandpa walking back into the temple as we were just outside the doors taking pictures. We both saw each other and had huge smiles and gave each other a hug! :) It was the best thing especially since it was my last time at the temple!

Oh and Mom, Yes! I did get the photos and I LOVE them! ha ha! I am doing great Mom. I got your dear elder yesterday and I am here to tell you that I KNOW this is where I want to be so don't worry mom:) I am being honest. I do have some rough goes sometimes. But, it is nothing I cannot handle :) It really makes me sad that some Elders seriously cannot handle the stress here..... but it's okay. I have learned that when I have hard times I can just fall on my knees and the pain will go away. :) I love it. I am doing great though. :) I am so excited to leave, you have no idea! As zone leaders we had to go over the checklist for the other district that left yesterday morning and drop them off at the Travel office. When we were doing that I got so excited. 

Okay! ummmm….So what I need…...some tide pods, my oil vile, and I am good on money thanks to the good ol'  $$ egg hunts :)  I don't think I need anything else..but anyway thank you:) So what do you want to know? Questions? how have you been? I love your letters:) I loved the one you sent yesterday:)

I am going to call you on Monday by the way! Ha Ha!  If you didn't know that:) and I get to write you on Saturday again:) Perks of leaving the MTC:) I love you. I'll email you soon and hear your voice soon too! 

I love every single one of you guys so much! I pray for each of you everyday. I can feel your prayers and I am so grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves us that much to answer them. Have an amazing week everyone and the next time I'll e-mail you I will be somewhere in Argentina!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!

Love, Elder Welch (Jugo) 

The Great Escape….:)

On our ride to Smiths...

Smiths

Conference, Vocal Point and my 1st haircut in the MTC

Hello everybody!!!

This week has been such an amazing week! I've just been doing the normal routine: 6:30 arise (unless we have service then arise at like 5:45) then class, breakfast, more class, teach investigators, lunch, personal study, companionship study, language study, gym!, dinner, more class, then more study time, and then bed! haha:) However, there were actually a lot of differences this week because of General Conference. We all watched it in "18M" which is our Gym/Devotional building. IT WAS AMAZING! The Spirit was soo strong. It was so cool to see all of those missionaries (including myself) in the same building trying to seek out answers to questions they had individualy through our beloved prophets and church leaders! I am so grateful to have such amazing people lead our church and care for each one of us. It was so funny, when President Monson announced the temples, there was like an uproar of excitment from all of us missionaries :) We are hastening the work and it is so exciting for us when we get to actually hear proof of it:) There were a lot of great talks but one really stood out to me. It was by Dale G. Renlund. "Twas I, but Tis not I." I LOVED this talk. He was very blunt, sweet, and to the point. I am so grateful that when we make make mistakes in our life, or feel guilt, shame, unworthy, or just not happy, we can exercise the Atonement and are able to say, "Twas I but Tis not I". Heavenly Father and Christ will "Remember your sins no more." Please. Please, everyone who is reading this letter remember; no matter what you have done, said, or felt, or are feeling now; if you pray, repent, be humble, and exercise the Atonement in your life, He will remember your sins NO MORE. This church is a hospital. Here to heal each one of us and each one of our personal illnesses, afflictions, and sins. I am so indescribably lucky to have been brought up and raised in this church by such amazing parents. I love you mom and dad, more than anything. You are the reason I am here today, thank you so much. This conference focused a lot on the importance of families and of marriage. You have provided me with that perfect example they talk about. I know how I want to raise my family and treat my wife. I have both of you to thank for that and I'm so happy and grateful to call you my mom and dad. 

Anyway, more about this week...mostly this weekend. Ha ha. We totally had a concert at the MTC!!! It was the acapella group from BYU, "Vocal Point". It was awesome!! It was so nice to have a break and just enjoy some music:) It felt so weird! Haha! Oh! and our district got front row seats because Hermana Baldwin knew someone that hooked us up! It was so fun! :) I tried to get a good picture but I dont think it came out too well because I wasn't sure if I was supposed to take pictures. So I took it really quick ;) 

Also, Me and Elder Bunnell's progressing Investigator is really doing well! We taught him the Word of Wisdom and he said that he'll start to obey it! The only thing he struggles with is he loves him some coffee. But, I testified to him that I know that with our help and most importantly Gods help he can stop. I told Him that know matter what Christ is right beside him and I know that he can do it. I love _______(Investigators name)! Whether he is a real investigator or not, I can feel the Spirit so strongly in each lesson. 

Lastly, I love every single one of you and thank you for all of your prayers and support. I loved this Easter. Thank you so much for sending me so much love...and candy;) haha I love all of you so dearly. My invitation to you is to think back on watching conference and remember what part you felt the Spirit the strongest. Me and my companion have started doing that after each lesson we teach and It really helps us recognize the voice of the Spirit. I love this mission and pray for each one of you everyday all day long. Thank you for everything. I will e-mail you next week! Hasta luego! 

Con Amor,

Elder Jugo Welch

Taylor's Temple Selfies…..I included them all because I miss that cute face. Every single photograph is a different expression that I would see at least a hundred times each day! I loved seeing them again and I thought a few of you might too. CA

My Easter!!!!:) I promise that it looked a lot better when we sent it…and there are fun and great things in with all of the paper! CA

Vocal Point

Left…..

Right….

Got a haircut today!…….

…….and Had another picnic with my lovely District;) haha

A letter to DAD

Dear Dad,

I know that God has His hand in all things and that it will all come together  for you whatever it may be. I have come to realize that as I have had to leave Sydney behind. There are days where I wonder if this is what I am to do. Whenever those days come I instantly fall on my knees and ask for comfort. Every time I do so I feel an overwhelming feeling of peace. When that happens I receive an answer saying that exact thing I told you. " I am here. I will always be here.  I have a plan for you. your future is bright and you need not worry or be afraid. " Even me writing that down was an answer yet again to my prayers.

So, I started writing this letter yesterday but I never finished it! Ha ha!  So now it is April 1st and  I'm just about to go to bed. It's been a really, really good day today! Our lessons with our investigators went so well. Dad, seriously my Spanish is coming along sooo well! Just in the past week it has sky rocketed so high! The Hermanas in my district keep telling me how fast I am learning the language. It is truly a blessing and I can feel each one of your prayers back home. Today we taught an investigator and I asked him to get baptized and he said yes!!! That was the first time I've asked someone and my heart was pounding so hard. It wasn't even part of our plan, the Spirit just told me in the middle of the lesson that this lesson was the time he would say yes. We are still not sure if he is a member or not. They don't tell us until we leave the MTC but his name is _____.  (I really hope he is a real investigator)  Anyway, I always love your letters, Dad and you are an amazing father and I love you so much! I'll write you on Tuesday!

Love Elder Welch