Zone Conference...pictures from the Casariego's FB page

What are you willing to do for Christ?

we went to Neuquen for a conference and I don't fit in the buses to travel. 

I didn't take pictures with other people with my camera.... sorry 

and this is a little park in Catriel 

Well this week was good. We had 29 people at church yesterday. that is good here because it is just a small little branch. There is a lot of work to do though. There are a lot of less active members to work with. But we also had 2 investigators in church yesterday and that was really good! 

We also had a conference in Neuquen with President this week. it was a three zone conference. It went really well. We taught a lot about working with the members! And it was great to see people who I hadn't seen in a while! Always fun to see the other missionaries. 

We found a couple new people to teach this week. that was pretty good. but we also couldn't find some people. But we have been working a lot with less actives. We visited a lot this week to help strengthen their testimonies and their trust in Jesus Christ. 

What are you willing to do for Christ? 

I want to invite you all to think about this question. 

One thing from this week that i studied and thought a lot about is the church is perfect! Absolutely perfect. The members of the church aren't perfect and we go to church to get better. a saint is a sinner who keeps on trying. This is the restored church of Jesus Christ. And it is led and guided by Christ himself. He gives revelation to us through the Prophet. I know that is true. i know that there is a prophet on the earth today who leads and guides us through revelation. 

Have a great week. 

con amor

Elder Opfar

hey mom! This week was good. I got the talk about the Good Samaritan and the lost symbols. It was really good! 

Glad that y'all got to see their homecomings. I think I might struggle putting my thoughts into English too. Sometimes it already happens to me... 

1.  What scriptures touched you this week?

D&C 1:37-38. just with conference and everything, it is really what our heavenly Father wanted us to hear and it is His words. We should obey them because that is how we will truly be happy 

2.  What is the most interesting thing you have learned this week?

I was reading some old conference talks from a couple years ago and in one of them they mentioned something that Pres. Benson said. It was like 14 fundamentals about the prophets. I really liked it. it was good. 

3.  How did the asparagus go?  Did it taste ok?

it was pretty delicious. asparagus with butter and salt. 

4.  How was your first real week of church in Catriel?

really good! we had 29 people there with 2 investigators and a less active came! it was good! we only have 2 hours up here

5.  How is the work progressing?  Are you teaching anyone?

we found 2 new people. but we are dropping one of them because he just was saying yes to the commitments we gave him but he didn't complete them... and we went by his house before church yesterday and he said he couldn't leave the house alone so he wouldn't go with us.

6.  If you could do one thing over again this week, what would it be?

uhm I don't know. 

7.  Where do you grocery shop in Catriel?

at the Anonima or at a super market called Hong Kong. it is run by Chinese people.

8.  Do people use public transportation or drive themselves places there?  Do a lot of them walk?

walk or they have cars. there aren't buses here

9.  Do most of the people work in oil/gas?

yes ma'am. like Rincon 

10.  Is it as dusty and windy as Rincon?  How has the weather been?  

uhm a little. there is cement but only in the center and on the outsides it is just dirt roads 

11.  What are your P-day plans?

we already did our shopping so now write and eat and I think take a little nap. not much to do out here. 

General Conference

On the bus to Zone Conference

Watching the Priesthood Session of Conference

New haircut!

Well this week was a little rougher than the week before. Not many people were home when we went to visit them. That's not fun. But we had zone training this week and that went really good! We talked a lot about the First Vision and the importance that it has! 

and this weekend was General Conference! I LOVED it! All the talks were so great and inspired! We truly do have a living prophet in the world today! I have no doubt about that! If you missed the conference you can watch it or read the talks on lds.org do it. 

One talk that really made me think was the talk by Devin G. Durrant about ponderize. To take a different scripture every week and to ponder the scripture and memorize it. 80% ponder and 20% memorize. The scripture will have a bigger impact on you and it can help you to remember it in times on need. I'm going to start doing that. and I know it will help in the long run. I would invite each of you to do it also. 

Well there isn't much new here in Catriel. The weather is starting to get warmed and I'm now wearing my short sleeve white shirts! I love it! The cold is good and all but I like it a little warmer. Don't worry mom i´ll wear sunscreen. I wont get burnt too bad. 

But I hope all y'all are doing well! 

have a great week! 

Con amor

Elder Opfar

Buen Día! Im doing good! 

also how do you cook asparagus? I bought some today to make. but yeah.

yeah I heard Mitchel is now home! Its crazy how fast the time goes by! 

Did Park say anything crazy after his teeth were pulled? 

I LOVED Conference. And yeah I noticed that too with President Monson... I have heard he is getting a little sick. The talk by Holland was really great! And by Nelson! I loved them both! I just loved all the talks this session! 

also can you send me the ensign of conference in English when you get it next month?

1.  Did you watch conference both days?

yes. in Spanish because we watched it here in Catriel and there aren't any other gringos. so I watched it all in Spanish.. 

2.  Were you able to watch the priesthood session or was it too late?

it was too late. but we watched in Sunday in the morning before the first session

3.  Where did you watch conference?

in the church at Catriel

4.  What was your favorite message?

I don't know. I liked the one by bro. Durrant to ponderize. also Holland, and Nelson, and Hales. And I don't know. I liked them all. 

5.  What time does your church start in Catriel?

i think 9:30. we haven't had a normal Sunday here. 

6.  Does your bishop and branch mission leader work well with you both?

the branch President yes. and we don't have a branch mission leader... he went inactive... 

7.  How are your investigators coming along?

good. this week as rough thought. not many people were in their homes when we went to visit them....

8.  I LOVED your pictures last week and would LOVE more...

9.  How do you like your new pension?

I like it. it is nice. 

and I cut my hair. and my comp and I with the conference. well that is actually the Priesthood session.

Catriel

This week was a really good week here. We have some really good investigators that we are currently teaching. And it all went well this week. And then on Saturday we had a baptism. The kids name is Andres. And it was realy well. he was prepared for this. 

Last night we went out to look for a reference from a guy we talked to this week and we found the house but he didn't want to come out. We ended up talking to his mom and teaching her. And she accepted a baptismal date for the 31 of October! It was a really awesome lesson. We just had a good week with teaching people and finding some new people. It was all really well. I am looking forward to another great week. 

And yesterday we had a conference in 25 de mayo. President Casariego came up and he ended up speaking. He spoke about the restoration and the power that it has to bring the spirit. And its true. I know that Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet of God and he restored the gospel and church of Jesus Christ.

And this next weekend is General Conference! I am really excited that we have the chance to listen to the Prophet this weekend. I love General Conference. I want to invite you all to watch it. Watch it and pay attention to what is said. 

i hope y'all have a great week! 

con amor 

Elder Opfar

hey mom! this week was good! I did not see the moon... and I'm just now writing because we moved pensions this week to the hermanas old pension

but yeah dad told me about the Utes! Dang that's awesome! 

1.  How was your first week in Catriel?

really good! We found a lady last night and put a baptismal date with her for the 31 of Oct and she accepted it. she was super receptive! And this week was really good! 

2.  How do you get along with your companion?  Is he a hard worker?

pretty well! Yeah he works hard. its been good. 

3.  What was the best thing that happened this week?

well the baptism was really good. the kid is prepared. I can see him serving a mission! 

4.  What is the hardest thing that happened?

uhm I don't know. we had an overall good week 

5.  What is the ward like?  Are they friendly?

yeah they are good. yesterday we had a conference in 25 de mayo. but yeah the members are good. 

6.  Did you have your baptism?

yes we did! Elder Pineda did the baptism and I confirmed him

7.  What kind of food did you eat this week?

pasta, rice, chicken, the normal

8.  What is the town like?

small. dirt and concrete in the center. 

9.  How often do you get together with your district?  How about your zone?

uhm I don't know... 

yes I have pictures. they are loading right now. I am just using the camera and cable of Elder Pineda with my sd card

Transfers...goodbye to Bariloche, Hello to Catriel

Well so we had transfers yesterday and I spent the entire day traveling. Right now I am in a little city about 2 and a half hours north of Neuquen called Catriel! It is just a small little city with not much going on. Well it has been raining and the streets are all dirt so now it is just straight mud. Fun stuff ya know. But my companion is Elder Pineda. He is from Mexico. And I am finishing his training so that's fun! I'm excited to be here and work with him! 

But anyway this last week in Bariloche was pretty good. We started teaching a lot more people and it was just overall a good week. We were able to be out and just teach more lessons although we did have a lot lessons that fell through again... But oh well not much we can do if the people arent home. 

On Sunday we brought an investigator to church and he loved it! It was super awesome! And then Sunday we went around to the members and said bye to them. I'm going to miss Bariloche but I am excited to be here in Catriel to move the work forward! 

This week I thought about my testimony about the Book of Mormon. I know it is the word of God. It is without any doubt another testament of Jesus Christ. I know that without any doubt in my mind. I am so grateful for the opportunity that i have to be a missionary and share this with others! 

Have a great week! 

con amor

Elder Opfar

Hey mom! Yeah I'm doing good. yes I got transferred. I'm in a small city north on Neuquen called Catriel. And I am finishing the training of my comp. his name is Elder Pinera. He is from mexico. 

I'm glad that y'all had a good time and the time out for women! that is fun! 

1.  I was looking at Hermana Larmouth and Hermana Bailey's blogs, and both of them have talked about investigators and baptisms.  Do people seem more open to listen to the Hermana missionaries than the elders sometimes?

yeah sometimes. 

2.  Have you been able to find Matias?

we found him and set an appointment with him but when we went he wasn't there... 

3.  Were you able to reach your teaching goal this week?

no. we taught 6 lessons this week, but that is better than the week before... 

4.  Besides the pants that tore, how are your other clothes holding up?  How are your feet?

they are good. everything is good dont worry. my feet are good. 

5.  Were you able to do any service this week?

this week no. we were going to do service for the bishop but he never called us to confirm it. 

6.  How did you see your prayers answered this week?

we were able to find some people in their houses and teach them a little. and we had an investigator in church on Sunday!

7.  What is the music like in your ward?  Does everyone sing?

yeah but no one sings loud... so yeah. it isn't like the states

8.  Have you had a lot of people at church the last few weeks?

we have been above 50 people for the past couple weeks,.. that was really good. 

9.  What are you looking forward to this week?

well we have a baptism here on Saturday here in Catriel! should be good! I'm excited to be here and work! 

Working in snow isn't as fun as you'd think...

Well where to start this week... So I thought the weather was finally started to warm up and looking good all week. That was until we got snow this week. 2 times actually. I thought I wouldn't see snow until next year but nope I was wrong... Have I


mentioned it isn't as fun to work in snow as you would think? This time was as bad as before though. But that was exciting... Snow.

But this week was a little rougher than last week. We had a lot of appointments that ended up falling though. And the baptismal date that we had also fell. But we were able to do some service this week! we helped a couple people clean up their yards! That was really good. My comp has been wanting to do some service and we finally got to do it this week!! 

http://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/bible-videos/parable-of-the-good-samaritan-2

One thing I have thought about this week in the Parable of the good Samaritan. This is the Bible Video of the story. It is about service. Serving those that even are our enemies. Would we do this same thing and serve someone as we see them or would we just walk by and not do anything? A lot of times there are people everyday who could use our help. Even if it is something small.

Have a great week! 

con amor

Elder Opfar

Hey mom!  This week was good. Not as good as last week. Our baptism date with Matias fell and we couldn't find him this week... 

That's good that Grandma is coming down! Y'all will have fun! Poor Jax... 

1.  When Elder Teixeira came to speak to you, how small was your group?  

it was all the missionaries in Bariloche, Esquel and San Martin. like 50 people in total. 

2.  Did you get to visit with him one on one?  

No. But I sat on the front row and it was pretty cool. He just came down and was walking in front of us. I didn't talk with him one on one

3.  What did he talk about and what did you learn? 

He talked about preach my gospel and applying it more. And he challenges us to start teaching 21 lessons every week. 

4.  What did you end up doing last week on Pday?  

We just played some basketball and soccer. Nothing super exciting. 

5.  What is the most interesting thing you learned this week?

Uhm I don't know. I have been reading in the war chapters of Alma. I should finish Alma tomorrow! 

6.  How is Matias dong?  He has been fervently prayed for in our home and his name is on the prayer roll at the temple!

his baptism date fell... and we weren't able to find him this week... we tried calling his number but a woman answered and said we had a wrong number... 

7.  What was your favorite thing that happened this week?

I don't know. we were able to do some service this week and that was really good!

8.  What are you studying right now?

I have been studying from the Book of Mormon and from Preach my Gospel. 

Cerro Campanario

Well this week was good. We had some great success! It is good to see our labors being fruitful even though it is just a little right now. We found some good new people to teach this week! And we were able to put a baptismal date with a guy we found. His name is Matias and he accepted to be baptized for the 26th of this month. WE found him walking. He was outside his house and we talked with him and had a really good lesson with him! 

Also this week we had a big conference with Elder Texeira from the Seventy. It was 1 of 2 conferences he did in the mission. He did one in Neuquen and one down here. We had all the missionaries from San Martin and Esquel here too. That was super great! It was greta to see everyone and even better to have the conferece. He talked a lot about Preach my Gospel and about the amount of lessons we teach each week. 

This week one thing i have thought about a lot was prayer. How are our prayers? are they personal or do we just repeat the same things? One thing we can do it think before we pray. Think about what we want, why we want it and what we are willing to do to recieve this thing. It is a good excercise to do before prayer. And then present it to the Lord in your prayers. 

In the Book of Mormon in Alma 37:36-37 it talks about couseling the Lord in what we do. And also in the Bible in Matthew 7:7-11 it talks about that the Lord WILL answer our prayers. And He will bless us. I really like both these scriptures. There are a lot more that talk about prayer! And i challenge yall to think about how are your prayers and change it if you need. 

con amor

Elder Opfar

1.  How was Pday last week?  Did you get to go to go to Cerro Campanario? And...did you take some awesome pictures?

yes! We went to Campanario! it was super awesome! 

2.  What did you buy this week (I saw you took some money out of your account)?  Something fun?

well nothing yet. i just took some money out. actually i did buy some lunch for my comp and one day because or lunch got cancelled. so just a little food. 

3.  What are some of your responsibilities as a trainer?  

helping the new missionary shape his whole mission. haha. 

4.  Do you set your alarm to get up or do you just wake up on your own?  

no i get up to the alarm. not yet at the point of just waking right up on my own. 

5.  Do you ever proselyte in the square or the public places of Bariloche or do you mostly knock doors?  Do you get referrals from the members?  

we dont get a lot of referrals from members... we talk to people in the street. because they are already outside and cant just look out the window and shake their finger at us. 

6.  Are you still doing a lot of family history work with the ward members?

A little. not a lot. but a member we helped is doing indexing all the time now. he loves it! 

7.  How long do you have for lunch?  Do you nap after lunch or study?

like an hour. we do language study afterwards. 

8.  What are you doing for exercise currently?  Does your comp like to exercise?

lots of abs and pushups and squats. 

9.  Did your responsibilities change when you became the senior companion?

yeah. like now i am in charge of paying our rent. the money gets put on my card and i have to take it out to pay. 

10.  What was your most spiritual experience this week?  What was your hardest moment?

we had a conference with elder Texeira from the seventy. That was really good. It was great! 

i think when our appointments fall through...

11.  Is there anyone or anything you would like for us to pray for this week?

we found a new kid and he accepted a baptismal date for the 26th of September. His name is Matias