Asado and Church Open House

One of the blessings of being here in the mission getting to know the church leaders in the wards and stakes.  We had an Argentine Asado with some of them.  We love spending time with them and wanted to thank them for all they do to help move the missionary work forward in their wards and stakes.

 

 

 

 

After the delicious food President Lovell explained how we had the opportunity to have a program called "Church Open House" in our mission.  It has been used in other mission in the church with great success.  We wanted their support as we move forward.  Elder and Hermana Ehmke will be over the program in the mission and are they perfect for the job!  After our delicious meal The Ehmkes took the leaders out to the car port where things were set up for them to see how it would look. 

 

 

This is an explanation of how the program will work... written by Elder Ehmke:

Capilla Abierta-Church Open House

 

“Venid y Ved”—Come and See 

The Church Open House is a program with a missionary focus, the purpose of which is to ring souls unto Christ.  Based on the concept of the Visitor´s Center, the Capilla Abierta is held in ward and branch meetinghouses, where sister missionaries conduct tours and teach principles of the Gospel.  It is a joint effort between full-time missionaries and members.  The Capilla Abierta: 

·       Attracts nonmembers and generates missionary referrals

·       Strengthens less-active and active members of the Church and encourages them to prepare for the temple

·       Motivates young men and women  to serve fulltime missions

·       Increases the spirit of missionary work in the ward

·       Improves relations between fulltime missionaries and members 

The Argentina Neuquén Mission is one of six missions in South America that has the privilege of presenting this exciting yet sacred program throughout our mission.  Miracles have been seen and felt as a result of our first experience with the program. 

 

The Priesthood leader were supportive and a schedule was put into place.   We are excited to see the lives that will be blessed by this program.

 

 

 

This part of the post is like the credits at the end of a movie!  These are the wonderful Elders that cooked the Asado and helped the night run smooth!  It takes many people to help and event be successful.

 

 

Thank you Elders! 

Our Specialized Training and Christmas Activity

 We had a very busy month in December.  We had interviews, our mission tour with Elder Romeu and we toured the mission again for a Specialized Training and Christmas Activity!   The specialized training focused on Goal Setting and Planning.  We also focused on the life of the Savior and the meaning of the atonement in our lives and how we can share this knowledge with all we meet.

 

We started the day with a getting to know you activity where each missionary received a list of questions.  They were simple things like:

Someone who served part of their mission in another country

Someone who is taller than you

Someone who has been in the mission for less than 3 months

Someone who loves their companions

Someone who has a birthday in December

 

They had to find someone to sign for each question but they could only sign once!  After they finished their sheet they brought it to me and they could get their breakfast facture! It was so fun to watch them get to know each other!  Our daughters Ashley and Brittany were here visiting after finishing their missions in Spain and Chile.  We had so much fun introducing them to many of the missionaries!

 

The pictures are small so be sure and double click on them to be able to see your missionary better!

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another fun thing we did was for each missionary to bring a white elephant gift.  We put them all in the middle and sat around them.  One at a time we could each could choose a gift from the middle and unwrap it so all could see what it was or choose one from someone else who had already chosen one.  A gift could only be taken twice and then it was yours to keep! 

We knew it would be hard for everyone to get a gift this year because of how difficult it was to get packages into Argentina so this way we knew we would all get at least one!  It was super fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our assistant has a very special sister that did a young woman's project and collected ties and coats for our missionaries.  His parents were traveling to Buenos Aries so they were able to ship them from there without a problem!  Thank you Molly!

 

After a wonderful presentation about the life of the Savior we had a testimony meeting which was the highlight of the day! 

 

 Then we enjoyed a nice meal together organized by the Zone Leaders in each zone.  We have wonderful Zone Leaders!

 

 

We wish you all a wonderful New Year!