Building a New Area

Dear Family,

I think that the list you have is good. The only thing that I would add is to try to have a personal testimony before you go out because your testimony will be tried many times. Just ask God if it´s all true and find the answer for yourself so that when people question your belief or start saying things against the church you will not be shaken up and will be able to stay true to what you believe. I would also reccomend that he starts getting ready to live the mission schedule, that was one of the hardest things to get used to at first, I was tired ALL the time. But, outside of that I think he´ll be fine. 

Also, thanks for the updates about all of the people and the things that are going on in the family. When does Tyler fly out to Peru? You should also send me his myldsmail adress. I think that ties is an awesome gift. You should give him colorful and fun ties because boring ties get old really fast. Give him a good variety of colors and patterns. And I look forward to seeing/hearing the arrangements that you bought for the choir. They sound like they´ll be beautiful.

Elder Sirrine Standing on Ice

As far as my week we´ve basically been opening an area. They have now finalized what the limits are and so we´ve really been working hard in my area. We have been contacting basically all day every day because at the moment we don´t have any investigators that live in my area. But, we now have a bunch of people to go back and visit and we are still finding more. My comp has been getting really down lately because he feels like the whole contacting thing doesn´t work for him and all that I could tell him is that it´s the trial of his faith. In Ether it says that we will receive the blessings after the trial of our faith and I am seeing that here. We have had a ton of days where we have spent a ton of time contacting without success and when we are ready to give up and we decide to knock one more door it is then that we have success and find the person that will let us in or that will let us go back another day. It is the greatest feeling when at the end of a long, hard day you find someone that tells you that you can come back another day or that says that you can come right in. 

Cow Head on House

Elder Sirrine By City Sign

And so that´s how we´ve spent the last week. Looking for the people that want to listen to us and finding a couple here and there. It´s been a good experience for me. I feel a lot better at contacts now and it´s been cool to meet a ton of new people. The other update from the week is that it looks like winter is finally coming to Ushuaia. We had a little bit of snow on the hills around the city yesterday and today and it looks like snow is going to be here soon. I am super excited and so are the people because the winter tourism is super big for Ushuaia for all of the skiing here. So, things are looking good for me. Hope you all have a great week!

Love, Michael

Settling In to Ushuaia

Dear Loved Ones

Looking to the Beagle Channel

First of all we did not get to watch the finals. =( Because it was a Sunday and the missionaries needed to keep the day holy. But I did get updates from the members that live in front of my pension. Apparently it went into overtime and Germany barely won with a miracle goal. I think that this is the best Argentina has played yet or the worst for Germany because Germany totally destroyed in the other games and against Brasil they won 7-1 which is unheard of in a world cup. So, props to Argentina. Also, I absolutely still love my area, I am in Monte Olivia and all of the branches have two or three companionships and some are going to get more next transfer. My area is green, that is the biggest thing. It is green, there are trees, mountains and it is BEAUTIFUL. No other city that I have been to has been like this. I am in love with Ushuaia.

Welcome to Ushuaia

Member's Home

Also, about my companion. He is from Mendoza, he has a problem speaking in that he can´t pronounce his r´s and a lot of what he says comes out slightly garbled, also he has a totally screwed up family and mental history so.... I´m just trying to be a positive influence for him and trying to gain his trust. He really is a good guy and he has a good heart he just has trouble opening up to people and he´s pretty asocial. But, president told me a bit about how I can better help him and that I can call president if things get really bad. So, we´re going to see how it goes. The best thing so far is that we are living in a pension with two other elders so we have a lot of fun all the time. It´s spectacular. We party it up when we can and are totally obedient when we should be. I am loving the experience so far.

About Sunday, no I didn´t have any investigators because my area is "new" in that my comp didn´t know which part was ours and which wasn´t until recently so we have nothing to work with yet. We´re totally going to find and work for a miracle though. I know it´s going to happen. I don´t play the piano here because one of the youth plays. Also, my language skills are amazing. The majority of the people that meet me for the first time are surprised when I say that I´m from the states because I talk basically like a latino now. My comps all tell me that my accent is more latino than gringo so I´m pretty happy and I don´t miss like anything now. The only things that I have to learn are the slang and I will be golden.

Now, this week the coolest updates were that we found an investigator that said he was wanting to get closer to God right when we knocked on his door. I got to give him a book of Mormon and we taught him a good deal about the Plan of Salvation and the Restoration. It was totally awesome to get to know him. Even if he did end up insulting my comp by calling him a "closed person". My comp will be fine though, he just needs a lift. So, we´ll see how that goes down for us. And we had a conference with president yesterday, he talked to us a lot about using the Book of Mormon more in our teaching and to use it in contacts. We also talked about if we were sacrificing our all for the gospel. Why do we obey? Is it because we want to? Or because we have to? And president ended by telling everyone that if they don´t want to change and if they don´t respect him the door home is always open and they can make that choice whenever they want. Nobody is forced to be on the mission. It was an awesome conference and I really did love it. I hope you all have a great week and that you enjoy the pictures.

Love you all tons!

Michael

Ushuaiah, Chile and Lost in a Forest

Dear People I love,

I am finally in Ushuai after four days of travel. I got to stay in Rio Gallegos for a couple days doing paperwork to be able to cross the border into Chile because the only way to get to Ushuaia is through Chile, at least if you go by bus. We got to ride on a huge ship and I even saw some Chilenan police officers. It was a ton of fun to travel. I wish I could say that I saw a lot of Chile but all that I saw was a whole bunch of desert, sheep and llamas. But at least I can say that I have now been to two countries in my mission. I feel really cool now. Now I am in Ushuaia, my comp has trouble pronouncing his r´s and he also has a weirdly childish way to act. I´m still not sure if it´s a mental thing or if that´s just the way he is. But I totally love my area. We have a huge chunk of the outside part of Ushuaia and it is odd. It would technically be the ghetto of Ushuaia or the part that has no money, gas, nor water and it is HUGE we went out there on Friday to one part called Dos Banderas and we got totally lost. We spent an hour or two walking around in a forest with a flashlight trying to find the house of an investigator. We finally found it and they called a taxi to take us home. That was a very fun experience and I am totally ready to take photos.

The best part about my new pension is that I have a gorgeous view of the ocean from where I study in the morning and that I have a perfect view of the city from my bed. I am extremely happy to be here in Ushuaia. Also the chapel is huge and the branch here is a bit bigger than the other wards that I have been in. Ushuaia is totally awesome. I love you guys tons and hope you all have a great week!

Love, Michael

Transfer To Ushuia - The end of the world. Comodoro Mission one year Anniversary

Dear Family,

First of all I want to thank y´all for all of the updates and the emails. I also look forward to getting the package from you guys. Sounds like all of you are doing well and that things are chill at home. The news from me this week is that I´m going to go to Ushuaia. The end of the world. It´s going to be totally awesome to see there and to be able to see snow for the first time in over a year. I still can´t believe that I will have been out in the mission for a year in less than three months. The cool thing is that I am going to celebrate a year in Ushuaia. It´s going to be totally awesome. I look forward now to 20 something hours on a bus and a good long nap. It will hopefully be a nice trip. 

Elder Sirrine with Comodoro and ocean behind.

Elder Sirrine with a favorite member Brother Adrian

My new companion is Elder Crespo. I´ve heard a lot of interesting things about him so we´ll see how this transfer plays out for me. And that is really the only thing that I have done this week. OH! I totally forgot that my companion and I found a totally awesome investigator on Saturday. He lives in a tiny little trailer and he is totally ready for the gospel. We invited him to church and he came and brought his family! My comp is really happy and I think that this investigator can be baptized in three weeks. It´s totally awesome to find someone like that. I just hope that my new area is going to be as awesome as the area that I am now leaving. I´m not happy to go but at the same time I´m sort of ready for a change. It´s odd. Love all of you tons and hope you have a wonderful week!

Love, 

Michael

One Year Aniversary of the Comodoro Rivadavia Mission

Dear Elders and Sister                                                   June 20^th, 2014

It is hard to believe that the Argentina Comodoro Rivadavia Mission will be one year old July 1^st, 2014.  The time for us has been wonderful.  What we have learned from the wonderful missionaries that we have met the great members and the wonderful people of Argentina has blessed our lives. We arrived June 28^th, 2013. In preparation for the mission Sister Rogers and I both were very busy up until the final week before are departure I performed may last ankle reconstruction 3 days before we went to the Mission President Training. Sister Rogers conducted her last PTA meeting the same week.  I was pretty sure we might miss our plane to get here.  However we did arrive at EZEIZA. There was a baggage strike. We waited 3 hours and finally got our bags and headed to the area offices for orientation. That night we were here in Comodoro Rivadavia. We met with President And Sister Lovell for a short time and we were off for this great adventure.

We quickly realized the size and diversity of the mission. In the first two and half weeks we were in every zone and met every missionary.  We drove from Trelew to Rio Gallegos.  We flew to Rio Grande and Ushuaia to begin the work. When we got back to the mission home and realized the quality of missionaries that were working here we felt blessed.  Also the great training they had received from good mission presidents and the strength of testimonies that each had would help the new mission to get a quick start.

In the past year we have traveled more than 200,000 km, had 8 district conferences, 6 stake conferences, 2 missions tours with area presidency members and 10 zone and interviews conferences with missionaries.  Whew!!!  There have been 300 baptisms many lessons and great spiritual out pouring. We have gone through 6 assistants.  There have been or are 214 missionaries 4 have gone home early. We expect 61 in the next 3 months and only 10 will leave. We will then have our full complement of missionaries at 200.

Elder Sirrine's most recent Zone Photo

As part of the mission we want to give each of you a remembrance. Your zone leader will give that to you we would love to give it to you in person. It is a privilege to serve with you in the best place in the best mission in the world.  Let's make the next year even better.

The World Cup is in full swing please be careful. When there are big crowds do not join in the celebration avoid the crowds in the streets.  Make yourselves aware of the schedule. The first rounds began last week and the final are on Sunday July 13. The further Argentina advances the larger the crowds will be.  It is after the games that it is most dangerous. We are missionaries first not fans.

I think it is important that while we are now serving full time as missionaries that we realize the responsibility that we have.  Elder Nelson said we are the fulfillment of prophesy.  Prophets from all generations have looked to our day.  They foretold of our iniquity, our lust of self, call good evil and evil good. They saw wolves in sheep’s clothing ready to tear down goodness.  They saw lovers of wealth, unnatural affection, they saw communication from the roof tops they saw our wars and rumors of wars.  However above all of that they had hope in us that by way of the Savior and the restorations of all things that every knee would bend and every tongue would confess that Jesus is the Christ.  It is an unbelievable privilege to serve at this time. History of world has never had so many missionaries serving full time.  You are part of that history making force.  The challenge that is in front of, each of you is to give all (D&C 4). God wants all of your heart might mind and strength not part but all. I want you to go home tired with having worn out yourself in the work.  I want you to have no regrets.  The measure of your success will not be in the numbers of lessons or less actives activated or baptisms it will be in your satisfaction of your service.

Now is your time to serve and now is the time of The Lord.  Christ is our leader.  We are His righteous force. We are his voice.  He will sustain us. I am honored to be your mission President, we will have miracles.

With Love

President Mark Rogers

June 23, 2014 Baptisms Coming Along

Hey family!

I´m doing fantastic now. For the camera it´s not worth going to the cops because the kid has already sold all that he could and we´d need documents saying that we are legal and I don´t have all of those yet. So, I´ll just wait ´til the package gets here. The only thing that I want is fun ties. Colors are getting boring. I would also love to get an American Flag or something with the flag on it. The states is doing really well in the Mundial and I want to be able to show my pride for my country. Also the Argentine flag. Please and thank you.

Also, thanks for all of the updates about the family. It sounds like you all are having a ton of fun and that things are all going well with you. I´m glad that you are all happy. =) It´s sad that Courtney didn´t get married in the temple but I hope that one day they´ll make it there. As for the zone baptism, Daniel and Maria haven´t come to church for a couple of weeks. They´ve been building their house and their baby got sick for a couple of days. But, Maria made it to church yesterday and it was awesome. The only problem was that the meetings yesterday were more boring than normal. I still hope that she felt the spirit and that she´ll want to come back. We also had a new investigator this week. Her name is Angelica and she almost made it to church yesterday. We went by her house to pick her up because it had rained and the mud was really bad but she said that her husband wanted to go out somewhere with her and that she didn´t have time. So we´ll just have to see how it all turns out. She also said that she´d be willing to be baptized if she gets a testimony so now my comp and I have work to do. The saddest thing is that we´ve got transfers next week and president told me that I´m going. I´ll know on Saturday where I am going. It´s going to be sad to leave this area. I really like it here.

Elder Sirrine is wearing a black ski hat just left of the Elder standing in the back

Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina

Also, today we went to Rada Tilly to celebrate the anniversary of the mission. It was way cool. We had an asado, played soccer, played card games, played a bit of volley ball, saw old friends (I saw my MTC comp for the second time since I got to Argentina) and we also got jerseys with the mission logo on the back. They are way cool. I´ll send you a picture when I get one. So we spent the whole day out there having fun and celebrating. And just recently we´re back in Comodoro. The other really cool thing that happened this week is that things have been better for us. Last week I think we were a little bit down and this week we´ve just been doing good. It is very true that the fourth week of the transfer is always the worst week. I don´t know why nor how to avoid it but, if you make it through to week five then the transfer finishes off amazingly. It´s freaking awesome. Love you all tons and hope you have a great week! 

Love, Michael

Robbed at Knife Point

Dear family,

I love you all tons and I loved hearing about all of the updates of the week and I always enjoy the thoughts that you send in your emails. This week the coolest things that happened to me were that I went to Rio Gallegos for two days to do paper work and I got to be in a bus for 20 hours round trip. Saw some good movies and some that were really boring and while I was there I got to meet some really cool missionaries and meet up with some old friends. It was a fun trip and I am now officially legal in the country! The other thing that happened to me this week was that I got robbed. It was a drugged out kid with a knife that took my companion by his backpack and robbed him of everything and then he turned on me. We´re both fine and we managed to get the majority of our stuff back because he threw it all down on a hill but I lost my camera, again, and my comp lost his backpack and his coat. 

So, if y´all want to send me a camera I´d love it. If not it´s about 2500 pesos to buy a good one here. And that´s really about all that happened this week. I love you all and miss you lots. Have a great week!

Love, Michael