Hola World!

We discovered this week how isolated we are in the MTC. We got on our emails and all found out about this huge storm that has hit the East Coast this week? and we haven't heard a thing about it. Well we are now praying for those people and hope everything turns out okay.

Congratulations to Kelsey for getting engaged! That was quick!

Well, the MTC is good, just monotonous sometimes being in class all day but we find ways to have fun still. My teacher, Hermano Herman, is pretty awesome because he is always so focused on everything, but when we aren't paying attention he'll pull out a little paper airplane and throw it at us to wake us up haha.

Yesterday we had TRC, which is where we teach Spanish speakers who live around Provo, just members who want to come in and help us out. Anyways, we got to meet with a man who was actually from Argentina yesterday and we actually got to experience the crazy Castellano accent in its pure form (Hermano Herman tries to do it, but doesn't really get it.)

I guess in Buenos Aires, there is a lot of Italian influence so the accent is also very sing-songy, which will be pretty cool.

Ok, so we met with this man and one of my companions bore his testimony in the small amount of Spanish that we know and the Spirit was so powerful as we met with him. It was an incredible experience because, as Elder Bednar said, "Who you are is far more important than anything you will ever say."

When we testify of Christ and the Book of Mormon, the Spirit is present and touches the hearts of those we are with and they will gain a testimony and become converted. They may not even understand what in the world we are even saying, but as long as they feel the Spirit they will commit to live the commandments and read the Book of Mormon and truly pray for guidance from their Heavenly Father.

I really don't know who reads these letters, but I encourage and exhort you all to please read the Book of Mormon, no matter how many times you have read it, because when you are reading from that book, you will "come closer to God by living by its precepts than by any other book." <-- That's paraphrased so forgive me. I love you all and keep enjoying life!

Love,

Elder Wardle

2nd Week MTC 10/24/2012

2nd Week MTC  10/24/2012

Happy Wednesday, everybody!

P-day has been pretty great so far, we went to the temple this morning and just got some wonderful quiet time this morning. P-Day has to be divinely appointed, because without it I think my brain would fry for sure. Our district is only five Elders, so we are super small but we enjoy it because we are developing a really strong brotherhood, similar to Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah! (On a lesser scale of course haha.)

It seems crazy that we were the first missionaries to come out after the new announcement. Elder Larry Echo Hawk of the Seventy and his wife spoke to us last night and they told us that the application papers over the last two weeks have increased by 471%!!!

I am so grateful to be a missionary at this time because the work is going to SOAR while I am in the field and we have the opportunity to bring the only thing that brings true happiness in this life, that is, the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our teacher, Hermano Herman, is kind of crazy just because he is so focused and kind of kicks us in the butt. He is also Cesar, our progressing investigator who we teach nearly every day, and he is pretty tough because he speaks so fluently that we have to continually ask him, "Mas despacio, por favor!" which means slower please!

The language is only a barrier so much as we make it a barrier because he says we should try to just not think about conjugations and just speak as fluently as possible, so basically we are saying "I is exciting and has the message we want to share with you," but we get the point across. I thought I was understanding spanish pretty well until we talked to some international Elders this morning who are learning English here and we could not understand them at all it seemed like. They were from Colombia, Chile, and Puerto Rico, and their Spanish all sounded super different, and kind of humbled us, which is probably all what the MTC is about it seems like sometimes.

Last night after Elder Echo Hawk spoke to us at our weekly devotional, our district had a devo review where we bore our testimonies to one another and it was an incredible experience because the Spirit was able to strongly testify of the truth of each of our words. I'm so grateful to be a missionary because I don't really have to worry about anything right now. All I am able to worry about is other people, and that is all that Jesus Christ does constantly. Of course I still feel sorry for myself every once in a while, but I'm able to bury myself in studies and the language and just focus on why I am here, and that is to be able to make other people's existences eternally happy. There truly is no greater work in this life.

I have two companions now, Elders Nielson and Johnson, from Spanish Fork and Springville, respectively, so they are local boys, but are super different. Elder Johnson is kind of a jock/beach bum kind of guy who always has questions to ask our teacher and us at every opportunity it seems like. Elder Nielson is super funny and I'm not exactly sure how to describe him, he always lightens the mood, especially when we have no idea what to say to our investigators.

Well, the bomb dropped this Sunday, and we have to wear suits every day while we are here at the MTC, it is such a terrible consequence for the poor, unfortunate souls who are here at this time. It really isn't that bad, but some Elders are acting like we are being forced to cut our arms off or something haha. I figure, we just get to look super awesome looking all the time. Alright I think that is it for now. I love you all! Hasta proxima Miercoles!

Love,

Elder Wardle

Hola everybody!
Well the MTC has had its ups and downs in the last week but it has been overall a pretty enlightening experience. Our whole district is going to Argentina, while some of us are going to Buenos Aires and the others are going to Resistencia. The language is coming along and I surprisingly remember a lot from high school and plus I know the Lord is helping me right now with it. Our second day, we had to teach an "investigator" that does not speak English at all. We're all pretty sure that she does speak English, but she is pretty convincing that she knows nothing about the church and can't speak a lick of English. My companion and I stumbled through our first one but we've gotten progressively better at it throughout the next few lecciones. My companion's name is Elder Nielson from Spanish Fork, Utah and he is pretty funny, he does a lot of impressions of basically anyone. His Hagrid from Harry Potter is the best, our teacher told him to tell it to our investigator so we'll see how that goes haha. 
I'm pretty sure the first shock of the MTC has a lot to do with recognizing our inadequacies in being able to convince someone that we have the restored Gospel. That just isn't our job, our job is to create an environment with our testimonies of the Gospel and the Book of Mormon, where the Spirit can testify and truly convert others to change their lives. When we are set apart as missionaries, we take on the name Elder and we recognize that we as individuals don't really matter anymore, only through Heavenly Father are we able to do anything of real importance. In order to become true tools in the Lord's hand, we have to go through these humbling experience so that we can ask Him for help. Then through obedience, the Lord can trust us to do the right thing when He puts us in the situations that He needs us to do. Alright well I love all of you and I'm excited to hear from you. Mail is precious here, and I'm pretty sure that won't change my whole mission so I want to hear from everybody :) Ah I already feel like Zac preaching every week on the email, but it really struck me that we're not, individually, important in this work, all we need to do is be obedient and put in the work and then we'll be able to see miracles in our lives and the lives of those around us. 
Yo se que Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador y el Libro de Mormon es la palabra de Dios! Hasta luego!
Love,
Elder Wardle

He's Off!!!

Adios Las Vegas!

I'm being set apart tonight and so my letters and addresses will be posted to this blog and I think we'll be linking updates to my Facebook page also. I'm so grateful for this chance to serve the Lord and the people of Argentina for the next couple years.
I report to the MTC on Wednesday, so my address while I am there will be:
                                
                           Elder Braxton Creel Wardle
                           MTC Mailbox #205
                           ARG-BAN 1211
                           2005 N 900 E
                           Provo, UT 84604-1793

I think you can also write me letters through DearElder.com while I am gone too.
I'd love to hear from all of you and I sure will appreciate letters while I am out there. See you all in two years!