Happy General Conference Soon!

Happy Monday Everyone,

I am here in the converted pizzaria chapel in El Calafate with my companion, Elder Russell, and we are having just a super relaxed preparation day. We talked with two people from California, and a Hindo woman from India! Super cool.

Elder Bartlett

I had the wonderful opportunity to give a talk yesterday with about 10 minutes to prepare. I don't know who all has read the Principles of the Gospel book, but just so everyone knows it is amazing! I didn't stutter too bad, and overall I think I got a solid B-!

Nothing too crazy happened this week... just a baptism! It wasn't ours, but it was magical all the same. I really felt the spirit testifying that it was what God wants us to do in this life.

Have a great week everyone, love you all!

Elder Bartlett and Elder Russell

Love,  Elder Bartlett



Mom & Dad
I'm so happy everything went well with the talks! I know exactly what you mean, dad. I had to give a talk as well but only had about 10 minutes to plan it out. Everyone said it turned out well, but maybe I just misunderstood their Spanish! Ha ha it was a cool experience, though.  Here in Argentina, 8 people in a house like ours is like living in a mansion. It's usually about 10 living in 2 rooms and maybe a bathroom, but there is also those who have pretty nice houses with 4 or 5 rooms and there are only 3 of them. Just depends.  Everything is good down here on the southern front! I finally got a letter! That I wrote to you... and it came back. It made it to the US, but then says that it could not send as addressed. What?! I'll write a new one soon and try to make the address as clear as possible!

Weekly

Good day family and friends,

It is a good day here in Rio Gallegos. I'm lucky we found somewhere to write! The Zone leaders brought us out here for P-day because we have Zone Conference tomorrow. Not sure if I like waking up at 3 on my preparation day, but they did buy facturas for breakfast!

So I've been getting to know Elder Russell this last week. He arrived in El Calafate on Tuesday with a great desire to get to work! He is from Idaho Falls and loves to hunt and fish. He is super cool. I would send pictures but I don't have the stuff here with me. Next week!

The coolest experience we had this week was when we passed by a future investigators house, named Alejandro, and we found in his house one French girl that lived in Norway for a year and learned English and is now touring Argentina and has learned Castellano, and one girl from China that only speaks Engish! It was crazy because I got to talk to the Chinese girl about the mission and God in English... it is so much easier! I think she was really interested in why on earth we would give up two years of our lives to do this, and I was able to bear my testimony.

Thanks for all of your updates, especially all the mission calls I'm hearing about! This is the stone that will roll forth until it covers the whole earth!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!
Happy Birthday, Poppy! It is your birthday right?! Also, Happy Anniversary! I think! Love you both, the eternal full-nestors!
Love, Elder Bartlett

Elder Russell and Elder Bartlett

Transfer Numero Siete

Good afternoon, I don't have much to say, just that my companion, Elder Flores (from Chile), got sent to Puerto Williams (in Chile) after only one transfer here in El Calafate. Very sad day. My new companion will be... *drum roll* Elder Russell! I don't know anything about him, he gets here tomorrow I think.

This week was really good. I'm sad that Elder Flores left becuase I felt like we were about to really get going here. Oh well, he is needed more else where.

Love all of you back home, thanks for the support! I don't know what I would do with out you, probably just sit in the corner and cry.

Elder Bartlett and Elder Flores

Love,

Elder Bartlett

An Average Dia de Preparation in El Calafate

a chocolate cake I made in a cup

Before I get to describing my average day, I want to apologize for not writing last week. We had had a pretty dark week of rejection, plus we had to drop one of our investigators. The mission is filled with heart ache, but then there are times like yesterday, we visited the home of a man named Ivan, and shared with him and his cousins. As we shared with them that our Heavenly Father wants to talk to us in the modern day, I really felt His love both for them and for me. God loves us, and He has revealed Himself to us in these last days through the Book of Mormon and living prophets and apostles! He is waiting for our response.

an idea of what my area looks like in El Calafate

So today, I woke up and stuggled out of my sleeping bag so that I could get into the shower and start getting ready for the day. We are blessed to have a water heater so that I can start my day off right. My breakfast is usually oatmeal with sugar, cinnamon, and milk. Today I splurged a little and had a hard boil egg as well. Then, we do our studies, and write our family and friends! After this we will head out for the hour walk into centro (down town where all the cool stuff is, and the chapel). One of the other Elders, Elder Smith, and I enjoy cooking together, so today we are going to try making breakfast burritos! Our chapel has a ping pong table and foosball (no clue how to spell that), so we enjoy playing those. Luckily, Calafate is one of the biggest tourist places in the mission because it is famous for the Perito Moreno Glacier. That means there are a lot of cool shops, so usually we go out to see what there is after we are bored of ping pong. Near the end of P-day, we go shopping at La Anonima, the only really big supermercado (smaller than smiths) there is here. We take the pumpkin bus back to our pension, drop off the groceries, and then leave to go teach and help the people!

The clouds and sunsets here are super cool?

Yea, preparation day.

Love, Elder Bartlett

About Argentina

vegetation in El Calafate

Hi, I'm Elder Bartlett, and welcome to our show, Exploring the Patagonia with the Mormons. Here in the most southern tip of the world, with the exception of antarctica, the climate if very similar to that of Southern Utah. It is very dry, dusty, and sandy, lots of small scrub bushes, and the four seasons. The Patagonia is well known for it's excessive amounts of wind, extreme heat, and bitter cold, and overall a place where normally no one would want to live.

Yet, the people here are very abundant and extremely wonderful. They don't have much, but what they do have, they willing give. They are very modest and humble and have a strange sense of humor that I still don't really understand.

El Calafate

Most people, like us, are new here to the Patagonia. They have moved in from further up north and from many surrounding countries such as Chile, Peru, and Paraguay. Many have their own plots of land and build their houses on their own, or they rent like us. We have a wonderful landlandy that takes good care of us when she is here. Right now she is in Cordoba visiting her daughter in College. Our house, also known as a pension in mission lingo, is relatively nice. They only problem is that our door has many holes in it, and bugs just love to walk right in and crawl up my nose while I sleep!

Elder Bartlett & Elder Flores from Chile

It's a great life here, and I am enjoying every minute of it. Even though the people here are very honest and immediately tell us what religion they are and that they don't want to hear anything we have to say before we even introduce ourselves, they are very kind and loving.

This has been Exploring the Patagonia with the Mormons, thanks for tuning in. Until next time, stay golden my friends.

Love, Elder Bartlett

Elder Bartlett at Glacier Perito Moreno

?, Elder Eakle & Elder Bartlett at Glacier Perito Moreno

Far left Elder Bartlett

Mom & Dad

So just so you know, my bag broke, but I mostly fixed it. I somehow ripped a huge hole in the crotch of my jeans, so i'm going to find a less active member that can sew to see what she can do. Also, the in-seem of one of my pants came out, also going to take those to this sister member. I lost my flip-flops in Ushuaia, so I bought some toms! As for music, everyone here just has music on usb/pen-drives, so I bought one and got some music from one of the other missionaries, and today I'm going to buy a speaker that has a usb port. It would be cool if you could talk to Ivan or Jacob and put together a pen-drive with a bunch of LDS music from moromon tab, janice kapp perry (celtic variations), EFY music, anything that is produced by the church, and then send it to me. Elder Eakle's mom hid his pendrive in a pack of gum, so that's an idea.  I gave a blessing in Spanish yesterday, my Spanish was terrible but I think they understood.

Love, Elder Bartlett

Don't be a groove thrower

Sorry I guess I forgot to mention who my companion is... His name is Elder Flores and he is from Chile! I would send a picture, but I'd be sitting here for the rest of the day.

This week was interesting. I spent a lot of time with other missionaries and in other areas because my companion left for Rio Gallegos to do tramites (to receive his citizenship in Argentina), and then we went to Rio Gallegos ourselves for zone conference. After the zone conference we did a tsunami! Basically the whole zone goes and contacts in one area. It was a great experience, and I think just about everyone got into one house and taught. The hermana we found was called Doris, and by the end of the lesson she was crying! She accepted to offer the closing prayer, and ask God if what we taught was true. It was so sincere, and I felt the love of our Heavenly Fath - *KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK* "Hey is my kid here?!" "Hey! Have you seen my daughter?!" Wow. Totally just threw off my groove.

I hope she has the opportunity to pray in a more private place.

Yesterday was super cool! Elder Vinas, the member of the seventy in charge of our area, came to visit us, right here in El Calafate! He really wants us to be thinking about how we can apply the atonement in our missions, and how it has helped us. So I ask all you back home, "What affect has the atonement had in your life?" Every leader of the church that I have met with on the mission always talks about the atonement, and with good cause. It is the single most important event that ever occurred in the history of this earth, and it is the only way to make it back to our Father in Heaven.

Well have a great week everyone!

Love, Elder Bartlett

This Stuff Really Works!

So this week, week one of the transfer, usually a terrible week when nothing gets done, was absolutely amazing. We have found so many new investigators and put 3 baptismal dates, with the possbility of 5 total! In these lessons, talking about the Plan that God has for us, talking about how because He loves us He restored His church and brought His power back to the earth, talking about how we can apply the principles of the gospel in our lives and become clean, new, and make it back to live with our Father in Heaven... I don't ever want to leave. I just want to teach these people, my brothers and sisters, all there is to know! All the tremendous blessings that God has in store for us, I can't even express my amazement and gratitude!

I would like to talk a little bit about how I arrived at this overwhelming feeling, and how you too can "[feel] to sing the song of redeeming love." Yesterday, I was thinking about how I got here, in the mission. We have been testifying of the basic principles of the gospel that lead to conversion: reading, pondering, praying, going to church, all the primary answers. But they are more than primary answers, they are the BASIS OF WHAT WE BELIEVE, the FOUNDATION OF OUR FAITH IN CHRIST. These precious tools that have been given to us are not suggestions, they are requirements for eternal salvation.

When I look back, all of my prayers have been answered, every single one that I have ever prayed fervently for. He is listening. We prayed and fasted to find investigators that are ready to teach, He heard us, and He will hear you as well. God loves every one of us, and I love every one of you, so let's get out there and get harvesting!

It's okay if you started laughing during this email, sorry I'm a little ridiculous sometimes, but take it for what it is. I'll see ya'll next week.

Love, Elder Bartlett