Elder Andy Glanzer

Hola,

August 2011 had always been up on a pedestal for the past 2 yrs. The day that never comes — has arrived. It was a dream, something fictitious, not of this world. People always told me that the mish would end, ya I knew that, but I just pushed it to the back of my mind. As the years, months, transfers, comps, weeks, and days passed by - my inevitable end is upon me. It’s real.

I’m sure there are few people who understand the feelings a mish goes through at the end. It’s strange. I can’t explain it fully, words don’t do them justice. I can’t turn back time. I can’t redo those lazy days, days when I could have done better. I have to live with those few days I wasted. I repented and got some things done. I’ve made up for those days, but still they’re lost and never coming back.

I can’t redo those baptisms, moments in powerful lesson, seeing people
humble themselves and accept the Savior in their lives, nights of heart throbbing prayer, days of extreme heat…and choosing to walk in it (go agency!), wondering why my district is having problems and trying to find out what to do to help them, forgetting my problems and focusing on others.

I can’t redo those moments in less-active peoples’ houses, asking why they’ve abandoned their testimony and ultimately their God, seeing them recognizing this and see them in church on Sunday. Seeing those investies walk up to church, those blessing given, the Spirit confirmed, being a secret witness to others important moments, laughing with your comp after a J-Dub battle, laughing after your comp gets bit by those blasted dogs, crying with him after an investie shuts you out of the house.

Life is simple on the mish. Get up, get out, and Preach. That’s it. You can fill in the gaps with other things, but that’s what it comes down to. I love it. Life is about to change. Do I know what’s coming? The mish is my comfort zone now, I guess once you get comfortable you’ve got to leave it to grow. I got this, I’ve done it countless times before, what’s once more. Life is good, no complaints.

Juan and Ivana got married on the 4th. We went to the marriage. It was way fast. They sit down sign a few papers and the dude says a few things and BAM! they’re married. That’s just one step closer to their baptism. The ward is planning a party for them on the 12th, and on the 13th they will be baptized. This is my family! With or without hot water they will be baptized on the 13th!

I’ll be passing by the old areas to visit some members. I’ll pass by JID to visit the Monjes, Vivas, and the Bishop. Today I’ll going to have lunch with a member from Cetnro, Julio Murua. I have an entire week to say goodbye to peeps in my area. Everybody knows I’m leaving, everyone and their 5 dogs.

Les amo and thanks for two years of love and letters.  

Chaocito…6 days

Elder Glanzer

Hola,

Not much to say except see you in 16 days!   :-)   Such a beautiful sound.

Juan and Ivana are getting married on Thursday and on the 13th of August there is a baptism. Tha’ts a great way to end the mission — eh?!  I’ll be baptizing Juan, my last time baptizing as a missionary.

Things are still going smooth, no complaints. Time is flying by, before I know it, it will be P-DAY again and it will be my last letter home. I’ll make sure it’s a good one.

The weather is still cold and it’s about to change to hot Washington heat.  :-)  Hopefully the boat is good to go. We’ll see if these broken knees will let me ski.

Love,

Elder Glanzer

Hola,

Another week full of teaching and baptizing peeps. Juan Carlos Arregui was baptized after church. Its was a very smooth service, everyone was in place and happy. We filled the font with cold water cause the church’s gas ran out. And no one could seem to contact the gas peeps to get more. Oh well, cold water or warm he was getting baptized anyways! But it was way cold, and the guy that baptized him hesitated to get in, yes, I’m sure there was a piece of ice floating around!

After he was baptized I confirmed him and he received the Holy Ghost. That’s the second time I’ve done it, every time is an experience. He was so happy and wants to learn so much more. Now he’s going to prepare to go on a mission. He’s 18 yrs old and has plenty of time to prepare.

Afterwards we had lunch with them and another family. These people are just so loving and want to share everything with us. They’ll come far and are going to continue to go on. People get sad when you tell them that you are leaving in a few weeks, and that you probably won’t come back for another 4 or 5 years.

It’s the truth, the mish comes to an end — there’s more to do in life. Good thing I have a few weeks left.  :-)  Juan and Ivana are still doing great and are going have a baptismal interview this Friday, get married on the 4th, and then baptized on the 6th. Just like that!

Things continue to roll on and go good, no complaints.  :-)  Nothing else new to tell you, other then don’t be trunkie!

Les amo

Elder Glanzer

Hola,

I’m still here in body and mind, I haven’t left yet. I thought I’d be more trunkie by now, but there’s no time to be. I get up in the morning and do my studies, then get out to work and get back to the apartment at night – dead — I exhaust myself. I know I’ll miss this, I mean I’ve been doing it for two years — It’s my life, it’s all I know.

Juan Carlos Arregui: His family was baptized 13 years ago in a city called “Calera, Cordoba”. Then were active for four years, then stopped going for some reason or another. Nine months ago, the family of seven moved to Malvinas, Argentina’s 3rd Section. Then moved again six months later to the 2nd section of Malvinas. This is the family that stopped the missionaries as they were walking by one day, but the mom didn’t want the dad to say anything as the mishes walked by.

He did though and the mishes stopped and set up an appointment for the next day. The mishes taught well and committed the family to go to church. They later found out that Juan Carlos, one of the sons, wasn’t baptized.

Juan Carlos was not exactly the best kid. He had some bad friends that made him make some bad choices. He was at a low point in his life… drugs, alcohol, and everything else bad. But thanks to his desire to want to get out of that pit, he told his parents that he wanted to go to church and be a family…a real one.

I don’t want to downplay the life this guy had before. This family was not exactly destroyed but it was heading that way. Juan Carlos had long hair, was sloppy looking, and had some kind of beard thing growing on his face. He recognized the missionaries as the way to Jesus and then to the Father. He accepted a date to be baptized the first time with the messenger of the Savior.

The family came to church that Sunday with out Juan Carlos and the mishes thought he was gone. He had actually left the house and moved in with some buddies back in Cordoba. His parents hadn’t lost hope yet, as they were regaining their testimonies they knew everything would work out.

Out of nowhere, Juan Carlos came home. He hit rock-bottom while in Cordoba and remembered the things that the mishes had told him and the way he felt. He came to church and loved it.  He wanted the mishes to come everyday and teach him. He read everything, prayed, and knew what he was doing. Last week he had his baptismal interview and passed it amazingly.

He’s ready to be baptized. He cut his hair, shaved, and came to church in a suit. One of my favorite sights is seeing the spiritual and physical transformation of man. It’s something that you find in the mission — things that will never be forgotten.

As we sat by each other in church, the speaker talked about the atonement and I was a secret witness to the tears that flowed from Juan Carlos’ eyes. He’s changed, he’s different. A new creature born through Christ. Well…he will be born again on the 24th of July. 

Last night we ate dinner with them and then the guitar was brought out. Juan doesn’t speak much, because he’s not big on expression. He took the guitar while everyone else was chatting and started to play a song. The words that he sang came from his heart. He was just kind of in the background of the conversation, but we realized what he was doing and he began to sing not noticing that everyone was watching.

The words where more than sound leaving his mouth. He was telling the story, his story. He sang about his life and all the things that have happened and how the mishes came at the right time (I love hearing people say that!). I’m sure his mom was crying. They fought so much for him. Writing these events comes from my heart, the things that are in there are so close to me. I’m not selfish, thus I share them with you.

I’m sure many of those people in my life before haven’t changed, or maybe some have for the better. The only thing I’m sure of is, that I have changed. I’m not going back to what I was before, I’m smarter than that. I’ve transformed also.

I am different.

When the sacrament prayer is repeated we think it is that the person is having trouble giving the prayer –”Gosh why doesn’t he just say it right?” we often say. Maybe it’s us that need to hear the prayer a few more times. The Lord is doing it for us, think of it that way. Do we put our full attention into listen and feeling what the pray says? Do we look around as the sacrament is being passed? Why? Who cares who takes the sacrament or not? “Oh, she didn’t take it, she must not be worthy.” If I remember right, it’s between you and God.

I love that moment on Sunday, I wait for it all week. I need to be forgiven of my many sins, I need to drop that backpack full of bricks. No one will distract me from that moment that I have to reflect on what my Teacher did for me. It’s the greatest moment of the week; I embrace it!

As District Leader, I have the keys to feel if people are ready to be baptized through an interview with them. I’ve done many of these interviews of the course of my time as DL and each and everyone has been an experience. You get to take a person you’ve never met and receive revelation for them. You get to know them deeply.

I did an interview the other day for a man name Alfredo. Everyone has passed, but he didn’t. That was my first time saying that you aren’t ready, you need more. He was good on everything, besides one thing. He straight up said I’m not down with that… It happened to be a big part and he wasn’t willing to change and accept it. I taught him and took advantage of the situation to do so. He still wasn’t willing. I was careful to let him know that he needed more time and he was okay. It’s strange to have to basically say “no” to someone. I did it — the Lord did it.

I love you and I’ll see you in a bit. 

Elder Glanzer

Chao

Hola mi pueblo,

The weeks are moving on, and the workload is steady. Juan and Ivana are doing great, no problems, and they are coming to church. Juan Carlos is even better. The ward has a templo trip to Uruguay on the 21st of this month and they won’t be back until Sunday morning. We moved Juan Carlos’s Baptism to the 24th, after church. We are super excited and so are all of his family also.

At church we had almost the entire Arregui Family there, there are about seven members in the family, big time! There are a few others that are progressing nicely and will be baptized in the near months after I’m going to…huh?…I’ll be gone!  But the missionary work will go on in the area without me. That’s a weird thought eh?! I make baptismal dates knowing that I won’t even be there for them.  I’ve always been there to see these friends get baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. The work rolls on with or without me.

I’m excited to see what happens with all the things that are happening here. Everything is going nicely, this hasn’t happened very many times in my mission. I’m so very much  enjoying it. I like when my life is good. I’m happy.  :-)  That little smiley face explains everything.

We’ve been having great Sundays with tons of investigators at church. The people that get baptized are the ones who go to church. We’ve been averaging seven to eight people every week. We’ve been activating some key families and they’ve been coming to church also. I love when you see them walking up to the church and all dressed up and everything.

We had a mini zone conference with the mission president this week. He came to just talk to our zone and introduce some new things to us for this month. He talked about how important our weekly planning is, it’s like playing for game day. We are able to dedicate an entire morning to just plan and talk about our investigators. It’s like when Moses went up to Mount Sinai, we can receive the revelation that we need for those people.

It’s amazing how in that morning planning the progress you can make. You really are dedicated to these people and love them. We also fill out the progressing record for our ward mission leader and the other organizations.  We have our meeting with the ward mission leader on Thursday nights. We just activated him a month ago and he’s working hard now. I love when you have an active Ward Mish leader, it makes life easier. I just like when everyone completes their callings, the ward runs smoother.

Now I’ve got to get this week going and see what new peeps I can find. There are still some out there for me to find.

Les amo,

Elder Glanzer

Chao

Aló,

I’m now in my last transfer of my mission, my last six weeks. Is it really here? I think it will hit me when I have a week left. This is a moment that a missionary waits for with fear and anxiety his entire mission –and it is now upon me. In the meantime, there is lots going on here in Malvinas Argentina…well it should really be called Falkland Islands.  Google it.

We had transfers on Saturday and E’ Winger and I are staying together, he gets to kill me. He’s from West Jordan, Utah and has 18 months in the mish. He was in the mission office for the past five months and I’m his first companion outside of the office. He was also at one point companions with E’ Silas back in the Rio IV days. He’s a good elder with great intention; just sometimes people have no idea what he is saying. I remember those days, I’ll never go back to that point! I have no problem being his companion, we get along just fine and make a good team. So I’ll die here in Malvinas with E’ Winger (Dane) as companion mine.

Juan and Ivana went and finally got a turn to get married, it’s set for the 4th of August, so I’ll be there to see it and then baptize them the next days! I’m glad it worked out that way, so I didn’t have to miss it. Also the Familial Arrgui is doing great and going to church everyday. On Saturday they got in a car crash and on Sunday they were at church. Juan Carlos is reading everything we give him and more, he is well on way to get baptized on the 23rd of July.  :-)   Also, there are a few more peeps that are progressing nicely and have a true desire to learn and be baptized. Jose Torres is still sky-rocketing. I got him an oil vial so he can start healing all the sickies. He also has a calling, he is the second counselor in the young men program. Progression.

It’s cold here, and it’s going to get colder. At the coldest, it drops below zero but I’m not sure how far. People say it’s going to snow this year. I can only dream! It snowed three years ago, lucky! It seems like September-November weather, cold crispy mornings, frozen grass and leaves.

Tons of people grow a little garden here, just for their family or those missionaries that love jalapeños, chilies and peppers. The agriculture here is mostly corn and wheat. Not very many cows or anything like that…but there are a lot of chicken and dogs.  :-)  I couldn’t tell what that draw is to this place, beats me. Transportation here consists of walking, cars, and bikes. Some people ride “chariots” or ride horses. It’s a very humble area, not much in the way of nice things or houses, which is better for me. 

We had an excellent testimony meeting on Sunny-Day. Everyone gave great testimonies, there were no long stories or people who had to make a public confession. Everyone hates those Sundays. After one son gave his testimony and sat down and was sitting all alone and had his head in his hands. I noticed his dad get up and go sit by him and put his arm around him.  Nothing was said, but I was a secret witness of a father-to-son showing of love. I love when I get to be a secret witness. 

Well, I’ll write six more missionary letters and that will be it, better enjoy them while you can.

Happy Fourth of July and I promise next year we’ll go and hit up the lake.

Les amo

Elder Glanzer

Hola Gente,

I passed my birthday great here, better then last year’s. It seemed that everyone knew it was my birthday and everyone wished me “Happy Birthday”. All the kids here when it’s just birthday pat your ear 21 one times, or how every many years you have. And they yank on it! My ears were red by the end of the day! At night I went over the Torres’ house and they made me a cake and a got a picture of me blowing out the candles, just like being at home.  They gave me a good birthday that I’ll never forget…because it was my last in Argentina.

Things are pretty cold here, winter is upon me. My hands are freezing as I write this letter. You peeps got to be enjoying nice warm weather — but I’m not jealous because I like the cold. We have a pretty good heater that keeps us warm day and night. It’s a good thing I brought my thermals with me, they are saving my life. It stays cold all day long and in the morning everything is covered with frost.

The mish work is going great. We have 8 people with dates to be baptized in July and three families that are progressing nicely — Families Torres, Romero and Silvagala. There is still tons to do here, and not much time to get it all done. I have until August! All the people we teach are peeps that we find, media referrals don’t exist out here.

Juan and Ivana Torres had to push their wedding date back to mid July, and Juan is still working on the cigs but they are stellar! Angela is suffering from depression and may be put in a clinic, not exactly sure what will go down.

I’m not sure if I told you about the Fam Arregui, if not they are an inactive family that we found a week ago and they moved here three months ago. Anyways, they are not doing too well. They’ve had a tough life and they realize that they need to get back to church to get going again and stay there. Well, last week they came to church and this week they showed up with five of their kids! They are a gold mine! Such a great fam, with so much potential. The members are just absorbing them. Probably because I told everyone about them and their situation and asked everyone to help us help them.  They even met with the President and he’s helping them too.

On Sunday there was a ward baptism and apparently we, being the missionaries, were in charge. No one even asked us, so we did nothing to prepare. The day came and everyone looked to us and we turned it back on them and said, “What’s up? You didn’t do anything?” I would have gladly done anything to help but no one asked and the ward is supposed to be in charge of those things. I dropped a fat cane on the President and told him to fulfill his calling. Then we and the ward mish leader and the 1st counselor ran around and did everything and it all turned out well in the end. Why can’t people do their callings? I think that’s the big question everywhere.

Now having 21 years, things and life gets a little more interesting. Don’t think I’m trunkie yet…  give me 6 more weeks and I’ll be really trunkie! 

I love the mish and I love baptizing peeps!

Les amo
Elder Glanzer
Chao

Hola,

Happy birthday to me on the 24th! On the 22nd it’s E’ Anderson’s birthday and on the 23rd its Elder Silas’s B-Day. The entire ward knows it’s my B-Day because I wrote it down on the Lunch Calendar:) Lots of people told me to come over and eat cake…ok. On my B-day I’ll be eating dinner and cake with the Torres Family. Three families wanted me to come over but the Torres fam won. On Saturday I’ll be eating with another fam and eating cake. I love having a lot of time in a ward, the peep begin to love you!

I got my new companion and his name is Elder “Dane” Winger. I knew him back in the Rio IV days and when he rolled up to a conference that we had, no one knew who he was or his name. I said he looks like a “Dane” and that name stuck for his entire mish and now he’s my companion! He’s a goob, that’s the only word to describe him. The other day he showed me all the magic tricks that he has. He’s from Utah and has 17 months in the mish. He makes me laugh, so awkward, but funny. He may just kill me off, because I have 54 days left. ( Note: Just because I stated that I know the number of days I have left doesn’t make me trunky, just aware). 

We had the Zone Conference on Thursday with another zone. This was my last one, and the tradition for those old mishes who are going home is to have them give their farewell testimony. You never think that this day will ever come upon you, but it reached me and I embraced it. There were 8 peeps who gave their testimony and 6 are from my group. E’ Silas and E’ McQueen also gave theirs.

I got up, and I’m surprised people couldn’t hear my heart beating. I still get nervous talking in front of people. But I can do it with ease if I’m teaching a Zone or a District. It’s strange to be able to teach but not be able to testify in front of a group. I got up there and gave those mishes my wisdom and shared with them my experience and my testimony. During my testimony I said some things that I now know, I received in that moment. We know that these are true but sometimes we need to hear ourselves say those things.

The Conference was the best conference I’ve ever been at. Being my last one, that was a nice exit conference. I really learned quite a bit about the things I need to do in the little time I have left. We watched a talk that E’ Holland gave in the MTC in Jan. 2011, and it was so powerful and amazing. He gives the best talks.

It made me realize some things and things I need to change. And it’s not too late. When the Lord told His Apostles to leave their nets, that meant forever — to never return to that old life. He asked us to leave our nets also, and that also means forever for us too. You cannot go back, if you do, that will break the Lord’s heart. When I get back I’ll teach you the scripture that he taught. I’ve been sharing it with all the members and getting good at it. By the time I get home, I promise to share it with you. Here is the question that He asked Peter: “Do you love Me more then these fish?” Remind me and I’ll deliver.

I felt something that I haven’t felt since the morning of August 12th 2009. After the conference I was chatting with the President about some things and I was going to leave so I gave him a hug. In that moment he hugged me and held me. He touched the back of my head and told me that he loved me. This was an important moment for me, I was not feeling too well spiritually and then I received a fatherly hug. I felt the love he has for me, it wasn’t fake, and I wasn’t just another elder that he was hugging. I am his son. He is my father. When he used that word love, he meant it, I felt it. It was a moment that I did not miss, time is judged by these heart-felt moments. He truly is my mission father. 

In my mish I never was one of those missionaries that said that I would miss the mish. During the conference I realized I WILL miss the mish and the spirit I feel. I know it’s a lot harder to get and hold onto the Spirit when you’re back in the world and not missionary-ing all day. I’m going to miss it, I’m sure.

I took all that energy from the conference and had a great week. We put 6 baptismal dates, and that gives us a total of 9 people who are getting baptized in July. We had a super Sunday also with 7 people and 2 families at church.

The Lord is blessing me; I need to continue to be worthy to receive the blessings He has for me. No wasting time or being lazy. Don’t worry, I’m going to finish my mission walking into the mission home with a stack of Baptismal Records in my hand.

I love the Lord; I’m feeding sheep.

Les amo
Elder Glanzer

Chao

Hola,

The work still continues without interruption, smooth as ever. On Sunday we had a special Stake Conference that was a broadcast from Salt Lake, so that means someone legit spoke. E’ Packer, E’ Anderson, and the Primary President, and a member of the Seventy (from Argentina) were the ones present. It was a broadcast just for Argentina.

E’ Anderson spoke in his Spanish/French/Portuguese accent. It kills me how he speaks, but he does a good job. E’ Packer’s talk was translated and a few times he said things in Spanish. The Primary President started he talk in Spanish and it reminded me of the Hna’ Olsen.  :-)  It was a good conference with some good talks that people outside the USA need to hear.

E’ Packer spoke about Argentina paying tithing and a generous fast offering so they can be independent of the saints of the US. Most of the church outside of the US receive funds and support from those tithe payers in the States. Most countries are dependent on us. Thus the Apostle of the Lord told Argentina to move towards being independent. What a statement!

We had three families that were able to go to the conference, for a total of 7 peeps. Super Sunday for us also! Juan and Ivana are still doing excellent and moving forward. They are still going to get married on the 8th of July and baptized on the 9th. We taught them that they have 4 weeks till they are able to get baptized so they can’t slack off and think they have time. They have to continue to prepare like crazy.

Jose and his fam are doing impeccable. In the Stake Conference Jose stood to be sustained to receive the Priesthood of Melchizedek, he stood as a man now, guiding his family with more power then ever, the same power that God has. It’s amazing to see the evolution of a man. How the Lord can take any normal man and shape him, build him, and turn him into a righteous holder of the Priesthood. And some say the miracles have stopped…apparently they’ve never been to The Church of Jesus Christ! I feel humble to have been a part of this man’s change. To know the normal life. This is the normal life. The world has changed our concept of the “normal” life. It’s nothing compared to our life we have now.

All the people who are less-active that go back to church always tell me that when they are in the church its the happiest moments of their life. They also say that when they are not in the church they always have more problems and not as happy. So, I know I’m not a psychologist, but why don’t they just stay in church and not become inactive if they know that they are happy in the church and sad outside the church? That’s a good question eh?

I’m still with Armando, the mini. I’m supposed to get a new companion this week because Armando’s got to go home, so we’ll see what happens.

Cold weather is here for good now. I wear a sweater and a jacket everyday. Day and night the heater is running. We have to teach the Word of Wisdom everyday because everyone offers us tea or coffee. 

Les amo

Elder Glanzer

See you in 2

Chao

Hola,

The biggest blessing I’ve personally received from the mission thus far would be the growth and strength of my testimony. I grow — everyday I grow. My goal here is to have people find a testimony and strengthen it. It’s a beautiful process when you are a part of peoples’ lives and see that part of them take shape. When I’m rejected, those people choose not to accept change. Even when I’m rejected, my testimony doesn’t shrink or go away, it gets stronger.

On Sunday, a mom was giving her testimony and talked about her son that was doing the mini mish and her daughter that had moved out. She said that sometimes we have to leave to learn. I’ve been thinking about that for a while. We lived with God, our Father, in a place that was wonderful and perfect. We were taught by loving heavenly parents who guided our every step. Then we needed to really grow and reach our potential, thus we came to earth.

Here we are far from our heavenly parents, but we can still feel their love and talk to them in prayer. We are preparing ourselves one day to return and live with them.

Now this takes me to the mission. I was born and lived in a home full of love, such love that I didn’t know the outside world and I was fine.  :-)  I was taught by my parents in the best environment there is — the home. But I needed to learn more, experience more, and live. That started when I left when I was 18 to live in Spokane.

I learned the hard way…through my mistakes. Then the world hit me hard when I arrived here in Argentina. Life. But these are things necessary that need to happen in one’s life.  To see what one is capable of, it’s necessary to leave the house to fully learn.

I recognized that I don’t know much, but I know and am familiar with more, compared to 3 years ago. One day (soon) I’ll return home as a new man, with new goals and a new outlook on this thing called life. I’ll still make mistakes, but less often and with less risk. I recognize that I have much to learn — good thing I’m only 20 yrs. old and have a lifetime to learn, but this brief 3 years has prepared me for those tides of pain, trial, and strife to come. I left God to learn and I left home to learn. We have to leave to learn.

Everyone is a missionary. Parents are the greatest, they are missionaries inside their very home. Inside those walls they teach their kids. Just as I find and teach people –they become my kids. I teach them everything from scratch, I see them grow, and I help them when they don’t know what to do.

Parents help to convert their kids, even before they are old enough to know what a mission is… let alone baptism. I remember praying as a family and in my personal prayer alongside my parent asking God to prepare me to me a mish, without even knowing what I was saying. Look at me now, thanks to those great missionaries. Thanks Elder Glanzer and Sister Glanzer. What a great…senior…couple! Just as Jesus presented his plan in heaven, our parents presented that same plan in the home and we either say “yes” or “no”. I said yes. What did you say? Why, if we said “yes”, in heaven to Our Savior, do some say “no” to their parents?

The mish is going good, I have no complaints. My mini and I are doing great and working hard as ever.

Les amo,

Elder Glanzer

Still not trunkie 

Chao