200 Empanadas

hey dad,
man that sounds like it was a great sunday. in our sunday meeting yesterday we had 20 people there, two priesthood holders, and the rest were kids and woman members. the work is tough but we are having fun when we dont get the results that we want so we dont go crazy. a few times ive gotten so frustrated i just punch my pillow, but ive picked up the habit of doing pushups to calm myself down, or just kicking the crap out of a soccer ball. it helps temporarily, kind of like drugs, but its all i got. but the best thing i do to calm down is read. doesnt matter what piece of doctrine it always helps. i think the 4 gospels are the most soothing to read, and the book of mormon is always the best. im trying to finish the spanish book of mormon before my year mark, hump day, but i still get mad. i have really been missing fishing lately. this was my first fishing season in my life that i can remember not going out and castin the old vibrex into the hole. man, those are good times. dont worry though im doing what im supposed to. the activities you had sounded awesome, i think ive forgotten what an actual ward does when they are active and have resources to have cool things and fun activities. all in due time. okay dad thanks for the letter, love ya.


allright mom your just the best. its just a fact. i got my packages on tuesday i believe and they were oh so amazing. i couldnt have asked for anything better than what i got so thank you! there was just so much stuff i dont know what i liked most, probably all of it, yeah that. it made my week way good. yesterday was mothers day here in argentina. on saturday me and my comp helped make over 200 empanadas, i dont know if you know what those are but they are good, google it. we made them and yesterday after church we got all us 20 or something people in the branch together and ate those, tiny sandwiches, pop, and had an average argentine cake to top it off. me and my comp just did what we do, they had cameras there and of course i had to show off my muscles everytime a picture was taken. then i got the cake, ran around with it, almost dropped it, saved myself, set it down. almost threw a little kid into it a few times but in the end it was safe. besides the incidents yesterday with the mom day thing nothing interesting happened all week. me and elder whittle have started a competition to see who can kill the most flies by catching them in our hand, shaking them up, then throwing them as hard as we can at the wall. we always rack up the kills at lunches because the families never talk to us and flies are all over. its definately possible to have fun in the lamest of situations. im glad i got elder whittle or else i dont know if i could do this area without going crazy, God must know what he is doin right? thanks for everything mom, your the best. period. love you lots mom

Bored in the Dark....

To Nan….
so a couple weeks ago we were in a discussion and the power got cut. so we left there and walked home and the whole city had the power cut. it was late at night and the only lights were the ones from cars. we got home and decided to test ourselves and our emergency skills. we got all of our earthquake things out, in the pitch dark. we found our flashlights but said we didnt need to use them. so my comp went and washed some socks, some plates, we both got undressed and changed into our night clothes. then i went to the bathroom all off of sound and smell. we were done and bored in the dark. so naturally what does one do in this situatuation.. make pancakes of course. so in the pitch blackness of everything me and my comp found the flower, powdered milk, pinch of salt, egg, strawberry extract, fork, bowl. i put all the stuff in not knowing the proportions but just feeling how thick it was by stirring. then we got all the plates ready before we lit the stove which gave a tiny bit of light. i cooked all the pancakes and just when the last one left the pan the lights came back on. no mess or anything was to be found. also i had a war with my wart i found on my caliss for my pinky finger. i finally had to stab it with a blunt end of my flathead screwdriver and it bled everywhere. we bandaged it up and left to go work. we were in a lesson and in a spiritual moment i looked down to find my hands covered in blood. without thinking i lifted up my hands and asked them if they could help me. my hands were just covered. they freaked out for a second but my calm demeanor i think helped them out. they gave me a giant ball of gause cotton. whenever we go to this one families house to eat they always have us bless something or other. usually it is to the old grandma to make her feel more calm. there ive blessed a kiosco (like a little kiosk with food and snacks), my comp blessed their truck.the shoes are great i wore them to church and they were super shiny.
the work is as tough as ever. dealing with drunks is great too. love elder hayden summers

Whatever you cook for me I am going to eat!!!

To Bart....
the end of the season is always when the coaches wake up and try to change something. once we get a coach to change something that needs changing when it needs to be done is when they will be successfull. also ive decided that i will never ref a sport because i dislike them so much i dont want to wear those same colors. you can always tell who´s team your on by the way you dress yourself. everyone knows who´s team the missionaries are on thats for sure. sometimes we get people that run away from us because they are either afraid or just know that we are here to fix their sinful lifes. some people can even tell when we talk to them that we are sent from God. we often declare to the people that we have the authority to tell them that they are doing wrong and help them change. honestly i like this alot haha. im not going to be able to do this again for a very long time so im trying to take advantage of every second.
ive also decided that whatever you cook for me i am going to eat. i will not take pickles off of my hamburgers, onions off of my liver, or tomatoes off of my food ever again. you can hold me to that promise later on when your making me a giant dinner sometime in the future.
yeah the scriptures are amazing, ive been reading in the gospels and the life of christ and the apostles and it is just great stuff. im soaking in every word and clinging to every teaching. i wont even recognize my family when i get home, thanks for being a great example dad to my little bros. it sounds like they need it more and more as the world gets crappier and dumber.
thanks for everything dad. when i get home is when i can do anything crazy and ill just spend all my blessings saved up hah. love elder hayden summers

To Nan...
conference was lagit and way cool. kind of fun even. one of the missionaries had his parents here and they were up watching it in english with us gringos. we talked to the mom and the dad too. the dad was way funny and talking just about stuff was way cool. its crazy how conversations with people are sometimes just what you need to feel good. of many things ive learned here, talking face to face with someone is the best way to help and really mean something to someone. also hugs work alot too. i cant really hug anyone outside of missionaries and other dudes here but im going to be a hugger when i get home for sure. i should get the packages on tuesday or wednesday. its a long process because once the packages finally get here they stay in the mission offices until the begining of every month.it was a boring week besides conference. im with my comp for another month and a half so we are pumped up. i just love it here. stay safe up in the north, snow should be rolling around by the end of this month, send me pics of it? :) love ya mom!

Trying to Do The Lords Work

To Bart....
yeah that caribou trip was way intense. i have fun telling the elders here that story but none of them respect it so ive stopped sharing it. well my comp now respects it, he has had some crazy experiences with elk in idaho like you have had too. glad joe is getting better that is way good news.the mission is way cool. i feel like i havent changed at all but i think back to before the mission and it doesnt even seem like me. i dont have much to say about this week outside of the fact that it was a rollercoaster of emotions. this investigator we have, well three of them, are way good and have been progressing great. but their uncle who is a member, and ex-branch president, has been stepping on our toes every step of the way. just this last week he called off the baptism, which he shouldnt be allowed to do, and he told us that the people dont have enough faith.i think right now that is the worst part of my mission is trying to do the Lords work with the members working against us. if they would just help us we would get 10 times more work done but no, they are the ancor on the shore with the boat trying to get to the fishing spot. but we are handling it as best we can. love you dad, elder hayden summers
To Nan....
mutha, i dont wanna go to school today, i think id rather go outside and play, yeah.
that was a song mom, i think from the 70s´ish era. the toughest part about a mission.. well there is no set hardest thing but a bunch of little hard things that add up to be super hard. getting into houses all just depends on if the people are ready or not. yes they are lazy and pridefull here but hey what´re ya gonna do right. also interactions with other missionaries can be tough especially if you dont get along at all. we are representatives of Jesus Christ as missionaries and its hard to not get in fights with people. sometimes i almost lose control but i get it back before its too late. i remember a big talk we had once where i needed to learn how to bite my tounge. ive become a master at that haha. also ive realized that i never used to really have an opinion about things and would just go with the flow alot. ive started developing opinions about stuff and it makes me feel a little grown up and a lot less lost in the world. my rams will rise to be the best some day, no doubt. yup the spirit is the bomb. no other way to explain it. like whenever i get a random feeling that doesnt make sense or a thought i just do it. who knows why but sometimes we do things so that it helps people later on and not in that instant. i was always impressed by your ability to do what the spirit says even if you didnt know why. but im short on time today. i love you mom, thanks for everything.
ps. still no packages
!

Loving the Time Here....

From Nan’s…
go fischer my little bro is makin an impact. but he sadly runs in the summers footsteps in the fact that we are underplayed and not appriciated. thats allright because then he´ll just go on his mission right after school like me and cache is about to. I ate german pancakes, 4lbs of meat and chicken, and peach with banana cobbler on my bday. as a gift to myself im going to buy soccer shoes and maybe a real towel. i havent gotten any packages and probably wont until october or november even. the work is way tough here but we are just loving the time here. when you really love what your doing time goes by fast, thats the truth. not much more happened this week other than my birthday that is worth noting. but i have some pics from my bday. love elder summers

From Bart's....the missionary life is the same as always. im doing great, the allergies here are killer though. i take a claratin but it still just hits me way hard. its getting better now though. the other missionaries we live with are getting on our nerves. we´ve stopped cleaning any of their things and the place is just turning into a dump. it may come down to war. they are both latin missionaries and just as dirty as can be. oh well its fun talking english around them and them not understanding. love elder summers

Happy Birthday Hayden!!!!

As of today, Hayden has been serving for 10 months, and yesterday he turned 20!!  Holy Buckets!!  Our family has been blessed beyond measure by his service.  Every monday, I am thrilled as I see his email pop up in my inbox.  Truthfully, just seeing that message in the inbox fills my soul and I love to read what he writes, but knowing that he took time to write a little bit is enough for me.  He is not a man of many words, and most of the time refuses to answer our questions....we laugh and know that he is independent and doing more important things than answering questions like "Where do you live??"  His letters are filled with the spirit and funny stuff.  The mission has changed his focus, and ours.  It is about giving yourself to the Lord for a time and not worrying about things back home.  I feel he is doing this with complete obedience and we want to support him in whatever he asks.  This last letter he gave the blog to me and said to use the letters he sends to us, edit if I want to, and then share with you. So...the blog will be the same, but different.  I love you all, comment if you want, if he doesn't read them now, he will when he comes home.  This church is true and missionaries are the sweetest blessing ever!!  We have a testimony of no news is good news and know he is being "severely protected" (Hayden's words) Thanks for the letters and packages and pictures.  It means alot to him, and us.  I love you all, Nan

hey thanks so much for wishing me my birthday to be happy. i think me and my comp are going to make a cobbler with a certain combination of fruits that we havent really planned out yet. my comps name is elder whittle. we are basically best friends here. we´ve planned elk trips and fishing trips that we are going to do after the mission. his family is almost as hardcore about hunting as we are about fishing. they live in oakley idaho and on a huge ranch\in the mountains thing. but yeah we are basically the same person me and my comp, needless to say we get along way good and life is just a blast here. you all look so great, except caches poorly grown facial hair that is. well love you all, elder hayden summers

From a letter to Bart…..
              wow the mission is tough. before i entered the mtc and started this all i had no idea what was inhead of me. when i got my call even and after my first few months i was still realizing what a mission is. we talk sometimes like we live our lives until we turn 19, then we live for two years for God, then we continue with our own lives afterwards. so right now im not even doing anything for me. but its way sweet because i get a mountain of blessings and so do you guys, and they are all just basically free. i always think about when you used to say we had a blessing bank account, i hope im filling our families up... miss you dad, love elder hayden summers

Panso de caballo "Horse stomache"

dear blog,
               man what a week. it went by too fast. but on saturday i had somewhat of an eventful series of events. we got the oportunity to go and rake up about a billion and a half leaves at some random place. it was a service project for the stake here and there actually was over 100 members there. we created a huge pile of leaves taller than me and about 20 yards long. i ran and jumped in it and was way satisfied. after that we had to run to our lunch with a member family. we got there and waited 2 hours untill they had the food ready. we ate this stuff called pansa de caballo, if i am correct in my translation, it means horse stomache. it wouldnt have been that bad had it not smelled like the backside of hog. also it wasnt cooked all the way through so we had to eat a mushy, smelly, piece of horse stomache. the members told us it tastes better with mayonaise. so, like good missionaries, we followed their directions. the mayonaise was warm as well. so after we somehow survived we left and talked about it. then we decided that we would not have been able to eat it had we not been severely protected. but that was the story of the week. and i would like to point out that we have people that have passed away always around us and always watching us. i bet my sis is standing over my shoulder making sure that i stay the path, and i bet she is also working her tail off in trying to help me hah. thats all i got, love you all. elder hayden summers