Thursday, December 17, 2009

It's getting REALLY HOTT!!!

¡Hola familia! ¿Cómo les va? Wow so if you couldn´t tell from the subject line it´s getting pretty dang toasty out here. Dec and Jan are supposed to be the hottest months of the year so this transfer could get pretty interesting with the heat and everything. From what I´ve been told Santa Rosa is one of the hottest areas of the mission too.
Aside from that this week has been pretty good. I´m getting better with everything and every day I know a little more of what´s going on so that is pretty comforting. Elder Hopper got made District Leader at the beginning of the transfer so that was pretty cool (the beginning of the transfer was like the beginning of this week). We have a special conference next tues/wed which should be pretty cool. I´ll get to see some Elders from my MTC District so I´m pretty excited for that to see how they are doing.
We have a baptism this sat! Alejandro is getting baptized which is way cool. He´s been investigating for a while now. His wife, Nadia, was less active and they even got married a few weeks ago so he could get baptized which is way awesome. It´s cool the change the gospel can bring in people´s lives. Patricia has been having some problems and we actually haven´t been able to teach her for a little while now. Whenever we go to stop by she´s not home so we´re gonna have to wait and see how that goes. Hopefully her work schedule evens out cause her sister told us that work has been kinda crazy lately. We found a few new investigators this week and just started with them so we´ll have to see how that goes. They´re way cool and I think they could progress really well.
About calling on Christmas, I don´t really know how that all is gonna go yet. When I find out details about when we´re gonna call I´ll be sure to let you now. We´ll probably be calling at night, but with the time change and everything it should be about mid afternoon for you all. So yeah when I get more info about that I´ll be sure to let you know asap.
How´s everything going with you all? From what mike has told me sounds like he´s keeping busy and doing well, apart from his knee anyway. How´s John? Mike told me that John has sent me some emails but I haven´t got them. I don´t know what the deal is with that, sometimes myldsmail is a little sketchy and it doesn´t always work that well. I hope he´s doing well and everything is going well with you guys. I love you all and hope you are doing well. How are Alex and Tara doing? I haven´t gotten any emails from them either. Tell Bishop Bullick and Kim thanks for their emails, it was awesome to hear from them. I´ll try to write them back this week but it could take a while for the letters to get there. Ok I gotta get going but I love you all. Talk to you soon
-Elder Gaughan

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Learning a lot about a new country...

Hola familia, ok so I just spent like 20 minutes writing a super long email to you guys and then it didn´t send. Pretty frustrating to say the least. But I´m doing pretty well. This last week has been kinda tough, not really sure why but i´ve just been in kind of a funk for some reason. I just need to lose myself in the work more. We have 2 baptismal dates for the 19th with Alejandro and Patricia. They´re doing well and hopefully they´ll be ready on the 19th. We´re looking to set another date with Angel too and hopefully we´ll get to do that soon. Besides that we´ve been trying to get to know the members more. That´s really the best way to work cause contacting isn´t very effective. But we´ve still been doing a lot of contacting which is tough cause of the ciesta here. Basically everyone sleeps from after lunch, so about 130, till like 5. So we just go back to the house and study more cause there is literally nothing to do. Like stores shut down and everything, the city seriously just dies. The only people you see outisde are heading back to their houses for the ciesta. Pretty crazy and it still kinda throws me off a little but it´s all good. The language keeps coming and coming. i just need to talk more cause you always understand more when you talk more. So i´ve been trying to do that and have set a goal to talk more so I can learn this language quicker. I don´t really like not knowing what´s going on.
As far as packages go, the Argentine government charges when packages are shipped into the country for whatever reason. So the office ends up having to pay for it and we have to pay the office to get the package. It´s kinda screwy but that´s the government here for ya. And a lot of the times they charge you based off what the package is valued at, like what you put as the value or insurance or whatever you call it when you send it. So if you put the value higher than it actually is, the government charges more, and we have to pay more to get the package.   Sorry this email is kinda short but I gotta get going. We gotta go pass by some less active members. I love you all and hope everything is going well. Dad, thanks for your conversion story, that was awesome. Just waiting on yours now Mom :). K love you guys, talk to you soon
Elder Gaughan

Thursday, December 3, 2009

¡Hola!

¡Hola familia! ¿Cómo está? well this week has been pretty interesting. we´re still getting to know the area and the members and all that. Our bishop is way awesome and has helped us a ton with everything. Him and the Relief Society president are super nice but besides that we don´t know a whole lot of people real well. We had all 3 of our investigators in church today so that was way cool. We´re trying to set a baptismal date with alejandro but he still hasn´t prayed about it so once he does that then we can really move forward. Our other two investigators are Patricia and Angel. Patricia is a single mom who we knocked into and she actually let us in. We´ve taught her a few times and introduced her to the bishop´s wife. We need to go by her again and teach her more and hopefully we´ll be setting a baptismal date with her soon too. She´s way awesome about keeping committments and has gotten answers to her prayers which is so cool. Angel is a pretty interesting guy. He´s had a really rough past, but is trying to turn his life around. He´s been working with some of the Hermanos in the church with a few things and they introduced us to him. His mom was baptized a long time ago but has been less active for a long time so we´re trying to get her to come back too. He´s a good guy though and is moving along well though. Besides that not a whole lot has been going on. We´re still doing a lot of contacts which has led to a little success. There are a few people who want us to come back so we should be passing by them soon too. We´ve also been going by some less active members because we have a ton in the ward. Some of them are tough to get to but we´re doing what we can to help them. We have zone conference tomorrow and interviews with the President so we probably won´t be doing a whole lot tomorrow in terms of working but it happens.
That´s way cool about being able to go up to San Jose for the Wickstrum´s sealing. That had to be such an awesome experience, I would´ve loved to be there. Tell them congrats for me and I hope everything is going well with them. Thanksgiving sounds like it was pretty good too. It was kinda weird being down here and nothing really happened. Funny thing about Argentina, they have like a million holidays down here. Seriously there are like 1 or 2 a month, and no one ever knows what holiday it is. Kinda crazy, but hey what can you do?
Ok Mom to answer your questions.
1. Email-From what I´ve heard we´re only allowed to email family. Anyone can send me an email, but I´m supposed to write them a letter back. So just let everyone know that if it takes me a while to respond it´s cause I have to send letters and they can take like 2 weeks to get to the states.
2. Music-They´re aren´t really any specific rules about music. They just say whatever invites the spirit, so that could be a variety of different things.
3. Christmas-I can´t think of anything I really need for Christmas, if I think of anything within the next week I´ll be sure to write it down and let you know. Oh one random thing. You can´t send me reeces or anything like that, they don´t let peanut butter into the country. I can´t remember why.
4. The Shack- Our "house" is this little tiny ranchito which basically means it´s 2 little bedrooms and a tiny little kitchen. Basically like 3 of michael´s bedrooms put together, oh and a little bathroom with a little washing machine too. I´ll send pics I just need to find a thumb drive type thing to make it so i can send them.
5. The food is really good. I haven´t had anything yet that I haven´t liked so that´s pretty cool. Just a lot of meat, a lot of potatoes/rice and bread. It´s all way good though.
I think that´s all I´ve really got for this week. I love you guys and hope all is well.
-Elder Gaughan

Monday, November 30, 2009

1st week in Argentina!!

¡Hola familia! what´s up? so sorry if my spelling on here is all weird, i´m still trying to figure out the keyboard haha. but what´s been going on? what´s new? that´s way cool about the temple dad! Tell Spencer I said hi the next time you see him. That´s ok way cool that you guys get to go up to San Jose to see the Wickstrums!!!! Tell Daniel sorry I haven´t written him yet, i forgot to get his address before I left and then kept forgetting to ask you all for it.

ok so Argentina is pretty crazy. i only understand about half or maybe a little more of what everyone is saying to me which cool and frustrating at the same time. not always knowing what´s going on is kinda tough but that just means i need to work harder on the language. President Detlefsen is awesome! Him and Hermana Detlefsen are super cool and way awesome. When we landed in Bahia Blanca we got picked up by President and the Asistants, hung out at the mission office, had a little orientation type thing and spent the night in a hotel down the street. The next day we had to do a bunch of paper work stuff to make sure we were "legal" in the country. they have a bunch of random laws here that don´t always make sense but thats ok.

Anyway so I met my trainer that day too, his name is Elder Hopper, he goes home in march and we got sent to Santa Rosa which is like 6 or so hours away from Bahia Blanca. It´s this little pueblo type deal and really humble. We live on this little shack behind the house of some members. We´re with 2 other Elders who work in the area right next to ours. They´re all way cool and super nice. Elder Hopper is new here too so this week has been interesting. We´ve been doing a ton of contacts which hasn´t yielded any success yet. We´re trying to get to know the members better and try to work with them and hopefully the work will go forward from there. (I forgot to bring my camera, but I´ll email pics next week). But yeah so it´s been kinda crazy that both of us are new in this area, that hardly ever happens and it´s always tough at first cause neither missionary knows anyone. There´s a couple here, Alejandro and Nadia who are getting married on Fri and we´re gonna try to put a baptismal date with Alejandro tomorrow night. Nadia is a member but has been less active for a while. Besides that we just started with 2 other people but we´ll have to see how these next few lessons go. So not a lot of investigators right now, but I think we just need to get the ball rolling and everything will be just fine. There are a bunch of less actives so we might be doing a lot of less active work too. We´ll just have to wait and see how it goes and everything. I can´t think of anything else right now, but know I love you all and am doing well. Talk to you soon,
Elder Gaughan

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Me voy a Argentina!!!

Hey family how's it goin? Ok so as you can probably already guess by the subject, I'm headed to Argentina!! I signed the last papers I needed for my visa last week and I got a call a few days ago and they told me I'm taking off on Wed!! So I'm pretty excited about that. Sorry I didn't really give you many details about where I am and stuff, here you go. The area I'm in is called Tucker, we're a little bit outside of downtown Atlanta. We live in a really heavily hispanic neighborhood/area which is way cool. Hispanics are super nice people and we when you start talking to them they'll actually talk to you and hold a conversation, not like most Americans who will just brush you off. So yeah I'm in Tucker right now, not sure where that is in relation to Aunt Pat (tell her sorry, but I don't think I'm gonna be able to do lunch. We don't have a car and we can't ride in a car with a woman unless there's a man too). So yeah we're speaking spanish and I've already learned a ton in these few weeks I've been here. It took me about a week to become acostumed to the accent and I'm still getting used to it. It's a branch here and the members are way cool. They're all super nice and way generous even though they don't have much at all.

Oh fun fact my companion, Elder Maucotel, was in the same MTC District as Eric Davis!! How crazy is that? He was showing me some pics and I saw Eric and was like what the heck? That's awesome!! So yeah he and Eric know each other which I thought was pretty cool.

Ok for the fun stories. We're still teaching Celia, but she's been having some doubts about baptism and things. She's gone to a lot of different churches and just wants to be really sure before she gets baptized. She's also afraid of facing some opposition after she gets baptized, which is understandable cause that happens a lot. We've asked her to pray about it and hopefully she gets an answer. We have an appointment with her tonight or tomorrow so we'll see what happens. She's been coming to church and the members have been super nice and really welcoming which is awesome. We've been doing quite a bit of work with less actives which is fun, but at times is frustrating. We know that they have a testimony, they've just forgotten it cause they stopped doing one or more of the things we should be doing (ex. reading scriptures, praying,etc.). So we're working with them and hopefully they'll start coming back to church and be active again. Besides that there's not to much going on here. I'm sad to be leaving here, but really happy to be headed to Argentina at the same time. I hope everything is going well with you all. I love you,
-Elder Gaughan

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Accepting the Lord's Will

Well, Nick has been assigned to serve state side for the time being until his visa comes through. He sounded a little disappointed, but he is learning to accept the Lord's will. Yesterday (Monday), Nick left Salt Lake and arrived in Atlanta, GA. I will post a new address as soon as I get it!

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Pictures..... FINALLY!!!!


Elder Gaughan and Elder Silas


Group Picture!



Elder Gaughan and Elder French (friend from SVU!)



Elder Gaughan and Elder Banks (Companions)



Elder Gaughan and Elder Lyons


Group Shot

Monday, October 26, 2009

Last Week at the MTC....... Maybe!

Hey everyone what's goin on? K first of all tell Karina congrats cause that's so cool!!!! What an awesome opportunity!!! Well there's a possibility that this is my last week here in the MTC. We still haven't signed our promisos for our visas, but I've also been told that tomorrow they're gonna put our names in to go stateside until then. Bottom line is we don't know for sure, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. One of the Elder's in my District, Elder Johnson, has a pretty messed up shoulder so he might be staying behind here if we get sent stateside. We still don't know though so I guess we just have to wait and see what is gonna happen. 4 Elders in my District have their visas so they'll be heading down there which is awesome and way lucky for them. I'm not really sure how I feel about going state side cause I'm supposed to be in Argentina, but hey it's not in my hands so I'm just gonna have to make the best of it. If I do go state side I'll probably go to TX or Chicago, and I should only be there for a few weeks. That was really the big news for this week. I'm kinda nervous to see where I'm gonna be headed or if I just have to stay here for another week or two and wait it out. It's kinda weird not knowing but we should know soon that'll be good. Oh thanks for the package!!! That was sorely needed and really awesome. Ustedes son los mejores. We have a District goal to basically not speak any English which is way good, but at times it pretty tough cause we can't always express ourselves. But hey esta bien, it's stretching us and we're gonna be a lot better for it. We got nuevos again this week and we don't speak to them in English, oh poor guys. It's ok though, they'll thank us later when they learn more. That's really it, sorry this is so short. There's not a whole lot going on here, we do the same thing everyday and after nine weeks it's hard to come up with new stuff. Oh in the RC I've been doing calls in only spanish and it is TOUGH!! Normally the first few I can understand but after that I'm done. It's always a way humbling experience so that's always good to have. Oh I need a carry on bag too. Lo siento I'm so needy. They told us we should have a carry on bag, cause when we get to Argentina we might not get our bags for a few days. Sorry again. K I'm running outta time, but know that I love you all and hope you are doing well!! Con Amor,
-Elder Gaughan

Monday, October 19, 2009

No hablo inglés!

Hey everyone how's it goin? Well I'm one week closer to taking off. Well hopefully anyway. So when
are you leaving for  Bahia Blanca?  Do you have a final date? To answer your question Mom we're supposed to leave Nov. 2, but we haven't signed our promisos yet for our visas so we're not really sure what's going on with that. Hopefully we get called to do that soon cause if not I could be here for a few weeks. Which would be way cool, but I'm way excited to get into the field and they don't really have anything for us to do after 9 weeks. So yeah hopefully we sign our promisos in the next day or two cause if not it could prove to be a problem. Besides that I'm doing really good. It's weird being the oldest ones in the zone, but its also pretty cool. We get neuvos this week which will be cool. Besides that it's been a fairly uneventfull week. I'm sending more pics again today, I'm not sure which ones you've gotten so I just sent a whole bunch. You know me I don't take a whole lot of pictures, but I'll try to be better about that. I'm gonna get pictures with Bryan and Ryan Jensen before I leave so you can expect at least two more before I take off for Argentina. Besides that it's been pretty typical, I hardly speak english anymore which is way fun. I must say I like spanish a lot more than english, it definitely makes a lot more sense and I feel bad for anyone that has to learn english. I'm slowly forgetting english words which is always fun, I can't wait to see what my homecoming talk will be like. Most likely uncomprehensable but hey thats ok. I'm excited to get to Argentina and have no idea what's going on, oh man that will be so sweet. I'm glad to hear everyone is doing well. I love you guys and love being a missionary. I wouldn't change it for the world, this is amazing. Love you all,
Elder Gaughan

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Getting Old...

Hey everbody, que pasa? Well I'm another week closer to getting into the field which is pretty crazy. Next week another District leaves which will make us the oldest. It's crazy cause I feel like I just got here and soon we're gonna be the ones everyone is looking up to (that's what they tell me at least). This week has been a whirlwind just like all the others. It's hard to remember everything that happens in a week, but I'm gonna try to answer Mom's questions from her last e-mail.

On Sundays we have a lot of time to study. We have Sacrament, Priesthood Meeting and District Meeting (which is basically Sunday School). Besides that it's study/personal time. It's definitely the most low key day of the week. As you all know Monday is our Preperation Day and we get to go to the Temple in the mornings. The Provo Temple is awesome, it's so simple yet so beautiful at the same time. I love having that opportunity now because I probably won't have it in Argentina. There's only one temple in Buenos Ares. Speaking of Temples, how awesome was it that there are going to be 5 new temples built!?!! Especially the one in Concepcion, it made me think of Eric Davis and Christian Harmer and how happy they and the saints there must be. What an amazing blessing that will be to all of them. Hopefully the saints in Bahia Blanca get one soon. I did 2 days of solamente espanol which was quite an interesting experience. It was tough, but it was a way good experience and I'll be doing even more of it this week. We're teaching in spanish too and it's amazing how much the Spirit helps us when we're teaching cause I know there is no way I'm doing this on my own.

General Conference was so awesome!!! I think I learned more from this one than any others in the past. It's crazy how when your a missionary it seems like everything applies to you even more. I have so many notes that I need to go back over, I especially loved Elder Holland's testimony of the Book of Mormon. What a powerful man and testimony that he has. I hope to be as strong in the gospel as he is one day. Well I can't think of anything else right now, but if I do I'll send a letter home. I hope you all are well, I'm still loving it out here. Everyday gets better and better and I can't wait to get out to Argentina. I love you all, until next week,
-Nick

Monday, September 28, 2009

Halfway done with the MTC!!!!

Hey what's goin on? Holy cow I cannot believe that I'm already halfway done with the MTC!! We have to start teaching in Spanish this week which is sure to be a humbling experience. It'll be good though cause I think it's when I will learn the most. It's coming pretty well, it's more of a matter of practicing the language and trying to remember all the rules. It'll come though, I guess I'm ok cause people have said I've been doing really well. I know I'm still not that great and have a long way to go. This week has just flown by, it's crazy how all the days just seem to melt together. It seems like yesterday was our first week, and we're going to lose another district that's going to Cordoba and Rosario on the 12th. That'll be pretty crazy because they're the ones I've grown closest too, and after they leave my district will be the oldest which is just kinda weird to think about. I feel like we're still the nuevos, but we're not anymore. Oh I saw Ryan Jensen, he's not in my zone but he seems to be doing really well. It's kinda weird seeing him here in a name tag and badge, but at the same time it's so awesome. I see Bryan about once a week too which is really cool just to catch up with him and see how he has been doing. I swear he's gonna have more baptisms than I will, that kid is a champ.

We met with the Consul from Argentina today. It's one of the requirements to get your visa. Honestly it was kinda boring cause most of it was a question and answer period and people were just asking a different variation on the same question. It was cool to hear about the country though and what to expect. From what he said Bahia Blanca is a pretty poor place, and somewhat like Utah which was interesting to find out. I know I'm gonna love it though. I can't wait to get out there and start teaching real investigators instead of the "investigators" we have here. I'm excited to get there and have no idea what anyone is talking about because they'll be talking so fast and have that Castillano accent. It's gonna be awesome. Well the weeks are flying by and I am absolutely loving it. This place is awesome and there is no doubt in my mind that the Church is true. I'm so excited to go try to have the same effect on other people that the missionaries taught us did. I'm grateful for them every single day and I wish I could talk to them and thank them for what they did. I love you all, until next week.
-Elder Gaughan

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Week 3

Hey everyone how's it going? What's new? Yes I did get the packages you sent me, sorry I didn't tell you earlier I thought I did. Thanks for everything, you all are the best! This week has been pretty crazy, it seems the longer I'm here the faster the time goes. I can't believe I've been here for almost a month already. Either this week or next week we go into solamente español which will be pretty interesting. If nothing else it will probably be quieter. But it´s gonna be a great experience and it´ll really speed up the learning curve which will be awesome. The other day we had to speak in Spanish for 2 hours and needless to say it was pretty tough. It was a really humbling experience and I came to the realization that I don´t know nearly as much as I thought I did. I saw another friend from SVU this week, Kyle Tyree, I think he might have already left cause he´s going to the MTC in Brazil. It was way cool to see him though. We lost another district this week, they are headed to Ecuador and Paraguay. It´s pretty crazy how close I´ve grown to the Elders in my zone, and we´ve only known each other for a few weeks. I will miss them, but they are gonna do great things. Ryan Jensen comes this week which is gonna be way cool. There is a possibility he could be in my zone, but I haven´t heard anytyhing yet.  If he is that'd be awesome but it's not likely. We got nuevos this week and it was kinda funny to see the wide eyed look on their faces and think that was me just a few weeks ago. They seem to be doing well though, and once they get used to the schedule they will be fine.  Last Tues Elder Holland came and spoke at our weekly devotional. Needless to say it was awesome!!!!! He talked about how important his mission was to him, and how we're not really taking a break from real life. He emphasized that this is real life! We need to appreciate every minute and work hard every single day. NO REGRETS!!! He's a lot like me too, I found out he was also the first missionary in his family. How crazy is that? Well know that I am still loving it here. I have no doubt that I am doing what the Lord wants, and that this church is true. It brings so many people so much joy there's no way to deny it. I hope you all are doing well and tell John to write me. I haven't heard anything from him yet. Until next week,
-Elder Gaughan

Monday, September 14, 2009

Week 2

Hey everybody how's it going? Things are going well here at the MTC. This week has flown by, it feels like it was just the other day that we were first getting here. That's pretty funny about Ryan's talk, I wish I could've been there for that. We are losing our first district in our zone today. They're going to El Savador and they leave in a few hours. It's pretty crazy to see these guys are leaving already. They've been the greatest examples to me, and I know they're gonna do great work. Seth French from SVU is in that group that's leaving, he's an awesome kid and has been a great help to me since I've been here. It's crazy how fast the time goes here. With this district leaving we get some nuevos which means we're not the new guys anymroe! I had my first experience in the Referal Center this last week. It was pretty sweet, I only got to talk to one lady (I guess it was just a slow time in the day) and the missionaries are going to here house so hopefully something good comes out of that. I'm excited to go back they're and hopefully talk to more people. I've seen Bryan a few times, he seems to be doing really well. I wasn't in the same room as him in the RC but hopefully I'll get to work with him soon. Elder Hinckley (Gordon B. Hinckley's son) came and talked to us at our Tues devotional. It was so cool!!! He talked about how great the work is we are engaged in. I can't wait to get out into the field, but I know I still have so much to learn. Spanish is coming ok, I can talk for a fairly decent amount of time, but still can't teach yet. After our 4th week we have to do all of our teaching and everything in spanish. It's gonna be intense, but it'll be a great way to get the language down. Know that I love you all. I am engaged in something that is absolutely amazing and I am loving it. I wouldn't trade this for anything. The church is true, and I can't wait to spread the gospel. Until next time.
-Nick

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Elder Gaughan's FIRST Letter Home!!

Hey everyone! Well I've made it through my first weekend at the MTC. Everyone has told me that the first week is the longest and the toughest. I've already learned so much and I still have a long way to go. One of my teachers, Hermano Ames, served in the Carlsbad Mission. How crazy is that?!?!! I was talking to him on the first day and he totally remembered us and having dinner at our house. He's way cool and a great teacher. My other teacher is Hermana Rizley, she served her mission in Peru and is also a really good teacher. The spirit here is amazing. I feel it daily almost all day, if not the whole day. So long story short I love it here and am doing really well. Spanish is moving really fast. We've already covered almost everything I learned in high school and we're learning so much more. We try to talk to each other in Spanish as much as possible and it's done nothing but help us get better.

My companion is a really cool guy. His name is Elder Banks from Spanish Fork, Utah. We get along pretty well and when we teach we seem to bounce back and forth smoothly which is really cool cause we've only known each other for 4 or 5 days. We both struggle with different aspects of the work, but we are always there to cheer each other up and get back to work. Everything here is work, work, work, but it's awesome. We have already improved quite a bit and I know we will continue to get better. Elder Banks and I attempted to teach one of the tutors here in Spanish. Needless to say we struggled quite a bit, but it was a good experience and we have become more motivated to do all we can to learn the language. The other 2 missionaries that we room with are Elder Seegrist and Elder Johnson, both from Utah. They're really funny guys and we get along great. The 4 of us have started to read the Book of Mormon in Spanish to help us learn the language faster. It goes slow, but we feel it's helping a lot. We're all going to the same mission so there is a chance that we could meet up again in the field which would be great. I already feel so close to these guys and I know we will grow closer as we continue our work here.

There is so much to tell, but we only get half an hour to write an e-mail so it's tough so write everything on I want. I've seen a bunch of people I know already. Seth French from SVU is in my zone. He leaves for El Salvador in a week. I've also seen Robbie Garret also from SVU. As well as Andy Nelson from the stake and Nik Greenwood. I finally saw Bryan yesterday during dinner. We haven't been to the Referal Center yet, but hopefully we go soon. He seems to be doing well and I can't wait to meet up with him again and see how his experience has been.

Sorry my thoughts are all over the place. We've been told that the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days. It's true, I honestly can't remember what we did on which day. I miss everyone and hope you are all doing well. Preperation day is Monday so that's when you'll be getting these e-mails from me. Oh and tell everyone that if they Dear Elder me they need to select the MTC when they're saying where to send it, otherwise it might get sent to Argentina. My P.O. Box is 310 if anyone wants to send me letters.

I'm almost outta time, but know that I'm doing really well. I'm progressing and loving it here. I hope everyone is doing well and tell people to write me cause I want to see how they are doing. We had a fireside last night and the speaker talked about the longterm effect we have as missionaries when a family is baptized. It made me think of the missionaries that taught you and how grateful I am for them. It's because of them that Iam here today preparing to do the same thing for others. This is an amazing place and I know I'm doing what I need to and what I should be doing. Tell Mike, John, Alex, and Tara hi for me. And tell them to stop being lazy and write me. I wanna know what they're up to. Once again I miss you all, but don't worry, I'm not coming home. I can't wait to get out into the field and get to work. I love you all,
-Elder Gaughan

Friday, September 4, 2009

Return With Honor

 
Nick at the Newport Beach Temple.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

I have been called to serve!

"Hey everybody! This blog is gonna chronicle my mission in the Argentina Bahia Blanca Mission. Whenever I send e-mails or letters they'll be posted on here just in case you wanna see how I'm doing. I'll try to send pictures as often as I can, and I'll also have my address posted on here if you wanna write me. It would be awesome to hear from you, I want to know how things are going back in the states. I'll miss you all very much, but this is going to be a wonderful experience for me and I can't wait to see what it will entail. Thanks for everything you have done for me. Adios!"