First baptism (week 13)

Okay, so this week was amazing because Our 17 year old investigator (Franko) that we met while just asking him for directions on the street was baptized this week! It was my first baptism of my mission! cool stuff. Franko didn't have a white shirt so I got to give him one of mine. Franko is such a capo. He is even thinking about going on a mission soon which is totally fantastic because he would be such a great missionary. We watched a video after the Baptism about the restoration that was super powerful and Franko's mom felt the spirit from it so we hope to start teaching her soon. I also learned that baptisms are a little less "formal" here than I'm used to. One of the members of the ward who spoke at the baptism showed up wearing swim shorts and crocs. And the member who baptized Franko was 30 minutes late and showed up wearing street clothes so we had to get him changed real quick. 

We just found out as well that Elder Bednar is coming to our mission to speak to us. I'm SO grateful that he doesn't know spanish so i get to actually listen and get enlightened  for once haha. My comp is SUPER excited because he loves Elder Bednar.

My Spanish IS getting better though. I can understand people when they talk much more than before. Unfortunately, when I try to talk, the people here just make weird/confused faces and then look to my companion for a translation of what the tall, skinny gringo just tried to say. But I won't give up!!!

Oh! Someone tried to rob us the other day, but my comp and I just acted like we didn't hear him, turned around and walked away with determination...quickly!!

Also, I see a lot of people doing wheelies on their motorcycles in the middle the of suburbs, which is hilarious to me.

My Spiritual thought is this, prayer is super important so if you want to take advantage of the blessings you have to work hard for them. Study out what you're going to say beforehand (D&C 9:7-9) and say it with feeling and then wait for an answer. Also I would suggest reading Jesus The Christ, its a super good book.

Well, I'm out of time. I have to go get a haircut. As you will see in my pictures below, my hair grows straight out of my head like a chia pet. It's driving my mom crazy to see the pictures of it. Haha.

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Ren Porter

Elder Ortolano, Franko, Franko's mom and me

Elder Ortolano, Kevin (the member who baptized Franko) and me

After the trial of your faith (week 12)

Okay, so this week. This week was something special! To me this week has been a huge testimony builder of the truthfullness of the scripture Ether 12:6 " I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith".

So first off, this week was super hot and humid (like usual) but for some reason it just felt so much worse. This is probably because we were walking around everywhere trying to find someone to teach but everyone we met was busy or was "already religious". And when we leave the house in the morning we can only take one water bottle each and within ten minutes of walking around, you feel like you've already sweat out a gallon of water, so I'm constantly thirsty. Unfortunately, most houses that are kind enough to give us a drink don't give us water (drinkable water is hard to come by here) they give us soda, which is good, but is something I'm not only allergic to but also doesn't quite quench your thirst. So that's been a big adjustment. I've never been so grateful for the clean water we have in America!

 

Have I mentioned there are A LOT of dogs here! I know I have, but just In case you've forgotten, there are a RIDICULOUS amount of random dogs here! And they hate us! It's like they've been trained to seek and destroy missionaries! So during the week A Dalmatian dog almost tried to rip my Comps hand off (aren't Dalmatian's suppose to be nice dogs?) and would have gotten me too if I hadn't ripped off my bag and started swinging. The dogs here come in every shape and size. I've seen Chihuahuas, Rottweilers, St. Bernard, greyhound, husky, german shepard, Dalmatian, boxer, pug, mug, bull, and a host of others I don't even know what they are. But the ones I love the most are the chihuahuas because, apparently, they rule supreme down here. They come in all sorts of diversities. I've seen a golden retriever/chihuahua mix, Dalmatian/chihuahua  mix, Rottweiler/chihuahua mix, and a chihuahua that looked like it got loose in side a cheetoh's factory. Very Weird, unnatural stuff!!!

 

Oh yah it rained yesterday too and the streets totally turned into rivers. I know now why we had to bring giant irrigation boots with us! It was awesome.  Luckily we were in a lesson during the brunt of the storm so after we left, we only got a little soaked, but the other elders were totally drenched.

 It was also the end of the first transfers yesterday!!! This past 6 weeks has been simultaneously, breathtakingly fast and cold syrupy slow. But the verdict is that I get to stay here in Villa Tesei for another 6 weeks and with Elder Ortolano again too. I guess his "never wrong" "feeling" that he was getting transferred was wrong! I'm super happy about staying because the people here are so amazing and I'm super excited for the investigators here. This kid named Franko we are working with had his baptismal interview this week and he passed with flying colors. This kid is so awesome becuase he is 17 and we found him so randomly, although nothing's really "random" in missionary work, is it. We needed directions somewhere and we stopped him on the street to ask how to get where we needed to go. From there we started talking and then started teaching him. He is already thinking of going on a mission and he's pretty good at futbol too (not that I'd know anything about futbol! But others have told me he's good.) We are also working with this lady named yamila who has a daughter and she is awesome because she told us she is not an emotional lady but she crys whenever she goes to church and in every lesson so far because she feels the spirit so strongly. MAN!!!! She is so awesome and Franko too and there is so many other capo (FANTASTICALLY AWESOME) people here.

 But anyway back to "trial" talk.... so this week was hot. Also there was fast Sunday. We started our fast after lunch on Saturday and we would end it on lunch the next day. Sounds easy right? Its mas o menos. I think it must have been an hour after we started our fast on Saturday that I started getting thirsty again. And I had drained a whole liter of water in preparation for our fast, right before we started.  Immediately I'm thinking "oh dang, this is going to be horrible"! I could not stop thinking about water for like hours. All I could think was selfish and negative thoughts. And it was horrible. I could not get the right attitude. I was getting extremely frustrated with myself because of my attitude. I was angry that I could not shake the stupor of cynicism. Then I began to be afraid as well. I was afraid because I was fasting for a reason and that reason was important. I was fasting so that I could have the Spirit with me in the lessons. I needed this for the investigators and I knew that if I continued this fast with my current attitude, it would all have been for naught. So I did whatever I could to distract myself. I sang hymns in my head, thought of scriptures, read from the scriptures, and read restoration Pamphlets. The last one worked the best because it said lot of good reasons why the restoration was important and helped me get into gear for the upcoming lessons. And I also prayed alot in my heart. I prayed as earnestly as I could. This was the make it or break it time. It helped to distract myself from my thirst. Also starting into the lesson and teaching helped because I didn't have the opportunity at that point to think about myself. I got to put all my attention on this Child of God and see if I could help. The people we taught that day were definitely answers to my prayers. Not for that reason alone though. It was also because of a goal I have. I have been reading from the Book of Mormon lately the history of the Sons of Mosiah and Alma and I love the words they use to describe there demeanor towards service, they were "instruments in the Lords Hands" and they were "zealous" workers in the extreme. I admire that so much and I want to be like that. This week has shown me more fully how I can achieve my goal. So there is the Trial but what was the Witness? The witness came by the Spirit while I was reading some scriptures. I know now how I can acheive this goal. It is through the development of charity withing myself. If you read the definition of Charity in Moroni 7:45-48  it says, 45: And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail--

47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen. 

This shows the obvious and simple way to be a profitable servant of the Lord and I received this personal revelation from God through the Spirit. It was such a direct answer to the question I was pondering and so powerful of a feeling from the Holy Ghost straight to my spirit that I cannot deny that it came from God. And I was blessed for my fasting. I know that it is true and this is my Witness, that God does care about me and how I work here because I know He loves the people here. And though I'm so imperfect and have so much to learn, I am exceedingly grateful that my Father in Heaven has blessed me with guidance to further my progression here and to help others in the future. I know that God Lives and I know that He is my Father.

Thanks for all your awesome emails guys!!! 

Love,

 Elder Ren porter

I know the Gospel is true (week 11)

Hi, 

This week was awesome just like all the other weeks here. Dogs keep barking at us and trying to bite us and I just yell at them to get away from me like some sort of crazy mormon. Me and elder Ortolano have fun in between appointments and lessons by talking with accents and I can do a really good irish accent in Spanish! It's funny because elder Ortolano said when I speak Spanish in "me Irish brogue" that my pronunciation gets better. So I've been busting out an irish accent during lessons when people aren't understanding me and it seems to help, weird, I know.  Although, during one contact we made I laid on the accent a little to heavy and the contact started laughing at me so we ended that contact fast with a card and went along our merry way. We laughed once we were out of ear shot, funny stuff. I've also been amusing my fellow elders in the apartment by reading the book of revelation with my new found irish accent.

I've also been working on my cooking skills this week. This week I made fried ravioli with no sauce or any other flavoring actually haha and I called it the ´´wows´´ because they were surprisingly good and I couldn't help but say "wow" when ever I ate one. I also made a hot dog and cheese taco. I called it "super pancho suaves" which translated here means "super smooth hot dog" haha, weird stuff.

A member of the 70 came to our ward yesterday and he gave an amazing talk to my investigators during sacrament meeting. But me being me, I  didn't even he was a 70 until my comp told me a couple hours later haha. It was awesome. I even shook hands with him, but, I have no idea what his name was. 

On a missionary work note, we got 4 investigators at church yesterday. I was so happy I thought I was dreaming. Two of them have baptismal dates set and the other two are a couple who are a part of this really big family. I know that because they came to church the rest of the family is going to be helped so much. One of the investigators with a baptismal date is this super awesome kid. We were running out of time to teach him all the lessons so we just taught him four lessons in 2 days haha but his faith is so strong. And the other investigator is this super stellar lady who is ready for this church. You can see it on her face that she just hungers for the change the gospel will bring into her life.

This is the last week before transfers and Elder Ortolano says he is getting transferred because he has  a ´´feeling´´ and his ´´feeling´´ is never wrong and all I can think is shoot, if he leaves i'll never be able to find my investigators again!! I have no idea how to navigate this area. I'm completely clueless with or without my map. But at the same time I'm just thinking well...I'll do my best and God will help me with the rest. But we still don't know yet what's going to happen, so I could be the one transferred this next week which I will be super bummed about because this area is awesome!!! The people are super nice and the area is nice and the smells are so unique and the people we are teaching right now are so fantastic and I want to see them make it all the way. I guess this is how all missionaries feel.

This week was really great because I got to learn about retaining a good attitude and an enthusiastic attitude.  We don't knock on doors here, we clap outside the door. So we clapped at a lot of doors this week and we received alot of rejection, but every now and then we would receive an invitation to come back. Getting rejected so much makes it so much sweeter when someone decides to accept us. Great stuff. A good attiude is the most important thing during missionary work, I feel like, because there is alot of things that will try to tear you down but you just have to laugh and keep going. I know this church is true and I will do everything I can to let other people know.  I know this church is true. That much is irrefutable and I know that the gospel plan is perfect. So why is there reason to fear or sorrow. I know who I am. I know why I am here. I know where I am going. When I know this, nothing seems a struggle anymore. I love it here in Argentina. The people here are fantastic and I know God is preparing people for me right now to find and teach through the Holy Ghost.  I pray that that day will come quick so that I can fill the measure of my purpose here and help those people who have been waiting for me. I love this church and this gospel and I'm so grateful to be here. 

Love, 

Elder Ren Porter

The local scenery

Walking and walking and walking!

My roommate loves to make these Indian fry bread things! I'm totally allergic to them, but they're delicious.

Comfort zone (week 10)

Hi,

This is going to be a really short email. We're super busy and don't have a lot of time. Sorry. So this week was super hot ( again) and fun. Me and elder ortolano just sing and make up random games and ryhmes to pass the time while we're walking around. Also, my whistling skills are ever present!

I had to wash my own clothes this week in a bucket, which is definitely journal worthy. 

We also had a baptism this week for an investigator of one of the other elders that lives with me and Elder Ortolano. I had to play the piano music during that time. And I had to  play the interlude music after the baptism but it took a long time for the investigator to come back out so I ended up playing for like 15 minutes straight!! Also, The bishops wife is the only other person who knows how to play piano and I guess she decided that she and I are taking turns every Sunday being the ward pianist. Good thing I'd been practicing the hymns for the last year!!! 

Oh! We found a giant cardboard Book of Mormon at the ward building. We thought it was awesome AND hilarious. It was so random and we have no idea where it came from. This has provided us with much entertainment (as you shall see in the pictures and video we made)! But not much else happened this week. 

So lets get down to the nitty gritty. My spiritual thoughts this week. I've been trying to figure out how to be the best I can be out here in the mission field. I have found the most growth comes from coming out of my comfort zone or maybe I should say taking a leap of faith. Such as talking to strangers, knocking strangers doors, trying to preach the gospel in Spanish that is somewhat intelligible, and sharing my spirit and testimony. This is a challenge for me. I'm a naturally introverted type person, but, I want to be the best I can be. I have done alot of new things lately and I've been able to see myself react to these different situations and have been able to see more clearly the things I need to improve upon. And it's very clear that I've got lots to improve on. Thank goodness for that. This life would be so boring if I had nothing to do but sit around being perfect, haha. In short, growth comes from coming out of your comfort zone and you find these opportunities to come out of your comfort zone in different circumstances in life and its in those circumstances that we reveal ourselves to ourselves, whether good or bad. Only then can we start to change our weaknesses into strengths and improve and refine the strengths or talents we already have. I hope that made sense. Sorry, but I'm out of time. I wish I could talk about this more. I also had some really amazing spiritual experiences everyday this week that I'd love to share with you. Maybe next week. 

By the way, the book "Jesus the Christ" is the most crazy, awesome, amazing book!!! I remember trying to read it before my mission. After a few pages I thought "I'll never be able to read this thing". I'm so glad I didn't give up. I highly suggest you all read it, if you haven't already. 

Also, my camera is working now so you'll get to see several pictures of my new haircut, courtesy of Elder Schoonover, who had no idea what he was doing. (Sorry mom)!!

Talk to you next week,
Elder ren porter 

Me, my haircut, elder Ortolano and our other roommates.

Not sure "moron" means the same thing in Argentina as it does in America.

The chapel in our ward building.

The giant Book of Mormon we found.

Me, my haircut, and all my buddies from the MTC!

DOGS! (Week 9)

So this week was super hot. Like what the heck??? Hot!! But… you know…. What’s preaching without a little dehydration, right?  There’s a TON of dogs here by the way. And they absolutely hate us missionaries!!! Dogs are constantly running at us and barking.  The other day I had to rip off my bag and start swinging it around to keep the dog’s away, haha,  super funny stuff. All the local kids just stand there and laugh at us as we try to kick dogs away from us. I wish I could get a picture of it. Oh, that reminds me, my camera isn’t uploading my pictures today for some reason. This is probably a blessing because I let Elder Schoonover cut my hair….and it is…. something!  My mom would have a heart attack if she saw a picture. 

  Also, I gave my first blessing this week and it was in Spanish too! double score. 

My comp was super paranoid about getting robbed again so we always had to look as “non- American” as possible. This was slightly harder for me, considering I’m taller than everyone here, have skin as white as snow, and light colored hair, but I did my best! 

 I had an encounter with a drunk guy  that was interesting. He really liked us, at least it seemed like he did (I still can’t understand most of what people are saying. Especially when they’re saying it while drunk). Anyway he talked to us for a while and the climax of the encounter was when he gave me a couple of loving slaps in the face.

 Oh yah, I had to play the piano in church yesterday, so that was super traumatizing! Luckily it wasn’t an organ or that would have been something else entirely. 

One thing I love here though is that you can find a lot of cheap knock offs. I found beats pill for 20 bucks the other day and they were selling Rolex watches for 30 bucks by the mission home.  Also they have delivery ice cream here and it is the greatest thing I have ever been the recipient of! 

So, we did divisions again this week and elder schoonover accidentally insulted one of the inactive ladies in my area hahaha. He felt super bad about it but I felt like she needed it. Plus, she hates him now and not me so I’m still allowed to go over and teach her. All he did was read a scripture to her that said she needed to come to church, but apparently that was all she needed to kick us out.

My spiritual thought is that you should always stay strong and always have a good attitude, even when it makes no sense that you should be happy. Jesus was never to tired to do good, so we shouldn’t be either. Just be happier, it makes hard days go faster. See you when I see you.

Elder Ren porter

Division Splits (week 8)

This week went by super fast. We met a lot of cool people. Some really kapo people (kapo means "super awesome"). One guy we found read the Book of Mormon and he now knows that..........evangelicalism is false, which was not our real goal but we will take what we can get. We also met this really nice kid, he's a kapo too. He came to church yesterday and seemed to really like it. We also went on divisions this week. Divisions are where you switch companions for a day and proselyte in your area or the other elder's area. So on friday we divided up and I went with elder oaks (who has been here as long as me)! We stayed in my area so I had to kind of be the leader, but since it's only my second week here, it was like the blind leading the blind as we walked around in this foreign country, which I still don't really know, using a language that neither of us can really speak or understand. I was very scared and nervous about  this experience unfortunately, so I decided to say a prayer which did end up helping with my faithlessness. So elder oaks and I walked a lot that day. We prayed a lot that day too because we had no idea what to do and I did not want to make the decisions about where we should go, but in the end I did have to make most of the decisions because we were in my area! Thank goodness God helped us or else that would have been a really wasted day. Towards the end of the day we saw a man peeing on a wall in public, so that was interesting. And some members tried to rob us right around the time of day we saw the peeing man. It took us a good while to realize it was a joke haha. Actually, Elder oaks was able to figure out that the members were trying to fake "rob" us but I just thought they were asking for directions. If I ever got robbed for real, I think I would end up telling them a joke or something. One of the scariest points of the day was when I got a call on the phone right before we were going to give a lesson to an investigator, because I didn't know who was calling or what they wanted or how I was going to understand and talk to them. But, in an act of faith I answered and it was my real comp Elder Ortolano (I sighed so hard it made the investigator laugh at me).  Unfortunately, I couldn't really understand what he was saying to me, even in english. I found out later that him and his "division comp" had just got robbed for REAL and were telling me but because I couldn't understand what he was saying, I just said "okay. good". And then hung up the phone. They told me later that that really confused them hahaha. They said some "pibes" (street thugs) (there's lots of kids here that just smoke and drink all day and annoy people. The older people hate them and call them pibes which is almost like "street rats" or something) were following them around and then they just came up from behind and grabbed them and held them up at knife point. My comp said one of them had a gun too. They took my comps bag and phone and the other elders bus card and then took both there watches. We had to go get a new bag for elder ortolano the next day at the office and they gave him a sick fanny pack. I want to get robbed now to so I can get one. Just joking mom (but not really). The funny thing is that because we didnt know they had been robbed, me and oaks were trying to call them all day and we were getting super mad that they weren't answering their phone. The other scary point was when we tried teaching a first lesson to this scary grandma who looked a little like ezma from the "emperors new groove" movie. 

the food here is fantastic, really unhealthy, stuff but totally worth it by the way. Also they give me grief here because I love honey and use it with everything here becuase its like the only flavoring I get, besides my beloved Tabasco sauce that I had to smuggle into the country. My mom bought me 400 little packets of Tabasco. They look like ketchup packets. Going two years without Tabasco was a deal breaker for me. They took up a big section of my suitcase, but it was worth it. Every time I whip out one of my packets I have to explain what it is because they don't have Tabasco sauce in Argentina. Of course my mission friends from America think I'm a freak, but I don't care!

Moving on, my spiritual thought for the week is this. This is based off of experiences I have had all this week. God cares deeply about each one of us and He knows perfectly how to help us. That being the case, me as a missionary am suppose to help these people come closer to Christ. And I'm suppose to do this with complete strangers. I know full well I am not capable of helping all these wonderful people here without Heavenly Fathers help. I am so grateful I have this opportunity to put my trust in my God and submit my will to His. All I want to do is let Him take the reins over the lesson and just help me to be His voice as I teach and say the things He wants these wonderful people to know. I had the opportunity many times this week to express the love He has for these people. And I was able to feel a mere fraction of that love He has for them and that "mere fraction" was more love than I have ever felt for anyone, ever. I have prayed in all earnestness and supplication for Heavenly Father to allow me to help some of the people I've met and I've been able to watch the spirit testify of Christ. Sometimes I think I'm to blessed. I love this work and this country.  I miss home a lot, but I'm so grateful to be here serving the Lord and His children. 

Love, 
Elder Ren porter
Ren's email: ren.porter@myldsmail.com
Ren's blog: elderrenporter.blogspot.com
Also, my new favorite scripture is still Isaiah 49: 15-16

My pictures for the week. I can't take any outside because my comp says if I step outside with a camera, I'm basically asking to get robbed. 

This is the view from my apartment window.

My bedroom that I share with 3 other elders. I sleep on the top bunk (just like I did at home)

Our desk/work area

This is my bathroom. One thing everyone forgot to mention is that Argentinians don't use toilet paper, they use a bidet! Everyone keeps telling me I'll get used to it, but I won't! I hate it!

Villa Tesei, Argentina (week 7)

Hi mom! I'm doing awesome right now. I'm having a great time here. My area is called villa tesei. My comp is elder ortolano. He's a great trainer. He's from Brazil but lives in Canada now so he speaks Portuguese and English. When he speaks Spanish here he has an accent so people always ask him where he's from. It's a little bit scary here but I'm okay with it. I haven't been robbed yet but we have an area that could definitely be good for getting robbed. It is really hot here and I've been sweating a lot, but it really helps when you don't drink any water throughout the day. We pretty much have to rely on luck and the kindness of people to get water or soda. We get mostly soda though because we can't drink the tap water here. I try to drink more water but none is readily available. I have to make one bottle of water last for an entire day. We have water at the apartment but if we run out then we have to boil some of the tap water. But its all good. I pretty much only eat during lunch because we have no food at the apartment and I'm to tired when I get home to make anything. But the food is great here. They have very good fruit and soda. Anyway, it's hard but awesome! We ARE going shopping today though, so I'll get some food for the apartment.

The people here are really funny. Everyone is really nice. They always try talking to me but I don't understand them so I just smile and shrugg my shoulders and look at my comp. Then they say something like "he doesn't  understand?" and my comps like "yah". And then they just laugh. They call americans here gringos or yankee (but they pronounce it more like "shonky"). The spanish is hard of course. I can either, barely follow a conversation or not at all, but I've been told I can speak it well when I know what I'm supoose to say, so I guess that's good. I'm in a suburb like area most of the time. People ask me how tall I am every now and then and then they laugh when I tell them (I guess being tall is funny). Also, people are always asking me what spanish words are in english. Like how do you say "play ball" "kleets" "girlfriend" "best in the world" random stuff, haha. I tell them and they laugh (are you sensing a "laughing" trend?) And for some reason people are always using english words around me and then I laugh and try to get them to say more but they just look at me confused (this is my pathetic attempt to let them see what it feels like to be in my shoes, I cherish these moments).
There's actually one youth in the ward who is as tall as me. His name is alan. He's really cool. Yesterday we had a lesson with some columbians and they were having an uproarious time measuring themselves next to me. That was the lesson that some girl asked me how to say "girlfriend" in english (not at all subtle)! Me and elder ortolano got out there real quick.

So, this is my first area of my mission and it is.....something. yep! sure something. New sights, new sounds, and new smells. I almost got into a crash getting to my apartment on day one.  People here are very offensive drivers and if the bad tap water doesn't get me, it'll be a grandma in a volkswagon! Also, I think everyone takes the mufflers off their cars and adds train horns. And they really like driving at about the time that we go to bed. Did I mention it's very hot? But I like it here. Lots of people wear american shirts but they don't even know what it says on them or they just don't wear a shirt at all. People here always say the same chiste (joke) when they see my name. "Oh, elder porter, elder harry porter". I laugh at the joke every time though because that's usually the only part I understood in the entire five minutes they've been talking to me. So, yah, the language is hard, of course. It comes and goes based on the person I'm talking to. Which I'm actually kind of grateful for because I've been trying to be more humble since I first entered the mtc and having no ability to talk to people gives me the perfect opportunity to rely heavily on the assistance of Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. I know that relying on the spirit to help me speak is a test of faith and a witness doesn't come until after the trial of your faith. So I've been able to speak mas or menos because I just opened my mouth and spoke and I know God helped me at those times. 

On my way to the airport there was a train worker who came to the missionaries and shared some words of wisdom. He told us "that the Lord is with us wherever we go and that the church is true because if it wasn't then the missionaries would have destroyed it a long time ago". And that is as true, as it is hilarious. The first part especially is true. I was reading in Isaiah during personal study one time and I read Isaiah 49: 15-16. There is a part in verse 16 that I love. If I remember correctly it says "yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands".  I find it very comforting to read that personally,  because being out here in another country, living with four guys I've never met before, speaking a language that seems to change everyday and sharing personal testimony to people who seem all to willing to look at anything else but me, can be and has been,  tiring already and anxiety inducing. But I can't allow these thoughts and feelings to grow and become stronger because they will cause actions to occur, if circumstance allows; Selfish actions or lazy actions. So in a frantic scurry to motivate myself I was desperately searching for these motivating scriptures and I was blessed to find that scripture in Isaiah and it has helped tremendously.  Another thing that helps me is remembering something that president eyring said once. Which was that whenever he starts to feel tired or selfish, he remembers how Jesus Christ was never to tired to do good.  Even after the pain and agony He suffered in the garden of gethsemane and the great price He paid for it,  He still healed the ear of that man who came to take him away to be crucified. 

le amo este la Evangelio y yo estoy muy agradecido por los muchos oportunidades he tenido para enseñar mis hermanos y mis hermanas. yo se que los escrituras son muy poderoso y que oraciones pueden contestado. love you guys.  hope i was understandable...

Elder Porter
Email: ren.porter@myldsmail.net
Blog: www.elderrenporter.blogspot.com

My apartment

Me and the other elders who live in the apartment. My comp is right behind me (Elder Ortolano)

Me and my new comp (standing right next to me), then Elder Alexander and Elder Meyers (who was with me in the MTC)

Me at "the map" right before I left the MTC.