August 5, 2015

As many of you may know, I had to interupt my mission in Mendoza, Argentina on the 20th of May due to severe pain in my hips and lower back and had to come home to get MRI's, see doctors and medical specialists. These past few months have been some of the toughest months I've had in a while. Since I have been home, I have visited several doctors and participated in a lot of physical therapy. Unfortunately, not one of these doctors could give me a clear definite answer to my problem. It was very frustrating never getting an answer to what was wrong with my body. 

Not receiving a quick answer really started to affect me emotionally. I felt like everyone was thinking that this is just some problem I made up and I was just lying to get out of the mission. But thanks to a lot of temple attendance, prayer, and fasting, we were able to finally find the right doctor with the right answer just this past week. I will be having surgery on my hip joint next week, August 14th. I am looking forward to finally recover and getting back on my feet so I can return to my beloved mission/home in Mendoza, Argentina. Thank you all for your love, support and prayers. I love you all. I will keep you updated.

Mattias

Salt Lake City Airport, May 20th 2015

May 11, 2015

With my companion, Elder Poot from Mexico 

 

May 4, 2015

Alright, so it is finally starting to get cold here in San Juan! Like really, really cold! I am wearing a sweater and coat now :).  Apparently, it’s going to get colder! Well, this week has really been just a lot of door knocking and contacting, because my awesome comp has already baptized all the investigators before I got here, so we have to search for more. We went and did service this week for the Bolivian family! They are building a cute little brick and mud house. We brought the zone leaders and a few members to help. It was great, and she treated us with yummy sandwiches and soft drinks :).

I had my first district meeting this week as district leader! It was super fun :).  I was a little nervous, but I think I am getting used to it, haha. We did a fun activity and I taught a bit. We set a goal as a district to find three new investigators per companionship. If we had the faith, hope, and love, we would achieve this goal. Now, a week later, we basically achieved our goal!! In total, as a district, we found 13 investigators during this week! That was a pretty neat miracle :)!

We have been praying and fasting for a miracle this past week, because we needed more work. So we picked out a street which we have never been on, and decided to knock every single door. We got rejected a lot; some potentials here and there, but then we knocked at the door of this really wealthy looking house. To be honest, I didn’t really think they would want anything to do with us (because sadly, that’s how it is). But we knocked anyway. A girl of about 11 years old opened the door and we introduced ourselves. I felt a little awkward introducing ourselves to such a young girl. To make it more awkward, her dad came out. I thought he was going to reject us and tell us to move on. But instead, he opened the gate and greeted us with a hug! Haha, so cool!  We talked for a while, and he thought it was so cool how we are from different countries. We talked about the restoration of the Church and our purpose as missionaries. He thought that was so great! He has had a lot of bad experiences with the his religion and thinks they were too prideful. Long story short, we have a visit with them this week and we are going to make them some brownies and have fun! Turns out he is the supervisor for a super huge soda brand here. These were my “roses” for this week.

I love you all!

Elder Malzl

Email: mattias.malzl@myldsmail.net

Missionary Blog: http://www.eldermalzl.blogspot.com/

Mail:

Elder Mattias Malzl

ARGENTINA MENDOZA MISSION

Cabildo Abierto 161

5510 Godoy Cruz

Mendoza, ARGENTINA 

April 27, 2015

Well here I am!  I have been tranferred to San Juan, Progreso! And, oh em gee.... this area is so huge. It is literally the size of a country! I thought Unimev was huge. No, Unimev is like a little speck compared to Progreso. Here is a link to see what its like. 

https://www.lds.org/maps/#ll=-31.579956,-68.42939&z=12&m=google.hybrid&x=ward&ward=477931  

We are working alot in the campo (fields). It will probably take me the whole transfer to get to know this area. We have to take buses everywhere. It is way expensive to be taking buses everywhere, but oh well, haha. Well, my new companion Elder Poot is a freaking capo (STUD)! He just finished his training and works super hard. He is a clean tidy guy, which makes me happy because now the apartment is always clean! :)  We get along great :)!  I am really happy to have a latin companion now, so I can perfect my spanish! Yay! 

The people of San Juan are something else. They are sooooo open and very kind! As we started working here I thought that we must have entered the promised land!  But really though, the people are so receptive and are really open. 

Here is a cool experience and story to share: Well, we have these new investigators, a Bolivian family that had recently moved here. The live super far in our area, so it takes a good, long bus ride and walking to get there. They are in the process of building a little mud and brick house in the middle of nowhere, but when we arrived at their little house under construction, they were already prepared with Coca Cola and all :)!  We taught them about the restoration of the gospel and invited them to Church. To be frank, I did not imagine that they would actually make the effort to travel soooo far just to attend church for a few hours. But, to my suprise, on Sunday, they all came! That blew my mind, hah. They don't have much money, so they came in really dirty old clothes and all. Everyone welcomed them and loved them. After Church they told us how much they loved it and that they want to know if they could attend the temple dedication in Cordoba! WHOA! Well, I believe one has to be a member with a recomendation to attend, but this is a super great goal we will encourage them to strive for. To get them baptized before the temple dedication so they can attend! They are really such a great humble family. 

I am loving the mission so much! We have noches de hogar set up throughout the whole week! So I will be presenting a lot of light shows :) 

I am so happy my family was able to meet Elder Bayles in Utah.  He was a great companion of mine and I will miss him and all the great experiences we had together. 

Be faithful to the Lord, and that is what will guide you throughout your lives. Never forget that if we first seek the kingdom of God, all of our needs will be given unto us. I love you so much. I love hearing about you and your lives!

Much Love, 

Elder Mattias Malzl

Email: mattias.malzl@myldsmail.net

Missionary Blog: http://www.eldermalzl.blogspot.com/

Mail:

Elder Mattias Malzl

ARGENTINA MENDOZA MISSION

Cabildo Abierto 161

5510 Godoy Cruz

Mendoza, ARGENTINA 

April 22, 2015

Saying "Goodbye's" before Elder Malzl's transfer to San Juan.

"Ultimo almuerzo de nuestro querido ELDER MALZL y de sus compañeros. TE VAMOS EXTRAÑAR !!!!!"

(Translation: "Last lunch with our beloved ELDER MALZL and his companions WE WILL MISS HIM !!!!!")

Email: mattias.malzl@myldsmail.net

Missionary Blog: http://www.eldermalzl.blogspot.com/

Mail:

Elder Mattias Malzl

ARGENTINA MENDOZA MISSION

Cabildo Abierto 161

5510 Godoy Cruz

Mendoza, ARGENTINA 

April 20, 2015

April 13, 2015

Well, this has been a good week! We did a lot of contacting and got hardly any success. We have literally spent everyday contacting for hours, but either no one answered us or they rejected us. However, we did find this really cool young family. Apparently the husband used to live in Orem Utah for 5 years, haha. So he has an idea what we are about. They invited us in, and we shared a short message. They liked it a lot, and said we can come any time we want. At our next visit they are going to make an Asado (Argentinian BBQ feast)!

Poor Elder Wyckoff got sick two days of the week, so we had to do a lot of resting. While he was resting, I got some good personal time, I got to focus on setting goals on becoming become a better person. I also got to do some personal reflection as well and tried to imagine who I can become in the future. I really enjoyed this time I got to focus on myself, it was needed very much.

This is Elder Wyckoff’s last week in the mission! I am going to make sure we make some good memories and work super hard. Transfers calls are coming up this Sunday! Let’s see if I will get a new area. haha. Maybe I will stay in Unimev for another transfer and get eight months in one area, haha. 

Much love,

Elder Malzl

April 20, 2015

Okay, so after six months in Unimev I am finally getting transferred! I am going to Progreso San Juan! I hear it is an area close to the mountains, super kind people, and hot weather! But in the winter, it gets pretty cold, I hear. I will be put in as District Leader there. My companion will be Elder Poot! He is from Mexico, 26 years old, and, get this, he is from a Mayan village close to Cancun! I am so excited to meet him! I will meet him later on this week! I am really pumped to finally get to go to a new area! Of course, I will be so sad to leave all my family here in Unimev. I will miss my converts and members. So these next couple days I will be saying goodbye to them all. Apparently, Progreso San Juan is bigger than Unvimev and I will have to do even more walking, yay! This is going to be a fun change! 

I miss you all so much. I miss my lovely family. But hey, I will get to Skype you on May 10^th for Mother’s Day! So get excited! I am at the mission offices right now writing you because I came to drop off my companion, Elder Wyckoff. I am going to miss him so much. He was like a best friend to me. He taught me many great things. Also, Elder Burgos, my trainer ends his mission today as well. I will miss him.

I love you all so much!

Elder Malzl

Be Love

Email: mattias.malzl@myldsmail.net

Missionary Blog: http://www.eldermalzl.blogspot.com/

Mail:

Elder Mattias Malzl

ARGENTINA MENDOZA MISSION

Cabildo Abierto 161

5510 Godoy Cruz

Mendoza, ARGENTINA 

April 6, 2015

I am finally enjoying a bit cooler weather! I think I’m good from hot weather for the next year haha.

Yesterday we had interviews with president! He asked me how long I have been in my area. I said six months and he was shocked haha! I guess he didn’t know. But he told me: " Well, I can surely promise you that you next comp will definitely not be as experienced as your current comp." I am not sure what that really means, but we’ll see in two weeks!  My companion, Elder Wyckoff will be ending his mission this transfer and will be returning home to Holladay, Utah. 

This last week, we didn’t have much success :/.  Just knocking, knocking, and knocking. It gets discouraging at times, haha. Last night literally nobody opened the door. Like really?   

General conference was great, though!  Ihave really learned to love it now since I have been on my mission. Sadly, the attendance at the stake center was insanely small. It was only the missionaries and not so many members. That is not okay. Especially for being the Stake Center where all the wards in the zone can go to watch conference. The gringos had their own little English room. We watched it on a small TV. :) 

While I was watching priesthood session I was thinking of Papa watching as well, so it could feel like being with him. We also ended up getting ice cream and a burger for traditions sake, haha.

This conference has put a lot of emphasis on the family and teaching children the gospel. The family is so important to God’s eternal plan. The best place to apply the Gospel is within the family. I cannot wait for the day when I can have my own family. I want to teach my children how to hear the music of the Holy Ghost. I feel content with taking on the title of a father. I have really never understood the importance of family until I came on my mission. 

I love you all so much!

Elder Mattias Malzl

Email: mattias.malzl@myldsmail.net

Missionary Blog: http://www.eldermalzl.blogspot.com/

Mail:

Elder Mattias Malzl

ARGENTINA MENDOZA MISSION

Cabildo Abierto 161

5510 Godoy Cruz

Mendoza, ARGENTINA 

My companion, Elder Wykoff at Maipu Plaza

Maipu Plaza

Elder Wykoff all giddy about his Kinder Supresa!

March 30, 2015

Last week has been a great week! We worked super hard and did a lot of contacting. About 90% of the people rejected us, haha. But oh well, its not their time I guess. I have been teaching my comp how to do light shows and he is learning soooo quickly! He seriously is so great at the lights now, hah. Every night before bed we present each other a light-show. It’s really fun. We are planning a cool ward activity! Noche De Pizzas! It is going to be a great pizza contest and with a bunch of fun games and stuff! We will be having that in a couple weeks. 

Lately, we have focused a lot on working with less-actives. Working with less-actives is such a great way to bring more people unto Christ. We have found some pretty cool people this week just by working with less-actives! 

We have this great new investigator named Ana.  She just moved here from Spain recently and she is so nice! She talks sooooo funny. She completely talks in ‘Vosotros’ and with the funny Spain-lisp thing, haha. We knocked on her door, she opened, and we introduced ourselves and she got all excited and invited us in! Then she went to the kitchen and brought us juice and some dessert cake, ahhhhh. We shared with her a simple message about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We shared with her a video as well. She loved it so much. We now have a return appointment with her. I hope she will still receptive to us at the next appointment. 

This message we shared with her, is a message that all the missions are sharing this Easter Season. "Gracias A Que El Vive".

Spanish version: http://www.mormon.org/spa/pascua

English version: http://www.mormon.org/easter

I would like to share a little testimony with you that I know Jesus Christ lives. He lives today. Thanks to him and because of Him, we will all have the opportunity to resurrect with our bodies once again. But at that time our body will be perfected and glorified. Thanks to Jesus Christ we will all be able to live. We will all be able to live with our families again. He has giving us His example. All we need to do is follow. I am so grateful I am able to represent him for these two years. There is no greater way to thank Him for this life I have, than by serving Him.

Now I have a missionary challenge for you. Your challenge is to share this video, mentioned above, with someone that may need it. Who knows, you might make someone’s week, or even be instrumental in changing their life. You can share the video with the hashtag #GraciasaqueÉlvive (in Spanish) or #BecauseHeLives (in English), that way, other people can find your message as well.

I am happy to be a missionary! I am happy to represent Jesus Christ. I love you all so much! Thank you for everything!

Elder Mattias Malzl

#BecauseHeLives

Life is good!

    Yes, I can bake...

 Stopping by at Nacho's Birthday Party

Email: mattias.malzl@myldsmail.net

Missionary Blog: http://www.eldermalzl.blogspot.com/

Mail:

Elder Mattias Malzl

ARGENTINA MENDOZA MISSION

Cabildo Abierto 161

5510 Godoy Cruz

Mendoza, ARGENTINA