When George posted that he would have a 12 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires to Mendoza, it got me thinking about how large the country of Argentina actually is.  Here is an overlay of Argentina to North America. Very impressive.

Here is the latest update from George on 1/27/16. Unfortunately, no pictures this week, but he will send some next week.

Hello everyone! It's been a crazy week. My companion and I are now the zone leaders and we just received a new district today. We leave for Argentina in 11 days. It's gone so fast. We should be getting our flight information on Friday. It's going to be a long trip. I believe we will be flying from here to Atlanta, then down to Buenos Aires (About a 12 hour flight), then riding a bus from there to Mendoza (About a 12 hour bus ride). I'm super excited! We've had the opportunity to teach investigators on skype who are in South America. It's really cool knowing that you're speaking another language to someone in another part of the world. The Lord has blessed us here. We spend ten hours a day studying our Spanish and it's truly amazing what we've all been able to learn. I don't have a lot of time to write today because we have to do some stuff for the new missionary orientation, but I just wanted to say how grateful I am to have this opportunity in my life. I hope all is going well for everyone.

-Elder Sheko

Here are a few of George's pics from this week:

Birthday Pic!

This is my 'Zone' of Elders and Hermanas.

Update from George 1/20/16

Hello everyone,
With week 3 complete, the half-way point here at the MTC, I have all kinds of great stuff to talk about. We had Janice Kapp Perry, the sister who wrote many of the primary songs we sing, come and speak to us at our devotional on Sunday. Today we got to view an international missionary devotional. There was a lot of great stuff said, but what really stuck out to me is that the purpose of missionaries is not to bring the Spirit into the investigator's hearts; it's to bring the Spirit unto the investigator's hearts and they have to allow it to enter. I had a wonderful 19th birthday, and although I don't feel much older, I feel closer to my Savior as I study and learn more and more of His Gospel. One of our "investigators" accepted our invitation to be baptized. Even though Antonio isn't a real investigator, it was one of the best feelings to invite him and hear him say yes. I can't wait for the opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with each and every person I meet in Argentina. I hope all is going well for everyone! I look forward to keeping everyone updated as I get closer to going to Argentina!
Sincerely,
Elder Sheko

Happy Birthday George.  We love and miss you.

Update from George 1/13/16

Hello everyone! This week at the MTC has been great! Last night we had a devotional and Neil L. Andersen came to speak to us. My companion and I are in the choir and apparently they panned right over us while we were singing. I don't think there's a way to go back and watch it though. Neil L. Andersen talked about how simple life is. All we have to do is follow the Doctrine of Christ. Have faith, repent, get baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. It was a really great talk. We get to have devotionals every Sunday and Tuesday. They always have really good speakers. The language is coming along really well. I'm so glad that I took five years of it in school. It has given me a great foundation. They feed us a lot here. I've actually gained five pounds since I arrived 2 weeks ago. I used to skip breakfast most days before I came to the MTC but now that I'm eating it everyday my metabolism has gone way up. Hope all is going well for everyone!

This is Called a placa in Espanol.

This is a view of the mountains and temple gates across the street from the MTC.

It's beautiful, but really COLD!

Here are a few pictures that George sent us on Wednesday of this week.  He is doing ok and really having a good time getting started at the MTC. We love you George.

On Jan 6, 2016, at 5:41 PM, George Briton Sheko wrote: Hola! The MTC is pretty awesome! Took a couple of days to get adjusted but It's great. I have an awesome companion, Elder Roan. He and I work really well together and we have a lot of fun. The language is awesome. I'm so grateful that I took 5 years of Spanish in school. It's helping a lot. We've been teaching two "investigators" and it's been going really well. One of them is very difficult so It's very realistic. I see how hard it is but I'm up for the challenge. The food is pretty good, and we have a nice room. It is truly amazing how much I can get done when I don't have the distraction of a cell phone or computer. We spend 6-9 hours in the classroom each day, most of the time without a teacher and they leave it up to us to plan our lessons, study, and learn the language. It's been a crazy first P-Day (personal day) so I dont have a lot of time to write. I just want to leave you all with a few things that have really stuck out to me this week. The Holy Spirit works in many ways. It's amazing. I heard an awesome quote that said "Work like everything depended on you. Pray like everything depended on the Lord." I really thought a lot about that. Alma 37:37 is such a great scripture, “Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good ; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.” It definitely applies to all of us missionaries, and everyone else as well. Next week I will have my schedule figured out. It changed last minute because of New Years. I'll write a better blog post next week. Adios!

Here is my handsome young missionary, Elder Sheko. We just dropped him off at the Missionary Training Center on December 30 in Provo, Utah. This is truly the hardest thing I have ever done! But, I know he will do great things on his mission. I love him so much and I am so proud of him for making the choice to serve The Lord.