I'm Training!

Dear Mom and Dad,

I don't have much time to write, but here are the haps of the semana.

CELESTE GOT BAPTIZED! Lots more members came to the baptism this time and said lots of wonderful things about how happy they were for her. Lots of support! Celeste was very happy! And Hna. Schneider and I were really happy for her. We worked a miracle of the feeding of the 5000 with the refreshments afterwards. Just when I finished cutting what there was into VERY small pieces, Hno. Vargas walked into the kitchen with rolls and cake. Phew!

We went to visit the Familia Maidana with Hno. y Hna. Zanzi, who teach in the MTC in B.A. They are super cool and teach really well! Hno. Maidana has been inactive for over a year and his daughter Joana is 9 but hasn't been baptized yet because her mother wants her father to baptize her. So I dropped the cane, as we say here. Hno. and Hna. Zanzi were talking to him about the blessings he would recieve for reactivating himself and why it would be good for him and Hno. Maidana was saying he would come when he felt ready. But I kept thinking, this isn't about him. Then I told him, Take your time, hno, but while you are taking your time your daughter isn't getting baptized and your wife has to go to church alone with your three daughters. You are holding your family back. Your family is a team, and God called you to be the captain of this team, but you are not doing your part. Your family needs you. Anyway, it sounded better in Spanish. I got teary and my voice choked up as I spoke and I looked Hno. Maidana in the eyes. Everyone fell silent and Hno. Maidana didn't respond for a few seconds. When he did respond, he seemed humbler and thanked me for caring about his family. But then he started explaining again how he had to feel like it to go back to church. Aaargh! I hoped my words would sink in later, but he didn't come to church on Sunday. Maybe next week.

Hna. Schneider and I had a very good goodbye. She apologized to me and I apologized to her for not being better companions. I realized now that we were both just having a really difficult time personally, which made it hard to help each other. Considering that, I think we did really well together and learned a lot. I told her that, and we parted very good friends. I really am going to miss her.

Sunday night, Hno. Fausto invited us to an asado for his birthday and to say goodbye to Hna. Schneider. It was so good! Hno. Saravia was in charge of the grill and every 5 minutes kept offering us chunks of beef or sausage or chicken. When I tried to say I was full, Hna. Saravia told me I had to leave the dinner two kilos heavier. There was nothing I could do about it. After all that meat, Hno. Fausto put me in charge of putting the candles on the cake and lighting them. Three of them were sparklers and I put them in upside down! Hno. Fausto and the Familia Saravia, who were also there, had a pretty good laugh at me. Hna. Schneider laughed so hard she couldn't talk. Fortunately the sparklers still worked. The cake was delicious. I took pictures of the grill and the cake and everything. I'll try to send them next week. It was a great send off for Hna. Schneider and I think Hno. Fausto was really happy we were there for his birthday too. He said he will have another asado when I leave. Yikes!

Ok, so these points have been really out of order. Here is the part you are probably most excited to hear about. TRANSFERS! All my predictions were dead wrong, of course. Hna. Schneider left for Aldo Bonzi, and as for me. . .I'M TRAINING! I'm going to be a mom! haha I'm scared stiff. My new companion will arrive tomorrow. She is a mini missionary, ie she is a regular member serving for 6 weeks and will most likely have 0 experience, unless this is her second mini mission. So I have to be her MTC teacher and her trainer. AAAAAGGGHH! Fortunately, she will speak better castellano than I do, so at least I don't have to worry about that part. Everyone keeps telling me I can do it and that this assignment means that President has a lot of confidence in me. I guess it should be pretty fun. I'll get to work on my castellano with a native speaker and hopefully I can prepare my companion to serve a full time mission later. Until my hijita shows up tomorrow, I'm hanging out in Billinghurst with Hna. Johnson and HNA. DUARTE!!!, who just got transferred to Billinghurst and is now going to be in my zone! I'm way excited to be able to spend time with her again. Since my new companion is only going to be with me for one transfer, I'll most likely be staying in Hurlingham two transfers more to hand the area off to the next hermana. Or maybe this will be my last transfer and there will be a whitewash. Who knows.

Well, I am out of time. Thanks for your emails. I enjoyed the story about all the canoeing and the picture of Ben and Ryan. Front page! Wow. Dad, I'm still digesting your talk. I'll write my commentary next week. Have a fantastic week, all of you! I love you!
Love,
Ellis