Dear Mom & Dad,
There´s not a lot to write about this week since we just talked, but here are some of the things I left out:
* Monica Peralta, the branch president´s wife, had her baby 3 weeks early lthe week before last week. It was a c section and the baby was slightly premature, so they stayed in the hospital for a few days, but were able to come home one week ago. Then they thought the baby might have jaundice and Monica had low blood pressure, but fortunately all that cleared up and they are doing fine now. That was a relief. I was surprised how worried I felt for Monica. Anyway, they brought little Camilo to church for the first time yesterday, which was really special. He is very skinny with lots of tufty black hair.
* I went on divisions to General Las Heras (a small town 2 hours away) last week with Hermana Claros. It was fun. It´s super tranquilo over there-- not many people walking around. I´m not sure how they manage to get their contacts done. Unfortunately, I fell down the stairs to the apartment while I was there. After about two minutes of recovery, I was fine and was able to keep working like normal despite feeling sore. It ended up being a great learning experience for me and Hermana Claros, because as a result we learned from each other polite ways to describe my condition in Castellano and English. Hermana Claros was very attentive and every 15 minutes or so would ask me ¿Cómo está su behind? Haha. I feel perfectly recovered now, but as a souvenir of divisions with Las Heras I have the largest, purplest bruise I´ve ever seen on my, er, colita.
* Hermana Lewis and I have been enjoying the hot cocoa mix you sent in my Chrismas package. It´s too hot here, especially in our apartment, to think of drinking it the normal way, but we´ve found it tastes excellent cold. We tried freezing it too, which produced a sort of fudgsical type treat-- Yum! So, thanks for sending it!
* Mario and Celeste are FINALLY going to the registro civil this week to sack a fech for their wedding. When they do, we can set a date for their baptism! I am so stoked!
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Special P-day with Whole Mission, 12/21/10
Yesterday we had a special p-day activity with the whole mission in Ramos Mejía. President and Hermana Benton gave talks and different missionaries and zones in the mission performed musical numbers. There was a nice mix of serious Christmas hymns and more secular Christmas songs. Afterwards we ate a really good asado, potato salad with carrots in it, and fruit salad for dessert. There was a gift exchange too. For the gift I brought, I cut out a picture of Hermana Lopez and drew a halo around her like the Virgin of Lujan, then pasted that over a picture of the basilica. Then at the bottom of the picture I pasted a prayer I made up to "Nuestra Señora, la Hermana Lopez" pleading for more baptisms. I put the whole deal in a very tacky shiny silver frame that had dolphins on it. As soon as it was opened, a flock of missionaries gathered around to see it and everyone laughed. Hermana Lopez thought it was hilarious and took several pictures of it (the elder who recieved it liked it too much to trade it too her). The Virgin of Luján is infamous in our mission, because so many people believe in her and the other missionaries get frustrated trying to explain how we should only worship God. So that explains why everyone thought it was so funny, in case you didn´t get it.
At the activity I met a new sister who arrived two weeks ago. Her name is Hermana Tucker. As soon as she saw me she asked me if I had a friend in the MTC. I said yes, Alicia Garff. And she said that she met her! Apparently the night before Hna. Tucker left the MTC she met Hermana Garff and when Alicia found out where Hna. Tucker was going she ran to find a picture of me to show Hermana Tucker and told her she HAD to find me and say hello for her. I was so thrilled to get that message from Alicia and hear that she was doing well. Hermana Tucker and I talked a lot and I found out that she also knows Rachel because they were in the same ward! That was neat.
Nothing much happened during the week. Celeste and Mario are still going strong, but all our other investigators are flaking out on us, including one of my favorites, Victor. I think we will have to drop them (i.e. not visit so often) and focus on other people. That means we need to work extra hard to find new investigators. It´s depressing, but I feel like the new people we find may be more prepared to listen.
At the activity I met a new sister who arrived two weeks ago. Her name is Hermana Tucker. As soon as she saw me she asked me if I had a friend in the MTC. I said yes, Alicia Garff. And she said that she met her! Apparently the night before Hna. Tucker left the MTC she met Hermana Garff and when Alicia found out where Hna. Tucker was going she ran to find a picture of me to show Hermana Tucker and told her she HAD to find me and say hello for her. I was so thrilled to get that message from Alicia and hear that she was doing well. Hermana Tucker and I talked a lot and I found out that she also knows Rachel because they were in the same ward! That was neat.
Nothing much happened during the week. Celeste and Mario are still going strong, but all our other investigators are flaking out on us, including one of my favorites, Victor. I think we will have to drop them (i.e. not visit so often) and focus on other people. That means we need to work extra hard to find new investigators. It´s depressing, but I feel like the new people we find may be more prepared to listen.
Baptizing Alexander, 12/13/10
This week was a great week. I felt zero (or close to zero) anxiety about directing the area. Hermana Lewis acts more like a co-companion than a senior companion (not a bad thing), which has given me a chance to take more responsibility. This time, I felt ready for that, and it´s helped me be just a little bit more focused on the work. What happens in my area partly depends on me-- what I do, the choices I make. Before that would have scared me, but now the responsibility makes it all the more satisfying when things go well-- I feel like I´ve accomplished something. Hermana Lewis has been a big help so far. She´s cheerful, really sincere, and has good ideas. We´re getting along great. I´m going to enjoy being companions with her this transfer.
Our focus this week was trying to baptize our investigator, Alexander. He´s sixteen years old and dating a girl from the branch named Rocío. Every time I ever taught Alex, it was in Rocío´s house-- this was great because Rocío´s brother Cristian is a recent return missionary and he helped us a lot. But this meant that I´d never meant Alex´s parents. Rocío´s mom, Hermana Humerez, warned us that Alex´s mom a violent, foul-tempered woman who wouldn´t ever let him get baptized-- she made it sound like we would risk bodily harm if we tried to ask Alex´s mom for her permission! Last week Hna. Scott and I went with fear and trembling to meet Alex´s mom and ask if Alex could get baptized. We said a quick prayer beforehand and everything worked out fine. His mom, Maria del Carmen, was much friendlier than we expected and said she would talk to Alex´s dad about his baptism. Hermana Lewis and I went at the beginning of this week to see how that had gone. Maria del Carmen said she hadn´t talked to the father yet but said she would sign the form if Alex could pass the baptismal interview-- we usually have a parent sign the form before the interview, but that sounded fine. Later we found out that Alexander was going to be gone on Friday night, so he wouldn´t be able to have the interview at the usual time. We got permission from Pres. Peralta to do the baptism on Sunday instead (he very graciously rescheduled branch council so we could baptize Alex after church--this man is golden!) That was just a minor obstacle. We went on Friday to see if Maria del Carmen could sign the form first-- just in case she wasn´t going to be home after the interview on Saturday. She told us Alex´s dad didn´t want him to get baptized. We asked to speak to him, but he wasn´t home. Maria del Carmen told us that the father was a hardened alcoholic who believes in nothing and sometimes beats her and the kids--- this was no where near as suprising as it would have been when I got here. She didn´t want to start a fight with him, so she wasn´t willing to bring up the subject of Alex´s baptism again. We left discouraged and didn´t know what to do, but it only took about 15 minutes before I realized that we needed to find Alex´s dad and get his permission-- it was the only option. So the next night we nervously went back to Alex´s house. We clapped at the gate (we hardly ever knock here because there is almost always a gate) and Maria came out. We asked to speak to the father, but she told us that would be impossible. I asked if he was drunk, and she said yes. She said we couldn´t talk to him, went back into the house, shut the door, and left us standing there at the gate. We decided to say a prayer and we both felt the distinct impression to clap again. This time, Alex´s dad came out. He was kind of scruffy looking, but I couldn´t tell if he was drunk or not. We explained who we were and what we wanted and two minutes later we had his signature on the baptismal register.
Yikes! I´m out of time again, but the last obstacle was when we miscommunicated with Alex and couldn´t find him for the baptismal interview. Eventually, Rocio´s sister Magalí told us that he was with Rocío, helping Hna. Humerez at her job, which just happens to be. . .duh, duh, duh, DUH. . .cleaning stuff at a bar called "el diablo". We sent Elders Oliverson (the district leader) and Fish to pick Alex up on the way to the chapel so Elder O. could interview him. "Elders, we need you to go to a bar called "el diablo" to find our investigator"---one of the stranger requests I´ve ever had to make to my district leader. Anyway, Alex passed the interview without problems (when we reviewed the questions with him beforehand, his only worry was if the Word of Wisdom allowed him to drink hot chocolate--I love this kid!) and got baptized on Sunday. Phew! I´ve never had to work so hard to get someone baptized. But I enjoyed it. What an adventure!
I love you and miss you a lot. I don´t think I could handle being away from my family for a year and a half for a lesser cause. When I get homesick I can always remind myself how important what I´m doing is, which helps. It´s gone by fast so far, just like President Benton promised me it would my first day in the field. Tomorrow is my 5 month mark. The next 13 will go by fast too.
Our focus this week was trying to baptize our investigator, Alexander. He´s sixteen years old and dating a girl from the branch named Rocío. Every time I ever taught Alex, it was in Rocío´s house-- this was great because Rocío´s brother Cristian is a recent return missionary and he helped us a lot. But this meant that I´d never meant Alex´s parents. Rocío´s mom, Hermana Humerez, warned us that Alex´s mom a violent, foul-tempered woman who wouldn´t ever let him get baptized-- she made it sound like we would risk bodily harm if we tried to ask Alex´s mom for her permission! Last week Hna. Scott and I went with fear and trembling to meet Alex´s mom and ask if Alex could get baptized. We said a quick prayer beforehand and everything worked out fine. His mom, Maria del Carmen, was much friendlier than we expected and said she would talk to Alex´s dad about his baptism. Hermana Lewis and I went at the beginning of this week to see how that had gone. Maria del Carmen said she hadn´t talked to the father yet but said she would sign the form if Alex could pass the baptismal interview-- we usually have a parent sign the form before the interview, but that sounded fine. Later we found out that Alexander was going to be gone on Friday night, so he wouldn´t be able to have the interview at the usual time. We got permission from Pres. Peralta to do the baptism on Sunday instead (he very graciously rescheduled branch council so we could baptize Alex after church--this man is golden!) That was just a minor obstacle. We went on Friday to see if Maria del Carmen could sign the form first-- just in case she wasn´t going to be home after the interview on Saturday. She told us Alex´s dad didn´t want him to get baptized. We asked to speak to him, but he wasn´t home. Maria del Carmen told us that the father was a hardened alcoholic who believes in nothing and sometimes beats her and the kids--- this was no where near as suprising as it would have been when I got here. She didn´t want to start a fight with him, so she wasn´t willing to bring up the subject of Alex´s baptism again. We left discouraged and didn´t know what to do, but it only took about 15 minutes before I realized that we needed to find Alex´s dad and get his permission-- it was the only option. So the next night we nervously went back to Alex´s house. We clapped at the gate (we hardly ever knock here because there is almost always a gate) and Maria came out. We asked to speak to the father, but she told us that would be impossible. I asked if he was drunk, and she said yes. She said we couldn´t talk to him, went back into the house, shut the door, and left us standing there at the gate. We decided to say a prayer and we both felt the distinct impression to clap again. This time, Alex´s dad came out. He was kind of scruffy looking, but I couldn´t tell if he was drunk or not. We explained who we were and what we wanted and two minutes later we had his signature on the baptismal register.
Yikes! I´m out of time again, but the last obstacle was when we miscommunicated with Alex and couldn´t find him for the baptismal interview. Eventually, Rocio´s sister Magalí told us that he was with Rocío, helping Hna. Humerez at her job, which just happens to be. . .duh, duh, duh, DUH. . .cleaning stuff at a bar called "el diablo". We sent Elders Oliverson (the district leader) and Fish to pick Alex up on the way to the chapel so Elder O. could interview him. "Elders, we need you to go to a bar called "el diablo" to find our investigator"---one of the stranger requests I´ve ever had to make to my district leader. Anyway, Alex passed the interview without problems (when we reviewed the questions with him beforehand, his only worry was if the Word of Wisdom allowed him to drink hot chocolate--I love this kid!) and got baptized on Sunday. Phew! I´ve never had to work so hard to get someone baptized. But I enjoyed it. What an adventure!
I love you and miss you a lot. I don´t think I could handle being away from my family for a year and a half for a lesser cause. When I get homesick I can always remind myself how important what I´m doing is, which helps. It´s gone by fast so far, just like President Benton promised me it would my first day in the field. Tomorrow is my 5 month mark. The next 13 will go by fast too.
Lewis and Clark: The Legacy Begins! 12/6/10
Guess, what? My second transfer (6 week period) ended today aaaaand---- President Benton is stealing my companion again! Because of a weird combination of sisters leaving and new sisters arriving, President Benton needed Hermana Scott in a different area. She´s going to be an aunt (2nd comp in the field) again in Ramos Mejía, and I´m staying in Luján. My new companion is Hermana Lewis---- we are Lewis and Clark!
I was really upset when I first found out on Saturday, because I loved being with Hermana Scott. She really helped me be less stressed out and more happy and she taught me a lot about diligence--- she did so much for me. I´ve come to terms with her leaving though. I´ve already had to direct my area, so I´m not as nervous about showing my new companion around and having more responsibility as I was last transfer when Hermana Scott came. President Benton told me that giving me so many new companions and letting me direct the area twice shows that he has a lot of confidence in me-- that was really good to hear. And even though I don´t know Hermana Lewis very well yet (we´ve been companions for about 2 hours now), she seems really nice and I think we´ll get along and have fun together. This will be an exciting transfer because we have a mission goal to have a "white Christmas" and baptize on Christmas day. We have 9 investigators who could potentially get baptized this transfer, so I´m hoping for lots of success.
It sounds like you are all in suspense about the Celeste and Mario situation. I appreciated the feedback from all of you and from the extended family. Hermana Scott and I talked to President Benton on Friday about the situation and he said this: Mario and Celeste have been together 17 years and have 4 kids--- it´s not likely that Celeste is going to leave him. Marriage certainly can´t make the situation worse, but it could very likely make it better-- when they get baptized they´ll have extra help from the Lord-- even more than they are already getting. The gospel, he said, can make bad men into good men-- if they follow it. And it seems like Mario is trying to follow the gospel. The decision is obviously Celeste and Mario´s, but I don´t feel upset about them getting married anymore. If that´s what Celeste wants, I´m really excited for them to get married and work to be worthy for baptism. I´m trying to have hope and faith in Mario´s ability to repent, and in the Savior´s power to help him change. The situation is still overwhelming, but I´m excited to be able to help this family heal and change.
Other things that happened this week:
* I had the best day of my mission so far on Tuesday. I went to district meeting and actually liked it (it usually stresses me out) and got lots of letters from my friends. But that was just the beginning. The rest of the day our ward missionary, Paula (preparing to serve a mission of her own) went on splits with us. She was a big help. Something clicked with Hermana Scott and I that day. We began teaching with greater unity and trusting each other to say what needed to be said. The Spirit was really strong and I could tell we were feeling some of the same promptings. We taught three lessons that afternoon with our investigators Gisela, Mabel, and Victor. In each lesson we "sacked a fech"-- committed the investigator to prepare for a baptismal date. It was so amazing. When we went back to our apartment at the end of the day, I felt so at peace.
* On Friday we went to the capital to submit some papers for my visa. We drove down the avenue 9 de julio, the widest street in the world, drove past the casa rosada (where the president lives), and then ate a really delicious lunch (milanesa with ham, cheese, and tomato sauce on top and french fries on the side, with dulce de leche icecream for desert) at a pirate-themed restaurant where all the waiters were dressed as pirates-- it was fun.
Oh, and the packages got here-- thank you so much! I´ve already decorated my apartment with the stockings and snowflakes. This morning I ate an energy bar for breakfast-- it reminded me of hiking and camping with the family, and I felt happy.
I was really upset when I first found out on Saturday, because I loved being with Hermana Scott. She really helped me be less stressed out and more happy and she taught me a lot about diligence--- she did so much for me. I´ve come to terms with her leaving though. I´ve already had to direct my area, so I´m not as nervous about showing my new companion around and having more responsibility as I was last transfer when Hermana Scott came. President Benton told me that giving me so many new companions and letting me direct the area twice shows that he has a lot of confidence in me-- that was really good to hear. And even though I don´t know Hermana Lewis very well yet (we´ve been companions for about 2 hours now), she seems really nice and I think we´ll get along and have fun together. This will be an exciting transfer because we have a mission goal to have a "white Christmas" and baptize on Christmas day. We have 9 investigators who could potentially get baptized this transfer, so I´m hoping for lots of success.
It sounds like you are all in suspense about the Celeste and Mario situation. I appreciated the feedback from all of you and from the extended family. Hermana Scott and I talked to President Benton on Friday about the situation and he said this: Mario and Celeste have been together 17 years and have 4 kids--- it´s not likely that Celeste is going to leave him. Marriage certainly can´t make the situation worse, but it could very likely make it better-- when they get baptized they´ll have extra help from the Lord-- even more than they are already getting. The gospel, he said, can make bad men into good men-- if they follow it. And it seems like Mario is trying to follow the gospel. The decision is obviously Celeste and Mario´s, but I don´t feel upset about them getting married anymore. If that´s what Celeste wants, I´m really excited for them to get married and work to be worthy for baptism. I´m trying to have hope and faith in Mario´s ability to repent, and in the Savior´s power to help him change. The situation is still overwhelming, but I´m excited to be able to help this family heal and change.
Other things that happened this week:
* I had the best day of my mission so far on Tuesday. I went to district meeting and actually liked it (it usually stresses me out) and got lots of letters from my friends. But that was just the beginning. The rest of the day our ward missionary, Paula (preparing to serve a mission of her own) went on splits with us. She was a big help. Something clicked with Hermana Scott and I that day. We began teaching with greater unity and trusting each other to say what needed to be said. The Spirit was really strong and I could tell we were feeling some of the same promptings. We taught three lessons that afternoon with our investigators Gisela, Mabel, and Victor. In each lesson we "sacked a fech"-- committed the investigator to prepare for a baptismal date. It was so amazing. When we went back to our apartment at the end of the day, I felt so at peace.
* On Friday we went to the capital to submit some papers for my visa. We drove down the avenue 9 de julio, the widest street in the world, drove past the casa rosada (where the president lives), and then ate a really delicious lunch (milanesa with ham, cheese, and tomato sauce on top and french fries on the side, with dulce de leche icecream for desert) at a pirate-themed restaurant where all the waiters were dressed as pirates-- it was fun.
Oh, and the packages got here-- thank you so much! I´ve already decorated my apartment with the stockings and snowflakes. This morning I ate an energy bar for breakfast-- it reminded me of hiking and camping with the family, and I felt happy.
A Very Short Letter, 11/29/10
Here is what I wrote to my mission president this week:
On Saturday we had a baptism! An 8 year old sister of a recent convert was baptized. Her name is Carmina and she has a lot of personality. Teaching her and bringing her to church sometimes required a lot of patience because she is still learning how to listen and be reverent, but I´ve really learned to love her. I´ve seen a change in her too since we began teaching her-- she is more ready to listen and try to be polite and kind to those around her. She was so excited all week long to be baptized and wanted to invite lots of people! I´m so happy that she was baptized. Her baptism was really neat because her mother, who isn´t a member, and one of her nonmember friends from the neighborhood, came too. And one of our investigators showed up! I hope Carmina´s mother will see the example of her two baptized children and want to be baptized too. Also, Carmina´s older sister Lumila loved the baptism and says she wants to be baptized too! Hermana Scott and I have been kind of stressed out about our investigators Mario and Celeste and their family. We´ve seen loads of miracles with them and everything seemed near perfect until Celeste told Hermana Scott while I was on divisions that sometimes things aren't very good in their and that's why she has been dragging her feet about getting married. We want them to be able to get baptized, but we want Celeste and here kids to be safe. When Mario is with us he seems to treat his family well and have sincere desires to repent, be baptized, be a good church member and a better husband/father, etc. I think he needs help to understand how his family is suffering because of his actions and to accept more responsibility for things that he´s done, but I think he is sincere and really feels the Spirit when he comes to church and listens to us. When we visited on Sunday Mario and Celeste were acting like everything was fine between them and talking about going to start the paperwork for their marriage. I obviously want them to be able to be baptized and receive those blessings, but I don´t know how to help Celeste if she is sometimes unhappy and unsafe. What would you do if you were us in this situation?
On Saturday we had a baptism! An 8 year old sister of a recent convert was baptized. Her name is Carmina and she has a lot of personality. Teaching her and bringing her to church sometimes required a lot of patience because she is still learning how to listen and be reverent, but I´ve really learned to love her. I´ve seen a change in her too since we began teaching her-- she is more ready to listen and try to be polite and kind to those around her. She was so excited all week long to be baptized and wanted to invite lots of people! I´m so happy that she was baptized. Her baptism was really neat because her mother, who isn´t a member, and one of her nonmember friends from the neighborhood, came too. And one of our investigators showed up! I hope Carmina´s mother will see the example of her two baptized children and want to be baptized too. Also, Carmina´s older sister Lumila loved the baptism and says she wants to be baptized too! Hermana Scott and I have been kind of stressed out about our investigators Mario and Celeste and their family. We´ve seen loads of miracles with them and everything seemed near perfect until Celeste told Hermana Scott while I was on divisions that sometimes things aren't very good in their and that's why she has been dragging her feet about getting married. We want them to be able to get baptized, but we want Celeste and here kids to be safe. When Mario is with us he seems to treat his family well and have sincere desires to repent, be baptized, be a good church member and a better husband/father, etc. I think he needs help to understand how his family is suffering because of his actions and to accept more responsibility for things that he´s done, but I think he is sincere and really feels the Spirit when he comes to church and listens to us. When we visited on Sunday Mario and Celeste were acting like everything was fine between them and talking about going to start the paperwork for their marriage. I obviously want them to be able to be baptized and receive those blessings, but I don´t know how to help Celeste if she is sometimes unhappy and unsafe. What would you do if you were us in this situation?
Investigators, Mastering Public Transport, 11/22/10
Highlights of the week:
Tuesday: Hermana Scott and I taught another taller (workshop) at district meeting. This one was about teaching with the spirit. I talked about the part of Section 50 that says if you receive not the spirit ye shall not teach and that both teaching and learning need to be by the spirit so we can be edified together. Those are good verses. The workshop went well.
Wednesday: We had divisions with Ciudad Evita. Hermana Scott left me to go to Ciudad Evita with Hermana Johnson (who I met in the MTC, by the way) and Hermana Salazar (who got transferred after last transfer) came to Luján again. I was nervous about directing the area, but less nervous than before. The divisions went really well. I managed to remember how to travel by bus to Open Door and back without any problems. There is something very satisfying about mastering public transportation-- that felt good. Also, Hna. Salazar and I taught the Word of Wisdom to Celeste-- eek! It went perfectly, without any problems. Celeste told us that lately that no matter how hard she tries she hasn´t been able to remember to buy coffee and that the last time she looked for tea, she could only find the herbal kinds-- wow! She already thought smoking and drinking were bad, so she had no problems comitting to keep the commandment.
Friday: Hermana Scott had come down the night before with a fever and woke up feeling achy all over. It was so bad that she couldn´t work, so we stayed in the pench (pension/apartment) until the afternoon when she couldn´t stand it anymore and insisted on leaving to visit the investigators. We didn´t get very far before we had to stop at Hermana Medina´s house to let her rest. Hermana Rey was there too, and she and Hermana Medina swooped in and started taking care of Hermana Scott and giving her motherly advice and telling her she was too sick to work-- the members are so good to us. Hermana Scott laid down in Hermana Medina´s room while I went out to work for a couple hours with Paula, our ward missionary who is working on her own mission papers. I was nervous about working without Hermana Scott, but everything went really well and I actually felt really confident. Paula and I taught a new investigator named Ruben for the first time-- the lesson went really well and Ruben was way good-- I think he might get baptized! When we got back to Hna. Medina´s house, Presidente Medina and Hno. Rey have Hna. Scott a blessing for the sick and then we took a taxi back to the pench.
Saturday: Hermana Scott felt a little bit better and refused to stay inside, so we put in a full day of work. We taught a really good lesson to Mario and Celeste about keeping the Sabbath day holy, and they told us they had already decided to stop working on Sundays-- apparently last Sunday every time Mario was about to start working on the house (they are busy adding on to the house and finishing the construction of the first part) someone would stop by to visit. Mario and Celeste decided that was a sign from God that they shouldn´t work on Sunday. Everytime we visit they have a story like that. This family is crazy good!
Sunday: We were bummed because Mario and Celeste didn´t show up to church, but we did manage to bring Karmina, our 9 year old investigator, to church. We´re still trying to teach her what reverence means, but we were glad that she came. She´s going to get baptized next Saturday, if everything goes well! We visited Mario and Celeste later. Mario was asleep, but we had a really good lesson with Celeste-- we read Mosiah 2 together and talked about how she could help her family be more happy and united. We are starting to worry because she and Mario haven´t started the paperwork to get married yet, but we didn´t talk about that. We are going to tackle that this week.
After the lesson with Celeste Hna Scott started feeling worse again. She threw up 3 or 4 times in the street, so I insisted that we go back to the Peralta family´s house. They gave us crackers for her to eat when she started feeling better and we took another taxi back to the pench. Poor Hermana Scott was throwing up every half hour all afternoon and evening. I was getting really worried about her. She´s feeling slightly better today though and hasn´t thrown up yet, so hopefully the worst is over. She hates being sick because like any good missionary she hates not being able to work.
Tuesday: Hermana Scott and I taught another taller (workshop) at district meeting. This one was about teaching with the spirit. I talked about the part of Section 50 that says if you receive not the spirit ye shall not teach and that both teaching and learning need to be by the spirit so we can be edified together. Those are good verses. The workshop went well.
Wednesday: We had divisions with Ciudad Evita. Hermana Scott left me to go to Ciudad Evita with Hermana Johnson (who I met in the MTC, by the way) and Hermana Salazar (who got transferred after last transfer) came to Luján again. I was nervous about directing the area, but less nervous than before. The divisions went really well. I managed to remember how to travel by bus to Open Door and back without any problems. There is something very satisfying about mastering public transportation-- that felt good. Also, Hna. Salazar and I taught the Word of Wisdom to Celeste-- eek! It went perfectly, without any problems. Celeste told us that lately that no matter how hard she tries she hasn´t been able to remember to buy coffee and that the last time she looked for tea, she could only find the herbal kinds-- wow! She already thought smoking and drinking were bad, so she had no problems comitting to keep the commandment.
Friday: Hermana Scott had come down the night before with a fever and woke up feeling achy all over. It was so bad that she couldn´t work, so we stayed in the pench (pension/apartment) until the afternoon when she couldn´t stand it anymore and insisted on leaving to visit the investigators. We didn´t get very far before we had to stop at Hermana Medina´s house to let her rest. Hermana Rey was there too, and she and Hermana Medina swooped in and started taking care of Hermana Scott and giving her motherly advice and telling her she was too sick to work-- the members are so good to us. Hermana Scott laid down in Hermana Medina´s room while I went out to work for a couple hours with Paula, our ward missionary who is working on her own mission papers. I was nervous about working without Hermana Scott, but everything went really well and I actually felt really confident. Paula and I taught a new investigator named Ruben for the first time-- the lesson went really well and Ruben was way good-- I think he might get baptized! When we got back to Hna. Medina´s house, Presidente Medina and Hno. Rey have Hna. Scott a blessing for the sick and then we took a taxi back to the pench.
Saturday: Hermana Scott felt a little bit better and refused to stay inside, so we put in a full day of work. We taught a really good lesson to Mario and Celeste about keeping the Sabbath day holy, and they told us they had already decided to stop working on Sundays-- apparently last Sunday every time Mario was about to start working on the house (they are busy adding on to the house and finishing the construction of the first part) someone would stop by to visit. Mario and Celeste decided that was a sign from God that they shouldn´t work on Sunday. Everytime we visit they have a story like that. This family is crazy good!
Sunday: We were bummed because Mario and Celeste didn´t show up to church, but we did manage to bring Karmina, our 9 year old investigator, to church. We´re still trying to teach her what reverence means, but we were glad that she came. She´s going to get baptized next Saturday, if everything goes well! We visited Mario and Celeste later. Mario was asleep, but we had a really good lesson with Celeste-- we read Mosiah 2 together and talked about how she could help her family be more happy and united. We are starting to worry because she and Mario haven´t started the paperwork to get married yet, but we didn´t talk about that. We are going to tackle that this week.
After the lesson with Celeste Hna Scott started feeling worse again. She threw up 3 or 4 times in the street, so I insisted that we go back to the Peralta family´s house. They gave us crackers for her to eat when she started feeling better and we took another taxi back to the pench. Poor Hermana Scott was throwing up every half hour all afternoon and evening. I was getting really worried about her. She´s feeling slightly better today though and hasn´t thrown up yet, so hopefully the worst is over. She hates being sick because like any good missionary she hates not being able to work.
Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! 11/15/10
This morning Hna. Scott and I went to el zoologico de Luján-- the zoo! Elder Oliverson and Elder Fish (wearing his trout-shaped tie), who work in the other half of Luján (rama 1, my area is rama 2), came too. The zoo in Luján is like no zoo you could ever find in the U.S.. The enclosures were pretty small, with no attempt to make them look like the natural habitat. And, you could touch and feed the animals! So, today I held a lion cub, petted a tiger cub, petted a full grown lion and a full grown tiger (though not at the same time), fed two elephants an apple and a carrot, and fed a seal fish chunks by hand. Don´t worry, I took lots of pictures. :) The lion and tiger keepers let people in to the enclosures a few at a time to pet and hold the tigers and lions and take pictures. I´m pretty sure the only reason that no one gets eaten is that the big cats are really heavily drugged. They weren´t very lively-- mostly they just laid there, or rolled over. It was actually pretty sad. I´ve got some awesome photos of me with the animals, but I felt guilty the whole time-- they spend their entire lives caged up and on drugs. The seals definitely weren´t drugged though. There were three of them in an enclosure that basically amounted to a round swimming pool with a fence around it. The three seals swam laps around and around the pool-- until Elder Fish and I bought some of his namesake to feed them. Then they flopped out of the water and waddled to the fence. The seals stretched their necks up and we dropped the food over the fence into their large, fishy mouths. That was fun. My favorite thing was feeding the elephants though. They looked much happier than the poor seals and lions. I stood between two of them and stretched out my arms to feed two of them at once. They grabbed the apple and carrot I was holding with their trunks! Overall, going to the zoo was a fun experience, but I much prefer zoos in the U.S.. Animals are a lot more fun to watch when they have a nice habitat to live in and you can get a better idea of how they behave in the wild. The zoo in Luján was interesting, but it made me feel sort of guilty and sad, like I was an accomplice in animal mistreatment.
Well, enough about the zoo. Here are the other highlights of the week.
* On Wednesday we made our weekly trip to Open Door. As usual, we only had a few hours to spend there. We decided to start by looking for the house of a man named Diego. Hermana Lopez got his name as a reference from someone, wrote it down, and stuck it to the fridge. We never had the chance to go look for him together, so I forgot about it until this week. The notes Hna. Lopez took about him said he wanted to get baptized! Excellent, right? We really wanted to find this guy. Only we went to the address (Just the intersection of a street and the highway. As usual the address came without a house number) and there weren´t any houses there! We looked and looked but couldn´t find him. Finally we admitted defeat and went to visit a recent convert and his non member family instead, but it was so late that we didn´t have time for anything else. Four hours of work with very little to show for it. We were so frustrated!
* On Thursday we went to zone conference in Paso del Rey, about an hour away. We taught the workshop we prepared to 3 other zones of missionaries! It went really well and everyone complemented us afterwards, including President Benton. There were also workshops by Pres. Benton and his assistants. Then they fed us lunch-- fried chicken, potatoes and yams, rice and yams, and bread-- yum! There was a really good cake with apple pie filling and cream on top for dessert too. After lunch Pres. Benton asked us if we could perform a musical number-- no advance notice! Fortunately, we had spent all week singing Cantan Santos Angeles (Hark the Herald Angels) in two parts for our investigators. So we sang that. It wasn´t perfect, but it went pretty well and everyone liked it. After all the meetings were over, Pres. Benton told Hna. Scott and I that he knows that we are really hard on ourselves, but that we shouldn´t be because we are doing a good job in our area. That was really good to hear-- we are hard on ourselves-- especially me. I felt a lot better after he told us that.
* On Saturday we contacted a woman named Gisella who is super prepared for the gospel! I was busy stressing out because I felt like we weren´t getting enough done or using our time well enough and then there she was, sweeping her driveway! We started talking to her and Hna. Scott asked how she felt about God. She said "With God I feel complete." Wow. No one we talk to ever answers a question like that so simply and profoundly. When I heard that I felt really excited and felt like I should be really bold-- I told her that our message is that the Church is the restored church of Christ, the only church with the full and complete truth. I´m rarely that direct. We told her that if she prayed God would tell her that the church is true. Hna. Scott asked some more really good questions too and Gisella just kept listening and talking to us like she was sort of in awe, but believed us. She let us come into her house to say a prayer with her and a couple times it looked like she had tears in her eyes. She explained that she has been to several churches but that she doesn´t agree with what they teach, so she is still looking for a church-- sound familiar? She said she would read the pamphlets we left (I decided she was ready for two at once-- The Restoration and The Plan of Salvation.) and pray about them. YES! We have an appointment with her this Saturday. It´s too early to tell for sure, but I think she is going to want to get baptized! I´m so excited!
* I´m out of time, but here´s a quick update on our investigators:
* Mario and Celeste and family: They came to church this Sunday, phew! They continue to be the perfect investigator family. Celeste and Mario loved church yesterday. Celeste told us she listens carefully to everything so she can come home and tell her daughters so they can learn too (they can´t come to church yet because someone always has to be watching the house until they install bars on the doors and windows this week-- they don´t want to get robbed). She is teaching her kids how to pray too-- this week we got to hear Belén and Jasmín say their first LDS-style prayers ever! She´s so great! The only thing that worries us is that she and Mario still haven´t gone to start the paper work to get married-- hopefully we can get them to go this week!
* Graciela, the mother of our mission leader, didn´t come to church again this week. She went on vacation without telling us and won´t be back until the end of the week. This means we have to postpone her baptismal date. We´re kind of worried about her, but there isn´t anything we can do until she comes back.
* Alisander came to church again and we taught him last night in the home of the Humerez family. They´ve really been helping us with him. He gets flustered when we ask him questions to see if he understands what we are teaching, but he seems interested and sincere. We want to commit him to baptism, but Hermana Humerez says his mother is really violent and very evangelical. This is a problem because Alisander is only 16, so we need her permission to baptize him. Hna. H. warned us not to mention Alisander´s name if we try to go talk to his mom. In fact, she told us we shouldn´t even try to go at all-- she thinks his mom might hit us if she doesn´t like what we share with her. Of course we are going to try anyway-- what else can we do? Our plan is just to pass by and contact her and see if we can become friends. If we can be friendly with her, maybe we can talk later about letting Alisander get baptized-- when he agrees to a date, of course.
One more thing-- yesterday was my cumplemés-- my "birthday" in the mission. I´ve been here two months and on the mission for four-- can you believe it?
Well, enough about the zoo. Here are the other highlights of the week.
* On Wednesday we made our weekly trip to Open Door. As usual, we only had a few hours to spend there. We decided to start by looking for the house of a man named Diego. Hermana Lopez got his name as a reference from someone, wrote it down, and stuck it to the fridge. We never had the chance to go look for him together, so I forgot about it until this week. The notes Hna. Lopez took about him said he wanted to get baptized! Excellent, right? We really wanted to find this guy. Only we went to the address (Just the intersection of a street and the highway. As usual the address came without a house number) and there weren´t any houses there! We looked and looked but couldn´t find him. Finally we admitted defeat and went to visit a recent convert and his non member family instead, but it was so late that we didn´t have time for anything else. Four hours of work with very little to show for it. We were so frustrated!
* On Thursday we went to zone conference in Paso del Rey, about an hour away. We taught the workshop we prepared to 3 other zones of missionaries! It went really well and everyone complemented us afterwards, including President Benton. There were also workshops by Pres. Benton and his assistants. Then they fed us lunch-- fried chicken, potatoes and yams, rice and yams, and bread-- yum! There was a really good cake with apple pie filling and cream on top for dessert too. After lunch Pres. Benton asked us if we could perform a musical number-- no advance notice! Fortunately, we had spent all week singing Cantan Santos Angeles (Hark the Herald Angels) in two parts for our investigators. So we sang that. It wasn´t perfect, but it went pretty well and everyone liked it. After all the meetings were over, Pres. Benton told Hna. Scott and I that he knows that we are really hard on ourselves, but that we shouldn´t be because we are doing a good job in our area. That was really good to hear-- we are hard on ourselves-- especially me. I felt a lot better after he told us that.
* On Saturday we contacted a woman named Gisella who is super prepared for the gospel! I was busy stressing out because I felt like we weren´t getting enough done or using our time well enough and then there she was, sweeping her driveway! We started talking to her and Hna. Scott asked how she felt about God. She said "With God I feel complete." Wow. No one we talk to ever answers a question like that so simply and profoundly. When I heard that I felt really excited and felt like I should be really bold-- I told her that our message is that the Church is the restored church of Christ, the only church with the full and complete truth. I´m rarely that direct. We told her that if she prayed God would tell her that the church is true. Hna. Scott asked some more really good questions too and Gisella just kept listening and talking to us like she was sort of in awe, but believed us. She let us come into her house to say a prayer with her and a couple times it looked like she had tears in her eyes. She explained that she has been to several churches but that she doesn´t agree with what they teach, so she is still looking for a church-- sound familiar? She said she would read the pamphlets we left (I decided she was ready for two at once-- The Restoration and The Plan of Salvation.) and pray about them. YES! We have an appointment with her this Saturday. It´s too early to tell for sure, but I think she is going to want to get baptized! I´m so excited!
* I´m out of time, but here´s a quick update on our investigators:
* Mario and Celeste and family: They came to church this Sunday, phew! They continue to be the perfect investigator family. Celeste and Mario loved church yesterday. Celeste told us she listens carefully to everything so she can come home and tell her daughters so they can learn too (they can´t come to church yet because someone always has to be watching the house until they install bars on the doors and windows this week-- they don´t want to get robbed). She is teaching her kids how to pray too-- this week we got to hear Belén and Jasmín say their first LDS-style prayers ever! She´s so great! The only thing that worries us is that she and Mario still haven´t gone to start the paper work to get married-- hopefully we can get them to go this week!
* Graciela, the mother of our mission leader, didn´t come to church again this week. She went on vacation without telling us and won´t be back until the end of the week. This means we have to postpone her baptismal date. We´re kind of worried about her, but there isn´t anything we can do until she comes back.
* Alisander came to church again and we taught him last night in the home of the Humerez family. They´ve really been helping us with him. He gets flustered when we ask him questions to see if he understands what we are teaching, but he seems interested and sincere. We want to commit him to baptism, but Hermana Humerez says his mother is really violent and very evangelical. This is a problem because Alisander is only 16, so we need her permission to baptize him. Hna. H. warned us not to mention Alisander´s name if we try to go talk to his mom. In fact, she told us we shouldn´t even try to go at all-- she thinks his mom might hit us if she doesn´t like what we share with her. Of course we are going to try anyway-- what else can we do? Our plan is just to pass by and contact her and see if we can become friends. If we can be friendly with her, maybe we can talk later about letting Alisander get baptized-- when he agrees to a date, of course.
One more thing-- yesterday was my cumplemés-- my "birthday" in the mission. I´ve been here two months and on the mission for four-- can you believe it?
Working with Investigators, 11/8/10
Here´s what I´ve been up to:
* Hna Scott and I have been assigned to teach a workshop at zone conference on "receiving revelation through the Book of Mormon" we are focusing on how to help our investigators receive testimonies through the Spirit of the Book of Mormon. We´ve put in a lot of work, so hopefully we´ll be well prepared to teach it on Thursday.
* Celeste and Mario, our favorite investigators, are still going strong. They didn´t make it to church yesterday because Mario was sick, but they felt really bad about it and said they are coming next week. This week they will start filing their papers so they can get married this month.
* Hna Scott has been doing her part to help us do our service hours this week by cutting hair (among her other talents, she went to a year of hair school before the mission). I think she did 3 or 4 people´s hair this week. It´s proving to be a great way to gain the confidence of the members and investigators. I can teach a thought while she cuts the hair of our captive audience. She cut my hair today too, just for fun, not for service. I´ll try to send a picture eventually. It looks a little different (more tapering around my face and layers), but nothing drastic. I like it.
* Our investigator Victor still doesn´t want to quit smoking and drinking. He was drinking beer in front of his house last time we visited him. We haven´t given up yet though. We´re planning on teaching him with a member present tonight and showing him the Restoration movie. We´re hoping that if he has a testimony of Joseph Smith, he´ll have the will power to quit!
* Teresa, the woman I committed to baptism a couple weeks ago, says she´s too busy to keep listening to us. I think the Joseph Smith story and prophets thing scared her off. I´m really sad about it. We´re going to stop by one more time today and see if we can explain things better so she feels more comfortable, but we might have to stop teaching her.
* We´ve started teaching a 16 year old kid named Alisander who´s dating a girl in our branch named Rocio. She´s only 14, so I´m hoping that if he becomes interested in the church they´ll make good choices together and stop dating until she turns 16. He´s a good kid, he´s just had a hard life and not had a lot of people to teach him what´s right. Rocio´s family is letting us teach Alisander in their house and Rocio´s older brother is a recent RM, so they are going to be a big help in his conversion process. He´s already come to church twice, so that´s a good sign.
* Otilia and Luz have started attending a pentecostal church across the street from their house. We invited them to church on sunday but they didn´t want to come. Otilia said she tried praying about the Church, but didn´t get an answer. We are encouraging her to keep praying, but I don´t know how easy it will be for her to get an answer if she won´t even come to church.
* We´ve committed Graciela, the mother of our ward mission leader, to baptism! She told us not to tell him yet, it´s a surprise. She hasn´t come to church yet, but we´re working on that. She has a lot of faith in God and really wants to be able to live with her deceased husband again. I´m excited to keep teaching her.
* Hna Scott and I have been assigned to teach a workshop at zone conference on "receiving revelation through the Book of Mormon" we are focusing on how to help our investigators receive testimonies through the Spirit of the Book of Mormon. We´ve put in a lot of work, so hopefully we´ll be well prepared to teach it on Thursday.
* Celeste and Mario, our favorite investigators, are still going strong. They didn´t make it to church yesterday because Mario was sick, but they felt really bad about it and said they are coming next week. This week they will start filing their papers so they can get married this month.
* Hna Scott has been doing her part to help us do our service hours this week by cutting hair (among her other talents, she went to a year of hair school before the mission). I think she did 3 or 4 people´s hair this week. It´s proving to be a great way to gain the confidence of the members and investigators. I can teach a thought while she cuts the hair of our captive audience. She cut my hair today too, just for fun, not for service. I´ll try to send a picture eventually. It looks a little different (more tapering around my face and layers), but nothing drastic. I like it.
* Our investigator Victor still doesn´t want to quit smoking and drinking. He was drinking beer in front of his house last time we visited him. We haven´t given up yet though. We´re planning on teaching him with a member present tonight and showing him the Restoration movie. We´re hoping that if he has a testimony of Joseph Smith, he´ll have the will power to quit!
* Teresa, the woman I committed to baptism a couple weeks ago, says she´s too busy to keep listening to us. I think the Joseph Smith story and prophets thing scared her off. I´m really sad about it. We´re going to stop by one more time today and see if we can explain things better so she feels more comfortable, but we might have to stop teaching her.
* We´ve started teaching a 16 year old kid named Alisander who´s dating a girl in our branch named Rocio. She´s only 14, so I´m hoping that if he becomes interested in the church they´ll make good choices together and stop dating until she turns 16. He´s a good kid, he´s just had a hard life and not had a lot of people to teach him what´s right. Rocio´s family is letting us teach Alisander in their house and Rocio´s older brother is a recent RM, so they are going to be a big help in his conversion process. He´s already come to church twice, so that´s a good sign.
* Otilia and Luz have started attending a pentecostal church across the street from their house. We invited them to church on sunday but they didn´t want to come. Otilia said she tried praying about the Church, but didn´t get an answer. We are encouraging her to keep praying, but I don´t know how easy it will be for her to get an answer if she won´t even come to church.
* We´ve committed Graciela, the mother of our ward mission leader, to baptism! She told us not to tell him yet, it´s a surprise. She hasn´t come to church yet, but we´re working on that. She has a lot of faith in God and really wants to be able to live with her deceased husband again. I´m excited to keep teaching her.
A New Girl Named Hermana Clark, 11/1/10
I thought I would spend some time in this letter describing someone I´ve been getting to know here. Her name is Hermana Clark. She often reminds me of another girl I used to know (I think her name may have been Ellis?). Like that other girl I used to know, Hermana Clark is learning to speak Spanish, but she calls it Castellano and pronounces ys and lls like sh/j as in Jean val Jean. In contrast to the Ellis girl (I´m almost sure that´s what her name was), Hna. Clark behaves rather strangely-- she approaches complete strangers in the street and starts conversations with them-- frequently inviting them to church or offering them pamphlets. Hna. Clark appears to be about 10 lbs skinnier than the other girl, perhaps because she spends all day walking and eats only a snack for dinner (you wouldn´t be hungry for dinner either if people fed you mountains of pasta or slices and slices of pizza or a stack of milanesa for lunch almost every day). One of the striking things about her is her interesting skill set-- she knows how to order pizza and icecream (occassionally) over the phone in Castellano, how to cook on a gas stove, how to make very busy people stop walking and listen to her, how to conjugate vos (the Argentine informal you), and how to scare off mangy growling street dogs by pretending to reach down and grab a rock (why the dogs don´t realize there are no rocks to throw is beyone me). Sometimes I think my new friend Hermana Clark IS that Ellis girl, but she can´t be. Hermana Clark always wears a skirt, is generally covered in dust from the knees down (from walking on dirt streets all day), more often than not has blisters on her heels, has a very dramatic farmers tan, and has strange tan lines on her feet from her shoe straps. Even so, the similarity is striking. But every time I´m almost convinced they are the same girl, I notice the missionary name tag: Hermana Clark. Definitely not the same girl. At least not quite.
This week Hermana Scott and I have been enjoying teaching our golden investigators Celeste and Mario. I almost don´t know what to do, it´s so easy. Every thing we teach them they accept with no problems, as if it´s incredibly obvious that our message is the truth. On Wednesday Celeste asked us, without being prompted, how the whole family could be baptized! We said she and Mario had to get married first and she was like "oh, ok." She talked to Mario and he´s all for it. He said something like "it´s about time, we have four kids and have been together 17 years, so why not?" Yesterday Celeste and Mario came to church with one of their daughters, Jasmín. We gave Celeste and Mario a copy of the Book of Mormon so they could use it during church. By the time we visited that afternoon, Celeste had read all the introduction about Joseph Smith and 3/8 witness pages in the front. (Mario had work on something, so he wasn´t there) We asked her if she thought that it was possible that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon was true. She said something like, "oh, it has to be true". Apparently as she read the Joseph Smith pamphlet we gave her and the first pages of the BoM, she felt strongly that it was true. Then she said something like "The United States is so blessed to have the truth. No wonder the church sends missionaries all over the world to preach the gospel-- everyone needs to hear this!" I couldn´t believe it! Why can´t everyone be like Celeste and Mario?
A more difficult, but incredibly important, experience this week was when our investigators Otilia and Luz (a mother and her 11 year old daughter) told us they didn´t want to be baptized on Saturday. Otilia started saying she wasn´t ready on Monday, but we kept coming and preparing great lessons to teach them and trying to be excited for their baptism. After all, you don´t have to know everything about the gospel or be perfectly sure to be baptized, right? I guess we put on a lot of pressure. Thursday night we organized a family night with our ward mission leader for Otilia and Luz, but they didn´t show up. We went to look for them and felt prompted together to tell them we loved them. We did that and talked to them for about half an hour. Otilia told us that in all the dozens of times she has come to church, she´s never felt anything. We talked about that, about what the Spirit is like and how important baptism is. We kept saying over and over how much we cared about them. I thought it went really well, but they didn´t come to the family night and were still not talking about being baptized. Finally on Friday, the day before the baptism, we went to talk to Otilia about the baptism. She said she wasn´t going to get baptized. We tried everything we could think of to say: we tried to explain that baptism is an act of faith and I piped in and explained the difference between spiritual and scientific knowledge and how she didn´t have to know the church was true, just have faith that it was. Otilia got really frustrated, understandably-- she said she just didn´t feel ready. She´s studied the Bible and other churches a lot and wants to be sure of what she´s doing before she makes a covenant like baptism. She said she agrees with all the things we teach, but doesn´t know enough yet to be baptized. She was worried because her son in law and daughter Nancy are members, but they don´t go to church and her son in law drinks and sometimes beats Nancy. If the church is true, she wanted to know, why does her son in law do that? She told us if she got baptized it would only be because we told her too, and she didn´t want that. She said she might get baptized some day, but she needs to know for sure, and right now all she can concentrate on is taking care of Luz and worrying about Nancy. Wow. Suddenly things sort of came together for me. I knew (or thought I knew. Maybe I was wrong) that Otilia would be blessed if she got baptized the next day, but at the same time it was really clear that for her to get baptized she would be sacrificing her integrity and her very righteous desire to be absolutely sure before making a covenant with God. I.E. if she did the right thing by being baptized, she would be giving up that beautiful part of herself that made her unique and good, which would be very wrong. What a paradox! On top of that, we had been focusing on baptism but neglecting her other very important needs--like having her family taken care of. We stopped insisting right then. We told her we were still her friends and that we would keep coming by to teach her and help her. We promised to fast for Nancy and visit Nancy and her husband to try to make the problem better. We told her we loved her and that whenever SHE felt ready, she could still get baptized. We felt at peace about that.
Lesson learned: Trying to baptize someone at all costs does not work. Period. If you don´t treat them with charity and try to make sure their other important needs are met, then you have forgotten the point of baptism. And if they don´t feel ready (more than just nerves not feeling ready), baptism isn´t good for them yet. It´s a life long covenant, not a box to be checked off. I imagine that I´m going to be a very different missionary because of this experience.
One last bit of news: we had 11 investigators in sacrament meeting on Sunday-- a record for me in the mission!
This week Hermana Scott and I have been enjoying teaching our golden investigators Celeste and Mario. I almost don´t know what to do, it´s so easy. Every thing we teach them they accept with no problems, as if it´s incredibly obvious that our message is the truth. On Wednesday Celeste asked us, without being prompted, how the whole family could be baptized! We said she and Mario had to get married first and she was like "oh, ok." She talked to Mario and he´s all for it. He said something like "it´s about time, we have four kids and have been together 17 years, so why not?" Yesterday Celeste and Mario came to church with one of their daughters, Jasmín. We gave Celeste and Mario a copy of the Book of Mormon so they could use it during church. By the time we visited that afternoon, Celeste had read all the introduction about Joseph Smith and 3/8 witness pages in the front. (Mario had work on something, so he wasn´t there) We asked her if she thought that it was possible that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon was true. She said something like, "oh, it has to be true". Apparently as she read the Joseph Smith pamphlet we gave her and the first pages of the BoM, she felt strongly that it was true. Then she said something like "The United States is so blessed to have the truth. No wonder the church sends missionaries all over the world to preach the gospel-- everyone needs to hear this!" I couldn´t believe it! Why can´t everyone be like Celeste and Mario?
A more difficult, but incredibly important, experience this week was when our investigators Otilia and Luz (a mother and her 11 year old daughter) told us they didn´t want to be baptized on Saturday. Otilia started saying she wasn´t ready on Monday, but we kept coming and preparing great lessons to teach them and trying to be excited for their baptism. After all, you don´t have to know everything about the gospel or be perfectly sure to be baptized, right? I guess we put on a lot of pressure. Thursday night we organized a family night with our ward mission leader for Otilia and Luz, but they didn´t show up. We went to look for them and felt prompted together to tell them we loved them. We did that and talked to them for about half an hour. Otilia told us that in all the dozens of times she has come to church, she´s never felt anything. We talked about that, about what the Spirit is like and how important baptism is. We kept saying over and over how much we cared about them. I thought it went really well, but they didn´t come to the family night and were still not talking about being baptized. Finally on Friday, the day before the baptism, we went to talk to Otilia about the baptism. She said she wasn´t going to get baptized. We tried everything we could think of to say: we tried to explain that baptism is an act of faith and I piped in and explained the difference between spiritual and scientific knowledge and how she didn´t have to know the church was true, just have faith that it was. Otilia got really frustrated, understandably-- she said she just didn´t feel ready. She´s studied the Bible and other churches a lot and wants to be sure of what she´s doing before she makes a covenant like baptism. She said she agrees with all the things we teach, but doesn´t know enough yet to be baptized. She was worried because her son in law and daughter Nancy are members, but they don´t go to church and her son in law drinks and sometimes beats Nancy. If the church is true, she wanted to know, why does her son in law do that? She told us if she got baptized it would only be because we told her too, and she didn´t want that. She said she might get baptized some day, but she needs to know for sure, and right now all she can concentrate on is taking care of Luz and worrying about Nancy. Wow. Suddenly things sort of came together for me. I knew (or thought I knew. Maybe I was wrong) that Otilia would be blessed if she got baptized the next day, but at the same time it was really clear that for her to get baptized she would be sacrificing her integrity and her very righteous desire to be absolutely sure before making a covenant with God. I.E. if she did the right thing by being baptized, she would be giving up that beautiful part of herself that made her unique and good, which would be very wrong. What a paradox! On top of that, we had been focusing on baptism but neglecting her other very important needs--like having her family taken care of. We stopped insisting right then. We told her we were still her friends and that we would keep coming by to teach her and help her. We promised to fast for Nancy and visit Nancy and her husband to try to make the problem better. We told her we loved her and that whenever SHE felt ready, she could still get baptized. We felt at peace about that.
Lesson learned: Trying to baptize someone at all costs does not work. Period. If you don´t treat them with charity and try to make sure their other important needs are met, then you have forgotten the point of baptism. And if they don´t feel ready (more than just nerves not feeling ready), baptism isn´t good for them yet. It´s a life long covenant, not a box to be checked off. I imagine that I´m going to be a very different missionary because of this experience.
One last bit of news: we had 11 investigators in sacrament meeting on Sunday-- a record for me in the mission!
Starting Traslado! 10/25/10
On Wednesday Hna. Lopez and I went to Ramos for the transfer meeting. After much suspense and gossiping about who would be companions with who, the slide show with the changes finally started. Hna. Lopez is now with Hna. Lewis (we hope we can go on divisions someday so we can be Lewis and Clark) in Billinghurst, a brand new area for sisters. There were elders there before, but there weren´t very many baptisms, so Pres. Benton decided to bring in a completely new companionship of sisters instead of changing just one missionary out at a time. We call that a whitewash. My new companion is Hna. Scott. She is really nice. (Interesting fact: she sung on Canadian Idol. You should see if you can find her on youtube) I tried really hard not to cry as we waited for a remis (taxi) to take us back to Lujan, but I finally couldn´t help it anymore. Fortunately, Hna. Scott was very sympathetic and encouraging about my nerves about directing the area. I felt better almost right away.
The new traslado is going well so far. Directing the area isn´t as hard as I thought it would be. I was kind of getting tired of that walking around in a cloud not paying attention thing I do sometimes when someone else is in charge--having to direct the area has helped me snap out of it (I just wish I could have snapped out of it more before Hna. Lopez left! I would have been a better companion.) . I have more responsibility now to know what is going on, but not so much that it is overwhelming, especially because Hna. Scott is still Senior comp and she´s done divisions here several times and knows lots of the members already. We´ve been frustrated this week because most of our numbers are much lower than usual for this area (between the zone and district activity and packing for transfers nothing got done the first part of the week, and then we had weekly planning on Thursday and district meeting on Friday, so there just hasn´t been enough time to work), but our most important numbers are still high, so it´s ok. We had 7 investigators in sacrament meeting and one baptism this weekend! And even though our other numbers are low, we´ve been working really hard and finding lots of great people, which is definitely more important! Now that I´ve realized I was more ready than I thought to direct the area, I feel a lot better about my skills as a missionary. I´ve been feeling happier than usual because I know I´m doing my best and I´m going to keep learning and getting better!
The highlight of the week was when Karen got baptized. She is a 9 year old girl who started coming to church with her Grandma. Her Grandma died a couple years ago, but she kept coming to church with her older sister, who got baptized sometime in the last year or so. Our district president, Tato Peralta, baptized her. She is very serious and intelligent for a girl her age. I think she must have been nervous, because she hardly smiled the whole baptism, just kept this serious look on her face the whole time. Maybe that just means she really understood how important baptism is. She´s a really neat little kid. It was a really special baptism because the Peralta family really loves Karen and her sister, Antonela. They organized the whole thing so we hardly had to do anything. When Hna. Peralta gave the welcoming speach to Karen she had tears in her eyes and told Karen that the Primary would always be there to help her and teach her every week. She also told Karen how happy her grandmother would be that she is getting baptized. I´ll try to send you some of the pictures I took.
The unhighlight of the week was getting food poisoning, if that´s really what I have. On Saturday afternoon I started feeling a little queasy, then got aches and chills. It was bad, but I kept working as best I could. I went to bed early on Saturday and woke up on Sunday feeling better-ish. I didn´t have aches or chills anymore, but I still felt queasy. During the district conference I kept falling asleep (que verguenza!) and by the time we got to our lunch appointment I was feeling pretty nauseous. Hna. Norma Peralta (Tato´s mom) gave me a plate of potato salad and milanesa. I wanted to try to eat, but I just couldn´t. When I explained I was sick, Hna. Peralta went into Mother with a sick child mode. She gave me toast and jam instead, then ordered me to go sleep on the sofa while everyone else ate. I slept for nearly two hours while Hna Scott chatted with the Peralta family. When I woke up Hna Peralta took us back to the pension. By this time I was feeling a lot better, so I ate some crackers to keep my strength up and we went out to teach a lesson. We had to come back within an hour because I was feeling gross again, but half an hour later we prayed I would feel better and then left again because we had an important teaching appointment. I guess the prayer worked because I felt reasonably well and was able to teach until we came back to the pension again that night. Last night I threw up (sorry for the TMI), but since then I´ve been feeling almost completely better. My stomach just hurts a little and still feels slightly queasy. I almost can´t notice I´m sick some of the time. And this morning we bought some medicine with a long name that Hna. Benton (mission president´s wife) recommended, so hopefully that will clear up the last of my symptoms. The funny thing is that whenever the members find out I´m sick they start giving me advice and handing me medicine. I took some of it, but I think now I´m going to stick with what Hna. Benton said to take. And people keep telling me to eat cheese. Isn´t that bad for indigestion? We don´t have any anyway. Don´t worry about me, I´m almost better and the members/Hermana Benton/Hna Scott are taking good care of me.
I´ve run over my email time again, but two more pieces of good news: On Friday I sacked a fech (Missionary spanglish for sacar una fecha, i.e. set a date for baptism) with our investigator Teresa. She this really neat single mom who with 5 kids who´s husband died just over a year ago. She really liked the plan of salvation pamphlet (we use the pamphlets a lot here. I´m beginning to think of them as an addition to the stanard works) and was totally cool with having a baptismal date. She needed very little persuading. And that means all her kids can get baptized too! I´m really excited for them and proud of me for being brave enough to set the date with her!
Mario and Celeste, this couple Hna. Lopez and I found while contacting surprised us by coming to church for the first time last Sunday-- we didn´t think they were that interested. Then Hna. Scott and I visited them on Saturday and Celeste told us that even though she and Mario argued all the way to church (we heard them shouting from outside their house once-- they have REAL arguments), they calmed down and started holding hands as soon as they entered the church. I was thrilled of course and asked her if they had prayed yet to know the church is true. Celeste was almost annoyed-- she said they already know it´s true! She told us that while listening to the sacrament talks both she and her husband felt very clearly that they had found the right church. Isn´t that awesome?! We just need to help them get married and keep coming to church, and then they can get baptized, and hopefully their two oldest kids too!
The new traslado is going well so far. Directing the area isn´t as hard as I thought it would be. I was kind of getting tired of that walking around in a cloud not paying attention thing I do sometimes when someone else is in charge--having to direct the area has helped me snap out of it (I just wish I could have snapped out of it more before Hna. Lopez left! I would have been a better companion.) . I have more responsibility now to know what is going on, but not so much that it is overwhelming, especially because Hna. Scott is still Senior comp and she´s done divisions here several times and knows lots of the members already. We´ve been frustrated this week because most of our numbers are much lower than usual for this area (between the zone and district activity and packing for transfers nothing got done the first part of the week, and then we had weekly planning on Thursday and district meeting on Friday, so there just hasn´t been enough time to work), but our most important numbers are still high, so it´s ok. We had 7 investigators in sacrament meeting and one baptism this weekend! And even though our other numbers are low, we´ve been working really hard and finding lots of great people, which is definitely more important! Now that I´ve realized I was more ready than I thought to direct the area, I feel a lot better about my skills as a missionary. I´ve been feeling happier than usual because I know I´m doing my best and I´m going to keep learning and getting better!
The highlight of the week was when Karen got baptized. She is a 9 year old girl who started coming to church with her Grandma. Her Grandma died a couple years ago, but she kept coming to church with her older sister, who got baptized sometime in the last year or so. Our district president, Tato Peralta, baptized her. She is very serious and intelligent for a girl her age. I think she must have been nervous, because she hardly smiled the whole baptism, just kept this serious look on her face the whole time. Maybe that just means she really understood how important baptism is. She´s a really neat little kid. It was a really special baptism because the Peralta family really loves Karen and her sister, Antonela. They organized the whole thing so we hardly had to do anything. When Hna. Peralta gave the welcoming speach to Karen she had tears in her eyes and told Karen that the Primary would always be there to help her and teach her every week. She also told Karen how happy her grandmother would be that she is getting baptized. I´ll try to send you some of the pictures I took.
The unhighlight of the week was getting food poisoning, if that´s really what I have. On Saturday afternoon I started feeling a little queasy, then got aches and chills. It was bad, but I kept working as best I could. I went to bed early on Saturday and woke up on Sunday feeling better-ish. I didn´t have aches or chills anymore, but I still felt queasy. During the district conference I kept falling asleep (que verguenza!) and by the time we got to our lunch appointment I was feeling pretty nauseous. Hna. Norma Peralta (Tato´s mom) gave me a plate of potato salad and milanesa. I wanted to try to eat, but I just couldn´t. When I explained I was sick, Hna. Peralta went into Mother with a sick child mode. She gave me toast and jam instead, then ordered me to go sleep on the sofa while everyone else ate. I slept for nearly two hours while Hna Scott chatted with the Peralta family. When I woke up Hna Peralta took us back to the pension. By this time I was feeling a lot better, so I ate some crackers to keep my strength up and we went out to teach a lesson. We had to come back within an hour because I was feeling gross again, but half an hour later we prayed I would feel better and then left again because we had an important teaching appointment. I guess the prayer worked because I felt reasonably well and was able to teach until we came back to the pension again that night. Last night I threw up (sorry for the TMI), but since then I´ve been feeling almost completely better. My stomach just hurts a little and still feels slightly queasy. I almost can´t notice I´m sick some of the time. And this morning we bought some medicine with a long name that Hna. Benton (mission president´s wife) recommended, so hopefully that will clear up the last of my symptoms. The funny thing is that whenever the members find out I´m sick they start giving me advice and handing me medicine. I took some of it, but I think now I´m going to stick with what Hna. Benton said to take. And people keep telling me to eat cheese. Isn´t that bad for indigestion? We don´t have any anyway. Don´t worry about me, I´m almost better and the members/Hermana Benton/Hna Scott are taking good care of me.
I´ve run over my email time again, but two more pieces of good news: On Friday I sacked a fech (Missionary spanglish for sacar una fecha, i.e. set a date for baptism) with our investigator Teresa. She this really neat single mom who with 5 kids who´s husband died just over a year ago. She really liked the plan of salvation pamphlet (we use the pamphlets a lot here. I´m beginning to think of them as an addition to the stanard works) and was totally cool with having a baptismal date. She needed very little persuading. And that means all her kids can get baptized too! I´m really excited for them and proud of me for being brave enough to set the date with her!
Mario and Celeste, this couple Hna. Lopez and I found while contacting surprised us by coming to church for the first time last Sunday-- we didn´t think they were that interested. Then Hna. Scott and I visited them on Saturday and Celeste told us that even though she and Mario argued all the way to church (we heard them shouting from outside their house once-- they have REAL arguments), they calmed down and started holding hands as soon as they entered the church. I was thrilled of course and asked her if they had prayed yet to know the church is true. Celeste was almost annoyed-- she said they already know it´s true! She told us that while listening to the sacrament talks both she and her husband felt very clearly that they had found the right church. Isn´t that awesome?! We just need to help them get married and keep coming to church, and then they can get baptized, and hopefully their two oldest kids too!
Another crazy week! 10/18/10
I had another action packed week. I´ll try to share the most important parts.
First of all, HAPPY MOTHER´S DAY, Mom! No, I´m not confused about the date. In Argentina, Mother´s day is celebrated in October. So yesterday was mother´s day. Hermana López and I made little notes that said "Happy Mother´s Day" and stapled candy to them. Then we gave them out to the sisters in our branch and used the extras to contact women on the street. That was fun. I spent some extra time thinking about you, Mom, how lucky I am to have a mother as wonderful as you are, and how much I want to be like you. I wish I could have given you something too! I heard that the native Argentine missionaries got to call their moms yesterday. I was a little jealous! :)
The big event of the week was doing divisions again, this time with Hermanas Hulen and Salazar from Ciudad Evita. And this time I stayed in Luján with Hermana Salazar to "direct the area"-- that meant I had to plan who to visit, start all the lessons, and be responsible for meeting our daily goals, not to mention find my way around the area without my companion´s help! We switched companions on Wednesday afternoon and switched back again after lunch on Thursday. I was nervous, but not as nervous as had thought I would be. Things went well. Using my trusty map I was able to find where we needed to go and our Wednesday night teaching appointment was a success! Our new investigators, Victor and Lorena, really liked the pamphlet of lesson 1 and said they would pray about it. They were really talkative and loved to share their opinion(like many Argentines), but when I started sharing the First Vision they fell dead silent and just listened. It was great! It helped that Hermana Salazar was there to help me out. She is from Noequen, a province in Southern Argentina. She was so warm and friendly! She treated everyone we met like an old friend and it worked wonders. The investigators and members we saw that Wednesday night liked her so much that they were all feeding us and giving us things to take home to our apartment-- even the taxi driver who took us home didn´t charge us! I felt like all those people being nice to us were sort of a reminder of God´s love for me regardless of my imperfect missionary abilities. It was really special.
Things got harder that night in our apartment and the next morning. Since we visited our investigator Amalia the night before we had double checked that she still wanted to be baptized on Friday and that she knew everything for the interview. We had the green light on both those points, but that meant that I had to rush to organize the baptism and the all important baptismal interview by myself! I had to make phone calls and ask people for favors (both things I am not fond of) in Spanish! And it was all last minute, which made it more awkward and stressful to ask people to do what I needed! Thursday morning was hectic because I had to keep calling people, then beg my district leader to make a last minute visit to Amalia´s house to interview her. I wasn´t even sure Amalia would be home when we got there! When we got to Amalia´s house, she wasn´t home, but we started talking to her neighbor (also an investigator) and by the time we were done talking to him, she came home! I called the district leader and we managed to pull off the interview! Somehow everything worked out. I felt so worn out! Boy, was I glad to see Hermana Lopez again! It was a good experience for me though.
Yikes, I´m out of time again! Here are the other really important things that happened briefly:
-- Amalia´s baptism fell through! We went to pick her up to go be baptized and she wouldn´t come with us! She said she was tired and all sorts of other excuses and no amount of pleading and explanation of the importance of baptism could get her to come with us. We had to go to the chapel and explain to the 10 or so members waiting there that we weren´t going to have a baptism after all! That was a disappointment. I was able to take it in stride, but Hermana Lopez was pretty torn up about it. The next day though, a member from the ward told us that he had seen Amalia smoking recently. She lied to us, apparently. So maybe that´s why she didn´t want to be baptized. There are some hidden blessing though. At least we only spent a week working with her, so we didn´t waste too much time that could have been spent working with better investigators. And learning to love Amalia and serve her was a really good experience, even if she didn´t get baptized. In case you´re wondering, we usually don´t go back when someone lets us down like that. We have to spend our time with people who are ready for the gospel and keep their commitments, so I doubt we´ll ever visit her again. I feel bad because I wanted to help her, but it was her choice not to get baptized.
-- My first transfer (6 week period) is over! We have transfer meeting on Wednesday. We just found out last night that Hermana Lopez is receiving another assignment, so she will be leaving Luján and leaving me here. This is very unusual, because trainers don´t usually leave their new missionaries until after 2 transfers. Since she is my "mother" in mission slang, I have had a very short childhood! My next companion will be my "aunt". I´m kind of freaked out. I´m going to miss Hna. Lòpez! AND now I will have to direct the area (just like during divisions), even though my "aunt" will be the senior companion. This means a lot more responsibility to coordinate things and having to talk and communicate a lot more with the investigators. So I have some challenging weeks ahead. But I´m excited for this challenge because I know that I´m going to grow a lot. I know Pres. Benton wouldn´t have given me this assignment if he didn´t think I could do it. Still, I know there are some rough moments coming up ahead. Please continue to pray for me so that I can have the confidence and courage I need to fill my responsibilities.
First of all, HAPPY MOTHER´S DAY, Mom! No, I´m not confused about the date. In Argentina, Mother´s day is celebrated in October. So yesterday was mother´s day. Hermana López and I made little notes that said "Happy Mother´s Day" and stapled candy to them. Then we gave them out to the sisters in our branch and used the extras to contact women on the street. That was fun. I spent some extra time thinking about you, Mom, how lucky I am to have a mother as wonderful as you are, and how much I want to be like you. I wish I could have given you something too! I heard that the native Argentine missionaries got to call their moms yesterday. I was a little jealous! :)
The big event of the week was doing divisions again, this time with Hermanas Hulen and Salazar from Ciudad Evita. And this time I stayed in Luján with Hermana Salazar to "direct the area"-- that meant I had to plan who to visit, start all the lessons, and be responsible for meeting our daily goals, not to mention find my way around the area without my companion´s help! We switched companions on Wednesday afternoon and switched back again after lunch on Thursday. I was nervous, but not as nervous as had thought I would be. Things went well. Using my trusty map I was able to find where we needed to go and our Wednesday night teaching appointment was a success! Our new investigators, Victor and Lorena, really liked the pamphlet of lesson 1 and said they would pray about it. They were really talkative and loved to share their opinion(like many Argentines), but when I started sharing the First Vision they fell dead silent and just listened. It was great! It helped that Hermana Salazar was there to help me out. She is from Noequen, a province in Southern Argentina. She was so warm and friendly! She treated everyone we met like an old friend and it worked wonders. The investigators and members we saw that Wednesday night liked her so much that they were all feeding us and giving us things to take home to our apartment-- even the taxi driver who took us home didn´t charge us! I felt like all those people being nice to us were sort of a reminder of God´s love for me regardless of my imperfect missionary abilities. It was really special.
Things got harder that night in our apartment and the next morning. Since we visited our investigator Amalia the night before we had double checked that she still wanted to be baptized on Friday and that she knew everything for the interview. We had the green light on both those points, but that meant that I had to rush to organize the baptism and the all important baptismal interview by myself! I had to make phone calls and ask people for favors (both things I am not fond of) in Spanish! And it was all last minute, which made it more awkward and stressful to ask people to do what I needed! Thursday morning was hectic because I had to keep calling people, then beg my district leader to make a last minute visit to Amalia´s house to interview her. I wasn´t even sure Amalia would be home when we got there! When we got to Amalia´s house, she wasn´t home, but we started talking to her neighbor (also an investigator) and by the time we were done talking to him, she came home! I called the district leader and we managed to pull off the interview! Somehow everything worked out. I felt so worn out! Boy, was I glad to see Hermana Lopez again! It was a good experience for me though.
Yikes, I´m out of time again! Here are the other really important things that happened briefly:
-- Amalia´s baptism fell through! We went to pick her up to go be baptized and she wouldn´t come with us! She said she was tired and all sorts of other excuses and no amount of pleading and explanation of the importance of baptism could get her to come with us. We had to go to the chapel and explain to the 10 or so members waiting there that we weren´t going to have a baptism after all! That was a disappointment. I was able to take it in stride, but Hermana Lopez was pretty torn up about it. The next day though, a member from the ward told us that he had seen Amalia smoking recently. She lied to us, apparently. So maybe that´s why she didn´t want to be baptized. There are some hidden blessing though. At least we only spent a week working with her, so we didn´t waste too much time that could have been spent working with better investigators. And learning to love Amalia and serve her was a really good experience, even if she didn´t get baptized. In case you´re wondering, we usually don´t go back when someone lets us down like that. We have to spend our time with people who are ready for the gospel and keep their commitments, so I doubt we´ll ever visit her again. I feel bad because I wanted to help her, but it was her choice not to get baptized.
-- My first transfer (6 week period) is over! We have transfer meeting on Wednesday. We just found out last night that Hermana Lopez is receiving another assignment, so she will be leaving Luján and leaving me here. This is very unusual, because trainers don´t usually leave their new missionaries until after 2 transfers. Since she is my "mother" in mission slang, I have had a very short childhood! My next companion will be my "aunt". I´m kind of freaked out. I´m going to miss Hna. Lòpez! AND now I will have to direct the area (just like during divisions), even though my "aunt" will be the senior companion. This means a lot more responsibility to coordinate things and having to talk and communicate a lot more with the investigators. So I have some challenging weeks ahead. But I´m excited for this challenge because I know that I´m going to grow a lot. I know Pres. Benton wouldn´t have given me this assignment if he didn´t think I could do it. Still, I know there are some rough moments coming up ahead. Please continue to pray for me so that I can have the confidence and courage I need to fill my responsibilities.
Week de 10! & Divisions w/ an Elder! 10/11/10
Last week was a week de 10!
My zone is leading the mission in "effectiveness" (I´m not entirely sure how they calculate that) and Hermana Lopez and I made it into the Super 5! Being in the Super 5 means we reached our weekly goals in 5 important areas: baptisms, lessons with member, other lessons, references contacted, and contacts. In other words, we are high achievers in the mission!
Here are some of the highlights of each day:
Monday: District activity! We went to WalMart (it felt almost like I was back in the US) and bought food (I acquired a jar of peanut butter, which I had been craving for no other reason than that it is hard to find here), then walked to our capilla so Elder Zapata could cook us lunch. He made fideos (pasta) with chicken and tomato sauce and garlic bread. Only, we forgot that our church building has only silverware and cups, not plates! We made do by eating mountains (literally) of pasta off of a couple cookie sheets and the, er, sacrament trays. Don´t worry, we washed them really well afterwards! :)
Tuesday: District meeting. We watched one of the Preach my Gospel videos, then broke our zone wide fast for baptisms together by eating alfajores. (Dad can explain what they are) Afterwards, Hermana Lopez and I went down town to pay our gas bill and got icecream on the way. I had a chocolate dipped cone with two flavors: dulce de leche con brownie and chocolate suizo-- wow! It was so good! That icecream put me in a good mood for the rest of the day!
Wednesday: Training meeting in Ramos Mejia and going on divisions-- with an elder! (shocking!) We had a special conference for trainers and newbies at the mission office in Ramos. It started at 8 am , so we had to get up at 4:30ish to get ready and take the bus and then the train. Because riding the train in the morning can be a little crazy, we arranged to meet Elder Workman and Elder Valencia in Moreno and travel with them to Ramos. Little did I know how crazy the morning train can be! When we got on the train it was pretty full, so there was only standing room. Hermana Lopez stood to one side of the door with Elder Workman to chat with him and I stood on the other side and talked to Elder Valencia, who is from Peru. At each stop, more and more people got on the train. Hermana Lopez told me to stay close, but I thought I already was-- I was standing about 6 feet away, after all. Soon all the people cramming into the train pushed me and Elder Valencia back into the aisle. Everyone was crammed in tight-- there was barely any room to move. I still didn´t think much of it-- a crowded train seemed like no big deal, and I could still see Herman Lopez´s head above the crowd. Soon we were almost at our stop. We´re going to have to push our way out, Elder Valencia told me. And suddenly I realized that jammed in like we were, leaving the train might be a problem. The train stopped at the station in Ramos and the doors opened. A sea of people tried to force their way on to the train! Everyone inside was trying to get out and everyone outside was trying to get in! It reminded me of mob scenes in the movies! Elder Workman shouted to Elder Valencia "Bring the hermana with you!" He took the command literally. He threw one arm around me and started dragging me through the crowd towards the doors. We both pushed as hard as we could, but no one would let us through. Hermana Lopez and Elder Workman managed to squeeze off the train and started shouting at the crowd to let us off too. Elder Valencia was halfway out the door, but I was right behind him and still stuck. The train was pulling away! Hermana Lopez shouted at him not to leave me alone, so Elder Workman shoved Elder Valencia back into the train. Elder Chapman ran alongside the train and yelled to us to get off at the next station. The doors somehow shut without hitting anyone. Personal space was zero. Elder Valencia and I were crammed face to face against the train doors with no room to back away from each other-- awkward! We literally couldn´t move because there were so many people. It was like being a sardine! At the next stop, Linears, we had to push again because the doors on the opposite side were the ones that opened! I stuck right behind Elder Valencia and somehow we squeezed out onto the platform. A host of rules were being violently broken-- we were now outside mission boundaries, without our companions, and alone together! Not to mention that Elder Valencia lost his nametage in the crush in the train-- another violation! And the funniest part was that none of it was our fault! We joked that we were on divisions together. I couldn´t help laughing. Fortunately for the propriety of the situation, we ran into a pair of elders who had taken the wrong train. We traveled with them back to Ramos where we met our very relieved companions. What a trip! It was kind of a scary situation, but I felt really calm the whole time. Mostly it was just very, very funny. My first crazy mission story! To top it off, when we got to the meeting, the first thing President Benton talked about was the importance of staying with your companion at all times! Hermana Lopez was cringing in guilt, but I just tried not to giggle.
Thursday: I set a personal record by contacting 18 people in one day!
Friday: We talked with Otilia, one of our investigators, whose previous baptismal date had fallen through because she was never home to meet with us and didn´t come to church. We reset the date for next weekend and she seemed a lot more excited about baptism than the first time! Her daughter, Luz, will get baptized with her the same day! Only, we found out she smokes! Fortunately, she says she only smokes one cigarette every few weeks. We told her she could only get baptized if she stopped smoking for good that day and didn´t relapse. She agreed. I think she is going to make it!
Saturday: A day of craziness and miracles! We finally found Alejandro, an investigator who was set to be baptized on Sunday. He had cut his really long hair short, was wearing clean clothes, and said he had stopped drinking-- excellent! AND he still wanted to be baptized the next day! Only, when we practiced the baptismal interview with him, he told us he and his spouse were juntada (living together), not married! Aaarg! We told him he´d have to wait a little bit and get married first. He may have a lot of work to do first-- the day we stopped by she was REALLY angry with him. She thinks he is interested in us and not in the church (even thought he is 60ish and we are 21 and 22!). Awkward/drama!
Then we went to an appointment with a new investigator. She started crying because her baby daughter died three years ago and her 8 year old daughter is still upset about it and her husband left her in the street--all good reasons to cry. I was crying too! We left her the Plan of Salvation pamphlet and told her to read it and pray about it. I think she is going to progress! I hope so, because I really want to help her!
Next we contacted an old woman, Amalia, and tried to help her cut her grass (with a shovel=tricky). I tried to teach her while Hna. Lopez cut the grass, but she said she already knew the church! It turns out the elders taught her over a year ago but she never got baptized, even though she met all the requirements. We invited her right then to be baptized and she said yes! She and her mentally disabled daughter who lives with her (who was taught too) are going to get baptized next week! It was so cool that when one investigator fell through, we immediately found another one!
That afternoon Braian Banega (14), the first investigator I ever invited to be baptized, was baptized by his dad, Claudio. Now his family (2 parents, 8 kids, all recent converts) isn´t a part member family any more! Braian looked really happy. The spirit was really strong when Claudio baptized Braian. Only, he had to do it twice because Braian didn´t go all the way under the first time. Claudio joked afterwards that he had to do it twice because Braian was so full of sins! Anyway, I guess that part was funnier in Spanish. I´m so happy that Braian got baptized!
Sunday: More miracles! We had 9 investigators in sacrament meeting! Really 10 investigators in church (fitting for el dia de 10: 10/10/10!), but one had to leave before sacrament meeting (the last block). Getting people to church here is really hard because almost no one has a car. Some people come by motorcycle (whole families will squeeze onto one to get to church!). Fortunatley, Alfredo Peralta, the branch president´s dad, owns an enormous 15 seater van and lets anyone who wants to come to church ride in it! He brought two loads of people to church yesterday! Amalia and her daughter came and I sat next to them and looked out for them during the meetings. It felt good to be able to help them.
My zone is leading the mission in "effectiveness" (I´m not entirely sure how they calculate that) and Hermana Lopez and I made it into the Super 5! Being in the Super 5 means we reached our weekly goals in 5 important areas: baptisms, lessons with member, other lessons, references contacted, and contacts. In other words, we are high achievers in the mission!
Here are some of the highlights of each day:
Monday: District activity! We went to WalMart (it felt almost like I was back in the US) and bought food (I acquired a jar of peanut butter, which I had been craving for no other reason than that it is hard to find here), then walked to our capilla so Elder Zapata could cook us lunch. He made fideos (pasta) with chicken and tomato sauce and garlic bread. Only, we forgot that our church building has only silverware and cups, not plates! We made do by eating mountains (literally) of pasta off of a couple cookie sheets and the, er, sacrament trays. Don´t worry, we washed them really well afterwards! :)
Tuesday: District meeting. We watched one of the Preach my Gospel videos, then broke our zone wide fast for baptisms together by eating alfajores. (Dad can explain what they are) Afterwards, Hermana Lopez and I went down town to pay our gas bill and got icecream on the way. I had a chocolate dipped cone with two flavors: dulce de leche con brownie and chocolate suizo-- wow! It was so good! That icecream put me in a good mood for the rest of the day!
Wednesday: Training meeting in Ramos Mejia and going on divisions-- with an elder! (shocking!) We had a special conference for trainers and newbies at the mission office in Ramos. It started at 8 am , so we had to get up at 4:30ish to get ready and take the bus and then the train. Because riding the train in the morning can be a little crazy, we arranged to meet Elder Workman and Elder Valencia in Moreno and travel with them to Ramos. Little did I know how crazy the morning train can be! When we got on the train it was pretty full, so there was only standing room. Hermana Lopez stood to one side of the door with Elder Workman to chat with him and I stood on the other side and talked to Elder Valencia, who is from Peru. At each stop, more and more people got on the train. Hermana Lopez told me to stay close, but I thought I already was-- I was standing about 6 feet away, after all. Soon all the people cramming into the train pushed me and Elder Valencia back into the aisle. Everyone was crammed in tight-- there was barely any room to move. I still didn´t think much of it-- a crowded train seemed like no big deal, and I could still see Herman Lopez´s head above the crowd. Soon we were almost at our stop. We´re going to have to push our way out, Elder Valencia told me. And suddenly I realized that jammed in like we were, leaving the train might be a problem. The train stopped at the station in Ramos and the doors opened. A sea of people tried to force their way on to the train! Everyone inside was trying to get out and everyone outside was trying to get in! It reminded me of mob scenes in the movies! Elder Workman shouted to Elder Valencia "Bring the hermana with you!" He took the command literally. He threw one arm around me and started dragging me through the crowd towards the doors. We both pushed as hard as we could, but no one would let us through. Hermana Lopez and Elder Workman managed to squeeze off the train and started shouting at the crowd to let us off too. Elder Valencia was halfway out the door, but I was right behind him and still stuck. The train was pulling away! Hermana Lopez shouted at him not to leave me alone, so Elder Workman shoved Elder Valencia back into the train. Elder Chapman ran alongside the train and yelled to us to get off at the next station. The doors somehow shut without hitting anyone. Personal space was zero. Elder Valencia and I were crammed face to face against the train doors with no room to back away from each other-- awkward! We literally couldn´t move because there were so many people. It was like being a sardine! At the next stop, Linears, we had to push again because the doors on the opposite side were the ones that opened! I stuck right behind Elder Valencia and somehow we squeezed out onto the platform. A host of rules were being violently broken-- we were now outside mission boundaries, without our companions, and alone together! Not to mention that Elder Valencia lost his nametage in the crush in the train-- another violation! And the funniest part was that none of it was our fault! We joked that we were on divisions together. I couldn´t help laughing. Fortunately for the propriety of the situation, we ran into a pair of elders who had taken the wrong train. We traveled with them back to Ramos where we met our very relieved companions. What a trip! It was kind of a scary situation, but I felt really calm the whole time. Mostly it was just very, very funny. My first crazy mission story! To top it off, when we got to the meeting, the first thing President Benton talked about was the importance of staying with your companion at all times! Hermana Lopez was cringing in guilt, but I just tried not to giggle.
Thursday: I set a personal record by contacting 18 people in one day!
Friday: We talked with Otilia, one of our investigators, whose previous baptismal date had fallen through because she was never home to meet with us and didn´t come to church. We reset the date for next weekend and she seemed a lot more excited about baptism than the first time! Her daughter, Luz, will get baptized with her the same day! Only, we found out she smokes! Fortunately, she says she only smokes one cigarette every few weeks. We told her she could only get baptized if she stopped smoking for good that day and didn´t relapse. She agreed. I think she is going to make it!
Saturday: A day of craziness and miracles! We finally found Alejandro, an investigator who was set to be baptized on Sunday. He had cut his really long hair short, was wearing clean clothes, and said he had stopped drinking-- excellent! AND he still wanted to be baptized the next day! Only, when we practiced the baptismal interview with him, he told us he and his spouse were juntada (living together), not married! Aaarg! We told him he´d have to wait a little bit and get married first. He may have a lot of work to do first-- the day we stopped by she was REALLY angry with him. She thinks he is interested in us and not in the church (even thought he is 60ish and we are 21 and 22!). Awkward/drama!
Then we went to an appointment with a new investigator. She started crying because her baby daughter died three years ago and her 8 year old daughter is still upset about it and her husband left her in the street--all good reasons to cry. I was crying too! We left her the Plan of Salvation pamphlet and told her to read it and pray about it. I think she is going to progress! I hope so, because I really want to help her!
Next we contacted an old woman, Amalia, and tried to help her cut her grass (with a shovel=tricky). I tried to teach her while Hna. Lopez cut the grass, but she said she already knew the church! It turns out the elders taught her over a year ago but she never got baptized, even though she met all the requirements. We invited her right then to be baptized and she said yes! She and her mentally disabled daughter who lives with her (who was taught too) are going to get baptized next week! It was so cool that when one investigator fell through, we immediately found another one!
That afternoon Braian Banega (14), the first investigator I ever invited to be baptized, was baptized by his dad, Claudio. Now his family (2 parents, 8 kids, all recent converts) isn´t a part member family any more! Braian looked really happy. The spirit was really strong when Claudio baptized Braian. Only, he had to do it twice because Braian didn´t go all the way under the first time. Claudio joked afterwards that he had to do it twice because Braian was so full of sins! Anyway, I guess that part was funnier in Spanish. I´m so happy that Braian got baptized!
Sunday: More miracles! We had 9 investigators in sacrament meeting! Really 10 investigators in church (fitting for el dia de 10: 10/10/10!), but one had to leave before sacrament meeting (the last block). Getting people to church here is really hard because almost no one has a car. Some people come by motorcycle (whole families will squeeze onto one to get to church!). Fortunatley, Alfredo Peralta, the branch president´s dad, owns an enormous 15 seater van and lets anyone who wants to come to church ride in it! He brought two loads of people to church yesterday! Amalia and her daughter came and I sat next to them and looked out for them during the meetings. It felt good to be able to help them.
Superpanchos, Divisions, Pilgrimage, 10/4/10
I went on divisions to Hurlingham, a city closer to the capital! During divisions we switch companions to help us learn from each other (and also to prevent boredom from being in the same area for weeks and weeks). On Tuesday after district meeting Hna Lopez and I took the train to Moreno. There we contacted people and ate superpanchos (really long hotdogs. Mine had mayonaise with ham and cheese chunks on top, all covered with a "lluvia de papas fritas" i.e. mini french fries. Yum!) while we waited for Hna Scott and Hna Claros. When they arrived I left for Hurlingham with Hna Claros while Hna Scott returned to Lujan with my companion. I stayed in Hurlingham until Thursday morning. Parts of it were hard-- I missed Lujan! For some reason it was a lot harder for me to contact people in Hurlingham, but I kept trying until I felt more comfortable. It was also hard to try to help teach people I knew nothing about. Other parts of it were really fun. I LOVED hanging out with Hna Claros. She is from Jujuy, a province in Northern Argentina. She chatters constantly and is so funny. On Wednesday it was windy, rainy, and cold. While shivering, she would turn to me and say things like, "this is the best day of my mission! We get to walk in the rain and the wind!" Once on the way to catch a train to a different neighborhood, we walked past a bakery. Half a block later she asked "aren´t you a little bit hungry?" I admitted that I was, she said "oh, good, me too" and she dragged me back to the bakery where we bought facturas. Hna Claros is great! On Wednesday night I improvised oatmeal pancakes and we ate them with dulce de leche. It was really fun to cook again! On Thursday I was sad to leave Hna Claros, but excited to see Hna Lopez again and go back to Lujan.
This weekend was the annual pilgramage to the basilica. (different from the gauchos last week) Thousands of people arrived on foot in Lujan from the capital and other places to worship the virgin of Lujan. Some of them walked all day and all night to get here. On Saturday the streets were full of pilgrims walking to the basilica to see the virgin. They were dressed just like normal people, but many of them were limping a little. I imagine you could get a lot of blisters walking all the way from the capital to Lujan! We had to be extra careful because there are sometimes fights and more drunk people this weekend. We were told not to try to contact the pilgrims! Everything went fine though.
I´m out of time, but conference was awesome! We had 8 investigators come to the different sessions! Our investigator Sabrina, who I found while contacting, came with her baby and daughter to the Sunday 1:00 session (Sunday morning for you). Our awesome ward members surrounded her and welcomed her and cooed over her new baby. Afterwards Sabrina said that the session was really beautiful. I was so happy that she came! I think with a little more work she will get baptized.
Our investigator, Braian (the boy I committed to baptism my first night in the mish), had some worries about being baptized, but Hna Lopez told him to pray about it. Now he says he feels good about baptism. He will be baptized this Saturday! I´m really excited about that, especially because he is the last one in his family. We call that "completing a family". We have 4 other people scheduled to be baptized this coming Sunday, but we think all those dates will fall through. Hopefully at least some of them will get baptized later.
This weekend was the annual pilgramage to the basilica. (different from the gauchos last week) Thousands of people arrived on foot in Lujan from the capital and other places to worship the virgin of Lujan. Some of them walked all day and all night to get here. On Saturday the streets were full of pilgrims walking to the basilica to see the virgin. They were dressed just like normal people, but many of them were limping a little. I imagine you could get a lot of blisters walking all the way from the capital to Lujan! We had to be extra careful because there are sometimes fights and more drunk people this weekend. We were told not to try to contact the pilgrims! Everything went fine though.
I´m out of time, but conference was awesome! We had 8 investigators come to the different sessions! Our investigator Sabrina, who I found while contacting, came with her baby and daughter to the Sunday 1:00 session (Sunday morning for you). Our awesome ward members surrounded her and welcomed her and cooed over her new baby. Afterwards Sabrina said that the session was really beautiful. I was so happy that she came! I think with a little more work she will get baptized.
Our investigator, Braian (the boy I committed to baptism my first night in the mish), had some worries about being baptized, but Hna Lopez told him to pray about it. Now he says he feels good about baptism. He will be baptized this Saturday! I´m really excited about that, especially because he is the last one in his family. We call that "completing a family". We have 4 other people scheduled to be baptized this coming Sunday, but we think all those dates will fall through. Hopefully at least some of them will get baptized later.
Ellis Answers Questions from her Dad, 9/27/10
Q: What is the ward/branch like you attend?
A: There are about 70 members who attend regularly, but many members are inactive. Sacrament meetings are very noisy because most parents let their toddlers run amuck in the chapel-- small children are always climbing up onto the stand. President Peralta often lets the kids sit on the bench next to him on the stand to keep them from being too distracting, but they always hop down again and start running back and forth. It´s distracting, but at least the entertainment value of the meeting doesn´t depend on the speakers. :) And the kids in our branch are pretty cute.
Q: How many show up on Sundays? Do you have regular Church-Built building or is it a rented or purchased building that has been repurposed?
A: Our building is church-built, but it´s a little smaller than the ones in the states. It has two main wings connected by a hallway. One wing is the chapel, the hallway and the other wing contain classrooms and a kitchen. Outside the building is a basketball court where the youth like to play soccer. The whole deal is surrounded by a very tall fence complete with intimidating spikes on the top.
Q: What is the socio-economic profile of the ward/branch?
A: The Peralta family (really 3 families: the abuelos and one unmarried daughter and two married sons with 2 children each), the mainstay of the branch are pretty well off. They´d be middle class in the states I think. Their houses look finished and are nice on the insides. The other families I´ve met live in much humbler circumstances. Their houses are made of bricks and cement with no plaster on the walls and many of them are slowly building additions, so a section of the house may be just pieces of tin and fabric stapled over a wooden frame. Everyone has a tv though. I´ve met families with a bigger, nicer tv and speaker set than ours who live in a house no one would pay to rent in the states. But electronics are cheap and maybe the bleak brick and cement look is a cultural thing.
Q: What is your neighborhood like?
A: We live in the barrio of Lanusse, on a fairly nice street. Most of the houses have a small patio in front fenced in by tall iron bars-- not very welcoming, but the crime rate is high here (and everywhere else too). Our apartment is above a small convenience store. Right above the door that leads up the stairs to our aparment there is a large sign for Quilmes, which is a popular brand of beer here. That makes me laugh. (Where is the sister missionaries´apartment? Oh, under the beer sign.)
Q: Is your apartment in a multi-story or single story building?
A: Two stories. Ours is one of 3 apartments.
Q: Do vendors still ride down the streets with horse/donkey drawn carts selling things like soda water, firewood, kerosene, etc?
A: Not in Lujan. I´ve seen horse drawn carts collecting trash though. Some vendors have carts attached to their bicycles, but they sell things like flip flops and furniture.
Q: Are there still street vendors selling newspapers and shouting, "Diariooioioioio....."?
A: Sadly not, at least not en campo. Maybe en ciudad.
A: There are about 70 members who attend regularly, but many members are inactive. Sacrament meetings are very noisy because most parents let their toddlers run amuck in the chapel-- small children are always climbing up onto the stand. President Peralta often lets the kids sit on the bench next to him on the stand to keep them from being too distracting, but they always hop down again and start running back and forth. It´s distracting, but at least the entertainment value of the meeting doesn´t depend on the speakers. :) And the kids in our branch are pretty cute.
Q: How many show up on Sundays? Do you have regular Church-Built building or is it a rented or purchased building that has been repurposed?
A: Our building is church-built, but it´s a little smaller than the ones in the states. It has two main wings connected by a hallway. One wing is the chapel, the hallway and the other wing contain classrooms and a kitchen. Outside the building is a basketball court where the youth like to play soccer. The whole deal is surrounded by a very tall fence complete with intimidating spikes on the top.
Q: What is the socio-economic profile of the ward/branch?
A: The Peralta family (really 3 families: the abuelos and one unmarried daughter and two married sons with 2 children each), the mainstay of the branch are pretty well off. They´d be middle class in the states I think. Their houses look finished and are nice on the insides. The other families I´ve met live in much humbler circumstances. Their houses are made of bricks and cement with no plaster on the walls and many of them are slowly building additions, so a section of the house may be just pieces of tin and fabric stapled over a wooden frame. Everyone has a tv though. I´ve met families with a bigger, nicer tv and speaker set than ours who live in a house no one would pay to rent in the states. But electronics are cheap and maybe the bleak brick and cement look is a cultural thing.
Q: What is your neighborhood like?
A: We live in the barrio of Lanusse, on a fairly nice street. Most of the houses have a small patio in front fenced in by tall iron bars-- not very welcoming, but the crime rate is high here (and everywhere else too). Our apartment is above a small convenience store. Right above the door that leads up the stairs to our aparment there is a large sign for Quilmes, which is a popular brand of beer here. That makes me laugh. (Where is the sister missionaries´apartment? Oh, under the beer sign.)
Q: Is your apartment in a multi-story or single story building?
A: Two stories. Ours is one of 3 apartments.
Q: Do vendors still ride down the streets with horse/donkey drawn carts selling things like soda water, firewood, kerosene, etc?
A: Not in Lujan. I´ve seen horse drawn carts collecting trash though. Some vendors have carts attached to their bicycles, but they sell things like flip flops and furniture.
Q: Are there still street vendors selling newspapers and shouting, "Diariooioioioio....."?
A: Sadly not, at least not en campo. Maybe en ciudad.
Ellis' First Week in the Mission, 9/20/10
I´ll try to describe how things are going in general, then tell the most interesting happenings from each day.
In general: Being a missionary is undoubtedly the hardest thing I have ever done. It´s stressful to be in a new culture and a new place where nearly everything is unfamiliar. The hardest thing is to constantly push myself to be outgoing in a language I don´t speak or understand completely. I want to be diligent in contacting people (approaching people on the street and talking to them about church) and trying to participate in the lessons, but it frustrates/scares me that I can´t always understand people or say what I want to, so sometimes it is hard to find "las ganas" (the motivation). I´m working on it though, and everyday I learn to do something better.
Despite the difficulties, what I do all day is fun and incredibly rewarding. I´m learning quickly to understand and calculate our daily goals for appointments set, lessons taught, etc. Contacting was scary at first, but I picked up quickly on things I can say when I approach people (I parrot my companion A LOT) and it´s getting easier. It helps that a lot of Argentines (at least the ones who aren´t "busy" or afraid of us) are very friendly and like to talk A LOT (though this has its drawbacks as well.) Last week we contacted 140 people! I think about 40 or 50 of those were mine. That´s pretty good considering that most resfuerzos (new missionaries) don´t start contacting regularly until their third or fourth week. On Saturday I contacted 15 people, 5 more than the daily goal per missionary!
We teach A LOT, thanks to Hermana Lopez´s awesome skills/the general receptiveness of most Argentines to religion. Some people we teach talk almost fast enough to break the sound barrier (I know that makes no sense, but I couldn´t think of a better hyberbole at the moment) or have really thick accents, so sometimes I only understand about 50%, but other people talk more slowly and clearly so that I understand almost everything. I always understand enough that I can pipe up at least once (and usually more than that) in a lesson. When they hear that I just arrived in Argentina, most people are impressed with my language skills. :) When I can understand and think of things to say, I really like teaching. It´s really rewarding to explain to people what I believe and see them begin to understand.
I´m running out of time, but here are the haps of each day:
Tuesday:
-My first teaching appointment! We were with the Banegas, an awesome family of recent converts. Their son Brian hasn´t been baptized yet, and Hna. Lopez wanted to commit him to a date. She turned to me and whispered in English that I needed to ask him to be baptized when she finished her part of the lesson. I was terrified! But when it was my turn I asked him a couple questions, testified, and then asked him if he would be baptized on October 10. At first he was like, what?!, but Hna. Lopez talked to him some more and he said yes!
Wednesday:
-We took the bus to Open Door, a small town outside Lujan that is part of our area. It is very campo (country). We saw lots of horses and chickens. I contacted a woman who invited us to come teach her without hearing hardly any of our message. Her name is Susana. She didn´t have time right then, but we set an appointment to come back next Wednesday (our one day a week to work in Open Door). Hna. Lopez says Susan is muy bueno and that she is going to get baptized with her three kids. I hope her prediction is right!
After that we visited a recent convert, Emmanuel, so we could watch Together Forever (church film about eternal families) with his little brother Julian (10). Julian ran off with his buddies before we got the dvd to work, but we met Augustin, the other brother (21 years old) and watched it with him. I explained to him the plan of salvation using the Plan of Salvation folleto (pamphlet). It was really neat. When we left he was reading the pamphlet and looking pensive-- a good sign!
Eek, I´m almost out of time so I will skip to the best part-- we had a baptism on Saturday! Franco, the oldest son of the Banega family, got baptized (Hna. Lopez and her old companion committed him before I got the the mission). His dad, Claudio, has only been a convert for a month but is already an intense member and recently received the priesthood, so he got to baptize Franco. I stood at the top of the stairs into the font and watched him baptize his son. It was the coolest thing ever! I felt like I was in the temple-- the same calm, happy feeling. Talk about an awesome first week in the mission!
Other randomness:
-Food: Every morning I pour ultrapasteurized whole milk from a bag (weird, but that is how they sell it) over my frosted flakes-- it is like dessert for breakfast. I love it! The members feed us lunch and they have all been good cooks so far. There isn´t as much meat as I expected (good), but I suspect that here in Lujan I will never see a vegetable other than the occaisional potato. I might have to buy vitamins so I don´t get scurvy. :) (though there is plenty of fruit when I want it, so I may be ok in the scurvy department)
-Within two days I was told both that I look chilean and german. Then on Saturday one of our investigators asked if I spoke English. Maybe he didn´t notice my broken spanish and gringo accent. Or maybe he thought I was German. :)
-a wrinkled old Argentine man that I contacted told me he wanted to marry me. Uhh. . . I ignored him and let my companion politely say good night. I may have to start pretending I have a boyfriend waiting for me, haha.
In general: Being a missionary is undoubtedly the hardest thing I have ever done. It´s stressful to be in a new culture and a new place where nearly everything is unfamiliar. The hardest thing is to constantly push myself to be outgoing in a language I don´t speak or understand completely. I want to be diligent in contacting people (approaching people on the street and talking to them about church) and trying to participate in the lessons, but it frustrates/scares me that I can´t always understand people or say what I want to, so sometimes it is hard to find "las ganas" (the motivation). I´m working on it though, and everyday I learn to do something better.
Despite the difficulties, what I do all day is fun and incredibly rewarding. I´m learning quickly to understand and calculate our daily goals for appointments set, lessons taught, etc. Contacting was scary at first, but I picked up quickly on things I can say when I approach people (I parrot my companion A LOT) and it´s getting easier. It helps that a lot of Argentines (at least the ones who aren´t "busy" or afraid of us) are very friendly and like to talk A LOT (though this has its drawbacks as well.) Last week we contacted 140 people! I think about 40 or 50 of those were mine. That´s pretty good considering that most resfuerzos (new missionaries) don´t start contacting regularly until their third or fourth week. On Saturday I contacted 15 people, 5 more than the daily goal per missionary!
We teach A LOT, thanks to Hermana Lopez´s awesome skills/the general receptiveness of most Argentines to religion. Some people we teach talk almost fast enough to break the sound barrier (I know that makes no sense, but I couldn´t think of a better hyberbole at the moment) or have really thick accents, so sometimes I only understand about 50%, but other people talk more slowly and clearly so that I understand almost everything. I always understand enough that I can pipe up at least once (and usually more than that) in a lesson. When they hear that I just arrived in Argentina, most people are impressed with my language skills. :) When I can understand and think of things to say, I really like teaching. It´s really rewarding to explain to people what I believe and see them begin to understand.
I´m running out of time, but here are the haps of each day:
Tuesday:
-My first teaching appointment! We were with the Banegas, an awesome family of recent converts. Their son Brian hasn´t been baptized yet, and Hna. Lopez wanted to commit him to a date. She turned to me and whispered in English that I needed to ask him to be baptized when she finished her part of the lesson. I was terrified! But when it was my turn I asked him a couple questions, testified, and then asked him if he would be baptized on October 10. At first he was like, what?!, but Hna. Lopez talked to him some more and he said yes!
Wednesday:
-We took the bus to Open Door, a small town outside Lujan that is part of our area. It is very campo (country). We saw lots of horses and chickens. I contacted a woman who invited us to come teach her without hearing hardly any of our message. Her name is Susana. She didn´t have time right then, but we set an appointment to come back next Wednesday (our one day a week to work in Open Door). Hna. Lopez says Susan is muy bueno and that she is going to get baptized with her three kids. I hope her prediction is right!
After that we visited a recent convert, Emmanuel, so we could watch Together Forever (church film about eternal families) with his little brother Julian (10). Julian ran off with his buddies before we got the dvd to work, but we met Augustin, the other brother (21 years old) and watched it with him. I explained to him the plan of salvation using the Plan of Salvation folleto (pamphlet). It was really neat. When we left he was reading the pamphlet and looking pensive-- a good sign!
Eek, I´m almost out of time so I will skip to the best part-- we had a baptism on Saturday! Franco, the oldest son of the Banega family, got baptized (Hna. Lopez and her old companion committed him before I got the the mission). His dad, Claudio, has only been a convert for a month but is already an intense member and recently received the priesthood, so he got to baptize Franco. I stood at the top of the stairs into the font and watched him baptize his son. It was the coolest thing ever! I felt like I was in the temple-- the same calm, happy feeling. Talk about an awesome first week in the mission!
Other randomness:
-Food: Every morning I pour ultrapasteurized whole milk from a bag (weird, but that is how they sell it) over my frosted flakes-- it is like dessert for breakfast. I love it! The members feed us lunch and they have all been good cooks so far. There isn´t as much meat as I expected (good), but I suspect that here in Lujan I will never see a vegetable other than the occaisional potato. I might have to buy vitamins so I don´t get scurvy. :) (though there is plenty of fruit when I want it, so I may be ok in the scurvy department)
-Within two days I was told both that I look chilean and german. Then on Saturday one of our investigators asked if I spoke English. Maybe he didn´t notice my broken spanish and gringo accent. Or maybe he thought I was German. :)
-a wrinkled old Argentine man that I contacted told me he wanted to marry me. Uhh. . . I ignored him and let my companion politely say good night. I may have to start pretending I have a boyfriend waiting for me, haha.
Ellis arrives in Argentina, 9/14/10
Estoy aca en la mision! Wow. The flight to Buenos Aires was long, but I was able to sleep for a few hours at least. I had a row of three seats to myself, so i could lay down across them to rest, which was nice. I also took time to catch up in my journal, write some goals for my first transfer, and write a poem. We were fed dinner and breakfast in the airplane. FINALLY we arrived in Buenos Aires. I was sitting in the middle of the plane, so I couldn´t see much, but I got a little glimpse of some fields as we touched down. It was beautiful! I love it here all ready.
President Benton picked us up at the airport with the APs and took us to the mission office. We had interviews and some training meetings and were fed milanesa and mashed potatoes for lunch. Yum. I met my companion, Sister Lopez (brother Zimmerman´s daughter). She is really nice and everyone says she is una capa (a stud), one of the best missionaries in the mission. The numbers back them up too-- she and her companion had 5 baptisms last transfer! I´m really excited to be working with her. I met a few other sisters too and they were really nice as well. Everyone tells me here that my Spanish is excellent, which is gratifying, but when people talk fast I only understand about half. My first area is Lujan, which is almost in el campo! We went straight there in a remis (taxi) after taking photos with the other new elders and the mission president (I´ll send you the pictures as soon as they email me copies). So here I am in Lujan! Our apartment is tiny, but nice. We have a small kitchen, a bedroom, a bathroom, and a study. I´m writing to you from a locutorio (tiny snack stand with computers more or less) down the street. We lost our cellular in the remis, so I got to meet our vecina-investigadora Rosita. She talks about a mile per minute, so I hardly understood anything, but she is very very nice. She nearly bent over backwards trying to help us use our phone to call the district leader. :)
Well, I´ve got to go do missionary stuff I guess, but I love you!
President Benton picked us up at the airport with the APs and took us to the mission office. We had interviews and some training meetings and were fed milanesa and mashed potatoes for lunch. Yum. I met my companion, Sister Lopez (brother Zimmerman´s daughter). She is really nice and everyone says she is una capa (a stud), one of the best missionaries in the mission. The numbers back them up too-- she and her companion had 5 baptisms last transfer! I´m really excited to be working with her. I met a few other sisters too and they were really nice as well. Everyone tells me here that my Spanish is excellent, which is gratifying, but when people talk fast I only understand about half. My first area is Lujan, which is almost in el campo! We went straight there in a remis (taxi) after taking photos with the other new elders and the mission president (I´ll send you the pictures as soon as they email me copies). So here I am in Lujan! Our apartment is tiny, but nice. We have a small kitchen, a bedroom, a bathroom, and a study. I´m writing to you from a locutorio (tiny snack stand with computers more or less) down the street. We lost our cellular in the remis, so I got to meet our vecina-investigadora Rosita. She talks about a mile per minute, so I hardly understood anything, but she is very very nice. She nearly bent over backwards trying to help us use our phone to call the district leader. :)
Well, I´ve got to go do missionary stuff I guess, but I love you!
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