I had a nice last week in Luján. Hna. Vindas and I got along well and I enjoyed seeing people I knew. It was especially great to see my friend, the ward missionary, Paula, who is currently waiting for her mission call. And I got to teach the Reyes family some of their first post-baptism lessons. Another perk was visiting Soledad, an "eternal investigator" I spent a lot of time with my 2 and 3 transfers in Luján. She´s practically a member (a dry mormon or mormona seca as we say) but has been waiting over a year to get baptized because her partner whom she lives with and has a daughter with doesn´t want to marry her. But she told us that he recently said he would marry her "sometime this year". Sounds like he´s still being stubborn, but it´s encouraging news anyway. Soledad wants to be baptized so badly, I hope she doesn´t have to wait much longer.
On Saturday Julián, the nephew of the primary president, got baptized. It was really nice and lots of his family came. Hna. Vindas and I were a little depressed because we wanted Elias, his little brother, to get baptized too, but his mother didn´t want him to yet. Partly because she thought he wasn´t ready and partly because he has tiny medical devices in his ears that don´t allow him to go under water. We tried everything we could-- explaining why an 8 year old really is ready for baptism and explaining preventative measures to keep water from entering his ears that worked for other kids who got baptized-- but in the end his mother decided not to let him (though his father was ok with it). But I understand why Elias´s mother would say no and I know Elias will be able to get baptized in a few months when he´s a little bit older and his ears can get wet. And despite the disappointment, the baptism was very nice.
My last Sunday (again) in Luján was great. The attendance wasn´t record breaking, but unusally high-- 96 people! And thanks to Julian´s visiting family members who came to see him be confirmed and Paula´s help, we had 12 investigators in sacrament meeting. But what made me the happiest was seeing Nely walk into Relief Society. She is a recent convert but hasn´t come to church in months because she became pregnant with her nonmember boyfriend and felt too embarassed and guilty to come back. I visited her several times and tried to help her understand that she could repent and that everyone wanted to see her back in church. So when I saw her walk in to Relief Society a smile broke out on my face and my eyes teared up. Nely looked shy, but happy. I hope she keeps coming to church! Another inactive member, Lucio, came to church for the first time in over a year. I used to visit him and his wife Nancy (Otilia´s daughter, if you remember) to try to help them come back. Lucio always said he knew he needed to and said several times that he would come, but he never did. So when I visited him with Hna. Vindas and he said that he really needed to change and this time he really would come, I didn´t fully believe him. But he came! Seeing Nely and Lucio in the chapel made me feel good and it gave me hope too for other inactive members. People really can change!
And now, the moment you´ve been waiting for. . .I HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED TO HURLINGHAM! It will be my first area in the city-- yikes! It´s so much busier than I´m used to, but I know I´ll adjust quickly. My new companion is Hermana Schneider. This transfer is only her second one-- I´m an aunt! (i.e. a missionary´s second companion) She´s still getting the hang of speaking Spanish (though she´s doing pretty well so far) and is still really new, so it´s a lot of responsibility, but I feel zero nerves about my new assignment. Can you believe it? Well, maybe I´m a little bit nervous. But mostly I´m just excited to help Hermana Scheider! I already love her. She has a really strong desire to work hard and teach well AND she wants to go running with me in the mornings. So I expect this to be a challenging but very fun transfer.
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