Week 044 - You Can Continue What You Were Saying

Sounds like you are too busy, and totally having the best time ever! I am so jealous that you are going to have Thanksgiving in Arizona, probably with all the cousins. Did you know that there is no Thanksgiving here in Argentina? I guess they are not a super thankful people, because it’s really nice for everyone to give thanks one day throughout the year.

I had an awesome week. We had a new missionary join us in Recreo. But he’s actually not a real missionary, just a fake one in disguise. He lives like 30 minutes east. But he is a really cool guy, and cooks really bad. But we will not tell him that because he thinks he’s a champ.

The President of the mission called us and said that he was going to be in Recreo with his wife, and he wanted to have lunch with us. So we had lunch with the President. He is the man, so we found the best restaurant in town, and the only one that is open during siesta, and we had lunch with the Prez. But check this… it was the worst food ever. No one said anything at lunch, but after we all came into agreement that the food was very poor. But it was a great time. And we got to know the President a little bit more. And he is the chilliest guy. Who loves fishing. Like really loves fishing. We had a 30 min conversation about how he fishes, and the types of fish he likes, and how Argentina has the worst fish, and Chile has the best. All that kind of stuff. I asked him if he could act out the way he fishes… and he did. It was a pretty good cast, and I approved.

After lunch he came to our apartment, and he and his wife gave us a fantastic lesson on having faith in Christ. And I really appreciated it, because it helped me to think more about my faith in Christ, and what I am doing to act on it. There are a lot of times when the mission really gets you down. And I realized that the sadness and hardships that we have, were already paid by the blood of Christ. And it’s not really fair of me to really put myself down, because Christ sacrificed himself so we could be happy. So it’s okay to be sad for 5 minutes, but after that, it’s time to move on and be happy. And that’s the importance of having faith in Christ at all times, because I know everything is going to be alright. That’s my little spiritual thought.

The day before we met with the President, we were wearing these Halloween ties, because it was Halloween, obviously. And it was really funny, because people know about Halloween because they have seen the movies, but they don’t really celebrate. So people get a kick out of two Americans with their Halloween ties. And we got a lot of contacts doing that. For example, we were walking down the street when we hear this guy at a mechanic shop screaming, "Hey. Hey Hey! Que combat ey!" (Hey, what a tie!) And he makes us come over, and he checks it out, and shows it to all of his mechanic friends, and we end up getting 5 different addresses and numbers from random dudes we just met.

We visited one of them. Although it’s hard to find them, because they are always working in the shop. The one we visited was not home, but his father was. And his father´s name is Cantero. And so we teach Cantero and his wife about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we make it all the way until the Book of Mormon. So we have just taught them about Joseph Smith, when he stops me and tells us a story about how he was having a bunch of stomach and heart problems, and he went to the doctor, and the doctor gave him some pills to take. He started taking the pills, and he had to go to the bathroom really bad. So much that he couldn’t even make it to the bathroom. So what happened was… he didn’t end up pooping his pants, but it was just a ton of blood all over his pants. So he stopped taking the crazy pills, and he felt all better. And he knows that god stopped him from bleeding so much. And he goes on this rant for like 20 minutes, and then he says "Okay, you can continue what you were saying." So that is Cantero for ya. And he is one of our newest investigators.

So check this… you know how the ward went to the temple recently. We learned that Olga, one of the newest members, made it to the temple as well. But when she showed up with her recommend, they couldn’t let her in, because “she didn’t have the priesthood.” Temple workers hadn’t seen her yet, because I guess bishop was helping scan all the recommends. So everyone was confused out of their minds. But it was all good, because they made a few calls, and something weird happened in the system. 

On Saturday, Horacio was able to be baptized, it was super awesome and he was super happy, especially because his family all came to the baptism, and it was their first time in the chapel. It was super great, and Hermano Lincina, a member who we were visiting with Horacio, baptized him. And it was a super cool experience for all of the Lencina family. The Lencina family are totally cool, and like the most active family in the ward. They have 2 returned missionaries in the family, and one other that is on a mission right now. 

We had a super success on Saturday night too. We had another activity. A night of empanadas, with some capture the flag. It seems like the only way to get members and investigators to activities, is through the food. So it was a great activity, with a ton of investigators, and we got the members to bring like over 300 empanadas! Super great! Recreo is great!

I am in Esparanza right now because we are about to play some sand volleyball with the district. So I’ll send you guys some pics next week!

I love you and miss you! And have an awesome week!