An eventful day!
Andrew left the MTC about 9 a.m., leaving behind many great friends and copious amounts of good food, but taking with him wonderful memories, lots of new skills, and a stronger testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and The Book of Mormon.
He flew to Dallas, Texas, for a rather long layover, and where he eventually met up with companions who would be travelling with him to Argentina, although he was the only one heading for the Buenos Aires West Mission. There were a bunch of missionaries there destined for countries all over the world, so they had plenty of company and lots to talk about.
Best part for us was the chance he had to call home!
We got to talk for an hour before his plane left. It was so good to hear from him and to be able to have a real conversation. He is healthy, happy, and excited to head out!
We put his call on speakerphone, so Ken, Jacob, and I could all join in the conversation. What we didn't expect was that our cat, Margaret, fully participated in the call too. Andrew has always been her favorite person. When she heard his voice, she jumped up on my lap since I was holding the phone, and looked at the receiver curiously. Soon she started pushing it away, since she was pretty sure that underneath it, Andrew must be hiding from her. It was sweet. She misses him too!
He told us about some of his MTC experiences, about the friends he had made, and about the good food, which he enjoyed very much ... to the tune of 15 pounds! He says he isn't fat, just more buff. Good thing he has lots of walking in his future ;-)
He told us about his first real missionary conversation with a nice man on his airplane. Andrew was a bit nervous, and not sure about how to go about steering the conversation around to the gospel. So instead, he and another out-bound missionary told this gentleman about what they were doing, and where they were going. They learned he was a principal of a school, and interested in traveling. By the end of the flight, he handed them his business card, and told them he'd like to keep in touch. They gave him a pass-along card (which invites people to get a free copy of a Church video or a copy of the Book of Mormon), and it seemed like everyone was comfortable and happy with the encounter.
His plane left Dallas around 7 p.m. our time, so he slept through much of his 11-hour flight, and lost a few hours in the journey (it is 4 hours later in Buenos Aires than it is here).
He was greeted at the airport by his Mission President and his wife, and a few assistants to the President.
It is summer in Argentina, and January happens to be the hottest month. I imagine Andrew experienced a bit of climate shock when he arrived, as they are having record-breaking temperatures there. And, unlike the dry heat of southern Arizona, they are experiencing 94 degree days with 82% humidity.Wow.
No comments:
Post a Comment