Service with a smile :)

Old news . . . 
A couple weeks ago, I told you that two little girls from a very nice family came with us to church. Their names are Karen and Abigail - they´re 9 years old, and twins. Abigail especially is fantastic. Her mom told us that she loved going to Primary, and that since that first time going to church she has been excited to go again. She told her mom all about it and told them she wanted them to come too. She even wrote a little reminder note about church and put it on the fridge so that they would remember.

Yesterday, Karen and Abigail came to church again - but this time with their mom, older sister, and their cousin Ariana, who Abigail had invited to come to Primary. How fantastic! They all loved it. We were so happy, all walking to church. When Ariana saw the church for the first time, she cried, ´Que linda!´ (How cute!) The 3 little girls had a great time in Primary, and Nora and Noelia (the mom and sister) enjoyed the meetings as well. It sounds like they were welcomed into Relief Society and befriended, which is awesome. And, one more miracle - Nora and Karen recognized Karen´s schoolteacher among the ward members, who came and sat by them during Sacrament meeting. Ha! It was a good Easter Sunday.

More recent news . . .
We had a great week this week. Remember the family that I was telling you about last week? Abigail and Karen (the twins) have a baptismal date set for this Saturday. So we´re excited for that! I got them a copy of the ´Book of Mormon Stories´ book (the Book of Mormon, but in captioned pictures), and Abigail at least is reading it. They are fantastic.

Nora, the mom, told us recently about how she was reading one of the Restoration pamphlets before she went to bed, and that she felt something good in her heart. That night, she slept peacefully for the first time in a long time. 

Earlier in the week, Elder Carazas and I quit our studies early and went to do service for a family in the ward. I thought we were going to mow the lawn. When we arrived, I realized that, more accurately, we were going to cut down the small forest in front of their house. The grass was knee-high and very thick. After trying for a while to cut the grass with shovels, we went back home to grab our trusty machete. After a neighbor showed me how to actually use the machete, we made great progress. As a result of our service activity,

1) the Vera family now has a lawn instead of a forest
2) the Vera family knows we´re really willing to serve and work
3) my whole body ached for two days afterward, and
4) I incurred two giant blisters on my right hand.

It was great! It felt good to really do some service.

 A little bit of pixie dust, and...

I ate cat food yesterday. Well, no... not cat food, exactly. It was mashed liver, and it´s called paté like the food Margaret eats, and it smelled and tasted just like cat food. (Or, uh... like I would imagine cat food tastes. Definitely can´t speak from experience here.) And, it came in the same can. They eat it on bread. Mmmm!


These days I have to do my laundry by hand, which is a pain! It takes a long time, and then it has to dry. But, I suppose the experience is good for me. It builds character.

My shoes, clean, polished and spiffy. Even ´Brownie´ looks black again.

The other day I went to a feria - a place where everyone goes to sell whatever it is they have to sell. There are shoes, clothes, food, books, figurines, electronic equipment, toys, cutlery... a little bit of everything. It reminds me a lot of the Artisan´s Market at Harelson, except that it´s outside and most people didn´t make the things they´re selling. And the whole thing is like a huge maze! I bought a (new) frying pan because our old one was warped.


My companion and I have been singing a lot of hymns lately. It´s fun. :-) He likes to sing Christmas carols, which apparently they don´t sing very much here. So there are often Christmas carols playing in our apartment. Fun!

My companion made spaghetti last week, and it was delicious. I´m going to learn to make Argentine bread. 

Submitting my name for the Tri-Missionary Tournament

A visit to a very cool park . . .

Good stuff from the journal:

´We stopped to ask a lady mowing her lawn today if she needed help. When she realized we were in earnest and were actually willing to help, she was very warm and friendly to us. We wrote down her address and plan to go visit her.´

Service softens hearts, just like a little notecard on my desk says.




Thanks for all your prayers, and your emails, and letters, and love, and everything. I love you all so much, and you´re always in my prayers.

With all the love I can send via email,

Elder Andrew Stockton