Latest News

FYI: Andrew's comments in black ... Sally's commentary in green.

Wow, another week already. Let´s see, what happened this week?

An old man thought that I was an Argentine. That made me feel pretty good about my language abilities, until the next lady who we talked to told us that she knew we were North Americans because of our accents.

Andrew & his companion have been teaching a couple who got married last week. 

Marcelo & Teresa got married! Weddings here don´t seem to have the same sentimental feelings that they have in the U.S. You just dress up (or not, depending on how important you think it is), show up at a building that looks a little like the DMV, fill out some paperwork, and then head into a side room for the ceremony. The ceremony consists of more paperwork, signing your name, and giving each other rings. Wow! They had a better ceremony at the Church later, but we couldn´t go to it because we had another appointment.

They also have been teaching a woman who accepted the challenge to read the Book of Mormon. She believed it was true scripture, but didn't think there was anything else to be done. Andrew and his companion didn't quite know how to proceed. They wanted her to realize the significance of her feelings, but didn't want to scare her away.

And that´s when the right thing to say just came into my mind - something like, ´So, you feel that the Book of Mormon is true because when you read it you feel the same as you do when you read the Bible. Will you take the next step and come to Church with us to see if you feel the same good feelings there?´ And, we talked a little more about how she will be able to recognize the true Church of God by the things she feels. She agreed to come to Church. I think her conversion will come a step at a time. But what I said to her was exactly the right way to approach the situation! It wasn´t me! I had no idea what to say. It was the Spirit giving me what to say in the moment that I needed it. And that was great. I felt so good after that. My greatest desire for my mission is for me to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord, and I feel like that happened. 

More on life as a missionary . . .

For several days I thought I was hearing gunshots outside our apartment. Then I realized that the noise I had been hearing comes from these giant, heavy pinecones falling from the high up in the tree across the street and exploding on the sidewalk. (The one pictured fell from lower down and didn´t blow up.) I would hate to be standing underneath when one of those fell. (Fortunately you can hear the sound of it breaking off the tree for a second or two beforehand -- kind of a ´fire swamp´ experience.)

The seeds from the pinecone. Could they be edible?

(Guess Andrew's never heard of pinenuts!)

I think Andrew wanted to make sure we knew he and Elder Berglund were working hard, so he sent these pictures. 

(Do I see an attention-enhancing package of Oreos in Andrew's hand? :) )

Apparently, though, it is not all hard work . . . 

Meh-eh-eh-eh-eh

And, let´s see... we just got back from a trip to the zoo! It was pretty fun. Actually, it´s pretty much like zoos back at home, just not as well kept-up, and you can go in and touch the animals here. (All the animals! My companion kissed a bear.)

Too close for comfort?

At the zoo in Luján you get very up-close to the animals. It´s one of the big attractions of the zoo. I didn't, though --- I was thinking about the missionary who got mauled by a tiger fairly recently.

Sleepy Hobbes

The cutest baby tigers I have ever seen!

Me, holding the unhappiest baby tiger that I´ve ever held.

Separating the sheep from the goats?

A Hearty Lad

I ate cow heart!
We went to a member´s house for lunch a few days ago and they had made asado (barbequed steak - it´s pretty expensive and pretty delicious). Towards the end of the meal, we learned that we would each get to eat a piece of cow heart. (Urp!) Then we had 5 minutes to anticipate eating cow heart before we actually ate it. Elder Kent really had to steel his courage. It wasn´t bad! Actually, it tasted pretty much like the rest of the meat, just... there was a bit of extra flavor. Anyway. It was a hearty meal. (I told that to my companion, but he didn´t laugh. I think he must be heart of hearing.) (Though that´s kind of heart to believe.)

And in related news . . . 

Fun fact! McDonalds down here is a high-class restaurant. If someone´s eating at McDonalds, you know they´re pretty well off. (It´s not like McDonalds at home - the burgers are big and delicious. Or, that´s what they tell me. I´ll have to save up for a few weeks if I want to eat at McDonalds!)

Mission stories

Last week, we were at a member´s house for lunch. After the meal, I shared a recently-found scripture that I like. The mom started crying. She told us that the scripture really was good for her, and that it gave her hope after she had recently heard some really bad news. Wow! I didn´t feel particularly inspired to share that scripture, I just... shared it, and it turned out to be just the right scripture. I´ve found that God often works that way in the mission field. We don´t always feel prompted to do something, but when we prayerfully make a plan and then go to work, things just work out. 

We (very often) happen to run into people that are special -- previous investigators that are now ready for the missionaries to come back and visit again, members who give us a bit of information that leads to a new investigator, etc. I love it. 

Remember a few weeks ago, I wrote about the nurse lady who found us in the street? Well, her family and her employers are great people! We went to our appointment with them a few weeks ago. The first thing we saw when we walked into their house was a big family tree on the wall and a thousand pictures of their family.

Yesterday Elder Berglund and I clapped into a man. [Instead of knocking on doors, as we do in the United States, visitors clap outside the gate or house.] He´s very Catholic, but, as he told us, he´s ´very open to other religions...´ even to the point that he would listen to the Mormons!
Us: ´Oh, yes?´
Him: ´Yep! I´ve got a couple of friends who are Mormons. They gave me a copy of their Bible.´
Us: ´I think we might know your friends.´
We did. He´s good friends with two old members of the ward. Turns out he´s been reading the Book of Mormon for a while. Hee, hee. I love it!

 

Busy Week

Yesterday, I finally had the ´new missionary orientation´. It went well! We had a great meeting, and I got to feel pretty experienced for having been there 3 weeks already. (Heh, heh.) Later, about 100 more missionaries showed up for transfers. It was fun! We sat down, and after having an inspirational conference sort of meeting, they announced the new companionships/transfers. There was a projecter that would show the name of the area and the face of the missionary that was serving there. Then, with a commentary from one of the Assistants, the face of his new companion would fade in. Every so often, the picture that appeared would be Captain Moroni waving the Title of Liberty. That meant that the missionary would be training a ´resfuerzo´ (reinforcement). There was lots of cheering and lots of clapping. It was pretty fun!

Elder Kent - 6 month old-timer

Other news ...

We´re getting roommates! President Carter has decided to put two more missionaries in Luján. (That doesn´t happen very often at all.) This means that the Lord has plans for Luján. With twice the missionaries, and with the ward members starting to trust the missionaries and get excited about the work, the work here is going to accelerate! We´re so excited. The only thing is... I don´t want to give up any of the investigators we´re teaching now when we divide the area!! We´ll just have to divide it very... creatively. Let´s see, I learned the word for that in my Government class a few years ago. But I can´t remember it. [Gerrymandering - thanks Ken!] Ah well. Yep! Super excited. And one of them is a newbie like me.

Elder Boyce - his first day in Lujan

Their lovely pension

Muddy shoes --- Andrew's left shoe had rather extraordinary bad luck!

"An incredible rainstorm"

Milaneza, mashed potatoes, bread

Hard-working companions

Elder Berglund, planning 

Silly smile from a happy missionary!

What it is all about!

Happy Day! Great News! 

We had our first baptism on Saturday! We baptized a woman named [V]. Two of her children were already baptized -- and, now she is! All I could think of around the time of the baptism was, ´This is eternally significant. This really matters. This is what it's all about!´ And, ´I hope she understands that. I hope she realizes how important this is.´ And, ´I hope that she keeps going to church and endures to the end and builds her family on the foundation of Jesus Christ.´

The service was excellent. Quite a few members came, which was great.

I played a musical number that I prepared beforehand - an arrangement of the ´I Like to Look for Rainbows´ Primary song. She really liked it. I don´t think music has played a big part in the branch here, previously. Maybe I´ll get to play again. I hope so!

And... I performed the baptism! Surprise! It certainly surprised me. On our way out the door to go to the baptism, my companion said to me, ´You´d better bring your baptismal clothes, just in case.´ ´Just in case´, heh heh. 10 minutes before the baptismal service started, the Branch President decided that I should do the baptism. So, I really quickly changed and memorized the baptismal prayer in Spanish (good thing it´s not very long!), and then the service started.

The baptism went great. When Hmna [V] came up out of the water, she was laughing! She was excited.

What a day. 

The same day, we had the best lesson I´ve had so far with a Mom & Dad who really want to strengthen their family. This really is a great work.

Matthew 4:19

And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Cultural Side-notes

Siesta Time!
Andrew tells us that every day from 1:00 to 5:00, everyone in their city takes a long afternoon nap! (Whoa! Why wasn't I born in Argentina?) All the stores close and almost all the people disappear into their houses. Even the dogs that are everywhere in Buenos Aires plop down in the shade and snooze. Not such a great time for missionaries to make contacts on the street, but they have found people are willing to make appointments to be taught during that time. No siestas for the missionaries!

Meal Time!

At first Andrew was a little alarmed by the fact that there seemed to be only one meal per day. He said it was like having Fast Sunday every day of the week! They get one gigantic lunch (I am assuming prepared for them by Church members there) (...and no wonder everyone needs a nap afterwards ...), then something small for dinner, like one hard-boiled egg. He and his companion finally made a trip to the grocery store and bought some plain but filling foods to give themselves some fuel for their busy days. He reports that the apples there are the very best he's ever had, with the perfect crunch and texture, and a delicious taste. I wonder what variety they are! Milk comes in a bag.   

I learned that if you don´t ask for seconds when you´re eating at a member´s home, they´ll get offended. Also, that there is no such thing as ¨just a little bit more.¨  ¨Just a little¨ is the same thing as ¨A heaping plateful.¨ ;-) But it´s okay, because the food is all delicious. I´m just... super full!

His companion made some tortas fritas the other day (pictured above), which he found to be tasty and simple. They  are similar to Native American Fry Bread, but more like a fried biscuit. Here's a link to the recipe if you thought you'd like to give them a try (but don't expect it to fit into your Weight Watchers cookbook ;-D ) southamericanfood.about.com

Manners

If you sneeze in Argentina, they say, ¨Salúd!¨ (Health!) If you sneeze again, they say ¨Plata!¨ (Money!) If you sneeze a third time, they say ¨Amor!¨(Love!) So if you sneeze three times in a row... you win!

Summertime Weather

The weather is really pretty hot. I have a better time with it than my companion, because I´m accustomed to the heat. But the humidity makes it worse! It´s only been really humid two days, but that was enough for me. I´m not looking forward to the winter too much. They tell me the winters are dark, cold and tough.





Church Meetings

His area has a "branch", which is similar to a ward, but much smaller. They meet in a Church building which is close to their apartment. They sit in chairs rather than pews, and there are no printed programs. There are about 40 active members (Yikes! Qué pequeño!) and about 150 members who do not attend. They meet from 9:00 a.m. to noon. The missionaries teach the Gospel Doctrine class, which teaches basic principles of the Gospel. He says things at Church there are pretty much the same as back home.

Daily Miracles

We received a wonderful email from Andrew detailing several experiences he and his missionary companion have had as they are seeking people who are interested in hearing their message. Much of their day is spent out and about, talking to people, seeking those who might be looking for what they have to offer. They feel blessed as they perform their labors. (Note: in an effort to protect the privacy of others, I have eliminated names or changed the names in [brackets]. )

He says:

It´s amazing to see how people really have been (are being) prepared to hear the Gospel. It´s also amazing how, as a missionary, miracles are so much a part of your day that you almost come to expect them. For example, yesterday [my companion] and I were walking down the street, coming back to our pensión (that´s our apartment). A lady saw us from the other side of the street and crossed the street to come talk to us. She told us that she worked for [Juan], a man my companion had met on the street a few weeks earlier. Last week we tried to go by and visit, but he wasn´t home. But, the lady told us, he really does want to talk with us. So we made an appointment to go by today at 6:00. Now, I guess [Juan] told his worker, this lady, to keep an eye out for us and talk to us if she saw us. But Luján is huge! I don´t think there´s much chance that we would randomly cross paths like that.

He has these types of experiences every day. Most often, they come when they have exhausted all their own resources, and are praying for help to find someone to talk to or teach. And, the miracles usually allow them to help someone in need.

A recent convert ... was recently hit by a car while riding his bike and had to go to the hospital. Now, none of us would have known until maybe a week or two later, because we had just recently gone to visit him. But as we were walking to an appointment in a totally different part of town, his daughter (who we had only met a week ago) happened to see and recognize us while she was driving. She stopped and told us what had happened, we told the Branch President, and people went to visit [him] in the hospital.

He works hard to do his part, and miracles follow.

Things like that do a lot to strengthen my faith that the Lord´s hand is in His work. As we do our part, He does the things we can´t do by ourselves - like having us cross paths with people who are ready to listen to the Gospel.