Dear Family!There is a joke here in the mission that Argentina is made by preschoolers! It’s awesome! It’s because first, everything is made out of blocks. These are cinder blocks. It’s just all stacked up and then slathered with cement and sometimes painted. The water and whatever else is just kinda cemented in. This is true with all buildings ever really big ones!
Second- Everyone takes naps! There is a really big siesta here. It lasts usually from two to four or five but me and my companion have found people sleep until six or six thirty sometimes! It’s really hard to get anyone to answer the door and if they do they do not want to listen to you during their nap! I hear that in the summer they change our schedule to where our study time is during the siesta and we work in the mornings when all the people are out and about.
Third- There is no crust on any of the bread that they use for sandwiches here!
Fourth- Whenever someone does not have the right coins in the cash register at the store they just hand you one of the little candies that are kept in the cash register! Yeah! They use candy for money! weird.
This last week has been incredible! My first real full week of work, my first real Sunday and most of all my first real baptism! My companion baptized a nine year old girl of a less active family. I got to confirm her this Sunday! The only teaching I helped with was the last of the commandments. I used some of my special magical colored paper that I sent home as a letter to explain commandments. She loved it! The family really likes me now and says that I am elder magic.
This Sunday was fast and testimony meeting. I got to bear my testimony to the branch here. We only had about thirty people in attendance but it was a great experience. I explained in my broken Spanish why I am here on a mission. I tried to excite them a little bit about missionary work and everything. All the members here are wonderful but they are all pretty content with the way things are. I want them to be excited about change! So do all of the other leaders in the area. Some General Authority said that the key in this mission would be the members, once we can work with them in unity we can have success. We had a big branch council this morning where a senior missionary couple came and taught the branch about how to work together for success. I think it rather surprised the members of the branch. They had not realized before all the things they needed to be doing.... Good things will come of this though. This Sunday they also called a branch missionary couple to help us with the work.
We are also trying to plan some sort of branch activity to share a little bit more of our vision as missionaries and just to kinda get everyone a little bit closer. The branch right now does not have any activities besides the Sunday meetings because in the past they have had problems with members not coming to church only the social events. But the branch does not really act like a family right now. They all just come to church and talk to each other as much as is necessary. It’s hard because that means when a less active member comes or we bring an investigator no one feels like they need to go up and talk to them or anything. Retention here in this mission is really bad and this is probably one of the reasons. I know it’s not my job to work on strengthening the members really but I do want to help in the change. The senior missionaries are focused on the members which is good. We will see what happens.
We found an amazing family this week! The family Vera! They have three kids and their oldest has the same question as Joseph Smith! When we told the story of the Restoration he was sooo interested! His whole family too! Up till now the whole family is accepting everything. We will see what happens this next week as they read and pray. The miracle is that they are married too! I have great faith for four baptisms in the future.
We are working with another older couple trying to get them baptized. The problem is that they want to come to church and understand and everything but they are just hard to get a hold of and they will say they are coming and not end up making it. This is a big problem here. We set appointments or commit people to commit people to come to church (sometimes even a half hour before) BUT it does not end up happening. They are not there or don´t show. Half of it is people who just agree to everything and lie to us and half is just that they forget or just get lazy.
We have had some really hard days this last week where things just fall straight through. We will even have a member with us and our solid appointment just vanishes. We are still not quite sure how to battle this but figuring it out. At times it is really hard to keep up the faith and the hope to continue knocking on peoples doors (or clapping). I have caught myself dragging my feet a little bit but I am determined to rid myself of doubt!
Once this week it was late in the evening, all our appointments fell through but we decided to knock more doors before starting the trek back across town to our apartment. We headed for the house of an investigator when we stopped to talk to a mother and two girls sitting by the street. They were interested! What’s more they had seven kids! And the miracle- MARRIED! That’s pretty rare here so it’s great to find. We have yet to have a good lesson with the family but I hope that something comes of it. I have faith.
It’s really cool to really start working by the spirit and having promptings come through with great investigators. There is still a ton to do here but I am seeing the changes in the people and so excited to see where the progress goes! Looks like I will be in this area through Christmas. That makes me happy! I love it here!
Still trying to figure out how to do many good things of my own free will. Still fighting with the language. Just barely starting to know my way around the area. My feet are finally starting to get used to the walking. I am starting to figure out what food to buy to make sure I don’t starve with the weird food schedule. No one washes our clothes so I am figuring out how to do all of that by hand in buckets.
I am very well and very happy! No need to worry about a thing mom! ;D Love you all so very very much!
Elder Green
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