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| Hermana Martinelli's 25th Anniversary of Baptism |
Family,
This week was really good. Tuesday was highlighted by the
addition of a washing machine to the pension, which was completely unexpected,
but they are trying to get all of the pensions to have the same items and
utilities. Wednesday we had lunch with Hermana Martinelli, it was her 25th
anniversary of being baptized. I also participated in giving another
couple of blessings, it is really cool to see the faith of people in the power
of the priesthood. Thursday was really good, we had the Word of Wisdom lesson
with Alejandra, and brought a convert who had struggled with some of the same
things that she is struggling with. She committed to stop smoking and to live
the commandment. We also contacted a reference, Familia Heredia, taught them
the Restoration and placed a tentative baptismal date of the 11th of
October. Friday morning my companion and I did service for the 75 year
old counselor to the Bishop who is slowly dying, we just moved some stuff in
his backyard and listened to him talk and tell stories, and show us pictures
from 30 years ago. He really appreciated it, and I enjoyed it as
well.
We visited a less active family, Familia Olmos, and had a really
powerful lesson there. The 17 year old daughter is completely inactive, she had
a baby a year ago that passed away right after childbirth, and is struggling to
understand why God would take her son away from her like that. We explained the
Plan of Salvation, and asked her what she thought God felt when He had to watch
His firstborn son, Jesus Christ, be tortured and killed for the salvation of
all of the rest of His children. By the end of the lesson the whole
family was practically in tears, the Spirit that was felt in that house that
evening was incredibly strong.
That same night, Friday, we came home to find that our
electricity and power had been cut off. The mission office had forgotten to pay
the electric bill. As of right now, we are still without
electricity. No electricity means no water heater either. We do have a
gas stove though, so in order to shower we would heat up water in a bucket,
then take cups full of the hot water and dump it on top of our heads over and
over. Little bit different than back home!
On Sunday Alejandra came to church for the 3rd week in a row, we
could very easily be having a baptism for her very soon if she can stop
smoking. This morning we said goodbye to Elder Perez, the elder from
Nicaragua whose English vocabulary is limited to the words of the songs in the
movie Frozen, he’s now finished his 2 years in the mission and is headed home.
We have a new Elder know, Elder Knutzen from Utah. 4 gringos in one apartment,
that’s not normal. Elder Perez said this morning "Me siento mal.
Estoy triste."- I feel bad. I’m sad. His mission is over, that must
be a really weird feeling. My first transfer in the field is over, we
found out Saturday night who stayed and who left the area. I have the same
companion, this next transfer should be a good one.
Q&A - I don’t drink a ton of soda here, but when I do it is almost
always Coca Cola, the Argentines love coke. I haven’t learned to cook anything new
at all, and we MIGHT have a baptism Saturday if Alejandra can not smoke a
cigarette all week. We will get General Conference live in our building,
which will be in Spanish of course. We’ll play sports with the locals as
well as the missionaries. Scriptures we used this week...Body is a
Temple. There are several scriptures in Corinthians about that, I invite
you all to search them out for yourself- :)
Glad to hear that everybody is doing well. Love you all!
Elder Mangum
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