Jan 20, 2014

Hoooolaaaa!!!

Well, it´s been a week, and how is everybody doing? I thought I´d keep the tradition and add something about the weather. But really, the most common thing I hear here is, ¨Que callor, no?" You can hardly have small talk without mentioning the heat. ¨Como paso su Navidad?¨ -Lindo, con callor.- -Como anda?- Bien, con callor.- Right after that, when asking about where I´m from, people tend to make a big deal about how cold it is in North America right now. I hope you all know that all of Argentina is concerned for your well being and are convinced that you are all experiencing another Ice Age. (Like, pour water and it´ll freeze cold)

Enough of that. Well, in respects to the time and to ignore aspects that are rather tedious to write, I shall launch into my highlight of the week.

Well, there have been a couple, and can I just say that when an investigator progresses it is really the best thing ever. Lourdes is progressing very well. Ricardo has fallen off the wagon, unfortunately, but Lourdes really has the desires to change her life. I love how inquisitive she is, her honest questions. Ricardo took her to the iglesia evangelica, and she was able to recognize the absence of the Spirit there.  I look forward to the day I can tell you all about her baptism.

We also encountered somebody new the other day. Her name is Mariana. She recently went through a divorce, so things have been stressful lately. She´d Catholic, but told us we could stop by and talk. Wow. At first she was just curious, basic questions about our beliefs and our purpose (to clear the air, we are not Jehovah´s Witnesses, and we are allowed to get married). Eventually, it got to the point where many of her questions led to talking about the Restauration. She seemed interested, and we closed with a prayer. She offered the prayer and at some point she got really quiet, and when she closed she had tears sitting in her eyes and a lump in her throat. She explained that when she prayed she felt a real peace in her heart that she couldn´t explain. We helped her to recognize that what she was feeling was the Spirit. We left her with a Book of Mormon and told her to read the intro.

The second time we came by we talked more about the Book of Mormon and explained it a bit (it is a new book of scripture that takes place in the Americas, not an interpretation of the Bible) It was really quite cool, she mentioned that when she read the name Joseph Smith that it felt really familiar to her, and she couldn´t explain it. We asked if it was similar to the feeling when she prayed. Very excited, she replied that it was. Again, we explained that it was the Spirit talking to her. She says that everytime we are with her she feels very peaceful, and would like us to come by more. She isn´t quite convinced at this point, we´re kind of fighting against Catholic tradition here, but I have a testimony that there really are people out there prepared to recieve the gospel.

Well, gotta dash! Love you all, and please, bless me with your questions and let me know what´s going on! (and if you are really experiencing another ice age) Chao!