El Ganador

P-days in the offices are usually pretty slow. I like that. It gives me a bit of time to sit down and write in my journal, write letters, etc. With just me and Elder Boyer, it isn´t much of a celebration. But such is life in the offices. And we have found small ways to enjoy it.

Today we went bowling. I´ve actually become fairly competent at the sport (is bowling a sport?) during my time here. Elder Boyer is a bowling champion. A veritable legend in my eyes. Out of the three times we´ve been I never was able to win a game. Today, I was hungry.

From the drop of the first pin, I could tell Elder Boyer was off. Instead of the usual explosion at the end of his throws there was a pathetic patter as two or three pins dropped to the ground. I wasn´t exactly hitting home runs either (sports metaphors don´t work so well when talking about sports stories ha-ha) and we stayed about neck and neck the entire time. My heart would sink as the ball would slide to the gutter, but thankfully, I was able to pull off miraculous spares two times. I had Elder Boyer by 10 points, and was smooth cruising to the 9th frame, when suddenly he got another spare. By the last frame, Elder Boyer was still down 4 pins, and I was confident that if I could at least get a spare to finish the game, I would leave Discount Dragon Bowling a champion. Then, it happened.

Boyer greased his shoes and stepped up to the line with a face so saturated with concentration it resembled a bag of dried raisins. One lofty toss of a bowling ball, an explosion of pins, and the dirty deed was done. Elder Boyer bowled a strike, followed by a solid 7 pins which he knocked down with ease. For those of you who understand bowling, I was then forced to get a strike or a spare to get an extra frame and knock down at least 8 pins to win the game. The prospects were unlikely. Slowly, I stepped up. Gripping the bowling ball with three sweaty sausage fingers. I wasn´t one to exactly make big plays in the clutch. I let the first ball go, gazing with anticipation. With a big pop and shatter, I a wrecking ball left one lone pin standing in its wake. It was make or break. I had to knock it down to stay in the game. Another tense throw in the still air, and to my shock, the pin went down.

There I was, throw number three. The game in my hands. 8 or more pins knocked down, and David would slay Goliath. I saw my life before my eyes, everything I had never achieved athletically in my life could be on some small level be restored to me should I knock these pins down. This had become more than just a game of bowling. The little cardboard cutout of a dragon holding the "two games for 1" gazed mortified by the tension of the moment. The symphony of silence blared deafeningly as I stood up to bowl one last time.

A deep breath, a lunge, and the dull thud of hard plastic on slick wood. It moved a little to the left, then to the right, then in a moment comparable to Luke Skywalker shooting torpedoes down the exhaust shaft in the death star, with similar odds and similar results, my own life long yearning to do something athletically spectacular was, in some small misconstrued distorted way satisfied, as the explosion of pins was drowned out by a choir of heavenly hosts shouting hallelujahs with angelic zeal. STRIKE! STRIKE! STRIKE!

The odds were beaten. Elder Boyer, defeated. The Death Star, destroyed. Beyond that, the world may have kept spinning. But if you checked your watch today at roughly 2:37 Buenos Aires time, you might have noticed that time stood still. A timeless victory at the very least.

Well... Anyways

this week has been solid. A lot of ups and downs. Ups in the sense that we really have been able to progress things in the offices. I´ve found new ways to get around my position. To get the letters that we usually send off without the database. I think I´ve finally got a system that is simple and consistent enough to work for Hna Jones. The office has become like a puzzle. I´ve had to rebuild my job, but do it in an incredibly simple way. I´ve realized here it´s not easy to teach people new things. That includes teaching them the gospel. The role of a teacher is a challenging one.

The progress in the offices has come at a price, that price is less time in the area. Even still, I´ve felt the Lord´s blessings upon us as we have been able to maximize the time that is allotted to us. That´s something I´ve learned better in the offices than any other place in the mission. Principles of prioritizing and finding the most important thing, to execute it most efficiently.

News on investigators is more of the same. Damian is still struggling a bit accepting the Priesthood. Gonzalo is still hesitant to accept a baptismal date. We haven´t seen Xavier in more than a week because of complications with getting out to his house and his schooling.

Amidst the investigators though, Luis and Veronica have taken a big step. In our appointment last night they gave us their official marriage date. Veronica was able to take the kids to her mom´s house and drop them off there while she went yesterday morning to take out a date from the Registro Civil. It´s all there. In black and white. Luis and Veronica are getting married the 10th of September. (For those of you wondering, this transfer ends on September 13th) So as of now, the official baptismal date will be Saturday September 11th. We are so grateful to have investigators like them who are doing what is necessary to change their lives. It is impossible to not feel the spirit when we are with them, and we feel very distinctly that they have great things to contribute to the church in Argentina.

So the updates will keep coming as they come. I know I said this last week, but with the offices settling down a bit, we should be able to make more time this week to get out in the area. As of now I´m content with the progress we have seen. Luis and Veronica are some of the best, if not the best I´ve taught on the mission. To them, reading, praying, keeping commitments isn´t a hard thing. It just comes naturally. They love the blessings that they get from being obedient. They love the blessed and happy state that comes from doing the daily things to invite the spirit in our lives. That is our joy. To see people progress, embrace, and make sacrifices for the Gospel. And watch them receive the blessings that always come.

Thank you for all you do for me. For the prayers in my behalf. I love you all.

This week has been another epic series in the battle of the database. Combine that with our usual crazy duties for the first week of the transfer in the offices. We´ve been a bit busy to say the least. Thankfully the worst of it is coming to an end, and we should be able to get out in the area more this week.

I´ve spent my days trying to unify the mission database that we were using in Access, and getting it all that data to the church database. IMOS. The biggest challenge has been getting IMOS to generate a data source in Excel, from which I can then merge letters in Microsoft word. It sounds complicated, but mostly it has been a lot of busy work. A lot of data entry. A lot of trouble-shooting and computer problems. And I´m by no means a computer expert. I can tell that what little knowledge I have has been helping me, and perhaps it´s for the best. The brilliant computer programmers of the mission designed a system that none of us can understand. They have long since gone leaving us helpless to amend the now outdated systems they left behind. So perhaps it´s the best thing that a simple mind is on the job. I have to establish a system for the secretary that will not just work for a few months, but the coming years.

On that note, it wasn´t exactly a surprise to learn that I would be in the mission offices for six more weeks. This will be my fourth transfer here in Adrogué. I had mixed feelings over the weekend. Of course I would rather be outside doing missionary work. But for one reason or another, the Lord wants me here. What´s more, I will more than likely be here now for the baptism of Luis and Veronica, and hopefully Damian´s son, and others that are progressing. It has become very clear to me that there is still a lot of work for me to do here in Adrogué, and as always, it´s where the Lord wants me to go.

Luis and Veronica weren´t able to take out their turno to get married on Tuesday as a result of the intense cold. On Tuesday we´ll go and pick her up with the Jones couple here in the offices and take her where she needs to go. Sometimes we have to take the investigators by the hand and guide them through the steps. I´ve seen that a lot in the mission. Helping people keep commitments takes a bit of extra effort.

Damian is doing great. He was able to come to church last week, but yet again without his son Gonzalo. We have really focused on teaching him. We had a lesson two nights ago about recognizing the voice of the spirit. He was able to really see the importance of it. He says that he doesn´t need to pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true because he already knows it. It says good things and talks about God. We testified that by praying he wouldn´t just know in his head if it was true, but in his heart as well. Tonight we have an appointment to watch a church movie with them.

Last night we were able to visit Xavier, formerly known as Savior. (He wrote his name down and we realized that´s what he has been saying the whole time.) He has been progressing fantastically. Really profound questions about prayer and God, but at the same time, so simple. For his immense study of philosophy, he is very charming, and humble. Willing to learn, accept, and act upon what we´re teaching. Last night we read the parable of the seed in Alma, and he learned a bit about the meaning of faith. I know that we were led to Xavier at the right time and the right place. Because he is able to speak English, the Jones can teach with us as well and participate. Part of me thinks that the Lord put him in our path for that reason.

In other news, that family we found a few weeks ago, Diego and Jessica, both came to church with their two children on Sunday. They caught me completely off guard. We had a pretty skeptical lesson earlier in the week with me and Elder Herrera and Jessica and her sister. She was very anti-Mormon and had everything from Polygamy to the mysterious Mormon gold tax on us. (Apparently she believed that to join the Mormon Church you had to donate a certain amount of pure gold to get baptized. This was how we put the statues of the Angel Moroni on all our temples. It wasn´t the most ridiculous Mormon rumor I´ve heard in Argentina.) To say the least, the lesson was less than edifying, and my hopes for Diego and Jessica to progress were less than optimistic. Then, on Sunday, unexpectedly the whole family showed up to church. The mission is surprising like that sometimes.

We have been having enormous success, and we have managed to keep the area at the very least relatively progressing while we have been in the midst of the office crazy. The Lord has blessed us to be able to magnify the small time that we do have to keep finding and keep teaching. I testify that God knows each of us personally, and is able to guide us by the spirit if we are listening. I miss you all very dearly. It´s strange hearing about the changes at home. New nephews, marriages, dates. Dad switching to apple. (Of all the aforementioned, the last one surprised me most.) But all in all, there isn´t anywhere in the world I would rather be than right here right now in Buenos Aires. I believe sometimes we can see through the windows of life, the moments that we will yearn to return to for the rest of my life. Argentina runs through my blood now. I´ll strive to return to this country for the rest of my life, looking for the feeling that I have right now. I love this work.

Another week at the Office

It´s been another great week in the offices.

And considerably warmer here too.

I´d say it´s a balmy 65 outside right now and not a cloud in the sky. When I think that it would be the equivalent of January in the northern hemisphere, it just makes me happy. Enjoy the furnace of a state you’re living in right now.

I´m at the end of my 3rd transfer in the offices. Which is making my head spin. Time is slipping through my hands faster and faster. The mission never slows down, especially not this week.

The office complications this transfer have been enormous. The presidential change. Missionaries leaving for other missions mid transfer, other missionaries coming from other missions mid transfer. The latest development has definitely been the biggest blow. The office computers allegedly had a virus on them. The workers from the area offices took them out to clean them. The good news is, they got the virus. The bad news is, they erased all traces of the mission database in the process.

The database essentially includes personal information (address, bishop, stake, parents, etc) for more than 200 missionaries. We merge all the letters that we send out based on that information. Fortunately we were able to get a database back up from February, but there are still a lot of bugs. And I´m no computer genius. We´ve been pulling our hair out trying to straighten the problems out, but with little or no success. It´s been an adventure.

Speaking of adventures, on Friday morning we go to President´s house to see the big transfer board. It´s the biggest privilege of being in the offices. It´s like March madness for the office Elders. We all have picks for where everyone is going in the mission, and who is going to make it on the top ten next transfer. This time around I´ve got to guess my own fate. But now it´s hardly a step out into the dark. I´ve gotten to know the mission pretty well after three months in the offices.

Remember my old comp Elder Gibbs? Well he was recently chosen to be the new assistant. It has been fantastic to see him around the offices again.

With the database meltdown, we have been struggling to get out in the area. I hadn´t worked in the sun for the better portion of a week. With transfers coming up my job has been a bit more low key, but come next week things will be pretty loco again as week one is hardest on the Secretary position. I honestly don´t know how long they´ll keep me here. If I´ll go first thing next transfer, or if they´ll send me out to an area first thing next week. The anticipation is something I haven´t felt in a while. For the past two transfers there was no chance of leaving. Uncertainty is the flavor of life. Without it, everything is just a bit more bland.

As far as the area goes, we have been in a bit of a rut. Damian has been progressing in his reading, but unfortunately missed church last week. Keep him in your prayers. Gonzalo is trying to see the point of being baptized. We´ve made a conscious effort to refocus on just reading and praying.

Luis and Veronica also had a bit of a struggle to get to church last week in the rain. We went and watched the testaments with the whole family, which made for a very spiritual experience. Even Luis was a little teary eyed afterward. They had many questions for us, and wanted to know where they could find the story in the book of Mormon. I had to explain that it was fictionalized. One of Luis’ daughters that was visiting from his former marriage asked if we would ever be able to see Jesus like that. I was able to testify to her that we would if we followed the path that he has set for us.

In our appointment last night, Veronica explained about a dream she had had wherein she was wandering through the streets lost and confused. She couldn´t find her way home. She asked everyone she saw on the street, but no one could tell her where her house was. She was just about to the point of hopelessness, when an old man told her that she had to have faith that she would find her house again. A short time after, a light formed around her, and a staircase appeared with a door illuminated at the top. She asked us what it meant and if it was from God. I had her go get the drawing that Elder Boyer had made from a few lessons back of lesson 3. It had the staircase labeled with the principles of the gospel Faith, Repentance, Baptism Etc. We asked her what she thought the dream was telling her to do, and she explained to us that it had to be telling her the need for baptism. They are such elect investigators.

We had a fantastic finding experience. Two weeks ago I shared with you 3 contacts that happened in the street. Diego and Yessica we taught once and had a very powerful cita. We have another appointment with them in 2 hours. Rocky and Monica we have taught twice and we have another appointment tomorrow. The third I told you about was a bit disappointing. We went to his house in the rain and no one was home. It had been over a week and a half since contact when we had our Saturday night planning session. We were feeling down as a result of the current office situation and the day we had had when Elder Boyer told me to try calling Savior one last time. As the phone rang, my mind was running through all the little things I had to do in the offices, all the current frustrations I had at the time. I had tried calling this man at least five times before with no luck. I was so busy thinking negatively that I could hardly believe it when I heard an "hola" on the other side of the line. I couldn´t believe it. We set a cita for Monday night.

Going to that appointment wasn´t easy. Especially considering it was in a dangerous part of our area, and we would have to go relatively far away to get there. After a prayer of guidance we set out to find Savior. Upon arrival, there was no answer at the door, but sure enough, he opened it up after a bit. It was definitely the most interesting finding cita I had had in the mission. The man was high class. A foreign language major speaking anything from Dutch to Portuguese to Russian to French to English to Spanish. He was able to talk to us mostly in English for the night. When we walked in, Elder Boyer immediately noticed the big bongo drums he had against the wall. Savior invited us to a veritable jam session, and we sat around playing the bongos for the first 15 minutes. After we were able to have a brief chat about the importance of L1.

Well I´m out of time. I would like to write some of the other experiences from the week. It really was amazing. I´ll keep you updated on transfers.

I know this church is true, and God guides this work every day. The longer I´m here the longer I realize that this is a marvelous work and a wonder. When I think that there are over 60,000 other missionaries out there all having experiences like these every day, it strengthens my testimony that this is the truth. I love you all. Thank you for the prayers on my behalf.

Hace un Frio Loco

It is cold.

What can I say more?

I guess I have no legitimate room to complain for several reasons.

1. Here in the offices we find ways to keep it warm. Central heat is not an option, but we do have an abundance of gas heaters.
2. This is the first time I´ve legitimately felt cold since I arrived in Buenos Aires last September
3. After this week I probably won´t feel this cold again until November of 2011, after I get home from my mission.

The arctic winds have picked up and are carrying icy gusts all through Buenos Aires. There´s not a cloud in the sky, but a frigid wind chill takes care of what the sun doesn´t do. It should get colder tomorrow and yes, EVEN colder on Saturday. They´re talking about a chance of snow this weekend. Just when I thought I had escaped the blasted white powder curse my dreaded Jack Frost nemesis has found me in the southern Hemisphere. I´m so layered up with sweaters my twig like build now resembles the Pillsbury dough boy. And that´s not just because I´ve been living off of deep fried chicken and beef for the past 11 months of my life.

Congratulations to Zane Rigby for the mission call in Columbia. What day do you leave? I was just talking to a sister in our ward last night who served a mission in Columbia. She said there were many missionaries from Chile and Argentina. You´ll surely get familiar with the Buenos Aires slang. (Vos tenés que ser bien preparado eh? No seas trucho)

Anyways, despite the cold we have managed to have several successes this week. One of those is the progression of Damian who is going to get baptized this Saturday. I´ll send you all the pictures next week. His son Gonzalo decided to wait a little bit on his baptism for various reasons. He´s studying for his elementary school finals and wants to be a bit more prepared. We´ll be teaching him with his dad over the coming weeks. Damian bore a fantastic testimony last night in our appointment testifying of the change that he had in his life. He told us that before we came and visited him, God was like his neighbor. He would say hi occasionally when he saw him. But he wasn´t that important. Now he feels that God is the most important thing in his life. More like, well, a father. He is very well-prepared and will have a wonderful baptism this weekend.

In other news, Luis and Veronica were able to make some big strides. Veronica has started reading in Gospel principles in addition to her regular Book of Mormon assignments. She has already read the first 100 pages, and was able to explain to us the reason we have trials in this life based on her knowledge of the pre-existence. She missed church a few weeks ago, and told us that that week was one of the hardest weeks she has had in a long time. She told us it was a sign that God was telling her that she couldn´t deviate from the path that she was on. That she had finally found the "buen camino." Probably the biggest development is as a result of their vacations, they were able to go to the registro civil to set a date for their marriage. They are getting married August 20th, and if all goes well, they´ll get baptized a week later, August 28th. It´s so rewarding to see the changes that they are making in their lives. I always heard that the gospel had the power to change people, but to see it first hand is just that much more of a testimony of the truthfulness of this work.

I would like to thank you all for the prayers in our behalf this week to find the elect. We have felt miracles with finding. I would like to share three of these experiences with you.

Just the other Saturday we were walking in the street when all of the sudden we saw a couple that looked very happy. We said hi to them and they said hi back to us. Elder Pepito and I looked at each other. "Do you think we should talk to them?" I asked. I wasn´t sure if it was the spirit, or if it was just me. Elder Pepito didn´t hesitate, he turned around and started heading toward them. Elder Boyer wasn´t far behind. I asked them if they knew what street we were on. Just something to break the ice. A bit of a white lie as we were on two very well known streets. They gave us "directions" as we were new in the area and weren´t sure where to go. After a brief introduction we introduced ourselves as missionaries from the church. They both looked at each other and smiled replying "that´s just what we were talking about." We talked a bit, and then asked if it would be all right to pass by their house one day and share a message about Christ. They agreed giving us their direction and number to call. Diego and Jessica were their names. Unfortunately they weren´t there when we passed by on Tuesday, but we know it wasn´t coincidence that we found such cheerful people so willing to listen. I´m sure we´ll be able to find them on Saturday.

More recently, on Tuesday night we were walking back to our apartment after our appointment with Luis and Veronica. It was quite cold. We saw a couple standing on the side of the road with a car pulled over. "How are you" we asked routinely. "Really bad" replied the wife loudly. We stopped and inquired as to the situation. As it turned out the car battery had died and they were stranded in the cold. We asked them if we could call someone for them and they had responded that they had already done so. They assured us they were fine and told us to get to warmth as soon as possible. Being slightly in a hurry, but more lazy from a long day, we began walking away to head back to the pension. We hadn´t walked half a block away when I couldn´t get the couple out of the head. I know the spirit speaks with a still small voice, but this time around it felt more like a blaring voice shouting "There they are! Right there! Stranded in your path! It´s game time lazy! Share a message!" I turned around and returned to them explaining, with the same excuse, that we were new in the area and that we needed to know where the street Serrano was. After, we began to share a message with them, testifying of the blessings they could receive. They responded that they lived a ways away. On the Calle Tupac. That was coincidentally one of the streets we walked on most, and in an area where we had been looking for investigators for the past transfer fruitlessly. We agreed to pass by in the coming days and have an appointment tonight to go by and see them.

And then last but certainly not least, one of my favorite contacts of the mission happened last night. We were walking back to the apartment yet again, when all of the sudden a man on a motorcycle stopped and shouted out to us in English "are you Mormons?" Fearing a prospective robbery we stopped and kept our distance. "I want to know where the church is" he shouted again. This time we approached him, telling him the direction. The man began to explain to us in perfect English that he had seen us walking around his house frequently and wanted to know when he could hear our message. A little dumbfounded we explained that we went to the houses of people in this neighborhood to offer prayers with them and help them as best we could. He introduced himself as Savior, and explained that he lived too far away for us to visit him. We asked him what street he was on and replied "Hernandez" One street down from Tupac, where we had needed to find so badly. We set an appointment and got his phone number. He explained a bit of his circumstance, how he was studying and working right now alone. I asked him why he called out to us, but he still couldn´t quite explain. To tell the truth we were so dumbfounded by the man´s interest that we weren´t able to find out as much information as we would have liked. He promised that if we couldn´t find him at night that he would come to church on Sunday. And then Savior sped off into the night as mysteriously as he had appeared.

These are but a few of the finding opportunities we have had over the past week. I know that there are many more in store for us as we continue working to find the elect. I think of the finding experience from last night, how many days we spent fruitlessly wandering around on those streets, thinking we were being rejected, thinking it was pointless. But as a result of our consistency in getting out and working, even if it was late, we were being watched. I learned a lot about what it means to follow the Spirit this week. I also learned about how God truly does provide a way when we´re doing our best. I know the church is true and we have a loving father in heaven who knows each of His children. I love missionary work and the spirit that guides it.