Hola Amigos,
Another week down here in the 264! This week wasn’t the most exciting
week but it was still pretty good. I’m really starting to enjoy myself here in
Salto and every day gets better and better. There are still plenty of moments
that test my patience but the good moments always overpower the bad ones.
 |
| Salto de las Rosas Zone |
We started this week with our zone meeting and this was really fun
because it was the first time I met all those who serve in our whole zone. Our zone
of San Rafael covers a huge area so we don’t get many chances to all be
together. Last P-day we played tons of games together and cooked some yummy
chorizo sausages. Tuesday we had our zone meeting and it was awesome to all be
together. We made some T-Shirts for each of us in the zone and they turned out
really cool. “Iron Rod” has officially taken over.
This week we wanted to find some new investigators to increase our
pool and to be honest, it was nothing short of a nightmare. We went to a
stretch of houses and the first house we knocked on had about seven dogs that
went absolutely crazy and this set off a bomb! I swear, every house on the
street also had seven dogs and so trying to talk to people and attempting to
let the Spirit testify to these people was literally impossible. The dogs in
Argentina are forever testing my patience.
One of the highlights of the week was receiving my first haircut in
the ARG and it was an interesting experience. Let’s just say that my haircut
vocabulary isn’t the best right now so I couldn’t tell what the lady was asking
me. So, I basically just said “Si” to
everything she asked. My hair ended up looking like a really high bowl cut. So,
my man, Elder Hyer, used my beard trimmer and went to town on my hair. At least
he made it look presentable. It was a very good opportunity to build
companionship unity.
 |
| First Haircut |
This week we had some big plans for our investigator, Segundo, and we
had to strategically plan around him because his house is a 40-minute bike ride
away. The first time we went to see him, he wasn’t there when he said he would
be and that was frustrating. We went back on Friday and he couldn’t talk
because his family was visiting. I had really high hopes for him this week but
we operate within the Lord’s timing and I just have to remember that Segundo
will come along at his own pace.
After going to Segundo’s house we started riding back to Salto and
along our way we saw a girl's field hockey team practicing. My man, Hyer, was a little preoccupied by the
sight and as we rode by his tire slipped on something and he hit a little road
barrier and went flying off his bike in front of the whole team. Oh man! It was
sooooo funny! I was dying. Of course, I made sure he was “okay” before I
laughed. The field hockey coach even helped him put his chain back on. It was
classic! I’m just glad my comp is
alright!
We had a great lesson with Francisco this week and he seems ready to
get baptized but he hasn’t been coming to church, which has been frustrating
for us. He accepts our message and believes in everything we teach, but he never
comes to church. UGHHHHH. Over the last few weeks, I’ve really learned about
patience and the will of God. Since our area is so big, we can’t visit everyone
and it really messes up our schedule when someone isn’t home because our other
appointments are so far away. Elder Hyer and I are really trying hard to find
more people and we have specifically set planned appointments with some who are
interested, but we haven’t had much success. Cell phones and appointments aren’t
a really big thing here and so its difficult to track down who we want all the
time.
There is a lot of potential and possibility in this area and we’re
really starting to gain momentum but, there are still plenty of nights that I
find myself really discouraged. Even so, the special moments in the week and
helping others come unto Christ make it all worth it. It’s difficult to push people
to make a leap of faith, but I know our Heavenly Father has a plan for them.
This week I had an interview with President Goates and during it we
talked about the difficulties we were having in the Salto area. He also asked me
about all of the blessings I have in this life and he specifically asked me
what I have learned from these blessings. It made me realize that I haven’t
learned much at all from my blessings! It’s the times when we are really broken
down and we feel like we are nothing that we learn! At times, we are broken
down in all aspects of life and as life becomes too tough, we should endure
with confidence, faith, and hope. This is
when we will grow the most and eventually, we’ll be grateful for our
trials.
There are some days that really test me but I can already see how much
I am changing, while I help other people receive this gospel. I love being a
missionary and I’m grateful for tough weeks because I know they will eventually
strengthen me!
I love my family and appreciate the support they give me every week! They
always give me the push I need! This next week will be a great one!
Elder Roderick
No comments:
Post a Comment