Hola!
Wow! What a week! I had my first Christmas in the
field and it was definitely one to remember!
We started this week with a zone conference with
President and Hermana Goates and their assistants. We received tons of council
and help from all of the leadership of the mission and I’m excited to put it into
play. I have really learned to love President and Hermana Goates. Their love
for the missionaries is truly something else! Of course, we also celebrated
Christmas by eating a nice big feast and singing Christmas hymns. It was such a
fun time.
We had a pretty tough week here in Salto because
the summer has started and everyone is out of school and beginning to vacation
and travel. Two of our awesome investigators left for a month and we struggled
to find other people we’ve contacted. I don’t know if it’s luck or bad timing
but we couldn’t find the same people we found last week. This was so
frustrating and it resulted in a lot of knocking doors and riding our bikes to
try and find people in new places that we thought haven’t been knocked. I have
learned knocking doors and tracting is all about the attitude. If you have a
bad attitude about it and don’t have a smile on your face, then no one is going
to open their door for you. But it’s amazing what a smile and a good attitude
can do.
Even with the frustrations of the week, this weekend
was such a blast. It definitely wasn’t the same Christmas that I’m used to but
it was still fun. Argentina goes pretty big for the holiday. They don’t exhibit
their Christmas spirit the same way that Americas do with lights and decorations,
but it was awesome. I was sitting in my bed at about 12 midnight, not being
able to sleep, and there was a huge boom right at 12. I learned that everyone
buys a ton of fireworks and they wait until midnight and then they go crazy. To
be honest, it scared me sooo bad! I almost jumped out of my bed.
On Sunday morning, I gave my first talk in the mission
field! I think it went pretty well. When people are nodding their heads that
means they can understand me. Right? I sure hope so. But this was actually a great
experience. I noticed the Gift of Tongues and the Spirit guiding me throughout
the whole thing it was really pretty cool. I have experienced the power of the
Gift of Tongues and I have gained a testimony of the power of the Holy Ghost
and especially His guidance while learning a language.
On Sunday afternoon, we met up with the zone leaders
and we ate a huge asado with chicken, steak and potatoes. Oh man! When we had
to walk back to the pench I thought I was going to die. Like Americans,
Argentines go crazy with food on the holidays and I have eaten so much food
over the last few days. I think I’m going to do a couple more sit-ups each
morning.
The best part of the week, of course, was talking
to my family! Even with some internet and microphone problems, it was such a
blessing to be able to see their faces and hear their voices again! Of course,
it was impossible to not cry a little bit, but it made my week to talk with my
family.
Even though this week was a little slow, it was still
such a fun week and I will never forget my first Christmas in the mission field.
I
love you all so much and I´ll talk to you next year!
Elder
Roderick
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