Familia,
Well,
I can officially say that it’s pretty darn cold down here in the ARG. This
weekend it got down to 0° Celsius and there was a bunch of wind, so it was a
cold one! I’m not sure if it’s really that cold, but when it’s 0° Celsius and you’re on a bike, the cold wind will
really get to you. My companion, who’s
from Peru, has never felt cold like this before so it’s kind of funny to watch
his reactions to it. Even with the cold
temperatures we haven’t seen snow yet, so we’re still praying for it.
This week flew by and like always, we covered a lot of
ground on our bikes. We made the mistake of visiting an investigator who lives
8 km away while there was a wind storm. On our return trip if literally felt
like we weren’t covering any ground on our bikes because the wind was so
strong. We looked pretty ridiculous! We got
some pretty weird looks from people, but that’s nothing new!
We had some awesome lessons this week. My good friend,
Juan, who is the father of three members of our branch, is really progressing. With
his kids present, we taught him about the Restoration and it was probably one
of the best lessons I’ve participated in during my mission. The coolest part of the lesson was that Juan’s
kids were there and they testified to him of the truths we were teaching and of
the Book of Mormon. They encouraged him to read the Book of Mormon and to go to
church. During the lesson the Spirit was so undeniable and nearly everyone was
brought to tears. The main thing I felt was the love that everyone in the room
had for my friend, Juan, and the important thing is that he felt it too. When
we taught him about the Apostasy, he said he felt a hunger to learn more and a
desire to “cure his hunger.” The lessons we had with Juan and his family were
definitely the highlights of the week.
We also taught Javier, who is the brother of a couple of members
and like our lessons with Juan, we were able to teach Javier with his family
present to testify and bring the Spirit into the room. Javier believes everything
we teach him but he’s just a little lazy with the commitments and reading
assignments we leave with him. This is frustrating but we have such great
lessons with him and we’re hoping his family can push him along to read and
learn for himself so he can gain his own testimony.
This week I also had another experience with a pig. We got to a member’s house right as they were
trying to move some pigs so they could make baby pigs (this is serious stuff
down here). There were two pigs in one pen and apparently, they don’t like each
other. The goal was to move one pig out
of the pen and into another. So, we all
lined up and made a little pathway for the pig that he could walk through and
just be guided into his new pen. But, unexpectedly the wrong pig sneaked out of
the pen and I was the closest one to it.
Legit, it charged right at me! This was no piglet! This pig was HUGE! In my football days, I had
to take on some pretty big dudes, but a 300kg pig definitely got the best of
me. It escaped right past me and then the chaos began. The family has a huge
property and a couple of enormous dogs that are trained to kill animals. So, I
had to sprint after the pig while the family tried to hold back the dogs so
they wouldn’t kill the pig. Legit, it was chaos and like my last pig encounter,
I was freaking out. During his escapade around the farm, the pig nearly ran me
over. Fortunately, it all worked out and
we were able to get all of the pigs in their proper pens but the entire experience
really did a number on me. Not gonna
lie! Another week; another L.
So, this week I chased a pig and nearly died in the
process. With my district, I also took a
boxing class on PDay and it nearly killed me too. But, other than those near-death
experiences, it was a great week. The boxing class provided us with a great opportunity
to do “companion inventory.” We went at each other really hard for a few
minutes and it was really fun! I also learned a few moves I can use if anyone
tries to rob me.
¡Un Abrazo Grande!
Elder Roderick
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