Getting Our Hands Dirty

 ¡Familia!        
 

Again, this week, we were able to get our hands dirty and provide some service. One member is building a pool in his backyard and he has done everything by hand including digging the hole and cementing & tiling the walls and floor. Legit! He has done it all. So, we helped him finish up the walls of the pool.  To be honest, I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into and we ended up helping him for six straight hours. But, it was all worth it because I was able to learn some new skills in construction and now I’ll be able to build myself a pool one day.  Haha!
            My first week with Elder Marin was a blast.  He’s been speaking Spanish and English his entire life. So, of course, he’s completely proficient in Spanish and no one believes he’s from the States, which is so funny.  We’ve been homies in the mish for a few months so it’s been fun to work together in a companionship.

P-Day in Paradise 

We are working a lot with Juan and Sandra and they are progressing so well.  In fact, they are making the changes necessary to enter into the waters of baptism. The only thing that’s preventing them from being baptized is the fact that they each need to finalize divorces from their previous marriages.  Once they do this, they can get married to each other and then baptized.  In Argentina, it takes about a year to complete the necessary paperwork to get divorced.  Or, if you want to get divorced in a few short days, it costs $800, which is a huge amount of money. I fear that if they have to wait for a year, their progress will stall. It’s frustrating to watch this process because Juan and Sandra are so ready to be baptized. I know, however, that eventually, everything will work out for them. 

          Matias and Dalma are also doing really well.  Now, Dalma brings her brother to church with her, which is so great because he was a Jehova’s Witness, like Dalma was, and he is just trying to learn more about the LDS faith.  He is actually so freaking smart and he always kills us with his deep questions. So, it’s been exciting to get to know him.  Matias should be receiving the Priesthood this week and we are very excited for this big step. As well, they brought us back some presents from Chile, where they went on their honeymoon!

This week I also went to Mendoza for a missionary leadership capacitation by President Panzacchi.  It was fun to be in Mendoza for a little bit and spend some time with some of my mission friends.  We always talk about the mission and how we can improve it, which is a theme we can always apply to our own lives as well.  So, keep grinding and look for little ways to improve each day.

Have a great week!

Argentina Mendoza Leadership Council 

Elder Roderick