Beliefs on a Pedestal

Hola,                                                                                                                 

Another week flew by here in Salto. Like my Pops has always said, “Time flies when you’re having fun.” And, having fun as a missionary is simply just talking to people!

The start of the week went by soooo slow though; no one was home because they were working in the fields. Also, we were without bikes for the first couple days and so we had a couple of long, hot mornings (it got up to 98 last week).  So, let´s just say time wasn’t flying during those couple of days.

Elder Roderick poses in a typical Salto backyard (Yes, that's a pig.)

On Wednesday morning, we knocked some doors for a bit and eventually came across the house of an Evangelical Pastor. We don’t know for sure if he was actually a Pastor but it sure seemed like it. The first thing he did was tell us he wasn’t going to listen to us because we are only kids and therefore, we don’t know anything. Then, he asked us how our beliefs are different from his, and he was having none of our answers. He started quoting the Bible too; trying to prove that our beliefs are wrong. It was obvious that this guy just wanted to bash with us for a bit and make us feel bad about ourselves. The Church says to avoid these situations, of course, but this guy wouldn’t leave us alone. I only tell you this because I think this was the first time I have had to really defend what I believe in. Even though the conversation went absolutely nowhere, a really different feeling came upon me. It was like the Holy Ghost was on my right shoulder helping me first understand what this man was saying and then directing me about how I should respond. I also felt a strong presence of the Adversary trying to give me doubts and let this man’s words damage my testimony. As I reflect on it, this was a unique experience for me and I’m sure there will be plenty of other people who will try to tear me down.  I will never forget the feelings I had. It was like my beliefs were on a pedestal and someone was trying to break them down.

Pancakes with Santiago & Francisco

This week we also went back out to Tropezon, which is about 45-minutes away by bicycle, to talk with our investigator, Delia.  Delia is a really sweet lady who is probably in her 50s and claims to be an “active” Catholic. We taught a lot about prophets in our last lesson with her so we finished with that topic and then taught her about Priesthood authority and the Book of Mormon. All of these topics were very different things for her. I felt like part of our lesson was a little rocky, but Delia loves the thought of a living prophet. I eventually gave her the baptismal invitation and since she’s already baptized as a Catholic, we emphasized the Priesthood authority that we have and why that is important. Eventually she accepted! Yay!!

Uncle Alberto, Daniel & Elder Roderick 

We also had a great lesson with Daniel and his wife. Daniel is a total goofball and he loves to chat about whatever comes to his mind. Fortunately, his wife always keeps him in check. She has been reading in the Book of Mormon and she really likes it! They are such a humble family and they don’t have much, but they are always so happy with their two little kids. Teaching them has made me realize what is actually important in this life and what we should be focused on. We taught them the Gospel of Jesus Christ and really emphasized repentance and baptism so they can keep preparing for their baptism day. They are really accepting to everything we teach and there truly is a special Spirit present when we teach them. Also, their Uncle joined us during their lesson and he loved all that we were teaching and he wants to be baptized too! In fact, HE asked us if he could be baptized; we didn’t ask him. What a blessing!

This weekend we had the opportunity to have President and Hermana Goates with us for a special capacitation to introduce the new Christmas theme.  Yes, Christmas! It was so weird to be talking about it but the holidays are coming and missionaries have to work even harder during that time!

Also, this weekend we had our Stake Conference and we had the wonderful opportunity to hear from the President Goates and his wife, as well as the President of the Cordoba Temple. It was a great meeting and it felt so nice to be in the big chapel with a great number of people. However, the only bad thing about Stake Conference was that not many people from Salto could attend because it was so far away L. Even so, the meeting was way fun and it’s always great to spend time with President and Hermana Goates.

This week in my studies I came across a quote from Spencer W. Kimball that I have learned to love.

“It´s not as much what we know that is important, as what we do and what we are.”

This quote can apply to everyone because at some point in our lives we have felt inadequate or out of place (like me every day in Argentina) but we can show people so much with just our actions and how we carry ourselves. I know that as I’ve tried to learn the Spanish language I will probably never speak perfectly, but how I conduct myself will show people how much I care for them.

I’m so grateful for the opportunity I have every day to be a missionary and just help people. I feel the hand of the Lord help me every day and it’s such a wonderful feeling. 

¡Hasta Luego!

Elder Roderick

Some Fruits of Our Labor

HOLA AMIGOS                                                                                                   

It was another great week in Salto! At the beginning of the week there were some crazyyy winds that knocked out the power for a few days and the town looked exactly like a ghost town that you might see in a movie. It was freaking me out! Apparently, during the power outage there was a little jail break in a nearby town and twenty prisoners escaped to Salto where they hid in the fields. Fortunately, all of them were eventually caught. This event made an exciting start to the week!

This week was probably our best week of missionary work so far! We were able to go out with the two members who were called to help us and “Wow!” it was amazing to see how much of difference their participation made. We were able to teach Francisco with both of them present and it was so great because the three of them are such good friends. They helped us explain to him the steps he needs to take in order to be baptized. Having two of his good friends explain certain things, instead of two missionaries, made a great difference. Francisco knows all of the lessons and he has a great understanding of Church principles, but he really just struggles with attending church. So, it becomes tough for us when we don’t have a ton to teach him. Now it’s just up to him to make the conscious decision about whether or not he wants to be baptized.

Wednesday night was probably the most rewarding day so far here in the mission. We taught Daniel again, along with his wife and kids. Luis accompanied us to this lesson and it went so smoothly. The Plan of Salvation is always a little tough to teach because of the unique vocabulary and the complexity of the whole thing but, with the help of Luis, we were able to explain it clearly for them. Because they are a family with two young kids they loved the eternal family aspect of it all and it seemed like they were engaged during the whole lesson! We connected with them so well and it felt like we were all just a bunch of friends talking and discussing, rather than us two missionaries just lecturing. At the end of the lesson, we felt prompted to extend a baptismal invitation and they accepted!! We explained how we do it differently and they loved the concept. The Spirit was so strong during the lesson too and it was just so great; the best feeling ever for me. Nights and lessons like this one with Daniel and his family always make the long days of not talking to anyone so worth it. I’m so excited to help them start preparing for their baptisms!!

The rest of the week went really well and we found a couple of new people who want to talk to us and they also have families. “Yay” for eternal families! We went back to the “hidden neighborhood” to find an investigator and we got extreme responses from the people we approached while trying to find him. Every other person was either super nice and tried to help us find him or, they wouldn’t even let us get a word out because they knew we are missionaries. I was so confused. This neighborhood is technically the most dangerous one we have in Salto, so walking around in it always makes things more interesting!

We had another big zone meeting this week and it was such a great feeling to see another missionary who has less time than me in the mission! Oh man! I’m not the youngest anymore. What a great feeling that is. I’m still the water boy in the mission, but at least I have a back-up!

This week I really just tried to have as much fun as possible. Even with my poor Spanish, I tried to talk to everyone I could. I probably butchered half of the conversations, but like my momma used to say on the ski hill, “If you´re not falling, You´re not trying!”

As the work is starting to pick up here in Salto, so is the heat! Oh man! There have been a couple of really long hot days here and there is never a way to escape the heat, but we are all good! There were lots of miles covered on the bikes, which is always a good thing and there will be plenty more covered this coming week!

¡LES AMO!

Elder Roderick

P.S. The one-year anniversary of the “Miracle on 17^th”was yesterday. #GORAMS (even though they lost)

A Vacation in Mendoza

Hola Amigos,                                                                                                         

 

Happy Halloween! Argentina doesn’t go crazy for Halloween but there are some stores selling costumes and that good stuff, but nothing like the States!

It was a slow week out here in good ol’ Salto. We spent Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in the glamorous city of Mendoza where I participated in my second training and completed some legal work so I can be an actual Argentine citizen. That’s a frightening thought.! Lucky for me, Elder Fredrick and I were together for all three of these days and we had a blast; three days just chillin’ in the offices and cruising the streets of Mendoza. It is so nice to have a familiar face in the mission with me. It was also so much fun to be with all of my MTC friends once again! Talking about our experiences from the last six weeks was so fun and it got me so excited to see what the future holds for me in the mission field.

Since we took a short little “vacation” to Mendoza, we didn’t have a ton of time with our investigators this week but all of them still want to talk with us, so that’s a good thing! Also, we found two more people who want to listen to us. Yay!! One of them was half drunk, however, so we´ll see what happens. 

Last week in church two of our members were called to be “missionary helpers” and this is such a blessing for us. No one in the Salto ward technically has a calling, so to have two people called to help us is kind of a big deal. Basically, we just need them to try to be friends with our investigators. Salto is a pretty small little town so everyone literally knows everyone. Conversion goes a lot better when an investigator has a friend in the Church because they have someone to go with, instead of us two gringos trying to push them a long! Our helpers actually had some success this week with our man Francisco. They took him to the Stake dance this weekend. However, when Sunday morning rolled around, he was nowhere to be found! I guess we´ll just have to start getting some more Young Women to attend church. They could give our boy some motivation! This is some good progress though! Every week we get just a bit closer.

Being in Mendoza for half of the week with all of my friends really made me look back on the last six weeks. I felt a little bit of de ja vu for when we were all back in that stake center all together on our first day in the mission. That was only six weeks ago, but in those six weeks so much had happened. I realized how much I have learned in such little time! Obviously, I have so much more to learn and I always feel like a little Freshman on the football team, but everything is going smoothly. 

This Sunday I got my first taste of being sick on the mission and it was awful. One good thing about having our meetings in the pench is the ability to be in bed literally seconds after the last “AMEN” is said. I woke up with a migraine and then for lunch I made some pasta with a chicken breast and I’m pretty sure that Argentina doesn’t have the same FDA regulations as the States, so sometimes our food can be a little sketchy! I really don’t know exactly what happened because my comp didn’t get sick and I cooked the chicken all the way through, but I had a long couple of hours with a bad stomach ache.

Argentine chicken: 1

Elder Roderick: 0

We have a number of things already planned for the upcoming week so it should be a busy one! A busy missionary is a happy missionary.  I’m hoping we can get some baptismal dates set! I know it’s going to be a good week!

Scripture of the week 1Samuel 16:7

“But the Lord said unto Samuel, look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature, because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as a man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the lord looketh on the heart.”

Elder Roderick