So this week was pretty crazy. First of all, the amazingly great news: We had investigators come to church! Oracio, (82), Juana, (84) Milagros and her aunt Sofia (both 12) came to church and said that they really enjoyed it. All of them have dates for baptism as well, so we finally have some progressing investigators! With the end of this transfer coming up quickly, I have no idea if I´ll get to see them make that commitment or not. But I´m glad to see their faith growing and so happy to be a part of the work beyond just lessons yielding unkept commitments.
So the weekly cultural note: everything is pirated here. Everything. People don´t even think to purchase the music they download, and all of the movies that are rented out are pirated versions. I saw a DVD cover for Monsters University that that was rated R, had copyright information for The Dark Knight, the language was ´´Espanish´´ and best of all, had the saying ´´With God all things are possible´´ on the bottom. The piraters just slap what ever they want on there, thinking that no one will notice. It´s clear that they don´t know what they´re doing though, especially when you see that in bold letters in the information it says ´´not to be sold or rented outside the USA or Canda´´. Haha, like I´ve said many times before, Argentines do what they want.
On another note, I have a question. How does food that tastes this good make me so sick? It´s not that bad, I´ve got what every South American missionary has; my buddy Elder Bradshaw in Peru calls the ¨siempres¨. (By the way, the reason missionaries don´t gain weight down here isn´t because their walking missions...) okay enough about my overly active digestive system.
Really quick story. There was a wedding for some investigators of the other Elders, and the song ¨Good Feeling¨ came on. Being so excited to finally hear a decent song, I jumped up to dance. They were so facinated by my mediocre shuffling that they were taking videos, and they continue to ask me to do it for them. They think it´s so funny that the skinny white kid that speaks Spanish like a four year old and doesn´t understand anything can actually dance!
So ¨La Iglesia Christiana Evangelica¨ is huge down here. And these guys don´t like us for some reason. When we introduce ourselves as ¨missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints¨ they are really genuinely interested, and want to hear what we have to say. Then as soon as they figure out that we´re ¨Mormons¨ they are suddenly firmly Evangelic, and nothing can change their mind. They go from openess to hostility in an instant. It´s a really delicate situation talking to them, so we´re polite and even try to teach from their Bible. But when answering one woman about her questions about the three kingdoms of glory, we went to 1 Corinthians 15, and she was missing the last 6 chapters. Sometimes there will just be a line in place of a verse in their Bibles. When Nefi said ¨that plain and precious parts of the Bible were taken away or lost¨ I didn´t expect it to litterally say ¨11. *text* 12. --- 13. *text*¨ but that´s exactly what I saw in another Bible.
Oh man, these people seem so sincere in their beliefs, and really want to demonstrate their faith to Christ. It pains me to see them so obviously be lacking the full gospel of Jesus Christ, and when we try to offer it to them, they so quickly decline, and even denounce it. I guess that´s why the Savior said to seek the elect. Those who are ready to accept the gospel will accept it. Those who reject it, at least had the offer. I still know without a doubt that this Gospel is true.
Speaking of which, last P-day, I had the most spiritual experience I´ve had yet while serving a mission. While my companion was observing siesta in our appartment, I knelt down with the intent to pray for my investigators who at the time were not progressing in the slightest. Instead, I suddenly became overwhelmed by all the things that my Heavenly Father has done for me. It seemed to hit me all at once that everything in existence, including me, is because of Him. Everything I have is from Him. There is absolutely no possible way that I can repay Him. But He doesn´t want me to repay Him. All that He asks is that I be willing and humble enough to allow Him to bring me to Eternal Life and Exaltation so that He can give me everything. I seemed to have one of those experiences that they talk about in the scriptures where they cry out and glorify God. I don´t want to sound overly-dramatic, but I could not help but cry as I felt enveloped in His love for me. It was one of the greatest personal experiences I´ve had with my Father in Heaven on this earth. How could I not give everything I have? It´s incredibly hard to keep my mind focused, to learn to understand another language and culture, but I know that it´s worth trying. I also know that after my 100% comes the grace of Christ, which is sufficient to fullfill any task.-no matter how small my 100% does to fullfill it. I know I´m going to get the hang of all this. I´m so grateful to be involved in the most noble work on Earth.
This is share in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
P.S. Here´s some pictures of Capital. They have the thinnest skyscrapers ever. Sometimes I look at them, and go ¨Really? What is keeping that up?¨
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