¡Familia!
Thank you for all the Birthday wishes! Except you Ry-guy. What
happened? Haha, just kidding. I was talking to a Peruvian the other day, and
they said that it's bad luck in Peru to celebrate a birthday early. So you're
just more cultured than the rest of the family I guess. :)
I want to give a HUGE shoutout and thankyou-thankyou-thankyou!!!
to my incredible mother, first of all for giving me life, and second of all,
giving me the coolest birthday present that a missionary can get. My four
generation family history, complete with pictures, important dates, full names,
and even a few stories. Now I can fill out that new family history pamphlet,
and let the Spirit of Elijah convert some hearts. I'm so pumped, you have no
idea. I love you Mom!
This week was a little like last week, but on the positive
side, a little better! We squeeked out a few more lessons
Sunday night with our capo member that was a accompanying us. Here's the
biggest challenge of Chacarita: we're in the middle of Capital with two tiny
villas. Villas are the most powerful magnets for missionaries because people
actually like to listen and they're super cool, and for four years, the Elders
in both Chacarita 1 and 2 pretended that the rest of the area didn't exist, and
focused on these two villas. They baptized a ton, but now there are two active
families from the Villa Fraga (my area) and nobody from Villa Paternal. The
second most incredible bishop in the world (second to you Bishop Davis! :) )
Bishop Milioto recently and patiently asked the Elders to branch out of the
villa right before I got here. We're doing all that we can to work with members
and talk with people on the streets, but porteños are rough. You know what can
help? The Spirit. If you could help me pray that it will soften their hearts
more, I'd be really grateful.
I hope that didn't sound like complaining. I love my
mission. Chacarita's still awesome. To repent, here's a cool story: First of
all, I just barely realized why we keep getting random texts in English with
referrals from unknown numbers. That means they're from Church Headquarters. So
I smacked myself in the face and we headed off to contact the one that we had
recently received. We rang the timbre (what are those called in English.
They're like doorbells, but for apartment buildings, and you can talk through
them? Man, I must be from Utah.) and Luis let us in. He's a Peruvian who was
baptized 20 years ago, but has been menos activo for more than 10. He recently
moved to Prague in the Czeck Republic for 22 days where he met the missionaries
again, and who got him excited to come back to Church. He smells like
marijuana, but he's incredibly humble and really wants to change his life. He
has a handicapped 16 year old son who is such a stud, and an 11 year old
daughter who we haven't met yet. I'm excited to keep working with them. I have
a strong testimony that this Gospel can bless us, even when we abandon it for
years on end. Jesus Christ is the most patient Person to have ever lived, and
will gladly welcome Luis back.
I love you all.
Hasta la semana que viene. ¡Hurra por Israel!
-Élder Goff
P.S. Pictures
1. The terribly translated instructions from the box of some worthless toy. English is worst.
2. I decorated my bus pass.
3. Elder Castillo got this from I don't know where. You're looking at the only product in existence in Argentina that wasn't made in Argentina.
4-5. Elder Zollinger has a thing of Silly Putty that we use for when we get stressed. I don't know how we didn't see it coming, but my companion got it stuck in his hair. Needless to say, Elder Zollinger wasn't happy. Hahaha, poor guy. Happy 22nd birthday, E' Zollinger, here's a childhood memory with a blond hairball.
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