¡feliz día despues de la Navidad! - December 26th

Hey family!

Well to start out I guess I will answer questions. First ones Jonathan’s. I must say that yes reactivation is very important, but we are always finding investigators more than anything else. Yes reactivation is important, but we try to have activities and stuff for the branch to help out with those sorts of things. There are always people to visit, but we are always finding new investigators too. There are people waiting to hear the gospel and we need to find those who are prepared.

After talking to everyone on Christmas day, we went and made a cake and took half of it over to a less active old member here in Jardín America. He doesn´t have any family around and spent the Navidad solo this year so we thought we would go and make his Christmas. He was very happy to have visitors. I think we made his Christmas. The rest of the day we went to a few investigators and members and sang Christmas songs and spent time with them. It was a good use of time I think. It was a pretty low key and quiet all day long.

Dad, my package was perfectly in tact. The mission office checks packages with customs so there aren’t problems. The only problem is they can only take a few out at a time which is why it takes forever to get packages.

Well, this is perhaps going to be a shorter letter as I just talked with you all yesterday. Still I thought I would write and let you know about my week a bit.

Well to start the week off we had divisions. Divisions here in Jardín America are really tricky due to the fact we are in the middle of NOWHERE. We had to travel an hour and a half about to Candelaria (we had a district meeting Wednesday). Me and Elder Glover then had to return to Jardín America. We got back only a little before 12 o’clock. I was beat due to the fact that we had stood on the bus back to Jardín. We crashed pretty quickly for the night and then got up at 6:30. I was tired but we got going anyway. I was a bit nervous to be left in Jardín by myself without Elder Gustafson but I managed well. I know my area pretty well. I am getting good at this stuff I think. Still got a long ways to go I think though. Still we all know how I was with my sense of direction before the mission. Anyway, divisions went well.

We traveled to Candelaria at the end of the day on Thursday and we spent the night there due to the interviews with President Shakespear that we had on Friday. I got to bed at around 11 o’clock (late again). We also had to sleep on the floor which was previously strewn with sewage. Elder Gustafson and Elder Brigham had some excitement with some plumbers coming over to fix a clogged shower drain. The plumbers didn’t know what they were doing and only managed to get sewage to come up and flood the bathroom. Elder Brigham threw up some sheets outside so they had a place to shower with a bucket. Really awkward, especially with so many neighbors close by!

Interviews with the president Shakespear were really awesome. We got a really great capacitation from the assistants and the president. Me and Elder Gustafson had plans to talk with the president in our interviews about staying together for another transfer. We really wanted to work together for another transfer, but we both got to feeling that we should probably let the Lord decide. My comp went in to his interview and I just started feeling nervous. I got the definite feeling that I wasn’t suppose to ask the president to stay with my comp. Once I accepted that I felt better. I went into my interview after my comp. President Shakespear told me that my comp. was more excited than he had ever seen him and that he had learned a lot from me. He also told me that Elder Brigham had mentioned me that I had really excited him about figuring out how to work effectively in an area. Something that the president said made me feel really great. He said “thanks for being a great leader.” Since the first day that I came to Argentina and had my first interview with president, he told me that this mission needs good leaders. He told me then “be a good leader.” I feel like I am beginning to succeed with what he told me to do. I have wanted no more than to be a good missionary like that. The president also asked me about my companion. He asked if I thought he was ready to move up to M1. He mentioned that he had talked about it with him (if he thought that he was ready to transmit what he had learned to other missionaries). I couldn’t lie so I said yes. He once told me that he didn’t feel ready but I definitely think that he is ready even if he doesn’t think he is. So basically interviews went exactly opposite than what we had wanted. President told me that he may have to move my companion up and that they have a lot of new missionaries coming in. I guess that could mean that either of us or both could train next transfer as well.

The family Benites continues to progress and learn a bunch. The hna. offered to wash all the dirty curtains in the church for free. We were surprised but she went and did it with the hna. Maria Barrios. What a great family. The only thing is that we are sad because they won’t be able to get married for awhile (sometime in January) and we are pretty sure that one of us is going to leave Jardín Americas and won’t be there for the baptism. Still it feels good to be a part of teaching such a marvelous family. I know that they are going to be strong and serve to strengthen this branch a ton. My entire mission up to this point I have wanted to bring a family like that into the church. Now I want to do it even more and more. The mission is a great experience and such a blessing!

For Christmas we went out and bought a couple of really big watermelons. I have been dying to try them ever since they came out, but at first they were 25 pesos. We just bought two big ones for 10 pesos! We each ate a quarter on Christmas eve and are making plans to eat the rest. Sooooo good!

We also had a barbeque at night with the branch president and his wife and son. I thought I would never like meat but I must say that I am starting to love it with all that I have eaten in Argentina. I know, I know I said that it would never happen. I still am not a fan of all the beef though. Chicken is by far the best (and healthiest). So I am not a true Argentine yet. The dinner with the president’s family was really great though and we sang Christmas hymns and all that. We thought it was going to be loud and noisy, but we had a pleasant, spiritual experience instead. The rain that we had probably helped with all that. It was nice and cool outside too! What a blessing and a gift for la Navidad!

At night on Christmas Eve we got to stay up until 12:30 to watch fireworks. Christmas is like the new years here. There were fireworks all over the place. Unfortunately we were just on the balcony of our pench and so we couldn’t see everything. Still we did get a lot of good firework watching. It seems that the people here go for the noise more than the pretty colors though. A lot of the fireworks were just like explosives. There was someone next door on the roof throwing some of these out and they burst pretty close to us (we were safe though). Now I understand why there are so many people in the hospital here after Christmas and New Years (that is what they people here told us).

During the Christmas season this year I have really had a different outlook at the importance of family and our savior Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for all of you and for the blessing of the gospel in my life. I know that we are so blessed. More than I can even fathom. Christ really is our Redeemer and I know that he was sent to the earth to fulfill a great mission. The gospel has been restored in these days through the prophet Joseph Smith. We have the fullness of the gospel and we know the path that leads to eternal happiness. What greater thing than to share this with the world! It may be hard at times, we may stumble, but I know our savior is there to help us every step of the way. Love you all and hope you had a great Christmas!

Love,
Elder Aaron McDonald