Hey - March 26th

¿Cómo anda familia?
Well, I can hardly believe that transfers have already come. Elder Peterson was really excited for it because he was hoping to get to go and train. I wasn’t really too concerned with anything happening to me. Well it turns out that we are staying as we are. Elder Peterson was a bit sad because he really wanted to train. Now with 1 transfer left after this he is not sure if he will get the chance to train or not. Training is a great experience and it is something that a few missionaries never get the chance to do. Still we are having quite a bit success here in this area and are getting along well.
This past week we had seven investigators in church. The Gassmann family came with all of their little kids and loved church. We also had the hna. Laura María like always. To our surprise, Carlos Fernandez came to church right at 8:00 without any help from us or members. His wife had a lot to do and didn´t want to come. He was way nervous the whole time though so we had to stay with him and make sure he felt at ease. He loved the church though. We also had Cancilo come to the church by himself. We had made arrangements for him to come with an hno. Troche, but he left on his own and came. We passed by Martín and his family, but Martín wasn´t home and his mom had eaten something spicy that made her sick. Still the younger brother, Eduardo, came to church by himself and loved it as well. He had a great time in the primary and went home and told his mom and siblings all about it. The whole family I think will be coming soon enough.
The one thing that we are having difficulties with is how in the world we can set baptismal dates. It seems that Satan knows when there is a disturbance in his kingdom and he has rallied his forces to prevent us from bringing people to the truth. We tried to set a date with the Gassmann family, but we found out that they both need to be divorced which apparently takes a good year. Yet another reason why people don’t like to get married I am sure. The hna. already started hers and it could be done by now, but the hno. has to start still. There were so many distractions in the lesson that we were a bit frustrated by the end of the night.
We also tried to set a date with the Fernandez family, but Carlos was attacked by a hive of bees and they ended up hunkered down waiting for things to calm down while we were waiting at his house. We left and came back, but then his wife wasn’t there. We just can’t seem to catch them together. So we still haven’t set a baptismal date.
With Cancilo we started teaching just last night and talked about the answer he is waiting for, but then his dad came home or was already inside and Cancilo was nervous because his dad is a Pastor for another church. Cancilo said we should end and talk another time. We didn´t want to cause any problems so we left, even though Cancilo is already a grown man and can make decisions for himself.
We still haven´t found Martín and his family all together either so we are waiting a bit for a baptismal date with them.
The other day we made the most horrible contact of my mission I think. We received a reference from a member of a “nice family” and we spent two days finding it. When we finally managed to arrive at the house we found the family sitting outside enjoying some nice Tereré (cold mate). They invited us to approach and the husband said that he wanted to talk to us. He said that he wanted to tell us why we were in the “wrong path.” We were just like, “oh, lovely.” He went in and grabbed his bible and put a shirt on and proceeded to read the scripture in Mathew that says that Christ would establish his church with Peter as the rock. That was why the Catholic church was the only true church. We used Ephesians to explain that the church was established over apostles and prophets and he said that that was a lie. The only true books in the bible are the 4 gospels (Mathew, Mark, Luke, John). The rest of the book is just letters. He said, “I can sit down without a shirt and read the bible, but when I read the 4 gospels I have to stand up and put a shirt on.” We were just like, “Where does it say that in the Bible?” They asked us why we were all brothers and sisters and we responded, “because God is our father.” They said, “no, it is because Mary is our mother and holds the key to Christ’s heart. If you study the Catholic church you will understand what it really is and come to know the truth.” We tried to testify of the truth and asked them to listen to what we had to say, but they didn’t want anything to do with it. We couldn’t even share our testimony without being rudely interrupted. We left the contact a bit frustrated and had a hard time feeling the spirit afterwards. Some of the most hard hearted people I have contacted I think. I couldn’t help but feel bad for them.
So we have had a pretty interesting week. I was grateful to hear that you sent me some packages. It doesn’t really matter if I get them or not, but it would be nice to have some treats. I will probably get them in Consejo this next Monday I would guess. It shouldn’t take long if mailed from in the country.
You mentioned about the members and I must admit that in this area I don’t know the members so well. I guess I know a handful of them that help us out though. Come to think of it I know quite a few, but there are a lot that I really don’t know. We share the area between four elders though, which is fun because we see each other in church and meetings all the time. We are getting a lot of help from hno. Brey who is the Elders quorum president and often we spend Sunday afternoons visiting less active members trying to activate them again. The idea is that we go on divisions with the members, but the members don’t show up like they should and it is usually that each companionship has a member with them. Still it is doing some good in the branch.
I don’t know if I have told you all, but we have been teaching a man, Lee Ansan, that is from the Carribean. His native language is English so we have been teaching in English which is a really refreshing experience. He is a very intelligent guy, even though he really can’t speak in English or Castellano well now. We gave him a Book of Mormon in English and he has started to read it from the start. He is really interested in it and really studies it rather than just read. He is already in 1 Nephi 13. He has family literally spread out across the world. His wife is in the Carribean, his son lives in Norway, he has a sister in California right now that could be dying from cancer any moment right now. She is in the Santa Monica hospital. He is really torn up about this and it is occupying his mind right now. He hasn´t seen his family members for many years, but now they want him to come and see them. He doesn´t seem to want to see his sister right before she dies or in a casket. I think that he is scared of what he will feel for and see in his family. We shared Alma 40 about the spirit world and the resurrection. He seemed to find some peace in that. At this point he is not sure what he wants to do.
All is well here in Argentina. It is amazing to me sometimes that I am able to keep going because the work is quite redundant at times. Still, I have got to keep working.
Love you all,
Elder Aaron McDonald