Hey - August 20th

Hey family,

Well dad, you are right that I am getting to know the area really well. We had divisions the other day and I feel like I know my way around, though I know even better now. Elder Walker has actually had 3 transfers here and is on his fourth. I am his third companion in this area. We are having a lot of success and we have a lot of great investigators. I don’t feel like we are getting along really great, but it isn’t like we are fighting either. We just don’t hardly talk. So unfortunately I don’t feel like we are having as much success as we should be having. I am trying to work on the situation though, but I am at a loss on what to do other than keep serving the people and my companion.

I forgot to mention happy birthday to mom, but I wanted you to know mom that I remembered your special day and it was a great, successful day that day. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY, even if it is late. I hope you enjoy education week. And I look forward to seeing the Scarlet Pimpernel with you next year. I have always wondered about that one.

Dad, I have actually seen a bit of what has gone on with the Olympics. We always arrive at a house just as Argentina wins. They beat out Brazil pretty bad it looks like. So Nigeria and Argentina. I believe they play on Saturday night at 1:00 am live here in Argentina. So I guess that would be 3 hours earlier in Utah or something. Noon in china. Enjoy!

I still can’t believe that Tara is finishing her mission. I just saw her in the MTC. I am feeling pretty old myself these days in the mission though. Before you know it I will be home. The time is going by too fast it seems like. I am really attached to Argentina now.

So I am sure that you were expecting me to get my package, but the office is really slacking off and it may be 2 weeks or 5 weeks more before I get it. I was disappointed.

Mom, you get to teach my favorite chapters in Alma to your Sunday school. Although I just read about Ammon and Aaron and their brothers and all that they did and it was amazing the insights I got this time around. The Book of Mormon is really taking on a new meaning and coming alive for me as I read through this time. It is amazing! I was going to tell you to use the Righteous Warriors by John Bytheway as well. Good plan. Good luck with everything!

Glad grandma is getting up and about, send my love to her and grandpa.

I am not sure if I would like you to come to pick me up or not. When does school start? Could you let me know by next week. By the way, if I start school I should probably get on that right now, no? The mission president will let me sign up for classes if I ask. Maybe you could send me the information I need or something or look up some stuff and do it for me. I am not planning on doing much else but take the 17 credit Spanish course, maybe a couple of other things for fun. So maybe it would be easy to miss school while you all come down. I will think about it and let you know next week. If not you could all come down with me in June, July, August sometime in there. I just don’t know. Like I said I will let you know.

Oh and about the apartment mom, we are going to stay where we are at for now. The office doesn’t really want to approve the move and I am okay with that because there is air conditioning! I will live. I have lived with worse. We don’t have an oven so I can only do no bake cookies. I have done a lot of those in the mission. Also I am eating a lot of pancakes these days. Yum yum. Butter and sugar on top. It is basically a cake that way I suppose.

We had the baptisms of Julieta and Sebastian yesterday with another member who baptized their daughter. It went really well and their was a good turnout. I didn’t even see the baptism because their were too many people and we wanted Roxana and Sylvio Custodio to see what happened. They enjoyed the service and we talked a bit afterwards. We watched the Restoration DVD and everything went well. They are naturals to the church really. They should be members and really have the intent to be members in my view. Honestly, the family is awesome.

We also set a Fecha with Vicky, a lady that was taught before and received the answer that the church is true and then moved. She lost contact with the church and agreed to be baptized once she feels the same feelings she had before again. 28th of September is the date.

We are also teaching a 75 year old man, Fulvio Nosalve. He seems to like reminiscing a lot and sometimes I wonder if he understands, but then he surprises me and reads well and tells us all he understands. It will take time with him, but we have a fecha for the 4th of October.

So things are going really well here in Miguel Lanús. We have several other people with whom we want to set fechas. We just need the right moment to do it.

Love you all and love the gospel. It is so amazing the joy it brings in our lives. Who wouldn’t want it?!

Elder Aaron McDonald