Day 138

¡Hola Familia!
another week goes by so fast! yesterday, i did not celebrate my 5 month mark because elder suarez told me that it was gay and that i should only celebrate every 6 months because those are the huge achievements. poo. oh well because i will at least celebrate my 6 months mark this next month and i can burn one of my ties. i experimented with my yellow tie about 5 weeks ago to see if it would live in the washer. it didn´t live so i figure i will burn that tie. i found a place to wash my ties and pants and things so that should be a lot better anyways. at the beginning of my mission i didn´t like the idea of burning my clothes every six months but the idea is more appealing to me now. when i have 6 months, elder suarez and i are going to make ourselves an asado and then we are going to burn my tie. fun stuff. this week, i learned the true meaning of che and the word is more appealing to me. people don´t understand what it means and think it is just ´´dude´´ or ´´guy´´ but it actually is derived from ´´mapuche´´, the natives that still live here in patagonia. it literally means people of the land so che = people.
we started teaching inglés here in zapala. we spent a lot of time at night to make really cool ads that we could be proud of and then we posted them all over zapala to invite people to the church, but nobody came this saturday... next saturday, we know that we are going to have lots of people because tons of people have told us that they are bringing friends so we should have a good turn out this week. i´m pretty excited to start teaching again and it should be really fun. plus, i´m patagonia´s favorite english teacher so they should enjoy it too. i think that i started growing my wisdom teeth this week. dang. but it isn´t a huge distraction and it doesn´t hurt when i smile anymore so i think i will be fine with my little tooth. it´s just a sharp object ripping through flesh and only babies have tough times with new teeth so i should be fine.
yesterday, we had a 70 come to our chapel for a ward meeting and we were invited to participate. i don´t think that elder avila is a 70 70, just a 70, and i thought he was going to drop the cane on us or something but he dropped it on the ward and told us that we needed more support from them. now they are really excited about missionary work and they are excited to help us out. we are thrilled! before, we couldn´t get anything from them, not even references, and now they have a different attitude to help us. the prophet started a program about the 15 families and now we are going to implement that plan with the ward. lucky for us, elder suarez and i now have 30 less active families to teach and invite to church because we have the branch as well. no estoy seguro si es un castigo o una bendicion para tener muchísimo pero el Señor sabe que podemos hacerlo. with elder avila, the ward finally developed a home/ visiting teaching program to care for every family that we have in the ward and i believe that we are going to have a lot more members in church pretty soon.
a few days ago we were invited to attend a catholic church meeting last night and we went because we usually can´t enter houses on sunday nights and we wanted to show this family that we were willing to ´´cumplir´´ with our ´´compromisos´´ (sorry, can´t think of the english words right now...) it was very interesting last night and it was pretty different. the family we went for didn´t even show up and we were a little ticked! the people stood and kneeled a lot and my head felt fuzzy from standing and sitting so often. there were a lot of beautiful women there, and when the pastor man asked us to get to know our neighbors, it seemed like all of them ran to our little corner and started to kiss us saying ´´paz contigo´´. as we left, elder suarez told me that we are going to attend next week too but i don´t think that will happen...
kasey got his mission call? that is so cool and i´m so happy for him!! can i get his address? i would like to write to him. and i need addresses from my family as well because i wrote some letters but i´m not sure where to send them. so family and friends (if you´re reading), if you would like an awesome personalized letter, send me your address or write me a written letter! thank you.
things are going great here in zapala! pablo has attended 2 weeks in a row and we want to set the date for his baptism for this saturday but he tells us that he will set the date when he is ready. we´re thinking that he needs a little more extra help but he´s doing awesome. we need a little more time with brian´s mother too because she still isn´t ok with his baptism and the baptism of his little sister that has 12 years. we are teaching both of them regularly but the mom doesn´t want a part of it so we are hoping that her kids examples can change her mind. the mom has noticed that her children don´t fight anymore and that they are trying harder around the house so we will see if that help`s. we have found a lot of new investigators this week and we are hoping to baptize really soon. we now have 18 investigators in the branch and the ward together so we have lots of work when you add the menos activos tambien. one sister, veronica, that we are teaching can´t be baptized because her husband in roca won´t sign the divorce papers and she is now living with another man that is a menos activo. she has been very faithful for the last 5 years but can´t be baptized. now she is thinking that the menos activo is cheating on her because he is acting very shady and put a password on his text messages and has love letters and chocolate wrappers. if she moves away from that guy, she can be baptized but it would be really hard for her because she has 2 young children and she would have to work. it´s tough.
i´ve been thinking a lot about the family and the importance of having a father that is a worthy priesthood holder, and leader. i have seen lots of families where the father is not worthy to baptize his child or give a blessing, or i have seen families with fathers that are lazy and don´t care about their families. it is very disappointing and it makes me upset to see families break up because of dumb things the fathers do. dad- i am very grateful for your example and strength. i have a greater appreciation for all the little things you have done at home and i know that they all add up to strengthen the family. i´m very grateful for all of your help and that you have always been worthy to help us as a priesthood holder. here on the mission, it is so sad to see families struggle without that influence and it really makes me appreciate you and your example so much more. many times this week i have asked myself, ´´how much easier would it be if that man would have stayed strong for his family?´´. the father plays a critical role in the family and he can make or break it.
this week, i don´t have a scripture. sorry. but this morning i read ´´the transforming power of faith and character´´ by elder scott and i really enjoyed it. one thing that it says- ´´we become what we want to be by constantly being what we want to become each day.´´ that made me think a lot about myself and how i´m using my time here on the mission. i want to be a lot better and i really am trying hard for myself and for all the great people that i have the opportunity to serve. the discurso says a lot of really great things about developing ourselves through our obedience and building character through our faithfulness. i really enjoyed reading it this morning and i suggest that you guys should read it too. it is from october 2010. we are inviting everyone to listen to conference this saturday and i am so excited!! i hope i can listen to it in english but if i can´t it won´t be too bad. we can´t listen to the priesthood session because it is too late for us (4 hours ahead) but i might be able to listen to it sunday morning. *cross my fingers and pray really hard* at least i will get it printed soon, right? we will see.
well, family, thank you for all of your support. it really means a lot to me and i am really grateful for your love on paper. please don´t forget to send your love and i won´t forget to return it. please send me addresses!! please be patient with me because the argentine mail system is not the best and i have already sent some in february. i think that i will have to pay a little extra to get them to arrive...
i´m so grateful to be here in zapala and i´m so grateful to be a missionary. it´s been a lot harder lately for us to see all the problems but our Father in heaven has a plan for everyone, right? elder suarez and i are doing great and we are enthusiastic to see the progress that we have seen and the outcome of our work! the mission has been going very fast and i can´t believe 5 months has already passed. i´m trying to treasure every moment :).
¡con una sonrisa grande y mucho amor y ánimo!
elder summers