348 to go...

¡buen día, familia!
got my pictures this time! things are going ok here in rawson and we are still pluggin along. we did not have baptisms on saturday because they just weren´t prepared. the investigator of the other missionaries here is awesome and wasn´t baptized because he had to leave to present a school project and won´t be back for a while but leandro and rodrigo just aren´t ready yet. the pictures i sent are of us at punta tombo. i sent one of a guanaco with the penguins too because i never imagined to see them together before...
our ward mission leader had some problems with his health this week. he just had problems with his blood pressure and i think he had a stroke last monday, but he is recovering really fast. he is doing ok now and is resting.
tuesday we had a ward activity but only 16 people including 2 investigators. it wasn´t as successful as the last activity but we ended up changing our plans and we watched ´´the testaments´´ instead and ate some banana cake. wednesday we had divisions and i was with elder castillo in the other area and i had a lot of fun. it was a nice break and i really enjoyed working with him. we got a lot done and it recharged my batteries. it has been kind of hard lately because we haven´t been seeing much progress but ´´the night is darkest just before the dawn´´. yep, i just quoted batman. the hermana catalan passed away friday night and we spent saturday with the members at the funeral and burial. she was one of the pioneers here in rawson and she stayed faithful in the church for the last 40 years. she was an awesome example and it hurt the ward bad. on sunday, we went to a ward council meeting with the bishop and he said that they are planning on splitting the ward soon. they have the numbers but are lacking a few more worthy tithe payers on both sides to be able to divide. there are about 550 members here in rawson but only 130 people are actively attending every week. we want to start working more with the less active members to be able to meet that goal and help the church grow faster. since the time i arrived in rawson, i have seen a lot of progress because it was a disaster. the members were very cold with us but now they have opened up a ton and are more willing to work with us. the bishop wants us to teach some of the less active members the charlas again so they can remember their testimonies of the church but i think that the ward needs to do better retaining them and visiting them. our ward mission leader, hermano chemin is incredible because he has a very strong testimony and he likes visiting the members and strengthening them in his free time. that is why it is hard for him to stay in bed for now... but rawson would be full of active members if they were all like him.
it´s really cool having more trust from the ward leaders and i hope other missionaries after me don´t do anything else to screw it all up. before the mission, i always thought the mission would be really different. maybe it is just the argentina neuquen mission but it is really hard and i know a lot of missionaries are struggling right now. there is a lot of pressure to baptize every week but the people don´t want to listen to us and it is surprising how closed they can be! but i´m going to stay diligent for my comp.
i am reading in 3 nephi right now and i loved reading 5:13
13 Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.
that is my responsibility as a missionary, and i just need to do all that i can to give everyone the chance to listen. i know that if i do my part, i am having success, even if the people reject us. it is difficult but i have realized this week that i am developing some new talents that i probably wouldn´t have if i didn´t come to argentina. there are a lot of good things here too. a lot of awesome people that i look forward to see every week. im still not sure what we are going to do today for pday. i wanted to go to the beach because it has been getting pretty hot lately but we will see what my comp, elder colombres, wants to do.
i don´t know why but i had a wierd craving for those circus peanut candies this week. mollie is making me a calendar? that sounds awesome and i´m excited to get it! time really is going fast, isn´t it? this week i will celebrate one year in argentina and in two weeks i will have 13 months on the mission! so crazy! well, i love you guys! and i love hearing from you every week. your letters/ emails every week really lift me up again and i really appreciate you thinking of me! thank you for everything!
con much amor y ánimo,
elder summers