218 Days to go....

¡hola familia!
> this week was pretty crazy. lots of adventures, lots of work, lots of
> drama, lots of laughs. i enjoyed it.
> grecia didn´t make it to church... but her sister did with her two
> young children. grecia had to go to the hospital late on saturday
> night with her daughter because she was really sick, and then grecia
> ended up sleeping in on sunday because she was really tired. we
> talked to her yesterday and she laughed about it because it seemed
> like something always happens to her to keep her from church. her
> sister, melani, really enjoyed going to church, so we talked to both
> of them and they agreed to be baptized this sunday after church.
> that´s the goal. we are also working with grecia to stop smoking and
> she is really progressing. we are hoping that it won´t be a problem
> for her baptism. this week, we had to go to neuquen a few times.
> elder zarceño is renewing his visa and then on friday we went again
> for a meeting with the zone leaders and all of the district leaders.
> it was cool getting to know the other district leaders and we were
> able to talk about the things we are dealing with and how to solve the
> problems. it helped a lot.
> the elders in centenario had a baptism on friday! they said it went
> great and that they are going to show me pictures today. we were
> really excited for them and they are going to start teaching the dad
> of the girl that was baptized. the hermanas are doing well too, and
> are planning their baptisms for this saturday so i will be going to
> centenario on thursday for 2 interviews.
> another crazy story. i don´t know if i explained the story about
> pastor and his step daughter sofi... but pastor called me and said
> that sofi is going to be baptized this saturday in cordoba. pastor is
> against the bishop here and bashes on everyone in the ward. he says
> that the ´´conditions of the church aren´t good enough cinco saltos´´
> and so they are going this weekend so sofi can be baptized with her
> brother that is studying there. we talked to the mission president
> about it. the situation is even more complicated than that because we
> don´t know a lot of things about pastor and he has some kind of wierd
> ´´dominion´´ over the girl and won´t let her talk to anyone solo. but
> pte peterson told me that the main focus is on sofi and if she really
> wants to be baptized or if he is obligating her. the guy is like a
> cancer here... and he ticks me off.
> anyways, the picture of my hamburger that i sent last week had mayo
> and ketchup, nothing wierd oozing out of it... and sí, the french
> fries were fried in oil, and they were espectacular. oh, and elder
> zarceño cut my hair this week, i have fotos! yes, i trusted him with
> my hair. jajaja. elder zarceño is awesome. we get along really well
> and i think he is probably my best companion that i have had in all my
> mission. like alma and amulek! we are working really hard and this
> week we are going for the estandarte, something that only the coolest
> missionaries can get. i only did it 3 times so far on my mission.
> it´s tough. you need to have one baptism, find 15 new investigators,
> 140 contacts (in this mission it is difficult because the people like
> to sleep a lot), receive and contact 10 references (the members don´t
> give us a lot), have 5 investigators go to church, and teach 8 lessons
> with a member, 8 others, and at least 4 with less active members. we
> are going to do it this week. we get close every week, but this week
> will be great. i can FEEL it!!
> a whole bunch of cool things happened this week. i feel like we have
> a close relationship with the bishop, he can depend on us and is
> giving us references to visit his friends. i believe that is key
> working with the bishop. he is really cool here and wants to help a
> lot. very supportive. this week in church we had 39 members in
> church. the familia sosa and aravena didn´t come this week, and that
> would be 10 more... but we had 4 investigators in church. we had
> sofi, melani, franco, and the mom of the first consejero in the ward.
> we taught her once but she says that she wants to ´´prepare´´ a little
> more before she listens to us. but the meeting in church went very
> well. i taught the lesson in sunday school about our Heavenly Father
> with the investigators. we had enzo, a 15 year old that is less
> active, accompany us and he was a kapo (awesome) in the lesson. he
> helped us a lot. we have another cita with franco this tuesday and
> then we are going to play futbol with him and the ward afterwards.
> franco doesn´t have a fecha bautismal yet because he was struggling
> with some questions about God and if He really exists, but we are
> helping overcome his doubts and we are going to try and put a fecha on
> tuesday, something to work for. we are so excited!!!
> i´m getting down to my last 6 months on my mission, and i really hope
> i will be able to finish strong here in cinco saltos. we are rocking
> it! bueno,we don磘 have a lot of time to practice piano together, but sometimes

> in the morning during our language study, we can play for about 30
> minutes before starting the day. i just wanted to show an example of
> my teaching skills. in the video we are speaking spanish, sorry.
> somebody will have to translate but it is pretty short.
> oh! i got the package from the hombres jovenes! i really liked reading
> the letters they sent me. i thought it was going to be from all of
> them but i think it was only the deacons quorum and a few teachers.
> dad- you said that the priests are starting to go inactive in our
> ward? who would that be? i can think of a few that would be that age
> but i don磘 know how the ward was split... are there a lot? i guess i
> will write a letter home addressed to the young men. is that ok? i磍l
> send it next week.
> how was st. patricks day? i wore a green tie, but nobody understood
> why i was pinching them... just kidding. i didn磘 pinch
> anybody, but nobody celebrates st. patricks day here. that was kind
> of boring. i was at least expecting a parade or something because
> they have parades on random days. its fun. last pday, we went to eat
> ice cream with my district in centenario. it was pretty fun. today,
> we are going to centenario to eat lunch with them. one hermana in
> their ward is going to make us 駉quis. yum. i磎 excited. maybe i磍l
> make some 駉quis at home, but it takes a while to make. you got to
> mix flour with mashed potatos and you boil them. it磗 really good
> with a tasty tuco sauce and chicken. we are living good. jajaja
> bueno i hope you guys enjoy the few fotos i sent and the video! for a
> scripture this week, i really liked the scripture that pte stevens (is
> that his name?) sent in the package. it was 2 timothy 2:3. it磗 great
> in spanish and i shared it with my companion, elder zarce駉. in
> church i noticed it was a scripture reference for the song we sang,
> but at the moment i don磘 remember which song it was. it says: tu,
> pues, soporta las afflicciones como fiel soldado de jesucristo. it
> makes me wonder, what can i do better to deal with the challenges we
> have as a faithful soldier of Christ? i磎 trying harder and i know
> that it磗 worth it. i love these people and i love the mission. it
> means everything to me and i磎 grateful for all of your support and
> love that you send every week. i love you all and i磎 praying for
> you! thank you for everything.
> con mucho amor y 醤imo,
> elder summers